Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Improve your Mary Kay Business By Following these Capture Page ...

www.Wealthnetworth.com http MLM industry journal ?? th? oldest, l?rg??t MLM newspaper f?r th? newest network marketing, direct sales, homebased income opportunities ?nd articles. Th?r??s a h?g? mary kay m?k? up d?ff?r?n?? between network marketing ?nd pyramid schemes. ? Th? real key ?? th??: Network marketing ?? ?ll ?b??t leverage. Mary Kay World Headquarters ?? located ?n Addison, Texas, United States, a ? Richard Rogers, Mary Kay?s son, ?? chairman ?nd CEO, ?nd David Holl ?? president ? Th?? community Web site f?r Mary Kay Independent. Beauty Consultants provides 24-hour access t? ? Learn more ?b??t th? Mary Kay career opportunity. ? Th?r??s a n?w method ?n town ?nd ?f ??? don?t learn h?w t? ??? technology ASAP t? build ???r business, th?n g?t ready t? b? ??rt ?f th? sad 98% failure rate ?n th? network marketing industry. Network marketing ??n b? VERY lucrative mary kay ?f ??? learn t? leverage ???r resources. Whether ????re thinking ?b??t starting a home based business ?r want t? find work ?t home jobs ?? ??? ??n work fr?m home, th?? site h?? wh?t ??? need t? b?. S?m? mary kay cosmetic people ?r? passionate ?b??t ?t ?n th? extreme. Network Marketing ?nd mary kay business opportunity Home Based Business Id???. Best network marketing, mlm ?nd home based business. Tips ?nd resources t? h?l? ??? build a successful network marketing business online. O?r magazine offers home business mary kay product information ?n work fr?m home mary kay business mary kay ?l??? ?

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Source: http://hiringinatlanta.com/improve-your-mary-kay-business-by-following-these-capture-page-tips

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Staging Diva Shares 5 Top Tips To Get Your House Ready To Sell ...

GUEST POST BY DEBRA GOULD, THE STAGING DIVA?

Home stagers can make a number of small changes to a property that can dramatically shorten the time it spends on the real estate market while also increasing the final sales price. Home staging expert Debra Gould, also known as The Staging Diva, shares 5 top tips for getting a house ready to sell:

1. Make sure that showing appointment isn?t just a drive-by

Just because there?s a showing booked on your home doesn?t mean the potential buyer will actually go inside. Imagine you?re a home buyer and your real estate agent has 10 houses to show you today. When you drive up to what could be your dream home, you see a broken railing and children?s toys strewn across a weed-filled lawn. You don?t have any time to waste, so you?re probably going to say, ?Let?s move on,? skipping the showing appointment entirely.

Curb appeal not only attracts potential buyers who happen to be driving by, it also helps draw prospective buyers into your home once they already have a showing appointment booked with their agent. When a property looks unkempt, it scares off potential buyers (unless they?re looking for a tear-down at a rock bottom price). To enhance curb appeal:

??? ?Cut the lawn and ensure fallen leaves and weeds are removed. Keep walkways and driveways freshly swept.

??? ?Add planted urns or hanging plants to the entrance area.

??? ?Repair or replace any obvious defects to the front door/hardware, mailboxes, railings, address sign or lights.

??? ?Move garbage and recycling containers from the front of the house or tuck them neatly in a garage or shed.

??? ?Pressure wash the exterior and decks. If necessary touch-up up paint.

2. Stash your keepsakes and keep your home clutter-free

De-cluttering is essential, especially when you remember that many people move because they feel too crowded in their current homes. Your treasured collection of decorative plates, figurines or stuffed animals will look like clutter to most potential buyers. ?Tackle one area at a time so de-cluttering isn?t so overwhelming.

You?ll probably have to go through each closet more than once to get its contents down to the absolute essentials, but it?s worth the effort. Try setting a timer for 60 minutes and it will no longer seem like an endless task. Consider that any time you spend now on this task will make packing and moving that much easier.

Rent a storage locker so you can keep your beloved items while you?re selling the house, and then have them delivered to your new address after your move.

3. Avoid scaring buyers away with a To Do list

You don?t want potential buyers focusing on one flaw after another during a showing.?No one wants a list of projects or problems to deal with when they?re buying a home.?You want them to fall in love with your home and imagine themselves living there not thinking about how much less they should offer you because of everything they?ll have to do.

Try to be very objective and do a walk through to spot problems. You might want to ask a highly critical friend or relative to do this for you because when you live somewhere too long you become blind to the problems.

Look for chipped paint on the door frames or scuffs on walls that need touch ups. Glue down any peeling wallpaper. Ensure all electrical outlets and light switches have un-cracked covers. Repair or replace broken tiles, dripping taps and moldy caulking. These little things make a big difference in the buyer?s mind!

4. Color is your friend when it?s time to sell a house

White walls often look cold and sterile, unless you warm the room up with accent colors and patterns as shown in this living room. If you have to repaint a home?s interior or some rooms in a home, choose a pleasing color palette that allows each room to flow nicely into the next. All colors should go together.

Try to repeat one signature color throughout a home. A feature color in one room can be repeated as an accent in the others, through vases, artwork, throws or decorative pillows.

Bring life to a neutral decor with cut flowers or a potted orchid for example.

5. Make a big impact with a little art

By strategically using art, you can enhance a home?s perceived value, draw the eye away from tiny flaws, give an otherwise uninteresting space a focal point and replace personal memorabilia.

Don?t just hang something on the wall where an old picture hook happens to be. Position art so that the center is 60? up from the floor. Make sure the size of the piece is appropriate to the size of the wall. Art with a large frame on a small wall can make the entire area seem smaller. Avoid religious art or anything edgy that might offend potential buyers.

These are just a few of the many things that can be done to improve your home?s appearance and to make it more appealing to home buyers. While the steps can be time consuming, the results are worth it.

A professional home stager makes the job much easier and can give you the specific steps you should take on your own. Stagers bring total objectivity and a creative eye to the process of decorating your house to sell. This increases your chance of selling your property faster and for more money.

*Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould is President of Voice of Possibility Group Inc. which operates Six Elements Home Staging and the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. An entrepreneur for almost 25 years and author of several guides, Debra has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate and trained over 7,000 home stagers worldwide. Visit StagingDiva.com for additional tips or to find a home stager in your area.

Source: http://blog.century21.com/2012/02/staging-diva-shares-5-top-tips-to-get-your-house-ready-to-sell-fast/

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Dead letter offices: States closing the most mail centers

First-class stamped mail has declined more than 50 percent in the past 10 years, from 52 billion deliveries in 2002 to 26 billion in 2011.

By Michael B. Sauter, Ashley C. Allen, and Charles B. Stockdale, 24/7 Wall St.

The U.S. Postal service plans to close nearly half of the nation?s mail processing centers beginning May 15. The move, which follows a five-month study on 264 of the country?s 461 centers, puts more than 35,000 workers? jobs at stake. 24/7 Wall St. has identified the nine states where the USPS plans to close the most mail centers.

The plan is USPS?s latest attempt to stem mounting losses. At the current rate, the postal service?s debt is projected to reach $18 billion by 2015. The mail center consolidations are part of a plan to save $2 billion per year and $20 billion by 2015.

While it is still not clear exactly how these changes will affect delivery, a recent plan currently under consideration would make overnight delivery for first class mail impossible in many locations.

24/7 Wall St.: 8 reasons gas will hit $5 this year

The USPS is the first to point out that mail volume has declined precipitously because of electronic mail and the downturn in the economy. This places the postal service in an untenable position as it relies on revenue from mail service instead of tax dollars.

First-class stamped mail has declined more than 50 percent in the past 10 years, from 52 billion deliveries in 2002 to 26 billion in 2011. According to an email from USPS representative Sue Brennan, the drop in mail has resulted in significant excess capacity. She wrote, ?We have an infrastructure that has expanded over decades designed to handle hundreds of billions of pieces of mail and mail volume is no longer increasing. 2006 was our peak year. We need to right-size our infrastructure.?

According to the plan, neighboring facilities will absorb the functions of the 223 targeted centers. The USPS maintains that the 35,000 jobs will be lost through attrition, though employees will be relocated to other facilities initially. When not available, the employees will be offered other work, such as being post office clerks or mail carriers. In some cases, workers could be relocated to different states.

Nine states will see eight or more processing facilities closed. Almost half of the 223 plants scheduled to be shuttered are located in these nine states. For the most part, these states, which include California, New York and Texas, have the largest populations in the country.

24/7 Wall St.: 10 states that cannot pay their bills

If these measures are allowed to go through, some states will certainly be affected more than others. While unemployment in the U.S. has declined over the past year, it remains high in several states -- a number of which are set to lose the most processing facilities. Five of the nine states set to lose the most centers have unemployment rates above the national average of 8.3 percent. California and Illinois have some of the worst unemployment numbers in the country, and these cuts will only hurt their regional economies even further.

These are the nine states where the U.S. Postal Service wants to close the most mail centers.

1. California

  • Proposed closings:?14
  • Unemployment rate:?11.1 percent

Fourteen postal centers will be closed in California -- more than any other state in the nation. California is also the most populous state by a significant margin. Centers to be closed include Bakersfield, Industry, Long Beach, Pasadena, Stockton, Petaluma and North Bay. According to USPS spokesperson Augustine Ruiz, as reported by KPBS, overnight mail will be delayed by at least a day if the delivery address is further than 90 miles from one of the remaining processing centers. Ruiz also notes that employees will be given the option to follow their jobs to the centers where the work will be moved.

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2. Georgia

  • Proposed closings:?13
  • Unemployment rate:?9.7 percent

The USPS plans to close 13 processing centers in Georgia this year, including centers in Acworth, Albany, Athens, Augusta, Cartersville, Columbus, Douglasville, Marietta, Savannah, Swainsboro, Valdosta and Waycross. Some processing duties will be sent outside of the state. For example, some mail processing operations of the Augusta Processing and Distribution Facility will soon be handled by the Columbia, S.C., center, according to the?Augusta Chronicle.

3. New York

  • Proposed closings:?12
  • Unemployment rate:?8.0 percent

New York?s postal system will see a lot of change this year. The USPS will be shuttering customer service mail processing centers in Amsterdam, Binghamton, Glens Falls and Plattsburgh. A surface transfer center in Binghamton, processing and distribution centers in Brooklyn, Buffalo, Newburgh, Flushing and Garden City, an annex in Melville, a logistics and distribution center in Bethpage, and a delivery distribution center in Monsey will also be closed. New York is the country?s third-largest state by population.

The rest of the list of states closing the most mail centers at 24/7 Wall St.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/28/10518920-dead-letter-offices-states-closing-the-most-mail-centers

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Google?s Mobile Sales Head: US Smartphone Ownership Grew 7% Last Year ? Plus, Predictions

JasonSpero781Jason Spero, Google's head of mobile sales and strategy, will be taking the stage at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later today, where he'll be revealing new research about smartphone growth and making some predictions about what we'll be seeing in the mobile world over the next year. In advance of Spero's talk, Google is publishing a blog post that previews some of his comments. It summarizes a new research conducted in January with Ipsos, under title "Our Mobile Planet: Global Smartphone Users," highlighting smartphone growth and usage in various countries. Smartphone ownership grew 7 percent in the United States, to 38 percent of the total population. In Spain, ownership grew 11 percent to 44 percent of the total population. And in the United Kingdom, 84 percent of smartphone owners look for local information on a mobile device and 78 percent take action afterward.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/I091CYWqdHU/

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Monday, February 27, 2012

dacvb.info ? Home Improvements That Make Life More Comfortable

How Home Improvement Projects Make Life Greater

The place that you call home is a reflection of yourself. If you aren?t happy with the way your home looks, then you may also become dissatisfied with your life. Think about the things you can change in your home to get the best from it. Below are some suggestions on how you can make your house into a home.

Do you have any thoughts at this stage? You may already have guessed that garage storage cabinets is a large field with much to find out. A lot of people have found certain other areas are helpful and contribute good information. Continue reading through and you will see what we mean about important nuances you need to know about. Try examining your own unique requirements which will help you further refine what may be necessary. You will discover the rest of this article contributes to the foundation you have built up to this point. Start your home improvement projects with the things that affect you most directly. If something in your house doesn?t fit you, try tailoring it to your specifications. How you feel when you are at home is very important. If you are going to sell your home and it does not suit the buyer, they can always fix it to suit themselves.

If your home is too small for all your belongings, consider selling or throwing away things that you don?t use. Sometimes, you just need to have more room. A small addition can be a lifesaver, offering not only extra space, but a storage area. An uncluttered life is a de-stressed life.

Build your home to be a place where it is easy to have fun. It will also make you want to stay at home. By adding a basketball hoop or exercise area, you can make your home more enjoyable without spending a lot of money.

Think about the lighting in your home and if there are any changes that can be made. Lighting can have a huge impact on the appeal of your room. Think about updating light fixtures or adding them to a darkened area to bring a more modern look and feel to the room. Since adding and changing light fixtures is a very easy task, this makes it a very good DIY project.

Turning your backyard into a private garden can turn your time in your backyard into a relaxing hobby that also provides a beautiful, relaxing refuge. Even if you are unable to maintain the garden yourself, you can hire a professional service to do so. Then you will reap the benefits of your backyard oasis without a care. The right kind of plant is important, you have many choices including vegetables, beautiful flowers, or herbs.

To have a better chance of loving your home, improve it on the outside. Replacing out-dated windows, peeling paint, or a shabby roof can make a remarkable difference in the look of your home.

You probably spend more time in your home than you do anywhere else, which makes it vital that you love living there. Continuously improving your home can help you feel comfortable with how it looks, and also dramatically increase the resale value.

The brilliantly great Joy V Meyerhoffer is a wonderful voice.

Source: http://dacvb.info/home-improvements-that-make-life-more-comfortable/

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Romney's policy dead-end

Mitt Romney has added a new plank to his?campaign tax platform: Cut all ordinary tax rates by a fifth.?But he?s put a few pretty big hurdles in the way of making sure his plan does not add to the deficit.

Mitt Romney has added a new plank to his campaign tax platform: Cut all ordinary tax rates by a fifth. That would bring the top individual income tax rate down to 28 percent and cut federal revenue by perhaps $200 billion a year. Romney says that a combination of economic growth and base broadening would make up that revenue loss.

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The Tax Policy Center is a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution. The Center is made up of nationally recognized experts in tax, budget, and social policy who have served at the highest levels of government. TaxVox is the Tax Policy Center's tax and budget policy blog.

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But he?s put a few pretty big hurdles in the way of making sure his plan does not add to the deficit. He would repeal the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and thus eliminate a major backstop against revenue losses from his rate cuts. He?d retain the current 15 percent top tax rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends and do away entirely with taxes on that income for households making less than $200,000. And he promises not to increase the share of income tax paid by low- and middle-income households. That means any tax increases would have to fall entirely on the rich.

Assuming no other changes, the 20-percent cut in rates reduces taxes most at the top of the income distribution. The top rate would come down 7 percentage points, compared with just 3 percentage points for the 15 percent tax bracket. As a result, maintaining the tax share paid by the rich requires trimming their tax preferences much more than those of other households.

What could Romney target? The rich benefit disproportionately from three tax preferences: the reduced rates on gains and dividends, exclusions from income, and itemized deductions.

Romney has already taken the first off the table and it?s big?75 percent of the tax savings from low rates on capital gains and dividends go to the top 1 percent, cutting their tax bills by nearly a quarter. As for exclusions, the biggest are employer-paid health insurance premiums and retirement savings, which benefit most taxpayers?only a small fraction goes to high-income households. And Romney says he?d keep major deductions and won?t accept provisions limiting their value for the rich.

That leaves Romney trapped in a policy dead-end. After promising to retain lots of tax preferences, Romney has no clear way to recoup the revenue he loses by cutting rates. So he offers no specific proposals to broaden the tax base?promising those will come later.

Economists generally favor the principles behind Romney?s plan: Lowering rates and broadening the base is good policy. But a plan that cuts rates and only promises unidentified future base-broadening? Not so much.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Fhpob7xFJU4/Romney-s-policy-dead-end

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

World News - Syrian activists: The world has abandoned us

NBC Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel reports.

By msnbc.com news services

Updated?3:28 p.m. ET: The Red Cross said on Saturday it was still unable to evacuate civilians from the embattled Baba Amro district of Homs, as the Syrian military took its bombardment of the rebel-held area into a fourth week.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said there were "no concrete results" from its negotiations with both Syrian authorities and opposition fighters.

"Unfortunately we will not be able to enter Baba Amro today. We continue our negotiations, hoping that tomorrow (Sunday) we will able to enter Baba Amro to carry out our life-saving operations," said spokesman Hisham Hassan.

Opposition activists in Homs complained they saw no help coming from an international "Friends of Syria" conference in Tunis on Friday and said the world had abandoned them to be killed by security forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

"They (foreign leaders) are still giving opportunities to this man who is killing us and has already killed thousands of people," said Nadir Husseini.

Despite the bloodshed, Assad is staging a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution that he says will pave the way for a multi-party parliamentary election within three months.

Security forces killed 61 people on Saturday, including 19 in Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Sources close to the ICRC negotiations said talks failed due to confusion amid heavy shelling and bad communications with fighters and state forces. Much of Homs, and other opposition areas in Syria, are in a communications blackout with phone and internet connections cut off.

Damascus said it condemned all statements at the Tunis conference, which it dubbed "the enemies of Syria meeting."

"Syria deplores all voices calling for financing the armed groups which could lead to support for terrorism and hurt the interests of the Syrian people," Syria TV reported.

NBC's Richard Engel reports.

State news agency SANA reported the funerals of 21 members of the security forces killed by "armed terrorist groups" in Homs, Deraa, Idlib and areas near Damascus.

At the conference in Tunis, Western and Gulf Arab nations mounted the biggest push in weeks to end the violence, calling on Assad to cease all violence and allow access for humanitarian supplies.

Saudi Arabia's finance minister called the idea of arming the opposition an "excellent idea".

But activists in Homs, a city of over 800,000, said the Tunisia meeting was a failure that brought no relief from the bombardment.

"I don't understand what they are waiting for. Do they need to see half the people of Syria finished off first?" said a doctor speaking anonymously from the restive town of Zabadani.

"The people of Zabadani resent what happened in Tunis. We need them to arm the revolution."

The ICRC said its local partner, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, had been able to carry out two evacuations in areas of Homs other?than Baba Amro on Saturday.

But Husseini said people in Baba Amro were suspicious of the the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and did not want to work with a group "under the control of the regime."

Rebels plead for weapons to make their vision of post-Assad Syria happen

The ICRC said the Red Crescent was independent and its members were risking their lives to help people affected by the violence.

A video uploaded by activists showed smoke curling up from buildings hit by rocketfire in Homs' Khalidiya district. Nearby, crowds carried six bodies wrapped in white shrouds, shouting "We swear to God we will not be silent about our martyrs."

"We have hundreds of wounded people crammed into houses. People die from blood loss. We just aren't capable of treating everyone," said Husseini.

Russia and China, which did not attend the Tunisia meeting, oppose Security Council action and there is little appetite for military intervention in Syria.

The opposition has called for a boycott of the referendum, deriding Assad's reform pledges and demanding that he step down.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu questioned how the vote could take place in the midst of so much violence.

"On one hand you say you are holding a referendum and on the other you are attacking with tank fire on civilian areas. You still think the people will go to a referendum the next day in the same city?" he asked at a news conference in Istanbul.

Davutoglu, whose country has turned strongly against its former friend since the Syrian revolt began in March, said Syria should accept an Arab League plan that calls on Assad to quit.

In Baba Amro, activist Omar in Homs said the referendum meant nothing to the opposition and those hit by unrest.

"No one is going to vote. This was a constitution made to Bashar's tastes and meanwhile we are getting shelled and killed. More than 40 people were killed today and you want us to vote in a referendum? ... No one is going to vote."

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday it was time to stop the killing of Syrians by their own government.

"All of us seeing the terrible pictures coming out of Syria and Homs recently recognize it is absolutely imperative for the international community to rally in sending a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/25/10504008-syrian-activists-the-world-has-abandoned-us

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Massimiliano Blardone wins World Cup giant slalom

Italy's Massimiliano Blardone speeds down the course on his way to win an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012. Blardone mastered a fast-deteriorating course to beat World Cup overall leader Marcel Hirscher in a giant slalom on Sunday. (AP Photo/Shinichiro Tanaka)

Italy's Massimiliano Blardone speeds down the course on his way to win an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012. Blardone mastered a fast-deteriorating course to beat World Cup overall leader Marcel Hirscher in a giant slalom on Sunday. (AP Photo/Shinichiro Tanaka)

Italy's Massimiliano Blardone, right, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, celebrates on the podium with second placed Austria's Marcel Hirscher, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Shinichiro Tanaka)

Italy's Massimiliano Blardone, center, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, celebrates on the podium with second placed Austria's Marcel Hirscher, left, and third placed Austria's Hannes Reichelt, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Italy's Massimiliano Blardone holds his trophy on the podium after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012. Blardone mastered a fast-deteriorating course to beat World Cup overall leader Marcel Hirscher in a giant slalom on Sunday. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Italy's Massimiliano Blardone celebrates after winning an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom in Crans Montana, Switzerland, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012. Blardone mastered a fast-deteriorating course to beat World Cup overall leader Marcel Hirscher in a giant slalom on Sunday. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

(AP) ? Massimiliano Blardone mastered a fast-deteriorating course Sunday to beat World Cup overall leader Marcel Hirscher in a giant slalom.

Blardone trailed Hirscher by 0.02 seconds after the first leg, then raced through soft, rutted snow to complete the two runs in 2 minutes, 33.77 seconds.

It was the 32-year-old Italian's second win of the season and he celebrated by leaping onto the air-bag fences surrounding the finish area.

"It's another oldie who has won today," Blardone said in Italian after veterans Didier Cuche and Benjamin Raich won super-G races the previous two days.

Hirscher was 0.16 behind in second, and Austrian teammate Hannes Reichelt soared from 11th to finish third, trailing Blardone by 0.82. Ted Ligety of the U.S. was ninth.

Bode Miller sat out his third straight race on the Nationale course to help his left knee heal after minor surgery last week. U.S. teammates Tommy Ford and Tim Jitloff capitalized on early starts in the second leg and finished 19th and 22nd.

By gaining 80 World Cup points, Hirscher extended his lead in the overall and discipline standings with just three weeks of racing to go. He leads by 92 overall from Ivica Kostelic, the defending overall champion from Croatia who is sidelined after knee surgery.

"It's perfect," Hirscher said, despite letting his morning lead slip. "I didn't lose 20 points, I won 80. In GS races, it's very difficult in these soft conditions."

Blardone, Hirscher and Ligety, the defending GS champion, have combined to win all seven races in the discipline this season.

Ligety was 1.29 behind Blardone after being seventh fastest in the morning. His fears of finding tough conditions in the warm afternoon sun proved correct ? only four top-10 racers from the first leg held their place in the final top 10.

Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway had been third but flipped through the air after his right wrist caught a gate. He reported feeling neck pains but no serious injury.

Hirscher built a commanding position in the World Cup standings, with third-placed Beat Feuz of Switzerland failing to qualify for the second run and now trailing by 95 points.

Feuz can regain ground next weekend when three speed races are scheduled at Kvitfjell, Norway, while technical specialist Hirscher stays home to train on the World Cup finals course at Schladming.

Hirscher leads Ligety by 132 points in the GS standings with two races left. The American has won the title three of the past four seasons.

Blardone is third, 187 back, having added victory on a hill where he skied during childhood vacations to his win at Alta Badia, Italy, in December. His seventh career World Cup win came after days of dedicated training on soft snow.

"I'm good at checking the weather forecasts," Blardone said. "I came here and was completely at home with the conditions."

Cuche and Raich stood eighth and sixth after the first run but could not find speed on the slushy surface. In his final home World Cup race before retiring, Cuche finished 15th. In the finish area, 13,000 spectators chanted his name.

"I'm a bit disappointed," said the 37-year-old Swiss star, who blew kisses to the grandstands. "I wanted to give them a better result."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-02-26-SKI-Men's-World-Cup/id-5b495082136c4ea098a8278b8eff6b7e

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Africa: Farmers Shape Global Future Say World Leaders

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Source: www.abibitumikasa.com --- Friday, February 24, 2012
allAfrica.com: Africa: Farmers Shape Global Future Say World Leaders Expanding the yield of smallscale agriculture is vital ? not only to feed those in need, but to ensure global stability and preserve the environment. These were among the key messages that emerged during the 35th session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) that ended in Rome today. Opening the conference on Wednesday, the president of IFAD, Kanayo F. Nwanze, committed to lift up to 90 million people out of poverty through support for smallscale agriculture. "When these farmers are recognized as small entrepreneurs, when they have access to better resources and incentives, and when they have access to markets and an enabling environment, they can transform their communities, their own lives, and indeed the world," Nwanze told delegates. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimates that 525 million farms exist worldwide, nearly 77 percent of which are small-scale (less than 2 hectares) and occupy about 60 percent of the world's arable land. Relevant Links Kagame Rallies Support for Smallholder Farmers IFAD, Gates Foundation Renew Commitment to Smaholder Farmers 'Focus on Productivity to Transform Lives' - Gates 'Food Shortages More Serious Than Financial Crisis' Says Italy's Riccardi In his address to representatives of IFAD's 167 member states, Italian Prime Minister, Mario Monti, undersco ...

Source: http://www.abibitumikasa.com/forums/abibiwiase-adawurob-s-m-afrikan-world-news/46550-africa-farmers-shape-global-future-say-world-leaders.html

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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Marine found not guilty in hazing suicide case

A military jury on Friday found a Marine not guilty of hazing a fellow Hawaii-based lance corporal who killed himself in Afghanistan.

The panel of three officers and five enlisted Marines found Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III not guilty at a court-martial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay.

He was accused of humiliating and demeaning Lance Cpl. Harry Lew by pouring sand on his face and forcing him to do push-ups and leg lifts. Orozco was acquitted of charges involving the assault, cruel treatment and humiliation of Lew, of Santa Clara, Calif. Lew fatally shot himself at their remote Afghanistan patrol base on April 3. He was a nephew of U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif.

Orozco was the last of three Marines to be court-martialed for the alleged hazing of Lew. Another lance corporal last month pleaded guilty to assault after admitting he punched and kicked Lew. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a reduction in rank to private first class. A jury in a separate trial later found their squad leader, a sergeant, not guilty of humiliating and demeaning Lew.

Prosecuting attorney Maj. Hanorah Tyer-Witek told the jury in closing arguments that witnesses saw Orozco ordering Lew to do push-ups after Lew had been digging a foxhole for two hours without eating or drinking anything.

Orozco was annoyed and fed up that Lew had fallen asleep on watch for the fourth time since he arrived at Patrol Base Gowragi, she said.

He placed sandbags on Lew's legs while Lew did leg lifts, Tyer-Witek said. Sand got into Lew's mouth when Orozco ripped open the sandbag after Lew stopped lifting.

"This was messing with him. This was piling on," she said.

Story: Lawmakers press for answers on hazing in military

Defense attorney Capt. Aaron Meyer told jurors that government witnesses gave conflicting testimony and Orozco was only trying to keep Lew awake so their base wouldn't be attacked by Taliban fighters.

It's true Orozco had Lew do push-ups and sit ups, he said. But Orozco was authorized to have a Marine in the squad do physical training like push-ups if the purpose was to maintain good order and discipline, there was no malice involved, and the training didn't physically exhaust the Marine, Meyer said.

If Orozco had allowed Lew to fall asleep again, his command would have asked him why he didn't do more to keep him awake, Meyer said.

"We don't let Marines slack because we care about each other," Meyer said.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46520079/ns/us_news-life/

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Santorum on Romney endorsement: ?He proved me wrong? (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/204369458?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Yammer Brings Social Collaboration To SAP

sapLast year, Yammer debuted an integration with Salesforce to bring sales data from the CRM product into Yammer's social collaboration feed. Today, Yammer is debuting a similar product enhancement with SAP, the first real data integration with an on-premise enterprise giant. Via a Yammer SAP connecter, updated from SAP ERP Central Component will appear as activity stories in Yammer?s Ticker. SAP customers who have installed the Yammer SAP Connector will see updates from all business suite applications including HR, ERP and CRM. Yammer CEO David Sacks tells us that the connector was a?built-in partnership with Freeborders, a certified SAP developer with deep expertise in SAP integration, and SAP actually wasn't a part of this product. Here's how it works. The Yammer SAP Connector is a plug-in installed on the customer?s SAP instance by Freeborders on-premise. The Connector will add the capability for users to follow data objects in SAP so when changes to those objects occur, an activity story describing the event will appear in Yammer?s Ticker. The activity story links back to the original record in SAP.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/sykvRdGoIqE/

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Party Design Basics ? Designing Dessert Tables ? Celebrations at ...

I?m excited to address dessert tables in this edition of my year-long party planning & design series. Dessert tables have become THE party staple and focal point thanks to leaders in design like Amy Atlas and Sweets Indeed.

You can hardly see a styled party today without an elaborate sweets display, but for the purpose of this blog and ?realistic? home entertaining & celebrations, I?m going to cover some basic design principals that are a bit more ?achievable?.? Using some of my own tables as examples, I?ll cover simple tips to keep in mind when designing yours.

{click on photo to see its original post}

  • Keep the Food Selection Realistic ? It?s no secret that I believe in using 1 or 2 designer desserts, and then rounding out with more commercial items. In fact, a basic formula to keep in mind is 1-2 specialty items {like cakes, cupcakes, cookies, etc.} + 1-3 homemade items or dressed up grocery items + 2-3 candies to fill out the table. This should be more than enough to satisfy your guests sweet tooth. In the table above, we have a fabulous designer cake that is the star of the table. The cake was vanilla flavored so we added chocolate brownie pops in our supporting role, and filled in with color coordinated candies.
  • Variety is the Spice of Life ? Serving a variety of flavors is a good idea unless of course you are specifically doing a ?chocolate? party or other flavor-themed party. I also like to choose different textures to serve. Good choices are Cakes + Parfaits + Bars + Something Crunchy ? these would make a wonderful assortment, and a taste to satisfy all palettes. In the table below, I went with a chocolate theme but added different textures from the bonbon truffles, soft cakesters & brownies, chocolate cups filled with shots, and a crunchy pirouette.

  • Height is Essential ? When setting up your table, the main thing is to go for balance, and to keep the eyes moving ? much like interior decorating. I usually begin designing from the center and work outward, OR from the 2 ends and work inward. From there you can add varying rows and levels to fill in the blank space. Please don?t set everything flat on the table! Use bowls turned upside down, or boxes to put plates on to add height. In the table above, I added height with decorative items like flowers placed on candlesticks & apothecary jars filled with ornaments, and a tray placed on top of votive candle holders {turned upside down}. The tall cake stand adds one more level too.
  • Space Management ? One of the mistakes I see a lot of is people spreading all the dishes out to take up the available table space. Instead, bring it all closer together so it looks more deliberate, and it actually looks more abundant. If your table is too large and you don?t have enough food, add flowers or sculptural/home decor pieces to the presentation, or designate one end of the table for the desserts and the other end for something else like a guest book, photo display, or favors. The table below was done very simply on a long buffet but everything is brought close together so it looks unified. If I had spread everything out to take up the entire length, the impact would be lost. The backdrop here also helps define the dessert space and the hanging flowers are visually connected to the food.

  • Sleek & Symmetrical vs. Eclectic & Asymmetrical ? One of the most fun, and sometimes?trickiest parts of creating a dessert table is deciding how and where to place everything. Do you want to create symmetry with one side mirrored on the other, or do you like to have a unique look on each side? If you choose a symmetrical look it tends to be a bit more sleek & modern, and the thing to remember is to keep the vessels, the levels, and the colors uniform on both sides. This usually means your center point is the focal point and should be pretty special. Symmetry is used in the table above by separating the dessert item and displaying it on both side ? so easy!

Choosing an asymmetrical look allows you to be a bit more free and creative since you don?t have to be so precise. It also lets you create a focal point on either side, and bring in eclectic decor to add to the overall look. If you prefer to go with this approach, remember to create balance by adding something to the backdrop or opposite side, that is similar in height to the other side. I used an asymmetrical design in the table below. Nothing ?matches? but everything ties in together through color and style, and the height of the shutter balances the height of the mini chair.

Final Tips:

  • Don?t go overboard with food.? Just because it looks gorgeous in photos & blogs doesn?t mean you & your guests will eat it all.

  • Add variety to your food selection with different?flavors & textures.

  • Keep the eye moving with height, levels, and rows.?

  • Keep your display tight.? Too much table showing looks unfinished.

  • Add interest to the display with decorative items like flowers, seasonal items, and home decor pieces.

  • Get creative with how you display food.? Incorporate unusual or unexpected pieces like old kitchen scales, vintage soda crates, garden vessels, etc.? Always keep things food safe by lining them if necessary.

I?m hoping these tips will help you create a pretty dessert table step by step.? And remember, you don?t just have to serve sweets like this ? appetizer parties and brunch also looks fantastic when displayed this way!

?

Source: http://celebrationsathomeblog.com/2012/02/party-design-basics-designing-dessert-tables.html

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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Fuller Brush, Door-to-Door Icon, Seeks Bankruptcy Protection ...

February 22, 2012, 1:32 PM EST

By Dawn McCarty and Phil Milford

(Updates with history of founder in eighth paragraph.)

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) ? Fuller Brush Co., founded in 1906 and for decades known for its door-to-door salesmen, filed for bankruptcy less than two months after saying the company had ?completely rebooted itself.?

The cleaning-products maker, based in Great Bend, Kansas, listed assets and debt of as much as $50 million each in Chapter 11 documents filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. CPAC Inc., Fuller Brush?s parent company, also sought court protection from creditors.

Fuller Brush didn?t disclose reasons for the bankruptcy and didn?t return a call seeking comment on the filing. It said Jan. 3 that 2012 would be a ?landmark year? as the company introduced a new marketing campaign, products and distribution channels, as well as a revamped website with an interactive format, cleaning tips and links to Facebook and Twitter.

Company founder Alfred C. Fuller was born in Nova Scotia in 1885 and moved at age 18 to Boston, where he eventually sold brushes door-to-door, according to a company history on myfullerbrush.com from Investor?s Daily.

At 21, with a $375 investment, Fuller started making brushes based on feedback from customers, and hired crews to help with sales nationwide, according to the website. For advertising, he managed to get Donald Duck and the Big Bad Wolf cast as Fuller Brush men in cartoons, and the icon appeared in the comic strips Blondie and Mutt and Jeff.

Skelton Comedy

The company also was highlighted in the 1948 Columbia Pictures Corp. comedy ?The Fuller Brush Man,? starring Red Skelton and Janet Blair, according to IMDB.com. Publicity shots show Skelton carrying an armful of mops, cleaners and brushes on his door-to-door rounds.

Customers across the U.S. became familiar with the greeting, ?I?m your Fuller Brush Man.? The Reverend Billy Graham, Dick Clark, baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and actor Dennis Quaid were among the company?s salesmen, Fuller Brush said in a 2007 statement.

Fuller Brush expanded to a $109 million business by 1960, according to myfullerbrush.com. The company?s founder died in 1973. Its factory near Great Bend, completed that same year, turns out more than 2,000 products, Fuller Brush said.

The case is The Fuller Brush Co. Inc., 12-10714, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

?Editors: Stephen Farr, Andrew Dunn

To contact the reporters on this story: Dawn McCarty in Wilmington at dmccarty@bloomberg.net; Phil Milford in Wilmington, Delaware at pmilford@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net

Source: http://g7finance.com/global-news/fuller-brush-door-to-door-icon-seeks-bankruptcy-protection/

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South Forsyth New Homes | Hillside Trace | Atlanta Real Estate Forum

Hillside TraceAbout Sales, Inc. is pleased to announce that Edward Andrews Homes? Hillside Trace is Forsyth?s top selling community. In fact, lead agent Donnie Mayer has sold nine homes over the past three months. Priced from the high $200,000s to high $300,000s, Hillside Trace is entering into its final phase with just seven opportunities remaining.

?With these homes located in a community originally selling in the $500,000s, buyers are amazed at the savings,? stated Mayer, onsite agent with About Sales, Inc.

Along with these savings, Hillside Trace is offering upgraded belly band brick on the sides, a stainless steel appliance package and their exquisite trim package ?A? to buyers.

Standard features in all homes include open floor plans, hardwood flooring in foyers, kitchen, dining rooms and half baths, designer carpet in family rooms, living rooms and bedrooms, fireplaces and elegant garden tubs per plan. Large entertaining kitchens feature designer solid 42? flat panel cabinets, granite countertops, Whirlpool stainless steel appliances, oversized islands and double kitchen sinks.

Hillside Trace offers amenities that the whole family will enjoy such as a clubhouse, playground, pool and tennis courts.

Students residing in Hillside Trace attend highly acclaimed Johns Creek Elementary School, Riverwatch Middle School and Lambert High School.

To visit the community, take GA 400 North to Exit 13. Turn right onto Hwy. 141. Go 2.5 miles to Sharon Road, and turn left. Go 1.2 miles to where Sharon Road becomes Old Atlanta Road and continue straight through the intersection for another two miles. Hillside Trace, located at Vista Brook Drive, will be on the right.

To schedule a tour, please call 770-821-8663. For more information on these Atlanta new homes, go to www.edwardandrewshomes.com.

Source: http://www.atlantarealestateforum.com/edward-andrews-homes-announces-forsyth%E2%80%99s-top-selling-community-57862/

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Treating Horse Cribbing ? sacredground.cc

There?s a level of secret encompassing equine cribbing. Precisely why just do they baby?s crib? What makes them get it done? Issues it could be on account of family genes in which provides a equine prone to tension, undesirable diet regime, or perhaps boredom. Imposing limits about the horse?s normal inclinations may result in cribbing, nonetheless it doesn?t imply that most horses set underneath this make use of it. So it ended up being deduced that it?s most likely innate. Because horses are usually fed using feeds which are packed with factors to present these people energy, they find sleepless inside their stalls usually, and they also consider cribbing simply to receive an outlet for all in which energy.diy installation Wild horses eat and also frolic regarding around they make sure you, whilst tame types, who will be generally located in their particular stalls, try to keep boredom from exploding through cribbing.

Just how to deal with equine cribbing? We will look at many of these techniques.

One) Offer individuals wooden locations an idea of some anti-cribbing fluid. The particular horses would likely find this change of flavor perplexing, and may even put them away cribbing for quite a while.

A couple of) Take away the enticement. If you possibly could, change many wooden buildings or perhaps materials using material as soon as, in an attempt to decrease the draw of cribbing.

Three) Placed your pet with a distinct diet regime. As an alternative to supplying your pet feeds which are high in energy, choose a large dietary fiber, minimal energy one particular as an alternative. This could reduce his / her restlessness a few steps.

Several) Adhere to the schedule. Farm pets find anxious whenever their particular giving time is erratic. And as you well realize, horses often remedy this using cribbing.

5) Maintain your pet active. Flip your pet away often. Set up toys in the booth. Allow one more horse-or any other pet that you will find pleasant using horses-to keep your pet firm.

Six) Induce the particular barrel. This could successfully limit movements in the mouth, portrayal your pet can not open it up sufficient for your pet to baby?s crib about wooden buildings.

Seven) Diamond ring out your doldrums. Studies are currently becoming produced about surer methods of alleviating horses of cribbing through treating them with antidepressant medications. Regrettably, the only real drug available now merely doggie snacks the particular equine for a short while, wearing away in no time to the equine revisit cribbing.
8) Going under the knife. Surgery is a major procedure and so the last resort of most in addition neglects. Inquire a veterinarian is employed and if it really is probable on your own equine.

Source: http://sacredground.cc/?p=355

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The mystery of the missing brain cells

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

How Good Are Your Customer Service Skills? Quick Quiz ...

As I drove through town the other day I saw a sad sight. It was yet another business shut down. I hate to see that because I want to see business people thrive.

I love it when small town business owners succeed and I?m saddened when I see them fail. This business in particular was one I wasn?t surprised to see shut down. Why? As a customer I saw a very big mistake being made every single time I walked through the door and pulled out my wallet: They were not providing good customer service.

Every time I walked in to buy a coffee the reaction was as if I were a hassle to both the owner and a staff member (in multiple ways that I need not get into in this post).

It?s too bad really, because good customer service is not hard. Customers don?t expect you to move mountains, as a matter of fact most don?t expect great service to start with. Why, good customer service is so rare these days that if you provide even the slightest notion of it you?ll stand out from the crowd.

It doesn?t matter what kind of business you run. It doesn?t matter if it?s offline or online. It doesn?t matter if you?re a solopreneur or a multi-million dollar corporation. Customer service MATTERS!

How Good Are Your Customer Service Skills Quiz:

Answer these questions honestly and self-assess your customer service skills. If you want a real reality-check then I recommend you adjust the questions and send them to YOUR customers. If you respond YES to most of these questions, then you?re doing pretty good in the customer service department. If you respond NO to most, then you?ve got some work to do. Don?t end up another ?main-street (or virtual) shutdown?, OK?

Q1 ? Do you respond to potential customer questions that come in through your business or website?

Q2 ? Do you treat customer complaints as an opportunity to improve and impress?

Q3 ? Are you proud of the service or products your company provides?

Q4 ? Do you deliver what you promise to your customers and clients, every single time?

Q5 ? Do you ever offer MORE than promised to your customers and clients?

Q6 ? Do you ask for feedback from your customers, and LISTEN to their answers?

Q7 ? Do you believe in what you?re selling?

Q8 ? Is your business satisfying on a personal level? Do you feel useful and like you?re making a difference?

Q9 ? Do you try to avoid problems BEFORE they happen?

Q10 ? Do you show and/or tell your customers and clients how much you appreciate them?

Q11 ? Do you make a concentrated effort to get to know your customers?

The common thread to ALL of these questions is just a matter of showing your customer your CARE ABOUT THEM. That?s it, you don?t have to answer all of the questions with a yes. You can?t fake caring. If you?re in a business right now that, for whatever reason, you are not passionate about then it may be time to figure out where that passion for helping your customers went.

Good customer service skills can make or break your business. Take the time to care and your customers are likely to reward you by returning again and again to buy from you. Do the opposite and you?re clients are very likely to take their business elsewhere (like I did when that local business owner started being rude to me!).

Here?s a great quote to illustrate this point, you might want to print it out as a reminder of what providing good customer service really means:

?I?ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.?
? Maya Angelou

Source: http://www.marketersmojo.com/10839/customer-service-skills-quiz/

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Georgia Tech Develops Computational Algorithm to Assist in Cancer ...

Georgia Tech Develops Computational Algorithm to Assist in Cancer Treatments

New software key for personalized cancer medicine

High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies are leading to a revolution in how clinicians diagnose and treat cancer. The molecular profiles of individual tumors are beginning to be used in the design of chemotherapeutic programs optimized for the treatment of individual patients. The real revolution, however, is coming with the emerging capability to inexpensively and accurately sequence the entire genome of cancers, allowing for the identification of specific mutations responsible for the disease in individual patients.

There is only one downside. Those sequencing technologies provide massive amounts of data that are not easily processed and translated by scientists. That?s why Georgia Tech has created a new data analysis algorithm that quickly transforms complex RNA sequence data into usable content for biologists and clinicians. The RNA-Seq analysis pipeline (R-SAP) was developed by School of Biology Professor John McDonald and Ph.D. Bioinformatics candidate Vinay Mittal. Details of the pipeline are published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.

?A major bottleneck in the realization of the dream of personalized medicine is no longer technological. It?s computational,? said McDonald, director of Georgia Tech?s newly created Integrated Cancer Research Center. ?R-SAP follows a hierarchical decision-making procedure to accurately characterize various classes of gene transcripts in cancer samples.?

There are at least 23,000 pieces of RNA in the human genome that encode the sequence of proteins. Millions of other pieces help regulate the production of proteins. R-SAP is able to quickly determine every gene?s level of RNA expression and provide information about splice variants, biomarkers and chimeric RNAs. Biologists and clinicians will be able to more readily use this data to compare the RNA profiles or ?transcriptomes? of normal cells with those of individual cancers and thereby be in a better position to develop optimized personal therapies.

Personalized approaches to cancer medicine are already in widespread use for a few ?cancer biomarkers? including variants of the BRAC 1 gene that can be used to identify women with a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

?Our goal was to design a pipeline that is easily installable with parallel processing capabilities,? said Mittal. ?R-SAP can make 100 million reads in just 90 minutes. Running the program simultaneously on multiple CPUs can further decrease that time.?

R-SAP is open source software, freely accessible at the McDonald Lab website.

?This is another example of Georgia Tech?s ability to merge computer technology with science to create an essential feature of next-generation bioinformatics tools,? said McDonald. ?We hope that R-SAP will be a useful and user-friendly instrument for scientists and clinicians in the field of cancer biology.?

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Source: http://www.industry.gatech.edu/2012/georgia-tech-develops-computational-algorithm-to-assist-in-cancer-treatments/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=georgia-tech-develops-computational-algorithm-to-assist-in-cancer-treatments

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Mary Anne Hitt: Breaking Up With Coal, Falling in Love with Clean Energy

The big news today is that the long-awaited mercury standards for mercury emissions from coal plants are now on the books, published today in the Federal Register. That's great news, and it also starts the clock ticking for attacks on the rule.

Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma is first out of the gate, announcing that he will file an official challenge to the safeguard in Congress. So for the 800,000+ of you who sent in a comment in support of these new protections, please watch this space for future details on how you can help us defend these life-saving standards, and push back against this and future attempts by Congress to repeal the mercury protections.

At the same time, communities nationwide are taking action on coal and clean energy, and today I wanted to highlight some of their great recent events. These amazing local activists remind of this famous Margaret Mead quote:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

I'll start with my favorite piece of news so far, which comes from Vermont. Following up my column last week, here's some great work to make sure new clean energy jobs are union jobs.

From Sierra Club Vermont:

Green Mountain Power is currently building a wind farm in Lowell, Vermont. This wind farm will provide green electricity for up to 15,000 homes. However, up until this week, not one single union member has been employed on this major construction project. In short, livable wages were not guaranteed and many jobs were going to out-of-staters. As of this week, Vermont union Iron Workers from Local 7 will be working on this project. Through the joint efforts of organized labor, the Vermont Sierra Club, and our partners in 350.org, we have compelled Green Mountain Power to take one positive step in a very good direction.

Amazing work, Vermont!

Now, because we had our most romantic of holidays this week, I also want to highlight the especially creative Valentine's Day actions several groups took part in. First, in Marietta, Georgia, activists gathered yesterday to thank Cobb Electric Membership Cooperative (EMC), a major electricity cooperative, for "breaking up" with coal last month, and to encourage them to fall in love with clean energy.

The Georgia Sierra Club joined with coalition members at Cobb EMC headquarters to deliver 1,000 letters thanking the utility for its January decision to stop investments into two coal-fired power plants. The letters, including a giant Valentine's Day card, were written by EMC customers and clean energy advocates from around Georgia.

Cobb EMC love

"Cobb EMC's decision to break-up with coal shows the new leaders are looking out for members," said Don Dressel, EMC member and volunteer with the Sierra Club. "Customers are happy that our EMC is moving in the right direction. Now, we can invest in smart energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that will lower our rates and move us forward. That will be a huge boon for EMC members."

Sierra Club Virginia also took on the Valentine's Day spirit Tuesday, when they visited Senator Jim Webb's Richmond office and encouraged him, via hand-made Valentine's cards, to defend the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to protect clean air. "We <3 Clean Air!" read the cards.

VA lovers 2

The chapter also joined Virginia Organizing for the "General Assembly-You Broke Our Hearts" event. Hundreds of activists gathered at the Virginia General Assembly building and said that the General Assembly had "broken our hearts" by focusing on weakening the Renewable Portfolio Standard and a host of other progressive issues that we were disappointed in.

And in Los Angeles, our activists kicked off a creative online campaign asking L.A. to break up with coal and fall in love with clean energy jobs. If you want to help, you can take action.

Finally this week, I want to highlight some amazing scientific work from the Pennsylvania Sierra Club. Activists are taking on the Homer City Generating Station in Homer City, because it is among the worst polluters in the country.

Through modeling, our folks discovered that:

The 1,884-megawatt power plant -- one of the biggest in the nation -- released more sulfur dioxide than any other plant in the U.S. last year and enough to violate federal air pollution standards and its state operating permit.

"The report's modeling of emissions shows that in ... three years, from 2008 through 2010, it was violating its state permit and causing ambient pollution concentrations to be above the health-based standards," said Zack Fabish, an attorney with the Sierra Club. He noted that the power plant wasn't cited for violating the standards because of the lack of state monitors downwind from the plant to measure the pollution.


Nationwide, communities are saying "No more!" when it comes to dirty coal. Americans are falling in love with clean energy and the good jobs it will bring.

?

Follow Mary Anne Hitt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/maryannehitt

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-anne-hitt/breaking-up-with-coal-fal_b_1284695.html

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Saturday, February 18, 2012

First step to teach your kids how to speak in public is to teach them ...

First step to teach your kids how to speak in public is to teach them to plan their speeches

February 18th, 2012 by admin

public speaking for kids, how to speak in public, speeches for kids

As part of the school curriculum, students are often asked to make speeches or presentations in front of their classmates and teachers. Some kids find the prospect of public speaking very difficult and its very thought may make them nervous. However, it becomes easier for kids to master the art of public speaking at school if they follow a good methodology to plan, structure and finally deliver their speech.

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?Well begun is half done? is an oft quoted phrase and does hold true when it comes to teaching kids the art of public speaking. The child should be prepared not only with the right matter that will become the topic and core of speech but also with the psychological aspects ? the right mindset for public speaking at school.

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If your kids have the freedom to choose their own topics for an impromptu speech competition, pick up a topic that they are most comfortable with or the ones in which they have a good interest. Public speaking for kids can be simple and lively with some very common topics such as

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My favourite book
My favourite two animals
Why I deserve an allowance
Great things about snow days
What I love about Christmas
What I learn from cartoons
What would I want to be when I grow up and why

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There can be a plethora of topics to choose from when it comes to planning the speech. Public speaking at school can be around an informative or a humorous subject. Even if a single topic is provided by the school authorities or there is a list to choose from, it is possible to research the matter in the planning stage. The things that matter and are also noted by the judges include the confidence of the child to face people. His/her oratory skills and appropriate understanding of the subject are important things that get noticed by the audience. While planning for the speech, it is certainly important to ensure that the child really comprehends the subject and gets prepared to freely express his/her thoughts on the same.

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It needs to be understood that planning for public speaking for kids does not imply that the child needs to memorise a composition passage word by word and practice speaking it till he/she becomes fluent. Kids need to actually ?comprehend? the matter because this helps them to vocalise their own (personal) thoughts on it even if they forget some points that they had written and practiced.

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Once the topic is chosen, it needs to be segregated into introduction, core and conclusion while writing the speech. Public speaking at school can be very interesting for the child if he/she organises the subject in an appropriate way and parents play an important part in this matter. The child should be helped to prepare, write and preview the speech as he/she plans for it.

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Planning is indeed crucial when it comes to public speaking for kids and a well planned speech is fairly easier to structure and be practiced upon for the final delivery.

Posted in Self Improvement and Motivation |

Source: http://www.hubph.com/self-improvement-and-motivation/first-step-to-teach-your-kids-how-to-speak-in-public-is-to-teach-them-to-plan-their-speeches/

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