Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/257246068?client_source=feed&format=rss
Monday, October 22, 2012
China's new leaders face tough economic choices
FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2012 file photo, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing. China's economic model that delivered three decades of double-digit growth is running out of steam and the country's next leaders face tough choices to keep incomes rising. Li is the man in line to lead reforms as the next premier, China's top economic official. (AP Photo/How Hwee Young, Pool, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2012 file photo, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing. China's economic model that delivered three decades of double-digit growth is running out of steam and the country's next leaders face tough choices to keep incomes rising. Li is the man in line to lead reforms as the next premier, China's top economic official. (AP Photo/How Hwee Young, Pool, File)
BEIJING (AP) ? China's economic model that delivered three decades of double-digit growth is running out of steam and the country's next leaders face tough choices to keep incomes rising. But they don't seem to have ambitious solutions. Even if they do, they will need to tackle entrenched interests with backing high in the Communist Party.
The cost of inaction could be high. The World Bank says without change, annual growth could sink to 5 percent by 2015 ? dangerously low by Chinese standards. Some private sector analysts give even gloomier warnings.
The government's own advisers say it needs to promote service industries and consumer spending, shifting away from reliance on exports and investment. That will require opening more industries to entrepreneurs and forcing cosseted state companies to compete. State banks would have to lend more to private business that is starved for credit.
The ruling party's latest five-year development plan promises reforms in broad terms. Premier Wen Jiabao apologized at a news conference in March for not moving fast enough and vowed quicker action. But many changes could face opposition from China's most influential factions ? state companies, their allies in the party, bureaucrats and local leaders.
"If the challenge is, can they do radical reform all at once, we know that won't happen because these leaders aren't powerful enough," said Scott Kennedy, director of Indiana University's Research Center for Chinese Politics & Business in Beijing. "They are facing interests which wouldn't possibly allow that to occur."
Also at issue is how much Communist Party leaders are willing to cut back state industry that provides jobs and money to underpin the party's monopoly on power.
Li Keqiang is the man in line to lead reforms as the next premier, China's top economic official. Now a vice premier, Li is seen as a political insider with an easygoing style, not a hard-driving reformer. Along with the rest of the party's Standing Committee, the ruling inner circle due to be installed in November, Li will govern by consensus, which could blunt their force.
"They are under pressure to change the economy, but they will not demolish party control," said Mao Yushi, an 83-year-old economist who is one of China's most prominent reform advocates. He co-founded the Unirule Institute of Economics, an independent think tank in Beijing.
Li showed his political skills but little zeal for reform as governor and later party secretary of populous Henan province in 1998-2004.
His time there coincided with several fatal fires ? including a Christmas Day blaze at a nightclub in 2000 that killed 309 people ? and efforts by local officials to suppress information about the spread of AIDS by a blood-buying industry. Other officials were punished for the fires but Li emerged unscathed and rose to national office.
"Li was known for not acting very aggressively in Henan, to put it charitably," said Dali Yang, a University of Chicago political scientist.
The man in line to become Communist Party leader and China's president, Xi Jinping, has a similar reputation for successful inaction.
In the 1990s, he served as party secretary of Zhejiang province, a thriving center for private business south of Shanghai, and won praise from observers including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who dealt with him as an investment banker. They lauded him not for spearheading change but for not tampering with Zhejiang's free-market success.
The next leadership will inherit one of the world's strongest economies but one in which advocates say reform is stalled.
Many observers trace the past decade of double-digit growth to changes forced through by former Premier Zhu Rongji, who overcame resistance from companies and party factions to slash the size of state industry in the late 1990s. He led Beijing into the free-trading World Trade Organization, driving a jump in trade growth that propelled China past Germany in 2009 as the world's biggest exporter.
After Zhu retired in 2002, leaders reaped the financial benefits but focused on other areas: reforms of the legal system and trying to close a yawning gap between rich and poor with more spending on health and other social services.
They built up state-owned "national champions" in industries from oil and telecoms to steel and banking with monopolies, low-cost bank loans and other favors. Beijing's huge stimulus after the 2008 global crisis flowed through state companies, increasing their dominance while entrepreneurs who generate China's new jobs and wealth struggled.
The government defends the privileges given to its oil, telecoms and other major companies as necessary for building up Chinese global competitors. But entrepreneurs complain those companies abuse their control over essential resources such as energy, phone service and bank loans to gouge customers and pay their managers inflated salaries while stifling job-creating private businesses.
In a report last year, Mao's institute calculated the biggest state companies consumed trillions of yuan (hundreds of billions of dollars) in subsidies over the previous decade. It said they are so inefficient that their return on equity ? a broad measure of profitability ? was an average loss of 6 percent a year.
Wen Jia, a manager for the privately owned Traveling Bestone travel agency in the western province of Chengdu, said her company struggles to compete in an industry that is hemmed in by state companies.
"The attractions belong to the state. So do some of the good hotels. The insurance, airlines and train tickets are the same," said Wen. "State-owned travel agencies get prices 10 percent lower than we do on attractions and state-owned hotels."
The abrupt economic slowdown that began last year has heightened frustration among entrepreneurs and the public. Growth fell to 7.4 percent in the latest quarter, its lowest level since early 2009 and barely half of 2007's explosive 14.2 percent.
"''The criticism is about how the distortions are not just benefiting those vested interests but also that they reduce the efficiency of the economy," said Yang. "The pressures in the economy paradoxically provide them with more of a mandate for doing things because they have to do things."
The World Bank and a Cabinet think tank, the Development Research Center, offered an ambitious roadmap for reform with a report in March that called for scaling back state industry and opening markets to private and foreign competitors. It warned that without change, China might be trapped at its current middle-income levels.
"The difference that reforms can make is the difference between a 6 to 7 percent growth pace and no growth at all," said Societe General economist Wei Yao in a report.
Supporters of reform were encouraged by the fact that both current Premier Wen Jiabao and Li, his likely successor, supported the research that went into the World Bank report. They were disappointed when Li failed to endorse its recommendations, though he might have remained silent to avoid stirring up opposition ahead of the leadership transition.
Changes to state industry will be politically sensitive. Companies that oppose giving up monopolies and other favors can argue that they provide tax revenue, provide money to develop poor ethnic minority areas and pay for ambitious but unprofitable initiatives such as developing homegrown mobile phone technology.
Bosses of the biggest companies are appointed by the party and are politically influential. Some will take part in the November party congress to install the next leadership. Their companies also create a cadre of well-paid executives and other professionals who form a base of support for continued one-party rule.
"State-owned enterprise bosses are very powerful. They outrank the people who are supposed to regulate them," said James McGregor, an American businessman in Beijing and author of the new book "No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers: The Challenges of Chinese Authoritarian Capitalism."
"That's going to be a very hard thing to break. But the countervailing pressure is that growth can't keep going unless they loosen up," McGregor said. "The party's only credibility is making life better, and if that doesn't happen, how do you maintain stability?"
___
AP researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed.
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Get The Right Gear Before You Start Playing Sports
Sports is a great way to have a lot of fun. It's great exercise, gives you plenty of motivation, and allows for a lot of social interaction. Sure, you might get a better workout if you put on your headphones and sweat for hours at the gym every day, but that requires tremendous amount of willpower, and it's generally not a lot of fun. When people think of going to the gym, it's generally something they think "have to do," rather than something they look forward to.
But when you play a sport, any kind of team sport, it's a lot more fun. This not only means you'll be able to look forward to it, but it means you'll likely do it more often. Picking a sport is generally a matter of trial and error. Maybe some guys are leaving work on Friday afternoon and they ask you in passing if you'd like to join them for a game of volleyball. You decide to, think it's fun, and you're hooked.
Other ways to get into a sport is by watching it on TV, and then deciding it looks fun. For example, when various countries teams make it to advanced levels in the Soccer World Cup, many citizens in that country decide to take up soccer for the first time. Other people may decide to take up a sport that is positively displayed by a local athlete during the Olympics.
However you choose your sport, it's very important to have the right gear. You don't want to be caught with your pants down, so to speak. That's why you should take your time to make sure you've got the right stuff. There's a couple ways of doing this. One is to simply ask around. Find some people who are already involved in the sport. Get their opinions on the best gear. Not only will you find some expert opinions, but you might get some great deals on some used equipment. Many people that have played sports for a while have tons of old stuff that they don't know what to do with.
Of course, there are some basics that you'll need for every sport. A good pair of shoes, the proper clothing, and whatever kind of athletic socks you like. Many people forget about getting socks, but without the right socks of the right construction, you might get plenty of blisters. Nobody likes blisters.
Source: http://www.artipot.com/articles/1411053/get-the-right-gear-before-you-start-playing-sports.htm
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Sunday, October 21, 2012
Myanmar leader holds milestone 1st press briefing
Myanmar President Thein Sein talks during a press conference at Presidential House in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. In a display of confidence and transparency, Myanmar's reformist president held his first press conference, breaking with the closed-mouth tradition of the previous military regime. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
Myanmar President Thein Sein talks during a press conference at Presidential House in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. In a display of confidence and transparency, Myanmar's reformist president held his first press conference, breaking with the closed-mouth tradition of the previous military regime. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
Myanmar President Thein Sein talks during a press conference at Presidential House in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. In a display of confidence and transparency, Myanmar's reformist president held his first press conference, breaking with the closed-mouth tradition of the previous military regime. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) ? Myanmar's reformist president held his first press conference for local media in a national milestone after years of secrecy and censorship by the former military regime.
Thein Sein didn't break any stunning news when he answered about 30 questions from local press and foreign correspondents on subjects ranging from fighting with ethnic rebels in the north to amending the country's military-fashioned constitution.
His mere appearance, however, told the story about his country's turn from secrecy and paranoia to relative openness. Sunday's news conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, ran 20 minutes past its scheduled 2-hour length.
The 67-year-old ex-general, who had been prime minister under the ruling junta, looked tense as he started answering questions but soon relaxed enough to reveal a little-known sense of humor.
Explaining why he was holding the pioneering press conference, he told of being interviewed many times during his recent visit to the United States and said he had the hardest time answering questions on the inquisitorial BBC program, "Hardtalk."
After surviving that experience, he said, he's no longer afraid of meeting with the media. But he added that he feared he would also be criticized by Myanmar's media if he didn't come out to talk at home after giving so many interviews abroad.
Thein Sein avoided revealing too much, speaking only in general terms even about critical matters such as the fighting in Kachin state, which reflects a deeper, long-running problem of how much autonomy to give the large ethnic minorities living in border regions.
In what many see as an example of the government's weakness compared to the still-influential military, his orders last year for the army to cease its fighting against the Kachin Independence Army were ignored.
"To get a cease-fire agreement is our government's goal," he said when asked about the matter. "It's the people's desire to get peace and we are doing our best for the people's desire."
He was also asked whether he plans to contest the 2015 election for a second presidential term. He replied that he has been thinking only of his current term.
Thein Sein was asked if he would give opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi a role in his government. His reforms lured her National League for Democracy party back into electoral politics, and it should be a major challenge to his party in the next polls.
Whether or not she takes a role in government depends on her, Thein Sein said.
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Academic websites offer the most reliable pediatric orthopedic information online
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Public release date: 21-Oct-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Susan Stevens Martin
ssmartin@aap.org
847-434-7131
American Academy of Pediatrics
NEW ORLEANS Most parents frequently rely on the Internet for pediatric health information, and yet the content and quality of information can vary greatly from website to website. According to new research presented on Sunday, Oct. 21 at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans, websites provided by academic institutions offer the most reliable pediatric health information, and commercial-sponsored websites, the least. In general, disease summary and diagnosis information is more likely to be correct on the Internet than information about the cause and prognosis for a disease.
In the abstract, "Quality of Pediatric Orthopedic Information on the Internet," researchers identified 10 common pediatric orthopedic conditions based on admissions to a children's hospital: brachial plexus injury, cerebral palsy, clubfoot, developmental dysplasia of the hip, leg length discrepancy, osteochondroma, polydactyly, scoliosis, spina bifida and syndactyly. They then used the two most frequently utilized Internet search engines to identify the top 10 websites for each disease.
A total of 98 websites 33 academic, 30 commercial, 31 nonprofit, and four physician-operated were judged based on Health On the Net Foundation (HON) criteria. Custom, content-based grading sheets were used to assess whether the website provided essential information for each disease, including a summary of the disease or injury/condition, cause, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. In addition, each website received independent quality and content scores from three orthopedic surgeons.
"We found the overall quality of information on the websites to be poor," said study author Andrea Bauer, MD. "Broad, non-specific information quality was the best, such as an overview of a diagnosis, while more specific information about prognosis and long-term effects was the worst."
The content of each website was scored out of a possible 100 points. Overall, academic websites had the highest content score (mean: 60.8 15.5), followed by physician (5718), non profit (54.220.2) and commercial (46.722.2). Among the disease/condition-specific information, osteochondroma websites had the highest content scores (mean: 75.8 11.8 ), and those on leg length discrepancy had the lowest (39.5 16.5).
"Also interesting we found a lot of overlap of information among different websites, such as text, photos and diagrams that appeared to be directly copied from one website to another," said Dr. Bauer. "This could be very misleading for patients if the information is incorrect, as was often the case."
To minimize the effects of incorrect or misleading information on the Internet, "we advise physicians to talk with their patients about the information they get on the Internet and how it affects their understanding of their condition as well as their expectations," said Dr. Bauer.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 21-Oct-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Susan Stevens Martin
ssmartin@aap.org
847-434-7131
American Academy of Pediatrics
NEW ORLEANS Most parents frequently rely on the Internet for pediatric health information, and yet the content and quality of information can vary greatly from website to website. According to new research presented on Sunday, Oct. 21 at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans, websites provided by academic institutions offer the most reliable pediatric health information, and commercial-sponsored websites, the least. In general, disease summary and diagnosis information is more likely to be correct on the Internet than information about the cause and prognosis for a disease.
In the abstract, "Quality of Pediatric Orthopedic Information on the Internet," researchers identified 10 common pediatric orthopedic conditions based on admissions to a children's hospital: brachial plexus injury, cerebral palsy, clubfoot, developmental dysplasia of the hip, leg length discrepancy, osteochondroma, polydactyly, scoliosis, spina bifida and syndactyly. They then used the two most frequently utilized Internet search engines to identify the top 10 websites for each disease.
A total of 98 websites 33 academic, 30 commercial, 31 nonprofit, and four physician-operated were judged based on Health On the Net Foundation (HON) criteria. Custom, content-based grading sheets were used to assess whether the website provided essential information for each disease, including a summary of the disease or injury/condition, cause, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. In addition, each website received independent quality and content scores from three orthopedic surgeons.
"We found the overall quality of information on the websites to be poor," said study author Andrea Bauer, MD. "Broad, non-specific information quality was the best, such as an overview of a diagnosis, while more specific information about prognosis and long-term effects was the worst."
The content of each website was scored out of a possible 100 points. Overall, academic websites had the highest content score (mean: 60.8 15.5), followed by physician (5718), non profit (54.220.2) and commercial (46.722.2). Among the disease/condition-specific information, osteochondroma websites had the highest content scores (mean: 75.8 11.8 ), and those on leg length discrepancy had the lowest (39.5 16.5).
"Also interesting we found a lot of overlap of information among different websites, such as text, photos and diagrams that appeared to be directly copied from one website to another," said Dr. Bauer. "This could be very misleading for patients if the information is incorrect, as was often the case."
To minimize the effects of incorrect or misleading information on the Internet, "we advise physicians to talk with their patients about the information they get on the Internet and how it affects their understanding of their condition as well as their expectations," said Dr. Bauer.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/aaop-awo101012.php
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White House orders spy agencies to share cyberthreat intel with companies
19 hrs.
WASHINGTON (AP) -?A new White House executive order would direct U.S. spy agencies to share the latest intelligence about cyberthreats with companies operating electric grids, water plants, railroads and other vital industries to help protect them from electronic attacks, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.?
The seven-page draft order, which is being finalized, takes shape as the Obama administration expresses growing concern that Iran could be the first country to use cyberterrorism against the United States. The military is ready to retaliate if the U.S. is hit by cyberweapons, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said. But the U.S. also is poorly prepared to prevent such an attack, which could damage or knock out critical services that are part of everyday life.?
The White House declined to say when the president will sign the order.?
The draft order would put the Department of Homeland Security in charge of organizing an information-sharing network that rapidly distributes sanitized summaries of top-secret intelligence reports about known cyberthreats that identify a specific target. With these warnings, known as tear lines, the owners and operators of essential U.S. businesses would be better able to block potential attackers from gaining access to their computer systems.?
An organized, broad-based approach for sharing cyberthreat information gathered by the government is widely viewed as essential for any plan to protect U.S. computer networks from foreign nations, terrorist groups and hackers. Existing efforts to exchange information are narrowly focused on specific industries, such as the finance sector, and have had varying degrees of success.?
Yet the order has generated stiff opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill who view it as a unilateral move that bypasses the legislative authority held by Congress.?
Administration officials said the order became necessary after Congress failed this summer to pass cybersecurity legislation, leaving critical infrastructure companies vulnerable to a serious and growing threat. Conflicting bills passed separately by the House and Senate included information-sharing provisions. But efforts to get a final measure through both chambers collapsed over the GOP's concerns that the Senate bill would expand the federal government's regulatory power and increase costs for businesses.?
The White House has acknowledged that an order from the president, while legally binding, is not enough. Legislation is needed to make other changes to improve the country's digital defenses. An executive order, for example, cannot offer a company protection from liabilities that might result from a cyberattack on its systems.?
The addition of the information-sharing provisions is the most significant change to an earlier draft of the order completed in late August. The new draft, which is not dated, retains a section that requires Homeland Security to identify the vital systems that, if hit by cyberattack, could "reasonably result in a debilitating impact" on national and economic security. Other sections establish a program to encourage companies to adopt voluntary security standards and direct federal agencies to determine whether existing cyber security regulations are adequate.?
The draft order directs the department to work with the Pentagon, the National Security Agency, the director of national intelligence and the Justice Department to quickly establish the information-sharing mechanism. Selected employees at critical infrastructure companies would receive security clearances allowing them to receive the information, according to the document. Federal agencies would be required to assess whether the order raises any privacy or civil liberties risks.?
To foster a two-way exchange of information, the government would ask businesses to tell the government about cyberthreats or cyberattacks. There would be no requirement to do so.?
The NSA has been sharing cyberthreat information on a limited basis with companies that conduct business with the Defense Department. These companies work with sensitive data about weapon systems and technologies and are frequently the targets of cyberspying.?
But the loss of valuable information has been eclipsed by fears that an enemy with the proper know-how could cause havoc by sending the computers controlling critical infrastructure systems incorrect commands or infecting them with malicious software. Potential nightmare scenarios include high-speed trains being put on collision courses, blackouts that last days or perhaps even weeks or chemical plants that inadvertently release deadly gases.?
Panetta underscored the looming dangers during a speech last week in New York by pointing to the Shamoon virus that destroyed thousands of computer systems owned by Persian Gulf oil and gas companies. Shamoon, which spreads quickly through networked computers and ultimately wipes out files by overwriting them, hit the Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas.?
Panetta did not directly connect Iran to the Aramco and RasGas attacks. But U.S. officials believe hackers based in Iran were behind them.?
Shamoon replaced files at Aramco with the image of a burning U.S. flag and rendered more than 30,000 computers useless, Panetta said. The attack on RasGas was similar, he said.?
A spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Caitlin Hayden, said the administration is consulting with members of Congress and the private sector as the order is being drafted. But she provided no information on when an order would be signed. "Given the gravity of the threats we face in cyberspace, we want to get this right in addition to getting it done swiftly," she said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Saturday, October 20, 2012
Skipping Breakfast Makes Us Hunt For Fat
These days I love a nice green juice or smoothie for breakfast, yet when I was over weight I would often skip breakfast altogether. Brain scans show that skipping breakfast makes fatty, high calorie foods appear far more attractive later in the day, according to researchers.
Scans of 21 people showed the brain was more attracted to food if breakfast was missed so people had more food at lunch.
Scientists said it made losing weight challenging as missing meals made calorific food even more appealing.
Nutrition experts say breakfast is known to take the edge off appetite.
However, researchers were curious about what happened inside the brain to alter the food people choose to eat.
Twenty one people, who were all normal weight, were shown pictures of calorie packed foods while they were positioned in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine at Imperial College London.
On one day they were given no breakfast before the scans and on a different day they were fed a large, 730 calorie, breakfast an hour and a half before.
The researchers said skipping breakfast created a ?bias? in the brain in favour of high calorie foods.
The results, presented at the Neuroscience 2012 conference, showed the brain changed how it responded to pictures of high calorie foods, but not low calorie foods, when breakfast was skipped.
They showed part of the brain thought to be involved in ?food appeal?, the orbitofrontal cortex, became more active on an empty stomach.
When the researchers offered the participants lunch at the end of the study, people ate a fifth more calories if breakfast was missed.
Dr Tony Goldstone, from Imperial College London, said: ?Through both the participants? MRI results and observations of how much they ate at lunch, we found ample evidence that fasting made people hungrier, and increased the appeal of high calorie foods and the amount people ate.
?One reason it is so difficult to lose weight is because the appeal of high calorie food goes up.?
Dr Catherine Hankey, a senior lecturer in nutrition at the University of Glasgow, said research had shown that breakfast ?takes the edge off appetite? and that the latest study was an ?interesting? insight.
She said breakfast was linked to stable blood sugar levels, which ?keeps you on the straight and narrow?.
Future studies will investigate how obesity affects the same system in the brain.
The?Olympics?may be over, but my Year Without Beer isn?t! I am spending all 366 days of this leap year alcohol free in an attempt to raise money for 2 charities that are both very close to my heart.
If giving up all alcohol for a year isn?t enough of a challenge to make you dig deep and show your support, I also plan to?run 500 miles! As part of my running challenge I have completed a?quarter marathon?and am signed up for a 10 mile road race (Great South Run) and 8 mile off road challenge (The Grim Original).
If you want to show some love them please donate to my year without beer and give your support to one of these fantastic causes:
- To donate to?Cancer Research UK?please click here to visit my?just giving page?or donate by text ? send AYWB66 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting ?AYWB66 ?5? will donate ?5.
- To donate to the?Cystic Fibrosis Trust?please click here to visit my?just giving page?or donate by text ? send AYWB55 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting ?AYWB55 ?5? will donate ?5.
Source: http://yearwithoutbeer.com/2012/skip-breakfast-hunt-fat/
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Fred Fornicola ? Personal Trainer in Asbury Park, NJ ? Fred Fornicola
Fred Fornicola ??
Private One-on-One Personal Training * Nutritional Counseling *?Strength & Conditioning for Athletes *?Health & Fitness Seminars?
?Flexibility & Mobility Training * Cardiovascular Conditioning?* Rehabilitative Programming??* Lifestyle Fitness Coaching
Fred Fornicola is the owner and operator of Premiere Personal Fitness, a private training facility in Asbury Park, NJ.? Fred is a fitness professional, personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, fitness consultant, lifestyle fitness coach, as well as a published author and speaker with over 35 years in the field of health and fitness.
?www.PremierePersonalFitness.com
908-433-4542
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Fred Fornicola is a Personal Trainer, Strength & Conditioning Coach, Published Author, Fitness Professional and Consultant. He has co-authored two books and edited one e-book. He has been personally involved in fitness for over 35 years and has a private, one-on-one training studio located in Asbury Park, NJ. www.PremierePersonalFitness.com Fred's passions are health and fitness, reading, philosophy and at the top of the pile, his wife and daughter.
Source: http://fredfornicola.com/2012/10/19/fred-fornicola-personal-trainer-in-asbury-park-nj/
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Friday, October 19, 2012
Japan's Sony to cut 2,000 jobs in restructuring
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japans-sony-cut-2-000-jobs-restructuring-065715510--finance.html
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The Music Man of Church Street - Montclair, NJ Patch
?
Meet the sound of Church Street.?
During these cooling autumn days, Gene Phipps Jr. is the man who fills Montclair's busy city center with the tenor of his saxophone. Restaurant-goers and passersby can see him throughout the week at lunchtime?sitting on his favorite bench in front of?Raymond?s Restaurant.?
?This is what I do,? said Phipps. ?I play music.??
Phipps is a Montclair native, but went to school in East Orange and eventually became a music teacher in Newark schools. Playing both the saxophone and flute also propelled Phipps to venues in New York City, including the Village Vanguard, and Europe with innumerable different jazz musicians throughout his life. ?
Now, at 63, he is retired. When Phipps is not playing his saxophone on Church Street, he teaches music lessons and jams at the local DLV Lounge and Tapastry.
?Montclair is now the cultural spot of the area, and West Orange,? said Phipps, which is what convinced him to play music town.
But music venues are becoming a rare breed, he added, and after Cecil?s Jazz Club?in West Orange?closed this year, he began performing more in local restaurants. Playing on Church Street is also his own way of bringing greater attention to?musicians playing in the area.?
?If this area is going to resemble in anyway New York, then we need people to support the arts and the artists by coming out to the restaurants that have live music,? said Phipps.?
Phipps' Church Street?playlist?is generally comprised of show tunes that everyone knows, in addition to songs such as ?Misty? and ?Moon River.? He must be going something right, because it is not unusual to see people dancing on the sidewalk.?
?I always get a warm reception? when I play here, said Phipps.?
As the weather gets colder, Phipps said he will probably continue playing outside until the end of the month. ?
You can see Phipps play every Tuesday night at the DLV Lounge from 9 p.m. to midnight, and Sundays at Tapastry from 6 to 11 p.m.?
Source: http://montclair.patch.com/articles/the-music-man-of-church-street
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Analysis: Mortgage demand too much for U.S. banks, who respond slowly
(Reuters) - Big U.S. banks are hiring mortgage bankers to meet a surge in demand for home loans and refinancings, but they are still struggling to process applications, which could undermine the Federal Reserve's attempts to stimulate the economy.
Since the Fed announced its plan in September to buy up to $40 billion of mortgages a month, consumer mortgage rates have fallen more slowly and by less than they would have done in more normal times.
On average, 30-year home loan rates are down just 0.18 of a percentage point this week from September 13, when the Fed announced its latest stimulus program. Some analysts estimate that in more normal markets, rates would have fallen by roughly 0.31 of a percentage point or more. That could save a home buyer thousands of dollars over the lifetime of a mortgage.
The dysfunction in the mortgage market, which has yet to fully recover after its battering in the U.S. housing bust and subsequent financial crisis, means most benefits from the Fed's new stimulus plan may be accruing to banks instead of consumers.
Banks still committed to the home loan business are hiring to meet increased demand, but fewer banks are committed to the business after the 2007-2009 mortgage crisis pulverized some of the biggest lenders in the United States and wounded many others.
Capacity constraints work in the banks' favor. Profit margins for home lending are more than double their usual level, JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon told investors last Friday. The major U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup Inc, all said mortgage operations boosted third-quarter profits.
Lenders making mortgages say they do not want to hire too many staffers only to lay them off when volume declines. The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that banks will make $1.47 trillion of home loans this year for home purchases and refinancings, but then just $1.04 trillion in 2013, a decline of nearly a third.
"We are trying to ... not over hire," Andy Cecere, chief financial officer at U.S. Bancorp, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Top U.S. mortgage lender Wells Fargo added about 2,000 people in the third quarter as volume surged. Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan said in an interview the bank is responding to the impact of the Fed's plan. Chase has increased its number of loan officers by 23 percent over the last year, and expects to keep hiring aggressively, said Kevin Watters, head of mortgage originations at JP Morgan Chase.
But mortgage applications are also jumping, rising nearly 17 percent in the week ended September 28. With demand that strong and no staffers to handle extra business, banks have little reason to cut rates much. In a speech on Monday, New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley acknowledged that difficulty, noting the Fed's efforts to stimulate the economy in recent years would have had a bigger economic impact if consumer mortgage rates were falling more.
Bank staffing issues are a headache for mortgage applicants already struggling with tough appraisals and wary lenders. Many borrowers tell Kafka-esque stories of bureaucracy, where what used to be a 30- to 60-day process has stretched to 90 days or more.
PROFIT BONANZA
The mortgage business has grown much more concentrated. The top two mortgage lenders made 14 percent of mortgage loans in 2000, 29 percent of mortgages in 2006, and 44 percent in the first half of 2012, according to Inside Mortgage Finance data.
Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are the top two lenders now, and their predecessor companies were the top in 2000.
In 2006, Countrywide Financial Corp - now owned by Bank of America Corp - and Wells were the top. Bank of America last year stopped buying loans from other banks after suffering billions of dollars of losses from its exposure to home loans, which has cut its volume in half and limited smaller banks' capacity to lend.
Bankers are unsure how long the refinancing bonanza will last.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Dimon told investors the mortgage boom will continue "next quarter, maybe for a couple of quarters after that but it won't last for that much longer."
Citigroup Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach told investors on Monday that figuring out how long the refinancing boom will last is "one of the big questions facing a lot of institutions at this point in time."
Smaller banks are struggling with the same questions.
Matt Williams, president of Gothenburg State Bank in Gothenburg, Nebraska, and incoming chairman of the American Bankers Association, said his bank was not adding staff even though its 28 employees were "stressed to the max right now."
Williams said his bank, with $125 million in assets, expects rates eventually will go up, cutting demand for refinancing.
Mortgage demand was rising even before the Fed announced its latest plan to buy home loans, but that announcement immediately lowered bank funding costs. The effect on bank revenues will take longer to show up, because it takes months to process and close mortgage applications.
For consumers, capacity constraints among mortgage lenders mean rates are not falling as much as they theoretically could.
The average 30-year consumer mortgage rate was 3.37 percent, Freddie Mac said on Thursday - about 1.13 percentage points higher than rates investors in mortgage bonds would accept, as measured by the "secondary rate" for mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae.
In the second half of 2011, the gap between consumer mortgage rates and the secondary rate averaged closer to about 0.9 percentage point, suggesting lenders could cut rates another 0.23 point. However, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae boosted fees for guarantees by 0.1 of a percentage point in August, meaning the difference may be only about 0.13 of a percentage point.
(Reporting by Dan Wilchins in New York and Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Additional reporting by David Henry and Michelle Conlin in New York and Emily Stephenson in San Diego; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Martin Howell and David Gregorio)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-mortgage-demand-too-much-u-banks-respond-163156010--sector.html
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Thursday, October 18, 2012
Earthquake in Maine rattles New England states
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ? The earthquake that rattled southern Maine was felt in New England states as far away as Connecticut, but caused no apparent damage or injuries.
Patrons of a pizza parlor near the epicenter of Tuesday's quake didn't know what was going on when the building started shaking, but it was enough to send all 20 of them hustling outside.
"It was loudest bang you ever heard in your life. We actually thought it was an explosion of some type," said Jessica Hill, owner of Waterboro House of Pizza. "The back door and door to the basement blew open," she said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 4.0 magnitude quake hit around 7:12 p.m. and its epicenter, about 3 miles west of Hollis Center, Maine, was about 3 miles deep. That location is about 20 miles west of Portland. The quake was first estimated to be 4.6 magnitude but was later downgraded.
In Saco, Sue Hadiaris said, "The whole house shook. ...It was very unnerving because you could feel the floor shaking. There was a queasy feeling."
Afterward, Hadiaris called her 15-year-old niece in Falmouth to make sure she was safe. "She said, 'We can cross that off our bucket list. We've lived through an earthquake,'" Hadiaris said.
Earthquakes are rare in New England but they're not unheard of.
The strongest earthquake recorded in Maine occurred in 1904 in the Eastport area, near the state's eastern border with Canada according to the Weston Observatory at Boston College. It had an estimated magnitude of 5.7 to 5.9.
Tuesday's quake was the most powerful tremor in New England since Oct. 2, 2006, when a 4.2 magnitude quake struck Maine's Mount Desert Island, causing boulders to tumble onto Acadia National Park's Park Loop Road, said Weston Observatory Director John Ebel. The 2006 quake was one of a string of tremors and aftershocks that rocked Mount Desert Island over several months, but there's no evidence to suggest that there'll be an active sequence of aftershocks following the latest earthquake, Ebel said.
The Seabrook Station nuclear plant, about 63 miles away in New Hampshire, declared an unusual event ? the lowest of four emergency classifications ? but said it was not affected. The plant has been offline for refueling.
"There has been no impact at all to the plant from the earthquake and our refueling maintenance activities have not been affected," said Alan Griffith, spokesman for Next EnergyEra Seabrook Station.
Jim Van Dongen, public information officer for the New Hampshire Department of Safety said New Hampshire 911 got about 1,000 calls in the first hour after the quake, but they later dropped off. He said no major damage was reported.
Brief, but noticeable shaking was felt in downtown Boston and the surrounding area.
Edward Conti, who lives in a four-story apartment building in Cambridge, Mass., he was watching television when "it sounded like a car crash. Then there was another boom-boom. It was no small thing." Conti said there was no damage.
In Melrose, just north of Boston, Peter Ward said the shaking he felt seemed to last about four seconds. "It felt like a big gust of wind shaking the house. I don't want to overstate it, but the glass did rattle a little," he said.
Lynette Miller, a spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said her dogs started barking several seconds before the quake on Tuesday. "It was several seconds of good shaking but nothing falling down," Miller said from her home in Readfield, about 60 miles north of Portland.
In Portland, Abbie Miller had just turned on the aging furnace in her house for the first time this season. "An hour later, things started shaking and it sounded almost like a train coming through. I thought my furnace was going to blow," she said.
East Coast quakes are rarely strong enough to be felt over a wide area. A quake of magnitude 5.8 on Aug. 23, 2011, was centered in Virginia and felt all along the coast, including in New York City and Boston. Experts say the region's geology can make the effects felt in an area up to 10 times larger than quakes of similar size on the West Coast.
___
Rathke reported from Montpelier, Vt. Associated Press reporter Sylvia Lee Wingfield contributed from Boston.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earthquake-maine-rattles-england-states-063221658.html
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Dylan McDermott returns to 'American Horror Story' for another run of sexy terror
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dylan-mcdermott-returns-american-horror-story-another-run-000557195.html
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Tips for Finding a Reliable Plumber
When you need to call in someone to work on your heating or water system, it?s essential you find a reliable plumber. Someone you know can carry out the work effectively will be reliable and trustworthy.
Where to Find a Plumber
There are two ways to find a reliable plumber; the first is word of mouth. Ask your friends, family and colleagues who they have used in the past. What they thought of the service and workmanship. This is the safest method to finding a tradesman; you know your friends and family will never refer someone who didn?t complete the work to the highest standard.
You can look online; there are literally thousands of plumbers offering their services. Hiring this way will take a little more research before you actually hire someone. Ask them to visit and give you a quote.
Obtaining Quotes
It?s always a good idea to get more than one quote. Ask the plumber to personally come to your home and see the work that needs to be completed; this gives you an opportunity to determine how reliable they are.
Did they arrive for the appointment on time as agreed? You can also determine their professionalism and knowledge of the job.Don?t be shy to ask questions, ask each of the plumbers the same questions, this will help you determine who knows what they are talking about and which of these tradesmen appeared more knowledgeable.
Do Your Research
Always ask the plumber who arrives at your home about their qualifications; do they have gas certificate or a NVQ qualification? Do they offer a guarantee on the work carried out? Do they have adequate public liability insurance?
Once they have left, a little trick is to search for them online, often you find forums online where people will be honest about their experiences. If you can?t find anything, post a question on the forums and see what responses you get.
Hiring Your Plumber
If you have compared the quotes and are happy that the tradesman you are thinking of hiring is a reliable plumber, then it?s time to call them in to complete the work. Ensure you arrange a day and time where you can be at home to meet them, choose a convenient time where you know you will not need to leave the home, this way you can ensure they carry out the work quickly and are on site should any damage or accidents occur.
Source: http://plumber.ezinemark.com/tips-for-finding-a-reliable-plumber-7d37f1b3de10.html
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Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tablet Productivity App CloudOn Goes Global, Adds Annotations, New Ribbon Interface And More
CloudOn, the popular free productivity app that lets its users read and edit Microsoft Office files on their tablets, is launching version 2.5 of its apps for iOS and Android today. CloudOn is adding support for non-Latin characters to its app with this release, which means that the company can now offer its service globally. In addition, CloudOn is launching a number of new features to the app, including annotations, an improved touch-friendly ribbon menu and the first version of the CloudOn FileSpace.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/fP-07OsWxV8/
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PSD Templates - DOT. Real Estate | PSD Template | ThemeForest
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Source: http://themeforest.net/item/dot-real-estate-psd-template/3226429
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Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Love UFC? Check out our UFC Facebook tab with exclusive UFC videos and info abou...
Source: http://www.facebook.com/MetroPCS/posts/449173881787749
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Inflation slows in China
Chinese consumers paid 1.9% more for goods in September than they did a year ago, the government's National Bureau of Statistics reported Monday. That's down from a 2% increase in August.
Food prices, which account for more than a third of the inflation calculation, rose 2.5% during the month.
Household finances in China are especially susceptible to fluctuations in food prices, as many poor families spend large percentages of their income on food.
Still, inflation remains at very low levels. As recently as one year ago, China's consumer price index stood above 6% -- well north of the government's stated inflation rate target of 4%.
In July, officials said that annual economic growth dropped to 7.6% in the second quarter -- down from 8.1% the previous quarter. The government will issue its third quarter GDP report later this week, and economists expect growth to remain well below 8%.
Some analysts have recently lowered their growth forecasts for the rest of the year, while some noted that weakness is likely to extend into 2013.
The People's Bank of China twice lowered interest rates this year in an effort to spur growth, and the central bank has also cut the amount of money banks are required to hold in reserves.
The government confirmed more action last month, finalizing the details on a $157.7 billion investment in 55 new infrastructure products.
China's once-in-a-decade leadership transition is scheduled to start Nov. 8. The timing of the event, which will reshape the ranks of China's Communist Party, could put any policy changes on hold.
Economists at UBS said Monday that further action is unlikely after a round of positive trade data that has eased concerns.
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