Myanmar reforms likely to continue: U.S. State Department official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top State Department official on Tuesday said he was optimistic Myanmar would stay on the path of political and economic reforms, but warned potential U.S. investors they face a complicated business environment there.

"I do think from the conversations I've have had (with Myanmar leaders) that there is a general understanding if they were really to retreat from this, there would be a lot of social pressure against them," Under Secretary of State Robert Hormats told the Washington International Trade Association.

"My baseline scenario is they will continue to move in the direction of reform," because the average Myanmar citizen's growing expectation of increased economic and civil liberties makes it hard for the government to reverse course, he said.

Myanmar, also known by its former colonial name of Burma, began emerging last year from decades of isolation when its long-time military dictator, Than Shwe, stepped aside and a quasi-civilian government took over.

The new government, led by President Thein Sein, a former military general, has started overhauling the country's economy, easing media censorship, legalizing trade unions and protests and freeing political prisoners.

The United States has responded by easing some sanctions, starting with a decision this month to allow U.S. companies to invest in Myanmar and provide financial services there.

Hormats repeated Washington was prepared to lift additional sanctions on an "action for action" basis and noted that Thein Sein has promised another wave of reform.

Meanwhile, a bill to reauthorize a long-time U.S. import ban on Myanmar through July 2015 is currently pending in Congress, but would allow the White House to ease those and other sanctions in response to additional steps.

Although Myanmar is rich in natural resources like oil and gas, timber, jewels and agricultural crop land, it has relatively few processing industries and is poor compared to neighbors such as Thailand, China and Vietnam.

That has fueled visions of U.S. and foreign countries rushing into an untapped market with huge investments.

Hormats downplayed that possibility, at least in the near terms, saying "I don't see a big gush of money coming in."

While the Myanmar government is eager for U.S. investment to help diversify its economy, the country faces a number of "capacity" challenges, such as a shortage of skilled government workers to process business applications, he said.

"This notion that there's going to be a rush of American capital coming in there - there probably won't," he said.

"Burma is a very complex place and if you're going to invest, you have to do a lot of due diligence," he said.

One reason is the sensitivities of ethnic minorities, who remember the difficult relations they have had with the military government and past investment deals that pushed some of them off their land, Hormats said.

Companies also need to tread carefully because of local concerns about the environmental impact of investments, he said.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/myanmar-reforms-likely-continue-u-state-department-official-162922824.html

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Homemade tech to reduce India's cyber threats

India should be using only locally-developed technology to fend off cyberespionage activities as foreign-made equipment can be manipulated by other countries for spying.

According to a report by the Economic Times on Sunday, cybersecurity analyst Jiten Jain said there are countries which are subsidizing their domestic IT companies to sell products abroad below cost prices in order to facilitate spying on other nations. This happens not just between feuding nations, but among friendly countries too, he said.

"Only using complete, indigenously-developed technology can save [India] from espionage," Jain said.

The cybersecurity analyst added telecom networks and smartphones can be bugged, and there have been cases in which the equipment automatically updates itself without the user's knowledge. Malware is also evolving and can self-destruct or be programmed for one-time use during the critical stage of a hack, he said.

The report added that Indian authorities urged ethical hackers to work with them to spread awareness and detect vulnerabilities in the networks.

In 2011, a Malaysian university professor expressed similar sentiments as Jain. The professor said Malaysia must develop its own IT security software to reduce data leaks and intelligence breaches from foreign software.

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/homemade-tech-to-reduce-indias-cyber-threats-7000001769/

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Personal Financing Recommendations With All The Capability To ...

The effective use of the guidelines of fund with an individual?s or household unit?s monetary selections is named personalized finance. There are many elements to personal financing, plus they consist of however are not limited by checking and financial savings profiles, bank cards, client lending options (car loans, home loan), market ventures, retirement living strategies, and insurance plans.

Be cautious when loaning cash in your children or grandchildren and take into account offering the cash as a gift idea rather. Prior to personal loan any cash to a family member, you should think of the effects when the funds are by no means repaid. Keep in mind, financial loans between family members usually lead to a lot of quarrels.

This really is, probably, the easiest personalized finance suggestion of all, but it so often becomes ignored. If you would like consider control of your funds along with your checking account, you need to lower your expenses than you get. Shelling out over you generate can be a menu for fiscal catastrophe.

Writing inspections is an easy way to shed eyesight. Sit down with a calculator and pen, and maintain your checkbook structured, and well-balanced. Undertake it at least one time on a monthly basis.

Cash spent on a house to live in is a far greater purchase than dollars used on a residence to turnover to get an income. If you?re seeking to make some form of monetary obtain, the housing industry is absolutely anything you need to stay away from today. It could possibly cripple your individual finances in irreparable ways.

Whenever you can lower a minumum of one position, refinance your own mortgage. The refinancing expenses are considerable, but it will likely be worthwhile when you can decrease your interest by at least one %. Re-financing your property mortgage will decrease the general get your interest pay on your own mortgage loan.

Never ever co-sign a friend?s loan. Co-signing will make a threesome ?? the creditor, your good friend and also you ?? that too often finishes badly, possibly impacting your very own credit. Don?t do it if you do not are likely to pay for the bank loan on your own. Since you are evenly accountable, you?ll be hounded to produce good in case your friend defaults.

Personalized financing is a way to deal with the various uses of financial assets allotted to an individual or family model. It takes into mind the methods the economic sources are received, budgeted, preserved, or expended over time and also entails the different fiscal hazards and possible future situations.

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Source: http://all-articles-directory.com/personal-financing-recommendations-with-all-the-capability-to-change-the-way-you-conserve-and-commit/

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Celebrities Read Mean Tweets On Jimmy Kimmel - Business Insider

Some Twitter trolls take their insults just a little bit too far.

Just ask Jimmy Kimmel and the dozens of celebrities he asked to read mean tweets directed at them.

One tweet directed at (and read by) Katy Perry in the video reads: I would rather chop my arm off & *expletive* myself with my detached limb than watch "Katie perry the movie" What the *expletive* is wrong with the world.

This expletive- and typo-laden insult is a pretty standard tweet these celebrities read every day.

Posted on YouTube last Wednesday, this?Jimmy Kimmel Live! segment went viral and has so far racked up over 4.3 million views.

Watch celebrities read mean tweets directed at them and find out what other videos dominated YouTube this week.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-read-mean-tweets-on-jimmy-kimmel-2012-7

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ItsMeJoolie: I'm at California Roll & Sushi Fish (Los Angeles, CA) http://t.co/y0LiZKdr

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://twitter.com/ItsMeJoolie/statuses/229760374432485376

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India beats China in export growth rate: WTO

New Delhi: India has overtaken China in exports growth rate recording an increase of 16.1 per cent in 2011, topping the list of all major trading countries in the world, says a WTO report.

"India had the fastest export growth among major traders in 2011, with shipments rising 16.1 per cent. Meanwhile, China had the second-fastest export growth of any major economy at 9.3 per cent," World Trade Report 2012 of WTO said.

In 2010, China topped the list with shipment growth rate of 28.4 per cent, while India recorded an increase of 22 per cent.

According to experts, the Indian government's and exporters endeavour of diversification of export markets have benefitted the country's shipments.

"Mainly the diversification of markets to Middle East countries, South East Asia and China have yielded good results for Indian exports," Director of the country's prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) K T Chaco said.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Rafeeq Ahmed also said market and product diversification strategy have yielded positive results.

After the economic slowdown in the India's traditional export markets - the US and Europe, the government had extended incentives to exporters to explore new markets, including in regions like Latin America and Africa.

In 2011, world merchandise trade volume grew by 5 per cent, while "Asia's 6.6 per cent increase led all regions", the report said.

Further, it said that in commercial services exports, the European Union tops the chart with USD 789 billion worth of shipments, 24.8 per cent of the world total.

It was followed by the US ($ 578 billion, 18.2 per cent), China ($ 182 billion, 5.7 per cent), India ($ 148 billion, 4.7 per cent) and Japan ($ 143 billion, 4.5 per cent).

The EU, it said, also becomes the leading importer ($ 639 billion, 21.1 per cent of the world total), followed by the US ($ 391 billion, 12.9 per cent), China ($ 236 billion, 7.8 per cent), Japan ($ 165 billion, 5.4 per cent) and India ($ 130 billion, 4.3 per cent).

However, the report has put India, Indonesia and Argentina among the main countries imposing maximum non-tariff measures.

"The recent increase in restrictive measures is attributable to a number of developments, including stricter import controls and licensing requirements in some countries, as well as import prohibitions imposed on some Japanese goods following the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011," it said.

Source: http://economictimes.feedsportal.com/fy/8av2Fvy0cOicX2qE/story01.htm

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Video Conferencing Technology: Shaping the Future

The technology of video conferencing -long the domain of science fiction movies from the 1960?s onwards ? has become a daily reality in today?s world thanks to VOIP systems like Skype, Vonage and other purely web based platforms like GoToMeeting.

Video conferencing technology is improving on an annual basis and this is happening in tandem with steady improvements in bandwidth allowances, streaming video rendering and wireless connectivity. These accessory technologies are vital to the continuous growth of Video conferencing and its future developments.

At the current time, video chat is overwhelmingly being used for private communications amongst friends, family and relatives over the internet. Business use is also very widespread but usually reserved for less important situations unless an ultra-high speed broadband connection can be guaranteed.??Furthermore, as more and more mobile devices like tablets, smart phones and lap tops have VOIP and video chat applications built into them, and as more people use devices of the same technological quality, we?re seeing a constant rise in video chat sessions being done between friends and family instead of classic phone calls.

In addition to a multitude of downloadable applications software for video conferencing, there are also a number of web based platforms being developed. One notable example is GotoMeeting, which allows users to subscribe to video meeting capacity as an almost completely website based service.

Future Uses

The above are just the currently common uses of this powerful emerging video communication technology. Many more and of a much more advanced and important nature are still waiting around the corner or just barely being developed at the moment. Already, numerous trials are being conducted in areas such as the medical field and the criminal justice system. In the case of medicine, videoconferencing is being slowly introduced as a medium through which doctors and distant specialists can give opinions, expertise and even diagnose or recommend treatment solutions strictly through video sessions. One recent experiment conducted jointly by the Boone County Jail and Columbia Municipal Court in Boone County, Missouri illustrates another use for video conferencing; the court hearings of offenders were conducted with the defendants? participation through streaming video chat instead of a personal visit. The project was soon scrapped due to video quality and transmission problems, but the fact that it was tried at all illustrates how the push in a video chat intensive future is underway.

Other future uses of video conferencing include military planning sessions, public debates amongst politicians and political conferences amongst world leaders. All of these are already being conducted, but the scale and scope will eventually increase dramatically.

It?s not just the user-end aspects of video conferencing that are going to see heavy expansion; hardware and software are changing and improving too. In the near future it will almost certainly be possible to create video display units that seamlessly and unobtrusively cover an entire wall or are meshed with a CEO?s work desk. Soon enough we may even see the advanced development of 3D conferencing technology that allows collaboration based on three-dimensional object and product designs

Numerous major tech players have clued into the enormous potential of telepresence services and products. Companies like Hewlett Packard, Cisco and Life Size Communications Inc, amongst others, have all been busy developing technology solutions for ultra HD video conferencing, full scale integration into home, office and mobile work spaces, and into creating the new data collaboration tools that will inevitably have to go along with any widespread workable use of video conferencing.

These same companies and others are also working intensely on seamlessly combining IM, voice, data exchange and clear video technologies into a single multimedia communications experience that can be used by professionals under even the most demanding reliability requirements in almost any occupation.

The Technology Issues of Video Conferencing

Most of the basic technologies for fully fleshed out video conferencing already exist. Integration of visual displays into wall, table and other office features is already at a commercial state of development while communications security through video chat on the web is also extremely robust and unlikely to be broken if applied correctly. In fact, videoconferencing security technology, with its multi-bit encryption systems for communications, is probably one of the most developed aspects of the field.

Furthermore, HD video capacity and the kinds of codecs and cameras that can handle high resolution communications displays are also already available on the market.

The single biggest problem still faced by video conferencing is bandwidth limitation. The raw data load of real-time HD video alone is very high and gets larger still when the on the fly information sharing and the document or image transfer are considered. These are obligatory for important meetings and need to be addressed. For the moment, numerous advances in video chat and meetings exist without a means of cheaply bringing them into the mainstream. Large corporate, government and institutional bodies may be able to make use of the latest in high bandwidth for totally smooth video meetings, but smaller businesses and private individuals are still stuck with often rough video that negates use in serious applications.

Once internet connectivity improves, and even more so once wireless data transmission capacity grows, then we?ll see a retail explosion in video that dwarfs even what?s already being seen. This technology is going to change communications and business collaboration in some extraordinarily efficient ways.

This guest contribution was submitted by?Steven Chalmers, reviews different video conferencing providers. In his free time, he researches the latest in technology news.?If you would like to write for us, join?Cyber World Community.

Source: http://www.esoftload.info/video-conferencing-technology-shaping-the-future

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Friend: Md. man held in shooting plot gentle giant

This image provided by by Mike Cochran shows Neil E. Prescott in an undated photo. Cochran, a friend of Prescott, says the Maryland man accused of threatening to shoot up his workplace is a "gentle giant" who collected weapons and had expressed concerns about break-ins near his apartment complex. Cochran tells The Associated Press on Saturday, July 28, 2012, that he thinks Prescott did not intend for his comments to be taken seriously. Cochran says Prescott was known for having a sarcastic sense of humor. (AP Photo/Mike Cochran)

This image provided by by Mike Cochran shows Neil E. Prescott in an undated photo. Cochran, a friend of Prescott, says the Maryland man accused of threatening to shoot up his workplace is a "gentle giant" who collected weapons and had expressed concerns about break-ins near his apartment complex. Cochran tells The Associated Press on Saturday, July 28, 2012, that he thinks Prescott did not intend for his comments to be taken seriously. Cochran says Prescott was known for having a sarcastic sense of humor. (AP Photo/Mike Cochran)

This undated handout photo provided by the Prince George's, Md. County Police shows weapons found in the possession of a suspect who they say was plotting a shooting in his workplace. Police in Maryland say a man who called himself "a joker" and threatened to shoot up his workplace was in the process of being fired. Police say the 28-year-old man was taken into custody Friday morning. Investigators said he was wearing a T-shirt that said "Guns don't kill people. I do." He was taken into custody for an emergency mental health evaluation and charges are pending. (AP Photo/Prince George's County Police)

Prince George's County, Md. Police Chief Mark Magaw answers questions at the Prince George's County Police Headquarters in Palmer Park, Md., Friday, July 27, 2012, after a news conference to discuss a suspect who police say was plotting a shooting in his workplace. A Maryland man calling himself "a joker" is accused of threatening to shoot up the business from which he was about to be fired and was wearing a T-shirt that read "Guns don't kill people. I do," when he first talked to officers who arrested him, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Prince George's County, Md. Police Chief Mark Magaw speaks at a news conference at the Prince George's County Police Headquarters in Palmer Park, Md., Friday, July 27, 2012, to discuss a suspect who police say was plotting a shooting in his workplace. A Maryland man calling himself "a joker" is accused of threatening to shoot up the business from which he was about to be fired and was wearing a T-shirt that read "Guns don't kill people. I do," when he first talked to officers who arrested him, police said Friday. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Prince George's County Police Chief Mark Magaw listens at left as Deputy Chief Henry Stawinski, with the Bureau of Forensic Science and Intelligence, speaks at a news conference at the Prince George's County Police Headquarters in Palmer Park, Md., Friday, July 27, 2012, to discuss a suspect who they say was plotting a shooting in his workplace. Police in Maryland say a man who called himself "a joker" and threatened to shoot up his workplace was in the process of being fired. Police say the 28-year-old man was taken into custody Friday morning. Investigators said he was wearing a T-shirt that said "Guns don't kill people. I do." He was taken into custody for an emergency mental health evaluation and charges are pending. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? To his friends, Neil E. Prescott was a "gentle giant" ? a physically towering young man with a background in computers and electronics and a sarcastic, even biting, sense of humor that people close to him knew to shrug off as innocuous.

But police say they had no choice but to take it seriously when Prescott threatened to shoot up his workplace and referred to himself as "a joker," comments that raised particular alarm in the wake of last week's mass shooting at a Colorado theater during the latest Batman movie. The man accused in those shootings dyed his hair reddish-orange, and New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said the man called himself the Joker ? a reference to Batman's nemesis.

Prescott, 28, was taken into custody early Friday at his apartment in Maryland, where officers found several thousand rounds of ammunition and a cache of about two dozen weapons including semi-automatic rifles and pistols. He was receiving an emergency psychiatric evaluation at a hospital and had not been charged as of Saturday afternoon.

Two friends told The Associated Press Saturday that they couldn't imagine that Prescott, who was in the process of being fired or already had lost his job, intended to be taken seriously when he allegedly told a supervisor: "I'm a joker and I'm gonna load my guns and blow everybody up."

"Neil's the kind of guy who had the ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time and not mean anything by it. So to him, he thinks it's funny," said Wesley Weber, who said his friend, at 6 feet 7 inches, was a "gentle giant" prone to bouts of exaggeration and inappropriate jokes who "talked big but didn't walk the walk."

"He has the ability," Weber added, "to say things that could be taken out of context."

Another friend, Mike Cochran, said Prescott has a history of wearing T-shirts with sarcastic, provocative and even inflammatory messages and is "no stranger to sarcasm regardless of political correctness." When first approached by officers, police say, Prescott was wearing a shirt that said "Guns don't kill people. I do."

"The Neil I know made those comments sarcastically in an environment where he felt he could make them without being taken seriously," Cochran said in an email.

Friends say that over the years, Prescott had shown deep interest in hobbies like such as computer software, electronics and ham radio. His clique of friends at one time gathered at parties to play multi-player video games and consume the highly caffeinated Jolt cola, Weber recalled. A sometime disc jockey, he'd also spin house music at Baltimore nightclubs and was the DJ for Cochran's bachelor party in 2005.

In recent years, though, he'd cultivated a passion for collecting firearms. He'd practice his shot at the training range, friends said, and communicate online with fellow gun enthusiasts about the ins and outs of firearm equipment and gun laws. At least some of the firearms recovered from his apartment in Crofton, near Annapolis, appear to have been legally owned, authorities said.

A search for Neil Prescott on a website that tracks users' online activities led to a profile that appears to be him on mdshooters.com, a website for Maryland gun hobbyists. On it, he trades advice about firearms with a display of technical know-how while at times expressing concern about break-ins near his apartment and detailing interactions with the police.

Cochran, who also posts on the site, said he doesn't know when Prescott started his gun collection but that he had been anxious about home invasions. He said he received one message from Prescott last November that said, "Might be sleeping in tomorrow, just had a suspicious male at my door. Notified PD but am gonna be lookin out tonight. Some crazy breakins near me recently."

In March, he provoked a spirited back-and-forth on the site when he complained that two police officers responding to a possible break-in at a nearby apartment "told me never to answer the door on my own property carrying." He said he called a sergeant to complain about the directive.

Last week, he was still on the site, talking with fellow users about 30-round magazines and boasting about his night-vision goggles.

"During the power outage i spent lots of time loading mags and mounting lights, when the zombie apocalypse comes i'll be ready," he wrote.

Maryland state court records for Prescott list only a speeding ticket in 2007. It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Police say Prescott, an employee of a subcontractor for software and mailroom supplier Pitney Bowes, made the threats during two Monday morning phone conversations with a supervisor. The supervisor, who declined to comment Saturday to a reporter who came to his house, said the comments made him afraid, especially because he was aware of Prescott's weapons' cache.

Prescott at one point said he wished to see his supervisor's "brain splatter all over the sidewalk," but also acknowledged that he shouldn't be saying such things over the phone, according to a search warrant applications. The threats were reported to the police, who paid an initial visit to Prescott's apartment on Thursday before taking him into custody Friday morning.

Cochran said he's known Prescott since 2001, when they were colleagues at a technical support outsourcing company. He said Prescott was a network engineer.

"With his skill set and education he would have had no problems finding other work with good pay. Neil did not at any point indicate to me that he had problems with where he was working," Cochran wrote.

Pitney Bowes spokeswoman Carol Wallace said Prescott had not been on any company property in at least four months. It wasn't clear why he was losing his job.

Weber said he thought the remark was inappropriate, but that it was bound to receive more attention now than it may have years ago, especially one week after the Colorado shooting.

"We live in a different world now," he said.

___

Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://twitter.com/etuckerAP

___

Associated Press writer Brian Witte and AP researcher Judith Ausuebel contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-07-28-Maryland%20Shooting%20Plot/id-cf159662a1314bc4ab145a71968ea7b0

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Video: How to Make Long Distance Connection Not Suck? | michael ...

Posted on | July 28, 2012 | Comments Off

It?s a very noble and romantic thought to consider that love can keep on irrespective of what the distance is, and to believe that you can handle anything that comes the right path. Numerous individuals have attempted to keep a distance relationship with a great deal of hope and vigor, only to find out that it can be awfully alone and keep them wanting for a great deal more. When you get to that point, you may realize that the long distance relationship wants to come to a conclusion, but that could be hard to do. After all, if you still very much like the person and not the problem, it can leave you feeling like an emotional wreck to think about ending things.What are some suggestions for ending a long distance relationship in a way that will leave you feeling okay about it?Tip Number 1 ? Sit down and really experience things out to make certain that this is the best conclusion to make.You probably have a pretty good feeling that the relationship needs to finish, but before you go and make something final, you definitely wish to really mull things over completely. Often, people will understand that there are things that the things can do to make things flow a bit more easily and take a look at the specific situation. Plus, you?ll have the additional advantage of knowing that you really did think things out all the way and that you?re doing the proper thing if you give yourself the time to think things over fully.Tip Number Two ? You need to have a long discussion with your partner.This is especially true if you do care for them still and the condition is really the reason why you need to break up with them. You do not wish to hurt their feelings and their feelings, and you need to give your self some real closure so that you do not look right back on things and feel badly concerning the way that they proved. Make certain that you give yourself and your partner the time and awareness of obviously have a long conversation as long because they are willing to do so.Tip Number Three ? You need to get yourself back out and socializing right after issues end.This is more for the actual fact that you?ll oftimes be experiencing some very unhappy minutes right after ending the relationship and you may get the desire to call up your ex lover partner and get back together even though nothing has changed. To help keep yourself from doing this, produce a point of having out and interacting straight away so you can kind of ignore what happened for a time and receive some enjoyment into your life.

Visit our site for more information about things to do in a long distance relationship.

Comments

Source: http://how-guide.com/2012/07/video-how-to-make-long-distance-connection-not-suck/

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For Family Y Child Care Teachers, the Learning Never Stops ...

The Westport Weston Family Y?s Early Learning Program ? encompassing enriching programs for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, Kinderkids, and school age children ? begins its Fall session on Aug. 20. But it?s not like the teachers of this highly regarded program have taken the summer off. Aside from offering a summer full of exciting curricula, before the bell rings in another school year, there?s a week of professional development workshops (including home visits to create/strengthen bonds between teachers and families).

Indeed, like the young children in their care, learning never stops for the Family Y?s teachers.

?This fall we?re working closely with Norwalk Community College (NCC) to enhance our teachers? skills with the specific age groups and the children they are teaching,? says Tasha Dennison, Senior Director of Child Care and School Age programs for the Family Y. ?Even if you have a Master?s degree in education ? and all our teachers do have college degrees ? knowing where your group is developmentally and teaching specifically to that age group is essential. That?s where our connections to professors in the Early Childhood Department at NCC are going to be helpful.?

Serving children in its range of programs for kids from six months to fifth grade and operating five days a week, from 7 am to 6 pm, the Family Y is the area?s largest, most comprehensive provider of child care services. It?s also one of the few local programs to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation?s leading organization of early childhood professionals.

?A mark of excellence held by just 8 percent of programs in the country, NAEYC accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and early-learning experiences possible,? says Rob Reeves, Family Y CEO.

The curriculum in each room of the Family Y?s child care center, located in a large suite of classrooms and offices in what was once the downstairs bowling alley and billiards room of the Y?s downtown Bedford Building, is built around the strengths, needs and interests of the individual children. The teachers in each room use their knowledge about child development, regarding what is age appropriate, and then customize the classroom to what is individually appropriate.

A great example of this expertise in practice (and play) is Kelly Russo, or ?Miss Kelly? to all who know her.

?Kelly is the head teacher of our infant & toddler program and she teaches our Kinderkids in the afternoon. Though she has a degree from NCC, she?ll be going back for specialized certification in infant/toddler development,? says Dennison. ?There^?s always something cutting-edge and new in early learning, so it?s important for our teachers and me to stay on the pulse of what?s new and what?s changing ? specifically, in terms of curriculum and the most developmentally appropriate practices.?

?Kelly is described as a ?powerhouse.? I think that speaks to her ability to connect with the children, and their parents, know the children?s schedules during the day and anticipating their needs. Kelly?s funny and takes things in stride. If someone?s having a meltdown in the corner, she?ll say, ?I?m here for you, I?m listening and I?m ready when you are.? She?s patient, and loving ? and has a great reputation around town. I know parents tell others who are looking to place their children, say, ?you want Miss Kelly???

When asked to describe what stands out in her career at the Y, one thing Kelly Russo will tell you is ?siblings.? Not hers ? but those of her Y family. ?I?ll have a child go on to kindergarten, and then I?ll get their younger brother or sister. It?s good to have roots like that in the community,? says Russo, who has been teaching at the Family Y for 12 years and resides in Bridgeport.

In addition to keeping up with early education developments and innovations, earlier this year the Family Y?s Early Learning Program also incorporated new standards developed by the YMCA of the USA and other national groups to ensure that more children have access to healthy food and physical activity.

?Part of our certification program with Norwalk Community College is Health Safety and Nutrition, which brings us even more in line with the Y USA?s healthy living standards,? says Dennison.

The Westport Weston Family Y Early Learning Program offers developmentally appropriate care to meet the needs of families who live and work in Westport, Weston and surrounding communities. Financial aid is available.

For more information about the Family Y?s Early Learning and School Age programs, please visit www.westporty.org, or contact Tasha Dennison, at 203-226-8981, ext. 113, or tdennison@westporty.org.

Source: http://westport.patch.com/announcements/for-family-y-child-care-teachers-the-learning-never-stops

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Pakistan invites Indian prime minister to visit

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Pakistan's president has invited India's prime minister to visit, the latest sign of thawing relations between the historical arch enemies.

The Pakistani government says President Asif Ali Zardari extended the invitation Friday in a letter sent to Prime Minister Manhoman Singh.

Zardari met with Singh in April during a brief pilgrimage to a Muslim shrine in neighboring India.

Both countries were carved out of British India and achieved independence in 1947. They have fought three major wars since then, two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Relations have improved somewhat over the last year, especially with respect to trade. But they still harbor major disagreements and view each other with suspicion.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-invites-indian-prime-minister-visit-192501908.html

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Ways Small Businesses & Nonprofits Can Increase Productivity ...

By: Let?s Talk Biz
If you are like most small business owners you want to increase your productivity and have more time to do the things you like best. Well, here are three easy steps that we talked about on Let?s Talk Biz: planning, execution, and service. Now, let?s take a look at planning. Do most people have a plan for life or for today? Yes, but it may not be the right plan. A good plan is aligned with the laws of success. Here are some things to keep in mind as you plan:

1. Be open to change.
A detailed and well thought out plan is good, but you can?t plan for every occurrence or situation. Make sure any plan you create isn?t too rigid, allow room for adjustment.

2. Communicate early and often.
Communication is key to any plan make sure you get input and feedback from anyone and everyone who will be involved in the project or the end goal.

Now, that you have a successful plan, what?s next? Execution, planning is important, but if you never put your plan in to action then you are missing the point. As you execute your plan keep the following in mind:

1. Break into Chunks.
As you execute your plan it can be easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do so focus on finishing one small part of the plan at a time, and avoid multitasking.

2. Focus on the positive.
Once you put your plan in to action you will run across obstacles you didn?t expect. Make adjustments and continue. Dealing with these obstacles can drain you. So, stay focused on the benefits and carry out your plan.

What about service? Remember that your primary reason for being in business it to serve the needs of the customer. Problems occur when companies lose sight of this fact. A few tips to better serve your customers:

1. Give them something more.
Whether it?s a discount, free information, or a genuine smile, customers love to receive more than they thought they were getting. A gesture need not be large to be effective.

2. Show your employees appreciation.
Employees are your internal customers treat them with respect and they are more likely to treat customers with respect.

Finally, check out Let?s Talk Biz?s best pick of the week to help you with the process of planning, execution and service ? MindManger. MindManager lets you turn brainstorming into action and plan using an interactive environment that shows overviews and details in a clear format. MindManager helps validate priorities, get buy-in on goals and strategies, and map out timelines.

More tips, join host Carolyn Winston and Addison Sims next week on Let?s Talk Biz and for marketing support register for our FREE Small Business Mentor Prot?g? webinars, letstalkbiz.biz. Until we meet again, keep talking biz!

This is a sponsored content post

Source: http://dailybuzznation.com/2012/07/ways-small-businesses-nonprofits-can-increase-productivity/

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Dude! New York grocery store creates ?man aisle? stocked with condoms, beer, beef jerky

This aisle could use some more "man" items. (Lisa Poole/AP)

A grocery store on Manhattan's Upper West Side has created what appears to be New York City's first "man aisle."

"Initially it was a joke," George Zoitas, owner of the Westside Market on 110th Street and Broadway, told CBS radio. "We were tossing around an idea about maybe making a man section with everything a man would need, whatever men buy."

Zoitas and Ian Joskowitz, the store's chief operating officer, decided to put their man-fantasy to the test. The "Man Isle," unveiled Wednesday, includes everything men need, from beer to barbecue sauce.

That would be beef jerky, condoms and razors, among other dude-specific sundries.

"Get ready to stock up your man cave!" the New York Post exclaimed.

The shelves are stocked with Doritos, Stubbs marinades, assorted salsas and Poland Spring--which is all men really need to survive.

"Guys don't like taking lists when they go shopping," Zoitas added. "This helps them remember what they need."

Zoitas hopes to expand the man aisle-program to other Westside Market locations in Manhattan and New Jersey.

And you should expect to see "man aisles" popping up in stores across the country. According to a 2011 survey of 1,000 fathers conducted by Yahoo and DB5, a market research firm, 51 percent said they were the primary grocery shoppers in their household.

And according to a 2011 Chicago Tribune report, Procter & Gamble Co. began testing "man aisles" in 2009 and had planned to test them in some Wal-Mart, Target and Walgreens stores this year.

"Many men were terribly uncomfortable with the shopping experience," P&G spokesman Damon Jones told the paper. "Our intent in creating guy aisles was to give them an experience that was comfortable for them and made it easier to navigate the store."

More rationale from the Tribune (emphasis ours):

In many stores, men's personal-care products were scattered across different aisles, often in subprime locations like a bottom shelf or the end of an aisle, Jones said. Men had little patience searching for lotion and body wash, especially when weaving through contingents of women and teenage girls.

The man aisle puts all men's products, including P&G competitors, in one place, with shelf displays and even small TV screens to guide men to the appropriate skin-care items. Jones said the tests have gone well, with men spending more time in the aisles and, ultimately, more money.

Some women aren't necessarily thrilled about the man-aisle trend.

"Oh, brother," Cassie Murdoch wrote on Jezebel.com in response to the Tribune story. "Shopping as a guy sounds like way more fun! But did anyone stop to think that maybe it's not some sort of genetic thing that makes men less hurried, maybe it's just that they can afford to spend more time because they don't have 16,000 other things that still need to get done on the homefront? Grrr."

On BusinessInsider.com, Jill Krasny said man aisles "might be the most backhanded slap at consumers we've ever seen."

"Just what were marketers thinking when they rolled out man aisles?" she wrote. "Oh yeah, they were thinking about capitalizing on the recessionary trend of more men buying groceries than women."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/man-aisle-163405559.html

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Obama gets ahead of Romney on Israel

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton listens at left as President Barack Obama speaks to members of the media during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July, 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton listens at left as President Barack Obama speaks to members of the media during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July, 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to reporters in front of 10 Downing Street after meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London, Thursday, July 26, 2012. (AP PhotoCharles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is reaffirming U.S. ties with Israel, upstaging Mitt Romney one day before the Republican challenger visits Jerusalem.

The White House says Obama will sign legislation Friday that expands military and civilian cooperation with Israel. The bill passed by voice vote in the House last week. The bill reiterates U.S. support for a negotiated two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Romney is a critic of Obama's policy toward Israel. He arrives in Jerusalem on Saturday on an overseas trip that includes Britain and Poland.

The White House subtly injected itself into Romney's trip on Thursday after Romney caused a stir by calling London's problems with Olympics preparation "disconcerting."

White House spokesman Jay Carney says Obama "has the utmost confidence" in Britain's ability to host the games.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-07-27-Obama/id-ef9c53f8c22b4663afd041b819bcaac7

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ARA: Wedding drama, heartbreak and financial and marital strain ...

I am the second oldest of four siblings (all girls). This is in regards to my youngest sister ?K? and her upcoming wedding. K and her finance have known each other and dated since high school. They went off to college together and at some point became engaged while still in college. After graduating college, they decided to move to Las Vegas to pursue careers in the field of their degrees (culinary/hospitality). Last year, late July/early August, K?s finance decided to re-ask my sister to marry him and buy her a new ring, and actually make plans for a wedding.

I was very happy for them both because her finance put a lot of thought into asking her the big question (again?) and I know my sister really does love him and this is the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with. K and finance start planning said wedding, in Las Vegas. Both of their families are from the Saratoga region.

It becomes clear right from the beginning that we are all expected to go to Vegas for the wedding. K asks me to be a bridesmaid; I agree with hesitation and then later realize that I have to tell her that I can not afford to go to wedding. (It was a rough winter for my husband and me). K tells me to leave my husband at home, open a credit card in order to get free flights, ect, ect, ect.

Pretty much, ?I don?t care what you do, just make it happen.? (Not a direct quote, but it was something similar) I turn to our parents for advice; get told that I ?HAVE? to go, she was in your wedding, this is what she wants, ect. Ugh. Talk about a rock and a hard place. Can?t afford trip, but have to go? So, against my better judgment, I make this happen by draining my savings (which was being saved for a house) and running up credit card debt.

What else was I suppose to do? K does not talk to me again after initial phone conversation in February, so as of the last time I talked to her- she knew I was unsure if I would be able to make it or not. Fast forward to June, when it is time for K?s bridal shower. K came home for her shower and stayed for the weekend. K left to go back to Vegas. K has not talked to me since. I have put aside so many things in my life to make this trip happen. I gave up a lot of my hopes and dreams (including being able to buy a house sometime in the next century) for my sister?s wedding. And she has not once called to chat, check in with me, or anything. And what I can gather from her other bridesmaids is the same thing. (Except for her MOH).

My husband and I are spending over $3000 to be a part/attend this wedding, but you can?t even talk to me? I feel so bitter, angry and resentful towards her (and my parents) about this. And now, K sends me an e-mail with an itinerary for the week we are in Vegas, and everyday we are there, she has something wedding related planned! Me and husband have never been to Vegas and were hoping to take a little time to spend on our own and enjoy our vacation, seeing as this is the only vacation we will get this year (and maybe next year too).

Is it okay to bow out of brunches and lunches, especially if they are after the wedding? And what do I give as a wedding gift? Does my gift still need to be the same monetary value of a gift I would give if this was a local wedding and I did not have such huge travel expenses? Has anyone ever felt like they had to do something just because it involved family? Also, K is having a reception in October in Saratoga for all the guests that can not attend the wedding in Vegas. Do I have to attend that? I am just so tired of this whole wedding.

It has drained me financially, emotionally, physically and is now starting to put a strain on my relationship with my husband, and not to mention has definitely strained my relationship with my sister (Whether K realizes that or not). Any help, advice or numbers for therapists (lol) would be greatly appreciated! I will be actively looking at responses, so please feel free to ask questions!

Source: http://blog.timesunion.com/kristi/ara-wedding-drama-heartbreak-and-financial-and-marital-strain/49980/

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The Paterno Family and Fatherhood | Thinking & Driving

?The sanctions announced by the NCAA today defame the legacy and contributions of a great coach and educator without any input from our family or those who knew him best. That the president, the athletic director and the board of trustees accepted this unprecedented action by the NCAA without requiring a full due process hearing before the Committee on Infractions is an abdication of their responsibilities.? ? Statement from Paterno Family

How else do you respond to the changed reality of the man you loved, cherished, and idolized after he amade a series of decisions that ultimately destroyed the lives of so many people? His crime if you can call it that was to look the other way as some of the most disgusting crimes on the planet were committed just down the hall from his office. Does that change the fact that he was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, mentor, and philanthropist? Does it change the thousands of men?s lives he shaped as a coach for over 60 years?

I can?t imagine being in the shoes of the Paterno family. I have the privilege of standing on the outside with nothing to gain or lose and pass judgement on Penn State and the Paterno legacy. Without having known the person I?m able to say what a selfish, proud, and corrupt person Joe Paterno was. A man who put his reputation and his career before the lives of others. But what if it was my father? A man who had raised me in a loving home, taught me how to throw a football, and drive a car. He gave me advice on girls, scolded me for getting in trouble at school, and told me how proud he was of me as I got married. How could I then sit back and let someone else tell me that this man whom I love and my kids adore is anything less? Would I allow them to tell me that an entire life of devotion and good is undone by ignoring the actions of someone else?

Throughout the entire investigation of Joe Paterno and the trial of Jerry Sandusky one thought reoccurred to me, ?absolute power corrupts absolutely?. ?Joe Paterno had achieved a status that led him to believe he always had everything under control. I honestly would say he believed he was doing what was in the best interest of the school. And I will believe that he died so quickly after being fired because of a broken heart. Not for his personal legacy being tarnished, but the sad realization that he he had let down his school, his football team, and his family in a catastrophic way that no apology can ever convey.

I don?t feel sorry for Joe Paterno?s legacy. ?His statue being removed from the football stadium or the 112 wins that were erased from his record, dropping him from the winningest coach ever to eighth. ?But I do feel sorry for his family who must suffer through people retelling the story of a man who can no longer defend himself. ?Who can?t tell his story or apologize for his actions. ?They will not, nor should not, sit back idly and watch all that their father had worked for be stripped away as if Bernie Madoff ?had walked away with their life savings. ?Yes, his decision making process was flawed. ?Yes, his actions were reprehensible. And yes, his legacy should have an asterisk. ?But given that he wasn?t a monster whose secret identity was revealed, his family has every reason to remain proud defenders. ?And I give them credit for that.

Source: http://thinkinganddriving.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/the-paterno-family-and-fatherhood/

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HEALTH & FITNESS: Anti Aging Skin Care

Naturally human body is getting older and older . It experiences the process of aging.and can be seen at the lines and wrinkles on human face But many men and women want to look younger than their actual age, so that they will feel great all the time.
Fortunately the researchers have various solutions that will help them preserve the youthful look and methods to slow the aging process
Now there are many anti aging cosmetics available in the market which promise to assist you to remove wrinkles and make the skin smooth.
In addition to anti aging cosmetics, the men and women now can buy anti aging lotions and anti wrinkle creams all over the world.
The mentioned above products have stood the test of time producing apparent results and delivering excellent value for money.

Source: http://fit-online.blogspot.com/2012/07/anti-aging-skin-care.html

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College of Education opens up two classes to general enrollment ...

College of Education opens up two classes to general?enrollment

Posted by uwess on July 24, 2012 ? Comments Off?

The College of Education has taken enrollment restrictions off of two great classes typically taken by ECFS majors and some ELS minors. EdPsy 402 ? Child Development, and EdSpe 419 ? Families ? are now open to students sophomore level and above. If you have students interested in education or early childhood and working with families, please refer them to these two classes ? each has two sections open for Autumn Quarter. These would be great options for some of our transfer students coming in, and both meet I&S requirements.

EDPSY 402 Child Development and Learning (5) I&S
Uses readings, discussions, naturalistic observations, and "virtual" children to understand the different ways children develop ? physically, cognitively, social-emotionally, in language and literacy, and in approaches to learning ? during early childhood, the interplay between each of these domains and the environmental context, and the theories about the developmental mechanisms underlying these changes.

Restr 13117 A 5 MW 830-1050 THO 125 NEWMAN,JODI Open 32/ 50 

Restr 13118 B 5 TTh 200-420 SMI 102 NEWMAN,JODI Open 33/ 80 

EDSPE 419 Interventions for Families of Children with Disabilities I&S (5)
Upper-division course for professionals and paraprofessionals working with families of children with disabilities.
Instructor Course Description: Natalie Hansuvadha

Restr COEUGRAD. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR STUDENT ID# AND SPECIFY COURSE BY SLN. NO FRESHMEN PERIOD 1 AND 2. ADD CODES REQUIRED PERIOD 3. 

Restr COEUGRAD. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR STUDENT ID# AND SPECIFY COURSE BY SLN. NO FRESHMEN PERIOD 1 AND 2. ADD CODES REQUIRED PERIOD 3. 

Lisa Murakami
Early Childhood and Family Studies Major
phone: lmurakam

To schedule an appointment, please go to Appointments
Office of Student Services/Advising & Outreach, College of Education
206 Miller Hall, University of Washington,Box 353600 Seattle, WA 98195-3600

Interested in undergrad or graduate programs at the UW?s College of Education? Tell us more about yourself here: https://www.education.washington.edu/inquire/aboutyourself

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Source: http://uwess.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/college-of-education-opens-up-two-classes-to-general-enrollment/

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New York's Special Education Legislation is Wrong | NSEL

Legislation passed the New York state Legislature last month that proposes a new class of qualifiers for private placement for Special Education students. The bills are awaiting signature from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has until August 1, 2012 whether to sign or veto the legislation.? Cuomo is getting loud pressure from both supporters and opponents of the legislation.? The bill?s summary states that the legislation ?relates to the determinations of appropriate educational programs for certain students.??

The legislation states: ?Such determination shall take into account any possible educational impact differences between the school environment and the child?s home environment and family background may have on the child?s ability to receive a free appropriate public education.??

?The legislation excludes the majority of special needs students and gives an advantage to a newly created class.?? The legislation creates a class of students who are entitled to be placed in a private educational setting because they may learn better at the private educational setting based on environmental and background similarities between the student and the private school.?

The question that arises is how dissimilar are a student?s home environment and school environment, or what is that student?s family background, that precludes him/her from receiving FAPE from a public school.? ??Bets are that this is an attempt by religious schools to have public tax dollars pay for private, parochial educations, were typically, special education students are not best served.? IDEA allows for, and requires school districts to pay for private placement when those private schools have the specialized expertise and resources to meet a child?s need that a public school is not capable of delivering.? However, if the legislation passed, a special-education student with family background and environmental differences, i.e. religious, ethnic, would have more rights than a special education student who does not have educational impact differences between home and school.? It is also important to analyze whether the legislation violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, for in essence, allowing private placement based on religious practices or religious environment.? There is no doubt that Special Education legislation needs amendment.? However, shredding the foundations of our public school systems does not help either.?? ?

Source: http://www.nationalspecialedlaw.com/2012/07/new-yorks-special-education-legislation.html

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Traveling with pets | Princeton Veterinary Hospital

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Source: http://princetonvet.net/2012/07/traveling-with-pets/

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How high is 'unbelievably high' piracy? Dead Trigger dev's not saying

This morning Madfinger Games took to Facebook to explain why it lowered Dead Trigger from 99 cents to free. The reasoning? Rampant piracy. "Unbelievably high" piracy, actually. "The piracy rate is soooo giant," the developer continued.

One thing, though: We have absolutely no idea what that means. 

There always will be piracy. It's unfortunate, but the fact remains that so long as applications can be stolen, they will be stolen. We wish that wasn't the case. How many people stole the 99-cent Dead Trigger? Raise your hands if you dare. Was it 10 instances? One hundred? One thousand? Dead Trigger is currently in the 100,000 to 500,000 download range on its Google Play listing. We've e-mailed Madfinger Games in hopes of getting some more details on this. If 1,000 instances of piracy were noted, that's just 1 percent of the minimum total downloads. We've got an e-mail in to Madfinger seeking some details. 

Here's Madfinger's complete statement on moving Dead Trigger to free:

Regarding price drop. HERE is our statement. The main reason: piracy rate on Android devices, that was unbelievably high. At first we intend to make this game available for as many people as possible - that's why it was for as little as buck. - It was much less than 8$ for SHADOWGUN but on the other hand we didn't dare to provide it for free, since we hadn't got XP with free-to-play format so far. - However, even for one buck, the piracy rate is soooo giant, that we finally decided to provide DEAD TRIGGER for free. Anyway - DEAD TRIGGER is not FREEMIUM, it always was and still remains FREE-TO-PLAY, that means, all players are able to play it without IAP! We stand up for this statement, because all members of our team are playing (and enjoying) DEAD TRIGGER without IAP.

This is important just as it's important in the television industry, where piracy also is a real issue (though more self-inflicted, we'd argue). The vast majority of Android users out there, we presume, don't download pirated apps. 

Anyway. Kudos to Madfinger for making a great game even greater by making it free -- not that 99 cents should have kept anyone away. But let's hope the next time the piracy card is played, we see some numbers to back it up.

Source: Facebook

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/XTR0hH1C2yU/story01.htm

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Spain teeters on edge of a steep 'fiscal cliff'

Dominique Faget / AFP - Getty Images

Government employees demonstrate against the Spanish government's latest austerity measures, in the center of Madrid, on July 24, 2012.

By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer

If you want to see what it looks like to be headed off a fiscal cliff, look at Spain.

As the U.S. government counts down toward a year-end tax and spending crunch that threatens to throw the economy into reverse, Spanish officials already are desperately scrambling to save their country from economic and financial ruin.

They are also facing a widening political backlash from Spanish voters who are coping with the kind of tax increases and government spending cuts that will take effect in the U.S. unless?Congress?acts before the end of the year. Last week, tens of thousands of angry Spaniards took to the streets in?80 cities throughout the country to protest the?government's latest?austerity?package.

Fresh from a drawn out, contentious battle with its eurozone neighbors over terms of a massive bank bailout, Madrid is now getting calls from local government officials saying they can no longer pay their bills.

Last week, the national government set up an 18-billion euro ($22 billion) emergency fund to backstop those regional governments. Days later, Valencia said it would need to tap the fund, and the Murcia regional government followed suit over the weekend. More regions are expected to call for help, overwhelming the fund. The total debt load isn?t known, but one Spanish newspaper estimates it could be as much as 140 billion euros ($169 billion), some 36 billion ($44 billion) of which has to be refinanced by the end of this year.

Spain?s debt hangover follows an era of cheap credit that the birth of a common currency helped create. When the eurozone?economy was booming, investors buying euro-based bonds accepted the same interest rates whether the debt was floated by Germany or by Greece.

In Spain, those lower borrowing costs sparked a housing boom much like the buying and building frenzy unleashed by low rates in the U.S. The result was a windfall, in the form of building permits and fees, for Spain's regional governments. Those governments, in turn, took advantage of cheap credit to embark on their own building sprees, sinking billions of euros into new roads, parks, airports and government buildings to house expanded payrolls of government workers.

Now that the property boom has gone bust and the Spanish economy is contracting, the regional governments can?t raise enough revenue to pay the bills and make their debt payments. Fearful of debt defaults, investors are now balking at lending money that the regional governments need to roll over existing debts.

Related story: Stocks fall sharply as investors focus on Spain

With the regions now calling on Madrid for backstops, investors have also begun treating the Spanish government like a subprime borrower. Many potential buyers have fled Spanish bonds; those still willing to lend are charging as much as 7.6 percent interest. That surge in borrowing costs makes Spain?s national debt load even more difficult to manage.

The government?s cash squeeze further raises the likelihood that the Spanish government will be the next in line -- after Greece, Ireland and Portugal -- to call on its eurozone neighbors for a government bailout. But northern eurozone officials, led by Germany, face a political backlash at home if they agree to write unlimited checks to countries with no credible solutions?to?their debt crises.

That backlash will likely intensify when European officials wrap up their latest review of the ongoing Greek bailout, which has shown little progress in reviving the local economy or reversing Athens? downward?spiral. On Tuesday, three EU officials told Reuters that Athens appears unable to pay what it owes and will need to undertake another debt writedown, a cost that would have to fall on the European Central Bank and eurozone governments.

"Greece is hugely off track," one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "The debt-sustainability analysis will be pretty terrible."

That puts Greece further at odds with its bailout benefactors and raises the likelihood that it will be forced out of the currency union. Europe?s relatively well-off northern nations, led by Germany, are growing weary of what they see as calls for a blank check to rescue their southern neighbors.

News of the Greece?s widening debt debacle will only worsen the ?bailout fatigue? enveloping the eurozone?s stronger economies and further complicate a Spanish rescue.

?The problem is there isn?t enough in the (eurozone) kitty to bailout the Spain sovereign, its banks and its regions and then have to deal with Italy,? wrote David Rosenberg, Gluskin Shiff chief economist, in a note to clients. ?The break of the eurozone is no longer a taboo topic, even at the highest levels of the European Union and International Monetary Fund. ?

The more immediate risk is that Spain?s banks, which already need an estimated 60 billion euros ($73 billion) to avert insolvency, face a continued cash drain as households and investors withdraw their money.

Unlike U.S. banks, European banks don?t guarantee depositor savings when a bank fails. Nor is there a system in place to shut down a bank headed for insolvency. That increases the risk that the recently-approved 10 billion euro ($121 billion) bank bailout will simply throw good euros after bad.

The bailout of the Spanish banking system has also been stymied by ongoing political backlash among eurozone member countries and the thicket of red tape that has bogged down what passes for a central European government in Brussels.

The longer European officials haggle over a Spanish government bailout, the greater the risk of a wider financial calamity.

?These guys are juggling with dynamite sticks,? said Art Cashin, The head of?Swiss bank UBS's operations at the NYSE. "If people in any of those countries begin to run on their respective banks, it goes out of the hands of leadership and puts the crisis into the streets. We?re getting very close to that."

The Spanish banking crisis has also brought lending there to a virtual standstill, which has sent the Spanish economy reeling. Businesses that can?t get loans can?t expand and hire new workers. The unemployment rate has surged to 25 percent; among younger workers, roughly half are out of a job.

Spain?s government debt and banking crisis also threatens other European banks that are holding Spanish debt or loans to Spanish businesses. The crisis has also sent much of the rest of the eurozone into recession as businesses and consumers hunker down. Not surprisingly, consumer confidence hit a three-year low in July.

"It is hard to see eurozone consumers being anything other than cautious in their spending in the near term," said IHS Global Insight chief European and UK economist Howard Archer.

So far, Germany has largely escaped the economic blowback from its southern European neighbors, thanks to low inflation, robust savings by German households and a flood of money seeking financial shelter in Frankfurt.

But that relative calm may be coming to an end. On Monday, bond rater Moody?s Investors Service lowered its outlook for the German economy, which is one of the last pockets of eurozone growth. Recent indicators have pointed to a softening of the German economy, and the German central bank warned Monday that the outlook is ?characterized by great uncertainty.?

That could further complicate efforts to rescue Spain, as any further weakness in Germany?s economy would further weaken support for expanded eurozone bailouts.?

"We don't have to wait for dollar parity with the euro for problems to show up in the U.S. economy," says CNBC's Steve Liesman.

More money and business news:

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Source: http://economywatch.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/24/12931119-spain-teeters-on-the-edge-of-a-steep-fiscal-cliff?lite

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Guidelines to choose best web hosting in india | Post An Add | Post ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Welcome to Web Hosting Professionals,Website Hosting Company is an internet service or online based service that allows organizations and individuals to post their website or web content on the internet. ... Purpose of Web Host: Web hosts are the companies that offer space on the servers that they own and offer its clients to use those. It provides the internet connectivity to the data centers that they own and also to the data centers and the connectivity that they do ...

Source: http://www.postanadd.com/guidelines-to-choose-best-web-hosting-in-india/

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Oklahoma Football: 5 Sooners Destined for Big-Time NFL Careers

A lot has been said about Landry Jones' potential as a pro quarterback, some positive and some negative. I've spent time on both sides of the fence myself.

Yes, he struggled last season after Ryan Broyles was lost to injury. But any quarterback will suffer when you suddenly lose the guy who had caught over 30 percent of your completions the last two seasons.

And no, he is not as good as Sam Bradford. But I'm not sure OU will ever have a more talented signal-caller lead their offense. Unfortunately, Jones happened to directly follow Bradford's impressive career and has been held to a near-impossible standard his entire career.

Will he be the next Peyton Manning? Probably not. But he will be drafted in the first or second round by a team that needs some competition at the position and get his chance to make a name for himself early in his career. From there, anything can happen.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1268267-oklahoma-football-5-sooners-destined-for-big-tim-nfl-careers

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