Free paid colleagues describe the programs ? Choosing An Internet ...

Globalization has brought interracial dating to come to be far more well-liked today as far more and far more men and women move to China and vice-versa. Because of technologies, dating expats has now come to be less difficult and cross-cultural relationships are flourishing over ever.

Chinese dating and obtaining true adore is affected by this global shift in dating. Many Chinese women and men discover themselves falling in adore with a person who comes from a different element of the planet speaking a different language and from a unique cultural background. Some happen to be free dating sites in a position to answer the question, how can I discover true adore? and but, lots of are still looking for for their 1 true adore.

Here are some points on dating for women and men to assist keep the adore alive should you be in a multi-cultural connection:

Respect. This comes when dating expats and if both of you come from entirely unique cultures. Do not forget that cross-cultural relationships only function when both parties have mutual respect for every single other?s differences and if both can discover a approach to merge the two cultures together. Chinese men and women have 1 of the oldest traditions and cultures that have been around for quite some time so anticipate your Chinese partner to become genuinely firm with some practices and tradition.

Study the best way to take care of the parents. There are lots of conventional Chinese parents who?re not open to their son or daughter dating a person outside their race. Chinese parents as well as grandparents can typically result in trouble in the connection specially if you are dating or in a connection with the 1st born son. 1st born sons are the next Patriarchs of the family members and considerably pressure is place on them to do properly for the family?s survival. There are lots of stories of ladies who married 1st born Chinese males that had been treated badly by their in-laws. Place your connection 1st and agree on a strategy to take care of your in-laws or parents.

Be open, don?t criticize. Just because your partner has some quirky traditions or approaches that are not recognized or practiced in your culture doesn?t mean that you simply must condemn or criticize it. Study to become open and you shall be in a position to answer the question how can I discover true adore? and find out how intriguing across-cultural connection may be.

Make an effort to discover every single other?s cultural norms and nuances. In Chinese culture, language is extremely important so you might have to discover the best way to speak the language if you wish to get to understand and have an understanding of your partner?s family members and relatives. Finding out every single other?s cultures to stay clear of committing faux pas or additional embarrassments for your mate in social scenarios is among the most beneficial factors you may do when dating expats.

The Chinese culture is rich in tradition and norms that you simply must live with as element of getting in a cross-cultural connection. The question how can I discover true adore? may be answered by producing sure that you simply follow a few of these points on dating for women and men who?re in an interracial connection. Do not forget that in the end of the day, a connection that is definitely bound to last will need both parties to function on it together by compromising and respecting every single other?s differences.

You may get far more data on multi-cultural relationships and obtaining true adore by going to Make sure to benefit from the 6 Day Zero cost E-mail Mini-Course and submit your name to become notified of the release of the mini e-book ?Help! How Can I Find Accurate Like??

Source: http://danubius-trade.com/2012/02/29/choosing-an-internet-dating-site/

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UK rocker Doherty displays blood paintings in London (Reuters)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters - British rocker Peter Doherty has reinvented himself as an artist and is showing paintings drawn in his own blood at a London gallery this week.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120227/people_nm/us_art_petedoherty

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The Importance of a Realtor In Buying Sacramento Real Estate ...

If you are planning to purchase properties in Sacramento (Commercial or even residential), it is advisable to look for a trusted realtor beforehand. Once you have found a realtor who can give you a helping hand with all your real estate transactions, then you may ask him to look for possible property listings immediately.

But how to make sure you are dealing with the right realtor? Is there a way to know if your chosen realtor really cares about your dream house and not just after your money? How will you know if the realtor is legitimate or not?

Well, I?ve listed several ways to determine if the realtor is legitimate and can be trusted. Check them out below:

Check your Realtor?s Real Estate License ? The Real Estate License will be the determining factor if the realtor you are about to hire is legitimate or not. So, check it out and if you are not sure about the validity of the license, you may ask for a photocopy and bring it straight to the Department of Real Estate (DRE) and let them examine the license if it is fake or genuine. When you have made sure that the license is genuine, then let the realtor proceed with the transaction.

Don?t forget to check your realtor?s credential ? You have the right to know your potential realtor?s credential. You can easily find his credentials through his website and if you are still in doubt, you may ask for his curriculum vitae and check all his personal experiences as a realtor through his CV. You can also ask his performances from his former clients and even from his friends that you might also know.

Legitimate realtors will suggest for a contract of agreement ? A responsible realtor will ask his potential client to have a written agreement between them before they proceed with the real estate deal. The written contract includes the percentage commission he will get once the deal has been sealed and other important information concerning his job as your realtor. It is also advisable to get at least two witnesses so you can be sure that someone will depend you if ever he violates the contract of agreement.

Ask the realtor?s colleague if he can be trusted or not ? There is no other person in the world who can gauge your would-be realtor other than his own colleague in the industry. Attend open houses in the region and look for someone who may know him in person and even as a realtor. Get facts about him, about his lifestyle and his working habits. When you find out that he is worth keeping then do not let him go. Keep him and start doing real estate business with him right away. However, do not hire your target realtor if his colleagues tell you that he ain?t a good realtor. Remember that they know him better than you so trust what they say and just look for another realtor if he turns out to be a fluke.

Visit the Department of Real Estate (DRE) and ask if your realtor is a legitimate one ? We all know that the DRE is the sole government organization where you can check about a realtor?s legitimacy when it comes to providing real estate services. So, if you have doubts about the realtor you are going to hire, then don?t hesitate to come and visit the nearest DRE in your county and submit the realtor?s name and let the DRE checked if he is a licensed one and has the right to transact real estate business.

Looking for the most trusted and well known professional in Sacramento Real Estate? Look no further! David Yaffee can help you in virtually ALL your Sacramento Real Estate needs. If you have more concern in Real Estate Sacramento just visit my site and call me.

Source: http://www.realestateglobalnetwork.com/xn/detail/2211201%3ABlogPost%3A230976

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94% Chico & Rita

All Critics (49) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (3)

Presented in a wash of animated colors, this story of a hot-headed sexy Latina songstress and her jazz piano player takes on new life.

It's entertaining to watch, and I enjoyed the way they slipped in such real-life figures as Dizzy Gillespie beside the fictional leads.

By virtue of its simple, stylized look - bold lines and color blocks - and effervescent Cuban jazz score, the Spanish animated feature "Chico & Rita" rises above its routine story of a troubled love affair between talented musicians.

The real romance here is between the filmmakers and the cultural moment they hope to document.

"Chico and Rita'' beguiles first and foremost as a bebop romance that evokes a bygone era as well as, or maybe even better than, "The Artist."

This sexy, pulpy, very grown-up film is not your usual best animated feature material.

Remarkably sexy for its genre (it's not for kids at all), it's nostalgic about a time and place that rarely gets treated on film ("Godfather II" touched on it), and it has an emotional pull that may catch you by surprise.

...not only a surprise Oscar nominee for best animated feature, it's a total game changer...dazzling.

Hopefully, it will remind filmmakers that animation can be used to tell all kinds of stories.

Sweet but mature animated love story is aimed at grown-ups.

It's a gorgeous, fluid movie, filled with rich textures and a genuine sense of place, whether it's Havana, Paris, New York, or Hollywood.

It works best as an evocative tribute of sorts to a specific musical time and place.

An animated delight for grown-up eyes and ears, besides being a sexy romance and a luscious tribute to a great musician [with] Bebo Vald?s's authentic Latin jazz score.

There's an outline of an epic love story here, but the screenwriters never bother to fill it in all the way.

The film melds dazzling visuals and a wildly infectious score into a simple yet affecting love story.

It's the grown-up choice to win this year's Oscar for animated feature.

The hand-drawn, watercolor-style animation is a natural fit for the story, with its retro sensibility and timeless effect.

More Critic Reviews

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chico_and_rita/

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Academy Awards Fashion Face-Off: Meryl Streep vs. Octavia Spencer

Meryl Streep and Octavia Spencer were the two biggest winners on the female side of last night's Academy Awards. The former took home her third Best Actress trophy, while the latter moved viewers with an emotional speech after earning the Best Supporting Actress crown.

But now the true battle is on.

Streep and Spencer are the latest pair of celebrities to be matched up on the red carpet  - vote now on Angelina Jolie vs. Penelope Cruz and Jean Dujardin vs. George Clooney - in our annual rundown of Oscar-related Fashion Face-Offs.

Which veteran, talented star wore her dress the best? Decide for yourself:

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/02/academy-awards-fashion-face-off-meryl-streep-vs-octavia-spencer/

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Man steals fire truck, kills pedestrian in US

PORT ROYAL, South Carolina (AP) ? A naked man stole a fire truck at a South Carolina apartment complex and sped away, killing a pedestrian who was walking on a sidewalk, authorities said Saturday.

The fire engine driver, identified as 26-year-old Kalvin Hunt, drove about two miles (three kilometers) Friday before he hit a man, careened off the road and crashed into some trees, authorities said. Hunt, who was pinned inside the fire truck, was freed by rescue workers, and then started assaulting two police officers, deputy police chief Dale McDorman told The Beaufort Gazette.

Brana Rogerson said she narrowly avoided a collision with the stolen engine, which plowed into six or seven other vehicles as it barreled through an intersection in Beaufort, which is located along the southeast coast of South Carolina.

"I've never seen a fire truck come out of nowhere like that," Rogerson said. "The truck didn't have its lights on. I knew it wasn't a fireman behind the wheel."

Justin Miller, 28, of Port Royal, was killed when he was hit as he walked with his brother, Beaufort County Coroner Ed Allen said Saturday. Firefighters with the Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department had responded to the apartments for a rescue call, Allen said.

Hunt had not been charged Saturday in Miller's death, said Lance Cpl. Judd Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, which is investigating the fatality. Hunt is from Sumter, which is in the central part of the state.

Hunt, who did not have a telephone number listed, was taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital with injuries. The hospital did not have him listed as a patient Saturday.

A Beaufort police spokeswoman told The Associated Press no one was available Saturday to talk about the crash.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-02-25-Stolen%20Fire%20Truck-Fatality/id-c1af019fd24c40018cc90eaac66a9e25

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Self Improvement Goals and Motivation

What are three reasons for goal self improvement and motivation to reach your goals?

Many people think that reaching their personal goals is a difficult process. Their are many methods to choose from. You have to find a method that fits your life style and your personality. I find that, this is the hardest think to do. Their will be many factors to consider when choose a method to follow: family, work, relationships, time and more.

Here are three to consider:

1. Inspiration:

Inspiration is critical to staying motivated. If you are not interested in your personal goal, improving it will be difficult. Your motivation level will never be high and you will not be able to sustain interest for very long. Taking an honest look at your motivational level will help you gauge whether you will succeed. Ask yourself :Are you excited about achieving a personal goals? If you are not if will be difficult to accomplish.

Keep your goals close to your heart. Most individuals will lose steam and grow tired because their goal doesn?t have any personal passion. You passion to help you stay focused during the difficult times. If you do not like your goal, then think how you can re-focus your personal goal to better match your needs. You may need to change the goal or rewrite it. If inspiration is missing, there will not be any motivation. .

2. Personal goal setting:

Once you decide on a goal setting method you should include short and long-term goals. If you don?t set goals, you won?t have a definite path of self improvement. Take the time to write your goals. A goal setting plan may sound daunting, but it is really nothing more than goals, strategies and implementation.

Include mini-goals that can be accomplished in weeks as well as grand-goals that may take years to complete. Refer to your your goal sheets throughout the year. But can a personal goal worksheet really help motivate you? Of course. Written goals will make you feel more in control. It will also free you from having to restart your goal process every single day.

3.Goal support buddy:

Another important factor in getting and staying motivated is to find a goal support buddy. When taking on personal goal setting having someone to encourage you and hold your hand can make the difference between success and failure. Doing this process alone is one of the most difficult parts. You can never be on your way to self improvement without the help of others. Mutual buddy support is a great motivator. Make it easier on yourself by find a compatible buddy in person or online. Even when your personal goals are not related, you will often find some goal that you have in common. Many successful goal buddies state that when they found the right person it was a turning point in their ability to reach their personal goals. Working together, goal buddies can help each other solve problems faster and more efficiently. Sharing ideas, expertise and experience is also an invaluable aspect of motivation and self improvement. Your own personal goal buddy will help re-energize you when the burdens of your goals seem too much. With your goal buddy you can accomplish more goals in less time and probably have more fun in the process. You will feel more motivated to accomplish self improvement goals when you know you are not alone. Remember to celebrate all successes no matter how big or small.

If your interested in finding information on personal goal setting, methods to follow and factors that effect your ability to achieve them come visit me at http://www.squidoo.com/goal-motivation-setting

Source: http://www.a1article.net/self-improvement/self-improvement-goals-and-motivation-4882.html

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Things you need to avoid in customer service for your business ...

You?ve probably invested a lot on business telephone customer service. If you haven?t, it?s time to start now. Communication has turn into increasingly more affordable the past years, with technology making lower costs attainable. This signifies you?ll be able to anticipate your employees to interact with much more customers from various geographical locations. Without employees with superb communication abilities, written or spoken, any business is likely to suffer.

First things first, we include the range of technological devices and functions we use on our phone system once we talk about business telephone tools. Cloud services have expanded the meaning to email, smartphones, voicemail, and fax. Although these could not necessarily be physical handsets that look like standard telephones, all these tools are course by way of many small and medium-sized companies? business phone systems or are features of your PBX.

These are a few of the more typical faux pas you ought to avoid on your devices:

Not speaking the customer?s language. You are trying to sell a cloud-based business telephone system to an initially willing customer. You spout something about packet-switching, SIP trunking and SaaS, IaaS, along with a whole slew of cloud phone service jargon when he asks you the benefits of cloud-based to legacy. While these terms may be normal, everyday language for you, do not forget that not everyone works for your company.

Solution: Speak in normal conversational English and in an understandable accent. Use one of the most technical terms only when necessary, and give brief, understandable explanations. If you?re an agent, undergo extensive and continuous training.

Admitting that you simply hate your job. You?ll be able to take your job and boss problems to Dr. Marty Nemko?s radio station or your psychiatrist. But regardless of regardless of whether you?re having a bad hair day or if your boss just criticized you again in front of everyone never ever divulge them to customers you talk to in your business telephone devices. The need for revenge may possibly be a siren?s call, but resist! You don?t wish to jeopardize your career as a result of any business or any individual.

Solution: Clear your thoughts from something unfavorable before you go to work and surround yourself with happier colleagues. Attend seminars and also other activities that give you a shot of happy hormones, or better yet, have the courage to actually talk to your supervisor about your work issues. Do not make work your life and find a job which you can really excel in.

Overly casual and disrespectful language. Communication by e-mail and SMS has created our language a lot more informal. While Dear Sir and Respectfully yours used to be rules in business letter writing, a lot more mobile business atmosphere has made these formalities superfluous (except maybe, for ultra-conservative oldies). However, the allowances of modern business telephone tools should not translate to poor spelling or abbreviated language (ex. bec for because), which often translate to laziness on your part. You?re not sending a text message to your little brother; you are producing a business transaction.

Solution: Language really should still be understandable and casual. However, be sure that your grammar continues to be perfect (not exactly stiff, literary or highfalutin) and that your tone is still respectful.

With these in mind, you?ll be able to avoid most business telephone communication disasters.

Obtain efficiency with our advanced business telehpone service and discover on how phone system can also improve your company.

Source: http://yptuscaloosa.com/?p=37761

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Re-Election for President Obama Should Not Hinge on Gas Prices (ContributorNetwork)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Politics in America have an unusual knack for turning in circles, or at least cycles. In 2008, record gas prices led one presidential hopeful to push a renewable energy platform that helped him get elected, as reported by the Washington Post. Of course, as anyone who regularly fills up a vehicle at the gas pump knows already, gas prices are expensive yet again, and as The Christian Science Monitor reports, probably headed higher.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120224/us_ac/11000594_reelection_for_president_obama_should_not_hinge_on_gas_prices

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US concerned over fate of Iranian Christian pastor (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

AP - The Obama administration says it is deeply worried that Iran may execute a Christian pastor.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120223/ap_on_re_us/us_us_iran

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Commercial Truck Financing ? Low Price Loan For Truck ...

As large finance is concerned in shopping for a truck and its parts, industrial truck financing is essentially a secured finance. The security of the finance could also be given by way of any high fairness property of the finance seeker. Lenders could even safe the finance by taking in possession the deal papers of the truck from the loan seeker after he buys truck and the papers are returned when the mortgage is totally paid back. In the meantime the truck may be utilized by the owner for commercial purposes.

As a result of industrial truck finance is secured nicely, the lender corporations can afford to provide the finance at decrease interest rate. Particular person lenders have personal business truck financing curiosity rates. Compared, one can avail the finance at lower then the average interest rate. The borrowed amount will rely upon the make of the truck and if the truck to be purchased is used or new. Lenders also could look into the business the truck is going to generate. If there may be potential for greater income or enterprise from the truck, the lender feels extra secured and gives larger quantity as loan. Furthermore good credit of business truck finance seeker also performs an element in deciding over the borrowed amount. Because the finance is secured, lenders can provide a bigger reimbursement period of many years.

We also like to write about best light truck tires here

Prior to creating a deal with the financer, just be sure you have searched the best truck seller. Verify creditability of the company from you plan to buy truck. In case you want truck components you may have many choices. You may original gear producer truck components from nearby seller or opt for cheaper aftermarket components with the quality remaining the same. You should buy grilles, headlight, transmissions, doorways, windshields, engine parts, tires, wheels etc. Replacement elements of truck may be shopped on-line from your home for high quality parts.

We also like to write about toyota trucks here

For taking commercial truck finance certainly one of necessities is that you should have an expertise of minimal of two years as truck operator. As far as low credit score of the finance seeker is concerned, it may not be an issue for lender for the reason that finance is given on having a property of borrower which lender can sell to recuperate the quantity in case of payment default. Take a replica of your credit report from reputed credit rating company and examine it for errors before approaching the lender.

Take a look at our new website about classic truck trader here.

Related Posts:

Source: http://thenysefloor.com/2012/02/23/commercial-truck-financing-a-low-price-loan-for-truck-business/

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Zacks Releases Four Powerful ''Buy'' Stocks: XO Group, Equifax ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL ? February 22, 2012 ? Four free stock picks are being made available today on Zacks.com. The industry?s leading independent research firm highlights one Zacks #1 Rank Strong Buy or a Zacks #2 Rank Buy stock for each of the four main styles of investing: Aggressive Growth, Growth & Income, Momentum, and Value.

The four highlighted picks are: XO Group (XOXO), Equifax Inc. (EFX), Penske Automotive Group (PAG) and Oil States International, Inc. (OIS).

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Four daily picks are offered free. http://at.zacks.com/?id=88

From 1988 through the present ? a period that included serious corrections and recessions ? the Zacks #1 Rank Stocks have nearly tripled the market with a fully documented average gain of +28% per year.

Here is a summary of today's selected stocks that are now highly rated by Zacks:??????????

Aggressive Growth ? XO Group (XOXO)
XO Group analysts have given the stock their version of hugs and kisses by raising estimates which boosted the stock to a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy). ?

Zacks Guide to Aggressive Growth Investing (free!) - http://at.zacks.com/?id=4309

Growth & Income ? Equifax Inc. (EFX)
Estimates have been surging for Equifax Inc. after the company delivered strong fourth quarter results on February 8.

?Zacks Guide to Growth & Income Investing (free!) - http://at.zacks.com/?id=4310

Momentum ? Penske Automotive Group (PAG)
Diversity and a strong brand are two integral cogs in the success machine.? Penske has both.? What you might not know is that Penske is the second largest public traded auto retailer in the US by revenues.? They operate about 166 franchises in the US, about 170 overseas and their automotive division is seeing favorable trends.

Zacks Guide to Momentum Investing (free!): ?http://at.zacks.com/?id=4311

Value ? Oil States International, Inc. (OIS)
Drilling is hotter than ever. Oil States International, Inc. is expected to grow earnings by the double digits for the third consecutive year in 2012 as demand in the energy sector kicks into high gear. Yet this Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) is also cheap. It is trading with a forward P/E of just 11.8.

Zacks Guide to Value Investing (free!) - ?http://at.zacks.com/?id=4312

How to Regularly Access Top Zacks Rank Picks for Free - http://at.zacks.com/?id=7154

Underlying the four free stock picks is a simple truth that first appeared in a Financial Analysts Journal article published in 1979. Leonard Zacks, a Ph.D. from M.I.T. found that "earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices." ?Zacks #1 Rank is awarded to a stock when analysts sharply upgrade their estimates of what the company will earn.

Today, Zacks is promoting its stock recommendations by offering four daily picks free to those who register here: http://at.zacks.com/?id=7155

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Len Zacks. The company continually processes stock reports issued by 3,000 analysts from 150 brokerage firms.? It monitors more than 200,000 earnings estimates, looking for changes.

Then, when changes are discovered, they?re applied to help assign more than 4,400 stocks into five Zacks Rank categories: #1 Strong Buy, #2 Buy, #3 Hold, #4 Sell, and #5 Strong Sell. This proprietary stock-picking system continues to outperform the market by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. ?

More Free Stock Picks

Each weekday, new Zacks #1 Rank or Zacks #2 Rank stock picks are released on the free email newsletter, Profit from the Pros. Investors are invited to register for their free subscription here: http://at.zacks.com/?id=91

Follow us on Twitter:? http://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook:? http://www.facebook.com/ZacksInvestmentResearch

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.

Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
support@zacks.com
http://www.zacks.com

Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Read the full analyst report on XOXO

Read the full analyst report on EFX

Read the full analyst report on PAG

Read the full analyst report on OIS

Source: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/70047/Zacks+Releases+Four+Powerful+''Buy''+Stocks%3A+XO+Group,+Equifax,+Penske+Automotive+Group+and+Oil+States+International

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Beaverton School Board says no to new students wanting to transfer ...

The Beaverton School District will take no new out-of-district students for next school year, the school board decided Tuesday night.

A state law, passed by the 2011 Legislature, gives school boards until March 1 to declare how many seats at each school they are willing to offer to students outside their boundaries.

With little discussion about the issue, the board chose to retain the district's existing transfer students, who will become permanent transfers under the law, and add no more.

Until the law passed, a family needed permission from both their home school district and the school district where they wanted to enroll their child before the student could transfer to the new district. If a home district refused to release the student, the family had the option to pay roughly $6,000 in tuition to attend the new school or stay at the home district for free.

Beaverton board members considered two options. Option I would have opened 60 spots to new transfer students but Option II offered none.?

Beaverton Superintendent Jeff Rose said he had been working with neighboring school districts, Hillsboro and Tigard-Tualatin, to try "to keep each other as whole as possible and do no harm."

Hillsboro has not made a decision, but Tigard-Tualatin elected to take no new transfer students. The districts cannot keep students from transferring out.

Because most students transfer from neighboring districts, those in Beaverton and Tigard-Tualatin, and potentially Hillsboro, will be limited in their choices.

This school year about 287 students were approved to transfer out of the Beaverton School District and 132 were approved to enter.

In Option I, the district would have opened 15 seats at Cedar Mill Elementary, and 15 at West Tualatin View Elementary. No middle school slots were open, but the district would have taken 30 students at Beaverton High School.

One of the worries was special education. All three schools offer strong special education programs but they're full. While the schools may have open seats, the special programs do not, according to district staff.

"It costs more to educate students than $6,000," Rose said. "Our $40 million budget gap demonstrates that issue."

Hillsboro and Forest Grove school districts will make their decisions on open enrollment next week. Sherwood, Gaston and Banks school districts are taking students. Districts decide each year the number of transfer students they will take.

"This is one of those opportunities where common sense prevailed, ...." said board member Tom Quillin.

Wendy Owen

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/beaverton/index.ssf/2012/02/beaverton_school_board_says_no.html

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Afghans vent fury over Koran burning, U.S. apologizes (Reuters)

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Reuters - U.S. helicopters fired flares to disperse hundreds of angry Afghans who massed outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday after hearing staff there had burned copies of the Koran.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120221/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_korans

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Is Home Health Care For You

Published by Sherry | February 20, 2012 | | 12

Home health care can be provided for people of all different ages, It is also very helpful for senior citizens when the family or additional help does not live nearby. Most folks do not like staying at hospitals or any place where they feel couped up. People want to be close to home and near the people that they love.

One of the nice benefits of stay at home health care is that you have your own familiar surroundings and still get the same or better care that you would get at a hospital. Many home health centers were probably started with the thought of personalized care in your home. There is no place like home.

Home nursing plans are easy to find by looking through newspapers and by searching for them on the internet. . A lot of these plans include the care that you would want at your own home and some offer additional benefits to go along with that.

Some benefits include the same high technology you would get at a hospital utilized in your own home. Patients can also receive the same treatments at home without the hospital trip. These days just about everything is available using an in home care service.

There are many different types of home health care companies available to choose from these days which give you the benefits of the home health aide treatments and similar treatments that used to be only available at hospitals. Of course, make sure that you do your own due diligence in selecting the care facility that meets your needs. Check for the services required to make care at home worthwhile. Yet, insure that the price is within budget without losing any of the services that you would expect to receive.

In this day and age, if you can think of a service, it is available. When it comes to something as important as home health aide and care, know what your needs are. Do not settle for less. Get the personalized care you always wanted at home.

Source: http://www.1directory.net/health-fitness/is-home-health-care-for-you-6420.html

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Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg: Occupy the Criminal Justice System: From Stop-and-Frisk to Prison Cells

On Monday, February 20, actions will be occurring across the country in solidarity with the more than 2 million people locked in cages -- the incarcerated. Monday, is National Occupy Day in Support of Prisoners.

"OWS is a struggle for human rights," said Jay Chiu, an activist with Occupy Wall Street. "You can't take a stand against severe economic inequity, the denial of human rights, and the universal dominance of the 1 percent -- some of which are private prison execs who spend millions every year lobbying our politicians -- without also denouncing the prison industrial complex."

The U.S. has the world's highest documented incarceration rate. (Russia is second, Rwanda is third.) More blacks are under correctional control today than were enslaved in 1850. These unprecedented rates of incarceration have helped turn the two largest for-profit prison corporations, Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group, into billion-dollar companies, according to Unholy Alliance, a report released in November 2011 by Public Campaign and PICO National Network.

So what can hurt these profits? Well, let's let Corrections Corporation of America speak for itself. This is from its 10K to the SEC:

The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them.

Legislation has been proposed in numerous jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences for some non-violent crimes and make more inmates eligible for early release based on good behavior. Also, sentencing alternatives under consideration could put some offenders on probation with electronic monitoring who would otherwise be incarcerated.

The private prison industry has devoted time and money to ensuring that crime legislation benefits their financial interests. They have donated millions to political candidates and parties, as well as helped pass more punitive sentencing laws.

"Through involvement in the leadership of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), private prison companies have played a key role in lobbying for and passing harsher sentencing for non-violent offenses including three-strike laws, mandatory sentencing, and truth-in-sentencing," according to the report, Unholy Alliance.

If you weren't part of the 99% when you went in to prison, you most certainly are as a prisoner: a number; a person whose potential sexual abuse is mocked in television and movies; a person whose brutalization is taken for granted; a person who can be subjected to cruel but shamefully not unusual punishments, like solitary confinement; a person who can be discriminated against in housing, employment and public benefits once you are released.

But the vast majority of those incarcerated and those targeted by the criminal justice system -- from stop-and-frisk to conviction -- are the 99%.

"Being racially profiled by the police, stopped and frisked all the time, being arrested for walking into my building without an ID makes me part of the 99%," Frankie, 22 years old and from the Bronx, told Occupy Our Stories. Occupy Our Stories records and shares the stories of the 99%.

Frankie continued: "I worked for McDonald's, I worked for a couple of Papa John's... It was always minimum wage. Each and every job I had I went up to the managerial position and see nothing but a 20 cent raise."

Frankie is one of hundreds of thousands who have been harassed by the police as part of its stop-and-frisk campaign. Eighty-seven percent of the 684,330 stopped by the NYPD in 2011 were black or Latino. Ninety-two percent were male.

And so today we march to end a criminal justice system that casts young men of color as perennial criminals. We march in solidarity with those locked away in cages, and their loved ones. We march in solidarity with those killed by the State -- in their homes; on the street, the night before their wedding; on their front steps; in the prisons.

Occupy Our Stories is currently collecting stories of the 99% who have served time in American jails and prisons, who have loved ones who are incarcerated, and those who have been harassed by the police. Please visit Occupy Our Stories to learn how to submit your story.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-weillgreenberg/occupy-prisons_b_1287687.html

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Sought After Desktop Computers For Gaming ... - Diablo 3 pc game

If you?ve been in the gaming world then you would have already figured out that having one of the best desktop computers you can find is the only sure and secure way of having an edge. When talking of gaming, desktop performance is key. The disheartening thing is not that many people understand that often a game player can only be as good as his computer. If you happen to be one of the people that have always struggled due to a old processor or an overheating computer then today we?re going to recommend one or two computers to look out for.

The 1st desktop I would say is one of the best gaming rigs to have which is the Micro Express MicroFlex 79B. This machine is an excellent choice if you?re gamer who enjoys the higher end competition of today, or even the high-performance games of earlier days. This is due to the simple fact that it sports an Intel Sandy Bridge Extreme Edition procesor that produces loads of performance which in turn results in wonderful operation. The only disadvantageto this computer is that it has got a reasonably feeble power supply. Other than that it is a great gamer investment.

A second option to be cognisant of would be the Primordial Computers Satyr. This beautiful selection is made from an Intel i7 processing unit, eight high power 3.0 USB ports, a twin GPU Nvidia DeForce GTX590 video card, a 480GB solid state hard drive and to top it off heaps of room for upgrades. I know you think this sounds too good to be true so grab it while its still discounted because this wonderful piece of technology is still fairly cheap yet guarantees glorious performance. It?s also good for persons who like to tinker with their systems so that you can simply upgrade to your hearts desire.

Next on the list we have got the AVA Direct X79 Silent Gaming PC. Now this machine is for game players who take pride in their computers asthetics as well as operation. The Direct X79 comes in futuristic box like case that screams elegance joined with a six-core Intel i7-3930K, 16GB worth of memory. Best of all this is a virtually silent computer. For most it sounds like its too good to be true, right? Gamers get this amazing silent gaming personal computer with its quick dynamic hardware with its only downfall being its somewhat high price.

So if you are the market for a gaming PC these are but a few choice desktop models which have been earmarked at some point to be among the ideal gaming rigs. When it comes to gaming, the computer you utilize matters and as such it pays to invest in one of the best desktop computers on the market. When you?re looking at other options just be sure to keep a tight watch on the processing unit, memory and video card. If you match it against the prerequisites of your favored games you generally will stay competitive for some years. If you aren?t extraordinarily knowledgeable on the technology side of things it?s never a bad idea to pose questions on online blogs and frequently read the desktop overviews posted on the web. Until next time I wish you farewell and happy hunting.

Mark has owned Khandiis Computers Incorporated for 5 years and has made a name of producing some of the best desktop computer deals on the internet. You can find nice buys on highly regarded computers as well as locate great tips on cheap desktop computer systems for interactive gaming competition when you are privy on where to look.

Source: http://www.diablo3pcgame.us/sought-after-desktop-computers-for-gaming-fanatics?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sought-after-desktop-computers-for-gaming-fanatics

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2008 My Eyes Won't Dry 2 ? Tube Vision DVD ? Surfing DVD ...

2008 My Eyes Won?t Dry 2 ? Tube Vision DVD ? Surfing DVD A New Film by Brain Conley -2006 Surfer Poll ?Breakthough Fimmaker of the Year?. Not since George Greenough has a single surfer so thoroughly documented life inside the barrel. Brian Conley has traveled the world to bring you the most unique camera angles ever seen in a quantity never dreamed of. In search of ultimate tubes and good vibes, Conley and crew adventure to great lands and oceans including Mexico, Australia and the South Pacific. Enjoy angles of waves and wave riding that can only be achieved through the eyes of a surfer. From big Spitting barrels to perfect peelers, this is your tour guide to the tube! This video is a must-have for any surfer?s collection.

Click HERE now to learn more?

Tags: Entertainment Culture, Surfer Poll, My Eyes, perfect peelers, Brain Conley, unique camera, tour guide

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3. The best wing suit /skydive from you tube PART1
4. Street Surfing Wave G2 Zine Board
5. Street Surfing Wave Pro Board USA

Source: http://elevatechristiannetwork.com/sports-and-recreation/2110/surfing/2008-my-eyes-wont-dry-2-tube-vision-dvd-surfing-dvd/

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Are you working 11 hours a day? How depressing!

Researchers in Finland studied more than 2,000 white-collar workers over five years. The results were depressing. WBBH's Nick Ciletti reports.

By TODAY.com staff

People who worked more than 11 hours a day are more were more than twice as likely to be depressed than their co-workers who put in an 8-hour day.

"There has to be different outlets of enjoyment in a person's life," said Mabel Lopez, a clinical psychologist.

It's a three-day weekend for many Americans. Get out there and unwind.

{"contentId":"10435918","totalVotes":"7966"}

Are you working more than 11 hours a day?

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Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/17/10435918-are-you-working-11-hours-a-day-how-depressing

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Column: Not every Ivy Leaguer becomes an NBA star

New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin (17) drives past Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins (15) during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012, in New York. Lin had 10 points and 13 assists as the Knicks won the game 100-85. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin (17) drives past Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins (15) during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012, in New York. Lin had 10 points and 13 assists as the Knicks won the game 100-85. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Fans hold up New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin photos to distract a Sacramento Kings player during a free throw attempt during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks about No Child Left Behind, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The names "Jeremy Lin" and "Harvard" pop up in the same sentence so often lately you might think every Ivy Leaguer who chases the dream winds up in the NBA.

Not so. Nearly all of them must face reality sooner or later and learn to make do in less glamorous occupations, such as Wall Street CEO, legal titan or even secretary of education. But none of them minds basking in Lin's reflected glory.

"I followed Jeremy since he was a kid, and I always knew he'd amount to something," chuckled Arne Duncan, a former Harvard basketball captain who really is the U.S. Secretary of Education. "It's been amazing to watch. It shows that if you keep working and people pay attention, there are plenty of diamonds out there just waiting to be discovered."

Duncan doesn't count himself as one of those diamonds, though he played in the U.S. Basketball League after graduation, then had a cup of coffee at the Boston Celtics' training camp and played pro basketball in Australia for four years before launching his public-service career. Duncan might have stayed on the other side of the world, too, if the pull of his hometown weren't so strong.

"I was getting paid to do something I loved. I was comfortable, and being honest, if I'd stayed for another year, I'd probably be there still," he said. "It sounds corny, but because of the way I was raised ... and all the mentors who invested so much, I felt an obligation to come back and help."

As if Ivy League grads lacked bragging rights, Lin's worldwide celebrity has provided them with yet another gift. More than a few can boast of having better nights playing against the Knicks' sudden sensation than Kobe Bryant or anyone else in the NBA has so far.

"I know this sounds crazy now, but there were three guys just on our team I would have taken over him any day of the week," said Cornell senior guard Chris Wroblewski. "I wasn't super impressed."

Wroblewski, who was named Ivy League rookie of the year in 2008-09 largely because of his defensive skills, was glued to Lin home-and-away during each of his first two seasons with the Big Red.

"The game I remember is my sophomore year at home, when both teams were pretty good and people started calling it the 'clash of the Ivy League titans,'" he said.

(Considering how little attention the rest of the basketball world normally affords Ivy League games that might be an overstatement. But back to the story.)

"He was the focal point in our scouting report, and we made it a priority to limit his touches. I think he had 16 points, but eight turnovers, too, and we beat them here by 36," Wroblewski recalled. "It's fair to say I'm not the fastest guy, so I had my concerns even then whether he could get around guys in the NBA.

"That shows you much I know."

Yet Wroblewski knows enough to have lined up a job in finance back near his home in suburban Chicago when he graduates this spring. Of the three Cornell teammates he figured would get their NBA shot ahead of Lin, Ryan Wittman, the unanimous Ivy League player of the year selection in 2009-10 and the son of Wizards coach Randy Wittman, is already working for Morgan Stanley in Minneapolis. The other two are still sticking it out in pro basketball's rough-and-tumble lower circuits. Louis Dale plays in Germany, and Jeff Foote, who bounced around with teams in Israel, Spain and Poland and was in camp briefly with the NBA's Portland Trailblazers last fall, is playing for the Springfield Armor in the D-League.

"The good thing about going to an Ivy League school is you've got a lot of options after getting your degree, and a lot of them more lucrative than basketball, especially where I'm at," Foote said. "You get a good starting salary with say Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, and maybe 10 or 20 years down the road you wind up even better off. The bad thing is that people assumed you played in the Ivy League because you weren't good enough to get an athletic scholarship anywhere else."

Foote takes some pride in knowing that in corporate offices across the country, guys like him are enjoying rare moments of celebrity again. Suddenly, many of the financial planners, insurance agents and accountants who work alongside them can't hear enough about the night one of them stared down Jeremy Lin.

"Honestly? I don't remember much about it," Foote said. "We beat them pretty handily. I knew he'd get an opportunity, but I expected the only way he'd catch on was maybe as a backup point guard. I hope his success makes a lot of people look at the league differently."

Duncan thinks so, too, but he's hoping there's a bigger lesson to be learned from Linsanity.

"The best thing about Jeremy's story is it shows you don't always have to have pedigree or be a McDonald's All-American to get where you want to go. If you work hard and you've got humility, and what matters to you is making the team better, you can find a way to contribute.

"Look," Duncan said, "Jeremy is a very special kid, but it isn't about the numbers he puts up. The Knicks were ? how should I put it ? a dysfunctional group, and he made them a team. He's been held to low numbers plenty of times, but the only thing he ever cared about were 'Ws.' Find guys like that," he said finally, "and success isn't usually far behind."

___

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him on Twitter.com/JimLitke.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-02-16-Jim%20Litke-021612/id-e117c829762c4cfb9fffa96e23948440

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Celebrating Black History: Oprah Winfrey | Unlimited Whispers

Unlimited Whispers? black hero of the day is Oprah Winfrey.? I chose Oprah because of her life accomplishments and philanthropy achievements. ??This partial synopsis details a few of the things that gives Oprah a spot in black history forever.

Orpah Gail Winfrey; born: January 29, 1954. ?Oprah Winfrey was originally named ?Orpah? after the biblical character in the Book of Ruth, but her family and friends ?didn?t know how to pronounce it?, and called her ?Oprah? instead.? ?Oprah is a media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world?s only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her childhood, claiming to be raped at age nine and becoming pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. Sent to live with the man she calls her father, a barber in Tennessee, Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Her emotional ad-lib delivery eventually got her transferred to the daytime-talk-show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company and became internationally syndicated.

Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication, she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue, which a Yale study claims broke 20th century taboos and allowed LGBT people to enter the mainstream. By the mid 1990s, she had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. Though criticized for unleashing confession culture, promoting controversial self-help ideas, and an emotion-centered approach she is often praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. From 2006 to 2008, her support of Barack Obama, by one estimate, delivered over a million votes in the close 2008 Democratic primary race.

In 1998, Winfrey created the Oprah?s Angel Network, a charity that supported charitable projects and provided grants to nonprofit organizations around the world. Oprah?s Angel Network raised more than $80,000,000 ($1?million of which was donated by Jon Bon Jovi). Winfrey personally covered all administrative costs associated with the charity, so 100% of all funds raised went to charity programs. The charity stopped accepting donations in May 2010 and was later dissolved. Winfrey?s show raises money through promotion of her public charity and she personally donates more of her own money to charity than any other performer in America. In 2005 she became the first black person listed by Business Week as one of America?s 50 most generous philanthropists, having given an estimated $303?million as of 2007. Winfrey was the 32nd most philanthropic. She has also been repeatedly ranked as the most philanthropic celebrity.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Oprah created the Oprah Angel Network Katrina registry which raised more than $11?million for relief efforts. Winfrey personally gave $10?million to the cause. Homes were built in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama before the one year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Winfrey has also helped 250 African-American men continue or complete their education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Winfrey was the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards for services to television and film. To celebrate two decades on national TV, and to thank her employees for their hard work, Winfrey took her staff and their families (1065 people in total) on vacation to Hawaii in the summer of 2006.

In 2002, Christianity Today published an article called ?The Church of O? in which they concluded that Winfrey had emerged as an influential spiritual leader. ?Since 1994, when she abandoned traditional talk-show fare for more edifying content, and 1998, when she began ?Change Your Life TV?, Oprah?s most significant role has become that of spiritual leader. To her audience of more than 22 million mostly female viewers, she has become a post-modern priestess?an icon of church-free spirituality.? The sentiment was echoed by Marcia Z. Nelson in her book The Gospel According to Oprah. Since the mid 1990s, Winfrey?s show has emphasized uplifting and inspirational topics and themes and some viewers claim the show has motivated them to perform acts of altruism such as helping Congolese women and building an orphanage. A scientific study by psychological scientists at the University of Cambridge, University of Plymouth, and University of California used an uplifting clip from the Oprah Winfrey Show in an experiment that discovered that watching the ?uplifting? clip caused subjects to become twice as helpful as subjects assigned to watch a British comedy or nature documentary.

On the season premier of Winfrey?s 13th season Roseanne Barr told Winfrey ?you?re the African Mother Goddess of us all? inspiring much enthusiasm from the studio audience. The animated series Futurama alluded to her spiritual influence by suggesting that ?Oprahism? is a mainstream religion in 3000?AD. ?Twelve days after the September 11 attacks, New York mayor Rudy Guliani asked Winfrey to serve as host of a Prayer for America service at New York city?s Yankee stadium which was attended by former president Bill Clinton and New York senator Hillary Clinton. ?Leading up to the U.S.-led 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, less than a month after the September 11 attacks Winfrey aired a controversial show called ?Islam 101? in which she portrayed Islam as a religion of peace, calling it ?the most misunderstood of the three major religions?. In 2002, George W. Bush invited Winfrey to join a US delegation that included adviser Karen Hughes and Condoleezza Rice, planning to go to Afghanistan to celebrate the return of Afghan girls to school. The ?Oprah strategy? was designed to portray the war on terror in a positive light, however when Winfrey refused to participate, the trip was postponed.

Leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Winfrey?s show received criticism for allegedly having an anti-war bias. Ben Shapiro of Townhall.com wrote: ?Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in America. She decides what makes the New York Times best-seller lists. Her touchy-feely style sucks in audiences at the rate of 14 million viewers per day. But Oprah is far more than a cultural force, she?s a dangerous political force as well, a woman with unpredictable and mercurial attitudes toward the major issues of the day.? In 2006, Winfrey recalled such controversies: ?I once did a show titled Is War the Only Answer? In the history of my career, I?ve never received more hate mail ? like ?Go back to Africa? hate mail. I was accused of being un-American for even raising the question.? Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore came to Winfrey?s defence, praising her for showing antiwar footage no other media would show and begging her to run for president. A February 2003 series, in which Winfrey showed clips from people all over the world asking America not to go to war was interrupted in several east coast markets by network broadcasts of a press conference in which President George W. Bush and Colin Powell summarized the case for war.

In 2007, Winfrey began to endorse the self-help program The Secret. The Secret claims that people can change their lives through positive thoughts or ?vibrations?, which will then cause them to attract more positive vibrations that result in good things happening to them. Peter Birkenhead of Salon magazine argued that this idea is pseudoscience and psychologically damaging, as it trivializes important decisions and promotes a quick-fix material culture, and suggest Winfrey?s promotion of it is irresponsible given her influence. In 2007, skeptic and magician James Randi accused Winfrey of being deliberately deceptive and uncritical in how she handles paranormal claims on her show. In 2008 Winfrey endorsed author and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and his book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life?s Purpose, which sold several million copies after being selected for her book club. During a Webinar class, in which she promoted the book, Winfrey stated ?God is a feeling experience and not a believing experience. If your religion is a believing experience [...] then that?s not truly God.? Frank Pastore, a Christian radio talk show host on KKLA, was among the many Christian leaders who criticized Winfrey?s views, saying ?if she?s a Christian, she?s an ignorant one, because Christianity is incompatible with New Age thought.?

Winfrey was named as the 2008 Person of the Year by animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for using her fame and listening audience to help the less fortunate, including animals. PETA praised Winfrey for using her talk show to uncover horrific cases of cruelty to animals in puppy mills and on factory farms, and Winfrey even used the show to highlight the cruelty-free vegan diet that she tried. Winfrey also refuses to wear fur or feature it in her magazine.

In 2009 Winfrey filmed a series of interviews in Denmark highlighting its citizens as the happiest people in the world. In 2010 Bill O?Reilly of Fox News criticized these shows for promoting a left-wing society.

Source: Wikipedia

Written by Deirdre B Pride. This entry was posted on February 17, 2012 7:51 am at 7:51 AM and is filed under Black History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Tagged Oprah Winfrey You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://unlimitedwhispers.com/2012/02/17/celebrating-black-history-oprah-winfrey/

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Fresh iPhone Apps for Feb. 15: Reward Volunteers, RAVN Events, Track Lapse (Appolicious)

Today?s leading Fresh iPhone App encourages its users to be more active in their communities and to give back. It?s called Reward Volunteers, and it provides incentives to volunteers in participating organizations (and the organizations themselves) for time spent helping out, allowing both the volunteer and the organization the chance to earn prizes, including cash. Following that, we?ve got RAVN Events, an app that makes finding things to do such as outdoor markets, nightlife events and other things in your city quick and easy. Track Lapse, a running game with an interesting take on the genre, is our game selection for today.

There are tons of organizations across the U.S. that need volunteers every day. Reward Volunteers helps bring volunteers to those groups that could use their services by tracking their service and providing rewards to people who help out. Volunteers who log lots of hours and also comment and participate in Reward Volunteers? social networking functions receive ?Reach? points, and those points can be redeemed for any number of different prizes and rewards.

Reward Volunteers also has incentives for volunteer organizations, as well. By using the service to look volunteers, organizations can also earn Reach points, which they can apply toward cash rewards from sponsors to help fund their projects.

Looking for something to do? Check out RAVN Events, an app that?s geared toward finding activities in your immediate area that interest you. RAVN provides personalized suggestions based on your interests of events taking place in your city and near you, including things like food fairs, street markets, exhibitions and night life events.

In addition to seeing personalized suggestions, RAVN lets you interact with your friends on Facebook, getting an idea for the things they might want to do with you and using social networking sites to share events with others. You can also see live pictures from some events through the RAVN app, and use it to meet people with similar interests and who like to do the same things you do.

Running title Track Lapse gives players familiar with the genre a few interesting new twists on the games they know and love. Sure, at its core, it?s another side-scrolling game in which players avoid obstacles while trying to keep the main character?s speed as high as possible. In Track Lapse, you?ll use jumping to dodge lots of issues, as well as the specialized Action button to interact with of the game?s new environments. The variety of obstacles the game provides increases its charm, requiring players to adapt in each new level to something new (and usually kind of goofy).

Track Lapse includes 11 levels to run through, each with its own obstacles. It also includes a Time Attack game mode to add reply value to the title and a full album-length soundtrack written exclusively for the game. There?s also Game Center support, which provides achievements and leaderboards to give players even more goals to attain as they play.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_appolicious_com_articles11064_fresh_iphone_apps_for_feb_15_reward_volunteers_ravn_events_track_lapse/44538012/SIG=13nor639c/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/11064-fresh-iphone-apps-for-feb-15-reward-volunteers-ravn-events-track-lapse

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Smart Energy Management Using Integrated Control Systems

Created by Christian Crisostomo on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 ? Leave a Comment?

Energy management is an issue that we almost always address manually. A simple decision to buy a more energy efficient air conditioner, the diligence to check for turned on but unused appliances, and a plan to consume less overall power are some of the things that are typically included in an energy management plan.

While the resolve to come up with an energy consumption strategy is quite commendable, our current methods do make it look a bit too tedious. Wouldn?t it be wonderful if we can hire an assistant whose sole purpose is to manage all of these things?

That is what a smart energy management system could provide for your home, and the manager would be an integrated control system.

How Control Systems Could Turn an Energy System ?Smart?

Remember how we have demonstrated with green computers that the more watts you can save, the more a device could be considered as environment-friendly? The concept is more or less the same for a smart energy management system, although this time, we don?t simply pull the consumption rate as low as we can. Instead we get the assistance of a computer (or another control system) to calculate all the variables needed to make the most out of the energy that we have saved.

For example, a software program could control the flow of energy around your home according to the energy consumption needs of your electrical devices and appliances at a given point in time. Another example could be a simple integrated charge controller that would be used to automatically switch between multiple energy sources as necessary.

Other Possible Types of Smart Energy Management Systems

Though the term ?energy management? is mostly used for household energy consumption, smart energy management systems could actually be scaled up or down depending on where it is applied. A few other examples of smart energy management systems are:

• Smart Grid ? this is a grid power system that has an added function of being able to gather behavioral data on all of the bulk loads connected to it. The smart energy management system of this type of grid is capable of improving the reliability, efficiency and sustainability of the distributed energy using the information gathered.
• Smart Energy Devices ? Small devices could also be installed with an automated energy management system. For example, Western Digital?s Caviar Green magnetic hard drives uses a smart energy management system that allows it control the flow of current depending on whether the computer is active or idle.

The actual positive environmental impact of a smart energy management system may not look that impressive (especially if your home ends up using dirty coal-based grid power anyway). But in the long run these systems could help us learn and accept the importance of economizing all the available energy sources around us. Remember, improving green energy efficiency does not only mean increasing the overall energy output, but it could also simply mean an increase in ?meaningful? energy consumption.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by digitpedia via Flickr

Christian Crisostomo is a researcher and an observer of humanity's technological progress. He is also a green technology enthusiast and an advocate of environment-friendly alternative energy.

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Source: http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2012/02/smart-energy-management-integrated-control-systems/

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US weighing steep nuclear arms cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration is weighing options for sharp new cuts to the U.S. nuclear force, including a reduction of up to 80 percent in the number of deployed weapons, The Associated Press has learned.

Even the most modest option now under consideration would be an historic and politically bold disarmament step in a presidential election year, although the plan is in line with President Barack Obama's 2009 pledge to pursue the elimination of nuclear weapons.

No final decision has been made, but the administration is considering at least three options for lower total numbers of deployed strategic nuclear weapons cutting to: 1,000 to 1,100; 700 to 800, and 300 to 400, according to a former government official and a congressional staffer. Both spoke on condition of anonymity in order to reveal internal administration deliberations.

The potential cuts would be from a current treaty limit of 1,550 deployed strategic warheads.

A level of 300 deployed strategic nuclear weapons would take the U.S. back to levels not seen since 1950 when the nation was ramping up production in an arms race with the Soviet Union. The U.S. numbers peaked at above 12,000 in the late 1980s and first dropped below 5,000 in 2003.

Obama has often cited his desire to seek lower levels of nuclear weapons, but specific options for a further round of cuts had been kept under wraps until the AP learned of the three options now on the table.

A spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, Tommy Vietor, said Tuesday that the options developed by the Pentagon have not yet been presented to Obama.

The Pentagon's press secretary, George Little, declined to comment on specific force level options because they are classified. He said Obama had asked the Pentagon to develop several "alternative approaches" to nuclear deterrence.

The U.S. could make further weapons reductions on its own but is seen as more likely to propose a new round of arms negotiations with Russia, in which cuts in deployed weapons would be one element in a possible new treaty between the former Cold War adversaries.

Even small proposed cuts are likely to draw heavy criticism from Republicans who have argued that a smaller nuclear force would weaken the U.S. at a time when Russia, China and others are strengthening their nuclear capabilities. They also argue that shrinking the American arsenal would undermine the credibility of the nuclear "umbrella" that the United States provides for allies such as Japan, South Korea and Turkey, who might otherwise build their own nuclear forces.

The administration last year began considering a range of possible future reductions below the levels agreed in the New START treaty with Russia that took effect one year ago. Options are expected to be presented to Obama soon. The force levels he settles on will form the basis of a new strategic nuclear war plan to be produced by the Pentagon.

The U.S. already is on track to reduce to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads by 2018, as required by New START. As of last Sept. 1, the United States had 1,790 warheads and Russia had 1,566, according to treaty-mandated reports by each. The treaty does not bar either country from cutting below 1,550 on their own.

Those who favor additional cuts argue that nuclear weapons have no role in major security threats of the 21st century, such as terrorism. A 2010 nuclear policy review by the Pentagon said the U.S. nuclear arsenal also is "poorly suited" to deal with challenges posed by "unfriendly regimes seeking nuclear weapons" ? an apparent reference to Iran.

It's unclear what calculus went into each of the three options now under consideration at the White House.

The notion of a 300-weapon arsenal is featured prominently in a paper written for the Pentagon by a RAND National Defense Project Institute analyst last October, in the early stages of the administration's review of nuclear requirements. The author, Paul K. Davis, wrote that he was not advocating any particular course of action but sought to provide an analytic guide for how policymakers could think about the implications of various levels of nuclear reductions.

Davis wrote that an arsenal of 300 weapons might be considered adequate for deterrence purposes if that force level was part of a treaty with sound anti-cheating provisions; if the U.S. deployed additional non-nuclear weapons with global reach, and if the U.S. had "hypothetically excellent," if limited, defenses against long- and medium-range nuclear missiles.

New U.S. cuts could open the prospect for a historic reshaping of the American nuclear arsenal, which for decades has stood on three legs: submarine-launched ballistic missiles, ground-based ballistic missiles and weapons launched from big bombers like the B-52 and the stealthy B-2. The traditional rationale for this "triad" of weaponry is that it is essential to surviving any nuclear exchange.

As recently as last month the administration said it was keeping the triad intact under current plans, while also hinting at future cuts to the force. In the 2013 defense budget submitted to Congress on Monday, the administration proposed a two-year delay in the development of a new generation of ballistic missile submarines that carry nuclear weapons. That will save an estimated $4.3 billion over five years.

In congressional testimony last November, the Pentagon's point man on nuclear policy, James N. Miller, declined to say what options for force reductions the administration was considering. Rep. Michael Turner, a Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee, unsuccessfully pressed Miller for key details about his policy review. As recently as last month Turner said in an interview that he feared the administration was bent on cutting the force.

In his written testimony at a Nov. 2 hearing chaired by Turner, Miller made it clear that the administration was making a fundamental reassessment of nuclear weapons requirements. In unusually stark terms he said the critical question at hand was "what to do" if a nuclear-armed state or non-state entity could not be deterred from launching an attack.

"In effect, we are asking: what are the guiding concepts for employing nuclear weapons to deter adversaries of the United States, and what are the guiding concepts for ending a nuclear conflict on the best possible terms if one has started?" he said.

Nuclear stockpile numbers are closely guarded secrets in most states that possess them, but private nuclear policy experts say no countries other than the U.S. and Russia are thought to have more than 300. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that France has about 300, China about 240, Britain about 225, and Israel, India and Pakistan roughly 100 each.

Since taking office Obama has put heavy emphasis on reducing the role and number of nuclear weapons as part of a broader strategy for limiting the global spread of nuclear arms technology and containing the threat of nuclear terrorism. That strategy is being put to the test most urgently by Iran's suspected pursuit of a nuclear bomb.___Robert Burns can be followed on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-02-14-Nuclear%20Weapons/id-7fcf37fbed33450daa8919dcbf31f126

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