LASIK is an elective procedure. As such, most insurance companies will not pay for it. Many people equate "elective" with "expensive" and choose to forgo procedures like LASIK, even if the procedure would greatly enhance their quality of life. The good news is elective procedures do not have to be financially crippling. With a flexible savings account (FSA) set up by your employer, elective procedures like LASIK can actually be tax free. What this means for you is a savings of up to 40 percent, which makes this wonderful procedure much more accessible ...

The self-proclaimed "Wal-Mart of Weed" is coming to New Jersey. A newly franchised marijuana superstore called "WeGrow" has plans to open up one of its 10,000+ square foot facilities in the Garden State later this year. While the store does not sell marijuana, it does provide assistance and merchandise to those who use and are licensed to sell medicinal marijuana, including showing them how to grow the drug hydroponically. (However, generally-speaking, drug possession is still largely illegal.) WeGrow opened its flagship store in Oakland, California, ...

Open a Connecticut newspaper on any given day and you'll likely see an ominous reminder: "Police to Focus on Distracted Driving Laws" or "Local, State Police Conduct Crackdown on Distracted Driving." Statewide efforts are underway to raise driver awareness about the connection between distracted driving and Connecticut car crashes. Sometimes that awareness comes with a steep price tag: a first-time offender found using an electronic device while driving will be fined $100, and fines escalate to $150 and $200 for second and third offenses. Connecticut ...

For years, the United States has battled the infamous "war on drugs." First coined by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970, the "war" was designed to crack down on drug offenses and the drug trade by increasing budget resources to clean-up crime and by implementing hard jail sentences for non-violent drug offenders. As a result, subsequent laws were passed heightening the penalties for drug-related offenses. The number of nationwide drug arrests therefore rose a whopping 126 percent by the 1980s, raising the number of incarcerated drug offenders twelvefold. ...

As concerns regarding deficit-spending have emerged as part of the national dialogue, lawmakers continue to reference the need to control health care fraud and reduce improper Medicare payments in order to conserve resources. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, in 2008 Medicaid and Medicare payments accounted for about half of reported improper payments in federal programs. In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that improper Medicaid payments accounted for $18.6 billion in waste in that fiscal year. As the government's ...

With today's increasingly mobile society, it is commonplace for a parent to relocate after a divorce. Being away from your children can be emotionally challenging, even for a short time. When you are away for long periods of time, it is critical to maintain relationships and emotional connections so that your children will understand that you are still a part of their world. This article will highlight the steps long-distance parents can take to keep their children close, from the perspective of a non-custodial parent whose children live out-of-state. Be Open and Honest Above ...

Being charged with accessing child pornography can lead to many questions for potential defendants. These are crimes that receive a lot of attention in the media, and those accused will have a long fight in front of them to clear their names. While child pornography laws have been in place for many years, the laws as written may not provide the goals that lawmakers intended. As technology changes, the law will need to adapt to be able to address all the issues that may arise. There are both federal and state laws in place regarding child pornography. Federal laws against ...

M&S Money has launched a Premium Club prize draw which will allow one lucky entrant to win 1 million points worth GBP10,000 to spend at M&S. Customers who join the exclusive M&S Premium Club by 30th June 2011 will be automatically entered into the prize draw. M&S Premium Club membership benefits include triple points on the M&S Credit Card* for all shopping at M&S, in-store and online. It also includes special treats throughout the year, including a birthday gift and seasonal treats, hot drinks vouchers at M&S Cafe and worldwide multi-trip ...

Debenhams has revealed that embarrassment is causing 85% of the female population to wear the wrong sized bra. Despite Debenhams carrying out over one million bra fits a year, the majority of women would rather spare their own blushes than go and get measured for a bra that does the job. The findings came from a survey by Debenhams, which showed that going topless, feeling uncomfortable and being made to feel embarrassed came out as reasons women felt reluctant to go for a professional bra fitting - all three are completely false. Debenhams head of lingerie buying ...

Guoman has announced that the general manager of the Royal Horseguard Hotel has joined the Leading Ladies of London. The collaboration of three of the most prominent businesswomen in hospitality has seen the launch of a ladies-only, executive industry group - Leading Ladies of London - in an effort to bring more women leaders into the hotel industry and to share efforts and experiences on how to make it to the top. The panel of high-powered, dynamic women who have together founded Leading Ladies of London are themselves three of the most successful businesswomen in ...

Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija has shown its support for the biggest Dancesport competitions in Latvia. The Latvian Championship and the Latvian Cup Competition both took place at the Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija, with the Radisson Blu Hotel in Riga, Latvia being the main sponsor of these compeitions. In honour of Radisson Blu Hotels in Riga sponsoring the compeitions, the title given to the state level competitors was named the Radisson Blu Cup. This was the final championship and the best couples will go through to represent the State in the European and the World Championships ...

LV= has launched a new iPhone app for motorists called LV= My Car. It is a multi-utility application that features five clickable options for users to chose from including a car profile function, traffic maps, local info maps and for LV= customers only, an accident toolkit and call LV= tool. Each option takes the user to a separate page and offers a different service. The car profile function allows users to input information about their own car to be stored on the app. Users can either enter their vehicle registration number whereby a third party provider will determine ...

High street fashion retailer New Look is revolutionising the way they advertise by using style savvy customers and staff in the soon to launch '100 Days of Summer' campaign. Developing the trend for using real people, the popular store has taken the notion one step further by enlisting the help of 100 real girls and boys with real street style- more than any other brand has done before. The stylish group will feature in TV advertising which will air from 9th May 2011 as well as in press, billboards and online. The 'NewLookistas' as they are being dubbed, (New Look ...

Customers of Service USA, one of the leading providers of field consumer and business electronics warranty services in the United States and Canada, now have an easier way to get answers to many common questions online - the Service USA Customer Answer Center. "Our new Service USA Customer Answer Center enables our customers to instantly get answers to the most common questions about our products and services," said Will McCusker, J.D., President of Service USA Inc. "We've incorporated years of feedback and questions from our customers into the new center ...

McCusker & Company of the Caribbean, a leading provider of extended warranty protection development services, will be hosting an informative conference and seminar for clients and consumer electronic warranty retailers November 1-4 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "This conference is a must attend for our clients and prospect clients in the consumer electronics warranty industry," said McCusker & Company President Will L. McCusker. "Not only will there be great information about warranty programs, but some of the hottest sales training, value added programs, ...

Middle school students who were offered healthier cafeteria food, more physical education and lessons about health choices improved their cholesterol levels and resting heart rates, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research 2011 Scientific Sessions. "This four-year school intervention in Ann Arbor, Mich., was designed to promote healthier lifestyle choices and it shows that programs like this could have long-term impact on obesity and other health risks," said Elizabeth A. Jackson, M.D., M.P.H., co-author ...

Earlier this year, Boston University researchers and collaborators conducted a mobile greenhouse gas audit in Boston and found hundreds of natural gas leaks under the streets and sidewalks of Greater Boston. Nathan Phillips, associate professor of geography and environment and director of BU's Center for Environmental and Energy Studies (CEES), and his research partners will present these and related findings at NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Global Monitoring Annual Conference, May 17-18 in Boulder, Colorado. Phillips and partners Picarro, Inc., Gas Safety ...

This release is available in German. The era of gas guzzlers that clatter through streets and pollute the air is over. Cars rolling off the assembly line today are cleaner, quieter and – in terms of their performance weight – more efficient than ever before. Nevertheless, development continues. Ever-stricter environmental regulations and steadily rising fuel costs are increasing the demand for cars that further reduce their impact on the environment. But customer demands are often tough for manufacturers to meet: car bodies should be safe yet light-weight and engines ...

Fungi play key roles in nature and are valued for their great importance in industry. Consider citric acid, a key additive in several foods and pharmaceuticals produced on a large-scale basis for decades with the help of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. While A. niger is an integral player in the carbon cycle, it possesses an arsenal of enzymes that can be deployed in breaking down plant cell walls to free up sugars that can then be fermented and distilled into biofuel, a process being optimized by U.S. Department of Energy researchers. Published online ahead ...

(Boston) – Researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified unhealthy substance use as a risk factor for not receiving all appropriate preventive health services. The findings, which currently appear in BMJ Open, identify unhealthy substance use as a barrier to completion of mammography screening and influenza vaccination. Cancer and influenza are among the leading causes of mortality in the United States. Influenza is preventable, in part, through vaccination, and mortality from cervical, breast and colorectal ...

Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that an important class of stem cells known as "induced pluripotent stem cells," or iPSCs, derived from an individual's own cells, could face immune rejection problems if they are used in future stem cell therapies. In today's advance online issue of the journal Nature, the researchers report the first clear evidence of immune system rejection of cells derived from autologous iPSCs that can be differentiated into a wide variety of cell types. Because iPSCs are not derived from embryonic tissue and are not subject to the federal ...

Toronto, ON – Facebook is well-known for connecting friends, publicizing events and allowing people ample space to procrastinate online. But recently, a scientist at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) helped illuminate a powerful new use for the social networking tool. In January, UTSC PhD candidate Devin Bloom helped conduct the first ichthyological survey on Guyana's remote Cuyuni River. Led by Oregon State University's Dr. Brian Sidlauskas, the goal was to find out which species of fish live in the Cuyuni and get a good estimate of their abundance. During ...

On April 3, 2011, The Spa on Green Street received a distinguished honor when they were announced as the grand winner of the new Les Nouvelles Esthetiques & Spa Award. Recognized for their excellence in the green/wellness category, The Spa on Green Street emphasizes the importance of preventative care, lifestyle changes, ongoing fitness programs, and environmental responsibility. Dedicated to the sustained health of their guests and the environment through education and individualized and group programs, The Spa on Green Street is committed to finding ways to improve ...

Two proteins that are abnormally modified in the brains of patients with Alzheimer disease collude, resulting in ill effects on the crucial energy centers of brain cells, according to new findings published online in Neurobiology of Aging. The research raises the possibility that pathological forms of two proteins, amyloid beta and tau, which make up the pathological hallmarks of the brains of Alzheimer patients – plaques and tangles – may work in tandem to decrease the survival of brain cells. The findings come as part of a bundle of results from several laboratories ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In the 1980s and '90s, competition in the computer industry was all about "clock speed" — how many megahertz, and ultimately gigahertz, a chip could boast. But clock speeds stalled out almost 10 years ago: Chips that run faster also run hotter, and with existing technology, there seems to be no way to increase clock speed without causing chips to overheat. In this week's issue of the journal Science, MIT researchers and their colleagues at the University of Augsburg in Germany report the discovery of a new physical phenomenon that could yield transistors ...