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The key to being in-demand your entire career: Be a 'producer'
(BPT) - From January 2010 to February 2013, the average unemployment rate was 8.8 percent, a stark contrast to the average of 5.3 percent from January 2003 to December 2006. Though the unemployment rate - currently at its lowest point since 2009 - has begun to improve, it is a slow recovery; the percentage of unemployed...
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Hearing aid technology takes a giant leap forward
(BPT) - It’s no secret that today’s hearing aids are light years ahead of the hearing aids made just a decade ago. In fact, in size, shape, and technological advances, the changes in hearing aids have been nothing short of amazing. For example, new micro-processor technology has allowed hearing aids to be so tiny, they ...
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Time-pressed in the kitchen? Rediscover pressure cooking
(BPT) - There’s nothing like the smell of a home-cooked meal wafting through the kitchen for hours and hours – that is, if you have time to prepare such a meal. Since most of us don’t have that sort of time on a daily basis, many time-pressed cooks are rediscovering pressure cooking: an age-old cooking method that makes...
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For chronic hepatitis C patients and their doctors, treatment discussions shouldn't wait
(BPT) - For the estimated 3.2 million Americans living with chronic hepatitis C, talking to a physician about treatment options for the disease now is an important first step. Untreated chronic hepatitis C may lead to serious health consequences, including cirrhosis - or permanent scarring of the liver - liver failure and liver cancer. Following a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C, a patient should ask their physician whether the liver is already damaged and whether they should begin treatme...
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Protecting your paycheck - for today and tomorrow
(BPT) - People insure their homes, their cars and even their vacations without giving it a second thought. But many do not think about insuring their most important asset – their income – from a disability caused by illness or injury. And it’s not just income during working years that is at risk. A disability can also p...
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Healthy summer skin: tips for every age
(BPT) - As people show more skin with the summer season, it is important to get into a skincare routine that fits your lifestyle. Extended time in the sun can result in unwanted wrinkles, blemishes and sagging skin, not to mention more serious consequences – melanomas, scarring and skin cancer. Current estimates show t...
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COPD and women [Infographic]
Results of a recent survey administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that women currently diagnosed with COPD outnumber men by almost two to one. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), a serious lung disease, is the third leading cause of death in the United States and affects an estimated 24 million Americans – yet only half of them are diagnosed.  Learn more about who is at risk for COPD and how early diagnosis and treatment can improve quality of life fo...
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Growing tomatoes [infographic]
Did you know the average row of tomato plants yields about 60 pounds of harvest? Or that there are over 7,500 varieties of tomatoes? These facts and tons more are just a few reasons why 93 percent of gardening households in America grow their own tomatoes. Avant Garden Decor , home of Gardener’s Blue Ribbon tomato gardening products, explores tomato gardening in this infographic. Learn why growing your own tomatoes can benefit your health, your wallet and the Earth. To get expert advi...
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Companion planting [Infographic]
Gardening using a companion planting technique is becoming a highly popular practice. Companion planting is the close planting of different plants that enhance each other’s growth or protect each other from pests. A higher crop yield, tastier harvests and less insect damage are all benefits of companion planting. This infographic , brought to you by Avant Garden Decor, home of Gardener’s Blue Ribbon Vegetable Gardening Supplies , shares with you the benefits of companion planting practice...
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Inflight tips, tricks and confessions: business traveler edition [Infographic]
On April 9, Air New Zealand conducted its first inflight focus group on a flight between Los Angeles and London Heathrow. What was learned? Uber-frequent travelers say work before you fly, dress smart, keep chatter to a minimum, and have a jet lag game plan before you set foot on the plane. The Star Alliance carrier, known for liberating passengers from routine air travel, drilled into the habits of an invited panel of travel experts through interactive inflight exercises including Rorsch...
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Enhance your outdoor space with an outdoor fireplace
(BPT) - Winter lingered far too long this year. It was cold, it was blustery, and many of us were left wondering if it would ever end. Now summer is here - and it’s time to get outdoors. Instead of being forced to labor through the same old spring chores, use this abbreviated spring as an excuse to stay outside. Fire u...
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Baby boomers and age-related eye disease
(BPT) - As the population continues to age at an unprecedented rate, the concern about age-related eye disease comes more into focus. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of adults over age 65 is expected to double by 2025, and the American Optometric Association (AOA) reports that the incidence of Age-R...
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national news

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits next to U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski during the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in KirunaBy Yereth Rosen ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska publicly backed gay marriage on Wednesday, becoming the third Republican senator to do so as she spoke out ahead of potentially landmark rulings from the Supreme Court on the issue. Murkowski, 56, wrote in an essay posted on her Senate website that her decision was swayed, in part, by meeting a lesbian couple from Anchorage, one of whom was in the National Guard, who had adopted four children. "This first-class Alaskan family still lives a second-class existence," Murkowski said in her essay. ...


2013-06-19 15:59:11 -0500

Gamers play the slot machines at the Empire City Casino in Yonkers, New YorkBy Francesca Trianni NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo struck a deal with state lawmakers to license new resort-style casinos, in an effort to help revive a stagnant economy in upstate New York, the governor said on Wednesday. The agreement would amend the state constitution to legalize public, non Native American casino gambling with an initial four Las-Vegas style casinos in the Hudson Valley, the Binghamton area and the Albany region. Until now, New York has allowed table gambling only on Native American tribal land or slot machine gambling at horse racing tracks. ...


2013-06-19 15:01:56 -0500
By T.G. Branfalt Jr. ALBANY, New York (Reuters) - Two New York men are accused of plotting to produce a lethal radiation weapon and trying to sell it to a Jewish group and the Ku Klux Klan, according to a federal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. Glendon Scott Crawford and Eric Feight were arrested on tips from informants in the groups that Crawford allegedly solicited about developing the weapon, the 66-page complaint said. ...
2013-06-19 15:44:45 -0500
America’s problem with portion size has sparked a strange new photo trend, one in which parents set their newborn babies alongside massive burritos on restaurant tabletops. According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, a Mexican restaurant in Seattle, Wash., is saying that any diners who take photos of their babies next to one of the restaurant's [...]
2013-06-19 15:51:08 -0500