Acer Cloudmobile now available in the UK for ?290

It's been a long time since the pretty stunning looking Acer Cloudmobile was unveiled -- Mobile World Congress in February -- but now, finally, the device is on sale in the UK. Online retailer, Expansys, now has the Cloudmobile in stock for £289.99, a slight increase on their pre-order price after the original expected September 5 date was missed.

Priced firmly in the mid-range category, the Cloudmobile is an attractive offering in this sector of the market. Packing a 4.3 inch 1280x720 HD IPS display, a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 8260A Processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage. The battery isn't the largest at 1460 mAh, but it is removable, and there is a microSD card slot on board. 

While the whole unveiling, disappearing, re-appearing release saga may put some off, the Cloudmobile still offers excellent value for money at this price point. While launching on Ice Cream Sandwich, it's pretty stock looking Ice Cream Sandwich, right down to the on-screen buttons. Flicking through the user manual for the Cloudmobile, it looks as if there are a few Acer customizations, such as in the lockscreen, but generally it's a pretty stock experience. And, it looks absolutely stunning, let's not forget that. 

Source: Expansys, More: Acer Cloudmobile User Manual

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/7wkXLSVWVIM/story01.htm

billy the kid neville neville george lucas numerology the game new hampshire primary

7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Colombia

By NBC News and news services

Updated at 2:08 p.m. ET: A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Colombia on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.? ?

The large earthquake rattled residents in the southwest of the Andean nation, but there were no reports of deaths or major damage, authorities said.

"The USGS has received lots of reports that the quake was felt, but no reports of damage or injuries,"?USGS geophysicist Paul Caruso told NBC News.

The quake was centered 28 miles (45 km) south of Popayan, Colombia, close to the Ecuador border, with a depth of about 103 miles, Colombian officials said.

Its preliminary magnitude of 7.4 was later updated to 7.2, and then 7.1.

"So far there are no reports that there has been damage to any part of the country, only reports that it was felt," Jaime Raigosa, coordinator of the National Seismological Network, said. "Fortunately, the quake was deep."

The quake struck at 11:31 a.m. local time. It was centered at a depth of about 103 miles, Colombian officials said.

The quake was felt in neighboring Ecuador but authorities reported no damage there.

NBC News staff, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

?

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/30/14159949-72-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-colombia?lite

ronda rousey vs miesha tate lindsay lohan snl lindsay lohan on snl real housewives of disney awakenings phantom of the opera agoraphobia

A guide to foot health and the best shoes ~ Health and Fitness ...

The feet are silent hard workers of the human body. Although they don't help us see our surroundings, figure out what to say, or move stuff around, they still play a vital role. An important part of human life is going from one place to another and that is the primary responsibility of the feet.

The highest state of mobility is achieved only through proper foot health. Feet are healthy when they are free from any problems that might cause impairment to foot structures and its normal functioning. There are many variables that influence the state of foot health. One of the most vital is wearing the best type of shoes.

We all have had to move barefoot at some point in our lives, but it is important that proper foot wear is worn to maintain foot health. An important step to keeping the feet healthy is to wear shoes that are best suited for a particular activity. The feet experience different amounts of stress depending on the level of activity. Keeping the feet well supported and balanced during these activities are the key responsibilities of good footwear.

Shoes are the perfect feet partner for any job, but as it stands, no pair of shoes can be perfect for everything. Fortunately, there is a shoe for every foot and for every activity. Walking, running, cross-training, and shoes for every sport are some of the activities that shoes are specifically designed for. Another general consideration for the best shoes for healthy feet is proper shoe size. Proper shoe size is not only important for comfort and balance but also minimizes the risk of developing conditions like corns and calluses and plantar fasciitis.

The right kind of shoes for an individual are also heavily influenced gait type which are basically foot structures and movement patterns that affects walking. Gait types such as neutral pronation, overpronation, and underpronation are significant factors that determine an individual's best pair of shoes. The perfect pair of shoes plays two important roles, to maintain effective and efficient foot movement and keep the feet healthy for another day at work.

Source: http://health-and-fitness-geek.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-guide-to-foot-health-and-best-shoes.html

brady quinn bloom box fat tuesday obama sweet home chicago accenture match play george washington carver king cake

Source: http://flynnsilas939.typepad.com/blog/2012/09/a-guide-to-foot-health-and-the-best-shoes-health-and-fitness.html

april 18 delonte west vanessa williams nicklas backstrom discovery shuttle allure jane goodall

Source: http://beardclark728.typepad.com/blog/2012/09/a-guide-to-foot-health-and-the-best-shoes-health-and-fitness.html

the monkees strikeforce davy jones love actually miesha tate vs ronda rousey idiocracy deep impact

Deerwood Technologies expands on main street - Brainerd Dispatch

DEERWOOD ? It?s always sunny in Deerwood.

At least that?s the philosophy at Deerwood Technologies, which has grown from a home-based business to a main street employer.

The 12-year-old company started in Jim Mayne?s home with business and residential clients. When the company turned its focus to small and mid-size companies, it found a growth niche. Mayne said his information technology (IT) company really sold ?peace of mind.?

The company?s primary product was its own branded system called Guardian Network Support. The company invested in propriety technology that allowed it to manage computers, networks and servers with a small engineering staff at a cost-effective level.

Now Deerwood Technologies purchased the former grocery store on Archibald Road in downtown Deerwood. The technology company has been housed in part of the building since 2007. They?ve been working since November to transform the entire building, which also previously served as a laundromat, into more office space. They?ve done a lot of the work themselves.

Deerwood Technologies works with clients on everything from software and computers to devices that make using technology easier like stand-up desks. And a few months ago, the company launched its telecommunications division with YourSix Communications.

With other communications avenues long part of IT like email and instant messaging, the move into voice telecommunications, seemed to be a natural conversation, Mayne said.

?Many of our customers said ?can?t you just handle that, too.? That?s one reason we chose to go further into that segment of technology,? Mayne said. ?We?ve been established in their minds as a trusted adviser for technology so they count on us, depend on us to just handle it.?

So the company added voice and data and looked at other, perhaps, non-traditional sides of IT such as the equipment people use to utilize computers, including mobile technology carts in hospitals.

?It?s an integral part of it because the technology has no value or usability? without the total package, Mayne said.

A growth driver for the company is in rural health care as Deerwood Technologies works with hospitals in a five-state area. Mayne credited the addition of 31-year-old Crosby-Ironton High School graduate Jason Przymus? marketing experience and focus on health care as helping the company?s growth velocity. Without that spark Mayne said the company could have faced death by slow growth.

Przymus looked for a focus when he started working in technology eight years ago. He said the industry needs exceeded other areas and medical facilities were also in a position to want the higher-end technology he was interested in working with.

?Jason has repeatedly scrubbed up and been in operating rooms to see and get the work flow down,? Mayne said, adding the research helps to determine what accessories or tools will ultimately help the client.

The research was a way to find out what works best as the health care profession uses a bar code to verify the correct blood type or medication at a patient?s bedside, Przymus said. In surgery and the emergency department visits, the goal was to determine how those staff members could get the things they need fast enough to help their patients from the size of screens needed for viewing X-rays to quick access of electronic medical records.

Przymus followed nurses to see what they were using and, perhaps more importantly, what pieces of machinery they didn?t use and why.

?Usually it?s because it?s not functional for them so then we try to figure out a way to make it easier for them,? Przymus said.

Cost-conscious medical office managers and owners were also conscious of costs. Time as well as money came into the equation as employees had to log in to computers repeatedly every time they left a monitor for a few seconds in order to maintain medical record security. But there was a monetary downside to loss of productivity as a few seconds every 15 minutes was multiplied by the number of employees. So Deerwood Technologies worked on a system where the employee?s badge activated the computer as they walked up to it.

Przymus said the entire conversation changes when it?s not just about the latest technology but is about what using that technology can save a business in dollars and cents.

Przymus said sometimes the people closest to home wonder about their growth from the small city of Deerwood. But clients who come in from out-of-town, the Twin Cities and outside Minnesota, get it quickly. Recently, a Chicago resident who drove up around Mille Lacs Lake was quick to ask how he could make the move here.

?Geography is pretty irrelevant these days because of technology,? Przymus said.

Mayne said other businesses have dropped off their town label because they felt they couldn?t compete with that small-town identity.

?It?s really more about what you do and what you deliver to your customers, not what your name is,? Mayne said. ?It?s a great location.?

?There are a lot of chief information officers in the Midwest that would say ?all roads lead to Deerwood,?? Przymus said.

It hasn?t all been easy. Mayne started his business after a layoff. He worked for American Express, Twin City Federal, IDS Financial Services and Ameriprise Financial. Mayne first started his company as a sideline business.

?I always thought the ship will come in ? nah,? Mayne said. ?You have to claw and nail every step of the way.?

Mayne described the company?s work culture as one with a positive outlook and a collegial team approach that is customer focused. ?We have a great group of people,? he said.

Company staff members are active community volunteers. Przymus said they want to be the ones to offer a hand when someone needs it.

Przymus, vice president of business development, a lakes area native left Crosby and Ironton after high school for college and work that took him to the Twin Cities and Duluth. After working with Mayne on projects, they started talking about joining forces. It was a good time for Przymus who was looking for a bigger challenge. He now lives within walking distance from work with his young family. Serpent Lake is blocks away.

?It couldn?t have worked out better,? Przymus said.

Now Deerwood Technologies is projecting adding 15 to 20 full-time employees by 2015.

RENEE RICHARDSON, senior reporter, may be reached at 855-5852 or renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Dispatchbizbuzz.

Source: http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2012-09-28/deerwood-technologies-expands-main-street

4th of July Andy Griffith joe johnson scientology Wimbledon 2012 TV Schedule anderson cooper fourth of july

World hockey chief expects NHL players in Sochi

TOKYO (AP) ? The International Ice Hockey Federation is operating on the assumption that NHL players will take part in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

"We've prepared everything with the idea that NHL players will be there," IIHF President Rene Fasel said Friday. "We've decided about the format and expect them to be there."

Fasel was re-elected to another four-year term as president at the IIHF's general congress in Tokyo.

Just 16 months before the 2014 Sochi Games, NHL players are not certain to compete in the two-week tournament in Russia run by the IIHF. Fasel said the tournament will start a day later than the 2010 games in Vancouver.

"We decided to start on Wednesday instead of Tuesday," Fasel said. "In Vancouver, we started on Tuesday but the players will need more time to travel to Russia. It will mean less rest between games but we have to start on Wednesday."

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said no decision is imminent about possibly shutting down for two weeks to accommodate an Olympics in which some games would be played in the middle of the night in North America, thus affecting TV viewership and interest.

Before the NHL makes up its mind, a collective bargaining agreement between owners and players must be negotiated. The NHL locked out its players on Sept. 16 when talks broke down. The two sides plan to meet again Friday.

Russian player Alex Ovechkin, one of the NHL's signature stars, is threatening to play in Sochi no matter what the NHL does.

Fasel said the NHL could decide as late as January not to come but the tournament will go ahead.

"We'll play the tournament anyway," Fasel said. "There are not only 750 NHL players playing hockey in the world."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-hockey-chief-expects-nhl-players-sochi-135707569--oly.html

wii u wii u boxing news Coptic Christian saturday night live julio cesar chavez jr Topless Kate

TEXT-S&P summary: Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd.

(The following statement was released by the rating agency)

Sept 28 -

===============================================================================

Summary analysis -- Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd. --------------- 28-Sep-2012

===============================================================================

CREDIT RATING: A-/Stable/-- Country: Bermuda

Primary SIC: Holding

companies, nec

Mult. CUSIP6: 471119

===============================================================================

Credit Rating History:

Local currency Foreign currency

17-Jul-2008 A-/-- A-/--

28-Oct-2001 BBB+/-- BBB+/--

===============================================================================

Rationale

The rating on Jardine Strategic Holdings Ltd. reflects the group's diversified businesses

across Asia, its good to strong competitive positions in key operating segments, and strong cash

generation. The Jardine group's conservative financial management, low leverage, and strong

liquidity and financial flexibility support the rating. Jardine Strategic's significant exposure

to Indonesia (BB+/Positive/B; axBBB+/axA-2), and potential large investments and capital return

initiatives temper the above strengths.

We take a consolidated view when analyzing Jardine Strategic and its ultimate parent,

Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. (not rated). As of June 30, 2012, Jardine Matheson owns

82% of Jardine Strategic, which owns 55% of Jardine Matheson. We fully consolidate the key

operating companies, and exclude the financial services debt of the group's 50%-owned

Indonesia-based conglomerate PT Astra International Tbk. (BBB-/Stable/--; axA-/--) in

our analysis. This is because this debt is non-recourse to Astra, and is backed by receivables

and hire-purchase vehicles. In our view, the risk management of Astra's finance companies is

satisfactory, and their leverage is well below the regulatory ceiling. These finance companies

are also managed separately from the conglomerate and they raise funds mainly from the local

bond and banking markets.

The Jardine group's large exposure to Indonesia constrains the rating. A significant share

of the group's profits is from Astra. In the past three years, Astra accounted for at least a

quarter of the group's operating profit. In our view, the business environment in Indonesia has

improved but remains volatile compared with other key Asian economies in which the group

operates. We believe the group's exposure to Indonesia will remain significant given Astra's

continued investments in the country.

We view the Jardine group's business risk profile as "satisfactory," as defined in our

criteria. The group has a diversified portfolio of businesses across Asia. Most of its operating

companies have good market shares or strong market positions in their respective businesses. The

Jardine group also has a record of good profitability through business cycles. In the past three

years, its profits have grown steadily with an average return on capital of 11%, which is

stronger than similarly rated conglomerate peers.

The Jardine group's strategy for growth remains conservative, in our view, despite the

group's increasing investments in China and some countries in Southeast Asia. The group mainly

focuses on bolt-on acquisitions or internal growth to improve the market positions of its

existing businesses. We do not expect the group to significantly deviate from its current

strategy. The group has made some share repurchases and increased its shareholdings in several

group companies as part of its capital return initiatives. We believe these investments are

modest given the group's low leverage and strong cash position. We expect the group to continue

to retain large surplus cash while funding its capital expenditure and investments on a measured

basis.

In our view, the Jardine group's financial risk profile is "modest," as our criteria define

the term, supported by its consistently strong cash flows and large surplus cash position. On a

consolidated basis, the group's ratio of funds from operations (FFO) to net debt has been well

over our downgrade threshold of 40% over the past three years. In 2012-2013, we expect the group

to maintain good profitability and large positive free operating cash flows. In our view, the

Jardine group has a diverse portfolio of businesses in Asia, which we believe will be resilient

to a global economic slowdown. In our base-case scenario, after factoring in higher borrowings

for new investments and capital spending than in 2011, we expect the group's ratio of FFO to net

debt at about 60% and EBITDA net interest coverage at about 9.0x in 2012.

In our view, the Jardine group's corporate governance is fair. The Keswick family has a

strong influence on the board although they own a small stake in Jardine Matheson. We believe

the group's good transparency and its consistent conservative financial management mitigate the

risk.

Liquidity

The Jardine group's liquidity is "strong," as defined in our criteria. We expect its sources

of liquidity to exceed uses by 1.5x or more in the next 12 months. Our assessment of the group's

liquidity profile incorporates the following factors and assumptions:

-- Liquidity sources include cash and cash equivalents of about US$4 billion as of June 30,

2012, our projected FFO of about US$4.5 billion-US$5.0 billion for the next year, and committed

banking facilities available for drawdown of about US$4.0 billion.

-- Liquidity uses include short-term debts due in the next 12 months of US$2.2 billion

(excluding financial services debt), projected dividends of US$1.2 billion, and estimated

capital expenditure and working capital needs of US$4.5 billion-US$5.5 billion.

-- We expect the group's net liquidity sources to remain positive even if EBITDA declines

more than 30%.

We believe the group has sufficient capacity to absorb a low-probability high-impact event.

In our view, the group has good capital market standing and strong banking relationships to

support its financial flexibility and provide additional liquidity.

The group's various operating companies raise funds on their own and the group does not

guarantee the debt of its subsidiaries and affiliates. The bank loan covenants on Astra and

Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd. (A-/Stable/A-2; cnAA/cnA-1) are fairly loose, and we

believe these companies will remain in compliance with their financial covenants in 2012 and

2013.

Outlook

The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the Jardine group will maintain its

consistent and conservative financial management and generate satisfactory cash flows. The

outlook also reflects our expectation that the group will maintain a disciplined approach to

investments, capital spending, and capital returns, such that its liquidity and leverage remain

appropriate for the rating.

We may lower the rating if: (1) the group's expansion and acquisitions are more aggressive

than we expected; (2) shareholders' returns initiatives are more substantial than we

anticipated; and (3) profitability is significantly weaker than we expected. Our downgrade

triggers could be a ratio of FFO to net debt of less than 40% or EBITDA net interest coverage of

below 7x on a sustained basis.

We may raise the rating if the group's business risk profile improves materially because of

greater geographical diversification, lower concentration of profits from Indonesia, and a

strong and sustained improvement in profitability in the next 12-24 months.

Related Criteria And Research

-- Liquidity Descriptors For Global Corporate Issuers, Sept. 28, 2011

-- Key Rating Factors For Chinese Real Estate Developers, June 2, 2008

-- 2008 Corporate Criteria: Analytical Methodology, April 15, 2008

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/text-p-summary-jardine-strategic-holdings-ltd-065215600--sector.html

philadelphia eagles Grandparents Day 2012 army wives 60 minutes go daddy tim tebow Tom Kenny

Renesas says secures $2.1 billion syndicated loans

TOKYO (Reuters) - Renesas Electronics Corp <6723.T> said it has secured 161 billion yen ($2.1 billion) in syndicated loans from four Japanese banks including Mizuho Corporate Bank.

The cash-strapped Japanese chip maker said it also received 47.5 billion yen in other loans from the banks.

Separately it secured 49.5 billion yen in funding from major shareholders Mitsubishi Electric Corp <6503.T>, Hitachi Ltd <6501.T> and NEC Corp <6701.T>.

Mizuho Corporate Bank is a unit of Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T>.

($1 = 77.6950 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Michael Watson)

Source

Source: http://finance.blogrange.com/finance-news/renesas-says-secures-2-1-billion-syndicated-loans/

safeway standing rib roast its a wonderful life its a wonderful life rex ryan yule log ham recipes

Dane-Elec Marvel Universe USB Drives

If you saw the Dane-Elec Marvel Avengers USB Drives and fell in love (I know my geeky heart went pitter-patter) then you'll be smitten once again by Dane-Elec's Marvel Universe USB Flash Drives. These drives combine figures of fan-favorite superheroes?Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Wolverine ($13.49 direct each)?with 4GB of USB storage and extra digital content. With Iron Man being a regular member of the Avengers since the team's inception, and both Spider-Man and Wolverine currently part of the New Avengers line-up, you might say that these three drives are merely rounding out the collection started with the Dane-Elec Avengers USB Drives, but that's more comic-book nitpicking than anything else.

Design and Features
Each Marvel hero is set atop a plain base, which contains the sliding USB drive. Unlike the all-plastic Avengers USB drives, the Marvel Universe drives have a metal USB plug, and the sliding mechanism for extending and retracting the USB is much smoother than the one used on the Avengers drives.

The Marvel drives have 4GB of storage space?as opposed to the 8GBs offered in the Avengers drives?but also include licensed Marvel content, an extra that you won't find offered on other drives. The drives have FAT32 formatting, so they are ready to go right out of the package, and are compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

The free comics are accessed with a code found on the bottom of the drive. To redeem the code, go to www.marvel.com/getcomics where you'll be asked to enter the code and set up an account with Marvel. For anyone buying one of these drives for a kid, this is a step that a parent definitely needs to supervise?the same page offers subscription sign-ups for $9.99 per month, or $59.88 for an annual subscription.

Also included on the drives are a collection of comic book covers, wallpapers, and custom icons featuring your drive's superhero. This extra content is a mixed bag. The icons are sort of cool, and instructions are included that will walk you through setting them up for a selected file. The included wallpapers are alright, but the covers are downright lousy. All are low resolution and blurry, but the quality is widely varied between one cover and the next and none are particularly good. On many of the covers, the quality is so poor that text is unreadable. Ultimately, the free month of digital comics is the content worth buying these drives for.

Price and Performance
At 4GB selling for $13.49 each, the Dane-Elec Marvel Universe USB Flash Drives come to approximately $3.37 per gigabyte. For a low-capacity flash drive with no encryption or password protection, this is a fairly high cost. By comparison, the Avengers drives were only $1.87 per gigabyte, while the Verbatim Store N' Go Clip-it USB Drive sells for $1.83 per gigabyte. Our current Editors' Choice, the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G2 (16GB) , sells for $1.56 per gigabyte, and includes 256-bit AES encryption. Looking at this pricing breakdown, it's clear that the Marvel Universe drives aren't going to be a value buy, but they are still reasonably priced and have sufficient extras to make them a worthwhile purchase for the die hard comics fan in your life.

While these are novelty drives, sold as toys and collectibles rather than high-performance storage, the performance isn't bad and falls in line with similarly priced drives. When tested using our timed file transfer test, the Marvel Universe drives had speeds of 30MBps (read) and 4MBps (write). The slower write speed means that you'll probably want a different drive for storing and transferring large media files, but for documents and photos, these drives will do just fine. Though the write speed is on the slow side, read speed is as good or better than several competitors, like the Verbatim Store N' Go Clip-it (15MBps read; 6MBps write) or the Victorinox Swiss Army Slim Flight (24MBps read; 6MBps write). They also offer better speeds than the Avengers drives (16MBps read; 4MBps write), though they still offer only half the capacity.

The Marvel Heroes USB Flash Drives may not boast any special powers, like encryption or password protection; for those sorts of features, take a look at the Editors' Choice Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G2, which offers both. The Marvel Drives do, however, offer reasonably priced storage in a cool, collectible design that will have strong appeal for any comic book fan. Add the inclusion of free digital comics, wallpapers, and custom icons, and it's easy to see that these are great drives for any superhero fan.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dane-Elec Marvel Universe USB Drives with several other flash drives side by side.

More flash drive reviews:
??? Dane-Elec Marvel Universe USB Drives
??? LaCie RuggedKey (16GB)
??? Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G2 (16GB)
??? CurrentWare AccessPatrol
??? Kingston DataTraveler Vault Privacy-Managed with SafeConsole
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/8MTaNu6ukTI/0,2817,2410278,00.asp

etta james ufc on fox evans vs davis fast times at ridgemont high fast times at ridgemont high soylent green phil davis

Factbox: Obama, Romney to square off in presidential debates

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney will spar over whose vision is best for boosting the U.S. economy and navigating thorny foreign issues among other topics during three debates before the November 6 election.

Vice President Joe Biden will also face Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman known for his conservative budget proposals.

Below are key facts about the widely anticipated debates, the first of which is next Wednesday. The encounters will each be moderated by a journalist and will air from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EDT.

FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

The first debate at the University of Denver in Colorado, a swing state, is set for October 3. Its moderator will be "PBS NewsHour" Executive Editor Jim Lehrer and the theme will be domestic policy.

VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

The only vice presidential debate will cover a wide swath of foreign and domestic issues and be held at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, on October 11. ABC's senior foreign affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz will moderate it.

SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

The second presidential encounter will be in a "town meeting" format and voters will directly question the candidates on many issues, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates' website.

It will be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, which hosted the final debate between Obama and Arizona Republican Senator John McCain in the 2008 election. It is set for October 16 and will be moderated by Candy Crowley, host of CNN's "State of the Union" show.

THIRD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

The final debate takes place at Lynn University in Boca Raton in the battleground state of Florida on October 22. Its focus will be on foreign policy and the moderator will be Bob Schieffer, host of CBS' "Face The Nation" show.

(Reporting By Eric Johnson; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/factbox-obama-romney-square-off-presidential-debates-005015607.html

new hampshire debate rupaul meet the press steelers vs broncos chris herren jay z patsy cline

Russian Orthodox church restored in Beijing : News Headlines ...

CWN - September 27, 2012

Three years after the restoration of a Russian Orthodox church in Beijing, Catholic World Report?s Anthony Clark has visited the church and discussed the legacy of Eastern Orthodox martyrs in China. Communist officials had converted the Church of the Dormition of Most Holy Theotokos, located within the walls of the Russian embassy, into a garage.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus: Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation helps us to reach over 2,000,000 Truth-seeking readers worldwide each year. Thank you!

Fall Campaign: Progress toward our final 2012 expenses ($129,418 to go): $150,000.00 $20,582.39 86% 14%

Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Source: http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=15748

ncaa hockey role models ferdinand porsche gregg williams theraflu masters leaderboard frozen four

Euro zone economic outlook darkens with fall in confidence

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The outlook for Europe's economy darkened on Thursday with euro zone business confidence falling to a three-year low and a range of economic indicators across the continent pointing towards recession.

Shrinking lending and rising unemployment in Germany, until now a mainstay for growth in the euro zone, added to the gloom, with economists saying there was now no hope of growth for the region in the third quarter of the year.

"It is bad. Everything is down, we are heading towards another quarterly economic contraction," said Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING bank in Brussels.

The euro zone economy stagnated in the first three months of the year and contracted 0.2 percent in the April-June period. Economists expect another contraction in the third quarter.

Two consecutive quarters of contraction is considered to mark recession.

"While the (European Central Bank's) promise of bond buying and the German court ruling (endorsing the euro zone's permanent bailout fund) did a lot to calm financial markets, there is still the big issue of non-existent growth," Brzeski said.

The European Commission's monthly economic sentiment survey showed the index for the 17 countries sharing the euro falling to 85 points this month from 86.1 in August. Economists polled by Reuters had expected no change.

"It's yet another blow to euro zone growth hopes, especially as it follows on from the purchasing managers' surveys indicating that services and manufacturing output contracted at the fastest rate for 39 months in September," said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.

"Consequently, it appears that the euro zone has suffered further, appreciable GDP contraction in the third quarter. This would put the euro zone officially into recession."

The European Commission's business climate indicator for the euro area, which points to the phase of the economic cycle, fell to -1.34 points in September from -1.18 in August, against market expectations of -1.19 points. The September reading was the lowest since October 2009.

GLOOM

More evidence of economic gloom in the third quarter came from European Central Bank data on lending to households and companies, which showed credit to the economy fell more than expected in August.

Loans to the private sector fell 0.6 percent from the same month a year ago, data released by the European Central Bank showed on Thursday, coming in below the expectations of economists polled by Reuters for no change.

The flow of loans to non-financial firms fell 10 billion euros after rising by 8 billion euros in July. The monthly flow of loans to households showed a gain of 7 billion euros after a drop of 1 billion euros in the previous month.

The Commission sentiment survey showed euro zone sentiment in industry declined to -16.1 in September from -15.4 in August, and to -12 in the services sector from -10.8.

"The country breakdown signals a sharper deterioration in the core than in the peripheries, the latter, however, remained at extremely low levels," said Evelyn Herrmann, European economist at BNP Paribas.

Germany, long the main engine of the euro zone economy, was suffering too.

"German economic sentiment posted another deterioration to an index level of 94.7 from 95.8, which, again, was mostly driven by the manufacturing sector, but also by the services sector," she said.

German unemployment rose for a sixth month running in September, suggesting domestic demand might not be able to compensate for weakening exports amid the euro zone crisis and power growth in the bloc's number one economy.

Joblessness remains near to its lowest level since German reunification more than two decades ago, and the unemployment rate held steady at 6.8 percent, contrasting starkly with the sickly labor market in many peers, including France and Spain.

But it rose by 9,000 in September, as the global slowdown and the euro zone's three-year-old crisis weigh on exports and prompt companies to hold back on investment, and economists said they saw it rising more in the months ahead.

The Commission data showed sentiment among euro zone consumers - the buying public - fell to -25.9 from -24.6 and to -18.6 from -17.2 in retail trade. Construction was the only sector where confidence improved marginally, to -31.9 from -33.1 in August.

The data also showed that inflation expectations rose among producers, the services sector and households alike, potentially complicating any possible decision by the European Central Bank to cut interest rates and help the economy.

But ING's Brzeski said the results of the Commission survey on inflation expectations were more closely correlated to ongoing price developments, with opinions strongly influenced by the spike in fuel prices.

"It does not make life easier for the ECB, but, under (President Mario) Draghi, the ECB has become more growth oriented with inflation more a derivative of growth, so with this drop in growth, the window for another rate cut this year is still open," he added.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Rex Merrifield/Jeremy Gaunt)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/euro-zone-confidence-falls-september-inflation-expectations-rise-090502747--sector.html

double fine adventure turbo tax katharine mcphee cold mountain valentines day ideas the villages florida egoraptor

New strategy for battling HIV

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2012) ? New research showing how the HIV virus targets "veterans" or memory T-cells could change how drugs are used to stop the virus, Mason researchers say.

The research will appear in the Journal of Biological Chemistry's October edition and currently is available online.

"It's a big breakthrough for us," says Yuntao Wu, an author of the study and professor at the Mason-based National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases. "I think this will impact the field."

Helper T-cells support the body's immune system by organizing forces to fight off infection. The HIV virus hijacks helper T-cells. When helper T-cell numbers plummet, the body is vulnerable to disease.

Not all helper T-cells are the same; some are experienced ones called memory helper T-cells, and others, naive cells or "virgin" cells, haven't encountered an infection. Mason researchers studied why HIV preferentially goes after memory helper T-cells, while shunning their close colleagues. Memory and naive T-cells appear similar.

"In the body, HIV is able to kill most memory helper cells," says Weifeng Wang, PhD Biosciences '12, the study's main author. "We wanted to pursue what makes the difference between memory and naive T-cells on a molecular level."

Unlike naive helper T-cells, memory T-cells are on the go, and much more mobile. And it's that momentum that attracts the HIV virus and makes the memory cell vulnerable, says Wang, who's currently a research fellow in the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School.

When a memory cell moves, inside the cell, it looks like a waterfall on the moving edge. "It's called 'treadmilling'," Wu says. "The cytoskeleton or the cell's supporting bone is acting like a muscle. The treadmilling of cytoskeleton pushes the cell to migrate. That's how it pushes itself. In the past year we've been studying how HIV infects those memory cells. It has to go to the center, into the nucleus. It has to go past the cytoskeleton barriers to go into the center. For many years we didn't understand how the virus could cross such a structure. It's like a wall. It has to cross that wall."

HIV jumps over the wall by exploiting the cell's treadmilling process, Wu says. "The HIV virus uses a receptor to attach to the cell for entry," he says. "When the virus touches that receptor it's like someone ringing the doorbell. That triggers a signal -- someone comes out and opens the door. Now the HIV virus can start the treadmill to 'walk' along the cytoskeleton towards the center. If the virus goes to naive cells, it cannot do it. Naive cells aren't sensitive enough. The cytoskeleton of these 'virgin' cells is different from the memory cells, and it is not easy for the virus to start the treadmilling process."

HIV's ability to mutate makes it difficult for our body to control it. "It can mutate very fast," Wu says. "You may have a lot of memory cell soldiers there but they are not able to recognize the HIV virus. They remember one guy, but this guy changes his face so they don't remember him. That's why our immune system is not effective against HIV. On top of that, the virus kills lots of your memory helper cells. Without sufficient help, your immune system is in complete dysfunction, and now you don't have an immune system."

HIV's knack for mutating makes it a tough target for drugs, Wang says. By shifting the focus to the cell, away from the virus itself, researchers may find a new way to tackle the virus, he says.

"Basically, our new strategy will be finding a cellular target, something HIV needs to depend on," Wu says. "It's as if the virus says 'give me a house.' The cell is the house. The house has to have electricity and everything so it can live there. Our approach is to look for something the virus needs to live in that house and then to reduce it or shut it down. The challenge will be if you shut that down, that it doesn't impact normal cell functions. It's a very tricky balance. You want to kill the virus but not healthy cells along with it."

Wu is looking at existing drugs, including those used for cancer. "There is something shared between cancer cells and HIV- infected cells because cancer cells also like to migrate. So some drugs that are used to slow down cancer migration could also be used to treat HIV."

As part of his doctoral thesis, Wang spent six years pursuing why HIV attacks memory cells. Failure is a part of research, he says. He had to change the experiment conditions multiple times before finding success. "It's like when you get lost in the woods at night; it's difficult to find the way out."

Mentors and colleagues spurred Wang on. Sheer persistence and hours in the lab eventually won out. "It's very challenging to do scientific discovery," Wang says. "There is no precedent."

NYC DC AIDS Research Ride partially funded the research for three years, Wu says. Also, a $1.2 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, is slated for the project from June 2009 until May 2013.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by George Mason University. The original article was written by Michele McDonald.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. W. Wang, J. Guo, D. Yu, P. J. Vorster, W. Chen, Y. Wu. A dichotomy in cortical actin and chemotactic actin activity between human memory and naive T cells contributes to their differential susceptibility to HIV-1 infection. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2012; DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M112.362400

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/1iUiRg-TOz8/120926133229.htm

Steve Sabol Yom Kippur 2012 detroit lions Aaron Paul chicago bears ufc mumford and sons

5 Tips To Bounce Back From A Breakup [EXPERT] | CEO Marcia ...

Ready to bounce back?

Boost your resiliency with these five tips!

Join American's Dream Coach Marcia Wieder on our Facebook page Thursday, September 27 at 2 p.m. EST to ask all of your questions about love, life and loss!

Resilience won't get rid of the heartbreak, but it will help you cope with the loss ? whether it's a break up, death, end of a friendship, job loss or any other setback you might experience. If you look deep within yourself, you can find the power to deal with your inner-ache and bounce back stronger and smarter.

How will it make you smarter? Because every time we face a challenging situation, we come away with knowledge and experience to cope better the next time. While it may seem futile during your heartbreak, afterwards, you can take comfort in the fact that you are growing emotionally as a person.

It's possible to obstruct the grieving process by ignoring your true feelings. Grief is the appropriate response to loss as is experiencing the natural realm of emotions; anger, sorrow and pain are an integral part of healing.

The important thing is that you continue to function physically and psychologically. Building resilience isn't about dealing with things on your own. As a matter of fact, asking for support from others is a critical way in which we improve the resiliency of our emotions. How Having Faith Can Help You Find True Love [EXPERT]

A bump in the road of your love life doesn't have to break you. These five tips for building personal resilience can be your guide to an easier healing process:

1. Find comfort in the discomfort. Allow yourself to feel. Experience the full gamut of emotions during your loss without any denial. Something important to you ended and you need to acknowledge that without placing blame on anyone or anything, even yourself.

2. Take care of you. Eat healthy, get adequate sleep, exercise, hydrate and take the time to put yourself first. Pamper yourself without feeling guilty about it. Go out and do something just for YOU.

3. Learn from the experience. You need time to heal from your loss. This timeframe can be different for each situation and individual. Take this time to reflect on what went wrong (being honest to yourself is key) and what you can do next time to course-correct. Few things are as valuable as a lesson learned.

More breakup advice from YourTango Experts:

Want more expert advice?

Source: http://www.yourtango.com/experts/ceo-marcia-wieder/break-5-ways-boost-your-resiliency-expert

curacao home run derby kourtney kardashian kourtney kardashian DNS Changer ernest borgnine adrian peterson

Alicia Keys sings to the heavens

{ttle}

{cptn}","template_name":"ss_thmb_play_ttle","i18n":{"end_of_gallery_header":"End of Gallery","end_of_gallery_next":"View Again"},"metadata":{"pagination":"{firstVisible} - {lastVisible} of {numItems}","ult":{"spaceid":"46077659","sec":""}}},{"id": "hcm-carousel-1157763748", "dataManager": C.dmgr, "mediator": C.mdtr, "group_name":"hcm-carousel-1157763748", "track_item_selected":1,"tracking":{ "spaceid" : "46077659", "events" : { "click" : { "any" : { "yui-carousel-prev" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"prev","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } }, "yui-carousel-next" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"next","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // no more pages, don't beacon again // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } } } } } } })); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings = '"projectId": "10001256862979", "documentName": "", "documentGroup": "", "ywaColo" : "vscale3", "spaceId" : "46077659" ,"customFields" : { "12" : "classic", "13" : "story" }'; Y.Media.YWA.init(Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function() { try{ if (Math.floor(Math.random()*10) == 1) { var loc = window.location, decoded = decodeURI(loc.pathname), encoded = encodeURI(decoded), uri = loc.protocol + "//" + loc.host + encoded + ((loc.search.length > 0) ? loc.search + '&' : '?') + "_cacheable=1", xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); else xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); xmlhttp.open("GET",uri,true); xmlhttp.send(); } }catch(e){} })(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(document.onclick===YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.newClick){document.onclick=YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.oldClick;} }); }); });

Top 10 Arthropod Pets

by Amy Clark

Arthropods have external skeletons, segmented bodies, and several jointed appendages. There are many different kinds of arthropods, including arachnids, insects, and crustaceans. Where some people regard these creatures as pests, others enjoy them as pets. The collection and keeping of these fascinating creatures is a growing hobby amongst many people. There are many sources for purchase, and quite a few forums dedicated to this most interesting field. Please be aware that not all of these are legal to own, and should not be released into the wild if they are not native to your area. The following lists ten common arthropod pets, in no particular order.

The walking stick, otherwise known as stick insect, stick bug, phasmids, ghost insects, or leaf insects, is an herbivore, living on leaves and other plant material. There are over 2,500 species. They are longer and thinner than the mantis, and are often confused as mantids. Although they fall under the subclass pterygoda, meaning winged insect, they have no wings. They go through three life stages: the female drops many eggs that land wherever in the autumn, nymphs emerge in the spring, and by summer they are adults. The female can reproduce without males, and the offspring will be clones of the female. They survive by camouflaging themselves to look like the twigs and branches they perch on, even mimicking the color of said branch.

As pets, they are easy to care for. Just try to imitate their natural environment with the proper humidity, temperature, and food. Handling is easy, as they are not aggressive, but are delicate and should be handled gently. The Indian walking stick is a popular classroom pet. They can be left alone for up to a week with no adverse affects.

The praying mantis is so called because of its long spiked forelegs that are bent as if in prayer. Using these legs, the mantis lunges, grabs its prey, and holds it while eating it alive. They are predators, living on other insects, even cannibalizing one another at times. They lay their eggs in the autumn in layered clusters, covered by a foam that hardens and is waterproof, hanging from a branch. In the spring, the tiny babies that survived by not being eaten by their siblings or other insects climb the branch and go through several metamorphosis until they are adults. With their final metamorphosis, they have wings.

As pets, they are fun to watch. Feeding is generally easy, as they are aggressive and quick to snatch the offered food. Watching them eat may take a strong stomach, as the prey is alive and struggling through most of the ordeal. There are many different kinds of mantises in the pet trade, at all sorts of sizes. The largest mantis is the ischnomantis gigas, at a whopping 6 1/2 inches. The smallest is the bolbe pyhmaea, at about less than half an inch. It is well known that the female will eat the male during copulation. However, this does not always happen, especially if the female has been well fed prior.

Most people think of roaches as pests. Yet only 5 or so out of 4,000 species of roaches are household pests. Roaches adapt easily to their surroundings, although they are typically found in warm areas. They are mostly omnivores, but there are some species that eat wood. They are fast and very hardy, and can survive without food for a long time, without air for up to forty five minutes, and being submerged in water for half an hour. It is believed that roaches would survive a nuclear holocaust, and they certainly have a higher resistance to radiation than humans. As pests, they can leave trails of bacteria with their feces and cause allergic reactions in humans.

But as pets, they are colorful, entertaining, and easy to care for. There are many beautiful specimens to choose from in the pet trade. The hissing cockroach is probably the most well known. Blaberus Craniifer, the true death head roach, is a lovely specimen that has the death head image on the back of its head. Feeding is simple, grind up some dry dog food and grain, or buy commercial roach jelly online. Misting is helpful, as some like to lick the drops off the side of the aquarium. Some are good climbers, and an inch of vaseline around the top of the aquarium will keep them inside. They can be held easily, although you should wash your hands after. Breeding is easy, just keep a male and female together, and soon you will have lots of babies. The dubya roach is often used as a food source for other pet insects.

There are more than 350,000 species of beetles in the world, living in diverse places like deserts, tropical climates, and even in water. Some are pests that eat garden plants and some eat the pests, like aphids and mites, that eat garden plants. Some are useful in cleaning up carrion or dung. And some are eaten by other insects, animals, and birds. They lay eggs that hatch into larvae that can in some cases take years to become mature adults. The adults are generally not long-lived.

In Japan, the rhinoceros beetle is a popular pet. They have a horn on the thorax and a horn pointing forward from the center thorax. They can reach almost 6 inches long and weigh 3 ounces. They can be purchased from stores and even vending machines. Sometimes they are used for gambling, fighting one another, as males tend to be combative. The Goliath beetle is one of the largest and heaviest at up to 2 to 3 inches long and weighing a hefty 3 or 4 ounces. It belongs to the scarab family. The scarab family has some of the most beautiful markings and colors. Beetles are a little harder to find in the pet trade, and you may have to start with a larvae that will remain buried most of the time. But if you are patient, you will briefly have a fascinating pet.

Ants are everywhere. They are predators, scavenger, and herbivores. They are very social and live in groups with a hierarchy. The colony is ruled by a queen, who is the only fertile female. The other, infertile females, are workers and soldiers. They communicate through pheromones, sounds, and touch and defend themselves by biting or stinging. They are related to wasps and bees. Some, like harvester ants are sold as food for pet horned lizards.

Harvester ants are also sold for ant farms, a fun hobby many children and adults enjoy. Harvester ants have large jaws and will bite. These farms are flat so the ants can be viewed as they go about their daily lives, building tunnels and carrying food. They should be fed a healthy diet of fruit, vegetables, birdseed or the white of a boiled egg. Special ant food can be ordered online. An eyedropper works well to deliver just a little bit of water to one area, not so much that any of the ants will drown. It is fun and educational to watch the socialization and teamwork of these enterprising creatures. It would be even more entertaining to watch them breed and raise babies, but queens are not usually offered as pets. For that, you may have to catch one.

Centipedes are fast and aggressive. They can be found in the tropics and in deserts. They hunt at night and eat roaches, crickets, mice and bats. If bothered, they will bite or pinch, and are venomous. They have flattened bodies, a single pair of legs per segment, and can get up to twelve inches long. There are over 8,000 species.

These are pets for the advanced keeper. Care must be given that they do not escape. They are cannibalistic and must be housed separately. Some can live more than a decade in the wild, and even longer as pets. Even though they can live in the desert, they require dark, damp habitats with plenty of hiding places. They molt seven to ten times before maturity. Centipedes do not have 100 legs like their name implies; rather they always have an odd number of legs. Usually the female of the species will grow larger than the male or have different colors. And while some people will hold their pet centipede, it is advisable not to.

Unlike centipedes, millipedes are long, round, slow, and eat decaying vegetation. They also have 2 pair of legs per segment, as opposed to 1. They can have 36 to 400 legs, depending on the species. There are over 10,000 species. Millipedes burrow into the ground. Some may secrete a poison through their skin, and there are some mammals that get drugged off this secretion by licking the millipede. They defend themselves by curling into a ball and do not bite.

Millipedes are easy to house and can live in groups. The giant African millipede is a popular pet, getting as big as 10 inches. They can be long lived and are non aggressive, making them fun to hold. Pet millipedes will eat fruit or vegetables, and need extra calcium to aid in shedding. They like damp areas and live under plant debris, and need a somewhat deep substrate so they can burrow. Being nocturnal, they aren?t quite as visible as some pets, so you would want to watch them at night. They reproduce easily, so take care not to house males and females together if you don?t want a lot. While they are not aggressive, some people may have allergic reactions to their secretions and should take care.

Hermit crabs live in shells and as they grow change to newer, larger shells. The largest species can live 30 to 70 years or more. They are great climbers and diggers, and fun to watch. Some species live under water, like marine crabs, and others on land. Most are aquatic, living in saltwater, and even the land ones must return to the sea to breed. There are many different colors, like red, brown, and purple, with varying patterns such as dots and stripes. They are scavengers and omnivores, eating dead things and plants.

They are a popular pet, but many people do not realize how much care must be given to them. As a result, they are short lived as pets. They need space, proper substrate, fresh water, salt water, food, extra shells, and things to climb. For specifics, please go to the site mentioned above. If you want your hermit crab to live and be healthy, you must meet their specific needs.

Scorpions are predators, eating other insects. They sting their prey to paralyze it before eating. There are over 2,000 species, and 30 or more have the venom that can kill a human. They grow from between 0.3 inches to 9 inches long. They have 8 legs, 2 claws that vary in size according to species, and a segmented tail with a stinger on the end.

The emperor scorpion is probably the most common scorpion kept as a pet. They are black and have large claws, and grow to 6 inches. Give them a place to burrow or hide, some crickets or roaches, proper heat and humidity, and a shallow water bowl. They can live 6 to 8 years, and shouldn?t be handled, although their venom isn?t as potent as other species. More than 1 can be kept together, as long as there are enough hiding spots and room to move. Since they are nocturnal, they will be more interesting to observe at night.

This particular arthropod is my favorite. There are so many different sizes and color combinations and temperaments to choose from. Some have stripes like a tiger, and some have markings like a skeleton. Most are hairy. They can be found in America, Africa, Asia and Australia. The African and Asian tarantulas are known as old world, and typically have stronger venom and are more aggressive than the new world tarantulas found in America that usually will just flick irritating hairs when threatened. They eat quite a variety of living things, from crickets to mice. Some are arboreal, living high up in trees and others are terrestrial, living on the ground or in burrows.

They are easy to find in the pet trade. They range in size from a fingernail to a dinner plate. In an appropriate size enclosure, the burrowing species will dig and line a hole with webbing. Mine do this right up against the glass so I can always see them even when they are hiding. Feeding is entertaining. Drop the cricket or roach in and watch the tarantula dash out and grab it. The largest ones can be fed mice or rats, but it is unadvisable because the rodent might hurt the tarantula. Large dubya roaches work well for large tarantulas. Some tarantulas go long periods of time without eating, either because they simply aren?t hungry, or are getting ready to molt. That is also interesting, to peer into the enclosure and see what looks like 2 tarantulas! Because when they molt, they lay on their backs and step out of their old skin, leaving behind what looks like another whole tarantula. Don?t feed for a few days after molting as the tarantula is vulnerable and the fangs need to harden.

Source: http://listverse.com/2012/09/26/top-10-arthropod-pets/

9/11 Memorial jessica simpson chris brown 911 Google Docs masterchef Dictionary.com

International Companies flock to Dubai ... - News, Sport and Business

Centre shows 6% in registered companies, reflecting Dubai?s emergence as a vital hub in the global economy

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the financial and business hub connecting the emirate?s emerging markets with markets of Europe, Asia and the Americas, announced a steep rise in registered companies.
The DIFC said there had been a 6% increase in the number of registered companies in the first half of 2012, up to 899 from 848 in 2011. Some 90 commercial licences were issued in H1 2012 compared to 64 licences in H1 2011, a year-on-year increase of 41%.

E. Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DIFC Authority said: ?There are promising opportunities for significant expansion of DIFC both in terms of the number of companies operating here and the range of activities in which they are engaged.?

Interest from North America and Europe continued to increase as western multinationals sought to diversify their operations and expand to the east. But DIFC also saw a lot of interest from Middle Eastern and Asian firms looking to increase their exposure to opportunities arising in Africa and the West.

Geographical Diversity

The geographical diversity of the Centre?s total number of regulated companies indicates DIFC?s growing status as a global financial centre. About 36% of regulated member companies come from Europe, 26% from the Middle East, 16% from North America, 11% from Asia, and 11% from the rest of the world.

As it continues to develop its modern and supportive infrastructure, major international firms took up significant additional space within the Centre including ES Bankers, which trebled its presence during the first half of this year.

DIFC remains the financial hub of choice for the world?s leading companies with 17 of the world?s top 25 banks, eight of the world?s ten largest insurers, eight out of 15 top law firms, ten of the top 20 money managers and seven of the top ten consultancies all based in the Centre.

Highly Competitive

This is also underlined by Dubai?s ranking in the Global Financial Centres Index, which tracks competitiveness among 77 international financial hubs. Dubai is ranked the leading financial centre in the region and was also named amongst the top five centres where companies are thinking of opening offices.

A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit commissioned by Citi, entitled Hot Spots ? Benchmarking global city competitiveness, ranked the most competitive 120 cities in the world for their demonstrated ability to attract capital, business, talent and tourists. Dubai was ranked 40 overall and the first in the MENASA region. Dubai was also ranked 10th overall for its financial maturity.

Dynamic Property Market

The Centre?s success is a further illustration of the dynamic expansion of the Dubai economy, which makes the emirate such an attractive proposition for property investors, especially at the luxury end of the market which has grown rapidly. Luxury developers, such as The First Group, will especially thrive. The company?s hotel apartment projects in Tecom, Metro Central and Grand Central, have a sought-after central location in New Dubai.

Source: http://www.911-11.org/business/international-companies-flock-to-dubai-international-finance-centre

salton sea arizona immigration law aubrey huff the killers julianne hough brandy calvin johnson

Why Your Brain Is Irrational about Obama and Romney

Image: Mark Jarman

With the 2012 presidential election looming on the horizon in November, consider these two crucial questions: Who looks more competent, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? Who has the deepest and most resonant voice? Maybe your answer is, ?Who cares? I vote for candidates based on their policies and positions, not on how they look and sound!? If so, that very likely is your rational brain justifying an earlier choice that your emotional brain made based on these seemingly shallow criteria.

Before the election, I urge you to read Leonard Mlodinow's new book, Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior (Pantheon). You will gain such insights as that higher-pitched voices are judged by subjects as more nervous, less truthful and less empathetic than speakers with lower-pitched voices and that speaking a little faster and louder, with fewer pauses and greater variation in volume, leads people to judge someone to be energetic, intelligent and knowledgeable. Looks matter even more. One study presented subjects with campaign flyers featuring black-and-white photographs of models posing as Democrats or Republicans in fictional congressional races; half looked able and competent, whereas the other half did not, as rated by volunteers before the experiment. The flyers included the candidate's name, party affiliation, education, occupation, political experience and three position statements. To control for party preference, half the subjects were shown the more suitable-looking candidate as a Democrat, and the other half saw him as a Republican. Results: 59 percent of the vote went to the candidate with the more capable appearance regardless of other qualifications. A similar study in a mock election resulted in a 12-percentage-point advantage for the more authoritative-looking politician.

To test these effects in real elections, Princeton University psychologist Alexander Todorov and his colleagues had volunteers rate for ?competence? black-and-white head shots of all the candidates in 600 contests for the U.S. House of Representatives and 95 races for the Senate from 2000, 2002 and 2004. Results: candidates rated as more competent won 67 percent of the House races and 72 percent of the Senate ones. In a follow-up study published in 2007 the psychologists conducted the face-evaluation process before the 2006 elections, predicting the winners in 72 percent of Senate runs and 69 percent of gubernatorial competitions based on the candidates' appearances alone.

These data?and others?confirm what was perceived the night of September 26, 1960, during the first televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Well rested and tan from campaigning in California, Kennedy was radiant, like an ?athlete come to receive his wreath of laurel,? journalist Howard K. Smith noted. In contrast, Nixon had been campaigning right up to the debate and had been hospitalized for a knee infection that had left him with a 102-degree fever and looking pale and haggard, worsened by his notoriously heavy five o'clock shadow. Seventy million people watched the event. Millions more listened on the radio. According to a study published in the trade journal Broadcasting, those who saw the debate thought Kennedy won, whereas those who heard it gave Nixon the nod. For example, when New York Herald Tribune writer Earl Mazo first observed reactions to the debate at a conference, he observed, ?Nixon was best on radio simply because his deep, resonant voice conveyed more conviction, command, and determination than Kennedy's higher-pitched voice and his Boston-Harvard accent. But on television, Kennedy looked sharper, more in control, more firm.? These conclusions were replicated in a 2003 study in which subjects who viewed the debate were more likely to think Kennedy won than those who listened to it.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=db3ace59253ef093874f563d6d267ad9

Ronda Rousey Joey Kovar Expendables 2 Pussy Riot National Hurricane Center Zeek Rewards elvis presley

How Some Colleges Are Improving Black Graduation Rates

While college-degree attainment for black students remains persistently low, some colleges and universities are implementing programs that are helping boost graduation rates, a new study shows.

About half of the public and private schools between 2004 and 2010 either improved their graduation rates or closed the attainment gaps for black students by an average of 8 percentage points.

(RELATED Interactive Chart: Institutions in the African-American Gainer Sample)

The top-gainer universities boosted graduation rates without reducing black college enrollment, according to the report ??Advancing to Completion: Increasing Degree Attainment by Improving Graduation Rates and Closing the Gaps for African-American Students.?

The modest gains, the authors of the report argue, show that universities can reverse the trend of low academic completion regardless of their starting point.

?Our nation will be well-served if more colleges and universities validate and replicated the equity-minded policies of those institutions that are getting it done,? according to the report.

Here are some key programs and initiatives from schools that have closed the graduation gaps or have made gains in boosting degree-completion rates:

• San Jose State University and California State Long Beach, among the top 25 schools that improved graduation rates for minority students, implemented programs, such as the Graduation Initiative and the African American Initiative, to boost graduation rates and cut the completion gap in half for minority students.
• ?The State University at Albany in New York holds regular meetings between academic and student-affairs staff to identity early those students at risk of dropping out.

• Students at Virginia Commonwealth University follow a cohort curriculum in which the cohort take the same classes with the same professor, and get specialized support services. The university has special programs, such as mentoring programs for black students in science, technology, engineering, and math areas. Joseph Marolla, vice provost for instruction and student success, told the study?s authors that small classes and cohort learning has reduced the proportion of students who fail, drop out, or withdraw from courses.

• At the start of each semester school officials at the University of Southern California seek out the students who are not yet registered for the upcoming semester, and pairs students with the services they need to register. The private school, which has closed the graduation gap between whites and minority students, created a database where academic advisers from various majors and minors could access the academic record of each student as well as his or her four-year plan, which is audited periodically.?

Still, the national graduation rates for black students remain worrisome. Black college completion rates were either stagnant or dipped slightly during the six-year period.? For instance, 40.6 percent of blacks in 2010 completed an undergraduate degree within six years, compared with 41.2 percent in 2004.

The top private universities with increases in graduation rates, between 2004-2010:

? ? 1. Northwood University (Texas): up 24.7 percentage points, to 40 percent.

? ? 2. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York: up 23.7 percentage points, to 87 percent.

? ? 3. Tiffin University, Ohio: up 22.0 percentage points, to 34.8 percent.

? ? 4. Andrews University, Michigan: up 22.1 percentage points, to 65 percent.

? ? 5. University of the Arts, Pennsylvania: up 21.8 percentage points, to 64.7 percent.

The top public universities that saw graduation rates increase:

1. California University of Pennsylvania: up 33 percentage points, to 60.5 percent.
2. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona: up 29.6 percent, to 53.9 percent.
3. Towson University: up 22.8 percent, to 74 percent.
4. Appalachian State University: up 22.1 percent points, to 64.6 percent.
5. University of North Carolina-Wilmington: up 21.4 percent, to 61.4 percent.?

?Top eight private and public universities that have closed the graduation gap:

1. Andrews University
2. Pepperdine University
3. Harvard University
4. University of Miami
5. SUNY College at Old Westbury
6. Stony Brook University
7. University of California (Riverside)
8. Radford University

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colleges-improving-black-graduation-rates-140712293--politics.html

sam hurd arrested roddy white roddy white howard stern howard stern free shipping day free shipping day