Santorum dubs himself conservative 'heavyweight' (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum has dubbed himself a conservative heavyweight.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120228/ap_on_el_pr/us_santorum_heavyweight

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75th Birthday Celebration Games

By their 75th birthday many have arrived at the majority of the major existence key points but a listing of 75th Birthday Celebration Games should explain that adventures continue to be in the future for individuals who think youthful.

Frequently the 75-year-old continues to be very active and involved with community and private development projects. Because of this a 75th birthday celebration with this crowd can nonetheless be relatively active. Music could be a lively solute towards the Western Swing music or even the beginning of Rock-and-Roll. Skate boards are most likely banned but Bingo, Mahjong or favorite card games could talk with fierce competition within this age bracket.

Invites might be specific to both 75th birthday and also the game to become featured. For Example a customized printer friendly card could read,?" You?re cordially asked to some 75th Birthday Celebration Poker Evening?" and so forth. Paper plates for that 75th birthday celebration might be matched up with matching Poker or Bingo Party table linens to point the hybrid theme.

A card/birthday celebration is better provided using the traditional finger sandwiches of pork, bologna, chicken or egg salad. As it is additionally a birthday the wedding cake and frozen treats or lactose free frozen yogurt alternative will also be expected. A diabetic fruit salad may also be advisable with this particular age bracket around the list of guests.

When the list of guests will be combined with family and buddies there?s the chance that youthful children will have to be entertained in the 75th birthday celebration. As the older grown ups are playing serious games of the more involved character very youthful children may enjoy there own card games. Many good examples exist but in history favorite children?s card games of Gold Seafood or Old Maid will require no work to supervise. Also, make kid friendly changes towards the menu too.

Source: http://home-card-games.chailit.com/75th-birthday-celebration-games.html

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Precisely What Is Mesothelioma? | Fat Free Fast

Asbestos fibers is often a damaging ingredient that creates the weakening illness of asbestosis, as well as dangerous cancer malignancy, Mesothelioma. Asbestos fibers individuals are exposed to skin damage asbestos fibers in increased amounts daily.

Businesses who ignore the risks won?t be dismissed by the surfaces. Around the globe, the toxic outcomes of dealing with asbestos is attaining enhanced acknowledgement, and asbestos workers are attaining enhanced support into their judge bids for settlement of asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma cases are registered by the persons of mesothelioma to get Mesothelioma Compensation for health care fees, suffering & hurting and loss of income associated with the development of this complaint. Mesothelioma , a type of cancer malignancy, that is inflicted by expertise of asbestos most regularly utilised in conventional and household destinations until the missed seventies. Facts mesothelioma persons were on the rise because business employers carried on with your risky materials regardless of having the hazardous outcomes of those. Thus the poor individuals, who are unaware of the possible health hazards they were about to deal with, were the unlucky persons.

Asbestos fibers illness, mesothelioma cancer, lung cancer and Asbestosis will be the conditions induced thanks to asbestos exposure. Asbestos fibers what people mean about various natural fibrous enzymes in certain rubble and soil. It?s got observed wide-spread easy use in market sectors and creating materials including fire proofing, roofer roof shingles, electronic insulating material, heater, incredibly hot water line masking, and rubbing products. Recent surveys have, nevertheless, says expertise of asbestos may have detrimental wellness effects contributing to asbestos illness and mesothelioma for both individuals in market sectors applying asbestos along with people who live in the environment surrounding such destinations.

Employees may possibly take in air excellent asbestos dirt in the air additionally, they become uncovered as a result of skin exposure to asbestos or by ingesting asbestos fibers when in the office. These workers are vulnerable to asbestos conditions as mesothelioma and asbestosis.

Hera are a couple of Facts about Mesothelioma:

1. The warning signs of mesothelioma won?t appear for several years after visibility. You might have not too long ago designed asbestos cancer malignancy coming from a job you eventually left ages in the past.

2. The common your survival term after diagnosis with mesothelioma is twelve to 17 many months.

3. The surfaces in most states are usually sensible they know the emergency of mesothelioma lawsuit and they often might help expedite it.

4. In the You.Utes., about 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year.

Normally, people filing mesothelioma compensation are trying to find funds for the damages or injuries resulting from their devastating diagnosis.

Individuals struggling with such illnesses struggle to identify the actual way it feels to acquire the news they?ve got an terminal illness including mesothelioma. Whilst nothing may add many years for the lifetime of a person that is terminally ill, seeking asbestos settlement has triggered satisfaction for many sufferers that are suffering from such illnesses.

These kinds of settlement could be used to substitute lost wages, pay back health care debts or take part in high-priced modern measures or optional solutions that will reduce the patients? hurting. Clients might also use such finances to find the expert services on the professional in order to improved deal with the intellectual pain resulting from their situation.

Competent asbestos law firms might help folks cross the entire process of having the settlement where they believe they?re named.

Mesothelioma is one of serious of varied asbestos-connected conditions discovered at this point. This is because of the cancer causing influence of asbestos dirt. Asbestos fibers may cause cancer malignancy on the bronchi, wind pipe, digestive tract, anal sphincter, stomach, music notes, and renal system. About 70 % to 80 percent of cases of asbestos illness mesothelioma ? a rare form of cancer malignancy on the mesothelium, the tissue layer that insures and helps to protect almost all of the human body organs are caused by asbestos exposure in the office.

Attorneys with expertise taking on mesothelioma compensation cases can be very helpful when seeking settlement on the part sufferers. Only a seasoned mesothelioma attorney can assertain how solid an incident is as well as probability that the situation will earn on trial run.

Source: http://www.fatfreefast.org/precisely-what-is-mesothelioma/

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Real Estate Agents Calgary

Initially, have a discuss with a great deal of agents. This will assist that you hire the most effective one of them. You could potentially choose the best agent, who makes your work and life easier. Additionally it is essential to have a good understanding with your realtors. Only after that your work will be reduced and they'd take your specific needs into consideration, thereby giving an answer to your desires along with. Secondly, it is a finer choice to hire a highly skilled Calgary realtor, because they have more idea about the niche rates and trends. Hiring experienced realtors could possibly be costly, nevertheless they would bring you the hottest deal thus it is strongly suggested to go for experienced agents than other realtors. There are tons of realtors in Calgary who promise in plenty relating to firms but finally do not continue their word. Hence look for a real estate agent with references, so that you could consult those reference persons to obtain a concept with regards to the particular real estate property agency. If your realtor has a big list of references it shows that you have selected a good realtor.

First of all it is best to check out a true estate market. Ensure that your agent well knows about market rates and satisfy your requirements. Don't give preference to individuals Calgary realtors who first smiles at you. Here is the common mistake that a majority of of individuals in Calgary do. Each goes for that agents whom they've got met first. Folks don't even have a tendency to test regardless of if the realtor features a good knowledge in marketing. Check each one of the realtors thoroughly and make certain they talk to you honestly. A superb realtor gives you the names of these top customers and may feel happy and proud to make you possess a talk to those clients.

Real Estate Agents Calgary

Tags: houses f, common mistake, experienced agents

Source: http://www.onlinerealestateguide.org/real-estate-agents-calgary/

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Onion: Joad Cressbeckler on Immigration (Little green footballs)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/203861121?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Sony makes a patent move for Kinect style controller

We're not suggesting Sony has a Kinect style controller coming soon, but it certainly filed a patent for one. The application for a "User-Driven Three-Dimensional Interactive Gaming Environment" was initially logged in October last year by Richard Marks of PlayStation Eye fame. The controller can "determine when to interact with the system by allowing part of the user's body, or an object, to cross the maximum depth range plane" meaning input could be limited to just the hands etc. This wouldn't be the first time Sony has created controller technology similar to its competitors, but the company is careful not to outright state that's what it's for. That said, amongst the legalese it does go as far too say the system can be implemented by an entertainment system "such as" its flagship console. So, sadly there's no way of knowing if we'll be getting a PlayStation Motion any time soon, but feel free to wave over the source link to see the patent for yourself.

Sony makes a patent move for Kinect style controller originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Eurogamer  |  USPTO  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/21/sony-patents-kinect-style-controller/

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Ex-LA teacher pleads not guilty to lewd acts (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

AP - A former teacher whose arrest sparked a scandal at an elementary school that led to the replacement of all of its teachers pleaded not guilty Tuesday to committing lewd acts with 23 children in his classroom.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120222/ap_on_re_us/us_teacher_classroom_bondage

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Belize Land For Sale- Nice house lot in New Site of Dangriga!! No ...

Price:$20,000USD ($40,000BZD)

Belize Property Agents is pleased to present for sale this nice house lot of Belize Real Estate in the New Site Area of Dangriga.

The New Site Area of Dangriga is on the Western side of town and is consider to be a more upscale area.

This property is located behind the D.E.C And Son?s Workshop.

There is access to power and water.

Dangriga is the main town in South Central Belize located on the coast, it has two local airline servicing regularly.

If you are thinking to reside in this peaceful neighborhood of? Dangriga, then this prime parcel of Belize Real Estate can be your for only $20,000USD ($40,000BZD)

Listing Price: $20,000USD ($40,000BZD)
Location/Address: Dangriga West
City: Dangriga
District: Stann Creek


Reference Number: 1359
Property Size: 100 by 75
Bedrooms: N/A
Bathrooms: N/A


<h1>property gallery</h1>

<h1>property location</h1>

Please click on image for larger view.

Would you like any m0re info on this property? CLICK HERE! And quote property number 1359

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Source: http://www.belizepropertyagent.com/index.php/belize-land-for-sale-nice-house-lot-in-new-site-of-dangriga-no-1359/

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Romney to Ohioans: Santorum is no 'budget hawk' (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

AP - Mitt Romney says rival Rick Santorum is "no longer a budget hawk" and that he'd do a better job controlling spending as president.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120220/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney

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Immigrants trickling back to Ala. despite crackdown

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.?? Ana Jimenez and her husband were so terrified of being sent back to their native Mexico when Alabama's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants took effect that they fled more than 2,000 miles to Los Angeles, cramming into a two-bedroom apartment with more than 20 other relatives.

Now they are among the families coming back to cities like Birmingham, as the mass deportations never materialized and courts blocked parts of the law. No one knows how many people initially left the state, so it's impossible to say how many have returned. But some illegal immigrants are trickling back, unable to find work elsewhere and missing the place that had been home for years.

Of 18 Hispanic immigrants interviewed by The Associated Press in the Birmingham area, six said they had friends or relatives who had returned to Alabama after fleeing because of the law.

As for Jimenez, she left Birmingham with her husband, father and brother three days after the law took effect. Now, all except her brother are back. Jimenez said through a translator that not much had changed, though she can't reclaim her job at a McDonald's restaurant because managers are checking citizenship papers.

"Everything is the same. I just can't work now," Jimenez said through a translator. She said the family is living off the income of her husband, who installs carpet and flooring.

Court to weigh in
The Obama administration, immigrant groups and others sued over Alabama's law, and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to consider arguments about it on March 1. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments a month later over Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration, which isn't considered as strict as Alabama's.

Republicans who supported the crackdown had said they hoped the tough provisions ? which made it difficult if not impossible to legally find work and housing, among other things ? would force people to "self-deport" and move out of the state.

Among those who self-deported were Verenece Flores and her husband. They sold their home in metro Birmingham and moved with their three young children to Chicago. But the couple, originally from Mexico and living in the U.S. without legal documents, also could not find work, and relatives told them people weren't being deported after traffic stops as some had feared.

The family is staying with relatives and doesn't have their own place, and Flores remains "a little scared" of the law. But she said she was happy to be back. Flores had lived here for 15 years before the short move to Chicago, and her children are happier and her husband is back working construction jobs.

"I missed everything about it ? friends, family, the weather," Flores said. She knows two more families that left Alabama for Washington state only to return.

Estela Fuentes said friends of hers moved to Atlanta because the law required that public schools verify the citizenship status of students, yet they returned late last month after learning courts had put that section of the law on hold. The family was sad throughout its exile to Georgia, she said through a translator.

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"One of their daughters cried and cried because she had no friends over there," said Fuentes, who is originally from El Salvador.

'Still uneasy'
And while there are families returning, some officials say they haven't heard anything to suggest the numbers are huge. Zayne Smith, an immigration attorney with the nonprofit Alabama Appleseed legal center in Montgomery, said she had been hearing that some people wanted to wait until after the 11th Circuit considers the case in March.

State agriculture officials who say the new law led to a chronic shortage in agricultural labor said they haven't seen evidence of large numbers of immigrants returning to the state. Many immigrants worked in the state's poultry processing plants or out in tomato fields, planting and harvesting crops.

Gwen Ferreti, a researcher and activist in the Hispanic community, said some immigrants remain wary but are coming back because of their deep ties to the state.

Some initially feared the law would mean that people would be rounded up, or that "you'd be stopped just for being Hispanic," said Ferreti, an anthropologist from the University of Texas who is living in Tuscaloosa, about 60 miles southwest of Birmingham, for her studies. "That has not happened, but people are aware that racial profiling is going on if you are Hispanic. They are still uneasy."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46447152/ns/us_news-life/

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Daily Tips for Business: Human Resources

As a part of my consulting practice, I work as a grant proposal writer. I often find that some of my clients do not understand the basic fundraising and donor solicitation cycle. This article helps nonprofits and any business to understand the four critical steps in the donor relationship building process.

Source: http://dailytipsforbusiness.blogspot.com/2012/02/human-resources_17.html

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Cultural Exchange February | International Women&#39;s Club of Boston

Cultural Exchange Program on Thursday, February 09, 2012

Dear Members,
The theme for the Cultural Meeting of Thursday February 09, 2012 was
? Cambodia ? The Dances and the Culture
? Valentine?s Day ? Intercultural, cross-cultural relationships

The program was well attended:
IWCB Members: Eka, Maria T., Mary S., Lalitha, Sandra, Lisa F., Brigitte F., Brigitte K., ?Marie Alice, Nancy S., Iko, Joanne K., Natalia , Stella, Mary Louise H.
The Dancer/Artist: Mrs. Chantey, her daughter Kalianne, her husband Mr. Pere,
Special Guests: Mr. Vernon K., Hattie

Valentine?s Day Lunch:

The Valentine?s Theme lunch included a wonderful array of foods: Vegetable Quiches, ?Savory Finger Foods, Spicy Coconut Rice, Cheese platters, hot & cold Salads, Valentine?s Day Cookies, desserts like Romanian Nalesniki (sweet pancakes) and more.
We reversed the usual order of events to accommodate the program format. We started with the Dance Program followed by a Q & A session. We then broke up for lunch. During the lunch break some of the members joined Mrs. Chantey on the stage to learn the steps of one of the folk dances. We have some very talented members as you can see in the video clips on the Cambodian Dance page. Enjoy!

Valentine?s Day Stories:

During the last 20-30 minutes of the program, two of our members, Marie-Alice and Iko shared their personal stories of how they met their husbands and their experiences being part of a intercultural relationship raising a family.

Marie-Alice spoke of how as a Belgian living in Louisiana, she and her French roommate shared the King?s Day cake and custom with their friends and a neighbor, where the person who is crowned King has to have a Queen. As it turned out the neighbor they had invited won the crown and he eventually asked Marie-Alice to be his Queen for life. They then lived in Iran as ex-pats where, as a young mother, she was struck by a comment made by a local woman who wisely told her that the best way to raise children in two cultures was to pick and choose the best things from each. Finally, Marie-Alice shared her favorite quote on love:??Aimer, ce n?est pas se regarder l?un l?autre, c?est regarder ensemble dans la m?me direction.? Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry
This translates to: ?Love is not to look at each other, rather it is to look together in the same direction?.

Iko talked about her relationship as being ?inter-intelligent?, intercultural and international. She gave us an account of her life growing up in Japan in the 1940?s. Because it was wartime, even though she and her family lived in a safe zone in a valley surrounded by mountains, they used food stamps to get their ration of food. She still has memories of the acute hunger. Over time, she worked for a TV station, then moved to the US and got married.

The Khmer Dance Program:

Kallianne did the introductions and spoke on behalf of her mother, Chantey.

Kallianne gave a brief descrption of Cambodian dance and explained how it intertwined with her mother?s life. Here is the story of Mrs. Chantey as recounted to her daugher:

My name is Chantey. I was born in Phnom Penh. As a young girl, I loved to dance. I started performing since when I was 8 years old at an elementary school in Cambodia. My dance teacher was also a school teacher. She learned to dance from the Royal Palace. She had taught me and my friends a Royal Court dance named Chau Duong.

At the end of every school year, I always competed in the dance category with other schools and won the top prize. I performed for Prince Norodom Sihanouk on a few occasions and for tourists that came to visit Cambodia.

On April 17, 1975, the day the Khmer Rouge took over the capital city, Phnom Penh, my husband and I having only been married for a month, left our beloved homeland. Shortly after that, I was living in Mobile, Alabama and performing at the International Festival ? an event which represents approximately 50 countries every year.

In Massachusetts, I have been working for the Lowell Public School system for 10 years as a bilingual assistant. Nearly every year, I am in charge of teaching traditional folk dances to my students to perform at the school?s Cambodian New Year celebration which happens mid April.

Following the introduction, Kalianne?s Mom performed three very popular Cambodian social dances. They are Ram Vong, Ram Kbach, and Rom Saravan. These dances are performed at special occasions such as Cambodian New Year, wedding, birthdays, and anniversary parties. No one knows if these casual dances have any meaning. One suggested explanation on why most of the social dances are done in circles is that if there are unmarried couples dancing, there is to be no touching.
Mrs. Chantey ended the performance by demonstrating a few parts of the classical dance, Chauv Duong.

ABOUT THE SOCIAL DANCES:

Rom Wong: This is a simplified dance at a fast pace going around the dance floor in a circle.
Rom Kbach: This dance uses the same hand movements as in Rom Wong, but with more complex footwork involving criss-crossing the feet and danced at a slower pace. This is also done in a circle.
Rom Saravan: This dance is not done in a circle. The pairs dance in front of each other with feet going back and forth and the hands are curved and criss-crossed in front of the body at the hip level. The music is fast paced.

FUN FACTS: It is an interesting fact that social dances from around the world have had an impact on Cambodian social culture include the Cuban Cha-cha-cha, the Spanish Bolero, and the Madison ? a sort of electric slide-ish line dance well loved by young, modern adults which came to Cambodia by the French, but was originally from the U.S.-Columbus, Ohio to be exact.

ABOUT THE CLASSICAL DANCE:

Mrs. Chantey completed the performance with a classical Royal Court Ballet dance called Chau Duong.

Background: Royal Court Ballet, as the name suggests, began in the palace. It was originally performed as a form of religious prayer to the deities and ancestors to protect the Khmer kingdom-its people, harvest, and king. You can find evidence of this on the walls of temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia such as Angkor Wat and the Bayon. These temples were built in the 12th century.

Chau Duong: This dance depicts maidens having fun together in a garden. While picking flowers, they build beautiful garlands and wreaths which they adorn themselves. Chau Duong is traditionally performed at important ceremonies, as well as to welcome and entertain guests. The words and gestures of the dance compare the tenderness and beauty of young Khmer women to those of nature and especially to those flowers. You will see in the attached pictorial description the meaning of some of the hand gestures in Khmer classical dance.

This classical dance is famous for its using of hands and feet to express emotion. The dance style revolves highly stylized movement and 4,000 different gestures. These movements are used to tell a story without using any words. It is the abstract style of storytelling that tickles the imagination.

Before every performance, classical dancers pray to the dance master spirits to give them good luck and protection.

FUN FACTS FROM HISTORY:?At the 1906 Colonial Exposition in Marseilles, France, King Sisowath?s royal court dancers were exhibited. Auguste Rodin was captivated by the Cambodian dancers and painted a series of water colors of the dancers. Since then, Khmer classical dance has reached a growing public audience where it now remains a celebrated icon of Khmer culture, often being performed during public events, holidays, and for tourists visiting Cambodia.

FOR MARCH

Did you know that our next Cultural Exchange event falls on March 8th which is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN?S DAY? Check out the link.?Each year around the world, International Women?s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. Thousands of events occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.
We at the IWCB are a dynamic group of international women, and it would be great if we could celebrate and mark the day in our own special way. Do any of you have ideas or suggestions you would like to share? Let?s be creative!!!
Please email me as soon as you can with your thoughts and ideas.
Thank you,
- Lalitha R.

Source: http://www.iwcb.org/2012/02/cultural-exchange-february/

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Android Central 88: Samsung Galaxy Note, Motorola Droid 4, app permissions a go-go

Podcast MP3 URL: 

http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/androidcentral88.mp3

 

Thing 1- Samsung Galaxy Note cometh!

• Phil promises to do his Galaxy Note review
• Alex's Europen Galaxy Note review
• On sale on AT&T on Feb. 19
• On sale now in Canada
• Coming to Australia

Thing 2 - Motorola Droid 4, and Ice Cream Sandwich updates

• Motorola Droid 4 review
• Motorola expands list of phones getting Ice Cream Sandwich updates

Thing 3 - More Mobile World Congress pre-release madness

• HTC Endeavor RUU has treasure trove of Sense 4.0 screen shots
• HTC Endeavor reportedly launching as HTC One X; HTC Ville to become HTC One S
• HTC music streaming service rumored
• Scalado Remove will take care of unwanted people in your photographs
• Leaked render claims to show first Intel-powered Motorola phone
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 unveiled, runs ICS on a 7-inch display

Thing 4 - Other odds and ends

• Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility approved by U.S. Department of Justice
• European Commission clears Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility
• Android app permissions - How Google gets it right ...
• Swype updated for Ice Cream Sandwich
• HP CEO Meg Whitman: Google's Motorola buyout could lead to a closed-source Android
• Sony Ericsson now owned solely by Sony; rebranding to occur within the month
• Android 5.0 Jellybean in 2012? Better optimized for tablets? You don't say ...
• NVIDIA CEO: Tegra 3 phones shipping 'this quarter'
• Pinterest for Android? Not yet, but there are ways to get your fix

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ZFhWg22Giv8/story01.htm

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Sony PlayStation Vita (3G/Wi-Fi)

Sony has finally come out with its replacement for the PlayStation Portable, and it's impressive. The PlayStation Vita takes the PSP's signature design and adds more processing power, optional 3G, dual analog sticks, and an amazingly bright, colorful OLED screen. The result: A handheld gaming device that eclipses the PlayStation 2 in power, and comes very close to the capabilities of the PlayStation 3. Sony made some strange decisions with the Vita's media playback abilities and Web browser, but for gaming it's incredible, making it our Editors' Choice for handheld game systems, and a significant step ahead of the Nintendo 3DS (4 stars, $169.99).

Design
Out of the box, the PS Vita looks like the PlayStation Portable at first glance, but the overall build quality of the PS Vita is much better, right down to the small details. Without a pop-out door for UMDs or a sliding design, the PS Vita feels much more solid than the PSP, and despite their small size the analog sticks have just enough give for responsive control without feeling loose. Besides the proprietary USB port and headphone jack on the bottom, every port and slot on the PS Vita is covered by a door. The top edge holds the game card slot and an accessory port, the bottom edge holds the memory card slot, and the left edge holds the SIM card slot. The handheld weighs a solid 9.8 ounces, and at 7.2 inches wide by 3.3 inches tall by 0.7 inches deep it's almost the same as the PSP in shape.

The layout is pure PlayStation, with a direction pad, four face buttons, Start and Select buttons, a PlayStation button, two shoulder buttons, and two analog sticks. The top edge of the PS Vita holds the power button and volume controls. While there are only two shoulder buttons instead of four like on the PlayStation 3 controller, the front touch screen and back touchpad have enough input for no-compromise control, unlike the PSP with its single analog pad. The back touchpad sits seamlessly on the back of the PS Vita, without a frame or bezel, while two rubberized grips give your fingers a comfortable place to rest when you're not using the trackpad.

Hardware
The 5-inch OLED touch screen is gorgeous. It's bright, colorful, and extremely sharp. Its 960-by-544-pixel resolution makes it almost exactly equivalent to many current-generation large-screen Android phones, and not quite as high-resolution as the iPhone 4S or several 720p Android phones on the market. But at five inches, the PS Vita's display is more than sharp enough to lend a satisfying impression of high-definition video to a movie or game. The screen is also multitouch, so you can pinch to zoom in the Web browser, the map software, and in games.

The front- and back-facing cameras seem identical, and are only slightly sharper than the cameras on the 3DS. The Vita might compare favorably to the camera phones of a few years ago in image quality, but if you have a decent smartphone, there is no reason to use the Vita's camera for anything besides video chat and AR (augmented reality) games.

As a nice touch, the PS Vita supports Bluetooth devices just like the PS3, including stereo headsets. I paired my Logitech Wireless Headset to the Vita and could hear the background music of the menus and the dialog in Uncharted: Golden Abyss easily. If you don't have a Bluetooth headset, the PS Vita still has a 3.5mm headphone jack and on-board stereo speakers.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/qhL7PdeWh3Q/0,2817,2400345,00.asp

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Top 5 Reasons Budgets Fail | Personal Finance Mastery

When you try to create a budget you learn very quickly how hard it can be to stick to it. When I first started creating budgets for myself I was always failing and it seemed like such an uphill battle and a struggle to try and make ends meet. I always blamed myself for not being able to stick to the budget, it got so bad I came to hate and dread budgets and the very idea of looking over my finances would make me sick. I realize now that the problem wasn?t me it?s just that I didn?t know how to budget properly. My regular expenses would always go over and other expenses would seemingly come out of thin air and take me by surprise. Looking back over the years I began to see a pattern and here are the top 5 reasons why every budget I tried would fail.

1. Failure To Prioritize Expenses

At the beginning I didn?t take the time when creating a budget to go through and categorize all my expenses. I would just lump everything together as the same priority and wouldn?t take the time to analyze them all. If I had I would have realized many areas that were wasteful and I could cut back on and reallocate that money to other more important areas where I wanted to spend my money. The way I always prioritize my money is a cross reference between due dates and a hierarchy of needs. I lump my bills into yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and discretionary expenses then analyze by needs. I always pay myself first so before I prioritize that payment to Visa or Mastercard I make sure that I have the bare minimums to cover food, shelter, gas, electric, water and then move on to car and gasoline, etc.. Always pay the most important things first.

2. Failure To Create A Realistic Budget

Part of the initial analysis is to allocate your money into the different funding buckets or envelopes or categories depending on which budgeting method you are using. This is where finding out where I?m being wasteful would come in really handy because I could never get the allocation right. I didn?t fully understand how much money I was spending and therefore it was impossible to accurately allocate. I have a vivid memory of budgeting for myself $140 for food from my paycheck (essentially $70 per week in groceries) I remember my first trip to the grocery store and spending $69 and feeling really proud of myself. I also remember the following week when I went to the market and spent $66 and being ecstatic at the idea of coming in under budget. Imagine my shock when I went over my finances later to see that I had over spent by $30. I had completely forgotten that mid-week I made a quick stop into a different store to grab a few extra things I needed. That stop wasn?t part of my normal grocery so I somehow overlooked it and blew through my budget without even knowing it. You need to make a budget that is realistic that you can keep and at the same time cuts out any and all waste.

3. Failure To Plan For The Unexpected

Life happens and last minute emergencies will creep into our lives, it?s essential that we have some sort of emergency cushion in our budget to deal with these kinds of things. The car will break down, you?ll get a flat tire, unexpected medical or veterinary bills will pop up; these things will happen and you should be prepared. In the past when the car would die I would be faced with 2 stressful situations: a financial emergency ? I didn?t have the money to fix the car ? and an automotive emergency my car is dead, how am I going fix it, how am I going to get where I need to go, how am I going to get my car to the shop.

4. Failure To Include Quarterly Or Annual Expenses

I would always and I mean always miss at least one bill or expense that would come around cyclically. By that I mean a bill that wasn?t part of my regular routine like a monthly car payment or utility bill. Cyclical expenses are those that come around once a quarter or maybe once a year. One I would always forget to plan for would be my car registration, every year it would sneak up on me and I would be left scrambling to find cash to pay it. Some other less obvious cyclical expenses would be money for birthdays, Christmas or anniversaries. You know these expenses are coming up and you have a whole year to plan and prepare for them but so often we forget to include these kinds of things into our budget allocations.

5. Spending More Money Than You Make

This of course is the classic problem when creating any budget especially if you use credit cards on a regular basis. There was a point in my life when I was spending more than I made and I didn?t even realize it. This is where your analysis needs to come and you start eliminating all the extra expenses and all your waste. When you accurately prioritize your expenses and you run out of extra cash you know that at least the most important expenses have been covered and your next priority is making more money.

Those were my 5 biggest budgeting mistakes I had to learn the hard way how to overcome them and start building proper budgets. If you?re just getting started a great free tool to help you keep track of your finances and create a budget is Mint.com. I?ve used it and while there are other paid systems that work great Mint gives you everything you need to take that first step and get on the path to master your finances.

Has your budget ever been sabotaged by any of these 5 mistakes?

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Source: http://www.personalfinancemastery.com/2012/top-5-reasons-budgets-fail/

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Boy testifies at grandfather's child abuse trial (AP)

PHOENIX ? Christopher Alan Carlson's 9-year-old grandson says he and his two brothers were kicked during scorching hikes into the Grand Canyon last summer and that his grandfather also hit him in the face, causing a nose bleed.

The boy's statements in Carlson's trial were the first he's made publicly about the charges against his grandfather, who faces six counts of felony child abuse.

Carlson, 45, from Indianapolis has pleaded not guilty in the case and could face life in prison. The trial opened in Phoenix federal court on Wednesday and resumes Thursday.

Prosecutors have alleged that Carlson deprived his grandsons of food and water and pushed, choked and repeatedly kicked them during hikes on Aug. 15 and Aug. 28, when the temperature soared to 108 degrees.

Under questioning from prosecutor Camille Bibles, the boy also said that Carlson would pinch pressure points in their back that "kinda hurt" during the hike up from the Grand Canyon.

"We would slow down because we were kind of exhausted. He started kicking us and telling us we had to hurry," he said, adding that his eldest brother "kept falling and he had cramps and his stomach started hurting on the way out."

A criminal complaint said Carlson put his grandsons ? who were 12, 9 and 8 years old at the time ? in circumstances "likely to cause death or serious bodily injuries."

But investigators have also said that Carlson told them that the boys were overweight and that he thought hiking the Grand Canyon would help get them into shape.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Williams portrayed Carlson as an active health nut who had a firm hand and wanted to show the boys the world. Like anyone after a long hike, the boys were tired, hungry and thirsty, but Carlson only allowed the boys to eat healthy food like tofu, hummus and veggie burgers, Williams said in his opening statement.

"I suppose to an 8, 9 or 10-year-old that might seem like child abuse if you like cheeseburgers, French fires and pizza," he said. "He wanted to get them from behind the TV, the games and fast food."

The 9-year-old, the youngest of the three brothers, testified that he experienced cramping, nausea and hunger during the miles-long treks.

But he also told jurors that his grandfather took the boys on many "awesome" adventurous trips. In between the two hikes, Carlson took the boys on a tour of the Hoover Dam, to rides atop the Stratosphere hotel and a Criss Angel magic show in Las Vegas, and to Disneyland in California.

Jurors smiled as the boy also spoke of trips to Mexico, Belize, Honduras and across the western United States last summer with Carlson and his two older brothers. The trips often included long hikes, swimming and fishing in the ocean and thrill rides at amusement parks.

Although investigators have said Carlson withheld food and water, the boy testified that he and his brothers were allowed to drink water most of the time and snacked on celery, carrots, tofu and low-carb hummus during the hikes.

The criminal complaint said that one brother feared that another brother would fall to his death because Carlson forced him to walk on the edge of the trail even though he was cramping and falling down. Another brother said that when he fell, Carlson picked him up by the throat and threw him to the ground, and another said Carlson had slammed his face into a rock, the complaint said

Investigators said the boys were covered in cuts, bruises and scars that backed up their stories. But Williams told jurors Wednesday the injuries "are consistent with boys who are just normal boys" who had an especially active summer.

"There's nothing life-threatening about a blister," Williams said. "If these kids were abused they were abused by kindness and all the fun and trips they took over the summer."

A ranger with binoculars spotted the group during their 19-mile hike on Aug. 28, the same day a man died on another trail from heat exposure. The ranger reported seeing Carlson shoving the oldest boy and whipping him with a rolled-up T-shirt.

Rangers fed the boys and gave them water after one showed symptoms of heat stroke and the other two had signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration.

Under questioning from Williams, the boy said the kicking didn't hurt much most of the time and that he often gets nosebleeds for no reason. He also said his grandfather was in a hurry on the Aug. 28 hike to get to the top of the Grand Canyon so they could watch the sunset together.

But Bibles said in her opening statement that Carlson used the Grand Canyon as a weapon in child abuse.

"These hikes became a life or death situation for these children at the hands of the person that was supposed to be protecting them," she said.

___

Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120216/ap_on_re_us/us_grand_canyon_child_abuse

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Channel Marine Insurance | NASpir

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Source: http://www.naspir.org/channel-marine-insurance/

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Have A Blast Playing Swimming Pool Games ? 69 TA

[unable to retrieve full-text content]February 13, 2012 | Author: David Wayne | Posted in Recreation & Sports. Have a blast this summer playing swimming pool games. Both the children and the adults are finding more and more fun while they swim and play in the sun. With all ...

Source: http://69ta.com/2012/02/have-a-blast-playing-swimming-pool-games/

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Duck Decoys ? Carving and Painting | ArticleGoes - Free Dofollow ...

Duck Decoys are assembled of distinct materials. Most of which are manufacturer constructed of molded components for example plastic. I?ve glimpsed some made of a rubber like material you can inflate to use them and deflate them for so straightforward transportation. You can manufacturer constructed duck decoys made from cork like material.

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Why not get into carving your own duck decoys. Think of the delight that would convey if you desire to put them on your mantle or in the water and use them as employed decoys. You can get publications on carving duck decoys as well.

Whatever your pleasure is, duck searching, collector, person taking photographs or hobbyist, carving and decorating your own duck decoys can convey you large pleasure.

If you are interested in Duck Carving, Bird Conservation, Duck Conservation, Audubon Society birds, Ducks Unlimited, DU Unlimited, Duck Unlimited decoys, all Carving are available at greatcarvers.com

Source: http://articlegoes.com/duck-decoys-%E2%80%93-carving-and-painting.html

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Health And Fitness ? Philosophy Gets Results

[unable to retrieve full-text content]I love it as a result of I am a philosophical kind of guy and it links your philosophy to who are, what you're thinking, saying and doing and where you are right currently! It makes you in charge of your own lifestyle, results, ...

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Selecting Personal Trainers ? What You Must Acknowledge | 1st ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]It is no real surprise that so many people these days are turning to personal trainers! As a consequence of our busy lifestyles, the particular time we have for gym and performing exercises are sandwiched ranging from work, ...

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Mobile Phone Snooping Application ? Learn How Mobile Phone ...

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Source: http://enzytexposed.com/mobile-phone-snooping-application-learn-how-mobile-phone-snooping-app-conditions-iphone-cellular

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In Defense of The Phantom Menace

Like so many who read and write about movies, I saw Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace on Wednesday, May 19th, at 12:01am. ?Like many who read and write about movies, I did not think it was the greatest film of all time. ?But like the majority of the?movie-going?public, I also did not think it was the worst film of all time, nor did I find it to be some kind of glorious affront to cinema as an art form. ?And 13 years later, it is what it always was: a Star Wars movie through-and-through. ?It has problems unique to itself, unique to the prequel trilogy, and even some problems that have existed in the series right at the start. ?Taking away the fact that one film was a cinematic breakthrough and launched the fandom of a hundred-million would-be movie lovers and the other was released under the crushing expectations of two generations of film fans, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is really no better or worse than Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. ?

One is overly?revered because it was the first film in the series and had the benefit that comes with discovery. ?The other was crushed by the weight of impossible expectations. ?Objectively speaking, they are both fine introductions to their respective trilogies which pave the way for arguably superior sequels (you may prefer Star Wars to Return of the Jedi, I happen to prefer The Phantom Menace to the somewhat pandering but admittedly more entertaining?Attack of the Clones). ?They both suffer from campy acting, stilted dialogue and?inconsistent?pacing. ?The Phantom Menace lacks a rogue-ish Han Solo character, even if the film (by virtue of being the fourth entry in a long-running series) doesn't need a cynical 'audience surrogate' this time around. ?Natalie Portman was always unfairly derided for not playing Queen Amadala as a clone of Carrie Fisher's Princess Lea. ?Her somewhat cold,?Elizabethan portrayal is both her best performance in the prequel trilogy and a prime example of fans objecting primarily because it wasn't identical to the previous Star Wars universe (Lucas's apparent cave in?Attack of the Clones, making Padme 'sexier', is one reason?Episode II?is the weakest of the series). ?That The Phantom Menace (and by proxy the prequel trilogy) operates differently than the first three Star Wars films does not automatically make them inferior, merely different.

Taken as an individual film or the start of a three-film saga, it has eye-popping visuals, at least three terrific?performances?(Liam Neeson, Ian McDiarmid, and Pernilla August), a fine (if famously compromised) score by John Williams, and a politically wonky story that took hits for being overly complicated while serving was a chilling modern-day parable (a 'good' politician brought down by "baseless accusations of scandal" -- remind you of anyone who was president in 1999?). ?Yes, the original Star Wars had a simple narrative, basically following the Joseph Campbell heroic journey. ?But Phantom Menace (and the prequel trilogy overall) compensates for its admittedly inferior characters with a more complicated and morally grey plot. ?Critics and?pundits?always complain about the simplicity and spoon-fed narratives of mainstream films. ?Yet when one comes along that actually requires audience to pay attention (Mission: Impossible, Quantum Of Solace, etc), they all complain that "It's too confusing!" or "It's too complicated and muddled!" ?You won't get me to admit that Jake Lloyd is cooler (or a better actor) than Mark Hamill, but I have always appreciated the intricate plotting of the more ambitious prequel trilogy. ?And for a film that's been knocked as 'kid-friendly' (more on that later), it always struck me as darkly ironic that the entire journey in The Phantom Menace is basically a trick in order to pull off a aenatorial coup, replacing the decent Chancellor Valorum (Terence Stamp) with Palpatine (who is, of course, not so decent). ?Maybe kids didn't realize it at the time, but every single character, be they good or evil, was working for the villain to further his authoritarian goals (this is actually the running subtext behind the fantastic Clone Wars cartoon series that premiered in late 2008).

Whether you like the pod-race or not (admission -- I don't), it is a triumph of technical action?film-making. ?Of course, it's also the scene where Lucas's tilt toward 'juvenility', also represented by Jar Jar Binks and Jake Lloyd's performance as Anakin Skywalker, hits hardest, as the use of comedic announcers with cartoon-ish vocals stands out as something that just doesn't fit within the Star Wars universe. ?Whether or not the god-awful narration is evened-out by darkly comic relief (where Tusken Raiders murder the other pod racers purely for kicks... I always laughed at that) is a judgment call. ?But one bad scene, which sits awkwardly in tone with the rest of the six film-saga, does not a movie make. ?And if one centerpiece action scene doesn't quite hold up to repeat viewings, the other one does. ?Even the most?virulent detractors of the picture openly admit that the climactic light-saber fight between Darth Maul and the two Jedi warriors (Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan Kenobi) is exactly what we nerds waited sixteen years to see. ?It's not as emotionally engaging as the high-water mark duels in The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi, (my wife and I affectionately call it 'Duel of the Red-Shirts') but it is the most technically perfect light-saber fight in the entire six-film series and it beats the living crap out of the downright pathetic 'old man vs.?asthmatic?robot' slap-fight in Star Wars.

Of course the film does have its issues, some of which were noted above. ?Perhaps because Lucas knew that he was going to get to make the next two chapters, The Phantom Menace lacks any real character arc for any of its major players. ?The dialogue is occasionally stilted and delivered in a relatively rigid fashion, as if most of the cast was directed to 'do what Guinness did in A New Hope'. ?In terms of plot, it is quite self-contained, but as a character piece it is clearly just part one of a three (or six) part story. ?The four-part action climax, a clear attempt by Lucas to top the three-pronged finale of Return of the Jedi, suffers from a lack of engagement in three of those action sequences. ?The space dog-fight, the Padme blaster shoot-out, and the large-scale battle of Naboo feel more perfunctory, which is ironic since they are the sequences that resolve the prime conflict, while the light-saber battle is basically two Jedis dealing with unrelated Jedi business. ?Slight digression, but I love that the two Jedi stumble upon the first Sith warrior seen in centuries and they?immediately?set out to kill him as quickly as possible. ?Simple questions like "Who are you? ?What do you want? ?Who are you working for?" never come up. ?

Arguably the biggest story problem is that Anakin saves the day completely by accident, while the biggest character issues is that Jake Lloyd is pretty terrible as Anakin Skywalker (if you watch the terrific documentary on the Phantom Menace DVD, titled "The Beginning," you can literally watch Lucas pick the wrong kid to play young Skywalker). ?That the Jedi are cold, unfeeling bastards basically sets up their downfall in the next two films. ?That Anakin is such a naive and wide-eyed innocent actually makes his final destiny that much more heartbreaking. ?Lucas didn't want an obviously troubled and disturbed Anakin turning into Darth Vader. ?He wanted a completely good young child to slowly morph into a person capable of complete evil. ?Just as, over the course of the prequel trilogy, the seemingly good Republic allows itself to become a?tyrannical?dictatorship out of fear, so too does Anakin's fear allow him to be undone. ?Point being, especially if you know what's coming, this is all pretty heavy stuff for a 'kids' film'.

But in the end, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace *is* a kids' film. ?It is a sci-fi outer-space fantasy adventure designed to appeal to kids who are about as young as you were when you first saw Star Wars. ?We may cringe at Jar Jar Binks (even as we ignore that he's barely in the film after his introductory moments), but younger audiences do find him funny and charming. ?We may wish that Jake Lloyd was a bit darker and introspective as the boy who would be Darth Vader, but younger boys see themselves in him and his wish-fulfillment?fantasy adventure. ?Come what may, warts and all, The Phantom Menace was always intended as a gateway drug, a kid-friendly space opera designed to snag young audiences into the world of Star Wars just as it was being reborn. ?In the 13 years since it was first released, an entire generation of moviegoers grown up loving or liking The Phantom Menace in the same way we fell for Star Wars all those decades ago. ?If Lucas had given us the Star Wars prequel that was tailored-made for the now-adult audience that grew up on the franchise, if he had made Anakin quasi-evil right from the start, had he filled the film with unrelentingly graphic violence and characters that lacked any real kid-appeal, there is little chance that kids today would still be playing Star Wars on playgrounds all across America.

In all objectivity, I wish The Phantom Menace was a better movie. ?I wish it was a tighter picture, that the all-important pod race sequence wasn't overlong and relatively suspense-less. ?I wish Lucas didn't feel the need to make the enemy robot army into chit-chatting clowns and that he had cast a better actor as Anakin. ?But The Phantom Menace is still a good fantasy adventure picture, arguably better plotted and more visually?imaginative?than any number of would-be blockbusters that have followed its path over the last decade. ?And it is absolutely a Star Wars movie that holds its own against pretty much any entry in the series with the arguable exception of The Empire Strikes Back (which, with its scaled-back and character-driven?intimacy, is the odd-man out in the six film saga). ?And as a gateway drug that successfully?ensnared?an entire generation of young kids and turned them into Star Wars junkies as well, it is an unqualified success.

You can still find kids playing Star Wars adventures on the playground this very day. ?They pretend to be Anakin Skywalker, Padme, Obi-Wan Kenobi and any number of characters from both trilogies. ?You don't hear them complaining that "Jar Jar sucks!". ?You don't hear them protesting that "George Lucas raped my childhood!". ?For a generation of kids who came of age 13 years ago, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith ARE their childhood.

Scott Mendelson

For more Star Wars-related essays, go HERE, and HERE.

?

Follow Scott Mendelson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ScottMendelson

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924513/news/1924513/

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