FRO13 DTB NY Times 1

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/flu-vaccine-shows-benefits-for-heart-patients/?ref=health&_r=0

http://www.uhs.wisc.edu/news/?p=113

A shot may be momentarily painful, but through continuous scientific development, the many benefits of a flu shot are only increasing. It is evident that there are people who have always been skeptical when it came to the flu shots; whether it be due to some phobia or even one’s own personal ignorance. However, research has shown that not only does flu shots help prevent and fight off the flu, but now it has also been tied to an increase in many heart benefits. In a review posted in JAMA (The Journal of American Medical Association), through 5 randomized trials involving more than 6,400 patients, it was shown that with the taking of a flu shot, patients with stable heart disease had a decrease in cardiovascular event by 36 percent, as well as patients who did have a heart attack within the last year had a 55 percent reduction in relative risk. Besides this, overall those who had been vaccinated also had a 19 percent reduction in a risk of death. Although this sample is relatively small compared to the whole human population, the comparison between the controlled and independent groups had systematically agreed with the results in each trial. Why would anyone ever be afraid of a flu shot? If you think about it, the flu shot only does good for you and the good is only going to get better through the modernization of technology.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/10/21/world/asia/ap-as-australia-gay-marriage-.html?_r=0

The battle for same-sex couples around the world has been an ongoing struggle for years. On Tuesday, a parliament for the province passed a law legalizing gay marriage in Canberra. Estimates say that couples from all over Australia could wed by December of this year. Some members of the Australian government believe that the bill is invalid and argue that it shouldn’t be recognized until it is handled by the higher Law.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/technology/sales-are-colossal-shares-are-soaring-all-amazoncom-is-missing-is-a-profit.html

Amazon, despite being a household name, and being the 8th most visited site on the internet, is doing poorly. Despite maintaining a near-record high stock price, Amazon’s profits are non-existent (US$ −39 million (2012)). It is clear that Amazon is experiencing  “irrational exuberance” a term coined by former Fed chief Alan Greenspan to describe roaring stock prices that do not reflect the health of a company.

Some disagree; according to William H. Janeway, an economist and venture capitalist,  “The market is effectively limitless: all of global consumer commerce and maybe business-to-business commerce as well.” Janeway goes on to contradict himself when he says that “[Amazon’s price to earnings ratio] violates mainstream finance theory. Very few companies have been valued this way outside a systemic bubble.”

Other experts agree that Amazon’s lack of profitability is unsustainable. “At some point, the piper must be paid,” said George Colony, the chief executive of Forrester Research. How? “By raising prices. I don’t see any other way.”

Cash strapped cities and states may soon turn to tax online retailers to fill empty coffers and pay debts accrued from reckless spending and graft over decades. Although Amazon won a temporary reprieve from the states’, as the Illinois high court rejected the Amazon sales tax, which was active in eighteen states, because the tax violated federal rules against “discriminatory taxes” on digital transactions, we are reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s aphorism of death and taxes. This, coupled with the unsustainable Fed-fueled stock-market bubble, makes Amazon’s future bleak.

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