Saturday, 31 December 2011

Where Will 'AHS' Go In Season Two? (omg!)

Where Will 'AHS' Go In Season Two?

During a conference call following last week's American Horror Story finale, co-creator Ryan Murphy revealed that every season would follow a new family in a new house.

He went on to reveal, "There is a clue in the last three episodes where we say what the second season will be."

Today Ryan took that one step further, telling EW.com that the clue is located in the penultimate episode, Birth. "Go through it frame by frame. I planted it in there," he teased before adding, "I will never reveal it."

So I did just that. Went through the episode frame by frame and here are the Top 5 clues from Birth that might hint at the season two location.

Possible Location #1: Vermont
The episode opens in 1984 with Newhart playing on the television in the background. The show, which ran from 1982 to 1990, took place at an inn ... rife for the haunting?

Possible Location #2: Florida
This has been a popular theory with fans. The location was repeatedly mentioned throughout the season since it's where Vivien's sister Jill lives. Plus, there is no shortage of dead people in the retirement capital of America.

Possible Location #3: A Geographically Irrelevant Prison
Psychic Billie Dean Howard (played by the divine Sarah Paulson) has a long soliloquy about paramagnetic grip -- how evil can be absorbed by an environment. She says, "You see it all the time in places like prisons or asylums. Negative energy feeds on trauma and pain. It draws those things to it." This echoes a sentiment Ryan expressed during the conference call: "There are all different kinds of horror stores to tell, be it serial killing stories or true crime stories or prison stories."

Possible Location #4: North Carolina circa 1590
In an attempt to help Violet expunge Chad from the house, Billie Dean tells her a story about a Ghost Colony that lived in Roanoke around the turn of the century.

Possible Location #5: London, England
In the episode, two doctors treat Vivien: Dr. Marchesi and the unseen Dr. Hall. Well, Marchesi Hall is located in St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_where_ahs_season_two221016324/44022551/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/where-ahs-season-two-221016324.html

yu darvish jon bon jovi dead ndaa new jersey plane crash ohio state kobe bryant wife bonjovi dead

Bad economy puts Jamaica opposition back in power (Reuters)

KINGSTON (Reuters) ? Jamaica's main opposition party rode a wave of discontent with a bad economy to a big win at the polls on Thursday, in elections that swept former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller back into office.

Preliminary official results showed Simpson Miller's People's National Party, or PNP, winning 41 of the 63 parliamentary seats at stake in the national election.

The results gave the Jamaica Labor Party, or JLP, of Prime Minister Andrew Holness just 22 seats.

"The people of Jamaica have spoken," Holness, 39, told reporters late on Thursday after calling the 66-year-old Simpson Miller to concede defeat.

"I wish the new government well," he said. "There are challenges that they will face, challenges that we are quite well aware of. And we hope for the benefit of the country and for the interest of the people of Jamaica that they will do a good job,

The center-right JLP is considered slightly more conservative than Simpson Miller's PNP, which narrowly lost a general election in 2007 after she briefly served as Jamaica's first female premier.

But there are no major ideological differences between the parties, in a country once notorious for political bloodletting. Analysts have said neither party would have much room for maneuver in office as it deals with a huge debt burden and high unemployment.

Many expect the new government will be forced to implement unpopular austerity measures, including possible layoffs of state workers, in an effort to shore up the economy after it received a $1.27 billion lifeline from the International Monetary Fund last year.

Simpson Miller did not spell out any belt-tightening or other economic measures in a long and rambling victory speech outside her campaign headquarters in the capital, Kingston.

But she has vowed to appeal to the IMF to extend the period Jamaica has to repay any loans, to give the Caribbean island more leeway to jump-start the economy.

Holness took office in October after his predecessor surprisingly resigned.

Although one of the Caribbean's more developed economies, Jamaica is saddled with a public debt load totaling more than 120 percent of gross domestic product.

That has proved a huge drag on the economy, which is dependent on tourism and has failed to grow over the past four years, sputtering since the JLP took power.

Unemployment has risen to 12.9 percent from 9.8 percent in 2007.

(Writing by Tom Brown; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111230/wl_nm/us_jamaica_election

when does daylight savings start earthquake in texas earthquake in texas official time news 9 tuscaloosa tuscaloosa

Friday, 30 December 2011

For Gingrich, it's a struggle to stay on message (AP)

STORM LAKE, Iowa ? As he scrambles to stop a slide in Iowa, Newt Gingrich's strategy amounts to this: hammer home a message about jobs and the economy while wrapping himself in the mantle of Ronald Reagan. But the loquacious former House speaker keeps struggling to stay on message.

On a 22-stop bus tour of Iowa, Gingrich finds himself unloading on his GOP rivals and reviving talk of a Greek cruise that nearly sank his campaign earlier this year. He fields questions about his work for mortgage giant Freddie Mac, ethics allegations and whether his three marriages make him a polygamist.

The economy? Jobs? Those issues sometimes have been lost in the mix.

"It's been wild and woolly," Gingrich acknowledged to a voter as his wife, Callista, collected a double cappuccino at a Sioux City coffee shop.

If there was ever a time when Gingrich has needed the discipline he's long lacked, it's probably now, as polls show his support tumbling in Iowa in the wake of a storm of ads assailing him as a Washington insider who used his influence to line his pockets.

He now trails rivals Mitt Romney and Ron Paul in Iowa and even if he does manage to score in the top three in Tuesday's caucuses, he doesn't have the money or the organization at this point that those two opponents do as they prepare to go the distance in the state-by-state march to the GOP nomination.

Gingrich argues that his economic pitch is the key to victory, and he doubled down on it Thursday _or at least tried to.

He appeared in Storm Lake with noted Reagan economist Art Laffer, who praised Gingrich as "far and away the best person to bring this county back to prosperity." Gingrich outlined his tax-cutting economic proposal and implied he was the heir to Reagan's supply-side vision. But he also strayed into long-winded digressions on the federal government's regulation of particulate matter load and conflict in the Strait of Hormuz.

His trademark spray of ideas leaves some voters impressed ? but overwhelmed.

"He has so many," said Ruth Lawlor, 76, who came to hear Gingrich speak at a chocolate store in Algona this week. "It's hard to keep track."

Gingrich's predilection to go for the jugular also has tripped him up, earning his self-described "positive" campaign headlines that he didn't want.

In an interview on CNN this week, Gingrich took the bait.

He not only blasted Romney and Paul but used some of the most incendiary language of the campaign so far. Romney wasn't "man enough" to own up to the negative attacks launched at Gingrich. And Paul was "totally outside the mainstream of every decent American."

Just days later, Gingrich seemed to be suffering from selective amnesia.

"The strategy of focusing on jobs and economic growth, staying positive and being pretty relentless in answering questions at every meeting is working," he said Thursday.

At his campaign events, Gingrich encourages his audiences to fire away with questions about allegations made in attack ads.

In recent days, he's been asked about an ethics fine he paid as speaker and his work for Freddie Mac.

"I don't understand numbers with all those zeros," said a man in Thursday's crowd, referring to the $1.6 million Gingrich's company earned from Freddie Mac.

Gingrich explained that he didn't take in all that money himself and that he fought to increase regulations and not increase funding for the government-sponsored entity.

The candidate argues that such forums give him an opportunity to set the record straight on issues that have been distorted. But they also dredge up the controversies, even as he seeks to put them behind him.

One example came in a telephone town hall meeting Wednesday night when a caller likened Gingrich's three marriages to polygamy.

"Jesus very specifically states in the Bible that divorced people are really still married, which I think technically means now that you're a polygamist, and I'm wondering what you'll do to legalize polygamy in the U.S. if you were to be elected president," the man said.

Gingrich labeled the question "fairly unusual" and said he would oppose any effort to legalize polygamy.

The former Georgia congressman acknowledges his tendency to stray off script.

At Mabe's Pizza in Decorah he was asked why his Republican rivals have been so eager to embrace government intervention in the economy.

He paused and an impish smile crept across his face.

"I'll just get in trouble," he said.

___

Follow Shannon McCaffrey: http://www.twitter.com/smccaffrey13

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich_off_message

greg oden eddie long ncaa bowl schedule ncaa bowl schedule occupy dc trisomy 18 oklahoma state

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Aartivijay Gupta, India Resort Fashion Week 2011

We're a TV network available on DirecTV, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Dish Network, and more. Find us on your TV. While you are here you can watch videos from our TV shows, check our TV schedule, and participate in discussions with members of our community. Thanks for visiting, and let us know what you think!

Source: http://current.com/groups/art-and-style/93594722_aartivijay-gupta-india-resort-fashion-week-2011.htm?xid=RSSfeed

fox 4 fox 4 adam levine vs fashion show 2011 victoria secret fashion show beverly hills hotel beverly hills hotel

Iran Threatens to Block Oil Shipments, as U.S. Prepares Sanctions

Democratic Underground Forums - Request error You are viewing an obsolete version of the DU website which is no longer supported by the Administrators. Visit The New DU.


Access Denied

The page you requested cannot be displayed because you do not have access to this forum or this forum is currently offline. If you wish to access this forum, please contact the administrator of this site.

If you have any questions, please contact the site administrator.
Click here to go back to previous page.

Source: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5087212

venus williams bowl projections bedlam bedlam cotto vs margarito 2 cotto vs margarito cotto vs margarito

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

The Champions: Denny Rehberg Gets Mining Industry Backing in Montana Senate Bid

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Representative Denny Rehberg of Montana has been an aggressive advocate for the coal and minerals mining industry, a big employer in Montana.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=3f1ba2e1a0e3ab96fe5a2543d9e76319

anne hathaway news channel 5 nathan hale kohls coupons joe kapp joe kapp kohls

Berri threatens to question cabinet?s performance if oil bill stalled

Speaker Nabih Berri threatened to question the Lebanese cabinet?s performance if it does not issue relevant decrees to put in action the oil exploration bill, which was approved by parliament in 2010.

?I will call on the parliament to convene and carry out its role in questioning [the cabinet?s performance], even if the parties concerned are my allies and friends,? Berri said in an interview with As-Safir newspaper published on Tuesday.

He added that ?Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Energy Minister Gebran Bassil voiced commitment to issue the decrees [to implement the oil projects].?

?I will not allow this commitment to be broken,? the speaker said.

?Cyprus and Israel began the procedures to launch oil exploration while we keep wasting time? I will no longer bear this issue.?

Lebanese Parliament in August 2010 passed an oil exploration bill, which calls for the establishment of a treasury and a committee to oversee exploration and drilling off Lebanon?s coast.

-NOW Lebanon

Source: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=346410

apocalypse now happy veterans day happy veterans day brian eno tomb of the unknown soldier tomb of the unknown soldier reo

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

About that left-libertarian alliance thing (Unqualified Offerings)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/179809675?client_source=feed&format=rss

teddy roosevelt kim richards rita hayworth rita hayworth lakers rumors kellie pickler alfa romeo giulietta

Seth_Everett: @marquis66 Community is great & I'm ticked its on hiatus. But I was talking about a comedy I can watch on @netflix while I do late nites.

  • Passer la navigation
  • Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
  • Passer cette ?tape
  • Connexion
Loader Twitter.com
  • Connexion
@marquis66 Community is great & I'm ticked its on hiatus. But I was talking about a comedy I can watch on @netflix while I do late nites. Seth_Everett

Seth Everett

Pied de page

Source: http://twitter.com/Seth_Everett/statuses/151091993710297088

joe pa brett ratner jerry sandusky toyota recall order of operations carrie underwood eric church

Monday, 26 December 2011

Boycott Apple, Microsoft The SOPA Supporters

Go Daddy burned their fingers when they decided to sell their soul to the devil. More than 21,0000 conscious users migrated to other services. Go Daddy changed its 'stand' the same day, which seems to be nothing more than PR strategy as Go Daddy 'worked' on crafting this act. If they oppose the act, they must run a campaign to ensure that SOPA is not passed. That's what it means by 'opposing' the bill and not by secretly supporting it via PIPA and Protect IP. Go Daddy paid heavily as 'informed' and concerned Go Daddy users revolted and threatened to switch to other registrars.

How about the other SOPA supporters? Will you be boycotting them? There are two monopolies which are endorsing SOPA, Apple and Microsoft. Apple has not said anything in support of SOPA. But, the company either way doesn't care about anything beyond its own profits. Apple itself is a censor police where it runs its own version of SOPA. Microsoft, on the other hand, has been openly supporting such biils.

Microsoft's Brad Smith who blushes every time the company forces a player to sign an Android contract on the basis of bogus patents took pride in supporting the act. Smith wrote on Microsoft's blog:

"We support the goals and approach of this important legislation, and urge the committee to report it."

He concludes:

"Microsoft is a company built on innovation and its protection through intellectual property rights, and we are committed to helping ensure that copyright is respected in the on-line environment. We look forward to working with others as this bill advances toward enactment."

Microsoft and Apple are the abusive monopolies which are endorsing and supporting these dangerous bills. The 'informed and concerned' Internet community revolted against Go Daddy and brought it to its knees. Are you ready to boycott Microsoft and Apple?

Source: http://www.muktware.com/news/3150/boycott-apple-microsoft-sopa-supporters

ascii art andrew mason once in a blue moon gwar guitarist gwar guitarist tower heist daylight savings time

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT - IGNORANCE! GOP REP SAYS MICHELLE OBAMA HAS A 'LARGE POST...

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

Source: http://www.facebook.com/theGrio/posts/10150458750774877

asu football arkansas lsu storage wars storage wars millionaire matchmaker millionaire matchmaker shawshank redemption

Sunday, 25 December 2011

Tornado Watch Likely by 4pm

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

Source: http://wizarmy.11alive.com/news/weather/95463-tornado-watch-likely-4pm

the hobbit an unexpected journey dark knight rises trailer dark knight rises trailer latkes ohio state football kathy griffin bethany hamilton

Fuel pipeline explodes in Colombia, killing 11

Men work in front of a home that was damaged by a pipeline explosion in Dos Quebradas, Colombia, Friday Dec. 23, 2011. The explosion killed at least 11 people, injured dozens and destroyed homes. The pipeline, which carries gasoline and diesel, is operated by national oil company Ecopetrol. (AP Photo/Maria Luisa Garcia)

Men work in front of a home that was damaged by a pipeline explosion in Dos Quebradas, Colombia, Friday Dec. 23, 2011. The explosion killed at least 11 people, injured dozens and destroyed homes. The pipeline, which carries gasoline and diesel, is operated by national oil company Ecopetrol. (AP Photo/Maria Luisa Garcia)

(AP) ? A fuel pipeline exploded in Colombia on Friday, killing at least 11 people, injuring dozens and destroying homes.

The explosion occurred in the central province of Risaralda, located about 170 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of the capital of Bogota, said local emergency management official Carlos Mario Garcia.

At least 11 people were killed and about 45 others were injured in the explosion before dawn, said Garcia, who was at the site of the blast.

A fire that broke out after the explosion had been brought under control, Garcia said.

The pipeline, which carries gasoline and diesel, is operated by national oil company Ecopetrol.

Officials suspect that thieves had been trying to remove fuel through one of the valves in the pipeline, Mines and Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas said.

Cardenas later told reporters at the blast site that officials were investigating to pinpoint the cause.

Garcia said by telephone that people had been evacuated from nearby homes. He said at least 30 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Images on Colombian television showed some of the houses destroyed by the blast and other homes with charred walls. The waters of a nearby stream were flaming with some of the spilled fuel.

Police officer Juan Pablo Munoz, who works elsewhere in the country but was visiting family for Christmas, said he was jolted out of bed by the explosion.

"I smelled a strong odor of gasoline," the 21-year-old said by phone. "I went out into the street. I walked at least 10 steps and I saw that everything around me was destroyed."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-23-LT-Colombia-Pipeline-Explosion/id-4c177abff6cd48b4a8393354b9ce12aa

cliff harris cliff harris josh turner bishop eddie long chicago news chicago news barnaby

Saturday, 24 December 2011

sportsmemo: NCAA Basketball Gambling: Boise State limps into matchup with Iowa: Boise States leading scorer, Anthony Drmic, ... http://t.co/8RA0wK57

  • Passer la navigation
  • Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
  • Passer cette ?tape
  • Connexion
Loader Twitter.com
  • Connexion
NCAA Basketball Gambling: Boise State limps into matchup with Iowa: Boise States leading scorer, Anthony Drmic, ... bit.ly/tuq0qh sportsmemo

Sportsmemo

Pied de page

Source: http://twitter.com/sportsmemo/statuses/149872137317003266

ruth madoff ruth madoff in living color enews enews mona simpson mona simpson

Mystery of Comet Lovejoy: How'd it survive close encounter with the sun?

Comet Lovejoy defied expectations and survived its closest approach to the sun late Thursday, leaving scientists the rare opportunity?to chronicle a comet's near-death experience.

Comet Lovejoy lives to orbit another 314 years.

Skip to next paragraph

Icarus should have been so lucky.

The comet, discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy Nov. 27, defied expectations that it would be destroyed during its closest approach to the sun late Thursday.

Instead, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite saw the comet emerge from behind the sun between 7 and 8 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, surviving a passage through the sun's corona and its searing 2-million-degree temperatures.

Prior to the comet's swing-by, which took it to within about 87,000 miles of the sun's surface, scientists expected the comet, formally designated C/2011 W3, to vaporize.

In anticipation, five sun-watching spacecraft from the US, Europe, and Japan trained their instruments on the object to take advantage of the rare opportunity to chronicle a comet's final encounter with the sun.

"I suppose the first thing to say is this: I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong," wrote astronomer Karl Battams, with the US Naval Observatory, who has been blogging about what he calculated as Comet Lovejoy's impending demise. "And I have never been so happy to be wrong!"

Why? Because, he says, that's when scientists really learn something.

One question relates to the comet's size.

"This is one case where size counts," says Dean Pesnell, project scientist for the Solar Dynamics Observatory at the Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "The bigger you are, the more likely you can make it through the closest approach to the sun," or perihelion.

Because the comet was very bright during its approach, "we knew it was a bigger one to start with," Dr. Pesnell says. But it was tough to put a number to the mass.

Because the comet survived, researchers now estimate its mass to be at least 1 billion kilograms, or 1.1 million tons.

Dr. Battams says he initially estimated the size of the nucleus at no more than about 200 meters across, roughly two football fields set end to end. Now, he says, it's more likely that the nucleus measures significantly larger.

In addition, the Solar Dynamics Observatory has been gathering spectra from the comet to understand its composition.

With all the spacecraft available to observe the comet's close encounter with the sun, scientists have been able to track far more of its torrid travels. The Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the comet as it flitted behind the sun, then re-emerged. One of NASA's two Stereo spacecraft was in position to capture the comet as it crossed the far side of the sun. It too has been gathering data on the comet's composition, Pesnell says.

Comet C/2011 W3 belongs to a class of comets known as Kreutz sungrazers. They were named for German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz who, in 1888, published calculations showing that three sungrazing comets observed between 1843 and 1882 were probably fragments of one larger comet that had broken up during its solar encounter several orbits earlier.

These three comets were dubbed "great" comets because of they were bright enough to be see even by casual observers without the aid of binoculars or telescopes. And some were visible during the day.

All Kreutz?sungrazers are now considered to be fragments of that one original comet.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/g77PdNstNMk/Mystery-of-Comet-Lovejoy-How-d-it-survive-close-encounter-with-the-sun

adam levine vs fashion show 2011 victoria secret fashion show beverly hills hotel beverly hills hotel rajon rondo tori spelling

Friday, 23 December 2011

Isentress Approval Expanded to Include Children and Teens (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Approval for the HIV drug Isentress (raltegravir) has been expanded to include children and adolescents ages 2-18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.

The drug is an integrase strand transfer inhibitor that helps slow the spread of the AIDS-causing virus throughout the body, the agency said in a news release. It was first approved for adults in October 2007.

The twice-daily pill is available in a chewable form for people aged 2 to 11, and in non-chewable form. Clinical testing of the drug among 96 children and teens with HIV-1 infection showed 53 percent of patients had undetectable blood HIV levels after 24 weeks, the FDA said.

The most common reported side effects of Isentress included trouble sleeping and headache.

The drug does not cure HIV infection, and patients must take Isentress continually to ensure ongoing reduction in HIV-related illness, the FDA stressed.

The drug is produced by Merck & Co., based in Whitehouse Station, N.J.

More information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more about HIV/AIDS.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111221/hl_hsn/isentressapprovalexpandedtoincludechildrenandteens

jfk assassination pie crust recipe heritage foundation dancing with the stars results 2011 pecan pie ali fedotowsky ali fedotowsky

Facebook Launches Suggested Events Feature Based On Checkins

Facebook Suggested EventsWe're creatures of habit. We go where we've already gone. That's why Facebook's new Suggested Events feature I just discovered is so powerful -- it knows where we've been thanks to our checkins. Replacing the old Friends' Events sub-tab of the home page's Events bookmark, Suggested Events helps you discover things to do that take place at venues you've checked in to, that friends are RSVP'd to, that are hosted by Pages you Like, or a combination. The feature could reduce the need third-party event discovery apps, and get more people out of their houses to attend concerts, club nights, and conferences.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ZKPasjA5GIc/

frank lucas lego man lego man cheryl hines john lackey john lackey ed lee

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Possible opportunity to contain cheap car insurance rather quickly in ...

By way of the online market place, most people may obtain a variety of factors. Wondering insurance quotes with their car or truck plan is among the things. You?ll want to have the ability to established these kinds of insurance quotes at the same time and also evaluate each one series to guarantee you receive the same possible choices by way of each one organization. Numerous corporations will probably hide itself with the information that the information they can indeed be giving contains a excessive insurance deductible amount as well as a smaller responsibility amount. General health worries may establish difficulties for you in the long run.

After a car insurance evaluation may be easily succesfully done internet. Online, you?ll be able to log onto the bulk of the a variety of companies that make available plan and ask an estimate with their plan. This would frequently decide whether some sort of firm?s background can be good or bad. When getting into an excellent insurance firm?s web-site you should definitely invest your own fix important information. A good amount of nights you?re going to are sent a non linear charge then again may not be an accurate charge when pruchasing. On the internet it is also possible to evaluate most car insurance charges ascertain that could be offering you the right charge aided by the right plan. Really do not be seduced by your recognized you are able to supply you with plan to get $16.00 some sort of month- with out the truth is keeping the organization undertake your entire important information as small as offer fix charge.

More than likely as long as they don?t invest your entire important information the cost can change greatly in the event you is going to be buying the insurance coverage. Some great benefits of purchasing car insurance internet are several, along with therapeutic for person interested in smaller the charges. Low-priced several options, the differences located in cheap car insurance charges could possibly be from about a few bucks, to tons, or higher for many people dating profiles and also plan needs. An additional comfort of possessing car plan from online representatives, is they may real give you lower price rates. By purchasing internet, the item will save them the issues of obtaining to treat you straight. Of course you ought to be attentive in which corporations you tackle. While your On-line also, the overview of buying, for example truck insurance boasts greater.

One other thing think about, is a privacy and security these kinds of web page include. So that you can offer every personal information, be certain that they have a gentle and also safer location. Be certain that the privacy policies are actually legit and they make available safeguarded and also appropriate matters ways. Even when checking, ask for all blog page of capabilities internet car insurance corporations and also read through all the Faqs and a unique unhurried quickness. Believe the provider. Be certain that the provider you select can be reputed and also well-known. Firms have been in and around for decades are your best bet.

Insurance corporations also take into account the fee for spare parts ahead of they give you affected premium, along with or perhaps a car or truck can be shipped in or dead. And finally, as it is far from pricing your insurance broker noticeably in case you make an application internet, your final savings are actually at some point passed on to anyone comprising of smaller rates. To stop over a lighter be aware of, observe among the many items which have already been reported on the subject of driving. Do not forget- any time it?s emerging your path, you?re in unwanted lane.

One of the many two major areas who build up full coverage auto insurance is a liability coverage. Your next anchor maintain full coverage auto insurance can be underinsured new driver plan. Precisely what this means that is always in the event person with out insurance as well as inadequate plan hits you, you need to have the allowed by the law strategies one of the keys man or women to make sure you secure precisely what is owing to you. This is a touch more technical by using comprehensive plan, which helps to protect you monetarily in the event your car keeps hurt by way of exterior solutions, prefer natural disasters desires to 100 % your motorcar.

Source: http://www.fcsafekids.org/2011/12/22/possible-opportunity-to-contain-cheap-car-insurance-rather-quickly-in-the-present-day/

radio shack nfl scores nfl scores college football scores arkansas razorbacks arkansas football maggie daley

Monday, 19 December 2011

Insight: Testing the limits of freedom in new Burma (Reuters)

MAYINGYI VILLAGE, Myanmar (Reuters) ? Tun Aung knew there were plans for his village to be moved to make way for a multi-billion dollar industrial zone and deep-sea port, but the whole thing was hard to imagine.

Then one day last month he discovered a new road slicing through his family's cashew tree grove, part of a network that will link to a super-highway across southern Burma to Thailand.

"I am very angry about this," said the 56-year-old farmer, who said his village leader had agreed under pressure to have everybody relocate. "There was no compensation. This land wasn't bought (by me), it was handed down from my father."

The road is just one piece of a $50 billion deep water port and special economic zone that is meant to transform this wild landscape of beaches, small plantations and scrubland into Southeast Asia's largest industrial complex.

Au Bar Tha, a 57-year-old monk, is one of thousands in the area who face relocation because of the massive project. In the Myanmar ruled by generals, who never hesitated to use brutal force to achieve their ends, that would have been that.

But Myanmar under a new and nominally civilian government has shown itself to be more responsive to the will of people. It cancelled a $3.6 billion Chinese-led dam project in September following weeks of public outrage.

Inspired by that, a grassroots movement has emerged here to oppose the massive development. New legislation passed last month gives them the right to peacefully assemble. "I absolutely don't want to move," Au Bar Tha declares. "I will stand like a stone and if they want to move me they will have to lift me up."

Elsewhere in the country, former student activists who had eschewed politics since a 1988 democracy movement was brutally crushed, are testing the air again. Workers are beginning to organize. Exiles are being wooed to return.

As the former British colony embarks on its most dramatic changes since a 1962 military coup in what was then Burma, mega-projects like the 250 sq km (97 sq mi) Dawei Special Economic Zone hint at a rapid acceleration in both investment and development.

With a metal ruler, Au Bar Tha points at a spot on a photocopied map where a new $8 billion deep-sea port will be carved into the shore. He notes places where an oil refinery, a coal-fired power plant and a petrochemical factory will replace rice fields, cashew and rubber trees and jungle.

Then, he slides the ruler north to his village of Mayingyi and to the words adjacent to it. "What is a combined cycle power plant?" he asks earnestly, hoping rare visitors from outside the area might be able to enlighten him.

Dawei's position on the map highlights Myanmar's geostrategic importance as it emerges from its self-imposed isolation. Road and rail routes from the industrial zone, built by Thailand's biggest construction company, Italian-Thai Development Plc, will link Dawei's port to China, India and Southeast Asia.

In a country where a third of its 55 million people live on less than one U.S. dollar a day, Dawei is striking in its ambition. Super-highways, steel mills, power plants, shipyards, refineries, pulp and paper mills and a petrochemical complex are part of the plan, as are two golf courses and a holiday resort, according to Italian-Thai.

Up to 30,000 people, mostly impoverished rice, cashew and rubber farmers living in thatched-roof huts, must be moved during 10 years of construction, say local activists who are fighting for compensation for the displaced or to block construction of polluting projects.

"WE HAVE NO GRUDGE"

The new activists take their inspiration from Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a proponent of non-violent resistance. Released from years of house arrest just over a year ago, she has rejoined the political process.

Suu Kyi had opposed the Myitsone dam and helped convince the government to suspend the project. That caught the eye of former activists such as Ba Htoo Maung.

Htoo Htoo, as he is known, was arrested on December 11, 1991, a day after Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was stabbed in the leg with a bayonet and beaten before spending the next 11 years behind bars for helping organize the 1988 protests.

After his release on March 9, 2003, Htoo Htoo gave politics a wide berth. He started a family and taught English and Burmese for a living. "Most people were afraid. I didn't even want to talk about politics."

When Buddhist monk-led protests erupted in 2007, Htoo Htoo stayed away. "Experience taught me a lot," he said in a quiet Yangon cafe. Those demonstrations, too, were soon crushed by the military.

This year, he noticed the tide turning.

Suu Kyi, once reviled by the military rulers and off-limits for the country's independent media, has been courted by the government after she was freed from years of house arrest last year. Her picture is everywhere -- on newspapers, posters, t-shirts and even key rings -- and she said she will run in a by-election for a seat in parliament.

Htoo Htoo is also inching back toward the political arena.

On August 8, friends who had also been active in the student movement invited him out to mark the 21st anniversary of a major student protest.

He decided to go "because the situation was starting to change". At the event, he met Suu Kyi and congratulated her on her meetings with government officials.

Htoo Htoo was encouraged but also concerned. The changes were so quick. He wondered whether the two entrenched sides in Myanmar's long-running political battle could be so easily reconciled.

He launched a movement he calls "Metta", a Buddhist word that roughly means goodwill or peace.

"We have no grudge. We are not interested in revenge," he said. "What we want is the country to change."

After Suu Kyi met President Thein Sein, Htoo Htoo was excited. The long-suppressed student activist in him resurfaced. He wanted to put together a mass public rally in Yangon Square, near city hall in the centre of town, in support of the dialogue.

He met Suu Kyi and sought her opinion.

"'The Lady' he explained, referring to Su Kyi's epithet, "said Metta is good. As for the mass movement, it is too early, she said. We cannot know who will join this mass movement with what ideas and what ambitions."

RISE OF LABOR

To say mass movements have struggled in Myanmar is an understatement. While other Asian countries have had military rulers, none have been so entrenched in every sector of society as in Myanmar in a bid to stamp out every whisper of dissent.

After the generals killed or jailed thousands in the 1988 demonstrations, they stepped up attacks on ethnic minority groups that have fought for autonomy since independence from Britain in 1948. The junta simply ignored a landslide election win in 1990 by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

Little wonder then that a labor movement never gained traction despite harsh working conditions for many in the country -- until October, when unions were legalized to the shocking surprise and relief of workers such as Ma Moe.

In July last year, she posted notices in the women's bathrooms of the garment factory where she worked on the outskirts of the former capital Yangon calling for a strike. Management responded with a small pay raise, and the strike was averted. But soon after, the harassment began.

The soft-spoken, 33-year-old was given more work than she could possibly complete, and hounded in other ways, she said. The trouble lasted more than a year before her boss gave her an ultimatum: quit or be fired.

She walked out.

"I cried," she said. "I was worried about the future because my family mainly depended on my salary." She said she earned between 80 cents and $1.50 a day, depending on overtime.

One of the first bills Thein Sein signed as the new president was a Labor Organization Law that legalized unions and, in theory, gave workers the right to strike.

As the economy advances, Myanmar may well emerge as a low-cost manufacturing hub alongside Vietnam and Bangladesh. Its once-flourishing garment industry was stifled by U.S. and European sanctions. Some expect it to rebound if sanctions are lifted, possibly next year or in 2013.

But the law fails in several crucial respects, said Phoe Phyu, a lawyer who represents disenfranchised workers and farmers. Workers can only strike with permission from authorities and grassroots unions are not allowed to have contact with international organizations, he said.

Conditions will change slowly as the country moves toward democracy, he said, but it is a long road ahead for workers such as Ma Moe. "The new law cannot change things for people like her," said the lawyer, who has been jailed twice for his work.

AN OLD POWER

Walking the rutted streets of Yangon with its dilapidated colonial-era buildings, Phoe Phyu's comment rings true in other ways: it is easy to see how Myanmar will change, but how progress could be excruciatingly slow.

The city seems ill-prepared for a wave of investment that could come if sanctions are lifted. It has no skyscrapers to house banks; no modern shopping malls for a new consumer generation. Wheezing Japanese cars from the 1970s and 1980s dominate the streets.

It's hard to believe today that Burma in the early 20th century was one of Asia's richest nations and a shining part of the British empire. After seizing Yangon in 1852 and anglicizing its name to Rangoon, Britain developed the area into its administration base, building law courts, parliament buildings, shady parks and botanical gardens. Rangoon University, founded in 1878, became one of Asia's premier universities. Its infrastructure rivaled London's.

Today, chronic power outages and deteriorating buildings are constant reminders of decades of mismanagement that began in 1962 with a disastrous "Burmese Way to Socialism" adopted by the then-leader, General Ne Win. It led to sweeping nationalization and global isolation for the resource-rich country.

In the centre of Yangon, at one of its hippest restaurants, however, Phyu Phyu Tin knows Myanmar's potential.

The 38-year-old managing partner of Monsoon Restaurant and Bar, with a menu that includes dishes from all the countries of Indochina, can trace her family's roots through the prosperous British colonial era.

Her great-grandfather owned enough property to give each of his children a house. Her grandfather worked for the British consulate and spoke better English than Burmese. Her father, Nyunt Tin, a fighter pilot-turned-diplomat, was posted to Hong Kong as Consul General and is now in parliament.

After years of living abroad, Phuy Phuy Tin felt the pull of her homeland in 2003 and opened the restaurant. Now that the country is poised for take off, she and her family are preparing to launch a construction company. Her little sister, Zar Chi Tin, who is living in London, plans to return and join in the business.

The Myanmar diaspora numbers in the millions, including refugees and exiles, and Thein Sein has invited them to return home to help develop the country.

"We are very happy, especially for the next generation," she said, reflecting the optimism that has washed over the country.

"Now we have reason for them to come back. And I think many in the younger generation will come back."

(Editing by Jason Szep and Bill Tarrant)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111218/wl_nm/us_myanmar_reforms

oakland raiders carson palmer al davis edmund fitzgerald vincent brown vincent brown willow smith

Sunday, 18 December 2011

Not sure if the Galaxy Nexus is right for you? Try it out online! (Yahoo! News)

Verizon introduces a virtual simulator for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich

You've seen the?Samsung Galaxy Nexus in pictures, and read about what?Ice Cream Sandwich can do. But while the first?Android 4.0 phone certainly piqued your interest, you're still unsure whether you actually want to get one. Need help deciding? Try out the?Galaxy Nexus simulator Verizon recently posted on its website, so you can test drive Android 4.0's features to your heart's content before deciding on a purchase.

The microsite isn't a full-fledged simulator ? you can't actually navigate your way around and press buttons on your own. All you can do is choose from a list of how-tos that includes, among other pointers, instructions on how to set up email,?install apps from the Android Market, and activate Android Beam, Android 4.0's feature that lets you instantly transfer content by touching two?NFC-enabled devices. Nevertheless, it provides a great visual tour of the phone, and can even double as a tutorial for those who already took the plunge and?bought one.

Verizon via?Engadget

This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/techblog/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111215/tc_yblog_technews/not-sure-if-the-galaxy-nexus-is-right-for-you-try-it-out-online

kentucky basketball heather locklear bob costas krzyzewski patti labelle childish gambino chris hansen

New GPS Satellites Accurate to Within Three Feet

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

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116034/New_GPS_Satellites_Accurate_to_Within_Three_Feet

merce cunningham saints tim hightower tim hightower waldorf school waldorf school world series game 4

Saturday, 17 December 2011

MILLIONAIRE'S ISLAND: A Simple Example Of ... - Business Insider

Image: wikipedia commons

An unspoiled wilderness with no poor people. Paradise!

As everyone in this country keeps blaming everyone else for our high unemployment rate, one assertion gets repeated so often that it is now regarded as fact:

Rich people create jobs.

Specifically, the argument goes, entrepreneurs and investors create jobs.

So if we want to create more jobs, the argument continues, we need to cut taxes on entrepreneurs and investors--to increase their incentive to create jobs.

Now, I'm an entrepreneur, and Business Insider employs about 75 people, up from zero four years ago. So if this assertion were true, I'd happily espouse it. It would make me feel great, believing that I had created all those jobs. And it would make me feel perfectly justified in paying historically low tax rates. (After all, I created these jobs!).

Unfortunately, as I explained in detail here, this assertion is wrong: Entrepreneurs and investors actually don't create jobs, at least not by themselves. What creates jobs is a healthy economic ecosystem, of which entrepreneurs and investors are only parts.? The more important part of the job-creation engine is a huge base of people and companies with plentiful disposable income. Specifically, millions upon millions of customers with money to spend.

Without our generous readers and sponsors and dedicated team, all the jobs I "created" at BI would immediately cease to exist (including mine). I'm patient and determined, but I'm not Sisyphus. And our investors are good people, but they're also, justifiably, impatient (they, too, have clients to serve and jobs to keep). And I certainly couldn't produce BI by myself. So if BI hadn't quickly gained traction with readers and sponsors and hired a great team, my investors and I would have switched the lights off. And all those jobs would have gone "poof."

Without healthy customers, in other words, entrepreneurs and investors can create prototypes, or do R&D, but they can't create self-sustaining jobs.? To create self-sustaining jobs, companies need to sell their products and services into a marketplace that 1) wants them, and 2) can afford them. The marketplace also needs laws, law-enforcement, property rights, transportation systems, resources, rules, and other attributes of healthy free-market economies that help companies and society function. Without all those things, entrepreneurs and investors can't create jack.

To illustrate this, let's run through a simple example. Let's create a fictional economy called "Millionaire's Island..."

MILLIONAIRE'S ISLAND

Let's assume that, before we get there, Millionaire's Island is an unspoiled wilderness. And let's start our experiment by picking up "the 1%"--the Americans in the top-percentile of wage earners--and putting them all on the island.

Let's allow the 1% to take their savings with them. So some of these folks will arrive with enormous wealth, and others will have very modest means. The island's residents will also be a highly skilled and educated bunch: Most of the 1% are doctors, lawyers, bankers, business-owners, hedge-fund managers, and so on.

In 2010, there were about 1.4 million one-percenters in the U.S., and they each made a minimum of $380,000 a year. So our island's population will be the size of a mid-sized American city. And the total wealth on the island will amount to one-third of the wealth of the entire United States.

(That's how much of the wealth the top 1% of the country owns--see chart at right).

What will happen?

Well, first there will be a massive grab for all of the island's resources. This will probably lead to years of violence and wars, in which many of the island's new residents will be killed off.

(Such is life without property rights.)

But maybe, to skip this step, we can keep our property rights and just peacefully divide the island's resources upon arrival--say, according to net worth. In this case the super-rich 0.1% would end up owning the vast majority of the island and the rest of the 1% would end up with some scraps.

Provided the 1% don't kill each other off dividing up resources, the island will then progress to the next phase of economic development: The rush to satisfy basic needs.

These needs would include:

  • Food
  • Clothes
  • Shelter
  • Basic services (health, legal, banking, plumbing, construction, garbage disposal, tailoring, cooking, dry-cleaning, cleaning, undertaking, etc.)
  • Government (including police and judicial system)

(Yes, we'll need some government. Given how much so many people seem to hate government, however, we'll keep government small and fund it with a simple, low, "fair" flat tax. That will let the super-rich keep more of their earnings than they currently do--and, thus, according to the theory, have an incentive to create more jobs.)

Image: wikipedia

Better hope he doesn't get his monopolistic mitts on the food supply.

Now, if the island's economy is closed--no imports or exports--most of the people on the island will probably soon die of starvation, because 1.4 million people can't immediately feed themselves without a fully developed agriculture system. But let's pretend that there's a food source that will keep everyone alive indefinitely and that control of this food source does not fall into the hands of a greedy monopolist who can charge, say, $1 million for a banana.

(If a billionaire were starving and there was nothing else to eat, the billionaire might just pay $1 million for a banana. As a result, the food monopolist would quickly amass all the wealth on the island. And the monopolist would enjoy this wealth right up until the time the rest of the island stormed his mansion, chopped off his head, and redistributed his property. It is true that "life is not fair"--another mantra that is often used to justify the extreme inequality that has developed in the U.S. in the past 30 years--but there's only so much inequality society can take.).

So let's say the island's food needs are taken care of. Then it's on to the other basic necessities.

Among the island's residents will be lots wealthy entrepreneurs and investors, many of whom made it into the 1% by selling companies or investing money. And there will also be "poor" entrepreneurs who are willing to take more risk in the hope of getting rich.

These entrepreneurs and investors will start founding and funding companies. These new companies will hire some of the island's other residents to provide their products and services. And the jobs for these residents (and the entrepreneurs) will be self-sustaining--as long as the employees are paid enough to buy basic necessities from other companies.

If the employees are not paid living wages--if, instead, all the entrepreneurs and investors try to maximize every cent of profit by paying employees as little as possible--the new jobs will not be self-sustaining.

Why not?

Better hope this doesn't happen on Millionaire's Island--the economy will eventually collapse. Click for more on inequality >

Because as soon as the less-wealthy people on the island run through their savings, the money to pay for basic necessities will disappear. The new companies that had been formed to provide houses, clothes, services, and so forth will go bust, and all the jobs will disappear (no customers = no companies = no jobs). The economy will collapse, and the island will be thrown into anarchy.

Importantly, this collapse will happen even if the wealth of the island as a whole still adds up to trillions. If the wealth and income is concentrated only in the hands of a privileged few, there will be no money for the less privileged to pay for any products and services produced by these few. Thus, there will be no point in the rich people producing any products and services beyond what they need to feed and clothe themselves (because no one will be able to buy the products and services). And, therefore, there will be very few jobs.

(The super-rich will probably have to throw everyone else a bone and give them means to clothe and house themselves or risk getting their heads chopped off, but this bone could take the form of indentured servitude. But the economy would not grow, and products and services would not improve. Instead, the super-rich would just sit on their money, which, most certainly would not "trickle down.")

So this is the first example of why it is silly to think that "entrepreneurs and investors" create the jobs in our economy. Entrepreneurs and investors start and fund companies, which is important. But what actually creates self-sustaining jobs and a growing economy is customers who want and can pay for companies' products and services. Without these customers, there's no job creation.

And what, in a healthy economy, enables customers to pay for products and services? The customers' own jobs--jobs that pay the customers enough to be able to afford to buy products and services.

[Before moving on to a final point, we should note an amusing side-effect of the economy on Millionaire's Island. To provide for its population's basic necessities, our island economy will create the need for a lot of jobs that the 1% aren't used to doing.

Specifically, a bunch of the folks who were making, say, $1 million a year as bankers or lawyers prior to moving to the island would have no choice but to become construction workers or sewer cleaners or undertakers or firemen, because otherwise those jobs just won't get done. The good news for these former bankers will be that, since no one on the island will want or know how to do those jobs, they'll probably be able to charge immense amounts for doing them. So as they're pumping crap out of a billionaire's cesspool, the former bankers will be able to take comfort in the fact that they're being paid millions to do it. At least until another former banker comes along who does it for less. Which probably won't take long.

Also amusing will be the fact that there will be an absolute glut of banking, legal, doctoring, and investing talent on the island, which should drive the price and compensation for these services to the floor. So the 1% will get a taste of what it's like to have their skill-sets and professions become so commoditized that they can't make a living doing them anymore. They might even have to sign up for re-training programs!]

Anyway, the satisfaction of basic needs will create a lot of jobs in our island economy.? And as long as the island's employers pay their employees enough to live on and save something, everything will be fine.

So, what will happen once the basic needs have been met?

Companies will be founded that do more than satisfy basic needs.

The new companies will produce products that people want, but don't necessarily need.

Like iPads.

Image: Mogulite

An amazing genius. But not a job creator.

Steve Jobs, the inventor of the iPad, has been heralded as an amazing job-creator in our own economy, because some 60,000 people now work at Apple making products like the iPad. But did Steve Jobs really singlehandedly create all those jobs? Of course not. If there hadn't been hundreds of millions of people on the planet with enough disposable income to buy iPhones and iPads, Apple wouldn't have been able to sell them. What created Apple's jobs was the combination of products that people wanted and people who could afford to pay for them.

But maybe among the island companies founded by the entrepreneurs and investors, there will be an island Apple, Inc. And this Apple will make products that are so magical and amazing that everyone will immediately want them.

And how many jobs will this island Apple create?

It depends on how many of the island's residents can afford to buy the iPads after taking care of their more pressing needs.

If everyone on the island has enough income to afford an iPad after paying for food, shelter, and clothes, then the island Apple Inc. might sell 1.4 million iPads (one per person). And that level of demand for iPads would create a lot of jobs making, distributing, selling, and servicing iPads--jobs that would last as long as the demand for the iPads lasted.

But what if the island's income and resources were not so equally distributed?

What if, instead of everyone on the island having enough disposable income to buy an iPad, only, say, 25% of the island's residents had enough disposable income to afford an iPad?

Unfortunately, you can't eat it.

(This, by the way, is probably a reasonable estimate of the percentage of American households that could afford to buy an iPad. About 25% of American taxpayers make more than $67,000 a year. And by the time you get through with food, clothes, shelter, utilities, transportation, taxes, et al, you probably couldn't afford iPads for everyone in the family on much less than that).

If only 25% of the island's residents could afford to buy iPads, then the island Apple could only sell about 350,000 of them. And that would create a lot fewer jobs than the production, sales, and service of 1.4 million iPads.

And this gets to the important point.

The iPad is the same.

But the number of jobs created by the iPad is different depending on the number of customers who want and can afford to buy it.

So, again, crediting the entrepreneurs and investors who created the iPad with singlehandedly "creating jobs" is unfair to every other participant in the economy. It's the overall health of the ecosystem--the combination of entrepreneurs, investors, laws, law-enforcement, transportation, and, most of all, wide distribution of wealth--that creates the jobs, not entrepreneurs and investors.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY

Yes, life is not fair. Yes, some people will always have more and others will always have less. Yes, capitalism is the best economic system in the world. Yes, entrepreneurs and investors are an important part of the economic job-creation engine.

But the moral of the story is that we're all in this together.

Our jobs are not created by a special, privileged handful of rich people (entrepreneurs and investors), much less a handful of rich people who have to be even better incentivized if our economy is to get back on track. Our jobs are created and sustained by the amazing economic ecosystem in which we all have the privilege and good fortune of existing.

If we continue to concentrate the wealth of this ecosystem in the hands of fewer and fewer participants, the health of the ecosystem will not improve. On the contrary, it will deteriorate further.

We do not need to further incentivize entrepreneurs and investors to start companies--they already have plenty of incentives to do so.

What we do need to do is find ways to give our vast middle class more purchasing power again.

What are some of those ways?

Well, modestly shifting the tax burden toward rich people would help. (Modestly, not wildly. No one sensible is talking about raising top bracket income tax rates back to 70%-90% again. We can start by just nudging the top bracket back to, say, 39%, and raising taxes on dividends and capital gains).

Reducing household debts through mortgage restructurings would also help.

And so would rebuilding our manufacturing base.

And so would doing something that could be accomplished outside of government influence: Companies could voluntarily reduce their profit margins and pay people more.

Wait, what?

Yes. Instead of continuing to increase their profit margins above today's already record levels, companies could decide to shift their emphasis from "serving customers and increasing shareholder value" to "serving customers and increasing shareholder value and providing a good living to as many employees as they can.

Wow, that last one sounds crazy. But it isn't. Our companies have become so phenomenally profitable and efficient that wages in our economy recently hit an all-time low as a percentage of GDP (see chart above). Perhaps it's time our companies started voluntarily sharing more of the vast wealth they have created with? their employees.

SEE ALSO:
Finally, A Rich American Destroys The Myth That Rich People Create Jobs
23 Mind-Blowing Facts About Income Inequality In America

?

?

?

?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/millionaires-island-2011-12

bobolink breeders cup hamilton park brian wilson freedom writers lemony snicket lemony snicket

Gingrich campaign works to translate Hispanic ties into votes (Daily Caller)

The campaign of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is looking to woo Hispanic voters, a must-win constituency for President Barack Obama in 2012, with a uniquely energized and focused outreach operation for the primaries and beyond.

While other parts of his campaign have struggled to get up and running, Gingrich has had a separate Miami-based headquarters for months tasked exclusively for reaching out to Hispanic voters. He also has outreach (or ?inclusion,? to use the campaign?s preferred term) operations based in early primary states.

Sylvia Garcia, Gingrich?s National Hispanic Inclusion Director and the leader of the Miami headquarters, says that the campaign is busy recruiting a team of Hispanic county chairs in states like New Hampshire and Iowa, as well as in Western swing states with large Hispanic populations.

?We?re working hard on getting enough people on the ground to work with all our volunteers and get out the message,? Garcia told The Daily Caller.

Obama won two-thirds of the Hispanic vote in 2008, but there are signs Republicans could pick up enough of that vote ? 40 percent is often cited as the magic number ? to give the White House a run for its money in states like Colorado, Florida and New Mexico.

Supporters say Gingrich?s moderate stance on immigration, long-standing ties to the Hispanic community and much publicized conversion to Catholicism would make him a dangerous opponent to an Obama campaign, which is counting on overwhelming support from Latinos next year.

Likewise, even some Democratic strategists have expressed concern that Gingrich?s interest in peeling away Hispanic voters could cause serious trouble for the White House should he win the nomination. (RELATED: Full coverage of Newt Gingrich)

?The possibility of a Gingrich nomination does scramble the deck, and it may mean that President Obama has to be more assertive on immigration issues,? Frank Sharry, a liberal immigration advocate, told The Washington Post earlier this month.

?Newt?s been reaching out to Hispanic voters for many years,? Garcia, who has been working for Gingrich on Latino issues for seven years, told TheDC. ?It had nothing to do with his campaign. ? We launched his Newt.org website in Spanish back in ?05 I believe, we had two of his books translated into Spanish, we had his DVD on Pope John Paul II translated into Spanish, launched TheAmericano.com as a conservative web mag for Hispanics.?

Gingrich, Garcia said, has been having regular round table discussion with Hispanic business and religious leaders at least since 2006, and that the campaign has a Spanish-language campaign website, NewtPresidente, along with a Spanish language Facebook page and Twitter feeds. His religious conversion is also often highlighted when reaching out to Catholic and Evangelical Hispanics.

?Hispanic inclusion is front-and-center in this campaign,? Garcia said. ?It?s always been front-and-center in messaging for Newt, and the communication to the Hispanic community has always been important to him.?

?I think that?s really where he can differentiate himself from the other candidates,? she continued.

Garcia also hopes Hispanic voters can make a difference for Newt in the upcoming primaries.

?I think one of the biggest mistakes Republican campaigns have made in the past has been to ignore the Latino vote for the primaries,? she said, adding that it?s a good way to earn their trust and build a ?sincere relationship? before the general election.

?Newt?s position on immigration and Latino issues is important, and it?s unique, and we think it?s important to talk [about],? Carli Dimino, Gingrich?s New Hampshire inclusion director, told TheDC in the campaign?s bustling Granite State headquarters in Manchester.

Like much of the campaign?s New Hampshire staff, the Boston College-educated Dimino is a political neophyte and longtime fan of the former Speaker. Now she?s in charge of turning out the state?s small but growing Latino population for Gingrich in time for the primary on January 10th. ?(SEE ALSO:?Mark Steyn: Gingrich ?in a benign sense ? is a totalitarian?)

?First day I got here, I went to city hall to see how to register to vote, because every state?s a little bit different,? she said. ?I asked for materials in Spanish, and they didn?t have them, so first day I get here I translated all those documents here, available and translated for anyone who might need them.?

Signs in English as well as Spanish welcome voters to Gingrich?s New Hampshire HQ, along with copies of the 21st Century Contract with America available in both languages. Dimino translates all of it, and goes door to door reaching out to Hispanic leaders in the state, building contacts and asking them to help get Gingrich?s message out.

The small size of the Hispanic community in New Hampshire does pose difficulties for outreach, but Dimino says the response she?s received has exceeded expectations at every turn.

?I?m from outside Philadelphia, where every church has a Spanish mass,? Dimino said. ?But everybody here is like, ?Spanish mass? What?? I did find a Spanish mass that I?ll be going to this weekend, to stand outside and pass out literature and reach them that way, because I think his background and his message really resonates with Catholic voters.?

?It been an amazingly positive response,? Dimino said. ?Latinos are amazingly receptive to his message.?

Follow Will on Twitter

Read more stories from The Daily Caller

Gingrich campaign works to translate Hispanic ties into votes

Ethics committee needs more time to investigate Rep. Waters

With tight 2012 election margins looming, Obama rallies liberal Jews

Rolling deep in cash: Adele single snags number one spot for 2011

Congress puts brakes on incandescent light bulb phase-out

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20111216/pl_dailycaller/gingrichcampaignworkstotranslatehispanictiesintovotes

manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez cain velasquez vs dos santos cain velasquez vs dos santos oregon stanford oregon stanford jon huntsman darrell hammond

Friday, 16 December 2011

An empress' humble start on Martinique

Even now, Paris feels a world away from this tropical paradise.

How much farther the immense capital must have seemed to Marie-Josephe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, a teenager on a remote sugar plantation with an improbable future. "You will be queen," a fortune-teller told her, according to the local legend.

Indeed, she would leave this southeast Caribbean island and rise through French society through the last days of its monarchy, the French Revolution and Reign of Terror to marry Napoleon Bonaparte, who would crown her Empress Josephine.

If she returned to Martinique today, she would find a sophisticated French-influenced culture enhanced by the flavors and rhythms of the non-Europeans who have lived here for centuries. They make up most of the population of this chic yet laidback island, which dips into the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other.

Josephine's humble beginnings on Martinique are explored here in a museum, the Domaine de la Pagerie, just outside the resort village of Les Trois-Ilets, named for three little islands just off shore.

When Josephine lived here in the mid-18th century, Martinique was a French colony. Her family owned more than 200 slaves on their plantation south of the capital, now called Fort-de-France, and the songs sung by these slaves and their descendants in Martinique's sugar cane fields are now performed by professional musicians and dancers wearing bright Madras plaids in luxury hotels.

Just the foundation of their "great house" remains, a modest stone square set in a green field of grass under the gaze of a white stone bust of Josephine.

The original house, set atop a small hill with a view of its fields in the valley below, was blown down in a hurricane when Josephine was not much more than a toddler. Financial problems kept her parents from rebuilding, so the family moved into the upper quarters of the property's sugar factory. The foundation that remains supported a wooden house built after Josephine left for France in 1779.

The stone factory walls remain standing in the shade of leafy palms. Another circular building has been restored as an open-air pavilion, where a handful of massive rusted cylinders and gears rest, long past use as parts in the sugar-grinding machines.

The kitchen, also a separate building, has been restored as a small museum containing Josephine's tiny, canopied bed, portraits, porcelain gifts bearing Napoleon's and her faces when they were the toast of Europe, and a copy of her letter of marriage to Napoleon, along with other historical documents.

There are also rusted chains that once shackled slaves, resting at the bottom of a glass case.

    1. Flashback! Relive 2011?s greatest moments

      From global crises to a royal wedding, from Emmy wins to a momentous goodbye, TODAY looks back at the most notable moments...

    2. Meet world?s shortest woman: She?s 24.7 inches tall
    3. Italian court reveals why it cleared Knox
    4. Stern on ?AGT?: I?ll be Piers on steroids
    5. ?Barefoot Bandit? to be sentenced

The legacy of slavery still tarnishes Josephine's reputation in Martinique. Many still blame her for Napoleon's reinstitution of slavery when France regained control of its colonies from the British, even though it's unclear whether Josephine influenced that decision. It certainly would have benefited her family, members of the island's wealthy elite who have considerable land holdings to this day.

Perhaps this is why Josephine's face and name are absent from most of the island's narrow streets, colorful buildings and even the Pagerie's gift shop, which mostly features postcards of island scenes. And there's nothing subtle about the condition of the statue of Josephine in the main square in Fort-de-France, where the intimidating stone fort still looms over cruise ships and ferries in the harbor. The white stone figure is regal in a flowing, low-cut gown, but it was vandalized years ago ? beheaded, red paint splattered down the white dress and Josephine's name struck from the pedestal.

The most prominent faces instead in Fort-de-France are two late intellectuals, Aime Cesaire and Edouard Glissant, whose writings explore black identity in a French-speaking country.

Banners celebrating their works hang in the sleek, modern airport named for Cesaire in 2009. Cesaire's book-filled office has been preserved in the capital's main theater, a landmark building that also bears his name.

Martinique is a department of France. French is the official language and the euro is the official currency. Locals drive Renaults and Citroens on twisty mountain roads and shop for the latest European fashions in boutiques.

But its cuisine ? French staples spiced with curry, fresh seafood, tropical fruits ? is flavored by what's grown locally along with the mix of African and Indian dishes brought to the island over the centuries. The covered market in the heart of Fort-de-France has packs of spices and vials of vanilla for sale and Madras plaid tablecloths for those who want to try the cuisine at home.

A meal is complete with a tumbler of ti punch, a sweet cocktail made with white rum, sugarcane syrup and lime. Tours at any of the island's rum distilleries will explain and let you taste the subtle differences between the white rums and the golden "vieux" or aged rums.

Even as empress, Josephine longed for her childhood Caribbean home. She tried recreating Martinique's tropical splendor at her home near Paris, Malmaison, a refuge famous for its gardens and greenhouse.

Visitors to Martinique can experience a similar retreat at the Jardin de Balata, a botanical garden perched in the hills above Fort-de-France. A paved walkway winds its way through bromeliads, orchids, palms, flowering trees and a cluster of the Balisier flower, the flower of Martinique, a red blossom that looks something like a Bird of Paradise. A rope suspension bridge offers a more daring view of the lush tropical foliage.

Farther north along Martinique's Caribbean side are the black sand beaches around the small town of Saint-Pierre, built around the ruins left by a volcano that smoked through Josephine's lifetime and finally erupted in 1902.

Off the island's Atlantic coast are the "baths of Josephine," shallow turquoise waters where the young, would-be empress swam, according to local legend. It's hard not to feel a bit decadent when the catamaran crew tosses a cooler containing a bottle of rum into the water with you.

If you go ...

MARTINIQUE: http://www.martinique.org

GETTING THERE: Air France flies to Fort-de-France from Miami. American Airlines flies to Fort-de-France through San Juan, Puerto Rico. Flights can be pricier to Martinique than to some of the other islands frequented by Americans.

TRAVEL TIPS: Think of Martinique as Tropical France: You'll be spending euros, and speaking French is widely expected on an island still off most Americans' radar. Nightlife varies from Miami Beach-style restaurants and bars to the local hang-outs where Martinique's smooth, golden beer, La Lorraine, is cold and relatively cheap. A car is helpful for journeys to rum distilleries or other attractions, unless you arrange a tour; boat tours are another way to see both coastlines. There is a Club Med, but all-inclusive resorts don't divide the beachfronts as they do in other Caribbean locations; in fact, all beaches in Martinique are public.

LES TROIS-ILETS: The village is about a half-hour ferry ride (6 euros) from the capital, Fort-de-France. You can also drive into the village along the Bay of Fort-de-France coastline.

DOMAINE DE LA PAGERIE: http://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/museums/files/Domaine_Pagerie.asp . A roughly 15-minute drive from the center of Les Trois-Ilets. Open Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.; weekends, 9:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.-5 p.m.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45686678/ns/travel-destination_travel/

denver broncos newt gingrich houston texans houston texans sugar cookie recipe sugar cookie recipe margarito