By Gary Cutlack
A patent originally filed by Apple back in 2008 has just been granted by the US Patent Office, with the tech giant?somehow managing to convince the authorities it should own a patent for a method of displaying maps on a touchscreen device.
The Subaru Challenge is back and in it's eleventh year! Yes the contestants are sweating it out in hopes of winning but they are not alone. The sheer support from their families is nothing short of inspirational. Read about sacrificial family love here...
Photo Credit: Kelvin Koo
The?Subaru Challenge 2012 ? The Asian Face-Off this year, like all other years, is an avenue showcasing extraordinary human willpower. 400 participants took place at?Ngee Ann City?s Civic Plaza but there was only one winner? Gan Yu Shen. The ultimate prize worth all the sweat and tears? A?Subaru XV 1.6 worth $80,800 (no COE)!
This year 10 countries are involved:?Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and of course Singapore.
Little pleasures in life
It?s the simple things like drink breaks that you treasure during these ?testing? times. Contestants are given four breaks per day: 1am, 7am, 1pm and 7pm. They can use these short five-minute breaks to either eat, drink get a quick massage or use the toilet?perhaps all at once if possible. This is the ultimate test of human endurance.?The last two standing were Singaporeans, Gan Yu Shen (Tholmas), 42, software engineer and runner up ?G Jai Shanker, ?47, catering officer. This shows us that Singaporeans are still the most resilient and kiasu. They deserve the win.
Family love and support
Tilani Family
More inspirational than the almost super-human contestants was the sheer dedication and support shown by family members of the contestants. Though there was only one winner?most walked away winners knowing how loved they are by family. One such family was the exemplary Tilani family.
Contestant Haresh Tilani, 28, bowed out of the competition 74 hours in but he went home still a winner! His family was by his side from the get go with an uncle and aunt coming down from Kuala Lumpur, cousins rushing immediately over after exams and a brother who went to work at 6:30am just to support him for an hour before work, during lunch and after work. That?s not all, they even camped out and spent the night at the venue making sure that Haresh would not fall asleep. They also Googled standing positions for him and played games with him to keep him entertained.
Haresh?s mother Ratni shared: ?The whole competition was emotionally draining and seeing our son go through this the third time. He was the runner up last year. The challenge is not something we as parents look forward to. We are very proud of him but it hurts to see him in pain. To us he is already a winner.?
Shanker Family
Another family, there till the very end, was the wife and cousin of Jai Shanker the runner up winner. Fuji, Jai?s wife of six years has been there every single day, bringing their 5-year-old daughter Nandii to support her daddy. Fuji shared: ?Every break time, I am here to feed him, massage him and take care of him. It?s been constant support from the very start even before my husband qualified. I helped make the calls to the radio station too.?
Fuji Wahyuni (wife of Mr Shanker) Ganga (cousin)
At the end of the day we are rich not because of wealth but also because of the warm family support we have?knowing that every step of the way, through thick, thin and every possible challenge?they are right there with unwavering faith in us. A very comforting and motivating thought that can drive us to succeed.
Congratulations to all the contestants of the Subaru Challenge 2012!
Winner Gan Yu Shen (Tholmas)
?
Tell us what you're thinking...
Source: http://sg.theasianparent.com/subaru-2012-winners-families-share-all/
obama on jimmy fallon google drive apple stock pilar sanders andrew young real life barbie zipper
Being a teenager is hard enough without being an outcast. This is the story of a group of Wallflowers who are trying to find where they belong.
Owner:
Game Masters:
Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.You may edit this first post as you see fit.
Can I have girl three? ;D
Imma make a CP for Wallfolower n?mero dos, in other words #2, if that's alright.
RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.
If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.
Registered users: Adantas, Adoration, Alasund De'astio, ali_rox96*, AngelJoyeuse*, Aniihya, Animality Opera, aodhstormeyes*, Aradia, Arch_Demon666*, ArhaHitomi888, Armageddon*, arteech0kee, AwesomeAshlyn*, AzricanRepublic*, Azrieldemourn*, barney_fife*, BBClock*, Bugbuster*, BumbleDrop*, Caeruleus Lupis*, Carlos_Joaquin*, ceh12*, Centi85, Cienpher, Cloasse, Colonel_Masters, Colors of Iris*, cosmopolitanlove*, Crooked Thoughts*, cucumbersome, Deadlylove55406, DemonDante*, DestroytheOrcs*, Digital_Muse*, Dmitrij Rosha*, DogFood*, Draruto, Exabot [Bot], FamishedPants, Fated*, Fencer, Firewind, FollowerOfDarkPaths, Frozen Soul*, Gamer_Templar*, Gluttonously, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Google Feedfetcher, hellgirl**, HereMeNow*, Inspector-Storyhead*, JEDH3*, Jewliet115*, John_234*, Juular*, KulasLightShadow*, LadyoftheLand*, Lee, legacy14*, Lerke, Lord Validrir*, Lorrim*, macheteshark, MarchHare*, masato22*, Mela, Merchant*, merrycom1234, MetalSliver*, Modesty, MSN [Bot], MSNbot Media, muketsu_bara*, Nekohina*, NeonWingedPhoenix*, nereus, Nightmaric_Angel*, NotAFlyingToy*, Ottoman, OurLadyofSorrows, Patcharoo*, PirateofPie*, Porecomesis*, Princess Awinita*, Qaida, Raidose*, raindrops_autumn*, rariszoo*, RedWolfe*, rpannier*, Saarai, SarcasticIrony*, SerenityMist, shadereen*, Shi-chan*, Shiva, SilverAngelWings, smellie_catt*, Snowashe*, Somethingderp, spudjohnson, Starryskies*, StefanLF, StormRider, SunniBunny*, susdev51526, Syshil*, Tainted Twinkee, Temperance*, Tenill*, Terrus*, The Illusionist*, The Painkiller, The Shadow*, the_original_icon*, ThexTwistedxOne, Thundera*, Thundergod1020*, tigerking1292*, TnevdaNai, TwiliXDragon, Utsukushii.Sora, Vestiline*, warthog*, Wildfawn, Winds Of Fate*, wolfoftheage*, Wudgeous, Xethyr, xoxMissClairexox*, yuri-chan1018, zolarix*, Zukuto
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/DqdirKH3zos/viewtopic.php
long beach state beasley trailblazers michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck unc asheville
BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets mostly rose Thursday as investors kept their sights on a possible improvement in China's economy.
A key survey of Chinese manufacturing activity rose to a three-month high in October, easing concerns that China might experience an abrupt economic "hard landing" rather than a gradual slowdown. The survey, released Wednesday, showed that industrial production continues to shrink, but not as sharply as in the past.
"There are positive signs pointing to further gains ahead, with new orders improving and manufacturers finally reporting that they are running down inventories of unsold goods," analysts at Capital Economics said in a market commentary.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.4 percent to 8,986.24. South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.1 percent at 1,911.94. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2 percent to 4,512.80. Benchmarks in Singapore, and the Philippines also rose.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng opened higher but hit resistance and, after peaking close to 22,000, turned fractionally lower to 21,760.24.
Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong, said Hong Kong's benchmark has risen too much ? nearly 3,000 points ? since early September.
"It's time for a little breather," he said.
Japanese steelmakers benefited from the brightening investment mood. JFE Holdings rose 3.6 percent and Kobe Steel added 3 percent. South Korea's SK Hynix, the world's second-largest maker of computer memory chips, rose 0.5 percent a day after reporting a small net profit.
More evidence of an improving outlook for the global economy could come later Thursday, when the U.S. government releases U.S. durable goods orders for September. Economists expect the data to show improvement.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced no new steps at the end of a two-day meeting Wednesday, but many economists think that the Fed will provide more assistance at its last meeting of the year on Dec. 11-12.
The Fed said the economy is still expanding moderately but that growth has been slow and unemployment remains elevated.
Stocks on Wall Street fell Wednesday, but the losses were not as steep as the day before amid a disappointing corporate earnings season. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2 percent to 13,077.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 0.3 percent to 1,408.75. The Nasdaq composite index lost 0.3 percent to 2,981.70.
Apple, Procter & Gamble and Sprint Nextel report quarterly financial results on Thursday. U.S. third-quarter GDP figures will be released Friday.
Benchmark oil for December delivery was up 15 cents to $85.85 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 94 cents to finish at $85.73 per barrel on Wednesday.
In currencies, the euro rose to $1.2981 from $1.2944 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar rose to 79.97 yen from 79.94 yen.
___
Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-rise-continued-optimism-over-china-030340454--finance.html
kindle fire drew peterson Art Modell Frank Ocean Gay scarlett johansson bill clinton andy roddick
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a last-minute federal appeals court ruling granting a stay of execution to a mentally ill Florida man convicted of killing eight people, including two teenagers, during the 1970s.
John Errol Ferguson, 64, had been scheduled to be executed around 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) but his lawyers filed a flurry of appeals late Tuesday arguing he should not be put to death because he is mentally insane.
The ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals establishes a schedule for additional briefs to be filed in Ferguson's case by November 6.
Ferguson, who has been on death row for 34 years, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1978 for a pair of killing sprees.
In July 1977, he fatally shot six people execution-style during a drug-related home robbery in a northern Miami suburb. Six months later, he killed two teenagers after they left a church meeting.
State psychiatrists and other medical professionals have diagnosed Ferguson as a paranoid schizophrenic with a long history of mental illness, according to his defense team.
Defense attorney Christopher Handman has said Ferguson considers himself the "Prince of God" and does not understand the death penalty and why it had been imposed.
"It is impossible to fathom that the state can constitutionally put to death a man who thinks he is the 'Prince of God' and who believes he has a destiny of being the right hand of God and returning to purify earth after the state tries to kill him," Handman said in a statement earlier this month.
Courts, however, have repeatedly rejected the claims.
On Monday, a federal appeals court rejected a new attempt by Ferguson's lawyers to postpone the execution, overturning an order by a south Florida U.S. District Court judge that the execution be delayed.
In early September, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed Ferguson's death warrant, but a few weeks later delayed the execution while a team of physicians met to decide whether Ferguson is mentally competent.
After a 90-minute examination and brief consultation earlier this month, a panel of psychiatrists determined that Ferguson was sane. A state circuit judge agreed in a ruling.
Posing as a utility company worker, Ferguson entered the home of Margaret Wooden, 24, on July 27, 1977 in the Miami suburb of Carol City. He pulled a gun, tied her up and called two accomplices into the home to search for drugs and money.
Six of Wooden's friends arrived at the house soon after and were tied up. Her boyfriend, Michael Miller, 24, also turned up. Six of the victims, including Miller, were shot to death. Wooden and another person escaped.
Ferguson was also found guilty of the abduction and killing of two 17-year-old Miami high school students.
According to court records, Ferguson abducted Belinda Worley and her boyfriend, Brian Glenfeldt, after they left a social event at a church on January 8, 1978.
Their bodies were found the next day in a nearby wooded area. Glenfeldt was shot in the head, chest and arm. Worley was found in dense brush with a gunshot to the back of the head. An autopsy revealed she had been raped.
(Reporting by Michael Peltier; Editing by Kevin Gray, Paul Simao and Lisa Shumaker)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-upholds-stay-execution-florida-man-042933516.html
whitney houston found dead i will always love you whitney houston 2012 grammy awards powerball results pebble beach golf beverly hilton roland martin
Posted by Lucile Jacobs on Rating 9.0 ?Outstanding
When planning to purchase personal vehicle, there are several factors that need consideration and perhaps the most important one is financing. Unless you have enough savings towards this, you will need to take car loan. There are different types of auto finance options available and you will be able to find one that fit your needs whether it is buying brand new car or a second hand one. When submitting application for car loans Alexandria citizens may find the following guidelines to be of great importance.
You first need to determine how much you need to borrow. This will be determined by the cost of the vehicle you intend to drive and even more so your financial capability. You should analyze your financial status and know the amount of credit that will not stress you when it comes to repayment. Your urge of driving a classy auto should not push you into borrowing money that you will find difficult to repay.
Auto finance options are numerous and can be found almost everywhere. Because of this, it is very important to compare rates charged by various lenders. When doing this comparison, you should only compare like terms. You will be surprised by variations that exist in interest rates from different lenders. By comparing, you will be able to choose a lender whose rates are affordable.
Repayment duration too matters a lot. The quicker you repay it, the better. This means you will be repaying in large monthly installments but at a reduced interest rate which makes short term car loans affordable compared to long term ones. You also need to carefully read fine prints to ensure that there are not extra charges that you are unaware of. These may include fines for defaulting, early repayment fees and so forth.
There are situations where a lender will insist that you make down payment before your auto credit can be awarded. This is however not a universal requirement by all lenders. However, you still need to give it serious consideration even in cases where it is not mandatory. Saving down payment mean you are borrowing reduced amount which will in long end reduce your interest rates.
Your credit rating is also very important. Nowadays lenders assess borrowers for approval based on their credit file. You should therefore ensure that you know what is contained in your credit file. Any errors that may be appearing on your report should be corrected or disputed before applying for the credit. Depending on where you live, the difference in interest rates between two borrowers with different credit scores can be very huge. This is why you should always ensure that your score is positive always.
Majority of people are not always aware of the existence of internet lenders. Because of the stiff competition for clients on the internet, these lenders tend to be very affordable. However, you must first verify that you are dealing with reputable financiers. Never should you give out your details online until you have confirmed that it is a genuine site.
When taking car loans Alexandria residents will also need to take insurance covers for the loan. Something may happen to you that will make unable to continue repaying it. It is during such a scenario that insurance cover will be important.
Read more about When In Need Of Car Loans Alexandria Residents May Find The Following Tips Important visiting our website.
Under Topics: borrowing, finance, financing, homes, leasing, Mortgage, Real Estate,arizona immigration law aubrey huff the killers julianne hough brandy calvin johnson calvin johnson
This is the full, original recipe; here?s the link: http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=108&sid=659480
1 lb hamburger
1 lb Italian link sausage
2-24oz jars of Classico Spicy Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce
1 small jar Kalamata Olives in Cabernet Wine (or black olives)
1 small onion
16 oz ricotta cheese
2 lb block mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1 lb package lasagna noodles (probably won't use all)
1. saute sausage, slice into thin pieces.
2. brown hamburger with diced onion
3. combine sauce with sausage/burger/sliced olives and simmer for 20- 30 minutes
4. mix ricotta with the egg
5. slice mozzarella into medium thin pieces
6. cook noodles for a few minutes until they're just pliable-don't over cook!
7. layer crockpot in this order: sauce-noodles-ricotta/egg-mozzarella, then repeat-liberally overlapping noodles
8. leave yourself a quarter inch or so of room at the top, as it may expand a little while cooking
9. cook on low for 6-8 hrs, and enjoy!
**********************************************************************************
Below is MY version; in my 4.5qt crock it made a nice, tall dish. I had a stash of no-boil noodles, and they were so easy to use I'll probably use them in the future. I cut the above recipe in half because I didn't want a zillion servings. Plus I wanted something close to a traditional thickness, not something that filled the crock most (or all) of the way. Although, a full crock would be great for a potluck.
Slow Cooker Lasagne About 6 servings
8oz no-boil lasagna noodles* (if you use traditional parboiled noodles, reduce red wine to 1/2c or omit it altogether)
1lb ground pork
1 24oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce - Classico works well
1 small can of sliced black olives, drained (1/4 to 1/2c, or to taste)
1 1/2c chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1c red wine (optional, but if you use no-boil noodles and want to avoid the alcohol, substitute 1c water)
12oz cottage cheese or ricotta
1lb mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded
1 whole egg
If desired, spray crockpot with non-stick pan spray or vegetable oil; set aside. In a large saut? pan or Dutch oven, brown sausage over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; saut? until onion becomes translucent. Add pasta sauce, black olives, and wine or H2O; simmer gently for 20-30 mins. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk egg with cottage cheese; set aside.
Add enough sauce to just cover the bottom of crockpot. Add a layer of lasagna noodles, breaking them to fit, filling in the corners as best you can. Add approx. half of the cottage chz and egg mixture, then about half of the sliced or shredded cheese, then approx. half of remaining sauce. Add another layer of noodles and c/c mixture, a layer of sauce, then top with remaining cheese. If you screw up the layers, don't worry, it usually turns out just fine.
Cook on low for 6-8hrs.
*8oz of no-boil lasagne noodles require about 1 cup of liquid be added to the dish; I use wine but water will work, too.
Source: http://www.myballard.com/forum/topic.php?id=14762
rob lowe peyton manning what is sopa marianne gingrich ibooks author gabrielle union merle haggard ladainian tomlinson
?
Source: http://stealthsurvival.blogspot.com/2012/10/simple-survival-tips-exit-strategy.html
luke scott tom benson royals nicole richie lyme disease symptoms esperanza spalding jessica sanchez
Hosting might be difficult. You may not Antonio Brown Jersey know which web hosting package deal is prepared for yourself, but more than that, choosing the right business to host your site may be vital to your site?s success. Here are some ideas about web hosting that will help you identify what you ought to try to find.
Deciding on a web host is surely an exceptional chance that you should bring about the planet. Should you be working an internet business, this can even be an incredible marketing opportunity. You should certainly very easily evaluate if the net hold uses renewable strength options, and when they have energy saving techniques in place.
Some website hosting providers ensure that you simply specific variety of website visitors every single day for the further payment. You must not depend on this procedure to increase your visitors, since you do not have Antonio Brown Jersey promise these particular visitors will correspond to the viewers you will be focusing on. Use good online marketing methods to promote your website as an alternative.
Everything considered, the lowest priced hosting clients are not the wisest selection. Positive, you don?t desire to incur huge fees for web hosting service, but you will not need down time, shed buyers, and much more problems based on deciding on a website hosting company as their standards are anything at all but professional. Make sure you choose an internet hosting company that you could believe in, instead of the most affordable firm.
Internet hosting is certainly an unstable and risky organization. As a result, the web Antonio Brown Jersey hosting organizations can experience numerous pros and cons, and lots of firms will not make it. For that reason, it is crucial not just in shop around, but be sure to comprehend the circumstances behind the surroundings. Opt for your online web hosting company sensibly.
Learn about other people?s experiences prior to settling with a web hosting support. See what negative and positive testimonies users have having a business by checking World wide web communications panels. Request those same consumers followup questions. Going with the least expensive internet hosting company you discover can cost your cash in the long run.
When about the prowl for the web host, attempt to choose one that always has reports and other announcements. A variety that always has reports is certainly one as their company is developing and whoever professional services are aiming Antonio Brown Jersey to be enhanced. And also this enables you to greater estimate where this provider will likely be at later on. A hold as their company doesn?t have lots of announcements is probably the one that isn?t changing. For that reason, you ought to steer away from these.
In case you are thinking of using a particular internet hosting web site, study evaluations regarding this. Specifically, check for critiques authored by customers of your site?s web hosting service services. Equally as you wouldn?t create a key electronics obtain with out first looking at product critiques, nor in case you bypass checking out critiques for website hosting web sites you?re considering using. Accomplishing this now can save you Antonio Brown Jersey aggravation further in the future.
Now you learn more about internet hosting, with a little luck you are feeling just like you can confidently pick a web host. Hosting may be massively important to your website, so consider it meticulously and use the ideas laid out here before you make a final determination on which host to select.
Authorised Brett Keisel Jersey Outlet offers a lot of very affordable Jack Butler Jersey right now with Extremely fast Delivery, Score Checkout & Great Customer Satisfaction.
jerry yang stop sopa justified southland sopa blackout protect ip act jim caldwell
NOVEMBER 15-20: Piece of Eden Musical Drama Returns to Palace Theatre Piece of Eden, an historic musical drama chronicling the early roots of Virginia?s Eastern Shore will be presented ?November 15-20 at the Historic Palace Theatre in Cape Charles.
The play was originally performed at the Palace in 2007 to sell-out audiences.
Written by the late Eastern Shore author and historian Jean Collins and adapted for the stage by?Sheila Cardano with original music by Gwen Skeens, this year?s performances will be directed by?Clelia Sheppard with musical direction by William Neill.
Piece of Eden tells the story of the relationship between the Eastern Shore and theJamestown settlement in 1618 through the life of Ensign Thomas Savage, a patriarch of several Eastern Shore families.
The multimedia production is highlighted by original music, authentic Native American costumes and tribal dance, and film exerpts of the Eastern Shore landscape.
The cast boasts over 30 actors including?children and actors of Native American and African-American descent.
Piece of Eden is produced by Arts Enter Cape Charles, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote education and appreciation of the fine and performing arts through quality performance,?instruction and training and to provide positive artistic experiences by creating a safe and professional?environment for an underserved and geographically isolated community.
A volunteer-based organization, Arts Enter offers a full season of entertainment and classes in dance, art, and drama.
Tickets are $ 20/adults and $ 8/students.Group and reserved rates available.
Related posts:
joan crawford joan crawford john goodman kendall marshall whitney houston news sylvia plath whitney houston
Dale De La Rey / AFP - Getty Images
Ivory tusks seized during an anti-smuggling operation are displayed during a Hong Kong Customs press conference Saturday.
By Miguel Llanos, NBC News
Hong Kong Customs announced Saturday that it had found 1,209 elephant tusks smuggled in two shipping containers from Kenya and Tanzania. Seven people were arrested in what customs said was the biggest such bust in Hong Kong history.
The tusks, valued at $3.4 million, are used for making ivory ornaments. A single tusk can fetch thousands of dollars on the black market.
Most large seizures of illicit ivory from Africa have originated from either Kenyan or Tanzanian ports.
Large-scale seizures have gone up in recent years -- 13 in 2011, compared to 6 in 2010.
A 1989 ban on the ivory trade helped elephant populations increase,?but an analysis of data from 1979 to 2007 found that some of the 37 countries in Africa with elephants continued to lose substantial numbers of them.
Related: Religious leaders organize to stop ivory trade
About 450,000 elephants roam Africa today. In 1930, the number was estimated to be between 5 million to 10 million African elephants.?
Reuters contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Beady Eye david bowie Eric Idle rory mcilroy Fatboy Slim Rio de Janeiro Shark Week
One lesson learned by successful small business owners to sales professionals is discrimination when it comes to finding new sales leads through business to business networking events whether it is joining or attending:
Many new small business owners, entrepreneurs and sales people attend every event they can just to get their small business names out to their target market and start securing all those valuable sales leads. Unfortunately, because they failed to do their research, this time is not invested as well as it could be because their target market is not necessarily in attendance.
By becoming more strategic in deciding what business to business networking event to attend actually maximizes the return on investment.? Years ago I wrote an article about the return on investment (ROI) and client acquisition costs regarding? B2B networking and sales leads.? At that time, the cost was in excess of $30,000 and depending upon the value per client many small businesses were losing thousands of dollars in wasted marketing efforts.
Every year here in Northwest Indiana, there is a regional luncheon where attendance averages between 100 and 150 of mostly decision makers, centers of influence all within the small business community. This is an ideal business to business networking event for those small business owners and sales people who want to interact with the decision makers such as other small business owners and C Suite executives.? The price for this luncheon is an affordable $20 and requires no annual membership fee.
Having attended this luncheon for over 5 years, I have been introduced to new small business owners, but more importantly have had the opportunity to share this luncheon with my clients and potential clients who have also found the luncheon to be very profitable.? My clients have appreciated my recommendations and now understand why they too must be more discriminating when it comes to business to business networking.
Playing the role of Captain Wing It where one sprays his or her actions all over the place and then prays something will stick only drains the limited resources of time, energy, money and emotions.? If you want more sales leads, to increase sales or to build new relationships, then invest the time to research and then attend those networking events where you will get the most bang for your buck.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Mitt Romney's transition team is quietly talking with government officials and Capitol Hill to develop a plan, if he's elected, to prevent massive cuts to the defense budget and extend tax cuts first passed under President George W. Bush.
The Republican's goal is to put his own stamp on legislation to fix the so-called fiscal cliff well before his Jan. 20 inauguration. The tax cuts are set to expire Jan. 1, and economists in both political parties say the reductions in spending combined with higher taxes would likely throw the country back into recession.
The economic policy planning is a major element of what's dubbed "The Readiness Project" inside the campaign.
Led by former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, Romney's transition team has been at work since summer preparing to choose Cabinet officials and build the new government if he's elected. The team has held events to raise private money, hired more staff in Washington, and moved into bigger, government-provided offices Sept. 4. Some of Romney's top campaign advisers, including former private equity colleague Bob White, are preparing to take on larger roles in the transition.
Looming over the standard transition discussions is the big policy fight on the horizon ? created by lawmakers trying to force a deal to reform entitlements and cut government spending ? and what role Romney should take if elected.
President Barack Obama also faced significant, pressing policy problems and began grappling with them before the inauguration. The country's financial system was in crisis, work was beginning on an economic stimulus plan and U.S. automakers were still in trouble. In the early months of his term, Obama pushed a stimulus bill through Congress and restructured the auto companies in a bailout process that Bush had begun.
This time around, the newly inaugurated president would likely face the winter session of Congress with negotiations between lawmakers over the economy well under way. Congress created the fiscal cliff threat when it tied enormous defense and discretionary spending budget cuts to passing a broad deficit-reduction deal.
Romney's campaign refused to discuss its transition team's fiscal-cliff planning at length, with officials careful not to be perceived as preparing prematurely for an election far from decided. Republicans on Capitol Hill said transition officials have begun informal conversations with GOP leaders in the House, and lawmakers are paying close attention to Romney's public statements about how he wants to handle the fiscal cliff in the event he wins.
Romney has said that if elected, he wants Congress and Obama to put off any permanent solution until after the inauguration and has suggested he would be open to fixing the problems with a series of separate bills instead of one grand bargain.
"Let's have a year of runway, or even six months of runway after the new president is elected so that we can, we can have the tax reform and the military spending plans and the budget plans that are consistent with that individual's leadership and views," Romney has said.
Both Romney and Obama say they want to extend tax cuts for middle-class families. But Obama is opposed to extending cuts for individuals who make more than $200,000 a year and couples who earn more than $250,000.
"The president has long made clear he will veto an extension of tax cuts for the top 2 percent of Americans, wealthiest Americans," White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday.
Carney refused to say how Obama would attempt to approach the lame-duck session of Congress if Romney were to win the presidency.
Defense cuts are a second major issue. Both parties and the Pentagon say the cuts included in the automatic "sequester" are too severe and would impact national security. Congressional Republicans have said they don't want a temporary measure to prevent changes in defense spending, instead wanting to offer a permanent solution. Still, Republican officials said GOP lawmakers would likely be willing to implement a temporary solution if Romney were elected. That would allow Romney to deal with the cuts permanently next year.
Romney has made deficit reduction a centerpiece of his campaign. But he has repeatedly acknowledged that making them too quickly could risk harming the fragile economy.
Aside from the policy strategizing, Romney's transition team ? it's made up of businesspeople, longtime Romney supporters and a handful of former Bush administration officials ? has been drawing up lists of names for Cabinet posts.
Romney has a history of blending business and government. He did that as governor of Massachusetts, bringing in some former officials at his private equity firm, Bain Capital, to assist in running the state.
Leading the day-to-day transition team operations is Chris Liddell, the former chief financial officer of Microsoft and General Motors, who helped manage the automaker's finances when it was going through managed bankruptcy with the help of millions of dollars in government funds.
Romney's finance team also is involved in plotting the transition.
While the government provides some support, campaigns are allowed to use leftover campaign money and raise an additional $5,000 per contributor for the transition.
Beyond the fiscal cliff discussions, Romney transition officials are weighing whether to allow registered federal lobbyists to take posts in the new government.
Obama placed restrictions on hiring lobbyists and has barred federally registered lobbyists from serving on government advisory boards, though he has issued waivers in some circumstances and hired lobbyists if they have been away from lobbying activities for a certain period of time. Romney is likely to lift at least some of those restrictions.
___
Follow Kasie Hunt on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/kasie
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/elected-romney-wants-fiscal-cliff-084434165--election.html
mario balotelli jenny mccarthy espn3 kevin youkilis Tropical Storm Debby fox news legend of korra
14 hrs.
The release of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system is a week away, and consumers are in for a shock. Windows, used in one form or another for a generation, is getting a completely different look that will force users to learn new ways to get things done.
Microsoft is making a radical break with the past to stay relevant in a world where smartphones and tablets have eroded the three-decade dominance of the personal computer. Windows 8 is supposed to tie together Microsoft's PC, tablet and phone software with one look. But judging by the reactions of some people who have tried the PC version, it's a move that risks confusing and alienating customers.
Tony Roos, an American missionary in Paris, installed a free preview version of Windows 8 on his aging laptop to see if Microsoft's new operating system would make the PC faster and more responsive. It didn't, he said, and he quickly learned that working with the new software requires tossing out a lot of what he knows about Windows.
"It was very difficult to get used to," he said. "I have an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, and they never got used to it. They were like, 'We're just going to use Mom's computer.'"
Windows 8 is the biggest revision of Microsoft's operating system since it introduced Windows 95 amid great fanfare 17 years ago. Ultimately, Windows grew into a $14 billion a year business and helped make former Chief Executive Bill Gates the richest man in the world for a time. Now, due to smartphones and tablets, the personal computer industry is slumping. Computer companies are desperate for something that will get sales growing again. PC sales are expected to shrink this year for the first time since 2001, according to IHS iSuppli, a market research firm.
The question is whether the new version, which can be run on tablets and smartphones, along with the traditional PC, can satisfy the needs of both types of users.
"I am very worried that Microsoft may be about to shoot itself in the foot spectacularly," said?Michael Mace, the CEO of Silicon Valley software startup Cera Technology and a former Apple employee. Windows 8 is so different, he said, that many Windows users who aren't technophiles will feel lost, he said.
Microsoft is releasing Windows 8 on Oct. 26, and it doesn't plan to cushion the impact. Computer companies will make Windows 8 standard on practically all PCs that are sold to consumers.
Speaking to Wall Street analysts on Thursday, Microsoft's chief financial officer Peter Klein said he isn't very concerned that user confusion could slow the adoption of Windows 8. When Microsoft introduces new features, he said, people eventually realize that "those innovations have delivered way more value, way more productivity and way better usability." That's going to be true of Windows 8 too, he said.
Instead of the familiar Start menu and icons, Windows 8 displays applications as a colorful array of tiles, which can feature updated information from the applications. For instance, the "Photos" tile shows an image from the user's collection, and the "People" tile shows images from the user's social-media contacts. (Microsoft is licensed to use AP content in the Windows 8 news applications.)
The tiles are big and easy to hit with a finger ? convenient for a touch?screen. Applications fill the whole screen by default ? convenient for a tablet screen, which is usually smaller than a PC's. The little buttons that surround Windows 7 applications, for functions like controlling the speaker volume, are hidden, giving a clean, uncluttered view. When you need those little buttons, you can bring them out, but users have to figure out on their own how to do it.
"In the quest for simplicity, they sacrificed obviousness," said Sebastiaan de With, an interface designer and the chief creative officer at app developer DoubleTwist in San Francisco.
Technology blogger Chris Pirillo posted a YouTube video of his father using a preview version of Windows 8 for the first time. As the elder Pirillo tours the operating system with no help from his son, he blunders into the old "Desktop" environment and can't figure out how to get back to the Start tiles. (Hint: Move the mouse cursor into the top right corner of the screen, then swipe down to the "Start" button that appears, and click it. On a touch screen, swipe a finger in from the right edge of the screen to reveal the Start button.) The four-minute video has been viewed more than 1.1 million times since it was posted in March.
"There are many things that are hidden," said Raluca Budiu, a user experience specialist with Nielsen Norman Group. "Once users discover them, they have to remember where they are. People will have to work hard and use this system on a regular basis."
Mace, the software CEO, has used every version of Windows since version 2.0, which came out in 1987. Each one, he said, built upon the previous one. Users didn't need to toss out their old ways of doing things when new software came along. Windows 8 ditches that tradition of continuity, he said.
"Most Windows users don't view their PCs as being broken to begin with. If you tell them 'Oh, here's a new version of Windows, and you have to relearn everything to use it,' how many normal users are going to want to do that?" he asked.
The familiar Windows Desktop is still available through one of the tiles, and most programs will open up in that environment. But since the Start button is gone, users will have to flip back and forth between the desktop and the tile screen.
There's additional potential for confusion because there's one version of Windows 8, called "Windows RT," that looks like the PC version but doesn't run regular Windows programs. It's intended for tablets and lightweight tablet-laptop hybrids.
Budiu believes the transition to Windows 8 will be most difficult for PC users, because Microsoft's design choices favor touch screens rather than mice and keyboards. Alex Wukovich, a Londoner who tried Windows 8 on a friend's laptop, agrees.
"On a desktop, it just felt really weird," he said. "It feels like it's a tablet operating system that Microsoft managed to twist and shoehorn onto a desktop."
Not everyone who has tried Windows 8 agrees with the critics.
Sheldon Skaggs, a Web developer in Charlotte, N.C., thought he was going to hate Windows 8, but he needed to do something to speed up his 5-year-old laptop. So he installed the new software.
"After a bit of a learning curve and playing around with it a bit more, you get used to it, surprisingly," he said.
The computer now boots up faster than it did with Windows Vista, he said.
Vista was Microsoft's most recent operating-system flop. It was seen as so clunky and buggy when released in 2007 that many PC users sat out the upgrade cycle and waited for Windows 7, which arrived two and a half years later. Companies and other institutions wait much longer than consumers to upgrade their software, and many will keep paying for Windows 7. Many companies are still using Windows XP, released in 2001.
Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial, is optimistic about Windows 8, pointing out that it's snappy and runs well on PCs with limited processing power, making it suited for compact, tablet-style machines. But he also notes that through Microsoft's history, roughly every other operating-system release has been a letdown.
Intel makes the processors that go into 80 percent of PCs, and has a strong interest in the success of Windows. CEO Paul Otellini said Tuesday that when the company has let consumers try Windows 8 on expensive "ultrabook" laptops with touch screens, "the feedback is universally positive." But he told analysts that he doesn't really know if people will embrace Windows 8 for mainstream PCs.
"We'll know a lot more about this 90 days from now," he said.?
This story was reported by Peter Svensson.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/early-look-windows-8-baffles-consumers-1C6555748
there will be blood there will be blood nigel barker 420 secret service fenway park coachella
Igor Vovkovinskiy is a 29-year-old paralegal student in Rochester, Minn., who is America's tallest man according to Guinness World Records. He claims he hasn't had a decent pair of shoes in five years and is unsure of his exact shoe size, but estimates suggest he wears a size 26, 8E.
Igor Vovkovinskiy is a 29-year-old paralegal student in Rochester, Minn., who is America's tallest man according to Guinness World Records. He claims he hasn't had a decent pair of shoes in five years and is unsure of his exact shoe size, but estimates suggest he wears a size 26, 8E.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/tallest-man-gets-big-shoes_n_1983953.html
selection sunday corned beef recipe time change daylight savings rpi dst friends with kids
Here at Maclean's, we appreciate the written word. And we appreciate you, the reader. We are always looking for ways to create a better user experience for you and wanted to try out a new functionality that provides you with a reading experience in which the words and fonts take centre stage. We believe you'll appreciate the clean, white layout as you read our feature articles. But we don't want to force it on you and it's completely optional. Click "View in Clean Reading Mode" on any article if you want to try it out. Once there, you can click "Go back to regular view" at the top or bottom of the article to return to the regular layout.
Cyrus Dowlatshahi
On a rooftop farm in Brooklyn one sunny afternoon, dozens of tomato plants heavy with fruit swayed in the wind, a farmer stooped over rows of dandelion greens and the customers kept coming. They climbed through the door to the 65,000-sq.-foot roof of the Brooklyn Grange Farm, in the city?s navy yards, across the water from Manhattan, and without fail they exclaimed with delight. ?I love it. This is beautiful!? said Giovanni Cipolla, a grey-haired man who bought a bunch of dandelion and remarked that the only other place he could buy greens this fresh was Italy.
At the vegetable stand set up in the middle of the roof, with the Manhattan Bridge visible in the distance, another man bought eggplants priced at $4 a pint. ?My 99-year-old mother is going to slice them, fry them and make eggplant parmesan,? he said.
Unlike many large city vegetable gardens, this rooftop farm is not a social project or a community garden. Rather, it is a working farm whose owners are trying to achieve economies of scale and turn a profit. Like any rural family farm, the Grange has paid employees (five in this case), sells what it grows at farmers? markets as well as to restaurants and runs a community-supported agriculture program. What makes it different is its urban setting?and that it?s an example of a new crop of urban farming businesses growing as numerous as early summer radishes across the continent, which are trying to prove that you can produce food and profits in a big city.
There are small ventures such as Red Pocket Farm in Toronto, where on about 2,700 sq. feet of land, Amy Cheng produces organic Asian vegetables such as bok choy and choy sum to capture part of the $21 million that Canadian consumers spend on imported Chinese vegetables each month. In the Vancouver area there are 10 mid-sized urban farms that typically use a few patches of land to grow enough food to meet customer demand, says Emi Do, who started Yummy Yards last year and now produces a range of vegetables on seven different plots. She generates enough farm income to invest in her business; she bought a cargo van and put in an irrigation system last summer.
There are larger operations too, and even big-ticket investors are showing an interest. Montreal?s Lufa Farms Inc. has been growing dozens of varieties of vegetables year round in its 31,000-sq.-foot hydroponic greenhouse, built on top of an office building with a?$2-million investment by?president Mohamed Hage. The business has been so successful?selling a weekly food box to a subscriber base of about 1,000 people that it has recently secured $4 million in equity investments led by a venture capital fund and is not only building two more projects in Montreal but looking to expand into Toronto and the United States. In New York City, the Brooklyn Grange operates another rooftop farm in addition to the one in the navy yards, as well as an apiary. The two roofs together required investment of more than $1 million in private funds and grant money. And in Vancouver, a company called Alterrus that uses the VertiCrop system is constructing a 6,000-sq.-foot greenhouse in a downtown parking garage where it plans to grow salad greens and herbs.
These businesses all hope to tap into the growing consumer demand for locally produced food. While the size of this market is not tracked in Canada, Ontario?s Vineland Research and Innovation Centre found, when it conducted consumer research with grocery shoppers, that more than a quarter of the province?s consumers are considered to be ?socially responsible locavores.? And a recent BMO study found Canadians are typically willing to pay anywhere from 16 to 19 per cent extra for produce and meat that?s local.
?I really do believe rooftop farming is the wave of the future,? says Sari Gonzalez, who volunteers at the Grange and runs a catering company while studying at Farm School NYC, a program that trains urban farmers, run by the non-profit Just Food. ?Part of that is learning to make money out of it.?
Of course, equally important to these enterprises is a commitment to environmental sustainability and local communities. ?It?s a triple bottom line,? says Michael Meier, the farm manager at the Brooklyn Grange, referring to the mantra ?people, planet, profits.? ?We won?t necessarily be making millions of dollars, but we are making money.?
Urban agriculture in North America has long been the domain of not-for-profits, such as the much-celebrated Growing Power, an astoundingly productive city farm headquartered in Milwaukee that was founded by Will Allen, a former professional basketball player turned Procter & Gamble executive whose expertise and star power has been sought out by many, including Michelle Obama. Allen has received a ?genius grant? from the MacArthur Foundation and $5 million from the Kellogg Foundation to train what he calls community farmers, who provide their neighbours with access to healthy food. Allen?s farms grow enough produce and raise enough meat and fish to feed 10,000 people, and his model of city farming is promoted for its capacity to help improve quality of life in impoverished urban areas.
In some ways, this social aspect is easier to understand. ?One of the big challenges is convincing people that this is truly a business,? says Hage of Lufa Farms. ?This model isn?t just a feel-good model but potentially a very big enterprise.?
Making a profit while producing food in the city is not new. Many cities in the developing world, such as Nairobi, have vibrant urban agriculture sectors. In these dense, often poor cities, farmers find ways to grow food in any space they can?even at the roadside, using plastic sacks. But even in the developing world, urban agriculture is not solely the domain of impoverished people looking to make money. Middle-class entrepreneurs are also producing food for profit, because of the business potential. When you grow food in the city, you locate your business in the midst of your market?a large market that needs to eat at least three times every day.
In North America, the urban-market advantage is similarly helping to fuel interest. Courses have sprung up at universities and colleges to train the new urban farming class. And in August in Toronto, an urban agriculture summit brought people together from the United States, Canada and Cuba to talk about issues such as zoning regulations and to share experiences and techniques.
Governments, too, are becoming supportive by changing by-laws to make it legal for people to sell what they grow in the city. (It continues to be against the law in some jurisdictions, such as Vancouver, where you can?t sell food grown on land that isn?t designated agricultural.) Responding to requests for information from both municipalities and private citizens, Ontario?s ministry of agriculture, food and rural affairs has created the online Urban Agriculture Business Information Bundle to provide resources about topics like food handling and business development for city farm entrepreneurs.
Being a farmer ?is not an easy living,? says Cathy Holtslander, director of research and policy for the National Farmers Union. For decades in Canada, according to her organization, the traditional family farmer has been struggling to earn a living wage. Most farmers must find other kinds of employment because they can?t support their families without the extra income. Even organic farms that are tapping into the same local-food movement as these urban farms are struggling. It remains true that the best way for farmers to make a lot of money in Canada is by selling their land for development.
But farming in the city isn?t the same as growing food in the countryside. There are many advantages in addition to the ever-present consumer base. Urban farms such as Vancouver?s Yummy Yards don?t need expensive tractors and can use hand tools instead. Small backyard-based businesses can turn on a garden hose to water their crops, rather than invest in irrigation. The larger operations with more costly greenhouses such as Lufa Farms benefit from growing specialty crops, rather than the low-value cash crops that so many rural farms produce, says Rod MacRae, an associate professor at York University who is a co-author of a Metcalf Foundation report on scaling up urban agriculture. A bushel of wheat was listed on the commodity exchanges recently for $9.60, whereas, at the Brooklyn Grange, that would buy you a pint of fairy tale eggplants, a small bunch of carrots and a few habaneros.
Whether or not these differences will mean that city farming businesses can succeed is an open question. ?We are in this flux mode where new things are emerging that will hopefully get us on a more sustainable track,? says MacRae. ?Exactly which of these things has legs is yet to be seen. You can?t really predict what?s going to play.?
Source: http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/10/18/the-farm-on-top-of-the-city/
the line bobby brown arrested the happening jennifer lawrence black panthers mauritania mark sanchez
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama has presided over a heyday for the gun industry despite predictions by the National Rifle Association four years ago that he would be the "most anti-gun president in American history." Gun buyers fear that Obama wants to restrict their purchases, especially if he were re-elected.
An analysis by The Associated Press of data tracking the health of the gun industry shows that sales are on the rise, so much that some gun manufacturers can't make enough guns fast enough. Major gun company stock prices are up. The number of federally licensed, retail gun dealers is increasing for the first time in nearly 20 years. The NRA is bursting with cash and political clout. And Washington has expressed little interest in passing new gun laws, despite renewed calls to do so after recent deadly shootings in Colorado and Wisconsin.
Obama has made no promises to impose new gun control legislation and doesn't have the support in Congress or among voters even if he did. During this week's presidential debate, Obama suggested renewing a U.S. ban on assault weapons and coming up with an overall strategy to reduce violence, but both Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said the government needs to enforce gun laws already on the books.
"The driver is President Obama. He's the best thing that ever happened to the firearm industry," said Jim Barrett, an industry analyst at C.L. King & Associates Inc. in New York.
Tennessee lawyer Brian Manookian said he never considered himself a gun enthusiast like others in his state. He owns only one handgun. But the firearms industry has proved so lucrative for him that he's enthusiastic now. Manookian and his business partner, Gary Semanchik, opened a $5 million firearms retail and training complex in September in Nashville.
Inventory is selling three to four times faster than they expected since the facility opened.
"It is a very strong investment," Manookian said.
Others agree. For the first time since 1993, the number of federally licensed retail gun dealers in the U.S. increased slightly in 2010 and 2011, as the country added 1,167 more licensed retail gun dealers, according to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records. After the assault weapons ban in 1994, the number of gun dealerships dropped annually until 2010. As of October 2012, there were 50,812 retail gun dealers ? that's 3,303 more than in 2009.
"Business has been very good," said Frederick Prehn, who a year ago opened a small gun store above his dentistry practice in Wausau, Wis. In the past year, Prehn has relocated twice to larger spaces and gone from one employee to eight.
Some gun store owners can't keep shelves stocked, said Brian Jones, owner of Bullseye Shooter's supply in Painted Post, N.Y. Jones said he opened his gun store in November 2010. In his first year, Jones said he sold between 600 and 700 guns. A little more than halfway through his second year, he's already sold 700.
For the first time in the company's history, Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. stopped taking orders for a couple months this year. Ruger, one of the nation's largest gun manufacturers, has since resumed taking orders, though gun-sellers say demand is still outpacing production.
Obama is not yet through his first term, but the federal government already has conducted about as many background checks for gun owners and prospective buyers on his watch as it did during the first six years of George W. Bush's presidency. In the first 3 1/2 years of the Bush administration, the FBI conducted about 28 million background checks. During the same period of the Obama administration, the FBI conducted more than 50 million. The gun industry uses the number of background checks on gun owners as a reliable indicator of demand.
Ruger and Smith & Wesson represent nearly 30 percent of the U.S. gun manufacturing industry and lead the market in production of pistols and revolvers, according to government statistics. The two companies have been running production lines around the clock, hiring workers and operating at maximum capacity, said Barrett, an industry analyst who also owns Ruger stock.
Ruger's sales have increased 86 percent since Obama took office, and Smith & Wesson's sales have gone up nearly 44 percent, compared with 18 percent for overall national retail sales.
And the companies have big expectations for the industry's future, as they're spending more money on research and development than ever before.
"Wouldn't you want to be in a business where customers are just begging to hand you money?" said Bill Bernstein, owner of East Side Gun Shop in Nashville, Tenn.
The NRA itself has done well, too. The lobbying organization has had more cash on hand during the Obama years than it did since 2004, finishing 2010 with more than $24 million, according to the most recent figures available.
"Which makes it incredibly ironic that the gun lobby is opposing Obama," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Gross said Obama, who initially campaigned to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired under Bush, has done what he said was "disappointingly little" on gun control.
But the gun lobby says the success of the industry does not indicate that Obama is good for Second Amendment rights.
"This is the most dangerous election in our lifetimes," NRA chief executive officer Wayne LaPierre said in February, a point he's made regularly during the NRA's campaign to defeat Obama.
The NRA stands by its 2008 predictions that Obama would be anti-gun. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam noted Obama's appointment of two Supreme Court justices whom the NRA considers anti-gun, plus Obama's support of a United Nations arms trade treaty and the botched gun-walking operation called Fast and Furious, which the NRA believes was concocted as part of a plan to enforce new gun restrictions.
"Gun owners and hunters fear that a second Obama administration with no future political campaigns to worry about will try to destroy this great American freedom," Arulanandam said.
It is hard to find a single aspect of the gun world that isn't thriving.
Fears of a Democratic president taking office and issuing stricter gun control laws led to an initial spike in gun sales in 2008, giving gun dealers some of the highest profit margins they've ever seen. But even after it became clear Obama was not going to make gun control a priority as president, the industry has continued to do well.
Fear of crime may be driving some sales. The number of violent crimes rose by 18 percent in the U.S. in 2011, according to Justice Department figures released this week. It was the first year-to-year increase for violent crime since 1993, marking the end of a long string of declines.
Firearms sales typically increase during poor economic times, said Steve Sanetti, chief executive officer and president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for the industry. More Americans are hunting and shooting for recreation as well, he said. Sanetti attributes that to military servicemen and women with firearms experience returning to civilian life and wanting to keep up with shooting as a pastime. He also said recreational shooting is a relatively cheap and accessible hobby, drawing in new buyers.
Voters have made clear that gun control isn't a priority. A recent AP-National Constitution Center poll found that 49 percent of adults felt laws limiting gun ownership infringe on the public's right to bear arms, while 43 percent said such laws do not infringe on those rights. After the recent mass shootings in Colorado and Wisconsin, 52 members of Congress sponsored a bill to track bulk sales of ammunition, but the legislation went nowhere.
Bernstein and others attribute some of the industry's success to all but one state ? Illinois ? offering permits to carry a concealed weapon. In some cases, people have been buying guns because they're afraid of the day they won't be able to.
"Any gun owner might fear that," said Justin Paulson, a 22-year-old grad student in Nashville who recently purchased a handgun from Bernstein's store. Paulson said he's been collecting guns since he was 18. He's currently up to 16. He purchased his most recent handgun because he thought the one he had was too small to defend himself. And the timing of his purchase was deliberate. "Chances are things might be a little tighter in terms of control come November," he said.
Fears about new gun laws mean dollar signs for the gun industry.
Bernie Conaster, owner of Virginia Arms Co. in Manassas, Va., has doubled the size of his suburban Washington gun store, hired more employees and paid bonuses since Obama has been in office.
"I certainly don't want to stoke the fire," said Conaster, "but I'll ride the wave while it's here."
___
Associated Press writers Matt Apuzzo and Pete Yost, AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius, and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
___
Follow Eileen Sullivan on Twitter at http://twitter.com/esullivanap and Jack Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gun-industry-thrives-during-obamas-term-office-073353804--election.html
andrej pejic naomi watts macaulay culkin steve jobs fbi safehouse brown recluse brown recluse
DETROIT ? General Motors will hire 3,000 workers from Hewlett-Packard, part of a push to bring most of its computer technology in-house.
The HP employees, who already work on GM projects, will help the automaker toward a larger goal: improving the software technology it puts in cars and uses to run its business.
Thursday's announcement is the latest in series of technology moves at GM. The company plans to hire 10,000 programmers and software experts over the next three to five years. It also wants to shift technology work from outside firms into GM and to open four new IT centers.
The former HP workers will help GM consolidate 23 global data centers into two. And they'll try to cut GM's software applications by 40 percent so the company uses more common programs and becomes more efficient, said GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott.
They'll also find ways to automate a number of corporate functions, saving GM money that will be spent on electronic innovation, Mott said. Once the automation is done, workers will shift to developing software and dreaming up new dashboard devices.
Mott said the employee switch is about GM's needs and has nothing to do with HP's plans to cut 29,000 jobs by October of 2014. Most of the new HP hires are in the U.S., but some are overseas.
HP, based in Palo Alto, Calif., is the world's largest maker of personal computers. It has been hurt as consumers shift away from PCs to smartphones and tablets.
HP is preparing to release a new line of tablets and has been trying to diversify into more profitable lines of technology, such as business software and consulting.
Source: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/10/18/2314845/gm-to-hire-3000-workers-from-hewlett.html
heidi klum and seal divorce craigslist killer extremely loud and incredibly close south carolina primary squirrel appreciation day billy beane kathy griffin
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? A suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle near the gate of a U.S.-Afghan combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday morning, wounding 10 Afghan soldiers, officials said.
The blast in Paktiya province's Zurmat district shattered windows on village homes three kilometers (nearly 2 miles) away but no one was killed in the attack, said provincial government spokesman Rohullah Samon.
He said it appeared the bomber detonated his car before reaching the actual gate of the camp. Many of the injured soldiers were in rooms inside the base that collapsed from the force of the explosion, Samon added.
There were no casualties among international forces at Combat Outpost Zurmat, said NATO forces spokesman Maj. Adam Wojack. He said the bombing was followed by indirect fire by mortars or rockets aimed at the base.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack and said that insurgents had breached the outpost's perimeter defenses.
Wojack said he had no reports of attackers on foot and that the outpost was secured soon after the blast.
The attack appeared to be in keeping with a gradual switch in Taliban tactics to increasingly target Afghan security forces as the international coalition continues the drawdown until a planned withdrawal of combat troops in 2014.
According to latest NATO statistics, the Afghan army has grown to 184,676 soldiers, and the country's police force now numbers 146,339 officers. The security forces are just short of the planned 352,000 troops.
NATO still has 104,000 troops ? 68,000 of them Americans ? in Afghanistan, down from nearly 140,000 last year.
However, the number of Afghans leaving the army has remained stubbornly high, with 27 percent of troops either deserting or not re-enlisting despite the higher salaries offered. And though the number of volunteers is still high, the army needs to train about 50,000 recruits each year just to compensate for the loss.
___
Associated Press Writer Slobodan Lekic contributed to this report from Kabul.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-blast-hits-us-afghan-10-afghans-hurt-082315171.html
gisele bundchen turbotax the bourne legacy roland martin suspended lake vostok montgomery county public schools the river
