The Philanthropic Shopper ? Chegg for Good: 2012 Overview

Chegg started as a textbook rental company for college students, but they have evolved into something even greater. In 2011, the company launched Chegg for Good, which has done amazing things for education, the environment, and communities from around the world. This past year has especially been exciting for Chegg for Good ? they supported music education with superstar Taylor Swift and sent students to Zambia and South Africa to learn about social entrepreneurship, foreign aid, advocacy, and youth empowerment.

Although music education has sometimes been underestimated, or even neglected, Chegg has always recognized its potential. According to a 2007 study published in the Journal for Research in Music Education, quality music education instruction has been tied to improved academic performance. Specifically, it has been correlated to better scores on standardized tests, which, in turn, may help students get accepted into their desired college or graduate school.

Chegg wanted to give music education the attention it deserves, so they decided to create a contest which would give away $50,000 in music grants to schools! Each student was given an opportunity to enter by voting on Facebook, and the school with the most votes would also win an exclusive concert with the Grammy Award winning performer, Taylor Swift. Thousands of universities and high schools from across the nation participated, but only the top five schools with the highest participation rate could win the grants. Seton High School, Terra Environmental Research Institute, Bellarmine College Preparatory, and California Institute of Technology each won a $10,000 grant for music, along with Harvey Mudd College, which was given the generous grant and an exclusive performance from Taylor Swift on their campus.

?Taylor Swift is not only a talented musician, but is also an amazing role model for our nation?s students,? said Dan Rosensweig, President and CEO of Chegg. ?Chegg?s mission is to deliver value to students so we?re thrilled to partner with Taylor to bring a unique and intimate concert to her fans at one lucky school as well as provide music grants to five deserving schools through our Chegg for Good program.?

In addition to giving away grants, Chegg believes in making a difference in the world ? and they know that positive change starts with inspired youth. This past summer, Chegg teamed up with ONE, an international advocacy group co-founded by Bono of U2, to give college students a hands-on internship in Zambia and South Africa. The interns visited HIV and AIDS health clinics and learned about international aid programs, such as PEPFAR and USAID. The initiatives help reduce poverty in HIV/AIDS instances through education, counseling, and medication. One intern, who was a medical student at Loyola Marymount University, said that the experience has made her realize she wants to work at similar clinics after she graduates.

The interns also celebrated Nelson Mandela?s birthday with school children, and watched five year old students talk about their aspirations to be doctors and police officers. Despite their lack of resources, the interns learned how much people in other countries truly value education and how easily it can be taken for granted.

Furthermore, the interns visited the Apartheid Museum to learn about the history of these countries. It helped them understand where today?s struggles came from and how strides are currently being made.

After the humbling experience, students returned to their campuses promising that they would help raise awareness to the issues of extreme poverty, preventable disease, and the limited access to quality education faced by millions of African children. We have all heard about tragic stories occurring in foreign countries, but it?s so much different to hear about it coming from the interns who have interacted with these extraordinary people. Thanks to Chegg, the students gained a once-in-a-lifetime experience that taught them how to serve as catalysts for change.

Of course, it?s great to hear about all of this amazing work that Chegg has done?but if you?re a college student with a tight budget, you?ll need to get textbooks from a place with affordable prices. Fortunately, Chegg keeps that in mind. You can use the code from the image above and save 10% off 3 or more textbook rentals! Textbook rentals are an eco-friendly option, because hey, let?s face it ? you won?t be too torn up returning that Statistics book.

Source: http://www.we-care.com/blog/2013/chegg-for-good-2012-overview

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Marc Trestman, Bears' New Coach, Eager To Work With Jay Cutler

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Marc Trestman had it all mapped out, right up to the Chicago Bears' championship parade. It was there on the calendar.

In his first interview for their head coaching job, he had every day for the next 13 months filled in, detailing step by step how the Bears would get to the Super Bowl.

"He had every day accounted for, every time slot accounted for, every meeting accounted for," general manager Phil Emery said.

"Not only that, but he had included the provisions of our (collective bargaining agreement) in the states, which takes a nuclear scientist to figure out exactly what you can do. He had called so many people, his friends in the league, he knew all the parameters of the CBA."

Now that he's been hired, Trestman can implement his plan.

He said the Bears' job is one of the best in sports and he can't wait to work with quarterback Jay Cutler.

"This is clearly a franchise that has the highest expectations for its team, where winning consistently is a standard," Trestman said Thursday at his introductory news conference.

He wasn't trying to be presumptuous or make any championship guarantees with that calendar. He was simply trying to make a point.

"It's a symbolic word, but the goal is the parade, right?" Trestman said. "How are we going to get there? If you don't know where you're going, how can you plan how to get there? That was my point to Phil. We have to fill in each day because they're all important to getting to that point."

He sees a big opportunity in working with Cutler, a strong-armed and mobile quarterback whose talent has never been in question even as the results haven't always reflected that.

"I can't wait to get my hands on him," he said.

Getting the most out of Cutler would go a long way toward invigorating a stagnant offense and getting the Bears to the playoffs on a consistent basis after they missed the postseason for the fifth time in six years. Those issues led to Lovie Smith's firing, and the Bears turned to Trestman this week after an extensive search.

He spent the past five seasons coaching the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, leading them to two championships, and was a longtime NFL assistant who was known for his work with quarterbacks.

"Marc has a quietness to him, a quiet confidence, high level of intellect, those are attractive qualities," Emery said. "The thing that was most remarkable that came out of his interviews and when discussing to people who Marc is was there is a heck of a football coach under all that quietness and confidence and intellect.

"Do not underestimate Marc Trestman as a competitor. He's as tough-minded and football-oriented than anybody I've been around in 31 years in this game."

Emery confirmed Trestman beat out offensive coordinators Bruce Arians of Indianapolis and Seattle's Darrell Bevell for the job. All three were brought back for second interviews, and Bevell was the first eliminated from that group because he lacked head coaching experience.

Emery cited Trestman's flexibility and success at various stops in the NFL and CFL.

He was an offensive coordinator with Cleveland, San Francisco, Arizona and Oakland. He worked with Bernie Kosar as an assistant at the University of Miami and again when he was on the Browns' staff in the 1980s. Trestman helped the Raiders reach the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season with an offense he geared for Rich Gannon, the league's MVP that year.

One of Trestman's most immediate tasks will be to build a connection with Cutler. They actually spent time together for a few days in North Carolina when the quarterback was coming out of Vanderbilt in 2006.

Trestman, who in recent years worked as an NFL consultant and helped QBs entering the league, was asked about that.

"I had the chance to meet with Jay 10 years ago in a hotel room in Raleigh, N.C.," he said. "It was raining. We had no facility, we had no receivers. So we basically sat in a room for two days and stared at each other. It was a difficult environment to try to get the most out of somebody. When I sat with him, I found out he had some very core capabilities. He was tough, he was smart, and he loved football. I had the opportunity to meet with him a couple days ago. He's a different guy. He's in tune to where he is and where he wants to go."

Does he see Cutler as a franchise quarterback? Trestman sidestepped the question.

He said Cutler "loves football" and "wants to do everything he can to help this franchise." He added they'll work with a "sense of urgency to get him to be the guy that he wants to be and we want him to be." But he did not use that term ? franchise quarterback.

"He wants Jay to earn that in his eyes," said Emery, who has called Cutler a franchise QB. "That's OK, I'm good with that."

Cutler has one year left on his contract, and the Bears have to decide if he can lead them to the top. Since he arrived in Chicago in 2009, he's taken a beating behind a struggling offensive line and lacked a go-to receiver until Brandon Marshall arrived this season.

He'll also be working in his fourth system with the Bears, with Trestman calling the plays and Aaron Kromer hired from New Orleans to replace Mike Tice as offensive coordinator and serve as line coach.

The Bears also brought in Joe DeCamillis from Dallas to replace Dave Toub as special teams coordinator. Now, they're looking for a new defensive coordinator to replace Rod Marinelli after he decided not to return.

They also announced Thursday night that they were letting Tice, Bob Babich (linebackers), Jeremy Bates (quarterbacks), Mike DeBord (tight ends), Darryl Drake (receivers), Tim Holt (offensive line) and Tim Spencer (running backs) go.

On defense, it's not clear if the Bears will switch from the 4-3 to the 3-4 formation. Trestman is open to change, but he also realizes the Bears' defense ranked among the league's best this past season.

"They have excellent football players and they've been well-coached," Trestman said. "I don't know the personnel on our football team right now. So to answer the question is premature. If you ask me 3-4 months from now, I'll be in a much better position to answer that question."

Another issue on defense: Brian Urlacher's future. The eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker has an expiring contract and missed the last four games with a hamstring injury after being limited by a knee problem.

"This guy's been a great player for this team," Trestman said. "I recognize, certainly, what he's meant to this locker room and to the fan base of Chicago. When we get done here, we'll begin to try to answer some of those questions."

_____

Earlier on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/marc-trestman-bears-new-coach_n_2502100.html

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TechNet Radio: How Microsoft IT Developed Secure LoB Applications for the Mobile Workforce

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Source: http://blogs.technet.com/b/bobh/archive/2013/01/16/technet-radio-how-microsoft-it-developed-secure-lob-applications-for-the-mobile-workforce.aspx

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Proposals to Congress: 1. Universal background check 2. Restore ban on military-...

Proposals to Congress:
1. Universal background check
2. Restore ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10 round limit on magazines.
3. Congress needs to "help rather than hinder" law enforcement officials as they do their jobs, crackdown on weapons buyers who turn around and sell to criminals.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/kgoradio/posts/10151333319149214

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Twenty hostages escape from Islamic militants in Algeria, reports

Twenty foreign hostages ? including some Americans and Europeans ? have escaped from Islamic militants holding them at an Algerian natural gas facility, says an Algerian source. The militants said they had captured 41 foreigners, including seven Americans, yesterday.

By Aomar Ouali and Paul Schemm,?Associated Press / January 17, 2013

About two dozen hostages may still be in captivity at the Amenas natural gas facility in the eastern central region of Algeria, where Islamist militants from Mali raided and took hostages Wednesday Jan. 16, 2013.

(AP Photo/BP)

Enlarge

At least 20 foreign hostages escaped Thursday from Islamist militants who had taken over an Algerian natural gas complex in the Sahara desert, an Algerian security official reported.

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Americans and Europeans were among those who escaped, he said, without elaborating. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Al Jazeera and Reuters are also reporting that that 35 hostages and 15 militants were killed.

At least 20 gunmen attacked the vast complex early Wednesday in retaliation for France's military intervention against al Qaeda-linked rebels in neighboring Mali.

The militants, who claimed to have 41 hostages, have been in a tense standoff since then, surrounded by the Algerian military, which has helicopters flying over the plant.

Some 30 Algerian workers fled the complex earlier in the day, suggesting that the militants are having trouble managing the many hostages they have taken at the vast natural gas complex, the third largest in oil-rich Algeria.

Algerian authorities, meanwhile, were talking with tribal Algerian Tuareg leaders in hopes of mediating the dispute that involves dozens of hostages

The group claiming responsibility ? called Katibat Moulathamine or the Masked Brigade ? originally said it had captured 41 foreigners, including seven Americans, in the surprise attack on the Ain Amenas gas plant, 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) south of the capital of Algiers.

Two people, one a Briton and the other Algerian, were killed in the initial assault, which the U.S. defense secretary has called "a terrorist attack." The kidnapping is one of the largest ever attempted by a militant group in North Africa.

The hostage-takers are reportedly seeking a safe passage out of the isolated area, something Algerian authorities have already rejected.

Another Algerian official, also not authorized to speak publicly about the attack, said authorities are in contact with tribal elders among Algerian Tuaregs, who are ethnically related to the rebels fighting the Mali government, some of whom have close al-Qaida links.

The France-based head of a catering company at the plant told French media before the latest escape that some 40 foreigners appeared to be held hostage in a separate area from the Algerian workers.

Regis Arnoux of the Mareseille-based CIS Catering company said while electricity to the plant has been cut, it had at least three weeks of food supplies.

Militants phoned a Mauritanian news outlet to say one of its affiliates had carried out the operation and that France should end its intervention in Mali to ensure the safety of the hostages.

But the militants themselves appeared to have no escape, cut off by surrounding troops and army helicopters overhead. Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila said it appeared that the militants were hoping to negotiate their departure away from the area ? a notion he rejected.

"Security forces have surrounded the area and cornered the terrorists, who are in one wing of the complex's living quarters," Kabila said.

Kabila also rejected theories that the militants had come from Libya, 60 miles (100 kilometers) away, or from Mali, more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away. He said the roughly 20 well armed gunmen were from Algeria itself, operating under orders from Moktar Belmoktar, al-Qaida's strongman in the Sahara.

Yves Bonnet, the former head of France's spy service, also dismissed the idea that the operation was specifically linked to the French action in Mali due to the amount of organization it involved.

"It was an operation conceived well in advance ? spectacular and needing a lot of preparation ... It was not at all an improvised operation," he told the Europe 1 radio. "The operation was probably already scheduled and simply getting all those people into the desert would take several days."

It is certainly the largest haul of hostages since 2003, when the radical group that later evolved into al-Qaida in North Africa snatched 32 Western tourists. This is also the first time Americans have been involved.

BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach, operate the gas field. A Japanese company, JGC Corp, provides services for the facility as well.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the identities of the hostages. Ireland said a 36-year-old Irish man was among them, and Britain and the U.S. said their citizens were taken, without giving numbers. The Norwegian company Statoil said 12 of its employees were captured ? nine Norwegians and three locals. Japanese media reported at least 3 Japanese among the hostages and the Malaysian government confirmed two of its citizens were taken.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told BBC radio on Thursday that he has dispatched a team to Algeria to help at the British embassy there.

"Excuses being used by terrorists and murderers who are involved ? there is no excuse for such behavior, whatever excuse they may claim," he said. "It is absolutely unacceptable, of course. It is, in this case, the cold-blooded murder of people going about their business. So there is no excuse, whether it be connected to Libya, Mali or anywhere else."

In Rome on Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared that the U.S. "will take all necessary and proper steps" to deal with the attack in Algeria. He would not detail what such steps might be but condemned the action as "terrorist attack."

BP said it would not identify staff members who were taken hostage for security reasons.

"BP's overriding priority is to do all we can to ensure the safety of our staff and to support their families during this anguishing time," BP CEO Bob Dudley said in a statement. "All our efforts are focused on supporting the authorities to secure a peaceful resolution of the situation and the safe return of our colleagues and all other workers being detained."

______

Schemm reported from Rabat. Associated Press writers Lori Hinnant in Paris and Robert Barr in London, contributed to this report.

press.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/xiVQQkjtq-c/Twenty-hostages-escape-from-Islamic-militants-in-Algeria-reports

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Business Advice: 6 Simple and Effective Tips to Successfully Make ...

After reading today's tips below to successfully guide you with growing your own online business, please share it on Twitter and Facebook. We appreciate your feedback. Thanks!??

The buying and selling or the transfer and exchange of goods and services between organizations or individuals through the internet is called an online business, internet business, electronic business, or an e-business.

Are you planning to start a new online business but are overwhelmed and confused on how to begin the process??

Fortunately for you, this article will help get you on the right track with?simple steps and money making tips to help you begin and manage your new online business.

Step One:?Discover the appropriate niche for your target market.

Doing so will help you make a solid business plan. Your ideal business plan must include all requirements. Remember to keep track of things to do and how to carry these tasks out for starting the business.

Step Two: ?Make sure to do lots of research in order to get familiar with the internet and the niche of your potential business that you would like to start.

This provides you with extra knowledge about proper resources and essential tools to prepare an effective business strategy.

Step Three: Register a professional?domain name.?

A domain name is a unique web address that represents your online business. Enrolling?and choosing a domain name is a major step to start an e- business.??It must be user-friendly, thoughtful, efficient, and attractive to your future customers.?

Registration of your domain should be done carefully to avoid security hazards and scams.?Be sure to consult with ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) before registering your unique domain. Their website provides a wealth of information about domain name system management and several system management functions.

Step Four:?Do extensive research to find a reputable company to host your website.

There are many secure web hosting companies that are reliable, provide 24/7 support and provide more than enough space on their servers to for all of your website hosting needs.?

Step Five:?Properly plan and design your website because it will play a cruical role in the success of your online business.

Your website must be user-friendly, effective, and visually attractive to visitors because it helps to build a loyal following of visitors and to increase traffic. There are many tools and user friendly software available to create a professional looking website.?

If you do not have the time to do it yourself, you can always hire an affordable web designer to create your website.?

Step Six: Begin advertising and marketing because this is the critical stage that will generate more money and gain long term success.?

It costs you nothing more than time to set up a business pages on social media sites like Facebook,?Google+,?Twitter or any other popular social media platform.

This is the biggest advantage of?social media marketing?that you can start this marketing campaign with zero investment.

You can use content marketing strategies as a advertising and marketing tool to turn your website visitors into paying clients.

?

3 Simple and Effective Tips to Successfully Make Income Online

1.) Promote the products and/or services of reputable companies on your website.

Working as a mediator to sell the products and/or services of others will create a good source of income and will improve the ranking of your website. Be sure to research companies thoroughly to steer clear of false products with high payout rates.

?2.) Search for professionals who are in need of professional content writers and bloggers.

This is a simple way to get paid by companies for writing unique content on their specific products and services.?You can write articles or blog posts for them and get paid huge amounts of money.

3.) Promote and sell your own products and/or services on your website.

Doing so will?allow you to earn unlimited income and improve your site rankings at the same time.

On a final note, registering a domain name, finding a web host, and hiring a web designer will require money to get your new online business up and running.

If you have enough money to cover all start-up expenses, then you?re well on your way to earning the money you deserve.

What if you do not have the funds to get your online business up and running?

Should you throw your hands up in the air and just give up?

NO!

Fortunately, you have a terrific option available for you.

If you do not have the funds available to cover start up expenses, then its best to choose short-term?payday loans?with easy repayment solutions.?The companies that can provide these types short-term loans will usually give you the required start up funds instantly and without any credit checks.

Now that you have been given simple and ?realistic tips on how to earn money by starting your online business, remember to always stay trustworthy by delivering the right products to your customers.

Trust must be gained because it will play a vital role to your continued success with your online business.

About the Contributing Author:

Alicia, today's contributing author, is a specialist in financial blogging from Manchestr. Apart from blogging, she does research on payday loans. She also has an interest in gathering knowledge related to technology, S.E.O., finance, and making income online. Alicia adores sharing her knowledge with others . Be sure to follow Alicia on Twitter?@financeport.

Do you need more business success tips to help keep you ahead while building your home business??

The Woman in Leadership community provides additional?business advice, articles, videos,?and blog posts.

Recent Posts on Business Advice?

?

Source: http://www.womaninleadership.com/2013/01/business-advice-6-simple-and-effective-tips-to-successfully-make-income-with-your-online-business.html

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ER visits tied to energy drinks double since 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? The young man stumbled into the emergency room late one night after a house party, saying his heart wouldn't stop pounding and he could barely breathe after downing liquor mixed with energy drinks.

Emergency physician Steve Sun soon found the patient was so dehydrated he was going into kidney failure ? one of many troubling cases Sun says he has treated in recent years tied to energy drink consumption.

Sun's changing caseload appears in line with a new government survey that suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years, the same period in which the supercharged drink industry has surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.

"Five years ago, perhaps I would see one or two cases every three months or so. Now we're consistently seeing about two cases per month," said Sun, assistant medical director of the emergency department at St. Mary's Medical Center, on the edge of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

From 2007 to 2011, the government estimates the number of emergency room visits involving the neon-labeled beverages shot up from about 10,000 to more than 20,000. Most of the cases involved teens or young adults, according to the survey of the nation's hospitals released late last week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

More than half of the patients considered in the survey told doctors they had consumed only energy drinks. In 2011, about 42 percent of the cases involved energy drinks in combination with alcohol or drugs, such as the stimulants Adderall or Ritalin.

The beverage industry says energy drinks are safe and there is no proof linking the products to adverse reactions.

The report doesn't specify which symptoms brought people to the emergency room, but it calls energy drink consumption a "rising public health problem" that can cause insomnia, nervousness, headache, fast heartbeat and seizures that are severe enough to require emergency care.

Several emergency physicians said they had seen a clear uptick in the number of patients suffering from irregular heartbeats, anxiety and heart attacks who said they had recently downed an energy drink.

"A lot of people don't realize the strength of these things. I had someone come in recently who had drunk three energy drinks in an hour, which is the equivalent of 15 cups of coffee," said Howard Mell, an emergency physician in the suburbs of Cleveland, who serves as a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. "Essentially he gave himself a stress test and thankfully he passed. But if he had a weak heart or suffered from coronary disease and didn't know it, this could have precipitated very bad things."

The findings came as concerns over energy drinks have intensified following reports last fall of 18 deaths possibly tied to the drinks and so-called energy shots ? including a 14-year-old Maryland girl whose family filed a lawsuit after she drank two large cans of Monster Energy drinks and died. Monster says its products were not responsible for the death.

Two senators are calling for the Food and Drug Administration to investigate safety concerns about energy drinks and their ingredients.

Late last year, the FDA asked the U.S. Health and Human Services to update the figures its substance abuse research arm compiles about emergency room visits tied to energy drinks.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's survey was based on responses it receives from about 230 hospitals each year, a representative sample of about 5 percent of emergency departments nationwide. The agency then uses those responses to estimate the number of energy drink-related emergency department visits nationwide.

The more than 20,000 cases estimated for 2011 represent a small portion of the annual 136 million emergency room visits tracked by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The FDA said it was considering the findings and pressing for more details as it undertakes a broad review of the safety of energy drinks and related ingredients this spring.

"We will examine this additional information ... as a part of our ongoing investigation into potential safety issues surrounding the use of energy-drink products," FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said in a statement.

Beverage manufacturers fired back at the survey, saying the statistics were misleading and taken out of context.

"This report does not share information about the overall health of those who may have consumed energy drinks, or what symptoms brought them to the ER in the first place," the American Beverage Association said in a statement. "There is no basis by which to understand the overall caffeine intake of any of these individuals ? from all sources."

Energy drinks remain a small part of the carbonated soft drinks market, representing only 3.3 percent of sales volume, according to the industry tracker Beverage Digest. Even as soda consumption has flagged in recent years, energy drinks sales are growing rapidly.

In 2011, sales volume for energy drinks rose by almost 17 percent, with the top three companies ? Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar ? each logging double-digit gains, Beverage Digest found. The drinks are often marketed at sporting events that are popular among younger people such as surfing and skateboarding.

From 2007 to 2011, the most recent year for which data was available, people from 18 to 25 were the most common age group seeking emergency treatment for energy drink-related reactions, the report found.

"We were really concerned to find that in four years the number of emergency department visits almost doubled, and these drinks are largely marketed to younger people," said Al Woodward, a senior statistical analyst with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration who worked on the report.

___

Follow Garance Burke on Twitter at http://twitter.com/garanceburke

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/er-visits-tied-energy-drinks-double-since-2007-093128662--finance.html

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