Doublethink reviews a collection of dystopic short stories, and picks their favorites.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is conducting a safety review of certain types of birth-control pills to see if they increase the risk of blood clots beyond that of other pills.

The agency said the review is focusing on products that contain drospirenone, which is used in pills including Yaz and Yasmin, which are marketed by Bayer AG . Drospirenone is a type of female sex hormone called a progestin.

Most birth control pills contain two types of hormones, estrogen and progestin. All types of pills increase the risk of blood clots. However, FDA said two recently published studies reported a greater risk of blood clots for women taking birth-control pills containing drospirenone compared to the risk for women taking birth-control pills containing another progestin known as levonorgestrel.

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Back in the day, being a small business owner was a bit simpler. You needed help getting things done so you went out and hired people, usually locally, to work for you. The idea of hiring a staff member on the other side of the country — or even the other side of the world — was pretty much unheard of.

But, as they say, “That was then; this is now.”

And from a small business owner’s perspective, now is so much better. Thanks to technological advances, global educational achievements, and a 21st-century mindset, we are no longer restricted to where we do business, or who we “hire” to help us get it done.

I’ve discussed the power of the cloud in a previous column. Recently, I caught up with Gary Swart, CEO of oDesk, a global employment company (the company describes itself as an “employment platform”) that enables business owners to hire and manage an online workforce, whether they be actual employees or independent contractors.

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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Birmingham’s Neal Jackson is from a family that knows all about building a lodging company from scratch.

His grandfather, Ervin Jackson Sr., was one of the original developers in 1952 of the well known Motel Birmingham on Crestwood Boulevard, now known as Delux Inn & Suites. His father, Cory Jackson Sr. in 1974 founded Birmingham-based Jackson Hospitality, which owns or manages nine hotels in Alabama and Louisiana and developed the 22-location Key West Inns brand 12 years ago.

Neal Jackson says he is counting on experience learned from his father in his new role as president of Centerstone Hotels, a hotel franchising company with offices in Birmingham and Orlando that he and his brother, Cory Jr., are partners in.

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One of the best things about working as a mystery shopper is that you can get paid to shop. You decide when you work, where you work and, to some extent, how you work. Of course one of the worst things about being a mystery shopper is that you run your own show. You don’t go into the office every day to find a list of shopping assignments waiting for you. As boss, secretary, and employee of You, Inc., you’ve got to come up with those opportunities yourself. Fortunately, there are some reliable sources out there which can lead you to the shopping opportunities you’re looking for, insuring that your money making ideas work for you.

The MSPA Website

The Mystery Shopping Providers’ Association (MSPA) was established to bring professional standards to the mystery shopping business. It currently represents over 400 companies worldwide, hosts industry conventions, has implemented a shopper training and certification program, and dedicates itself to helping mystery shopping become an ethical occupation which provides clients with reliable information on how to improve their customer service. For shoppers themselves, MSPA provides online forums, a resource page, and a list of job assignments under the sobriquet, jobslinger.  If you would like to look up company websites that are MSPA members, they also have a list of members.

Online Mystery Shopping Blogs