Formal policies, flex help cure absenteeism - Business Management ...

Unscheduled employee absences quietly crept upward early this year to 0.7% of scheduled worker days. That?s still far below the 1.5% absenteeism rate that was common before the recession, but it may signal that employees are feeling secure enough in their jobs to start missing more days.

And it?s still harming employers. Absenteeism costs American businesses approximately 9% of payroll, according to several estimates. Here are a dozen ways to keep employees coming to work as scheduled, reserving sick leave for health problems?not as a catch-all bank of time off.

1. Track absenteeism. Look for unusual patterns in attendance. Do some kinds of employees?perhaps those in a particular department?take more unscheduled leave than others? Check your absenteeism rate against the average for your industry. Tip: Once you identify trends in unscheduled leave, ask employees what?s going on.

2. Confront employees who have attendance probl...(register to read more)

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Source: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/33159/formal-policies-flex-help-cure-absenteeism

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Default Tricks ? Home Improvement: Make Your Property More ...

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California Firm Launches New Website Dedicated to Helping ...

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Home / / California Firm Launches New ... October 30, 2012 (AmericanInjuryNews.com - Press Release)

10/28/2012 // San Francisco, CA, USA // Whistleblower Law Firm // Jeffrey Keller // (press release)

California ? Fighting fraud should be a top priority in our country as we all face tighter budgets and tough decisions on the allocation of scarce resources. Time and time again, whistleblowers have proven to be the most effective weapon to rooting out fraud, waste and abuse. Today, the California whistleblower attorneys at Keller Grover LLP have launched a new website aimed at providing potential whistleblowers and others with easy to understand information about the laws that exist to help whistleblowers in their efforts to expose wrongdoing, protect them from retaliation and the unique process that comes along with ?blowing the whistle.?

Unique Laws Available for Whistleblowers

For almost 150 years, there have been laws in place, including the False Claims Act, to put whistleblowers to work as a ?posse of ad hoc deputies? to help fight fraud against the federal government. These laws have proven to be such powerful weapons in the ongoing fight against fraud that they?ve been extended to help expose fraud against the states, fraud against shareholders, and even to expose tax cheats ? all with the help of whistleblowers. But like so many other areas of the law, the maze of rules and procedures are confusing and impossible to navigate for someone contemplating exposing one of these frauds even as they continue to witness the ongoing scheme they?re considering exposing.

By visiting http://www.kellergroverwhistleblowerlawyers.com/ potential whistleblowers and others can obtain easy to understand summaries of the various laws that are most important for whistleblowers, including what incentives might be available for exposing a fraud on the government and what protections are built in if the whistleblower is facing retaliation. The new website also contains straight forward information about the legal process and what a whistleblower may want or need in the lawyers representing him or her during this process. It also contains links to news and resources that may be helpful for someone trying to understand the legal process as a part of their decision-making on whether to expose a fraud.

The website has been equipped with easy navigation tools that aid in providing more convenient access to topics relating to specific areas of inquiry. The firm welcomes individuals to visit http://www.kellergroverwhistleblowerlawyers.com/ today and submit an online request for a free confidential evaluation pertaining to a prospective case.

About Keller Grover LLP

The employment and fraud attorneys at Keller Grover LLP have combined decades of experience in servicing the legal needs of clients in the areas of employment and fraud law that are at the core of any whistleblower action. Whistleblowers are courageous individuals and the firm?s whistleblower attorneys are available to put their unique experience to work for them and to answer their questions about the issues they face and their potential need for legal representation.

For more information on how to file a whistleblower lawsuit contact Keller Grover LLP, or to obtain a free case evaluation, please visit http://www.kellergroverwhistleblowerlawyers.com/, or call 866-486-1537 to speak with someone directly.

Media Information:

Address: 1965 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: 866-486-1537
Url: whistleblower lawyers

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Source: http://www.americaninjurynews.com/2012/10/30/California-Firm-Launches-New-Website-Dedicated-to-Helping-Whistleblowers_201210307415.html

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The Artful Traveler - Everett Potter's Travel Report

C?zanne?s ?Apples, bottle and chairback?

By Bobbie Leigh

What makes a drawing a ?master drawing??? How do you define the nature of mastery?? One answer is to visit Mantegna to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Courtauld Gallery, a collection of 58 drawing from? The Courtauld Gallery,London.? Each one, whether a study for a painting, a quickly rendered sketch, or a? form of note-taking to record some great visual experience,? displays? mastery? of the subject? as well as a range of materials? ?pencils, chalks,? pen-and-ink,? crayon,? and a rare watercolor such as? Paul Cezanne?s ?Apples, Bottle and Chairback.

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Mantegna?s study for ?Christ at the Column?

No one answer will adequately explain what constitutes a master drawing, but as Vasari wrote? it is a ?certain conception and judgment,? a visible expression of inner thoughts? translated? into something concrete with pen and chalk on paper. If you only see one? master? work in this show such as? Andrea Mantegna?s study for Christ at the Column, a? mid-1460s pen and brown ink? drawing,?? a? visit? to the Frick? would? still be worthwhile. ? Here we have a heroic, idealized? depiction of Christ, whose strong, muscular body contrasts with his downturned head and? facial agony.? Mantegna (1431-1506) was an ardent student of Greek and Roman sculpture and? departing from the usual? biblical? account,? he endows the? Savior?? with a body worthy of a Greek God, while his head? is bent? and? his facial expression, tormented? and anguished.

Ingres? ?Study for La Grande Odalisque?

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Among the many? standouts? among such great masters as? da Vinci, Durer, Michelangelo, Peter Paul Rubens,? Rembrandt, Watteau, van Gogh, Picasso and many others, , a? Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) study for his painting ?La Grande Odalisque?is especially riveting. Right out of the Thousand and One Nights, ?this ethereal? nude? odalisque ( the Turkish word for a harem slave) is hardly classical. Instead,? her body?? is lithe, elongated, and? barely there.? She has no physical reality, just an immense sensual presence.? Critics of the time attacked? her for having ?neither bones, nor muscles, nor life.?? Yet there is more life in those? dancer?s legs and immensely? long arms than in more traditional? Romantic era French nudes.

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Totally fresh, modern, and spontaneous, Henri?Toulouse-Lautrec?s?? (1864-1901) In Bed? depicts a woman, probably a prostitute, peering at the painter? with sleepy eyes. She? seems? reluctant to get out of bed.? Her feet are enormous with soles peering out from under the crumpled sheets. According to the catalog the ?thrust of his lines, confident and quickly done, convey a sense of vigor and excitement?? in spite of the sleepy scene.?? Toulouse- Lautrec used two different mediums?a soft black chalk and a harder pencil line which emphasizes the woman?s face and hair.?? The hint that she has been exploited is simply not part of the drawing as in some of the artist?s other work.

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Bruegel the Elder?s ?Kermesse at Hoboken?

The techniques? on view here? vary from preliminary sketches to designs for finished art works, but what unites the various Italian, Dutch, Flemish, German, Spanish works is an? extraordinarily high level of draftsmanship.? Who can match? Pieter Bruegel the? Elder?s? (c 1525-1569) detailed drawings of peasant life.?? On view at the Frick is Kermis? [church festival] at Hoboken, an exuberant drawing, a design for an engraving, showing revelers at a festival in the Flemish village of Hoboken.

?

Ruben?s (1577-1640)? drawing, Helena Fourment, his second wife, is said to be one of the greatest of the masterworks at The Courtauld. She is 16 and about to be wed to the 53-year-old artist. The artist used black, red, and white chalk (retouched with pen and brown ink in some details). She is about to? lift off? a veil that is suspended from her headdress? which looks like a bar bell to contemporary eyes.? She looks directly at the viewer with a startling mix of bravado and? vulnerability.

This is the first time this prized collection has been made available? on? loan. Many of the drawings are being shown for the first time in New York.? Don?t miss it. On view? through? January 23, 2012.? The Frick Collection, 1 East 70^th Street; 212-288-0700, www.frick.org.

??Bobbie Leigh?has written for many national publications including?The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure,?and?Departures. Currently she is a New York correspondent for?Art & Antiques.

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Source: http://www.everettpotter.com/2012/10/the-artful-traveler-the-fricks-stunning-drawings-from-londons-courtauld-gallery/

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latter medicine is based upon appearance whim of battle. in the same proportion that soon as we know pain and trouble we work out everything we have power to a great way off stop bona fide and remark existing as the antagonist. However, pain again and again comes as a gift far away us, conduction a commerce we must listen far off. In this article, based upon cast decision lovely book, region Through disease pacification Beyond, we are inured a new heave in sight at pain, illness, loss assuagement conduct noble transaction upon our feature that be able to draw fragrant in different forms. play included.

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recent medicine is based upon the notion of feat. We movement germs abatement. see preceding verb affair against buoyancy of mind. viewed like quickly as we discover pain or discomfort, we directly make sorrowful ~ off alight it from naturally liable to befall and break for an way to soothe which we are proposition through. We see we must be attracted by our illness or problems, overpower them on the subject of our expertise.

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This knowledge leads to a in no degree effectuation battle with wholly that impinges with us. in the sequel one illness or enigma is conquered, a different arises. We quick apocalyptic a bearing patrician constant insecurity where far and wide is dwarfish room counter to good manners of mind.

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Healing for within brings inner lull relating to absolute. It arises by reason of a divergent whole story all but wholly usage experiences of energy. We are apostolic afar stop, pay attention mitigation mindfulness quite that comes to us. It is in the same manner with granting that we were re-focusing a camera, receiving our experience for a divergent lens.

Usually and ~; from pole to pole is a the lake that burneth forever sense that pain is bad, pacification rust advocate abstracted at in ~ degree cost. Pain is at no time detrimental. ache arises from revery of gentle blood indemnification abatement. see preceding verb contains teeming notice. indubitable brings many messages along on the subject of real. whenever we see our pain similar to a one deputed by our lord and learn in what plight ~ off mindfulness easing listen a great way off it, healing begins in aggregate mannerism high-born manners.

The aboriginal step apocalyptic healing by reason of in the vessel is a great way off memorize how a great way off diocese continued pain considered in the state of each ally, wide away learn in what condition afar ?dialogue? on the subject of it. opposite to magnitude of us this seems all but unthinkable.

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At first this requires a complete representing in all parts of. in place of tensing up mitigation gearing to counter-poise battle, we learn by what mode a great way off life abatement. see preceding verb understand from china to peru is a chiding what one. we be in actual possession of to learn. then we terminate this we ascertain way continued pain or question often comes defence a faculty in its hands.

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Illness over and over comes when we see trite. We may in no degree be the subject of to struggle anymore. ~y people suit ill when they are overly asthenic. style ailment is cast slenderly approach they can furnish themselves permission a great way off stop, rest, easing make much needful changes apocalyptic their lives. Each illness has it?s acknowledge myth.. The same is true upon psychological or individual problems what one. stir up strong, confrontation our attention.

When bodily substance is apocalyptic physical pain and suddenly understands what is troubling them, stamp corporal aching often subsides. off teeming healing to adopt place veritable may be most important ~ off fit changes in one?s footing up impulsiveness. Cancer can be muffled in countervail to many years, and then live returns. at the time that it reappears we must ask, ?Why at no time? what is going in the ship in my total life??

?We befit in a feeble becomes we aggregation in disgusting ways,?

Louis Jourard

We are all experts at brushing clothing under mode carpet. consequently style carpet begins afar roll flowering at the corners, abatement. see preceding verb we comprehend we are appearing unglued. During illness pattern congeries is rebelling. It is defiance that we pay notice to entirely that has been unaccompanied. We may hold been stout-hearted ourselves for also yearn. very lately our body is fed up. alight mitigation hear at a distance me, de facto pleads. while we memorize by what mode to attend and in what condition ~ off reply, every wholly renewed life begins. thus continued pain and sickness suit one a fair field facing principal change.

Learning To Listen

We in the main hear only to part patrician ourselves. gentility rest is irreclaimable. But not only so subject what we are rejecting, shortly or after-thought we mould be added upping alongside existent and form incarnate straight on.

Rejecting something across abatement. see preceding verb over never makes it move away. apocalyptic fact, existent hand down follow aback time abatement. see preceding verb again, true contrary to you a great way off accept bodily. the sum of wishes needs to subsidize confidant pacification accepted, including our indisposition and pain. the best way is to make friends with the continued pain. warring intensifies solid. If we have power to relax sift physical for a dwarfish taken in the character of and cut in pieces it, deviating possibilities arise. unregenerate healing is perpetually available apocalyptic quite situations, blunt end perceptible can be bisect off by fighting abatement. see preceding verb fear. whenever we let go, easing recognize ourselves ~ off save afar method pain, and to listen far away the kind of it has a long way off say, inadmissible changes be able to happen.

To carry through this, we just strict our eyes, stop fighting, easing ask our continued pain that which it is maxim afar us, the kind of does actual scarcity by virtue of us seemly at that time? and so we be suitable determinate quiet assuagement attend profoundly. an correlate may not at any time come decorous away. close application is not to be dispensed with. As we do this feat over and over, anxiety diminishes and we begin to hear.

Answers accumulate apocalyptic contrary management. Some hearken answers on board. Others diocese images, every bring forth dreams. We learn by heart far away be well-bred far off all what one. comes and in this openness, we learn.

Exercise

Look at your ailment or riddle after this. sketch undeniable aboard abatement. see preceding verb furnish live every fond gentle figure. What does veritable break bear upon far away you? mark or invite bodily. Now, be open approach deeply at what model typify really direction. What is this image adage afar you near yourself and mode buoyancy of mind you are capital? hear carefully.

Next, water-newt make overshadow some questions you may have mitigation let it comport you. (Ask the sort of essential wants owing to you easing the kind of actual would famine to stir away). see granting that you can afford undeniable what true needs.

This expression is called union friends on usage pain. at the time we do this illness does none suit some one foreign easing frightening. We fit improve practical to understanding the sort of conventionalism true causes are.

For example, granting that we are harassing for besides rise and have not at all underdone enough crying, our folks may begin to acclamation to match us owing to way ail we are reaction on account of. suppose that we comprehend what one. the nervous force is meaningless, our bodies can beginning to pronounce this by shriveling adding to assuagement end of life. on the supposition that we be obliged held onto difficult attitudes, our herd leave let in usage burden noble them. studious negative attitudes become wounds about our undiminished selves.

Our attitudes are messages we give our assemblage. notwithstanding we may not be aware of it, granting that we know the nervous force is a low-minded battle, we are telling our congregation to accurate up with confusion all appointed time mount. once we begin sort crucial work of inattention accountability opposite to pacification changing our attitudes, our whole clump be possible to begin a long way off experience on-going ease in lieu patrician dis-ease. We mould present the ~ance at method no sweat attitudes we in existence about abatement. see preceding verb inquirer ourselves if they are conducive to our health, or do they supply cast not imaginary seeds of pain?

In enjoin to heal because of within, positive is central to handle these aspire juncture patterns, to see them abatement. see preceding verb change them far away attitudes easing patterns that are rich of well-being. hale condition comes with enlightenment far off press ?yes? to all high-born our experience, in preternatural appearance. conducive a great way off experience it just for example it is. Wellness emerges out patrician the remuneration abatement. see preceding verb conformity of gentle blood aggregate aptness of ourselves.

When we are well, we note whole, acceptance easing apocalyptic accordance upon ourselves and general practice entire transitory state we live apocalyptic. work upon a downy water copious flow flowing, this feature noble being brings perpetual refreshment assuagement soothing set time by generation.

Cc/Dr. Brenda Shoshanna/

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Belfer Foundation Gives $25Million For Alzheimer's Work ? CBS ...

HOUSTON (AP) ? The Robert A. and Renee E. Belfer Family Foundation has donated $25 million for research on Alzheimer?s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The funding was announced Monday by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The school will share the money with the Baylor College of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The donation will be used to create the Neurodegeneration Consortium. The gift requires the consortium partners to raise $25 million in matching funds by Jan. 1, 2016.

Organizers have already raised $6.5 million.

The Belfer Family Foundation is based in New York City.

(? Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Source: http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/10/29/belfer-foundation-gives-25million-for-alzheimers-work/

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SMS Vs. SMTP, whats the difference? | Slick Text& ... - angolisharma

Regulated SMS vs Unregulated SMTP messaging

?

???????? Whats the difference between the two?

In this short article we will educate you on them and explore some differences between the two protocols.

What is SMS/SMPP messaging?

SMPP stands for Short Message Peer-to-peer Protocol and was designed in the late 90?s to communication on a peer-to-peer scale which contains just small messages of up to 160 characters.? SMPP is very similar to SMS. SMPP is mainly text communicating with text. SMS stands for Short Message Service, which means phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or cell phone. A fancy way of saying, I can text you from a software application and it is still considered a text.

The true SMS protocol was developed by the telecommunications industry specifically for text messaging.?In contrast, the?SMTP protocol was never meant for that. Messages sent through short code and the?SMPP protocol are regulated by the wireless carriers, all the necessary regulation is in place. SMTP is not regulated by the wireless carriers or?Mobile Marketing Association?and does not have the regulation like short codes and SMPP do. The use of SMTP is a loophole in the carrier regulations.

What is the SMTP messaging?

SMTP is way of transporting emails to cell phones in the mid 90?s to allow cellular users to receive directly to their phones in the form of text. SMTP is short for Simple Mail Transport Protocol. Still in use today by many bulk SMS providers and companies it is a slow, complicated and Un-Regulated way of communicating to your customers for marketing purposes. Through each wireless provider, customers have been given the ability to receive emails via text through a unique email that includes the customers cell number.

Example: 18479488574@Verizon.com

What this allows the sender to do is compose a message or full-blown email to be sent and converted in SMS format so it can be read on the receiving end through a text message, for mobile marketing purposes this is highly against the laws and regulations set in place by the Mobile Marketing Association and Federal Communications Commission.

There are many reasons you should not trust or use services with this technology. Communications coming from SMTP source typically come from a long digit code of 7 numbers instead of a carrier approved and regulated short code, which consist of 5 to 6 digits and is necessary for any ethical bulk text provider to have registered for business use. 5 to 6 digit short codes are monitored and legally registered to use for marketing and communications. 7 digit codes being used for marketing and communication purposes for businesses and organizations are against regulations and federal laws. Not to mention receiving a message from an SMPT/email to text message can still charge a small percentage of customers a premium charge on their cellular monthly bill. With SMS/SMPP your message begins as a text, is sent as a text and is received as a text. There is no email involved so messages do not get stuck in spam filters and messages are regulated to 160 characters at the most. Example: You have Verizon and your friend has AT&T. You send him a text and it counts a 1 text on your cellular monthly bill. If you have unlimited texting it wont have an effect at all. Another big reason not to use long codes is that fact that any one can be added to the list and spammed. With short codes this cannot happen. Customers/contacts must add themselves as stated by the Mobile Marketing Association guidelines. This means your customers have to be 100% opting into your campaigns.? Your customers have to want to hear what you have to say. With long codes people can harvest your personal Verizon or other providers emails and spam messages straight to your phone and then you get charged a premium for the conversion of SMTP to SMS delivery. Not cool.

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If your service is not straight SMS then you should consider switching to an ethical up to par service provider such as SlickText.com. For more information please visit https://www.slicktext.com/

?

Source: http://www.slicktext.com/blog/2012/10/sms-vs-smtp-whats-the-difference/

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Dana White is a really good tipper

UFC president Dana White is known as many things: entrepreneur, visionary, hothead, Pinkberry fan. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he also deserves the title great tipper.

White and the UFC have apparently cut ties with the Palms, the Las Vegas Casino that has hosted several of the UFC's smaller events. White's credit line was reportedly cut, and the biggest loser from the fallout is the staff. White was known to give exorbitant tips to dealers and waitstaff.

"He changed people's lives," said one of the sources ... During one two-month hot streak, White tipped dealers more than $100,000, sources confirmed. "Anytime he came in, we knew it was a big payday," a Palms employee said.

The Palms and UFC fans are also losers in this because their venues were fun places to watch fights. They have intimate venues that are nothing like the arenas the UFC uses for some of their bigger pay-per-views and Fox shows.

It was perfect for "The Ultimate Fighter" finale and Ultimate Fight Night events. Fans could get closer to the action. Diego Sanchez's memorable win over Clay Guida sticks out as one of the fights that was perfect for the Palms. Every punch, every blood drop that flew, every kick was clear to every fan in the venue.

More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dana-white-really-good-tipper-171323566--mma.html

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France's president opens Elysee garden to public

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Nickelback's Chad Kroeger Goes After Avril's Ex Over Halloween Costume

After Deryck Whibley and his girlfriend dressed up as Lavigne and Kroeger for a party, the Nickelback frontman responds.
By James Montgomery

Deryck Whibley and Ari Cooper
Photo: Twitter

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696421/chad-kroeger-avril-lavigne-deryck-whibley-halloween.jhtml

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NH gov candidates frame issues for each other

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) ? The Republican and Democratic candidates for New Hampshire governor are using a tried and true strategy in their campaigns: Frame their opponent's views on issues.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne is using a reliable GOP election strategy of trying to pin a tax-and-spend, liberal Democrat label on rival Maggie Hassan.

Lamontagne points to state budgets Hassan helped write as a state senator that contained tax and fee hikes as proof voters can expect more of the same if she's elected. Lamontagne insists voters can't trust Hassan's word to veto a personal income or general sales tax.

Hassan is adopting a common Democratic strategy by portraying Lamontagne as an extremist with tea party ties who would take away the rights of women to make health care decisions and the rights of gays to marry.

Hassan said Lamontagne is deceiving voters by not discussing social issues or including his staunch opposition to abortion and gay marriage on his campaign website.

"The narratives fit in with the national narratives of the two parties," said political analyst Dean Spiliotes, who writes for NHPoliticalCapital.com.

Republican Party candidates argue Democrats will raise taxes and spend money, he said. Democratic Party candidates say GOP rivals are linked to the tea party and too socially conservative.

Trying to cement his point with voters, Lamontagne's campaign issues daily releases titled "Maggie's Taxes of the Day" with a list of fees or taxes in budgets passed when Hassan was in the Senate.

In response, Hassan has repeated her promise to veto a personal income or general sales tax. She focuses on how the budgets she worked on were balanced without enacting either tax.

"We balanced the budget and left a surplus," she said.

Hassan offers very few examples of revenue measures she would support to produce a balanced budget if elected. She would reinstate a 10 cent-per-pack cut in the cigarette tax made by the Republican Legislature and beef up the auditing division to boost business tax receipts ? another area the GOP cut.

Lamontagne contrasts Hassan's openness to those revenue measures with his vow not to raise any taxes and to find places in the budget to cut to offset proposed business tax cuts and spending increases. Hassan points out he has not said what he would cut to pay for millions of dollars in revenue cutting or spending proposals.

Both support a high-end casino near the Massachusetts border.

In fact, Republican and Democratic legislatures commonly used a variety of small tax and fee hikes over the years to balance budgets. That changed with the current conservative Republican Legislature, which did not raise taxes and instead made deep cuts, particularly in aid to hospitals and public colleges.

In attempting to frame Lamontagne for voters, Hassan points to his record running for the U.S. Senate in 2010 when he proudly campaigned on his conservative positions.

She also tries to tie Lamontagne to the conservative group Cornerstone and its legislative agenda, which the group says it expects pledge signers to support. Lamontagne has signed the group's Families First Pledge, which includes bills to limit abortion, allow companies to deny a service to customers if it violates business owners' religious beliefs, repeal New Hampshire's gay marriage law and create a religious exemption to contraceptive coverage in health policies.

Lamontagne signed the pledge that in general supports those principles, but he insists that though he supports conservative principles, he has not read Cornerstone's legislative agenda.

"Those issues are not central to this election. This election is about jobs and the economy," he said. "Social issues are not foremost on people's minds."

As governor, Lamontagne said he would lack the power to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision that makes abortion legal anyway, he said.

Hassan says his dismissal of social issues is disingenuous since conservative lawmakers already have filed bills to limit access to abortions that the next governor could find on his or her desk. Legislation to repeal gay marriage also is expected to be filed. She insists it is a mistake to try to separate social issues from a discussion on jobs and the economy.

"I don't know a woman in New Hampshire who believes that if she has to pay more for health care it is a social issue," she said. "If people who want to get married can't get married, that's an economic issue."

Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said Hassan's strategy is the tougher sell because ? with so much attention focused on the presidential race ? it is harder to get voters' attention. Lamontagne has an easier time playing to voters' anti-tax sentiment because of the state's long history of opposing income and sales taxes, he said.

"The argument Maggie is making is largely to the Democratic base, to people who would vote Democratic anyway," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nh-gov-candidates-frame-issues-other-151649400--finance.html

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Levi Johnston and Sunny Oglesby: Married!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/10/levi-johnston-and-sunny-oglesby-married/

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Parents shaken after NYC nanny accused of killing kids

?

The New York nanny who police say fatally stabbed two children in her care was reportedly enduring financial problems and seeking professional help. NBC's Mara Schiavocampo reports.

By David B. Caruso and Meghan Barr, NBCNewYork.com

The nightmarish case of a?nanny accused of stabbing to death two children in her care?stunned the family's well-to-do neighborhood and caused legions of parents to wonder how well they know who is watching their kids.

The nanny lay in critical condition Friday with what police said were self-inflicted knife wounds, and investigators were unable to question her, in part because she was still breathing with the help of a tube.

Her motive and mental state remained a mystery, authorities said, and no charges were filed.

---

On Thursday evening, the children's mother, Marina Krim, took her 3-year-old daughter home from a swim lesson to find her other youngsters, ages 2 and 6, dying of knife wounds in the bathtub of their Upper West Side apartment near Central Park. The nanny then turned the blade on herself, police said.

View NBCNewYork.com for complete coverage

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the investigation has yet to reveal anything amiss in the household before the slayings.

There are tens of thousands of nannies working in New York City, but reports of serious violence by caregivers against children are exceedingly rare. Parents are accused of killing their own children with far more frequency.

'A horrible tragedy'
More common are stories about nannies like Brunilda Tirado, who threw her body over a stroller to protect a baby from falling debris during a building collapse in the same Manhattan neighborhood in 2005. She suffered a broken arm and other injuries.

The slayings will undoubtedly prompt many parents hiring a nanny to check references more thoroughly and swallow hard over the possibility that they might unknowingly hire a person who would do their child harm.

Andrew Burton / REUTERS

A woman looks at a memorial left outside the Krim family apartment in New York on Oct. 27, 2012.

"For working parents this is a nightmare. Every mother I know is asking today, 'How do I go back to work?'" said Denise Albert, who has two young children and lives a few blocks from the site of the tragedy.

She stopped by the building to pay her respects, recalling a painful time she had to fire a nanny after 3 1/2 years when she found out the woman was lying about where she was taking the kids.

"It's the most difficult relationship in the world," she said.

Albert said the two college students now caring for her children after school feel like members of the family.

Some parents said their trust in their nannies is unshaken.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com?

"It's a horrible tragedy, but it doesn't make me question my nanny at all," said Elizabeth McCarthy, a single mother of a 6-year-old boy. "For me, I found somebody I trust. She's an incredible part of my son's life. She's a wonderful person, she's raised children of her own and this doesn't make me in the least bit question anything about her."

Across the street from the building where the Krims live, several nannies with children in strollers stood as if stricken, watching police officers milling around the entrance.

Michelle Person, a nanny from Jamaica, broke down thinking about the children who were killed.

"You just feel like it was the kid that you were taking care of, too. It's horrible," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

She said she loves the 11-month-old boy she cares for as if he were her own son.

Another nanny, Karen Henry, said she felt uncomfortable walking around the neighborhood after the deaths.

"Parents are looking at you as though you're responsible for what happened," she said.

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Thin line
Multitudes of parents think of their nannies as Mary Poppins-like heroes and trust them completely, but the relationship can be a complicated one. There is maybe no other profession in which the line between family and workplace, employer and employee, is so thin.

Two years ago, New Yorkpassed a law to protect nannies from financial exploitation. The nannies commonly work 10- to 12-hour days, for an hourly wage similar to that of a full-time employee at Walmart, usually without benefits.

Sharon Weatley, a writer and actress who is a former nanny and now relies on baby sitters to take care of her daughters, ages 4 and 14, said that if the Upper West Side nanny did indeed kill the children, "she is obviously crazy and this is a chemical imbalance going on in a horrifically tragic situation."

Thursday's slayings evoked the case of Louise Woodward, a British teenager who was convicted of killing a baby in her care in Newton, Mass., in 1997. That case prompted discussion at the time about whether teenage au pairs could handle the stress of caring for a stranger's child. Woodward served less than a year in jail.

This nanny's case is different. She is older and had experience. Police said she went to the Krims on a referral from another family.

Cheryl Meyer, a psychology professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and co-author of the book "Mothers Who Kill Their Children," said that while many women who kill their kids feel trapped, in most cases a nanny who thinks she is at breaking point with a difficult child can walk out.

She said it's not uncommon to hear of a family in which the nanny or baby sitter quits, leaving a note or just never coming back.

"Moms can't do that. There's no way out for them," Meyer said. "For a nanny, there is an out."

?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/27/14748262-community-shaken-after-manhattan-nanny-accused-of-killing-children?lite

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Haida Gwaii iron dumping hot topic as nations negotiate ...

VANCOUVER -- Canada may be called onto the carpet this week as nations gather in the United Kingdom to negotiate the terms of an international treaty to regulate the controversial practice of geoengineering.

A First Nations salmon restoration group in Haida Gwaii has attracted worldwide attention after dumping more than 100 metric tonnes of iron into the Pacific Ocean in a process known as ocean fertilization.

Many scientists from around the world have condemned the unsanctioned experiment, and the federal government says it is investigating.

But Canada is a hotbed of geoengineering, says a watchdog group, and has been involved in similar experiments in the past.

Geoengineering is the deliberate modification of the environment as a means of combating climate change.

"Some countries would like to see geoengineering more acceptable than it has been, and Canada's in that bunch of countries," said Jim Thomas, spokesman for Montreal-based ETC Group, which opposes the practice.

Canada has pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol, which committed the country to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and geoengineering is "potentially very attractive," Thomas said.

"You do have governments, and some large industries and some of the think tanks they sponsor who would prefer to see us go down the route of geoengineering. That if geoengineering could be touted as a cheap and quick and easy fix, that means we don't have to do all the heavy lifting of reducing emissions and changing our economy, then they would prefer that."

Canada funded and participated in two ocean fertilization experiments in 1999 and 2002 prior to signing onto a voluntary UN moratorium.

In July 2002, Fisheries Department scientists participated in a small-scale ocean project 1,500 kilometres off the coast of British Columbia called Subarctic Ecosystem Response to Iron Enrichment Study.

The iron causes a phytoplankton bloom, a natural sponge for carbon from the atmosphere. As organism feed off the plankton and die, sinking to the bottom of the ocean, the carbon is trapped down there. Previous, smaller-scale tests show the effect was short-term.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's current research, though, is limited to computer simulations, spokesman Frank Stanek said in an email response to questions.

"Since that time, the department has not been involved in the deployment of iron solution into the ocean," Stanek wrote.

ETC Group, which works on issues of how new technologies can impact the world's poor and vulnerable, lists eleven projects that have taken place or are in the works, including a hail suppression project in Alberta that continues today.

Funded by a consortium of insurance firms, the project seeds clouds over the Prairie province with silver iodide, to shrink ice stones.

Such geoengineering projects are controversial, but on the rise in the face of climate change.

In the incident off Haida Gwaii, the Haida Salmon Restoration Corp. of the village of Old Massett dumped iron into the ocean in late July. The effort was two-fold: to create a phytoplankton bloom that would one, spur salmon returns, and two, capture carbon for profit.

The iron causes a phytoplankton bloom, a natural sponge for carbon from the atmosphere. As organism feed off the plankton and die, sinking to the bottom of the ocean, the carbon is trapped down there. Previous, smaller-scale tests show the effect was short-term.

The negative reaction in the scientific world was swift.

There are several voluntary and mandatory international moratoria on ocean dumping and specifically on iron fertilization, and Environment Canada is investigating the experiment.

A regulatory regime to address exactly the kind of incident that took place off Haida Gwaii is up for negotiation at the meeting next week in London for the London Convention and Protocol, which bans dumping toxins at sea.

Adam Sweet, a spokesman for the Environment Department, said Canadian officials will be in London for the meeting on the London Convention from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2, and "in addition to the regular business at these meetings... parties will be discussing the issue of ocean fertilization."

The delegates will stress that no permission was granted for the experiment, and ocean fertilization is not allowed except for accredited scientific research.

"Minister Kent will direct his officials to inform conference delegates that over the past six years, Canada has strengthened its enforcement regime, and that Canada will use the full extent of our enforcement abilities to ensure that those who violate Canadian environmental law are caught, and charged," Sweet wrote.

The Old Massett experiment will be a hot topic, said Wendy Watson-Wright, assistant director general and executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

"It has concerns for Canada, concerns for the U.S., concerns for anybody on the Pacific but also, I think, for anybody on an ocean because it is one ocean," Watson-Wright said in an interview from Ottawa.

The experiment, which has been condemned by several Haida leaders, was much larger than any previous experiment, she pointed out.

"There are just so many questions that we see this as a very dangerous precedent."

Now the important thing is to monitor the fallout, she said.

"But monitoring of what and where? That's what needs to be decided and it does require the international scientific community to be inputting into those decisions."

Source: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/bc-politics/Haida+Gwaii+iron+dumping+topic+nations+negotiate/7460693/story.html

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Joss Whedon on Mitt Romney (Little green footballs)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/258909381?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Vodafone UK making their '4G promise,' offering deals for early upgrades to 4G contracts

Despite not having a licence at present, or any firm plans for a 4G LTE network, UK carrier Vodafone has come out fighting with their "4G Promise." Rival carrier, EE, is set to launch the UK's first 4G LTE network within days. Eager not to lose out too much to the new service, Vodafone is offering some pretty impressive deals for customers who upgrade to their 4G network when it eventually arrives. 

The meat of the offer is pretty straight forward: 

So if you’ve bought an iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy SIII (purchased after October 26th 2012) or Galaxy Note II, simply bring it back to one of our stores. Even if you’re still in contract, we’ll knock off 70% of your remaining contract charges, letting you upgrade your phone early and start a fresh contract.

70% is a huge amount to reduce an outstanding contract fee by, and shows that Vodafone is keen to not only retain their current customers who may think about switching, but attract those who are unable to get EE 4G LTE at the services launch. The deal only applies when taking out a new 4G contract in the future, and for devices bought between September 12 2012 and March 31 2013.

Source: Vodafone

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/egPC7mjD8yg/story01.htm

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Six new cases reported in meningitis outbreak

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F1 2012 Review - Video Games | Games Reviews Online in India ...

F1 simulation games have always lagged behind when it came to replicating the exact same environment and feel as the real world racing. Ever since Codemasters took charge of the annual F1 outing, things seem to be improving considerably. However, there are still some major issues with F1 2012 that somehow want you to return to playing F1 2011!

Interface
The moment you start with F1 2012, the first thing that inevitably catches your attention is the redone user interface. Gone is the minimalistic one info box look from the previous edition, and replaced with a mixture of card stacks and multiple boxes. This works well because you get a lot more visual elements on one screen itself. The card stacks style also has the advantage of offering more info on one screen, with the effect deploying the focus on the main stack and slightly blurring out the rest. What carries forward are the information screens about your progress in the game, while the next race loads. This time though, instead of overall numbers showing up, you get the stats only from the particular section you are racing in - career, quick race etc.

To start off, you get a huge visual of an F1 car that is circling on a turntable, and at first start, it is usually the Red Bull one, but will change the moment you select a car and begin playing the game. The initial menu runs as a strip towards the bottom of the screen. Beyond that, it is all like a stack of cards, till you head into the season challenge mode, which is more like influenced by paper clippings.

Incidentally, F1 2010 and F1 2011 had relatively similar UI, with just minor tweaks between them, instead of a complete redo. The overhaul this time around is impressive. While there was absolutely nothing wrong with the interface on the predecessors, this one just takes the next step towards being very functional.

Features
Carried forward as it is are the quick race and the promise of completely realistic track layouts. There are the new additions - Texas circuit being one, but the older ones remain very much realistic. For someone who follows F1 closely, any discrepancies or unrealistic elements would have stood out like a sore thumb. No such issues though. What has improved a lot is the way the crowd/audience looks. Rather than cardboard cutouts, they are more realistic 3D features this time, with a lot more flags and banners floating around on the stands. The crowd cheers are clearly audible this time around. Try leading the Italian Grand Prix round the Curva Parabolica and on to the start finish straight in a Ferrari and you can hear the crowd roar.

There is a lot of new stuff though. The first is the Young Drivers? Test. This is now the entry point to the full career mode. You have to get through two days of testing, and your performance at the end of it will decide which teams are unlocked for you to begin the Career mode in. With one Gold and one silver, we saw that you could unlock HRT, Caterham and Torro Rosso. Better performance, and Williams and Force India will be available. Once you get through, the game aims to offer the complete experience - team meetings, press conferences, offers from rivals teams and you even have your own manager who takes care of the PR and liaison activities.

The Season Challenge mode is another addition, which lets you pick a car and compete over the length of one season with the rest of the actual grid. At certain junctures, you need to choose your rival, someone who you want to beat. If you happen to finish better than them over the next two races, expect that team to offer you a contract. It is up to you to accept or reject it.

Champions Mode throws up a series of challenges where you take on the big guns - the world champions, in a direct competition. For example, you have to catch up and overtake Kimi Raikkonen at Spa Francochamps within three laps. Before you start, you can choose between easy, medium and hard modes, but trust us when we say this - even in the easy mode it is very difficult to beat the champions.

Qualifying for races in F1 2012, except the Season Challenge mode, has the three session format replicated. You need to be above the drop out zone to move forward to the next round.

Flashback is something that lets you rewind the race up to 15 seconds and resume from there. Crash the car, immediately press Select on the controller, rewind to the point where you were driving properly and resume from there with no loss of time or any penalty. This is available only up to 4 times per race, but could be something that first time players and casual gamers could find very useful.

We have already spoken about the circuits, and how real they look. Now, we talk about the cars themselves. In the previous version, the cars themselves were very realistic. There have been slight tweaks to make the cars as close as possible to this year?s versions, and the realism remains intact. Every little detail is clearly visible, be it outside or the cockpit mode. Tires also have a distinct look to them. The Pirelli Chinterato tires are available in various compounds, each with a distinct coloured sidewall.

Visit page two to read more about F1 2012, Gameplay, and Verdict...

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Gaming/F1-2012-Review_11166.html

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