AP - The murder trial of a former University of Virginia lacrosse player has been delayed again because a defense attorney is sick.
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Saturday, February 18, 2012
Ex-U.Va. lacrosse player's murder trial delayed (AP)
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Friday, February 17, 2012
Optimizing Your Caffeine Intake With an App
I agree that there are way too many variables to make a 'one size fits all' app. However, the issue of different tolerance levels was addressed in the last line of the post: "It also lets you change the 'optimal' and 'sleep' values if you're particularly resistant or weak to caffeine."
Does it allow for those of us who needs coffee to sleep?
I grew up in a culture where 7 cups a day was average, which, when accounting for those who don't drink coffee, meant 10-12 cups a day for coffee drinkers. Often including a bedside mug. Then I moved to the US, where people have a belief that coffee can make them unable to sleep, and that's when drinking making-love-in-a-canoe coffee. I think it's at least partially psychosomatic - people get restless from coffee because they expect to, and because it's a pick-me-up in the morning, they believe it's also going to wake them up if drunk at night.
Sure, caffeine is a stimulant, but American coffee has extremely low doses. The theobromine in a cup or bar of chocolate is more of a stimulant (never mind the sugar), and they don't seem to have the same belief about chocolate keeping them awake.
Sure, I have probably built up a tolerance, but I didn't have any problem with coffee keeping me awake when I started drinking it either. About a pot of strong coffee a day during summer at age 14, and I slept like a log. Nobody told me I would have problems sleeping, so I didn't.
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Business Consulting Firms ? Bringing Your Start-Up Company to the ...
Business consulting firms help you streamline operations as you set up your own small business. Being a business owner is more difficult today, as you will have to deal with multinational companies along with locally established institutions. Having a small business consultant on your side offers you a fighting chance of succeeding. Their knowledge and understanding of the business world levels the playing field, providing you with an edge.
Why should you hire a business consulting firm?
Majority of small enterprise owners are getting into the business world for the first time. You might have limited or no understanding of operating a business efficiently if you haven?t had any past experience. A small business consultant offers you advice and guide you through building healthy business practices. It is possible to contend with the ?big guns? in the industry by working together and building a dynamic and efficient system.
Consultation agencies assist you from the beginning of your venture. First, they?re going to assess your company and discover what kind of manpower and equipment you will need. Next is the registration process. They understand the requirements for your registration procedure and will counsel you accordingly. Some agencies even offer to process the paperwork themselves. You could avoid any unnecessary and time-consuming steps with their expert guidance.
Business consulting firms don?t stop after your enterprise begins its operations. They will improve your current business practices by pointing out which ones work and which ones will need improvement. You won?t have to worry about not getting any straight answers ? they offer honest assessments and aren?t afraid to convey their findings. Making your business more efficient and systematic will help you perform well. Their understanding of your industry and competition can help you become an enterprise to watch out for.
How do you find an agency that suits your needs?
Consider your type of industry and what type of support you will require. You will want a small business consultant who specializes in your field. Try speaking with a few of their former clients to learn how they work. Find out whether or not the consultant improved their system and how they fulfilled each objective.
The kind of support you require varies on your knowledge of business processes and your familiarity with the market. You could find a consultancy firm that will stay with your company from the start until you are stable and equipped to run your own business. On the other hand, you might select a sit-down session with an expert if you already have previous experience in handling businesses. Each has its own set of benefits. An in-house consultant will provide you with easy access to support and make more accurate observations and advice. Sit-down consultants, meanwhile, can save you money because you only have to pay for your sessions with them.
Make sure the firm you select shares your vision. You can do this by asking them about their goals and business philosophies. You can work together towards attaining your business goals if you and your consultant share the same ideas on where you will take your business.
Writer works for a multinational company that hired small business consultants as a start-up enterprise and acknowledges small business consulting for the company?s international success.
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Thursday, February 16, 2012
Retail sector helps real estate market - Spokesman.com - Feb. 15 ...
February 15, 2012 in Business
Spokane?s affordability?key
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Like February skies, the forecast for Spokane and North Idaho?s real estate market is cloudy for the rest of 2012 except for a few bright spots, according to speakers at Tuesday?s annual Real Estate Market Forum at the Coeur d?Alene?Resort.
About a dozen speakers at the event said 2012 will be a slow, spotty climb and not a full-blown recovery. Most said the housing market and the overall job picture won?t approach normal growth rates until?2013.
Two economists handicapping Spokane?s job market said they expect growth of no more than half of 1 percent for?2012.
After losing about 4,000 jobs in 2009, Kootenai County?s job picture has stabilized, but is also not roaring. Alivia Body, Idaho?s Department of Labor regional economist, projects a half of 1 percent job growth in Kootenai County this?year.
One of the brightest spots in the mix is Spokane?s bubbling retail sector, said Chris Bell, NAI Black managing?broker.
Led by strong retailers such as Trader Joe?s, Apple, Ross Dress for Less and The North Face, Spokane?s retail picture is bright and looks to get stronger, Bell?said.
National and area retailers are responding to investors and to consumers by building new locations across Spokane, Bell?said.
Affordable retail space in the area makes companies and entrepreneurs willing to get ahead of the recovery by setting up stores here, he?added.
?The good news is that these retailers don?t seem to be waiting for things to turn around,? he said. ?They?re busting at the seams to fulfill their requirements for new store openings, and Spokane is on?sale.?
Bell said a number of national retailers are kicking tires and scouting new locations, including Dick?s Sporting Goods, Camping World and H&M clothing?stores.
Restaurants are also expanding, including a large number launched by local business owners. That boom, Bell said, ?shows that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive? in the?area.
Regional and national chains also are adding new locations; Chipotle Mexican Grill is about to open a store near Gonzaga University, and Montana-based MacKenzie River Pizza has recently added a new restaurant on Spokane?s South?Hill.
Bell said he believes the Spokane area has more than 700 different restaurants that employ about 14,000?people.
Another source of upbeat news is the apartment market. Demand has grown for multifamily housing in Spokane and Kootenai counties, with the result that rental rates have increased since 2009, said Jason Jackson, property manager of Black Realty?Management.
Jackson said it?s likely that trend will continue at least through 2012, as more baby boomers look to downsize their dwellings and the economy continues to constrain the pocketbooks of would-be?homebuyers.
Those tracking Spokane and North Idaho?s commercial office space market were not as hopeful,?however.
Marc Mowrer, of Kiemle & Hagood Co., noted that Spokane?s overall office space market has a 16 percent vacancy rate. The area with the most vacancies, he added, is Spokane Valley, with a vacancy rate of 21 percent. That?s the highest ever in Spokane Valley going back as far as anyone has kept records, he said after his?presentation.
Mowrer and Pat Eberlin, who tracks commercial activity in North Idaho for Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, both see 2012 continuing last year?s pattern of businesses in Class B offices upgrading and relocating in Class A office space. They do that, in large part, because landlords can?t raise rents on Class A space, and are frequently willing to offer deals to get tenants, he?said.
Two examples, according to Mowrer, were major relocations by Telect Inc. into Class A offices at the Liberty Lake Commercial Building and Liberty Mutual relocating workers from two Spokane area buildings into remodeled space at the Meadowwood Technology Campus in Liberty?Lake.
Source: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/feb/15/retail-sector-helps-real-estate-market/
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Obama' Valentine's Day warning: 'Do not forget!' (AP)
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama, popular in blue states, had a decidedly red message Tuesday: "Let me start with a quick public service announcement for all the gentlemen out there. Today is Valentine's Day."
"Do not forget!" he warned, suggesting that he himself could have used a reminder at some point in his relationship with his wife of 19 years, Michelle. "I speak from experience here."
"It is important that you remember this,' he continued in a preface to remarks about the benefits of a payroll tax cut. "And go big ? that's my advice."
It was the kind of counsel that might be slightly off message for a president trying to portray himself as fiscally prudent.
But on Valentine's Day men are wise to put cost aside.
And, no, the president did not forget his own obligation. At 2:39 p.m., he delivered a personal greeting on Twitter: "Hey, (at)MichelleObama: Happy Valentine's Day. -bo"
No word on how big he went.
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Iraqi-born Islamist cleric in Norway terror trial (AP)
OSLO, Norway ? An Iraqi-born cleric pleaded not guilty in a Norwegian court Wednesday to charges of making death threats against politicians and encouraging suicide bombings.
Prosecutors said Mullah Krekar, a 55-year-old Islamist who came to Norway as a refugee in 1991, faces several years in prison if found guilty.
Since his arrival, Krekar has made frequent trips to Iraq where he founded the Kurdish Ansar al-Islam, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and other nations. It is suspected of organizing suicide bombings against coalition forces in Iraq.
In 2005, a Norwegian court declared him a national security threat and ordered him deported, but later postponed the move because of concerns he could face execution or torture in Iraq.
Prosecutor Marit Bakkevig told the court Wednesday that Krekar had violated Norwegian terror laws by making threats that "were meant to cause fear in society" and force officials to halt the deportation order.
"The statements appear as persistent threats," she said.
Two years ago, Krekar told foreign reporters in Oslo that if he were deported to Iraq and killed, Norwegian officials would "pay with their lives," according to a transcript included in the indictment presented in court.
Charges also include comments Krekar made on NBC's news program "The Wanted" in 2009. He said America deserved the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, and condoned suicide bombings against Americans in Iraq. He is also charged with making death threats on various websites against others.
Krekar's lawyer, Brynjar Meling, said his client stands by what he said, but he had not broken the law.
"It should not be looked upon as threats," Meling told The Associated Press on the eve of the trial, adding that it would be "a test case" for drawing the line between Norwegian terror laws and freedom of speech.
The trial is expected to last three weeks.
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Budget could end higher-rate pensions tax relief : Finance Markets
Danny Alexander, chief secretary to the Treasury, has told The Telegraph that he wants to cut tax relief on pensions to 20 per cent across the board, eliminating the higher rate of tax relief currently enjoyed by high earners.
The reform would help to pay for an increase in the tax allowance to ?10,000.
Under current rules someone paying 40 per cent tax can claim tax relief on pension contributions at this rate.
When they retire, their pension payouts are taxed at their tax rate.
Although the change hasn?t been officially announced, pension experts are advising higher-rate taxpayers to top-up their pension fund before the Budget on 21 March in case the changes are introduced without prior warning.
Up to ?50,000 can be put into a pension each tax year and the allowance from the three previous years can be carried forward if no contributions were made in those years.
The maximum annual pension contribution was cut from ?255,000 a year to ?50,000 in April 2011 and it may be reduced further in April 2012, which is another reason for people to act swiftly.
Nick Clegg has been pushing for some time for a tax break for lower earners, and changes at the high end of the tax scale would help to pay for this.
It costs the Treasury around ?7 billion a year in higher rate tax relief.
Raising the Income Tax Personal Allowance from ?7,500 to ?10,000 would save ?500 in tax for families whose incomes are under increasing pressure.
However today?s news that Britain?s AAA credit rating could be downgraded together with an expected increase in the unemployment figures, could put the plan to accelerate the introduction of the ?10,000 personal allowance at risk.
Britain?s credit rating may be cut because of the impact of the eurozone crisis and slower than expected growth in the UK economy.
The Income Tax Personal Allowance will rise to ?8,105 in April and Mr Clegg has been calling for a further increase next year.
The current deadline for the personal allowance to increase to ?10,000 is 2015.
Source: http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2012/02/15/budget-could-end-higher-rate-pensions-tax-relief/
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
Los Angeles Incubators/Accelerators: What This Could Mean for ...
Last night was Learn About the New LA Incubators/Accelerators night for Lean LA, hosted by Pete Mauro, Patrick Vlaskovits, and Joe Zulli. As usual, the place was packed with an enthusiastic crowd ? 300 or so people this time ? most of them current, former, or aspiring entrepreneurs in the Los Angeles area. As a nice token of gesture, the admission price came with a meal ticket that you could use to redeem at one of the food trucks sitting outside of the auditorium. (I had the burger.)
There were representatives from Start Engine (Howard Marks), Idealab (Allen Morgan), upStart.LA (Dan Dato), K5 Launch (Amir Banifatemi), Originate (Jeff Scheinrock), Amplify (Jeff Solomon), Muckerlab (Jeff Rannala), and Launchpad LA (Sam Teller), and the panel was curated by venture capitalist and founding partner of 500 Startups, Dave McClure. Each representative gave a brief introduction and history of what each organization did, and explained their interest in getting involved with the Los Angeles startup scene in the upcoming years.
Why come to Los Angeles, as opposed to, say, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, or New York? According to them, LA has an enormous potential for growth because of its demographics ? it has the highest concentration of educational institutions in the area (USC, UCLA, UCI, CalTech, Harvey Mudd, etc.) and a diverse and multicultural talent pool that results from people coming to the city from all over the world. What the incubators/accelerators are trying to do right now is to create an infrastructure that would allow these talents to meet, collaborate, and realize innovative solutions and business models that would help the city to sustain itself in the 21st century. The raw talent is there, but the consensus seems to be that much of it is disorganized and often not put to good use. The panel discussions consisted of candid talks about the current startup scene in LA and what this might mean for the city in the upcoming years.
Here?s a quick chart that gives an overview of each organization:
LeanLA.com Los Angeles Area Incubator & Accelerator Cheatsheet(Courtesy of Patrick Vlaskovits, more details here.)
Start Engine: 120 Startups @ $20,000 per year
Idealab: 4-6 Startups @ $50k ? $500K a year
upStart.LA: 5-10 Startups @ $18,000 each class (1-2 classes per year)
K5 Launch: 10-50 Startups @ 25K-$200k
Originate: 10-15 Startups @ $100K-$1.5 million per investment
Amplify: 20 Startups @ $50,000
MuckerLab: 20 Startups @ $21k a year
Launchpad LA: 20 Startups @ $50k a year
So the good news is that for people interested in entrepreneurship, there are literally millions and millions of dollars sitting around right now looking for innovative ideas, people, and teams willing to work on these types of projects. Accelerators/incubators also have an educational mission embedded into them ? the majority of these organizations assign ?mentors? to each funded company in order to help get the startup get on its feet, as a way to increase its odds at success. The ones that are proven to be successful move onto the next phase where they?ll be considered for seed funding and/or other types of investments that allow for the company?s expansion. To start, though, all you need is an idea and show that you?re willing to work for it.
The majority of the panelists have said that a big reason why they?re in Los Angeles is because of its strong presence and long history in art, entertainment and interactive media sectors, which they?re currently looking to get more involved in. If these ventures become more commonplace in the city, there should be more gigs and jobs available for artists and musicians in an overall sense. Having known a lot of talented people who moved away or found some other means of supporting themselves, this was fairly welcoming news and a hopeful sign that the situation among artists in LA may actually improve in the future.
Maybe because this panel was mainly tech-oriented, though, there wasn?t much talk about content production: How were artists and musicians going to be involved with this new process? The panelists all agreed that ?product people? (i.e. engineers) were important, and many of them had made it a requirement that you have at least one person on your team who could ?actually build? your product before they would agree to fund your idea. In the entertainment industry, artists and musicians would also have to be considered an essential component in the process in order for it to be considered truly innovative.
The whole SOPA/PIPA debacle seems to have brought up a lot of bad blood that has been brewing between Hollywood and the tech sector, which isn?t likely to be resolved any time soon. Nonetheless, if founders are looking to utilize content made by the studios, they?re going to have to figure out a way to work with them without losing an eye. But this is likely to get expensive for startup companies, given that Hollywood has shown that it?s willing to fight for its share of the pie. Even disregarding legal issues, the costs of its usage is likely to add up really quick, and business models based off these ideas may only be available for high-profile companies like iTunes, Pandora, Grooveshark, and so on. This also puts the company in a precarious position, since it would be functioning simply as a distributor of another industry.
In the music world, smaller companies have attempted to bypass this problem in two ways: One option is to hire studio musicians who create music ?something like? a well-known song or music, but different enough to skirt copyright laws. The second is to pass the responsibility of content production to the user, letting anybody and everybody upload new material for the rest of the users to see. Even when it?s done well, the former runs the risk of sounding like a cheap knock-off of something else, while the latter has issues of quality control and its difficulty in maintaining the long-term interests of serious musicians, due to the lack of reliable feedback and compensation mechanisms. What both methodologies have in common is that there?s often a distance that can be felt between the product and the artistic process ? its as if an engineer and a MBA got together in a room and hammered something out, deciding to fill it up with ?some content? after the fact.
This method is, incidentally, how Hollywood often does it in their own ranks: figure out the business plan first, then contract (or in some cases cultivate) their musicians in order to fit that model. These practices can sometimes successfully generate ?hits? or create revenue in the short-term, but as most people know by now, its fallout rates are very fast and getting faster and faster as time goes on. If the startup community wishes to differentiate itself from what the major studios are doing, then creative minds would have to be involved from the process from day one, as founders and co-founders. Art and entertainment can said to be pure ?user experience? and cannot always be measured on utilitarian grounds, so it?s necessary for its processes and feedback to run on different kinds of metrics. The fundamentals will always be there, but artistic appreciation and production is something that requires a different kind of skill set.
The good news is that, like top-notch programming and business minds that exists in LA, a lot of talented artists and musicians right now are ?floating?, largely unaffiliated and desperately looking for opportunities like these to come by. An entertainment company that can create its content in-house would be cheaper, faster, and produce much more interesting results. In most cases, they?re likely to get paid more and more often than they are now. Artists also have the built-in tolerance to risk and uncertainty due to their experiences having to make a living from gig to gig. So the talent is there, if needed.
There?s an issue of culture that needs to be addressed, however ? there are signs that schools are moving towards a more entrepreneurial mindset, but more likely than not artists and musicians will need some basic training in business and/or technical skills after they graduate in order for them to function as effective founders or startup employees. Accelerators and incubators can help to bridge this gap through the mentorship programs that they provide to their clients. In the new LA startup scene, people who can successfully balance art with other skills are likely to be in high demand in the near future.
It?s true that the majority of entrepreneurial projects end in failure. But, as one panelist remarked, the end of an idea is not the end of the world because even if a startup fails, it produces people with startup experience that can be then dovetailed into other companies that are on the rise. The overall goal of the movement is to create an ecosystem in LA that?s similar to that of Silicon Valley, where there exists a tolerance of risk and failure while its talent pool continues to stay and contribute to the needs of the community. In the wake of the financial crisis, the sector as a whole still continues to grow ? Dave McClure argued that New York?s current tech scene might have been inspired by the panic of 2008-2009, when investors threw a lot of money at entrepreneurial ventures because they weren?t able to see growth in any of the other sectors.
Whatever the case may be, this presents an opportunity for startups and small businesses to exert their presence on today?s landscape. The entrepreneurial movements in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and New York have supposedly already ?happened? ? Los Angeles is an exciting place to be because it?s ?happening right now?. It?s an opportunity for people to get involved and have a hand in reshaping how the city will look like in the future.
Source: http://ryangtanaka.com/los-angeles-incubators-accelerators-artists-musicians/
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How Do The Current Generation Of Gaming Consoles Differ ...
There are three main video game consoles available these days; namely: Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. There are several points wherein these three game consoles differ. Among the three, Wii is the smallest and the lightest. It is also the least financially-demanding of the three. This affordability contributes greatly to its growing popularity among gamers.
Many gamers consider the PlayStation 3 as having the most powerful processor since the console comes with Cell Broadband Engine Architecture. Xbox 360’s processor uses a 3.2 GHz PowerPC tri-core while Nintendo Wii comes with a Broadway chip which runs at 729 MHz only.
Sony’s console also has the edge in terms of graphics and audio, but many gamers believe that the Xbox 360 makes better use of its resources that PlayStation. Both systems are HDTV-capable and can support Dolby Surround, while Wii can only support EDTV format and stereo surround.
Wii may not have the same graphic and audio processing power as their other counterparts, they do offer very interesting and engaging games that can be played by young and adult people alike. Wii also became popular because of the new way of interacting with the game provided by the same console. Two of the most successive game titles on Wii include Wii Sports and Mario Kart. The best-selling exclusive game title on PlayStation is the Gran Turismo 5, while Xbox 360 has Halo 3.
The success of Wii has spurred the creation of literally hundreds of websites and forums on the Internet where gamers share walkthroughs and cheats for popular gaming titles. Using the major commercial search engines like Google and Yahoo would still be the simplest and quickest method to home in on these forums and websites. Some of these websites will even give you guides on how to backup Wii games. Making a backup of Wii games is a common practice among gamers to prevent total loss in case the original disc for the game gets scratched, becomes unusable, or misplaced. You no longer have to make any modifications to the gaming console in order to backup your Wii games. One method on how to backup Wii games easily is to utilize the EasyBackupWizard application. Your regular PC or Mac often does not have the disc drive capable of reading a Wii gaming disc, but with EasyBackupWizard, you can have such functionality. The backup file can be saved onto your computer’s hard drive or transferred to another DVD.
EasyBackupWizard reviews are encouraging on the whole since it is intuitive and quick. User-submitted EasyBackupWizard reviews also highlight the fact that it can be used to make backups of games from other consoles and that you can create video DVDs using the same software.
Tags: Business, computer games, Entertainment, family, fun, games online, general, kids and teens, Marketing, Online Business, playstation, video games, Wii, Xbox
Source: http://www.mycoolweb.net/2012/02/07/how-do-the-current-generation-of-gaming-consoles-differ/
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Wednesday, February 8, 2012
RockYou Cofounder Lance Tokuda Keeps It Old School With New Classmates Competitor SchoolFeed
Lance Tokuda was one of the masterminds behind viral apps on Facebook back at the end of last decade. He cofounded and led RockYou as its chief executive through the evolution of the Facebook platform, all the while inundating users with hugs, horoscopes, birthday cards and other lightweight social app communications (which some may refer to as "spam"). RockYou ended up finding its business in social advertising and social gaming, and in late 2010 Tokuda stepped down from his CEO role. Now he's back with a new company on Facebook today, called schoolFeed, that's trying to connect older users with long-lost high school classmates.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/TBvEHmUUj1k/
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Aung San Suu Kyi hits the campaign trail in Myanmar
Crowds of supporters enthusiastically greeted Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, some up since dawn to catch a glimpse of her on her first official campaign trip.
Tens of thousands of Burmese came out today to greet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her first campaign trip since becoming an official candidate for April's parliamentary elections.
Skip to next paragraphIn another example of the loosening-up in the long-time military-ruled country, neither the iconic opposition leader nor the crowds in two towns in the south she visited appeared to meet any hindrance from authorities.
It was her first time in the region in more than 20 years and comes on the heels of a spate of reforms by Myanmar's government, including the mass release of hundreds of political prisoners and the loosening of restrictions on the press.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi told a raucous crowd of more than 40,000 in Pathein, the regional capital of the rice-growing Irrawaddy region on the southern coast, that if elected to parliament ? the same parliament she once boycotted after being prevented from running for office ? she believed she could help ?make changes in the constitution, to have the rule of law and to work for internal peace.?
The assembled Burmese dressed in traditional white bellowed ?Long Live Daw Aung San Suu Kyi!?
Earlier Tuesday morning, during the four hour road trip from Yangon to Pathein, Aung San Suu Kyi's cortege was repeatedly mobbed by party supporters waving the party's peacock-emblazoned red flag. Women, their faces whitened by thanaka paste ? a Burmese makeup made from ground-up bark ? emerged from their brown and gray timber/bamboo huts nestled under dew-covered green palms by the roadside to wave and greet the opposition leader.
Throughout the day-long trip, as the sun rose high and hot to burn off the thick dawn mist shrouding the ricefields along the pock-marked roadway, the opposition leader repeatedly emerging through her 4x4 sunroof to shake hands with supporters and accept garlands of roses from them.
For long-repressed Myanmar (Burma), it was a rare chance to see the country's best-known political icon. For Aung San Suu Kyi, it was an opportunity to test her much-vaunted popularity ahead of the upcoming elections.
?We have not seen The Lady [a popular local nickname for Aung San Suu Kyi] here in more than 20 years,? says Kyaw Win, as he links arms with other local volunteers in Pathein to prevent the eager, surging crowd from swarming Aung San Suu Kyi's vehicle.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, she stopped off in Myangmya, a dusty town an hour from Pathein that once was a hotbed of anti-colonial activism during British rule in Myanmar, to give another speech.
It has been more than two decades since Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has campaigned for election in Myanmar. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in 1990 polls, but she and many party colleagues spent many of the intervening years under arrest. Now her party is contesting 48 seats in upcoming by-elections, and after some recent reforms, such as the freeing of hundreds of long-detained political prisoners, the Myanmar government is allowing the country's political icon to press the flesh.
There have been a couple caveats, however. Today's speeches came after a similar gathering slated for Myanmar's second-biggest city Mandalay on Feb. 2 was cancelled after the NLD was denied permission to hold the event in the city's main soccer stadium.
The army's Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won the 2010 elections by a landslide and, along with the 25 percent quota of house seats for current army cadres, has an unassailable 80 percent majority in parliament.?Even if Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD wins all 40 lower house seats, and the eight others going at regional and senate levels, for now it won't change Myanmar's power structures much.
Still, NLD deputy leader U Tin Oo is optimistic about the longterm benefits of the elections. He says he believes the vote will be free and fair, and that as a consequence, his party ?will win most or all of the seats.?
Mr. U Tin Oo, who was born in Pathein, says that Aung San Suu Kyi and her party believe that the Myanmar government ?is very much sincere, for the time being? about its reformist intentions, amid concerns that the military-backed government could backslide at any time.
If U Tin Oo's confidence in the outcome and in Myanmar reform path is accurate, then Aung San Suu Kyi will be back, to paraphrase the NLD party campaign jingle ? an American bluegrass-sounding jingle set to Burmese lyrics that played on loop all day Tuesday during the Aung San Suu Kyi campaign trip.
Indeed, supporters showed her influence when thousands today gathered at dawn in Pathein to hear her speak. One of those sitting on the grass at the Ko Thein soccer stadium was Bo Htet. ?I came at 5 a.m. with my friend Phyo Win,? he said of his early morning vigil. ?It was a happy day for us when we hear Daw Suu speak.?
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Aurora extravaganza glows in space
Time-lapse video from the International Space Station on Jan. 29. These sequences of frames were taken at the rate of one frame per second. The pace is close to the true speed of the International Space Station.
By Alan Boyle
Colorful videos prove that the astronauts on the International Space Station had the best seats in the house during last month's flare-up of auroral activity.
NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth is offering a whole new batch of time-lapse videos from the Jan. 25-30 period, when an active region on the sun was blasting out a healthy dose of electrically charged particles and lighting up Earth's upper atmosphere.
These latest videos are notable because they're assembled from still pictures that were taken at?a rate of one frame per second. As a result, the pace of the videos is a near match for the true speed of the space station as it makes its 90-minute orbit around our planet.
The video above documents a minute of flight heading east from the Pacific over the Canadian West Coast, heading toward southern Alberta near Calgary. I love watching the ripples and flashes of the green aurora over Canada?? seasoned with a dash of red from the atomic oxygen that exists at higher altitudes. Why is there red as well as green in the aurora? We've addressed that question before, but this Aurora FAQ from the University of Alaska provides a quick explanation.
Here are a couple more videos, tracking the space station's flight over the U.S. East Coast as well as central North America. But you don't have to stop here. Visit NASA's Gateway, which offers still photos from the space station in addition to the videos, and check out the YouTube channel for NASA Crew Earth Observations. My favorite places for space imagery also include the Fragile Oasis Facebook page, NASA astronaut Ron Garan's Google+ page and Jason Major's Lights in the Dark blog.
This video was taken from the International Space Station on Jan. 29 during a pass from just southwest of Mexico to the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Newfoundland. As the space station travels northeast over the Gulf of Mexico, you can see New Orleans, Mobile, Jacksonville and Atlanta. Continuing up the East Coast, the cities of Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City stand out brightly. The northern lights shine in the background as the pass finishes near Newfoundland.
This video was taken from the International Space Station on Jan. 26 during a pass from North Dakota to central Quebec. The northern lights can be seen near the space station, with small patches of the green auroral light dancing around.
If auroras, atmospheric phenomena and solar activity are your thing, you can't do much better than SpaceWeather.com, which is keeping track of lovely aurora pictures like this one from Chad Blakley at Abisko National Park in Sweden. Be sure to check out Blakley's Lights Over Lapland website while you're at it.
Chad Blakley / Lights Over Lapland
Photographer Chad Blakley captured this view of the northern lights over Sweden's Abisko National Park on Feb. 6. "The lights started around 6:00 p.m. and continued into the very early hours of the morning," Blakley told SpaceWeather.com. Check out Blakley's gallery on SpaceWeather.com for still more stunning views.
AuroraMAX / CSA
The rippling northern lights share the skies with a nearly full moon over Yellowknife in Canada's Northern Territories early today, as seen by the Canadian Space Agency's AuroraMAX wide-angle camera. To keep on top of northern Canada's aurora extravaganza, check the AuroraMAX website and Twitpic account.
More auroral glories:
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/07/10344463-aurora-extravaganza-glows-in-space
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Thursday, February 2, 2012
Diverse Forms of Financing Solutions Offered by Commercial Lenders
Different sorts of companies that supply equipment leasing are growing and this is resulting from the robust economy and massive investment in new tools and equipment.? A commercial lender presents diverse kinds of financing alternatives for machine tools and other equipment. People typically get confused on the leasing and loan selections when picking industrial equipment financing. You may just experience the detail processes of these terms provided by distinct financing companies.
When financing your industrial equipment, you have to fix the cost of borrowing as it is the most significant. Banks normally are strict when releasing loans as a result of the downfall of the economy that is why it might be very best to look for other funding sources when applying for commercial loan. One a lot more aspect which may possibly impact loan rates could be the overall condition of business.
You also need to make certain which you may have the complete documents when looking for a loan particularly when obtaining it for the first time.?You'd obtain it important to try to locate a number of options in addition to banks to enable you to attain the financing you required. Industrial equipment financing entails numerous procedures, conditions and terms. Quick financing depends on the kind of equipment to become financed as well as the type of industry the business is supposed to be. Obtaining the most effective and most inexpensive commercial loan rates for your business is of terrific significance.
It really is impossible to continue your business in case you don?t take out financing for equipment and real estate.
Even a smaller difference of a percentage point can have enormous effect on your bottom line. The rates at which you are able to obtain the loans for serving for the financial needs in your business are recognized as commercial loan rates or business loan rates. Commercial loans are kinds of loans to make sure capital flow for your business require and these may possibly be as a result of specific causes just like starting a brand new undertaking or growing and expanding a current onethe raven lawrence o donnell fresno state fresno state psa test psa test real steel
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Head of Senate military panel says Romney clueless (AP)
WASHINGTON ? The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday said Republican candidate Mitt Romney doesn't know what he's talking about when he criticizes President Barack Obama's proposed cuts in defense spending and is putting himself at odds with the nation's military leaders.
"He wants to attack the president as being weak on defense," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. "The problem with his position is it runs headlong into the uniformed leaders, uniformed military leaders of this country who say this is their budget."
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta provided an early look at the broad outlines of the president's budget last Thursday. It slows the growth of military spending, cuts the size of the Army and Marine Corps, trims war costs and calls for another round of domestic base closings. The budget would total $525 billion for the Pentagon in 2013, $6 billion less than the current budget and a reflection of the deficit-cutting deal that Obama reached with congressional Republicans last August.
Earlier this month, Obama unveiled the results of an eight-month strategy review on reshaping and shrinking the military as the wars wind down in Iraq and Afghanistan. He promised to maintain U.S. military superiority while focusing more on Asia and less on Europe.
In his bid to be commander in chief, Romney has assailed Obama's policies, arguing that the Democrat has put the nation on a course toward a hollow force.
In a speech last August, Romney said "this is the first time in my memory that massive defense cuts were proposed without any reference to the missions that would be foreclosed and the risks to which our country and its men and women in uniform would be exposed." The former Massachusetts governor has promised to reverse Obama's "massive defense cuts."
Speaking to a small group of reporters about the defense budget, Levin said a "bunch of Republicans" are simply attacking Obama for political reasons.
"And I hear Romney out there. I don't believe the man knows what he's talking about. It's just a totally political position that he thinks the president is weak," Levin said.
The Armed Services chairman said that based on his conversations with the nation's military leaders, they have embraced the budget as the "right way to go" after the strategic review.
"Romney is going to have to run headlong into the top uniformed officials of this country and say, I guess, he'll argue they're weak on defense," Levin said. "I don't think it's going to have much credibility when Romney says the top uniform leaders of the country are weak on defense."
The Romney campaign had no immediate comment on Levin's remarks.
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Sandusky to learn abuse accusers' names this week
FILE - In this Aug. 6, 1999, file photo, Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, right, poses with his defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky during Penn State Media Day at State College, Pa. In a statement made Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, retired Penn State assistant coach Sandusky, who faces child sex abuse charges in a case that led to the firing of Paterno, says Paterno's death is a sad day. (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 6, 1999, file photo, Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, right, poses with his defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky during Penn State Media Day at State College, Pa. In a statement made Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012, retired Penn State assistant coach Sandusky, who faces child sex abuse charges in a case that led to the firing of Paterno, says Paterno's death is a sad day. (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ? Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky will learn by the end of the week the names of the 10 young men he is charged with having sexually abused, according to a court document filed late Monday by state prosecutors.
The attorney general's office said that the alleged victims' names will be delivered to Sandusky's lawyer Joe Amendola by the close of business Friday, a process that would apparently avoid disclosure through public court records.
Sandusky, 68, is awaiting trial on charges he committed a range of abuse against 10 boys over a 15-year period, including alleged sexual assaults on Penn State property. He has denied the allegations.
The names of the 10 young men were not disclosed in the grand jury reports, which listed them as victims Nos. 1 through 10.
The scandal resulted in the ousting of school President Graham Spanier and longtime coach Joe Paterno, who died Jan. 22, and has brought shame to one of college football's legendary programs.
Athletic Director Tim Curley has been placed on administrative leave, and Vice President Gary Schultz, who was in charge of the university's police department, has stepped down.
Schultz and Curley are charged with lying to the grand jury and failure to report the alleged abuse to police. Like Sandusky, they have maintained their innocence.
Amendola has requested a document from prosecutors that would include names of purported victims along with the times, locations and other information to back up the 52 criminal counts against the former Penn State defensive coordinator.
The attorney general's offices said in a document filed in Centre County court that the grand jury reports, charging documents and discovery materials lay out the facts sufficiently.
Sandusky "has at his disposal ample information to be apprised of the charges, avoid surprise, and intelligently raise any double jeopardy or statute of limitations challenges," prosecutors wrote, asking the judge to deny the request.
Amendola said Tuesday he had not read the attorney general's response.
Judge John M. Cleland has scheduled a Feb. 10 hearing to resolve any remaining disputes concerning the defense request, and to consider Sandusky's attempt to modify bail conditions so he may have contact with his grandchildren.
Sandusky, currently under house arrest in State College, wants permission for his 11 grandchildren to visit his home, accompanied by a parent, as well as to be allowed to communicate with them by phone or computer.
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