Sales Prices: How Right Digits Affect Perception of Discounts

Science Daily

The amount of the discount may be less important than the numerical value of the farthest right digit, explains a new study from the Journal of Consumer Research. Keith S. Coulter (Clark University) and Robin A. Coulter (University of Connecticut) are the first to identify a visual distortion effect that may influence how consumers look at sale prices. continue...

The Record of Your Life as a Digital Archive

By ERIC A. TAUB

Published: August 16, 2007

WHEN Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Karen Duncan was ordered to leave her uptown neighborhood. continue...

Calisthenics for the Older Mind, on the Home Computer

WHEN Charline and Dan Truitt of Irvine, Calif., owners of a company that audits mortgage lenders, started misplacing their keys and blanking on names, they made all the usual jokes about senior moments. But it was no laughing matter when Mrs. Truitt, 62, started forgetting client appointments. more...

Looking after yourself is the key to university success

How do you get the most from university? By keeping both your body and mind in shape, says Dr Rodger Charlton
Published: 16 August 2007

Staying healthy while at university or college doesn't have to be difficult if you get organised, are sensible about what you do and seek help quickly if you do fall ill. continue...

Expect More Damage from US Kaleidoscopic Diplomacy

by Rami G. Khouri
Released: 1 Aug 2007

BEIRUT -- The riddle of American foreign policy in the Middle East this week became even more puzzling, following the announcement of major new military aid and sales packages to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and smaller Arab countries. The totals will top $70 billion over the coming ten years. The United States justifies this as part of its policy of fighting radicalism and terrorism, supporting moderates, and promoting an Arab-Israeli peace process. continue...

Missing the Epic Story of the Middle East

by Rami G. Khouri
Released: 11 Aug 2007

BEIRUT -- I had a very unusual experience Friday morning as I was going through my pleasant early morning routine while sitting in my easy chair on our balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, reading the newspapers, drinking coffee, listening to the BBC radio news, and watching my water turtle Jerry show me his back flips and other new maneuvers which he perfected overnight while the rest of us slept. The unusual thing was that there was not a single news item about the Middle East on the BBC radio news. continue...

Iraq's Air 'Straits Question'

by Richard Bulliet
Released: 9 Aug 2007

For three centuries, down to the end of World War II, Europe's diplomats were troubled by the Straits Question: the waterway linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Ottoman Empire controlled the straits -- the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosphorus -- and barred passage to foreign warships. And this effectively prevented Russia from becoming a Mediterranean power by plugging the only outlet for their Black Sea fleet.

Today, Iraq’s skies pose a new Straits Question. And Iraqi air space is the "plug" for any Iranian air power. continue...

Arab Reform Running in Place

by Rami G. Khouri
Released: 15 Aug 2007

BEIRUT -- The “reform” industry in the Arab world has been on a roller-coaster for the past 15 years or so, soaring high at moments of exhilaration and ambitious expectations, then plummeting to earth in gut-wrenching disappointment. Reforming prevailing political, economic, security and administrative systems in the Arab world is a critical prerequisite for any hopes for stability, prosperity and a normal life for the majority of citizens. continue...

R.I.P.: Nonproliferation

by Immanuel Wallerstein
Released: 15 Aug 2007

The concept of nuclear non-proliferation has been in trouble since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. If the initial shock led to much sentiment worldwide to banish somehow this weapon, this sentiment has been losing support ever since. The concept did limp along for 62 years, which is pretty long, considering how improbable it always was that any country would renounce access to powerful weapons that other countries possessed. However, the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, officially announced on July 27, 2007, can be considered the final nail in the coffin of a hopeless idea. continue...

Chug Milk, Shed Pounds? Not So Fast

By MELANIE WARNER

Published: June 21, 2005

WANT to lose weight? Eat more dairy products. That is the message the milk industry and sellers of yogurt and cheese have been promoting recently in TV and print ads.

A milk ad suggests dairy products play a role in weight loss. conitnue....

Got milk and got controversy

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

Will drinking milk help you lose weight? Milk-mustache ads featuring celebrities such as actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Bebe Neuwirth or TV advice-meister Dr. Phil McGraw either promise or strongly suggest that it does.

Actress and model Elizabeth Hurley, the newest "got milk?" celebrity, flaunts her physique. Milk Processors Education Program

For example, a recent "Got Milk?" ad featuring singer Sheryl Crow reads: "Studies suggest that the nutrients in milk can play an important role in weight loss. So if you're trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, try drinking 24 ounces of low-fat or fat-free milk every 24 hours as part of your reduced-calorie diet."

But studies on dairy's role in weight loss have shown mixed results. And a new entry in the mix is an epidemiological study released Wednesday that says dairy consumption doesn't have an effect on long-term weight loss for men. continue...

Panesar left to fight lonely battle on the home front

By David Llewellyn at The Oval
Published: 13 August 2007

Tradition has always had it that The Oval is an English spinner's heaven, but lately the south London ground has turned into hell for the homeboys. continue...

Dravid sets out to build monument to India's three graces

The man the fans love to call 'The Wall' has always provided a fittingly solid foundation for the beautiful feats of two other greats

By James Lawton
Published: 13 August 2007

When India's captain Rahul Dravid finally allowed England a glimpse at the mountain peak target of 500 runs he had fashioned for them with considerable Oriental subtlety, if not befuddling obscurity, the crowd remembered they were in a cricket ground of some significance. The Mexican wave stopped promptly. Ironic cheers for Indian runs ceased. continue...

India 664 & 180-6 dec, England 345 & 56-0: Dravid puts block on England's faint hopes of salvaging series

By Angus Fraser at The Oval
Published: 13 August 2007

For 35 minutes of an otherwise mundane day it appeared as though England had an outside chance of producing something very, very special. In a high-quality spell of fast bowling James Anderson trapped Wasim Jaffer lbw and knocked Sachin Tendulkar's middle and leg stumps out of the ground and a beauty from Chris Tremlett forced Dinesh Karthik to edge to slip. continue...

India at 60: special report

Since it cast off colonial rule in August 1947, India has become one of the most powerful nations on earth. But what has it sacrificed along the way? Andrew Buncombe goes in search of the Subcontinent's soul
Published: 10 August 2007

Also with this article:
'An example to the world' | Voices of India | India: the timeline
Ten miles south of Delhi, where the dusty scrub has been cleared and replaced by an ocean of quick-setting concrete, India is road-testing a new vision of its future. Gurgaon is a satellite city with endless shopping malls, high-rise apartment blocks and more than one million people. It is also the laboratory for an experiment with global implications. continue...

Hot dogs for Bush and Sarkozy - but no sign of Cecilia

By John Lichfield in Paris
Published: 13 August 2007

President George Bush and President Nicolas Sarkozy ate hot dogs and went for a ride on a speedboat together in Maine at the weekend, restoring the chummy Franco-American presidential relations severed by the Iraq war. continue...

'Casablanca' to be remade by Bollywood

By Andrew Buncombe in Delhi
Published: 12 August 2007

The setting is not Rick's Café in Nazi-controlled Morocco but a restaurant in southern India, and the conflict is not the Second World War but the current ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. continue...

How green is your hotel? Now you can find out

By Ian Herbert
Published: 13 August 2007

Amid evidence that British tourists would rather their hotel be sustainably run than have five stars, the UK tourist board VisitBritain wants to create a green marque that will endorsegenuinely green credentials. continue...

Britain's 'invisible army' of African slaves

By Emily Dugan
Published: 13 August 2007

Brought into the country under false identities and tricked into leaving their families with the promise of an education and a better future, hundreds of African children are being trafficked into the UK for a life of servitude, according to human rights campaigners. continue...

Majority of Americans Understand Little about Latin American Neighbors

Zogby: Majority of Americans Understand Little about Latin American
Neighbors
56% of American adults believe China threatens U.S. influence in Central
and South America

As the U.S. struggles with a sagging public image in many Latin American
countries, American adults show a stunning ignorance about the region, a
new Zogby Interactive poll shows.

Only 10% of online poll respondents said they were familiar with Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva, the second-term president of Brazil, South
America's largest country. And just 20% were familiar with Felipe
Calderon, the President of Mexico, who was elected last summer in an
extremely close race that captured global headlines.

The Zogby Interactive poll included 7,362 adults nationwide and was
conducted July 27–30, 2007. It carries a margin of error of +/– 1.2
percentage points.

Asked which Latin American countries are the biggest allies to the U.S.,
Mexico is seen as the top ally, while Brazil is seen as a close second.
Costa Rica is seen as the third greatest ally of the U.S. Asked which
countries in the region are least friendly to the U.S., Venezuela and
Cuba predictably topped the list. But Americans listed Colombia—which
has been the U.S.'s closest ally in the past decade—as a distant third.

"The poll suggests that American adults are badly misinformed about the
region," said Peter Hakim, the president of the Inter-American Dialogue,
a Washington think tank that collaborated with Zogby on the poll. "Most
Americans believe Brazil and Mexico are the U.S.'s best friends in the
region, but the great majority cannot identify the president of either
country, and they mistakenly identify Washington's closest ally in the
region, Colombia, as an adversary," Hakim noted. "While US citizens
identify two familiar adversaries in Latin America as Cuba and
Venezuela, they do not know much about their friends," said Hakim.

The Bush Administration considers Colombia one of its staunchest allies
in the region, backing Plan Colombia with more than a half-billion
dollars per year for its anti-drug, anti-guerrilla campaign. Colombia
gets more foreign aid than any other country in the world outside the
Middle East/Afghanistan arc.

More than half – 56% – said they believe China's increased involvement
in Latin America represents a serious threat to American influence
there. Among those respondents who identify themselves as most
politically liberal, 48% said China's increased involvement in the
region represented a serious threat to the U.S., but the most
conservative respondents were much more concerned – 76% said China's
activity was a serious threat to America. Just 10% said such involvement
by China posed little or no threat at all to the U.S. role there.

"The poll results on China suggest a huge gap between U.S. public
perception and reality," Hakim said. "Among the range of issues that are
meaningful to U.S.-Latin America relations and to the region's economic
vitality, I must say that China, as a threat to the U.S. in our own
hemisphere, does not rise to the top of the list," Hakim said. "China's
involvement with Latin America, although increasing, simply cannot
compare to long-standing commercial, political, and social ties that
Latin America has had with the U.S. and Europe. Any threat from China is
among the lower-priority worries the U.S. faces in the region," he
added. "Indeed, many observers believe that Chinese involvement in Latin
America will, in the end, benefit all parties—the U.S., Latin America,
and China," Hakim said.

The wide–ranging survey about Latin American issues also showed that
majorities of American adults believed it is time for the U.S. to open
negotiations with Raul Castro, the stand–in Cuban president for brother
Fidel, in an effort to improve relations between the two countries.
While 58% felt the two countries should be talking about their future
relationship, 56% said it is time for the U.S. to remove the travel
restrictions on Cuba and to end the economic embargo against the island
nation that sits just 90 miles south of Florida.

One in four American adults (26%) gave President Bush positive job
approval marks specifically for his handling of U.S. relations with
Latin America. Just 29% said they think the Bush administration has done
an adequate job of focusing on Latin American issues and building
stronger relationships with the region, while 60% disagreed with that
statement.

A majority – 55% – said they believe the American economy benefits from
migrant workers from Latin America, while 48% said the U.S. should
pursue more free trade agreements with Latin American nations. One in
three U.S. adults disagreed, however, saying they do not believe the
U.S. should pursue more free trade agreements with southern neighbors.

The American public's view of one well-known trade agreement in
particular, NAFTA, might be the reason for lack of support for new trade
agreements in the region. A substantial plurality (48%) believe that, of
the three nations involved in the North America Free Trade
Agreement—Canada, the U.S., and Mexico—the U.S. has been most harmed by
NAFTA, which was signed into law by President Clinton in the 1990s. Just
3% said they think Canada has been most harmed, while 12% said they
think Mexico has gotten the short end of the stick. Conversely,
respondents, by a three-to-one margin, believe Mexico has been a bigger
beneficiary than the U.S. under the trade agreement.

"The poll results reveal that U.S. public opinion is totally confused
about what's going on with trade," Hakim said. "The American public even
seems to be contradicting itself in some of the results. How can so many
Americans believe that the U.S. has been harmed by NAFTA—while nearly
half call for new trade agreements," he said.

For a complete methodological statement on this survey, please visit:
http://www.zogby.com/methodology/readmeth.dbm?ID=1205
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1346