Obama vows help to soldiers, marks Iraq war end

President Barack Obama walks with Gen. Lloyd Austin, vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, right, to greet members of the military and their families on the tarmac, upon his arrival at Biggs Airfield at Fort Bliss, Texas, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama walks with Gen. Lloyd Austin, vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, right, to greet members of the military and their families on the tarmac, upon his arrival at Biggs Airfield at Fort Bliss, Texas, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama speaks to troops, service-members and military families at the 1st Aviation Support Battalion Hangar at Fort Bliss, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

President Barack Obama greets members of the military and their families after speaking at Fort Bliss, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama speaks to troops, service-members and military families at the 1st Aviation Support Battalion Hangar at Fort Bliss, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

President Barack Obama speaks to troops, service-members and military families at the 1st Aviation Support Battalion Hangar at Fort Bliss Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) ? In an election-year reminder that he ended the war in Iraq, President Barack Obama vowed Friday to help soldiers, veterans and their families overcome economic and health care struggles as they return to the nation they have served.

Surrounded by a sea of men and women in fatigues, Obama saluted their service, but cautioned that a "tough fight" remains in Afghanistan even as the U.S. works to transfer security control to Afghan forces. He said the troops' return home now presents different challenges.

"After fighting for America you shouldn't have to fight for a job in America," Obama said. "To you and all you serve, we need to be there for you just like you were there for us."

Obama's visit Friday to the vast Fort Bliss Army post in El Paso came on the second anniversary of the end of combat operations in Iraq. While officially not a presidential campaign trip, the visit also served clear political aims by highlighting the end of one unpopular war and the wind-down of another and drawing attention to Obama's role as commander in chief.

Obama also visited Fort Bliss on Aug. 31, 2010, the day he announced the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq.

"You left Iraq with honor, your heads held high," Obama said. "And today Iraq has a chance to forge its own destiny, and there are no American troops fighting and dying in Iraq."

Fort Bliss soldiers participated in the Iraqi invasion in 2003 and were among the last to serve in combat roles there. The post endured significant losses during the Iraq war and its troops are now being deployed in Afghanistan.

Before his remarks, Obama held a private roundtable meeting with service members and military families, including "Gold Star" families who lost relatives overseas.

His message to them, Obama said: "Your loved ones live on in the soul of our nation."

Obama acknowledged that for those who return, "coming home can be its own struggle." He cited the effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome and traumatic brain injury.

He announced that he had, earlier Friday, signed an executive order directing federal agencies to expand their efforts at addressing the mental health needs of veterans, service members and their families and to increase measures aimed at preventing suicide.

"I know that you join me in saying to everyone who's ever worn the uniform, if you're hurting it's not a sign of weakness to seek help, it's a sign of strength," he said. "We are here to help you stay strong - Army strong."

Among the steps spelled out in the order is an increase in the number of Department of Veterans Affairs' counselors. It also orders the Pentagon and the Department of Health and Human Services to undertake a mental health study aimed at improving prevention, diagnoses and treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome and traumatic brain injury.

Obama also renewed a call on Congress to pass measures in Obama's economic proposals specifically aimed at veterans, including one that provides tax credits to businesses that hire vets.

Veterans are a key voting bloc in the closely fought presidential race.

A Gallup tracking poll in August shows Republican Mitt Romney leads Obama, 55 percent to 38 percent among veterans. Exit polls conducted in 2008 showed voters who had served in the military preferred Republican John McCain over Obama by 10 percentage points.

At their party's convention this week in Tampa, Fla., Romney and other Republicans made repeated references to veterans. Romney broke away from the convention Wednesday to speak to the American Legion in Indianapolis.

Romney has attempted to blame Obama for threatened spending cuts in defense that will kick in if Congress doesn't come up with a deficit reduction plan by year's end. The sharp reductions in Pentagon spending and in other domestic programs were part of a deal Obama struck with Republican leaders last year and was designed to force Congress to find other means of reducing the deficit.

Obama on Friday reiterated his demands for Congress to act.

"Here's the thing, there's no reason those cuts should happen because folks in Congress ought to come together and agree on a responsible plan that reduces the deficit and keeps our military strong." He said.

Romney's campaign, however, said Obama's economic policies had made it more difficult for veterans and said more veterans would face unemployment if the defense cuts are enacted.

"As president, Mitt Romney will never play politics with our military's strength and will enact pro-growth policies to get veterans - and all Americans - back to work," said Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams.

__

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-08-31-Obama/id-1e3f6955a3684ef4b54c5a0368659268

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The newsonomics of leapfrog news video ? Nieman Journalism Lab

Our political conventions remind us that this is not the summer of love. But it may be the season we?ll remember as the summer of video.

Certainly, video?s ? news video?s ? growth has been noteworthy for awhile. But now there?s a bursting of new news video forms, a hothouse of experimentation that is both refreshing and intriguing. The blossoming has implications far and wide, not just for ?news,? but for tech companies like Facebook and television brands from Ellen to Piers to The View. Within it, we see the capability of non-TV companies to leapfrog the TV people.

Just Monday, both The Wall Street Journal (?The Wall Street Journal wants its reporters filing microvideo updates for its new WorldStream?) and The New York Times made video announcements. A couple of weeks ago, the ambitious Huffington Post Live launched, hiring the almost unbelievable number of 104 staffers. In these three forays, and in the thinking in and around them, we see the boundaries of old media being slowly broken. We?re on the edge, finally, of new ways to both create and present news ? and how to talk about the news.

It?s funny: ?Video,? as a term, as a category, barely defines what we?re seeing. All video means is moving pictures, and we?ve had those since George M?li?s (as Martin Scorcese reinterpreted in Hugo). We?ve known broadcast news and then cable news, witnessed their triumphs and now the declines of both. Because of twin technologies ? all the iGadgets reintroducing us to the world as we know it and the behind-the-scenes digital pipes making content creation and distribution increasingly seamless ? we?re seeing what creative people can do with moving pictures.

While this week?s Journal?s announcement focused on WorldStream, that semi-raw feed (all staff contributions are okayed one-by-one for public view) is but one of the full handful of Journal experiments with video.

Watch video now better embedded into stories (as the Times also has done with QuickLinks). Get appointment programs on WSJ Live (?The newsonomics of WSJ Live?). Watch on demand, in a variety of formats. Go directly to a video page, where all of the video output is categorized. And now, WorldStream, that rawish feed the Journal is doing, because it can ? and because such video becomes great bait for the social web. Pick up the url, tweet it, and the Journal has happened on a social video strategy that is curiously akin to Upworthy?s.

It?s a multi-point access world for video producers. The Times will tell you that its viewing is roughly divided in thirds among its video center, its homepage video player and embedded-within-stories video. The Journal says more than half its views are now coming from embedded videos, with less than five percent of its views come from its video page. It makes sense that ?video center? usage will decrease over time; these are transitional pages. Convergence is now becoming real, and we expect to see the content, text, voice, and pictures delivered in context. Finally. We don?t go to a place on sites called ?Words.?

What?s most important about we?re seeing flickering before our eyes? Try these, as we look at the newsonomics of leapfrog news video.

• It?s about money. Video advertising rates are holding up far better than display-around-text rates. ?Give me inventory? is a cry heard from the salespeople, who find agencies and top advertisers? pre-roll appetites nowhere near satiated. For top premium brands, $45-60 CPM (cost per thousand views) are still available, as display rates fetch as little as a tenth and as much as one-half of those numbers. In addition, companies are selling video packages and sponsored tile ads in addition to pre-rolls to sweeten their take. So production of video makes financial sense ? even as news companies cut back, lay off, and pinch, pinch, pinch. The smarter companies are investing in video ? staffers, training, technologies ? even as they make those cuts, while other companies find themselves just stuck. Video is the second-fastest growing ad category in the U.S., according to IAB, up 29 percent year-over-year. It will be worth about $2 billion this year.
• It?s about platforms. The Journal?s Alan Murray, who heads digital news efforts, says the company?s video traffic has doubled in six months. Why? It?s not mainly because of more use on Journal platforms, even though it?s been an innovator on the tablet. Most of that growth comes from the deals the Journal has done with an astonishing 26 ?platforms.? They range from the ubiquitous iPad and Kindle to lesser known 5Min and LiveStation. ^{By way of comparison, The New York Times is currently using three (Hulu, Google TV, YouTube).}
• It?s about technologies. The Times and the Washington Post have been using Google + Hangout, to facilitate conversation, and we?ve seen the fruits this week at the Republican Convention. As well-described by The Daily Beast?s Lauren Ashburn, Google Hangouts are a major, disruptive force; ?no longer needed are satellite trucks or underground cables to beam talking heads to people?s living rooms. A simple Internet connection and a camera are rendering expensive gadgets obsolete.? The Journal is touting Tout, a Silicon Valley start-up that has taken much of the ?friction? out of the business of video production. ?Make it drop dead simple,? CEO Michael Downing says is his goal. That means taking the background tasks of uploading smartphone video from the field, ?transcoding? it and then translating it to work in all the various formats (devices, screen sizes, operating sizes). That removes the work from media companies, and lets them focus on content and audience. In addition to the Journal, broadcasters including CNN, CBS, and ESPN have become customers.
• It?s apparently not about appointment TV. HuffPo?s Live is the most interesting here. While it has 10 telegenic anchor/producer/hosts, those hosts don?t have standard daily program times. Segments will last between 12 and 35 minutes (most average 20-25), HuffPost Live president Roy Sekoff told me this week. Yet, they are fluid, with segment length adjustable on the fly. Readers pick topics ? before, during, and after ?Live? ? from a reader-activated conveyor belt at the top of the page. ?It?s the Internet,? says Sekoff pointedly, meaning it?s a flow, not a TV Guide-like grid in how readers/viewers use it. The Journal agrees. Even with on-the-hour blocks of News Hub programs, the majority of its viewing is on demand. Even for HuffPo, all of that live programming is then chunked into segments, and Sekoff estimates that he?ll have about 10,000 of them archived and ready for long-tail viewing by year?s end. We want what we want when we want it ? and expect it to be there. Thus, findability becomes the issue, and the multiple points of access now being offered are very much a live test of consumer behavior and want.
• It?s about simplicity. The Times? announcement basically said this: You?ve proven you like video. Now we?re cleaning it up and making it more pleasurable to watch and easier to find. In the cleanup, the Times moved to 11 ?navigation items? from 25, says Peter Anderson, director of video product. We see that translation in more uniform positioning of video panels on NYTimes.com pages, and a more elegant 16 ? 9 video player format, replacing the oh-so-20th century 4 ? 3.
• It?s about the news ? and talk about the news. In the approaches of the Times and the Journal on the one hand, and of HuffPo on the other, we see two quite different philosophies and strategies, but ones that may find meeting points. Both the Journal and the Times see their reporters as the foundation of the video process; Murray calls Dow Jones? 2,000 journalists ?the core asset.? So both are putting cameras into the hands of journalists, or enabling them to better use smartphones, thereby creating more impactful, multi-dimensional, multi-platform journalism. HuffPo, from its early days of being mainly a curator/aggregator, has had its pulse on what its progressive audience is wondering and talking about. Those topics, mostly off the news (Marissa Mayer?s pregnancy, veterans and poverty), are the ones front and center in its Live pages. Some, of course, derive from its journalists? work, and now staffers like Howard Fineman are suggesting video segments as they prepare stories. By and large, though, the talk-about-news drives the 12-hours-a-day site (5 days a week), with actual news supplementing. Sekoff says some 1,300 HuffPo community members have ?raised their hands? and been featured as talking contributors on its segments. They?re unpolished and a far more diverse (for all the good and bad that implies) lot than we see among the too familiar faces of cable TV. For the Journal and the Times, traditional stories drive the video, and then, as Peter Anderson describes it, ?The New York Times starts the conversation.? (Here, the Times brings civilians more prominently into its Opinion pages.) How these somewhat opposite approaches come together will be something to watch.

Maybe, most intriguingly, this video revolution may be morphing into a social revolution.

Watch a few of the HuffPost Live segments. Call them semi-slick. The technology works. The production values are okay, even if blogger/contributors faces seem a bit low-def, as TV itself moves moves from HD to Ultra. Some raise interesting, unorthodox issues and views; some are deadly boring. They are not, though, the lookalike programming of traditional news outlets. In their socialness, they cross lines.

Here?s what I find fascinating as I watch those, and smaller steps toward engagement taken by the Times, Journal, and others. As we all watch more video, where will the minutes come from? They may come from other news, text news. They may also come from Facebook. Compare HuffPost Live to Facebook and we see lots of social/sharing commonalities ? but in picture form. Discussions ? less in linear words than with in-motion video. They may come from morning talk shows like ?Ellen? or ?The View,? or compete with The Young Turks.The minutes will come from somewhere, as these technologies are more universally adopted and the world of competition only gets more complicated. This is the world in which news companies now compete.

For the news industry specifically, we see that legacy lines are written in disappearing ink, as the Journal, for instance, out-innovates ABC. One dirty little secret of broadcasting is being revealed, as technologies like Google+ Hangouts even the playing field for the print guys: it?s a game of numbers. The number of journalists in newspaper newsrooms still far outnumber those in broadcast ones. In addition, traditional TV has demanded many staffers to do the technical work of creating the broadcast. So, newspapers ? if they can rapidly connect their workforces with the new technologies ? have a chance to do what seems illogical: leapfrog broadcast and outflank them in the move to fully available, multi-platform news video.

Notes

Source: http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/08/the-newsonomics-of-leapfrog-news-video/

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Provider of Online CRM, Web CRM and Small Business CRM Really ...

LONDON, August 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

- Online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM?users will no longer have to use third party emailing systems -

Really Simple Systems - http://www.reallysimplesystems.com/ - one of the world's largest providers of online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM systems, today launched a new extension to its Marketing module that includes all the online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM system mass emailing functionalities that had traditionally only been provided by dedicated emailing systems.

The new online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM system emailing functionality is part of Really Simple Marketing, the Marketing Module available in the Enterprise Edition of Really Simple Systems online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM and will be available free of charge to all existing Enterprise Edition customers.

The new functionality within the online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM system includes features such as:

• Easy-to-use HTML editor
• Standard and custom email templates
• Image hosting
• Multiple attachments
• Personalization
• Email scheduling for a specific date or over a period using DribbleMail?
• Tracking of opens and click-throughs from multiple links within the email
• Unsubscribe and bounce handling
• Spam score reporting; and clickable graphs and reports.

John Paterson, CEO of online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM company, Really Simple Systems, comments, "Our mission is to make CRM Simple and by bundling the mass emailing functionality into the online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM system, we've removed the complexity of trying to link the two applications together."

David Hutter of Real Training, http://www.realtraining.co.uk, a provider of training and testing services to the education industry, was a beta test user of Really Simple Marketing from the online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM company. Hutter comments, "We had been looking at using third party emailing systems like MailChimp, but the task of moving data between the online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM and emailing system was complicated and time-consuming. Integrating the two saves a huge amount of time and it is really useful to see the emailing stats tie directly into the campaigns in the CRM system."

He continues, "Adding contacts to an emailing campaign can be done easily from within the online CRM, web CRM and small business CRM system too and having an easy-to-use HTML editor means that non-technical marketing people can easily set up new mailshots. We also had an issue with data cleansing, and the automatic bounce handling has made a huge improvement to our data quality."

About Really Simple Systems

Really Simple Systems Cloud CRM is aimed at small and medium sized organisations with between 2 and 200 people who want a straightforward hosted CRM sales, marketing and support system. The hosted model is particularly suitable for companies with multiple locations and sales people who work remotely or at home.

Really Simple Systems - winner at EuroCloud 2011, the Software Satisfaction Awards in 2008, 2010 and the Database Marketing Awards 2011 - is the largest European provider of hosted CRM systems. Users include the Tumblr, Royal Academy of Arts, the British Museum, the Red Cross, NHS and the Department for Environment as well as many small and medium sized companies.

http://www.reallysimplesystems.com

For further information, please contact:
Gemma Farmer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Neo PR ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Tel +44(0)1296-733867 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
http://www.neopr.co.uk ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

John Paterson
Really Simple Systems
Tel +44(0)1730-823300
http://www.reallysimplesystems.com

SOURCE Really Simple Systems

Source: http://www.execdigital.com/press_releases/provider-of-online-crm-web-crm-and-small-business-crm-really-simple-systems-adds-built-in-mass-email

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Corporate Class | Faiella Financial Group - Managing General ...

Download the PDF

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What is Corporate Class?
A group of mutual funds structured as a corporation rather than a trust. This enables investors to make investment decisions without being affected by tax concerns and allows them to benefit from tax deferral and increased compound growth over the long term.

How can it be used

• To minimize or eliminate annual distributions.
• To receive tax-efficient capital gains or Canadian dividends from traditional income funds.
• To rebalance your portfolio on a regular basis without triggering capital gains or losses.
• To potentially lower your taxes, because you can defer them and choose when to realize capital gains.
• To allow for tax-efficient charitable donation planning.
• To preserve or increase income-tested government benefits.

Who uses it?

• Any investor with non-registered assets should consider Corporate Class, especially if you:
• have maximized your tax-free savings account contributions
• are a higher-income earner who has maximized your RRSPs
• or are worried about clawbacks to your Old Age Security or other income-tested government benefits.
• A corporation with investable assets.

Corporate Class Case Study

Janet and Paul have been investing their money for the past 10 years and have built a sizeable non-registered portfolio. Their account is a conservative, balanced portfolio with a mix of interest income, dividends and capital gains making up the return. However, the yields they are receiving, on an after-tax basis, are not providing the returns they hoped for. Janet and Paul are concerned that they will have to pursue a potentially riskier investment strategy in order to obtain higher after-tax returns.

The Solution

Janet and Paul invest in Corporate Class investment funds. By doing so they are able to minimize distributions, receive tax-efficient capital gains or Canadian dividends from income funds, reduce their tax bill and increase their after-tax returns. Furthermore, as Janet and Paul?s investment objectives change, they can rebalance their portfolio inside the corporation without realizing any taxable capital gains. The power of tax-deferred compounding is illustrated in the graph where Janet and Paul could save $35,000 in taxes over 30 years on an initial investment of $50,000. When they retire, Corporate Class could reduce clawbacks of their Old Age Security and trim their annual tax bill. Ultimately, Janet and Paul not only save taxes, but are also able to build a considerable nest egg to leave their children and grandchildren.

If you want to know more about CI Corporate Class investment funds? Contact Us

Source: http://www.faiellafinancial.com/corporate-class

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NFL to use replacement officials for Week 1

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, right, argues with an official during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game against the Denver Broncos in Denver, Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, right, argues with an official during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game against the Denver Broncos in Denver, Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The NFL will open the regular season next week with replacement officials and said it was prepared to use them "as much ... as necessary" afterward.

Replacements will be on the field beginning Wednesday night when the Dallas Cowboys visit the New York Giants in the season opener, league executive Ray Anderson told the 32 teams in a memo. Negotiations are at a standstill between the NFL and the officials' union.

The NFL Referees Association was locked out in early June and talks on a new collective bargaining agreement have gone nowhere. Replacements have been used throughout the preseason, with mixed results.

In 2001, the NFL used replacements for the first week of the regular season before a contract was finalized. The speed of the game and the amount of time starters are on the field increase exponentially for real games, making the replacements' task more challenging.

Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, told the clubs in a memo Wednesday that the replacements will work "as much of the regular season as necessary," adding that training with each crew will continue.

The NFL noted it has expanded the use of instant replay as an officiating tool this year to include all scoring plays and turnovers. Officiating supervisors will be on hand to assist the crews on game administration issues.

"We are not surprised, based on Ray Anderson's statements ... that the NFL was not going to reach out to us," NFLRA spokesman Michael Arnold said. "However, this is consistent with the NFL's negotiating strategy which has been 'take it or leave it and lock them out.' It now appears the NFL is willing to forego any attempt to reach a deal in the last seven days before opening night."

The NFL Players Association, which went through a 4 ?- month lockout last year before settling on a new contract, expressed disappointment about the decision to use replacements.

Colts safety Antoine Bethea said there is a feeling of solidarity with the officials.

"They've got to do what they've got to do, and we were in a similar situation a little while ago," Bethea said. "So you can't fault those guys for doing what they have to do."

Anderson said the sides remain considerably apart on economic issues, including salary and retirement benefits. He also told the teams there is a substantial difference on operational issues.

"One of our key goals in this negotiation is to enhance our ability to recruit, train, and replace officials who are not performing adequately," Anderson said. "We believe that officials should be evaluated and performance issues addressed in the same way as players, coaches, club management and league staff. We have proposed several steps to accomplish this, including having a number of full-time officials and expanding the overall number of officials."

The NFL is offering to add three full officiating crews, increasing the total number of officials to 140. The NFLRA insists the compensation being offered with such an increase would reduce the officials' pay.

The league is proposing having seven officials ? one per position of referee, umpire, line judge, side judge, back judge, field judge, head linesman ? who would train, scout, handle communications, safety issues and rules interpretations year-round. Now, all NFL game officials are part-time employees, with outside jobs ranging from lawyers to teachers to business owners.

In response, the NFLRA has said it is not opposed to full-time officials "if they are fairly compensated."

The union also disputes the value of the league's current salary offer, which it says would not be the 5 percent to 11 percent increase the NFL claims.

And the union questions the league's adherence to player safety initiatives by using replacement officials, none of whom has recently worked Division I college games. Many of the officials who were replacements in 2001 came from the Division I level.

"The league has placed a lot of emphasis on player health and safety in the last few years and we do feel we are an integral part of that," Arnold said. "We think it is unfortunate and we really don't understand why the league is willing to risk playing safety and the integrity of the game by utilizing amateur officials."

Anderson told the teams that the replacements have "undergone extensive training and evaluation, and have shown steady improvement during the preseason."

Arnold disagreed.

"The referees want to get back on the field," Arnold said. "Our members have been engaged in extensive preparations and are ready to go."

___

AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-30-NFL-Replacement%20Officials/id-1c9daca58951455bbb5b37509bfd96ad

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Synchronized lasers measure how light changes matter: Effects of light at atomic scale probed by mixing x-ray and optical light waves

ScienceDaily (Aug. 29, 2012) ? Light changes matter in ways that shape our world. Photons trigger changes in proteins in the eye to enable vision; sunlight splits water into hydrogen and oxygen and creates chemicals through photosynthesis; light causes electrons to flow in the semiconductors that make up solar cells; and new devices for consumers, industry, and medicine operate with photons instead of electrons. But directly measuring how light manipulates matter on the atomic scale has never been possible, until now.

An international team of scientists led by Thornton Glover of the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) used the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to mix a pulse of superbright x-rays with a pulse of lower frequency, "optical" light from an ordinary laser. By aiming the combined pulses at a diamond sample, the team was able to measure the optical manipulation of chemical bonds in the crystal directly, on the scale of individual atoms.

The researchers report their work in the August 30, 2012 issue of the journal Nature.

Mixing x-rays with light in x-ray diffraction

X-ray and optical wave-mixing is an x-ray diffraction technique similar to that long used in solving the structures of proteins and other biological molecules in crystalline form. But in contrast to conventional diffraction, wave mixing selectively probes how light reshapes the distribution of charge in a material. It does this by imposing a distinction between x?rays scattered from optically perturbed charge and x?rays scattered from unperturbed charge.

"You can think of the electrons orbiting atoms in a material as belonging to one of two groups," says Glover. "The 'active' electrons are the outer, loosely bound valence electrons that participate in chemical reactions and form chemical bonds. The 'spectator' electrons are the ones tightly wrapped around the nucleus at the atom's core."

Glover explains that "because the x-ray photon energy is large compared to the electron binding energy, in a typical scattering experiment all electrons scatter with comparable strength and are therefore more or less indistinguishable." The core-electron signal usually swamps the weaker valence-charge signal because there are many more core electrons than valence electrons.

"So x-rays can tell you where atoms are, but they usually can't reveal how the chemically important valence charge is distributed," Glover says. "However, when light is also present with the x-rays, it wiggles some portion of the chemically relevant valence charge. X-rays scatter from this optically driven charge, and in doing so the x-ray photon energy is changed."

Pulses of 8,000-electron-volt x-rays from the LCLS are synchronized with 1.55 electron-volt pulses from an optical laser, so that both strike the diamond sample at the same time and mix to form upconverted pulses of 8,001.55 electron volts. The detector first sees the diffracted x?ray pulse, and then, after the sample is gently "rocked," the slightly more energetic mixed pulse. The optical pulse exerts localized force on the chemical bonds among the carbon atoms.

The modified x-rays have a frequency (or energy) equal to the sum of the frequencies of both the original x?ray pulse and the overlapping optical pulse. The change to a slightly higher energy provides a distinct signature, which distinguishes wave-mixing from conventional x?ray diffraction.

"Conventional diffraction does not provide direct information on how the valence electrons respond to light, nor on the electric fields that arise in a material because of this response," says Glover. "But with x-ray and optical wave mixing, the energy-modified x-rays selectively probe a material's optically responsive valence charge."

Beyond the ability to directly probe atomic-scale details of how light initiates such changes as chemical reactions or phase transitions, sensitivity to valence charge creates new opportunities to track the evolution of chemical bonds or conduction electrons in a material -- something traditional x-ray diffraction does poorly. Different components of the valence charge can be probed by tuning the so-called optical pulse; higher-frequency pulses of extreme ultraviolet light, for example, probe a larger portion of valence charge.

Because mixing x-ray and optical light waves creates a new beam, which shows up as a slightly higher-energy peak on a graph of x?ray diffraction, the process is called "sum frequency generation." It was proposed almost half a century ago by Isaac Freund and Barry Levine of Bell Labs as a technique for probing the microscopic details of light's interactions with matter, by separating information about the position of atoms from the response of valence charge exposed to light.

But sum frequency generation requires intense x-ray sources unavailable until recently. SLAC's LCLS is just such a source. It's a free-electron laser (FEL) that can produce ultrashort pulses of high-energy "hard" x-rays millions of times brighter than synchrotron light sources, a hundred times a second.

"The breadth of the science impact of LCLS is still before us," says Jerome Hastings, a professor of photon science at the LCLS and an author of the Nature article. "What is clear is that it has the potential to extend nonlinear optics into the x-ray range as a useful tool. Wave mixing is an obvious choice, and this first experiment opens the door."

Diamonds are just the beginning

Glover's team chose diamond to demonstrate x-ray and optical wave mixing because diamond's structure and electronic properties are already well known. With this test bed, wave mixing has proved its ability to study light-matter interactions on the atomic scale and has opened new opportunities for research.

"The easiest kinds of diffraction experiments are with crystals, and there's lots to learn," Glover says. "For example, light can be used to alter the magnetic order in advanced materials, yet it's often unclear just what the light does, on the microscopic scale, to initiate these changes."

Looking farther ahead, Glover imagines experiments that observe the dynamic evolution of a complex system as it evolves from the moment of initial excitation by light. Photosynthesis is a prime example, in which the energy of sunlight is transferred through a network of light-harvesting proteins into chemical reaction centers with almost no loss.

"Berkeley Lab's Graham Fleming has shown that this virtually instantaneous energy transfer is intrinsically quantum mechanical," Glover says. "Quantum entanglement plays an important role, as an excited electron simultaneously samples many spatially separated sites, probing to find the most efficient energy-transfer pathway. It would be great if we could use x-ray and optical wave mixing to make real-space images of this process as it's happening, to learn more about the quantum aspects of the energy transfer."

Such experiments will require high pulse-repetition rates that free electron lasers have not yet achieved. Synchrotron light sources like Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source, although not as bright as FELs, have inherently high repetition rates and, says Glover, "may play a role in helping us assess the technical adjustments needed for high repetition-rate experiments."

Light sources with repetition rates up to a million pulses per second may someday be able to do the job. Glover says, "FELs of the future will combine high-peak brightness with high repetition rate, and this combination will open new opportunities for examining the interactions of light and matter on the atomic scale."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. T. E. Glover, D. M. Fritz, M. Cammarata, T. K. Allison, Sinisa Coh, J. M. Feldkamp, H. Lemke, D. Zhu, Y. Feng, R. N. Coffee, M. Fuchs, S. Ghimire, J. Chen, S. Shwartz, D. A. Reis, S. E. Harris, J. B. Hastings. X-ray and optical wave mixing. Nature, 2012; 488 (7413): 603 DOI: 10.1038/nature11340

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/top_news/top_technology/~3/KH-qYLqW_eg/120829131623.htm

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When to worry about kids' temper tantrums

ScienceDaily (Aug. 29, 2012) ? Temper tantrums in young children can be an early signal of mental health problems, but how does a parent or pediatrician know when disruptive behavior is typical or a sign of a serious problem?

New Northwestern Medicine research will give parents and professionals a new tool to know when to worry about young children's misbehavior. Researchers have developed an easy-to-administer questionnaire specifically designed to distinguish the typical misbehavior of early childhood from more concerning misbehavior. This will enable early identification and treatment of emerging mental health problems, key to preventing young children struggling with their behavior from spiraling downward into chronic mental health problems. The new tool also will prevent rampant mislabeling and overtreatment of typical misbehavior.

Surprise Finding: Temper Tantrums Not Frequent

In a surprising key finding, the study also debunks the common belief temper tantrums are rampant among young children. Although temper tantrums among preschoolers are common, they are not particularly frequent, the research shows. Less than 10 percent of young children have a daily tantrum. That pattern is similar for girls and boys, poor and non-poor children and Hispanic, white and African-American children.

"That's an 'aha!' moment, "said Lauren Wakschlag, professor and vice chair in the department of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of a paper, published August 29 in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. "It gives a measurable indicator to tell us when tantrums are frequent enough that a child may be struggling. Perhaps for the first time, we have a tangible way to help parents, doctors and teachers know when the frequency and type of tantrums may be an indication of a deeper problem."

Until recently, the only diagnostic tools available for preschool behavior problems were those geared to older children and teens with more severe, aggressive behavior. More recently, there has been emphasis on measures developed specifically for preschool children.

For the study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers developed the new questionnaire, the Multidimensional Assessment of Preschool Disruptive Behavior (MAP-DB), to ask parents of almost 1,500 diverse preschoolers, age three to five, to answer questions about their child's behavior. The questionnaire asked about the frequency, quality and severity of many temper tantrum behaviors and anger management skills over the past month.

The results allowed researchers to rate children along a continuum of behavior from typical to atypical, rather than focusing only on extreme behavior. Having a continuum will allow mental health professionals to intervene before there is a serious problem or watch and wait if a child is in the middle range. Early childhood is a critical period to identify a problem, because once negative problems become entrenched, they are harder to treat. This continuum also provides a barometer for determining when a child is improving on his/her own or through treatment.

"We have defined the small facets of temper tantrums as they are expressed in early childhood. This is key to our ability to tell the difference between a typical temper tantrum and one that is problematic," Wakschlag said.

For example, the study found that a typical tantrum may occur when a child is tired or frustrated or during daily routines such as at bedtime, mealtime or getting dressed. An atypical tantrum may be one that occurs "out of the blue" or is so intense that a child becomes exhausted. While any of these behaviors may occur in some children from time to time, when these atypical forms of tantrums occur regularly, they become a red flag for concern.

This developmentally-based approach is in stark contrast to the commonly used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which does not provide age-specific markers for determining clinical significance.

For example, a symptom of behavior problems in DSM is defined as "often loses temper."

"The definition of 'often' may vary substantially for younger and older children and depend on family stress levels and other mitigating factors," Wakschlag said. "Since most preschool children tantrum, this vague criteria makes it exceptionally difficult for providers to determine when behavior is of clinical significance in early childhood."

"There's been a real danger of preschool children with normal misbehavior being mislabeled and over-treated with medication," Wakschlag said. "On the other hand, pediatricians are hampered by the lack of standardized methods for determining when misbehavior reflects deeper problems and so may miss behaviors that are concerning. This is why it's so crucial to have tools that precisely identify when worry is warranted in this age group."

Linking Tantrums to Mental Health Problems, Social Functioning and Brain Reactivity in Early Childhood

To establish the clinical significance of these findings, Wakschlag, colleague Margaret Briggs-Gowan, from the University of Connecticut Health Center, and their collaborators are now examining how these tantrum patterns are linked to a range of mental health problems and problems in daily functioning such as getting along in school, with siblings and general social skills. In collaboration with Northwestern neuroscientist, Joel Voss, the study also is beginning to use brain-imaging techniques to uncover links between particular patterns of brain reactivity and these early problem behaviors.

Replicating Findings in Larger Sample

In addition, Wakschlag and colleagues are replicating their findings about the developmental pattern of misbehaviors in a second sample of 2,200 children, with the next step being disseminating the tool. The questionnaire is now 118 questions but researchers hope to use state-of-the-art measurement science to crunch it down to about 25 key questions. An ultimate goal of the research team is to widely disseminate the MAP-DB questionnaire in a brief computerized form for parents to fill out in pediatric waiting rooms, with the computer generating immediate feedback to pediatricians prior to the appointment.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Northwestern University, 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:

1. Lauren S. Wakschlag, Seung W. Choi, Alice S. Carter, Heide Hullsiek, James Burns, Kimberly McCarthy, Ellen Leibenluft, Margaret J. Briggs-Gowan. Defining the developmental parameters of temper loss in early childhood: implications for developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2012; DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2012.02595.x

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/ireUyK95VT0/120829172106.htm

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London set for Paralympics opener

29 August 2012 Last updated at 14:43 ET

Paralympians watch performers at the Olympic Park

Final preparations have begun for the London Paralympics opening ceremony, heralding 11 days of competition for athletes with disabilities.

Some 3,000 volunteers will take part in the event, which organisers have entitled Enlightenment.

Professor Stephen Hawking and actor Sir Ian McKellen will narrate the show, which is due to begin at 20:30 BST.

But there are doubts the Paralympic flame will arrive on time, as the torch relay is running an hour late.

Meanwhile, Malawi have withdrawn from the games due to lack of funding.

A Locog spokeswoman said they were still hopeful the torch being used in the relay would make it to the Olympic Stadium in time for the opening ceremony.

A back-up flame was earlier created at City Hall, to make certain the ceremony could start as planned.

The flame began its journey in Stoke Mandeville, the spiritual home of the Paralympic Games, on Tuesday night.

It will be carried by 580 torchbearers in total, and after being carried past some of London's most famous landmarks, will be used to light a scaled-down version of the Olympic cauldron.

UK Sport and the British Paralympic Association have set a minimum target of 103 medals this time from at least 12 sports, including swimming, athletics and rowing.

Human possibility

The opening ceremony - which will be broadcast on Channel 4 and BBC Radio 5 live - will signal the start of 11 days of competition by more than 4,000 athletes from 165 countries, including more than 300 athletes from ParalympicsGB.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Michael Hirst BBC 2012 at Olympic Park

---

Backstage, organisers and volunteers are busily applying final touches to props and paraphernalia - a wipe-down of a flag pole here, a lick of paint to a prop there.

The ceremony explores the twin themes of reason and rights, and we're promised a journey of discovery, led by celebrated scientist Professor Stephen Hawking and Shakespeare's character Miranda from The Tempest.

The cast includes 73 deaf and disabled professional performers and also well-known names like Sir Ian McKellen as a Prospero-type character, singer Beverley Knight and 3,250 volunteers aged 10-80 from all over the world.

Organisers say the show is about challenging perceptions. There will be athletes, flags, royals and Tom Heatherwick's cauldron as expected.

There will also be a Hadron collider and a fly-by by Aerobility - a charity that trains disabled people to become pilots - and the humble apple is also playing a key role in proceedings.

"You all need to make sure you have an apple," said artistic director Jenny Sealey ahead of the ceremony. "Because everybody, 62,000 people in the audience will also have their apple.

"We're asking people on television to make sure they have their apple. We want to stage the biggest ever apple bite."

Paralympic organisers are looking to break records before the Games have even begun!

A capacity crowd of 80,000 people will watch the ceremony in Stratford, east London, which will be opened by the Queen and watched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The start of the show will feature a flypast by Aerobility, a British charity that trains disabled people to become pilots.

Fifty specialist performers in the ceremony have taken part in an eight-week circus skills training programme in east London, and will take part in a high-wire act.

The show's two artistic directors have said the main themes of the ceremony will be empowerment and the challenging of perceptions of human possibility.

Prof Hawking - a world-renowned physicist who has motor neurone disease - will join Sir Ian McKellen to narrate a scientific "journey of discovery", inspired in part by Prof Hawking's own book A Brief History of Time.

The organisers have revealed that Prof Hawking will act as a guide to Miranda, a character from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, through the show.

Sir Ian will play Prospero, another character from the play.

Co-artistic director Jenny Sealey said the audience will be taken on an "exquisite journey of discovery inspired by the wonder of science".

She added: "Both Hawking and McKellen in their narrative talk about what we all need to remember: don't just look down at your feet, look at the stars, be curious."

Her fellow artistic director Bradley Hemmings said the team approached Prof Hawking towards the end of 2011.

'Prudent budget'

"We worked very closely with Prof Hawking to develop a series of messages which are very much integrated into the storytelling of the ceremony.

"We have spent time with him [Prof Hawking] in Cambridge and have been so incredibly gratified with him giving his time".

Sealey would not revealed the cost of the event, but said it had been put together on a "prudent budget".

Speaking before the ceremony, Prime minister David Cameron said: "The Olympics made us proud but I think (the Paralympics) will make us prouder still... It's been a sell-out and I think that's a great story for our country.

"Really what it's about is the inspiration that it gives to a generation of young people.

"And also I think with the Paralympics - even more powerful than the Olympics in many ways - it changes people's minds about what disability is about and what disabled people can achieve."

About ?27m was spent on Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle's spectacular Olympic opener, with the remaining ?53m divided between the Paralympic opening event and the closing ceremonies for both Games.

Lord Coe, chairman of Locog, said the ceremony will be a "great showcase of the skills and excellence of disabled artists".

"The London 2012 ceremonies are truly global events, with billions of people across the world watching the four shows. This is undoubtedly a fantastic opportunity to showcase talents to the world."

Hopes are high that ParalympicsGB will emulate the success of TeamGB, but one of the UK's most decorated Paralympians has warned the competition for medals is likely to be tougher than ever.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who has won 11 Paralympic gold medals, said overseas athletes will want to beat a British competitor on home soil.

"Most countries are envious of the support and funding our athletes enjoy but ParalympicsGB have been preparing well and will give everything they can to win all the medals they can," she added.

Britain finished second in the medals table at the 2008 Games in Beijing, winning 42 golds, 29 silvers and 31 bronzes. China were top with 211 medals, of which 89 were gold.

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19411225#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Precisely what are the Symptoms of Uterine Cancers ...

Cancer will be one of the most horrible diseases in the world. The body cells begin functioning in an unusual way in the particular person struggling from most cancers and the growths tend to be formed in the affected region of the body. Busts, ovarian, cervical as well as uterine cancer are those types of types of cancer that target simply the girls because these are associated to the female body areas.

If we speak about the uterine most cancers, it?s in fact related to the extremely important organ of the feminine reproductive : known as the womb and in most cases comes about in the women between the age range of 55 to 80 years. This specific cancer has diverse types which include uterine sarcomas, endometrial most cancers and also cervical cancer. Every single type influences different parts and also cells of the woman womb e.g. endometrial most cancers (also called endometrial carcinoma) is actually linked to the uterus lining or even endometrium. The uterine sarcoma (also referred to as leiomyosarcomas) has an effect on the muscle covering of the uterus and cervical cancer malignancy is actually associated to the decrease part of the uterus.

Of these types, the endometrial cancers is actually one which is usually referred to since the uterine cancer. The endometrial cancer is indeed deadly it is thought to end up being the third-most typical gynecologic cancer malignancy (following ovarian along with cervical types of cancer) that causes loss of life to the women.

This specific cancers usually impacts the females after the incident of the menopause (the period in a female?s life while menstrual cycle receives stopped). There are some typical symptoms of this kind of cancers however these kind of may change to some degree from particular person to particular person.

The most common symptom of this particular cancers in a female can be the unusual vaginal bleeding even with the woman?s menopause. Nonetheless the abnormal menstrual hemorrhaging in a female in her premenopausal interval must not be dismissed as well. The additional signs or symptoms include the uncommon non-bloody vaginal launch, reduce ab pain, irregular weight-loss, difficult or painful peeing along with an extreme pain during intercourse.

Each lady is needed to be familiar with the basic symptoms of the uterine cancer so that in the event that the lady finds any of them in very little, she may urgently make contact with the girl doctor. The significance of in search of the timely health advice following discovering a few of these types of signs and symptoms is very high as it may assist to detect the uterine cancer at some initial phase and also you have to know that this cancer malignancy can be dealt with properly at the initial phases. Besides, when the endometrial most cancers is actually recognized right after the complete healthcare check up of a woman, the appropriate evaluate can be taken at the proper time in order to stay away from more complications.

For more information, check out symptoms of uterine cancer as well as cervix cancer

Source: http://keepersblog.com/precisely-what-are-the-symptoms-of-uterine-cancers/

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Rich and Single Real Estate | Southland Property Management

Many cities and towns in California offer prime real-estate for the rich and single.

California?s spectacular Southern Cali climate and beautiful scenery throughout the state make it a wonderful place to enjoy the rich and single lifestyle while meeting other singles of the same persuasion.

This is a great reason to buy in California. But there are other places for the rich and single as well.

Read more:

Best places for the rich and single

Tags: buying, prime locations, trendy areas

Author : Ian Amsel

Ian Amsel is a brand representative and valued team member at Southland Property Management. Ian is a regular contributor to several real estate blogs with a focus on housing market trends.

Source: http://southlandpropertymanagement.com/advice/rich-and-single-real-estate/

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Wall Street ends flat, volume among lightest of year

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks ended little changed in another day of scarce activity on Tuesday after mixed economic data gave investors little reason to shift their focus from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on Friday.

The Fed chief is scheduled to address a conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and could announce new measures to boost growth. While Bernanke is expected to keep alive expectations for a third round of major bond buying by the Fed, or quantitative easing, he could keep markets guessing about the actual timing.

Volume was among the lightest of the year after Monday's lightest trading in 2012. August is a slow season, and investors mostly stayed on the sidelines, anticipating Bernanke's speech.

"I don't think you can read a lot from what's going on in the market right now," said John Fox, co-manager of the FAM Value Fund, in Cobleskill, New York. "Because there's nothing going on, everyone is waiting for the speech on Friday."

The latest sign of slowing in the global economy added to expectations for more central bank stimulus. Japan cut its assessment of economic growth, citing a deceleration in U.S. and Chinese demand for Japanese exports.

U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly weakened in August to its lowest in nine months as Americans turned more pessimistic about the short-term outlook, according to the Conference Board.

But in another report, the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed U.S. home prices rose for a fifth consecutive month, a sign of slow improvement in the housing sector.

Among the day's biggest gainers, Lexmark International Inc jumped 13.7 percent to $21.62 after it said it would stop making inkjet printers, cut about 1,700 jobs, and focus on its more profitable imaging and software businesses.

The NYSEArca computer hardware index <.hwi> rose 1.2 percent. Shares of Hewlett Packard , which has a substantial portion of inkjet sales, were down 1.8 percent at $16.90.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was down 21.68 points, or 0.17 percent, at 13,102.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> slipped 1.14 points, or 0.08 percent, at 1,409.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> edged down 3.95 points, or 0.13 percent, at 3,077.14.

Volume was 4.60 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with Monday's 2012 low 4.46 billion shares. The year-to-date average is about 6.6 billion.

The S&P 500 has been pinned in a fairly tight range over the last three weeks, finding a support level at 1,400 while also unable to convincingly pierce the April high of 1,422.38, which has acted as a resistance point. The index has been unable to muster a move of at least 1 percent in either direction since August 3.

Among other gainers, PVH Corp raised its full-year earnings outlook for the third time this year as it expects its European business to grow and its flagship Tommy Hilfiger brand to remain popular with shoppers. Shares climbed 4.8 percent to $92.77.

Movado Group Inc shares were up 17.4 percent at $35.36 after hitting an all-time high of $36.11. The watchmaker reported a higher second-quarter profit and raised its full-year earnings forecast for the second time.

Advancers outpaced decliners on the NYSE by about 4 to 3 and on the Nasdaq by about 14 to 9.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-ends-flat-volume-among-lightest-002901139--sector.html

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Fifty shades of girly wines | 12 x 75.com | Wine Prices, Quantity ...

?

As I was looking for some wine-related inspiration on the internet earlier today, I became distracted by the rather incredulous story of the women?s refuge boss who is urging women to burn their copies of ?Fifty Shades of Grey? on a giant bonfire on November 5^th.? Comparing Mr Grey?s unusual sexual preferences to the heinous crimes of Fred West seemed a little extreme to me ? I bought the book at the airport recently but I didn?t get very far with it because it is a really terrible book.? Anyway, I continued on the tangent I had gone off on, and learned that the ?Fifty shades of? has become a very popular headline? ?Fifty shades of gay?, ?Fifty shades of green? (in which there is some good advice on how to keep your golf course green ? phew!) and yes ? you?ve guessed it ? ?Fifty shades of Chardonnay? already exists.

I found it on a site called ?The Island News?, the only place to go for all the news from Beaufort, South Carolina (again ? phew!).? And it turned out to be a rather nice piece about females loving Chardonnay and men being a bit scared of it on account of its girliness.? There are some really grim sentences like ?It?s spanking new and hey, try it with a few ice cubes and even your husband might be seduced into taking a manly sip.?? Even though this was only marginally better than 50 shades itself, it did raise an interesting point that I wanted to examine further.?? Is there such a thing as a ladies? wine?? Do some wines inherently appeal more to men or women, or is it just clever marketing?

I decided to focus on Chardonnay.? Ice cubes and manly sips aside, was there something fundamentally girly about it?? I examined the contents of my wine rack.? There is one Chardonnay in there, called ?The Googly? by One Chain Vineyards. ?My husband would never buy this.? It must have been me.? ?And while I will probably quaff this one while working on my laptop some evening now that I?ve remembered it is there, it could just as easily stand up to a hearty meal.? A good Chardonnay has a rich texture that works brilliantly with pasta dishes containing creamy sauces, and with a backbone of oak there are not many foods that would swamp its flavour.? Far from making it girly, Chardonnay?s versatility and food-pairing scope and the fact that the most expensive white wines on earth are made from it surely ought to make Chardonnay the modern man?s first choice.? And according to The Island News, ordering Chardonnay will impress your date as well.? Forget Fifty Shades, Chardonnay is the Mr Grey of wine grapes!? Strong, brooding, decadent, rich?. (Okay so maybe I read a little more of the book than I let on?. but it was only in the interest of journalistic research).

Just to make sure I wasn?t being biased, I went and asked my husband to rate the other wines in our wine rack according to their manliness/girliness.? ?Tiddy Widdy Well?, an Australian blend, he rated as ?definitely not very manly? but when I told him it was a Shiraz/Cabernet/Merlot blend, he felt confused, as he would have thought that Shiraz would be more masculine than that.? ?Fleurie? he dismissed as ?one of yours? (thank God I didn?t have any Saint-Amour), and we agreed that ?Sannio Falanghina? sounded like one of Mr Grey?s special boudoir skills and decided to just give up on the debate at that point.

So actually I?ve learned nothing, and as a reader, let?s face it, neither have you.? Just think, in the time it?s taken you to read this, you could have read a couple of pages of ?Fifty Shades? or taken it into the back garden and set it alight.? At the end of the day, it doesn?t really matter.? You should read whatever you want, just as you should drink whatever you want, and whether that is Fifty Shades with Saint-Amour or a Tom Clancy Novel with a manly glass of Shiraz, it?s entirely up to you.? As for me, my work is done for the day, and I have some reading and drinking to do!

Related posts:

1. Arrogance and Cockiness in Wines
2. Should we take celebrity wines seriously?
3. CLOSED by ASC Fine Wines
4. How the wine industry is getting closer to consumers, and how consumers can get closer to their wines

Source: http://12x75.com/fifty-shades-girly-wines/

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Networks prepare to juggle politics, weather

NEW YORK (AP) ? Television networks began juggling two major stories on Monday, still wondering whether Tropical Storm Isaac will cause them to divert a large amount of attention from the Republican national convention in Tampa.

Anderson Cooper of CNN and Shepard Smith of Fox News Channel were shifted by their networks from Tampa to New Orleans, where the storm appeared headed. It's an odd rerun for both of them: four years ago they left a GOP convention to head to the gulf region ahead of Hurricane Gustav. MSNBC was sending Tamron Hall and Lester Holt to New Orleans in advance of Isaac, and Soledad O'Brien was joining Cooper for CNN.

The major broadcast networks haven't shifted resources yet. Even before the Republicans chose to cancel the first night of the convention on Monday and compress the action into three days, ABC, CBS and NBC had not planned on broadcasting from Tampa on Monday night. Each has scheduled an hour of convention coverage over the next three nights.

"We continue to watch the storm closely and we will have correspondent coverage throughout the region," said Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, vice president of CBS News. "We will reposition some of our resources as necessary."

Brian Williams of NBC News has taken an intense interest in the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, but there are no immediate plans for him to switch cities. NBC's coverage is augmented through its partnership with The Weather Channel, also owned by the Comcast Corp.

The cancellation of Monday's convention activities due to Isaac already forced schedule changes upon television networks. Fox News Channel is reverting to its regular prime-time schedule. CNN is rerunning a documentary on Republican Mitt Romney that first aired Sunday night. PBS had three hours of convention coverage scheduled for Monday night, but instead shifted to entertainment programming.

Throughout Monday, CNN mixed coverage of the storm with political stories from Tampa. Even when its correspondents were talking politics, the lower portion of the network's screen flashed updates on the path and wind speed of Isaac. The network has plenty of experience following multiple stories, said Sam Feist, CNN political director.

"This is CNN," Feist said. "We can walk and chew gum at the same time."

The uncertainty about the storm's path and strength made for uncertainty among Republicans, too.

"This is a difficult set of circumstances for the Republicans," said Fox's Smith, "because as this storm comes through it's going to be fighting for TV time, and newspaper headline time and water cooler talk time. The Republicans had hoped they would be able to have all of the attention of themselves for the next few days and it would appear that Isaac has thrown a wrench in that."

Networks strive, as best they can, to be fair to both parties in terms of television time around the conventions. Even with the storm, Feist said he expects the Republicans to get as much or more coverage than the Democrats, primarily because of the GOP's original plan to have a four-night convention.

Television didn't even need the convention to start to produce some fireworks on Monday. MSNBC's "Morning Joe" featured a bitter confrontation with MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews attacking Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Romney campaign tactics, leaving show hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski plainly uncomfortable.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/networks-prepare-juggle-politics-weather-183524329.html

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Screenwriter needed! - UK - StarNow.co.uk

The project is actually history related, its about the Nigerian Civil war or Biafran war. It's based on an autobiography.....
More details when you contact me.
Be very specific of why you are interested in the project. If possible, use bullets and numbering.

You also should be a patient and research capable person.
A physical audition is not needed.
I don't care about your country or age, as long as you can speak and write English, I'm good.

All minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Source: http://www.starnow.co.uk/Link.aspx?l=4815&return_url=/listings/ListingDetail.aspx?l_id=378129

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TAMPA-BOUND

Mitt Romney will be on the way to Florida on Tuesday ? the day his wife's scheduled to give her speech at the Republican National Convention.

The presumptive GOP nominee for president will arrive in Tampa on what's effectively the first day of the convention. Although it was called to order Monday, it was immediately adjourned until Tuesday because of Tropical Storm Isaac.

? Thomas Beaumont ? Twitter http://twitter.com/tombeaumont

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Convention Watch shows you the 2012 political conventions through the eyes of Associated Press journalists. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tampa-bound-001845449.html

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4 Signs for Women to Check Out Every Morning - Health Niche

If you have a close look on your body, there will be number of symptoms you can detect beforehand. Also, you will easily figure out sudden changes like skin marks, white patches and others. A
human body shows numerous changes as an indication that a serious disease is developing. And, if you catch the signs early, remedy and treatment is possible before it?s too late.

This means you have to check out your body for any unusual signs. And, this you should do every morning. Here are 4 of those signs.

1. Bright White Stripes on Nails

Everybody has white spots on their nails at some or the other point of time. But if there are long white stripes that are horizontal and show discoloration on the surface of the nail then it indicates you are fatigued. And, it is your kidneys that will suffer. This is an indication of your kidneys not able to filter protein from urine. And, this might result in kidney failure.

2. Thin Hair on Scalp

Extreme hair loss indicates thyroid disorder. When you see many hair strands on your hair brush, it means your thyroid gland has gone out of order. This will make your hair fragile and rough. Go and
consult a doctor. He would figure out if this level is too high or too less. And, provide you medication for the same.

3. Undereye Circles that don?t Fade Away

If you don?t stay up late or have excessive work to do and then too you have dark circles that refuse to go away, indications are that you are developing allergies. In this case, you have to consult a
doctor; he would suggest you to get a test done. On the basis of its result, the allergen that is causing dark circles will be known.

4. Dark, Rough Skin in Armpits

If you are not obsessed with self-tanning then this might be the result of diabetes. Abnormal levels of insulin in bloodstream results in multiplication of skin cells rapidly. And, as a result skin looks
thicker and darker. Get a test for diabetes done to determine whether you suffer from the disease or not.

There are many signs you need to be aware of. Don?t ignore even a small skin eruption or a red/white mark. At once, consult a physician and confirm the cause of abnormal signs.

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Source: http://www.health-niche.com/1448/4-signs-for-women-to-check-out-every-morning/

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How To Escape From Glass-Empty Negative ... - Holistic Marketing

We all encounter people who seem ?stuck in glass-empty negativity loops.? Referred to as energy vampires, they leave people depleted and disheartened. An awareness of why people become stuck in negativity can help us get through these encounters and, possibly, help the person. Any loss causes grief, and many people who tell long negative stories are caught in a cycle of grief, but haven?t had a chance to grieve. Without witnessing and acceptance, grief cannot move; it becomes an endless loop inside, and the feelings can be overwhelming. A person stuck in this loop makes negative comments or starts telling a negative story, causing discomfort in the person listening.

Read the full article here: How To Escape From Glass-Empty Negative Clients

Source: http://holisticbusinessmarketing.com/blog/how-to-escape-from-glass-empty-negative-clients/

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