Friday, November 30, 2012

Turkish Airlines Mulls Lease Options for Aircraft Funding ? World ...

Nov 29, 2012

Turkish Airlines Mulls Lease Options for Aircraft Funding

Turkish Airlines?is evaluating several financing alternatives for doubling its fleet to 400 aircraft by 2020. Reuters is reporting that Turkish is in talks with banks about a leasing arrangement worth around $300 to $500 million to help fund its orders from 2014 for each transaction.

?In addition to the conventional financing methods, Turkish Airlines is looking for innovative and different alternatives of financing for aircraft,? spokesperson Ali Genc confirmed toATW.

?This is not limited to Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates (EETCs), Sukuk (Islamic bonds) and Eurobond, which we have also investigated,? the spokesperson said, adding that no board decision has been made.

Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil told?ATW?recently that every aircraft will be financed for about 12 years, mostly via finance lease. The carrier declined to comment about the financial volume of such a deal.

Last month, Turkish Airlines announced an order for 15Boeing 777-300ERs?and five options, as well as an order for 15?Airbus A330-300s.

Turkish operates 200 aircraft with an average age of six years.

SOURCE:?http://atwonline.com/airline-finance-data/news/turkish-airlines-mulls-lease-options-aircraft-funding-1128

Source: http://www.worldleasingnews.com/news/turkish-airlines-mulls-lease-options-for-aircraft-funding/

trailblazers michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck unc asheville stephen jackson nba trade deadline

Cost of the 401(k) deduction - Straight Dope Message Board

They seem to simply state the $100 billion cost to the US, since the paper is about retirement savings in Denmark.

I did a quick spreadsheet that tries to compare the costs and benefits of a regular brokerage account and a 401(k). I assume that the 401(k) investor invests $100, whereas the brokerage investor puts away $70 (the after tax amount, assuming a marginal tax rate of 30%).

I grow the 401(k) money by 6% for 10 years (to $179), then collect all the taxes, leaving $125 when the money is withdrawn. The government gets $54 in taxes.

I grow the brokerage money by 4.8%, which is the after-tax equivalent of 6% return, assuming a capital gains rate of 20%. At the end, the after-tax investor has $119, and the government has collected $40 in taxes (the initial $30, plus 1.2% of the growth each year.

So, the government gets MORE from the 401(k) investor than from the brokerage investor ($54 vs. $40). Sure, the money comes at the end, but in the steady state, with many people investing and retiring, that should wash out.

That analysis ignores the fact that capital gains taxes can be deferred as well. For example, if you invested in Apple stock in 1985, you still wouldn't pay taxes on the growth, unless you sell it.

I guess I still don't understand the argument that 401(k) is a net cost to the government, at least when it comes to high income retirees.

Source: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=673867

morris claiborne mothers day gifts clippers lisa lampanelli lisa lampanelli bronx zoo memphis grizzlies

Chatham Men's Softball | Chatham Sports & Recreation Events ...

The borough's recreation department offers lots of joint programs with the township. Information on those programs is available on the Web site, but the department also administers its own tennis courts, municipal pool, playgrounds and parks.

Such sites include Shepard Kollock Park, Memorial Park, Garden Park, Stanley Park and the Lum Avenue Field. The borough's municipal pool is in Memorial Park.

The department's director is Carol Nauta.

Source: http://chatham.patch.com/events/chatham-mens-softball

Maria Montessori clint eastwood Julian Castro Blue Moon August 2012 Eddie Murphy Dead michelle obama robin roberts

Source: http://radarscope-marris.blogspot.com/2012/11/chatham-men-softball-chatham-sports.html

Presidential Polls California Propositions Electoral College obama chuck pagano A Gay Lesbian daylight savings time 2012

Graphite experiment shines new light on giant planets, white dwarfs and laser-driven fusion

ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2012) ? An international team led by researchers from the University of Warwick and Oxford University is now dealing with unexpected results of an experiment with strongly heated graphite (up to 17,000 Kelvin). The findings may pose a new problem for physicists working in laser-driven nuclear fusion and may also lead astrophysicists to revise our understanding of the life cycle of giant planets and stars.

The researchers were attempting to get a better understanding about how energy is shared between the different species of matter, especially, how it is transferred from strongly heated electrons to the heavy ionic cores of atoms that have been left cool. The difference in temperatures between the hot electrons and cooler ions should level out quickly as the electrons interact with the ions; thus, the time it takes to reach a common temperature is a good measure of the interaction strength between the two. This interaction also defines, for instance, how heat or radiation is transported from the inside of a planet or star to its surface and, thus, planetary and stellar evolution. The process is also essential for nuclear fusion where the electrons are heated by fusion products but the ions need to be hot for more fusion to occur.

Previous experiments, using direct laser heating, have been plagued by uncertainties in target preparation and heating processes complicating observations and analysis. Moreover, theoretical models struggled to explain the long temperature equilibration time found experimentally. The team led by researchers from Warwick and Oxford hoped they could resolve this difference by devising a much more precise experiment. Instead of direct heating by a laser, they have employed intense proton beams created via a novel scheme of laser-driven acceleration. Heating by the protons results in much better defined conditions as the protons heat only the electrons but for the entire sample. As a result the researchers obtained a clean sample with electrons at 17,000 Kelvin whilst the ions remained at around room temperature of 300 Kelvin.

However, the researchers found that rather than eliminating the gap between the model and the observed results the difference significantly increased. Their more precise experiment in fact shows that the equilibration of the temperatures for hot electron and cool ions is actually three times slower than previous measurements have shown and more than ten times slower than the mathematical model predicts. This means that the basic process of electron-ion interaction is only purely understood. As the same process also governs many other material properties, the results have wide implications from material processing to inertial confinement fusion to our understanding of astrophysical objects. This intriguing result becomes even more important if combined with previous indications for much hotter systems: all these data point to a more general lack of understanding when researchers model electron-ion interactions.

Dr Dirk Gericke from the University of Warwick said: "This is an intriguing result which will require us to look again at the plasma physics models but it will also have significant implications for researchers studying planets and white dwarf stars. My laser-fusion colleagues who depend on their lasers delivering a lot of energy simultaneously to both ions and electrons will certainly be interested in our findings as well."

Dr Gianluca Gregori from the University of Oxford said: "I think the results send theoreticians back to the drawing board when modelling the interactions between particles in dense matter. The wide range of implications and the huge range in temperature, where these issues were found, make the results so important."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Warwick.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. T. G. White, J. Vorberger, C. R. D. Brown, B. J. B. Crowley, P. Davis, S. H. Glenzer, J. W. O. Harris, D. C. Hochhaus, S. Le Pape, T. Ma, C. D. Murphy, P. Neumayer, L. K. Pattison, S. Richardson, D. O. Gericke, G. Gregori. Observation of inhibited electron-ion coupling in strongly heated graphite. Scientific Reports, 2012; 2 DOI: 10.1038/srep00889

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/NxJcOepovAU/121128093607.htm

erin andrews erin andrews tour de france instagram Magic Mike Anderson Cooper Gay adele

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Heidi Klum Sports Her Heidi Klum For New Balance Collection While Grabbing Coffee

Heidi Klum and Martin Kristen Go for a Workout and Starbucks

Heidi Klum was spotted wearing a jacket from her Heidi Klum for New Balance collection, outside a local Starbucks in Brentwood, California (11/14).

Heidi is wearing the Heidi Klum for New Balance 360 JACKET, $95 available exclusively at select Lady Foot Locker locations.

HKNB 360 JACKET ? features 3M Scotchlite reflectivity with media friendly secure front zip pockets; toggle/cord adjustable hem; mesh lined sleeves and back vent; rip stop woven fabric is water resistant.

?

Photos by FameFlynet

Source: http://fitceleb.com/heidi-klum-sports-her-heidi-klum-for-new-balance-collection-while-grabbing-coffee/

chaka khan taylor swift safe and sound delilah nevis 2012 sports illustrated swimsuit same day flower delivery valentines day

EMS agencies help child with cancer - NBC12.com - Richmond, VA ...

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) -

EMS agencies are working a different kind of emergency. It's not uncommon for a child with a terminal illness to be granted a wish. Some want a trip to Disney; others ask to meet a famous person. One Southwest Virginia boy has an unusual request and it's being fulfilled by ambulance crews in our area.

Every day EMS workers respond to 911 calls. Now, they're responding to the call of that one little boy. He has a similar emergency but needs a different kind of help.

It started out with a short email from Virginia State Police. It told a sad story with a simple request from a sick boy. Five-year-old Nathan Norman has terminal cancer with tumors in his spine and brain. All he wanted this Christmas is to get cards from public safety officers. The call originated in Southwest Virginia and now has gone state - and nation - wide, including a movement here in the Richmond area.

"I've watched people sit down to write holiday cards and weep," Richmond Ambulance Authority Capt. Brian Hupp described. "I've watched people smile as they draw this young man pictures of ambulances and write poems. It's been so touching to this community and the public safety community as a whole."

In just a few days, local squads have collected hundreds of cards and gifts and that's not all. They've also put one together an ID badge for Nathan, which makes him an honorary Richmond paramedic.

"We deal with a lot of bad stuff from day to day," said West End Volunteer Rescue Squad's Ben Gomes. "This is something good that goes back into our hearts. It means a lot to us. Instead of having to deal with everything bad in the world going on, we can focus on one person right now and make their wish come true."

Nathan's mom sent us a video clip of her "brave warrior," whose spirits are lifted by the packages. In it he said, "thank you for sending me cards and praying for me."

On Friday, EMS workers will lift his spirits once again. They'll act as his own "Santas" and deliver exactly what he asked for.

"This will be the first time we meet him but we know that he's in our hearts and we're thinking about him even before we've met him," said David Bulman, who volunteers with Manchester Rescue Squad. "And just to know that we'll be able to give him that experience, I think as far as us on a professional level we will be able to look at everything a whole lot different."

The crews plan to take three vehicles from the different agencies to Rustburg, Virginia on Friday to deliver those packages.

If you'd like to send Nathan a message, the address is 81 Dunivan Drive, Rustburg, Virginia, 24588.

Copyright 2012 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.nbc12.com/story/20209919/local-ems-agencies-help-child-with-cancer

denver news frozen planet creighton new smyrna beach st. joseph puerto rico primary manning

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Florida Officials Seek to Ban Cell Phone Use in Cars and Public Meetings - Reason (blog)

Florida Officials Seek to Ban Cell Phone Use in Cars and Public Meetings
Reason (blog)
The presence of mobile phones at government meetings, on the other hand, was first addressed in the battle over the sick-leave initiative at the Orange County Commission. The proposed ballot referendum would have required businesses with more than 15 ...

Link To Original Article

Source: http://www.phoneforums.org/news/412298-florida-officials-seek-ban-cell-phone-use-cars-public-meetings-reason-blog.html

republican debate tonight tinker tailor soldier spy rich forever rick ross project runway all stars elin nordegren tangled ever after kansas state

Garden: A Few Secrets Of Attracting Customers Through Online ...

Internet has become the fastest means of communication among individuals across the world. It has also become the most effective means of connecting brand/business owners with their prospective customers. Online advertising also known as internet advertising or web advertising is one of the fast growing means of brand or business communication. This blog highlights a few secrets of attracting customers through online advertising.

Publishing unique articles or blogs about your business

It may surprise many brand or business owners, but it is true that publishing unique articles or blogs about your business helps in attractive various customers to your website thereby acquainting them about what your business offers. Ezine is one of the online publishing sites where you can publish your articles or blogs. A major advantage of publishing online articles or blogs is that it is usually free of cost and you can elaborately talk about your brand or business in detail. Customers who are directed to the publishing sites read the informative content. If the content sounds pretty interesting, they would be encouraged to adopt or buy the business or brand. Search Engine Marketing is one of the main tools of Internet Advertising. Writing articles and blogs and publishing them on various sites is also one of the main strategies of search engine marketing. Search engine optimizers make the most of this very strategy to promote their business among customers.

Making the most of Email marketing

Another secret of Web Advertising is to interact with customers through emails. Most of us do not forget to check our mail boxes. By presenting the brand message right through the inboxes of customers, advertisers can easily persuade them to go through the same. Email marketing is also a cost effective means of web advertising. Advertisers can sort out the mailing list of a particular email campaign and can target only those customers who will probably reach to the advertisement. A thorough demographic survey is however one of the assets of promoting a brand or business through email marketing.

Online advertising in any of its forms provides rich content and attractive graphic. Any visitor gets glued to the brand message because of such features. Most of the online ad campaigns convey interesting brand messages to customers which is why recall value is also pretty good through an online ad display. Banner advertising, virals, email and sms campaigns, PPC, pop ups etc. are some forms of online advertising adopted by brand owners to promote their products on web world.

Internet is a global platform for many products and services. Internet advertising is therefore the smartest means of brand communication. A brand or business advertised through online media can be accessed by customers from anywhere across the globe and also without any restraint of time factor. The message or information is available for 24 hours, 7 days a week, months and even for years. A website for a brand or business for example is one of the reliable means for anyone to access valuable information on the product or service. One can visit the website as many times as one prefers and also go through the information again and again. Repetitive readership is yet another advantage of creating an online presence of a brand or business.

About the Author:
MAD offers exclusive advertising solutions through Mobile and Internet media. Internet Advertising with MAD,Join the largest Web advertising Agency.MAD is a largest Banner advertising agency.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/A-Few-Secrets-Of-Attracting-Customers-Through-Online-Advertising/4274131

braveheart earthquake california earthquake california roy orbison the third man 2012 nfl draft order mohamed sanu

Source: http://bettycullenn.posterous.com/a-few-secrets-of-attracting-customers-through

michele bachmann donald trump Election 2012 map Election Results Map Early voting results BBC Dick Morris

Source: http://nathandaniels.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/a-few-secrets-of-attracting-customers-through-online-advertising.html

d t p zynga Tropical Storm Sandy

Source: http://davidsonnormand.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/a-few-secrets-of-attracting-customers-through-online-advertising.html

ravens steven tyler national anthem paterno newt gingrich joe pa joe pa joe paterno dead

Source: http://dion290.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/a-few-secrets-of-attracting-customers-through-online-advertising.html

brooke mueller all star weekend lent undercover boss barbara walters tupelo honey limp bizkit

Source: http://alfredoabele.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-few-secrets-of-attracting-customers.html

the beach blood diamond 8 bit google maps kids choice awards 2012 micah true kansas vs ohio state winning mega million numbers

Source: http://janescconor.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-few-secrets-of-attracting-customers.html

Gigi Chao Jimmy Hoffa Ed Hochuli Opie modern family george strait how i met your mother

iOS 7 wants: Better email attachment handling

iOS 7 wants: Better email attachment handling

Almost 6 years after it was introduced, you still can't attach files to emails in iOS. While iOS 6 has introduced a method to attach photos and videos to in-progress emails, it suffers from poor discoverability, and only works with content from the Photos app. If you want to attach any other file to an email, it's a usability disaster.

How iOS file handling breaks down

Emailing, and including attachments in emails, is a common task and something that takes only a few seconds on the Mac with OS X. On an iPhone or iPad with iOS, it takes an annoying amount of time and causes an unreasonable amount of frustration. Here's some blog-theater by way of example:

"Hey, Rene, can you email me the dates for that trip?"

"Sure, Kevin." I grab my iPhone, open the Mail app, add Kevin as the recipient, add the subject "trip", paste in the dates, then--

"Could you also attach that outline for discussion topics?"

"Um..."

My only option now is to copy the contents of the email, trash it, go to the app I wrote the topics in, find the file, tap share, tap email, add Kevin again, add the subject again, paste in the dates again--

Shit. I deleted the app I wrote the topics in. A hotter, newer app came out and I started using that instead, and even though both use iCloud, neither has any idea the other exists so... I re-download the old app and pray the data is either still there, or magically comes back from the cloud.

"And those two PDF files about that thing?"

Double shit. Both those PDF files are in different PDF apps, one in a simple reader, the other one in an app that supports annotation. Now I have to send the discussion topics from one app, and each of the PDF files from their apps.

Now Kevin is laughing his ass of at me and asking me to tell him again how the iPhone is easy to use, and I want to punch things.

And the reason for all this is that Apple forgot a cardinal principle of design: unreasonable drives for simplicity sometimes lead to inane levels of complexity.

Right now, adding photo or video attachments to in-progress emails is done via the same pop-up menu originally introduced in IOS 3 for cut, copy, and paste. You have to tap the screen to get the popup, tap a tiny, obscure arrow button to get more options, and then tap to add the attachment.

An easy to find, easy to use attachment button would be simpler. It's a solution employed by third-party apps like Facebook, email clients like Gmail and Sparrow, and the official Twitter app and Tweetbot.

Some of these are more elegant than others, but all of them are more discoverable. Apple already uses a blue + button to add contacts. Something like that for attachments could work for attachments as well. I did a mockup just like that for a pre-iOS 6 article on higher hanging fruit, but I'll update it below.

Tapping the attachment button could bring up a Share Sheet that includes the Photos icon, so you could attach photos as normal, but also any other app icon that contains documents. Tapping an icon would bring up a list view of all the files associated with that app. It's a bit overwrought, but it fits with the existing iOS constructs, including the binding of files to apps, and has the advantage of familiarity-as-a-feature.

Depending on how many file-capable apps are installed, it could create a very dense Share Sheet. It also still requires the user remember which app contains which file.

That's why, for the last couple of years, I've been asking for a simple, flat document repository for iOS -- a Files app that works the same way as the Photos app (or Passbook app for that matter). A Files app for iOS would remove unnecessary cognitive load from users and solve a wide swathe of current usability problems with iOS, including email attachments.

With a document repository, any user file could be attached to any in-progress email, without the need for a Share Sheet, or for the user to remember app ownership. And it would do so in a way that's consistent with how iOS already works, increasing simplicity at the same time.



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/uw9GcPdDGvs/story01.htm

whitney houston passed away heartbreak hotel don cornelius whitney houston i will always love you breaking news whitney houston carmen whitney houston last performance

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Man charged after dynamite joke at Miami airport (Providence Journal)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/266543364?client_source=feed&format=rss

john 3 16 alex smith 49ers miss america 2012 hgtv dream home patriots vs broncos contraband denver vs new england

BAE may close major UK shipyard: paper

LONDON (Reuters) - British defense contractor BAE Systems may close one of its major shipyards in Britain as it looks to balance capacity with future workloads, a top executive has told a newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

Nigel Whitehead, who is group managing director, programs and support, told the Sunday Telegraph that BAE, which operates a shipyard in Portsmouth and two in Glasgow, "anticipate(s) that there will be a reduction in footprint".

"We anticipate ... that part of that might actually be the cessation of manufacturing at one of the sites," he was quoted as telling the paper. "We will be making decisions this year, so we have a number of weeks in which to do that."

The company is facing a drop in work once work on the two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers are completed.

The paper said industry insiders believe BAE's base at Portsmouth is most at risk, with an estimated loss of 1,500 jobs. It said the Royal Navy's base at Portsmouth, where BAE also does repairs, is not at risk.

The news comes just weeks after talks between BAE and EADS on the world's largest defense and aviation merger collapsed.

"We continue to work closely with the Ministry of Defence to explore all possible options to determine how best to sustain the capability to deliver complex warships in the UK in the future," a spokeswoman for BAE told Reuters.

"This work is ongoing and we are committed to keeping our employees and trade unions informed as it progresses."

(Reporting by Laurence Fletcher and Rhys Jones; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bae-may-close-major-uk-shipyard-paper-144718636--finance.html

nfl free agency jonbenet ramsey jason campbell doobie brothers jennie garth peter facinelli marques colston golden state warriors

Gazans race to rebuild bombed smugglers' tunnels

Mohammed Salem / Reuters

Palestinians rest as a worker repairs a smuggling tunnel dug beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. Knee-deep in craters carved out by Israeli airstrikes, Palestinians wielded shovels and planks to reopen tunnels used to smuggle in goods from Egypt to Gaza, as international aid agencies raced to replenish Gaza's supplies.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Palestinians wielded shovels and planks Monday to reopen tunnels used to smuggle in goods from Egypt to the Gaza Strip after Israel's eight-day offensive against Hamas.

Israeli airstrikes have heavily targeted the network of tunnels, which smugglers use to bring in various items ? including food, fuel, construction materials and weapons ? to Gaza's 1.6 million residents.

Residents along the Egypt-Gaza border say that smugglers and tunnel owners are still inspecting the damage but that many of the tunnels still operate, though at reduced capacity, according to The Associated Press.


An Egyptian security official, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, estimated that as of Sunday half the tunnels were not functioning.

PhotoBlog: Gazans work to reopen tunnels bombed by Israel

The tunnels were developed as a way for Palestinians in Gaza to sidestep Egyptian and Israeli restrictions.

Though technically illegal, the tunnels have until recently been tolerated to varying degrees on the Egyptian side of the border.

Lifeline
While many Gazans depend on the tunnels for basic food and supplies, the underground facilities have also been crucial to arming Hamas and other militant groups.

"You can smuggle weapons, have people going in and out," Benedetta Berti, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, recently told USA Today. "Security on the border and monitoring tunnels ... has to be done."

Bernat Armangue / AP

Israel's military said it had accomplished its objectives while Hamas claimed victory after the two sides exchanged deadly airstrikes and rocket attacks for over a week.

According to an August report by the International Crisis Group, between $500-700 million in goods are estimated to pass through the tunnels each year. The Hamas government has charged a tax of around 14.5 percent since the beginning of 2012, the report said. In 2011 alone, 13,000 cars were estimated to have come through the tunnels.

Some smugglers have made a fortune off the smuggling.

"Eight hundred millionaires and 1,600 near-millionaires control the tunnels at the expense of both Egyptian and Palestinian national interests," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, told The Economist.

Thousands of other workers make a living transporting goods back and forth through the tunnels, reports say.

As of late 2010, around 1,000 tunnels were in operation along the border, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said in a report.

ANALYSIS: What Gaza crisis taught Israel about Iran

Hamas began a dramatic expansion off the tunneling network following Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the coastal territory, analysts say. The Islamist group, which Israel and the United States classify as a terrorist group, came to power in Gaza in 2007.

"Under the closure regime aimed at undermining Hamas's control over the territory, the tunneling network has become Gaza's primary economic engine and mode of rearmament for militants," the CRS report said.

The tunnels are believed to be of a relatively high quality of engineering and construction, with some including electricity, ventilation, intercoms, and a rail system, according to the report.

ARCHIVAL VIDEO from Jan. 21, 2009: As Israeli troops finish their withdrawal from Gaza, smuggling tunnels into the territory are filling back up with contraband. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

The Iran link
Many of the weapons smuggled into Gaza appear to have originated in Iran, experts say.

Iran's fingerprints on Hamas weaponry, but role in Israel-Gaza crisis murky

The Israeli military released footage earlier this month that it said showed that many of Hamas' weapons, such as the Fajr-5 missiles, came from Iran.

The Shiite-led government in Iran has found common cause with the Sunni Hamas over a mutual foe, Israel, but experts agree that its influence is often indirect.

Still, according to a 2009 cable obtained by WikiLeaks, Israeli intelligence told a U.S. official that Israel's air attacks on Gaza's tunnels were "part of a bigger campaign to address the main issue of Iranian support to Hamas."

For example, Israel said the Iranians had developed a version of the 122mm rocket specifically for Hamas: the weapon "came in four pieces that could fit through narrow tunnels and be reassembled in Gaza."

Despite troubles at home, Egypt's Morsi is pivotal player in Mideast

Israel has promised to ease its blockade on Gaza as part of a cease-fire last week that ended the intense fighting. But as negotiations inch forward, no timeline has yet been set for the lifting the restrictions.

Under its new Islamist government, Egypt has moved to reduce smuggling in the tunnel by sealing off the entrances on its side of the border.

Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

Egypt and Israel have blamed a recent surge in lawlessness on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border in large part to smuggling through the tunnels.

In August, the Egyptian army launched a crackdown on militants in the Sinai Peninsula after an attack killed 16 Egyptian police officers.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/26/15454998-gazans-move-quickly-to-rebuild-bombed-tunnels-to-bring-in-food-weapons?lite

world peace lakers colorectal cancer metta kashi neil diamond orange crush harden

Monday, November 26, 2012

Warren Buffett calls for a minimum tax on the wealthy

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett, the legendary investor who changed the debate about U.S. tax reform in 2011 with a call for the rich to pay more, is now calling for minimum tax rates for millionaires.

In a New York Times editorial printed on Monday, Buffett suggested Congress move immediately to implement minimum taxes of 30 percent on incomes of $1 million to $10 million and 35 percent above that.

"A plain and simple rule like that will block the efforts of lobbyists, lawyers and contribution-hungry legislators to keep the ultra rich paying rates well below those incurred by people with income just a tiny fraction of ours," Buffett wrote.

"Only a minimum tax on very high incomes will prevent the stated tax rate from being eviscerated by these warriors for the wealthy," he added.

The new push is in keeping with the one he made in the same newspaper in August 2011, in which he decried the "coddling" of the super-rich. He used himself and his secretary as an example, noting that her tax rate was much higher than his even though her income was just a tiny fraction of what he made.

"Warren Buffett's secretary" became a political meme following that editorial, and the said secretary, Debbie Bosanek, was ultimately a guest of President Barack Obama at this year's State of the Union address.

The 2011 editorial spurred Obama to seek the implementation of what he called the "Buffett Rule," which set a 30 percent tax rate on millionaires. Opponents said it would stifle spending by the job-creating well-to-do, a notion Buffett ridiculed in the new editorial.

"So let's forget about the rich and ultra rich going on strike and stuffing their ample funds under their mattresses if ? gasp ? capital gains rates and ordinary income rates are increased," he said. "The ultra rich, including me, will forever pursue investment opportunities."

Buffett, whom Forbes ranks as the world's third-richest person, is the chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the ice-cream-to-insurance conglomerate that employs more than a quarter-million people around the world.

He acknowledged in Monday's editorial that some people like him might stop investing as they wait for Congress to act.

"In the meantime, maybe you'll run into someone with a terrific investment idea, who won't go forward with it because of the tax he would owe when it succeeds," Buffett said. "Send him my way. Let me unburden him."

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/warren-buffett-calls-minimum-tax-wealthy-143453119--business.html

great pacific garbage patch ben affleck and jennifer garner google privacy changes windows 8 preview leap year moratorium dwts season 14 cast

At least 112 killed as fire raced through Bangladesh garment factory

DHAKA, Bangladesh - At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through a multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, an official said Sunday.

The blaze broke out at the seven-story factory operated by Tazreen Fashions late Saturday. By Sunday morning, firefighters had recovered 100 bodies, fire department Operations Director Maj. Mohammad Mahbub told The Associated Press.

He said another 12 people who had suffered injuries after jumping from the building to escape the fire later died at hospitals. The death toll could rise as the search for victims was continuing, he said.

Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed in the fire. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, and authorities have ordered an investigation.

Bangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories, many without proper safety measures. The country annually earns about $20 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to the United States and Europe.

Relatives of the factory workers were frantically looking for their loved ones. Sabina Yasmine said she saw the body of her daughter-in-law, who died in the fire, but had no trace of her son, who also worked at the factory.

"Oh, Allah, where's my soul? Where's my son?" wailed Yasmine, who works at another factory in the area. "I want the factory owner to be hanged. For him, many have died, many have gone."

Mahbub said firefighters recovered 69 bodies from the second floor of the factory alone. He said most of the victims had been trapped inside the factory, located just outside of Dhaka, with no emergency exits leading outside the building.

Many workers who had taken shelter on the roof of the factory were rescued, but firefighters were unable to save those who were trapped inside, Mahbub said.

He said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which was used as a warehouse, and spread quickly to the upper floors.

"The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the ground floor," Mahbub said. "So the workers could not come out when the fire engulfed the building."

"Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower," he said.

Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition. The recovered bodies were kept in rows on the premise of a nearby school.

Army soldiers and paramilitary border guards were deployed to help police keep the situation under control as thousands of onlookers and anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered at the scene, Mahbub said. He would not say how many people were still missing.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock at the loss of so many lives in the blaze and asked authorities to conduct thorough search-and-rescue operations.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said it would stand by the victims' families.

Bangladesh's garment factories make clothes for brands including Wal-Mart, JC Penney, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Carrefour and Tesco.

Separately, a flyover under construction fell onto a busy market, leaving at least 14 people dead including three construction workers in southeastern city of Chittagong, an official said Sunday.

Local fire official Abdul Mannan said the concrete structure collapsed on Saturday night, and authorities recovered the bodies by Sunday morning from under the debris in the second-largest city after Dhaka.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/least-112-killed-fire-races-garment-factory-outside-141012538.html

Jennifer Lacy Honey Baked Ham hostess israel channing tatum AMA Carly Rae Jepsen

McIlroy wins Dubai World Championship by 2 strokes

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? Rory McIlroy made five straight birdies down the stretch to overtake Justin Rose and win the Dubai World Championship on Sunday, ending a historic year in which the 23-year-old Northern Irishman won the PGA Championship and the European and PGA tour money titles.

The top-ranked McIlroy recovered from early putting woes to finish at 6-under 66 for a total 23-under 265 at the season-ending tournament. Rose, who was tied for seventh after three rounds, surged down the stretch into contention after shooting a course-record 62 that included an eagle and eight birdies.

"I just wanted to finish the season the way I thought I deserved to finish the season," McIlroy said after holing a birdie on 18 and raising his arms in the air in celebration. "You know, I played so well throughout the year and I didn't want to just let it tail off sort of timidly. I wanted to come here and finish in style."

Second-ranked Luke Donald (71) was tied for third with Charl Schwartzel (68) of South Africa. Louis Oosthuizen (69) was another shot back in fifth.

The day was supposed to be a duel between McIlroy and Donald, who were tied for the lead after the third round. The Englishman grabbed an early two-shot lead when McIlroy bogeyed the first and Donald birdied the second.

But then Donald three-putted the third to end a streak of 102 holes on the Earth Course without a bogey to give McIlroy a chance. He then had another bogey on No. 12 to fall three back and never challenged after that, missing the green on the 17th to end his chances.

In the meantime, Rose was climbing up the leaderboard.

The Englishman pulled within one of McIlroy with a birdie and then moved ahead with an eagle on No. 14 after his approach shot rolled to within 10 feet. He sank it for his first lead of the tournament and doubled his advantage when McIlroy three-putted on the 13th.

Rose had another birdie before his 60-foot eagle putt came within inches of the cup on No. 18, and he settled for birdie. Then, he had to wait.

"I thought it was going to be good, to be honest," Rose said. "I caught a glimpse of the board walking to the 18th tee. I saw Rory had gone birdie, birdie, and he's putting the squeeze on. But I knew that is what Rory does."

At No. 17, McIlroy hit what was probably the shot of his tournament, landing a 5-iron within a few feet of the pin.

"You could easily be a lot right into the bunker and leave yourself a tricky up-and-down," he said. "I committed to it and hit a great shot and followed it with a great putt for birdie to give myself that cushion going into the last."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mcilroy-wins-dubai-world-championship-2-strokes-143113025--spt.html

rachel uchitel strait of hormuz new years eve party ideas mars needs moms stephen curry hes just not that into you hes just not that into you

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Blog Of The Year Award 2012 ? Donkey Whisperer Farm Blog

Friends of the Donkey Whisperer Farm

I am honored to receive this Award from All Things Boys?she nominated me for this award after receiving the award herself. Thank you again! ?I am a bit overwhelmed as blogging started out after surviving a life threatening motor vehicle accident while riding as a passenger.

How Blogging Has Helped Me

Blogging helped me fill my time, stay connected to the people in our most fragile world

Blogging has given me a sense of purpose

with the extremely long isolated days and nights (pain) turned into

?weeks than months and finally years

Please excuse typos and grammar problems as some of my posts like this one are written at 1:30am in the morning as I can?t sleep due to pain

Almost three years of rehabilitation now learning how to walk and adapt to chronic nagging pain caused by the broken ribs and long surgically installed screws in my pelvis. I suffer from horrific back pain, rib pain, neuropathy in my feet, ankles and deep aching pain in my right hip where the screws were surgically drilled into my pelvis. ?Pain is something I write about to help others and share why training equine in a natural way without pain and resistance is the very best way.

Update on my health ? Stress and Pain Don?t Mix?

This week has been stressful as both my husband and myself ?had sworn depositions taken with a court reporter in regards to the personal injury lawsuit that has been on-going since the car accident in 2010. ?A very emotional, stressful and horrible experience as insurance corporations are in the business to make money not pay medical bills etc. ?We have learned the hard way that insurance refuses to pay the medical bills after a life threatening and catastrophic car accident even when their driver runs a stop sign and gets a ticket for running the stop sign.?

Additionally I suffered a major step back from Physical Therapy last week I have been enduring more pain and suffering than I normally do. ?The three large long screws surgically inserted into my pelvis do not agree with the wet and cold of the Pacific Northwest making fall and winter the most difficult time of the year for me. ? Wearing long johns and snow pants until we are back into the 60?s and 70?s for those of you living in the Pacific Northwest you understand this is weeks out of the year not months. ?I have been in Physical Therapy trying to get my body to become healthy and beat the back spasms and hip pain for almost three years now, no doubt GOD is working on me to trust him and have patience again.

Please remember to trust Jesus Christ each and every day and make him your Lord & Savior as he is truly the light of our most fragile world.

No doubt GOD has a plan and perhaps one day he will provide a way for me to live in a warmer and drier place for now this is indeed where GOD has planted me with my husband, Mammoth donkey, mini donkey, beloved horse, three dogs and two indoor manx mix kitty cats.

Please remember ?If you have never experienced abuse, or severe pain you will have a hard time having empathy for another human or animal? ?Please look for natural training methods without pain and suffering for your horse, donkey or mule. ?I am a home study student of Parelli?horsemanship, Parelli works for Horses, Donkeys and Mules. :)

Here is instructions for the Blog Of The Year 2012 ?

As you can see there is one gold star with the possibility of six in total.

The ?rules? for this award are simple:

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the??Blog of the Year 2012? Award

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen ? there?s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required ? and ?present? them with their award.

3 Please include a link back to this page??Blog of the Year 2012? Award???http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/? ?and include these ?rules? in your post (please don?t alter the rules or the badges!)

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ?rules? with them

5 You can now also join our Facebook group ? click ?like? on this page??Blog of the Year 2012? Award Facebook group?and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

6 As a winner of the award ? please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award ? and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar ? and start collecting stars?

6 stars image

Yes ? that?s right ? there are stars to collect!

Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once ? this award is different!

When you begin you will receive the ?1 star? award ? and every?time you are given the award by another blog ? you can add another star!

There are a total of 6 stars to collect.

Which means that you can check out your favourite blogs ? and even if they have already been given the award by someone else ? you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!

My Nominations?

Elephant Advocacy Blog

Rayya ?The Vet

Main Writers

David Kanigan?

Memory Bears By Bonnie?

Morning Bray Farm

News Ferret

Long Life Cats and Dogs

Everyone has a story

An alphabet of gratitude?

I truly enjoy all of the blogs I read, I pray my pain and suffering has in some way helped you be the best you can be, treat humans and animals in our world the way you would want to be treated.

GOD bless you and your family two and four-legged!

Melody

http://wwwyouversion.com/mobile

http://www.donkeywhisperer.com

https://www.facebook.com/Donkeywhisperer

Source: http://donkeywhispererfarm2010.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/blog-of-the-year-award-2012/

gladys knight private practice deion sanders creutzfeldt jakob disease the lone ranger yu darvish mad cow

96% The House I Live In

All Critics (45) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (2)

The House I Live In is a work of journalism, not propaganda: Jarecki has done his research and leaves it to you to decide what to make of it.

If [it] takes a while to focus, it eventually becomes the conversation starter the subject desperately needs.

Jarecki takes a highly original approach to create a compelling, thought-provoking look at a highly relevant and controversial topic.

An absorbing, disturbing sit.

It's a film as profoundly sad as it is enraging and potentially galvanizing, and it's one of the most important pieces of nonfiction to hit the screen in years.

Jarecki's case is so compelling that, when he concludes by comparing the drug war to the Holocaust, the obvious charge of hyperbole doesn't quite stick.

An angry and personal attack on America's war on drugs contends it is a grotesquely wasteful public-works scheme.

Jarecki is a stickler for sticking to his subject, or sub-subject, until it squeals like a leech victim.

Jarecki offers 100 small conclusions rather than one big one for you to take away.

This urgent and formidably smart movie - perhaps the year's most important political documentary - has opened minds and changed laws already.

Tells a complex story with troubling ease.

Persuasively argues that punitive laws against users have historically involved disproportionately targeting poor, non-white communities.

Jarecki's parade of experts and eyewitnesses is impressive, as are his arguments that race and class prejudice enter into the policing efforts of America's drug warriors.

Jarecki's conclusion is powerfully plausible

There's no confusion about Jarecki's point of view in The House I Live In- he's out to make the case that America's drug laws cause far more damage, to individuals and communities, than drug use ever has

The film deserves credit for offering a unique perspective on a relevant social issue.

The House I Live In is depressing stuff, but it sparks the fires of anger, and from that anger, possible action.

This film could serve as a potent tool for those trying to change 40 years of public policy.

A thought-provoking, compelling documentary that encourages you to look at our national drug policy in a broader context.

Statistics abound in this thorough analysis of the declared war [on drugs] that, like Vietnam, we are losing.

A devastating dispatch from the front lines of America's war on drugs, the film tracks the rise of the prison-industrial complex as masterfully as the filmmaker's previous work took on its older military-industrial cousin.

You will hear a Lincoln historian, Richard Lawrence Miller, compare the War on Drugs to the Holocaust and be convinced. Then Jarecki finds a Lexington, Oklahoma corrections officer who finds his way to many of this man's same conclusions.

No quotes approved yet for The House I Live In. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_house_i_live_in/

bruce weber boston globe google maps 8 bit mirror mirror robyn texas relays meniscus

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Copywriting for the Non-English-Speaking Audience

The power of the Internet lies in its global pervasiveness. It is practically everywhere. People of all languages access the Net from all over the globe. Just think of it as an infinite vastness for your business and marketing possibilities. Your marketing potential is directly proportional to the number of people who can understand your [...]

The article starts below...

Written on November 23rd, 2012
Read more articles on Copywriting.

The power of the Internet lies in its global pervasiveness. It is practically everywhere. People of all languages access the Net from all over the globe. Just think of it as an infinite vastness for your business and marketing possibilities. Your marketing potential is directly proportional to the number of people who can understand your message.

Keep the following points in your mind while writing the copy for a non-English-speaking audience:

==> SHORTER SENTENCES AVOID COMPLICATED WORDS USE LOCAL EXAMPLES BLEND IN THE LOCAL CULTURE COLLECT INFORMATION

Written on November 23rd, 2012
Read more articles on Copywriting.

Source: http://www.copywritinghelp.net/copywriting/copywriting-for-the-non-english-speaking-audience-4/

ghost hunters lightsquared david lee honduras prison fire do not call list sports illustrated westminster dog show 2012

Star Trek classroom: Next generation of school desks

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2012) ? Researchers designing and testing the 'classroom of the future' have found that multi-touch, multi-user desks can boost skills in mathematics.

New results from a 3-year project working with over 400 pupils, mostly 8-10 year olds, show that collaborative learning increases both fluency and flexibility in maths. It also shows that using an interactive 'smart' desk can have benefits over doing mathematics on paper.

Using multi-touch desks in the new classroom, the children were able to work together in new ways to solve and answer questions and problems using inventive solutions. Seeing what your friends are doing, and being able to fully participate in group activities, offers new ways of working in class, the researchers say.

The 'Star Trek classroom' could also help learning and teaching in other subjects.

The findings published in the journal Learning and Instruction, show that children who use a collaborative maths activity in the SynergyNet classroom improve in both mathematical flexibility and fluency, while children working on traditional paper-based activities only improve in flexibility.

During the project, the team found that 45% of students who used NumberNet increased in the number of unique mathematical expressions they created after using NumberNet, compared to 16% of students in the traditional paper-based activity.

Lead researcher, Professor Liz Burd, School of Education, said: "Our aim was to encourage far higher levels of active student engagement, where knowledge is obtained by sharing, problem-solving and creating, rather than by passive listening. This classroom enables both active engagement and equal access.

"We found our tables encouraged students to collaborate more effectively. We were delighted to observe groups of students enhancing others' understanding of mathematical concepts. Such collaboration just did not happen when students used paper-based approaches."

The Durham University team designed software and desks that recognize multiple touches on the desktop using vision systems that see infrared light. The project called SynergyNet set out to integrate a fully collaborative system of desks, building it into the fabric and furniture of the classroom. The new desks with a 'multi-touch' surface are the central component, and these are networked and linked to a main smartboard.

In terms of current teaching, the new system means that the 'move-to-use' whiteboard is by-passed and the new desks can be both screen and keyboard. The desks act like multi-touch whiteboards and several students can use any one desk at once.

The technology allows all students to take part as opposed to one individual dominating.

Researcher, Emma Mercier, School of Education, said: "Cooperative learning works very well in the new classroom because the pupils interact and learn in a different way. The children really enjoy doing maths in this way and are always disappointed when you turn the desks off!

"We can achieve fluency in maths through practice, however, boosting a pupil's ability to find a range of solutions to arithmetic questions is harder to teach. This classroom can help teachers to use collaborative learning to improve their pupils' flexibility in maths."

The teacher plays a key role in the classroom and can send tasks to different tables to individuals and groups. The teacher can also send one group's answers on to the next group to work on and add to, or to the board for a class discussion.

A live feed of the desks goes directly to the teacher who can intervene quickly to help an individual while allowing the group work to continue.

Professor Steve Higgins said: "Technology like this has enormous potential for teaching as it can help the teacher to manage and to orchestrate the learning of individuals and groups of learners to ensure they are both challenged and supported so that they can learn effectively."

Such a classroom may be some way off being a regular feature of schools across the world due to the costs in setting it up, and the level of support needed to make it work, however, in just 3 years the project team have noted major improvements in the technology, and a reduction in costs.

The researchers also recognise that task management in the class environment is an issue requiring thought and planning, but the overall potential of the new classroom for improved numeracy, learning, and on-going assessment is very good.

The project has worked with 12 different schools in the North East.

SynergyNet is one of eight technology enhanced learning research projects funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as part of the ?12M Teaching and Learning Research Programme into Technology Enhanced Learning.

The project is an inter-disciplinary collaboration at Durham University between the School of Education, the Department of Psychology and the Department of Computer Science.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Durham University.

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


Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/_k2x7nxTpDs/121122195509.htm

rose parade mount rainier national park drop dead gorgeous ticket city bowl 2011 nfl playoff schedule cowboys vs giants ndaa

Friday, November 23, 2012

Black voters look to leverage their loyalty

President Barack Obama gestures as he answers a question during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Barack Obama gestures as he answers a question during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

(AP) ? When black voters gave President Barack Obama 93 percent support on Election Day in defiance of predictions that they might sit it out this year, black leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief.

That encouraged those leaders to try to leverage more attention from both Obama and Congress. Although they waver over how much to demand from the president ? particularly in light of defeated GOP challenger Mitt Romney's assertion that Obama gave "gifts" to minorities in exchange for their votes ? they are delivering postelection wish lists to the president anyway.

"I think the president heard us loud and clear. The collective message was, 'Let's build on where we already are,'" the Rev. Al Sharpton told reporters after a White House meeting last week with a collection of advocates representing largely Democratic constituencies.

Specifically, Sharpton said, that means keeping the brunt of the looming "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts off the backs of the middle and working class.

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous aimed that same message at Congress, especially on where tax relief is extended.

"We need Republicans to think hard and to pull back from the cliff 98 percent of our families, who make up the bulk of this nation, from seeing our taxes being raised," Jealous said.

Blacks made up 13 percent of the electorate this year, about the same as 2008, while participation among whites shrank slightly to 72 percent and Hispanics increased to 10 percent, national exit polls showed. Black leaders point to that minority participation as they sharpen their calls for initiatives to address black unemployment, which was 12.7 percent when Obama took office, peaked at 16.5 percent roughly a year later, and stood at 14.3 percent in October. The overall unemployment rate is 7.9 percent.

National Urban League President Marc Morial acknowledged in an interview that "we sweated turnout all the way to the end," because the country's underlying economic conditions made it tougher to mobilize black voters. Within days of the election, Morial sent to Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., an "urgent petition" asking that Obama's second term focus on economic opportunity and income inequality.

A jobs program should emphasize infrastructure and public works, broadband technology and energy "with a special focus on those communities where unemployment is and remains stubbornly and persistently high," Morial's letter said.

"We who represent the nation's urban communities will demand a seat at the table in these discussions," he wrote.

African-American voter samples in national exit polls are not useful for providing turnout measurements. Census surveys and other analyses eventually will provide turnout numbers for specific racial groups. But exit polls can be used to examine different groups as shares of the overall vote. And there, experts say, is where the evidence can be found of how much black voters delivered for Obama.

Nationally, Obama's share of the black vote was down slightly from four years ago. But in some key states, turnout was higher and had an impact, said David Bositis, an expert on black politics and voting at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Blacks made up 15 percent of the electorate in Ohio, up from 11 percent in 2008. And 97 percent of those votes went for Obama, leading Bositis to say Obama's margin of victory in the state came from black voters.

In Michigan, the black share of the vote grew from 12 percent in 2008 to 16 percent in 2012, according to exit polls.

"Michigan was one of the states the two parties jostled around, and eventually Republicans decided they were not going to win, and one of the reasons was the big increase in the black vote," Bositis said.

In Missouri, a state Obama lost in both elections, the black vote went from 13 percent to 16 percent of all voters.

Bositis said the black share of the vote remained roughly the same at 23 percent in North Carolina, which Obama narrowly won in 2008 but lost in 2012, and 13 percent in Florida, which Obama won both times. In Virginia, which Obama won in both elections, black voters were 20 percent of all voters, he said.

Women and people from ages 18 to 29 had the strongest participation levels in the black community.

In 2008, black women had the highest turnout rate, 69 percent, of all groups. Their 2008 record created a sense of obligation among some black female leaders to take an active role against new state voting laws they said threatened to curb black voter participation. Black women made up 60 percent of the black vote this year and voted 95 percent for Obama.

The enthusiasm of black women was demonstrated in Florida when more than 250 churches marched their congregations to the polls as part of the "Souls To the Polls" early voting campaign, said Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. A large percentage of the marchers were women, Campbell said.

"Countless women stood in line for hours to vote early so they could volunteer to work at the polls to help in the fight against voter suppression," Campbell said.

Black voters ages 18-29 made up 26 percent of the black vote nationally, a turnout close to what it was in 2008, according to the national exit poll. They voted 91 percent for Obama.

Republicans had reached out to black voters in 2004 and saw their share of the black vote increase in that election, Bositis said. But he said that in 2012, the outreach was nonexistent.

Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee chairman, said the GOP had an opportunity this election to connect with black voters on unemployment, health disparities, incarceration and other issues.

"How the heck do you win if you don't engage in the conversation?" Steele said.

___

Follow Suzanne Gamboa at http://www.twitter.com/APsgamboa

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-23-Election-Black%20Voters/id-340e8a234b9a41ac963088591fe8bd77

Opening ceremony London 2012 Google Fiber Olympics Schedule 2012 Olympic Medal Count 2012 Olympics 2012 Olympic Schedule 2012 NBC Olympics

Paper politics: Keeping in touch with home news when living abroad ...

As Irish communities formed abroad, so too did a network of media focused on Irish affairs. But in the digital age, do emigrants still want these local papers, asks BRIAN O?CONNELL?

Brian O'Connell interviewing Ken Livingstone in London. Photograph: Malcolm McNally/Irish Post

In the mid-1990s, I spent a number of summers in Cape Cod. We had one direct link with home, a house telephone, which enabled us to call family once a week to get the latest news. None of us had a mobile phone and access to the internet was limited. When Veronica Guerin was shot and killed in June 1996, it was 24 hours before the news filtered through.

The only other news link to home was chancing upon copies of the Irish Emigrant, a weekly newsletter emailed from Galway to a worldwide mailing list. It began in 1987 when Liam Ferrie emailed a number of his colleagues in Digital Equipment Corporation who worked abroad, with snippets of what was happening in Ireland.

It began to spread, but the only people with email at the time were those working in IT or academia, so circulation remained limited.

By the time I arrived in America a decade later, however, copies of the newsletter were being printed off and left on bar counters where Irish people socialised. The Irish Emigrant gave a concise breakdown of the main headlines in Ireland along with some opinion pieces, and by the time it ceased last year it had become one of the oldest online publications in the world, reaching emigrants in dozens of countries.

With emigrants and Irish communities now able to read newspapers such as The Irish Times every day online or listen to RT??s Morning Ireland as they come home from work in Sydney, I began to wonder why anyone would need a filtering of the news several days behind in print form, and whether Irish community newspapers still had a role to play. Over the past year, I have travelled to Belfast, London, New York and Sydney to make a radio series, Home News, which explores how Irish communities stay in touch with Ireland.

Some titles have been quick to recognise the shift in attitudes among newer emigrants, who are as likely to identify with fellow international professionals as they are with exclusively Irish communities. They are less likely to attend Irish centres in Boston or Birmingham, and their sense of place is less reliant on being articulated by community newspapers, given that they can digitally maintain links with home.

The Irish Voice, under editor Niall O?Dowd, has been a strong voice and advocate for the Irish in America for a quarter of a century. O?Dowd, who also publishes Irish America magazine, is now focusing more on his online product, irishcentral.com, than on his printed offerings.

?The whole game has changed overnight,? says O?Dowd. ?I?m an old timer when it comes to media. You need well researched, good stories and I?m not into all the bells and whistles. Our website has a lot of original content and we are doubling our audience every year. The number of unique visitors each month dwarfs anything we ever did with the Irish Voice and we get more advertising now in our online products than we do in the newspaper. The train has left the station in terms of print. We are on a new journey.?

The Irish Post in London has had a dramatic two years. The paper, which calls itself the ?voice of the Irish in Britain?, went into liquidation in 2011. A large effort was undertaken by leading members of the Irish community in the UK to get it back in print, before Cork-born businessman Elgin Loane stepped in to rescue the title.

Under then-editor Murray Morse, it quickly found itself in controversy when the paper accused President Michael D Higgins of snubbing the Irish community in London by reneging on a promise to give the paper a one-on-one interview on his visit to the UK in 2012.

Many of those who had campaigned for the paper to return were calling on it to apologise, and the issue raised the question of whether the paper was still relevant at a time when newer Irish arrivals in the UK didn?t feel as strong a need to assert their Irishness as past generations had? The circulation had slipped from a high of 31,400 copies to under 20,000 by the time it closed.

It remains to be seen whether or not the title can regain the trust of the community it once served.

In Sydney, the Irish Echo is attempting to benefit from the large influx of Irish emigrants in recent years and is targeting new arrivals with free copies of the paper handed out in bars in areas such as Bondi Beach. But some of those new arrivals are somewhat ambivalent to the title, while the sheer size of the continent makes it difficult for the Irish Echo to reach many in its printed form.

To counteract this, the paper has invested in its online product and has a breaking-news section with regularly updated stories relating to the Irish community in Australia. The paper and its staff are also active on social media.

Northern pride

In Belfast, the Irish News is something of a success story and has begun selling more full-price editions than rival title the Belfast Telegraph for the first time in its history. It has moved from being preoccupied with ?deaths and the dogs? to a title now doing some strong work on social issues and gaining a level of cross-community appeal. The paper?s success is perhaps reflective of a rising Northern Irish identity and the ways in which media in Northern Ireland has had to seek out new readers following the Belfast Agreement.

Riverdance co-founder John McColgan?s new project WorldIrish.comaims to connect the Irish diaspora in new ways in the future. The site describes itself as an online portal, and has a team of journalists who help source material and stories that they feel may be of relevance to the site?s members, many of who are of Irish extraction, but based outside Ireland. McColgan hopes his website can become something of a virtual Irish bar, allowing the Irish community abroad to be the content creators of the project.

?Gabriel Byrne, who is on our advisory board and a great supporter of the project, put it very well when he said that Ireland has forgotten about the diaspora but we haven?t forgotten about Ireland,? says McColgan.

?They do feel ignored. The diaspora are not one group and there are different levels of engagement. The common glue that holds them all together, whatever their own perspective, is their interest in Ireland, either currently or in their heritage or in their genealogy.

?On so many levels, Ireland is an emotive and powerful brand.?

Home News begins on RT? Radio 1 at 7.30pm tomorrow, and continues every Saturday until December 22nd. Podcasts can be downloaded from rte.ie/radio1/homenews

?The paper was a touch of green in your fingers?

David Egan , an Irish artist originally from Dublin, emigrated to Sydney in the 1980s. egangallery.com

David Egan: 'The paper was a touch of green in your fingers'

?When I came here, I wanted to stay for a year at least and then I stayed on after that. The difference now is that my parents aren?t around any more. I have four boys and the trip to Dublin is very difficult. I feel homesick and it doesn?t particularly get any easier. You do crave and hunger the country as much as you ever did. I always say it is like there is 10 per cent of me missing while I?m living in Australia, and I know when I go home that 10 per cent is topped up.

?I listen a lot to [Irish] radio, especially Dave Fanning and I find that great. When I first came here I remember getting enough coinage, at least $10 worth, and popping them all in [to the phone] and speaking for three minutes and that was the end of the contact with home. With The Irish Times, for example, if it was posted it would have taken at least a week to get here.

?I bought the Irish Echo all the time when I arrived first and I still do buy it. I don?t know why. I?d say it is more a patriotic thing to buy the paper and for me it is about not letting go of a past routine. The paper was a touch of green in your fingers and I suppose there are a lot of Irish advertisements, community events and local news that you wouldn?t access elsewhere. That could be the reason it will survive.?

?The community here has become very underground?

John Normoyle (31), from Ennis, Co Clare, moved to New York in 2003 to work at the Clinton Foundation. He currently works as director of digital strategy with DraftFCB

?The community here has become very underground?

?Traditional news sources like The Irish Times or RT? are feeding me content that I find entertaining or useful if I am having conversations with other Irish people. What I?m seeing in Irish newspapers here in America is not really useful for me. I am much more interested in news that is actually happening in Ireland and being generated from there.

?The Irish American interpretation on things, or what is happening with that community, is not so important to me. I came here independently and was very lucky to have a job set up and somewhere to live. A lot of emigrants in the past didn?t have that safety net and I understand how Irish newspapers here helped them in networking.

? It is very difficult now to enter the US without a qualification or a job set up. I made very strategic choices in my career and put my head down with my green card in mind, literally from the day I landed. I feel the community here has become very segregated and gone slightly underground because of the undocumented situation.?

Categories: Features

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/generationemigration/2012/11/23/paper-politics-keeping-in-touch-with-home-news-when-living-abroad/

2012 oscar nominations kyle williams florida debate rand paul mark kirk florida gop debate freddie mac