Breanna Maddison: July 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Stocks meander on Wall Street in early trading

NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. stocks gave up early gains and were trading slightly lower on Wall Street early Monday, following big gains last week on hopes for more action by European leaders to address that region's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down nine points at 13,065 at 11:30 a.m. The Dow had been up 53 points in mid-morning trading.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner meets separately with Germany's finance minister and the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, on Monday. Draghi's pledge to do whatever was needed to protect the euro set off a market rally last week. The Dow rose back above 13,000 for the first time since May and is now up 1.6 percent for the month.

Expectations are high that Draghi will back up his words with action when the central bank meets Thursday, said David Brown, the CEO and chief market strategist at the research firm Sabrient. "I think that's the big story this week," he said. "The market has really responded to his bold statement. I hope the ECB takes action. If they don't do anything, it's not going to be pretty."

Investors are also looking toward the Federal Reserve's meeting this week. Many in the financial markets believe the Fed will take new steps to stimulate the economy in coming months.

Two corporate deals announced early Monday pushed some stocks higher. Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. agreed to buy Shaw Group for $3 billion in cash and stock. Shaw jumped $15.16, or 57 percent, to $41.85.

Also, medical and industrial equipment maker Roper Industries plans to buy hospital software company Sunquest Information Systems for $1.42 billion. Roper also raised its earnings estimate for the year, a result of the pending merger and a stronger dollar. Roper gained 5 percent to $103.60. Sunquest is privately owned.

In other trading, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index is down two points to 1,383, while the Nasdaq is down 12 points to 2,945.

Supermarket operator Supervalu rose 2 percent to $2.03 after the company announced that it would oust its CEO. Earlier this month the Minneapolis company reported weaker sales and profits and suspended its dividend. Supervalu also said it may put itself up for sale.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-meander-wall-street-early-trading-153305404--business.html

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T-Mobile to offer Galaxy Note on Aug. 8

News

July 30, 2012 04:23 PM ET

Computerworld - T-Mobile USA announced Monday that the 5.3-in. Samsung Galaxy Note will be available on Aug. 8 for $249.99, after a rebate with a two-year service plan.

T-Mobile's version of the Galaxy Note 5.3-in. touchscreen device will come with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

The AT&T version of the device began shipping in February with Android 2.3. AT&T began offering an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich earlier this month.

The T-Mobile Note device also includes the ICS Premium Suite upgrade that includes extensions for the Note's S Pen digital pen capabilities, a T-Mobile spokesman confirmed via email on Monday.

The original Galaxy Note has sold more than 5 million copies. Some reviewers have said that Samsung apparently attempted to address problems with that versions digital stylus via the Premium Suite.

The popularity of the new device surprised some reviewers who said the 5.3-in. Galaxy Note isn't practical for one-handed usage like many 3-in. and 4-in smartphones.

By comparison, the 4.8-in. Galaxy S III smartphone is at the larger end of the smartphone range and the smallest tablets tend to have 7-in. screens.

Galaxy Note features a 1.5 GHz dual core Qualcomm S3 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of built-in storage plus a MicroSD slot. The Super Amoled display is 1280 x 800 pixels.

An 8-megapixel camera on the back is complimented by a 2-megapixel camera on the front. A 2100 mAh battery is included,

Other specs are listed on T-Mobile's web site.

T-Mobile offers its HSPA+ 42 network, for the Galaxy Note, which it calls 4G. Some reviewers have seen up to 8 Mbps on downlink speeds for that network, although the theoretical top speed is 42 Mbps.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

Read more about Mobile/Wireless in Computerworld's Mobile/Wireless Topic Center.

Source: http://rss.computerworld.com/~r/computerworld/s/feed/topic/15/~3/rlAyH6FXWm8/T_Mobile_to_offer_Galaxy_Note_on_Aug._8

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Monday, July 30, 2012

Personal Debt Consolidation | YodZiaN.CoM - Finance and Loan ...

If you?re heavily in debt, a personal debt consolidation loan might seem like the perfect answer. It will roll all your debts into a monthly payment that?s less than you?re currently paying.

And if the rate of interest on your debt is reduced, more of your cash will go towards repaying the money that you?ve borrowed, which means you?ll be debt free in a shorter period of time.

Great!

But these are certain things to consider before you sign on the dotted line for personal debt consolidation.

1) Is A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan Right For You?

Debt consolidation has helped millions of people to get out of dbet, but it?s still a big step. Don?t enter into these agreements lightly. Treat your personal debt consolidation loan as your last chance. Don?t do it unless you?re prepared to cut your spending, stop borrowing and keep going until your debts are history.

2) How much to borrow?

The best plan is to organise a consolidation loan for as little as possible. So if you owe $15000, then consolidate all your personal debts with one consolidation loan of $15000, and not a cent more!

And whatever happens, beware of lenders who encourage you to borrow more than you already owe. Taking the example above, some unscrupulous lenders will show you how you could borrow $20000 or even $25000 and still pay less every month than you do at present. And many people fall into this trap. As soon as they see the opportunity to ?save? money and get another $10000 on the hip they can?t wait to sign the loan agreement.

But these lenders are just taking advantage of the fact that the debt is given at a lower rate of interest and spread over a longer period of time. In the long run, if you borrow more, you?ll have to repay more. So don?t borrow more than you need.

3) Which Type?

There are two main types of personal debt consolidation loans; secured or unsecured.

Secured Consolidation Loan

These loans are normally secured against your home. So if you don?t keep up with the repayments, your lender will sell off your home to get their money. And becuase the lender is taking less of a risk, the interest rate you pay should be much lower than a normal unsecured personal loan. In fact, the APR rate on your personal loan debts could drop from perhaps 10 or 15% to around 5-6%. That?s quite a saving and will certainly help you to repay your debt in a shorter period of time. Secured consolidation loans can be an extremely powerful tool to remove debt if you owe a large amount of money. But as I said, there is a risk that your property could be reposessed.

Another advantage of secured consolidation loans is that your new lender will normally deal with each of your existing lenders and pay them off in full. That can save you a great amount of time and paperwork.

Secured loans are usually set up to be repaid over a longer period of time, anything from 10-30 years. While this may make the monthly repayments easier to manage, it means that your overall debt will cost you more over the entire term of the loan (even with a lower rate of interest).

Unsecured Consolidation Loans

As you might have guessed, an unsecured loan doesn?t require any security. This means the lender is taking more of a risk that they won?t get their money back. In turn, you shouldn?t expect such a low rate of interest. A typical APR for an unsecured personal loan might might be in the region of 7-10% instead of the 5-6% for secured consolidation loans.

In fact, you may find yourself in the position where the interest on the best unsecured deal might not be much less than your current loans. And after you take the setup fees into account, the potential savings might not amount to much. And as unsecured loans tend to be repaid over a shorter timescale (perhaps 5-10 years), your monthly payments may not drop that much. If you find yourself in that position, it may be best to attempt to get a lower rate from your lender(s).

Unsecured personal debt consolidation loans can be arranged quickly and are a useful option if you don?t own a property. However, they tend to be limited to ?25000/$40000 which may be an issue if your debts are much larger.

4) How To Find A Reputable Lender?

When you choose a consolidation loan, it?s make or break time. A good deal that?s right for you will help you to repay your debts. The wrong deal may drag you deeper into financial trouble. So it?s vital to choose the right consolidation lender for your situation. There?s no shortage of debt consolidation loan providers, but the big question is; How do you find a reputable lender that is right for your situation?

Again, you?ve got two main options.

a) Use a broker. These are people who have experience of the consolidation loan market and will know the lenders in your area. They can negotiate to get the best terms on your behalf and will help you to avoid unscrupulous companies.

They will charge a fee, but in the long run they should help you to save much more on your new loan deal.

b) Use the internet. View different sites to compare offers. Read articles like this to expand your knowledge on the subject. Find contact details and approach various lenders to get an idea of what they can offer.

And before you approach anyone about a consolidation loan, do a bit of research to see what kind of rates and fees different lenders charge for someone with your level of debt and credit rating. That will help you to avoid the sharks and get the best deal available.

Finally, here are a few more steps that will help to ensure that you get the right deal;

a) Improve your credit rting. A better rating = Lower interest rate offers

b) Do a budget and work out how much you can afford to repay each month before you approach a lender. Aim to pay as much as possible to speed up the repayment process and save money on interest.

c) Take the lender?s offer and do the calculations yourself to see if the figures add up.

d) Work out the type of deal that you want (secured/unsecured), the amount you want to borrow, the size of your monthly repayments and stick to it. And don?t borrow more than you need.

by Stuart Laing

Are you tired of being in debt? Do you resent the large repayments every month? Visit http://www.icanhelpyougetoutofdebt.com for free, impartial debt help information.

This article may be freely distributed as long as the copyright, author?s information and active links are included.

Written By : Stuart Laing

Source: http://www.yodzian.com/html/content/personal-debt-consolidation-24451/

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10 Biblical Reasons We Should Appreciate Wine | Intoxicated on Life

If you know me well, you know I make my own beer and wine. If you know me really well, you know I really enjoy a frosty mug of IPA or a nice glass of Malbec.

But on more than one occasion I?ve been asked how I could possibly defend my enjoyment of alcohol being a Christian.

I believe the more we embrace a Biblical worldview, the more we will learn to appreciate the good gifts God has given to us, and that includes wine.

I also understand there are some who believe differently than me in this matter. It is not my point here to ?quarrel over opinions? (Romans 14:1). Food and drink are not central matters when it comes to gospel-living. As Paul said, ?The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit? (v.17).

My only point here is to share with you some of what I?ve learned from God?s Word that has informed my opinions about alcohol. Why do I think it is biblical to appreciate wine?

What I?m Not Saying?

1. I?m not saying we should all drink wine (or even like the taste of it). I believe the Bible speaks of wine as a blessing, just like food is a blessing, but that does not mean that we are obligated to enjoy wine personally.

2. I?m not saying we should appreciate the abuse of alcohol. Everywhere the Bible speaks negatively of drunkenness. Examples of this are abundant.

Rebellious children who lived lives of gluttony and drunkenness were commanded to be stoned in ancient Israel (Deuteronomy 21:20). Drunkenness is one of the reasons why Israel and Judah went into exile (Isaiah 5:11-12,22; Hosea 4:10-11; Amos 6:4-7). As such, fathers counseled their children, ?Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,? because no one who is led astray by alcohol becomes wise (Proverbs 20:1).

Proverbs 23:29-35 vividly paints the life an alcoholic. Such people linger over their glass of sparkling red wine and relish in it as it goes down smoothly, but in the end it stings them (v.31-32). Such people have woe, sorrow, strife, are always complaining, and are always hurting themselves (v.29). In their drunkenness their eyes see strange things and their hearts think perverse thoughts (v.33). They stumble and pass out like men who have been struck down, but then they dream of waking so they can have another drink (v.34-35).

The apostle Peter described the ?flood of debauchery? that is typical among the pagan nations? ?sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry??and he urges his Christian readers to no longer live for these human passions but for the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-5). Paul commands his readers to be filled with the Spirit rather than being ?drunk with wine.? This he calls a life of ?debauchery,? meaning depravity, licentiousness, decadence, and wastefulness (Ephesians 5:18).

3. I?m not saying there aren?t times to wisely abstain from drinking altogether. There are many examples of people in the Scriptures who abstained from alcohol for specific reasons.

Priests who served in God?s tabernacle were forbidden from drinking any wine or strong drink prior to their priestly duties (Leviticus 10:9; Ezekiel 44:21).
Nazarites were men who took a special vow of service to God, and these men were commanded to separated themselves from wine (Numbers 6:3,20; Amos 2:12).
In the Old Testament, Kings and princes were told to stay away from wine or strong drink so they wouldn?t pervert justice (Proverbs 31:4).
The prophet Daniel, even though it was his custom to drink wine (Daniel 10:3), chose not to drink the king?s wine when he was preparing for service in the king?s court in Babylon (Daniel 1:16).
While Jesus was dying an excruciating death on the cross, He was offered wine mixed with myrrh. Tradition tells us that respected women of Jerusalem supplied this wine as a narcotic to criminals being crucified. Jesus refused this wine (Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:23) choosing to endure with full consciousness the pain of the cross.
Paul speaks of abstaining from wine if drinking wine if it grieves another brother in Christ or causes him to stumble (Romans 14:15,21).

What I Am Saying?

What I am talking about is attitude. When you think of a glass of wine, or for that matter, vats of wine overflowing, do you count such a thing as a blessing? When you think about the calm, relaxation, and contentment one feels after enjoying a glass or two of good wine, do you praise God for this good gift? Do you believe you can drink wine in honor of the Lord and to His glory (Romans 14:6; 1 Corinthians 10:31)?

A Note on Alcoholic Content

There is no shortage of materials available trying to answer the question about the alcoholic content of wine mentioned in the Bible. Some take the position that any time wine is praised in the Scriptures, it must be talking about the non-alcoholic variety (i.e. grape juice). I take serious issue with this for several reasons, but space doesn?t permit me to go into it here.

I refer my readers to the fine paper written by Kenneth Gentry, Jr., ?The Bible and the Question of Alcoholic Beverages? (pdf), published in Criswell Theological Review in the Spring of 2008. In this article he sets out to prove, among other things, that ?the wine of the Bible was a fermented quality, alcoholic-content, potentially inebriating beverage.?

10 Biblical Reasons We Should Appreciate Wine

1. Wine was a blessing from God for wise and obedient living.

Proverbs 3:9-10 states that when we honor the Lord with our wealth and with the firstfruits of our land, ?then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine.? Repeatedly wine is listed among the abundant blessings God promises to Israel if they keep His covenant (Deuteronomy 7:13; 11:14; 33:28).

2. The loss of wine was evidence of God?s curse.

Moses warned God?s people that if they disobeyed the voice of the Lord, many curses would overtake them. They would work in their vineyards but never taste the wine (Deuteronomy 28:39). Foreign nations would rob them of their crops, including their vineyards (v.51). On several occasion God dries up the wine of his disobedient people (Hosea 9:2; Joel 1:10; Amos 5:11; Micah 6:15; Zephaniah 1:13; Hagai 1:11). Twice God curses the land of Moab drying up their winepresses (Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 48:33).

3. Wine was an acceptable sacrifice to give to God.

Wine and other intoxicating drinks were poured over sacrificial offerings on the altar as drink offerings (Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:5,7,10 18:12; 28:7,14; Deuteronomy 18:4; 1 Samuel 1:24; 2 Chronicles 31:5; Ezra 6:9; 7:22; Nehemiah 5:11; 10:37,39; 13:12). Even the Levites received wine for themselves from the tithes of given by worshipers (Numbers 18:30).

4. God gives us wine to settle our stomachs.

Paul counsels his son in the faith, Timothy, ?No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments? (1 Timothy 5:23). This home-remedy for poor digestion has actually been confirmed by modern studies. Fermented drinks like beer, sherry, or wine are powerful stimulants of gastric acid secretion, and can even speed up the emptying of the stomach. Red wine also contain polyphenols that trigger the release of nitric oxide which relaxes the stomach wall, thus optimizing digestion.

5. God gives us wine to lighten our hearts.

Wine ?cheers God and men? (Judges 9:13). The psalmist praises God for his provision: ?You cause the grass to grow for the livestock?and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth?and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine?and bread to strengthen man?s heart? (Psalm 104:14-15).

6. Abundant wine is one of the blessings of the age to come.

On the day God swallows up death forever and wipes away every tear, the Lord ?will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, or aged wine will refined? (Isaiah 24:6). On that day God will again be God to all the clans of Israel, He will restore their fortunes, ?they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine? (Amos 9:14), ?they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil? (Jeremiah 31:12). God promises to restore to Israel the years that the swarming locust has eaten: the threshing floors will be full of grain and ?the vats shall overflow with wine and oil? (Joel 2:24-25).

7. God invites His people to celebrate in His presence by drinking wine.

Year after year the Lord?s people brought a tithe of their crops to Jerusalem. There, where God made his name to dwell, He said they should eat the tithe of their grain, oil, meat, and even their wine. This regular feast in God?s holy presence was instituted so that they might ?learn to fear the Lord your God always? (Deuteronomy 14:23).

Others had a longer journey to Jerusalem so they sold their crops, took the money with them, and purchased goods for the feast when they arrived. Listen to the very liberal and celebratory words God speaks to them: ?spend the money for whatever you desire?oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household? (Deuteronomy 14:26). Whatever you desire, whatever you prefer, even if it is wine or strong drink, buy it and bring it to the worship feast. (This is the same word translated ?covet? in the tenth commandment in Deuteronomy 5:21.)

God says the same thing about the age to come. In that day, Israel?s oppressors will never rob them of grain or wine again, ?but those who garner it shall eat it?and praise the Lord, and those who gather it shall drink it?in the courts of my sanctuary? (Isaiah 62:9).

8. Wine can be very appropriate for celebrations.

The bride who sings in the Song of Solomon says, ?He brought me to the banqueting house,? (or literally translated, his ?house of wine?), ?and his banner over me is love? (Song of Solomon 2:4). In Hebrew tradition, wine was very popular at weddings. We see this in the wedding feast Jesus attends in Cana. There, for His first miracle, Jesus miraculously produced more than one hundred and twenty gallons of fine wine for the wedding feast (John 2:6-11).

That day at the wedding in Cana, before the festivities began, the groom?s father would likely have held high a cup of fine wine and spoke a cheerful blessing over the new couple. When Jesus multiplied that wine in Cana, He was, in effect, multiplying that blessing of joy and happiness for the bride and groom.

9. Jesus banqueted with wine to demonstrate the joy of the nearness of the kingdom of God.

One of the marks of Jesus? ministry was table fellowship. Jesus is often found eating in other?s homes or hosting meals. These instances of table fellowship left a deep mark on those who observed them or participated in them. These were not merely times to share food, but were platforms for Jesus to challenge social norms and make profound theological statements about himself and the kingdom of God.

What were these moments of table fellowship like? The Gospel of Luke offers us many glimpses. These were far from casual meals. Repentant sinners impacted by Jesus? message would hold great feasts, and together Jesus and his disciples would recline with tax collectors and other notorious individuals (Luke 5:29). Jesus would even host his own banquets (Luke 15:2). These joyful feasts were settings where Jesus would call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32), where men publicly turned from sin (Luke 19:1-9), and where Jesus spoke of the joy of the angels when even one sinner repents (Luke 15:7,10). The meals might even be interrupted with sobering moments of remorseful weeping as Jesus declared sinners forgiven (Luke 7:48). Some were miraculously healed (Luke 14:4). During these times, eager listeners would sit at His feet to listen (Luke 10:39). He would rebuke hypocrisy and empty religion (Luke 11:37-52), teach about genuine humility and honor (Luke 14:7-11), and challenged the social norms that divided rich and poor (Luke 14:12-14).

And yes, these would be feasts?often feasts accompanied with wine?and yes, Jesus drank. ?John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine,? Jesus told the crowds. But ?the Son of Man has come eating and drinking ? (Luke 7:33-34). Many scholars believe John the Baptist was a Nazarite from birth. The angel Gabriel told John?s father, ?he must not drink wine or strong drink? (Luke 1:15). John was a man of the wilderness; he and his disciples would often fast (Matthew 9:14; Mark 1:6). But Jesus, by contrast, was known for his joyful feasting, so much so He even gained the unjust reputation of ?a glutton and a drunkard? from his critics (Luke 7:34).

On the heels of the banquet at Levi?s home, Jesus asked the questioning Pharisees and scribes, ?Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?? (Luke 5:34). The bridegroom of God?s people had come. The kingdom of God was at hand. This was no time for mourning, but celebration.

10. Jesus chose wine to represent his blood.

During Jesus? last Passover meal, several cups of wine were shared among the disciples (Luke 22:17-18,20). Right after the meal, Jesus picked up cup of wine, gave a word of thanks to His Father, and then said, ?Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father?s kingdom? (Matthew? 26:27-29). Paul called this cup of wine ?the cup of blessing? (1 Corinthians 10:16) and ?the cup of the Lord? (v.22).

By faith in His blood, Jesus is our atonement (Romans 3:25). By drinking His blood we have eternal life (John 6:53). By His blood we are justified in God?s sight (Romans 5:9), we have peace with God (Colossians 1:20), we are redeemed and made God?s own (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Revelation 5:9), brought near to Him (Ephesians 2:13), ransomed from our futile ways (1 Peter 1:18-19), cleansed of all sin (1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5), and sanctified (Hebrews 13:12). By His blood our consciences are cleansed (Hebrews 9:14) so we can have the boldness to draw near to God in the Holiest Place (Hebrews 10:19).

And of all the things Jesus chose to represent his blood to us, he used wine.

Source: http://intoxicatedonlife.com/2012/07/30/10-biblical-reasons-we-should-appreciate-wine/

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Sunday, July 29, 2012

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The clouds swirled and eddied below the tower-top, a raging sea of dirty white sky. Cai was sitting atop one of the tower's merlons, his iron-shod feet resting on the head of a snarling gargoyle. He'd been meditating for the past day, his infused physique able to survive without sustenance for days on end.

He was mostly armoured, minus the heavy helm, his hair untied and flowing over his armoured shoulders, the twisted braids catching the sunlight like ropes of gold. He wasn't sure why he had awoken, normally his trances lasted until his questing spirit had found another branch of the world tree to sprout from.

Something twitched on the edge of his perception, and he turned, slipping down from the merlon and onto the ice-covered flagstones of the round tower-top, his eyes fixed on the iron-covered trapdoor in the centre. Eyes tracking the door, he paced over to a wooden rack which carried his weapons, snatching up his sword and dagger, his face expressionless as he dropped them into their sheaths, the corners of his mouth twitching as he hefted the great axe, twirling it about his body in a lazy figure of eight before dropping the heavy pommel into the leather boot on his back.

The polished scales falling from his waist glittered in the pale sunlight as he stalked over to the trapdoor, his clawed gauntlet scarring the wood as he reached down to yank it upwards, his booming voice echoing down into the dark interior of the lone tower.

?Come up and reveal yourself, interloper. I wish to know why you disturbed my rest.?

Message delivered, Cai stepped away, taking up his spear, hands closing around the wooden haft, taking up a statue-like pose with the blazing sun behind him.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/7deNWK60Mkg/viewtopic.php

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15 Ideas to Start an Internet Business | Arty Apt

It might seem simple to begin a web business, however the the truth is that it is a whole lot of work. The same as any business you start, there really are a few items that you will need to consider. Here is a listing of some tips which should be a main concern for you when starting an on the web business.Find Your Marketplace ? If you do not know who you?re trying to promote your products or services to, then you will not know who to make your business appeal to. Big organizations could possibly get away with marketing to everyone, but as a small web business you will have thousands of different businesses in competition too. Due to the competition, you?ll need to concentrate on a single particular market to make the business run easier and more desirable to future customers.Pick an Business Model ? You will need to pick an online business model which means that your business will run smoothly and effortlessly. Having a far more focused approach in your business will allow your strength to be devoted all by you in running and getting the business up. You will also know more where target audience you want to advertise to. Here are some of the choices for an internet business model. Just for beginning it is far better stay with one. Then, as your organization grows, you may integrated more types into your plan.Sell your own solution. This means you?ll make your own personal product or services to sell such as inventing a to sell or an artist creating products to sell. You?ll need to help keep in mind that if you?re selling a physical item like cell phone accessories or candles, you will need more set up time and income to begin with. You will have to think about the truth that you?ll need storage space.Sell something and will need to ship goods. Which means you will supply a service, such as accounting, journey planning, or career counseling. You have to understand that when you choose to provide a site, you will be trading your hours for cash. This means that you will only be settled when you?re actively working for your customers. When offering a product, your revenue isn?t restricted to by your time.Sell information products. People are ready to purchase good information that will help them solve problems, accomplish objectives, and so on. Informative products are programs which will train the consumer how to do something. The client can get these classes right off the internet. There will be maintenance and customer service to manage but you won?t have to ship anything or burn up your entire time.Sell Through Affiliate Programs. If you do not want to provide your personal products or services, you could possibly get paid to promote someone else?s. You?ll be paid a percentage of the sales which can be made because of your marketing. Companies like Amazon, PETCO, and eBay all have affiliate programs. You set up a website that?s linked to the product and then suggest that the folks on your website obtain a product from your internet company. You?ll put a link on your website that people will use to buy these products. The hyperlink will have a particular following number about it so the business will know who sent them the traffic and potential sell.Direct Sales Company. There are tons of immediate sales companies that offer everything from jewelry to natual skin care. You will to remain as a consultant and get all of the information you have to get started. Then you can produce a website through websites to promote yourself and the products and services to people who are interested.Sell Wholesale Products You Purchase. You can buy other people?s products and sell it at a higher value. There are lots of wholesale organizations. You can frequently obtain a better price and buy the products when you offer the products. Some companies will dropship or buy all of the shipping and handling. You can change the orders in the dropshipping organization as they are got by you and take orders. You?ll make a website that features the merchandise that you want to sell.Choose a Name and Buy It ? For an online business, a site will be needed by you. You will need to select a domain name for your website. What type of business you need to begin and when you have decided on your audience, finding the perfect domain name will make your business simpler to market. You?ll desire a large list of possibilities before searching for a domain name. You must ensure it is easy to remember and adhere to a.com extension.Proofread your Articles ? By having an online business, you?ll not find a way to market your business face to face. This makes most corporations find it difficult to convince consumers that they are legit. But if you be sure that all the terms in your web site are spelled right and syntax is perfect, you?ll seem like a respected organization. You probably should retain an or at least have a second pair of eyes check out your website to ensure that every thing looks great.Get Traffic ? A web business is no good unless individuals are looking at it. You?ll need to do things to get people to your website. Here are so tips about how to get more traffic to your website.Free Internet Search Engine Traffic. You?ll have to get shown on a search engine results page and get as high as you can. The sooner you?re to the main research effect, the more people will dsicover your internet site listing and desire to click on it. This can be a massive marketing tool that requires using those keywords in your website, choosing keywords that people will search for, and adding links to your website from dependable websites.Pay-Per-Click. Traffic can be got by you immediately by paying for ad room on search engines like Google and Yahoo, although free search engine traffic can have a while to build. You will choose keywords that folks who?d be thinking about your company will search for. On the internet search engine pay-per-click website whatever you do is produce an offer, place a bid. That bet could be the volume that you are willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad when seeing it on the internet search engine. If your bid is the greatest for those keywords, your ad will be on the first page of effects in the ad space. You?ll then pay the search engine a certain amount each time somebody clicks on your offer and goes to your website.Having a Sticky Website. That is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to make more traffic for our website. This may get people want to visit your website again and again and be excited to visit. So, it will make your site desperate by making people not need to keep away from it. You can do that by providing readers something to talk about. This implies that you will give information that your audience will wish to know and keep them talking. Read dubious. You may also let guests contribute to your site. This means making a forum or letting the comments leave comments. People will feel like they?re a part of your website. So they will also have something not used to look at you need to keep your site up to date with new information. Drawings and giveaways usually bring a crowd. Some people may only come for the reward and never return, but it is a superb method to add your company to clients that may not need visited otherwise.Press Releases. You can launch your personal press campaign by creating a press release statement that will get people excited about your organization. You can send them to everyone and anybody that can display you in front of a crowd like publications, papers, or TELEVISION news. In this way it is possible to market offline in addition to online.

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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Kyocera DuraXT (Sprint)

The Kyocera DuraXT ($69.99) is Sprint's replacement for the Kyocera DuraMax (3 stars). It has a bigger, better speaker, but is otherwise pretty much the same rugged flip-style?cell phone. It's super tough, uses Sprint's relatively new Direct Connect service, and has a loud speaker and great battery life. A dated UI and few features mean it's only average otherwise, but if you need a push-to-talk feature phone, the DuraXT is your best bet.

Design, Call Quality, and Direct Connect
Like Sprint's other push-to-talk phones, the DuraXT is built like a big old brick. It measures 4 by 2.1 by 1.1 inches (HWD) when closed, and is covered in a grippy, scratch-resistant, rubberized casing. It's also a bit heavy, at 5.3 ounces. It feels tough, and that's for good reason. The DuraXT meets military specification 810G, so it's resistant to dust, extreme temperatures, low pressure, rain, salt fog, shock, and vibration, among other rough conditions. It can even be submerged in three feet of standing water for 30 minutes. It survived plenty of drops of drops to the floor of the PCMag Labs with nary a scratch. On one drop the door that covers the charging port came open, but nothing was damaged. We also placed the phone in a bucket of water, where it was still able to receive calls and snap photos.

There's a 1-inch, monochrome 96-by-64-pixel external display that shows battery life, reception, and time. The internal 320-by-240-pixel LCD looks surprisingly sharp. The default font size is a bit small, but you can make it larger. The phone's keypad is great; it features large, raised keys with plenty of space in between, which should make it possible to dial while wearing gloves.

The DuraXT is a dual-band EV-DO Rev. A (850/1900 MHz) device with no Wi-Fi.?Reception is average and voice quality is good overall. Earpiece volume goes very loud, and voices sound clear, if a bit thin. Calls made with the phone also sound natural, with good noise cancellation. Calls sounded good through a?Jawbone Era?Bluetooth headset ($129, 4.5 stars) and the Nuance-powered voice dialing worked well. Battery life was great at 8 hours and 12 minutes of talk time.

Back when we reviewed the DuraMax, our biggest issue was that the speaker volume wasn't as loud as we would've liked it to be. After all, a push-to-talk phone should be built to hear outside in a noisy environment. While the DuraXT's speaker isn't quite deafening, it is certainly louder than the DuraMax. It's loud enough to hear on a busy city street, so it should be loud enough to hear over most reasonable construction noise.

Sprint's Direct Connect service combines the 3G Internet speeds and nationwide coverage of Sprint's CDMA network with the instantaneous push-to-talk of the old Nextel iDEN network. You need to be in a Sprint coverage area in order to use the DuraXT, but you can still make push-to-talk calls to Nextel iDEN subscribers.?The new network supports Call Alert With Text, which sends an audio alert and text message to another subscriber, along with Group Connect, which can connect 20 subscribers together at once. You can also use the Direct Connect button to mass-message up to 200 Direct Connect subscribers in one shot, or to send recorded messages to email addresses or handsets via text message.?

For this review, I tested Direct Connect using two different DuraXTs. It takes about a second to initiate the connection, after which transmissions are essentially instantaneous. Voice quality is solid, and like the speakerphone, volume is suitably loud.

Apps, Multimedia, and Conclusions
Like the rest of Sprint's push-to-talk lineup, the DuraXT is an otherwise bare bones feature phone. The main menu features the same grid with 12 icons that Sprint has used on many flip phones in the past. It's dated, and requires many button presses to perform even the simplest tasks.

There's an Access NetFront 4.1 browser for reading WAP pages; desktop HTML is out. The DuraXT also supports Sprint Navigation for voice-enabled, turn-by-turn directions, as well as Sprint Family Locator. You also get the standard apps like an alarm, calculator, and calendar.

There's no music or video player, so the nonstandard 2.5mm headphone jack on the right side of the phone isn't a big issue. You get 64MB of free internal memory, along with a 2GB microSD card installed in the slot underneath the battery. You probably won't need anything larger than this, though my 32 and 64GB SanDisk cards worked fine as well.

The 3.2-megapixel camera includes an LED flash, but no auto-focus. It snaps photos in about 0.5 second, but then takes a good 2 seconds to save them. Test photos look decent, if a little dark, with acceptable color and detail. Videos, on the other hand, are terrible. They max out at a miniscule 176-by-144-pixels and play back at a stuttering 10 frames per second indoors and 15 frames per second outside.

If you're looking for a push-to-talk feature phone on Sprint, the Kyocera DuraXT is your best bet. The Kyocera DuraCore ($49.99, 3 stars) costs $20 less, but it isn't as rugged and lacks a camera. The Kyocera DuraPlus?($69.99, 3 stars) is a slab-style phone that's just as rugged as the DuraXT, but it's a 6.7-ounce beast that also lacks a camera. If you're interested in something more advanced, the?Motorola Admiral?($99.99, 4 stars) is a ruggedized push-to-talk Android smartphone with plenty of excellent multimedia features, as well as access to more than 400,000 apps in the Android Market.?

More Cell Phone Reviews:
??? Kyocera DuraXT (Sprint)
??? Clarity Pal (Unlocked)
??? Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Unlocked)
??? Samsung Freeform 4 (U.S. Cellular)
??? RIM BlackBerry Curve 9310 (Boost Mobile)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/6UFKgEkL3iI/0,2817,2407724,00.asp

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New Satellites Could Make GPS Harder to Jam - Tech Gadget Info

Review: New Mac Operating System Worth the ? ? Mobile Tech Today

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Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones 3.2.0.7 now available in the BlackBerry Beta Zone. by Adam Zeis on 27 Jul 2012 10:42 AM. 12 more

Discover Out How To Decide The Proper Digital Digital camera The ?

When purchasing for a brand new digital camera , at all times take the time to read varied reviews slightly than just read the outline, equipped by the manufacturer. See if the digital digital camera comes with the equipment that ... more

Source: http://techgadgetinfo.com/gps/new-satellites-could-make-gps-harder-to-jam/

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ECB-driven rally runs out of steam in Europe

A woman walks in front of the electronic stock board of a securities firm showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 118.61 points to 8561.71 in Tokyo, Friday, July 27, 2012. Asian stocks charged higher Friday after the European Central Bank's chief vowed to save the euro currency union from the continent's debt crisis and Samsung Electronics reported another record quarterly profit. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

LONDON (AP) ? European markets stabilized Friday after the previous day's rally, which had been driven by the European Central Bank chief's pledge to do whatever it takes to save the euro currency union.

ECB President Mario Draghi triggered a jump in stock markets ? which lasted through Asian trading but faded in Europe on Friday ? by suggesting Thursday that the central bank could intervene in markets to lower the borrowing rates of financially weak countries like Spain.

In late morning European trade, Britain's FTSE was down 0.1 percent at 5,566.58 and Germany's DAX shed 0.4 percent to 6,558.54. France's CAC 40 rose 0.1 percent to 3,210.14. Wall Street was set to gain with Dow futures and broader S&P 500 futures both up 0.1 percent.

The euro, which had spiked higher on Thursday, gave up some of those gains, trading 0.2 percent lower at $1.2261.

Market fears have grown over the past few weeks that Spain, the fourth-largest economy among the 17 that use the euro, could need a bailout along the lines of Greece, Ireland and Portugal because its borrowing rates are high. That would strain Europe's finances and potentially cause the breakup of the euro.

Analysts say the shockwaves from a splintering of the currency union would likely tip the world economy into recession.

Draghi suggested that the ECB considers it part of its job to keep government borrowing rates at normal levels. It could do so by buying government bonds, which has the effect of lowering their yield, or interest rate.

IG Markets strategist Stan Shamu said hopes for ECB action will remain elevated ahead of its scheduled Aug. 2 monetary policy meeting.

"The ECB will have to deliver at its central bank meeting next week. Simply cutting its refinancing rate is not going to be enough. It will need to announce something more substantial, or the euro runs the risk of getting smashed," he said in a commentary.

Benchmark borrowing rates for Spain and Italy were stable after sliding sharply on Thursday. Spain's 10-year bond yield remained under 7 percent at 6.93 percent, while Italy's traded at 6.04 percent.

Corporate earnings figures, meanwhile, were mostly upbeat. Shares rose in Barclays bank of the U.K., French oil company Total, EADS, the owner of plane maker Airbus, and carmaker Renault after they reported earnings.

Asian markets also got a boost from Samsung's record-high quarterly profit. Customers flocked to Galaxy smartphones, in the April-June quarter helping it outdo rivals even at a challenging time for the global tech industry. Samsung Electronics vaulted 5.2 percent in Seoul.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 1.5 percent at 8,566.64 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 2 percent to 19,274.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.5 percent to 4,209.80. South Korea's Kospi climbed 2.6 percent to 1,829.16 and the Shanghai Composite inched up 0.1 percent to 2,128.76.

In energy markets, benchmark crude was up 32 cents at $89.71 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract crude rose 42 cents to finish at $89.39 in New York on Thursday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-07-27-World%20Markets/id-a0366ca69e4b45c8bc224f792bb651e1

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Friday, July 27, 2012

Opening Ceremony Preview: David Beckham & More!

On Friday night, all eyes will be on London -- an expected billion pairs of them, anyway -- for the 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony. Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has spent two years and a reported $42 million creating the extravaganza, titled Isles of Wonder. Assorted VIPs from around the world will bear witness to the event—from Queen Elizabeth herself to American royalty like Brangelina. So what can we expect to see at this highly anticipated ceremony, which airs on NBC at 7:30 p.m. ET? See a sneak peek here:

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/olympics-opening-ceremony-preview/1-a-476438?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aolympics-opening-ceremony-preview-476438

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Lodgefield Snap awaiting second hat-trick in the Greyhound Sales ...

Lodgefield Snap awaiting second hat-trick in the Greyhound Sales @ The Cross 525 ?

The three-year-old black bitch, Lodgefield Snap, is racing in the Greyhound Sales @ The Cross 525 right after achieving a back-to-back. Racing over the 525 yards flat distance on Friday, 27^th July are Black Causeway, Chester Lady, Barntick Petal, Bomb Proof and Night Time Hawk.

Hades Rocket?s three-year-old daughter has compromised on success very rarely and has raced at Harold?s Cross predominantly. Her first two races of the career were victories but she failed to set it as a hat-trick by claiming the third in line as a win.

On 23^rd May, 2012 she won the 15 Platter Package 525 at Harold?s Cross over 525 yards. The three-year-old took upon every chance for taking the lead and then finally won the race in 29.33 seconds after bursting into speed from the third spot.

She won by the margin of two and a half lengths and set Hondo Black as the runner-up.

Coming at terms with the third position was, Conors Freddy.

The two training sessions on 17^th August, 2011 and the other one 28^th October, 2011 got the black daughter out of, Lodgefield Dawn, the hat-trick. All the three races were at Harold?s Cross and all of them were over 525 yards.

She won the final leg of the hat-trick on 16^th December, 2011 in the Grade A1 Happy Christmas @ The Cross 525 Semi-Final. Leashing out from the first gate, the Traynor trained set into an early pace and led from the first position concluding the race in 29.06 seconds and winning by the margin of two lengths.

She set Kelmar Joe as the runner-up.

Her composure after striking the hat-trick kind of broke down as she failed in the next six races.? She shot back into form on 29^th June, 2012 in the Grade A3 Bet With The Tote 525 over 525 yards. The evening?s favourite got hold of the race in 28.86 seconds and defeated the runner-up, Gin Boy, by the margin of six lengths.

Her final victory until yet was in the Pick 6 Jackpot Starts Now 325 on 13^th July, 2012 at Harold?s Cross over 324 yards. She led up and rested the race in 17.64 seconds.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Lodgefield-Snap-awaiting-second-hat-trick-in-the-Greyhound-Sales-The-Cross-525-a175210

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Ways to Prevent System Downtime in Summer Storms or Natural ...

This month?s severe storms left thousands of people without power on the east coast, and three days later businesses were still struggling to get technology back up and running.

More than 300 of our customer?s systems were down due to the storm and approximately 25% of them were still experiencing severe downtime ? more than 72 hours later. Dataprise technologies were also in ?storm? jeopardy, but because of our robust disaster recovery and business continuity contingency plan, we didn?t experience a single minute of downtime due to power loss, and we were able to continue to keep all of our data, and most importantly ? our customer?s data safe, secure and available for use. For us and our clients that chose to host their critical systems in our datacenter, it was business as usual.

Does your business have a disaster recovery/business continuity plan in place?

Services that Dataprise offers to prevent severe downtime due to power and data loss

Hosted E-mail
Features & benefits:

Clustered and redundant Microsoft Exchange servers, meaning that all of your data is automatically replicated to two data center facilities (east and west cost)
Your mailbox, contact lists, task lists, and private & public calendars are accessible from any Web browser
E-mail archiving abilities ? you can store every email that comes in and out of your mailbox in a transparent, secure, redundant and easy-to-use format

Hosted Phone Systems
Features & benefits:

A virtual replica of your phone system configured for emergency failover can be stored in an off-site data center providing off-premise uptime & reliability
Fail-over: the ability to automatically switch to a redundant system upon failure of the currently inactive system

Virtual Server Hosting
Features & benefits:

A virtual replica of your physical and virtual servers stored in an off-site data center configured for emergency fail-over upon a catastrophic disaster or event
Your servers are maintained and monitored by the Dataprise Cloud Services 24x7x365

How much money would your business lose if you were without power for 72 hours or more?

If you really value your business, you should consider speaking to one of our contingency hosting specialists, who can guide you through the services that we provide to help you prevent system downtime in emergency situations. Also, creating a disaster recovery and business continuity plan can be the difference when an unwelcomed event occurs, such as this past weekend?s storm.

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Source: http://blog.dataprise.com/2012/07/26/ways-to-prevent-system-downtime-in-summer-storms-or-natural-disasters/

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

What caused the sudden massive ice melt in Greenland?

The rapid melting of 97 percent of the surface of Greenland's ice sheet in just four days has left scientists puzzled.

By Seth Borenstein,?Associated Press / July 25, 2012

Measurements from three satellites showed that on July 8 (right) about 40 percent of the ice sheet had undergone thawing at or near the surface. In just a few days (July 12), an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed. The areas classified as ?probable melt? (light pink) correspond to those sites where at least one satellite detected surface melting. The areas classified as ?melt? (dark pink) correspond to sites where two or three satellites detected surface melting.

Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory/AP

Enlarge

Nearly all of Greenland's massive ice sheet suddenly started melting a bit this month, a freak event that surprised scientists.

Skip to next paragraph

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'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // --> In Greenland, a glacier breaking off into the water causes a massive ice wave that collides with a boat filled with tourists. The tourists speed off, narrowly escaping the wave's full wrath.

Even Greenland's coldest and highest place, Summit station, showed melting. Ice core records show that last happened in 1889 and occurs about once every 150 years.

Three satellites show what NASA calls unprecedented melting of the ice sheet that blankets the island, starting on July 8 and lasting four days. Most of the thick ice remains. While some ice usually melts during the summer, what was unusual was that the melting happened in a flash and over a widespread area.

"You literally had this wave of warm air wash over the Greenland ice sheet and melt it," NASA ice scientist Tom Wagner said Tuesday.

The ice melt area went from 40 percent of the ice sheet to 97 percent in four days, according to NASA. Until now, the most extensive melt seen by satellites in the past three decades was about 55 percent.

Wagner said researchers don't know how much of Greenland's ice melted, but it seems to be freezing again.

"When we see melt in places that we haven't seen before, at least in a long period of time, it makes you sit up and ask what's happening?" NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati said. It's a big signal, the meaning of which we're going to sort out for years to come."

About the same time, a giant iceberg broke off from the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland. And the National Snow and Ice Data Center on Tuesday announced that the area filled with Arctic sea ice continues near a record low.

Wagner and other scientists said because this Greenland-wide melting has happened before they can't yet determine if this is a natural rare event or one triggered by man-made global warming. But they do know that the edges of Greenland's ice sheets have already been thinning because of climate change.

Summer in Greenland has been freakishly warm so far. That's because of frequent high pressure systems that have parked over the island, bringing warm clear weather that melts ice and snow, explained University of Georgia climatologist Thomas Mote.

He and others say it's similar to the high pressure systems that have parked over the American Midwest bringing record-breaking warmth and drought.

Ohio State University ice scientist Jason Box, who returned Tuesday from a three-week visit, said he ditched his cold weather gear for the cotton pants that he normally dons in Nevada.

"It was sunny and warm and all the locals were talking about how sunny it was," Box said after getting off a plane. "Beyond T-shirt weather."

___

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/4wdxiWkBAdc/What-caused-the-sudden-massive-ice-melt-in-Greenland

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Calif. firms charged with dodging $10 million in customs fees

Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images

Containers wait to to shipped on Long Beach harbor, California, on April 26. Three firms have been charged with fraudulently processing container shipments that contained clothing from China, cigarettes from India and Germany and packages of the Mexican cactus dish nopalitos through the port.

By NBC News and wire services

SAN DIEGO --?Prosecutors have charged three California companies with seeking to avoid paying $10 million in customs fees by bringing containers of food and other items to port and claiming they were destined for other countries, then selling the goods in the United States.

The criminal complaint unsealed by federal prosecutors in San Diego on Wednesday named eight people, including the president of the San Diego Customs Brokers Association, who are accused of being part of the scheme.

Goods in over 90 fraudulently processed container shipments included clothing from China, cigarettes from India and Germany and packages of the Mexican cactus dish nopalitos, officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

It amounted to at least $100 million in products and $10 million in lost customs duties, they said.?The complaint says the companies "facilitated" about $500 million in trade between the United States and other countries over the last five years.

The investigation?"pulled back the curtain on a potentially costly fraud scheme operating in one of the world's busiest commercial centers,"?U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton told United Press International.

Cheaper prices
Because the goods were reported as simply passing through the Long Beach Port on their way to other countries, they were exempt from U.S. customs fees, prosecutors said.

The defendants "could sell more goods at cheaper prices and for greater profits than their law-abiding competitors, including domestic American manufacturers of these same products," the complaint read.?

The charges were brought against International Trade Consultants LLC and Tecate Logistics, based in Tecate, Calif., about 35 miles east of San Diego and immediately north of the Mexican border. The third company, M Trade Inc., is based in Los Angeles.

Complete US coverage from NBCNews.com

Among the eight people charged -- including the owners or operators of the companies -- some lived in southern California and some were in Tijuana, Mexico.

Local business leader among those charged
One of the accused, Gerardo Chavez, is president of the San Diego Customs Brokers Association and the owner of Tecate Logistics and International Trade Consultants, prosecutors said.

Calls to M Trade and International Trade Consultants were not answered, and an employee at Tecate Logistics declined to comment. The defendants will have their first court appearance on Thursday in federal court in San Diego.

Messages left for the Customs Brokers Association late Wednesday evening were not immediately returned.

Local news coverage from NBC affiliate NBC 7 San Diego

All the defendants were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted.

Some of the defendants were also accused of importing goods by means of false statements and obstruction of justice.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/26/12964539-three-calif-firms-charged-with-dodging-10-million-in-customs-fees?lite

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Drop the medicine can reduce colorectal cancer | Chircovskii Dance ...

In the era of targeted therapy in oncology very expensive, it is important to look for cheap labor that could be active in preventing cancer and then have a huge impact on public health, Decensi said in a statement.A small study suggests that taking allopurinol, a drug that has been used to treat gout for over 20 years, could reduce the growth of colon cancer and reduce the risk of colon cancer.

Decensi conducted a clinical study of 73 patients with colorectal polyps, which were treated with allopurinol between 2006 and 2010. The researchers collected samples of tissue samples from patients to compare normal and abnormal levels of Ki67. The research team reported that allopurinol is a very safe medication, and if we consider only a few side effects have been reported ? three mild gastrointestinal events.

Allopurinol, sold under the brand names and Lopurin Zyloprim reduces the activity of reactive oxygen metabolites. Previous research has also shown that patients treated with allopurinol gout had a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, one of the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men and women in the U. S. According to 2010 statistics from the American Cancer Society, there was about 102 900 new cases of colon cancer and 39,670 new cases of rectal cancer.

Even before the study was completed, an initial analysis of samples of normal tissue showed no difference between patients treated with placebo and those taking allopurinol. Among the first 13 patients enrolled in the study, the results showed that levels of Ki67 in normal tissues was doubled in patients taking placebo, compared with an increase of only 5 percent in patients treated with either dose of allopurinol.

The researcher Andrea Decensi, MD, director of the department of medical oncology at the Galliera Hospital in Genoa, Italy, presented the results of the study of the American Association ninth annual Frontiers cancer research at the Conference on the Prevention of Cancer Research held in Philadelphia.

According to the authors, the study found that children stating a dislike of school were 2.5 times more likely to have sexual intercourse.

Dislike of school also strongly predicted alcohol use.

Posted in health

Source: http://www.chircovskiidanceproject.com/drop-the-medicine-can-reduce-colorectal-cancer/

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Model-launch expenses weigh on Daimler earnings

Workers stand behind engine components during the production anniversary of the two millionth car engine at the MDC Power GmbH, a company of the German Daimler AG, in Koelleda, central Germany, Tuesday, July 17, 2012. MDC Power cranks out 4-cylinder diesel engines for different Mercedes- and Van models (C-Class, E-Class, GLK), the gasoline engines for the new Mercedes-Benz compact class (A- and B-Class) and the gasoline engines for the smart fortwo. The engines leave MDC Power in prime quality and are shipped to about 20 car plants on five continents since 2003. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Worker Melanie Zimmermann completes the four-cylinder diesel engine '651' during the production anniversary of the two millionth car engine at the MDC Power GmbH, a company of the German Daimler AG, in Koelleda, central Germany, Tuesday, July 17, 2012. MDC Power cranks out 4-cylinder diesel engines for different Mercedes- and Van models (C-Class, E-Class, GLK), the gasoline engines for the new Mercedes-Benz compact class (A- and B-Class) and the gasoline engines for the smart fortwo. The engines leave MDC Power in prime quality and are shipped to about 20 car plants on five continents since 2003. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Worker Simone Krappick completes the four-cylinder gasoline engine 'M270' during the production anniversary of the two millionth car engine at the MDC Power GmbH, a company of the German Daimler AG, in Koelleda, central Germany, Tuesday, July 17, 2012. MDC Power cranks out 4-cylinder diesel engines for different Mercedes- and Van models (C-Class, E-Class, GLK), the gasoline engines for the new Mercedes-Benz compact class (A- and B-Class) and the gasoline engines for the smart fortwo. The engines leave MDC Power in prime quality and are shipped to about 20 car plants on five continents since 2003. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ? The costs of launching the new A-class compact and B-class hatchback hurt earnings at German automaker Daimler AG. Net profit fell 11 percent in the second quarter to ?1.51 billion ($1.83 billion) from the same period a year ago, despite strong sales.

The company nonetheless described the earnings as "very good" Wednesday and stuck to its earnings target ? but added a cautionary statement that "economic uncertainty and risks exist in nearly all regions."

"We therefore remain vigilant in our monitoring of general economic developments and the volatile markets," it said.

Some analysts had speculated the company might have to abandon its profit forecast, which says this year's earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, from continuing operations will equal last year's. Yet this year's EBIT has lagged last year's over the first two quarters of this year, raising questions about whether the company can make up that lost ground by year end.

The company's results for the quarter beat analyst expectations, and investors were relieved there was no profit warning. Daimler shares rose 3.7 percent to ?37.47 in midday trading in Europe.

During a conference call with journalists, CEO Dieter Zetsche dismissed talk about a profit warning, saying that "this speculation was wrong."

He said, however, that simply "opening the newspaper in the morning, we have an intensive discussion every day about economic clouds in the sky, which are floating especially over Europe."

Added to that were questions about the sustainability of the economic recovery in the U.S., a key market for Mercedes, and whether China would undergo a moderate slowdown in growth or a "hard landing," he said.

Europe is struggling to contain a crisis over too much debt in some countries; fears that Spain may need a bailout from other governments, or that Greece may leave the euro, have weighed on consumer demand in many markets in Europe, and a financial implosion could deepen what is already a mild slowdown in Europe. Mercedes sales fell 4 percent in Europe during the second quarter, while they increased 14 percent in China and 21 percent in the United States.

Although Daimler's second quarter net profit of ?1.51 billion fell from ?1.70 billion in the same period the year before, it beat the expectation of ?1.40 billion among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue grew 10 percent to ?28.9 billion. The biggest division ? its Mercedes-Benz Cars division that makes both Mercedes and Smart brands ? saw operating earnings fall 16 percent to ?1.31 billion despite record unit sales globally for the Mercedes brand. Unit sales for Mercedes rose 4 percent to 370,384.

Daimler, based in Stuttgart, cited added expenses for launching the new A-Class and B-Class. Both cars have been top sellers but the company said it had incurred additional costs, including expanding production capacity.

The company expressed optimism about the new A-class, which goes on sale in September and already has 40,000 orders. The company has reached deal to outsource production of 100,000 or more A-classes to Finland's Valmet Automotive starting next year, saying its own plants in Rastatt, Germany, and Kecskemet, Hungary, were fully booked. Handing off some production will ensure the shortest possible delivery times to customers, the company says.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-07-25-Germany-Earns-Daimler/id-2a4d06c5dc9743f9b9dd4b9f3fd5ace3

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Insight: Assad chemical weapons plans blocked by Moscow

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Increasingly under pressure by rebels intent on unseating him, Bashar al-Assad has considered using chemical weapons against his enemies but Washington and Moscow have formed an unlikely alliance to force him to abandon such plans.

Analysts and diplomats across the region and beyond do not doubt that the Assad government, recoiling from a devastating attack on its security establishment last week and struggling to contain rebel offensives across Syria, is capable of using agents such as Sarin gas if its survival is at stake.

Yet some believe that the government's unprecedented admission that it possesses a chemical stockpile - although in safe storage and only to be deployed against "external aggressors" - is an attempt to allay international alarm that might prompt outside intervention to secure the weapons.

"They have a keen instinct for regime survival and this is an issue which didn't play well for them, which would really bring serious consequences, not the type of stuff we have been seeing so far from the international community," said Salman al-Shaikh of the Brookings Doha center.

"I think they wanted to move quickly to take us away from that, to reassure in many ways.

"This regime is capable of anything, but in this case it felt there may well be consequences, that they are perhaps crossing some red lines."

There has been a barrage of warnings about Syria's chemical arsenal this month, especially strident from the United States and Israel, but accompanied by firm but private advice from Russia, Assad's main international ally, to put an end to speculation he might use it.

One Western diplomat in the region said: "There was talk of them using it two weeks ago, but the Russians intervened quickly to stop him.

"If you think how desperate these people are and what they have done in the past, you have to assume they would be prepared to use it. All of us think he (Assad) is capable of using it and will do it if he was pushed to the wall," the diplomat said, referring to credible reports that Assad was preparing to use Sarin gas against Syrian rebels.

But "the Russians got hold of him and told him ?don't even think about it'".

Moscow went further on Monday, publicly warning Assad not to use chemical weapons, which it said was barred by Syria's 1968 ratification of an international protocol against using poison gas in war.

"The Russian side proceeds from the assumption that Syrian authorities will continue to strictly adhere to the undertaken international obligations," it said.

SHARED INTEREST

The diplomat believes Syria's statement, by foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi, was put out at Russia's insistence.

Despite the diplomatic "debacle" over Syria at the UN Security Council, where Moscow has vetoed tougher action against Damascus, "there is a clear shared interest between Russia and the United States to control the chemical weapons", he said.

"The Israelis are pretty serious about trying to stop it happening, and the Americans too," the envoy said.

Diplomats said the United States, Israel and Western powers were in close contact on how to deal with the nightmarish eventuality of Assad losing control and his chemical weapons falling into the hands of militant groups - al-Qaeda style Sunni Jihadi insurgents or Assad's pro-Iranian Shi'ite Lebanese fighters from Hezbollah.

Israel has publicly discussed military action to prevent Syrian chemical weapons or missiles from reaching Hezbollah.

Some Western intelligence sources suggested that Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guards, both close allies of Syria, have sent some special units to back Assad in his fight against Sunni insurgents and might get hold of the chemical weapons in the case of a total collapse of government authority.

Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, has tried to distance itself publicly from the Syrian quagmire but it believes a defeat for Syria would mean the group might be targeted next.

Asked whether Hezbollah would try to obtain Syria's chemical weapons, one diplomat said: "If you think of this as a fight to the death, either with Sunnis or Israelis or both, you'd have an interest in trying to get your hands on chemical weapons.

"It's one more deterrent against Israel and a big stick to wave," he said.

President Barack Obama said on Monday that Assad would be held accountable if he made the "tragic mistake" of using his chemical weapons.

Washington said it was keeping a close eye on Syria's chemical stockpiles and was "actively consulting with Syria's neighbors and friends to underscore their common concern about the security of these weapons, and the Syrian government's obligation to secure them".

REALPOLITIK?

For the Kremlin, revelations about the chemical arsenal will add to its fears about how chaos in Syria could pose risks to Russia, but will not prompt a shift in Moscow's stance on a crisis that is poisoning its relations with Arabs and the West.

For President Vladimir Putin, making the point that foreign interference is unacceptable trumps other concerns when it comes to Syria.

But Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, suggested Russia was working with the United States and other countries to try to safeguard chemical weapons or at least is discussing it, although the Kremlin probably believes the concerns are overblown.

"I think Russia is working with everyone, with America first of all ... Putin met the Turkish prime minister, he was in Israel, and is in constant contact with the Americans. Of course, nobody wants chemical weapons to be used, let alone to get into the hands of terrorists".

Russia has blunted Western efforts to condemn Assad and push him from power after voicing anger over NATO air strikes that helped Libyan rebels oust Gaddafi last year.

Since Putin announced in September that he intended to return to the presidency this year, Russia has vetoed three resolutions designed to step up pressure on Assad, angering Western and Arab states that say Moscow is protecting a brutal regime.

That contention will only be compounded by Syria's acknowledgement on Monday that it has chemical and biological weapons and warning that it could use them if foreign countries intervened.

Alexander Golts, an independent military analyst, said:

"Russia's position is not dictated by the nature or the actions of the Syrian regime. Russia's position is very much dictated by an ideological approach - by 19th century Realpolitik, if you will: the overthrow of our ally, our son of a bitch, is a victory for our opponent. Putin still thinks in terms of a zero-sum game."

NERVE AGENT

Damascus has not signed a 1992 convention that bans chemical weapons, but officials had in the past denied it had any.

It has officially stated that while it supports a Middle East-wide ban on weapons of mass destruction (WMD), it cannot unilaterally renounce chemical arms as long as Israel continues to pose a threat to its security.

Syria began to acquire the ability to develop and produce chemical weapons agents in 1973, including mustard gas and sarin, and possibly also VX nerve agent.

The Global Security website, which collects published intelligence reports and other data, says there are four suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria: north of Damascus, near Homs, in Hama, and near the Mediterranean port of Latakia.

Analysts have also identified the town of Cerin, on the coast, as a possible producer of biological weapons. Several other sites are monitored by foreign intelligence agencies and are listed only as suspect. Weapons Syria produces include the nerve agents VX, sarin and tabun, the website said.

Exact volumes of weapons in the Syrian stockpile are not known. However, the CIA has estimated that Syria possesses several hundred liters of chemical weapons and produces hundreds of tonnes of agents annually.

David Friedman, WMD expert at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said "for weaponisation, the material is poured into warheads, which can be anything from ballistic missiles to standard artillery shells to air-dropped munitions. The weapons can be as small as mortar bombs. Some of Syria's chemical weapons are already in launch-ready, warhead form".

Abdelbasset Seida, head of the Syrian National Council opposition group, said: "A regime that massacres children and rapes women could use these types of weapons."

There are many scenarios under which Assad could fall but the worst-case scenario envisages a chaotic and messy downfall with militants and rebels seizing chemical arsenals.

While observers say the use of chemical weapons by the Assad government cannot be excluded, they believe it is not imminent.

"We cannot rule it out but we are probably some ways away from that scenario," a diplomat said.

But another diplomat said Assad's acknowledgment that he has nonconventional weapons was an "act of desperation by a regime on its last breath, behaving like a wounded animal who would use anything to fight back".

(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman and Dan Williams; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-assad-chemical-weapons-plans-blocked-moscow-154836641.html

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