Don?t forget to join in the Creative @ Home Link-Up Party! To find it, simply scroll down to the bottom of this post! We?d love to have you join us! Link any and all the creative things you do at home!
Since I?ve been doing a lot of crochet and knitting lately for charity, I?ve started looking for inexpensive sources for yarn. One place that I?ve found yarn and other crafting supplies cheap was at my local Salvation Army Thrift stores. Since seeing the yarn there so cheaply, I?ve been keeping my eyes open at all the thrift stores I frequent, as well as garage sales. Another good source is to ask for the items on Freecycle. A few years ago, I got a huge trash bag full of fabric. Some of it I couldn?t use, but there were several pieces large enough to make dresses or skirts from. Last, but not least, ask around at church, a lot of times people have yarn or craft supplies they aren?t using that they would be more than happy to get rid of. I just let the ladies at church know about my charity crochet and knitting and have had several of them give me yarn to work with. I?d also place an want ad on Craig?s list. So often people have left overs from projects or have inherited yarn that they don?t know what to do with and would be more than willing and happy to get it out of their house. It never hurts to ask and it certainly doesn?t cost anything to ask!
Creative @ Home Wednesday is a weekly Link-Up Party all about those creative things you do at home! We are looking for all your creative posts, crafts/hobbies, food/cooking/recipes, home decor/remodel, fun & games for the kids, homemaking, etc. If it?s creative, we want you to share it! Please join in the fun and do a little blog hopping! This is a fun way to discover new blogs and make some new friends. Leave a link to ANY AND ALL of your creative blog posts
Instructions:
Post a link to your creative posts to the linky below. Simply click on the text link that says: You are next? Click here to enter
Enter your DIRECT link to the post you wish to share and fill out the remaining information requested.
You may enter as many links as you desire.
You MAY link to other link-ups, giveaways, and reviews..
Once you post a link to your blog post, please place a text link or use the graphic below to link back to the Creative @ Home Link-Up Party. You should have a link to this link-up part on EACH post you share here.
Be sure to also click ?like? on any article you liked to vote for that article. I will be featuring the most popular articles next week on the blog and my Facebook page!
Have fun! I can?t wait to see what links you leave behind!
If you would like to use the graphic below, simply cut and paste the html coding out of the box below the graphics to quickly link back to here.
Linking To: Women Living Well Wednesday, Homemaking Link-Up Wednesday, Encourage One Another Wednesday, Wisdom Wednesday, Wise Woman Wednesday, Works For Me Wednesday,
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'I did it to myself' Skin cancer survivor urges others not to tan - Muncie Star Press May 29, 2012
TopNews Arab Emirates'I did it to myself' Skin cancer survivor urges others not to tanMuncie Star PressMelissa Wallace looks over photos of herself during treatment. Wallace had melanoma in 2008 and was recently treated for cancer on her face. / Patti Blake / The Star Press Skin cancer is an abnormal growth of skin cells. It most often develops on [?]
Fukushima Radiation in Bluefin Tuna Is Expected to Decline - BusinessWeek May 29, 2012
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Study Says Donated Lungs Even from Smokers Still Prolong Life - Daily Disruption May 29, 2012
CBC.caStudy Says Donated Lungs Even from Smokers Still Prolong LifeDaily DisruptionPatients who need new lungs are better off getting donated organs from smokers than none at all, even though they probably won't live as long as those who get a lung transplant from a nonsmoker, a new study says. Researchers say patients will survive ...Lung from a smoker [?]
Healthcare Experts Highlight Rise in Health Care Costs - C-SPAN May 29, 2012
C-SPANHealthcare Experts Highlight Rise in Health Care CostsC-SPANThe Alliance for Health Reform hosts a discussion on chronic conditions and technology as contributing factors to the rise of healthcare costs. The briefing will take a look at the drivers of cost increases, both for insurance providers and the ...How High Deductible Plans Lead To Low Healthca [?]
Night shift women at greater risk of breast cancer: research - Telegraph.co.uk May 29, 2012
Telegraph.co.ukNight shift women at greater risk of breast cancer: researchTelegraph.co.ukWomen who work night shifts are at greater risk of breast cancer especially if they consider themselves a 'morning person', research has found. Women who work nights are twice as likely to develop breast cancer and those who are 'morning people' are [?]
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Woman battling flesh-eating bacteria is now able to speak - Los Angeles Times May 29, 2012
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The Upside of Peer Pressure: Social Networks Help Kids Exercise More - TIME May 28, 2012
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USA TODAYPSA test part of trend: Fewer screenings for well peopleUSA TODAYBy Liz Szabo, USA TODAY Many men were surprised this week when a government advisory panel recommended that doctors stop using the PSA test to screen healthy men for prostate cancer. By Bruce Powell, AP Dr. Gautam Jayram assists during prostate cancer ...Experts disparage use of test f [?]
Tennis needs cat-like reflexes with brief bursts of power. These short actions don?t let the muscles to extend their full duration. When muscle tissues are strenuously worked they turn out to be tight and may lose their elasticity unless of course appropriately stretched. Yoga exercises can increase the body?s choice of motion. The insufficient motion due to inflexibility binds the joints. Devoid of the elasticity from the muscles, I feel an athlete can be a prisoner within his own physique.
Employing yoga approaches tends to make it probable to retrain the muscles. Most tennis athletes play within a continuous state of muscle mass stress. Yoga trains the body to unwind muscle mass tension. Studying to start your recreation in a peaceful state could mean gaining an added step about the ball.
When inside a ready place muscle tissue are contracted and prepared for motion. To maneuver, muscle tissues should be peaceful and then contracted again to spring in almost any direction. By retraining the muscle tissue you start from a relaxed place, giving a quickened response time.
Yoga respiration exercises can help increase endurance and stamina. When exerting in sports or exercise we usually hold the breath as being an option to build power. Yoga trains the body to create power by way of breathing manage. Keeping the breath at factors of exertion will take an awesome offer of energy that could possibly be employed during extended sets or matches.
Mastering the correct way though undertaking a yoga pose is simple. Exhale during the execution of the pose until you feel the muscles? full length of stretch (maximum resistance). In no way maintain your breath. Breathe typically and hear towards the physique. Hold for thirty seconds, then launch the pose gradually. By constant follow of yoga poses you?ll soon apply breathing methods in everyday routines.
A uncomplicated spine twist is superb for rotational sports. It could support raise required versatility of the shoulders and back and hips. Bear in mind to use the respiration technique to this pose.
Start the spine twist by sitting down on the ground with each legs straight out in front of you. Holding the backbone straight, bend the left leg putting the left foot on the outdoors from the ideal knee. Now, location the left hand within the floor at the rear of you with your arm straight plus the correct elbow bent. Positioned around the outside of the left thigh spot the appropriate hand around the left hip.
Gradually exhale though turning the head and upper physique to the left, seeking over the left shoulder. Pressure from the right arm should preserve the left leg stationary whilst pressure in the left arm and torso gives you the twist. More powerful utilization of each arms raises the twist. Hold this pose for 30 seconds and repeat twist within the reverse facet.
A total physique conditioning and suppleness program is crucial for your avid tennis participant. Yoga procedures may be the edge you?ll need in creating your sport.
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With Facebook now public and sitting on a huge pile of cash, let?s turn the conversation to the social network?s most pressing competitor, Google. Google and Google+ don?t appear to present much of a threat to Facebook, but the game board was reset on Friday and tactics at both companies will change accordingly. Now Facebook has to find a way to grow revenue and users and will increasingly bump up against Google?s huge advantages in search and apps. For Facebook to achieve its goals, the company will have to enter both spaces with gusto.
Google has learned how to leverage its strengths and suddenly one of those strengths is Facebook?s success. Now that Facebook is a $100 billion company, it doesn?t hurt Google to be number two in that space. Who else is? Pinterest? Instagram? Twitter? None of those services offer a full-fledged social network for those who do want a Facebook alternative, and some people will.
There?s nothing that unique at Google+ to cause people to leave Facebook for it. But there are compelling reasons why publishers might decide they need to make use of it, chiefly for search rankings. If the publishers think they?ll get better rankings, they?ll help push it along, which means Google+ will continue to grow whether people actually use it or not.
In January, for example, Google added a new box promoting people who are on Google+. If you?re not on Google+, you can?t appear in the box. Do a search for ?music,? and someone like Britney Spears was showing up. The following week, Lady Gaga ? who ignored Google+ up until that point and so didn?t appear in the box ? joined. Search for music today, there?s Lady Gaga.
That?s a game changer. Google has used the attraction of its search page to convince publishers to effectively jump start its social network. It probably won?t overtake Facebook. It might always remain a distant second to Facebook. But it has given Google a much more viable competitor than ever before. And if you?re a publisher, you want to be part of it, because it has a huge impact on your visibility in Google search.
The guy who really gets this is Danny Sullivan over at Search Engine Land.
Google has other apps it can leverage like GMail, for example, and Google Docs. And of course there?s basic search, itself. Looking at GMail as an example, it has been in Facebook?s interest to keep users communicating inside the social network rather than extending relationships outward through a mail client where they?d risk escaping from Facebook entirely, talking among themselves. In its new role as a grownup, however, Facebook will ultimately have to face the external mail needs of its members it if intends to continue subscriber growth, so I?d look for some sort of FMail service with clever social media hooks.
Of course the most obvious way for Facebook to take it to Google would be in basic search, but that?s where I?d see Facebook playing a similar card to Google and accepting number two status in search by acquiring Bing from Microsoft. This makes sense for both companies since it would probably happen as a stock deal with Microsoft increasing its Facebook holdings (and influence). For Facebook buying Bing this week would cost a lot less than it would have last week, since it can pay with bloated stock.
There?s no do-or-die in this, but Facebook and Google are lining-up as each other?s main enemies and in order to compete each will start to look a lot more like the other.
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Tags: Bing, Danny Sullivan, facebook, Google, Google Apps, Search Engine Land
This entry was posted on Monday, May 21st, 2012 at 9:43 am and is filed under 2012, Business, Companies, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Request a checklist from your Realtor. It is not uncommon for a Realtor to bring a checklist containing all facets of a home purchase, including shopping for neighborhoods to obtaining financing. You can use the various checklists to make sure you?re ready for every contingent as it comes up.
There are things you can negotiate when trying to land a real estate deal. See if you can get the seller to contribute something to the closing costs or pitch in with another financial incentive. Ask them about ?buying down? your interest rate for about a couple of years. When you include concession demands in your offer, sellers become less willing to lower their asking price.
While a home with a view may be lovely to have, don?t spend extra on paying for it. You may feel that the view is worthy of the extra amount, but others may not agree when it is time to resell. Purchasing a new house for the view is great, but don?t pay too much for it.
Just because the seller chose not to accept your offer, it does not mean that you cannot find a way to compromise. So, do not lose hope yet. Such possibilities include offering to cover your closing costs or even do some upgrades and repairs to the property prior to your taking up residence.
When buying foreclosed properties, hire a good attorney who specializes in real estate. Because complications can come up during a foreclosure process, it is a good call to have your own legal representative to look out for your best interest. Although it may seem like an unnecessary expense, it can potentially save you thousands of dollars.
One of the most critical steps in finding a home is being pre-qualified for a loan. One main benefit is the ability to search with confidence within the range that you know you can afford and be approved for. Securing financing can take a long time, and you don?t want to lose your house waiting for that loan.
Make an offer only after researching the comparable home sales in the area, the condition of the home and how long the house has been on the market. Be respectful when explaining your offer to the seller, and you will be able to compromise on a good price for both of you.
All real estate agents need to be in touch with their previous customers on the anniversary of the date they purchased their home, and certainly during the holidays. When you contact them, they will recall how you helped them with their real estate experience. Let them know that you make your income from referrals, and ask them if they could kind mention your name to people they know.
If a home is a real fixer and needs lots of work, you can probably get it for a good price. This will enable you to put any extra money in the bank, and use it to improve the house in your own time. You can build up equity with each and every improvement as well as get the exact home you want. Make sure that you are looking at the potential a house has, instead of focusing on the negatives. A little fix up work can transform an ugly facade into your dream home!
This is a great time to think of investing in property. Property values are currently at an all time low because of the housing market crash. You can consider getting out of an apartment and into a house. In time, the market will increase again. This means you will have made a great investment purchase if you bought when prices were low.
Do your due diligence when buying any piece of real estate. You should check a few important features for rental properties. The first thing you need is sustainability. Is the rental property in good condition, and will it stay that way without a great amount of upkeep? The second feature that you need to think about is the location of the property. Location can determine the value of the rental property. A good investment should be in a safe neighborhood with access to different stores, schools and job opportunities. Also, make sure to take into consideration the average income in the neighborhood. If the average income is high, your property will attract a certain type of renters. You will find location to be more of a concern in areas where rents are low.
Having read this article and enhanced your knowledge of being a buyer in the real estate market, is going to benefit you in many ways. A real estate agent can give you advice and general information, but be sure you make all the decisions about your home. By keeping in mind the information in this article, you should now be capable of making the correct decisions with confidence.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) ? Each year, an estimated 1.7 million U.S. college students are steered to remedial classes to catch them up and prepare them for regular coursework. But a growing body of research shows the courses are eating up time and money, often leading not to degrees but student loan hangovers.
The expense of remedial courses, which typically cost students the same as regular classes but don't fulfill degree requirements, run about $3 billion annually, according to new research by Complete College America, a Washington-based national nonprofit working to increase the number of students with a college degree.
The group says the classes are largely failing the nation's higher education system at a time when student-loan debt has become a presidential campaign issue. Meanwhile, lawmakers in at least two states have pushed through changes and numerous institutions are redesigning the courses.
"Simply putting (students) in three levels of remedial math is really taking their money and time with no hope of success," said Stan Jones, president of Complete College America.
The group's research shows just 1 in 10 remedial students graduate from community colleges within three years and a little more than a third complete bachelor's degrees in six years. Yet the classes are widespread, with more than 50 percent of students entering two-year colleges and nearly 20 percent of those entering four-year universities put in at least one remedial course, the report said.
"At the end of the day if we could say that we are getting more students to graduate, particularly those coming into college without the requisite skills, the investment we have now is worth it," said Bruce Vandal, director of postsecondary education for the Denver-based Education Commission of the States, a nonpartisan group that researches education policy. "I think the fact that we aren't getting that result is why legislators and policymakers are up in arms and rightfully so."
The research comes as the cost of a college education continues to grow. The College Board said last fall that the average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose an additional $631, or about 8 percent, compared with a year ago. The annual cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000 ? an all-time high.
Legislation passed earlier this month in Kansas prohibits four-year universities from using state funds to provide remedial courses.
Beth Gulley, an associate English professor who teaches remedial writing at the 22,000-student Johnson County Community College in northeast Kansas, acknowledges the remediation statistics are "pretty dismal." But she noted it sometimes takes students longer to graduate than the span of time the statistics track.
"I think there is lots of hope," she said.
Take her assistant Brandon True, who dropped a remedial math class twice before completing it and College Algebra. Now 23, he is taking a calculus-heavy class for aspiring video game designers and preparing to transfer to a four-year institution.
"I was terrified," he recalled of his earlier math struggles. Because of those initial struggles problems, he feels like he truly understands the remedial writing students he helps. "I think they choke. It's scary."
Research shows placement exams routinely misplace students in remedial courses, and colleges would do so far less often if they also examined high school transcripts, said Davis Jenkins, a senior researcher at the Community College Research Center at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York.
True knows the limitations of placement exams firsthand. He went from being identified as needing remedial writing help the first time he took the test to qualifying for the gifted writing program the second time.
The classes are being rethought as well. Jenkins recommends doing away with the one-size-fits-all college algebra requirement and having math classes tailored to a few broad areas of study. For instance, those studying history, law or psychology might take a math class focused more on statistics.
"It just kills their desire for learning," Jenkins said, noting that some students are being placed in classes that make them basically redo middle school pre-algebra. "There really is a stigma, so it is clear that we need to rethink it."
The Complete College America report also says research shows half or more of remedial students would be better off being placed in required classes and having the schools building in extra help, such as tutors or more frequent class meetings.
The report said institutions that have used those approaches have seen their unprepared students succeed at the same rates as their college-ready peers. Legislation passed earlier this month in Connecticut allows underprepared students to take full-credit, college-level courses with built-in supports, such as extended instruction, extra tutoring and mandatory labs.
"We're failing these students if we don't change," said Democratic state Rep. Roberta Willis, co-chairwoman of Joint Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee in Connecticut.
Such an approach worked well for Jessica Grubb, 22, of the Round Rock, Texas, near Austin. After years of struggling, the Texas State University special education major knocked out her math requirement during a summer class that met from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. five days a week. She now works as a math tutor.
"This program has literally changed my life," she said, adding that figuring out a tip at a restaurant used to make her panic. "It gives people a second chance."
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Online:
http://www.completecollege.org/
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Associated Press writer Shannon Young contributed to this report.
NEW YORK, May 16, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) ? Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority has a dedicated promotion office in the US. Based in New York City, the office, which is staffed by a team of four and led by Country Manager Kershing Goh, will represent the emirate?s interests in developing tourism from the United States. As a part of the office launch celebrations, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority kicked-off a multi-faceted campaign, which includes the takeover of New York City?s Times Square, branding initiatives involving the Big Apple?s iconic yellow taxis as well as a slew of new attractive travel offers to the Arabian emirate recently described by the USA?s Travel & Leisure magazine as: ?fast developing into the hottest destination in the Middle East.?
?Our aim is to take the taste, sound, sight, touch and scents of Abu Dhabi to one of the centers of New York?s action,? said Mubarak Al Nuaimi, the authority?s International Promotions.
Aptly-themed ?Traveller?s Welcome- A Taste of Abu Dhabi?s Hospitality,? the Abu Dhabi Interactive Pop-Up will take over Times Square?s Father Duffy Square from the 17 ? 19 May, opening daily from 10 am ? 9 pm. Visitors will get a glimpse into true Abu Dhabi offerings, with a traditional majlis in the iconic landmark offering dates and coffee, henna artists, perfume mixologists and more.
Captivating video footage depicting the emirate?s future progression, from the highly anticipated Louvre Abu Dhabi and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, to Masdar City ? the world?s first carbon-neutral, zero-emissions city ? will roll, while those with a sense of adventure can interact with a falcon and trainer- a signature Abu Dhabi offering. The United Arab Emirates? award-winning national airline carrier Etihad Airways will also be present welcoming guests to the Pop-Up experience and offering exciting giveaways.
?Opening a US office was a natural progression for us,? says Dayne Lim, Product Development Director, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority. ?Abu Dhabi is rapidly becoming an important travel destination and with all the exciting developments over the next few years, it will be a destination to reckon with. We believe what we have to offer will appeal to visitors from the US on both business and leisure fronts. With increased air access from the US planned, this is a timely initiative.?
To coincide with the launch, Abu Dhabi has partnered with leading tour operators Abercrombie & Kent, Cox & Kings, Linara Travel, Ritz Tours and Goway Travel to introduce travel packages to the emirate. These special offers, as well as information surrounding the launch activities, can be found at www.DiscoverAbuDhabiNYC.com .
The opening of the US office is Abu Dhabi?s first major foray into America and a part of the emirate?s measured efforts towards economic diversification of which tourism is a key pillar. US hotel guest nights in Abu Dhabi have been steadily growing over the years reaching 486,488 nights, a 16% increase in 2011 from 2010. Based on guest nights, the USA is the emirate?s second international source market for Abu Dhabi. On the MICE front, Abu Dhabi has also welcomed a number of significant MICE groups from the US, including significant America participation in February?s World Ophthalmology Congress with 12,000 attendees and the destination?s largest congress to date.
Heightened air connectivity between the USA and Abu Dhabi is on the cards with Etihad Airways planning to launch daily, non-stop services between Washington D.C. and Abu Dhabi International Airport from March 31 next year. The airline currently operates daily, non-stop flights from JFK New York and Chicago to Abu Dhabi International.
With the number of visitors far exceeding expectations in 2011, and the impressive openings of leading hotels and resorts over the last several months, Abu Dhabi is emerging as a strong competitor in the travel sector.
For more information about Abu Dhabi?s US launch activities and travel offers, visit www.DiscoverAbuDhabiNYC.com or call 212.338.0101. For more information about Abu Dhabi, visit www.visitabudhabi.ae
ABOUT ABU DHABI TOURISM & CULTURE AUTHORITY
Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority conserves and promotes the heritage and culture of Abu Dhabi emirate and leverages them in the development of a world-class, sustainable destination of distinction which enriches the lives of visitors and residents alike. The authority manages the emirate?s tourism sector and markets the destination internationally through a wide range of activities aimed at attracting visitors and investment. Its policies, plans and programs relate to the preservation of heritage and culture, including protecting archaeological and historical sites and to developing museums, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. The authority supports intellectual and artistic activities and cultural events to nurture a rich cultural environment and honor the emirate?s heritage. A key authority role is to create synergy in the destination?s development through close co-ordination with its wide-ranging stakeholder base.
SOURCE: Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority
Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority Shone Jemmott, 212.338.0101 SJemmott@adta.ae
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney and his party raised a sizable $40 million last month from donors who want him to replace President Barack Obama. But even as Romney solidifies his position as the eventual GOP nominee, many supporters who backed his primary election challengers have not yet come to his aid.
An Associated Press review of campaign finance data found that only a few hundred donors who contributed to candidates like Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum have changed course and gave to Romney's campaign or the Republican Party in April. That's as GOP stalwarts and some former rivals have called on supporters to rally around Romney's White House run.
Romney is hardly hurting for cash, having reported more than $61 million in the bank by the end of April. But financial reports released Sunday reveal a potential struggle for Romney in persuading his party's more conservative donors to open their wallets for him, although there are still more than five months until Election Day.
Out of more than 50,000 donors who gave to other GOP candidates like Gingrich, Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry since the start of the nomination race, fewer than 600 appeared to write checks to Romney in April, the AP's review of Federal Election Commission reports found. Roughly the same number contributed to the Republican National Committee, which is now helping Romney's campaign.
Romney has been aggressively courting conservatives, speaking out recently against China's "one-child policy" and addressing graduates at the evangelical Liberty University. Last month, Romney told the website Breitbart.com that the news media were involved in a "vast left-wing conspiracy to work together to put out their message and to attack me."
Wealthy donors like former Santorum supporter Foster Friess are now supporting Romney, realizing that his sizable delegate count and financial strength all but guarantee his nomination this summer. Other eventual Romney donors had already given early to his rivals, partly to support a spirited debate during the primary season.
Willis J. Johnson, founder of auto dealer Copart USA, contributed to Perry and Gingrich last year because he personally liked Perry and admired Gingrich's insistence on quizzing Romney during debates. "I think this administration is trying to take money away from small businesses," Johnson said, in part through tax hikes.
Other conservatives, however, have been warier. One blog post last week on the conservative RedState.com, referring to Romney's Liberty speech, asked: "Mr. Romney said that marriage is between one man and one woman. He got deafening applause. But where was he when it mattered?"
About a quarter of Romney April-turnaround donors gave checks of $2,500 or more, including amounts up to the maximum $30,800 legally allowed to a political party. In March ? just before Romney started raising general election cash ? about 300 former Santorum and Gingrich supporters contributed to the former Massachusetts governor's campaign.
Santorum dropped out of the race in April and Gingrich in May, even though Romney's momentum was growing before then. A report detailing the contributions of Romney's joint-fundraising committee is due out this summer.
A Romney spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment late Sunday.
The AP analyzed federal contributions since January 2011, cross-matching donors' names and addresses with those on Romney's or the GOP's April reports. Those filings, per federal election requirements, exclude donors who gave fewer than $200 per candidate each election ? although most of Romney's campaign contributions ($8.9 million) came from donors who gave $200 or more.
April's financial reports, due to the FEC by midnight Sunday, showed that Obama and the Democratic Party brought in a combined $43.6 million last month. Obama's campaign has had to raise funds aggressively to answer ads from conservative "super" political committees.
Indeed, Romney's fundraising bounty doesn't include the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into GOP super PACs. On Sunday, the Romney-supportive Restore Our Future said it raised $4.6 million last month, leaving the group with $8.2 million cash on hand.
Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of cash but can't coordinate with the candidates they support. GOP groups have largely outraised their Democratic counterparts, although Obama has a strong financial position that traditionally comes with being an incumbent.
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Follow Jack Gillum on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackgillum
No one enjoys shifting. It is inconvenient, nerve-racking, and disruptive. There is a whole lot of perform concerned when changing residences. That can be somewhat taxing, specifically when you are juggling house chores with a professional task. Exactly where will you find the time to pack bins and clean out cupboards?
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- Kid and Pet Planning - Your movers can get your kids ready and get ready your animals.
It is fairly clear from the list of services, that when you retain the services of a organization using reliable Small Rock movers your transfer will go efficiently. Ahead of you know it, you will be settles in your new home!
Gilroy Movers provide our commercial and residential customers with unprecedented service and value. A combination of low rates and a professionally trained crew guarantees a faster, more careful, less costly move.
Dear Majority Leader Reid and Republican Leader McConnell,
Nearly half the Senate delivered a letter to you both on Tuesday urging to bring the "Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012" to floor consideration "as soon as possible." Better known as the Farm Bill, and what really ought to be known as the Food Bill, this legislation is projected to cost a half-trillion dollars over five years. With the current iteration of the bill set to expire in September, this letter heralds itself as a model for action, a "bipartisan way to craft meaningful, yet fiscally responsible, policy."
But the bipartisan way is no substitute for the democratic way.
While this letter acknowledges the current ability of the Senate to consider the bill in a "fair and open manner," it is unclear that anything about this process has been so. A handful of legislators have sent members of their staff to constituent listening sessions, and many of these sessions are currently underway. Because the Senate Agriculture Committee has already released their version of the bill, it is clear that the best the public can hope for (should their opinions go heeded at these sessions) is tinkering a nearly-finished product of massive legislative inertia.
Furthermore, public comment is generally sought from only certain publics. While this letter sets out that the bill impacts more than just farmers and farming communities, it still spends it space meditating on the legislation's impact on agricultural jobs. Less than a third of the bill's budget directly impacts this sector. Where the lion's share of the funding (at about 70 percent) is allocated is precisely the same space where the larger public would have the most to say: Nutrition.
This is not to say farmers and what the letter calls "other stakeholders" are at odds. The outreach to one constituency says more about the political leadership than it does about constituents. Not unlike the purpose of the letter you received, limited listening sessions and strategic framing are tactics to reduce net discussion and debate, tactics of expediency rather than good governance.
Students at the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network are trying to do this the right way. We're on a mission to build a blueprint for the Food Bill from the ground-up by talking to students and young people across the country, asking them to share their values and priorities, and inviting them to work with us in workgroups with policy experts to draft a better plan for spending hundreds of billions of dollars over five years.
A legislative package so large that it will impact the food process from sowed seed to second serving deserves better than both sides of the aisle.
Speaking youth to power,
Rajiv Narayan
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Follow Rajiv Narayan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rajiv_narayan
There's evidence that adding more spiciness in your diet can help curb your appetite. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston are taking that idea to a whole different level—one that requires anesthesia. They've found that surgically manipulating the vagus nerve by applying capsaicin, the active component inside a chili pepper responsible for its burning sensation, can help with weight loss. More »
Not to be derailed by the "restricted" bootloader found on its US variant, One X users elsewhere can now potter around kernel version 2.6.39 and its unlocked bootloader. It's the latest release from HTC Dev, which now houses bootloaders for phones as far old as the venerable Dream, and means that the official channel has caught up with its eager modding community. Well, it's just a couple of months late. Those looking to load their boots can hit up the source below.
Another celebrity has been busted for driving drunk. This time the culprit is Mathew Fox, who was busted for his second drunken incident in the past year. On Friday Fox was picked up by the police in Oregon for allegedly driving drunk. As you may or may not know the actor lives in Bend, Oregon with his family. According to TMZ he was arrested around 3:30 am on Friday. He was booked and released later that day. The website is also reporting that there was another passenger in car. The details surrounding what actually went down haven?t been released yet. There are reports that he was on his way to get some sort of late night food, maybe McDonalds perhaps but again that is just speculation at this time. A rep for the Lost star has not confirmed or denied anything about Fox?s arrest. As I stated above this is the second drunken incident for Matthew in the past year. If you recall he was arrested back in August when in a alleged drunken rage he punched a female bus driver in her breast and crotch area. He was never formally charged with anything because prosecutors felt that there was [...]
Alongside its Droid Incredible 4G LTE announcement, HTC also revealed that the One V, it's new entry-level smartphone, will be headed to the U.S. from a "variety of partners" this summer. No specific dates, prices or networks were announced. but the One V is a good bet for pre-paid or regional carriers.
Inside its chinny, Legend-like chassis, the One V sports a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon CPU, 512MB of RAM and a WVGA (800x480) SuperLCD2 display. As you might imagine, it's running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and HTC Sense 4 on the software side. There's also a 5MP HTC ImageSense camera, which we found performed better than any entry-level smartphone camera we'd tested, even putting the Galaxy Nexus's 5MP shooter to shame.
Edgewater may not be a familiar name for even the most tech savvy, but its WiFi3 chipset is poised to propel the wireless industry beyond the limits of traditional access point tech. Aiming to leap past the low power solutions provided by the likes of Cisco, the company's developed a proprietary standard that delivers multiple channels per radio -- three channels over 2.4GHz in the showfloor demo -- versus the typical single channel currently employed. The chipset's not necessarily an end consumer product as it's intended for use by carriers, enterprise and ISPs, but it does stand to clear up the clutter when network congestion gets unwieldy. Check out our galleries below for a closer look at the outfit's next gen step in wireless infrastructure.
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures as he speaks at the state fishing pier, Monday, April 30, 2012, in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures as he speaks at the state fishing pier, Monday, April 30, 2012, in Portsmouth, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)
President Barack Obama gestures while speaking to the Building and Construction Trades Department Legislative Conference, Monday, April 30, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? For the better part of a year, Mitt Romney has tethered himself to an array of positions designed for the Republican presidential primaries, stances that put him to the right of where he's been through much of his career and raise questions about where he really wants to go. President Barack Obama's politicking has tacked to the left, thanks to all those speeches to Democratic fundraisers and other activist-heavy events that play up the liberal in him.
Now, though, it's time for both politicians to start maximizing their appeal to the broad electorate, a task Obama had the luxury of starting early as the incumbent without an intra-party struggle to settle. And as they compete for that middle ground, the essential differences between them may become harder to see.
Those differences surely exist. Obama and his Republican challenger are offering voters a distinct choice on taxes, a sharp disagreement over health care and a classic ideological divide on social issues that neither candidate seems eager to talk about. So, too, Obama has shown he believes in the power of the purse ? or the power of debt ? to right an economic downturn in ways that Republicans find hard to swallow.
Take taxes. Romney and Obama are at odds over whether low taxes on the wealthy help fuel the engine of economic growth or are an unfair giveaway to people who don't need it.
That's far more than a debating-society point. Despite the substantial tax cuts Obama has supported since becoming president, he wants to push even more than in 2008 to raise taxes on the rich and on companies that outsource jobs. Romney wants lower rates for all incomes and no special tax penalties on corporate behavior.
Romney vows to try to roll back Obama's health care law if the Supreme Court doesn't do it in its pending ruling on the case, and to set a different course that lets states drive policy on that front.
Should he succeed, it would be a massive uprooting of one of the most significant reconstructions of social policy in generations. This from a man who, as Massachusetts governor, pioneered the approach Obama adapted for the nation at large.
Although presidential candidates rarely are explicit about it, they have a hefty interest in reworking the ideological balance of the Supreme Court, now with the slimmest conservative majority, should they get that chance.
Romney's opposition to abortion rights can't go very far when those rights were affirmed long ago by the court, but that could be a different story with the addition of another conservative or two. Obama's health care law would not be in judicial jeopardy if he'd been able to nudge the court left.
Both have records that defy easy labels.
Romney governed pragmatically in Massachusetts. He says he had no choice in a state so dominated by the opposing party. That record, along with his flips on some issues, has fed the perception that he's a man of the middle, not necessarily a terrible place to be in a general election. But if he's gone through the GOP race as a moderate in conservative's clothing, that's not to say he and Obama are indistinguishable on the big and little issues of the day.
Obama clearly believes in the value of regulation, despite efforts to roll back some burdensome rules. Romney just as evidently wants to cut them, despite assurances he's not looking to throw out the whole federal rulebook. Obama's environmental record is mixed, even disappointing, in the eyes of advocates, due to his aggressive posture on drilling and his failure to win a cap and trade law even from a Democratically controlled Congress.
But he still stands in contrast to an opponent who wants to open more protected waters for exploration, looks dimly on the potential of green energy, questions the science of climate change and blames environmental regulation for holding back the promise of American energy.
For all those Republican primary debates and Obama's time in office, there are blanks that need to be filled in for both.
Obama has not come up with a plan to rescue Social Security; his opponent has made more of a start on that by proposing to raise the future retirement age for full benefits by one or two years and to reduce inflation increases in benefits for wealthier recipients, while protecting the status quo for people 55 and over.
Romney's handling of any number of foreign policy crises cannot be seen until and unless they confront him in office, whereas Obama has a record to judge.
In any event, only so much can be read into their positions. The makeup of Congress after the election will determine whether a candidate's to-do list gets done, a reality often neglected when presidential candidates make bold promises.
Circumstance, too, will shape what gets done. Obama walked into a steep recession, with the financial sector, auto industry and housing market reeling. By necessity he became a manager on the fly, much as George W. Bush did when the terrorist attacks of 2001 changed everything for years to come.
Venus to appear in once-in-a-lifetime eventPublic release date: 30-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bishop michael.bishop@iop.org 44-117-930-1032 Institute of Physics
On 5 and 6 June this year, millions of people around the world will be able to see Venus pass across the face of the Sun in what will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
It will take Venus about six hours to complete its transit, appearing as a small black dot on the Sun's surface, in an event that will not happen again until 2117.
In this month's Physics World, Jay M Pasachoff, an astronomer at Williams College, Massachusetts, explores the science behind Venus's transit and gives an account of its fascinating history.
Transits of Venus occur only on the very rare occasions when Venus and the Earth are in a line with the Sun. At other times Venus passes below or above the Sun because the two orbits are at a slight angle to each other. Transits occur in pairs separated by eight years, with the gap between pairs of transits alternating between 105.5 and 121.5 years the last transit was in 2004.
Building on the original theories of Nicolaus Copernicus from 1543, scientists were able to predict and record the transits of both Mercury and Venus in the centuries that followed.
Johannes Kepler successfully predicted that both planets would transit the Sun in 1631, part of which was verified with Mercury's transit of that year. But the first transit of Venus to actually be viewed was in 1639 an event that had been predicted by the English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks. He observed the transit in the village of Much Hoole in Lancashire the only other person to see it being his correspondent, William Crabtree, in Manchester.
Later, in 1716, Edmond Halley proposed using a transit of Venus to predict the precise distance between the Earth and the Sun, known as the astronomical unit. As a result, hundreds of expeditions were sent all over the world to observe the 1761 and 1769 transits. A young James Cook took the Endeavour to the island of Tahiti, where he successfully observed the transit at a site that is still called Point Venus.
Pasachoff expects the transit to confirm his team's theory about the phenomenon called "the black-drop effect" a strange, dark band linking Venus's silhouette with the sky outside the Sun that appears for about a minute starting just as Venus first enters the solar disk.
Pasachoff and his colleagues will concentrate on observing Venus's atmosphere as it appears when Venus is only half onto the solar disk. He also believes that observations of the transit will help astronomers who are looking for extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the Sun.
"Doing so verifies that the techniques for studying events on and around other stars hold true in our own backyard. In other words, by looking up close at transits in our solar system, we may be able to see subtle effects that can help exoplanet hunters explain what they are seeing when they view distant suns," Pasachoff writes.
Not content with viewing this year's transit from Earth, scientists in France will be using the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the effect of Venus's transit very slightly darkening the Moon. Pasachoff and colleagues even hope to use Hubble to watch Venus passing in front of the Sun as seen from Jupiter an event that will take place on 20 September this year and will be using NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is orbiting Saturn, to see a transit of Venus from Saturn on 21 December.
"We are fortunate in that we are truly living in a golden period of planetary transits and it is one of which I hope astronomers can take full advantage," he writes.
From 12.00pm (Midday) BST, the article will appear online at http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/indepth/2012/may/01/venus-its-now-or-never
Also in this issue:
Fukushima fallout Steven Judge from the UK's National Physical Laboratory reports from Japan, where he and co-author Hiroyuki Kuwahara have been monitoring radioactive contamination around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi reactor
Defeating diffraction once thought to offer imaging at unlimited resolution beyond that permitted by diffraction, "superlenses" never quite worked in practice, but physicists now have a host of other ideas that could make perfect images, as Jon Cartwright reports
###
Please mention Physics World as the source of these items and, if publishing online, please include a hyperlink to: http://physicsworld.com
Notes for editors:
1. Physics World is the international monthly magazine published by the Institute of Physics. For further information or details of its editorial programme, please contact the editor, Dr Matin Durrani, on tel +44 (0)117 930 1002. The magazine's website physicsworld.com is updated regularly and contains physics news, views and resources. Visit http://physicsworld.com.
2. For copies of Physics World and copies of the articles reviewed here contact Michael Bishop, IOP Press Officer, tel +44 (0)117 930 1032, e-mail michael.bishop@iop.org.
3. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society promoting physics and bringing physicists together for the benefit of all.
It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000 comprising physicists from all sectors, as well as those with an interest in physics. It works to advance physics research, application and education; and engages with policymakers and the public to develop awareness and understanding of physics. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in professional scientific communications. Go to http://www.iop.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Venus to appear in once-in-a-lifetime eventPublic release date: 30-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bishop michael.bishop@iop.org 44-117-930-1032 Institute of Physics
On 5 and 6 June this year, millions of people around the world will be able to see Venus pass across the face of the Sun in what will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
It will take Venus about six hours to complete its transit, appearing as a small black dot on the Sun's surface, in an event that will not happen again until 2117.
In this month's Physics World, Jay M Pasachoff, an astronomer at Williams College, Massachusetts, explores the science behind Venus's transit and gives an account of its fascinating history.
Transits of Venus occur only on the very rare occasions when Venus and the Earth are in a line with the Sun. At other times Venus passes below or above the Sun because the two orbits are at a slight angle to each other. Transits occur in pairs separated by eight years, with the gap between pairs of transits alternating between 105.5 and 121.5 years the last transit was in 2004.
Building on the original theories of Nicolaus Copernicus from 1543, scientists were able to predict and record the transits of both Mercury and Venus in the centuries that followed.
Johannes Kepler successfully predicted that both planets would transit the Sun in 1631, part of which was verified with Mercury's transit of that year. But the first transit of Venus to actually be viewed was in 1639 an event that had been predicted by the English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks. He observed the transit in the village of Much Hoole in Lancashire the only other person to see it being his correspondent, William Crabtree, in Manchester.
Later, in 1716, Edmond Halley proposed using a transit of Venus to predict the precise distance between the Earth and the Sun, known as the astronomical unit. As a result, hundreds of expeditions were sent all over the world to observe the 1761 and 1769 transits. A young James Cook took the Endeavour to the island of Tahiti, where he successfully observed the transit at a site that is still called Point Venus.
Pasachoff expects the transit to confirm his team's theory about the phenomenon called "the black-drop effect" a strange, dark band linking Venus's silhouette with the sky outside the Sun that appears for about a minute starting just as Venus first enters the solar disk.
Pasachoff and his colleagues will concentrate on observing Venus's atmosphere as it appears when Venus is only half onto the solar disk. He also believes that observations of the transit will help astronomers who are looking for extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the Sun.
"Doing so verifies that the techniques for studying events on and around other stars hold true in our own backyard. In other words, by looking up close at transits in our solar system, we may be able to see subtle effects that can help exoplanet hunters explain what they are seeing when they view distant suns," Pasachoff writes.
Not content with viewing this year's transit from Earth, scientists in France will be using the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the effect of Venus's transit very slightly darkening the Moon. Pasachoff and colleagues even hope to use Hubble to watch Venus passing in front of the Sun as seen from Jupiter an event that will take place on 20 September this year and will be using NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which is orbiting Saturn, to see a transit of Venus from Saturn on 21 December.
"We are fortunate in that we are truly living in a golden period of planetary transits and it is one of which I hope astronomers can take full advantage," he writes.
From 12.00pm (Midday) BST, the article will appear online at http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/indepth/2012/may/01/venus-its-now-or-never
Also in this issue:
Fukushima fallout Steven Judge from the UK's National Physical Laboratory reports from Japan, where he and co-author Hiroyuki Kuwahara have been monitoring radioactive contamination around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi reactor
Defeating diffraction once thought to offer imaging at unlimited resolution beyond that permitted by diffraction, "superlenses" never quite worked in practice, but physicists now have a host of other ideas that could make perfect images, as Jon Cartwright reports
###
Please mention Physics World as the source of these items and, if publishing online, please include a hyperlink to: http://physicsworld.com
Notes for editors:
1. Physics World is the international monthly magazine published by the Institute of Physics. For further information or details of its editorial programme, please contact the editor, Dr Matin Durrani, on tel +44 (0)117 930 1002. The magazine's website physicsworld.com is updated regularly and contains physics news, views and resources. Visit http://physicsworld.com.
2. For copies of Physics World and copies of the articles reviewed here contact Michael Bishop, IOP Press Officer, tel +44 (0)117 930 1032, e-mail michael.bishop@iop.org.
3. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society promoting physics and bringing physicists together for the benefit of all.
It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000 comprising physicists from all sectors, as well as those with an interest in physics. It works to advance physics research, application and education; and engages with policymakers and the public to develop awareness and understanding of physics. Its publishing company, IOP Publishing, is a world leader in professional scientific communications. Go to http://www.iop.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
With Facebook now public and sitting on a huge pile of cash, let?s turn the conversation to the social network?s most pressing competitor, Google. Google and Google+ don?t appear to present much of a threat to Facebook, but the game board was reset on Friday and tactics at both companies will change accordingly. Now Facebook has to find a way to grow revenue and users and will increasingly bump up against Google?s huge advantages in search and apps. For Facebook to achieve its goals, the company will have to enter both spaces with gusto.
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Public release date: 30-Apr-2012
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