trefoil darn: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Krasting: Social Security And The Beach - Business Insider

Social Security (SS) will race through another milestone in October. For the first time in its history, SS? will pay out more than $65 billion in a single month.

Other than the fact that this is an incredibly big number, there is nothing eye-opening about the payout. SS missed hitting the $65b milestone by a fraction in September. In November, it will be higher again. $70b will be hit by December 2013. The ladder to higher payouts never stops.

$65b is a very big number:

-The monthly SS payout is bigger than the market cap of some well know companies, including: Amex, 3M, US Bankcorp, Amgen, eBay and? Caterpillar. Goldman Sachs is worth a measly $54b. SS could buy the whole thing with just three-weeks worth of payout.

-The annual cost for SS is greater than the ~~ridiculous~~ monster market cap for Apple. If SS used its muscle to buy big cap stocks, it could buy up all of the shares of Microsoft, Wal-Mart and Google in less than a year.

The annual SS payout is about the same as the GDP of the Netherlands. It is well larger than the output of either Turkey, Switzerland or Saudi Arabia. In 2013 SS will spend more than the GDP of Indonesia, a country of 250m people.

The yearly SS checks are now equal to the GDP of Florida. The payout beats the entire economy of Illinois.?

The monthly SS burn rate is greater than the annual GDP of New Mexico and Hawaii. Vermont, the smallest state (by GDP), has a yearly economic output of only 30B. SS is 26Xs larger than the Green Mountain State.

The 2012 bill for SS will exceed the cost of the military, that?s the first time this has happened. The annual tab at SS is four-times greater than all of the military spending by China.

I could go on.

Of course SS has a dedicated revenue stream from FICA and SECA taxes to cover its big monthly nut. Unfortunately SS will come up a bit short in October; about $16Bn short:

The good news is that SS has other sources of income. In October 2012 it will rake in about $8bn from seniors who are collecting monthly SS checks and who also are still working (or have passive income).

I think of this revenue for SS as, ?A tax on a tax?.? It?s double taxation, not unlike the double taxation on dividend income. This tax is paid by the seniors who are clipping big coupons down in Boca; it is also paid by those seniors you see stocking the aisles at Wal-Mart (double-dippers).

SS needs cash money to back up the checks it sends out. To cover the shortfall in greenbacks, it will be forced to sell a chunk of its Trust Fund (TF) assets. That?s not a problem for SS. The US Treasury is happy to redeem the TF?s special issue bonds at par.

The Treasury has no money lying around, so it has to go out and sell an extra $8b to the public to cover the October shortfall. Given that the Federal Reserve is QEing, ZIRPing and TWISTing (all at the same time) the extra Debt Owed to the Pubic is no problem at all.

I say that Treasury is ?happy? to hock those TF assets at par with good reason. The rules for the TF require it to sell a portion of its high yielding portfolio to cover any monthly shortfall. The TF does not realize a gain from the sale of high-yielding bonds in its portfolio (a win for Treasury). Consider what happened in October 2011; the net cash shortfall was $6.7B.

To cover the cash miss, SS sold (at par) a total $5B of older, high coupon paper. New investments earned SS only 1.6% in 2011 (1.3% today!). Note: SS must maintain a minimum average life of 7.5 years on its portfolio. This forces them to liquidate ?winners? (high coupon) and hold ?losers? (low coupon).

What?s happening with SS is like beach erosion. Every month more grains of sand go out to sea. The waves that keep eroding SS?s beaches include:

-The never-ending recession that brings low employment (low payroll tax receipts).

?-The rapid aging process that the country is now going through (and will for the next fifteen years).

?-ZIRP, QE and TWIST (and any other silly thing the Fed comes up with) is killing interest income at SS.

Because of the ?ZIRP till 2015? commitment by the Fed, coupled with a rate setting formula for SS that looks backward three years, it is now certain that interest income will decline every year for the rest of the decade. It will fall below $50Bn in five years ($114B in 2011).

Again, nothing unusual or unexpected will occur at SS in October. All of the things I discuss here are ?programed? to happen. Some grains of sand will go out to sea. It won?t be noticed. But come back in few years, you?ll be surprised by the damage.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/krasting-social-security-and-the-beach-2012-9

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In Poland, Dachshunds Get The Parade They Deserve [Video]

In Poland, Dachshunds Get The Parade They Deserve

"It's not everyday you see 300 Dachshunds parade down the street in fancy dress," asserts the description on this video. True enough. But here dachshund owners in Poland display an imaginative and creative yen for putting their dogs in costumes of all varieties. I don't want to give anything away, but there are definitely one or two fake moustaches.

Oddly enough, these dogs don't have the same existential sadness in the eyes that actual show pets do. Clearly even dogs know the difference between the goofiness of Halloween and the bone-crushing solemnity of a beauty pageant.

[via Tastefully Offensive]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/jezebel/full/~3/E1Jz3LPGPGI/in-poland-dachshunds-get-the-parade-they-deserve

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Google Adsense Copywriting

The hardest part in getting a website off the ground purely for Google Adsense, known as a ?mini site?, is coming up with a topic that hasn?t already been done to death and then researching your keywords with the likes of WordTracker / Overture, and so on. In comparison, writing the content is a doddle?relatively.
[...]

The article starts below...

Written on September 30th, 2012
Read more articles on Copywriting.

The hardest part in getting a website off the ground purely for Google Adsense, known as a ?mini site?, is coming up with a topic that hasn?t already been done to death and then researching your keywords with the likes of WordTracker / Overture, and so on. In comparison, writing the content is a doddle?relatively.

Google Adsense is great; it?s basically free money once you have invested some time. If you already have a website that is selling a product, pasting some html code into the pages only takes minutes and you have paying ads immediately. But what we?re talking about here is Adsense-targeted pages.

Perhaps the best advice for copywriting for Adsense is to not provide the entire skinny on the topic you are writing about; simply give people a taster so that they will hopefully click a related ad on your page in thinking that the site they are clicking through to will teach them further.

Google doesn?t actually care how your copy is written. Google doesn?t penalise you for not mimicking the writing prowess of William Shakespeare. Google works by looking at the distribution of your keywords on the page, keyword density, is the keyword in the title and page name, and originality, and so on.

Aesthetically-speaking, the reason you want your site to look good is for the visitor, whom on pondering your site for the few nanoseconds it takes for the human brain to decide whether your site is any good or not, will stay there, browse the content and click on an ad if they feel enlightened.

You don?t particularly need to worry about making it pretty for return customers, as people who keep coming back to your pages are less likely to click on an ad anyway; which is the whole purpose of making the site in the first place. What you want are unique visitors to the site and to get them to click through.

A few basic tips on copywriting for Google Adsense:

The first couple of paragraphs are the most important, particularly the very first one. It?s great that you have written thousands of words on the subject that you know inside out, but unless you sound convincing on the first paragraph, there is a greater chance your visitor will hit the back button.

About 300 words per page is a good amount to aim for, which is about the optimum for getting the correct keyword density on a page. Any less than 200 words and Google, et al, will give that page less weight as it assumes, perhaps incorrectly, that you cannot possibly describe a topic with this meagre amount of words.

Your chosen keyword phrase should appear several times in the text, but not too much as that is considered spamming and will likely fetch you a penalty. A ball park figure is about twice in the first paragraph, twice in the last one and perhaps once in the other paragraphs; one or two of which should feature your chosen keyword phrase rewritten slightly differently.

Target only one keyword phrase per page ? it?s not a good idea to target single keywords, unless unique, as they are already very highly contested. Bold type the keywords a few times throughout the content; this will help the search engines and may also halt a roving eye. Use bullet points when listing several topics to break up the monotony of sentences and paragraphs; unlike the way this page is written.

Punctuation and grammar should be kept fairly tight, although, again, don?t kill yourself on this as Google won?t mind if you miss a comma here and there. As long as the copy is flowing and the reader doesn?t think you are a complete amateur. Just be mindful of your ?your? and ?you?re?, and your ?it?s? and ?its?, and so on, as faltering here really will make your site look amateurish.

Refrain from putting too many graphics on your pages, as many people are still on dial-up and any longer than a few seconds for your page to load up and it is likely the visitor will hit the back button. Same goes for those pages with the likes of ?Enter Site Here? once you have already clicked through from the SERPs?annoying to say the least.

Following these basic pointers will help you construct copy for attracting Google Ads more efficiently, but if you are selling a product on your site, you will need the copy to sound as enticing as possible to attract the visitor and to keep them coming back.

It goes without saying, however, that many people will even struggle with copywriting for Adsense, let alone for a site that needs to sound professional and refined. By far the easiest way to get your site off the ground in this case, is to acquire the services of a professional copywriting website and also have them do your SEO (search engine optimization) to help get your pages up in the rankings quickly.

Good luck?

About the Author

David R is co-editor of the site, http//:www.affordablewebsitecontent.com, a successful copywriting firm with informed, professional copywriters able to provide en-masse, search engine optimized content on any available topic.

Written on September 30th, 2012
Read more articles on Copywriting.

Source: http://www.copywritinghelp.net/copywriting/google-adsense-copywriting-10/

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

The Environmental Case for Fossil Fuels: 'Fossil fuels have made ...

'The difference between a healthy environment and an unhealthy environment can be summed up in one word, and it's not 'CO2' or 'climate' or 'temperature.' It's 'development.'

Via Master Resource:

Excerpt: Every region of the world, in its undeveloped state, is full of deadly environmental hazards such as indoor air pollution, bacteria-filled water, excessive cold, excessive heat, lack of rainfall, too much rainfall, powerful storms, disease-carrying insects, lack of sanitation, disease-carrying crops and animals, etc.

And yet some nations, such as the US, have the best air, water, indoor temperature, crops, sanitation, water supplies, storm-protection, disease-prevention, sanitation, and overall environmental quality in human history?while others are plagued by heat waves, cold snaps, drought, storms, crop failures, malaria and dozens of other dread diseases, filth, dung-burning fires, lack of clean drinking water.

The reason for this is development?the improvement of nature to meet human needs. Development means water purification systems, irrigation, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetically-improved crops, dams, sea walls, heating, air conditioning, sturdy homes, drained swamps, central power stations, vaccination, pharmaceuticals, and so on.

Every aspect of development has one common requirement: cheap, plentiful, reliable energy. And we would not have cheap, plentiful, reliable energy without the fossil fuel industry. Fossil fuels have transformed hazardous natural environments the world over into healthy human environments?environments that include an unprecedented ability to explore and safely enjoy nature.

Whether you're drinking clean drinking water, listening to a thunderstorm with pleasure instead of fear, or going to the Grand Canyon, you should be thanking Big Coal, Big Oil, and Big Gas.

And when you hear heartbreaking stories of children with diseases that we once had but no longer do?malaria, tuberculosis, even the plague?you should commit yourself to bringing about a world that produces more energy. Much more energy?at today's global level of energy production, only 2.5 billion people out of 7 billion could use as much energy as Europeans do.

Energy Poverty, not CO2, Is the Problem

But to listen to the environmental establishment, the cause of the problems of the bad environments is not the blatant deficiency in energy and development. The alleged problem is the energy that makes development possible: the 85% of energy production that comes from fossil fuels. Generating power from fossil fuels increases the trace percentage of CO2 in our atmosphere. (Revealingly, ?environmentalists? find reasons to oppose the other, CO2-free, sources of practical power, nuclear and hydroelectric.) That CO2 is, amazingly, the villain in all our environmental ills.

That the good environments exist is an inconvenient truth. If acknowledged, one could not pretend that the environmental problems of North Mexico vs. the environmental health of South Texas were caused by today's climate.

Consider this highlight clip from Bill McKibben, ?the nation's leading environmentalist? according to The Boston Globe, in which he blames certain increases in malaria, dengue fever, cholera, and salmonella on CO2-induced climate change.

Source: http://www.climatedepot.com/a/17691/The-Environmental-Case-for-Fossil-Fuels-Fossil-fuels-have-made-our-environment-amazingly-good

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bettylamarche3: Super Hero Fat Loss, Health & Fitness - Typepad ...

Autistic hoops hero qualifies for Boston Marathon

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- The autistic Rochester man who grabbed national headlines by scoring 20 points in four minutes in his only high school game has completed his first marathon and qualified for an even bigger race.

Autistic hoops hero's new feat: 3:01 marathon

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The autistic man who grabbed national headlines as a teenager by scoring 20 points in four minutes in his only high school game has completed his first marathon and qualified for an even bigger race.

Autistic hoops hero 'J-Mac' finishes marathon

The autistic Rochester man who grabbed national headlines by scoring 20 points in four minutes in his only high school game has completed his first marathon and qualified for an even bigger race.

Autistic NY man who was high school hoop hero in '06 finishes 15th in marathon, eyes Boston

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The autistic Rochester man who grabbed national headlines by scoring 20 points in four minutes in his only high school game has completed his first marathon and qualified for an even bigger race.

IU Health's unsung hero

Here at WISH TV, we are working to bring you the untold stories and the unsung heroes of Central Indiana. Read more at www.WISHTV.com

Hero Packs a hit with soldiers? kids

Adopt A Troop presented backpacks full of gifts called Hero Packs to youngsters at a Yellow Ribbon program Saturday to prepare families for the upcoming deployment of the Montana Army National Guard?s

Once an A&M hero, Gillispie out at Tech

Once an A&M hero, Gillispie out at Tech Houston Chronicle Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 9:26?p.m., Friday, September 21, 2012 Following a brief conversation I told him a lot of folks still thought an awful lot of him around here, and his eyes welled up as he turned to climb on the bus ...

War hero Brian Stann won't soon forget his past, but he's ready to move forward

A win over Michael Bisping would prove "The Marine" belongs in the top tier of the middleweight division.

A health hero among us

A volunteer with Beacon of Hope Community Services, based in Leominster, has been selected by Hannaford Supermarkets as a ?Hannaford Health Hero? for her dedication to encouraging healthy and active lifestyles for adults with developmental disabilities. read more

ResCare Joins Hero Health Hire

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- ResCare, Inc., the country's largest private human services company, has joined Hero Health Hire, a coalition of companies and other entities in the health care industry united with ...

Source: http://ebookstore.soonheng.com/health/944-super-hero-fat-loss-health-fitness.html

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Source: http://bettylamarche3.blogspot.com/2012/09/super-hero-fat-loss-health-fitness.html

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Source: http://winstonpearson76.typepad.com/blog/2012/09/bettylamarche3-super-hero-fat-loss-health-fitness.html

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Julian Fellowes Planning a 'Downton Abbey' Prequel About Young ...

Season three of 'Downton Abbey' airs in the US in January PBS

When "Downton Abbey" eventually comes to an end in a flurry of repressed British emotion, it might not be the last we see of all the characters. Speaking at the?at the BAFTA Screenwriters' Lecture series on Wednesday, September 26th, "Downton Abbey" creator and writer Julian Fellowes told the crowd that he has plans in mind for a prequel to his hit period drama, one that would explore the early days in the relationship between?Robert, Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and his eventual wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern). As reported by the BBC, Fellowes felt the story had potential because it wasn't the smoothest of starts.

I do actually have an idea of doing a prequel of the courtship of Robert and Cora, when all those American heiresses were arriving in London. They had a slightly troubled courtship, because she was in love with him before they married, as we know, and he married her entirely for her money... I sort of feel there's something quite nice in there because he's a decent cove, and so he feels rather guilty about this which has affected their marriage beyond that.

While Fellowes spoke about the potential project as a book, it seems likely that it would also yield a screen adaptation, given the phenomenon that?"Downton Abbey" has become. An early series would take the setting back to the 1800s, and would involve new actors in the roles of young Robert and Cora. Fellowes told the crowd that any prequel would have to wait until the main "Downton Abbey" run is over: "For me, any other books or plays or films should follow after the end of the television show.?I don't think you can continue a narrative in more than one area at once."

READ MORE: New 'Downton Abbey' Promos Promise Much Delicious MacLaine/Smith Sniping

The third season of "Downton Abbey" is currently airing in the UK and will have its US broadcast premiere on PBS on January 6th of next year. In addition to his TV drama,?Fellowes has worked as an actor (most recently on?"Monarch of the Glen") and a screenwriter -- he won an Oscar in 2002 for the script for "Gosford Park."

Source: http://www.indiewire.com/article/television/julian-fellowes-planning-downton-abbey-prequel

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Company Web Hosting: That's Best For You? | My Six Strings Blog

Regularly when shopping on the web or at your nearby shopping mall you?ll see ?Member from the Significantly better Venture Bureau, or BBB? and straightaway you are feeling perfect about searching for the website or shop. But what?s the More effective Venture Bureau and why does it happens to be encourage self-esteem, specially when browsing for just a webhosting corporation?

The higher Internet marketing business Bureau continues to be monitoring issues and maintaining tabs on the two income and non-profit website hosting agencies for additional than fifteen yrs now. Annually tens of millions of customers count to the Even better Internet business Bureau score reviews to inform them no matter whether or not an online host is trusted or not.

The higher Home business Bureau is as opposed to the localized Chamber of Commerce on the incontrovertible fact that it doesn?t increase any internet host above a second. The BBB gathers critical information on internet hosting corporations each personal and non-private then publishes its results within their dependability reviews. The entire plan can be to sustain the buyer knowledgeable and allow them browse through by all of the on hand related information to higher formulate which webhosting provider is a single they would like to offer with.

On the list of principal features of one?s More suitable Internet business Bureau could be to strive to help you take care of grievances from potential consumers towards corporations. If a consumer is unhappy while using provider they have addressed they could file a state because of the Bureau and they?re going to then call the small business to the customer?s behalf and check out that will help take care of the issue. A number of people imagine that the greater Internet business Bureau only allows with service providers which are members belonging to the area BBB or accredited through the BBB, although the simple fact is always that they assist with grievances from each accredited and non accredited small businesses. In accordance towards the Bureau, they can be capable to efficiently solve about 70 p.c of every one of the issues which have been submitted.

How can an online host end up an accredited member and will it lend on your self-belief?

To be an accredited member of your BBB, an internet internet hosting corporation needs to have been in functions for no less than 1 12 months. They need to then complete an software and pay out member dues. Element with the software technique is proving towards the Bureau the word wide web host can adhere towards the benchmarks the BBB needs to be a member which could embrace proving which the organization is entirely certified an features the extent of provider which they promote.

Anytime an online host can eliminate its accreditation for virtually any amount of arguments. The most crucial cause for dropping accreditation is simply too a lot of grievances from prospects. So as you see that an online host is accredited because of the Significantly better Enterprise Bureau it have to certainly lend a vote of self-esteem on your final decision to make use of that exact small business. That could be to not claim that non members are all shady, even so the stamp of acceptance absolutely can help. The simplest strategy to know you may be managing a cost-effective hosting organisation which you can rely on is to try to try the greater Industry Bureau?s web-site that is certainly BBB.org.

Remember to search to How Has Web Hosting Produced the Entire World Related? if you decide to demand far more details to the theme.

Affordable Internet Hosting ? Choosing The Right Hosting Company
Website Hosting: Probably The Most Key Aspect of The Online World Company
Get Reasonably-priced Webhosting For Ones Small Company: The Ideal Hosting For Not So Big Business Venture
Price Range Web Hosting Positive Aspects And Downsides: Notable Aspects For Picking Hosting Firms
Cost-effective Web Hosting Package Deal ? Easy To Understand Tactics on How To Obtain Just One

Source: http://mysixstringsblog.com/company-web-hosting-thats-best-for-you/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=company-web-hosting-thats-best-for-you

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Health fitness articles - HEALTH, BEAUTY & FITNESS

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

'I'm bored!' -- Research on attention sheds light on the unengaged mind

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2012) ? You're waiting in the reception area of your doctor's office. The magazines are uninteresting. The pictures on the wall are dull. The second hand on the wall clock moves so excruciatingly slowly that you're sure it must be broken. You feel depleted and irritated about being stuck in this seemingly endless moment. You want to be engaged by something -- anything -- when a thought, so familiar from childhood, comes to mind: "I'm bored!"

Although boredom is often seen as a trivial and temporary discomfort that can be alleviated by a simple change in circumstances, it can also be a chronic and pervasive stressor that can have significant consequences for health and well-being.

Boredom at work may cause serious accidents when safety depends on continuous vigilance, as in medical monitoring or long-haul truck driving. On a behavioral level, boredom has been linked with problems with impulse control, leading to overeating and binge eating, drug and alcohol abuse, and problem gambling. Boredom has even been associated with mortality, lending grim weight to the popular phrase "bored to death."

Although it's clear that boredom can be a serious problem, the scientific study of boredom remains an obscure niche of research, and boredom itself is still poorly understood. Even though it's a common experience, boredom hasn't been clearly defined within the scientific community.

Psychological scientist John Eastwood of York University (Ontario, Canada) and colleagues at the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo wanted to understand the mental processes that underlie our feelings of boredom in order to create a precise definition of boredom that can be applied across a variety of theoretical frameworks. Their new article, which brings together existing research on attention and boredom, is published in the September 2012 issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Drawing from research across many areas of psychological science and neuroscience, Eastwood and colleagues define boredom as "an aversive state of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity," which arises from failures in one of the brain's attention networks.

Specifically, we're bored when:

We have difficulty paying attention to the internal information (e.g., thoughts or feelings) or external information (e.g., environmental stimuli) required for participating in satisfying activity
We're aware of the fact that we're having difficulty paying attention
We believe that the environment is responsible for our aversive state (e.g., "this task is boring," "there is nothing to do").

The researchers are confident that integrating the disparate fields of cognitive neuroscience, social psychology, and clinical psychology will produce a more thorough understanding of boredom and attention -- phenomena which are ubiquitous and intimately linked.

Armed with a precise and broadly applicable definition of boredom that gets at the underlying mental processes, the authors identify important next steps in research on boredom. Eastwood and his colleagues hope to help in the discovery and development of new strategies that ease the problems of boredom sufferers and address the potential dangers of cognitive errors that are often associated with boredom.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

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

Journal Reference:

J. D. Eastwood, A. Frischen, M. J. Fenske, D. Smilek. The Unengaged Mind: Defining Boredom in Terms of Attention. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2012; 7 (5): 482 DOI: 10.1177/1745691612456044

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/f_asLbvvpsQ/120926153032.htm

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Exclusive 'Wreck-It Ralph' Photos Unlock 'Hero's Duty'

In "Wreck-It Ralph," a character from the early days of arcades decides to cast off his role as a villain and look for his place in other video games. One of those games takes Ralph to the much darker present of electronic entertainment, and that game is "Hero's Duty." Explore the world of "Hero's Duty" [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/09/27/wreck-it-ralph-heros-duty/

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Obama leads Romney 49-42 percent in latest Reuters/Ipsos survey (reuters)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/251518282?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

And Now, Paul Ryan vs. the Stench (Little green footballs)

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The Arab Spring, Yom Kippur, and Women in Science

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/arab-spring-yom-kippur-women-science-133647281.htmli will always love you maine caucus whitney houston has died blue ivy carter whitney houston death the vow the voice season 2

Business plan for international mining company | Business Plans

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Brent climbs above $110, Iran tensions in focus

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude climbed above $110 a barrel on Tuesday, recovering from a more than 1 percent drop in the previous session, as escalating tensions surrounding Iran offset concerns about weak demand in a still-fragile global economy.

Washington on Monday cleared the path for tighter sanctions against Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, while Tehran increased its rhetoric against Israel, intensifying worries about a conflict between the two and the impact on crude supplies from the region.

"The markets have been flipflopping between worries over weak demand and tight supplies, so I'm not surprised to see some volatility in prices," said Natalie Rampono, commodity strategist with ANZ in Melbourne.

November Brent futures rose 16 cents to $109.97 per barrel at 0436 GMT, after climbing to a high of $110.20 earlier in the session. U.S. crude futures gained 16 cents to $92.09 a barrel. Both contracts ended the previous session about $1 lower on demand concerns.

The underlying sentiment remains weak as investors fret about the effectiveness of the recently announced stimulus measures and the impact on global oil demand, but the focus on Tuesday was on the increasing tensions in the Middle East.

IRAN TENSIONS IN FOCUS

The U.S. government officially linked Iran's state oil company to the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday, allowing Washington to apply new sanctions on foreign banks dealing with the company.

That could worsen an already tense situation as Iran struggles to find ways to ship its oil to consumer nations, especially in Asia, with the unavailability of European insurance for its shipments deterring buyers.

The U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions on Iran earlier this year to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions, which the Middle Eastern nation says are aimed at peaceful purposes.

Adding to worries, Iran's president on Monday ignored a United Nations warning and increased rhetoric against Israel at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments come on the heels of a statement by a senior army official of the Revolutionary Guard who warned of a pre-emptive strike against Israel.

DEMAND CONCERNS

Still demand worries continue to weigh, especially after data from Germany on Monday showed that business sentiment dropped for a fifth straight month.

Germany's relative resilience to the euro zone debt crisis has been steadily fraying as its firms see falling demand for their products from European partners and signs of a slowdown in other markets.

The data came just when markets were taking stock after a series of stimulus measures by central banks in the United States, Europe and Japan aimed at keeping markets well-supplied with funds, although investors remain sceptical on whether these measures will have their desired impact of boosting the economy.

"The primary source of fear is now perhaps that all-enveloping greyness and the consequences of an extended period of slow growth, rather than abrupt economic downturns," Barclays analysts said in a report.

"The geopolitical context is such that oil price risks are biased to the upside in a world of fairly limited spare capacity," they added.

Investors will focus on political risks in the final months of the year, with elections in the U.S. and a leadership transition in China, the world's biggest consumers of oil, ANZ's Rampano said.

The market is also waiting for U.S. inventory data for clues on demand from the world's biggest consumer of oil. U.S. crude oil stockpiles likely rose last week for the third straight week, while gasoline and distillate stockpiles were also seen higher, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventory report later in the day, while the EIA will issue its data on Wednesday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brent-climbs-above-110-iran-tensions-focus-054024980--finance.html

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H.S. football notebook: Wildcats prepare for 1st challenge in Falcons

One of the first points that Norwich Free Academy football coach Jemal Davis made to his Wildcats following a 48-7 win over Woodstock on Saturday was that critics will point out that NFA has not beaten anyone yet despite a 2-0 record.

It?s true that the Wildcats have not been challenged. NFA has scored 48 points in the first half of each of its first two games and then had the luxury of resting its starters for the entire second half.
Will that be a problem when NFA plays host to Fitch at 1 p.m. this Saturday?
Quarterback Joey Paparelli said the Wildcats have been going at it hard in practice and will be mentally prepared for the Falcons and the physical side shouldn?t be a problem.
?We have the two-platoon thing going and only offensive players play offense and defense plays defense, so no one is going to get overwhelmingly tired,? Paparelli said. ?We conditioned all offseason and went through the hardest camp that I?ve ever been a part of. We?re still running three days a week and all of our practices are high-tempo like we?re in a game.?
?Booting better
?There were few things Ledyard coach Jim Buonocore looked upon as a positive following the Colonels? game with Killingly. But there was an exception to that rule ? kicker Christian Alvis.
?He?s doing a nice job with the point-afters, he?s been perfect so far, and I thought our kickoffs were much better,? Buonocore said.
Alvis has a straight-on kicking style that you might expect from a player who is normally either on the offensive line or at linebacker. Buonocore said his staff worked with Alvis in the week between the Waterford and Killingly games and ?changed some things up? to improve his style.
?I was really happy with that. Now we just have to get the coverage team on board,? Buonocore said with a rare chuckle on Thursday night.
?Big plays
?There were plenty in between but it was the ?bookend? big plays by New London that set Montville back on Friday ? the first play from scrimmage and the last play from scrimmage in the first half.
Quarterback Ackee Barber found Sammy Miranda for a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game. Miranda caught the ball about seven yards off the line of scrimmage and quickly shook his defender who fell down.
?We wanted to try and air it out early, make those big guys run, because we?re not going to pound the football at them (the Whalers ran the ball only 13 times)? New London coach Duane Maranda said. ?We?re going to take what they?re giving us and what they were giving us was that play.?
Joquin Riley was responsible for the play that sent Montville into the locker room with its heads down. Indians? quarterback Nick Clemons ran into his own halfback, stumbled and lost control of the ball. Riley was coming in on the blitz and did the old ?scoop-and-score? trick.
?I just picked it up and ran as fast as I could, it just popped right up to me,? Riley said.
?Lack of focus
?Woodstock first-year head coach Jesse Pimental is doing everything he possibly can to make his team competitive.
In the game against NFA Saturday, the Centaurs tried just about every trick in the book but there was one thing that seemingly escaped the Centaurs ? focus.
They executed some things well, but also lost concentration and it resulted in such things as a pass on a punt deep in their own territory that gave the ball back to NFA deep in Woodstock territory. The Centaurs also had a host of delay-of-game penalties and fumbled a punt.
?We stressed the importance of being strong mentally in practice (Friday) and I was a little disappointed to come out the way we did,? Pimental said. ?The intensity has been better in practice, but it?s not translating to the games, so we have to take a look at that. Some of it is being intense and some of it is getting behind early and not being able to sustain the intensity.??
Mighty Panthers
It?s early, but something special might be brewing in Central Village. Plainfield improved to 2-0 with a 43-6 thumping of St Bernard/Norwich Tech Friday night. The Panthers totaled only five wins in the prior two seasons and with a win Friday at Waterford (0-2), could equal last season?s victory total.
For the second week in a row, it was Plainfield?s defense that kept coach Patrick Smith?s squad in the game during the first half until the offense finally hit its stride in the second, rolling up 244 yards and three scores over the final 24 minutes.
?We?re still a work in progress,? said Smith, ?We didn?t do much of anything right in the first half. Fortunately, for us in the second half, we came out and made some nice adjustments and the kids responded. Give the kids credit. This is two weeks in a row that kids came out in the second half and played with some passion.?
Plainfield?s defense limited St Bernard to 163 yards of offense and also returned a fumble for a touchdown for the second consecutive week.
Marc Allard and Peter Koiva contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.norwichbulletin.com/sports/x670726368/H-S-football-notebook-Wildcats-prepare-for-1st-challenge-in-Falcons

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Last Night, the Florida State Marching Band Played the ?Game of Thrones? Theme Song

Robb Stark approves. The greatness commences about fifteen seconds in.?

House Seminoles held off House Tigers last night, keeping their quest for eternal BCS glory alive. As Winter approaches, Florida State is certainly hoping to be right in the thick of things. With the USC Lannister's loss against Stanford last week, Florida State maybe be the most promising non SEC team out there.?

[H/T: Uproxx]

Source: http://www.brobible.com/entertainment/video/florida-state-game-of-thrones-theme

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Readers Write: Grading teachers isn't enough; Teachers deserve useful evaluation and support.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/readers-write-grading-teachers-isnt-enough-teachers-deserve-123924157--politics.htmltracy mcgrady mash alec baldwin kicked off plane alec baldwin kicked off plane mumia mumia uss arizona memorial

Monday, September 24, 2012

Cloud Atlas to Open in IMAX

Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tywker?s Cloud Atlas premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month. Reactions are all over the board, with some hailing the film as revolutionary American cinema, while others assert that it folds under the weight of its own ambition. However, most everyone seems to be in agreement on one issue: that Cloud Atlas is worth checking out.

That?s not exactly surprising, given that the first Cloud Atlas screenshots and six-minute trailer ? teasing the cast?s?race-bending performances through a series of interweaving stories ? have been generating discussion around the blogosphere for the past two months. Mainstream audiences should start showing interest?as well, now that an official trailer and television spot (see above) have been unveiled.

Warner Bros. is distributing Cloud Atlas ? which was funded independently, after the studio balked at the cost ? and has struck a deal with IMAX Corporation to re-master the film for an IMAX release beginning next month. Here is an excerpt from the official press release, which includes a synopsis:

?Trailblazing filmmakers Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis understand how to transport moviegoers through ground-breaking imagery and scale,? said Greg Foster, Chairman and President, IMAX Filmed Entertainment. ?We?re excited to build on our partnerships with Warner Bros. and the filmmakers and present this epic tale in IMAX.?

The IMAX release of Cloud Atlas will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX?s customized theater geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie.

Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Drama, mystery, action and enduring love thread through a story that unfolds in multiple lifetimes as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

Cloud Atlas getting an IMAX release

The Cloud Atlas cast includes such people as Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Xun Zhou, James D?Arcy and Keith David. It marks the first film directed by the Wachowski siblings since Speed Racer in 2008, as well as the rare Tykwer production to be given a wide release in the U.S. (with the exception of The International).