Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Tribes fight to preserve gaming monopoly in Oregon - Indianz.Com

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Opinion: Tribes fight to preserve gaming monopoly in Oregon

Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Filed Under: Opinion
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"I have friends with whom I've shared the same Daily Racing Form at the Rialto in downtown Portland, the same video poker terminals at the Buffalo Gap on Southwest Macadam and the same private poker table at a certain Southeast Portland home who are now dancing on the ruins of the proposed Wood Village casino. They were shocked -- shocked! -- that the backers of Measures 82 and 83 were trying to bring casino gambling to the Portland area. But the battle over these measures, which their sponsors abandoned two weeks ago, wasn't about bringing gambling to Portland. We already have plenty of gaming venues in the tri-county area that are legal and, for the most part, pretty seedy. Just go to PortlandBarFly.com (barflymag.com) for a list of state-contracted video poker establishments that would cost state legislators their jobs if they tried to conduct an on-site audit there. No, the battle over the casino ballot measures was about protecting the balance of monopoly market shares for tribal casinos and the state's video poker industry, which subsidizes bars, restaurants and even strip joints. As happens in campaigns of this kind, facts were shuffled and discarded, but deserve a second look. Let the record show that the Wood Village casino would have generated more revenue for our schools than existing tribal gaming pacts, based on the official estimate of financial impact in the Oregon Voters' Pamphlet. And, if you can trust the Oregon AFL-CIO on this subject, this same casino would have produced more family-wage jobs than our existing gambling establishments." Get the Story:
Tim Nesbitt: Measures 82 and 83: Casino demise leaves money, jobs on the table (The Oregonian 10/30) Also Today:
Oregon casino proposal meets familiar foe, the Grand Ronde, and suffers familiar setback (The Oregonian 10/27) Related Stories:
Coquille Tribe also against non-Indian casino project in Oregon (10/23)

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Source: http://www.indianz.com/IndianGaming/2012/025607.asp

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Nevada town named state's 'most bearded community'

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Monday, October 29, 2012

Hurricane forces NYSE to shutter on Monday

NEW YORK (AP) ? The New York Stock Exchange and other U.S. financial markets are shutting down Monday as Hurricane Sandy bears down on the nation's largest city.

The NYSE's parent company said late Sunday that it had decided to close all of its markets the next day. The shutdown might be extended through Tuesday "pending confirmation," according to exchange operator NYSE Euronext.

The move was coordinated with other financial exchange operators, regulators and government officials, NYSE said. Nasdaq OMX Group said it is shutting down the Nasdaq stock market and its other U.S.-based exchanges and markets.

CME Group in Chicago will suspend trading of equity index futures and equity index options starting at 8:15 a.m. CDT. It had already announced the closing of the New York Mercantile Exchange, or NYMEX, whose trading floor is located inside a mandatory evacuation zone.

The companies cited concerns about the market's ability to function without disruption and the safety of people who work there.

Earlier Sunday, a key trade group recommended that bond trading close at noon on Monday. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said the early close should apply to all bonds that are denominated in U.S. dollars.

NYSE had said earlier Sunday that it would close its physical trading floor but allow electronic trading to continue. The shutdown announced later applies to all trading, including electronic orders.

Hurricane Sandy has caused the shutdown of transportation systems throughout the region. New York City's subways and buses shut down, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered residents to evacuate some low-lying areas. City public schools are closed Monday.

Trading has rarely stopped for weather. A blizzard led to a late start and an early close on Jan. 8, 1996, according to the exchange's parent company, NYSE Euronext. The NYSE shut down on Sept. 27, 1985 for Hurricane Gloria.

Since the Great Depression, the longest suspension in trading at the NYSE occurred after the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, when the exchange closed for four days.

Sandy, a minimal but large hurricane, was blamed for 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it began churning up the Eastern Seaboard. It was expected to hook left toward the mid-Atlantic coast and come ashore late Monday or early Tuesday, most likely in New Jersey, colliding with a wintry storm moving in from the west and cold air streaming down from the Arctic.

Forecasters said the monster combination could bring close to a foot of rain, a potentially lethal storm surge and punishing winds extending hundreds of miles outward from the storm's center. It could also dump up to 2 feet of snow in Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-forces-nyse-shutter-monday-045907438.html

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Smaller iPad expected Tuesday, but at what price?

FILE -In this Wednesday, March 7, 2012, file photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook announces a new iPad during an Apple announcement in San Francisco. Those who follow Apple believe they have figured out most of the particulars of a smaller iPad expected to be revealed on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Apple hasn't said anything about the device, but the veil of secrecy it throws over unreleased products has been a see-through affair this year. Most of the details of the iPhone 5 were known well in advance of its launch a month ago. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE -In this Wednesday, March 7, 2012, file photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook announces a new iPad during an Apple announcement in San Francisco. Those who follow Apple believe they have figured out most of the particulars of a smaller iPad expected to be revealed on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Apple hasn't said anything about the device, but the veil of secrecy it throws over unreleased products has been a see-through affair this year. Most of the details of the iPhone 5 were known well in advance of its launch a month ago. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE -In this Wednesday, March 7, 2012, file photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook announces a new iPad during an Apple announcement in San Francisco. Those who follow Apple believe they have figured out most of the particulars of a smaller iPad expected to be revealed on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Apple hasn't said anything about the device, but the veil of secrecy it throws over unreleased products has been a see-through affair this year. Most of the details of the iPhone 5 were known well in advance of its launch a month ago. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

(AP) ? The price tag remains a big question mark as Apple prepares Tuesday to unveil what is expected to be a smaller iPad.

Apple hasn't said anything about the device, but the veil of secrecy that the company throws over unreleased products has been a see-through affair this year. Most of the details of the iPhone 5, for instance, were known well in advance of its launch a month ago.

In the case of the "iPad Mini" (the real name is not known), tech bloggers and analysts expect a device with a screen measuring 7.85 inches on the diagonal, making it about half the size of the regular iPad. It would be slightly larger than the 7-inch tablets it's presumably designed to compete with, including Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire and Google Inc.'s Nexus 7.

The Kindle Fire starts at $159, and the Nexus 7 at $199. Meanwhile, Apple sells the iPad 2 for $399 and the 4-inch iPod Touch for $199. Company watchers are pegging the price of the smaller iPad somewhere in between.

Most of the guesses range from $249 to $299, but the blog 9to5Mac said Monday that the price would be $329. That would make the iPad Mini twice the price of the cheapest Kindle Fire and leave plenty of room for other manufacturers to snap up value shoppers this holiday season. The blog did not disclose its source and has had a mixed record in predicting details on unreleased Apple products.

Analysts such as Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets believe that Apple will also sell a step-up version of the iPad Mini, one with the ability to access 4G cellular networks for an additional monthly fee. That's a feature that the cheaper, 7-inch tablets don't have.

Apple is holding Tuesday's presentation at a theater in San Jose, Calif., starting at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT). The company typically starts selling a new phone or iPad a week or two after announcing it. But it could treat the new iPad as a minor product update, in which case it could start sales right after the announcement.

Apple has sold 84 million iPads since their debut in April 2010. One of the first competitors to appear was a Samsung tablet with a 7-inch screen. Apple's late founder, Steve Jobs, made a rare appearance at an October 2010 conference call with analysts ? his last ? to deride the concept.

"The reason we wouldn't make a 7-inch tablet isn't because we don't want to hit a price point. It's because we don't think you can make a great tablet with a 7-inch screen," Jobs said. "The 7-inch tablets are tweeners, too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with an iPad."

He said the resolution of the display could be increased to make up for the smaller size, but that would be "meaningless, unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of the present size."

"There are clear limits of how close you can physically place elements on a touch screen before users cannot reliably tap, flick or pinch them. This is one of the key reasons we think the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps," he said.

Jobs didn't mention that Apple has had great success developing software that uses taps, flicks and pinches for the iPhone, which has a screen one quarter of the size he was attacking.

Jobs, who died last October, had strong opinions, but he also changed his mind frequently. The production of a smaller iPad would not be the first time that Apple has made a product that Jobs initially dismissed as ridiculous.

In an internal email sent in January 2011, Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue said that a 7-inch tablet would work well and that Jobs was starting to come around to the idea. The email surfaced as part of Apple's patent trial against Samsung Electronics Co. this year.

Apart from the smaller iPad, Apple is also expected to refresh some other products. There's speculation that the MacBook will come in a version with a 13-inch, high-resolution "Retina" screen. The 15-inch MacBook got an option for a Retina screen this summer.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-10-23-US-TEC-Apple-Mini-iPad/id-45da3c5081be42d3be05d77488d4b773

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Google Stoops to a New Low! | Internet Marketing Secrets, Affiliate ...

Google Stoops to a New Low!

I must say when I saw what I?m about to show you in this post I had to check it twice as I didn?t quite believe what I was seeing at first, but sure enough Google has stooped to a new low today in their never quenching thirst for more profit. I can?t confirm that this has been rolled out across the world, but it is happening where I live in New Zealand anyway.

Before I show you this I first want to lay down a little background. We all know that Google makes their money when people click their ads listed on a Google results pages and on other websites that are opting into the Adsense program. So obviously Google?s agenda is to get as many of these ads clicked as possible.

However stop for just a moment and remember what Google is useful for and why it has become such a popular tool for people to use in the first place. Google is a search engine, not a giant advertising billboard, let?s get that straight to start with. People use Google as a gateway to the internet, and Google is supposed to be showing a list of the most relevant websites related to a user?s search queries.

This all sounds well and good, what a great service, Google makes it easy for us to find websites right?well sort of, but over the years Google has taken advantage of their popularity and slowly but surely are moving towards being one giant advertising billboard and that?s it!!

What Happened to the Organic Listing?

Yes the organic listings, the websites that Google lists that DO NOT pay Google to be there. The ones that do SEO (search engine optimization) and get ranked on the front page of Google, what did happen to them? The way Google is going you might have to scroll to page 3 to find an organic listing soon.

Let?s take a look at a typical Google results page below that I see when I search in Google, so you can see where I?m going with this. This might not be the same for you, as possible Google is testing this out in some countries, New Zealand where I live being the perfect test place.

So you can see from that image that above the fold of the page now 95% of the real estate is taken up by NON ORGANIC listings. Google has now added an extra listing for ?Searches related to KEYWORD? just below where the Google Ads finish, thus pushing the organic results even further down the page.

When people click on these related results, it will load a new Google page which will of course show more Google Ads, and give Google another chance to get them clicked. This is just another aggressive trick from Google to stop people from visiting websites that are not Ads.

This is not the first time they have done dirty tricks like this, in fact Google is slowly but surely doing more and more of these cunning techniques. Don?t believe me? Well think back to 12 months ago when the background color of ALL ADS where a pink color that was obvious, so searches knew if they were clicking on an ad. Well Google went from obvious pink to a light pink that was hard to distinguish without tilting your screen, to now being WHITE so you can?t tell at all!

But there?s more, Google use to make it very obvious what listings were ads by telling you, as they were say ?Ads by Google?, but I guess that was being too helpful so now they just have the words ?Ads? and I wouldn?t be surprized if they remove even that soon.

What amazes me is that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) comes down on affiliate sites who don?t make it obvious that they make a commission from links on their sites, but they let Google continue down this aggressive and somewhat deceptive path of advertising.

Do No Evil?.As Google Do Plenty For Us All

I get sick and tired of listening to garbage from Matt Cutts at Google telling us all to be transparent and put up QUALITY sites for the user experience when I see Google turn around and pull moves like this latest stunt.

One of Google Panda?s penalties was for sites that have too much advertising above the fold!!!!!! Can you see the irony in this, when a Google results page is essentially nothing more than one giant ad, as they push the organic results below the fold.

Google?s motto is ?do no evil? yeah right, you have to be kidding me, Google is shown quite clearly that they have no interest in helping people find the best website that meets their search query and instead want to show you the results that make them the most money.

Summary

I hope this latest move by Google annoys you as much as it has me. I would love to hear from you all below in the comments. However like I said Google might not have rolled this out globally yet, so you might not see it when you use Google, but I can assure you that it is there when I use Google, so something is going on.

Related articles

Hate your day job? Build an online business with my free 12 part internet marketing video training course now!

We take your privacy very seriously. Your email address will never be shared or sold.

Source: http://mattsmarketingblog.com/seo/google-stoops-to-a-new-low/

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

State Obtains $7.7 Million Judgment Against Contractor Accused of ...

NEWARK ? Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs today announced a $7.7 million judgment against John Kot, of Garwood, and his multiple home improvement companies ? including Roofing Police, Inc., which has used distinctive vehicles painted to resemble police squad cars. Under the terms of the judgment, Kot and the companies are permanently barred from performing home improvement work, and Kot is permanently barred from managing or owning any business in New Jersey.
?These defendants allegedly left consumers with shoddy work, broken promises, and warranties that were ignored ? often while using business names or language on their websites that implied they had some connection to government or police work,? Chiesa said. ?We have held them accountable by obtaining a judgment that provides for consumer restitution and civil penalties, and which prohibits them from performing home improvement work, or even owning or managing any business in New Jersey.?

Under the Final Judgment by Default and Order, entered by Bergen County Superior Court Judge Robert P. Contillo, defendant Kot, 41, and the various home improvement companies he operated, were found to have engaged in conduct which comprises 1,542 violations of the State Consumer Fraud Act, Contractors? Registration Act, Contractor Registration Regulations, Home Improvement Regulations, and Advertising Regulations.

Kot and his companies are collectively required to pay a total of $7.7 million ? including $150,000 in consumer restitution, $7.5 million in civil penalties, $38,000 for the State?s attorney?s fees, and $30,000 for the State?s investigative costs. Kot and his companies are permanently enjoined from performing home improvements in the State. Kot also is permanently enjoined from managing or owning any business in the State; and the corporate charters of the defendant corporations and companies are annulled.

The Final Judgment by Default and Order is against all defendants in the state?s complaint, except for Gabriel R. DaSilva, Jr., who settled with the state via a Final Consent Judgment. A $30,000 civil penalty is assessed against DaSilva but will remain suspended so long as he complies with the terms of the settlement as well as all applicable laws. DaSilva is not barred from performing home improvement work, so long as he first obtains State registration as a home improvement contractor.

?Our investigation and the court?s findings make it abundantly clear that consumers must be cautious when hiring a home improvement contractor,? Acting Director Eric T. Kanefsky said. ?Through this default judgment, we have ensured that one of the worst can no longer defraud New Jersey?s consumers.?

The State?s complaint, filed on behalf of the Division of Consumer Affairs by the Division of Law, alleged that the defendants performed substandard work; refused to repair their substandard work despite promises and/or warranties; refused to return consumer deposits for work that was never performed; failed to honor guarantees or warranties provided in their contracts; and started work without the necessary state or local permits. The companies also allegedly advertised through names and statements that wrongfully implied they were affiliated with government or were quasi-police agencies or police-affiliated businesses.

The state alleged that the defendants perpetuated their deceptive business practices through the interchangeable use of multiple business entities, names, addresses and phone numbers. According to authorities the defendants advertised or contracted with consumers using the following corporations, limited liability companies, trade names and/or unregistered business names: A-1 American Construction, Inc.; A 1 American Chimney Limited Liability Company; Brick City Chimney Service, L.L.C.; Brick City Chimney Service and Cleaning, Inc.; Roofing Police, Inc.; Roofing Squad; Chimney Squad; Brick City; Brick City Chimney & Roofing Services; A-1 American Masonry; A-1 American Masonry Services; A-1 American Chimney Service; A-1 American Contracting; A-1 American Roofing; A-1 American Gutters; A-1 American Siding; A-1 Affordable Construction; A Above American; A Above Brick City; and Diamond Roofing. Defendants used common addresses in Fair Lawn, Hackensack, Maywood and Garwood.

The State?s Complaint further alleged that the defendants misrepresented their business locations and, in Kot?s case, used as assumed name as an alias in the course of conducting business. The Division of Consumer Affairs received complaints about the defendants from a total of 81 consumers.


Find tickets and showtimes on Fandango.

Source: http://njtoday.net/2012/10/23/state-obtains-7-7-million-judgment-against-contractor-accused-of-performing-shoddy-work/

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Control employee cellphone use?an accident waiting to happen ...

by Dean A. LeDoux, Esq., Gray Plant Mooty, Minneapolis

businessman talking on phone while drivingMore and more employees use cellphones and smartphones to get their work done, something many employers encourage in the name of greater efficiency and better employee responsiveness.

But there?s a downside?significant safety and financial risks created by employees who use mobile devices while driving.

Employer liability issue

For more than a decade, many employers have had employment policies addressing appropriate employee cellphone use. However, the explosive rise of smartphones and greater use of text messaging has vastly increased the number of automobile accidents attributed to drivers? use of mobile technology.

Numerous media reports have trumpeted the increase of ?distracted driving? car crashes caused by cellphone use. A recent article in the Washington Post noted multimillion-dollar jury awards against employers in accidents involving death or serious injury, ...(register to read more)

To read the rest of this article you must first register with your email address.

Source: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/32638/control-employee-cellphone-use-an-accident-waiting-to-happen

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Ryan Tells Iowa Obama Offers 'Blame and Frustration'

SIOUX CITY, Iowa-Paul Ryan hit the president at a short rally here, accusing him of becoming the "very kind of candidate he was then criticizing" four years ago.

"You see, the man we heard four years ago offering hope and change is the very kind of candidate he was then criticizing," Ryan said on the deck of a restaurant, Bev's on the River here. "He has become what he criticized. He's not offering hope and change, he's offering attack and blame and frustration."

The Republican vice presidential candidate spoke to over 700 people on an unseasonably warm northwestern Iowa day, greeting patrons inside the restaurant before coming outside and praising the crowd for coming together during the floods last year. He said the community "showed the rest of us in America, this is what Americans do when they come together to help one another."

He noted that Iowans have a "big responsibility" on Nov. 6. Iowa is one of a handful of swing states that could be crucial in determining which candidate wins the electoral college vote. A poll last week gave Obama a 51-43 lead in Iowa.

"This is the heart and soul of America, and you know what?" Ryan asked the crowd. "Right here in the Midwest, right here in Iowa, you have a big responsibility, you have a big obligation, you have a big opportunity because Iowans could be the ones who decide the direction of this country."

The Wisconsin congressman did not mention the shooting in Brookfield, Wisc., today that left three people dead, but he issued a statement shortly after the shooting, writing that he and his wife Janna "were shocked and saddened by the news from Brookfield today."

The shooting occurred about 25 miles where seven people were killed at a Sikh Temple by a white supremacist in August.

"As our community continues to heal from August's tragic violence, our thoughts and prayers are with today's victims and their loved ones," Ryan said in a statement.

The Sikh Temple shooting took place in his congressional district. Today's shooting occurred in a neighboring district.

Ryan will be heading back to his home state around Halloween for a campaign tour that will also allow him to accompany his three young children trick or treating. Polls in Wisconsin still show the president leading, but Ryan's selection has put the state in contention. No Republican has won Wisconsin in a presidential election since 1984.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ryan-tells-iowa-obama-offers-blame-frustration-230129453--abc-news-politics.html

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The St. Martin Rose Garden Home Tour 2012 | SKEdazzles

What is it with us women (and let?s not exclude the men) with our need to ?nest?. We love scouring the design magazines looking for ideas and shopping at home stores searching for that perfect accessory to adorn our house. It?s an?innate need to cozy up our homes and create the perfect atmosphere for family?and friends to dwell in. And no one does this better than my sister does.

I speak of her often so you know that it?s Vicki Petulla and my statement is evidently true with the huge success of her design idea Facebook page The Creeping Fig.?Vicki was asked by St. Martin School if she would put her home on the St. Martin Rose Garden Home Tour?which is their annual fundraiser and she agreed to do so. Which indeed drew all of us women in large groups to tour the homes and gather ideas we can implement in our homes?.or for some of us, become extremely depressed that we don?t live in homes like these!

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Vicki?s home is always in pristine condition but with the help of a local design services and furniture shop, lulu Pom in Los Gatos, the house was in amazing form. I wasn?t sure if it would have been appropriate to take pictures at the other homes, not to mention trying to capture images with hoards of people, so I don?t have images of the other homes however they were all nice?.but of course, I?m partial to one. ;)

So for your entertainment, enjoy the readers digest version of my sister?s house as it was on the home tour.

The Main Living Room: Designed with a relaxed elegance, this room is perfect for intimate conversations and entertaining.

Dining Room: A large farm table easily seats 10 for fun dinner parties. The mixture of fabric covered chairs along with the criss-cross patterned side chairs adds an eclectic touch that creates interest.

The Family Room: This is the room most used by the family. Some fun accessories were brought in by lulu Pom such as those antique, oversized books (that I drooled over?sorry lulu Pom if there are any stains on them), and they created a fantastic contrast with the juxtaposition of the warm sofa, with the?complement?of a couple contemporary chairs. For a creative touch, the TV is framed with a real picture frame and for a Halloween treat a showing of Psycho played during the home tour.

The Master Bedroom: Warm and cozy, this room invites you to come in and shed the day?s stress.

Son?s Room: Really what little boy doesn?t want a room like this? Fun and unique art, antique planes and trucks (not seen), an extra bed for your buddy and a set of Hardy Boys books to top off the evening ~ this room has everything a little boy needs.

A fun vignette created by lulu Pom Interiors

And Vicki?s incredible floral arrangements and holiday decor

Kudos to the women/men and homeowners who put on this event. I know from personal experience, as I donated my services one year for this event, that it is a lot of work. It looked like it was a very successful event by the attendance and I hope that it raised a lot of money for the school.

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Source: http://skedazzles.com/2012/10/21/the-st-martin-rose-garden-home-tour-2012/

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Represent! : Some surprises among rating of CA lawmakers by ...

Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, who represents Palm Springs, was one of only two House Republicans who joined Defense of Marriage Act opponents on some legislation

The Human Rights Campaign has issued its annual Congressional?scorecard on?issues important to the gay, lesbian, and transgender community. A look at how California lawmakers fared shows some interesting results.

As expected, nearly all House Democrats from the Golden State agreed to co-sponsor every piece of legislation backed by the HRC, and voted up or down in ways the campaign approved; most California Republicans did not.

But there were exceptions.

The HRC didn?t like the House version of the Violence Against Women reauthorization because, unlike the Senate version, it doesn?t expand protections to partners in same-sex couples.? Democrats, by and large, voted against it, but so did GOP Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and Tom McClintock of Lake Tahoe.

McClintock voted against it for reasons other than its exclusion of same-sex couple protection.?On his website, McClintock blasts the legislation as "a feel-good measure that uses 'Violence Against Women' as an excuse to vastly expand a dizzying array of government grant programs, hamstring judges who are attempting to resolve and reconcile highly volatile relationships, add $1.8 billion to the nation?s debt and generally insinuate the federal government into matters the Constitution clearly reserves to the states."

Another bill would forbid spending any money in the Justice Department?s budget to fight the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. All California House Democrats voted against it. All but two Republicans from the state?Jerry Lewis of Redlands and Mary Bono Mack of Palm Springs?voted for it.

Bono Mack also voted against restricting Defense Department funds from the fight against DOMA. The eight-term Congresswoman?is running in a race pundits rate a "toss up." The district includes a city with a large population of gay voters ? Palm Springs.

House members were asked to co-sponsor a couple of bills related to benefits for same-sex partners.? One would equalize the tax treatment of employer-sponsored health insurance plans for gay and lesbian couples. It got six Republican co-sponsors, none from California. All but five California Democrats signed up as co-sponsors.? Those declining were Mike Thompson, John Garamendi, Jerry McNerney, Jim Costa, and Anaheim?s Loretta Sanchez.

Those same Democrats, plus L.A.'s Maxine Waters, declined to sign on to a bill that?would provide health care and retirement benefits to same sex partners of federal employees.? Again, no California GOP sponsors. Waters' office says she?signed on as a co-sponsor after Congress left town, which will be reflected when the HRC updates its list. Sanchez's office says she supports and will co-sponsor both measures, but the paperwork won't be completed until Congress returns to Washington after the election.

Over on the Senate side, Barbara Boxer got a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign. Dianne Feinstein?s name was missing from the co-sponsorship of a pair of bills. It appears one of them, the Senate version of the House?s tax parity measure for employer-sponsored health plans, was a clerical error. Feinstein?s office says she asked to be listed as co-sponsor months ago, but was left off the list. She will be added as a co-sponsor.

Here?s a link to the entire report:

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Source: http://www.scpr.org/blogs/politics/2012/10/22/10599/some-surprises-among-rating-ca-lawmakers-human-rig/

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Gunfire in southern Beirut, ambulances heard

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No jail time in first sentence for FAMU hazing death

Red Huber / Orlando Sentinel

Brian Jones looks to the court gallery before being sentenced in an Orlando courtroom for his role in the hazing death of a Florida A&M University band member on Monday.

By Kari Huus, NBC News

The first of 12 defendants in the deadly hazing case of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion was sentenced by an Orlando court on Monday.

Brian Jones, 23, avoided a jail term, but was sentenced to six months of community supervision ? a strict monitoring arragement?that requires an ankle monitor and frequent check-ins with probation officials ? followed by two years of probation. He is also required to do 200 hours of community service, The Associated Press reported.

The band had traveled to Orlando from Tallahassee to perform at a football game when the fellow band members subjected Champion to a severe beating on the bus ? in a ritual called "crossing Bus C" ? which caused him to fall unconscious, and then die, on Nov. 19, 2011.

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Jones, a percussionist, faced up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. But the judge said Jones? role had been relatively limited.

"This young man's part in this horrible act ... as compared with many others from what I've seen is minimal," said Judge Marc Lubet, ruling in?Orange County Court. "It was an isolated incident in this man's life for which he's shown remorse."

Lubet quoted Abraham Lincoln as he announced the sentence, saying that "mercy bears richer fruit than strict justice," the Orlando Sentinel reported.

After initially pleading not guilty, Jones entered a no-contest plea Oct. 9 to a third-degree felony hazing charge.

Champion?s parents attended Monday's court proceedings. Prior to the sentencing, his mother challenged the idea that Jones? role had been minor:

"You and I know that's not true," said Pam Champion, addressing Jones, and carrying a picture of her son. "You played a critical role."

"You won't be able to put it out if your mind...It will haunt you," she told Jones.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More content from NBCNews.com:

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Follow Kari Huus on Facebook

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/22/14622684-judge-rules-no-jail-time-in-first-famu-hazing-death-sentencing?lite

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Monday, October 22, 2012

How to Prevent Heart Attacks | Fitness Health, Health resources ...

October 22, 2012 ? Posted by Rene in Body Health, Featured, Fitness Health News ? Tags: exercise, fitness, health, life health, lifestyle, wellbeing ? 0 comments ?

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This article will give you guided information with helping you reduce the risks from suffering a heart attack .

Heart attack is a disease whereby the flow of blood carrying oxygen towards a portion of
the heart is suddenly blocked or disrupted. This state happens when the coronary artery, which
brings blood rich in oxygen develops a clot in which if not treated immediately would continue to
expand in size, thus causing blockage of blood supply to the heart.

Statistics show that heart attack is not only widespread among men but is a common
disease affecting women as well. This heart problem is commonly coined as the ?traitor disease?,
because it usually strikes without notice even if the bearer is in its usual way of living.

Aside from having a healthy diet and a regular exercise to maintain a healthy and vigorous
body, watching over certain practices or vices that may trigger diseases such as heart attack must
also be considered. Other various causes of heart attack are emotional stress or anxiety, intake
of unprescribed drugs (such as cocaine and methamphetamine), and excessive smoking. Just as
people thought that cigarette smoking could bring relaxation and could lessen anxiety, it also brings
greater destruction especially to the organs (the heart and the lungs) that primarily supports life.

In order to reduce risks of suffering from a heart attack, one might consider the following:
Slowly quit from vices especially smoking.

To quit smoking abruptly might bring uneasiness and other problems to the
person because the body?s coping mechanism may not be able to adjust
immediately. So, it would be best to reduce usage until one is able to live without it
already.

Stop worrying because worries can never solve anything.

Free your mind from anything that may cause troubles and burdens. If
problems are encountered, let your mind look for solutions but try not to indulge
yourself too much. Because you will never be able to solve it if you will add another
problem, especially if it pertains to your health.

Try to have a general checkup at least once a year

This would keep you updated on your health status and it will help to
immediately treat any diagnosed ailment.

Just simply be happy.

Each person has a different definition of happiness and of course has a
different means of happiness. Do what makes you happy, smile and be a reason for
other peoples? smile.

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Source: http://fitnesshealth.co.uk/how-to-prevent-heart-attacks.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-prevent-heart-attacks

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A diamond bigger than Earth?

LONDON | Sun Oct 21, 2012 3:58am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Forget the diamond as big as the Ritz. This one's bigger than planet Earth.

Orbiting a star that is visible to the naked eye, astronomers have discovered a planet twice the size of our own made largely out of diamond.

The rocky planet, called '55 Cancri e', orbits a sun-like star in the constellation of Cancer and is moving so fast that a year there lasts a mere 18 hours.

Discovered by a U.S.-Franco research team, its radius is twice that of Earth's and its mass is eight times greater. It is also incredibly hot, with temperatures on its surface reaching 3,900 degrees Fahrenheit (2,148 Celsius).

"The surface of this planet is likely covered in graphite and diamond rather than water and granite," said Nikku Madhusudhan, the Yale researcher whose findings are due to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The study - with Olivier Mousis at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie in Toulose, France - estimates that at least a third of the planet's mass, the equivalent of about three Earth masses, could be diamond.

Diamond planets have been spotted before but this is the first time one has been seen orbiting a sun-like star and studied in such detail.

"This is our first glimpse of a rocky world with a fundamentally different chemistry from Earth," Madhusudhan said, adding that the discovery of the carbon-rich planet meant distant rocky planets could no longer be assumed to have chemical constituents, interiors, atmospheres, or biologies similar to Earth.

David Spergel, an astronomer at Princeton University, said it was relatively simple to work out the basic structure and history of a star once you know its mass and age.

"Planets are much more complex. This 'diamond-rich super-Earth' is likely just one example of the rich sets of discoveries that await us as we begin to explore planets around nearby stars."

"Nearby" is a relative concept in astronomy. Any fortune-hunter not dissuaded by "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz", F.Scott Fitzgerald's jazz age morality tale of thwarted greed, will find Cancri e about 40 light years, or 230 trillion miles, from Park Avenue.

(This version of the story removes erroneous reference to density of planet in paragraph four.)

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/jHIvrfTyXGU/us-space-diamond-planet-idUSBRE89K03720121021

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Protesters break into grounds of Libya's parliament

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - About 500 protesters broke into the grounds of Libya's parliament building on Sunday to demand an end to violence in Bani Walid, a former stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi that is being shelled by militiamen from a rival town.

Militias, many from Misrata and aligned with the Defence Ministry, have been shelling the hilltop town of 70,000 people for several days. State news agency LANA said on Sunday 22 people had been killed and 200 wounded in the fighting.

"We are here to demand the government find a peaceful solution for the tribal war that is happening in Bani Walid," protester Nasser Ehdein said.

Libya's new rulers have led the nation to elections but have struggled to impose their authority on a country awash with weapons a year after Gaddafi was captured and killed.

Underscoring the chaos in the country, there were conflicting reports over the weekend over the fate of Gaddafi's former spokesman and his son.

While Misrata spent weeks under siege by Gaddafi forces in last year's war, Bani Walid was one of the towns that remained loyal to Gaddafi longest. It remains isolated from the rest of Libya and former rebels say it still harbors pockets of support for the old government.

The unarmed group of male and female protesters forced their way past security guards at the gates of the grounds of the parliament buildings in Tripoli, chanting "There is no God but God, and President (Mohammed) Magarief is God's enemy."

Security forces shot rounds into the air as they held their positions at the doors of the building, while elected members of the General National Congress met inside.

Ehdein said most of the protesters were residents of Tripoli who had family in or hailed from Bani Walid.

This is the second time protesters have broken into the grounds of the assembly since it took power in the summer.

The first time was on October 4 when a group of protesters who believed their town was underrepresented in a proposed Libyan government stormed the assembly as it prepared to scrutinize the prime minister-elect's nominations.

ROCKETS

Bani Walid militia leader Abdelkarim Ghomaid said the attacks were continuing in the town, 140 km south of Tripoli.

"The shelling is coming from all sides," he said by phone.

A Bani Walid resident said by phone: "Fighting is continuing today. There is smoke rising over certain parts of the city."

Outside Bani Walid, hundreds of vehicles lined up in the village of Weshtata, 80 km (50 miles) from Tripoli, waiting to be checked by government forces as families fled the fighting.

"We are escaping the danger of the rockets, the shrapnel, and the deaths inside. There hasn't been electricity for days," said one man who had his family in a pick-up truck.

The feud between the towns was inflamed by the death of rebel Omran Shaban after two months in detention in Bani Walid. Shaban, from Misrata, was the man who found Gaddafi hiding in a drain pipe in Sirte on October 20, 2011.

Libya's congress ordered the Defence and Interior Ministries to find those responsible for abducting Shaban and suspected of torturing him. It gave Bani Walid a deadline to hand them over.

Hundreds of families have also fled the fighting in Bani Walid to Tarhouna, some 80 km away, where a statement from the prime minister's office on Saturday said militias had captured former Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.

However, in an audio clip posted on Facebook, a person purporting to be Ibrahim, who held news conferences in Tripoli during the war, dismissed news of his arrest.

There was no independent verification of the authenticity or timing of the Facebook post, dated October 20.

Some officials said Gaddafi's son Khamis had been captured in Bani Walid and died after being taken to Misrata, however there was no official written statement from the government on this, as with previous captures of former regime figures.

On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur said on his official Twitter account the announcement of Ibrahim's arrest and Khamis's death was made without confirmation of the news.

Khamis was reported dead on at least three separate occasions during last year's conflict. A Syrian-based television station that supported Gaddafi said he had been killed in fighting southeast of Tripoli on August 29, 2011.

(Additional reporting by Hadeel al-Shalchi, Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Reuters Television; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-resume-former-gaddafi-stronghold-124727244.html

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5 Reasons Why Do-it-Yourself Marketing Can Actually Hurt Your ...

Entrepreneurs, by nature, are do-it-yourself people. Not a bad thing. While that trait may serve you in many areas there?s one where it actually works against you: Marketing. Here?s five reasons why.

1)?? You Don?t Know What You Don?t Know.

While you might feel savvy after reading a couple marketing books or listening to a savvy marketing guru, it doesn?t compare to working with a qualified team or consultant with great experience and a great record. You simply don?t know what you don?t know, and if you do it yourself, what you don?t know will hurt you. Like having a tag-line that makes no sense, or sends a wrong message. Like pouring money into SEO or your website when the better focus is Content Marketing and improved organic search. Like not realizing you need video. Or having a self-produced video that?s so unprofessional it works against you. The list goes on.

2)?? A Business Owner Can?t Be Objective.

Passionate business owners tend to be absorbed by their business?an advantage when it comes to DIY marketing, right? Not really. Effective marketing starts with an unbiased perspective. To be successful at marketing, business blemishes must be seen clearly. As a business owner you just don?t have that objectivity. If you read Ken Segall?s book Insanely Simple, about his working with Apple, you?ll read how Steve Jobs was proven wrong time and time again by his more objective and talented outside team who created some of the most iconic and successful marketing ever done.

3)?? The Best Marketing Isn?t About A System or Formula.

As more small business owners attempt to save money by trying to do their own thing, more self-proclaimed marketing gurus are popping up on the Internet with their ?Amazing Profit-Making Marketing? systems. They all sound amazing and they all claim amazing results. They even have amazing testimonials. But every business is different, and a cookie-cutter, systematic approach is not the most effective way to market a business or product. While an ?Amazing Profit-Making Marketing System? sounds amazing, the ones making the most money from them are usually the ones getting you to spend money on them.

4)?? Great Marketing Requires Talent.

Great marketing is part science, part art. Yet, the creative part often gets lost or diminished in this ever-advancing tech world. Focused, creative talent is the ingredient that helps communicate your message and persuade your prospects to buy. It?s not easy to find, but if you do it?ll make a huge difference.

5)?? DIY? Doesn?t Really Save Money.

Because you?re not spending money on outside resources you might think you?re saving tons of money with a DIY approach. Just remember this?it?s not just what you spend, it?s what you spend and get back on what you spend.

Great marketing will get you back more, and sometimes significantly more, than what you spend. So, how do you get great marketing? You find and hire great marketing people, like Steve Jobs did, like Nike?s Phil Knight did, and like every successful business owner does. And, they didn?t just do it when they were big successful companies with huge marketing budgets. They did it from the very beginning of their companies, only months after they incorporated.

You also have to factor in what your time is worth. It?s not cheap. If you kept track of every minute you spent trying to do it yourself and applied a dollar value to that, you?d be surprised at the expense. Also realize that every expensive minute you spend fumbling with something you don?t do great is taking away valuable time and talent from something you do do great. That?s another expense.

To sum up I?ll end with a simple quote from someone who?s interviewed hundreds of small business owners and knows what it takes to be successful:

?Business success is all about finding the right outside service providers and using them wisely. You can?t do it all yourself.?

? Anita Campbell, Founder of Small Business Trends


DIY Photo via Shutterstock


About John Follis

John Follis John Follis is a business owner and nationally respected marketing exec profiled on Wikipedia. His successful campaigns have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday, Forbes and two college textbooks. He?s also author of "How to Attract and ExciteYour Prospects" a guide to getting the best marketing results. His innovative ?Marketing Therapy? program helps businesses around the US achieve their marketing goals faster, smarter, and more cost-effectively.

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Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/10/5-reasons-why-do-it-yourself-marketing-can-actually-hurt-your-business.html

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Community Crisis: Chevy Chase N-Word Use Halts Production

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/10/community-crisis-chevy-chase-n-word-use-halts-production/

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GM says no immediate plans to build cars in Brazil with Peugeot

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edX meets the workforce - Rebane's Ruminations

George Rebane

[This continues the RR series on jobs and the economy, and illustrates the relationship between workforce skill levels and available jobs across a spectrum of productivity levels.? The objective is to give the reader a firm understanding of why and how America?s systemic unemployment has come into place, and its future in terms of worker education.? This problem has no current solution, and is the prime reason that politicians of all parties avoid it like the proverbial third rail.? The portents of such a future are truly grim, promising to accelerate the growth of economic disparities or the imposition of wholesale misery on all of us.? It is the mother of all our ills.]

Last May readers were alerted to a new initiative in online education called edX ? ?edX ? ?a revolution in education??.? Since then people have been busy, and Harvard has activated its HarvardX program with the launch of two edX courses.? More than 100K students worldwide have signed up and are now taking the courses (more here).? This is an exciting milestone that will soon have many universities convert curriculum to this delivery platform.

According to my lights, this is the kind of broad-based, economical, and widely available education product that can make a difference in US workforce participation ? now about 61% - as technology pushes up worker productivity.? For large scale analysis, the use of aggregate or average worker productivity is useful for evaluating alternative economic policies.? Readers may recall previous RR posts on the topic ? e.g. 'The jobs problem - shhh'.

But looking at the problem at a finer scale, one quickly realizes that jobs distribute themselves at various productivity levels from still very low (e.g. field hand harvesting tomatoes) to very high (e.g. laser eye surgeon with patients on a turntable).? We can envision the number of available jobs at each productivity level as a bar graph (histogram) in the shape of a bell curve (Gaussian).? These are represented by the green bars in the graph below (Figure 1) which illustrates a toy economy for discussion purposes.

ProdWkforce_Fig1
The red bars represent the number of available workers in the workforce who are qualified at each of the indicated productivity levels (including, of course, lower productivity levels).? We can also envision them being distributed more or less in the shape of a bell curve.? But notice that in the real world, the available workers (red) distribution is shifted to the left of the available jobs (green) distribution.? And here?s the punch line - to the extent that the red bars are taller than the green bars, there are more workers available at the low productivity level than there are jobs.? Conversely, to the extent that the green bars are taller than the red bars, there are high productivity jobs unfilled due to the shortage of skilled workers.? That is the systemic imbalance of workforce skills and jobs in our economy.

The excess of workers at any productivity (skill) level causes 1) unemployment and/or 2) lower wages for those working the jobs for which there are excess workers ? i.e. supply of labor exceeds demand.? So what to do?

Before looking at some possible solutions, let?s be clear that the green bell curve is always migrating (accelerating) horizontally to the right as technological advances increase productivity levels.? Without concurrent economic growth (i.e. the GDP remains the same), the number of more productive jobs required for the same level of output will decrease.? We see this in Figure 2 by the shift of the green bars to the right, while at the same time shrinking in size.

ProdWkforce_Fig2
Lest we forget, the red bell curve is not stationary either.? As our population grows, each of the red bars grows taller, indicating more workers available at any given skill level.? If the skill levels remain the same in the workforce, the inevitable result is that unemployment will go up as can be seen from Figure 3 where the workers? red bell curve increases in height, but stays in the same place on the productivity axis.
?
ProdWkforce_Fig3
But what we want is the red bell curve to migrate also to the right as it grows, and keep up with the increasingly productive jobs migrating to the right.? This hopeful migration is shown in Figure 4.? And here?s the inevitable punch line ? that can only occur through education, which brings us full circle to what edX and related learning technologies that are being developed for today.? And that is the import of why I want to keep RR readers up to date on these developments, because availability and application of new and more efficient educational methods are the only thing between us and blood in the streets.

ProdWkforce_Fig4
However, educating the workforce to increase their skill sets (i.e. ability to fill more productive jobs) is not sufficient as was seen from the red worker bars being taller than the green job bars.? If we just educate a higher number of workers and do nothing else, then all we have done is filled the available jobs but at the same time caused more unemployment.? We can see from Figure 4 that there are more workers at the proper skill levels, but not enough jobs to get everyone working.

The obvious solution is that we need more jobs at the indicated skill levels ? i.e. the green bars need to be taller.? And that can only be done by growing the economy as reflected by the country?s GDP.? The nation must have policies in place to attract investment and promote the growth of all sizes of businesses.? It is then that the inevitable population growth will not result in more and more workers being left behind as technology continues to increase the productivity levels for available jobs.? These arguments are all summarized in Figure 5

ProdWkforce_Fig5
I can?t conclude this little dissertation without pointing out that thanks to our teachers unions dominating state run schools and education policy, the exact opposite has been happening with the red (worker) bell curve.? It has been growing vertically while actually migrating to the LEFT, toward the ever lower skill levels.? At the same time our governments continue to increase tax and regulatory burdens which greatly limit GDP growth.? These are the twin wrong-headed policies that have taken us beyond the tipping point, and only a small fraction of Americans understand the causes and scope of the problem.? Hope this has helped shed some light on what I believe is the biggest and most complex crisis facing America in its history as a sovereign nation-state.

Source: http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2012/10/edx-meets-the-workforce.html

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