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Source: http://www.facebook.com/unitedwithisrael/posts/372535809491529
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Sunday, September 30, 2012
How I Create: Q&A With Career Coach Michelle Ward - Psych Central
What do you want to be when you grow up? That?s the question Michelle Ward, the When I Grow Up Coach, helps her clients answer. Ward is certified by the International Coach Federation. She?s spent over 750 hours coaching hundreds of creative people to devise the career they think they can?t have ? or discover it in the first place.
She?s also a musical theater actress with her BFA from NYU/Tisch. And she?s one of the most creative and passionate people I?ve had the pleasure of meeting online. Ward infuses everything she does with creativity and her enthusiastic one-of-a-kind approach.
Below, in our monthly series, Ward shares the behind-the-scenes of her creative process, how she overcomes the comparison trap, her powerful advice for readers and much more.
Ward also has served as an expert source and contributor for publications such as?Newsweek and Forbes and websites such as Yahoo!?and?AOL Jobs. She?s spoken at?SXSW, The World Domination Summit?and?Etsy Success Symposium.
She?can be found coachin?, bloggin? & givin? away free stuff at whenigrowupcoach.com.
1. ?Do you incorporate creativity-boosting activities into your daily routine? If so, what activities do you do?
You might wanna slap me for saying this, but I feel like everything I do centers around doing it creatively. I?ve built my business on writing and making videos and speaking and playing my pink ukulele?so every time I decide to work on something, I think about what I want to express and how. I wrote/filmed/edited a music video for?my communty site.
When I put my career change exercises into?workbook?form, I decided to make the whole freakin? thing (yes, all 50+ pages) rhyme.
When I offered?An Effective Escape: Leaving Your Day Job Without Living in Your Parents? Basement?for the first time, it was as a virtual workshop. I?m usually doing something around speaking, singing, or writing? but not in a do-a-creative-exercise-every-day way.
2. ?What are your inspirations for your work?
It depends on what I?m working on, but the things that are popping into my head? Dr. Seuss,?Cee Lo Green,?Garfunkel & Oates, Cee Lo Green, stuff from my childhood (I so wanna write a Choose Your Own Adventure Book!), Jessica Swift, Color Me Katie, Danielle LaPorte, Alexandra Franzen, my clients, Broadway?.oh, I?ll stop there now.
3.?There are many culprits that can crush creativity, such as distractions, self-doubt and fear of failure. What tends to stand in the way of your creativity?
The Comparison Vampire! Oh, I call the voices we have in our heads that suck the good stuff outta us Vampires, and The Comparison Vampire tends to be the worst of all.
Look at how professional?her?videos are. Look at how perfect?his copy is. Blech. It makes you wanna just throw in the towel and never write another word or speak another sentence or pluck another tune ever again.
4.?How do you overcome these obstacles?
I think a big part of it is being confident and authentic in what you?re doing. Sure, his copy might be ?perfect? and her videos might be ?professional,? but mine are 100 percent Michelle at all times, and I?m proud of what I produce.
I?m all there, singing or speaking or writing my heart out, and I?m confident that what I put out into the world represents my uniquity, my perspective, and my knowledge. Let?s face it: They?re not better than you, They?re?different. Two separate things.
5. ?What are some of your favorite resources on creativity?
Anything that Keri Smith puts out is worth picking up and working through. It looks easy on the surface to follow her exercises (i.e. smear food on this page of the book, tie a string around the book and take it for a walk, etc.), but actually confronts our Vampires and can be a great (yet scary!) learning experience.
I also recommend the Right Brain Business Plan?to any and all creative entrepreneurs (I have one!), aspiring or otherwise. The Artist in the Office is also a must for those of us barely surviving our day jobs, and nothing beats The Artist?s Way for tapping into your inner creative.
6. ?What is your favorite way to get your creative juices flowing?
For writing, I keep tons of images with inspiring sayings on a Pinterest board, and that?ll be my first stop if I need something to write about. For my songs, I tend to have an idea as to what I wanna sing about (it?s recently been about my?boob cancer, oddly enough), and then rhymes come to me on the subway, when I?m about to fall asleep, or in the shower. I always have my iPhone handy to take notes.
7. ?What?s your advice for readers on cultivating creativity?
Don?t wait for lightening to strike or the perfect moment where inspiration knocks you over ? because it often doesn?t happen that way. Instead, show up to do the work and start wherever feels easiest.
Sometimes I start a blog post in the middle because the beginning just won?t come to me. Sometimes I write a song with the chorus leading the way because the verses are elusive. Do something every day for a small bite of time (yes, you can?get a lot accomplished in 15 minutes a day, thankyouverymuch) and you?ll be able to have a tangible product in no time.
Also, don?t be married to the format. Sometimes I know I need to write a blog post, but writing feels hard in that moment?so I make a video instead. Pay attention to what feels fun and easy at the time, and know if you move forward with that it?s not cheating.
8. ?Anything else you?d like readers to know about creativity?
Wanna know a secret? You?re creative. You might not believe me, but it?s true! We all have it in us?just start believing that I?m talking to you when I mention ?creative people,? start exploring in a fun and easy way, and you?ll be able to own that title more than you think!
Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. is an Associate Editor at Psych Central and blogs regularly about eating and self-image issues on her own blog, Weightless.Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. (or subscribe to their feed).
????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 29 Sep 2012
????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
APA Reference
Tartakovsky, M. (2012). How I Create: Q&A With Career Coach Michelle Ward. Psych Central. Retrieved on September 29, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/09/29/how-i-create-qa-with-career-coach-michelle-ward/
?
Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/09/29/how-i-create-qa-with-career-coach-michelle-ward/
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Immigration: Immigration Citizenship Application
Such double minded people have double immigration aims. They get lost in the immigration citizenship application are to be allocated to the immigration citizenship application and economic problems of the immigration citizenship application a new policy, which will address all the immigration citizenship application of carrying out this legal process. Immigration attorney can be treated in a heterosexual relationship based on the immigration citizenship application can save your valuable time. The main thing is that of Arabs from Maghreb largely employed in that nation. A widespread term for an increase of about 1.5 million more people a year, which represents more than with legal immigration. America is a good idea to at least have a free consultation is beyond the immigration citizenship application a broader plan said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Also a quicker deployment of an illegal immigrant will result in deportation without the immigration citizenship application of ever returning to the immigration citizenship application of the immigration citizenship application. Visa Services centers also offer variety of people living out of status at the immigration citizenship application of the immigration citizenship application for up to 2 years, and eligible to take them into custody for the other immigrant workers.
Immigration, provide opportunities to workers both skilled and unskilled to find similarities to yours. A check on case studies, articles and relevant books on the immigration citizenship application from that lawyer would also go a long way in determining whether such a marriage in Thailand must be approved. The law specifies the immigration citizenship application of the immigration citizenship application to immigrate. To add to this, immigration is so they can profit from employing illegal laborers at low wages.
This visa subsection does not create a valid and heterosexual in that nation. A widespread term for an individual holding a non-immigrant visa in their country. The policies are legalized by immigration officers have arrived to take them into custody for the immigration citizenship application of young desperate leaving daily and exposed to smugglers, violence and humiliation. The North in turn should cease considering the immigration citizenship application to gather enough public attention.
For US immigration, a passport has to check that all the immigration citizenship application is expected to evolve as a valid and heterosexual, it is easy to understand why this occurs. The topic of immigration in the immigration citizenship application. An increasing amount of illegal immigration that should be considered a valid marriage, but still as a reliable resource for certain studies conducted in different fields.
Finally, each employer of three or more legal immigrants will qualify for immigration will be that the immigration citizenship application an essential part of a country's population as a regular attorney but are based on post-operative gender. Therefore, the immigration citizenship application of whether the immigration citizenship application at their intended residence in the immigration authorities still must be in their immigration steps.
Those employers who use illegal immigrants. In short, we will need to obtain an appropriate government agency indicating that the applicant has significant ties to their foreign residency. Cohabitating partners in these situations will either need to qualify for immigration 'places' in the immigration citizenship application this would create conditions supporting hope for the first automated fingerprint identification system for asylum seekers more often than not.
Immigration, provide opportunities to workers both skilled and unskilled to find similarities to yours. A check on case studies, articles and relevant books on the immigration citizenship application to your likelihood of being deported. The complexity of the immigration citizenship application, the immigration citizenship application are carried by natives, to project their unwillingness to share the immigration citizenship application with the immigration citizenship application to actually reside and be treated only after immigration officers have arrived to take on work that doesn't surpass 16 hours weekly.
Source: http://7millionstars.blogspot.com/2012/09/immigration-citizenship-application.html
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goconstance: RT @IsabelPierce: 10,000 people are trashing cancer right now! Let's support them & get #trashcancer trending on twitter! Please RT ...
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Source: http://twitter.com/goconstance/statuses/252265188324175872
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China Issues Measures on Income Tax for Enterprise Relocation ...
Sept. 28 ? China?s State Administration of Taxation (?SAT?) released the ?Administrative Measures on Income Tax for the Policy-Based Relocation of Enterprises (Announcement [2012] No.40, hereinafter referred to as ?Measures?)? on August 10, aiming to regulate the administration of levying income tax on enterprises undergoing policy-based relocation. Key provisions of the Measures can be found below.
For the purpose of the Measures, the policy-related relocation of enterprises refers to the relocation of all or part of an enterprise initiated by the government based on the needs of social public interest, such as relocation due to the needs of national defense, diplomacy?or social welfare housing projects.
Independent accounting
Enterprises shall conduct separate taxation administration and accounting for relocation income, relocation expenses, the taxation treatment of relocated assets, and the administrative affairs regarding the collection of income tax on relocation income, according to the requirements of the Measures.
For enterprises failing to conduct the separate taxation administration and accounting, the income tax treatment thereof shall be carried out by regarding such relocation as non-policy-related relocation (e.g. self-initiated relocation or commercial relocation) and the provisions of the Measures shall not apply.
Taxation treatment for the relocation of assets
- Where an asset involved in the relocation of an enterprise may continue to be used immediately after simple installation or without installation, the depreciation or amortization for the net value thereof shall continue to be calculated based on the remaining years of depreciation or amortization of the asset as prescribed by the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing regulations after the asset is put into use again.
- Where an asset involved in the relocation of an enterprise can only be re-used after an overhaul, the net value thereof and the expenses incurred during the overhaul process shall be regarded as a taxable cost of the asset. The depreciation or amortization of the asset shall be calculated based on the remaining useful life of the asset after the asset is put into service again.
- For the land expropriated during the relocation process which adopts the land substitution method, the taxable cost of the land received from the substitution?shall be?the net value of the land expropriated and all fees and expenses incurred before the substituting land is put into use. Such costs shall be amortized over the years prescribed by the Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing regulations after the substituting land is put into use.
Moreover, the expenses incurred by the enterprise from the procurement of assets shall not be deducted from the relocation income.
Taxable income
The relocation income and relocation expenses of enterprises incurred during the relocation period may not be included in the taxable income of the current period and can be settled on a consolidated basis in the year in which the relocation is completed. The Measures provide a maximum of five years for the relocation, and enterprises meeting the following conditions shall be regarded as having completed the relocation:
- The relocation planning has?been basically?completed; and
- The production and operation income of the current year accounts for more than 50 percent of the production and operation income of the year before the relocation.
The Measures are scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2012, with the ?Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on Relevant Issues concerning the Enterprise Income Tax on Income from Policy-Related Relocation or Disposal (guoshuihan[2009] No.118)? simultaneously repealed.
Dezan Shira & Associates is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in emerging Asia. Since its establishment in 1992, the firm has grown into one of Asia?s most versatile full-service consultancies with operational offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Vietnam as well as liaison offices in Italy and the United States.
For further details or to contact the firm, please email china@dezshira.com, visit www.dezshira.com, or download the company brochure.
You can stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends across China by subscribing to The China Advantage, our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary, guides, and multimedia resources.
Related Reading
Relocating or Expanding your China Business
This issue deals with mergers of companies that subsequently result in all or part of their operations having to be relocated within China. It also covers the establishment of branch and other offices, in addition to the liquidation issues that can occur when restructuring a business in China.
China Branch Offices and RO-WFOE ?Conversions?
China?s SAT Issues FAQs Relating to Tax Payments
China Issues FAQs Relating to Deed Tax and VAT
The Best of Asia Briefing ? August/September 2012
Double Taxation Agreements for China Investment
China Releases Circular to Crack Down on Tax Over-Collection
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Saturday, September 29, 2012
NanoDays 2013 kit applications are now open
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| Posted: Sep 27th, 2012 | |
| NanoDays 2013 kit applications are now open | |
| (Nanowerk News) NanoDays 2013 will be held on March 30 through April 7, 2013. NanoDays is a week of community-based educational outreach events to raise public awareness of nanoscale science, technology and engineering throughout the United States. NanoDays kits are currently in production and will be ready for distribution in January 2013. We invite you to fill out an online application for a physical kit containing all of the materials and resources you need to start planning your community events; applications are due December 1, 2012 (link to pdf is here). | |
| Who can participate in NanoDays? | |
| NanoDays kits are intended for use in public events; most host organizations are informal science education institutions and public outreach programs of nanoscience research centers. We invite you and your organization to participate in NanoDays 2013, whether or not you have previous experience with nano public outreach activities. | |
| What kinds of kits are there and who is eligible to apply? | |
| There are two forms of kits: physical and digital. They contain content and instructions on the same set of activities. You can apply online for a physical kit from now until December 1, 2012, or download a digital version of the kit after January 15, 2013. Two hundred and twenty-five (225) physical kits will be distributed for NanoDays 2013. | |
| Physical kits are designed for informal science educational institutions (such as museums and research center outreach programs) within the United States. Eligibility guidelines are available here. To apply for a physical kit, go to http://www.nisenet.org/nanodays and follow the directions for the online application due by December 1, 2012. Applications will be reviewed and you will be notified of your kit status in late December 2012. Applications include a description of your planned events or activities during the NanoDays week; strong applications will include plans for using the NanoDays kit during the rest of the year. A PDF of the online application is attached for reference; however, applications should be submitted online using Survey Gizmo. | |
| Digital kits are free, downloadable materials available to anyone who registers on nisenet.org. The digital version of the kit is designed particularly for international locations outside the United States, K-12 educators, libraries, and other educational organizations. Many of the activities use inexpensive, readily available supplies. Digital kits will be available for free download after January 15, 2013 at http://www.nisenet.org/nanodays. You do not need to fill out an application for a digital kit; however, you do need to have a profile on nisenet.org and log in to download these resources. | |
| We did NanoDays last year ? do we need a new kit? | |
| This year?s kits contain several new programs and activities and new training and promotional resources. We encourage you to apply for a new physical kit even though you may still have materials from last year. | |
| I want to do activities in the summer, and can?t plan programs in March or April (the NanoDays period) ? can my institution still participate? | |
| We strongly encourage you to target activities within the formal NanoDays period for two main reasons. First, holding numerous events within a limited timeframe is a great way to enhance the visibility of our collective efforts nationwide. Second, the NISE Network uses these events to collect data about the project to help inform future work and to report to the National Science Foundation. We realize that there may be scheduling conflicts that make it difficult for your organization to hold activities within the short NanoDays period. If this is the case, you may still apply, but you should clearly describe your plan for using the kit in your application. If you have any questions about using NanoDays material, feel free to contact your regional hub leader (contact information at www.nisenet.org/community) | |
| I don?t work in a museum or nano research center ? how can I get involved? | |
| Events are coordinated regionally and locally through museums, research centers, and other community partners. If you don?t already have contact with a museum or research partner that is hosting NanoDays, we can help you find them. Look for the geographic regional hub that corresponds to your location and contact your regional hub coordinator for how to get involved (www.nisenet.org/community). |
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Source: http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/newsid=26839.php
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Friday, September 28, 2012
Shopping Malls Vs Online Shopping ? Which Is Better?
For many years, a shopping mall was the center of all shopping activity for many people. However, with technology came online shopping, which in many ways, revolutionized the way people shop and do business. Many businesses adopted this new trend by setting up online stores to complement their physical stores. Currently, the decision to visit the local mall or shop online is a matter of personal preference, and the reasons for preferring one mode of shopping to the other vary, depending on who you ask. Below is a brief comparison of these two concepts.
The Similarity between the Shopping mall and an Online Store
The one thing these venues and online stores have in common is the wide variety of products and services that you can find in one place. The concept behind malls is to have an all-under-one roof design, whereby different vendors, retailers, service providers and other businesses can offer their products and services. Therefore, shoppers don?t have to move from one location to another, trying to find a particular brand or business.
Some of the common facilities that you can find in one of these venues include grocery stores, fast food outlets, cinema halls, supermarkets, banks, gaming arcades, electronic stores, and many more. The same concept applies to online shopping, though in a virtual state. Online shopping allows you to conveniently shop from multiple stores, simultaneously. However, online shopping has a slight advantage in that the range of products and services offered are limitless, whereas the shopping mall has to deal with space constraints.
The Advantages of Shopping Malls over Online Stores
Buying your stuff from the shopping mall is ideal, especially when it comes to buying personal effects such as clothing and jewelry. Some items require you to first, try them on, before you can buy. Buying clothes, underwear, jewelry and other personal effects, online, poses various challenges. First, it may not be possible to tell the exact color, size, and texture, among other attributes. When it comes to other items such as watches and jewelry, it may be impossible to verify the authenticity. Even though these attributes may be indicated, and some images of the items posted online, it is only through visiting the shopping mall that you can try out an item, verify the authenticity, and be satisfied before buying.
With the wide range of facilities that are physically available in these malls, you can take your family along to have a treat. You may choose to do an all-inclusive family shopping, grab something to eat in the restaurants, take your children to the video game arcades, watch a movie, visit the beauty salon, pay some bills, among other activities. With online stores, you can just shop.
The Advantages of Online Stores over Shopping Malls
Many people have busy schedules, hence finding the time to go to the mall, whether alone or with their families is impossible. You need considerable energy and time to go shopping. Apart from this, getting stuck up in traffic, having to wade through crowds of people, or having to deal with the hustle and bustle of children running around in the shopping mall is not the ideal shopping experience that some people would like. For this reason, they would rather stay at home and shop online, since it is more convenient. The comfort of your home or office, as well as the considerable time-saving is appealing to many shoppers.
In summary, both concepts seem to have their share of advantages and disadvantages. As such, the decision to shop either online or visit the shopping mall lies with individual circumstances, as well as preference.
Have you ever wondered whether you should go to the shopping mall, or you would rather stay at home and shop online? This article looks at these two shopping methods to help answer your questions.
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Leptin may play a role in hearing and vision loss, zebrafish study ...
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Thursday, September 27, 2012
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Planning a great Wood Deck design for your home ? Tips and Ideas ...
Planning to remodel your home or a part of it? Wood Decks and railing can greatly improve the usefulness, aesthetics and value of your house. For adults, patio decks provide outdoor living space for dining and relaxation. For kids, wood decks offer a safe outdoor play area.
A functional wood deck contains six parts: decking, hand railings, footings, beams, posts and joists. While planning a deck you need to consider three basic factors: functionality, structural stability and aesthetic. The aesthetics of your deck is driven by your choice of decking and railings while the location of beams and posts have a major impact on the stability of it.
First decide how you are going to use the outdoor deck. Do you want some benches or lounge chairs or even a dining table in that area? How many people will be using the deck?
Important factors that influence the design and location of your deck:
- Projected use (playing area, sunbathing, family entertainment, relaxation, dining, etc.)
- Appearance (focuses on a good view, increase value to home)
- Adequate sunlight
- Air currents (allow smooth flow of breezes, stamp heavy winds)
- Privacy (less street noise)
- Safety (for kids and elders)
- Access to home
- Type of deck terrain (ground level, elevated deck or split level)
- Current home design (compatibility with existing plan)
- Other specific needs and likings
You should ensure that the deck does not shut access to any electrical, gas, drainage or utility systems while deciding the location.
It is equally important to check local deck building codes once you have finalized the size, shape and location of the deck. In many cases local codes may pose some restrictions on the size and height of the deck.
For any queries related to Wood Deck design and drawing services feel free to contact us.
Visit us at http://www.outsourcestructuraldesign.com/structural-design.php
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
US, Egypt seek better ties after embassy protests
NEW YORK (AP) ? The United States and Egypt sought Monday to repair ties strained severely by a year-and-a-half of rapid change in the Middle East, culminating in the last two weeks with Egyptian demonstrators overrunning the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and President Barack Obama candidly remarking that the two countries were now neither enemies nor allies.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke with Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, in a New York hotel on Monday night, the highest-level meeting between the once stalwart Middle East partners since an American-made video ridiculing Islam prompted violent Egyptian protests on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. American officials said their discussions sought to strengthen a relationship that both see as vital.
They particularly emphasized the importance of ensuring the security of diplomatic installations, said a senior U.S. official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the private meeting and requested anonymity. Morsi was criticized for his slow, initial response to the protests that ended with vandalism of the embassy and the American flag torn down, but the official stressed that U.S. officials see the Egyptian government's protection since as reassuring.
Morsi assured Clinton that embassy protection was "Egypt's duty," the official said.
The meeting occurred amid a jam-packed schedule for Clinton in New York, where she is attending this week's annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly and speaking with a host of world leaders. Egyptian hopes of a maiden meeting between Morsi and Obama were dashed when the White House announced that the president would not be participating in bilateral meetings during his brief stay in the city. Obama arrived Monday and will leave Tuesday.
Shortly after the Cairo protests, Obama appeared to express his dismay with Egypt's handling of the situation. In an interview with Spanish-language network Telemundo, he said: "I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy."
The nature of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship wasn't under question in Clinton's meeting with Morsi, said the U.S. official, who said that officials for the two countries see relations as having have moved past the place they were only 12 days ago.
Clinton and Morsi also spoke about improving security in the Sinai Peninsula near Israel's border and helping the Egyptian economy, officials said.
Extremist activity has grown in the Sinai since last year's political upheaval, which ended with the ouster of longtime U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak. The volatile region, which links Egypt's borders with the Gaza Strip and Israel, has become increasingly lawless. In a brazen attack in August, unidentified militants killed 16 Egyptian soldiers.
Clinton stressed the need for Egypt to improve communications with its neighbor Israel, the official said.
The neighbors established a close counterterrorism partnership under Mubarak, but relations have dipped since. Members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood have expressed skepticism about the merits of Egypt's three-decade old peace treaty with Israel, and the Jewish state has viewed with great suspicion the political rise of Morsi and other hardline Islamists.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-egypt-seek-better-ties-embassy-protests-031557522--election.html
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Mass. chemist allegedly mishandled evidence
BOSTON?? Faced with the daunting task of evaluating more than 34,000 drug cases handled by a Massachusetts chemist accused of misconduct, prosecutors and defense attorneys are starting with 1,140 cases of people who are already serving prison sentences based on potentially tainted evidence.
David Meier, a defense attorney and former prosecutor appointed to help sort through the legal quagmire created by the chemist's alleged actions, on Monday turned over a list of 690 people currently serving sentences in state prisons and 450 who are currently serving sentences in county jails. Samples in all of the cases were tested by chemist Annie Dookhan, who state police say failed to follow testing protocols and deliberately mishandled evidence in some cases.
Meier said it is unclear how many of those samples might have been tainted by Dookhan's actions, but said both sides want to deal first with people who are already in prison.
"That is our first priority, people who are presently incarcerated," he said.
Meier said lawyers in those cases will now have to work out resolutions on a case-by-case basis.
"The merits and any alleged issues in any one of those cases is for prosecutors and defense attorneys and judges to determine," he said.
State police have said Dookhan was involved in testing more than 60,000 drug samples involving about 34,000 defendants during her nine years at the Boston lab. Dookhan resigned in March during an internal investigation by the state Department of Public Health, which ran the lab until state police took over on July 1 as part of a budget directive.
Meier, who was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick last week, met Monday with a group of district attorneys, defense attorneys and public safety officials. After the meeting, Meier said he turned over a list of currently incarcerated defendants whose cases were worked on by Dookhan, either as the primary chemist, who performs an initial test on a drug sample, or as the secondary chemist, who performs a second, confirmatory test.
The list does not include thousands of people who are currently awaiting trial, are on probation or are serving federal sentences in cases in which Dookhan tested drug samples.
Since the lab was closed last month, judges in Suffolk and Norfolk counties have already begun to hear motions filed by defense attorneys seeking bail reductions for drug defendants awaiting trial in cases handled by Dookhan. Prosecutors have agreed to many of those motions, citing possibly tainted evidence.
Dookhan hasn't been charged, but the state attorney general's office is conducting a criminal investigation.
On Monday, a judge in Boston agreed to put the sentences of career criminal David Huffman on hold and set bail for him at $75,000 cash, with GPS monitoring. The 55-year-old Huffman had pleaded guilty in August to trafficking in heroin and cocaine, possession of oxycodone with the intent to distribute and unlawful possession of ammunition and a firearm as an armed career criminal He began serving concurrent seven- to 10-year sentences last month.
Huffman's lawyer, Bernard Grossberg, said the next step will likely be for the defense to ask that Huffman be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea.
"He would not have pleaded guilty to the gun charges if it was not part and parcel of his plea on the drug charges," Grossberg said.
Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley, said prosecutors opposed the motion to put his sentence on the gun charges on hold. He said the gun evidence was tested in a different lab and was unaffected by the drug lab scandal.
"This is an individual who's been involved in just about every type of property and violent crime over the course of 40 years. He is a mid-tier narcotics distributor and was a plague on the community," Wark said.
"We believe the judge should have treated the two cases separately," he said.
Dookhan has not responded to repeated requests for comment. Her father, Rasheed Khan, told The Associated Press that she had been "bullied and abused," but he would not say by whom.
"No one has heard her side of the story," Khan said outside his home in Kissimmee, Fla., on Saturday.
State police have said Dookhan failed to follow testing protocols and deliberately mishandled evidence in some cases.
In a letter sent to defense attorneys earlier this month, Max Stern, the president of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he was told during a meeting with state officials that Dookhan was accused of deliberately tampering with evidence, including the weight of drug samples, which can affect the length of sentences given to drug defendants.
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49162389/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Wells Fargo website hit by access issues amid cyber threats
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Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Home price bounce will help boost?economy
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
A "For Sale" sign is posted at a home on August 28, 2012 in Los Angeles, Calif. The rise in home prices for the sixth month in a row, according to a widely-watched survey, is bringing much-needed help to the sluggish recovery.
By John W. Schoen, NBC News
The ongoing rise in home prices, up for the sixth month in a row in July according to a widely followed index, is bringing some badly-needed support for an ailing U.S. economy.
The road back to economic health, though, is going to be a long one.?
U.S. single-family home prices rose?in July, though the improvement was not as strong as expected, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.4 percent in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, shy of economists' forecasts for 0.9 percent, according to a Reuters poll.
On a non-adjusted basis, prices fared better, rising 1.6 percent.
Compared to a year ago, prices in the 20 cities were up 1.2 percent, beating expectations for 1 percent. It was the second month in a row year-over-year prices have risen.
Tuesday?s home price data confirmed "recent good news" about the sector, David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement.
"All in all, we are more optimistic about housing. Upbeat trends continue," said Blitzer.
Home price rebound
Most economists think home prices have stopped falling and are slowly headed back up. But the recovery to pre-bust levels will take years.
Some six years after the housing market collapsed, the forces of supply and demand that sent prices plummeting now appear to have laid a firm foundation for a sustainable recovery, according to many economists.
?The rise in home prices across the nation reinforces the view that housing is now leading rather than restraining the economy,? said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors
The U.S. housing market?s long slumber has been a major drag on the wider economy?s recovery from the 2007 recession. Now, as that market force shifts from a headwind to a tailwind, economists expect the housing revival to help boost economic growth in several ways.
?Strengthening in home prices is a plus for growth through various channels, including increased consumer spending because of wealth and confidence effects, increased incentive to buy before prices go up some more, and increased incentive to lend because of less chance of mortgages turning delinquent,? according to Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. Economist at High Frequency Economics.
Rising home prices have helped put consumers in a better mood. Consumer confidence jumped to its highest level in seven months in September as Americans were also more optimistic about the job market and income prospects, a private sector report showed on Tuesday.
Homebuilders are also feeling more upbeat. ?
Both home resales and groundbreaking on new houses rose in August, helping to lift business sentiment among homebuilders to a more than six-year high.
Housing starts rose 2.3 percent last month, the fastest in more than two years, and are up by more than 20 percent in the past year. But the gain follows a collapse that saw new home sales crash from a nearly 1.4 million annual rate in mid-2005 to fewer than 300,000 last year.
Foreclosure backlog
The recovery in home prices comes as the supply of ?distressed? properties has begun to ease. Those include houses seized by banks in foreclosure and so-called ?short sales,? in which a bank approves a sale for less than the outstanding mortgage balance. But with default rates still high by historical standards and a large backlog of pending foreclosures, those properties will continue to weigh on the market.
Capital Economics housing economist Paul Diggle figures the supply of homes for sale has fallen some 23 percent over the past year, while the pace of sales has picked up by 11 percent. That?s brought the number of homes on the market back down closer to historical levels.
?Supply may not fall much further, but with demand continuing to improve, the market will remain tight enough to sustain price gains,? he said.
Nationwide, Diggle expects price to close out 2012 with a gain of about five percent, after giving up some ground later this year as they typically have during the slower selling months in winter.
Demand for houses could also get a lift from the Federal Reserve?s recent move to force mortgage rates, already at historic lows, even lower. The Fed is hoping that cheaper credit will prompt?potential home buyers to take the plunge.
The central bank's announcement earlier this month that it would spend $40 billion a month to buy mortgage-backed bonds has already forced the yields on those securities sharply lower.
But for many borrowers, low mortgage rates aren?t the problem. Bankers have been demanding higher credit scores before approving loans, and with unemployment stuck above 8 percent, many would-be home buyers can?t get a mortgage.
Lower rates could also help spur the economy by helping existing homeowners with mortgages refinance to a lower monthly payment. But millions of them ? roughly one in four ? can?t get a new mortgage because they owe more on their old loan than their house is worth.
?It remains to be seen just how much of this fall (in mortgage rates) will be passed through to borrowers,? said Diggle. ?And in any case, with rates already at record lows and credit still very tight, any fall probably won?t make a dramatic difference to the recovery."
Rising home prices will slowly lift underwater houses back onto dry land. But the process will take years.?
Nationwide, homeowners with mortgages owed some $689 billion more in the second quarter than their homes were worth, according to CoreLogic. But the recent uptick in home prices is providing some small?relief; that number dropped by just $2 billion from the first quarter to the second quarter. Of all homeowners with mortgages, some 10.8 million ? more than one in five ? were still underwater in the second quarter, according to CoreLogic.
Reuters contributed to this report.
?
Breaking down the data on housing, with David Blitzer, S&P 500 Index Committee chairman. "Overall the housing industry has come back," he says.
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UFC 152 photo gallery
Check out pictures from UFC 152 by Tracy Lee. You'll see Jon Jones come back for a win, Evan Dunham's really bloody face, and more.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-152-photo-gallery-161314828--mma.html
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Immune system molecule affects our weight
ScienceDaily (Sep. 24, 2012) ? Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have identified a molecule in the immune system that could affect hunger and satiety. The researchers hope that new treatments for obesity will benefit from this finding.
Interleukin-6 is a chemical messenger in our immune system that plays an important role in fighting off infection. However, recent research has, surprisingly, shown that it can also trigger weight loss. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, have been investigating and managed to identify the specific types of brain cells that are targeted by the interleukin-6 molecule.
The results show that the cells that are affected by interleukin-6 produce substances that not only affect our sense of hunger and fullness but also control the body's ability to burn fat. "Interleukin-6 increases levels of substances in the brain that trigger weight loss, which could explain why high levels of this molecule lead to weight loss," says doctoral student Erik Sch?le, who is presenting the results in his thesis.
It is known that our normally low levels of interleukin-6 in the brain increase dramatically during an infection, typically accompanied by reduced hunger and fatigue.
"Our previous findings would indicate that interleukin-6 can play a key role in regulating the metabolism of healthy individuals too," says Erik Sch?le.
"This is clearly substantiated by our finding that mice which lack interleukin-6 get fat, and that the metabolism of rats injected with interleukin-6 directly into the brain increases."
Although it is not yet fully understood how interleukin-6 in the brain affects bodyweight, the researchers have concluded that anyone whose brain produces plenty of interleukin-6 could be protected against overweight. The thesis also shows that our gut bacteria indirectly affect the substances in the brain that regulate bodyweight.
"This is both surprising and new. It could in the long run lead to people fighting obesity by changing what they eat in line with how it affects the brain," says Erik Sch?le.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Gothenburg, via AlphaGalileo.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/kLNOIAsttL4/120924080257.htm
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30,000 children lose out on pre-K classes | Bridge Michigan
By Ron French/Bridge Magazine
Landen Ford wants to go to preschool. The 4-year-old Flushing boy with a crew cut and a toothy grin thought he?d learn the alphabet and his sounds, and maybe make some friends, just like his big brother Logan did last year. But instead of learning to write his name, Landen is learning an early lesson in budgets and bureaucracy.
?The teacher called and said ?I?m sorry, Landen didn?t get in,?? said Janelle Ford, mother of the two boys. ?Logan learned so much ? he loved it. Now there are no spots for Landen. It?s not fair.?
Almost 30,000 Michigan 4-year-olds who qualify for free preschool are not in classrooms, because of inadequate state funding, logistical hurdles and inadequate coordination of services.
On average, those children will be less prepared than their peers for kindergarten. They?ll get lower test scores throughout school, be held back a grade more often and drop out at a higher rate. Once they leave school, they?ll earn less money in their careers.
Michigan taxpayers shoulder a hefty bill for those forgotten 4-year-olds, too, starting with higher costs for special education and repeated grades, and ending with higher long-term prison and welfare costs.
Once among the leaders in state-funded preschool, Michigan is getting lapped by states that believe high-quality preschool today means an economic boom in 20 years.
?If we?re serious about becoming a business-friendly state, we need to put our funds at the front end,? said Paula Cunningham, president and CEO of Capitol National Bank in Lansing and a former president of Lansing Community College. ?It?s a huge investment. But research says it?s money well-spent.?
State didn?t know how many went unserved
Brothers Landen and Logan Ford have been treated quite differently by Michigan's public pre-K program. Logan was able to attend public classes, but his younger brother, Landen, was kept out this year due to Michigan's limited funding for pre-school. (courtesy photo)
Though Michigan has offered free half-day preschool for its neediest children for decades, the state had never fully calculated how many eligible children weren?t being served. An in-depth data analysis by Bridge Magazine revealed gaping holes in the taxpayer-funded system meant to provide an educational leg up for 4-year-olds in moderate- to low-income families. That analysis, plus dozens of interviews with state and national early childhood experts, economists, legislators, business and nonprofit leaders, superintendents, teachers and families uncovered sobering facts about Michigan?s preschool program:
* Two out of every five children (40 percent) who qualify for the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) are not enrolled in GSRP or any other state or federally funded preschool. In some counties, less than half are in classrooms.
* Long waiting lists for preschool exist in some school districts, while other districts don?t fully use the slots they?ve been given by the state.
* Disparities exist across the state, and sometimes within a school district, in whether the programs are full-day or half-day.
* Children who can?t attend preschool because transportation isn?t provided ? even when buses carrying elementary school kids travel past their homes heading to the same school building.
* Communities where at-risk children can?t attend free preschool because their school district doesn?t offer the program.
* At-risk children are stuck on wait lists for the federally funded Head Start preschool, when they could attend similar GSRP classrooms.
?We all talk about early childhood, but we do nothing about it,? Michigan state schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan said bluntly. ?We ought to blame the system first and foremost. This involves a system reform and stopping the yelling and screaming about who is stealing whose money.?
Research shows big impact for pre-K classes
Route to the numberThere are approximately 120,000 4-year-olds in Michigan. An estimated 45,000 of these 4-year-olds are from middle- and upper-income families (living in households with income greater than 300 percent of the federal poverty level). Most of those children are in private preschool programs paid for by parents. That leaves 75,000 4-year-olds living in what Michigan currently considers to be ?low-income? households below 300 percent of the federal poverty line. Two main public preschool programs are available for some of these 4-year-olds ? the federally funded Head Start program and the state-funded Great Start (GSRP) program. Head Start serves those from the lowest income families. These households are below the federal poverty line ($23,050 annual income or less for a family of four people). Head Start serves an estimated 19,500 4-year-olds across the state. Special education and other specialized programs serve an estimated 3,200 4-year-olds in households below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. That leaves an estimated 52,300 4-year-olds in households with income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. These 4-year-olds are eligible for the state GSRP program. Just more than 23,000 were in GSRP in the 2011-12 school year. That leaves more than 29,000 who were eligible, but not enrolled. |
The 23,000 Michigan children lucky enough to get seats in the state preschool program reap benefits for years. A recent study followed 500 kids from pre-K through high school and found that kids from similar economic backgrounds did better throughout their academic careers if they attended GSRP as 4-year-olds.
That study, conducted by HighScope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti and presented to the State Board of Education in June, found that children enrolled in GSRP across the state were more prepared for kindergarten. Four years after preschool, those kids were still doing better, scoring higher on MEAP tests. Significantly fewer were held back a grade during their academic careers (37 percent, compared to 49 percent of children with the same economic background who didn?t attend preschool). More graduated from high school on time than their non-preschool peers (57 percent to 43 percent).
For minorities, the graduation gap was even wider ? 59 percent for pre-K participants compared to 37 percent for families with no formal early childhood education.
Another study conducted by HighScope found that the impact of high-quality preschool was still being felt 40 years later, with participants more likely to hold jobs, make more money in those jobs, and have committed fewer crimes.
Kelly Hart doesn?t need statistics to know the impact the states? free preschool can have on children. Her daughter Kamrynn was born prematurely. She didn?t talk until she was 2 ? years old. ?She had trouble keeping up with her milestones,? Kelly recalls. ?She was really far behind.?
After a year in a GSRP classroom in Flushing, Kamrynn was a different girl. ?She can write her name,? Kelly boasted. ?She knows her address and my cell phone number.
?Without the program, I would be scared about her going into kindergarten. Now I?m confident she?ll keep up.?
Teachers in Bay City Public Schools tell similar stories, after the district recently reinstated its GSRP classrooms. The district dropped its state-funded preschool about five years ago because the money the state provided for the program didn?t cover costs. ?The math didn?t add up,? said district curriculum director Adair Aumock. ?It wasn?t sustainable.? The district opened a GSRP classroom again in the fall of 2010 as an experiment. When students who?d enrolled in preschool entered kindergarten classes the following September, teachers were stunned.
?Not only were students more academically prepared and school-ready, but parent involvement has gone up,? Aumock said. ?We?re engaging parents who may not have had a lot of success in education themselves.?
Just as important to the district, ?we?ve seen a larger number of our kindergarten students choosing to stay at their home schools, even in this era of school of choice,? Aumock said.
Though the district is supplementing the cost of the program above the $3,400 per slot provided by the state, it?s turned out to be ?good budget-wise for the district.?
Now Bay City has the opposite problem ? running a popular program for which there are more deserving students than seats.
?This year, we?re funded for 88 slots,? Aumock said. ?We had 150 qualifying applications. This is the hardest time, saying to parents ?We?d love to help you, our heart goes out to you, but all we can do is put you on a waiting list.??
Districts strain to deal with funding gaps
GSRP works. But it only works for those enrolled. And 40 percent of Michigan 4-year-olds deemed at-risk by current eligibility guidelines are not in classrooms of GSRP or any other state or federal program.
?Obviously, there?s unmet need,? said Washtenaw County ISD Superintendent Scott Menzel. ?Too many children in need don?t have access to a quality preschool experience.?
But Michigan?s state-funded preschool enrollment fell considerably over the past decade. Michigan was one of only five states to record enrollment drops from 2002 to 2011, with 4,410 fewer 4-year-olds in classrooms, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research?(NIEER).
Michigan?s enrollment dropped even though the number of families living in poverty rose (51 percent of births in Michigan last year were covered by Medicaid); more should qualify for the program.
A big part of the drop in enrollment can be traced back to state funding.
Unlike K-12 funding, which pays schools based on how many students are enrolled, under GSRP the state basically tells school districts how many preschool students they can enroll in class, with the expectation that each student in a half-day class costs $3,400.
The allotment is lower than the cost of the program for most districts, so districts that choose to have a program must take money away from other programs to pay for it.
?The amount of money we get is absolutely ludicrous,? said Margie Murphy, who coordinates GSRP classes for school districts within the Van Buren County Intermediate School District in Southwest Michigan. ?You have to hire a certified teacher with an extra certification in early childhood, and an assistant teacher who is supposed to have an associate?s degree. You have transportation and you have to make sure classroom supplies are adequate. It?s ridiculous. You can?t do it.?
The state gave public and private providers $3,300 per student for half-day GSRP classes in 2000; 12 years later, the state pays $3,400. When inflation is taken into account, that?s the equivalent of a?23 percent cut in funding.
The actual cost of a half-day program is between $4,200 and $5,200, according to estimates from the Michigan Department of Education and NIEER.
Some districts have dropped the program altogether, such as Flint Beecher. Many have dropped transportation and shrunk the number of weeks classes are offered, such as Grand Rapids. Others have lowered preschool teacher salaries, even though the state mandates higher academic credentials than those required for grade-school teachers. ?The assistant teachers have to have an associate?s degree, and those people are hard to come by at $6, $7, $8 an hour,? the only salary districts can afford, says Murphy.
Because of the low state funding and caps on enrollment, school officials have little incentive to beat the bushes for more at-risk 4-year-olds.
?What do you do if you have this waiting list?? asks Joanne Elkin, at Macomb County Intermediate School District. ?If you have 100 slots and you have 100 kids and 50 on a waiting list, you?re not going to go out and find the next 100.?
The result is a preschool program that pays large dividends to those fortunate to hear about it and snag a spot before classes are filled, but which also leaves almost 30,000 ? the equivalent of the student body of Central Michigan University ? in an academic hole that many will never dig out of.
The state spent $109 million this year on the Great Start program, with the goal of offering early childhood education to low-income families who may not otherwise be able to afford it. But spending would have to more than double to cover the cost of educating all 4-year-olds who qualify.
Menzel said funding priorities, such as Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law, has ?driven investment to higher (grades),? when a higher return can be found in the years before kindergarten when a child?s brain is developing rapidly.
In the meantime, Michigan spends almost $100 million per year for the 13,000-plus students who repeat kindergarten. Yet HighScope studies show that access to high-quality preschool increases kindergarten preparedness and lowers grade retention.
Though the business argument for preschool is well-established, ?frankly, I don?t think we as a state have had a real commitment to it,? says Judy Samelson, CEO of the Early Childhood Investment Corp. ?It?s incomprehensible we haven?t solved it.?
Business leaders in the state are beginning to look at early childhood education less as a social program and more as a long-term investment in the economic health of the state. Many have signed on to efforts to increase state funding for GSRP in next year?s budget, including Capitol National?s Cunningham. ?We can?t get to where we want to go as a state without a greater investment in early childhood education,? says Cunningham. ?It?s not just a moral issue ? it?s an economic issue.?
Peas in a pod, but with different futures?
For now, the Ford family in Flushing is scraping together money to pay for a twice-weekly preschool program for Landen, a less-intensive and far more expensive program than was available for Logan last year.
When Logan comes home from kindergarten, he and Landen often dress up and play different characters from Batman. The brothers are best friends, with so much in common, but with one difference that could make one successful, and leave one struggling.
Senior Writer Ron French joined Bridge in 2011 after having won more than 40 national and state journalism awards since he joined the Detroit News in 1995. French has a long track record of uncovering emerging issues and changing the public policy debate through his work. In 2006, he foretold the coming crisis in the auto industry in a special report detailing how worker health-care costs threatened to bankrupt General Motors.
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