Proposed U.S. Tax Increase Will Hurt Some Small Businesses ...

A proposed U.S. tax increase for individuals making over $200,000 will definitely hurt some small businesses, taking away extra cash that might otherwise be used for growth, despite attempts by supporters of the increase to downplay that impact. With financial uncertainty facing many in 2013, businesses of all sizes must find ways to cut costs and do more with less. Here are some concerns facing businesses in the U.S. and abroad, and some suggestions to prepare for financial challenges.

Tax Time

How much is too much? A bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation found only three percent of the 3o million Americans who report business income on their personal returns will be taxed at the top marginal rate. But that could include almost 940,000 business owners who might otherwise have reinvested in their businesses, the same study says. ABC News

Another look at the impact. A release from a national organization representing small businesses gives another view of the impact the proposed tax increase may have upon small businesses. The report says 72 percent of all S corporation income, 61 percent of all partnership income, and 13 percent of all sole proprietorship income will be affected. National Federation of Independent Businesses

Other Issues

Borrowing trouble with loan expenses. In the U.K., small businesses face another challenge. While interest rates on loans under ?1 million increased over the past quarter, interest rates for loans over ?2 million fell over the same period, meaning costs for small business borrowing are going up while costs for big business borrowing have decreased, writes Kasey Cassells. bOnline Blog

Getting more mileage from expenses. Back here in the U.S., small businesses will catch an ever-so-slight break in standard mileage rates for travel expenses in 2013. Business owners will be able to deduct 56.5 cents per mile on business expenses in 2013 versus 55.5 cents per mile in 2012. (Hey, it adds up!) The new rate goes into effect January 1. Small Business Trends

Cut Those Costs

Low to no overhead. One solution for cutting costs in your business, no matter where you operate it, is to get rid of your brick and mortar location completely. Here Adam Gottlieb explains some of the things you may want to consider when creating a virtual business for yourself. Many services already exist to help you cut costs and leave a physical office behind. The Frugal Entrepreneur

Shape up to ship out. Another great place to shave off expenses for your business is in the area of shipping costs. As it turns out, you don?t need to look too far when seeking these savings. In a guest post on Ashley Neal?s blog, Kelli Cooper shares four simple ways to save on your expenses today. Small Biz Diamonds

Hit those sales objectives. Cutting spending isn?t the only way to combat rising costs in your business. Finding simple, inexpensive ways to boost your sales is another. And nothing could be simpler than reevaluating your marketing plan to see that it meets your sales and marketing objectives. Susan Oakes gives some tips on a marketing plan review that will make you the money your business needs. M4B Marketing

Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/12/proposed-u-s-tax-increase-will-hurt-some-small-businesses.html

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The Vioce Behind The Scenes Videos

The Voice has been narrowed down to four amazing contestants and tonight the hit reality show will take a look back on each one of their journeys. Plus as the semi-finals get underway the remaining contestants will face off. It is going to be a big night on The Voice and below you will find some fantastic videos to check out. It has been quite a season on The Voice but soon it will all come to an end and a winner will be announced. It is Adam’s two verses Blake’s two and tonight something unexpected will happen. I of course can’t tell you what that is because even I know what it is. However that doesn’t mean I don’t have some fabulous little preview videos for you. We have a glimpse at each of the final four, Trevin, Cassade, Terry and Nicholas on their individual Voice journey’s if you will. Cassadee’s Journey Trevin’s Journey Nicholas’ Journey Terry’s Journey That was a nice trip down memory lane wasn’t it? If you thought those clips were good wait until you see this super cool clip called Vocal Promises. It features the four bosses, you know the final four, coming together to [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/CY3k8CjQBuM/

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AT&T LTE goes live in Wilkes-Barre, Nashua, and Grand Rapids

AT&T drive to get their LTE data network pushed out across the U.S. continues with three additional cities announced (so far) this morning.

• Wilkes-Barre, Penn.
• Nashua, N.H.
• Grand Rapids, Mich.

While AT&T still trails Verizon in terms of coverage, they're lighting up new cities all the time. And if you just got AT&T LTE in one of those cities, hop on over to the iPhone 5 forum and show us your speeds.

Source: AT&T via Android Central

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/tiU9PHZ4lsQ/story01.htm

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UN conference adopts extension of Kyoto accord

Local and international activists march inside a conference center under a giant statue of a spider to demand urgent action to address climate change at the U.N. climate talks in Doha, Qatar, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012. A dispute over money clouded U.N. climate talks Friday, as rich and poor countries sparred over funds meant to help the developing world cover the rising costs of mitigating global warming and adapting to it. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

Local and international activists march inside a conference center under a giant statue of a spider to demand urgent action to address climate change at the U.N. climate talks in Doha, Qatar, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012. A dispute over money clouded U.N. climate talks Friday, as rich and poor countries sparred over funds meant to help the developing world cover the rising costs of mitigating global warming and adapting to it. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

Norwegian Environmental Minister B?rd Vegar, second right, speaks to local and international activists during their protest inside a conference center to demand urgent action to address climate change at the U.N. climate talks in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012. After all-night wrangling, the latest drafts Saturday lacked the strong commitments on climate action and financing by rich countries that poor countries had hoped for. But they did include a text on "loss and damage," a relatively new concept which relates to damages from climate-related disasters. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

Local and international activists protest inside a conference center to demand urgent action to address climate change at the U.N. climate talks in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012. After all-night wrangling, the latest draft agreements Saturday lacked the strong commitments on climate action and financing by rich countries that poor countries had hoped for. But they did include a text on "loss and damage," a relatively new concept which relates to damages from climate-related disasters. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

Local and international activists demonstrate inside a conferences center to demand urgent action to address climate change at the U.N. climate talks in Doha, Qatar, ,Saturday, Dec.8, 2012. After all-night wrangling, the latest draft agreements Saturday lacked the strong commitments on climate action and financing by rich countries that poor countries had hoped for. But they did include a text on "loss and damage," a relatively new concept which relates to damages from climate-related disasters. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

Local and international activists protest inside a conference center to demand urgent action to address climate change at the U.N. climate talks in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012. After all-night wrangling, the latest drafts Saturday lacked the strong commitments on climate action and financing by rich countries that poor countries had hoped for. But they did include a text on "loss and damage," a relatively new concept which relates to damages from climate-related disasters. (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? A U.N. climate conference agreed Saturday to extend the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty that limits the greenhouse gas output of some rich countries but which will only cover about 15 percent of global emissions.

The extension was adopted by nearly 200 countries after hard-fought sessions and despite objections from Russia. The package of decisions also included vague promises of financing to help poor countries cope with climate change.

Though expectations were low for the two-week conference in Doha, many developing countries rejected the deal as insufficient to put the world on track to fight the rising temperatures that are raising sea levels. Some Pacific island nations see this as a threat to their existence.

"This is not where we wanted to be at the end of the meeting, I assure you," said Nauru Foreign Minister Kieren Keke, who leads an alliance of small island states. "It certainly isn't where we need to be in order to prevent islands from going under and other unimaginable impacts."

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which controls the greenhouse gas emissions of rich countries, expires this year. It was extended through 2020 to fill the gap until a wider global treaty is expected to take effect.

However, the second phase only covers about 15 percent of global emissions after Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Russia opted out.

The U.S. never joined Kyoto, partly because it didn't include China and other fast-growing developing countries.

Poor countries came into the talks in Doha demanding a timetable on how rich countries would scale up climate change aid for them to $100 billion annually by 2020 ? a general pledge that was made three years ago.

But rich nations, including the United States, members of the European Union and Japan are still grappling with the effects of a financial crisis and were not interested in detailed talks on aid in Doha.

The agreement on financing made no reference to any mid-term financing targets, just a general pledge to "identify pathways for mobilizing the scaling up of climate finance."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-08-Climate%20Talks/id-c3d1d186b79c4f3980ab2b441bac6d35

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Snapshot: Chavez's designated successor

FILE .- In this Oct. 17, 2006 file photo Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, left, talks with his then Foreign Minister and current Vice-President Nicolas Maduro during a meeting with Chinese businessmen at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Chavez is to return to Cuba Sunday for another surgery in his battle against cancer, which has led him to speak publicly of a successor for the first time. Chavez said Saturday that if there are "circumstances that prevent me from exercising the presidency further" Vice-President Nicolas Maduro should replace him for the remainder of his term. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

FILE .- In this Oct. 17, 2006 file photo Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, left, talks with his then Foreign Minister and current Vice-President Nicolas Maduro during a meeting with Chinese businessmen at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Chavez is to return to Cuba Sunday for another surgery in his battle against cancer, which has led him to speak publicly of a successor for the first time. Chavez said Saturday that if there are "circumstances that prevent me from exercising the presidency further" Vice-President Nicolas Maduro should replace him for the remainder of his term. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? The man President Hugo Chavez wants to succeed him is an intensely loyal 50-year-old former bus driver who has long served as the international face of Venezuela whenever the socialist president wasn't soaking up the limelight himself.

NICOLAS MADURO had been foreign minister since 2006. Chavez then tapped him as his vice president three days after winning re-election on Oct. 7

If the cancer-stricken Chavez survives until his Jan. 10 inauguration but dies during the first four years of his term, the constitution says that Maduro would take over temporarily and that new elections should be held within 30 days.

Chavez told Venezuelans on Saturday night if he isn't able to stay on he wants them to elect Maduro as his successor.

TOP DIPLOMAT: Maduro has been a key player in consolidating the ALBA bloc of leftist Latin American nations including Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and others, and in building closer ties with Iran, Russia and China in an effort to counteract U.S. influence. He is thought to have close ties to Cuba's former and current leaders Fidel and Raul Castro.

Chavez has always shown great affection for Maduro, kidding him publicly about the submarine sandwiches the burly foreign minister consumes. The two have been friends since the 1980s, when Chavez formed a clandestine movement that eventually launched a failed 1992 coup.

EARLY YEARS, UNION ORGANIZING: For a diplomat, Maduro is a man of surprisingly few words. Yet he is also one of the few members of Chavez's government who makes public statements on policy.

He got into politics as a teenager, joining the Socialist League, which sent him to Cuba for training in union organizing. He then became a union organizer in the Caracas Metro system.

During Chavez's visits to Cuba for cancer treatment, the mustachioed Maduro was among the few aides at his side.

When Chavez announced Saturday night that he would be returning to Cuba for cancer surgery, Maduro was sitting beside him. The vice president looked solemn and turned to Chavez with slight wrinkles on his brow when the president mentioned his name.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-09-LT-Venezuela-Maduro-Box/id-f645f90f3ce14a9e98fd8c063dc61edd

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JXD S5110 Handheld Game Console: The Unholy Marriage of a ...

December 9th, 2012 by: Technabob

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While I?m personally holding out for the Archos GamePad, if you absolutely must have an Android 4 gaming device before the holidays, you might want to check 0ut this oddity.?The Chinese made?JXD 5110?bears more than a passing resemblance to the Sony PSP, but it?s all Android, all the time.

This handheld gaming system runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), and supports 95% of all Android apps out of the box. It?s also got a (single) analog thumbstick, D-Pad, ABXY, Start/Select and shoulder buttons. Games are played on its 800?480 resolution, 5-inch touchscreen, and it?s also got a low-res (0.3 MP) rear camera built in. It?s powered by a an ARM Cortex A9 CPU, and has an ARM Mali400 GPU. It?s got 4GB of on-board storage, and can be expanded via a MicroSD card up with as much as 32GB of storage. Its built-in Wi-Fi supports 802.11g/b/n standards. ?It?s also got an HDMI output so you can connect it to your TV.

Of course, the main reason to buy a handheld like this is to play emulators of older gaming systems, and the S5110 can play classic games using any of the numerous Android-based emulators out there. It even comes pre-loaded with several emulators to get you started. While it?s definitely an odd-looking system, it?s available now, and costs under $100(USD) too. You can grab one over on Amazon in either Black or White.

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Canoodle Dating Site Finds a Suitable Pair By Pairing up Your Facebook Likes

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Source: http://technabob.com/blog/2012/12/09/jxd-s5110-android-handheld-game-console/

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Egyptian military says only dialogue can avert disaster

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military said on Saturday only dialogue could avert "catastrophe", stepping into a crisis pitting Islamist President Mohamed Mursi against opponents who accuse him of grabbing excessive power.

State broadcasters interrupted their programs to read out an army statement telling feuding factions that a solution to the upheaval in the most populous Arab nation should not contradict "legitimacy and the rules of democracy".

That sounded like a swipe at protesters who have besieged the palace of the freely elected president and called for his removal, going beyond mainstream opposition demands for him to retract a decree that expanded his powers.

The statement also called for a "serious" national dialogue - perhaps one more credible than talks convened by Mursi on Saturday in the absence of opposition leaders. They insist he must first scrap his November 22 decree, defer next week's popular vote on a new constitution and allow the text to be revised.

Deep rifts have emerged over the destiny of a country of 83 million where the end of Hosni Mubarak's 30 years of military-backed one-man rule led to a messy army-led transition, during which the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies won two elections. Many Egyptians crave a return to stability and economic recovery.

The spokesman for the main Islamist coalition demanded that the referendum go ahead on time on the constitution drafted by an Islamist-led assembly from which liberals had walked out.

The army, which ran Egypt for months after Mubarak fell in February 2011, again cast itself primarily as the neutral guarantor of the nation. A military source said there was no plan to retake control of the country or its turbulent streets.

"DARK TUNNEL"

"The armed forces affirm that dialogue is the best and only way to reach consensus," the statement said. "The opposite of that will bring us to a dark tunnel that will result in catastrophe and that is something we will not allow."

The instability in Egypt worries the West, especially the United States, which has given Cairo billions of dollars in military and other aid since it made peace with Israel in 1979.

The army might be pushing the opposition to join dialogue and Mursi to do more to draw them in, said Hassan Abu Taleb of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

He discounted the chance of direct military intervention, adding: "They realize that interfering again in a situation of civil combat will squeeze them between two rocks."

However, the military did seem poised to take a more active role in security arrangements for the December 15 referendum.

A cabinet source said the cabinet had discussed reviving the army's ability to make arrests if it were called upon to back up police, who are normally in charge of election security.

According to the state-run daily al-Ahram, an expanded military security role might extend to the next parliamentary election and, at the president's discretion, even beyond that.

Mursi's office said the "national dialogue", chaired by the president, had begun with about 40 political and other public figures discussing "means to reach a solution to differences over the referendum...and the constitutional decree".

The army issued its statement while protesters were still camped out by the gates of the presidential palace.

The tens of thousands of Mursi foes who surged past tanks and barbed wire to reach the palace gates on Friday night had dispersed. But a hard core stayed overnight in a score of tents.

"LEAVE"

Some had spray-painted "Down with Mursi" on tanks of the elite Republican Guard posted there after clashes between rival groups killed at least seven people and wounded 350 this week.

Others draped the tanks with posters of Mursi and the word "Leave" scored across his face in red letters.

"We are no longer calling for scrapping the decree and delaying the referendum," Samir Fayez, a Christian protester at the palace, said. "We have one demand in five letters: leave."

Nearby, a Mursi supporter named Mohamed Hassan was quietly observing the scene. He suggested that the Muslim Brotherhood and its ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamist allies could easily overwhelm their foes if they chose to mobilize their base.

"The Brotherhood and Salafis by themselves are few but they have millions of supporters who are at home and haven't taken it to the streets yet," murmured the 40-year-old engineer.

The Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, denounced opposition protests that have swirled around the walls of Mursi's palace, saying they "ruin legitimacy".

Badie said eight people, all of them Brotherhood members, had been killed this week and urged the interior minister to explain why police had failed to prevent assailants from torching the organization's headquarters and 28 other offices.

"Get angry with the Brotherhood and hate us as much as you like, but be reasonable and preserve Egypt's unity," he told a news conference. "We hope everyone gets back to dialogue."

The well-organized Brotherhood, which thrust Mursi from obscurity to power, remains his surest source of support, with over 80 years of religious and political struggle behind it.

In the referendum, due to be followed by a parliamentary election, Islamist proponents of the constitution may benefit from the votes of millions of Egyptians desperate for the country to move on and revive its crippled economy.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair, Omar Fahmy and Yasmine Saleh; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-opposition-shun-mursis-national-dialogue-030606290.html

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Government agency has yet to conduct audit of safety systems for offshore oil operators

wwltv.com

Posted on December 6, 2012 at 10:21 PM

Updated today at 8:09 AM

David Hammer / Eyewitness News
Email: dhammer@wwltv.com | Twitter: @davidhammerWWL

NEW ORLEANS ? It?s been more than a year since offshore oil and gas operators had to have new safety systems in place; more than a year since a revamped federal agency got the power to audit them.

But agency records show that the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has not conducted a single audit of the safety systems for any of the 120 operators in the Gulf of Mexico.

What?s more, BSEE has only directed two Gulf of Mexico operators to conduct their own safety audits based on poor safety records.

It?s a staggering revelation, given the way the agency was restructured and safety was re-emphasized following the catastrophic BP oil spill of 2010.

Not only was the well blowout and deadly explosions on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig a huge embarrassment for the oil industry, it also shone a harsh light on the regulatory agency known then as Minerals Management Service.

President Barack Obama said MMS was "too cozy" with the industry it was supposed to regulate, and he and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar broke it into three units. The people who hand out federal leases and collect oil royalties were separated from the inspectors and engineers who make sure the oil companies are operating safely.

The offshore drilling industry was shut down for five months after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident, and in November 2010 the government gave its new safety agency teeth with the so-called SEMS Rule.

Subpart S called on oil and gas companies to develop their own Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) by November 2011, audit those systems by November 2013 and also allowed BSEE to perform its own audits if necessary.

Meanwhile, then-BSEE Director Michael Bromwich got a bigger budget and hired hundreds of new inspectors, engineers and auditors to beef up the agency?s oversight.

But no audits had been done when three more workers were killed in another offshore explosion last month, this time on an old fixed platform in the shallow water Gulf.

BSEE Regional Director Lars Herbst responded by writing a strongly worded letter to Black Elk?s president, calling the company out for a spotty safety record and directing it to hire an independent third-party firm to conduct a SEMS audit.

Eric Smith, assistant director of the Tulane Energy Institute, said that the 16 people with audit experience on BSEE?s staff must not be enough to get the process rolling.

?They?re getting stricter, they?ve got the budget to get stricter and sort of the imperative because of the accident to get stricter, but it still takes time to turn the battleship,? Smith said. ?You need experienced auditors and they don?t have experienced auditors.?

BSEE said it wants to let the companies do the audits so they?ll ?buy in? to the new SEMS program.

But Don Boesch, a former member of Obama?s Presidential Oil Spill Commission, said he?s worried about leaving that kind of policing in the hands of the industry.

"It?s always necessary to mandate the audits or do them on their own or else why would the industry take the audits seriously?? said Boesch, who is from Louisiana and is also the president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

?They acted quickly and put the process as a rule and implementation, but it's now been two years and of course we'd like to see more progress as far as these audits being completed.

A slide show presented to an industry safety group last month by Jason Mathews, one of BSEE?s accident investigators for the Deepwater Horizon incident, indicated that the agency tracks poor safety performance with what?s called an ?increased oversight list.?

But when we asked BSEE to produce the list, it said no formal list exists.

The slide show also showed a ?dashboard? that allows the agency to measure companies? safety records and compare them. Each facility gets scored based on how many unsafe incidents inspectors found, as a percentage of all of the mechanical components they inspected

. The average, safe Gulf platform generally has four incidents of non-compliance for every 100 components inspected.

We asked BSEE to run certain reports using the dashboard shown in Mathews report. We also asked how Black Elk scored in relation to the rest of the industry. In both cases, BSEE told us we would have to send a formal request and wait.

Multiple sources told Eyewitness News that several Gulf operators have worse safety records than Black Elk.

We asked to interview Herbst or another agency official for this story and were denied. The only comment BSEE would provide was this statement from spokeswoman Eileen Angelico:

?BSEE continues to work diligently to improve safety and environmental protection throughout the offshore energy program. The bureau approaches enforcement strategically to improve the performance of each oil and gas operator.?

Smith said that after a deplorable history of oversight, BSEE needs more time to ramp up its auditing capabilities. But he also found the agency?s tight-lipped response to questions about its effectiveness to be ironic.

?They?ve always been sensitive to ? the fact that the operators, the people who are actually producing the oil and gas, are not transparent in their reporting,? he said. ?But in this case we've got the government regulator saying, ?I'm not going to tell you what my metrics are for measuring people; I'm not going to tell you where this company stacks up with other companies.? To me that's a little bit of a transparency issue all in itself.?

?

Source: http://www.wwltv.com/home/Government-agency-has-yet-to-conduct-audit-of-Gulf-oil-gas-operators-182479531.html

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NASA plans follow-up trek to Mars

The Mars rover Curiosity is four months into its 2-year investigative visit to Mars. Now NASA is planning another rover trip to bring samples from Mars back to Earth.?

By Irene Klotz,?Reuters / December 4, 2012

This artist's rendering provided by NASA shows the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. NASA announced Tuesday, it plans to send another Curiosity-like rover to Mars in 2020.

AP Photo/NASA

Enlarge

NASA plans to follow-up its Mars rover Curiosity mission with a duplicate rover that could collect and store samples for return to?Earth, the agency's lead scientist said on Tuesday.

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The new rover will use spare parts and engineering models developed for Curiosity, which is four months into a planned $2.5 billion, two-year mission on Mars to look for habitats that could have supported microbial life.

Replicating the rover's chassis, sky-crane landing system and other gear will enable?NASA to cut the cost of the new mission to about $1.5 billion,?John Grunsfeld, the U.S. space agency's associate administrator for science, said at the?American Geophysical Union?conference in?San Francisco.

Budget shortfalls forced?NASA to pull out of a series of joint missions with?Europe, designed to return rock and soil samples from Mars in the 2020s.?Europe?instead will partner with?Russia?for the launch vehicle and other equipment that was to have been provided by NASA.

Grunsfeld said?NASA will provide a key organics experiment for?Europe's ExoMars rover, as well as engineering and mission support under the agency's proposed budget for the year beginning Oct. 1, 2013.

Details about what science instruments would be included on the new rover, whether or not it would have a cache for samples, and the landing site have not yet been determined.

NASA plans to set up a team of scientists to refine plans for the rover and issue a solicitation next summer.

The?National Academy of Sciences?last year ranked a Mars sample return mission as its top priority in planetary science for the next decade.

"The (science) community already has come forward with a very clear message about what the content of the next Mars surface mission should be, and that is to cache the samples that will come back to?Earth," said?Steve Squyres?with Cornell University.

"That's really a necessary part of having this mission," he said.

(Editing by Tom Brown and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/5KoMcVpHEj0/NASA-plans-follow-up-trek-to-Mars

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The world's most and least livable cities

5 hrs.

Michael Sauter, Samuel Weigley and Alexander E.M. Hess , 24/7 Wall St.

According to a?study?released this week by global consulting group?Mercer, the best U.S. city to live in is Honolulu, Hawaii. However, the study reviews hundreds of cities around the world, and Honolulu ranks worse than 27 other major metropolitan areas. This includes two cities from New Zealand, four from both Canada and Australia, and more than a dozen from European countries like Switzerland and Germany.

Mercer?s 2012 Quality of Living Survey looks at the largest cities in the world and takes into account dozens of metrics, including internal stability, law enforcement effectiveness, education, crime levels and the quality of health care in the city. This year, the best city in the world to live in is Vienna, Austria. The worst city to live in is Baghdad, Iraq. Based on Mercer?s report, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the cities with the lowest and highest quality of living.

Also Read: The Best and Worst Run States in America

The cities with the highest quality of living are primarily in wealthy, politically stable, central European countries. Among the 11 with the highest quality of living, three are in Switzerland, three are in Germany, and the highest-ranked city, Vienna, is in Austria. According to Slagin Pakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer, ?Overall, European cities continue to have high quality of living as a result of a combination of increased stability, rising living standards and advanced city infrastructures.?

In addition to being in stable areas, these cities are in countries with wealthy populations. GDP per capita in these countries is among the highest in the world, with none ranking lower than 25th in that category, globally, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. This includes Canada, which has the ninth-highest per capita GDP in the world, Denmark, which has the seventh-highest, and Switzerland, which has the fourth.

One new factor considered by Mercer for this year?s report is the quality of each city?s infrastructure. Included in this analysis is a review of the city?s public transportation, the level of congestion, and the availability of flights to and from the region. The majority of these high-ranking European and Canadian cities perform well in this infrastructure measure. Six of the 11 best cities to live in also rank in the top 10?for infrastructure.

On the other side of the list, the majority of the least livable cities are located primarily in Africa, but the list is more geographically diverse than the best-ranked places. War-torn regions like Baghdad and Tbilisi, Georgia, are on the list, as is the earthquake-devastated and extremely impoverished Port-au-prince, Haiti.

Eight of the 10 countries on this list are among the worst primarily because they are the most dangerous on earth. The U.S. Department of State has issued travel warnings for many of these countries due to extreme violence, robbery, and the murdering of tourists. Some of these countries are actually on the brink of war or in the midst of one, either with rebel groups or other nations.

The proportion of adults dying before the age of 60 is incredibly high in these countries. In the Central African Republic, where second-worst ranked Bangui is located, nearly every other adult dies before he or she reaches the age of 60.

These places are also extremely impoverished. GDP per capita is among the lowest in the world. The Democratic Republic of Congo, where 10th-worst ranked Kinshasa is located, has the lowest GDP per capita of any country measured by the IMF. In the Central African Republic, more than 30 percent of residents live on less than $1 per day. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is more than 50 percent.

Based on Mercer?s 2012 Quality of Life index, which reviews 460 of the largest cities on earth based on 36 separate criteria, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 that were rated as having the worst quality of life, and the 11 that were rated as having the best quality of life. For our analysis, we also reviewed the GDP per capita data from the IMF and income and poverty data, infant and adult mortality, which all came from the United Nations. All data are for the most recent available year.

The cities with the best quality of living

1. Vienna, Austria

• Population:?1.69 million
  
• Infrastructure rank:?16
  
• National GDP per capita:?$49.688 (11th highest)
  
• Adults dying prematurely:?76 per 1,000 (23rd lowest)
  

Vienna, the capital of Austria and its largest city, has the world?s highest quality of living, according to Mercer. The city is a popular tourist destination, with St. Stephen?s Cathedral and the Imperial Palace among the most popular sites. Vienna is also the main hub for Austria?s economy -- one of the world?s strongest, with a GDP per capita of $49,688 in 2011, slightly higher than the U.S. figure of $48,328. Last year, Austria had the lowest unemployment rate in the Eurozone, at 4.2 percent according to the IMF.

2. Zurich, Switzerland

• Population:?1.14 million
  
• Infrastructure rank:?24
  
• National GDP per capita:?$83,073 (4th highest)
  
• Adults dying prematurely:?58 per 1,000 (3rd lowest)
  

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland, with a population of 368,677 as of 2010. It is also generally regarded as the financial and industrial center of the country. Zurich is home to two prominent global financial institutions: Credit Suisse and UBS. In addition, ?Science City,? a think-tank facility constructed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, has cemented the city?s reputation as a haven for innovation and research. The city has also developed an art scene in recent years, with the city?s Raemistrasse district known as ?Art Mile.?

Also Read: America?s Best (and Worst) Educated States

3. Auckland, New Zealand

• Population:?1.36 million
  
• Infrastructure rank:?43
  
• National GDP per capita:?$35.973 (25th highest)
  
• Adults dying prematurely:?72 per 1,000 (19th lowest)
  

Auckland is New Zealand?s most populous city and its busiest transportation hub.?It is also the country?s largest port, exporting metals and farm goods and importing petroleum and other commodities. The city is currently planning an innovation precinct, an area the project?s planner, Waterfront Auckland describes as being ?where a cluster of companies ... will accelerate the growth of high-tech ideas into commercial success.? Despite its size, New Zealand was ranked one of the world?s more competitive economies in the World Economic Forum?s Global Competitiveness report.?GDP per capita in 2011 was $35,973, which is among the top 25 countries in the world.?The U.S. State Department notes that the crime rate is low and has been decreasing recently.

Cities with the worst quality of living

1. Baghdad, Iraq

• Population:?5.75 million
  
• Infrastructure rank:?220 (2nd lowest)
  
• National GDP per capita:?$3,478 (73rd lowest)
  
• Adults dying prematurely:?222 per 1,000 (63rd highest)
  

Baghdad, along with other parts of Iraq, were significantly damaged by air strikes during both the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991 and the Iraq War, which began in 2003. Much of the Iraqi population still lacks adequate drinking water and the country?s sewage system is in poor condition. Although Iraq is a long way from recovery, the CIA World Factbook notes that ?an improving security environment and foreign investment? have helped spur economic activities in sectors such as energy, construction and retail. Government revenue has also benefited from rising oil prices.

Also Read: Nine Beers Americans No Longer Drink

2. Bangui, Central African Republic

??????????Population:?702,000

??????????Infrastructure rank:?213 (9th lowest)

??????????National GDP per capita:?$463 (8th lowest)

??????????Adults dying prematurely:?464 per 1,000 (9th highest)

Bangui is located in the Central African Republic, a country for which the State Department has issued a travel warning. Americans who do go to there are discouraged from leaving the city. According to the CIA World Factbook, ?the government still does not fully control the countryside, where pockets of lawlessness persist.? Additionally, the Lord?s Resistance Army, an international terrorist group known for the use of child soldiers, is also active in the country. In Bengui, violent crime rates are ?elevated,? according to the State Department, while ?military and civilian security forces (and people posing as such) staff checkpoints throughout the city, frequently harassing residents and international visitors for bribes.?

3. Port-au-Prince, Haiti

• Population:?2.14 million
  
• Infrastructure rank:?221 (the lowest)
  
• National GDP per capita:?$738 (23rd lowest)
  
• Adults dying prematurely:?251 per 1,000 (53rd highest)
  

Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, has the lowest quality of life among all cities located in the western hemisphere. The city, along with the rest of Haiti, was devastated in early 2010 by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. At least 230,000 people died, while another 300,000 were injured, although exact figures remain unavailable. The earthquake resulted in about $7.8 billion worth of damage. Despite all this, Port-au-Prince has some tourist destinations, which the government has touted to help it rebuild the country.

Click here to Read the Rest of 24/7 Wall St.?s Most and Least Livable Cities

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/worlds-most-least-livable-cities-1C7471842

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RoboForm Password Manager Review

Do you have too many sticky notes on your desktop just to remember the passwords for each site? These days, you need to have separate accounts to read this or download that, so you end up getting a huge pile of accounts. Are you just using the same password for all your accounts? That is not a smart choice because it makes your accounts just that much more prone to getting hacked. Password Managers are an answer to your prayers. RoboForm is commercial password management software that not only saves you the trouble of remembering your usernames and passwords, but also automatically logs you into your online accounts and conveniently reduces the time it takes you to fill out online registration and checkout forms.

Prominent Features

RoboForm is a very efficient and reliable online password manager. It employs powerful encryption algorithms such as Blowfish and AES to keep your data safe and includes a password generator that generates complex, non-guessable passwords.

Effortless Login

One of the main reasons people feel the need to get any password manager software is the ease of login, of course. Roboform users only have to remember one password and that is the key to all their other passwords. When you login to your favorite websites or applications, it automatically saves your login information and the next time a simple click logs you in. The new RoboForm 7 makes this task possible using the ?Information Bar" that will propose a login name based on the site you visit, and you have the option to customize the storage place. If you wish not to save the password for a specific site, you can select ?Don't Save? or ?Never for the Site" options. The ?Batch Login? feature is a great new addition that can log you in to several

sites at once.

Fast Form Filling

The most attractive feature of RoboForm, to me, is the one click form filling feature. RoboForm ?Identities? allows you to securely save your personal information. These ?Identities? are subsets of your password data like work-related information and personal information, so you can create several identities with different credit-card numbers, and contact information. It only takes one click to fill out the form and submit it. The newest version is known to support around 30 languages, not to mention - check boxes and radio buttons.

Ubiquitous Access

The RoboForm Everywhere (Online) allows you to access your RoboForm logins, Identities and Safenotes on all your desktops, laptops and other devices. It serves to back up your data on their servers and synchronize all your passwords and any other information you have saved. RoboForm now runs on all versions of Windows, Linux and Mac, with cross browser support that now also includes: Chrome and Safari, in addition to Internet Explorer and Firefox. RoboForm2Go gives you the full RoboForm experience along with portability as it resides on USB drives. It is very convenient for you to have all your passwords and information on the go. RoboForm also has apps for popular mobile phones including Android, iPhone and Blackberry.

RoboForm is a user friendly password manager. The newest version RoboForm 7 comes with better bookmark management, search bar, well-organized menus, improved language support and many great new features that make it one of the best in its league.

Steven White is an IT expert who writes for Free Password Manager, a site providing information on Best Password Managers.

Steven White is an IT expert who writes for Free Password Manager, a site providing information on Best Password Managers. http://www.freepasswordmanager.com/

Source: http://www.articlesbd.com/articles/289705/1/RoboForm-Password-Manager-Review/Page1.html

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Human Saves Dog | Steve Dale's Pet World

By Steve Dale, today at 6:55 am

John Kooatian and Casey

I often write about hero dogs who save humans, such as this recent story starring an Australian Shepherd dead-ringer for Lassie. But the human/animal bond works both ways.?On July 5, John Koobatian, 13, I was visiting Chatfield Hollow, CT with his friends and family. The same day, Casey, an elderly 15-year-old black lab was also visiting Chatfield Hollow, from nearby Killingworth with her owner.

Koobatian's mom, Nadine Koobatian, says Casey went for a swim in the pond and became disoriented. Casey somehow wound up swimming away from shore and wound up, clearly struggling in the center of the pond."

The dog's owner was frantic but unable to swim. Watching all this from shore, Koobatain swam out to attempt to rescue the by now drowning dog.

After treatment at a nearby veterinary hospital, Casey was released.

Yes, both man's best friend and dog's best friend - it goes both ways.

(thanks to Jamie for the idea for this post)

Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/steve-dales-pet-world/2012/12/human-saves-dog/

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Ship sinks off Dutch coast, 4 dead, 7 crew missing

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ? Four crew members died and seven were missing in the icy waters of the North Sea, after a cargo ship collided with another vessel and sank off the Dutch coast Wednesday night, rescuers said.

"We can confirm that four bodies have been found, along with 13 people rescued alive," said Coast Guard spokesman Marcel Oldenburger.

He said a massive air and sea rescue operation involving several helicopters, two navy patrol ships and even one of the ships involved in the collision would continue through the night in an effort to find the remaining seven sailors.

The 148-meter (485-foot) Baltic Ace collided with the 134-meter (440-foot) container ship Corvus J in darkness near busy shipping lanes some 65 kilometers (40 miles) off the coast of the southern Netherlands. The Baltic Ace, carrying a cargo of cars, had a crew of 24 which was forced to abandon ship as it sank quickly.

"We have found life rafts, and the people in them are being picked up by helicopters," another coast guard spokesman, Peter Verburg, said.

By around 10 p.m. (2100 GMT), 11 crew members had been rescued by helicopters and two more by ships, the coast guard said in a statement. Rescuers were using infrared cameras to hunt for more survivors.

"We still hope to find them," Kees Brinkman, a spokesman for rescuers, told Dutch television nearly four hours after the collision. But, he added, "their chances of survival are shrinking" if they are in the water.

The Dutch Defense Ministry said in a statement two navy patrol ships were aiding the search. "Helicopters are trying, in (strong wind) and high waves to bring the people to safety," the ministry said.

Verburg said the 12-man crew of the Corvus J was still on board the ship, which was helping in the rescue operation. Details of its cargo were not immediately available. "It is badly damaged, but not in danger of sinking," Verburg said of the Corvus J.

The coast guard spokesman said the cause of the collision was not known. "At the moment we are solely focused on getting the people to safety," he said. Four of the survivors were being flown to a hospital in Rotterdam and seven to an airbase in Belgium.

The Baltic Ace, sailing under a Bahamas flag, was heading from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge to Kotka in Finland, and the Cyprus-registered Corvus J was on its way from Grangemouth in Scotland to Antwerp, Belgium.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ship-sinks-off-dutch-coast-4-dead-7-231936995.html

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HTC reportedly betting big that its ?M7? smartphone will be its savior in 2013

HTC (2498) has had a lousy go of things over the past two years despite putting out some high-quality smartphones such as the One X and the DROID DNA. Focus Taiwan is now reporting that the company is pinning its hopes for a comeback on a smartphone codenamed the ?M7? that will launch in Spring 2013 and will become its new flagship device. What makes this interesting is that Focus Taiwan says that HTC is telling its suppliers ?to prepare 4 million to 5 million M7 components in the first quarter of 2013,? which alone would be more than half of the ?estimated total shipments of 7 million for HTC in the current quarter.? Since HTC has already produced quality smartphones recently that have still failed to gain traction, it will be really interesting to see what the company has planned to get everyone?s attention next year.

Get more from BGR.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/htc-reportedly-betting-big-m7-smartphone-savior-2013-020110648.html

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iBuku Pets lets you recycle your old iPhone by giving it to your kids ...

Rather than toss their old iPhone or iPod touch into the trash, an increasing number of parents are giving their worn down devices to their children as toys. I have to agree that an iPod touch with the right apps can be an enjoyable play thing for your little one, but that device is not made Fisher-Price strong. Once it hits the floor with any force, there's a good chance it will shatter. To help protect your device and make it safe for small hands, there is a new cushiony and cute case from Arbor Cube called iBuku Pets. I received a review unit and handed it over to my kids for a week. Read on to see how BiBi, the pink iBuku Pet, fared with my tribe.

Design

The iBuku Pet is shaped like an adorable pet with ears, an elongated back and chunky arms and legs. It's the perfect size for a preschooler to hold. There is an opening in the stomach area where the iOS device resides. It has a small notch on one end that can house the charging cable. I was able to insert my iPod third generation with the cable plugged into the charging port and could charge the device while it was still in the iBuku case.

On the back side of the device is a cavity that can hold spare cables and an opening that is used to route cables for charging. The back is also elongated and acts as a sound chamber to increase the volume of the device. This shape also makes it possible to place the iBuku on a table and it will sit flat without falling over.

Material-wise, the iBuku Pet is made of a firm, but spongy material that absorbs much of the impact of a fall. It's flexible enough that your child can wiggle the pet's arms and legs, but firm enough that they won't bend or break. For real young ones, it is biteable and any bites will leave teeth marks in the case. It is non-toxic, Phthalate-free, PVC-free, BPA-free and AZO dye-free. The surface of the case is easily washable with soap and water, just make sure to remove your iOS device first or be extremely careful with your cleaning.

The iBuku Pet fits the third- and fourth-generation iPod Touch, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The fit varies by device, with the iPhone fitting more snuggly than the iPod touch. All devices are secure enough that you can shake, drop or toss the iBuku and the iOS device stays safe inside the case.

With the iPhone, children can move the arm to toggle the screen on and off and press buttons on the front of the Pet to control the volume. I used the iBuku with the iPod touch and found that the device was secure in the slot, but it wasn't big enough to be used with the iBuku's buttons. You don't have to worry about connectivity either as the iBuku works with or without WiFi and doesn't require any cellular service plan.

Functionality

My children loved playing with my iPod touch within the iBuku Pet as it is the right size for little hands. Its chunky arms and legs make it easy to hold, and it is weighted just right for the under-six crowd to carry around. Its bright colors and cutesy appearance really attracts their attention.

The iBuku Pet works as described to protect your iOS device. The snug fit of the case and its spongy material did a great job protecting my device. My iPod touch dropped to the floor or pavement several times each day and it was unscathed.

The iBuku Pet includes a free app that has the characters, BiBi and Alvi, from the cases. The app is designed for kids in mind with a fun "Smash the Trash" game and a sing-along section with the iBuku Pet characters. The app, though, is geared towards younger children and not toddlers. On-screen elements are not sized for the imprecise taps of a 1-year-old and there is a fair amount of tapping on selections and "next" buttons, which do not work well with little ones. My 5-year-old, though could whip through the app with no problem. You can also install your own age-appropriate apps.

One problem with the iBuku Pet concept is iOS itself. I am using the iBuku with an older device that does not support iOS 6, which means there is no Guided Access. Guided Access is an iOS 6 feature that limits what your child can do with your device. You can disable hardware buttons and lock your child into an app. You can also disable select features and areas with an app.

With iOS 5, my toddler kept pressing the Home button and getting himself out of his games. Once he got into the home screen, he wreaked havoc on the device by deleting apps and inadvertently sending emails, a service that I forgot to turn off before handing over my device. I ended up installing more toddler-friendly games and watched him closely while he played. The lack of any native parental controls, especially on older devices, is something to consider before you turn your iOS device into a play toy.

As mentioned above, the iBuku Pet is biteable and any bites will mar the outer appearance of the case. It sustained a lot of biting from my 1-year-old, but he was never able to bite off a chunk. I believe it is both the chunky size of the iBuku Pet and the firm material from which it is constructed that prevented him from getting his full bite into the case. My 3-year-old and my 5-year-old never chewed on the case as they are both past that biting stage.

Conclusion

The iBuku Pet is a wonderful case for children. It turns an iPhone or iPod touch into a safe toy and has convenience features like in-case charging and backup battery options for parents. Though it is susceptible to bite marks, the iBuku Pet didn't fail during very rigorous testing from my children. It was dropped, thrown, bitten and stepped on and still protected my iPod touch completely.

The iBuku Pet is available as a Kickstarter project. Each Pet costs $35 and will ship in time for Christmas. You can select between the Green Alvi or the Pink Bibi character.

Pros

• Durable, spongy material protects your iPhone or iPod touch during a fall
• Innovative design lets you charge the device and store the cables inside the case
• Optional battery pack helps keeps your iOS device running even when the battery is worn out
• Child-friendly design, especially suitable for kids from 3 to 5 years old

Cons

• Susceptible to bite marks from young children
• Variable fit depending on the iOS device

Who is it for?

• Parents with children 2 years old to 5 years old and an old iOS device laying around

Share

Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2012/12/05/ibuku-pets-lets-you-recycle-your-old-iphone-by-giving-it-to-your/

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The Role of Behavioral Therapy in Addiction

? addictionblog.org

To help people avoid relapse or fight any intense craving for substance abuse, behavioral treatments are being used in treatment facilities like a sober living house. Behavioral therapies help people engage in their own addiction treatment by providing them incentives to remain sober, change their behavior towards substance abuse, and enhance their skills in handling or coping with situations that can trigger cravings and result in a relapse.

Regardless of the type, all behavioral therapies have one common goal ? to stop addiction or substance abuse by modifying contingencies or ?conditions under which a response produces a consequence? (European Journal of Behavioral Analysis, 2006, p. 111). ?This can be done in 3 ways:

• Rewarding behaviors not consistent with substance abuse
• Removing or disabling triggers that can instigate substance abuse
• Tying unpleasant or negative incidents with substance abuse

To better grasp the purpose behind behavioral therapy, here are some examples of the commonly used therapies in treatment centers or sober living homes:

?Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

? addictionts.com

The purpose of this therapy is to improve self-control. It involves specific strategies like looking at the good and bad consequences of continued substance use, self-monitoring to identify early signs of craving as well as high-risk situations that can trigger use, and formulating techniques to deal with or avoid high-risk situations and desire to use. Studies show that skills acquired through cognitive-behavioral therapy are well-instilled and remain in patients even after treatment is completed.

Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)

MET uses techniques to induce an internally motivated and immediate change in patients instead of guiding them step-by-step through the entire healing or recovery process. This type of therapy involves an initial assessment battery session then 2 to 4 one-on-one treatment sessions with the therapist. The first treatment session involves the therapist providing comments on the results of the initial assessment, motivating discussion about the patient?s substance use, and drawing out self-motivational admissions from the patient. The succeeding sessions involve the therapist monitoring changes, reviewing strategies used, and promoting commitment to sobriety.

12-Step Facilitation Therapy

This type of behavioral therapy involves the active participation or engagement of the patient. It?s an approach used to instigate or increase a patient?s active involvement in groups using a 12-step self-help program that promotes sobriety or abstinence from substance abuse. This program involves 3 key aspects:

1. Acceptance ? realizing that addiction is a disease, that drugs or alcohol can make life difficult, that will power isn?t enough to overcome it, and that abstinence or sobriety is the only alternative solution
2. Surrender ? surrendering or giving one?s self up to a higher power, accepting support and companionship of other fellow patients, and abiding by the activities specified in the 12-step program
3. Involvement ? actively participating and attending in meetings and activities set by the program

These are just some of the behavioral therapies used in the treatment of addiction. Other types include Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT), Multisystemic Therapy (MST), Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT), and more. Whatever the type of therapy, the goal remains the same: to treat addiction and instill abstinence and sobriety in a patient. It is important, however, to ask what kind of behavioral therapy is being used in a treatment facility like a sober living house and which will be the most applicable and ideal for a patient. The behavioral therapy used can dictate whether or not a treatment will be a success for a particular patient.

Source: http://www.casanuevovida.com/blog/the-role-of-behavioral-therapy-in-addiction/

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Society 1 Announces Return Of Bassist - in Metal News ( Metal ...

Society 1 has issued the following announcement about welcoming back bassist Dirt Von Karloff:

"Dirt Von Karloff has returned to Society 1 after a year and half hiatus. After seven years in the band Dirt decided to leave on amicable terms to explore other musical opportunities but after some time had passed his desire to return to the band resurfaced. Following some contemplation he decided to make the call to rejoin after hearing some of the rehearsal footage posted on the Society 1 Youtube page and was excited about the new members and direction of the material."

Vocalist Lord Zane further comments: "I've toured the world with Dirt. We've shared the stage hundreds of times. He was at my right hand side when we played the Download Festival suspended in front of 80,000 people. Sharing those experiences with someone creates a strong bond and friendship. It's good to have him back and am looking forward to sharing the stage one again."

"In the first rehearsal it felt like coming home except now playing with new drummer Pete Pace (London After Midnight) is like jamming with Neil Peart on crack," said Karloff.

Society 1 is currently tracking at AM Recording Studios with Raymond Herrera (Fear Factory, Arkaea, 3volution) in the producer chair and Jeremy Blair engineering. The band is compiling songs for a new EP entitled "Screams Of Sadist" and preparing to tour in 2013.

You can get related band news and info in the sidebar and on the respective band pages.

Source: http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=86973

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Amy Winehouse's London home sells for $3.2 million

LONDON (Reuters) - The London home where British singer Amy Winehouse died has sold for 1.98 million pounds ($3.2 million) at auction, after it failed to attract serious buyers on the real estate market.

The semi-detached Camden Square house where the musician died last year at age 27 had remained empty since it was put up for sale in May for 2.7 million pounds, but continued to draw flocks of fans paying tribute to the "Back to Black" singer.

Winehouse's family decided early in November to put the house to auction after "the estate agency route didn't work", property auctioneer Chris McHugh told Reuters on Tuesday.

Media reports suggested the family had been overwhelmed with viewing requests from fans, but not real prospective buyers.

"We had probably 50 to 100 viewings and we showed people around at all times of the day and night," McHugh said.

The 2,500-square feet (230-square-metre) four-storey property features three bedrooms, a large dressing room, two bathrooms and a sound-proofed music room and gym.

At an auction held on Monday in Piccadilly, bids started at 1.7 million pounds, reached the 1.8 million guide price and stopped just short of the 2 million-mark beyond which a 7 percent stamp duty applies on UK home sales.

McHugh said a middle-aged couple had secured the house at a price he believed was "about right" given property values in the area and the fact there were only five serious bidders that day.

The auction catalogue had made no reference to the former owner of the property, whose fans turned a nearby square into a candle-lit shrine in the days following Winehouse's death.

Winehouse, famous for her distinctive voice, beehive hairstyle and long battle with addiction to drink and drugs, was found dead in the house on July 23, 2011.

An inquest into her death found she had more than five times the legal driving limit of alcohol in her blood when she died.

($1 = 0.6213 British pounds)

(Reporting by Natalie Huet, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amy-winehouses-london-home-sells-3-2-million-191507290.html

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Domestic Short Hair - Sheba - Medium - Adult - Female - Cat ...

Domestic Short Hair - Sheba - Medium - Adult - Female - Cat

DOB: 01/13/2011

What a beautiful, affectionate lady Sheba is. She has grown into a sweet, young cat who purrs affectionately whenever she is pet. Completely litter box trained, Sheba would make a wonderful addition to your home. Like all of our cats, Sheba has been spayed, microchipped, given a Capstar to treat any fleas and ticks, and tested for Heartworm disease (HTWM), feline leukemia (FELV) and feline aids (FIU). Come play with Sheba at the Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia today.

CHARACTERISTICS:
Breed: Domestic Short Hair
Size: Medium
Petfinder ID: 23810397

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Pet has been spayed/neutered

CONTACT:
The Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia | Brunswick, GA | 912-264-6246

For additional information, reply to this ad or see: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=23810397

Brought to you by Petfinder.com

Source: http://jacksonville.ebayclassifieds.com/cats-kittens/brunswick/domestic-short-hair-sheba-medium-adult-female-cat/?ad=24803024

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In Their Early Days (Screenwriters Edition) ? ScreenPicks

You ever get tired of seeing George Clooney in Return of the Killer Tomatoes? How about Jennifer Aniston in?Leprechaun? or Leonardo Dicaprio in Critters 3? The answer is no, you never get tired of it. Why? Because seeing actors paying their dues before they were famous and laughing at their haircuts is how we bring them down to our level. Sure, Brad Pitt, you married Angelina Jolie and make furniture made out of money now, but I saw Cool World. Adopt all the kids you want, that movie?exists. But, this article isn?t about actors in crap movies before they were famous? it?s about writer?s who wrote those crap movies before THEY were famous.

Writers are people too, damn it, and they deserve to be treated the same as everyone else. In this case, that means looking at the awesomely awful movies they had to write to pay their dues before they were allowed to leave B-Movie town and write the film that would propel them to stardom. Well, ?screenwriter stardom.?

Here?s a look at some of today?s top screenwriters and their humble beginnings.

1. David Koepp ? Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible and Spider-Man are just a few of the, what Hollywood insiders would call, ?successful films? this guy has written. But, before he shaped the world of action films, he shaped the world of boarding school boys fighting?terrorists in 1991?s Toy Soldiers.?

If memory serves, this was pretty much just Red Dawn with khakis. If memory also serves, the song ?Toy Soldiers? by Martika was better than this movie. Koepp?s current project is the next installment of the Jack Ryan CIA saga aptly titled, Jack Ryan.

2. John Logan ? Everyone, including me, has been going batty over the latest James Bond film, Skyfall. Rightfully so; it?s kinda awesome. Guess what, this guy wrote it. Not to mention Gladiator, The Aviator and Rango. Speaking of bats though, he also wrote a movie in 1999 called?wait for it??Bats.?

Full disclosure, I haven?t seen this movie. But, I just noticed that the title on the cover is UPSIDE DOWN! LIKE A BAT! WHAT?! So, yeah, I?m going to see it. Logan?s latest writing gig was Darren Aronofsky?s epic, Noah. From Bats to the Bible. Not bad, Logan. Not bad.

3. Christopher McQuarrie ? The Usual Suspects. Boom. That was this guy?s. To this day, you?ll still hear a Keyser Soze reference every so often (Spoiler Alert: Keyser Soze was dead the whole time). However, before he penned that 90?s phenom (I wrote phenom to save time), he and Bryan Singer gave us Public Access in 1993.

This is another I?ve yet to see so I can?t really make fun of it?but I?ll give it a try anyway. The movie?s cover leads me to?believe?its about a dude who sweats a lot and then goes running at night? While I make my little jokes, McQuarrie certainly has the last laugh as his most impressive projects on his resume are still to come. Jack Reacher, The Wolverine, and Mission Impossible 5 are all either penned or about to penned by him. So, I?ll just shut up now.

4. David S. Goyer ? Before he was part of the Christopher Nolan team that dreamed up the last three Batman films, Goyer paid his dues like a champ. The Crow: City of Angels, Dark City and all of the Blade films were under his belt before penning Batman Begins. Before that, however, he gave us a film that changed us all. I?m of course?referring?to Kickboxer 2: The Road Back.

The year was 1991 and Jean-Claude Van Damme was a dude who kicked a lot which, back then, was all you needed for a movie. It turns out he was only in the first one, though. In this one, they got Joe Kickington (that may not be right). The LA Times review, ?Better than Kickboxer?, really sums up the impact this film had on America?nay, the world. Okay, enough sarcasm. Goyer?s latest film The Man of Steel is a clear sign that this writer, even after the Batman Trilogy, is still soaring.

5. Andrew Kevin Walker ? This guy melted my face off with Se7en. The fact that he?s always been David Fincher?s go-to guy for rewrites makes him even cooler. For a long time I assumed Se7en was his first film. Then, as I was writing an article about hit films from first-time writers, which was going to include him, my world was turned upside down by?Brainscan.?

The cover alone speaks volumes. Mostly, it says that the 90?s were a confusing time for all of us, including Hollywood. This gem, which features a ?before the drugs? Edward Furlong, is actually available to watch on YouTube for free! ?All good things should flow into the?boulevard? said Pericles.??We now know he was talking about this. Walker?s last feature was the not-so-well-received?Wolfman in 2010 but, the word is, he is doing a polish on Fincher?s latest project, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.?I?m in.

All kidding aside, these are all writers I admire and aspire to write like. In reality, having a good laugh about an artist?s early work is just another way we get to know them and become bigger fans of theirs. Every writer has to start?somewhere, and the bottom of the ladder is usually going to include a Van Damme movie or two. With that being said, I?m gonna get started on my new script, Return of the Killer Tomatoes 2: They?re Technically A Fruit.

Update: Val Kilmer just called. He?s in!

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Source: http://screenpicks.com/2012/12/in-their-early-days-screenwriters-edition-2/

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