The FDA has until Saturday to decide whether to ban the plastic additive BPA from food packaging. Some scientists think BPA poses a risk to consumers because it can act like estrogen in the body. But recent studies by government scientists suggest the risk, if any, is minimal.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Guest Post: Will India Stop Buying Gold? - Haaretz Daily
Submitted by Jeff Clarke from Casey Research
Will India Stop Buying Gold?
We've read mixed reports about how lofty gold and silver prices are affecting demand in India. One month we're told demand is up, and the next it's supposedly down. I'm not suggesting that official reports are inaccurate, but it is admittedly confusing and doesn't help us understand the real trend in the country.
Why should we care about the gold market in India? Well, let's face it; the nation is one of the biggest consumers of the metal, a major driver that can give us hints about demand and investment trends, along with what to perhaps eventually expect here in North America. But reading third-party reports about India is very different than getting information firsthand from a credible source in the country. I wanted to get to the bottom of what's really going on in India by talking to a reputable bullion dealer who could give me the inside scoop, an up-to-the-moment dispatch from the front lines, as it were. So I did just that.
Ashish and Rashmi Sand own Savio Jewellery (Savio means "shine" in Italian), a design studio and jewelry factory in Jaipur, India. They've received many design and manufacturing awards since starting their business six years ago, winning five awards in just the past six months. They source gold from bullion agents in Jaipur, who in turn obtain it from dealers in Hong Kong, Dubai, Mumbai, and Delhi. They have industry contacts, friends, and relatives that span the globe, from the US and UK to Asia and Australia. If anybody knows what's happening in the physical gold and silver bullion markets and the Indian jewelry market, it's them.
In this exclusive interview, you can read what Ashish and Rashmi told me about unstoppable demand, growing silver interest, budding demand for coins and bars, reduced selling, shifting trends with women, burgeoning ETFs, and why they believe a bubble is headed our way?
Jeff Clark: Ashish, tell us about your manufacturing facility and design studio.
Ashish: Savio Jewellery makes conceptual jewelry, which can be worn in five or six different ways. It looks "heavy" but is extremely lightweight. It's also affordable.
We design what you want, for as much as you want to spend. For instance, one of my customers wanted a necklace and earring set for her daughter's wedding; based on their budget, we were able to manufacture a set using 35 grams of gold [about 1.2 ounces].
Jeff: Do you have any difficulties sourcing metal?
Ashish: We don't face any difficulties in arranging gold, whether demand is high or low, because the traders hedge gold on daily basis. We also keep a reserve of gold so that our manufacturing doesn't slow down if metal isn't immediately available. Our suppliers of gold don't face any problem procuring gold, either.
Jeff: How would you describe demand for gold right now in India?
Ashish: We are seeing several shifts in the trends for gold demand. First, even with the increase in price, demand is still strong. People have not stopped buying. Part of this is cultural; wearing gold jewelry in a wedding is a longstanding custom in India and will not change regardless of price.
In fact, our shops are experiencing increased buying in spite of higher prices. Previously we would have one or two customers per day for gold, but now we have five or six. We are getting plenty of new customers, and see new customers more frequently now.
Second, I would say that awareness among customers has increased. Now they see jewelry also as an investment and want a proper return on their investment. Further, due to fluctuations in price, they may book in advance ? i.e., if a customer orders a jewelry product, they lock in the gold price ahead of time.
Probably the biggest change we face, though, is that customers are more focused on getting lightweight jewelry, or 14-carat gold instead of 18-carat gold. This is due to the high gold price. This adjustment, however, has not affected the desire to own gold.
The bottom line is that the rise in the gold price has not hampered demand.
Jeff: Are Indians investing more in bullion (bars and coins) than usual?
Ashish: Indians are definitely investing more in bullion due to the rising trend in gold and silver prices. Investing in gold and silver has always been a good idea for wealth protection to Indians, and now we are seeing them buy more coins and bars than they used to. Coins and bars are mainly purchased either in wedding season or during the Diwali festival. Even I purchase gold coins every Diwali ? 10 grams, 20 grams, or any amount.
Another factor is that India has experienced many monsoons over the last two years, and the farmers are tending to invest their savings in gold and silver. This is a major factor for the increase in demand for coins and bars.
Jeff: Is much reselling taking place right now? Is it higher or lower than it used to be?
Ashish: Reselling gold has become rare ? and this from a country that consumes more gold than any other and where gold jewelry is a central part of the culture. We rarely have customers who sell back their gold or silver. Before we used to have customers who would sell their scrap gold and make new jewelry from it, but now we don't experience many such customers. I would estimate we currently have 90% buyers and 10% sellers, and before the ratio was 80% buyers and 20% sellers.
They're not selling, because they hope that in the next few years the price will rise further and they can get better returns than what they can at present. Just a few years ago, some customers would buy gold expecting to sell when the price rose; now those customers are sure gold will keep rising year after year and are selling only rarely.
Jeff: We've read about an increased interest in silver in India ? tell us what you see.
Ashish: Silver demand has increased sharply in recent years, as increasing numbers of investors use silver as a store of value. Customers are also buying silver to hedge against market losses. While global markets have been uncertain over the past four years, silver has provided huge returns and has been an ideal investment. Because silver has provided the highest recent return of all the commodities, this has attracted the average layman.
Silver demand has also increased for the customer for whom the gold price is out of reach. Nowadays, if they cannot afford gold, they switch to silver. So the number of customers requesting silver has increased.
Silver is also part of gift-giving in India. It is customary to give silver items as a wedding gift, and there are rituals where parents gift silver dinner sets to their daughters at their weddings. In addition to dinner sets, silver is usually found in jewelry, such as a necklace, earring, bracelet, or rings; gift items such as glass sets and crafted boxes; and even showpiece furniture.
Last, there is a steep rise in demand for silver in electronic goods.
Jeff: Rashmi, describe how Indian women view gold. And have you noticed any changes in how they view silver?
Rashmi: Gold and silver are firmly embedded in cultural and religious traditions for Indian women. Over the past decade, Diwali and Akshaya Tritiya have become major gold- and silver-buying occasions in India. Gold and silver also play an important role in the marriage ceremony, where brides are often adorned from head to toe in gold jewelry. This reminds me of my own wedding.
So during wedding season, the demand for gold and silver increases. Our women customers prefer lightweight jewelry instead of heavy and bulky ornaments. Increasingly, it also appears they now prefer workmanship over weight when choosing jewelry made from gold. The Indian custom of women wearing jewelry has not changed, though they have started accepting 14 carat gold in order to make it more pocketbook friendly. And people in India wear jewelry to all kinds of parties.
We have also experienced an increased number of women customers in our shop. They still buy gold and silver jewelry, but now they prefer jewelry that is of designer quality and looks good. This is the biggest change I have noticed with women over the past few years; they want jewelry that is unique. They prefer wearing long earrings ? danglers or hoops.
They also prefer multipurpose or conceptual jewelry ? in other words, jewelry that can be worn in different ways. This attracts the woman customer, as they think they have more jewelry for the same price.
There is a different culture in south India, where the people are more bound to gold jewelry than silver. The parents still focus on giving gold to their daughters for a wedding present. Each part of India has different customs, but the one thing that remains common is that gold jewelry is bought by everyone for weddings.
Jeff: Ashish, you've stated you are very bullish on the price of gold and silver, and that a bubble for prices is ahead; why?
Ashish: To be clear, we are extremely bullish on the price of silver and gold. We believe that both will eventually advance into a full-fledged bubble that will surpass most investors' wildest dreams.
The world is changing and so is the way we invest. Gold and silver were once considered a marginal investment, worn mostly as jewelry or something that was stored in banks. Now it is making a comeback and has become a primary investment asset for many individuals and institutions.
In India, people are very futuristic and are so bound to the culture that they're buying gold and silver in advance. If they know that they are going to marry their daughter in three to four years, for example, they will purchase the gold now instead of waiting when prices will be higher. This will continue to underpin demand and push the price higher.
Jeff: Any other trends you see in India?
Ashish: From the average layman to the high-class educated person, they now want to invest in gold and silver. In fact, those who were investing in equities have been switching to gold and silver. Even the gold and silver ETF has become common in India. This is partly due to rising prices; keeping metal at home has become riskier, so they can avoid the risks of self-storage by using an ETF.
Even I have invested in gold and silver for my personal use apart from my business. Instead of buying equities, I now invest more in gold and silver, with the expectation of getting a good return.
I will conclude by just saying that based on what we see here every day, we believe gold and silver prices will continue to go up.
Jeff: Thanks, Ashish and Rashmi.
Robinson, Withey giving Kansas big post presence
Kansas forward Thomas Robinson talks to reporters during a news conference in New Orleans, Thursday, March 29, 2012. Kansas is scheduled to play Ohio State in an NCAA tournament Final Four semifinal college basketball game on Saturday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Kansas forward Thomas Robinson talks to reporters during a news conference in New Orleans, Thursday, March 29, 2012. Kansas is scheduled to play Ohio State in an NCAA tournament Final Four semifinal college basketball game on Saturday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Kansas forward Thomas Robinson, center, and center Jeff Withey, right, leave the locker room for a news conference in New Orleans, Thursday, March 29, 2012. Kansas is scheduled to play Ohio State in an NCAA tournament Final Four semifinal college basketball game on Saturday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger talks to reporters during a news conference in New Orleans, Thursday, March 29, 2012. Ohio State is scheduled to play Kansas in an NCAA tournament Final Four semifinal college basketball game on Saturday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Jeff Withey has had plenty of bloody noses. The big guy from Kansas has been whacked by flying elbows too many times to count. He's had bruises the size and color plums.
That's just what he's gotten courtesy of teammate Thomas Robinson.
The Jayhawks' inside tandem has pushed each other to get better all season, and all those rough-and-tumble practices are finally paying off. Robinson and Withey have Kansas in the Final Four, ready for Jared Sullinger and Ohio State on Saturday night.
"It's going to be a fun matchup. Throughout the year we've played against some really good big men," Robinson said Thursday. "It's definitely going to be a challenge."
Hardly bigger than the one they give each other in practice, though.
"At the beginning of the year, it was tough for me to get into the zone," Withey said, "but as we have been playing more I've been able to get more aggressive."
The rise of Robinson, and to some extent Withey, mimics the rise of Kansas this season.
Neither played significant minutes last year ? Robinson had trouble cracking the lineup, Withey was an afterthought. Neither showed up on major early season watch lists, and neither had the kind of imposing post presence they've established over the past five months.
Meanwhile, Kansas was picked as co-favorite in the Big 12 almost by default, though whispers had grown louder that perhaps this would be the year the Jayhawks finally slipped. They had lost a bevy of talent to the NBA. When a trio of recruits failed to qualify academically, it left a team that was supposedly short on talent even shorter of depth.
Bill Self even recalled a visit by former NBA coaches Jeff Van Gundy and Larry Brown ? who, incidentally, won a title for the Jayhawks ? early in the year. Brown watched the team practice without Robinson and thought Kansas would be fortunate to win 15 games this season.
"I think he's amazed at how far this team has come," Self said.
The 6-foot-8 Robinson and 7-foot Withey are the biggest reasons why.
Robinson has evolved into the dominating post presence that Self hoped for when he chose the Jayhawks over overtures from Memphis a few years ago. In fact, Robinson has in many ways eclipsed the expectations of a coach who is rarely content shy of perfection.
"He only played 14 minutes a game (last season), but we still thought he could be an all-league-type guy," Self said. "He had to realize what he wanted. He saw basketball as a safe haven and an avenue to help his family more than anything else he could do."
Robinson's back story has become part of his very fabric: He lost both of his grandparents along with his mother during a devastating stretch late last season, leaving his younger sister as the only significant family member still in his life.
"Regardless of whether he plays well or not, I don't think anyone in our program ever questions how much admiration and respect we had for him," Self said. "If it was me, I would stay in bed and pull the covers over my head and hope time passed, and he's totally different.
"He had to attack life."
He's certainly attacked it on the court.
The first unanimous first-team All-American since Blake Griffin in 2009, Robinson already has set the single-season school record with 26 double-doubles. He's averaging nearly 18 points and 12 rebounds per game, and always seems to be at his best when the opponent demands it.
"I'm lucky I get to go against T-Rob every day in practice," said Withey, who has used every elbow he's taken from his bruising teammate to toughen up his own game.
It's not as though Withey was overlooked coming out of high school. The kid from California at one point committed to Rick Pitino and Louisville, which plays Kentucky in the other national semifinal Saturday night, before switching his allegiance to Arizona to be closer to home.
Wildcats coach Lute Olson soon retired, and Withey went looking yet again.
He settled on Kansas, even though he knew he'd be stuck behind a bunch of big men. He was willing to bide his time while Cole Aldrich and the Morris twins headed to the NBA, and has become one of the Jayhawks' most important pieces after rarely playing a season ago.
"Jeff is one of those kids that is kind of laid-back," Self said with a smile. "I don't think he realizes how important he is to us sometimes."
It's become evident in the NCAA tournament.
Withey nearly set the single-game record by swatting 10 shots against North Carolina State last weekend, and then came up with two critical blocks in the closing minutes to help Kansas slip by North Carolina and reach the Final Four for the first time since winning the 2008 title.
"This tournament is an awesome opportunity for a lot of people that didn't have a chance to show their skills during the regular season to have a chance," Withey said. "There are a lot of great guys playing and to be able to go against guys like that makes me more excited to play."
Associated Pressbori?dom: Man of law
John J. Tormey III, Esq is a heavy hitting entertainment attorney from Nyc. His mix of experience and insight on the world of entertainment has brought him great success. He is old school but has been around long enough to find ways to help artists despite the rise in illegal downloads. I was given the privilege/honor to interview John J. Tormey III . Enjoy the experience, read the interview, and visit John J.Tormey?s website for further information. Interview
1. As a lawyer, how important is protecting intellectual properties?
Well, it may not be important to all lawyers in all parts of the practice and in all jurisdictions. Many other lawyers practice in such narrow areas of specialty, and/or in such unrelated fields, that intellectual property (I.P.) issues seldom if ever come up for them. Yet for a music and entertainment lawyer like myself, intellectual property protection is an everyday, life-time concern and a regular challenge.
In theory, every business-owner should have a working knowledge of I.P. After all, one's own business name is a property, usually claimable as a trademark or service mark. So, too, might be a band's name or an artist's name.
Clearly anyone in the field of entertainment needs to have a working knowledge of intellectual property - and with respect to their own original material, they need to be vigilant in regards to protecting it. The primary areas that need to be mastered in these respects, are the I.P. areas of copyright and trademark. A good starting-point is the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) website, to the extent an artist may not already be familiar with it. I first learned about copyright by writing to the USCO and requesting their written materials by mail. This was in the days before the Internet happened.
2. What is it like working with TV actors and musicians?
I love doing it, but for me it is business as usual. My father is an actor who started his career as a child actor in the 1940's. I grew up on tour with my Dad and my Mom while one or both of them were working on summer-stock or other performances.
I played guitar in a rock-and-roll band in high school with a piano-player named John ("Jojo") Hermann, who then became Widespread Panic's keyboard player. I played guitar in a rock-and-roll band in college with Tom Morello, who then became the guitar player for Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, and Street Sweeper Social Club, not to mention his work as The Nightwatchman. I still play rock music with members of my college band, in what little free time I have these days.
The majority of my friends are in the arts or entertainment in some way. So, it's more than working with actors and musicians. I live with actors and musicians, and in some cases I'm related to them.
3. How does it feel to be the force behind so many forms of media?
I would never say that, because I'm not the talent in the performance or recording. Maybe my clients are, if their work gets heard or seen in any individual case. I think if there is a "force" behind all of it, it's something more akin to divine inspiration - that moment when the creativity runs right through the artist as template or conduit. Artists are original but are also a product of their life experiences, and what they have already seen and heard. The "force" of artistic creativity is a lot bigger than any one of us.
That said, I think an entertainment lawyer has to have a respect of, and also a distance from, the art form. If you lose your objectivity you can't effectively represent someone. The Hippocratic Oath of doctors is something like, "First Rule, Do No Harm". Something like that is also true for an entertainment lawyer. While the first and foremost rule is to protect the client while following the law, one special corollary for entertainment lawyers should be "Don't Impair The Art Form". In other words, don't ever substitute your own notion of artistic judgment, for that of the artist - at least not when you're working, that is. Know that the art is bigger than you.
In this respect, my clients are the force. They teach me what art really is. Every day.
4. Can you tell us a little about your early life and what led up to being an entertainment lawyer?
I grew up in a show business family, as did many other kids I knew in 1960's Manhattan. I grew up in mid-town. I always ran into celebrities, and always recognized them when I saw them - from the newspaper or my old black-and-white television. My neighbors growing up were Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Jack Dempsey, Rusty Staub, Jake LaMotta, Ken Boswell, Jim Fregosi, and Dave Marshall. I played sports at an early age. I played music at an early age. Performances are what people did, and attended, in Manhattan, and still do. I've worked in other areas of commerce, with other forms of businesses, too, but I always considered entertainment the family business - much like a boy who grew up in his father's auto-shop might be more likely to become a mechanic later on, once grown up.
The main question to me was whether I was going to be a performer, as in a baseball player or rock musician - or alternatively, work in the businesses related to those performances. By the time I made that decision, I had already lived through life on the road, and life between casting calls - not to mention with a thrown-out pitching arm and fear of tinnitus. I didn't want to spend an unspecified amount of further time lifting P.A. stacks into and out of unmarked vans, or let the gigs take any more of a physical toll on me. I was thinking long-term. I was reasonably sure that as an entertainment lawyer I could stay as close as I wanted to, to the art forms that meant something to me. I was right.
5. What other lawyers inspire you?
Any lawyer that selflessly works on causes and gives back to the community. I have worked on environmental causes in the past, and that work is the most draining type of pursuit you can ever imagine. It's all-consuming.
My main inspirations are Phil Hoffman, Esq., who was my mentor when I started in the practice of law at Pryor Cashman in New York in 1987 - as well as my entertainment law professor from UCLA School Of Law, Gary Stiffelman, Esq. What they taught me, I take with me and use, every day of my working life.
6. What advice do you have for aspiring musicians?
Well, I wouldn't want my thoughts in an article misconstrued as legal advice for any specific person in any specific situation. That kind of advice should only be sought and obtained in a one-to-one and private dialogue with counsel.
However, I can summarize the things I might say to aspiring musicians who are friends of mine. The main thing now, in 2012, is not to give up. Collectively, we have just turned the corner, in terms of the American economy, and in terms of the music industry specifically.
Many nay-sayers for the past few years doubted whether new artists could ever make money and support themselves on music ever again. Sure, in some respects it is more difficult to do, post-digital downloading. But the music industry has already re-invented itself. The center of gravity is now performance and touring revenue, and merchandise. Don't fight the new model. Embrace the new model.
Furthermore, there is so much more that artists can do now to promote sales and make themselves known, including social media. And the trend is towards eliminating the middlemen who used to introject themselves into every income-stream. Embrace the new model. Make it your own.
I used to have music friends who were afraid to use cell phones. Now, those same friends are managing their publishing businesses with secure lap-tops while on tour. The main bit of advice to music friends always is, "Empower yourself, control your own destiny, and make sure that you (or your counsel) generate all your own documents". I tend to see artists as in either of one or two groups - "Victims", and "Empowered". The fundamental distinction between the two groups, is that the "Victims" make themselves beholden to other people's documents, whereas the "Empowered" control the drafting of their own documents. With the availability of desktop-publishing since the 1980's, there is no excuse in 2012 for not controlling the drafting of the documents that affect your life or your career. There is no reason to ever blindly sign on to someone else's form. All that does is make more work for the litigators.
7. What is your opinion on the current state of the music industry?
I'm sanguine about it.
The best new feature is the ability of artists to self-distribute, either by sale of CD's on tour at retail, or over the Internet.
The worst new feature also relates to the Internet, though, too - the ability of pirates to poach material digitally, in a matter of milliseconds.
Personally, I am happy that a premium is now placed on artists doing live performances, and more of them. To me, that is what the art form is really about, anyway. There are bands re-grouping after 20 or 25 years of inactivity, and going back out on the road. In a way, it's a shame that current economic realities force them back out on the road when they earlier thought they could comfortably retire on royalties. But the fact of the matter is, it's a good thing that one or two whole new generations of music fans now have an opportunity to see and hear these bands and artists. After all, once these bands and artists are gone, all that may remain are the recordings - and the recordings just aren't the same thing as a live performance, or the meet-and-greet afterwards.
8. What's the hardest part of being involved in the entertainment industry?
Knowing that some talent remains undiscovered... and, these days, seeing a trend towards the replacement of union talent with non-union talent, which is a somewhat-related issue. The just-world-hypothesis tells us that talent and hard work should be rewarded. It often is. But it is not always rewarded. Unfortunately politics and luck sometimes play a part in the reward outcome, too.
That said, the trend towards artist self-distribution might be the panacea. The market, the public, should decide which art they want to pay to hear, see, and experience. The decision should not be force-fed to the public by the same 3 or 5 corporate conglomerates.
So I think generally, the hardest part about being involved in the entertainment industry, is knowing that the continued concentration of economic power therein, in the hands of a few rather than many, prevents a lot of good material from being heard or seen.
My hope is that this changes in my lifetime, and that I get to see it. I am going to continue to fight to make the change happen, too.
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Best Buy hopes to survive by shrinking
Best Buy is planning to remodel some of its big-box stores to focus on 'connections,' and the company is investing more in selling mobile phones and tablets.
By Roland Jones
Best Buy's announcement that it plans to shutter 50 of its big-box electronics stores after losing $1.7 billion in its latest quarter has some wondering whether the retailer will go the way of onetime rival Circuit City.
Circuit City filed for bankruptcy in November 2008 and eventually liquidated in a move that appeared to leave Best Buy in a strong competitive position. But the retail landscape has a way of shifting rapidly, especially when it is being trampled on by an 800-pound gorilla named Apple, which is "taking all the oxygen out of the consumer electronics complex," according to UBS retail analyst Michael Lasser.
?The environment for consumer electronics has changed dramatically in the last few years,? Lasser told CNBC.
For years, discount retailers like Wal-Mart and web-based retailers like Amazon.com have become major players in the retail electronics businesses. And Apple?s presence as a provider and retailer of its own wildly popular products has also put pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers such as Best Buy.
?It?s just now a question of whether big-box retailers can fight back and win back some of that share,? he said.
Best Buy said Thursday it would close 50 big box stores over the next year and lay off an additional 400 corporate employees in an effort to cut $800 million in annual costs.? At the same time the company is opening 100 more smaller-format stores focusing on mobile phones and tablets.
"How do we position the company so we're where our customers need us to be?" asked CEO Brian Dunn in a call with analysts Thursday. "We're clearly going to have more doors and less square footage."
The company, which has not disclosed which stores will close, has a total of 1,099 retail locations nationally, including 305 of the smaller Best Buy Mobile stores.
Analysts are not convinced that Best Buy is out of the woods. Best Buy stock fell 7 percent Thursday after the announcement.
Brian Nagel, a research analyst at Oppenheimer, said Best Buy?s restructuring plans are ?long overdue,? but also fraught with danger, given that they are taking place when the retail electronics environment is ?quite challenging.?
?Attempting to undertake this kind of a restructuring in a weak environment can be very problematic,? he told CNBC, adding that he is concerned the company is attempting a major upheaval in its operations when ?competition is getting ever more fierce.?
Scot Ciccarelli, an analyst at RBS Capital Markets, said the company?s planned store closings and cost cuts will help it return to financial health, but its core business continues to decline, and that's not a good sign.
?It?s hard to imagine investors being too excited? when earnings are declining, Ciccarelli said in a research note.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Friday, March 30, 2012
Dangerous online culture glorifies eating disorders
COLLEGE PARK, Md. ? Images of bony hipbones, concave stomachs, and quotes like "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" are popping up on social networks.
The images are part of a new Internet phenomenon - "Thinspiration" - that young women with eating disorders are using to support their unhealthy lifestyles.
Instead of seeking medical treatment, a growing community of anorexics and bulimics are using the Web to encourage each other to starve themselves, vomit after eating and over-exercise.
Social networks like Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr are working to block Thinspiration content. Despite these efforts, the harmful images and quotes persist.
"These sites are started and frequented by people who are usually very deep into an eating disordered mindset," said Claire Mysko, a project consultant for the National Eating Disorder Association.
As many as 10 million women and 1 million men suffer from anorexia or bulimia in the United States, according to NEDA.
Thinspiration content, which advocates said prevents anorexics and bulimics from seeking treatment, includes images of extremely thin people and quotes encouraging eating disorders and excessive exercise. Some people with eating disorders also obsessively document their weight loss online.
"These websites, in a way, promote damaging behaviors, such as extreme weight loss, vomiting and using laxatives," said Scarlet Hemkes, creator of Proud2BMe, a site that promotes healthy body image and helps teenage girls recover from eating disorders.
Hemkes suffered from anorexia and bulimia for about 10 years before seeking treatment.
Before the advent of social networks and message boards, anorexics and bulimics generally kept their disease private. The Web has enabled them to seek encouragement and advice from others while remaining anonymous.
Strong communities that define themselves as "pro-ana" - for anorexics - and "pro-mia" - for bulimics - have become prominent.
"If you visit a website or blog like that you get the idea that you can only be successful as a female if you are skinny. That's cruel, stupid and very untrue," Hemkes said.
Though eating disorders affect people from all demographics, teenage girls make up the majority of these online communities, Mysko said.
"People who are suffering from eating disorders are feeling very isolated and very ashamed, so these communities provide a sense of community, but they do it in all the wrong ways. They're keeping people very stuck in dangerous and unhealthy behaviors," Mysko said.
Extreme thinness is often glorified in American popular culture. Images and descriptions of skinny women have always existed in books, magazines, and movies. But social media has made them more widely available.
Jenni Schaefer, who suffered from an eating disorder before thinspiration images appeared online, said the Web communities would have made her recovery more difficult.
"I never participated in these communities because when I got into recovery, it was 1999. So the Internet wasn't the big thing quite yet," Schaefer said. "I think that I could have easily been sucked into these communities and to some of these negative behaviors and the tips and tricks that they provide."
Peer influence - both online and off - can be a big driver of unhealthy eating habits.
American culture, and more specifically, the culture on college campuses, encourages young women to go to extremes to be thin, said Jane Jakubczak, the University of Maryland College Park's campus dietitian.
"Now you take that (culture) to social media sites, and in a way, you're expanding that infection. That may be a strong term, but I only see it growing," Jakubczak said.
Thinspiration images are rampant on Reddit, a fast-growing social network, which has multiple sub-reddits, or channels, dedicated to unhealthy images and quotes, including r/thinspo. The site also has a sub-reddit dedicated to eating disorders, r/EatingDisorders.
"I spent hours a day looking at diet tips, fad diets, pictures of skinny girls, low-cal recipes. And I constantly, constantly looked at pictures of food. Food I couldn't eat," said anorectic99, a redditor from Texas, in response to a query from Capital News Service.
Five months after discovering "pro-ana" blogs on Tumblr, anorectic99, who said she was 5 foot 5 inches tall, had dropped from 140 pounds to 110 pounds.
Capital News Service was unable to find members of thinspiration communities willing to talk on the record.
Websites and some social media companies are actively working to stop the spread of these messages, eating disorder awareness advocates said.
In addition to partnering with Proud2BMe, NEDA has also worked closely with Tumblr and Facebook to block users from posting thinspiration content on their networks.
"We're trying to raise awareness about the serious consequences of these sites and the ripple effect that's happening in social media," Mysko said.
People who suffer from anorexia are 18 times more likely to die early compared with people their age who do not suffer from the illness, according to a National Institute of Mental Health report.
"I think sometimes people feel like there is this love and support coming from these people online, when in reality, it's not love or support. It's people encouraging extremely negative behaviors, when - you could die," Schaefer said. "I know too many people who have died from anorexia and bulimia, and eating disorders in general."
Some thinspiration images and quotes are disguised as harmless motivation to get healthy and get to the gym. But advocates said everyone should embrace their individuality in terms of shape and size.
"Even for someone who doesn't have a tendency towards eating disorders, using someone else's body for motivation is still an unhealthy way of going about it," Jakubczak said.
"I think there are a lot of people out there who are really suffering who aren't clinically diagnosed with an eating disorder," Jakubczak said. "Those are the ones that these sites and the social media are nurturing and keeping them in that dissatisfied, dysfunctional thinking."
? Copyright (c) McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
U.K. Retailer To Offer Legal Services After Receiving ABS License
March 28, 2012 3:42 PM
U.K. Retailer To Offer Legal Services After Receiving ABS License
Posted by Chris Johnson
A U.K. retailer is set to begin offering legal services to customers after being one the first three entities to receive Alternative Business Structure (ABS) licenses, the Solicitors Regulation Authority announced Wednesday.
The Co-operative Group?which already operates a diversified range of member-owned businesses that includes nationwide grocery and financial services chains?will now provide legal advice under the banner of Co-operative Legal Services (CLS). Joining CLS in being granted ABS licenses are two law firms: Oxford-based John Welch & Stammers and Lawbridge Solicitors of Kent.
The trio are taking advantage of radical new legislation that for the first time permits legal practices to be owned and managed by nonlawyers. SRA chief executive Antony Townsend said in a statement that the approvals mark a "significant milestone" and will "stimulate competition and encourage innovation" within the industry.
"The arrival of ABS should foster a more flexible and innovative market for legal services," he said. "Some people may be surprised that there are two high street practices with a handful of staff among the first wave of ABS organisations that we've authorized. But we've always said that ABS offers options for all firms, not just large organisations."
The Co-op Group prepared for its ABS application by carrying out a two-week trial last year?of its plan to offer legal advice through its network of bank branches, and by recruiting a three-member team from London boutique law firm TV Edwards that includes managing partner Jenny Beck. CLS will offer customers advice on personal injury claims, estate planning and employment law. According to its ABS license, which is available on the SRA Web site, the firm is permitted to undertake litigation, reserved instrument activities, and probate work.
John Welch & Stammers, meanwhile, plans to exploit its new ABS status by promoting its nonlawyer practice manager Bernadette Summers to managing partner. Lawbridge, which has just one resident attorney, will see practice manager Alison Pope become a director of the firm with a "significant" shareholding.
The moves represent the latest wave in the planned reform and liberalization of the U.K.'s ?25 billion ($39.5 billion) legal services market. After being delayed by Parliament, new legislation governing law firm ownership was finally passed in December. In addition to allowing corporations owned by nonlawyers to provide legal services, the legislation also lets law firms accept outside equity investment.
The new law is expected to result in a glut of transactions within the legal sector. Three U.K. law firm investment deals worth a combined $200 million were signed during a two-week period earlier this year.
Technology and outsourcing company Quindell Portfolio got the ball rolling in late January by paying ?19.3 million ($30.7 million) for Liverpool-based personal injury law firm Silverbeck Rymer. Just a few days later, Australia's Slater & Gordon bought another U.K. personal injury firm, Russell Jones & Walker, for ?53.8 million ($85 million).
The latest deal, announced in early February, saw Duke Street become the first private equity house to control a U.K. law firm when it agreed to pay a reported ?50 million ($79 million) for a majority stake in Parabis Group?the parent company of two insurance litigation firms, Plexus Law and Cogent Law. (Parabis is believed to be the world's first private equity?owned law firm.)
The flurry of activity has generated adviser roles for a host of other law firms. Russell Jones & Walker was represented in its sale by London-based corporate firm Macfarlanes, with U.K. firm LG acting for Slater & Gordon. Duke Street turned to long-standing adviser SJ Berwin, Paribas tapped Squire Sanders, and Hogan Lovells advised the banks involved in the deal.
The transactions have spurred debate on how to value law firms. London-based corporate finance advisory firm Europa Partners recently released the first independent study looking at valuation within the sector. Allen & Overy was named as the country's most valuable law firm?ahead of Magic Circle rivals Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters?with an estimated worth of ?2.6 billion ($4.12 billion). The stakes held by Slaughter and May's 122 equity partners, meanwhile, were each valued at an average ?8.09 million ($12.8 million). (Click here for full details of the United Kingdom?s ten most valuable firms.)
The three new ABS firms are expected to be the first of many. The SRA has received more than 90 license applications, but the approval process has been plagued by delays.
"We've had to create a system of authorisation flexible enough to deal with a range of companies with hugely varying corporate structures, but that's also robust enough to apply the same stringent suitability criteria by which traditional firms are judged," Townsend added. "We make no apology for ensuring that the systems we have in place are thorough and in some cases, time-consuming."
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