Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Mad Men Review: MLK's Death Opens "The Flood" of Personal Demons

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/mad-men-review-martin-luther-king-jrs-death-opens-the-flood-of-p/

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How Typing on a Smart Watch Might Actually Make Sense

While the prospect of new smart watches from every corner is terribly exciting, few people seem to spent much time working out how to make them, you know, useful. But a researcher from Carnegie Mellon University has, fortunately, been trying to work out if an on-screen keyboard could work on a smart watch?and the here's his solution.

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/-V8uuLqRSGI/how-typing-on-a-smart-watch-might-actually-make-sense-484116402

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Beyonce's 'Back To Black' Helps Make 'The Great Gatsby' A Bit 'Darker'

Jay-Z enlisted his superstar wife to put her spin on Amy Winehouse's classic tune.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706513/beyonce-back-to-black-great-gatsby-soundtrack.jhtml

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Chrysler investing $20M in Toledo plant to support 9-speed auto ...

Chrysler Group Plans to Invest Nearly $20 Million in Toledo Machining Plant

- Investment to increase capacity for production of torque converters for new generation, fuel-efficient nine-speed transmission
- Company's total investment in U.S. facilities over $5.2 billion since June 2009

April 26, 2013 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Chrysler Group LLC announced today that it will invest $19.6 million in its Toledo Machining Plant in Perrysburg, Ohio, to increase capacity of the torque converter it's machining for the nine-speed transmission. With this announcement, the Company's total investments in its U.S. operations since June 2009 increase to over $5.2 billion.

The new torque converters will be paired with the next generation, fuel efficient nine-speed front-wheel drive transmission being assembled at Chrysler Group's Indiana (Kokomo, Ind.) Transmission Plant I. The new transmission will debut in the 2014 Jeep? Cherokee.

"The new nine-speed transmission is a critical part of our strategy to meet fuel economy requirements over the next several years and Toledo Machining will play an integral role in bringing this transmission to market," said Scott Garberding, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Chrysler Group LLC. "Securing this additional investment is a testament to the dedication and commitment of the plant's workforce and helps secure its future long-term."

The investment will fund the installation of new equipment and tooling for additional machining and assembly capacity. Installation is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2014 and will be completed by the end of 2014.

In August 2011, a $72 million investment in Toledo Machining was announced to modernize the plant to produce the eight- and nine-speed torque converters on two new production lines and a new steering column for the Dodge Dart and Jeep Cherokee. These installations will be complete in the third quarter this year.

"We're very pleased that Chrysler is once again investing in the Toledo Machining Plant and the skilled workforce there," said General Holiefield, Vice President and Director, UAW Chrysler Department. "This will help preserve and enhance jobs in the area and give a greater measure of security to our members and their families well into the future."

In February, the Company announced that it was investing $374 million in several of its Kokomo, Ind., facilities, including establishing a new manufacturing site in Tipton, Ind., to increase production capacity of the nine-speed transmission.

Toledo Machining currently produces torque converters for Kokomo Transmission (Ind.), Indiana Transmission I and II (Kokomo, Ind.), Sterling Heights Assembly (Mich.), and Toluca (Mex.).

The plant also produces steering columns for the following assembly plants: Warren Truck (Mich.), Belvidere (Ill.), Sterling Heights (Mich.), Toledo Assembly Complex (Ohio); Windsor (Ont.), Toluca (Mex.), Saltillo (Mex.), Arab American Vehicles (Egypt) and Carabobo (Venezuela).

Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/04/28/chrysler-investing-20m-in-toledo-plant-to-support-9-speed-auto/

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Friday, April 26, 2013

Hot Coffee Drink vs. Cold Coffee Drink - Amateur Gourmet

April 25, 2013 | By Adam Roberts | COMMENTS

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There?s a funny website called ?Is It Iced Coffee Weather?? that determines, based on your location, whether it?s iced coffee weather. The current prognosis for me is: ?No. Try it hot.?

This is a question I?m often asking myself because I enjoy drinking coffee every day, so much so that I drink tea in the morning in order to save my coffee drink for later on when I can get it from a coffee shop. And when I get to the counter I have to decide if I want it hot or cold. Lately, I?ve come up with a good strategy.

Instead of focusing on the external temperature I focus on my internal temperature. Am I cold on the inside or hot on the inside at this particular moment? Do I want to warm up or do I want to cool down?

That may sound silly but this strategy is close to my ?What are you craving?? strategy when deciding what to make for dinner. Both are obvious. But both are incredibly useful.

By tuning out external factors like the temperature or health and fitness, and focusing just on what you want and need at that particular moment, chances are you?ll be happier than getting the thing you think you should get. So even if it?s a relatively warm day out and everyone around you is sipping coffee through a straw, you have to ask yourself: am I chilly on the inside? If so, a warm coffee drink is the drink you should drink.

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Today I?m on the fence about my coffee drink. The website says ?hot? but I?m wondering if a ?short iced latte? (my latest obsession; that?s an iced latte with less milk) is the way to go. But you can?t tell me the answer, only I can tell me the answer. So please don?t even try.

Tags: coffee, drinks, Essays, temperature

Categories: Food Bits

Source: http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2013/04/hot-coffee-drink-vs-cold-coffee-drink.html

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Facebook: Audit finds privacy practices sufficient

(AP) ? Facebook says that an independent audit found its privacy practices sufficient during a six-month assessment period that followed a settlement with federal regulators.

Facebook Inc. said it submitted the findings to the Federal Trade Commission on Monday evening. The audit was a required part of the social networking company's settlement with the FTC last summer. The settlement resolved charges that Facebook exposed details about its users' lives without getting the required legal consent.

Facebook provided a copy of its letter to the FTC, along with a redacted copy of the auditor's letter, to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The redacted portion contains trade secret information and does not alter the auditor's findings, the company said. The audit, which found that Facebook's privacy program met or exceeded requirements under the FTC's order, covered written policies as well as samples of its data.

"We're encouraged by this confirmation that the controls set out in our privacy program are working as intended," said Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer for policy," in an emailed statement. "This assessment has also helped us identify areas to work on as Facebook continues to evolve as a company, and improve upon the privacy protections we already have in place. We will keep working to meet the changing and evolving needs of our users and to put user privacy and security at the center of everything we do."

Facebook did not disclose the full, 79-page report or specific details on shortcomings in its privacy practices that were revealed by the audit. Spokeswoman Jodi Seth said Facebook declined to disclose such details "based on contractual obligations and the possibility of security and competitive vulnerabilities."

The company has asked the FTC to keep the redacted information private, saying it would put it and its auditor at a competitive disadvantage and because it could reveal possible limitations of its privacy program.

The name of the accounting firm is also redacted but that information will be released when the FTC responds to the audit.

A representative for the FTC did not immediately return a message for comment on Thursday morning.

Facebook has made several high-profile mistakes over user privacy, especially in its early years. Much of the FTC's complaint against the company centered on a series of changes that Facebook made to its privacy controls in late 2009. The revisions automatically shared information and pictures about Facebook users, even if they previously programmed their privacy settings to shield that content. Among other things, people's profile pictures, lists of online friends and political views were suddenly available for the world to see, the FTC alleged.

The complaint also charged that Facebook shared users' personal information with third-party advertisers from September 2008 through May 2010 despite several public assurances from company officials that it wasn't passing the data along for marketing purposes. Facebook said this only happened in limited instances.

Facebook did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but it agreed to submit to audits of its privacy practices for 20 years. This was the first of those audits. Google Inc. earlier agreed to a similar settlement, but was fined $22.5 million last August to resolve allegations that it did not comply with it.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-25-US-TEC-Facebook-Privacy/id-8773ad3c06ba4669a6b26300f1b66902

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Lumia 521 for T-Mobile arrives early at HSN on April 27th for $149.95, general availability on May 22nd

Lumia 521 for TMobile arrives at HSN on April 27th, Microsoft Store on May 11th

Wanting to get first dibs on the Lumia 521 for T-Mobile? If so, it looks that you may need to tune into HSN on April 27th, because -- strange as it sounds -- the television network is offering the earliest access that we know of. Here, you'll be able to score T-Mobile's variant of the Lumia 520 for $149.95 off-contract, which includes a bonus car charger and screen protector. Following its arrival at HSN, the Lumia 521 will then hit Microsoft retail stores and Walmart on May 11th, with the same off-contract pricing. As you may recall, a previous leak from TmoNews suggested the smartphone would hit T-Mobile stores yesterday, but this date has come and gone without official availability (or even an announcement) from the carrier. Fret not, though, because we've done a bit of digging, and our sources tell us that the Lumia 521 is currently set to hit general availability on May 22nd, which by all measures should include all T-Mobile stores. Naturally, you now have some options to weigh, even if one of them might cost an ounce of your pride.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Khs5b36KOzI/

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Airline service improves but delays still possible

An American Airlines plane takes off at LAX International airport in Los Angeles Monday, April 22, 2013. Some fliers headed to Los Angeles International Airport were met with delays yesterday on the first day of staffing cuts for air traffic controllers because of government spending reductions. Budget cuts that kicked in last month forced the FAA to give controllers extra days off. Commercial airline flights moved smoothly throughout most of the country on Sunday, April 21, 2013, the first day air traffic controllers were subject to furloughs resulting from government spending cuts, though some delays appeared in the late evening in and around New York. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

An American Airlines plane takes off at LAX International airport in Los Angeles Monday, April 22, 2013. Some fliers headed to Los Angeles International Airport were met with delays yesterday on the first day of staffing cuts for air traffic controllers because of government spending reductions. Budget cuts that kicked in last month forced the FAA to give controllers extra days off. Commercial airline flights moved smoothly throughout most of the country on Sunday, April 21, 2013, the first day air traffic controllers were subject to furloughs resulting from government spending cuts, though some delays appeared in the late evening in and around New York. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Penny MacDonald was supposed to depart Tampa International Airport on Monday April 22, 2013 at 1:40, but her flight to Toronto had been delayed to 3:10. She passed the time by knitting at the gate. A combination of furloughs of FAA air controllers due to sequestration and bad weather in the northeast caused hiccups in the commercial airline system on Monday. (AP Photo/The Tampa Bay Times, Edmund D. Fountain)

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas listens at left, as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. speaks to reporters about Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spending cuts, Tuesday, April 23, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NEW YORK (AP) ? A day after flight delays plagued much of the nation, air travel was smoother Tuesday, but the government warned passengers that the situation could change by the hour as thousands of air-traffic controllers are forced to take furloughs because of budget cuts.

Meanwhile, airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to reduce spending. Airlines are worried about the long-term costs late flights will have on their budgets and on passengers.

"I just can't imagine this stays in place for an extended period of time. It's just such terrible policy," US Airways CEO Doug Parker said. "We can handle it for a little while, but it can't continue."

The delays are the most visible effect yet of Congress and the White House's failure to agree on a long-term deficit-reduction plan.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said no one should be surprised, noting that he warned about the potential for problems two months ago.

His solution: Blame Congress for the larger budget cuts that affected all of government, including a $600 million hit to the Federal Aviation Administration.

"This has nothing to do with politics," LaHood said. "This is very bad policy that Congress passed, and they should fix it."

Critics of the FAA insist the agency could reduce its budget in other ways that would not inconvenience travelers.

Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV, a West Virginia Democrat, and John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, sent a letter to LaHood on Monday accusing the FAA of being "slow and disturbingly limited" in response to their questions. They suggested the FAA could divert money from other accounts, such as those devoted to research, commercial space transportation and modernization of the air-traffic control computers.

Others in Congress urged the Obama administration to postpone the furlough for at least 30 days.

In the past five years, the FAA's operating budget has grown by 10.4 percent while the number of domestic commercial flights has fallen 13 percent.

"There's no cause for this. It's a cheap political stunt," said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant who does work for the major airlines.

The FAA says the numbers aren't so clear cut. In that time, the government has signed a new, more expensive contract with air traffic controllers, added 400 new aviation safety inspectors and beefed up its payroll to deploy a new air traffic-control computer system.

So given the budget cuts, FAA officials say they now have no choice but to furlough all 47,000 agency employees ? including nearly 15,000 controllers ? because salaries make up 70 percent of the agency's budget. Each employee will lose one day of work every two weeks.

Planes will have to take off and land less frequently, so as not to overload the remaining controllers on duty.

About 400 delays piled up Sunday and another 1,200 Monday that were linked to the furloughs.

Delays were minimal for most of Tuesday. But during the afternoon rush, delays of one to two hours started to mount in New York and Washington. Flight-tracking service FlightAware expected them to last through the evening. Los Angeles and Dallas saw delays of less than an hour.

Travel has not yet reached the levels the FAA warned about where some airports ? like those in Atlanta or New York or Chicago ? could see delays of more than three hours. Mother Nature has so far cooperated.

"Bad weather would make this much worse," Parker added.

There's also potential that passengers will be scared away by fears over delays. Many families are now planning summer vacations and might choose a driving trip instead.

If the FAA staffing shortage persists into the summer, airlines will also have less flexibility to ease passengers' pain.

For instance, Delta Air Lines canceled about 90 flights Monday because of worries about delays. Just about every passenger was rebooked on another Delta flight within a couple of hours, according to Ed Bastian, Delta's president.

In the busy summer travel months, the airline might not have enough empty seats to accommodate passengers from canceled flights.

Summer also brings thunderstorms, which are the biggest source of airline delays. Unlike snowstorms, which are forecast days in advance, thunderstorms can develop quickly and are unpredictable.

"This is just the beginning of what promises to be a huge economic disruption," the National Air Traffic Controllers Association warned in a statement Tuesday. "This is no way to run the world's safest, most efficient national airspace system. Controllers continue to do their best every day to keep the system running. It's time policymakers show the same amount of effort and dedication."

The federal budget cuts are also eating into the company's bottom line, with defense company employees cutting their flight budgets by 20 percent in the last month.

US Airways operates a hub at Washington National airport, and government business accounted for 3 percent of its revenue last year. Government revenue dropped 37 percent in March because of the spending cuts and the timing of Easter, Kirby said.

Unlike Delta, US Airways didn't cancel flights in advance.

"It's really difficult to do because we don't know where the issues are going to be until the issues are there," said the airline's president, Scott Kirby.

___

Associated Press writers Joan Lowy and Jim Abrams in Washington, Tom Krisher in Detroit and Joshua Freed in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

___

Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-23-US-FAA-Flight-Delays/id-8deb3e1bbc904eabbef62b43f1fe203d

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Suspect in Canada terror plot denies charges

In this courtroom sketch, Raed Jaser appears in court in Toronto on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Jaser, 35, and Chehib Esseghaier, 30, were arrested and charged Monday in what the RCMP said was the first known al-Qaida terror plot in Canada. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Mantha)

In this courtroom sketch, Raed Jaser appears in court in Toronto on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Jaser, 35, and Chehib Esseghaier, 30, were arrested and charged Monday in what the RCMP said was the first known al-Qaida terror plot in Canada. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Mantha)

Security officials check a man at a courthouse in Montreal on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Reed Jaser, one of two men accused of plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train with support from al-Qaida elements in Iran, made a brief court appearance Tuesday but did not enter a plea. Canadian investigators say Jaser, 35, and his suspected accomplice Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, received ?directions and guidance? from members of al-Qaida. The case prompted an immediate response from Iran, which denied any involvement and said groups such as al-Qaida do not share Iran?s ideology. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

Security officials check a man at a courthouse in Montreal on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Reed Jaser, one of two men accused of plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train with support from al-Qaida elements in Iran, made a brief court appearance Tuesday but did not enter a plea. Canadian investigators say Jaser, 35, and his suspected accomplice Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, received ?directions and guidance? from members of al-Qaida. The case prompted an immediate response from Iran, which denied any involvement and said groups such as al-Qaida do not share Iran?s ideology. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

A man walks his dog past a mosque where Chiheb Esseghaier, one of the two accused in an alleged plot to bomb a Via passenger train, used to attend Tuesday, April 23, 2013 in Montreal. Canadian investigators say Raed Jaser, 35, and his suspected accomplice Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, received "directions and guidance" from members of al-Qaida in Iran. Iran said it had nothing to do with the plot, and groups such as al-Qaida do not share Iran's ideology. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz)

(AP) ? A man accused of plotting with al-Qaida members in Iran to derail a train in Canada rejected the charges and said Tuesday that authorities were basing their conclusions on appearances. Law enforcement officials in the U.S. said the target was a train that runs between New York City and Canada.

Canadian investigators say Raed Jaser, 35, and his suspected accomplice Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, received guidance ? but no money ? from members of al-Qaida in Iran. Iran released a statement saying it had nothing to do with the plot, even though there were no claims in Canada that the attacks were sponsored directly by Iran.

But the case raised questions about the extent of Shiite-led Iran's relationship with the predominantly Sunni Arab terrorist network. It also renewed attention on Iran's complicated history with the terror group, which ranges from outright hostility to alliances of convenience and even overtures by Tehran to assist Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"We oppose any terrorist and violent action that would jeopardize lives of innocent people," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday.

Charges against the two men in Canada include conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group. Police ? tipped off by an imam worried by the behavior of one of the suspects ? said it was the first known attack planned by al-Qaida in Canada.

Law officials in New York with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press the attack was to take place on the Canadian side of the border. They are not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Amtrak and Via Rail Canada jointly operate routes between the United States and Canada, including the Maple Leaf from New York City to Toronto.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Canada has kept New York posted on the investigation.

"I can just tell you that you are probably safer in New York City than you are in any other big city," Bloomberg told reporters Tuesday without discussing details.

In a brief court appearance in Montreal, a bearded Esseghaier declined to be represented by a court-appointed lawyer. He made a brief statement in French in which he called the allegations against him unfair.

"The conclusions were made based on facts and words which are only appearances," he said in a calm voice after asking permission to speak.

Jaser appeared in court earlier Tuesday in Toronto and also did not enter a plea. He was given a new court date of May 23. He had a long beard, wore a black shirt with no tie, and was accompanied by his parents and brother. The court granted a request by his lawyer, John Norris, for a publication ban on future evidence and testimony.

Norris questioned the timing of the arrests, pointing to ongoing debates in the Canadian Parliament over a new anti-terrorism law that would expand the powers of police and intelligence agencies.

He said his client would "defend himself vigorously" against the accusations, and noted Jaser was a permanent resident of Canada who has lived there for 20 years. Norris refused to say where Jaser was from, saying that revealing his nationality in the current climate amounted to demonizing him.

Canadian police also declined to release the men's nationalities, saying only they had been in Canada a "significant amount of time."

Muslim community leaders who were briefed by the RCMP ahead of Monday's announcement of the arrest said they were told one of the suspects is Tunisian and the other from the United Arab Emirates.

Esseghaier's LinkedIn profile lists him as having studied in Tunisia before moving to Canada, where he was pursuing a PhD in nanotechnology at the National Institute of Scientific Research, a spokeswoman at the training university confirmed.

In Abu Dhabi, a UAE source informed about the attack plot said there was "no UAE citizen" with the name Raed Jaser. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

The investigation surrounding the planned attack was part of a cross-border operation involving Canadian law enforcement agencies, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Canadian police said the men never got close to carrying out the attack.

The warning first came from an imam in Toronto, who in turn was tipped off by suspicious behavior on the part of one of the suspect.

"I was involved in alerting police about the suspect. I made some calls on behalf of the imam over a year ago," Toronto lawyer Naseer Syed said. He would not say what, exactly made the imam suspicious.

"The Muslim community has been cooperating with authorities for a number of years and people do the right thing when there is reason to alert authorities," Syed said, adding that he was speaking for the imam, who wished to remain anonymous.

___

Associated Press writers Charmaine Noronha in Ontario, Shingler in Montreal, Tom Hays and Jennifer Peltz in New York, Kimberly Dozier in Washington and Brian Murphy in the United Arab Emirates contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-23-CN-Canada-Terror-Plot/id-818a6768d5e448a1881c88ad6c80371d

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Tips And Tricks For Successful Website Marketing - Maynas Eric

Your business will be more profitable if you use good Internet marketing tactics. There are many advantages to using Website marketing, because the entire world could be potential customers, not just a select few. You will need to stay current on the best practices of marketing your business online. In this article, we will share some of the best ideas in Website marketing.

Make sure to keep very detailed records of all aspects of your business. Be it your sales, traffic, referrals or whatever, make sure you track everything you can. When you stockpile these stats, you can read them and deduce vital information about what?s working for you and what isn?t. If you need to improve something, you can find out which areas need improvement and how you can improve them.

When you carry a title in your business, respect is easier to come by. If the business is yours, then become the CEO. If you work for someone else, use your creativity and develop a title that creates a sense of power or authority. Sign emails and articles with both your title and your name.

TIP! For effective internet marketing, it is crucial to stay abreast of what your competitors are doing. Every market out there has many businesses competing for clients.

There are a lot of different strategies to use in order to market products online, and paying for ad space on various websites is one with a good track record of proven results. Google AdSense and similar companies make this service easily accessible. This is a successful way to get your business out there cheaply, and with hardly any work.

You want to entice your audience as much as you can, so they can know more information about the product and be more apt to buy. Customers like to feel that they are making an informed decision before purchasing your product. They will respect you more for giving them the information they need to make an informed choice rather than harassing them with pressure to ?BUY NOW.?

Try and make your site be as unique as possible. If your website stands out from the crowd, people are more likely to remember it and link to it. A simple way to do this, is by highlighting a special service that you offer.

TIP! A regular blog keeps people thinking about your products. Blogging regularly gives you an excellent avenue from which to communicate directly with your customers.

Direct marketing is another way to improve your Internet promotion campaign. You could call, email or send a fax to your customers to advertise a special offer. A lot of the data you need can be acquired through the yellow pages or through online phone directories.

It can be hard to decide how to keep your website going. Make a list of interests and continue to narrow the list down until you have made a decision. Make sure your approach is something you would enjoy and pleases others as well. Creating a tangible goal will make it much easier to market your website.

You should back up every claim you make about your niche. You can even try videos. Real life videos and images can be a great boost to your Online marketing campaign.

TIP! You are fully capable of having a successful internet marketing business right now. In reality, the fancy software and get rich quick schemes you find online are not necessary.

Email marketing is an important, beneficial tool. It is important to protect the confidential information entrusted to you by your customers. Avoid free email services, especially those that delete old messages, as you may wish to go back to those later. If you want the most security and the most features for your mail, try setting up your own archiving service by using an actual web host?s features instead of those free mail services.

Read the various studies done on the psychology of Affiliate marketing and web design. These psychological factors may affect the way someone sees your company, based on the design of your site. You can apply this information in order to increase your profits.

A good marketing tip for your site is to make video which shows how the product works. It gives people confidence to see someone else using a particular product. Make them aware of all the special features that they may not have noticed. You can post the video on sites such as Facebook or YouTube, as well as on your own website.

TIP! Video marketing is an awesome way to generate interest in your business. Putting videos on your page or blog will grab the attention of customers.

Consider that the appearance of your business website is as vital to your business as a brick and mortar store?s appearance is. Testing your links, images, ads and checkout process for errors can avoid upsetting visitors. If there are problems with the site and the people cannot to where they want to go in a quick manner, there is a good chance you will lose that customer.

Incorporating banners in a non-discrete fashion will help to improve your website. If they appear to be links to valuable content, there is a greater chance that the customer will click on them. Since most people avoid clicking on banners, this strategy makes it more likely that visitors will click on them.

Nothing sells quite like a product that the customer feels an attachment to, so it?s up to you to propagate that attachment. Give people a reason to want to make a purchase on your site. Your advertising copy should read as if the customer is enjoying the special features and benefits of the product, even as they are reading the ad.

TIP! You can make a great impression by including a banner showing your business name, mission statement or slogan. Banners are generally displayed along the top of a website or just under the title.

You just read valuable techniques that you can use to improve your online business. The next step is to try them out, and feel exactly how well they work. You may find that you have to tweak your methods as you?re starting out. The secret is to keep learning and be brave enough to attempt new methods or try new angles.

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Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/tips-and-tricks-for-successful-website-marketing

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

We're making progress - Phillips - Finance minister upbeat as ...

?Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips is expressing confidence that the overseas assistance to boost revenue intake in the Government's coffers should place him in good stead in the 2013-2014 financial year.

"There has been real improvement, I believe, (there is) more to be done. It is not an instantaneous transformation as it requires a steady approach, but yes, we are seeing improvements, and we expect to see more this year and beyond," Phillips told The Gleaner yesterday ahead of his opening presentation in the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives today.

Added Phillips: "We have assistance from our bilateral partners such as the United States Agency for International Development."

He revealed that support has also come from the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at modernising the tax authorities generally. "These include our capacity to do audits as well as our administrative arrangements," said Phillips.

EYES ON TAXES

But even as Phillips painstakingly prepares for his second presentation on the threshold of the signing of a hard-fought deal with the IMF, the failure of successive administrations to snare seasoned tax dodgers, despite repeated vows by his predecessors to net the evaders, has again been brought into sharp focus.

Business leaders told The Gleaner earlier this week that they were not expecting a large tax package, but the focus remained on the Government's ability to collect much-needed revenues.

"There are focused areas to enhance the investigative as well as the audit capacity and capability ? ," he said.

Added Phillips: "We are extending this activity to include other areas of revenue leakage in Customs and we expect to see a strengthening overall of our capacities in this respect, in relation to Customs modernisation and Tax Administration Jamaica and the Financial Investigations Division, all working in tandem."

?

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130418/lead/lead2.html

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Vulnerability to Stress May Up Risk of Heart Disease | Psych Central ...

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on April 19, 2013

Vulnerability to Stress May Up Risk of Heart DiseaseA large population study from Denmark suggests that people deemed to be ?mentally vulnerable? to stress have increased risk for the development of cardiovascular disease.

Study authors explain that psychosocial factors and personality traits have been consistently associated with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality, but their role in the prediction of risk was still not clear.

This study investigated whether mental vulnerability (defined as ?a tendency to experience psychosomatic symptoms or inadequate interpersonal reactions?), increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The study incorporated data from three Danish population cohorts from which almost 11,000 individuals free of any cardiovascular disease were followed-up for a mean period of 15.9 years. During this period all cardiovascular events (fatal and non-fatal) were recorded.

At the beginning of the study, researchers measured mental vulnerability on a validated 12-point scale. The results categorized subjects into three groups: ?non-vulnerable, latent or mentally vulnerable?.

?The scale consists of questions on both mental and physical symptoms,? said the study?s first author,?Anders Borglykke, Ph.D. Questions generally measured the level of stress or a personality which is more receptive to stress.

Prior studies have found the scale to be associated with early mortality and ischemic heart disease. To assess the predictive ability of the scale, the results were added to a statistical model with classical risk factors for cardiovascular disease (age, sex, smoking, systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol).

During the follow-up period there were 3045 fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events recorded in the study population of 10,943 subjects.

When the statistical analysis was performed, results showed that mental vulnerability was significantly associated with fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events independently of the classical risk factors; the risk of events in the mentally vulnerable was 36 percent higher than in the non-vulnerable.

Although the findings show a statistically significant association between mental vulnerability and cardiovascular disease, mental vulnerability should be viewed as part of a larger view of CV disease and not as an independent risk factor.

?Several studies have found risk factors for cardiovascular disease which are clearly independent but within a broader context contribute little if anything to actual risk prediction,? saidBorglykke.

?One of the reasons for this is that the impact of the well established risk factors ? age, sex, smoking, blood pressure and total cholesterol ? tend to dominate the risk stratification models.

?This means that a risk factor such as our scale of mental vulnerability clearly increases the risk significantly ? by 36 percent ? but still does not improve risk prediction in the general population.?

?However,? added Borglykke, ?these results do not necessarily mean that we should ignore mental vulnerability in our assessment of individual risk. It is still possible that it might improve risk prediction ? or even emerge as a new marker to explain or reclassify some cardiovascular cases which cannot be attributed to classical risk factors.

?So mental vulnerability might describe a ?new dimension? when compared to the five classical risk factors, but to take this forward we need to identify sub-groups of the population where mental vulnerability does improve risk prediction beyond the classic risk factors.?

Borglykke believes the association between mental vulnerability and cardiovascular disease may be explained by the chronic psychological stress mentally vulnerable people experience. This, he added, might also provide a clue for reducing the risk ? by removing the triggers of chronic stress to which such individuals are exposed.

Source: European Society of Cardiology

Stressed businessman photo available from Shutterstock

APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2013). Vulnerability to Stress May Up Risk of Heart Disease. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 19, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/19/vulnerability-to-stress-may-up-risk-of-heart-disease/53883.html

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/19/vulnerability-to-stress-may-up-risk-of-heart-disease/53883.html

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Explosions rock finish of Boston Marathon; 2 killed and dozens hurt

WHDH cameras rolling on runners approaching the finish line of the Boston marathon, capture the first of two explosions in downtown Boston.

By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

Two explosions went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring dozens more, as runners completed the course and thousands cheered them on. Race organizers described the blasts as bombs.

Authorities reported a third explosion at the John F. Kennedy Library, elsewhere in the city, more than an hour after the blasts. There were no immediate reports of injuries in that explosion. Authorities said that they were investigating and treating it as related, and the police commissioner urged people in Boston to stay inside.

Video from the finish line at the marathon showed people screaming and an enormous cloud of white smoke, and about 20 seconds between the blasts. The explosions were strong enough to cause at least one runner to collapse, and emergency personnel carried bloody spectators away.

?We saw two big puffs. I thought maybe it was fireworks. Then it went off again. And then all of a sudden we heard people crying and running away. It was a huge horde of people just running away,? said Serghino Rene, another witness, who was a few blocks away. ?We just got away from the scene and away from tall buildings.?

A third, undetonated device was found near the finish line, a House Homeland Security Committee official and three law enforcement officials told NBC News.

Police said at least 23 people had been injured, but the count from hospitals was much higher. Massachusetts General Hospital said that it had 19 patients, Tufts Medical Center nine and Brigham and Women?s Hospital 18 to 20 ? a total of 46 to 48.

Of the 19 at Mass General, six were severe, hospital officials said. Dr. Alisdair Conn, chief of emergency medicine, characterized the blasts as a military-style bombing.

?This is like a bomb explosion we hear about in the news in Baghdad or Israel,? he told reporters.

Jackie Bruno, a reporter for New England Cable News, said on Twitter that she saw people?s legs blown off.

?Runners were coming in and saw unspeakable horror,? she said.

Race organizers, in a post on Twitter, said: ?There were two bombs that exploded near the finish line in today?s Boston Marathon. We are working with law enforcement to determine exactly what happened.?

President Barack Obama was notified, and his administration was in touch with state and local authorities, a White House official told NBC News. Obama directed the administration to provide whatever help was necessary, the official said.

Suspicious packages were found after the blasts at three Boston subway stops, and authorities were investigating. Within an hour of the blasts, New York police deployed extra security to landmarks, and Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was closed to foot traffic. San Francisco put its police on heightened alert.

Related: Images from the scene

The race is a signature event in Boston and has been run since 1897 on Patriots Day, the third Monday in April. Tens of thousands of spectators turn out each year to watch.

Race organizers said that almost 27,000 runners competed, representing 96 countries. The winners were Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia for the men and Rita Jeptoo of Kenya for the women. A special marker at the 26th mile of the course, yards from the finish, had been set up to honor the 26 dead in the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting last December.

The race began at 10 a.m., and the explosions were reported just before 3 p.m. The winners had long ago completed the race ? Desisa finished with a time of just over 2 hours, 10 minutes ? but the explosions came as masses of other runners were approaching the finish. NBC affiliate WHDH said that storefront windows nearby were blown out.

Related: Slideshow of scene of explosions

?Right now I?m in my condo with about 50-60 people I picked up off the street including marathon runners. Setting up a camp,? Corey Griffin told NBC News. ?They have nowhere to go because everything is shut down. Officials said to get inside. This is crazy.?

Authorities did not immediately offer information on who might be responsible.

Evan Kohlmann, a terrorism analyst for NBC News, said that authorities would probably examine residue from the blasts to determine their type.

Adding that it was premature to identify a culprit, he said: ?If this was a deliberate act, unfortunately it certainly would reflect something that we?re seeing. There?s an emphasis on these soft targeted attacks now. We?re moving away from the spectacular attacks and we?re moving into the small grade, homegrown attacks.?

Will Ritter, the spokesman for Massachusetts Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez, who was running the race, told NBC News that he heard what sounded like two explosions and saw smoke rising near the Boston Public Library. He said that he saw three fire engines and police running to the site.

?We heard two really large explosions in rapid succession, about a second apart from each other,? Ritter said. ?Everybody kind of ducked and hit the ground.?

Another witness told WHDH that it sounded like cannon fire.

The AP reported that runners and race organizers were crying as they fled the scene, and that bloody spectators were carried to medical tents intended for exhausted runners. Runners who were still on the 26.2-mile course were being stopped and directed elsewhere, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said. The agency suggested that people trying to reach loved ones use text messaging because of crowded phone lines.

New England Cable News reported that the emergency response came within seconds.

The Boston transit system suspended some service.

Authorities gave a phone number for people in search of loved ones ? 617-635-4520. They encouraged people with information about the blasts to call 1-800-494-TIPS.

Tracy Connor of NBC News contributed to this report. Reuters also contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2ac048b9/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C150C177647470Eexplosions0Erock0Efinish0Eof0Eboston0Emarathon0E20Ekilled0Eand0Edozens0Ehurt0Dlite/story01.htm

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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Why Did Aubrey Plaza ?Kanye? Will Ferrell? (VIDEO)

Why Did Aubrey Plaza “Kanye” Will Ferrell? (VIDEO)

Aubrey Plaza trying to take Will Ferrell awardIf you caught the MTV Movie Awards 2013 show last night, you saw “Parks and Recreation” star Aubrey Plaza rush up to the stage while Will Ferrell was accepting the Comic Genius Award. Most of us thought it was a scripted incident, but Plaza actually was tossed out of the award’s show after the bizarre ...

Why Did Aubrey Plaza “Kanye” Will Ferrell? (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/04/why-did-aubrey-plaza-kanye-will-ferrell-video/

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Monday, April 15, 2013

US, Japan raise chance of new NKorea nuclear talks

U.S. Secretary of Sate John Kerry, left, is greeted by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida prior to their meeting at Foreign Ministry's Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo Sunday, April 14, 2013. After meeting with top Chinese leaders in Beijing, Kerry traveled to Tokyo to discuss the continuing North Korea crisis with Japanese officials. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

U.S. Secretary of Sate John Kerry, left, is greeted by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida prior to their meeting at Foreign Ministry's Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo Sunday, April 14, 2013. After meeting with top Chinese leaders in Beijing, Kerry traveled to Tokyo to discuss the continuing North Korea crisis with Japanese officials. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

U.S. Secretary of Sate John Kerry waves to the media upon arriving at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Sunday, April 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

U.S. Secretary of Sate John Kerry, left, is greeted by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida prior to their meeting at Foreign Ministry's Iikura Guesthouse in Tokyo Sunday, April 14, 2013. After meeting with top Chinese leaders in Beijing, Kerry traveled to Tokyo to discuss the continuing North Korea crisis with Japanese officials. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

(AP) ? The United States and Japan on Sunday offered new talks with North Korea to resolve the increasingly dangerous standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but said the reclusive communist government first must lower tensions and honor previous agreements.

North Korea has a clear course of action available to it, and will find "ready partners" in the United States if it follows through, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.

Japan's foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, who appeared with Kerry at a news conference, was more explicit, saying that North Korea must honor its commitment to earlier deals regarding its nuclear and missile programs and on returning kidnapped foreigners.

The officials agreed on the need to work toward a nuclear-free North Korea and opened the door to direct talks if certain conditions are met.

Their comments highlight the difficulty in resolving the North Korean nuclear situation in a peaceful manner, as pledged by Kerry and Chinese leaders in Beijing on Saturday.

Gaining China's commitment, Kerry insisted, was no small matter given Beijing's historically strong military and economic ties to North Korea.

The issue has taken on fresh urgency in recent months, given North Korea's tests of a nuclear device and intercontinental ballistic missile technology, and its increasingly brazen threats of nuclear strikes against the United States.

U.S. and South Korean officials believe the North may deliver another provocation in the coming days with a mid-range missile test.

"The question," Kerry said, "is what steps do you take now so we are not simply repeating the cycle of the past years." That was a clear reference to the various negotiated agreements and U.N. Security Council ultimatums that North Korea has violated since the 1990s.

"We have to be careful and thoughtful and frankly not lay out publicly all the options," Kerry said.

Given their proximity and decades of hostility and distrust, Japan and South Korea have the most to fear from the North's unpredictable actions.

Kerry said the U.S. would defend both its allies at all cost.

He also clarified a statement he made Saturday in Beijing, when he told reporters the U.S. could scale back its missile-defense posture in the region if North Korea goes nuclear-free.

It appeared to be a sweetener to coax tougher action from China, which has done little over the years to snuff out funding and support for North Korea's weapons of mass destruction program.

China fears the increased U.S. military presence in the region may be directed at it as well.

Kerry said America's basic force posture wasn't up to debate. "There is no discussion that I know of to change that," he said.

But he said it was logical that additional missile-defense elements, including a land-based system for the Pacific territory of Guam, deployed because of the Korean threat could be reversed if that threat no longer existed.

"There's nothing actually on the table with respect to that. I was simply making an observation about the rationale for that particular deployment, which is to protect the United States' interests that are directly threatened by North Korea," Kerry said.

Kerry's visit to Japan followed two days of meetings in South Korea and China.

Six-nation talks with North Korea collapsed more than four years ago, and Kerry said that for negotiations to resume, North Korea "needed to indicate their willingness to move toward denuclearization."

"They have to take some actions," he said. "How many or how much? I'd have to talk to folks back in Washington about that. But if the Chinese came to us and said, 'Look, here's what we have cooking,' I'm not going to tell you I'm shutting the door today to something that's logical and might have a chance of success."

At round-table session with U.S. journalists, Kerry said that under the right circumstances, he even would consider making a grand overture to North Korea's leader, such as an offer of direct talks with the U.S.

"We're prepared to reach out," he said.

Kerry said diplomacy required risk-taking and secrecy such as when President Richard Nixon engaged China in the 1970s or U.S. back-channel talks were able to end the Cuban missile crisis a decade earlier.

"I'm not going to be so stuck in the mud that an opportunity to actually get something done is flagrantly wasted because of a kind of predetermined stubbornness," Kerry told reporters.

"You have to keep your mind open. But fundamentally, the concept is they're going to have to show some kind of good faith here so we're not going to around and around in the same-old same-old."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-14-US-Japan-NKorea/id-a19cd2f760a44d0f9f3f0f0549533176

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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Republicans debate message, battle bad messengers

FILE - In this March 18, 2013 file photo, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. National Republican leaders made waves recently with a dim view of the party?s future if it fails to expand its core support beyond white males and social conservatives. But weeks after Priebus unveiled the ?Growth and Opportunity Project? report, many party players maintain that the problem is more about communication _ bad messengers saying the wrong things at the wrong times _ than policy positions, immigration being the exception. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - In this March 18, 2013 file photo, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. National Republican leaders made waves recently with a dim view of the party?s future if it fails to expand its core support beyond white males and social conservatives. But weeks after Priebus unveiled the ?Growth and Opportunity Project? report, many party players maintain that the problem is more about communication _ bad messengers saying the wrong things at the wrong times _ than policy positions, immigration being the exception. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

(AP) ? National Republican leaders made waves recently with a dim view of the party's future if it fails to expand its core support beyond white males and social conservatives. But weeks after GOP Chairman Reince Priebus unveiled the "Growth and Opportunity Project" report, many party players maintain that the problem often is more about flawed messengers saying the wrong things at the wrong times than the policy positions at issue.

The distinction between policy flaws and communication problems is at the crux of the GOP's soul-searching as the Republican National Committee convenes this week in Los Angeles for the first time since the report's release. And it's a discussion that won't end anytime soon as conservatives, moderates and pragmatists struggle for control of the GOP megaphone. The dynamic has been highlighted in the weeks since the chairman's call for outreach, with succession of conservative party figures voicing positions that may alienate the very voters national party leaders want to capture.

Alaska Rep. Don Young was forced to apologize after referring to Hispanic migrant workers as "wetbacks." Media titan Donald Trump, who flirted with a presidential run in 2012, warned against compromising with President Barack Obama on a citizenship path for anyone already in the country illegally, saying they'll just become Democratic voters.

Using social media, Republican National Committee member Dave Agema of Michigan redistributed controversial writings that were harshly critical of gay Americans. Agema dug in after many Michigan Republicans called for his resignation.

Days later, the head of the Georgia state party, Sue Everhart, said that if same-sex marriage were "natural," then gay couples "would have the equipment to have a sexual relationship." She predicted that if the Supreme Court allows federal employee benefits for gay couples, then individuals who are "straight as an arrow" will enter same-sex unions just for financial perks.

Comments like those have some Republicans reeling.

"It's extremely, extremely frustrating," said Gregory Steele, a University of North Carolina senior who leads his state's college Republican organization. "We want the party to have a serious policy discussion about all of these issues going forward, but it's hard to get to that point with all of these mistakes."

Former U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who retired in January as one of the GOP's last elected New England moderates, deplored the "intolerance" that she says has driven a "slow and steady erosion of a strong political base."

"It's very exclusionary," Snowe said. "For anyone who isn't already a Republican, how are they going to be drawn in right now?"

At Log Cabin Republicans, a national group of gay GOP loyalists, Gregory Angelo said the flaps reinforce the image of an inflexible organization. But he also noted Ohio Sen. Rob Portman's recent embrace of same-sex marriage, and described the party right now as going through "growing pains."

"We are no longer walking in lock-step on these (social) issues," he said.

White House losing streaks ? like the one Republicans are in nationally ? aren't new. Democrats lost four out of five presidential elections ? all by wide margins ? from 1972 to 1988, before then-Arkansas Bill Clinton styled himself as a "New Democrat" to win the presidency in 1992 and 1996.

But current trends are foreboding for Republicans. They've lost the popular vote in five out of the last six presidential elections. In the last two, Obama has won overwhelming majorities of non-white voters and younger voters, while the anchors of Republican support ? older white voters ? have become an increasingly smaller share of the electorate. Neither Clinton nor Jimmy Carter ever drew popular vote majorities. Obama has twice cleared 51 percent.

Republicans also lost several winnable Senate races in 2012 after conservative nominees made controversial statements about women and abortion.

Top Republicans both acknowledge the damage such comments have caused and remain careful to defend the party's official positions as they call for a wider tent.

Republican Governors Association Chairman Bobby Jindal memorably called for the GOP to "stop being the stupid party," but the potential 2016 presidential candidate from Louisiana said in the same January speech to the RNC, "We do not need to change what we believe ... our principles are timeless."

Henry Barbour, a Mississippian who helped write the post-election analysis for Priebus, emphasizes that the document shouldn't be read as a call to change the Republican position on abortion, same-sex marriage or immigration. "In politics, you need to be what you're for," he said.

Louisiana Republican Chairman Roger Villere, a conservative who is also national party vice chairman, said, "To be Democrat-light will not win us elections."

Both Villere and Barbour said fixing the party starts with softening the way that Republicans talk about hot-button issues and emphasizing economic and fiscal policy.

In Georgia, Everhart makes the conundrum clear. She says the party should emphasize the economy, but added: "I don't like to refer to 'social issues' as much as I say that they're just my beliefs, and I'm going to talk about them," she said. "If you change your views for one group, you just lose another."

The one policy position where many Republicans are eager to give ground is immigration, where Senate Republicans are negotiating with Democrats on a comprehensive overhaul. Yet, they couch these policy shifts on immigration as more of a shift in message. Over the weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina went so far as to call Romney's arch-conservative position on immigration "impractical" and "offensive." He was referring specifically to Romney urging immigrants in the country illegally to "self-deport."

Perhaps the strongest call for policy shifts ? as opposed to tweaking the message ? comes from New England Republicans.

Snowe said that conservatives in Congress, she said, have gone from "original Republican principles (of) fiscal responsibility and economic opportunity" to "eviscerating government."

"That scares people," Snowe said.

Steve Duprey, a Republican National Committeeman from New Hampshire, said any meaningful shift on policy issues ultimately must come from Republican presidential candidates. Nominees always have that power, he said, noting that Romney's march to the right on immigration and other issues helped define the party in 2012.

Snowe agreed, but noted that Democrats' resurgence in 1992 came only after Clinton had spent years building a centrist anchor for the party through his Democratic Leadership Council.

Duprey offered one more ingredient: "It usually takes a few elections of losing before you figure out that singing to the choir isn't the way to grow a party."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-09-Republican%20Struggles/id-76910bb845ba4573804318b7f7b20806

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Consumption Junction: Childhood Obesity Determined Largely by Environmental Factors, Not Genes or Sloth

In looking for ways to fight childhood obesity, an emerging consensus of literature points to the need to reengineer kids? environments to change what and how they eat


Child reaching up to vending machine. Although kids can typically adjust their energy intake by regulating their food, Temple University public health professor Jennifer Fisher says, their surroundings and options may change that equation for kids in the same way that it does in adults. Image: Flickr/The Familylee

New evidence is confirming that the environment kids live in has a greater impact than factors such as genetics, insufficient physical activity or other elements in efforts to control child obesity. Three new studies, published in the April 8 Pediatrics, land on the import of the 'nurture' side of the equation and focus on specific circumstances in children's or teen's lives that potentially contribute to unhealthy bulk.

In three decades child and adolescent obesity has tripled in the U.S., and estimates from 2010 classify more than a third of children and teens as overweight or obese. Obesity puts these kids at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, and bone or joint problems. The variables responsible are thought to range from too little exercise to too many soft drinks. Now it seems that blaming Pepsi or too little PE might neglect the bigger picture.

"We are raising our children in a world that is vastly different than it was 40 or 50 years ago," says Yoni Freedhoff, an obesity doctor and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa. "Childhood obesity is a disease of the environment. It's a natural consequence of normal kids with normal genes being raised in unhealthy, abnormal environments." The environmental factors in these studies range from the seemingly minor, such as kids' plate sizes, to bigger challenges, such as school schedules that may keep teens from getting sufficient sleep. But they are part of an even longer list: the ubiquity of fast food, changes in technology, fewer home-cooked meals, more food advertising, an explosion of low-cost processed foods and increasing sugary drink serving sizes (pdf) as well as easy access to unhealthy snacks in vending machines, at sports games and in nearly every setting children inhabit?these are just a handful of environmental factors research has linked to increasing obesity, and researchers are starting to pick apart which among them play bigger or lesser roles in making kids supersized.

Size matters in "obesogenic environments"
In one of the three new studies dishware size made a big difference. Researchers studied 42 second-graders in which the children alternately used child-size 18.4-centimeter (7.25-inch) diameter plates with 237-milliliter (8-ounce) bowls or adult-size 26-centimeter (10.25-inch) diameter plates with 473-milliliter (16-ounce) bowls. Doubling the size of the dishware, the researchers found, increased the amount of food kids served themselves in a buffet-style lunch line by an average of 90 calories. They ate about 43 percent of those extra calories, on average.

Although kids can typically adjust their energy intake by regulating their food, Temple University public health professor Jennifer Fisher says, their surroundings and options may change that equation for kids in the same way that it does in adults. "This notion that children are immune to the environment is somewhat misguided," says Fisher, who headed up the study. "To promote self-regulation, you have to constrain the environment in a way that makes the healthy choice the easy choice."

Fisher says much recent research in nutrition has focused on the "obesogenic" environments of today's society: a dietary environment offering widespread access to highly palatable foods in large portion sizes. "If we look at adult studies on dieting and weight loss, we know that the prospect of maintaining self-control in this environment is fairly grim," Fisher says. "I think most scientists believe our bodies have evolved to pretty staunchly defend hunger and prevent weight loss, and maybe are not so sensitive in preventing overconsumption."

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=6da3eb788ba00335cfff73af2c218e19

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India's Tata Consultancy buys French IT provider Alti

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services , India's top software services provider, will buy privately held Alti SA of France for 75 million euros ($98 million) -- an acquisition that highlights the industry's growing interest in France and Germany.

The French provider of business management software services had revenues of 126 million euros in 2012 with customers in financial services, manufacturing and utilities.

"This acquisition underlines our long-term, strategic commitment to France, which is the third largest IT services market in Europe," TCS CEO N. Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

India's leading IT firms are looking to reduce their reliance on Britain as they expand in Europe. European companies are also seen as increasingly open to sending IT work to centers in India as it can help them cut IT costs by as much as 70 percent.

Europe, including Britain, is TCS's largest market after the United States.

TCS will report its fiscal fourth quarter and annual results on April 17.

(Reporting by Harichandan Arakali; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indias-tata-consultancy-buys-french-provider-alti-054800432--sector.html

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