Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295603264?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Change Management During Tough Financial Times | Law ...
Conducting Effective Change Management
Poor economic conditions have thrust change management strategies right back into the spotlight. A period of sustained stagnation has followed the global recession that started in 2007, meaning businesses all across the world have been forced into a fight for survival. In this climate, many companies have had to make drastic cuts in order to survive, or completely restructure their organisations and processes to carry on operating.
Managing Personnel Change
The poor financial conditions have meant many companies have had to make the difficult decision to lay off staff members. This strategy presents many challenges, and heavily affects the employees who remain at the organisation. Managers need to be aware that the people who have been let go are likely to be close friends of those who remain, and so there may well be feelings of resentment and anger if the change is not correctly managed. The key to limiting the damage of personnel change is to make it clear that the decisions are absolutely necessary to company survival, and to be open and honest with all employees. Trust is an important ingredient to a successful and functional team, and it?s likely that trust within the organisation will be a major casualty if job losses occur.
Maintaining a Successful Team Using Change Management
Strategies to manage change can be used to bring people together and create a backs to the wall team spirit during these tough times. Fostering close ties between employees during tricky periods will help to keep morale up, and ensure employees continue to try their hardest and remain productive. While it may take time, consistent team building activities will slowly rebuild the trust that is the foundation of any good team. It?s important to consider the full effects any dismissals will have. While cutting staff members may appear to be a good idea initially, employers need to be certain that the remaining employees will be able to cope with the increased workload. Spending money paying employees off, and then having to rack up bills outsourcing work to freelancers, can quickly become just as expensive as keeping the employees on in the first place. It?s easy to panic at the thought of finance problems, but calm, careful management is essential to handle these problems. No decision should be rushed, and effective change management strategies can be used to limit the damage caused when restructuring.
Source: http://www.lawcommons.org/change-management-during-tough-financial-times.html
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
BlackBerry Z10 gets the iFixit teardown treatment
Screws and a little glue -- that's all that stood between an intact BlackBerry Z10 and the curious hands of those iFixit folks. And the results? Well, it's nothing you didn't know already: a motherboard, some Samsung flash memory, a Snapdragon S4 and camera modules. So, if you're the type that needs a little tech carnage to help seal your purchase decision (and, yes, the Z10 is finally on sale in the US), go ahead and click on the source.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Blackberry
Source: iFixit
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/iu6ElOrOC8A/
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Don't chase the money - Chase the passion. - ShoeMoney Internet ...
I get messages from people all the time who want to make money online. ?They read the blog/newsletter, ?see my phat AdSense Check and think I have the magic bullett.
Guess what I DO! ?Prepare yourself for it!
You have passion and expertise about something. ?Share that with people.
Let me give you some examples. ?I will start with myself.
- In 2003, while working a full time job and also reselling computers online, ?I discovered a way to format ringtones and wallpapers for my Nextel phone. ?I loved doing it. ?It was a fun hobby. ?Long story short ? I ?took that knowledge and created a website that others could upload ringtones to. ?By 2005 the site was getting a ton of traffic. ?I got a call from Google that suggested I put AdSense code on the site. ?Overnight that site turned into a multimillion dollar website that I sold in 2010.
- In 2007, ?after having success with contextual advertising and affiliate marketing I thought it would be fun to create AdSense looking ads that got high clickthroughs but instead of going through Google I would bypass them and use my affiliate link. ?Then I thought it would be fun to allow others to use this. ?Then one day at a conference a person from eBay said eBay affiliates were doing really well with my ShoeMoney Ads ad network and suggested I build it just around eBay. ?I created AuctionAds that did exactly that. ?I created this with a part time developer and within 4 months it was generating over 2 million a month and I sold the company literally 4 months to the day that it launched. ?Again this was a fun project that was almost like a hobby.
- In 2003 I started a blog for fun sharing my life. ?Not a ?how to make money? blog but just shit I was doing. ?It evolved into what you are reading now. ?And its made millions of dollars.
- In 2010 I shared my knowledge and experience on how I learned to make money online via a product called the ShoeMoney System. ?It?s sold over 2 million dollars worth to date and still continues to sell.
- In 2011 for fun I created a website called freeseoreport.com. ?It was a free site where people could run a report on their site and a keyword they were trying to rank for then showed them what they were doing vs the top 10 people in every country and ever search engine. ?This was something I found of value myself in trying to figure out backlinks and onpage stuff that I was missing out on. ?I made money on the ?backend? by sending people value added emails educating them on a variety of subjects related to seo with affiliate links. ?There was also a viral component where for each person you?referred?to the website you got another free report. ?The site was getting about 600 new people a day running about 3,000 reports per day. ? The site was purchased 7 months later by an SEO firm.
- Many years ago, ?really before I was well known, ?3 other marketers and myself started a high dollar conference called the elite retreat. ?Its 8k per person and limited to 30 people. ? We will be having our 10th event this fall.
- In 2012 I created an automated email marketing system called the PAR Program. ?This is my total focus now. ?I stumbled into this because I took what I loved about email marketing and all the money we had made from it, ?did it for a large company and after seeing the results started offering it as a service. ?I have done ZERO marketing (I am bogged down with sales) and the company is growing like a rocket.
Ive done other stuff but those are the key ones. ?I have also had failures. ?Not because they were bad ideas but I just did not have the resources time wise to devote to making them work. ?All of them were fun projects but more importantly great experiences.
Lets look at others:
- A friend of mine who is also passionate and educated about mixed martial arts started a site called ufcjunkie.wordpress.com (now mmajunkie.com due to trademark). ?He started the site as a hobby just putting his thoughts about the world of mixed martial arts online. ?He started the site on a wordpress free hosted platform. ?Within 5 years the site sold to USA TODAY for 8 figures.
- 2 kids from hawaii, who were passionate about cats, thought it would be funny to post a picture of a cat captioning it with what they think the cat would say in ?cat language?. ?They uploaded a picture regularly and people found them funny. ?Again this was on a free wordpress hosted blog. ?The site was called icanhazcheeseburger.wordpress.com. ?The fun site got massive traction so they allowed others to upload their funny cat photos. ?Then one day they stumbled on to a blog called ShoeMoney.com, ?saw some guy holding a 134k AdSense check and put the code on their site. ?It made a ton and they sold the site for millions.
- A long time ago a kid who grew up with his parents owning a wine selling business decided to start blogging about wine. ? People started stumbling on to the site who were also interested in wine. ?Then he started recording himself and the video?s started to become very viral. ?So much so that he got invites to appear on Conan Obrien and Ellen. ?He is now a multimillionaire with a #1 best selling book bringing in residual income. ?His site is?winelibrary.com and his name is?Gary Vaynerchuk.
- A?Chinese?immigrant with very broken english started a blog because he was interested in making money online. ?Then he decided to show how much he was making online monthly. ?Started with very little. ?Then the blog started getting traction. ?He did this all while having a computer business. ?But he kept on sharing how he was making money online from his blog and exactly how much he was making. ?People loved it and he started getting a following. ?The site literally is called ?I make money by telling people I make money online?. ?Thats it! ? And now his site literally is nothing but promoting affiliate products or doing paid reviews of people?s ?how to make money? products. ?It worked out for him? ?He now makes a high six figure income basically doing nothing?. ?He has someone doing his posts for him as he travels around the world making more money month after month. ?He recently released a product keeping the same theme of being transparent and walking you through how to make money with a blog. ?He crushed it. ?- ?John Chow of johnchow.com
- A former collegate pitcher decided to make a website offering a product to teach people how to gain more MPH on their fast ball offered a dvd set doing just that. ?He now has a thriving business at topvelocity.net
- A guy started a blog making fun of celebrities for fun. ?Years later it evolved into perezhilton.com
See a trend here?
Lets get back to the original question? ? ?I want to make money online. ?Where do I start? ?
I don?t know ANY successful internet millionaire who did not stumble onto their internet success. ?None of them had visions of being a internet millionaire. ?They had passions, interest, and education about a subject and?pursued?it. ?That is the key. ? None of them had to quit their day jobs. ?They all started because it was a hobby. ?It was fun?
The one thing I have learned is when someone starts something that they consider ?work? they will give up quickly.
- I have handed over websites to people that were generating hundreds of dollars a month for them to take and run with. ?Guess what? ?They didn?t do anything they just sucked up the revenue and let it die.
- I have given PPC keywords to people that I was making a lot of money with promoting affiliate offers. ?Guess what? ?They ran it until they died then came to me for more keywords. ?The didn?t research or even care how it was making money.
?But honestly thats just the top of the ice berg. ?
For everyone who is making money on line there is millions of people who ?want to?. ?Out of those very few will take action. ?There is no doubt anyone can do it and the best part about it is you can do it from anywhere in the world no matter what level of education or experience.
This?opportunity?will not be around forever. ?Mostly because big brands are just now starting to see the value of some of the marketing techniques and dumping in tons of money where guys like us just can?t compete. ?Fortunately they move at a snails pace and for now guys sitting at home can do much more cutting edge techniques that big businesses can?t keep up.
I got a little off topic but my point is that if you really want to make money online it costs you no money at all to take action right now. ?And I mean RIGHT NOW.
Chase the passion not the money.
?
?
-
Should I sell my website?
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I used to be FAT until I had A Duodenal Switch
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Why Nobody Buys Your Product or Service
Source: http://www.shoemoney.com/2013/03/25/dont-chase-the-money-chase-the-passion
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How Clouds Work: The Most Complicated Problem in Climate Change
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Falcons 'rapidly evolved hunter skill'
25 March 2013
Last updated at 03:40
Falcons rapidly evolved their renowned hunting skills, a study has found.
Scientists from Cardiff University have sequenced the genome of peregrine and saker falcons for the first time.
Research revealed that compared with other species, these birds of prey have been subjected to fierce competition and pressures, leading them to adapt quickly in order to survive.
Investigation of the genes responsible for the birds' unique beaks highlighted this rapid development.
The name falcon comes from the Latin word falco, meaning hook shaped and refers to the birds' strongly curved beaks.
"We have been able to determine that specific genes, regulating beak development, have had to evolve to withstand the pressure of impacting their prey at a speed of up to 300 kilometres an hour," explained Professor Mike Bruford, who authored the paper published in the journal Nature Genetics.
"The shape of the falcon beak has also had had to evolve to be capable of tearing at the flesh of its prey."
The hunting skills of falcons are well known, with the peregrine falcon often referred to as the fastest animal on Earth due to the impressive speeds at which it plummets through the air to catch prey.
Researchers worked with experts at the Beijing Genomics Institute in China to obtain the genome sequences of the birds.
They discovered the "revelatory" evidence of the falcons' evolutionary history when comparing their genomes with those of other birds that have had their genomes sequenced: chickens, turkeys and zebra finches.
Through DNA sequencing, they were able to identify the genes behind the birds' exemplary predatory adaptations.
These adaptations include hard skulls to allow the birds to survive collisions with their prey and highly efficient circulatory and respiratory systems to cope with the extreme air pressure encountered during their high-speed dives.
Tracking when and how these genes developed, the scientists identified that the process was very rapid and theorised that this was due to intense competitive pressures experienced by the birds as they sought prey.
"Evolution seems to be pushing the genome sequence in an unusual direction," said Prof Bruford.
"If we had found this just in the peregrine, that would have been interesting, but we also sequenced the saker falcon and it shows the same pattern, leaving us with the most likely explanation that it is their predatory lifestyle [that is responsible]."
Saker falcons are found across Central Asia and the research team were able to understand more about how they developed to live in arid environments.
The birds are listed as endangered in the wild and conservationists from International Wildlife Consultants, Carmarthen, who co-funded the project hope an improved understanding of their history will help safeguard the species for the future.
Join BBC Nature on Facebook and Twitter @BBCNature.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21885659
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Monday, March 25, 2013
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini May Be Available In Four Versions Earlier we saw a leake...
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini May Be Available In Four Versions
Earlier we saw a leaked photo which is reported to be of the new Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, and now it would appear that the device may come in four different versions, according to some details ?
Source: http://www.facebook.com/GeekyGadgets/posts/10151377869435967
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Friday, March 22, 2013
Cops: Fake pilot arrested on US Airways flight after struggling with jump seat
By Lauren DiSanto, NBC10.com
A man caught impersonating a pilot was arrested after he boarded a plane scheduled to fly from Philadelphia International Airport to West Palm Beach, Fla, authorities said.
Philippe Jernnard, 61, of France, boarded the U.S. Airways flight Wednesday night, according to the FBI.
NBC10's Rosemary Connors talked with airport police Capt. Michael Murphy who says that Jernnard was wearing an Air France shirt, had an Air France bag and presented a ticket to the gate agent and walked onto the plane.
The gate agent told authorities that Jernnard had asked if there was any room in first class and was told "no."
According to the arrest report, Jernnard became irate after being told "no"?and told her that he hated Americans and began to argue with her.
When the gate agent finished boarding the flight and went to close the plane's doors for takeoff, the arrest report states that she saw Jernnard sitting in the jump seat behind the captain's seat and his carry-on bag was stowed in the cockpit.
?She just assumes he takes his seat in coach and when she goes in to inform co-captain of the number of passengers on the flight that?s when she kind of recognizes he?s out of place,? said Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker.
According to the arrest report, the agent told Jernnard that he couldn't sit there unless he filled out paperwork and the captain told him to return to his assigned seat.
Read more from NBC10.com
Police say Jernnard started arguing and that's when they notified authorities.
The captain and first officer told authorities the man told them he was a pilot with Air France and knew how to fly 747s, but they became suspicious when he couldn't figure out how to open the jump seat.
After Jernnard was taken off the plane, police found an Air France ID card that had been changed to match his name.
Jernnard was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, tampering with records, impersonating a person privately employed and false ID to law enforcement. He will be charged federally?Friday morning.
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GWH News and Notes: Chattanooga Wrestler Arrested for Statutory ...
From Larry Goodman:
An individual working for Empire Pro Wrestling in Rossville, GA under the name JC Kent has been charged with exploitation of a minor through electronic means and providing obscene material to a minor. To read the Kendi Anderson's story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press click?here.EPW responded with the following Facebook post:
"In the last 48 hours Empire Wrestling Entertainment has been rocked by scandal. JC Kent is no longer a part of Empire Wrestling. Empire Wrestling is and always will be family entertainment. We promote an environment where families can feel safe, and enjoy a great show aimed towards all ages. Although this is a dark day in Empire?s existence, it will by no means be our defining moment. Thank you to all who have supported us."
Source: http://www.gwhnews.com/2013/03/chattanooga-wrestler-arrested-for.html
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U.S. rethinking lowest-priced contract rule for guarding embassies
By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers are reconsidering a 1990 law that makes the State Department accept the lowest bids for contracts to provide private security at most U.S. diplomatic posts, a requirement that can lead to the hiring of thousands of guards based on how cheap they are rather than their quality.
Concerns about the policy, which was aimed at cutting costs, were heightened by the assault on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, last September, in which U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed. None of the local guards was outside the lightly defended complex when it was overrun by militants, according to the results of a U.S. government inquiry.
Fifteen months earlier, at the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in Pakistan - a walled compound within a gated diplomatic enclave - dozens of local guards refused to work for three days. The strike over pay and benefits potentially put security at risk, the U.S. State Department inspector general's office said in an audit in February 2012.
A government spending bill, which passed Congress this week, gives the State Department the flexibility to hire local guards for Afghanistan, Pakistan "and other hostile or high-risk areas" on a best-value basis, allowing for the appropriate trade-offs between cost and quality, a Senate aide said, although the provisions are due to expire at the end of September.
Senators Robert Menendez and Bob Corker, the leading Democrat and Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, are also discussing whether to propose permanent changes to the way local guards are hired as part of embassy security legislation in the coming months, aides to both men said.
Many people think of the Marines, the sentinels at the front doors of many U.S. embassies, as the buildings' protectors. But they are there mainly to safeguard classified documents. There were no Marines at the Benghazi mission, a temporary facility.
It is the host country - and when it cannot or will not, the locally hired guards - that the U.S. government typically relies on to help keep its diplomats and buildings safe.
'POORLY PAID AND MOTIVATED'
One of the last things former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Congress to do before she left office on February 1 was to change the law requiring that most local guard contracts be awarded on a "lowest price technically acceptable" basis.
The money-saving requirement applies in "dangerous places like Libya," she said.
"We have requested a change in the legislation that would allow us to use some discretion to try to deal with the varieties and vagaries of these local guard forces," she told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January.
Corker heard complaints about the lowest-price rule from U.S. embassies during a recent trip to several African countries. He visited war-torn Mali, as well as Senegal, Algeria and Tunisia, all of which are confronted with the spread of weapons from Libya after Muammar Gaddafi's overthrow.
The lowest-priced bid requirement encourages companies to snatch a contract from a competitor by lowering the embassy guards' pay, Corker said. "You're just cutting wages of people who actually have performed well and been on the front lines," he said.
The State Department inspector general's office says that changing the law would probably end up costing more - a tough sell in the current atmosphere of fiscal tightening. There are about 30,000 local guards protecting roughly 285 U.S. diplomatic facilities worldwide, the State Department says.
During the past several years, about $500 million has been spent annually on the guards. That does not include Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been budgeted separately.
In December, a State Department-ordered inquiry into the Benghazi attack cited numerous failures, including serious leadership deficiencies at the department that led to insufficient security.
But it also labeled as "inadequate" the responses of the local guards, who worked for a British company called Blue Mountain Group. None was keeping watch outside before the attack, and it was unclear whether they sounded any alarms, the review said.
Since the Benghazi attacks, the company has repeatedly declined to comment in response to Reuters' inquiries.
The lowest-priced rule for local guard contracts "often results in poorly paid and motivated guards," Michael Raynor, former executive director of the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, wrote last year.
"Paying guards less than living wages" not only has security costs, Raynor wrote to the State Department inspector general, but also "undercuts our Missions' broader engagement in championing human rights."
"What it allowed was cheap guarding ... from the local population, or inexpensive Third World guarding from elsewhere," said Charles Tiefer, law professor at the University of Baltimore and member of the U.S. Commission on Wartime Contracting, which examined spending in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last year's audit by the inspector general's office related one particularly large problem at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa. The embassy had to issue 60 "deficiency notices" to its local guard contractor for performance problems.
Over two-thirds of 86 U.S. diplomatic posts surveyed reported some problems with guard forces, such as absenteeism and turnover, the audit said.
UNAPPROVED GUARDS POSED SECURITY RISK
The June 2011 guard strike in Islamabad, Pakistan, posed a security risk because although the contractor replaced the strikers, it did so with unapproved guards who had not undergone required background checks, another audit from the State Department inspector general's office said last year.
The strikers had been hired under a 2007 contract awarded to G4S Secure Solutions International Inc on a lowest-price basis. The protest ended when the contractor agreed to increase the guards' pay, the audit said.
Their salaries were not revealed in the unclassified version of the report. A spokeswoman for the company, a subsidiary of the British-based G4S security services firm, declined comment.
Cameron Munter, who was ambassador to Pakistan during the 2011 guard strike, said, "The obvious end result that any ambassador wants is a motivated guard force that can be depended on in a crisis to do the things it's been trained to do."
But Munter also warned that changing contracting rules was not a panacea for safety.
"If all we learn from Chris Stevens' death is that we have to spend money differently, we haven't addressed the real issue - which is, we need to be informed and we have to think hard about how we are best informed, in order to protect ourselves. This is a question of smart security," Munter said.
(Editing by Warren Strobel and Peter Cooney)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-rethinking-lowest-priced-contract-rule-guarding-embassies-050851973.html
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The Daily Roundup for 03.20.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/kmsjosXQ-zc/
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Google Maps' New Mountain Summit Street View Lets You Peek Off the Peaks You'll Never Climb
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Ryan Seacrest & Julianne Hough Split!
Ryan & Julianne have called it quits! See more celeb pairs who are back to going solo.
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IMF delegation resumes talks with Egypt over loan
An Egyptian bread vendor rides his bicycle in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Owners of state-subsidized bakeries protested Saturday against changes to the distribution system of subsidized wheat. It comes amid economic reforms the government is seeking to implement to boost the economy and ensure subsidized bread reaches millions of poor Egyptians who complain that the bakeries sell the wheat for a profit. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An Egyptian bread vendor rides his bicycle in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Owners of state-subsidized bakeries protested Saturday against changes to the distribution system of subsidized wheat. It comes amid economic reforms the government is seeking to implement to boost the economy and ensure subsidized bread reaches millions of poor Egyptians who complain that the bakeries sell the wheat for a profit. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An Egyptian street vendor reads a newspaper while waiting for customers, one of many doing business in an informal economy at a time of high inflation and underemployment, in downtown Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Egypt's multibillion dollar loan request form the International Monetary Fund is considered crucial to freeing up other loans and reassuring foreign investors who abruptly pulled their money out of the country when longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in early 2011. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
CAIRO (AP) ? A top International Monetary Fund official has begun several more weeks of talks with Egyptian officials over the country's economic reform program to secure a $4.8 billion loan.
In an IMF statement, top official Masood Ahmed said he welcomes Egyptian determination to move forward with their economic reform program.
The IMF has in the past pushed for reforms in taxation and subsidies before granting loans. Egypt sees the loan as a lifeline to boost critically low foreign reserves and lure back foreign investors.
Ahmed met with officials Sunday in Cairo, including Egypt's prime minister and the central bank governor.
Talks were delayed in December when violent protests erupted and the president was forced to rescind austerity plans. Investors and activists demanded a national dialogue on the changes first.
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Monday, March 18, 2013
Jews in Greece mark WWII Nazi deportation
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) ? Jewish residents of this northern Greek city on Saturday marked the 70th anniversary of the roundup and deportation of its Jews to Nazi extermination camps during World War II.
Several hundred people gathered at Thessaloniki's Freedom Square, where the first group of Jews was rounded up by the occupying German forces on March 15, 1943.
The crowd held a moment of silence, then marched to the city's old railway station, where the first trains departed for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex. A short ceremony was held at the station and flowers laid on the tracks.
Speakers included the city's mayor, Yannis Boutaris, and Holocaust survivors.
"The commemoration is an honor for the city of Thessaloniki. But some people look upon this era nostalgically and are bringing back the old Nazi symbols," said David Saltiel, leader of the city's Jewish community. He was referring to the emergence of the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn, a party with neo-Nazi roots that swept into Parliament for the first time in June on an anti-immigrant platform.
On March 15, 1943, 2,800 Jews departed for the concentration camp.
"We were packed 80 to each train wagon ... When we arrived, they sent a number straight to the crematoriums and kept some of us for work. We were beaten often by the guards," recalled Holocaust survivor Moshe Haelion.
Another survivor of the camps, Zana Santicario-Saatsoglou, described how for many years she was unable to tell her story. "My children used to ask me what that number on my arm was," she said, referring to the identification number tattooed on Auschwitz-Birkenau prisoners. "I told them it was my old phone number in Thessaloniki."
By August 1943, 46,091 Jews had been deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Of those, 1,950 survived. Fewer than 5,000 of the 80,000 Jews living in Greece survived. The majority, after returning from the camps, emigrated to Israel.
Today, the Jewish community in Thessaloniki, which until the early 20th century formed a slight majority of the city's inhabitants, numbers fewer than 1,000.
The Jews of Thessaloniki were mostly Sephardic ones, who immigrated to the city, then part of the Ottoman Empire, after 1492 to escape persecution in Spain.
___
Associated Press writer Demetris Nellas contributed from Athens, Greece.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jews-greece-mark-wwii-nazi-deportation-223745848.html
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Sunday, March 17, 2013
How Pope Francis Got a Little Help from a Friend When Deciding His New Name
Pope Francis held his first audience with reporters Saturday morning since surprising everyone Wednesday as the choice to succeed departing Benedict as new Pope. He seemed to dazzle reporters with his humility and humor. Oh, one other thing: he really wants the church to go broke.?
RELATED: How a Broken Heart Led a Young Man to Become the Pope
For the very first time, the man formerly known Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires, confirmed that St. Francis of Assisi was the inspiration for his name. "I thought of wars .... and Francis (of Assisi) is the man of peace, and that is how the name entered my heart, Francis of Assisi, for me he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects others," he told reporters this morning.?
RELATED: Pope Francis Can't Escape Argentina's Dark Past
But it was Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes who really inspired the name. As the papel voting was concluding and it was clear Bergoglio was the winner, Hummes hugged and kissed?Bergoglio and "don't forget about the poor," in his ear.?"That word entered here," Francis said, pointing to his brain. He immediately thought of Francis of Assisi, who Pope Francis described as "the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man," and decided that's how he would be named.?
RELATED: Meet Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis
"Poor" was the word on everyone's tongues after the Pope gave his remarks. Francis laid out an austere outlook for the church's future Saturday morning. At one point, immediately after he told the story of coming up with the Francis name, he openly rooted for the church to go broke again. "Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor," he said. He received praise from many journalists for his simple, direct remarks -- and for showing a sense of humor.?
RELATED: After Catholicism Reached South America, It Took 520 Years for a South American to Reach the Papacy
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-francis-got-little-help-friend-deciding-name-181508142.html
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China installs Cabinet of party vets, technocrats
BEIJING (AP) ? China's new leaders have installed a Cabinet of veteran politicians and technocrats with international experience to overhaul its slowing economy and pursue a high-profile global role.
The country's ceremonial legislature on Saturday confirmed the appointments of new ministers of finance, commerce and foreign affairs. The central bank governor was reappointed in a possible move to reassure financial markets about stability of monetary policy under Communist Party leaders who took power in November.
The new economic team takes office as Beijing is trying to sustain an economic rebound while shifting the basis of growth from exports and investment to domestic consumption and technology.
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Saturday, March 16, 2013
Inspired by deep sea sponges: Creating flexible minerals
Mar. 15, 2013 ? Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Germany have created a new synthetic hybrid material with a mineral content of almost 90 percent, yet extremely flexible. They imitated the structural elements found in most sea sponges and recreated the sponge spicules using the natural mineral calcium carbonate and a protein of the sponge. Natural minerals are usually very hard and prickly, as fragile as porcelain.
Amazingly, the synthetic spicules are superior to their natural counterparts in terms of flexibility, exhibiting a rubber-like flexibility. The synthetic spicules can, for example, easily be U-shaped without breaking or showing any signs of fracture This highly unusual characteristic, described by the German researchers in the current issue of Science, is mainly due to the part of organic substances in the new hybrid material. It is about ten times as much as in natural spicules.
Spicules are structural elements found in most sea sponges. They provide structural support and deter predators. They are very hard, prickly, and even quite difficult to cut with a knife. The spicules of sponges thus offer a perfect example of a lightweight, tough, and impenetrable defense system, which may inspire engineers to create body armors of the future.
The researchers led by Wolfgang Tremel, Professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Hans-J?rgen Butt, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, used these natural sponge spicules as a model to cultivate them in the lab. The synthetic spicules were made from calcite (CaCO3) and silicatein-?. The latter is a protein from siliceous sponges that, in nature, catalyzes the formation of silica, which forms the natural silica spicules of sponges. Silicatein-? was used in the lab setting to control the self-organization of the calcite spicules. The synthetic material was self-assembled from an amorphous calcium carbonate intermediate and silicatein and subsequently aged to the final crystalline material. After six months, the synthetic spicules consisted of calcite nanocrystals aligned in a brick wall fashion with the protein embedded like cement in the boundaries between the calcite nanocrystals. The spicules were of 10 to 300 micrometers in length with a diameter of 5 to 10 micrometers.
As the scientists, among them chemists, polymer researchers, and the molecular biologist Professor Werner E. G. M?ller from the Mainz University Medical Center, also write in their Science publication, the synthetic spicules have yet another special characteristic, i.e., they are able to transmit light waves even when they are bent.
Related link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNleh50Ug_k
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit?t Mainz.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- F. Natalio, T. P. Corrales, M. Panthofer, D. Schollmeyer, I. Lieberwirth, W. E. G. Muller, M. Kappl, H.-J. Butt, W. Tremel. Flexible Minerals: Self-Assembled Calcite Spicules with Extreme Bending Strength. Science, 2013; 339 (6125): 1298 DOI: 10.1126/science.1216260
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/WXBtktH-6W8/130315074513.htm
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Lil' Wayne hospitalised in 'unstable' condition | Stuff.co.nz
GETTY
HEALTH TROUBLES: Rapper Lil' Wayne is back in hospital, it has been reported.
Lil' Wayne is in the hospital again in critical condition, it has been reported.
The rapper was allegedly taken to Cedars-Sinai hospital where he spent several hours being treated for seizures.
TMZ reports Lil' Wayne was found unconscious in his room by one of his bodyguards just hours after his release.
Apparently he was rushed back to the same Los Angeles medical centre, but this time the star did not come to his senses.
It is said that Lil' Wayne is "unstable" in an induced coma at the Intensive Care Unit.
Sources tell the website the musician's body has been tied down with restraints because he is "shaking uncontrollably".
The scene has been described as "violent".
Witnesses reveal that a number of loved ones are crying around his hospital bed and peers from the music industry as well as other family are rushing to get to the facility to be by his side.
It is thought Lil' Wayne went on a "Sizzurp binge". The concoction also known as Purple Drank includes prescription strength cough syrup containing codeine as its primary ingredient.
Lil' Wayne is rumoured to have gotten his stomach pumped three times to expunge his system of the opiate.
Wayne, real name Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, suffered two seizures during a flight last October.
He later revealed he was prescribed medication by his doctor to treat the condition.
"I don't want y'all to think I'm on nothing, man. I'm on seizure medicine, that's all," he told MTV in November.
The star didn't make a big deal about the seizures at the time, with his camp quick to put the spell down to dehydration.
However, Lil' Wayne explained that doctors advised him to follow a new health regimen as a result of the episode.
But while he was following the rules by taking the prevention medicines prescribed, the controversial hip-hop star wasn't too keen on sticking to the rest of the physicians' advice.
"They said I gotta drink four water bottles a day, that's what the doctors say," Wayne continued almost in disbelief. "I just came from the doctor. I ain't drinking four water bottles, but everything's good."
- Cover Media
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/8435056/Lil-Wayne-in-unstable-condition
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Simple Ideas That Can Acquire Health and fitness To An Alternative ...
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Source: http://lobikhan.blogspot.com/2013/03/simple-ideas-that-can-acquire-health.html
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Hillary-Michelle in 2016: Awesome or awful?
'Hillary?Michelle in 2016' is the buzz on the Interwebs and TwitBook at the moment. Here's why such a hypothetical ticket would be awesome ? and maybe not.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama attend the 2012 International Women of Courage Awards, on the 101st Anniversary of International Women's Day one year ago, at the State Department in Washington. 'Hillary?Michelle in 2016' is buzzing on the internet at the moment. Awesome or awful?
Charles Dharapak/AP/File
EnlargeHillary?Michelle in 2016? That?s the buzz on the Interwebs and TwitBook at the moment. There?s no substance behind the speculation, meaning no one in any position to know actually thinks either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Michelle Obama is considering teaming up on a presidential ticket.
Skip to next paragraph Peter GrierWashington Editor
Peter Grier is The Christian Science Monitor's Washington editor. In this capacity, he helps direct coverage for the paper on most news events in the nation's capital.
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But hey, the next election is still a long way off, and mulling over a first ladies ticket is every bit as serious as predicting New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie?s intentions.
At least for now.
So here?s why Hillary-Michelle would be awesome:
Rise of the matriarchs. Will women soon rule the United States, metaphorically speaking? Given that they were a 53 percent majority of voters in the 2012 election, according to exit polls, that seems at least possible. They are also a majority of US college students and are earning more university degrees than males.
Television comedy, our most sensitive of cultural indicators, increasingly depicts men as the clueless foils of intelligent females. In that sense, a Hillary-Michelle ticket would simply symbolize the change occurring at other levels in America. Hey, ?Change!? Wouldn?t that be a great political slogan?
Center, meet left. While a Hillary-Michelle ticket would be unbalanced in terms of gender, it would be a better mix of Democratic Party factions than the current White House occupants. Mrs. Clinton represents the more centrist, business-friendly Democratic Leadership Council part of the party. Mrs. Obama presumably would align with her husband?s somewhat more liberal wing.
That?s why dreamers wanted to dump Joe Biden and put Hillary on the 2012 ticket. They thought that lineup would have broader appeal.
White House husbands, the sitcom. A first and second husband, both of whom used to be president? Both of whom have daughters but no sons? Both of whom won two terms? That is a comedy premise that just smacks you upside the head with its sheer-genius watchability. And it wouldn?t be a comedy; it would be real life!
Imagine the episodic possibilities: Bill and Barack disrupt the first cabinet meeting with their weekly poker game; Bill and Barack grill burgers in the Rose Garden and ?accidentally? set the Oval Office on fire; Bill and Barack sneak out of the house and travel to North Korea with Dennis Rodman!
Any agents out there, we could script 10 shows of this in an hour, and we work cheap.
Now it?s time for equal time. Is it possible a Hillary-Michelle ticket would be awful? We can think of some ways.
The patriarchy?s revenge. It?s true that females ever so slightly make up a majority of US voters. But if males united against a perceived threat to their gender power, that could be a boost to the GOP. It?s possible Republicans could overcome the fact that the GOP lags in attracting minority voters.
There?s already a reverse gender gap, with more men voting Republican than Democratic. Exacerbate that, and the Democrats might lose their nascent demographic advantage in presidential races.
Game of Oval Office thrones. No, we?re not suggesting any actual swordplay might occur in a Hillary-Michelle White House. But given that the ticket would unite two powerful Democratic clans that have clashed in the past, it?s possible that the infighting might get intense if they were actually elected.
Mrs. Obama might feel her experience fits her for something other than a VP?s traditional water carrying. Mrs. Clinton might feel otherwise, sending Bill to inform the veep of her impending inspection tour of Iceland. Yikes.
Why bother? You know, both Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Obama have already had pretty important roles to play. Secretary of State is maybe the second-most interesting job in America, after that of the presidency, and it draws much less scrutiny and has much more freedom of action. As first lady, Mrs. Obama has a better job than VP, let?s face it. She?s got more power to shape the nation with her example, and she gets to sleep in the White House, not the VP?s mansion out on Observatory Circle in Northwest D.C.
Though Observatory Circle is a lot closer to Sasha and Malia?s school.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/v-t3EVkenXM/Hillary-Michelle-in-2016-Awesome-or-awful
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Friday, March 15, 2013
The Tale of Whitey Bulger
Boston Globe journalists Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy discuss their new book about James ?Whitey? Bulger, the notorious Irish-American gangster who was captured in 2011 after 16 years on the run. Cullen and Murphy have covered, and occasionally run up against, Bulger for decades?Cullen in fact first reported that Bulger was an FBI informant, ratting out his rivals in the Italian Mafia. Listen to their amazing stories of Whitey Bulger?s rise, mysterious disappearance, and recent fall.
?Live at Politics & Prose? is a new show from Slate Radio that features some of today?s best writers reading from their new work and answering audience questions at Washington, D.C.?s famous bookstore. You can subscribe for free through iTunes or with our RSS Feed to catch all upcoming episodes.
You can even scan this QR code on your iPhone and subscribe to the podcast right away:
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Friday, March 8, 2013
Mom's sensitivity helps language development in children with hearing loss
Mar. 8, 2013 ? University of Miami (UM) Psychologist Alexandra L. Quittner leads one of the largest, most nationally representative studies of the effects of parenting on very young, deaf children who have received cochlear implants. The findings indicate that mothers who are most sensitive in their interactions with their children receiving cochlear implants have kids that develop language faster, almost "catching up" to their hearing peers.
The report is published in the Journal of Pediatrics.
"I was surprised that maternal sensitivity had such strong and consistent effects on oral language learning," says Quittner, director, Child Division in the Department of Psychology, at the UM College of Arts and Sciences. "The findings indicate that pediatric cochlear implant programs should offer parent training that facilitates a more positive parent-child relationship and fosters the child's development of autonomy and positive regard."
The goal of the study was to understand the role of parental behavior in language growth for deaf children. Maternal sensitivity was measured in videotaped interactions with the child and defined by warmth, as the degree to which a mother expressed positive regard and emotional support of the child.
Participants were 188 children with severe to profound loss of hearing, ages from five months to five years. In addition to analyzing the effects of maternal sensitivity, on language development, the study also looks at the impact of cognitive and language stimulation. Parent-child interactions observed and coded included free play, puzzle solving, and an art gallery task with five posters mounted at different heights on the walls of the playroom.
The largest improvements in language development were observed in children whose parents displayed high sensitivity; Language stimulation was also an important predictor of language gains, but was most effective when delivered in a sensitive manner. Deaf children with sensitive parents had only a 1 year delay in oral language compared to. 2.5 years among those with less sensitive parents.
This cohort of deaf and hearing children has now been followed for approximately 8 years post-implantation; NIH has just funded the competitive renewal, allowing the researchers to follow them for another 5 years, into adolescence. The aims will focus on their cognitive and social development, as well as their academic achievement.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Miami, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Alexandra L. Quittner, Ivette Cruz, David H. Barker, Emily Tobey, Laurie S. Eisenberg, John K. Niparko. Effects of Maternal Sensitivity and Cognitive and Linguistic Stimulation on?Cochlear Implant Users' Language Development over Four Years. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2013; 162 (2): 343 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.08.003
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/LJDiRlQYTxE/130308103414.htm
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Senate committee approves gun trafficking bill
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, center, is joined by her husband Mark Kelly, left, and Emily Nottingham, mother of shooting victim Gabe Zimmerman, listening to a speaker as they returned to the site of a shooting that left her critically wounded to urge key senators to support expanded background checks for gun purchases, Wednesday, March 6, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, center, is joined by her husband Mark Kelly, left, and Emily Nottingham, mother of shooting victim Gabe Zimmerman, listening to a speaker as they returned to the site of a shooting that left her critically wounded to urge key senators to support expanded background checks for gun purchases, Wednesday, March 6, 2013, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation Thursday making gun trafficking a federal crime as lawmakers cast the first vote in Congress to curb firearms since December's horrific shootings at a Connecticut elementary school.
The panel was also debating bills banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines, requiring background checks for nearly all gun purchases, and providing more money for schools to buy video cameras and other safety equipment.
The committee approved the gun trafficking measure on an 11-7 vote. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, was the only Republican to vote in favor of the measure, whose chief sponsor was the panel's chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Evidence was abundant of partisan clashes ahead as the two parties sparred over the need to limit firearms.
Leahy said he hoped senators would make significant progress this week on curbing gun violence.
Grassley said everyone wants to prevent more killings like the deaths of 20 first-graders and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. But he said gun control does not work and accused Democrats of wanting to "impose more gun restrictions on law-abiding citizens."
All four measures were expected to pass the committee. But their fate when the full Senate considers them, probably in April, is less certain. The trafficking measure by Leahy, D-Vt., was thought to have the best prospects, while the assault weapons ban by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., seemed to have the slimmest chance.
The trafficking bill would create penalties of up to 25 years in prison for people who legally buy guns but give them to others who use them in crimes.
Democrats led by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., had hoped to reach a bipartisan deal on expanding federal background checks with conservative Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. But on Wednesday, Democrats set aside their efforts to win over Coburn after weeks of talks failed to resolve a dispute over requiring that records of private sales be retained.
Their inability to craft a deal with Coburn was a blow to Democrats because of his solid conservative credentials and "A'' rating with the NRA. His support could have meant backing from other Senate Republicans and even moderate Democrats, including several facing 2014 re-election campaigns in GOP-leaning states.
In addition, supporters of curbing guns say the Senate will have to approve legislation with strong bipartisan support to boost their chances of success in the GOP-led House. Republican leaders there have said they won't act until the Senate produces legislation.
Democrats said they would negotiate with other Republicans and would not give up on eventually cutting a deal with Coburn.
"We're confident plenty of senators already understand that this is the sweet spot where good policy and politics meet," said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a gun-curb group led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino whose membership includes more than 800 mayors.
Expanding the checks is the cornerstone and most popular part of Obama's effort to rein gun violence. They are now mandated only for sales by the nation's 55,000 federally licensed gun dealers, not for private sales between individuals, like those at gun shows or online.
An Associated-Press-GfK poll in January found 84 percent favored requiring background checks at gun shows. Other proposed gun curbs were supported by just over half the public.
Thursday's Judiciary session prompted widespread efforts, especially by gun control advocates, to pressure recalcitrant senators and show signs of public support.
Supporters of gun curbs planned rallies outside the home-state offices of Grassley, the Judiciary Committee's top Republican, and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., grievously wounded in a Tucson mass shooting two years ago, solicited contributions by email for the political action committee she and husband Mark Kelly, the retired astronaut, have formed to help elect lawmakers who back gun curbs.
"Your contribution will help us keep the pressure on Judiciary Committee senators while ensuring the rest of them see our message" during Congress' recess late this month, she wrote.
NRA officials said they have urged their members, said to number more than 4 million, to contact lawmakers.
Democrats say background check records, whether kept by the individuals, manufacturers or others, are the only way to ensure that the checks are conducted for private sales. Coburn said such information could help create a federal registry of gun owners ? something that is now illegal and that the White House says would not happen.
Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., also have been involved in the background check negotiations and said in a joint statement they would continue looking for a compromise with other senators.
"Dr. Coburn is still hopeful they can reach an agreement," Coburn spokesman John Hart said Wednesday.
Lacking agreement with Coburn, Schumer planned to seek a vote by the Judiciary Committee on a bill resembling a measure he initially proposed two years ago. It would require background checks for nearly all gun sales, with narrow exemptions including one for transactions between close relatives. It would also cut federal aid for states that don't send enough mental health records to the federal background check network ? a widespread problem that has fueled critics' complaints that the current system should be fixed before it is expanded.
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