wozniak estrada: June 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Ms Lurlene Nestor lives in America so does David Hinds

Daily Archive

Source: http://www.guyanatimesgy.com/2012/06/29/ms-lurlene-nestor-lives-in-america-so-does-david-hinds/

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ALHS Hall Of Fame Banquet And Golf Outing

The Albert Lea High School Hall of Fame Committee invites you to this year's ALHS Hall of Fame Banquet and Golf Outing.?

The proceeds of thse two events go directly toward reducing the sports fees that ALHS student athletes have to pay each year to participate in their respective sports.?

This year's banquet and 4-person best sot (scramble) golf tournament.? This they will be inducting eight nominees.?

The banquet and golf tournament will again be held at Wedgewood Cove Golf Club, 2200 West 9th Street, Albert Lea.?

Please note that both the banquet and golf tournament will be held on Saturday, July 7th.

Source: http://albertlea.kaaltv.com/news/news/57994-alhs-hall-fame-banquet-and-golf-outing

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Wal-Mart Suspends Seafood Supplier Over Work Conditions

The New York Times:

Wal-Mart Stores has suspended one of its seafood suppliers in the South as an advocacy group for foreign workers pressed the retailer to improve working conditions there and at a dozen other suppliers cited for hundreds of federal labor violations.

Read the whole story at The New York Times

Contribute to this Story:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/30/wal-mart-suspends-seafood_n_1639433.html

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Friday, June 29, 2012

Brazil central bank slashes GDP forecast to 2.5pct

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-central-bank-slashes-gdp-forecast-2-5pct-202305592--finance.html

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

iD Tech Camps ? The Best Summer Computer Camps For Kids and ...

iD Tech Camps is North America?s major provider of summer computer camps for kids and teens. The company offers award-winning technology courses at top-notch universities in the U.S. as well as Canada. These camps help students make the best utilization of their summer holidays and moreover have fun learning about technology plus topics that interests them.

iD Tech Camps Courses

The most preferred courses provided by iD Tech Camps for kids and teens consist of Video Game designing, Programming, Web Development, Web Designing, Animation and also Robotic. Aside from that, the well-known summer camp organizer also offers courses in Photography, Film Making, Video Editing and moreover Sport and Tech courses where students exercise both mind as well as body.

Celebrating its 14th season in 2012, iD Tech Camp is launching a new course called ?3D Game Modding ? Portal 2?. Kids who love playing the complicated Portal 2 will find this course particularly enticing simply because it enables them to build game mods along with new puzzles for it. The new program teaches the fundamentals of game modding plus 3D game design. The extended day as well as overnight camps for ages 10-12 even teaches game testing, bugs fixing, story board creation, project planning, and moreover critical considering in addition to software competencies. For students ages 13-17, interested in modding the Portal 2 game, iD Tech Camp is offering up the more advanced ?Game Modding ? Portal 2 & Half-Life 2?.

About iD Tech Courses

iD Tech Camps provides courses for students age groups 7-18. These programs are organized in well-known Universities of the United States including Stanford, Princeton, UCLA, MIT, Brown University and others. While imparting education, special care is taken to keep the ambience safe and also fun-filled so that children do not feel pressurized and their latent creativity is nurtured.

Why iD Tech Camps

No more than 8 students for every teacher are allowed in the camps to guarantee attention is given to each and every student. Apart from that, these small class sizes even ensure that students can set their pace of learning.

Students who take part in the iD Gaming Academy which is a pre-college program for teens, at the same time get a opportunity to build industry-standard online portfolios to exhibit their work.

To check out the availability of summer camps and so summer programs that are provided by iD Tech Camps in your nearest University visit internaldrive.com today and a book a camp that match the interest and age criteria of your child.

Get the latest news about iD Tech Camps @ Twitter

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David Beckham Fails to Make British Olympic Soccer Team

The 2012 Summer Olympics are taking place in David Beckham's home country, but he's not going to be representing the U.K. on the soccer field. The 37-year-old announced Thursday that he didn't make the cut for Great Britain's soccer team that will compete at this summer's Games in London.

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Analysis: EU looks for bold steps, but what about voters?

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - As Europe prepares a 20th attempt to tackle its debt crisis at a summit on Thursday, one point of discussion is getting little mention but worrying politicians perhaps more than anything else - how to keep voters onboard.

In the 2-1/2 years since the crisis began - during which time it has driven Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and now the island of Cyprus to seek rescues - a dozen EU governments have changed hands and several more are on rocky ground.

While popular protests have been widespread in Greece and Spain, they have been largely subdued in other countries, but that hasn't stopped the people expressing their frustrations and anger via the ballot box. And leaders are painfully aware.

That's why a report released on Tuesday by the EU's four most senior officials, which examines ways of overhauling economic and monetary union to strengthen it and shore up the euro, has a specific section on "democratic accountability".

But while the 7-page paper, to be discussed by leaders at the summit, goes into detail about what is needed on the economic and financial front - a 'banking union', steps towards budget sharing and a framework for political integration - the section on how to keep voters onside is just two paragraphs.

"Building public support for European-wide decisions with a far-reaching impact on the everyday lives of citizens is essential," one sentence reads, without explaining how that would be achieved.

In effect, Europe's leaders find themselves caught between the faces of a slowly closing vice, with political ambition and the aim of bringing about "more Europe" on one side, and the will of increasingly wary voters on the other.

They believe that to rebuild the European project - or, as one senior Brussels official put it on Tuesday, "correct the mistakes of the past 15 years" - they need to move rapidly towards a much deeper integration of the 17 economies in the euro zone, including in time the sensitive pooling of budgets.

But in doing that, and doing it rapidly since there may be little time left to save the single currency, they have to convince voters that it's the right thing to do and that it's going to make life better soon - even as growth contracts, unemployment rises and incomes and living standards stall.

Ask Germans whether they want to share more resources with Greeks or Italians and surveys show that most do not. Ask Britons if they want to transfer more sovereignty to Brussels so that Europe can be stronger and more stable, and they are very unlikely to agree. And politicians know it.

"We have to ask ourselves: is this just a way to get access to our resources, or does it bring some value-added to Sweden?" Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said on Wednesday in reaction to the paper on the future of Europe.

"I choose, at least initially, to be very critical because I think it is unclear."

The Czech prime minister, Petr Necas, was equally blunt, saying he couldn't accept any of the proposals in the paper.

If voters in Europe's northern countries are unhappy about shouldering the burden of helping southern ones, voters in the south are even angrier about conditions imposed by Brussels for its aid.

Mainstream politicians in Greece had to fend off a challenge this month from charismatic young leftist Alexis Tsipras, who calls EU austerity plans suicidal and wants to tear up Greece's bailout deal.

Italians have been drawn to the anti-establishment politics of a former comedian, Beppe Grillo, while Spanish youth have rallied to the "Indignados" street protest movement.

WIDENING GAP

Even seasoned Brussels diplomats, those who have been firm believers in Europe and the European Union project all their lives, say some of the proposals presented in Tuesday's report risk trying to go too far, too fast.

While several admired the longer-term vision the document presented, and saw it as a bold move to try to set out where Europe needs to go to survive, there was uneasiness about how to get there against a tide of popular dissent.

"The gap between a vision of a European end-state and the daily struggle of ordinary citizens is growing," said one diplomat in reaction to the report, drafted by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and the heads of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Eurogroup, which represents euro zone finance ministers.

"You've got to bridge that gap or you put the whole enterprise at risk and end up losing the people."

The authors of the report hope that closer involvement of the European Parliament and national EU parliaments will help ensure that democratic accountability is maintained.

But while it is the only directly elected body among the EU institutions, the European Parliament is still not regarded by most of Europe's 500 million citizens as the guardian of their interests. Turnout for European Parliament elections has fallen at every ballot since 1979, when direct polling began.

And involving national parliaments more in the decision-making process is riddled with difficulties, not least because of the time taken to secure approval and the trade-offs that need to occur on a domestic front to secure support.

At a time when Europe needs quick and decisive decision-making, it can ill afford time-consuming domestic debates. But given the size and seriousness of the issues at hand, it can also ill-afford to ignore popular sentiment.

As a result, the leaders of the European Union find themselves at a critical juncture. The very framework of economic union and the single currency is under strain because of the debt crisis, widening banking-sector turmoil and the intense pressure of financial markets.

There is an awareness among leaders that a greater sharing of resources and liabilities - such as a move to jointly issued debt and tighter coordination of budget policies - is what is needed in the long-term to safeguard the project.

But it will mean surrendering sovereignty and transferring powers to Brussels, and citizens are worried by that.

The Netherlands, one of the six founding members of the European Union and a traditionally pro-EU country, is among those most disturbed by the direction policy is headed.

"About us, without us" read the headline in the popular De Telegraaf newspaper on Wednesday, in reference to the Van Rompuy paper and the upcoming summit, where it said the Netherlands was being left "outside the room".

Even Van Rompuy, who is responsible for liaising with the EU's 27 leaders and must act as a figurehead driving Europe forward, has expressed doubts about how possible it will be if citizens are not behind it.

"If we don't do this, the euro zone is not sustainable, and if the euro zone is not sustainable, a lot of people are afraid that the single market is not sustainable," he said this month, speaking of the process of deeper integration.

"We are in a stage, especially due to the Greek case, that we are, or we can be, in an existential problem, and that is something totally different."

(Writing by Luke Baker; Additional reporting by Niklas Pollard in Stockholm; Editing by Peter Graff)

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ffaadmin - Career as Trusted Business Advisor Begins with ...

Many accountants take CPA exam courses in order to attain the top designation in their field and deliver business advice as well as accounting services. Possessing the distinction of a CPA license is the right approach for attracting consulting work. But moving into an advisory role demands some special planning by a CPA firm.

The process is initiated by developing a reputation of trust. This arises from individuals trusting an accountant to discretely handle confidential data. In addition, a CPA gains trust by accurately compiling financial reports and tax returns according to the standards set forth in study for CPA exam completion.

CPAs with established relationships of trust are empowered to move forward with steps that promote their expertise as advisers. One of the benefits of embracing the role of business adviser is that it permits opportunities to convey the level of knowledge embodied in courses for CPA credentials. Better proof of CPA ability strengthens relationships with clients and results in referrals of new business.

Most accountants that deliver business advisory services as part of their professional practices did not take that direction merely to attain higher profit. This accounting specialty was appealing because of personal satisfaction derived from having the twin function of numbers master and business adviser. For many accountants, rendering business advice was always part of their career objectives. Their plans to work with small businesses were established during CPA review courses.

Branching out into a role as business adviser is a long-term plan. CPAs must first establish a foundation of trust with core services such as tax return preparation, audit, or financial reporting. Over the course of several years, a gradual system of trust develops. From that point forward, a CPA can begin asking more penetrating questions of clients and eventually open them to the concept of contracting for ongoing regularly delivered advice.

A CPA that provides advisory services is essentially a strategic partner for businesses. This requires selecting clients that are the best fit for a collaborative process. Accomplishing that might necessitate focus on a particular industry or businesses with distinguishing elements such as a large number of employees.

Accountants extending their services as business advisers don’t have to know the answers to every client question. They only need to know where to find the answers. This is just like fundamental numbers tasks in accounting work. That is, some issues take time to explore in greater depth. An accountant doesn’t always remember every detail from CPA study material. But, a little research quickly finds the right answer to a specific matter. Giving business advice is a lot like that. Advisory services entail plenty of reflection and then helping business owners visualize the likely results of intended
actions.

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure

Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Indoor Group Activities ? All Things Recreation & Sports Ministry

By: Leon Mitchell

You are at camp or on?a retreat. It is raining ? no chance for going outdoors. What do you do? Here are some more indoor-type fun games just for this ?What?ll-we-do-now?? problem. Most of the games can be adapted for all ages.

?
Tetherball Contact Dropout

The leader sits on the ground and swings a tetherball?over his head as he would a lariat rope close to the ground. Players join around in a circle within range of the circling tetherball. All players jump the ball and rope as it circles. If touched or knocked down by the ball, the players drop out. If a player jumps back out of the radius of the tetherball, he has fouled and must drop out. This continues until a single winner is declared. This is an excellent coed game with lots of action.

Novelty Program

Include a shoe scramble, a balloon relay, a barefoot marble-between-toes relay, a tow sack relay (get into sack up to waist, hold top, and hop), and a paper cup and water pitcher relay. For this last relay, give each person a paper cup. Have a water pitcher and a judge for each relay line. Contestants run to table with pitcher of water, pour a cupful, drink it, and return for the next person in line to repeat. A winner is declared when pitcher is empty.

Pocketbook Contest

This is a marvelous game for students and adults. It works well with a seated audience. Divide the audience into two more groups. Appoint a captain for each group. Call for items that may be?found in women?s purses of men?s billfolds. The first captain to secure from his group the items called for and race to the leader with them wins a point for his team. The leader should stand an equal distance from all of the?teams. Some items to be?called for can be?a twenty-cent stamp, a can of hair spray, a pocketknife, nail clippers, an emery board, a safety pin, a key chain with six keys, a paper clip, and an unopened package of gum.

Firing Line

Get the ?shooters? lined up into teams. Provide each team with a water pistol and a bowl of water. At a set distance (depending on the firing power of the pistols), set in pans of water a candle for each team. At a signal, the first player of each team shoots at the candle until he puts it out. While the candle is being relighted, the second player moves up and fills the pistol from the bowl. The winner is the team that shoots all the candles out first.

Chinese Balloon Carry (relay)

Each contestant must hold an inflated balloon between two eighteen-inch dowel sticks and carry it from a starting point to a finish line thirty to fifty feet away and back.

Skill Games

A whole evening social hour on a retreat may be built around skill games. Divide the group for competition and try some of these games. (Use masking tape for marking boundary lines.)

1. Tennis ball bounce?Try to bounce tennis balls in wastebasket placed on a chair fifteen feet away (ten points per basket).

2. Pie-pan roll?Using a six-foot circle marked on the floor, players stand fifteen feet away and try to roll the pans into it (ten points for each pan in the circle).

3. Jar-ring toss?From a distance of eight feet, each player throws six fruit jar rings at the neck of a plastic detergent container (twenty-five points for each ringer).

4. Muffin-tin toss?Each person throws six pennies into an ordinary muffin tin from a distance of ten feet (five points for each penny in the muffin tin).

5. Bird throw?From ten feet away, players toss six badminton shuttlecocks into a number ten can (fifteen points for each score).

6. Target toss?Players throw six washers at a six-inch circle drawn on the floor, standing fifteen feet away for each throw. (Score ten points for each washer in the circle; washers on a line do not count.)

Handball Dropout

Turn dining tables on their sides (to serve as nets). Use masking tape or chalk to mark boundary lines on the floor. A tennis ball or playground ball is the only other equipment necessary. Play regular Ping-Pong rules and hit the ball back and forth with the open hand.

Water Tunes

Divide the retreat/camp group into smaller groups of eight to ten players. Supply soft drink bottles, metal spoons, and water. Give each group fifteen to twenty minutes to fill their bottles with water and rehearse a tune. Each group then plays their tune for the others to guess the name.

Draw That Tune

Divide into two groups. Provide chalkboards or poster board and magic markers for use in drawing. Each group sends a ?drawer? to the leader. The leader gives the two ?drawers? a slip of paper with the same song title on it. The ?drawers? then rush to their own group and draw while their teammates try to guess the name of the tune. The group to name their tune first wins. Play several rounds, keeping score and using a different person to draw each time.

Use your imagination to work up unusual fun activities. Develop group spirit and be creative. A group of teenagers can take any ?germ cell? idea and make it blossom into a fun activity. Books on recreation are full of good ideas. This article is intended simply to start you thinking. Think, plan, and be ready for the unexpected, because there is nothing worse than dead moments on a retreat.

Attribution:?Leon Mitchell was a pioneer in the area of?recreation and sports ministry. He was a teacher, author, consultant, conference leader, husband and father who had huge impact in the early days of the recreation and sports ministry movement. He wrote some of the first texts in this field. This article was adapted?from Church Recreation Magazine.

Photo Credit: nj.com

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2 Auto Repair Stocks Set to Race Ahead ? Investing Daily

Summer vacation season is here, gas prices are falling, and many Americans are gearing up to hit the open road.

But before they do, a large number of them will have to get their cars fixed?especially in light of the fact that many are hanging on to older vehicles for longer than ever.

The age of the nation?s automobile fleet continues to creep up, mostly because the weak economy is keeping many drivers out of the dealerships. In 2011, the average car on American highways was 10.8 years old?a new all-time high.

Add it all up?older cars, summer vacations and lower gas prices?and you get big demand for immediate, and often costly, repairs. Here are two auto repair stocks that are poised to cash in as those old beaters sputter into the garage.

Auto Repair Stocks Can Provide Reliable Gains in Tough Times

AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) is one of the country?s biggest auto-parts chains, with 4,613 stores in the U.S. and 297 in Mexico, for a total of 4,910.

Because the company caters to independent mechanics and do-it-yourselfers, it has long been known as a go-to stock in hard times.

Investing Daily editor Jim Fink recently took a look at some of the top-performing stocks during the 2008/09 stock market crash and found AutoZone third on the list. While the rest of the market was in free-fall, the auto-parts chain soared 22%.

This Auto Repair Stock?s Selling More Car Parts Than Ever

More impressive is the stock?s performance since then: from March 9, 2009, to present, AutoZone has more than doubled, to its current level of around $377. But even with that big jump, it?s still reasonably priced compared to the competition, trading at 16.9 times its last 12 months of earnings.

Its profits, too, have remained impressive, rising 9.3% in the three months ended May 5, 2012, to $248.6 million from $227.4 million a year earlier. Earnings per share jumped 18.7%, to $6.28 from $5.29, on fewer shares outstanding. Sales were up 6.7%, to $2.11 billion. Domestic same-store sales (which exclude sales from new stores) rose 3.9%.?

Earnings were well ahead of the $6.23 a share that analysts were expecting, though sales fell just short of the forecast $2.13 billion.

Notably, sales of auto parts jumped 6.7%, to $2.07 billion. Profit margins edged up to 51.6% from 51.2%.

The company is pumping some of its rising profits into its ongoing expansion: in the latest quarter, its store count was up 3.8% from a year ago. It?s putting a good portion of the rest into its ongoing stock buyback program, which is helping boost its per-share profits even more. In the latest quarter, AutoZone spent $400 million to repurchase 1.1 million of its shares at an average price of $380 each.

This Toolmaker Has Carved Out a Unique Place Among Auto Repair Stocks

Snap-On (NYSE: SNA) is another company that?s benefiting from the rising age of North American cars.

The company?s main business is its Tools Group, which supplied 38% of its sales in the latest quarter. This business sells tools and services directly to auto mechanics through its 4,800 ?mobile stores,? or franchisee-owned trucks, that regularly visit mechanics at their places of work.

Snap-On?s ubiquitous tool trucks have helped it claim a large share of the North American tool market; by going directly to mechanics, the company is able to offer an unparalleled level of convenience and a hands-on way to assess its clients? needs. That?s something that?s tough for competitors who mainly sell through retailers, such as Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK), to match.

Broad-Based Business Sets Snap-On Apart From the Competition

Even though it?s mainly known for its tool trucks, Snap-On is much more than just a purveyor of wrenches and screwdrivers: it also supplies car-repair centers with computer diagnostic systems and repair information through its Repair Systems & Information Group (27% of sales), and serves other industries, such as aviation, agriculture and construction, through its Commercial & Industrial Group (35% of sales).

In the first quarter of 2012, the company?s overall sales rose 6% from a year ago, to $735.2 million. Earnings jumped 26.3%, to $71 million, or $1.21 a share, from $56 million, or $0.96 a share. Profits beat the Street?s forecast of $1.16 a share, while sales came in just under the $737 million that analysts were looking for.

Tool sales were a big part of Snap-On?s strong performance: in the quarter, auto mechanics bought $316.6 million of tools from the company, up 12.3% from a year ago. The Commercial & Industrial Group posted a 5.2% sales gain, while sales dipped 0.4% at the Repair Systems & Information Group.

The stock is more volatile than AutoZone, but it?s still up 17.6% so far this year. What?s more, Snap-On pays a regular dividend. Quarterly payments of $0.41 ($1.64 annually) yield 2.71%.

Tool demand will continue to rise with the age of the average North American car. That?s a long-term trend that should continue to push up Snap-On?s share price.

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Laura Munson: (Not Your Mama's) Relationship Questionnaire

As seen on THESE HERE HILLS

Sometimes I wonder if the divorce rate would be so high if we could make a questionnaire for our love interests to fill out before we step into the abyss of a serious relationship. I'm not talking about a Match.com sort of questionnaire. I'm talking take-no-prisoners, pedal-to-the-metal, full-frontal, in- your-face, cut-to-the-chase, head-for-the-hills stuff you would only dare to say out loud in the woods, walking alone with your dogs. Of course, I'd never actually have the guts to do it. But making a personal list might serve some purpose. I'd include stuff like (humor me a little here):

1) Do you like to kiss? If so, do you consider it merely foreplay?
2) Precisely how many hours a week would you like to be with me?

Please break that down into the below categories:
Talking/ Doing chores/ Having sex/ Cooking/ Watching TV/ Cultural outings/ Social outings/ Dates/ Family time/ In-law time/ Physical activities (not including sex)

3) Do you call your mother?
4) Do you tell your father you love him?
5) What's the worst thing that happened to you as a child? What's the best thing?
6) Who is your best friend and why?
7) Has anyone close to you ever died and how did you deal with grief?
8) Do you like to sing and/or play an instrument?
9) Do you care if I gain weight? If so, how much is too much?
10) What is your filthiest habit? Do you drink? If so, do you get mean when you drink? How much do you drink? How about smoking? Drugs?
11) Would you say that your family of origin is dysfunctional? If so, rank it on a scale of 1-10, ten being totally cray cray.
12) What books are on your bedside table?
13) What's the kinkiest thing you've done, sexually?
14) What's your deal-breaker as far as breaking up goes?
15) Have you ever cheated on a girlfriend/spouse?
16) In a pinch, do you lie to get yourself out of a sticky situation?
17) If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
18) Have you ever stolen anything? If so, what was it? How did you feel afterward?
19) What kind of body are you planning to have when you're fifty? Seventy? Do you plan on making it to 80? What about 90? If so, what's your strategy?
20) Do you want children? If one had some sort of handicap, how would you handle that?
21) Why do you like me? Give me at least ten reasons but no more than twenty because then I'll know you're bullshitting me. (You're about to run for the hills, aren't you. I can see it in your eyes. Hang on -- I'll change my tone. I'm flexible that way.)
22) On road trips, are you generally a conversationalist? On road trips do you like to play music? Can you take LOUD?
23) Could you love a woman who listens to opera? (not on road trips)
24) Could you love a woman who still listens to the Indigo Girls? (maybe on a road trip)
25) Could you love a woman who still listens to James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Carol King and... ummm... in a rare moment... John Denver? Or who would make a mixed CD with the aforementioned... and maybe throw in a little Violent Femmes and Nirvana for flavor? Not that I have ever done that.
26) Could you love a woman who -- hang on I need a glass of wine for this one -- knows every word to "A Chorus Line", "Godspell", "Pippin", "My Fair Lady", "Annie", and... don't worry, not Phantom or Les Miz... but maybe "Cats"?
27) Could you love a woman who would publicly mock you if you wore tightie whities?
28) (but let's get back to you) Do you watch Saturday Night Live?
29) What about Ellen?
30) What about Jimmy Fallon?
31) What about Glee?
32) What about Smash?
33) What about golf on television? On a sunny day. All day. In August.
34) What's your Rorschach for parades?
35) Have you ever or would you ever wear clogs?
36) Have you ever or would you ever live in a foreign country? Like say, Italy? Tuscany, to be specific? In a villa?
37) Would you ride horses with me?
38) Would you ever want me to play golf with you? And if so, would you be kind?
39) Can you shoot a decent game of pool?
40) Do you pray?
41) Do you know what foie gras is? If so, do you like it? Because that might be a deal breaker for me if you don't.
42) Would you ever be angry with me if I left crumbs on the counter?
43) What about dishes in the sink?
44) What about large piles of laundry rivaling Mt. Hood?
45) Do you expect your woman to... you know... wax down there?
46) Do you give foot massages?
47) If your son or daughter was gay, how would you handle it?
48) What are your top three places on earth that you want to visit?
49) What's on your bucket list?
50) I repeat, do you watch golf on television? How much ESPN do you watch in general?
51) Do you eat bacon? (See the foie gras question)
52) What's your favorite swear word and how often do you say it and do you say it a lot when you have sex?
53) Would you ever burp/fart at the dinner table?
54) Do you believe that chivalry is dead?
55) Do you snore? If so, would you be opposed to separate bedrooms?
56) What did you get on the SAT's?
57) Did you think your last partner was better for having spent that part of their life with you?
58) What do you think about marriage vows?
59) What do you think about marriage?
60) What do you think about divorce?
61) When's the last time you got called an asshole and why?
62) What is your relationship like with yourself?
63) Have you ever been arrested?
64) Have you ever hit a person or gotten in a physical fight? Do you have a bad temper? Are you passive aggressive?
65) How emotionally dependent are you in relationships?
66) Do you cry?
67) What is your idea of a perfect Sunday?
68) What is your sense of God?
69) Wanna start this off by going to therapy with me?

Yeah... better off leaving it to the walk with the dogs in the woods. But a fun exercise nonetheless -- you might want to give it a whirl.

(Thank you to my Facebook friends for helping me conjure this list.)

Author of the International and New York Times best-selling book, This Is Not The Story You Think It Is (Amy Einhorn/Putnam)

Follow Laura Munson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lauramunson

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Monday, June 25, 2012

GetAFreelancer: #Freelancer #jobs http://t.co/6JY430hZ HTML stripping in joomla 2.5 need fixed #HTML $30-$250 I have a fresh install on joomla 2.5 &..

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Issa: No evidence so far of White House cover-up

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Lichen survives in space: Could it colonize planets by hitching rides on asteroids?

ScienceDaily (June 23, 2012) ? You can freeze it, thaw it, vacuum dry it and expose it to radiation but still life survives. ESA's research on the International Space Station is giving credibility to theories that life came from outer space -- as well as helping to create better sunscreens.

In 2008 scientists sent the suitcase-sized Expose-E experiment package to the Space Station filled with organic compounds and living organisms to test their reaction to outer space.

When astronauts venture on a spacewalk, hours are spent preparing protective suits to survive the hostile conditions. No effort was made to protect the bacteria, seeds, lichen and algae attached to the outside of the Space Station, however.

"We are exploring the limits of life," explains ESA's Ren? Demets.

Our atmosphere does a wonderful job of protecting life on Earth by absorbing harmful UV rays and keeping temperatures relatively stable.

In contrast, the space samples endured the full power of the Sun's rays. The samples were insulated somewhat by the Space Station but still had to cope with temperatures changing from -12?C to +40?C over 200 times as they orbited Earth.

The samples returned to Earth in 2009 and the results have now been published in a special issue of the journal Astrobiology.

Lichen have proven to be tough cookies -- back on Earth, some species continue to grow normally.

Ren? explains, "These organisms go into a dormant state waiting for better conditions to arrive."

The lichen have attracted interest from cosmetic companies. They can survive the full power of the Sun for 18 months, so knowing more could lead to new ingredients for sunscreen.

Living organisms surviving in open space supports the idea of 'panspermia' -- life spreading from one planet to another, or even between solar systems.

It seems possible that organisms could colonize planets by hitching rides on asteroids. ESA is probing this intriguing theory further on future Station missions with different samples.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Space Agency.

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

Journal Reference:

Herv? Cottin, Yuan Yong Guan, Audrey Noblet, Olivier Poch, Kafila Saiagh, M?gane Cloix, Fr?d?rique Macari, Murielle J?rome, Patrice Coll, Fran?ois Raulin, Fabien Stalport, Cyril Szopa, Maryl?ne Bertrand, Annie Chabin, Frances Westall, Didier Chaput, Ren? Demets, Andr? Brack. The PROCESS Experiment: An Astrochemistry Laboratory for Solid and Gaseous Organic Samples in Low-Earth Orbit. Astrobiology, 2012; 12 (5): 412 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2011.0773

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Amazon Studios adds first four original shows to its 'development slate'

Back in May, Amazon put a call out for budding screenwriters to submit their ideas for an original comedy or children's series. Now, four of the submissions have been marked up on the Amazon Series Development Slate, with more being added to a "consider" list. The chosen projects comprise three comedies, and one preschooler's show. By getting the Amazonian thumbs-up, the ideas receive $10,000 to extend the initial option, assistance to develop the script, and potentially a pilot episode. So, we might not be seeing them on our screens / displays just yet, but we're sure we're not the only ones paying close attention.

Amazon Studios adds first four original shows to its 'development slate' originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jun 2012 06:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP HDX X18-1203TX Premium Notebook Broadcom WLAN Driver 5.60.48.31 for Windows 7

Fixes:
- Improves the throughput performance of the Broadcom 4313 802.11 b/g/n WLAN Card when using WPA2/AES or WEP security.

It is highly recommended to always use the most recent driver version available.

Do not forget to check with our site as often as possible in order to stay updated on the latest drivers, software and games.

Try to set a system restore point before installing a device driver. This will help if you installed a wrong driver. Problems can arise when your hardware device is too old or not supported any longer.

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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Aaron Johnson and Sam Taylor-Wood: Married!

Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson got married yesterday.

Director Sam, 45, and actor Aaron, 22, confirmed their union to the Press Association this morning. Dating since 2009, the duo have two children together: Wylda Rae, born in 2010, and Romy Hero, born in January of this year.

Both will now take the last name Taylor-Johnson.

The newlyweds first met when Sam cast Aaron (Kick-Ass, Savages) in her directorial debut Nowhere Boy, in which the actor played icon John Lennon.

The actor will next appear in Anna Karenina opposite Keira Knightley.

Taylor-Wood also has two daughters, Anjelica and Jessie, from her previous marriage to art dealer and gallery owner Jay Jopling.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

[Photo: WENN.com]

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US mulls operating out of Vietnam War era military bases to counter growing Chinese military might Report

Laos News.net Saturday 23rd June, 2012

As the administration of US President Barack Obama revamps its Asian strategy in response to China's rising army strength, the U.S. military is eyeing a return to some old bases in the South East Asian region, including those used during the Vietnam War.

In recent weeks, the Pentagon has intensified discussions with Thailand about creating a regional disaster-relief hub at an American-built airfield that housed B-52 bombers during the 1960s and 1970s, while U.S. officials said they are also interested in more naval visits to Thai ports and joint surveillance flights to monitor trade routes and military movements.

According to The Washington Post, the Pentagon is also seeking greater accommodations in the Philippines, including at the Subic Bay naval base and the former Clark Air Base, which were once the largest U.S. military installations in Asia as well as key repair and supply hubs during the Vietnam War.

Amid concerns about China's growing military power and its claims to disputed territories, Pentagon leaders have flocked to the region to speed up negotiations and fortify relations while Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines have cautiously put out the welcome mat for the Americans again, the paper said.

However, U.S. officials said they have no desire to re-occupy any of the massive Southeast Asian bases from last century, nor do they have the money to create new ones and are just looking for permission to operate from the old installations as 'guests', mostly on a temporary basis, it added.

"I don't carry around a backpack with American flags and run around the world planting them. We want to be out there partnered with nations and have a rotational presence that would allow us to build up common capabilities for common interests," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff clarified. (ANI)

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Video: Jury may be struggling with difficult counts

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For minority college students, STEM degrees pay big

Friday, June 22, 2012

Minority college students who major in the STEM fields ? science, technology, engineering and math ? earn at least 25 percent more than their peers who study humanities or education, according to the results of a new study.

And those who took jobs related to their STEM degrees earned at least 50 percent more than their classmates who majored in humanities or education fields.

Published in the June issue of Research in Higher Education, the study followed more than 1,000 Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino and black students over nine years. The students were scholarship applicants for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which awards grants to highly motivated, low-income minority students.

While minority groups continue to be underrepresented in the STEM fields, the study's researchers believe this will change if students understand how much more money can be earned in those fields.

"The premiums for majoring in STEM fields are huge," said lead author Tatiana Melguizo, associate professor of education with the USC Rossier School of Education. "We need to educate students that if they get a job in a STEM-related occupation, they have an even higher earning premium. Otherwise, students aren't reaping the economic benefit of all the hard work they went through as undergrads."

Overall, Latinos reported the highest average earnings after college - $42,180 annually - relative to the other minority groups. Black students reported earning $35,900 and Asian Pacific Islanders earned $40,261 (data in 2006 dollars).

Latinos majoring in STEM fields also reported the highest earnings among the groups studied: an average of $56,875 per year, higher than the reported average salaries of $39,365 for blacks and $47,530 for Asian Pacific Islanders.

The study's authors said more research must be done to determine whether these discrepancies are attributable to different career preferences among racial/ethnic groups or employers' hiring decisions, as well as the role colleges and universities play in the career and occupational development of minority students.

"Among the high achieving minority students we studied, Latinos not only reported the highest annual earnings overall, but also reported the highest annual earnings among STEM majors," said study co-author Gregory Wolniak, a senior research scientist at the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. "Preliminary findings suggest this may partially be due to Latino students' ability to find jobs related to their major. These findings are encouraging signs that strengthening the pipeline of underrepresented students into STEM careers offers a viable solution to our nation's growing competitiveness problem in engineering and science fields."

###

University of Southern California: http://www.usc.edu

Thanks to University of Southern California 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.

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Strike goes ahead as London bus drivers seek Olympic payment

ITF translations available: Deutsch, Espa?ol, Fran?ais, Svenska

Google free translation: Italiano, Norske, Portugu?s, T?rk, ???, ???, Bahasa Melayu, ???????, ?????, ????, ?????, Kiswahili, ???????, ???????

Strike goes ahead as London bus drivers seek Olympic payment

22 June 2012

Thousands of London bus drivers are taking strike action today (Friday 22 June) over the failure by London bus operators to award them an Olympic payment.

Members of ITF-affiliated union Unite are taking London-wide industrial action for the first time in 30 years, at more than 70 bus garages across the city. The walk out has gone ahead despite the unprecedented granting of a high court injunction yesterday which suspended strikes in three of the capital?s 21 bus companies.
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Unite has branded the injunction ?an affront to democracy? and says disruption caused on the transport network today will be down to the refusal by Transport for London (TfL) and bus operators to negotiate a meaningful settlement over the award of an Olympic bonus. Unite has been calling for the opportunity to negotiate for several months but was only able to engage TfL in talks yesterday which proved unsuccessful. Drivers are seeking an extra ?17.24 a day to compensate them for the increased pressure they face during the games, with an estimated 800,000 more people set to be using London buses. This would bring them in line with almost all other transport workers in London who have already agreed varying bonus payments to cover the games period.
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Chair of the ITF road transport section and Unite executive council member, Martin Mayer said: ?The struggle of London bus drivers is a totally just one - to achieve the payment of a modest bonus which would go some way towards compensating workers for the tremendous extra work expected of them because of loadings, traffic etc during the Olympics. But above all workers deserve at least this small share of the massive additional revenues expected during this period ? why should TfL and the London Bus Operators expect to take the lot?? (Read a statement from the Chair here >>)
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ITF road transport section secretary Mac Urata added: ?This dispute extends far beyond London. Several of the bus operators involved have multinational parent companies such as RATP, Comfort Delgro and Deutsche Bahn. We also hope that the successful negotiation of a settlement for London bus drivers would set a precedent for the payment of bonuses to transport workers during sporting events globally.?
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ACT NOW! Show your support for the bus drivers of London by sending a letter of protest to the 21 bus operators refusing to give the workers a fair deal.
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Friday, June 22, 2012

Flipboard Finally Arrives for Android Users [Android Apps]

Click here to read Flipboard Finally Arrives for Android Users

Though Flipboard was originally supposed to be a Samsung Galaxy S III exclusive, the social reading app landed on Android today. More »

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