Your Sales Leads Going Nowhere? - Marketing Direct

"Always do right. It will please some people and astonish the rest." ...Mark Twain

?A problem well-stated is half-solved.?
...Charles Kettering

"Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem."
...Woody Allen

"Never confuse motion with action".
...Benjamin Franklin

"The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement."
...Japanese proverb

Source: http://prospectingb2b.com/your-sales-leads-going-nowhere

brad miller chandler jones peyton hillis carolina panthers fletcher cox charlotte bobcats denver broncos

Union membership down, income inequality up

The decline of union membership has been a key driver of income inequality in recent decades, a new report found.

The drop in unionization accounts for roughly a third of the growth in wage inequality among men and a fifth among women between 1973 and 2007, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

The share of the workforce represented by unions declined from 26.7% in 1973 to 13.1% in 2011. This contributed to the increase in inequality by lowering wages for middle class workers, according to EPI.

A non-partisan Congressional Budget Office report last year showed that the average household income for the nation's top 1% more than tripled, while middle-class incomes grew by less than 40% between 1979 to 2007.

The pullback in unionization has also been a primary cause of the growing wage gap between white- and blue-collar men, as well as between college-educated and high school-educated men.

"Unions reduce wage inequalities because they raise wages more at the bottom and in the middle of the wage scale than at the top," said Lawrence Mishel, EPI's president.

Declining unionization has hurt men more than women because men were more likely to have been in unions in their heyday.

Union workers are paid a premium of 13.6% thanks to their collective bargaining contracts, according to EPI.

Blacks and Hispanics enjoy premiums of 17.3% and 23.1%, respectively, while whites have a 10.9% bump. Men see a 17.3% premium and women 9.1%.

This advantage is calculated by comparing hourly wages between union and non-union workers who are otherwise comparable in terms of experience, education, industry and other factors.

Source: http://economy.money.cnn.com/2012/08/30/unions-income-inequality/?section=money_news_economy

tiny houses bon iver joan of arc tony robbins abraham lincoln vampire hunter their eyes were watching god lara logan

CNNNewsource: RT @NSConventions: Romney: Obama has thrown allies like Israel under the bus... Putin will see a little less flexibility and more backb ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://twitter.com/CNNNewsource/statuses/241378247064027136

keanu reeves pebble beach clive davis cause of whitney houston death the watchmen whitney houston dies beverly hills hotel

Preparing Your Home And Family For Back To School ? Miss A?

Our children have, or will soon be going, back to school. The lazy days of summer will soon be over. If your kids are used to not doing much all day or if they have been sleeping in, it?s time to get them started on a routine again. Going back to school doesn?t have to be stressful. If you plan and organize things, you can make the transition very smooth for your entire family.

(Photo Credit: postconsumers.com)

Getting ready for back to school means prepping your house to fit the needs of busy school kids. Managing breakfast, lunches, after school snacks and homework can be a lot if you don?t plan properly. Stocking your kids backpacks with school supplies isn?t enough. You should make sure that your house has the right tools for students also.

Organizing your home office

Students nowadays have to be able to access a computer, printer and the Internet. Your local library can provide those services as well. Making sure you have these basics in your home office can really encourage your kids to be successful at doing their homework.?Help your kids make a smooth transition back to school by stocking your home office with the following:

• printer paper
• printer ink
• pencils/pens/pencil sharpener
• writing paper
• crayons/colored pencils/ markers/highlighters
• erasers
• notebooks
• calendars/planners
• calculator

Organizing your kitchen

Snacks and meals during the Summer might have been a little less on the healthy side. You and your kids will probably eat out less. Stocking your fridge with healthy snacks and drinks will help provide energy for your students. Here are some easy snack ideas packed with nutrition and energy. These snacks are easy for little ones to get their hands on!

• carrot sticks
• celery sticks
• apples
• almonds/trail mix
• granola bars

(Photo Credit: myrenovo.com)

Wexy Lunch and Munch Bags has a downloadable healthy snack eBook that is packed with ideas and recipes for snacks for your kids. One of my favorite recipes from their eBook is ?Organic Banana in a Blanket.

?Organic Banana in a Blanket?

1 tortilla

1 tbsp smooth raw organic peanut butter

1 medium organic banana

1 tsp organic maple syrup grade B or raw honey

1 WEXY bag

Lay tortilla on a plate. Spread peanut butter evenly on the tortilla. Peel and place banana on the tortilla and then roll up the tortilla. Place tortilla on plate. Drizzle maple syrup or honey on top. Place it in your WEXY snack bags and your ready for an amazing treat!

Organizing your kids? free time

(Photo Credit: ontimesupplies.com)

Kids have a lot of free time during the summer to do a whole lot of nothing! With school in motion, their little brains need to spend more time reading, writing and doing homework as opposed to playing. As the summer draws to an end, I would suggest helping your kids get back into the swing of things by starting a ?school? routine a few weeks before school actually starts. Here is a simple pre-back to school schedule:

• get to bed early
• wake up early?two weeks before school starts wake the kids up at or around the same time they need to be up for school. You want to be able to get out the door in a timely manner when school starts. This will help things go more smoothly once school starts.
• have some morning reading time
• exercise/ go to the park
• start assigning chores- if you were more lenient about chores during the summer make sure to assign more tasks. Making their bed, washing the dishes, doing laundry, etc. This way the kids will get used to doing instead of just sitting.

Everyone wants the school year to start off on the right foot. With these few suggestions, I think you will be able to encourage a healthy back to school lifestyle. Help your children feel responsible and successful in their daily life before they go back to school. These ideas should help your children feel confident to go back to school.

Related Articles:

Source: http://askmissa.com/2012/08/29/preparing-your-home-and-family-for-back-to-school/

bill nye Hurricane Isaac 2012 Snooki Baby terrell owens terrell owens neil armstrong nascar

Cricket to offer Muve exclusively on Android plans

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Mobile phone carrier Cricket is making its unlimited music service, Muve Music, an exclusive feature of its higher-end phones.

The change is a bid to encourage users of lower-end, basic cellphones to trade up to smartphones, which require more expensive plans. The company will stop offering the service on basic phones to new customers.

Muve Music allows users to download songs from a catalog of millions. The songs cannot be transferred off the phone, and access disappears if a subscriber cancels service. About 600,000 Cricket subscribers now pay an extra $10 a month to get the service.

Starting next month, Muve will be included in all plans for smartphones that use Google's Android operating system. The plans go from $50 a month including 1 gigabyte of data to $70 a month for 5 GB.

Previously, Android phones with unlimited data plans cost $55 a month, or $65 with Muve included. The least expensive non-smartphone plan with Muve cost $55 a month.

As Cricket adds new customers and others leave, the plan could help boost Muve Music's subscriber count.

Cricket, which offers lower-cost, contract-free plans to rival those of the bigger carriers, currently has 5.9 million customers, and 60 percent of them use Android phones.

If those numbers hold steady, subscribers to Muve Music could exceed 3 million in the two years that it generally takes for Cricket's customer base to change over completely. That would make it the largest music subscription plan in the nation.

Both Rhapsody and Spotify, the market leaders in the U.S., currently have about 1 million paying U.S. subscribers each.

The use of Muve does not count against one's data cap. The typical customer downloads about 300 songs and listens to more than 30 hours of music every month, the company said.

Cricket, the brand of Leap Wireless International Inc., saw its subscriber count drop to 5.9 million in the quarter through June, down from 6.2 million in the previous quarter. Leap executives blamed the dip on weak results from national retailers that carry the brand. Leap has its headquarters in San Diego.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-08-29-US-TEC-Muve-Music/id-d3bcb9acf95d428fa44ec7d4dd48e684

david garrard bethenny frankel miguel cabrera michael bay ninja turtles san antonio weather mike daisey nicollette sheridan

Interview: TuneIn CEO plans radio ad pre-rolls, personalization ...

Internet radio stream aggregator TuneIn took $16 million investment this summer. Why does it need the money? To improve discovery and build out an ad-supported Netflix of radio, CEO John Donham tells paidContent.

The online radio service TuneIn wants to insert pre-roll audio ads before broadcasters? streams and is planning to improve discovery with personalization features, after taking $16 million investment this summer.

Audio ads

The outfit, which aggregates metadata and streams for 70,000 stations, has 40 million active users and serves iAd and AdMob display ads through its mobile apps. These visual ads are all well and good and yield ?okay? click-through rates, but TuneIn is an audio service. CEO John Donham tells paidContent:

?We?re going to do audio adverts before the stream and have a companion display ad associated with them. We?ll be starting that shortly as a test, to make sure it doesn?t have a negative impact on the user experience.?

Of course, most of the radio stations on which TuneIn depends already sell their own ads in their streams. In TV, the practise by which live aggregators like FilmOn and TVCatchUp insert their own video pre-rolls before channel streams has riled some broadcasters. But Donham says TuneIn won?t trample on owners, citing existing partnerships with broadcasters including CBS, NPR, Entercom and TalkSport?

?We don?t touch any broadcaster streams. If a broadcaster has a pre-roll in front of the stream, we won?t stomp over that.?It would be a double-negative to user experience if you got multiple pre-rolls before the content. We would look to avoid that as well.?

Discovery

TuneIn took $16 million this June, led by General Catalyst Partners and including Jafco Ventures, Google Ventures and Sequoia Capital. Why? Donham explains:

?Discovery is a hard problem to solve. We want to hire the best people to help us do that.?For us, it?s harder, because how do you know what?s playing at any given time?

?We have a lot of really exciting challenges ahead of us.?Google, Sequoia ? these places are full of entrepreneurs who have tried to solve similar problems.?

Personalized radio

Donham is coy, but one of the key approaches to enhancing discovery will see TuneIn presenting radio options based on listeners? habits:

?A lot today is browse-by-location. There?s much more we can do. How do we create an additional user interface that surfaces the awesome stuff right now and more awesome stuff based on what you listen to??

The additions are yet to be announced.

Netflix for radio?

TuneIn began life a decade ago as RadioTime, the online radio metadata service which sells its guide service to third-party audio brands. But, having rebranded to become a direct-to-consumer business, TuneIn will soon have no white-label customers left ? the last remaining, BMW?s Mini, will soon carry TuneIn?s own-brand service. Donham says:

?We see this as such a big opportunity. Radio is the last mass-market medium to move online ? the final frontier. As Amazon is for books, iTunes is for CDs, Netflix is for movies, so TuneIn is for radio. The more we can create a consumer brand that people recognise, the more successful we will be become.?

TuneIn?s backers are all institutional investors rather than strategically-placed radio industry players on which it could have drawn for advice, but Donham says: ?As we continue to grow, the options for more strategic relationships make sense.?

Free, not paid

TuneIn?s apps, which have become its core consumption method, come in two flavors ? free with display ads, or at a small fee for a built-in recording feature.

It is a rare CEO that asks you not to pay, but Donham surprised me by saying:

?The number one way we monetise is advertising on the free app.?The paid app is a legacy.?We would rather you listen to the free app than the paid. We would urge you to switch.?

I trust that a cheque refunding my earlier ?0.69 outlay is in the post. But this is an indication of where TuneIn wants its model to go. A Netflix for radio, perhaps ? but not with Netflix- or XM-like subscription fees.

?One of the cool things about radio is, it?s free,? Donham says. ?For us, we see a really big opportunity in addressing the largest market possible.

?There are literally billions of people who consume radio every month. What a gigantic opportunity ? we?re not going to get them all to subscribe to something ? we?re going to get them to listen for free and monetise that.?

Source: http://paidcontent.org/2012/08/29/interview-tunein-ceo-plans-radio-ad-pre-rolls-personalization/

rush limbaugh rush limbaugh dionne warwick patricia heaton arsenic and old lace leslie varez ward

Guide to the 2012 college football season

FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2011 file photo, Wisconsin's Montee Ball celebrates a touchdown run against UNLV during the first half of an NCAA college football game, in Madison, Wis. The Badgers are hungry after consecutive Rose Bowl losses and they have Ball, one of the nation's best running backs. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2011 file photo, Wisconsin's Montee Ball celebrates a touchdown run against UNLV during the first half of an NCAA college football game, in Madison, Wis. The Badgers are hungry after consecutive Rose Bowl losses and they have Ball, one of the nation's best running backs. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File)

FILE- In this Nov. 4, 2011, file photo, Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley (7) scrambles against Colorado during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Boulder, Colo. Barkley skipped the NFL for the chance at a national title. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2012 file photo, Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson, right, and running back Knile Davis, left, speak to the media about foregoing the draft to return to college football, during a news conference in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/April L. Brown, File)

PHOENIX (AP) ? College football is in for some big and, some say, much-needed changes with the switch to a four-team playoff.

Before we get to that, there's still a couple more seasons under the current system; the playoffs don't begin until 2014.

And this one will be worth watching.

There's plenty of interesting story lines, from Penn State trying to rebuild in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal to Urban Meyer's return to coaching with Ohio State.

There's no shortage of great players, either.

Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley skipped the NFL for the chance at a national title, Michigan's Denard Robinson is a blur even without his shoelaces tied and Wisconsin's Montee Ball is like trying to tackle a wrecking ball.

Great teams? Could be a few of those, too. USC, LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, Oregon ? the BCS could be under a lot of strain this season with those teams all bidding for No. 1.

So to get you ready, we've got a rundown of some of the things to watch out for this season.

Enjoy.

___

TOP TEAMS

USC. Barkley is back. So is his top target, Robert Woods. Former Penn State running back Silas Redd was a nice addition. Postseason eligible again, the Trojans aren't aiming for just any bowl; they want a trip to Miami and national championship.

Alabama. The Crimson Tide have won two of the past three national championships. They figure to be contenders for another.

LSU. The Honey Badger is gone. All those other NFL prospects ? such as defensive end Sam Montgomery and safety Eric Reid ? should keep the Tigers from missing him.

Oklahoma. The Sooners have a record-setting QB in Landry Jones, a brick wall of an offensive line and with the return of Mike Stoops, Bob's feisty little brother, they should be good on defense, too.

Oregon. LaMichael James and Darron Thomas are gone? Big deal. The Ducks have plenty of other players who can fly in those new winged unis.

___

KEEP AN EYE ON

Arkansas. QB Tyler Wilson and RB Knile Davis are back, coach John L. Smith has calmed the storm after Bobby Petrino's motorcycle crash and subsequent firing. All Arkansas has to do now is get by Alabama and LSU ? its only two losses a year ago ? which isn't as farfetched as you might think. Both visit the Natural state, one early (Alabama on Sept. 15) the other late (LSU the day after Thanksgiving)

Florida State. The Seminoles' return to prominence has been rumored for years. Under coach Jimbo Fisher, it may actually happen this season.

Wisconsin. The Badgers are hungry after consecutive Rose Bowl losses and they have Ball, one of the nation's best running backs.

Michigan State. Behind RB Le'Veon Bell, the Spartans could be on the verge of breaking a Rose Bowl drought that goes back to 1988.

Texas. Mack Brown's crew appears to be headed back to the big stage behind a helmet-rattling defense.

West Virginia. The Mountaineers could make their first season in the Big 12 championship worthy.

___

TOP PLAYERS

Barkley, USC. Projected as a high NFL draft pick, Barkley became an instant Heisman Trophy front-runner when he announced he was coming back for his senior season.

Ball, Wisconsin. The Badgers' star running back changed the pronunciation of his name from Mon-tee to Mon-tay. Whatever you call him, dude's good.

Robinson, Michigan. The Wolverines' electric quarterback has churned out more than 8,000 yards in his career, most of those the past two seasons. Imagine what he could do if he tied his shoes.

Geno Smith, West Virginia. The Mountaineers' QB set multiple school records as a junior and more could be on the way in his final season in Morgantown.

Barkevious Mingo, LSU. Been known to train wreck offensive linemen.

Jones, Oklahoma. He's been around since Barry Switzer was coach. OK, maybe not that long, but the four-year starter will leave as the most prolific passer in OU history.

De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon. Spectacular as a freshman last season and will likely get more touches this season now that James is in the NFL.

Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina. Back from a torn ACL last season, he should be one of the nation's top running backs this year.

___

BIG GAMES

Sept. 1, Michigan vs. Alabama at Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas. The annual opener at Jerry Jones' funhouse has had some great matchups in the past. This one could be the best of the bunch.

Sept. 15, Alabama at Arkansas. Winner could get the inside track on a national-title run.

Sept. 22, Michigan at Notre Dame. Last season's epic finish makes this a must-watch.

Oct. 13, Oklahoma vs. Texas in Dallas. The Red River rivalry continues after all the conference shuffling and could become epic again with these two teams on the rise.

Oct. 27, Notre Dame at Oklahoma. A rare meeting between power programs.

Nov. 3, Alabama at LSU. We may not get sucked into calling it the Game of the Century again, but it still figures to have national-title implications.

Nov. 3, Oregon at USC. Triple digits in combined points is a possibility with all those playmakers on the field.

Nov. 24, Michigan at Ohio State. Meyer is running the Buckeyes and Michigan appears to be back. This rivalry could be heating back up.

___

THE NEW GUYS

There was quite a bit of turnover in the coaching ranks over the offseason, with some pretty big names landing in new places. Here's a few:

Bob Davie, New Mexico. Away from coaching for a decade, Davie tries to turn around a program plagued by embarrassments on and off the field under Mike Locksley.

Todd Graham, Arizona State. The fast-talking Texan has done everything right in Tempe so far, soothing concerns about bouncing around while building excitement for the program. All that's left is to win some games.

Mike Leach, Washington State. His offenses are always entertaining. So's his mouth.

Meyer, Ohio State. Burned out no more, the two-time national champion coach returns to the sideline with one of the country's premier programs ? and too many references to an Urban renewal.

Bill O'Brien, Penn State. The former o-coordinator of the New England Patriots might have the toughest job in the country.

Rich Rodriguez, Arizona. RichRod's three-year run at Michigan didn't go so well, but he has Tucson buzzing about football again with his suped-up offense.

Smith, Arkansas. The Razorbacks needed someone to smooth over the ugliness of Bobby Petrino's firing. The even-keel Smith should be a good fit.

Charlie Weis, Kansas. Weis' first stint as a head coach petered out at Notre Dame. The Jayhawks are hoping he can turn around a program that languished under Turner Gill.

___

Follow John Marshall on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jmarshallap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-08-28-College%20Football%20Guide/id-5d2564f2d256489ebad0dbb57e7f8a89

goundhog day punxsutawney facebook ipo facebook ipo egypt soccer riot right to work mike kelley

Information helps men make prostate cancer decisions

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When given additional information, prostate cancer patients are less likely to remain undecided about which treatment they want and are less likely to want their prostates removed, in a new study.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Dutch researchers found that just 2 percent of patients remained undecided after being educated about the two or three treatments available to them. That's compared to about 8 percent of patients who had normal doctor's visits.

Additionally, 65 percent of patients in the educated group preferred to have their prostates removed - a surgery known as a radical prostatectomy - compared to 73 percent of patients who were not given additional information.

"The contribution this study makes is that it fits with a number of other trials that have been done with surgery," said Floyd J. Fowler, senior scientific advisor for the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation (IMDF) in Boston.

Fowler, who was not involved with the new work, said past research shows people usually pick more conservative treatments after they're exposed to more information.

For example, the new study found that the educated patients were more likely to prefer one of two radiation treatments that may allow them to keep their prostate instead of having the gland completely removed.

To see whether a "decision aid" - a structured meeting that provides patients with the pros and cons of various treatments - helped those with prostate cancer to decide on a treatment choice or changed their existing choice, the researchers monitored 240 patients at three Dutch hospitals between 2008 and 2011.

The researchers, led by Julia J. van Tol-Geerdink at Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, randomly assigned 163 patients into a group that received the additional education, while 77 were assigned to a comparison group that had regular doctor's visits.

In each group, urologists met with prostate cancer patients and told them about the available treatment options, but did not decide on one during those first visits.

Those in the education group then had a second visit with a researcher who described each treatment through a standardized discussion, while those in the comparison group had a normal follow up visit with their specialists.

The patients' treatment preferences - along with which side effects they were most concerned about - were then recorded.

Overall, 65 percent of those in the education group preferred to have their prostates removed, 33 percent preferred a form of radiation and 2 percent remained undecided.

In those who had normal doctor's visits, 73 percent preferred a radical prostatectomy, 20 percent preferred radiation and 8 percent were undecided.

As for what the patients were most concerned about, researchers found that - aside from survival - bowel and urinary problems were most important, while sexual problems and the procedure itself were less so.

van Tol-Geerdink did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

WATCHFUL WAITING?

The study is part of a long body of research that says involving patients in decision making leads to making better decisions, Dr. Michael J. Barry, a primary care doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and IMDF president, told Reuters Health.

"People should know what all of their options are, and with prostate cancer there are a lot of options," Barry, who was also not involved with the new study, added.

But both Barry and Fowler said the study would have been better if the researchers also offered patients the option to just monitor the cancer's growth - an approach known as "watchful waiting."

"I think you might have seen more interesting results if they included that," said Fowler.

Despite that limitation, researchers, writing in the British Journal of Urology International, recommend that hospitals and doctors use similar "decision aids" to help patients reach a decision.

As for now, Fowler said patients should ask their doctors for information on all of their treatment options.

"I think if a patient goes in and says, 'I want to understand the pros and cons of all my options - including doing nothing,' most (doctors) would do it," he said.

The American Cancer Society projects that 241,740 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, and 28,170 will die from it.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/POeCfb British Journal of Urology International, online August 10, 2012.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/information-helps-men-prostate-cancer-decisions-202124256.html

overeem laron landry mary j blige burger king islands joe flacco 2013 nissan altima masters par 3 contest

Botany student shows 'New England Banksia' a distinct species

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

The New England Banksia is largely restricted to the eastern edge of the New England Tableland, and is common in places along Waterfall Way. Ms Stimpson's research has raised this flowering plant, until now classified as a variety of the Hairpin Banksia (B. spinulosa), to the taxonomic level of a distinct species. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

"I love the Proteaceae ? the family of flowering plants that includes the Banksia and Grevillea genera in Australia and Protea in South Africa," Ms Stimpson said. "Surprisingly, molecular evidence in recent years has shown the family's closest relatives are the Sacred Lotus and the plane trees. Species of Banksia survive in poor soil and still manage to produce marvellous flowers."

Margaret Stimpson wrote the paper in collaboration with Ian Telford, the Curator of the N.C.W. Beadle Herbarium at the University of New England, Professor Jeremy Bruhl, the Director of the herbarium, and Dr Peter Weston, Senior Principal Research Scientist at the National Herbarium of NSW, an international specialist in Proteaceae systematics.

Margaret's first project as an undergraduate student of botany at UNE was on the Proteaceae, and she's been collecting specimens ever since. Now working towards enrolling in a doctoral degree program, she said: "There are still species of Banksia out there that merit description, and I hope to test these in a PhD project."

Margaret established the species rank of the New England Banksia by detailed studies of its leaves, flowers, stem and fruit, and considerations of its ecology and distribution. She explained that it has two growth forms, the more common being a multi-stemmed small shrub with many flowers but few seeds. This form occurs where there has been regular burning, and the seeds need exposure to fire to open. The less common form, found where burning has not occurred, is a single-stemmed tree with many flowers and many seeds that open spontaneously without exposure to fire.

###

Stimpson ML, Weston PH, Telford IRH, Bruhl JJ (2012) First instalment in resolution of the Banksia spinulosa complex (Proteaceae): B. neoanglica, a new species supported by phenetic analysis, ecology and geography. PhytoKeys 14: 57-80. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.14.3415

Pensoft Publishers: http://www.pensoft.net

Thanks to Pensoft Publishers for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 16 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123008/Botany_student_shows__New_England_Banksia__a_distinct_species

new hampshire primary hue jackson alabama football coachella 2012 line up lsu crimson tide crimson tide

Leadership Insight: The function of leadership is to produce more ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://josephsoninstitute.org/business/blog/2012/08/leadership-insight-the-function-of-leadership-is-to-produce-more-leaders-not-more-followers-ralph-nader-activist-lawyer-consumer-advocate/

susan g komen kenyon martin kenyon martin big miracle slab city super bowl snacks appleton

Use a Garbage Bag as a Miniature Greenhouse to Keep Plants Hydrated [Clever Uses]

If you're going on vacation and are worried about your plants drying up, you can place a garbage bag over them to keep them temporarily hydrated.

We've already shown you several ways to keep your plants watered and hydrated while you're away, but using a garbage bag is the quickest and easiest way we've seen, turning the area into a mini, self-sustaining greenhouse. Obviously, you'll want to use clear garbage bags so that sunlight can still enter through, and it's even a good idea to stick a wooden dowel rod in the planter so that the garbage bag doesn't touch the plant. For smaller plants, you can use plastic bags from the grocery store, or just use one large garbage bag for multiple, smaller plants.

12 Nifty Ways to Reuse Plastic Grocery Bags | WonderHowTo

Photo by Ada Be.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/9BvBUrB28io/use-a-garbage-bag-as-a-miniature-greenhouse-to-keep-plants-hydrated

dwts sean hannity bobby petrino fired buffett rule lollapalooza lineup joss whedon ronnie montrose

Prince Harry "Disappointed" in Himself, Shuts Down Facebook Account

Many people think the Prince Harry nude pictures are being blown out of proportion, but the royal himself takes the situation very seriously.

"He feels he has let himself down and is very disappointed with the fact that he allowed it to happen," a source tells the U.K.'s Sunday Times.

The paper also says it's unlikely Harry will attend the Paralympic Games' opening as planned, and will keep a VERY low profile for some time.

That includes toning dialing down his presence online. In the wake of the Prince Harry naked pic leaks, he frozen his anonymous Facebook account as well.

"Because all of the Vegas drama he's shut down his account," a source explains.

"So no more Facebook for Harry for a while. He'll probably come back online in the future, but, for now, he's been advised to go offline."

"It's best that he keeps a low profile for the moment."

The 27-year-old will resurface a bit this week when he reports back to Royal Air Force Wattisham base, however. He may be reprimanded by the army.

There, the helicopter pilot will have formal interviews with both Lieutenant Colonel Thomas de La Rue and the Head of Army, General Sir Peter Wall.

"This is pretty serious," a military source says. "General Wall is a tough guy to make excuses to. He won't let Harry get away with just a light ticking off."

Meanwhile, Rosa Monckton, a close friend of Harry's late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, stands by the embattled royal unconditionally.

"He is absolutely entitled to a private life," she says. "He has a full-time job and he is a full-time serving member of the armed forces."

"They all need to let their hair down."

Although Monckton acknowledges that Harry is "guilty of a lack of judgment," she goes on to say, "But that's young men for you … It's classic of a young officer. They work very hard and they play very hard. It's a very simple thing."

Rupert Murdoch would likely concur with that assessment.

What do you think? Prince Harry ...

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/08/prince-harry-disappointed-in-himself-shuts-down-facebook-account/

cispa baltimore ravens atlanta falcons space shuttle space shuttle new york courtney upshaw russell wilson

Dhakku Blog - Vital Facts About Drug Dependency, Alcohol ...

Did you know that alcohol addiction, mental depression and drug abuse have complex and tangled relationship? Yes, these three are correlated closely with each other because mental depressive disorders such as mental illnesses and substance abuse are co-occurring disorders associated with drug abuse, alcoholism and dual-diagnosis. This is one of the reasons why overcoming drug addiction is difficult to achieve.

Statistics

Results of studies of the Department of Health and Human Services show that individuals with mental depression have higher risks of drug abuse and alcoholism. Figures also show that one in every five adults with episodes of mental depression also has substance abuse history. Because of this figures, researchers are wondering as to which comes first, drug addiction or mental depression.

Why substance abuse leads to mental depression?

Researchers found that substance addiction leads to mental depression in several ways. They found that prolonged and excessive abuse of substances like alcohol and drugs result to psychiatric disorders in drug addicts like hallucinations, mental depressive symptoms and many more. Most often, psychological depressive disorders arise as one of the withdrawal symptoms of alcoholism or drug addiction. Moreover, there are also instances where mental depression is only short-lived and can become full blown if not treated quickly.

How mental depression lead to drug addiction and alcoholism?

For years, health professionas conduct studies to prove the association, effects and causes of alcohol addiction, mental depression and drug abuse. Researchers discovered that when mental depression is untreated, individuals affected felt hopeless and sad, thus they resort to alcohol ingestion or drug addiction to numb the pain and to forget their problems. Resorting to drugs and alcohol is their way of self-medicating mental depression. What they do not know is that self-medication can lead to alcohol and drug addiction in time. Moreover, alcohol and drug abuse also intensify mental depression instead of providing relief.

Other factors that cause the co-occurrence of drug abuse, alcoholism and mental depression are stress, environment and trauma. These elements are independent from dual diagnosis and can also result to the onset of these disorders. For instance, excessive trauma and tension are the famous causative factors of mental depression, alcoholism and drug abuse. Moreover, the onset of these disorders also increases the risk of developing other diseases concurrently. To know more about these co-occurring diseases, you can surf the web, consult drug abuse and alcoholism experts or call substance abuse helpline.

Source: http://dhakku.com/2012/08/vital-facts-about-drug-dependency-alcohol-dependency-and-depression/

one tree hill projectglass stock act new york auto show khalid sheikh mohammed masters par 3 gwen stefani

Canada gives tax relief to livestock farmers hurt by drought

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The Canadian government said it will allow some livestock producers to defer income tax on the sale of breeding animals for one year, as the eastern provinces of Ontario and Quebec cope with drought.

Hot, dry weather this summer drastically reduced feed supplies for some Canadian farmers, forcing them to liquidate herds.

The tax deferral allows farmers to redirect money toward replenishing next year's breeding stock, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Monday.

Farmers in drought-stricken areas will be allowed to defer taxes on 30 percent of income from net sales, if they have reduced their breeding herds by at least 15 percent.

Farmers whose herds have been reduced by more than 30 percent can defer 90 percent of income from net sales.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canada-gives-tax-relief-livestock-farmers-hurt-drought-211339681--finance.html

branson missouri davy jones dead monkees last train to clarksville tim tebow taylor swift post grad arpaio

Apple stock jumps on $1B Samsung verdict

NEW YORK (AP) ? Apple's $1 billion court win against Samsung is translating into a much bigger jump in its market value.

Apple shares are up $19, or 2.9 percent, at $682.22 in premarket trading Monday.

That boosts Apple Inc.'s market capitalization by $18 billion. If the stock stays at that level in regular trading, it will also be a new all-time high for the company.

Late Friday, a nine-person federal jury in Silicon Valley found that some of Samsung's products illegally copied features and designs from Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Investors appear to be betting that the verdict will make it harder for Apple rivals to ride on the iPhone's coat-tails.

Samsung Electronics shares fell 7.5 percent in Korean trading. Shares of HTC, which makes smartphones similar to Samsung's, fell 1.9 percent on the Taiwanese stock market.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-08-27-US-Apple-Stock/id-6c0eb039239d422b9e1095883b61d7b1

aapl US weekly amelia earhart Sally Ride Ichiro minka kelly James Holmes court

Fla. hurricane warnings issued as Isaac hits Haiti

Those considered most vulnerable were urged to move into an evacuation camp housed in a school building, but others with nowhere else to go were digging trenches to avoid the water. Haiti's population remains especially vulnerable due to the country's sprawling shanty towns. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

By NBC News staff and wire services

Updated at 7:40 a.m. ET: Tropical Storm Isaac dumped heavy rains on Haiti on Saturday, threatening floods and mudslides in a country where hundreds of thousands of people remain homeless more than two years after a devastating earthquake.

Lashing rains and high winds were reported along parts of Haiti's southern coast and in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, where more than 350,000 survivors of the 2010 earthquake are still living in fragile tent and tarpaulin camps.

Intermittent power outages affected the greater Port-au-Prince area in the early hours of Saturday as Isaac bore down on the impoverished Caribbean country.

---

At 5 a.m. ET, the U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for the Florida Keys, including the Dry Tortugas, the west coast of Florida from Bonita Beach southward and Florida Bay.

It also issued a hurricane watch notice for Florida?s east coast from Golden Beach southward.

The NHC also said the Bahamas government had issued a hurricane watch for Andros Island.

The NHC's notice at 5 a.m. said Isaac had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, down from 70 mph earlier Saturday, and was about 150 miles southeast of Guantanamo, Cuba.

'Life-threatening flash floods'
The Weather Channel reported that bands of heavy rain triggered flooding in Puerto Rico through Friday, even with Isaac's center well to the southwest. A bridge collapse and mudslide was reported early Friday. Power outages were also reported. The U.S. Virgin Islands were also affected.

The Weather Channel said heavy rainbands on the cyclone's eastern flank were expected to continue to hammer Haiti and the Dominican Republic. ?

Follow Isaac's path with our storm tracker

Storm total rainfall of 8 to 12 inches is possible, with up to 20 inches locally, The Weather Channel said. Additionally, 4- to 8-inches of rainfall, with isolated incidents of 12 inches, was possible in Jamaica. ?

"Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides will likely result from that amount of rain," it warned.

Aid workers prep Haiti's tent city residents for Isaac's onlsaught

Isaac's march across the Caribbean comes as U.S. Republicans prepare to gather in Tampa, on Florida's central Gulf Coast, for Monday's start of their national convention ahead of the November presidential election.

The convention is still expected to proceed as planned but Gulf of Mexico operators began shutting down offshore oil and gas rigs on Friday ahead of the storm.

But the biggest immediate concern was heavily deforested Haiti.

With nearly 400,000 people still living in evacuation tents, a hurricane or even a tropical storm could lead to deaths and more damage to the already fragile country. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

On Friday, the government and aid groups evacuated thousands of tent camp dwellers but many Haitians chose to remain in their flimsy, makeshift homes, apparently out of fear they will be robbed, said Bradley Mellicker, head of disaster management for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"There's a lot of people who are resisting because they are scared of losing what little they have now," Mellicker said.

Churches, schools are shelters
About 3,000 volunteers from the government's Civil Protection office were dispatched across Haiti, warning people about flood and landslide risks, and about 1,250 shelters -- schools, churches or other community buildings -- that have opened their doors to house people seeking refuge from the storm.

But Red Cross officials said the number of shelters could be grossly inadequate and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe acknowledged Haiti had "limited means" to ensure public safety.

Red Cross and IOM representatives joined government officials in trying to evacuate 8,000 of the "most vulnerable people," including 2,500 sick and disabled, from 18 tent camps in low-lying coastal areas of Port-au-Prince.

Live updates and analysis from weather.com
Transcript of weather.com experts answering Isaac questions?

Many Haitians, most of whom scrape by on less than $1 per day, consider disaster an inevitable part of life in the poorest country in the Americas.

"We live under tents. If there's too much rain and wind, water comes in. There's nothing we can do," said Nicholas Absolouis, an unemployed 34-year-old mechanic at one camp for homeless people on the northern edge of the chaotic capital.

"There are still too many people living in the camps. There's a good chance that those might be destroyed with the passage of the cyclone," said France Hurtubise of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Haiti.

Flooding could also help reignite a cholera epidemic, which has killed more than 7,500 people in Haiti since the disease first appeared in October 2010, foreign aid workers said.

Could hit New Orleans
On its current path, forecasters said Isaac would hit Cuba and the southern tip of Florida before making landfall anywhere from the Florida Panhandle in the northwestern part of the state to Alabama and as far west as New Orleans.

A tropical storm warning was issued for the entire coast of south Florida on Friday, and a hurricane warning also went into effect in the Florida Keys.

Party leaders are going ahead with their plans to host the Republican Convention in Florida, but GOP and Tampa officials have not ruled out the possibility of postponing the event if the storm poses a public safety risk. ?NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.

Isaac has drawn especially close scrutiny because of the Republican Party's convention, a four-day meeting during which former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will receive the party's presidential nomination.

Party officials insist the convention will go ahead, even if they have to alter the schedule. But NHC meteorologist Rick Danielson said Tampa could potentially be hit by coastal flooding and driving winds or rain.

"There is still a full range of possible impacts on Tampa at this point," he said.

Danielson said it was very hard to project intensity before Isaac passes over mountainous Cuba on Saturday and Sunday and enters the Florida Straits. But the Florida Keys, the island chain off the southernmost part of the state, were definitely in harm's way.

Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

?

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/25/13469000-hurricane-warnings-issued-for-florida-as-isaac-lashes-haiti?lite

patrice patrice tether lana peters lana peters jennifer nettles jennifer nettles

Taylor Swift, Conor Kennedy visit his mom's grave

[unable to retrieve full-text content]BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) ? Country singer Taylor Swift joined several members of the Kennedy clan, including boyfriend Conor Kennedy, in a somber weekend visit to the grave of his mother on Cape Cod.

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-08-21-People-Kennedy-Swift/id-7e5ce751ed37472791c63358c1218f87

devils dodgers sf giants rachel maddow gia la riots new jersey devils

2 Chainz Promises G.O.O.D. Opening Act For His Tour

'G.O.O.D. Music has a roster; it's just not like three or four people,' 2 Chainz says of Kanye West and his extended G.O.O.D. family.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

2 Chainz on "RapFix Live"
Photo: Natasha Chandel/ MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1692286/2-chainz-based-on-tru-story-tour-opening-act.jhtml

eat to live eat to live ron paul money bomb ron paul money bomb bon vivant zynga ipo zynga ipo

Olympics-British gold rush silences gripes over cost

* Government says Games will raise more than they cost

* Olympics to provide only fleeting boost to economy

* London enjoys boost to battered image

LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Britain is counting its medals

rather than adding up the bill after an acclaimed Olympic Games

silenced a debate - for now at least - about whether it was

worth nine billion pounds ($14.2 billion) of public money.

The price was more than double what was forecast when London

was named host seven years ago, never mind the government mantra

that the Games were "delivered on time and under budget".

Prime Minister David Cameron, desperate to revive a

recession-hit economy, has made London 2012 a centrepiece of his

commercial diplomacy to sell UK Plc to visiting business chiefs.

The government says the Games will deliver economic benefits

of 13 billion pounds in coming years - meaning they will more

than pay for themselves - and brushes aside scepticism about the

long-term effects of hosting major sporting events.

Yet away from the Games, the news has been bleak.

The central bank has warned the economy will not grow this

year, the governing coalition partners are at loggerheads and

Standard Chartered has become the latest London bank

caught up in scandal.

Economists say the Games should help Britain's economy to

return to growth fleetingly in the three months to

end-September. Sales of tickets and T-shirts and spending by

Games organisers will provide a short-term boost likely to fade

fast.

After that, it becomes harder to distinguish the Olympic

effect from what is happening in the broader economy.

"We're all having a great time but, similar to most parties,

there's going to be a hangover," said Georgios Kavetsos of the

London School of Economics.

"Mega events, such as the Olympics, do not significantly

increase tangible outcomes such as economic growth, tourism,

employment or wages," he added.

However, he said London might have a positive impact on

British society.

"There is limited evidence on whether they might have

intangible benefits, such as happiness and the promotion of

healthy living."

PROMOTING LONDON

The Games have certainly been a public relations boon for

capital and country, helping to repair the damage done by images

of youths burning and looting in English cities a year ago.

"London has looked very professional and slick on the world

stage," said Sara Parker, London director for the CBI business

lobby group.

"What the last two weeks have done is to show the diversity

of what British business can do."

Britain went through a crisis of confidence just before the

Games began, fearing that transport and security problems could

make it a laughing stock on a global stage.

Those concerns have proved unfounded. The 70,000 Olympic

volunteers ensured all went smoothly and venues in the centre of

London illustrated the city's ancient and modern appeal.

"I was expecting things to be well organised but the warmth

of the people has surprised me," said Manuel Parga, chief

financial officer for the Madrid team bidding to host the

Olympics in 2020.

"I lived in Paris for five years and used to think it was

the real capital of Europe but now it feels like London is the

place."

It is easy to get caught up in the giddy atmosphere in

London, but the Olympics have been a summer sideshow for many.

"The thing about the London games is that everything seems

to have gone well," said Tyson Barker, head of transatlantic

relations at the Bertelsmann foundation in Washington.

"And that means no one is talking about it. If it had been a

fiasco it would be a different matter."

GOLDEN TONIC

Britons now talk of little but sport. The country has

enjoyed its most successful performance at an Olympic Games for

over a century, a tonic during seven lean years of austerity.

The Games have also helped transform what was long a

forgotten and polluted corner of East London.

Stratford, home to the Olympics and one of the poorest parts

of the capital, now boasts Europe's largest urban shopping

centre and excellent transport links to the rest of the capital.

The apartments where the athletes have lived for the past

few weeks will be converted into flats for sale next year.

Athletes will return to the Olympic stadium in 2017 for the

world championships and Britain is also bidding to hold the

world cycling championship in the velodrome in 2016.

Local soccer team West Ham United are the best known of four

potential tenants for the stadium, built at a cost of 430

million pounds, and would give the area a focal point.

Manchester City moved into the stadium built for the 2002

Commonwealth Games and have become Premier League champions

thanks to an infusion of cash from Abu Dhabi.

West Ham's "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" theme tune rang

around the arena in one of the more parochial moments from Danny

Boyle's opening ceremony. That may have pointed the way towards

a viable sporting legacy for the venue.

(Additional reporting by Peter Apps; Editing by Kate Kelland.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/olympics-british-gold-rush-silences-gripes-over-cost-141958565--sector.html

powerball chick fil a chick fil a Gabby Douglas John Orozco Garrett Reid shawn johnson

Hong Kong court approves 'Occupy' eviction

A Hong Kong court on Monday approved the eviction of protesters camped outside the HSBC bank headquarters in the city, in a major blow to the last outpost of the "Occupy" movement in Asia.

"The defendants can't provide sufficient reason to continue to live on the property so the court has decided to allow the plaintiff to take back the property," magistrate Reuden Lai said.

The camp sprouted at the landmark HSBC tower in central Hong Kong 10 months ago, weeks after thousands of people pitched tents in New York's Zuccotti Park demanding an overhaul of the rules of global capitalism.

Similar camps sprang up in dozens of countries worldwide, but most have petered out since police forcibly dismantled the New York tent city in November last year.

The High Court gave the Hong Kong protesters 14 days to leave the courtyard of the bank's downtown office tower, after which HSBC would be entitled to reclaim the site.

Only a handful sleep at the camp overnight, and during the day there are rarely more than 10, according to witnesses and bank officials.

Even so, their tents, personal belongings and banners denouncing capitalism have become a fixture -- some say an eyesore -- at the HSBC building in one of Hong Kong's most exclusive shopping and financial districts.

"We welcome the decision of the court and look to the occupiers to follow the terms of the court order," HSBC spokesman Gareth Hewett told AFP.

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, brought its case against the "occupiers of the ground floor" of its Asian headquarters, along with three individuals it identified as the ringleaders of the protest.

Defiant protester Tam Mei-kam, 89, said: "They can try all they want, I won't leave."

But fellow occupier Ho Yiu Shing said he would "find another suitable place" to continue his protest.

London-based HSBC was spared the worst of the 2008 global financial crisis and did not receive one of the bailouts that spurred the original New York Occupy movement.

But it has recently been fined and forced to apologise for failing to apply anti-money laundering rules in transactions that US lawmakers say benefited Iran, terrorists and drug dealers.

The banking industry's reputation has also been damaged by revelations of interest rate fixing at British lender Barclays, as well as US allegations that another British firm, Standard Chartered, acted as a "rogue bank" by violating financial sanctions on Iran.

Standard Chartered denies the allegations.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-court-approves-occupy-eviction-043532903.html

tampa bay bucs cowboys cowboys slim dunkin slim dunkin will rogers ohio university

The Olympics: World's Fairs of the 21st century?

In this Friday, Aug. 3, 2012 photo, two women dance to music on loudspeakers under the Orbit attraction at Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

In this Friday, Aug. 3, 2012 photo, two women dance to music on loudspeakers under the Orbit attraction at Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

In this Friday, July 27, 2012 photo, a man walks through a train station with the Olympic rings shaved into his hair in London. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

An undated an artist's sketch shows a scene at the Great Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London in 1851. (AP Photo)

In this May 8, 1939 photo provided by Westinghouse, vistors ascend the "electric stairway" in the Hall of Power at the Westinghouse Building at the World?s Fair in New York. (AP Photo/Westinghouse)

In this May 8, 1939 photo provided by Westinghouse, vistors ascend the "electric stairway" in the Hall of Power at the Westinghouse Building at the World?s Fair in New York. (AP Photo/Westinghouse)

LONDON (AP) ? It rose in England's capital with the promise of showcasing humanity's best: supreme accomplishments, fresh technologies, people from far-flung lands and their cultural traditions. It was both trumpeted as a global achievement and dismissed as overly commercialized "trumpery."

It was not the Olympics.

Just a few miles up the road from the teeming venues of today's Summer Games, Victorian London famously convened a gathering called "The Great Exhibition." It was 1851's version of a global event, and it was designed to tell mankind's story ? albeit from the vantage point of a potent colonial power.

It came to be called a "World's Fair," and it inaugurated an era of them. Paris and St. Louis, Rome and Vienna, Osaka and dozens more, each with epic storylines: "Festival of Empire." ''Century of Progress." And "The World of Tomorrow," the 1939 World's Fair in New York, where, for the first time, television entered the popular consciousness.

Once, World's Fairs were the primary chroniclers of human progress. Not so much anymore. But to wander the grounds of the 2012 London Olympics this past fortnight is to see that in the 21st century, the value and relevance of such events still endures.

What World's Fairs once were, the Olympics have become: a chance to get along on a global level while holding onto national pride. Humanity gathering for what it hopes are larger, nobler, more lucrative purposes. The Olympics are a place where the cutting edge is showcased. And in a civilization where so many are connected in such disconnected ways, they are that rare opportunity for an amplified, collective voice to say, or try to say: This, right now, is the story of who we are.

"It's the shopfront to show what we can achieve," says Pryderi Baskerville, a Welshman who helped produce the opening ceremony.

That message ? both achievement and shopfront ? is on display everywhere in Olympic Park, courtesy of the IOC and its corporate sponsors and partners. Nivea invites you to "say hello to the world." At one Olympic Park entrance, a huge sign speaks of "a whole world brought together" ? accompanied by some familiar brand logos. Many nations have set up guest houses around London ? not unlike EPCOT Center pavilions ? where visitors can go to party in the style of the nation that's inviting them inside.

Officials, too, are saying the same thing. "The greatest show on Earth," London organizing committee chief Sebastian Coe calls the Olympics. IOC President Jacques Rogge says they "set an example for us all."

"The Olympic Games have a unique ability to touch people's lives and to change the way they think about themselves and their futures," Prime Minister David Cameron writes in the official Olympics program.

Jonathan Freedland, writing in The Guardian the day the Olympics began, spoke of the "hundreds of thousands, and hundreds of millions more via television, drawn by that perennial human compulsion to see what our species is capable of at its best: to see how strong, how fast, how beautiful we can be."

Sure, some of that is simply organizational enthusiasm ? or, just as likely, mere marketing. But is something more significant afoot? Beyond the layers upon layers of sponsor-friendly calibration, is there a message that we humans still need to tell each other, even in this conversation-saturated age?

"It has to do with human understanding, exchange, peace and so forth. Those global international gatherings are always about that," says Paul Greenhalgh, author of "Fair World: A History of World's Fairs and Expositions from London to Shanghai, 1851-2010." Three of the earliest Olympics, he notes, took place at World's Fairs.

Both World's Fairs and Olympics, he says, have offered nationalism, politics and an "ethos of progress." But while World's Fairs have drifted off center stage in the past generation, the Olympics seem to gain both cultural currency and opportunities to showcase progress in the form of corporate presence.

Even with today's Olympics, Greenhalgh says, "These are almost Victorian ideals ? a growing moral sense that we owe it to ourselves to improve the whole of society, and the underlying notion of progress."

Progress has often been showcased in technological ways ? consider the "Futurama" exhibit in the 1939 New York fair ? but a futurist from that era of streamlining would be overwhelmed by what the London Olympics have to offer.

There are contactless payment systems (from sponsor Visa), freshly minted mini tablet-phones with easy videochat functions (from sponsor Samsung) and even, in the cycling arena, innovative battery-operated hot pants to keep competitors' thighs warm. Environmentally friendly speedsuits fashioned from plastic water bottles. Bendable barbells for weightlifters. The list goes on. When it comes to fresh tech, this is precisely the "World of Tomorrow" that our forebears were dreaming of.

"Twenty years ago, we were in Barcelona looking at the first HD signals on a TV set," says Ed Hula, the editor of Around the Rings, a publication that covers the Olympics.

"That's where this sort of stuff had its proving ground is in the Olympic theater," Hula says. "The Olympics provide that first step for new technology. It behooves the Samsungs and BMWs and others to make the most of this opportunity and have something to show people."

They take full advantage on all platforms. Does Usain Bolt look great on the track? Then let's put him in a larger-than-life Visa ad, striding forward into the future holding a credit card in his hand as mall-walking Olympic visitors surge beneath him. Particularly useful that the passers-by are people of many colors, chatting in languages from Mandarin to Arabic to Portuguese. Like the World's Fairs, everyone plays a part in the show.

"You've got global theater going on," says John J. Bodinger de Uriarte, an anthropologist at Susquehanna University in Selisgrove, Pa. He sees it as an effort to promote globalism ? but a globalism that acknowledges, through resources expended and medals won, who the real powers are.

"One way to look at the Olympics is an affirmation of the world order. We're competing equally ? but wait a minute, we're also not," Bodinger says. But either way, "By having these heroic feats by people in many countries, you say, 'Oh, well, this is possible.'"

How the human story is told is one thing. But looking at the latest Olympics, what is the human story that's being told, exactly?

It is one of amiable multiculturalism ? in pursuit of athletic excellence, yes, but also in the service of creating that many more potential consumers of products. It is a story in which the notion of corporate benevolence plays a key role, in which the hopefulness of the "Olympic truce" winks at politics without letting it consume the entire event.

More than everything else, it is the can't-we-all-just-get-along aesthetic of a post-Benetton society, superimposed upon the most elegant iteration of the global shopping mall.

World's Fairs do still exist. There is an organization in Paris called the Bureau of International Expositions that promotes them, including a reasonably successful one in Shanghai in 2010 and one set for Milan in 2015. But they are not the attention-getting global events they once were. Meanwhile, the Olympics seem more popular than ever.

Why is that? Could it be that a society stitched together by airplanes and multipurpose data bytes no longer feels the need to gather explicitly to refresh its own story? Is that too top-down for the social-media era? Baskerville, the Welshman from the opening ceremony production team, thinks that's what a modern Olympics now offers.

"We don't get many times to show what we're capable of," he says. "We're capable of horrible things as humans. And maybe this is something that unites us."

___

Follow Ted Anthony on Twitter at http://twitter.com/anthonyted

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-09-OLY-The%20New%20World's%20Fair/id-ade6954df2544d37aa923b82392095b8

cirque du freak eric cantor eric cantor pope joan pope joan paul pierce strawberry festival

Big payday loans- Helpful financial aid for everyone | Loans

Finance | Loans | * Written by Malen Cheks | Friday, 03 August 2012 22:37 | Word Count: 386

Do you wish to avail big payday loans to meet cash hurdles? If yes, you have arrived here at the right online portal to get the best deals of financial help now! Nowadays, payday loans are becoming very popular amongst various borrowers due to its flexibility of availing loans. In US, the financial market has been flooded with such sort of financial schemes available online. Qualifying for availing big payday loans is not a big deal these days. For getting applied for these loans, you must follow certain terms and conditions that include:

1. You must be a genuine citizen of US.
2. You must attain above 18 years of age.
3. You should have permanent job for more than 5 months.
4. You should have earned monthly salary of at least $1500 bucks.
5. And you should have an active bank account in US.

With all these formalities, you can simply able to apply for big payday loans without any hassle. Through big payday loans, you can borrow quick funds varying from $100 to $1500 with easy repayment option of 14-31 days. It is considered to be short-term financial aid available for you. Thus, it is easy for you to pay back loan on the next payday.

Apart from its easy repayment option, you can take these loans and utilize money as per your financial needs. You can utilize the sanctioned amount of money for many purposes whether it may be for electricity bills, medical bills, home renovation, credit card dues, wedding expenses, grocery bills, car repairs, tuition fees, exam?s fees and other utilities.

Even if you are suffering from adverse credit scores such as CCJs, IVA, default or arrears, it is possible for you to avail big payday loans without any hassle. Furthermore, it is possible for you to avail these loans without pledging of collateral too. In terms of applying loan, there is no requirement of lengthy formality or paperwork since you will have to apply via online process.

Summary:

By acquiring instant funds via big payday loans, you have the right option to meet cash hurdles with ease.

Malen Cheks helps the borrowers of the state with his valuable latest information and guidance. They always seek his help for taking decisions. If you have any queries about Monthly Payment Loans , bad credit monthly loans visit http://www.bigpaydayloans.net

Article Source: Article Directory - http://www.freearticleforyou.com

11

Additional Information on Author

Author of this article: Malen Cheks.

Malen Cheks joined FAFY - Free Article For You on Friday, 24 February 2012.

Additional Articles

Re-Publish: Big payday loans- Helpful financial aid for everyone

You have permission to re-publish this article electronically or in print, as long as you are able to follow the Publishers Guidelines.

Source: http://www.freearticleforyou.com/Finance/Loans/big-payday-loans-helpful-financial-aid-for-everyone.html

aspirin aspirin 21 jump street illinois primary results acapulco mexico hines ward alex smith