China's online dating market 'booming'

Revenues from China's online dating market are forecast to top two billion yuan ($315 million) in 2014 as work-stressed Chinese struggle to find partners, a new report said Tuesday.

Tens of millions of single Chinese people now use match-making websites to find partners or meet new friends, said the report from Analysys International, which forecasts the market will hit 2.02 billion yuan by 2014 -- double its value last year.

The industry, which is dominated by three players -- zhenai.com, baihe.com and Nasdaq-listed jiayuan.com -- has benefited hugely from endorsements on popular television dating shows, the report said.

Jiayuan.com says it has nearly 63 million members and Zhenai.com claims 40 million, while Baihe.com has more than 39 million users.

No official figures exist for the average age at which Chinese people now marry, but anecdotal evidence suggests that they are staying single for longer as the stress of education and work grows.

A 2010 survey by the government-backed All China Women's Federation showed there were 180 million single men and women in the nation of more than 1.3 billion people.

There is even a new phrase "Sheng Nu", or "Unwanted Girls", for well-educated and financially independent women who remain single.

The term, which is unique to China and which only applies to women, appears in the nation's official dictionary and refers to "all single woman above the age of 27".

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-online-dating-market-booming-102558663.html

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SLAMonline: http://t.co/rN8SHHz2: Nicolas Batum Thinks Many Can Beat Team USA in Olympics (VIDEO) http://t.co/8p8zTBOf #SLAMtv #NBA

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Source: http://twitter.com/SLAMonline/statuses/229994901708865536

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Apple Claims This 2005 iPhone Prototype Proves It Didn't Copy Sony [Apple]

Last week, it came to light that Samsung was planning to attack Apple based on the fact that its iPhone design copied Sony products—and the evidence was convincing. But now the Verge has uncovered Apple's response, which suggests there were convincing iPhone prototypes kicking around well before the Sony-esque model was dreamt up. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/h0IBtJzbF1Y/apple-claims-this-prototype-means-it-didnt-copy-sony

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HSBC takes $2 billion hit for U.S., UK scandals

LONDON (Reuters) - Revelations of lax anti-money laundering controls at HSBC are "shameful and embarrassing" for Europe's biggest bank, its boss said on Monday, and it may have to pay out well over $2 billion for the scandal and in compensation for UK mis-selling.

HSBC set aside $700 million to cover fines and other costs after a U.S. Senate report criticized it this month for letting clients shift funds from dangerous and secretive countries, notably Mexico.

Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver told reporters the ultimate cost could be "significantly higher".

"What happened in Mexico and the U.S. is shameful, it's embarrassing, it's very painful for all of us in the firm," he said on a conference call. "We need to execute on the compliance changes and then prove ourselves worthy and rebuild this over a number of years. There are no quick and easy fixes."

The Senate report criticized a "pervasively polluted" culture at the bank and said HSBC's Mexican operations had moved $7 billion into its U.S. operations between 2007 and 2008.

"The firm clearly lost its way in this regard and it's right that we apologize," said Gulliver. "Colleagues internally have been aware that this is the backdrop of why we had to change the firm."

The provision ate into first-half underlying profits, which fell 3 percent from a year earlier to $10.6 billion, excluding gains from assets sales and losses on the value of its own debt.

HSBC, which was formed in 1865 and operates in 84 countries, said a new streamlined and centralized structure set up by Gulliver has simplified the bank and made it easier to monitor and enforce standards and compliance.

But it also set aside another $1 billion to compensate British customers for mis-selling them loan insurance, and $237 million to cover payouts to small UK businesses wrongly sold complex interest rate hedging products.

HSBC is also one of more than a dozen banks under scrutiny in a global interest rate-rigging scandal that has rocked the sector and further damaged the reputation of bankers following criticism of their culture and standards.

"It's very unfortunate and deeply concerning that even the banks considered more secure such as HSBC are so seriously at risk," said a top 30 investor in HSBC.

"And the news is still coming out - we have yet to see the impact, if any, of the Libor investigation and HSBC's role in that. It's hard to see how much more bad news the markets can take," said the investor, who asked not to be named.

Shares in HSBC were up 1.9 percent to 541.3 pence at 1350 GMT, lagging a 2.8 percent rise in Europe's bank index.

SOFT CHINA LANDING

The bank said economic headwinds would persist and it expected the euro zone economy to contract in 2012, while the United States would achieve sub-par growth this year and next. China's economy should have a "soft landing" and grow 8 percent or more this year, it said.

U.S. and British authorities have fined fellow UK-based bank Barclays $453 million for manipulating Libor, a benchmark interest rate based on how much banks charge to lend to each other. More banks are expected to be drawn into the investigation into banks submitting false rates from which Libor is calculated daily.

Royal Bank of Scotland's CEO said it is one of the banks in the investigation, and Britain set out the terms on Monday for a reform of Libor, saying urgent change was required.

Thomson Reuters Corp is the British Bankers' Association's official agent for the daily calculation and publishing of Libor.

Gulliver said that as a contributor to Libor and its euro zone equivalent Euribor, HSBC was cooperating with regulators, but it was too early to say what the outcome would be or to estimate the potential cost for the bank. No-one at HSBC had been fired or suspended over any Libor issues, he said.

HSBC is in talks to settle the investigation into its U.S. anti-money laundering compliance with the U.S. Department of Justice and other regulators. "It may take several more months to come to fruition," Gulliver said.

The bank said it could clawback some past bonuses from staff involved in the problem, but declined to comment if that could include former Chief Executive Michael Geoghegan.

Gulliver is mid-way through a deep overhaul to cut costs, sell or shrink unprofitable businesses, and to direct investment to faster growing Asian markets.

It has cut 27,000 jobs since the start of 2011 and sold or closed 26 business in that time, including sales of its U.S. credit card businesses and half its U.S. branches.

HSBC has been running down its U.S. loan book for years, but said it was unlikely to be able to drain out surplus capital from its U.S. operations until "well into the future".

Gulliver said he was aware of the investigation into its U.S. compliance problems in 2010 before he took over, and that shaped some of his restructuring. This also includes centralizing control functions over a bank that was unwieldy.

HSBC said it had increased its spending on compliance to more than $400 million last year, more than double its $200 million in 2010.

Behind the problems the bank had shown "a pretty good set of numbers" and quick execution on his strategy, said Gulliver.

The bank reported a statutory pretax profit of $12.7 billion for the six months to the end of June, up 11 percent on the year and above an average analyst forecast of $12.5 billion, according to a poll by the company.

Its investment bank's profit rose 5 percent on the year to $5 billion, faring better than rivals in a tough market where activity has been hit by the euro zone crisis.

Costs represented 57.5 percent of income, similar to the past year and above Gulliver's 52 percent target.

(Additional reporting by Sarah White and Raji Menon; Editing by David Stamp)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hsbc-faces-u-compliance-issues-libor-scrutiny-014602913--finance.html

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ReDigi takes out loans as EMI legal battle continues | Daily Serps

As controversial MP3 resale service ReDigi continues to battle a lawsuit launched by EMI, Digital Music News has noted that the tech start up has recently secured an extra $760,000 in funding.

However, the money has come from loans rather than equity-based investment, meaning it will have to paid back with interest down the line. Presumably that means that the company needs new monies to develop its product while paying ongoing legal fees relating to the EMI case, but that, given the uncertainty the litigation creates, few investors would be willing to put money into the firm in the traditional way.

As previously reported, the legalities of a website that enables people to resell used MP3s are somewhat ambiguous, which prevented EMI from securing a summary judgement in its favour, but which could make any full court hearing time-consuming and expensive. ReDigi insists its service complies with US copyright law, mainly by relying on the so called ?first sale doctrine?, while EMI argues that ReDigi just helps others to commit copyright infringement.

While ReDigi won round one of the legal battle ? when EMI failed to get its summary judgement ? at the time various commentators wondered whether the start-up had the funds available to fight such a complicated lawsuit, even if ultimately the courts ruled in its favour. such speculation grew when the firm?s lawyer quit the case, implying some bills remained unpaid. But the tech firm insisted it could see the case to its conclusion, adding that it had switched lawyers to bring in representatives particularly experienced in this area of law.

The new loans will help with that plan presumably, though whether it will be enough to allow ReDigi to weather this storm and grow its business remains to be seen.

Sections: Digital ? In the Pop Courts ? Music Business | Tags: EMI, ReDigi

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ReDigi takes out loans as EMI legal battle continues

Source: http://dailyserps.com/redigi-takes-out-loans-as-emi-legal-battle-continues/

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Article from India Times Opinion 07/30/2012 | US Iran Affairs

Managing the flow of life The writer has posted comments on this article Sheel Vardhan Singh Sheel Vardhan Singh?? |? Jul 30, 2012, 12.00AM

IST SHARE AND DISCUSS Tweet? Our true, original rhythm is like the quiet and gentle yet powerful and relentless existence of?Nature?which, unhindered by external events, maintains its equipoise always. Life, too, is a flow of energy.Our thoughts, actions and speech, all create energy and when the ?free flow? (of energy) is hindered we are uncomfortable and face problems. Problems faced in life are an obstacle, a puzzle or an entanglement. Problems as obstacles have more to do with the act of living in this world; they are blocks in the path that obstruct progress. Puzzles? are about situations and persons, where one is confused because of lack of understanding. Entanglements are about the mind and its complications; that is, the mind getting into a particular ?vritti?, a compulsive spiral of thoughts. In case of an obstacle, what is required is an objective assessment about the current skills of an individual and the nature of obstacle.Next step would be to assess what skills are required to overcome the obstacle.The most crucial decision comes after the assessment and that is whether one goes to acquire those skills or the obstacle can be simply bypassed so that we can continue with the flow of life. We all have, at some time or other, enjoyed the music which a river makes as it flows. The river makes music even as it lives with rocks (obstacles) that hinder its path. The river bypasses them, caresses them continuously and in the process smoothens their rough edges and in the meantime also makes music as it gurgles away towards its destination. When confronted with a puzzle, what is required is a simple yet profound act of stepping back to reflect calmly.Doing so helps us clear cobwebs in the mind and vaporise delusions and illusions. I have a friend who, when unable to decode or decide, takes a journey (in thought) to a hilltop from where he can look at the problem, the various dramatis personae and their actions and thoughts and motivations behind those actions.This trip, almost at all times unravels the puzzle he is confronted with. Other ways to handle a puzzle is to seek guidance of a guru or a teacher in whom one has faith. The most difficult problem to handle is the one related to entanglement, as it relates to the mind which is unable to disentangle itself from compulsive obsessive thinking. Entanglements of the mind in the modern world are often about managing relationships.The emotionally stressful and enervating relationships which sap your energy can be put in perspective through reflection but that does not bring the mind out of the negative spiral. The way to counter this negative emotion is to create a counter-force. Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati? of Satyananda Yoga says, emotion is energy in motion, and to manage this energy and keep it in positive mode you can chant mantras. If you wish to pull yourself out of a negative spiral, the way out is to chant mantras. Mantra is a strong positive energy. Chanting transforms the state of an individual and creates positive vibrations at subconscious level.They are like rays of light in a dark room which become brighter and brighter ? similarly with repeated chanting you can break the shackles of negative energy holding you back. You will then be set free. Finally, if nothing works, just step aside and let the Divine take care of your problem. For that, you have to surrender.

Source: http://www.usiranaffairs.com/?p=2442

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Chronic 2000-04 drought, worst in 800 years, may be the 'new normal'

ScienceDaily (July 29, 2012) ? The chronic drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 left dying forests and depleted river basins in its wake and was the strongest in 800 years, scientists have concluded, but they say those conditions will become the "new normal" for most of the coming century.

Such climatic extremes have increased as a result of global warming, a group of 10 researchers reported July 29 in Nature Geoscience. And as bad as conditions were during the 2000-04 drought, they may eventually be seen as the good old days.

Climate models and precipitation projections indicate this period will actually be closer to the "wet end" of a drier hydroclimate during the last half of the 21st century, scientists said.

Aside from its impact on forests, crops, rivers and water tables, the drought also cut carbon sequestration by an average of 51 percent in a massive region of the western United States, Canada and Mexico, although some areas were hit much harder than others. As vegetation withered, this released more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, with the effect of amplifying global warming.

"Climatic extremes such as this will cause more large-scale droughts and forest mortality, and the ability of vegetation to sequester carbon is going to decline," said Beverly Law, a co-author of the study, professor of global change biology and terrestrial systems science at Oregon State University, and former science director of AmeriFlux, an ecosystem observation network.

"During this drought, carbon sequestration from this region was reduced by half," Law said. "That's a huge drop. And if global carbon emissions don't come down, the future will be even worse."

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA, U.S. Department of Energy, and other agencies. The lead author was Christopher Schwalm at Northern Arizona University. Other collaborators were from the University of Colorado, University of California at Berkeley, University of British Columbia, San Diego State University, and other institutions.

It's not clear whether or not the current drought in the Midwest, now being called one of the worst since the Dust Bowl, is related to these same forces, Law said. This study did not address that, and there are some climate mechanisms in western North America that affect that region more than other parts of the country.

But in the West, this multi-year drought was unlike anything seen in many centuries, based on tree ring data. The last two periods with drought events of similar severity were in the Middle Ages, from 977-981 and 1146-1151. The 2000-04 drought affected precipitation, soil moisture, river levels, crops, forests and grasslands.

Ordinarily, Law said, the land sink in North America is able to sequester the equivalent of about 30 percent of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere by the use of fossil fuels in the same region. However, based on projected changes in precipitation and drought severity, scientists said that this carbon sink, at least in western North America, could disappear by the end of the century.

"Areas that are already dry in the West are expected to get drier," Law said. "We expect more extremes. And it's these extreme periods that can really cause ecosystem damage, lead to climate-induced mortality of forests, and may cause some areas to convert from forest into shrublands or grassland."

During the 2000-04 drought, runoff in the upper Colorado River basin was cut in half. Crop productivity in much of the West fell 5 percent. The productivity of forests and grasslands declined, along with snowpacks. Evapotranspiration decreased the most in evergreen needleleaf forests, about 33 percent.

The effects are driven by human-caused increases in temperature, with associated lower soil moisture and decreased runoff in all major water basins of the western U.S., researchers said in the study.

Although regional precipitations patterns are difficult to forecast, researchers in this report said that climate models are underestimating the extent and severity of drought, compared to actual observations. They say the situation will continue to worsen, and that 80 of the 95 years from 2006 to 2100 will have precipitation levels as low as, or lower than, this "turn of the century" drought from 2000-04.

"Towards the latter half of the 21st century the precipitation regime associated with the turn of the century drought will represent an outlier of extreme wetness," the scientists wrote in this study.

These long-term trends are consistent with a 21st century "megadrought," they said.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Oregon State University, via Newswise.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Christopher R. Schwalm, Christopher A. Williams, Kevin Schaefer, Dennis Baldocchi, T. Andrew Black, Allen H. Goldstein, Beverly E. Law, Walter C. Oechel, Kyaw Tha Paw U, Russel L. Scott. Reduction in carbon uptake during turn of the century drought in western North America. Nature Geoscience, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1529

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/SyKuKWMp6vM/120729142137.htm

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Cavendish hails 'dream team' as hosts look for first gold

Tour de France sprint king Mark Cavendish believes a 'dream' British cycling team can notch what could be the hosts' first gold medal of the Games at the Olympic men's road race on Saturday.

Only six days after Cavendish played a role in Bradley Wiggins' historic yellow jersey triumph, the race's 23-times stage winner starts as the favourite for the 250 km men's road race on the opening day of competition.

A host of challengers like Germany's Andre Greipel and Slovakian Peter Sagan stand in his way, but Cavendish believes Britain's five-man team have the edge.

"It's the dream team," said the 27-year-old from the Isle of Man. "If we wanted to win this bike race we couldn't be in a better situation team-wise."

Britain will line up with a five-man team notably including Wiggins and Scot David Millar armed with a plan to deliver Cavendish to the home straight in the perfect position for a bunch sprint.

If the plan comes together, the 'Manx Missile' -- going on his recent form -- will be hard to beat.

Crowned the world champion in 2011, when he beat Australian Matt Goss to the rainbow jersey in Copenhagen, Cavendish put some doubts over his form early in the Tour de France to bed with two, stunning late wins in the race.

Wiggins affirmed that any concerns Cavendish may ultimately pay for completing both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour in the last two months are well wide of the mark.

"We've got the fastest man in the world and I guess it's for other people to combat that," said Wiggins.

When it comes to tactics, the road race, however, will be hard to predict.

It starts and finishes on the flat of The Mall within sight of Buckingham Palace, but with a circuit which featuring the climb of Box Hill and will be raced nine times Britain will have to be tactically astute.

Australia said they won't just be looking to put Goss in a bunch sprint.

"Most of the traditional cycling nations don't want a sprint because they've got very limited chances of a medal, I expect the race to be aggressive early; otherwise it just plays into the hands of the Poms (British)," said Australia boss Matt White.

"We've got a team that can afford to be aggressive. If it doesn't work out then we've always got Gossy for the sprint, we can work both ways."

Like Britain with Wiggins, Australia's team of Goss, Simon Gerrans, Stuart O'Grady, Cadel Evans and Michael Rogers has been labelled the "best" ever by O'Grady, who is competing in his sixth Olympics.

"This is the best team Australia has ever had going into an Olympic road race," said O'Grady.

Milan-SanRemo champion Gerrans, meanwhile believes believes one of their potential advantages is the pressure factor on the hosts.

"Yeah, definitely, and the fact they are going in with the current world champion (Cavendish) and Tour de France champion (Wiggins) as well, that's obviously attracting a lot of attention," said Gerrans.

"In the past they have seemed to handle the pressure fairly well, but I don't think they have ever had pressure like this before."

As well as Cavendish and Goss there's Sagan, Greipel, and Belgian pair Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert.

Sagan, who won three stages at the Tour de France including the sprinters' green jersey, stands out because he will not to have the full five-man team at his disposal given Slovakia's comparatively lower ranking

And while he has been given a positive appraisal from world cycling chief Pat McQuaid, the Irishman said a Cavendish win would not go amiss.

"I want to see the best win, whoever it might be," said McQuaid, the International Cycling Union (UCI) president.

" ... But I have to show a certain bias. Mark Cavendish coming up that finishing straight would just be the icing on the cake for the first gold medal of the Olympics."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cavendish-hails-dream-team-hosts-look-first-gold-023148410--oly.html

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Romney says reporters can cover Israeli fundraiser

JERUSALEM (AP) ? U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney has reversed course and will let reporters cover his remarks to donors at a fundraiser in Israel.

Romney's campaign says the typical group of reporters will be allowed to cover a high-dollar fundraiser at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on Monday morning.

The campaign had said on Saturday that it planned to prevent the typical coverage of a fundraising event in a public space.

One of those expected to attend is Sheldon Adelson, the American casino mogul who's pledged to spend more than $100 million to defeat Democratic President Barack Obama.

Donors at the event were asked to contribute $50,000 or to raise $100,000. Romney advisers say the event is expected to raise more than $1 million.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/romney-says-reporters-cover-israeli-fundraiser-141346176.html

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2 NATO service members killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? The NATO military coalition in Afghanistan says two of its service members have been killed in an insurgent attack in the east of the country.

The military alliance says the attack happened on Saturday but doesn't provide further details.

NATO also did not provide the nationalities of the dead. Most of the troops in eastern Afghanistan are American,

Saturday's deaths bring the number of international service members killed in Afghanistan so far this month to at least 42.

July 2011 saw 52 international service members killed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-07-28-AS-Afghanistan/id-91375da395b24a6286d69b7d65a0049c

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Big AIDS meeting's bottom line: More treatment

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks at the 2012 International AIDS Conference, Friday, July 27, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. speaks at the 2012 International AIDS Conference, Friday, July 27, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Call it a triple win for fighting the AIDS epidemic: Treating people with HIV early keeps them healthy, cuts their chances of infecting others, and now research shows it's also a good financial investment.

The International AIDS Conference closed Friday with the message that getting treatment to more of the world's 34 million people with HIV is key to curbing the epidemic, short of a vaccine and cure that still are years away.

"It is unacceptable" that scientifically proven treatment and prevention tools aren't reaching people who need them most, Nobel laureate Dr. Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus and new president of the International AIDS Society, told the meeting's closing session.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, whose foundation funds HIV work, also addressed the group. "All of you have created the possibility that we could have an AIDS-free generation," he said. "We just have to keep pushing the rocks up the hill."

Spreading treatment will be hugely expensive up-front, but Harvard researchers said Friday that the investment would actually save hard-hit South Africa some money over five years, as savings from treating AIDS-related illnesses exceed the medications' price. Eventually those savings will be overtaken by the costs of treating millions for decades, but treatment-as-prevention still is highly cost-effective, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky of the Harvard Center for AIDS Research.

"People used to think there was no way we can do this," said Dr. Diane Havlir of the University of California, San Francisco, who co-chaired the world's largest AIDS meeting. With both scientific and financial validation, "for the first time we're optimistic that we can."

But new U.S. data show how hard effective treatment is, even in developed countries. Here, most HIV patients have access to treatment, and guidelines say they all should be offered it right after diagnosis. Yet just one in four have their infections under control, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. Young people and blacks fare the worst.

"We now need big thinking" to improve that number, said Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of CDC's AIDS center, who would like to see it at least doubled soon. "We have the tools. Now we have to move them into real-world policy so they touch the lives of those who need them most."

What to look for next?

?More HIV testing, the first step to knowing who needs treatment. In the U.S., nearly 20 percent of people with HIV don't know they're infected. In some countries, less than half do.

"For every $1 we invest in HIV testing, we recoup $2 in societal benefits," CDC's Fenton said.

?Debate over how best to use another new protection, giving at-risk healthy people the daily AIDS medicine Truvada to lower their risk of infection. In the U.S., it will cost $14,000, and worry emerged at the conference about whether people who took the pill would forgo mainstay protections like condoms.

?Specialists called for overcoming stigma that is blocking the HIV prevention message from reaching many of the people most at risk, especially gay and bisexual men.

Consider Malawi, where homosexuality is illegal and so AIDS prevention stresses heterosexual risk factors, said Johns Hopkins University researcher Andrea Wirtz. Her team managed to study 338 gay men in Malawi, and most said they'd never heard that HIV can be spread through anal sex and didn't know how to reduce their risk, she reported Friday.

__A bigger push for women-controlled preventions when their boyfriends or husbands won't use condoms. Activists asked the U.S. government to send more female condoms to hard-hit poor countries, and research is beginning in Africa on a vaginal ring soaked with a potentially HIV-blocking drug.

?More research to try curing HIV, or to at least put it into remission like cancer, although scientists cautioned that if that is possible, it probably will take 10 years.

?More research into a vaccine, following new clues about a rare kind of antibody that might be able to block HIV from infecting cells.

And the U.S., where patent laws mean HIV treatment costs much more than in poor countries, soon may get a price break. Today, a single daily pill that combines three medications is the first-choice treatment, and costs about $15,000 a year. A generic version of one of those medications, efavirenz, is expected soon.

But to take advantage of it, patients would have to switch to three pills a day, as a combination product won't be available. Harvard's Walensky said if everyone taking one pill a day made that switch, the U.S. health system would save $1 billion the first year ? but she warned that people might not stick with three pills a day as well as they do with one.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-07-27-US-MED-AIDS-Conference/id-cf061a49feff4519937bae469b3793e4

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Business Continuity Management | Production Planning Pro ...

Automate your approach to business continuity and disaster recovery planning, and enable effective crisis management in one solution. RSA Archer Business Continuity Management provides a centralized, automated approach to business continuity and disaster recovery planning, allowing you to respond swiftly in crisis situations to protect your ongoing operations. This web-based solution combines business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management into a single management system. With RSA Archer, you can assess the criticality of your business processes and supporting technologies, and then develop detailed business continuity and disaster recovery plans, utilizing automated workflow for plan testing and approval. Additionally, you can manage plan execution and communication in crisis situations to minimize harm to your employees, customers, reputation and business operations.

Source: http://www.productionplanningpro.com/business-continuity-management/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=business-continuity-management

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Boom! Snicker, Snicker: Spy vs. Spy Comes To The iPhone

If you were a gamer from a simpler era, you'll remember Spy Vs. Spy with nostalgia. The game, based on the Mad Magazine comic, featured two spies trying to collect items in an embassy while booby trapping desks, doors, and safes for the other player to trip over. The mechanics are simple. As the black or white spy, you move through the rooms looking for a secret briefcase, a key, a passport, and some traveling money. If you chance upon your opponent you can club him (or her) into submission and you can trap almost every door, drawer, and safe. The new game includes online and local multiplayer as well as new embassies for you to skulk through. You can disarm traps using various tools at your disposal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/GDUxJSB2zN0/

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Pa. Town Chases New Energy Dream After Oil Bails

Marcus Hook, Pa., had been a refinery town for 109 years. But caught in big changes to the world of energy, the plant shut down last winter. Now the community's young mayor wants to reinvent the community as a hub for the natural gas industry.

Copyright ? 2012 National Public Radio. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Now to Pennsylvania, where one town is trying to transform itself after the closure of an oil refinery. Marcus Hook has been the site of a Sunoco refinery for more than a hundred years. But in December, Sunoco announced it would begin shuttering the facility. Now, as we hear from Emma Jacobs of member station WHYY, Marcus Hook is chasing a new energy dream.

EMMA JACOBS, BYLINE: Almost everyone who lived around the refinery can tell you where, and when, they learned the news that the plant would shut down. Frank Changlione was in the Sunoco refinery, where he worked handling crude oil.

FRANK CHANGLIONE: I was shocked. I really was shocked. You know, I mean, I've never felt like that. And, you know, once they said that, all I was looking at was - you know, thinking about my kids, thinking about my wife, thinking about my house.

JACOBS: Mayor James Schiliro also worked and had even fought fires in the plant. He remembers being at his desk early one morning, when he got a courtesy call from Sunoco.

JAMES SCHILIRO: And it was like - I mean, what are we going to do? I mean, this is it. I mean, this refinery is Marcus Hook. If that leaves and nothing comes back, it's a ghost town. It's devastated.

JACOBS: Schiliro says that in the weeks to come, he stopped sleeping. The town he governs is one square mile; the refinery campus covers half of that. On the borough's main drag, there is a laundromat, which used to launder the refinery's chemical suits. It's beside a corner store - where refinery workers bought their lottery tickets - and across from Marcus Hook Hardware, where the owner says contractors for the refinery bought everything from Gatorade to power tools.

Schiliro says warning sirens still wail across town when the last workers inside the refinery, release hazardous chemicals. They're flushing the pipes, to shut the refinery down.

SCHILIRO: I've got them on a time base now. It's like, you know, I wait a couple minutes before I get out of bed; and then if it doesn't shut off, then I get out of bed. (LAUGHTER) But they've got it down to like, three minutes. It's like a pit crew. (LAUGHTER)

JACOBS: But there's also hope the refinery equipment can help Marcus Hook become an energy driven community again; this time, riding the growing natural gas industry in the region. The county commissioned a study on new uses for Sunoco's property, and the news was good.

TOM MCGARRIGLE: Today, we all stand here, and we look ahead at a new era.

JACOBS: At a news conference, Congressman Patrick Meehan applauded news that the report had found seven activities that could all take place on the refinery campus.

MCGARRIGLE: There's a lot of great opportunities for jobs, employment growth and construction, down at this facility.

JACOBS: The politicians presented an optimistic vision of a buzzing campus processing natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, and other shale formations. There are almost 8,000 active wells in Pennsylvania alone. However, it will take time to see what companies Marcus Hook can attract. Fadel Gheit, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co., says repurposing will require big investments.

FADEL GHEIT: The thing is, the money is really critical. It is somebody who's willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, to transform the facility into a viable economic entity.

JACOBS: But it's tough to bank on anything, which is why there are more for-sale signs in front of the brick bungalows in the borough's center. Frank Changlione, the unemployed refinery worker, tried to move away himself. He spent two months in Texas, but then he came back.

CHANGLIONE: This is where I grew up. This is where my family's from. At the time, I thought I was making the right move. And I woke up and said, this isn't what I want. I want to come back home.

JACOBS: The whole community knows things will never be the same as when the refinery ran on oil. But there's a growing sense that Marcus Hook can find a place in the natural gas economy. For NPR News, I'm Emma Jacobs in Philadelphia.

Copyright ? 2012 National Public Radio. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/26/157444006/pa-town-chases-new-energy-dream-after-oil-bails?ft=1&f=1007

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JC Penney plans to simplify pricing

By NBC News and wire services

JC Penney said Thursday it plans to simplify its pricing strategy that it said has confused customers, ending month-long sales of certain items and cutting some everyday prices.

Now the retailer has just two price levels: everyday and clearance.

JC Penney has been trying to overhaul its pricing under new company CEO Ron Johnson. The idea is to move customers away from the coupons and promotions that shoppers have come to expect.

Shares of JC Penney spiked Wednesday after a tweet from Nina Garcia, a fashion director at Marie Claire, who said she was at the company's headquarters and receiving a tour of the company?s retail prototype.

The tweet read:

I?m @jcpenney?s HQ. Thank you Ron Johson for the walk through of JCP?s prototype. Get ready to shop! Its going to be a game changer!?

Jan Kniffen, founder and CEO of J.Rogers Kniffen Worldwide, appeared on CNBC Thursday to discuss the new JCPenney pricing strategy, which the company has put in place just six months after wiping out all sales promotions at their stores.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Click here to check JC Penney?s share price.

Source: http://marketday.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/26/12973355-jc-penney-plans-to-simplify-pricing?lite

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Bangkok receives World's Best City Award 2012 ? Most Things Thai

Special Report: Bangkok receives World?s Best City Award 2012???

BANGKOK: ? Bangkok has for the third time in as many years been named the World?s Best City 2012 by the globally renowned travel magazine Travel & Leisure.

Based on the Travel & Leisure?s annual survey conducted on its readers? opinions regarding the best travel destinations in the world, Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra announced that the the Thai capital of Bangkok was ranked first on the list and was granted the World?s Best Award 2012. This is the third year in a row that Bangkok has received the prestigious award.

Travel & Leisure is one of the most famous travel magazines in the US, boasting at least 30,000 readerships from around the world. Factors taken into account by respondents in the survey included location, scenery, art and culture, food, shopping, hospitality and cost-worthiness.

The Governor traveled to New York to receive the award on behalf of Bangkok on July 19th. According to him, the award is the pride of Bangkokians. He added that, besides beautiful scenery, the capital has its unique features such as lifestyle, culture, tradition and various choices of food.

MR Sukhumbhand further elaborated that the award shows that Thais have been good hosts for foreigners, adding that Thai hospitality, honesty, and friendly gestures with the tourists also help claim the award for the third consecutive year.

He asked all Thais to help preserve the city as a lively place and extend a warm welcome to tourists so that Bangkok will continue to receive the World?s Best City award for years to come.

For other awards, New York City holds on to its title for the 12th year in a row as the Best City in the U.S. and Canada, and ranks No. 7 among top cities overall. Boracay in the Philippines is voted World?s Best Island. Singapore Airlines is the World?s best international airlines.

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Source: http://mostthingsthai.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/bangkok-receives-worlds-best-city-award-2012/

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Online Home Based Business In The Philippines - Work At Home

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Source: http://workathomeandmakemoney.org/online-home-based-business-in-the-philippines/

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UK PM's ex-aide, Murdoch protege face hacking charges

Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA, file

Andy Coulson, one-time communications director for Prime Minister David Cameron and former editor of News of the World, is among those who face charges in the British phone-hacking scandal. He is shown here on May 10.

By NBC News and wire services

Updated at 11:55 a.m. ET: LONDON --?British authorities on Tuesday charged an ex-aide to the British prime minister, a former protege of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and six others in the ever-widening phone-hacking scandal. Prosecutors accused those charged of key roles in a lengthy campaign of illegal espionage that victimized hundreds, including top celebrities Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

The announcement was a major development in a saga that has transfixed and at times horrified Britons and one that shows no signs of ending. A senior police official told The Associated Press earlier this week that her force was investigating more than 100 claims including computer hacking and illegal access to medical records stemming from the scandal.

---

Prosecutors said?Tuesday that Andy Coulson, Cameron's communications director for four years until 2011, and Rebekah Brooks, who oversaw Murdoch's News International, would face charges of conspiracy to intercept communications.

The alleged offenses were committed between 2000 and 2006 when both served as editor of the News of the World, the salacious Sunday tabloid that Murdoch was forced to close a year ago amid public disgust at the phone-hacking revelations.

Among the alleged victims were two former British home secretaries, former England soccer manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Hollywood stars Jolie and Pitt, former Beatle Paul McCartney and a minor member of the royal family, Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

Brooks and Coulson are also both accused of involvement in hacking the telephone of Milly Dowler, a missing teenage girl who was later found murdered in 2002.

Coulson: 'I will fight these allegations'
It was the revelation that News of the World journalists had hacked her phone that triggered a furor that engulfed Murdoch's News International and ultimately led to the closure of the 168-year-old tabloid.

"I am extremely disappointed by the [prosecutors'] decision today. I will fight these allegations when they eventually get to court,? Coulson said in a statement quoted by Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

"I would like to say one thing today about the Milly Dowler allegation. Anyone who knows me, or who worked with me, would know that I wouldn't, and more importantly that I didn't, do anything to damage the Milly Dowler investigation," the statement said.

Brooks sounded a defiant tone.

"I am not guilty of these charges," she said in a statement. "I did not authorize, nor was I aware of, phone hacking under my editorship.

"The charge concerning Milly Dowler is particularly upsetting not only as it is untrue but also because I have spent my journalistic career campaigning for victims of crime. I will vigorously defend these allegations," her statement said.

Others being charged are senior tabloid journalists Stuart Kuttner, Greg Miskiw, Neville Thurlbeck, James Weatherup and Ian Edmondson.

Also being charged is private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, whose extensive notes have been at the center of the scandal since it was first unearthed.

External link: Read the phone charges in full here

The maximum sentence for the phone-hacking charges is two years in prison or a fine -- or both.

'Astonishing development'
The development is particularly embarrassing for Cameron because Coulson was also charged with hacking the phones of David Blunkett and Charles Clarke, two former home secretaries from the now-opposition Labour Party. The home secretary is Britain?s top law enforcement official, roughly akin to an American attorney general.

"That is an astonishing development and I think that is almost inevitably going to rebound on Cameron," Steven Barnett, professor of communications at Westminster University, said. "That is going to pose some very, very awkward questions for the prime minister."

Alison Levitt, Principal Legal Adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, said she had concluded there was sufficient evidence to charge the eight suspects with 19 offenses over the illegal accessing of voicemails on the cellphones belonging to politicians, celebrities and sports figures.

Former UK PM accuses Murdoch of misleading inquiry into phone-hack scandal

News International had for years denied that phone hacking was widespread after the tabloid's former royal reporter and private detective were jailed in 2007 for the crime.

Poor judgment?
Coulson resigned in the aftermath, and took up the role as director of communications of Cameron's Conservative Party, helping to shape his campaign to become prime minister.

Neil Hall / Reuters, file

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, shown leaving London's Southwark Crown Court on June 22, will face charges in the phone-hacking scandal

Critics say Cameron appointed Coulson in order to secure the backing of the journalist's former boss, Murdoch, and say the appointment showed a shocking lack of judgment.

Complete UK news coverage on NBCNews.com

The involvement of Coulson and Brooks -- a close friend of Cameron?s -- turned the long-running hacking story into a national political scandal that has laid bare the collusion between senior politicians, the police and the media.

Brooks, her husband and her personal staff have already been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice over the hacking case, while Coulson has been charged in Scotland with perjury after he denied in an unrelated court case any knowledge of phone hacking.

Brooks, wooed by a string of politicians and prime ministers first in her role as editor of the News of the World and Sun tabloid, and then as the head of Murdoch's British newspaper arm News International, was one of the most powerful women in Britain, instantly recognizable by her long, curly red hair.

She was also close to Cameron, socializing with him over Christmas breaks, and both were embarrassed earlier this year when an inquiry into media ethics read out text messages sent between the two.

Rupert Murdoch not 'a fit person' to run major company, UK lawmakers say

Cameron used to sign his frequent text messages to Brooks with an affectionate "LOL", which he thought stood for "lots of love."

Damaging, but not fatal, to Cameron's political fortunes
Paul Farrelly, an opposition Labour lawmaker who questioned Rupert Murdoch and his son James as part of a parliamentary committee investigation into the hacking, said Tuesday's developments were damaging, but not fatal, for Cameron.

"My view is that what happens to Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks reflects on David Cameron's judgment in both the appointment of Coulson and in being seen to be so close to a certain newspaper empire," he said.

"Because it's been going on so long, it's in no way fatal to his premiership. What is more important to the survival of his premiership and the coalition is the economy," Farrelly added.

NBC News correspondent Duncan Golestani, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News on NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/24/12922171-uk-pms-ex-aide-murdoch-protege-face-charges-in-phone-hacking-scandal?lite

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Apple has rare miss on pre-iPhone lull, global economy

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apple-revenue-misses-wall-street-forecasts-shares-plunge-203658146--finance.html

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Weak passwords mean more security issues | Maildistiller

It has become clear that people are not taking their password strength seriously. Despite the news being full of reports on hacking lately, internet users are still using generic, weak passwords which make them easy targets for identity theft and other cybercrime. This week, 8 million passwords from Gamingo were leaked online but this is only the most recent incident in a long stretch of internet security breaches. Most professional online companies make it clear that the strength of your password increases the security of your information and makes it less likely to be hacked. So why is nobody taking these precautions?

The general public are currently ignorant of the growing need to protect personal information on the internet and this dismissal of online security includes businesses. In a campaign against the threat of cyber-attacks, President Obama wrote in the Wall Street Journal about the need for businesses to take online security seriously, stating that ?many companies have boosted their cyber defences. But many others have not, with some lacking even the most basic protection: a good password.?

The hacking scandal against Yahoo?s phone-to-pc service (Yahoo! Voice) exposed 450,000 passwords were online. The Hackers used this attack to show Yahoo where they needed to improve their security. However it should also be a wake-up call for all internet users about email security. Securing personal information and private emails should be a top priority. The hacking company responsible for the Yahoo breach (D33Ds) released all the information they obtained for the whole World Wide Web to see and for anyone else to use if they wished.

?

The report showed that the vast majority of users chose to use rather simplistic passwords. ?The most popular were 123456, password, welcome, ninja and abc123 which are easily guessable for a professional hacker trying to break into an account. Another issue was that since the victims used these simple passwords for other sites, a variety of other accounts were hacked, such as gmail.com, Hotmail.com and aol.com.

The other major attacks were against LinkedIn and eHarmony in June when 6.5 passwords were exposed from the social network and 1.5 passwords were exposed from the dating site. This caused an abrupt exodus from the site as well as a flurry of passwords being changed across many sites. Of course, the site would claim they have improved security since then but unfortunately hackers could easily strike again.

Sites in the public domain like social media sites and email, which contain more personal information about the user, are more vulnerable to these attacks. That is why it is vital for online security that your password protects you as much as possible. Once again the most common LinkedIn passwords were found to be simple and easily guessed with the most popular being link, 1234, work and God.

?

The key point I would like to make in this blog is this: while these bigger websites are being hacked on a larger scale, there are still hackers working on specific accounts to try either to guess passwords or to execute individual attacks on user accounts. This is happening on a regular basis and from the examples of Yahoo and LinkedIn, it is clear that now is the time for users to pay attention to their online security practices. Here is what any user should do when creating a password for any internet service:

1. ?Think of a password you can memorize and adjust for any account,?e.g. womble
2. Then make it more secure by changing some of the letters to?upper-case?and numbers,?e.g. W0mb1E
3. Remember the more complex a password is, the less likely you will be hacked.
4. Do not use the exact same password for each account. Vary it slightly or change it completely depending on how well you will remember it.
5. For email accounts, a user should regularly check for missing data or strange messages. Do not click on external links without checking their security.
6. ?For social networking accounts, users should avoid communicating with users they do not know or appear to be suspicious. This stops hackers manipulating the information on your account to guess your passwords.?

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?

Source: http://www.maildistiller.com/online-security/weak-passwords-easy-targets-for-hackers/

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JaxPort board supports pay raise for union workers

The Jacksonville Port Authority board on Monday agreed to a pay raise for union-represented workers, boosting their paychecks by 75 cents per hour starting Oct. 1.

The agreement covers 71 positions at JaxPort and equates to an overall 3 percent increase in pay for those workers represented by the Federation of Public Employees.

The change amends an existing three-year contract that will run through Sept. 30, 2013. That contract required both sides to come back for talks about pay levels for the third year of the contract.

The union members still must vote to ratify the contract.

Flag as offensive

Source: http://feeds.jacksonville.com/~r/JacksonvillecomBusiness/~3/C9m5i6unPUk/jaxport-board-supports-pay-raise-union-workers

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Literate, Mature, Realistic RP (Taking Suggestions)

Are you tired of werewolves, vampires, and kids with superpowers?

Are you tired of high schools, boarding schools, and "special academies"?

Are you tired of forced romances, flat characters, and Mary Sues?

Are you tired of poorly thought-out, poorly written combinations of all of the above?

I've been looking for a new, realistic, well-written RP with quality characters and have had little success. I'm really interested in realistic RPs highly focused on character development and interaction, so rather than continue bitching about my dissatisfaction, I decided I'd offer making one myself to other interested, capable parties.

Even aside from the stereotypical "bad high school RP", I've found that many realistic RPs are seriously lacking in diversity of characters and quality of writing. Half of the characters are friendly, cheerful, modest, and shy, easily getting along with everyone (aka boring). The rest are dark and brooding, from broken homes, and scared to fall in love because their past gave them a fear of abandonment or getting too close, (though they will then go on to fall for the first person they meet, because of course love heals all... ._.). There is no plot, just a setting, and the characters are thrown into it and told to make a story and interact. What this becomes is about 15 posts (max) of a love-fest, then a dead RP. There's no character conflict, no plot conflict, just a bunch of really nice characters whose players are too afraid to even think something rude about another, which becomes very, VERY, boring.

I want to create an RP where people have enemies, and there are rude, nasty, and devious characters. I want to create an RP where there are multiple dimensions to a character, a character who may be friends with some people, but not others - not one so generically nice and agreeable that everyone likes her. Characters of different ethnicities, nationalities, social status, ideologies, and ages all mixing together and being forced to interact.

I'm interested in turning this thread into a forum to discuss potential settings/plots with other players looking for this type of RP.

Some guidelines:

~The only setting that is off limits is a high school. I will NOT make a high school RP.

~All characters will be completely normal human beings.

~I'd prefer it take place in modern times, but am open to good ideas regarding other time periods.

~It will not center around violence, war, or require characters to have combat training. Limited violence is an option, such as a fistfight, or even a shooting if things get really exciting, but this CANNOT be the focus of the story.

~All participants must be "advanced"/"literate" writers. I will require writing samples before accepting characters.

~You must be willing to give your character both good and bad qualities. They must be as unique as we are as human beings. And you must stay true to your character! If you write that Suzy is a big bitch, she'd better show it. I expect realistic relationships. Even if you decide to make the sweetest, nicest person in the world, she shouldn't like someone. SOMETHING has to irk her, SOMEONE has to get on her nerves. They're characters, not an imaginary version of you! You don't have to try to please the other players by being super nice! And you don't have to go and create the biggest asshole ever to please me! Normal, diverse characters, please!

So if you're interested, post here. Only if you're really interested and have time to post somewhat frequently, as I'm expecting that posters here will want to join the finished product.

Seriously. I spend a lot of time writing when I create an RP trying to make it look really good. I don't want to go through the amount of trouble I do for people to not join, or create a character and drop before posting.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/b-9CirJ1axg/viewtopic.php

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jeffoeth: Great tune! @wilco & @andrewbird perform ?California Stars? in honor of Woodie Guthrie's 100th birthday: http://t.co/6KfnFu7j

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Source: http://twitter.com/jeffoeth/statuses/227443910677504001

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t8inew: Maisel: What was lost in the rush to judgment?: Mark Emmert and the NCAA chancellors and presidents dealt with a... http://t.co/MVTCQaEr

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

Source: http://twitter.com/t8inew/statuses/227499535562338304

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Oscar-winning screenwriter Frank Pierson dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Cool Hand Luke" has died.

Frank Pierson's family says he died of natural causes Monday in Los Angeles after a short illness. He was 87.

He won an Oscar for writing 1975's "Dog Day Afternoon" and was nominated for his screenplays for "Cool Hand Luke" and "Cat Ballou." He wrote and directed 1976's "A Star is Born."

He most recently worked as a writer and consulting producer on TV's "Mad Men" and "The Good Wife."

Pierson served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which released the news of his death Monday, from 2001 to 2005 and served as governor of its writers branch for 17 years. He is survived by his wife, two children and five grandchildren.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-07-23-Obit-Frank%20Pierson/id-dbad7d2604d14b508a902e2f049e20bc

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Steep hike in customs fees leaves many Cubans fuming

HAVANA (Reuters) - A sharp increase in customs duties has angered many Cubans and cast a shadow over market-oriented reforms on the communist-ruled island advocated by President Raul Castro.

The move, which raises fees many times over in some cases, is expected to ratchet up prices and decrease the availability of imported merchandise. It also threaten to bankrupt some of the tens of thousands of mom-and-pop businesses that have sprung up in recent years.

"After all the good things the Revolution has accomplished, it is a shame that they are now ruining the country and making people's lives miserable," said Carmen, a nurse who boosts her salary of 500 pesos per month by selling linens and towels from Ecuador and Miami.

Maria, who uses her Spanish passport to travel to the United States several times a year to buy goods for resale at her home in Santiago de Cuba, said the measure would make her family's life much more difficult.

?"This always happens. Every time there is an opening for any kind of business they look for a way to close it," she said in a telephone interview.

Since taking over for his ailing brother Fidel in 2008, Raul Castro has pushed for the ?"modernization" of the state-monopolized economy, promoted small business and farming and lifted some onerous restrictions on daily life in the Caribbean nation.

The customs regime beginning in August appears headed in the opposite direction, protecting state-run ?"dollar stores" from a growing flow of merchandise imported informally by small businesses and residents who hawk clothing and other items door to door.

Decrees establishing the duties were quietly published in the Official Gazette this month without explanation. The official media remained largely mum on the new duties until this week.

SHORT-SIGHTED

Economist Juan Triana, during his weekly Thursday spot on Cuba's Radio Taino, termed the measure ?short-sighted.

"For a few months customs revenues may increase, but in the long-term I think they will decrease," he said.

Triana said the new duties would ?drastically reduce the availability of goods and increase prices for a population ?that is already hard-pressed to make ends meet.

The new duties not only increase fees but also stipulate Cubans traveling abroad more than once a year will have to pay them in a local dollar equivalent called the Convertible Peso (CUC), worth 24 times the pesos they earn from the state.

"If you have to pay customs in CUCs you have to sell at a gold standard to make a profit. You are going to see even higher prices now," said Carmen Perez, a woman in her 40s who sells odds and ends like batteries and minor plumbing fixtures, along with clothing, from her front door in a Havana neighborhood.

"This is going to affect us a lot because we are going to have to increase prices, and our clients aren't rich, they are workers," said Joel Hernandez, who sells clothing and other merchandise from his front yard near a state-run shopping center in Havana's Vedado district.

One measure that takes effect next month slaps a 100-percent to 200-percent duty on all new electronic and other big-ticket items valued at more than $50, with the exception of medicines, regardless of whether they are brought in by Cubans, foreign residents or tourists.

Another steep duty applies to ?"miscellaneous" goods shipped in through airports, ports and the mail by Cubans living at home or abroad, for example clothing, food, personal hygiene products, makeup and bedding.

A $4.50-per-pound duty goes into effect in September for all shipments weighing more than about seven pounds (3 kg), compared with the current equivalent of $0.25 per pound charged Cubans and the $2 that non-resident Cubans and foreigners pay.

The measure also applies to excess baggage at the airport.

MIAMI CONNECTION

Cubans, trapped in a state-run system that pays them in pesos and charges for imported goods in CUCs, have for years coordinated with family and friends abroad to bring in relatively small amounts of merchandise for sale on the informal market.

A minimum 240-percent markup at the ?"dollar stores," a lack of diversity, poor quality and peso-priced customs fees drive the "non-state" import trade and a vast network of mainly women who sell clothing and other merchandise door to door.

"If people spontaneously develop a more efficient and diverse import system, the answer is obviously for the state to do a better job and compete, not shut it down," a local economist said, asking that his name not be used.

"They are not taking one step backward. They are taking many steps backward. This is the sort of old thinking the government says it wants to change," he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama's lifting of all restrictions on Cuban-Americans traveling home in 2009, and on what they can bring or send to relatives, has combined with Castro's policies to greatly increase the flow of goods from Miami over the last few years.

"This is not a positive signal," Arturo Lopez-Levy, a Cuba expert at the University of Denver, said. ?"It comes at a moment when what's needed is dialogue and making Cuban-Americans comfortable with participating in the island's economy."

(Additional reporting By Rosa Tanya Valdes; Editing by Tom Brown and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/steep-hike-customs-fees-leaves-many-cubans-fuming-141550527.html

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