Monday, December 31, 2012

ZeroDark30 - Best Time to Strike - ADK= Gaming Community

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Source: http://www.adkgamers.com/topic/22114-zerodark30-best-time-to-strike/

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Canada's Subban steps up in 2-1 win over U.S. at world junior championship

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Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/canadas+subban+steps+up+in+2-1+win+over+us+at+world+junior+championship/6442779881/story.html

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semiofficial verina: Hire a Home Improvement Contractor for Your ...

Whether you are managing the demands of a growing family, or are financially sound enough to invest in a home addition, you need to get in touch with a reputable home improvement contractor in Arlington Heights. That?s the first and most important step in a home renovation project. You might need to speak to a structural engineer also if you are planning on altering your home?s structure as well.?

You should talk to more than a few of them in order to ensure that you get the very best available home improvement contractor. But sometimes that will put you in a catch-22 scenario because you will be tempted to go for the lowest bidder. It?s even better if you can talk to every one of them individually to discover why their prices are the way they are. The lowest bidder will not always provide you with the best service; unless it is a newbie trying to secure an impressive portfolio.?

Stay away from the substandard companies and avoid the ones who show up at your door step promising you wonders. One of the very first things that you ought to check about the home remodeling contractor is his track record; demand references and be aware that they are liable to give you a few.?

Generally a firm hires out their contractors, so it is essential they?re both registered by the correct associations. All states have their own licensing firms that hand out Home Improvement Contractor Licenses. Check in the Licensing and Business Registration Information Section of your state to see if the company is included. Every thing you can do to your house will require a different type of contractor, for example a General Building Contractor. The firm and the contractor should be properly insured so you will be safe in case of property damage, worker?s compensation and personal liability.?

Keep these things in mind while selecting your home improvement contractor:

? ? ?Inquire about his experience

? ? ?Check for references

? ? ?Check if he is licensed and registered

? ? ?See if the firm is registered

? ? ?Make sure he has insurance coverage

?

For more interesting facts and tips about home improvement contractors,?click here.

Source: http://audiovideo.au.pn/2012/12/27/hire-a-home-improvement-contractor-for-your-home-improvement-project/

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Source: http://semiofficial-verina.blogspot.com/2012/12/hire-home-improvement-contractor-for.html

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Hasina reelected AL president, Ashraf general secretary

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was reelected president of the ruling Awami League (AL) unopposed Saturday for the seventh time, while LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam was made general secretary, reports UNB.

The councillors of the AL, one of the oldest political parties of the country, unanimously elected them in its 19th council on the day as there were no other candidates for the posts.

In her instant reaction after the reelection as the party president for the seventh successive term, Hasina said: "It's a big responsibility?I expected there would be new leadership and I would assist them staying beside them. That's why I had no preparation for this."

She went on: "But I gladly accept the responsibility you bestowed upon me as the election is ahead of us."

Hasina claimed the party is now more organised than in the past and said once there were many brackets after the name of the party in 1981 but now there is none.

In his reaction, Ashraful said, "We have to work together as in the past. And honesty and devotion will be our main strength in this connection."

Earlier, AL leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim proposed Hasina's name for the post of president, which was seconded by Ashraful. Party leader Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif proposed Ashraf's name while Jahangir Kabir Nanak seconded it.

Rahmat Ali, Mozammel Haque and Yusuf Hossain Humayun acted as election commissioners at the council.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thefinancialexpress-bd/IouH/~3/SMJu-kd-R3g/index.php

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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Use Search Engine Optimization To Increase Online Marketing ...

Sunday, December 30th, 2012

There are several advantages of using web design for running a business. It provides quick information to people who are interested in learning more about your product or service. Once you establish your business, a web design provides consistency to the brand image. If you are new in the business, you fill be able to benefit with a strong online market presence. People will find your product or business when they scour the internet with advanced search engine optimization keywords.

To ensure that you provide the right customer care, you should be able to showcase your products 24/7 for prospective clients to be able to learn more

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Source: http://www.thmg.com/marketing-tips/use-search-engine-optimization-to-increase-online-marketing/

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French panel overturns 75 percent tax on ultrarich

(AP) ? Embattled French President Francois Hollande suffered a fresh setback Saturday when France's highest court threw out a plan to tax the ultrawealthy at a 75 percent rate, saying it was unfair.

In a stinging rebuke to one of Socialist Hollande's flagship campaign promises, the constitutional council ruled Saturday that the way the highly contentious tax was designed was unconstitutional. It was intended to hit incomes over ?1 million ($1.32 million).

The largely symbolic measure would have only hit a tiny number of taxpayers and brought in an estimated ?100 million to ?300 million - an insignificant amount in the context of France's roughtly ?85 billion deficit.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was quick to respond, saying in a statement following the decision the government would resubmit the measure to take the court's concerns into account. The court's ruling took issue not with the size of the tax, but with the way it discriminated between households depending on how incomes were distributed among its members. A household with two earners each making under ?1 million would be exempt from the tax, while one with one earner making ?1.2 million would have to pay.

The French government approved the tax in its most recent budget, amid criticism by some that it would do little to stem the country's mounting fiscal problems and would drive away the wealthiest citizens. Hollande's popularity, meanwhile, has been tanking as the country's unemployment continued its rise for the 19th straight month.

In recent weeks, Gerard Depardieu ? France's most famous actor ? announced his intention to turn in his French passport and move to a village in a tax-friendly Belgium.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-29-France-Taxing%20the%20Rich/id-1f4de91e6c7842c891d36dfc7e7a4458

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

Instagram Denies 25% Holiday User Drop From TOS Backlash , And Here Are Real Explanations For Any Usage Dip

instayellowSure, it's not unlike the New York Post to be?sensationalist. But in this case it misinterpreted data to suggest Instagram was hit harder by backlash to its terms of service changes than it actually was. Combined with it being a quiet-ish holiday news week, I am taking?a story?it published today on a 25 percent drop in Instagram users?with a little more than a grain of salt.

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

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Kickstart Your Family Tree: Putting It Together | Historic Indianapolis ...

So far we?ve dug through census records, searched cemeteries, and combed through military records. You?ve found your great-aunt Martha?s birth record and your dear uncle Edgar?s obituary. But what do you do with all the notes, copies, printouts, and source citations? Without some way of organizing your research you will quickly become buried in a mountain of paper. Today we?re going to discuss a few methods for controlling the chaos and making the most of your time and effort.

Organizing Your Information

To continue your research the first thing you need to do is organize the information you already have. Perhaps you?ve been doing this all along, and if so kudos to you. But if you don?t already have a system in place, then it?s time to create one.

When choosing an organizational method, the most important criteria is that it works for you. It should allow you to quickly access your information and documents with minimal effort. Everyone?s method may be slightly different, but they will likely be composed of two components: digital storage and physical storage.

Software Options

Most genealogists today, whether beginners or experts, use some kind of? family tree software. Software makes it easy to attach source information, find family connections, and discover potential errors. There are plenty of options available, a google search will yield hundreds of results, but most people stick with one of the following widely known and trusted companies, listed here in no particular order.

Ancestry.com offers a free family tree building service. You simply sign up for an account and begin typing in your family?s information. Their system is fairly easy to use, and it makes sharing your research quite easy. However, there are features that are not available to non-paying customers, such as being able to automatically attach documents from their databases to members of your tree. And while it allows you to include source information, their system certainly doesn?t encourage it. Therefore many Ancestry.com member trees are entirely without source citations.

In conjunction with this service Ancestry also offers a software product called Family Tree Maker. It is designed to be a companion service to their web-based products. It is rich with features, very user-friendly, reasonably priced between $40 and $80 (depending on the package you choose), and available for both PC and Mac. However, it is geared mostly towards users of Ancestry.com, and to take full advantage of the features offered it would be necessary to maintain a paid subscription to their site.

FamilySearch.org offers a free, downloadable, Windows-based software called Personal Ancestral File . It?s easy to use and while it?s lacking some of the bells and whistles of other software options, it has all the necessary features to record, cite, and share your research.

RootsMagic?is a windows-based software that comes highly-recommended. At only $30, it?s one of the more affordable options as well. There is also a free version available for download.

Legacy Family Tree?also offers both a free and a paid version of their windows-based software. One of the best features of this software option is the customer support available for users.

Reunion?is a Mac-based software that has companion apps available for iPad and iPhone that allow you to sync your information across devices. It is also well-known for having the ability to easily publish your research to a personal website. It is easy to use and full of features, however, at $99 it is one of the more expensive options.

This is a screenshot of Reunion 10, the software I use to organize my genealogy research.

Non-digital Organization

Even if you choose to keep track of your tree digitally, you?re bound to have paper to deal with. Many people choose to use binders to organize these documents, with dividers for each surname. Others prefer to file everything in folders. Whichever system you choose, make sure you?re consistent. Pick a method and stick with it. In other words don?t file some women under their maiden names and others with their husband?s family, or keep some birth records in a single file while others are filed with the relevant person in your tree. Inconsistencies like these make it difficult to retrieve information when you need it.

Moving Forward

Once you?ve organized what you have it?s time to think about your future research. After you have much of the basic information about your family, it becomes increasingly important that you focus your research efforts. Rather than searching through databases haphazardly hoping to stumble across something relevant, you should create a plan and attempt to answer specific questions you have about your family?s history.

Research plans are an excellent way to accomplish this. To create a research plan you simply find a question about your family that has yet to be answered, then create a list of possible places to search for the answer. As you do your research, you make note of the sources you?ve consulted and what the results of your searches were. By keeping track of all the places you?ve looked, even the ones that didn?t contain any relevant information, you can avoid conducting the same search again in the future. You can create specific research plans for an individual, a surname, or a family group. Either way, it?s bound to help you accomplish your goals.

Take time now to organize your data and create a method for staying organized as you continue your research. Once you have a system that works for you, you?ll be ready to move forward and continue building your family tree.

?

Source: http://historicindianapolis.com/kickstart-your-family-tree-putting-it-together/

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Daily Deals Future & Possibilities for 2013 - Work On the Internet

Year 2012 brought numerous changes in the daily deals market. Groupon, still a dominating name in the market, witnessed some accounting hassles; various new daily deals platforms came and various tectonic shifts were also noticed. So, the concluding year was a kind o mixed bag for daily deals market. Lessons learnt from the past will certainly shape the daily deals future & possibilities for 2013. So, let get to know what the year might bring, betting on ideas that have gained popularity;


Paper will be pass?, plastic & mobile will become popular

Paper vouchers will become a thing of the past; card-linked offers will gain popularity. Mobile-based redemption models like Passbook and Google Wallet are rapidly gaining acceptance and no one would be surprised if usage of paper vouchers would entirely disappear within the next four-five years. Smart phones usage has skyrocketed and mobile based redemption platforms are betting money on the fact that the trend will not reverse. There are strong reasons to believe the same with Apple and Samsung selling like hotcakes.

Uniqueness will still prosper

The glitter that Groupon carried at the very beginning has long faded away. Having tie-ups with some local merchants and handful of deals on a website doesn?t work any longer. Upcoming Groupon clone websites realize this and thus come with a unique business pitch. Groupon itself has started treading a different road with Groupon Goods and Getaways. In the same way, there are secret deals for big brands, adventure deals and gender specific deals. So, the upcoming year will also bring similar experiments from the daily deals aspirants.

More will disappear

The glitter might have diminished but the dollar glow that surrounds the deals business has not faded yet. Entrepreneurs are still hopeful that they can make a place in the deals market and to a certain extent they are right to believe in the potential of a smart Groupon clone. However, not everyone will be able to sustain in the market for long run. Hence, the news will keep coming about one or the other daily deals player leaving the market.

Deals will be married with advertising

Quite recently, daily deals market has also garnered interest from advertisers to introduce new products and get rid of excess inventory. Physical display advertising asks for a lot of monetary investment; even digital one doesn?t come cheap. In such a scenario, if a web user can be lured into to take notice of something good in the form of daily deal, it can be win-win scenario for advertisers. Modern daily deal software offer scope for the same if one is open to experimentation and new ideas.

Growing popularity of dynamic pricing

Dynamic pricing was limited to airline sector but has now started showing signs of emergence in retail too. Amazon is a fine example for it. The concept has potential to garner interest from a deals platform owner and finding its way in the daily deals aggregator script but it is still to be found how buyers will receive it. So, these are the points that may thread the web for ?daily deals ideas? related searches in the year 2013.

bitFATdeals is a dynamic daily deals Script that comes with rich deals, merchant, admin and CMS features. Developed by FATbit Technologies, the script is on offer with custom design, 5 revisions and 1-Year technical support.
Content Source:http://iblog.at/fatbit/2012/12/20/daily-deals-future-possibilities-for-2013/

Article Tags : daily deals aggregator script, daily deal software, Groupon clone, Groupon clone websites

Source: http://www.workoninternet.com/business/reviews/computers-internet/software-services/222056-daily-deals-future-a-possibilities-for-2013.html

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Friday, December 28, 2012

Georgia Welfare Cuts Leave Poor Citizens On Their Own

Slate:

When the economy crashed in 2008, millions of Americans lost their jobs. Applications for food stamps soared. So did attendance at emergency food providers?soup kitchens and food pantries?that help the estimated 50 million people, working and non-working, who can't afford enough groceries to get through the month.

Read the whole story at Slate

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/georgia-welfare_n_2370721.html

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Myanmar to allow daily private newspapers

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? Myanmar said Friday it will allow private daily newspapers starting in April for the first time since 1964, in the latest step toward allowing freedom of expression in the long-repressed nation.

The Information Ministry announced on its website that any Myanmar national wishing to publish a daily newspaper will be able to submit an application in February. New papers will be allowed to begin printing April 1 in any language.

The move was an expected part of new press freedoms President Thein Sein has introduced as part of wider democratic reforms since taking office last year, after a half-century of military rule.

In August, the government abolished direct censorship of the media and informed journalists they would no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication as they had for almost half a century.

Myanmar has state-run dailies which serve as government mouthpieces and more than 180 weeklies, about half of which cover news while the rest feature sports, entertainment, health and other subjects.

Private dailies in Burmese, English, Indian and Chinese languages were once vibrant in the former British colony, previously called Burma. But all were forced to close when late dictator Ne Win nationalized private businesses in 1964.

Under Ne Win's one-party Socialist government the standard of newspapers diminished to propaganda sheets. The most recent military regime ruled by Gen. Than Shwe used the country's three state-owned dailies as junta mouthpieces, which continue to be unpopular with low circulation.

Until just two years ago, this Southeast Asian nation's reporters were regarded as among the most restricted in the world, subject to routine state surveillance, phone taps and intense censorship. The censorship board would shut down newspapers temporarily for violations. Journalists were tortured, imprisoned and subjected to constant surveillance.

Testing their new freedoms, journalists and private publications have become bolder. They have printed once forbidden items including pictures and stories about anti-government demonstrations and sectarian violence. The once highly taboo images of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are now often displayed, even in state-controlled media.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/myanmar-allow-daily-private-newspapers-083311307.html

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maggiewillis0: interment saran: charlesmurra8: Speed reading apps

23 Dec

I installed some speed reading apps and tested them. I?ve so far notices a few ?categories? or groups of equals:

  • One kind exists mostly from showing a text word by word in the middle of the screen. Showing each word a very short time and so you can read at a high wpm because you never need to move your eyes.
  • Another kind is merely a speed reading article disguised as app.
  • Another kind is no speed reading app but just a reading app with a fancy name.
  • Yet another kind is training in the form of news/actually.
  • And the last kind is a training app, not for your own stuff but purely for training.

I only tested them quickly and unions talked the non-interesting. But they aren?t quite what I?m looking for. Maybe I should write one myself for training and guided reading.

This entry was posted in Other and tagged Android, Self Improvement, Speed Reading. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://www.tjenwellens.eu/other/speed-reading-apps-for-android/

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Muscle building workouts tips for men | Health and Fitness Society

Updated: December 26, 2012

workouts-for-men-feature

It is really great to lift weights if you are a real beginner, because then you will put on muscle very fast, even if you make mistakes and you use some random muscle building workouts for men.

Guys often think that the newbie gains are normal and are going to last, but after a certain period these gains slow down. To keep on making gains you need to put in more effort and train smarter. An average guy can keep on building muscle for many years, but in order to do this, the person has to know some basic training tips.

Superset to gain more muscle

workouts for men logoThere are many ways to get the most out of your workouts and supersets are one of them. Super setting means pairing two exercises and performing them back-to-back, with very little rest between the exercises. To get the most out of supersets, it is best to use antagonist muscle groups, such as triceps and biceps or hamstrings and quads. Supersets workouts are great workouts for men for building muscle, because they enhance the release the testosterone, which is paramount for building muscle.

By doing supersets, you also enhance hypertrophy, because it is a very intense workout. The muscles have to adapt to these increased sets and low rest periods. When your muscles are working very hard, they need to adapt to the increased workload and you gain muscle. If your goal is to gain more strength and pure mass, you can superset with compound exercises as well.

Use high repetition isolation movements

Some of the real effective workouts for men use isolation movements with high reps to finish the workouts. Movements like triceps extensions, bicep curls, leg extensions, lateral raises and hamstring curls are all effective exercises to get more blood into the muscles, at the end of your workout. The extra blood in the muscles brings vital nutrients to the muscles, helping them to recover faster. The pump also gives you a great feeling itself.

Decrease your rest periods

Many of the workouts for men have a relatively long rest period between sets. If you force your body to do more work in a shorter period of time, you will gain more mass. The body has to adapt to the higher workload and decreased rest periods. It is very similar to supersets, where the higher intensity pushes more blood into the muscles, which are working. Reduced rest periods also boost your metabolic rate and increase your vascularity. The higher your metabolic rate is, the more calories you burn. So if your goal is to lose fat as well, then decreased rest periods help you achieve this.

Use drop sets to gain muscle

Adopting drop sets to your workouts is a great way to make your muscles grow faster. When you reach failure with a normal set, then the muscles are too fatigued to do another repetition, but they are not totally exhausted yet. So by reducing the load and extending the set that way, you will train the tired muscle fibers even more.

To do a drop set, you simply need to do a set with a standard weight until you have reached failure. Then you right away reduce the weight by a small amount and do as many reps as you can with that weight, then lower the weight again until you reach failure. Drop sets are really tough and they take a lot out of you. So you need to be mentally prepared for this. All kinds of workouts that include drop sets are great muscle building workouts for men!

Increase the time under tension

To achieve maximum hypertrophy, it is necessary to focus on the volume and technique. If you extend your sets for as long as possible, your body is forced to use more energy and to recruit new muscle fibers to do the work. So you can quickly improve your muscularity, if you involve more motor units with each set. To increase the time under tension, you can use burn-outs, drop sets, increase number of sets and reps or do reps more slowly.

As you can see there are many ways to make your workouts more effective. You can choose from all kinds of different muscle building workouts for men, and if you want to make progress, and then make sure some of these techniques are included.

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Source: http://healthandfitnesssociety.com/workouts-tips-for-men

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Google Music matching explicit songs with clean ones, but contains a stopgap fix

Google Music graffiti Android

Early iTunes Match adopters will remember the unintentional bowdlerization of their music libraries: they'd listen to their scanned music collection on a second device and lose all the colorful language. As we're quickly learning, Google Music's newly added scan and match feature isn't exempt from that problem, either. Those streaming matched copies of explicit songs through the newer service are getting clean versions, with no obvious way to preserve the filth. We've reached out to Google for comment, but in the meantime, here's a potential solution -- choose the "fix incorrect match" option and Google Music will typically upload the raw tracks. Hopefully, the service will match the correct tracks by the next time we want an unfiltered experience for our ears.

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Logitech UE 4000


In the past year, Logitech has released what feels like an infinite number of new headphones under the UE brand?named for Ultimate Ears, the company it acquired in 2008. Of all the options we've tested thus far, the UE 4000 might be the simplest, best value. At $99.99 (direct), it's a comfortable, on-ear pair that delivers deep bass without too much boosting, and with no distortion, even at top volumes. Occasionally, things can sound overly bright. But in the $100 realm, there are few truly amazing headphones, and the UE 4000, with its measured frequency response, inline microphone/remote for iOS devices, and detatchable cable, is a solid value, and a clear Editors' Choice for low-cost headphones.

Design
The simple, supra-aural (on-ear) design of the UE 4000 is available in a black-and-white frame, an all black frame, and a purple-and-black model. The earpads are sufficiently cushioned, though the underside of the headband could stand to be a bit more padded. Regardless, after a long listening session, the UE 4000 remains mostly neutral?you won't be marveling at how comfortable the fit is, but it won't cause any real discomfort, either.

An inline microphone and three-button remote for iOS devices is located a few inches below the left earcup along the cable. One added bonus: The audio cable, which is the Logitech UE signature blue, is detachable. This means you can replace the cable, which is the most likely culprit when headphones begin to malfunction, rather than the entire headphone pair?a nice bit of added value.Logitech_UE_4000_inline

Call clarity for the UE 4000 is pretty standard?the mic delivers your voice clearly to your call partner, and you should hear your partner clearly as well. But don't expect high fidelity, as cellular call quality is still pretty weak across the board.

Other accessories included with the UE 4000: a 3.5mm adapter that turns your single headphone jack into two (so you can listen to your phone with your buddy simultaneously), and a zip-up protective carrying pouch.

Performance
The Logitech UE 4000 delivers above-average performance for a $100 headphone pair. It doesn't offer overwhelmingly powerful deep bass performance, but it does provide a good sense of sub-bass frequencies?you hear the thuds and resonance of deep bass content in electronic music, for instance, but the sounds are delivered in a fairly measured manner, rather than an all-out subwoofer-like assault like you might experience with, say, the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre. At top volumes, the UE 4000 does not distort, even on tracks with extremely deep bass content, like the Knife's "Silent Shout."

The best quality of the UE 4000's sound signature, however, is its crisp, clear delivery of hi-mid and high frequencies. This is not a pair that would ever be called muddy?though some listeners might find it on the slightly overly-bright side, depending on your tastes and what content you're listening to.

On classical tracks, like John Adams' "The Chairman Dances," the lows are not under-represented, but the there's no added resonance or body for the lower register strings. The overall sound is bright and articulate, with a spotlight on higher-register strings and percussion. The big drum hits at the end of the piece can sound thunderous on headphones that boost the sub-bass frequencies more; here they sound pretty natural, with an emphasis more on the attack, in the mid-frequency range, followed by a subtle low-end sustain. In this sense, the UE 4000 is similar to a flat-response reference pair of headphones?not anemic on the bass front, but certainly not booming.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the attack of the kick drum loop is treble-heavy, but still packs a substantial thump, while the sub-bass synth hits beneath the loop are delivered with enough push to feel powerful, but again, nothing approaching subwoofer-like presence. Bass lovers will appreciate the fact that the UE 4000 doesn't distort on deep bass and does not ignore it?but this is not a booming, bass-heavy pair of headphones.

If you're looking for more booming bass in this price range, consider the SOL Republic Tracks. Or, if you're looking to spend even less on an on-ear pair, the Noontec Zoro offers reasonable quality for the price. Spending more will net you far more quality: The Sennheiser HD 558, for instance, is a revelation of clarity and balanced performance, but it's significantly more expensive. The UE 4000 is a solid, no-frills headphone pair that delivers mids and highs cleanly and avoids overly boosted bass?without avoiding bass altogether for less than $100. For this, it earns our Editors' Choice award.

More Headphone Reviews:
??? Logitech UE 9000
??? Logitech UE 4000
??? Polk Audio UltraFocus 8000
??? RHA MA450i
??? Motorola S11-Flex HD
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/wkidhiLnzY0/0,2817,2413289,00.asp

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How is hearing loss tested? - Ask Doctor K, Harvard Medical School

DEAR DOCTOR K:

I?m losing my hearing so my doctor has scheduled an audiological evaluation. What will this evaluation tell me?

DEAR READER:

An audiological evaluation identifies the severity of your hearing loss and the frequency range in which it occurs. This information may help identify the cause of your hearing loss. It?s also essential for determining whether you could benefit from a hearing aid and, if so, which style and type would help the most.

When a sound wave enters your ear, it hits the eardrum. Several tiny bones transmit sound waves from the eardrum through fluid, into the inner ear. There lies a snail-shaped organ called the cochlea that is covered with tiny hairs. These hairs generate electrical signals that travel along the hearing nerve (the auditory nerve) to the brain. (See illustration.)

How we hear

Illustration: How we hear

Sound travels in waves through the air (A) into the ear canal (B), where it is amplified and vibrates the eardrum (C). The eardrum vibrates the tiny bones known as the ossicles (D), which transmit the vibrations through the oval window and into the fluid in the cochlea in the inner ear.

The cochlear fluid (E) moves in waves, setting in motion the sensory hair cells inside the organ. The hair cells release electrochemical signals that travel along more than 30,000 auditory nerve pathways into the brain (F).

?

The evaluation is done by a hearing specialist, or audiologist, in a specially constructed booth that shuts out all unwanted noise. It tests the different parts of the ear that are necessary for hearing:

  • Pure-tone test. Each of your ears, in turn, is exposed to sounds of different frequencies and decibel levels. (Frequency is the pitch of a sound. A decibel is the measurement of the loudness of a sound.) The pure-tone test identifies the quietest tones that you can hear at different frequencies.
  • Next is a bone-conduction test. This test helps establish whether your hearing loss is primarily sensorineural (caused by damage to the cochlea, hair cells or auditory nerve) or conductive (caused by a blockage of sound transmission through your outer or middle ear), or a combination of the two. This test will also help determine whether your hearing loss can be medically corrected, and the kind of hearing aid you need.

Two additional tests will evaluate how well you hear and understand spoken words:

  • Speech reception threshold test. You will hear words, instead of tones, through your earphones. The words start out loud and gradually get softer. The test identifies the decibel level at which you can understand and repeat only half of the words.
  • Speech discrimination test. With age, many people can hear words loudly but not clearly. A speech discrimination test assesses how well you understand words. A high score on this test means that you are likely to benefit from a hearing aid. That?s because your problem in understanding a spoken word comes from not hearing the word loudly enough, and a hearing aid can amplify the loudness of sounds.

Today?s technology for testing your hearing has improved greatly since I was in medical school. Even greater advances have been made in hearing aids. They not only work better but they?ve also become tiny ? people often don?t notice you have one. For many of my patients, hearing tests followed by the right hearing aid has greatly improved the quality of their lives.

Source: http://www.askdoctork.com/how-is-hearing-loss-tested-201212264015

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How long does it take to short sale a home? - Antioch CA Homes for ...

Question: ?How long does it take to short sale a home? ?

Answer: ? ?Although it is?difficult?to determine the timeline of a?short sale?as you may not be fully aware of who the Investors are that make the?decisions,? is it a?Fannie Mae loan, or?Freddie?Mac loan, is there a mortgage insurance involved, and do you qualify for HAFA , etc? ?There are three very real phases every short sale goes through. ? ?Knowing these phases will help you to know where you are in the process and can give you an idea of when you may?receive?the highly anticipated approval. ??The three phases a short sale goes through are Submission, Valuation, ?and Approval.

Phase ?1 of 3: ? Submission

The Submission phase is when all?documents are submitted?to the lender for review and a?Negotiator (this will be your main contact) is assigned. ?In order to process the short sale and validate the Sellers Hardship the Seller will need to provide the following documents. Before preparing these documents you may want to check if you are?eligible?for a HAFA short sale.

List of documents that may be needed

  • Hardship Letter
  • Financial Statements
  • HAFA Forms
  • Lender Specific Forms
  • Bank Statements
  • Tax returns
  • Pay Stubs
  • Pnl (if self employed)
  • SalesContract
  • Listing Agreement
  • HUD1 (itemized list from a Title Company detailing cost associated with the sale and the Lien Holders net proceeds)

Phase 2 of 3: ? Value

Lien Holders (especially the first Lien Holder involved in the short sale) will want to know the value of the property prior to approving the short sale. ?Lien Holders do not want to sell the property below market value. ?They will more likely approve a sale if the value of the sales contract and the Lien Holders?opinion?of value are similar. ?In my experience, banks will generally approve an offer if it is within 93%-100% of their?opinion?of the value. ? ?Check the value of your home.

The Lien Holders will likely complete any or perhaps all of the below to determine value:

  • Appraisal (Completed by a Licensed?Appraiser?however not the same appraisal you would use for financing the property)
  • B.P.O. (Broker Price?Opinion?often completed by a local Real Estate Agent)
  • A.V.M. (Automated?Valuation?Model an online?opinion?of value)

Phase 3 of 3: ? Approval

Your almost there? ? This is the phase where the Servicer obtains approval from their Investors. ? The Listing Agent (Sellers Agent) may also need to obtain an approval from other Lien Holders (Tax Lien Holders, 2nd mortgages, 3rd mortgage, private liens, etc?) ? Once all?Lien Holders?approve an approval letter is issued usually from each?Lien holder?providing approval.

A word of advise. ?Read the letters carefully, they may have changed some of the terms in the?original?offer and because it may have been months since it was written you may have forgotten some of the terms.

The real name for a short sale is short pay as one or maybe all of the lenders involved?end up short of the amount owed upon the sale of the home. ? It is rarely a quick sale as it can?often take months to short sale a home however follow the three phases outlined above and you?will have a better understanding of the timeline of a short sale. ? More information about?what is a short sale.

For more information about the $3,000 Relocation Assistance (if you qualify for HAFA).?Contact us for a free HAFA brochure?or visit our office at 5079 Lone Tree Way Antioch, Ca 94531

?

Source: http://rickfullerinc.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-short-sale-a-home/

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Bolivia's Morales visits Cuba after Chavez surgery

HAVANA (AP) ? Bolivian President Evo Morales has made a lightning trip to Havana where key ally Hugo Chavez is convalescing after cancer surgery.

Morales did not speak to foreign journalists during his weekend visit. Cuban state-run media didn't confirm that he visited Chavez, but said he came "to express his support" for the Venezuelan president. The Cuban government had invited media to cover Morales' arrival Saturday and departure Sunday but withdrew the invitation with no explanation.

Photos released by Cuban media showed President Raul Castro greeting Morales at the airport in Havana.

Morales aides said Monday he planned to make a statement later about Chavez.

Chavez underwent on Dec. 11 his fourth cancer-related operation since last year, two months after winning reelection to a six-year term. Venezuelan officials say his condition is stable.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bolivias-morales-visits-cuba-chavez-surgery-193554559.html

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La Creme - Hr Business Partner - Jobs.ie - Jobs in Ireland. Irish Jobs.


La Creme

La Creme

Contact: Liz Ryan

Address: 98 Henry Street, Co. Limerick, Ireland

Phone: 061 430939

La Creme - Hr Business Partner

Location: Limerick
Salary: Negotiable++
Job type: Contract, Full-time
Job description
My client, a well renowned multinational based in Limerick have a requirement for a Senior HR Business Partner for a 9/12 contract.

Areas of Responsibility

Works with assigned client group across all areas of Human Resources including (but not limited to) employee relations, compensation, benefits, resource and succession planning and career management.

  • Partners with management on multiple initiatives within Human Resources. In particular, provides coaching and support on specific functional areas to facilitate the creation of value through people.
  • Supports and manages the implementation of HR plans and programs related to organizational design, development and change.
  • Provides group and one-on-one coaching with managers and employees on a variety of human resource related issues.
  • Identifies designs and develops programs to support cultures that drive innovation and employee engagement to achieve organizational performance/goals; enables implementation at the local level
  • University degree (or equivalent) in Human Resources or a related discipline.
  • 5+ years experience in a full function HR role
  • Managing complexity and demonstrate innovation
  • Strong Comp and benefits focus

Email this job to yourself / a friend

Source: http://www.jobs.ie/ApplyForJob.aspx?Id=1223980

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Chilling Economic Report Terrifies CEOs - Business Insider

Over an early-morning coffee with the chief executive of an FTSE 100 business last week, talk turned to the outlook for 2013. Where I had expected some guarded optimism, instead I heard a chilling analysis.

The CEO said he had been reading a new paper from Boston Consulting Group headed ? Ending the era of Ponzi finance ?. The lessons he had taken from it were miserable.

The West was not going to find its way to the right economic path with a little tweaking at the edges, the CEO said. What is needed is a wholesale overhaul of the economic system to tackle record levels of public and private debt. Was anyone brave enough to do it, he wondered aloud.

I asked him to send me the report. He did.

The BCG study by Daniel Stelter which is doing the rounds of corporate C-suites does not pull its punches. In fact, its punches are really just a softening-up exercise for a barrage of kicks and painful blows aimed at anyone who thinks that kicking the can down the road is a suitable substitute for radical action.

At the heart of the analysis is the issue of debt. A report by the Bank of International Settlements, the study notes, found that the combined debts of the public and private sector in the 18 core members of the OECD rose from 160pc of GDP in 1980 to 321pc in 2010.

That debt was not used to fund growth ? perfectly reasonable ? but was used for consumption, speculation and, increasingly, to pay interest on the previous debt as liabilities were rolled over.

As soon as asset price rises ? fuelled by high levels of leverage ? levelled off, the model imploded.

The issue is brought into sharp focus by one salient fact. In the 1960s, for every additional dollar of debt taken on in America there was 59c of new GDP produced. By 2000-10, this figure had fallen to 18c. Even in America, that?s about a fifth of what you?ll need to buy a McDonald?s burger.

Coupled with the huge debt burden are oversized public sectors and shrinking workforces. The larger the part the Government plays in the economy, the lower the levels of growth.

A report by Andreas Bergh and Magnus Henrekson in 2011 ? cited by BCG ? found that for every increase of 10pc in the size of the state, there is a reduction in GDP of between 0.5pc and 1pc. Across Europe, the average level of government spending is 40pc of GDP or higher, and is as much as 60pc in Denmark and France. In emerging markets, it is between 20pc and 40pc. This gives non-Western economies an automatic growth advantage.

This material should be gripping politicians in Westminster, not just CEOs in central London. The size of the workforce is falling across the developed world, with the United Nations estimating that between 2012 and 2050 the working-age population in Western Europe will fall by 13pc. This comes at a time when we have a pension system not much changed since the era of the man who invented it ? Otto von Bismarck.

What does the West need to do to right such fundamental imbalances?

Mr Stelter and his colleagues do offer some solutions. First, there has to be an acknowledgement that some debts will never be repaid and should be restructured. Holders of the debt, be they countries or companies, should be allowed to default, whatever the short-term pain of such a process.

In social policy, retirement ages will have to increase. People will have to work harder, for longer and should be encouraged to do so by changes in benefit levels that do little ? at their present level ? to reward work at the margin.

The size of the state should be radically reduced and immigration encouraged. Competition in labour markets through supply-side reforms should be pursued.

Where governments can proactively act ? by backing modern infrastructure ? they should. High-growth economies are built on modern railways, airports, roads and energy supplies. Allowing potholes to develop in your local roads is a symptom of a wider malaise and cash-rich corporates should be pushed, through tax incentives, to invest their money in developed as well as emerging economies. Energy efficiency ? to save money, not the planet ? should be promoted.

As Mr Stelter says, many chief executives might understand the problem but not see it as immediately relevant to them. Profit margins across Europe have returned to the levels of 2005. Money is cheap due to the printing presses of the central banks and ultra-low interest rates. Short-term, things look OK ? there has been little real pain despite the efforts of some to portray every necessary efficiency move as a ?cut? of calamitous proportions.

But in the end, business needs growth in the wider economy to flourish. There needs to be a radical rethink of the way the West organises itself. Many of the ideas of Mr Stelter and his team are the right ones, although the tax burden being what it is in the UK, many would find it hard to stomach the thought of more tax rises that the BCG report recommends. At some point the relationship between taxed income and willingness to innovate turns negative.

I would suggest the UK is very near that point.

BCG?s arguments are, of course, not new. In a recent programme on the Bank of England for BBC Radio 4, I interviewed the Oxford economist, Dieter Helm. ?I think it?s important to understand there are very different views about what happened in the crisis,? he told me.

?Some people think that this was some kind of Keynesian event, that our problem after the crash was deficient demand and therefore what we had to do was stimulate the economy.

?In other words, where we were in 2006 in terms of our consumption and spending was perfectly sustainable.

?[But] what?s going on is a massive postponement exercise and I think that means that the sustainable level of consumption we will end up with will be lower than it would have been if we?d faced up to the reality of our economic mess that was created by the great boom of the 20th century and the enormous splurge of spending and asset bubble of the early years of the 21st century.?

As we know, George Osborne?s austerity plan is not actually much of a plan, with government debt levels increasing for the rest of this Parliament. But in politics, the choice is not simply between what is being proposed and

Shangri-La. It is about what is being proposed and the alternative ? and the Labour alternative is more spending. Most people know which one we should be choosing so that worried FTSE 100 CEOs can sleep a little easier.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a peaceful festive period and hope ? whether you are Chancellor or pleb ? that December 25 brings all you hope for.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chilling-economic-report-terrifies-ceos-2012-12

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Monday, December 24, 2012

Paleo-ocean chemistry: New data challenge old views about evolution of early life

Dec. 23, 2012 ? A research team led by biogeochemists at the University of California, Riverside has tested a popular hypothesis in paleo-ocean chemistry, and proved it false.

The fossil record indicates that eukaryotes -- single-celled and multicellular organisms with more complex cellular structures compared to prokaryotes, such as bacteria -- show limited morphological and functional diversity before 800-600 million years ago. Many researchers attribute the delayed diversification and proliferation of eukaryotes, which culminated in the appearance of complex animals about 600 million years ago, to very low levels of the trace metal zinc in seawater.

As it is for humans, zinc is essential for a wide range of basic cellular processes. Zinc-binding proteins, primarily located in the cell nucleus, are involved in the regulation of gene transcription.

Eukaryotes have increasingly incorporated zinc-binding structures during the last third of their evolutionary history and still employ both early- and late-evolving zinc-binding protein structures. Zinc is, therefore, of particular importance to eukaryotic organisms. And so it is not a stretch to blame the 1-2-billion-year delay in the diversification of eukaryotes on low bioavailability of this trace metal.

But after analyzing marine black shale samples from North America, Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe, ranging in age from 2.7 billion years to 580 million years old, the researchers found that the shales reflect high seawater zinc availability and that zinc concentrations during the Proterozoic (2.5 billion to 542 million years ago) were similar to modern concentrations. Zinc, the researchers posit, was never biolimiting.

Study results appear online Dec. 23 in Nature Geoscience.

"We argue that the concentration of zinc in ancient marine black shales is directly related to the concentrations of zinc in seawater and show that zinc is abundant in these rocks throughout Earth's history," said Clint Scott, the first author of the research paper and a former UC Riverside graduate student. "We found no evidence for zinc biolimitation in seawater."

Scott, now a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, explained that the connection between zinc limitation and the evolution of eukaryotes was based largely on the hypothesis that Proterozoic oceans were broadly sulfidic. Under broadly sulfidic conditions, zinc should have been scarce because it would have rapidly precipitated in the oceans, he explained.

"However, a 2011 research paper in Nature also published by our group at UCR demonstrated that Proterozoic oceans were more likely broadly ferruginous -- that is, low in oxygen and iron-rich -- and that sulfidic conditions were more restricted than previously thought," said Scott, who performed the research in the lab of Timothy Lyons, a professor of biogeochemistry and the principal investigator of the research project.

The research team argues that ferruginous deep oceans, combined with large hydrothermal fluxes of zinc via volcanic activity on the seafloor, maintained high levels of dissolved zinc throughout the oceans and provided a relatively stable marine reservoir of the trace metal over the past 2.7 billion years.

"The key challenge in understanding the early evolution of life is recognizing the environmental conditions under which that life first appeared and diversified," Lyons said. "We have taken a very direct approach that specifically tracks the availability of essential micronutrients, and, to our surprise, zinc supplies in ancient seawater were much higher and less variable than previously imagined.

"We can imagine for the first time," he quipped, "that zinc supplements were not on the shopping lists of our early eukaryotic ancestors, and so we better find another reason to explain the mysterious delay in their rise in the ocean."

Scott, who graduated with a doctoral degree in geological sciences from UCR in 2009, and Lyons were joined in the study by Noah J. Planavsky, a former UCR graduate student in Lyons' lab; Chris L. Dupont at the J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, Calif.; Brian Kendall and Ariel D. Anbar at Arizona State University; Benjamin C. Gill at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and also a former member of the Lyons lab; Leslie J. Robbins and Kurt O. Konhauser at the University of Alberta, Canada; Kathryn F. Husband and Simon W. Poulton at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Gail L. Arnold at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany; Boswell A. Wing at McGill University, Canada; and Andrey Bekker at the University of Manitoba, Canada.

The idea for the study was a direct consequence of the 2011 Nature paper by Planavsky, Scott, Lyons and others that challenged the hypothesis of broadly sulfidic oceans.

The international collaboration received funding for the study from numerous sources. In the U.S., funding came from the National Science Foundation, the NASA Astrobiology Institute and the Agouron Institute.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Riverside. The original article was written by Iqbal Pittalwala.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Clint Scott, Noah J. Planavsky, Chris L. Dupont, Brian Kendall, Benjamin C. Gill, Leslie J. Robbins, Kathryn F. Husband, Gail L. Arnold, Boswell A. Wing, Simon W. Poulton, Andrey Bekker, Ariel D. Anbar, Kurt O. Konhauser, Timothy W. Lyons. Bioavailability of zinc in marine systems through time. Nature Geoscience, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1679

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/DC5qaP7AZPY/121223152736.htm

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Cliff Negotiations Take Holiday Break (WSJ)

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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Video: Across America, silence for Newtown

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50277772/

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Conn. town in mourning inundated with gifts, money

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? Newtown's children were showered with gifts Saturday ? tens of thousands of teddy bears, Barbie dolls, soccer balls and board games ? and those are only some of the tokens of support from around the world for the town in mourning.

Just a little over a week ago, 20 children and six school employees were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, attacked the school, then killed himself. Police don't know what set off the massacre.

Days before Christmas, funerals were still being held Saturday, the last of those whose schedules were made public, according to the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association. A service was held in Utah for 6-year-old Emilie Parker. Others were held in Connecticut for Josephine Gay, 7, and Ana Marquez-Greene, 6.

All of Newtown's children were invited to Edmond Town Hall, where they could choose a toy. Bobbi Veach, who was fielding donations at the building, reflected on the outpouring of gifts from toy stores, organizations and individuals around the world.

"It's their way of grieving," Veach said. "They say, 'I feel so bad, I just want to do something to reach out.' That's why we accommodate everybody we can."

The United Way of Western Connecticut said the official fund for donations had $2.8 million in it on Saturday. Others sent envelopes stuffed with cash to pay for coffee at the general store, and a shipment of cupcakes arrived from a gourmet bakery in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The Postal Service reported a six-fold increase in mail in the town and set up a unique post office box to handle it. The parcels come decorated with rainbows and hearts drawn by schoolchildren.

Some letters arrived in packs of 26 identical envelopes ? one for each family of the children and staff killed or addressed to the "First Responders" or just "The People of Newtown." One card arrived from Georgia addressed to "The families of 6 amazing women and 20 beloved angels." Many contained checks.

"This is just the proof of the love that's in this country," Postmaster Cathy Zieff said.

Peter Leone said he was busy making deli sandwiches and working the register at his Newtown General Store when he got a phone call from Alaska. It was a woman who wanted to give him her credit card number.

"She said, 'I'm paying for the next $500 of food that goes out your door,'" Leone said. "About a half hour later another gentleman called, I think from the West Coast, and he did the same thing for $2,000."

At the town hall building, the basement resembled a toy store, with piles of stuffed penguins, dolls, games, and other fun gifts. All the toys were inspected and examined by bomb-sniffing dogs before being sorted and put on card tables. The children could choose whatever they wanted.

Jugglers entertained the children, a dunk tank was set up outside and the crowd of several hundred parents and children sang an enthusiastic rendition of "Happy Birthday" to one child. A man dressed as Santa Claus was in attendance, and high school students were offering arts and crafts such as face painting and caricatures.

Newtown resident Amy Mangold, director of the local Parks and Recreation department, attended with her 12-year-old daughter, Cory. She acknowledged that most people here could afford to buy their own gifts but said "this means people really care about what's happening here. They know we need comfort and want to heal."

She pointed to two people across the room. "Look at that hug, that embrace. This is bringing people together. Some people haven't been getting out since this happened. It's about people being together. I see people coming together and healing."

Many people have placed flowers, candles and stuffed animals at makeshift memorials that have popped up all over town. Others are stopping by the Edmond Town Hall to drop off food, toys or cash. About 60,000 teddy bears were donated, said Ann Benoure, a social services caseworker who was working at the town hall.

"There's so much stuff coming in," Mahoney said. "To be honest, it's a bit overwhelming; you just want to close the doors and turn the phone off."

Mahoney said the town of some 27,000 with a median household income of more than $111,000 plans to donate whatever is left over to shelters or other charities.

Sean Gillespie of Colchester, who attended Sandy Hook Elementary, and Lauren Minor, who works at U.S. Foodservice in Norwich, came from Calvary Chapel in Uncasville with a car filled with food donated by U.S. Foodservice. But they were sent elsewhere because the refrigerators in Newtown were overflowing with donations.

"We'll find someplace," Gillespie said. "It won't go to waste."

In addition to the town's official fund, other private funds have been set up. Former Sandy Hook student Ryan Kraft, who once baby-sat Lanza, set up a fund with other alumni that has collected almost $150,000. It is earmarked for the Sandy Hook PTA.

Rabbi Shaul Praver of Congregation Adath Israel is raising money for a memorial to the victims. He said one man wrote a check for $52,000 for the project.

Several colleges, including the University of Connecticut, have set up scholarship funds to pay for the educations of students at Sandy Hook and the relatives of the victims.

Town officials have not decided yet what to do with all the money. A board of Newtown community leaders is being established to determine how it is most needed and will be best utilized, said Isabel Almeida with the local United Way, which has waived all its administrative fees related to the fund.

She said some have wondered about building a new school for Sandy Hook students if the town decides to tear the school down, but that decision has not been made.

And while the town is grateful for all the support, Almeida said, it has no more room for those gifts. Instead, she encouraged people to donate to others in memory of the Sandy Hook victims.

"Send those teddy bears to a school in your community or an organization that serves low-income children, who are in need this holiday season, and do it in memory of our children," she said.

___

Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed, Christopher Sullivan, Eileen AJ Connelly, Susan Haigh and John Christoffersen contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/conn-town-mourning-inundated-gifts-money-173114867.html

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Egypt's draft charter gets 'yes' majority in vote

An Egyptian woman casts her vote during the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi in Fayoum, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

An Egyptian woman casts her vote during the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi in Fayoum, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Amnah Sayyed Moussa, 85, casts her vote for the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptian women voters queue outside a polling station during the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of president Mohammed Morsi, in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

An Egyptian elderly man shows his inked finger after casting his vote on the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi in Fayoum, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Cairo , Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

An Egyptian man votes while other voters perform the noon prayers at gymnasium hall used as a polling station during the second round of a referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters of president Mohammed Morsi, in Giza, Egypt, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

(AP) ? Egypt's Islamist-backed constitution received a "yes" majority in a final round of voting on a referendum that saw a low voter turnout, but the deep divisions it has opened up threaten to fuel continued turmoil.

Passage is a victory for Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, but a costly one. The bruising battle over the past month stripped away hope that the long-awaited constitution would bring a national consensus on the path Egypt will take after shedding its autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.

Instead, Morsi disillusioned many non-Islamists who had once backed him and has become more reliant on his core support in the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. Hard-liners in his camp are determined to implement provisions for stricter rule by Islamic law in the charter, which is likely to further fuel divisions.

Saturday's voting in 17 of Egypt's 27 provinces was the second and final round of the referendum. Preliminary results released early Sunday by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood showed that 71.4 percent of those who voted Saturday said "yes" after 95.5 percent of the ballots were counted. Only about eight million of the 25 million Egyptians eligible to vote ? a turnout of about 30 percent ? cast their ballots. The Brotherhood has accurately predicted election results in the past by tallying results provided by its representatives at polling centers.

In the first round of voting, about 56 percent said "yes" to the charter. The turnout then was about 32 percent.

The results of the two rounds mean the referendum was approved by about 63 percent.

Morsi's liberal and secular opposition now faces the task of trying to organize the significant portion of the population angered by what it sees as attempts by Morsi and the Brotherhood to gain a lock on political power. The main opposition group, the National Salvation Front, said it would now start rallying for elections for the lawmaking, lower house of parliament, expected early next year.

"We feel more empowered because of the referendum. We proved that at least we are half of society (that) doesn't approve of all this. We will build on it," the Front's spokesman, Khaled Daoud, said. Still, he said, there was "no appetite" at the moment for further street protests.

The new constitution would come into effect once official results are announced, expected in several days. When they are, Morsi is expected to call for the election of parliament's lawmaking, lower chamber no more than two months later.

In a sign of disarray in Morsi's administration, his vice president and ? possibly ? the central bank governor resigned during Saturday's voting. Vice President Mahmoud Mekki's resignation had been expected since his post is eliminated under the new constitution. But its hasty submission even before the charter has been sealed and his own resignation statement suggested it was linked to Morsi's policies.

"I have realized a while ago that the nature of politics don't suit my professional background as a judge," his resignation letter, read on state TV, said. Mekki said he had first submitted his resignation last month but events forced him to stay on.

The status of Central Bank Governor Farouq el-Oqdah was murkier. State TV first reported his resignation, then soon after reported the Cabinet denied he has stepped down in a possible sign of confusion. El-Oqdah, in his post since 2003, has reportedly been seeking to step down but the administration was trying to convince him to stay on.

The confusion over el-Oqdah's status comes at a time when the government is eager to show some stability in the economy as the Egyptian pound has been sliding and a much-needed $4.8 billion loan from the IMF has been postponed.

Over the past month, seven of Morsi's 17 top advisers and the one Christian among his top four aides resigned. Like Mekki, they said they had never been consulted in advance on any of the president's moves, including his Nov. 22 decrees, since rescinded, that granted himself near absolute powers.

Those decrees sparked large street protests by hundreds of thousands around the country, bringing counter-rallies by Islamists. The turmoil was further fueled with a Constituent Assembly almost entirely made up of Islamists finalized the constitution draft in the dead of night amid a boycott by liberals and Christians. Rallies turned violent. Brotherhood offices were attacked, and Islamists attacked an opposition sit-in outside the presidential palace in Cairo leading to clashes that left 10 dead.

The turmoil opened up a vein of bitterness that the polarizing constitution will do little to close. Morsi opponents accused him of seeking to create a new Mubarak-style autocracy. The Brotherhood accused his rivals of being former Mubarak officials trying to topple an elected president and return to power. Islamists branded opponents "infidels" and vowed they will never accept anything but "God's law" in Egypt.

Both rounds of voting saw claims by the opposition and rights groups of voting violations. On Saturday, they said violations ranged from polling stations opening late to Islamists seeking to influence voters to say "yes." The official MENA news agency said at least two judges have been removed for coercing voters to cast "yes" ballots.

The opposition's talk of now taking the contest to the parliamentary elections represented a shift in the conflict ? an implicit gamble that the opposition can try to compete under rules that the Islamists have set. The Brotherhood's electoral machine has been one of its strongest tools since Mubarak's fall, while liberal and secular parties have been divided and failed to create a grassroots network.

In the first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections last winter, the Brotherhood and ultraconservative Salafis won more than 70 percent of seats in the lower chamber, which was later dissolved by a court order. The opposition is now betting it can do better with the anger over Morsi's performance so far.

The schism in a country that has for decades seen its institutions function behind a facade of stability was on display in Saturday's lines of voters.

In the village of Ikhsas in the Giza countryside south of Cairo, an elderly man who voted "no" screamed in the polling station that the charter is "a Brotherhood constitution."

"We want a constitution in the interest of Egypt. We want a constitution that serves everyone, not just the Brotherhood. They can't keep fooling the people," Ali Hassan, a 68-year-old wearing traditional robes, said.

But others were drawn by the hope that a constitution would finally bring some stability after nearly two years of tumultuous transitional politics. There appeared to be a broad economic split, with many of the middle and upper classes rejecting the charter and the poor voting "yes" ? though the division was not always clear-cut.

In Ikhsas, Hassan Kamel, a 49-year-old day worker, said "We the poor will pay the price" of a no vote.

He dismissed the opposition leadership as elite and out of touch. "Show me an office for any of those parties that say no here in Ikhsas or south of Cairo. They are not connecting with people."

In the industrial working class district of Shubra El-Kheima just north of Cairo, women argued while waiting in line over the draft charter.

Samira Saad, a 55 year old housewife, said she wanted her five boys to find jobs.

"We want to get on with things and we want things to be better," she said.

Nahed Nessim, a Christian, questioned the integrity of the process. "There is a lot of corruption. My vote won't count." She was taken to task by Muslim women wearing the niqab, which blankets the entire body and leaves only the eyes visible and is worn by ultraconservative women.

"We have a president who fears God and memorizes His words. Why are we not giving him a chance until he stands on his feet?" said one of the women, Faiza Mehana, 48.

The promise of stability even drew one Christian woman in Fayoum, southwest of Cairo, to vote "yes" ? a break with most Christians nationwide who oppose the draft. Hanaa Zaki said she wanted an end to Egypt's deepening economic woes.

"I have a son who didn't get paid for the past six months. We have been in this crisis for so long and we are fed up," said Zaki, waiting in line along with bearded Muslim men and Muslim women wearing headscarves in Fayoum, a province that is home to both a large Christian community and a strong Islamist movement.

The scene In Giza's upscale Mohandiseen neighborhood was starkly different.

A group of 12 women speaking to each other in a mix of French, Arabic and English said they were all voting "no."

"It's not about Christian versus Muslim, it is Muslim Brotherhood versus everyone else," said one of them, Shahira Sadeq, a Christian physician.

Kamla el-Tantawi, 65, said she was voting "against what I'm seeing" ? and she gestured at a woman nearby wearing the niqab.

"I lose sleep thinking about my grandchildren and their future. They never saw the beautiful Egypt we did," she said, harkening back to a time decades ago when few women even wore headscarves covering their hair, much less the black niqab.

Many voters were under no illusions the turmoil would end.

"I don't trust the Brotherhood anymore and I don't trust the opposition either. We are forgotten, the most miserable and the first to suffer," said Azouz Ayesh, sitting with his neighbors as their cattle grazed in a nearby field in the Fayoum countryside.

He said a "yes" would bring stability and a "no" would mean no stability. But, he added, "I will vote against this constitution."

___

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Fayoum, Egypt, and Aya Batrawy, in Cairo, contributed to this report.

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-22-Egypt/id-3f718616182e481492e310bf48534130

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