independent news: June 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

NFL Communications - NFL Launches Inaugural NFL Fan Flag ...

NFL Communications - NFL Launches Inaugural NFL Fan Flag Challenge ? \ '); $('#wpl-mustlogin').hide().slideDown('fast'); } ); $('#wpl-mustlogin input.input').live( 'focus', function() { $(this).prev().hide(); }).live( 'blur', function() { if ( $(this).val() == '' ) { $(this).prev().show(); } }); $('#wpl-mustlogin input#wp-submit').live( 'click', function(e) { e.preventDefault(); $.post( 'http://nflcommunications.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php', { 'action': 'wpl_record_stat', 'stat_name': 'loggedout_login_submit' }, function() { $('#wpl-mustlogin form').submit(); } ); }); $('#wpl-mustlogin a#wpl-signup-link').live( 'click', function(e) { e.preventDefault(); var link = $(this).attr('href'); $.post( 'http://nflcommunications.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php', { 'action': 'wpl_record_stat', 'stat_name': 'loggedout_signup_click' }, function() { location.href = link; } ); }); }) })(jQuery); /* ]]> */

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Landslides kill 30 in southern Bangladesh

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Can This Photograph of Mt. Everest Persuade People That Climate Change Is Happening?

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What You Might Not Remember About Affiliate Revenue | Successful ...

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money on the internet. It can be rather complex for newcomers, if they don?t have the right information to get started. Use the tips provided in this article to start your affiliate marketing business, the right way for maximum success.

In writing reviews for affiliate marketing, make your reviews visually appealing. That is, make sure your blog or site has a pleasing design, and use photos, graphics and/or videos to keep your reviews entertaining and break up text. Part of earning people?s trust and esteem is giving them a pleasant experience, and the visual aspect of your reviews is an important contributor to that. People are visual creatures, so don?t make it a strain or a pain to read your reviews, and people will be more willing to keep reading.

Keep affiliate marketing sites organized by tagging all of the posts. Tags help visitors find the content important to them. It also helps search engines understand which keywords are relevant to the site. Make the tags as descriptive as possible in order to generate traffic to the site and increase profits.

The way to analyze any potential affiliate marketing program is to weigh the potential returns versus the costs. It is important to go beyond simple dollars and cents in this analysis. A cheap affiliate program that requires tons of work from the webmaster is not as cheap as it appears. A profitable program that annoys and alienates website visitors may cost more business than it brings in.

A good tip for affiliate marketers is to come up with a catchy name for their website in order to capture the attention of potential visitors. The name should reflect the content of your site as well as the types of products you are promoting to lure in visitors that are likely to become customers.

Place keywords in website content. By doing this, the search engines will recognize that your site is probably related to certain keywords and rank the site accordingly. But take care to do this naturally; abnormal keyword stuffing seems unnatural and unreadable to some people. Just use the keywords in a communicative way.

Diversify your affiliate marketing strategy; do not put all of your advertising eggs in a single basket. No matter how tightly you focus on a particular niche, you should be able to find more than one affiliate to partner with. Maintaining good relationships with multiple affiliates will give you a safety net in case one advertiser ceases to be profitable.

Pay attention to the tax laws in the state you are in. Many states have recently changed their laws regarding internet sellers, and this may affect your business. Looking up the laws in your area can help you save money and prevent issues with tax forms in the future.

If you are creating an affiliate marketing program, be sure to give your affiliates a wide selection of powerful tracking tools. This makes it easier for them to see what links are working and what aren?t, which means better profits for you as well. Also, more powerful tools will attract more experienced marketers.

As previously mentioned, it can be difficult for a new marketer to understand the best way to use affiliate marketing to make money. The tips provided in this article are available to help you get started on the process. Starting your business the right way, will maximize your success and your profits.

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Maura Tierney lands recurring "Good Wife" role

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Ali Fedotowsky to Emily Maynard: Sean Lowe FTW!

Ali Fedotowsky, who starred on The Bachelorette two summers ago, recently offered her views on who Emily Maynard should pick and as her lifelong mate.

"Okay, I keep going back and forth. Like, literally, I’ve changed my mind 500 times," Ali said of Emily's remaining aspiring husbands, of whom four remain.

While Ali first thought it was either Jef Holm or Arie Luyendyk, Jr., she now says she's ruled out Arie and doesn't think Jef is ready to be Ricki's stepfather.

She likens Emily and Jef to herself and Chris Lambton, the runner-up to Roberto Martinez (who she broke up with after an 18 month-engagement) in 2010.

"This is a confusing season! She keeps saying that her relationship with Jef is slow to develop – that’s what I always used to say about Chris," says Ali.

"I mean, Chris is a great guy, such an awesome guy. But that’s like code on The Bachelorette for 'we’re really just not romantically into each other.'”

Which brings her to the pick:

"If I had to guess right now, I’m going back to Sean Lowe," the insurance salesman from Texas who moonlights as a male model, she finally answered.

The Bachelorette spoilers offer some hints as to who makes it past the hometown dates, but as far as her final rose recipient, all bets are still off!

Whom do you think Emily should end up with?

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U.S. Civil War Era Fantasy RP?

I'm looking for a partner who has some knowledge of the U.S. Civil War era, preferably in the Southern region specifically. You don't have to be an expert, but a working background would be nice. I always wanted to create a long-term fantasy RP in the Antebellum period through Reconstruction. When I think of the South during the Civil War, I always think of vampires, but I'm open to ideas. A visit to Charleston has inspired me to write about the time period and I'd love some company! I prefer male writing partners as I am a female, but again, I'm open to ideas. As long as you are able to coherently string words together and contribute to the story, I am happy. Please let me know if you'd be interested either via reply or private message. Thanks!

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Slow sharks snack on sleeping seals

The Greenland sleeper shark has just been tagged the slowest fish in the sea relative to its size, according to a new study that also found the sharks have a sneaky way to still nab live prey ? they attack sleeping seals.

The results may explain how these sluggish sharks (Somniosus microcephalus), also called sleeper sharks for their slowness, manage a diet that includes seals. Reports have shown this slowpoke of the Arctic and North Atlantic consumes ringed seals (Pusa hispida), harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus).

Scientists have known that cold water can slow down fish as it depresses their metabolisms. To find out if the cold waters put the brakes on the Greenland sharks and whether they still have the speed to catch seals, three researchers studied six of the sharks in the waters of Svalbard, Norway. [ Gallery: Seals of the World ]

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They equipped the free-swimming sharks with data-logging tags to measure swim speed and tail-beat frequency, which indicates the speed of contraction of their locomotion muscles that can be slowed down in chilly waters. The average water temperature was 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2.3 degrees Celsius).

They compared the results with about 20 wild fish species weighing 0.4 to 8,600 pounds (0.2 to 3,900 kilograms); the Greenland sharks studied weighed 450 to 756 pounds (204 to 343 kg).

The Greenland sharks showed cruising speeds of about 0.76 miles per hour (0.34 meters per second) and a tail-beat frequency of 0.15 Hertz, both of which were lowest for their size across fish species examined.

The chilly waters may explain the slow tail-beating, the researchers suggest. Sharks and other animals can partially compensate for the slowing effect of cold waters by recruiting more muscle fibers to certain tasks or by having cold-adapted muscle fibers.

However, the fact that Greenland sharks were found to be so slow despite living in Arctic waters suggests the sharks don't seem to fully compensate for the depressing effects of the chill on muscle function.

But perhaps the sharks could rev up some speed when going after a seal meal, but the researchers found this wasn't the case; the sharks' maximum speeds (1.7 mph, or 0.74 m/s) and acceleration during burst swimming were much lower than those of seals.

It's likely the sharks are attacking sleeping seals. Unlike cetaceans, which keep half of their brains alert while the other half "sleeps," seals seem to wholly go to sleep, either at the surface or underwater.

"Arctic seals sleep in water to avoid predation by polar bears Ursus maritimus, which may leave them vulnerable to this cryptic slow-swimming predator," the researchers write in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook? and Google+.

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France fights to avoid euro zone bank contagion

PARIS (Reuters) - Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy - France?

With a gaping public deficit and record level of debt, the euro zone's second largest economy wants to be sure it is not sucked into the bloc's game of debt-crisis dominoes, hence Paris's forceful lobbying for ways to shore up Europe's banks.

France is one of the strongest advocates of a Europe-wide banking union and, with an eye on its own banks' exposure to vulnerable debt in struggling countries, for immediate recapitalization of banks from euro zone rescue funds.

"I think the French are pushing this for a simple reason: They bloody well know they're next in line. They're after Italy," said Nicholas Spiro, head of consultancy Spiro Sovereign Strategy.

The debt crisis has already spread through Greece, Ireland and Portugal, all of which have international bailouts. Spain has asked for help for its banks. Cyprus may seek a broader bailout imminently. Italy has recently seen borrowing costs rise to dangerously high levels.

Eager to stop the snowball, France's new President Francois Hollande quickly championed ideas to fight contagion, some of which have brought him into direct opposition with Germany.

Investors are currently giving France the benefit of the doubt, driving French yields to historic lows as they seek the relative safety of debt issued by a core European country that nonetheless offers richer yields than Germany.

However, France's finances are nothing like as good as Germany's, and its banks have heavy exposure to Greece and Italy - a concern that has conditioned its response to the crisis.

"It's clear that pressure from the debt crisis will come on France and other AAA countries if there is not significant progress in mutualising risks," said Michel Martinez, Societe Generale's chief economist for France.

Spain and Italy's borrowing costs have eased somewhat on expectations that an EU leaders' summit this week will produce bold new approaches to contain the crisis. Short of that, they run the risk of becoming too costly to manage, prompting the need for sovereign bailouts.

Hollande's Socialist government has thrown its support behind the idea of setting up a banking union in Europe, with a central supervisory authority, joint deposit guarantees and a fund to wind down dud banks.

But France is also pushing for more immediate solutions that could shelter banks from the risks associated with the sovereign debt of southern Europe, fully aware that the crisis could deteriorate with lightning speed.

Paris has been a vocal supporter of using the euro zone bailout funds to recapitalize banks directly, although Germany's opposition to the idea remains a major obstacle.

DANGEROUS EXPOSURE?

Ratings agencies have said repeatedly that the prospect of Paris being forced to prop up its banks is a factor weighing against France's rating, which Standard and Poor's have already downgraded in January by one notch from AAA.

Egan-Jones, a smaller ratings agency that has made a name for itself by downgrading more aggressively than bigger rivals, cut France to BBB-plus earlier this month, partly on concerns that the state may need to support French banks.

Moreover, Moody's has downgraded French banks BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole, along with other major international banks, saying it had become unclear to what degree the government was prepared to support its banks.

Apart from France's own financial stress - its gross debt is about 90 percent of gross domestic product and rising - its banks have major exposure to the euro zone's most fragile economies.

Once among the top lenders to Greece, France's banks have quietly retreated from the country. But while they no longer hold large amounts of Greek government bonds, Credit Lyonnais and Societe Generale remain present in Greece through subsidiaries.

BNP Paribas, BPCE, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and Dexia, meanwhile, have a combined exposure of 32.5 billion euros to Italian sovereign debt. Moody's noted that BNP was exposed to Italy through its local subsidiary BNL, which has a 71-billion-euro loan book, and 11 billion euros of Italian government debt.

French bank shares and the cost of insuring bank debt have closely tracked swings in Italian government debt spreads, hinting that investors see the banks' fate tied to Italy's struggle to avoid being dragged into the eye of the debt crisis.

Dexia is the most exposed to Italian government debt, with 11.7 billion euros on its books, but even if the debt crisis does not engulf Italy, the deeply troubled municipal lender could be a big drain on French public finances.

The Franco-Belgian group, which has already required two bailouts in three years, is currently being kept afloat with 55 billion euros in guarantees from France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

However, the lender has asked for that amount to be raised to 90 billion euros - close to the 100 billion euros that Spain is seeking from euro zone partners for its entire banking sector.

"France is not out of the woods by a long shot," said Spiro, the consultant.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas. Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Will Waterman)

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Justin Bieber Confirms Next Single

Singer will drop Big Sean collabo, 'As Long as You Love Me,' in July.
By Jocelyn Vena

Justin Bieber
Photo:

Justin Bieber has officially picked his next single off Believe. The singer will release his Big Sean collabo, "As Long as You Love Me," to radio on July 9, Billboard.com reports.

The song is the first official follow-up to his single "Boyfriend" and has already seen some movement on the charts after Bieber released it as a promo single on June 11 in the lead-up to his June 19 album release. It charted at #21 on the Hot 100, banking 168,000 downloads. The song will get a major push on Top 40 and rhythmic radio stations in the coming weeks.

"Bieber's a true G. People may not know that," Big Sean told MTV News about working with the 18-year-old on the Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins-produced track. "He is a good dude, man. And I ain't toning down nothing. I'm diverse — I can write raps to any type of song."

MTV News recently chatted with Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, about the album's potential next single, and he shared that "As Long as You Love Me" was at the top of the list of candidates to get the official single treatment.

"We haven't picked the next single," he said. "We're gonna see how different songs react off the album. 'As Long as You Love Me' [with Big Sean] is getting a lot of love, so is 'All Around the World' [with Ludacris]. So is 'Die in Your Arms.' 'Beauty and the Beat' is coming with the album. We're gonna see what the next single is. We're gonna figure that out."

In addition to preparing to shoot a video for the track, Bieber is also still in promo mode, spreading the word about his album, as well as prepping for his world tour, which kicks off in September in the U.S.

"The tour starts at the end of September ... by the end of 2013 we're gonna hit the whole world," Braun explained. "He has been watching a tremendous amount of Michael Jackson concerts from the '80s and '90s. And he has been talking to me about how Michael incorporated magic and pyro and reveals and he wants to bring in that. [But] still do that acoustic thing, but he wants to take it to a whole new level.

"It's just really exciting," he continued. "Nothing makes him happier than being onstage. So it's gonna be fun to get back onto the road. I think he was an amazing performer before, but his level of dance and musicianship and his range [has grown]. He's a veteran now. I think he wants to take it to a completely new level."

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Record heat hampers efforts to fight wildfires

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (AP) ? Air Force Academy officials were evacuating roughly one-third of households on the school's grounds Tuesday night as heavy smoke billowed from a wildfire north of Colorado Springs.

The school said it was evacuating 693 residents in Pine Valley Housing, but an area of the 28-square-mile campus that houses cadets wasn't immediately evacuated. A new class of cadets is still scheduled to report on Thursday.

Fire officials had issued a pre-evacuation notice for the academy earlier Tuesday.

Fire information officer Greg Heule said earlier Tuesday that the fire was less than 5 miles from the southwest corner of the academy's campus.

Meanwhile, authorities in central Utah found one woman dead Tuesday when they returned to an evacuated area, marking the first casualty in a blaze that consumed at least two dozen homes and appears to be taking a turn for the worst.

Throughout the interior West, firefighters toiled in searing, record-setting heat that refused to relinquish its grip, as they struggled to contain blazes in Colorado, Utah and other Rocky Mountain states on Tuesday.

Colorado has endured nearly a week of 100-plus-degree days and low humidity, sapping moisture from timber and grass, creating a devastating formula for volatile wildfires across the state and punishing conditions for firefighters.

"When it's that hot, it just dries the fuels even more. That can make the fuels explosive," said Steve Segin, a fire spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

All of Utah and much of Wyoming, Colorado and Montana were under a red flag warning, meaning conditions were hot, dry and ripe for fires.

Tuesday was the fifth consecutive day with temperatures of 100 degrees or higher in Denver, tying a record set in 2005 and 1989. On Monday, Denver set a record with 105 degrees. The previous record for June 25 was 100 degrees in 1991.

Other areas of the state also topped 100 degrees Tuesday, including the northeastern Colorado town of Wray, which hit 108, the National Weather Service said.

What the nation is now seeing is "a super-heated spike on top of a decades long warming trend," said Derek Arndt, head of climate monitoring at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

The U.S. set 107 new temperature records on Monday and in the past week has set 782 of them, which are large numbers but hard to put in context because the data center has only been tracking the number of daily records broken for little more than a year, Arndt said.

But what's truly impressive, Arndt said, is that in the past three days in Colorado and Kansas, nine sites have set records regardless of the date. Usually hottest-ever marks are set in the scorching months of July and August.

The scorching heat doesn't appear to be letting up soon. Segin said such prolonged heat is "extremely taxing" physically on firefighters, who are working long days and carrying heavy gear.

Television video from the 7-square-mile Waldo Canyon fire west of Colorado Springs, Colo., showed smoke and flames close to houses in a forested neighborhood northwest of Colorado Springs.

The fire was 5 percent contained.

Two specially equipped Air Force C-130 cargo planes were helping fight the fire, and a third was expected later in the day.

With the nation's privately owned fleet of heavy air tankers already in use or unavailable, U.S. Forest Chief Tom Tidwell said his agency had to call on the military to help.

Tidwell told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday that about half of the nation's personnel who are usually assigned to large fires are working in Colorado right now.

"It's just because it's so dry," Tidwell said. "Not unlike New Mexico ? they saw very low snowpack, especially in that lower country. Hot, dry winds with dry fuels, you get the ignition, and this is what we see."

At the 136-square-mile High Park fire in northern Colorado, authorities increased the number of homes destroyed to 257, saying they found nine homes that hadn't been counted earlier. The total was already the highest of any wildfire in state history.

That fire was 55 percent contained.

In Utah, Sanpete County sheriff's officials haven't identified the body found or explained where the remains were found Tuesday morning while assessing damage in the area.

On Tuesday morning officials announced that the 40,000-acre Wood Hollow Fire was 15 percent contained and lifted some evacuation orders amid predictions they'd contain the blaze even further. But winds fanned the flames again by afternoon, forcing authorities to shut down part of U.S. 89 near Indianola amid fears that the fire would jump the highway.

Evacuations were called for Fairview, a town of about 1,100 residents near the blaze, as the Wood Hollow Fire grew larger and more erratic.

Elsewhere in the West:

? A 60-square-mile fire in Utah burned more than two dozen homes, firefighters said, and they were beginning an inventory to see if other structures were lost. The fire was 15 percent contained.

? A fire that charred nearly 70 square miles west of Ruidoso, N.M., was 90 percent contained, with many residents allowed to return home.

? A wildfire north of Helena, Mont., destroyed four homes and forced additional evacuations. Gov. Brian Schweitzer issued a state of emergency for four counties.

A wildfire in the Bridger-Teton National Forest grew from about 300 acres to 2,000 acres Tuesday, marking the first major wildfire of the season in western Wyoming.

___

Associated Press reporter Lynn DeBruin reporting in Indianola, Utah. Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, N.M., and Rema Rahman in Denver, and Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Egypt president-elect starts consultations on team

In this image taken from Egypt State TV, newly-elect President Mohammed Morsi delivers a speech in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 24, 2012. Islamist Mohammed Morsi was declared the winner Sunday in Egypt's first free presidential election in history, closing the tumultuous first phase of a democratic transition and opening a new struggle with the still-dominant military rulers who recently stripped the presidency of most of its powers. (AP Photo/Egypt State TV) MANDATORY CREDIT

FILE - In this Sunday, June 3, 2012, file photo, Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi confers with an aide during a meeting with relatives, unseen, of those killed and injured during last year's revolution that forced former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak from power, in Cairo, Egypt. The victor in the freest election in Egypt?s history, the bespectacled, bearded Mohammed Morsi will have a chance to prove his mettle by standing up to the ruling generals who in recent days have stripped the presidency of real power. (AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, May 20, 2012 file photo, the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi speaks at his last rally in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt's electoral commission announced Sunday, June 24, 2012 that Morsi is victor of landmark presidential vote. (AP Photo/Fredrik Persson, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, May 20, 2012 file photo, the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi hold a rally in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt's electoral commission announced Sunday, June 24, 2012 that Morsi is victor of landmark presidential vote.(AP Photo/Fredrik Persson, File)

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's new president-elect, Islamist Mohammed Morsi, moved into the office once occupied by ousted leader Hosni Mubarak and started consultations Monday on forming his team and a new government, an aide said.

Morsi was declared on Sunday the winner of Egypt's first free presidential election in its modern history, following a tight race with Mubarak's last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq.

The campaign had deeply polarized the country, pitting a former regime official and former military man? feared to be a continuation of Mubarak's autocratic rule but viewed by some as an agent of stability? against an Islamist.

Many supported Morsi as a representative of the uprising that toppled the old regime and a chance to challenge the military. But Morsi was equally feared among youth groups behind the uprising, which campaigned for a secular democratic state, and among many of the country's Christian minority. Almost half of the voters boycotted the runoff vote last weekend.

The victory of Morsi, the first civilian president to take over the country's top job, is a stunning achievement for the Islamist group that remained for most of its eight decades a shadowy organization targeted by successive regimes. He pledged he will be a "president for all Egyptians."

Now, Morsi faces a daunting struggle for power with the country's still-dominant military rulers who took over after Mubarak's ouster in the uprising.

Just days before a winner was announced, the ruling generals made a series of decisions that gave them sweeping powers, undercutting the authorities of the president, including passing the state budget __ and granted military police broad powers to detain civilians.

The generals, who promised to transfer power to an elected leader by July 1, say the moves were designed to fill a power vacuum and to ensure that no one person monopolizes decision-making until a new constitution is drafted.

Two days before the runoff, a decision by a top Egyptian court packed with former regime appointees also dissolved the country's first freely elected parliament, dominated by Islamists, including Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood. This left the military council also in charge of legislating duties.

With the parliament dissolved, it is not clear where Morsi will be sworn in. Authorities say he could be sworn before the country's highest court, but his group and supporters are pressing for the parliament to be reinstated, arguing that the court decision only disputed a third of the house's seats.

Thousands of Morsi supporters, backed by some liberal and secular youth groups who were behind the uprising, vowed to press on with their protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square to pressure the ruling generals to rescind their decrees and reinstate the parliament.

Tens of thousands had spent the night in Tahrir in joyous celebration of Morsi's win. By Monday morning, few had stayed in the square, which after nearly a week of a sit-ins, was reopened for traffic but a protesters' tent camp remained in place. Brotherhood officials said the protests will continue until the military responds to their demands.

On Sunday, President Barack Obama telephoned the U.S.-educated Morsi to congratulate him on his victory and offer continued support for Egypt's transition to democracy. The White House said Morsi expressed appreciation for Obama's call and "welcomed U.S. support for Egypt's transition."

Ali said the 60-year-old Morsi arrived at the presidential office on Monday for official meetings and consultations. He said his priority is to form a working presidential team until he finishes consultation over nominating vice presidents.

"His priority is the stability on the political scene," said Yasser Ali, a spokesman for Morsi's presidential campaign.

In an effort to rally support and heal national divisions, Morsi vowed to appoint diverse deputies, including a woman and a Christian. He also has reached out to other presidential hopefuls, who garnered popular support in the first round of elections.

Ali , the spokesman, said there were also consultations to form a national coalition government. The military-backed government is expected to resign later Monday, according to legal tradition after a new president is announced. Ali said he anticipates the government, headed by Kamal el-Ganzouri, would remain in a caretaker role because forming a new one "will take time."

Morsi faces enormous challenges of improving the economy and maintaining law and order ? both of which deteriorated in the post-Mubarak period. He has also promised he would nominate a non-Brotherhood member to head the government.

Associated Press

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The Evolution of Art and Culture at NXNE + 7 Good Bands - Zouch

photos by Amy and Sal

*If all you want is to be exposed to 7 cool bands pls skip to the bottom of this page.

My first and only prior trip to NXNE was back in 2007. ?Five years really is an eternity when it comes to digital culture. This year I was really looking forward to learning about changes in the music industry and digital media space, and getting a feel for how the event itself has evolved.

For example, how did we get from the demented bunny (NXNE logo circa 2007):

To an array of magical monzies and robos?

ZOUCH wants answers!

It was nice to see that NXNE is still based in the same hotel (Hyatt took over the property, but it functions the same). King Street West?in Toronto is the perfect location because most music venues are walking distance, which ?makes it feel like we?re taking over the city. I love that.

The general hangout room at NXNE

After two full-fledged experiences at NXNE, I now call it a must-have experience for any music or film focused creative, entrepreneur, or band. Whatever festival/conference pass they give bands is well-worth showing up and playing a set of music pro bono. Attending so many shows at so many great venues is a dreamlike experience. With the music bracelet you can see 800 bands in some of the best venues in Canada for $50. That works out to $0.06 per band. Good deal.

If you?re inclined to learn about new media and the music industry you shouldn?t pass up the?opportunity?to attend the?NXNE interactive?conferences. It?s easy to network there. I feel like I met and discussed ideas with all the right people even though I?m not much for schmoozing. It becomes easy to talk because everyone?s mind is alight with ideas. The vibe is friendly and authentic.

A cautionary note to bands:?Many bands neglect to promote their shows and end up with no audience. The picture below shows an awesome bluesrock band from San Francisco called?Papa?s Garage?playing almost exclusively for Zouch (and an old dude on a stool). It was a riot! There are a zillion venues and time slots, so be assertive if you want to be heard.

If you?re in from out of town make sure to stay awhile to soak up the experience. And if you?re part of a project don?t just show up for one day to plop some swag down on a random table and expect to get noticed.

Endless 2012 NXNE promo swag. Can you spot the lone audio CD!

The liberation of creativity

The panel entitled The Rise of the ?Artistpreneur? & Entertainment Industry 2.0?was a bit of a letdown. But a rapper named?D-Sisive had some cool stories about how he recently turned a corner in his life by taking the business aspect of his music more seriously.

The panel carried on with anecdotes, and overall the message was: ?We?re really cool rapper guys, you should probably take your music as seriously as us if you want to succeed?.

They debated the pros and cons of ?common issues like whether or not you should give your music away for free, arriving at no?consensus, providing only a glimmer of insight.?However, a take away here is just how easy it is to try all sorts of promotional ideas in the digital space. As a general rule hip hop artists are the best at promotion (and metal bands are the bloody worst).

Back in 2007 the idea of podcasting wasn?t well understood. NXNE even had then?CBC3?radio host?Grant Lawrence on a panel to explain what a podcast was! I remember it vividly.?We attendees were ravenous with the desire to learn. ?The experience even inspired me to start my own underground podcast in 2009. It?s rather easy now to broadcast music or podcasts across many channels, so the focus can really be on quality content.

Over the past five years it feels as though the onus has been taken off the technical aspects, and is graduating to the artistic side of things. This trend is liberating creativity. An artist like D-Sisive is able to focus mostly on writing and producing new tracks, doing what he loves to do, without being at the mercy of technological barriers or a corporate agenda outside of his control.

Saul Colt?s?Startup Marketing: Techcrunch is not a Marketing Plan?was the most well put together presentation I saw this year. He told stories about crazy things he?s done in marketing.

My favorite was a contest where he asked people to submit their guess at what the BEST SONG IN THE WORLD is. First prize was $1 MILLION DOLLARS. Second prize was a box of cereal.?Of course nobody got the answer right, but there were over 200 2nd place winners and Saul sent each of them a little box of cereal stuffed with a $5 or $10 gift card for iTunes or Starbucks.?The overall buzz created by a contest like this can be well worth the investment of a couple hundred cheap prizes.

Saul?s message was that if you want to start a sustainable business, you need to be?continually creative and aggressive with marketing, and that it is much better to work to inspire people than it is to simply try to influence them. I knew it would be an enlightening experience to listen to a man who bills himself as ?The Smartest Man In The World?.

Saul Colt shows a massive slide of himself.

How to Start a Start-up?was a panel of particular personal?interest to me. Since soon after the launch of the Zouch website on September 30th 2010, we have been looking at ZOUCH?as a startup company (even though Jeff Campagna and my idea for Zouch Magazine wasn?t exactly born that way).

This panel was loaded with super-strong entrepreneurial minds. I had the chance to have a conversation with super-dynamo entrepreneur and?Ycombinator?graduate?Michael Litt?(whom I now refer to as ?The Waterloo Wonder?). I had some unique private questions for him about starting a company and he graciously gave me advice to ponder.

Litt?s?message was that a good founder must be a person who has the will and the skill to act on his or her good ideas, as well as the ability to pass that energy on to others. I suppose with any new media project there must be both a solid technical component, and a good socio-cultural component, and that a good founder must focus on being able to handle both of these. Whereas, in the past being so versatile may not have been so crucial.

Participants and panels were more business and entrepreneurship focused this year, as compared with 2007. The age of technological emancipation we are in now seems to be slightly shifting the focus of artistic talent. Again, I feel like artists and writers today have a better chance of being successful?entrepreneurs while remaining true to their artistic vision (this is exactly how and why?Zouch Magazine??was born).

I don?t remember there being as much buzz about startups at NXNE in 2007. The explosion of technology products of late seems to have led to many people feeling empowered enough to start their own entrepreneurial ventures in web media spaces.?On one hand all of this technology is great because artists can collaborate more easily with new people with whom they share related visions and complimentary talents. On the other hand, it provides more competition.

In my humble opinion, in order to create good art and literature, it?s important for the creative mind to be released from the common day to day competitive feelings of the business world. Art is supposed to be about connecting with your true voice or your ?soul?, and then showing the world something unique. Good concepts for art and literature have a unique power to guide culture, and they are most often?created from a point of serene introspection.?If artists become more and more business-minded, what happens to the art? What happens to our culture? [I don't have an answer, but a teacher once told me I should end these things with an "opening". Hit me up on twitter?to continue this discussion]

WIDOWSPEAK playing The Garrison during north by northeast Everyone swooned and swayed and fell in love with?Widowspeak?when they?played The Garrison.

Toronto dreampop band Beliefs playing The Drake Hotel in Toronto during NXNE Shoegazers?BELIEFS?at?The Drake? met them after the show at the ice cream sampling truck and became friends.

young magic playing live music at the garrison venue in Toronto for nxne Young Magic entranced the crowd at their secret show at The Garrison. This was a big highlight of the festival for me.

Ottawa band SILVERGUN & SPLEEN playing the bovine sex club for nxne Ottawa band Silvergun and Spleen carrying the pop-punk torch at the Bovine Sex Club.

?Eternal Summers?have a unique sound. I?d say they are your true pioneers of post-punk?pop, or something good like that.

KOVAK playing El Mocambo for NXNE 2012 ?Power pop UK sensation KOVAK?were a sexy sight to behold at El Mocambo.

The punky?LA band BLEACHED drew a big crowd at the The Silver Dollar and didn?t disappoint.

??Already looking forward to next year.

Check out this free NXNE music download:

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Five Marketing Apps to Help Businesses Generate Constant Cash ...

Attend the Small Business Success Tour! Register today and learn the 7 steps to Date Your Leads & Marry Your Customers.

About Stephanie Faris

Stephanie is a freelance writer and young adult/middle grade novelist, who also works in information systems. Her first book, 30 Days of No Gossip, will be released by Simon and Schuster in spring 2014. She lives in Nashville with her husband. Read More

Attend the Small Business Success Tour! Register today and learn the 7 steps to Date Your Leads & Marry Your Customers.

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The Evolution of Bird Flu, and the Race to Keep Up

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A new evolutionary model concludes that it would not be hard for a bird flu virus to pick up the sorts of mutations it needs to become a human flu.

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Do You Come To This Copier Often: Communication With ...

I learned about workplace romance at an early age, and quite traumatically. It began like any other Saturday morning, but much to my surprise, this Saturday would be different. This day, my pre-adolescent reality would be rocked as I witnessed Kelly cheat on Zack with her boss, Jeff, at the Max. This is my earliest workplace romance memory. As much as I was saddened by Kelly?s transgression, particularly with her markedly older boss, I would attempt to replicate this behavior by forming many crushes on coworkers (at the grocery store, as a new student orientation leader?you see the pattern).?

This early trauma, and my own failed attempts at workplace romance, likely explain why I became interested in researching such relationships. I began a series of studies with Dr. Rebecca Chory of West Virginia University. Our goal was to understand differences in communication with peers who dated at work. In other words, if your coworker is dating someone in the office, do you communicate with him/her differently based on a) their sex and b) whether they are dating a colleague or a superior? In short, the answer is yes.

Our results revealed that employees perceived coworkers dating superiors to be less credible than those dating peers. Moreover, employees indicated they would trust coworkers dating superiors less, feel less close to those coworkers, and lie to those coworkers more than colleagues dating peers. Compared to men, women were subject to harsher perceptions (e.g., diminished trust and credibility). As these results are limited to heterosexual relationships, we replicated our prior studies and examined perceptions of gay and lesbian employees. A similar pattern of findings emerged: gay and lesbian employees dating superiors were subject to more deception, less trust, and diminished levels of credibility compared to gay and lesbian employees dating workplace peers.

We interpreted our findings using Equity Theory. Essentially, if your colleague is dating another person in the office, you may feel a sense of inequity or imbalance. People may feel that individuals who date at work have an office ally or unfair access to resources/information. This may feel unfair, and you may view them as less credible because of this allegiance. If your colleague?s dating partner is a superior, you may act deceptively out of organizational survival. That is, you may take a longer lunch or not completely follow company policy?telling your colleague, who is dating a manager, may jeopardize your organizational status.

These results are particularly noteworthy given shifts in societal trends. Today, we are working more than ever, and according to Gauthier and Frustenberg, we spend less time engaged in leisure activities. Likewise, we are attracted to those we spend the most time with. So, if you?re going out less, and working more, you?re likely to form closer bonds and feelings of attraction toward your coworker(s). Supporting this, Shellenbarger reported that 47% of employees have engaged in a workplace romance. Still, almost 20% reported being receptive to forming such a relationship. Shellenbarger also reported that employees feel less of a need to hide workplace romances.

Research, combined with societal trends, suggests that workplace romances will continue to rise. For those who decide to date at work, the advice is clear: date at your own risk. Importantly, be mindful of how your colleagues learn of your workplace romance. A recent study I conducted with Dr. Renee Cowan, of the University of Texas at San Antonio, revealed that employees reacted more positively to the open disclosure of an office romance (compared to hearing rumors, or walking in on physical affection between colleagues).

Ultimately, people will communicate with you differently, and this is problematic given that you rely on coworkers for information and resources. Transparency may be the best policy, but be prepared for an interesting adventure. Given that the vast majority of relationships fail, it is unlikely that your workplace romance will last forever. You thought it was awkward seeing your ex at Chilis? Now imagine that you get to see him/her everyday, at the copier, where you first met. After all, as much as we have all tried, life can?t be like Saved By The Bell ? your ex will not be written out of the show. (Speaking of, what happened to Stacey Carosi? She never did show up at Bayside that Fall).

Follow me on Twitter @therealdrsean for relationship commentary/links as well as complaints about mass transit. Continue to follow this blog for future entries about deception, online dating, using affection to lie, workplace romance, and other issues that make obtaining and retaining a mate oh so interesting.

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Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 x86 x64 Setup + Key.rar

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Here-4-You Consulting ? Accessing Donor-Advised Funds

In 2009, the last tax year that the IRS has available statistics, donor-advised funds (DAFs) represented a sharply growing share of a diminishing giving pie. While the amount of total giving went down by 8%, the amount of giving to donor-advised funds went up by 9%.

More recently, National Philanthropic Trust conducted a study (2011) and concluded that the nation?s 162,000 DAF accounts held $30 billion in assets, of which $6.2 billion (more than 20%) was distributed in annual giving. That study has set aside many of the criticisms initially made against DAFs. A 20% level of giving is 4 times higher than 5-year average required by the IRS of private foundations. It is a tremendous amount of giving.

Through a tempting set of tax benefits and social advantages, community foundations and large investment firms have incentivized their donor-advised funds. We need to understand the world of DAFs, what makes them so attractive to benefactors, and how a nonprofit organization can tap into those funds.

What is a DAF and how does it work?

In 1931, a New York community foundation created the first donor-advised funds (DAFs). Although the term was widely used for 75 years, the phrase ?donor advised fund? was not codified until 2006 when Congress passed pension and charity reform legislation.

Most donor-advised funds are held at two types of institutions:

Community foundations, where donor-advised funds are typically the large majority of assets held and grants made. The largest ?community? foundation in the U.S. is the National Christian Foundation (NCF).
Large financial institutions that handle stock-trading, mutual funds and other for-profit investments, such as Fidelity, Vanguard and Schwab.

The IRS describes the features of a donor-advised fund:

Donors contribute to an administering 501(c)(3) to establish ? fund ? a DAF. The charity keeps accounting track of each DAF separately.

Contributions to the DAF cannot be taken back by the donor. Contributions qualify for an income tax deduction at the time of the donation, governed by the usual deduction rules and rates.
The donor has the right to recommend grants from the DAF to qualified charitable recipients. The sponsoring organization may not be legally required to accept the recommendation (although implementing the donor?s recommendation is the basis of the business model).

Whether deposited with a community foundation or a for-profit firm, the administering organization typically provides the legal, administrative, investment management, and accounting work for DAFs. Compared to creating a private foundation, DAFs are often lower cost to administer for a donor. In addition, the ability to direct the DAF passes to the benefactor?s heirs or designee.

Why are donor-advised funds so appealing to donors?

Benefactors are increasingly unwinding their private foundations into donor-advised funds, which invest assets and make grants to charities from individual accounts based largely on donors? recommendations. Some have been spurred by tough economic times. DAFs can cost thousands of dollars less to maintain than foundations ? a factor that has taken on increased significance as many foundations? assets have plunged.

The funds, which operate as independent charities, have other advantages besides allowing donors to take an immediate tax deduction after making contributions. Donors advise the fund on where the grants should go, but the funds don?t have to make distributions as often as a foundation would. Donors can also give many types of assets ? including cash, securities and even art ? depending on the fund?s specific rules.

To summarize:

Taxpayers can deduct in the year of their choice without a working nonprofit actually receiving any money.
Unlike donating to a ?regular? nonprofit, DAF-fers get deductions for the full fair market value of real estate and illiquid assets (such as art work).
A higher percentage of total personal income can be given and deducted if it?s given to a DAF rather than a private foundation.
The freedom to transfer money, deductibly, to foreign charities.
More money to give. The money saved in administrative and other costs can go toward the causes they support. In some cases, such funds can cut donors? costs by as much as 50%.
No imposed payout requirement.
Donations may be made anonymously.

While the last benefit ? anonymity ? is not unique to the DAF product, it is an extra perq that is highly valued by some. All DAF donations from assets held by the administering organization are bundled into a comprehensive report, shielding the benefactor from being bothered by charities that might want to make petitions. Keep this in mind when approaching a family that supports ministries through a DAF.

Socially responsible investing and social recognition

There are two other benefits that have arisen in recent years. As the number of families establishing DAFs has greatly increased, competition among investment firms has increased. All of the for-profit firms offering DAFs now market socially-responsible funds in which the benefactor can place his/her funds. That is, while some of the funds are donated to charitable work, the assets that remain in the DAF are invested in the types of ventures approved of by the benefactor.

Community foundation officers have also become more aggressive in selling the concept of donor advised funds to wealthy families in their area. Increasingly, they highlight the social recognition that local donors gain by depositing funds and other assets with the local community foundation. Literally, it is sold as a way to join the cool people who get to do cool things together.

How does one tap into a DAF?

Administering organizations offer several ways ministries can reach the donors who have set aside money for charity. Among them:

Look carefully at donors? checks. Keep a record of all checks that are mailed to the organization from a donor-advised fund, whether it?s from a for-profit firm like Scwab, from NCF, or from a community foundation. This is the best way to identify people with money who care about a particular organization. Even if the amount of the check is small, the donor probably has more to give. This type of connection can serve a strategic purpose during capital campaigns or building projects.

Learn more about the families who are investing with NCF and its network of regional Christian foundations. Their stories are inspiring, and their giving habits are generous (www.nationalchristian.com/givers). Terry Parker founded NCF in 1982 and introduced the first Christian-focused donor-advised funds called the Giving Fund. Over the past three decades, NCF has helped found a network of affiliates across the country, encouraged an environment of philanthropic giving among major Christian donors, and assembled a team of over 200 experts in charitable giving. In 2010, donors supported more than 10,000 ministries with $395 million in giving through DAF accounts at NCF.

In addition to learning which families have deposited funds with NCF and its family of regional Christian foundations, ministries should also take a look at the donor-advised funds at community foundations. At most community foundations, the bulk of incoming dollars arrive via DAFs and go out from DAFs. For instance, the Orange County Community Foundation (in California) made $26 million in grants in 2010, but $24.5 million of this was distributed from donor-advised funds. In other words, only $1.5 million was granted as discretionary funding through an application process.

Read the annual reports of community foundations. Many such organizations list the names of their donors, or of donor-advised funds that are often named for the donors, in their reports.

Make sure your local community foundation is aware of you. Most community foundations tell donors about the charities the foundation supports, and many holders of donor-advised funds then decide to make grants to those charities. Get to know the program officers. ?We?re trying to serve less as a gatekeeper and more as a connector,? says Chris Andersen, executive director of the Lutheran Community Foundation, in Minneapolis. ?Rather than trying to protect donors, we?re trying to offer them more opportunities.?

Charities also should make sure they are listed in databases for donors, such as the one created by Excellence in Giving in Colorado. Other databases include the ones monitored by UrbanMinistry.org, NonProfitList.org, Guidestar, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, and Charity Guide. Some community foundations have similar projects, including the Kansas City Community Foundation (600 nonprofits listed) and the Greater Houston Community Foundation (400 nonprofits listed).

Tell the charity?s story well online. Commercial funds refer their donors to web sites like GuideStar or Charity Navigator for information on charities, so it?s important for groups to burnish their image on these sites as well as on your own website.

Although many nonprofits bemoan donor-advised funds as foundations that are tantalizingly just beyond reach, the funding world?s overall view of DAFs is accepting, even enthusiastic about this increasingly important mechanism for giving. There are a growing number of channels to connect with DAFs; don?t miss out.

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