Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider: Step forward for immigration reform bill

Buoyed by a deal on border security, the Senate easily overcame immigration reform opponents, mustering more than the 60 votes needed to begin forcing an end to debate, setting the stage for approval of a sweeping immigration measure later this week.

The vote was 67-27, the first step along the road to final approval of a plan that would create a military type surge along the border with Mexico, and lead to a pathway to citizenship for millions of people now in the United States illegally.

All 27 votes against the plan came from Republicans, who kept up their attacks against the bill to the end.

"What is the rush?" asked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on the Senate floor, as he argued that other Senators just wanted a "fig leaf" on border security.

"I have come to one conclusion," Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said of immigration reform opponents, "they just won't take 'Yes' for an answer."

The Senate faces at least two more procedural hurdles where 60 votes will be needed to move forward on the bill, as a final vote on immigration reform legislation is expected by the end of the week.

Immigration reform seems likely to be one topic on the agenda on Tuesday afternoon when Congressional leaders of both parties meet with President Obama, who made clear again on Monday that he wants action.

"I hope that we can get the strongest possible vote out of the Senate so that we can then move to the House and get this done before the summer break," the President said to business leaders in a White House meeting on immigration reform.

That vote of 67-27 would have had a few more "Yes" votes, but airline flight delays kept a handful of members from getting back to Washington, D.C. in time for the vote.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) missed the vote, but would have voted against an end to debate on the border security plan, while Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) were both "Yes" votes who weren't able to get to the Senate floor.

Also not back for the vote were both Senators from Georgia, as Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson were delayed on flights back to Washington from two different places.

In a joint statement issued a few hours after the vote, both Chambliss and Isakson said they would have voted against the border security deal, meaning backers would have been stuck at 69 votes.

Here is a list of the "No" votes on the motion to invoke cloture (shut off debate) on the Corker-Hoeven border security deal, and the Senators who did not vote on that procedural motion.

GOP voting for:

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1. Alexander
2. Ayotte
3. Chiesa
4. Collins
5. Corker
6. Flake
7. Graham
8. Hatch
9. Heller
10. Hoeven
11. Kirk
12. McCain
13. Murkowski
14. Rubio
15. Wicker

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Not Voting:

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1. Brown
2. Chambliss
3. Enzi
4. Isakson
5. Lee
6. Udall (CO)

Source: http://www.wsbradio.com/weblogs/jamie-dupree/2013/jun/24/step-forward-immigration-reform-bill/

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Rolling Stones set stage alight in Glastonbury debut

By Belinda Goldsmith and Isla Binnie

PILTON, England (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones lived up to their reputation as one of the greatest rock'n'roll bands when they played to more than 100,000 revelers on Saturday during their first performance at Glastonbury, the world's best-known music festival.

Despite an average age of 69, the four band members strutted, strummed and shrieked their way through a set lasting over two hours that began with "Jumping' Jack Flash" and ended with fireworks exploding off the stage during "Satisfaction".

The crowd cheered and sang along as the band that celebrated 50 years in the music business last year rocked through a playlist of old and new hits while security staff tried to block entry to the overcrowded field.

"It's great to be here doing this festival. After all these years they have finally gotten around to asking us," said rubber-lipped frontman Mick Jagger, who turns 70 next month.

Glastonbury began as a hippie retreat in 1970 and has become known for its megastars over the years with Beyonce, U2, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie among the headline acts. The Rolling Stones were the most notable absence from the lineup.

Festival founder Michael Eavis, who holds the festival on his 900-acre (365-hectare) farm in southwest England, has publicly delighted in finally persuading the band to play at the three-day event that drew 150,000-plus music fans by Saturday.

From the outset, the Rolling Stones showed there was no generation gap, as they got the crowd cheering to "Honky Tonk Woman" and then singing along to "Miss You".

Five songs into their set, Jagger introduced a new number, "Glastonbury Girl", that he said he wrote for a girl he met at the festival on Friday night when he joined the audience to watch the headline act Arctic Monkeys.

"HIGHLIGHT OF 43 YEARS OF GLASTONBURY"

As they played "Sympathy for the Devil", a metallic phoenix rose from the top of the stage, wings flapping and eyes flashing, amid shooting flames.

"I want to thank you for coming to our shows for 50 years," yelled Jagger, who bounded across the stage after introducing his band mates, drummer Charlie Watts and guitarists Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards.

"If this is the first time you have ever seen the band, do come again," joked Jagger, who earlier in the day said he would keep performing as long as his fans wanted him.

That could be a while, judging by the response of festival-goers who said the Rolling Stones more than met their expectations.

The average age of Glastonbury festival-goers has risen to 36 over the years but even younger fans were full of praise for the veteran rockers who have released more than two dozen studio albums and 100 singles over the past five decades.

"I thought it was epic. I thought they smashed it. I expected a dropped note here, a cracked voice there," said Mark Smalley, 27, an events manager from Plymouth on the south coast.

Speaking immediately after the band came off stage, Eavis told the BBC that the Rolling Stones were "the highlight of 43 years of Glastonbury".

The Rolling Stones ended the second of three days of music at the festival where the lineup also included Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, psychedelic rockers Primal Scream and Laura Mvula as well as smaller acts on 58 stages across the sprawling site.

British folk rockers Mumford & Sons will close the 2013 festival on Sunday night.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rolling-stones-set-stage-alight-glastonbury-debut-010605613.html

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Obama: House can pass immigration before recess

U.S. President Barack Obama and South African President Jacob Zuma, not pictured, address a press conference following their meeting at Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday June 29, 2013.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

U.S. President Barack Obama and South African President Jacob Zuma, not pictured, address a press conference following their meeting at Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday June 29, 2013.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

U.S. President Barack Obama, centre, and South African President Jacob Zuma, obscured behind left, walk to address a press conference following their meeting at Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday June 29, 2013.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ? President Barack Obama is urging the House to quickly send him an immigration bill, saying there's more than enough time to do so before Congress takes its August recess.

Obama says he has urged both House Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to find a way to pass a bill. He says a sweeping immigration measure that cleared the Senate with a large bipartisan majority Thursday is a "sound framework" that has been debated for weeks.

Obama says the House has a "bunch of weeks" to get the bill done and "now's the time."

Boehner has said the House will craft its own bill and not simply take up the Senate version.

Obama spoke Saturday during a news conference in South Africa with President Jacob Zuma.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-29-Obama-Immigration/id-159585f8571247cdaae0ebafe67ec23f

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Buying games set to be a more expensive affair in India

Your wait to get a copy of the soon to be released videogames could soon prove to be a costly affair. Just as global videogame prices have shot up, India will also feel the pinch.

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MCV India reports that all the games, which will be released after September, would be sold at a higher price than their predecessors. Chris Gatherer, Regional Director for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) markets, EA said, ?We will be launching our pre-orders on Origin soon and I can confirm the pricing will be comparative to global market pricing.? The list of game that will be affected by the price hike includes upcoming popular titles such as FIFA 14, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Watch Dogs. Console versions of the games will now be sold for around $59.99 (Rs 3,570), the current global price, while the PC version of the same can be bought for Rs 1,499, except for Call of Duty: Ghosts, which is set to become even more expensive.

Watch Dogs to get dearer

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Though it is still unknown if these new prices will be restricted to Origin games alone or if they will also be applicable to the boxed releases in the country, one gets a sense that the rising dollar prices in comparison to the rupee will only add to the eventual price. This could also be one way for publishers to shift the selling strategy for PC games from boxed releases to digital distribution. Gamers could eventually choose the convenience of digitally-distributed games at a similar or the same price as boxed sets.

Online retailer Flipkart has already made changes in the pricing of many of the upcoming games, which include games like Watch Dogs, Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts. The pre-order price for the PC version of Watch Dogs is Rs 1,499, while Call of Duty: Ghosts is priced at Rs 3,499. The Xbox 360 and the PS3 version of Ghosts is priced at Rs 4,099.

Source: http://tech2.in.com/news/gaming/buying-games-set-to-be-a-more-expensive-affair-in-india/897870

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Iran's Rouhani hints will balance hardline, reformist demands

By Yeganeh Torbati

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's president-elect Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday he would appoint ministers from across its political spectrum as Iranian voters had chosen a path of moderation over extremism.

His victory in the June 14 vote has lifted hopes of a thaw in Iran's antagonistic relations with the West that might create openings for defusing its nuclear dispute with world powers. Rouhani has pledged a more conciliatory approach than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, under whose belligerent presidency the Islamic Republic drew ever more punishing international sanctions.

Rouhani's pledge of an inclusive cabinet could reassure conservative hardliners who look askance at the endorsement he was granted by reformists in the election.

In turn, reformists will hope to regain some political influence - with the aim of easing repression at home and Iran's isolation abroad - after being sidelined under Ahmadinejad, who by law could not run for a third consecutive term.

"The future government must operate in the framework of moderation ...(and it) must avoid extremism, and this message is for everyone," Rouhani, a former chief nuclear negotiator, said in a speech carried live on state television.

"The next cabinet will be trans-factional ... This government is not obligated to any party or faction, and will work to choose the most qualified people from all sides and factions, under conditions of moderation and temperance."

Analysts say Rouhani, a mid-ranking Shi'ite Muslim cleric who has held sensitive security posts since the 1980s, enjoys an insider status and close relationship with theocratic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and may be able to build bridges between factions to yield reforms.

But Khamenei will retain the final say on policies that most concern world powers, including Iran's nuclear program and its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels trying to overthrow him.

CONSTRUCTIVE INTERACTION

Rouhani also urged moderation in Iranian policies towards the rest of the world and called for a balance between "realism" and pursuing the ideals of the Islamic Republic.

"Moderation in foreign policy is neither submission nor antagonism, neither passivity nor confrontation. Moderation is effective and constructive interaction with the world," he said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a major regional power or the biggest regional power..., must play its role and for this we need moderation."

Western powers suspect Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability, which Tehran denies. The Islamic Republic is now languishing under increasingly tough sanctions limiting its oil sales, a crucial source of revenue, obstructing its foreign trade and stoking higher inflation and unemployment.

Iran's friends and foes indicated shortly after Rouhani's election triumph they did not believe it would bring fundamental change in Iranian foreign policy.

Tehran is at loggerheads with Western powers on a range of foreign policy issues including its shadowy nuclear program and its support for Syria's Assad, the Lebanese Shi'ite militant movement Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

U.S.-allied Gulf Arab countries have also accused Iran of interfering in their affairs, though Tehran denies trying to subvert Saudi Arabia and its wealthy Gulf neighbors.

Rouhani, who will take office in early August, said he was dedicated to "mutual relaxation of tensions" with other states.

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irans-rouhani-hints-balance-hardline-reformist-demands-113226534.html

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Kat Von D and Deadmau5 reveal split over Twitter

Celebs

Ashley Majeski TODAY contributor

3 hours ago

Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images file

After their split, Kat Von D and Deadmau5 both took to their social media accounts to tell their sides of the story.

Kat Von D and Deadmau5's engagement started over Twitter, so it's only appropriate that they would discuss their break up on the social network site.

The couple, who have been engaged since December when the DJ sent a proposal to Von D via Twitter, have called it quits over allegations that he cheated.

Von D posted a cryptic tweet on Wednesday, and later followed it up with a second tweet that gave her more than 1 million Twitter followers a bit more detail on her current situation.

For his part, Deadmau5 (real name Joel Zimmerman) is denying he ever cheated, offering his Facebook fans and Twitter followers his own version of what went down:

At the end of June, it was clear that the relationship was not working and we mutually ended the engagement. I was not, at any point, unfaithful to Kat during our time together.

In the Facebook post, Deadmau5 admits that he did have "relations" with another woman before he proposed to Von D, but claims that it happened while he and the former reality personality were broken up.

Von D certainly hasn't been lucky in love. This is the third failed engagement for the tattoo artist in two years. She was previously engaged -- twice! -- to motorcycle builder and reality star Jesse James. Before that, she was married to fellow tattoo artist Oliver Peck from 2004 to 2007.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/kat-von-d-deadmau5-reveal-split-over-twitter-6C10472870

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Stages of Business Growth ? Stage 6 ? Visionary - Catalist Consulting

Preface ? these articles on stages of business growth are guidelines ? so use them with some flexibility. They are also based on number of employees and not annual revenue because different industries will generate different levels of revenue based on employee count. If you are looking for sales by paid employee for your industry, contact me I have a complete list. We will cover the following stages:

• Stage 1: 1 ? 10 employees ? The One Person Show
• Stage 2: 11-30 employees ? The Ramp Up
• Stage 3: 31 ? 50 employees ? Delegation
• Stage 4: 51 ? 70 employees ? People Crunch
• Stage 5: 71 ? 125 employees ? Professional
• Stage 6: 126 + employees ? Visionary

Stage 6 ? Visionary

The visionary. Patterns of behavior have been established, processes are in place and the feel of the company is good and comfortable. Your confidence in your staff is strong. There are good managers in place and employees are responding well to their direction and leadership. The culture is good and strong and it is a good place to work.

Management/Organizational

As the CEO of a stage 6 company, you are engaged in a unique blend of managerial and visionary styles. You believe strongly in the power of effective and consistent communication. Your leadership style is creating synergy by connecting people to each other, healing rifts in a team and motivating during stressful times.

There are more people and more complications. The impact is felt by the CEO on the hiring practices of the first 4 stages. The CEO is spending time in two distinct areas: people and processes. The CEO is now managing through people and evaluating if the hires through the last 4 stages are working and spending more time with the management team to build their confidence as a group and each individually; it is now a people business and it takes about 70% of the CEO?s time. The second focus is making sure internal processes are running smooth and flawlessly.

One of the biggest challenges may be employee turn-over, this is one indication that the department managers are not as strong and experienced as you need. People stay with a company because they respect their manager. If you are beginning to provide your employees with managers who are already trained and hardwired to grow the business and manage the people, your company will feel less frustrating, become more productive and make more money.

Marketing/Sales

The marketing person is tuned in and working effectively. They are integrated with the sales department and customer service. They understand the needs of the market and are looking for innovative and unique ways to get the message to their highest value prospects. Management is provided with monthly marketing graphs showing what is/is not working, market penetration and return on marketing dollars.

The sales manager is seasoned, effective in leading, hiring, mentoring and monitoring the sales organization. The sales manager is spending 60% ? 70% of their time in the field with each of the sales people, nurturing them to improve their trade. There should be individual sales evaluations in place for each sales person on at least a quarterly basis on customer acquisition and product or market growth.

Human Resources

The HR manager is clearly comfortable with the job, the company and providing the guidance the company needs in the personnel area. They are on top of their primary functions and are keeping up the ?culture? of the company and making the organization a place to look forward to work in.

Product and/or Service

The VP of operations is comfortable in their job, driving performance forward and managing the day-to-day functions and people effectively. There are regular (weekly) production management meetings with the production management team where opportunities are evaluated, performance is measured and issues are discussed and resolved. KPI?s are a routine and the employees in this area are comfortable with reporting key indicators on a daily basis.

Finance

The company has a very qualified controller. Someone who has an accounting degree, has 5+ year controller experience and understands the big picture. They work closely with the CEO and the balance of the management team, giving the financial perspective of new opportunities and threats to the company. As the company grows, more money is changing hands more frequently and a good person at the controls of the money system is critical. These functions are just an extension of other responsibilities defined in previous stages of growth articles. If they don?t have a controller that understands the big picture, the company will benefit from someone giving them that insight.

The company has a profit target that is supported with a revenue and expense budget for the year, by month. The controller and the key management staff: sales, operations, CEO and controller review performance on a monthly basis and evaluate, standardize and improve the overall performance of the business. The company should have a projected cash flow forecast in place that is updated on (at least) a monthly basis to insure that the company will have adequate cash to operate and that the line of credit and financing is adequate to support growth.

Challenges in this stage

Revenue and profit
Weak project management
Difficulty diagnosing/forecasting problems
Employee turnover
Not getting systems in place
Your organization is uninformed about company growth

What to do to get to the next stage

Continue to focus on revenue and profit and weakness in your company including people and systems. The goal of the company is to function as a well oiled machine with improved systems, better people and a powerful culture.

Connect with Dan Lacy:

Dan Lacy at PO Box 2900 Anderson, Indiana 46018.

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27
Jun

posted in: Business Coaching, Business Growth, Business Planning, Business Profit, Business Tools, Company Blog, Dan Lacy, Financial Planning, Funding, Hiring, Human Resources, Systems by admin | tags :business coach, Business Coaching, business growth, coaching, Consulting, Dan Lacy, executive coaching, Human Resources, Management, Marketing, organizational alignment, People, Professional, Sales

Source: http://www.catalistconsulting.com/stages-of-business-growth-stage-6-visionary/

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Douglas Mwonzora: Obama Visit Last Chance to Catch up in Africa

President Obama's southern Africa trip could not come at a better time... for Americans. This week, Human Rights Watch called on the president to take a strong stance against the Zimbabwe police force's politically motivated abuses against activists and civil society organizations. I agree. I also want to stress how that a stable Zimbabwe is very much America's strategic interest.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, and outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad understand how pivotal Zimbabwe is and I'm confident President Obama does as well; other Americans may not.

You see the current regime under President Robert Mugabe has already made convenient bedfellows with a number of unscrupulous characters who now play strategically important, and often heavily shrouded, roles in Zimbabwe's future.

You may have heard of the small Zimbabwean town of Chiadzwa. Thousands of Zimbabweans have called the town home for centuries, yet it contains one of the world's richest diamond deposits. The Marange Diamond Fields hold up to a third of the world's diamond reserves yet are one of the saddest consequences of Mugabe's 'Look East' policy. Industry experts estimate that in practice, the diamond industry is 50 percent owned by the Chinese Anjin Company and 50 percent by the Zimbabwe Defense Industry--so much for indigenization promised by President Mugabe for years. What was once a paradise for wildlife and the people who inhabited the land for generations has been completely destroyed and nearly 4,000 families have been--or are in the process of being--forcibly displaced without compensation.

Like China, Russia was one of the major powers that stood up against attempts by Western countries to slap Zimbabwe with sanctions five years ago. Though China remains Zimbabwe's largest military supplier, Russia has also entered the game, sending a clear message of support for Mugabe. Describing political relations between Russia and Zimbabwe as "absolutely friendly," Russian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Sergey Baharev said this week, "My major task will be to boost and scale up our economic ties as they are just lagging behind our political ties. I will try to do my best to speed up our trade and economic cooperation." Last year, Russian media confirmed a deal between Russian Technologies, a state corporation and the Zimbabwe military in which Russia would supply military helicopters to Harare in exchange for access to Zimbabwe's platinum deposits.

While poverty and destitution have forced millions of Zimbabwean's to leave their homes in search of employment, our country's rich uranium deposits also have Iran knocking at our door. The Christian Science Monitor called the relationship between Zimbabwe and Iran a "heaven-made match." We have diamonds and Iran has guns: a natural exchange.

As Zimbabwe looks for global partnerships, the U.S. would benefit by responding positively and aggressively. Zimbabwe and other African nations should not have to rely on the convenient bedfellows of pariah states and countries offering short-term solutions with utter disregard for the long-term freedom and prosperity of African countries. As one expert recently noted, President Obama "should make this choice clear by emphasizing that the U.S. model is a path to prosperity for all individuals, not just political elites--in contrast to the corruption and human rights abuse" that are often linked with the countries currently jockeying for position in Zimbabwe and southern Africa as a whole.

Southern Africa has a lot to offer the U.S. and other democratic nations; a presidential visit void of outspoken commitment to long-term democracy and prosperity in Zimbabwe would be a missed opportunity for Americans and Zimbabweans alike.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/douglas-mwonzora/obama-last-chance-africa_b_3510990.html

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NASA launching IRIS, a new eye on poorly understood region of sun

IRIS, the new NASA space telescope, is being sent aloft to study a region of the sun's atmosphere physicists previously had little interest in, so much so the region was dubbed the 'ignorosphere.'

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / June 27, 2013

This undated image shows technicians preparing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., for the launch of IRIS, the new NASA space telescope, that will study the sun. NASA is set to launch the space telescope Thursday night.

Randy Beaudoin/VAFB/NASA/AP

Enlarge

NASA is set to launch a space telescope Thursday night that is designed to explore the sun's version of terra incognita ? a region between the sun's lower atmosphere and its expansive outer atmosphere blandly dubbed the interface region.

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Indeed, for understanding some of the sun's processes, solar physicists didn't need to know what was going on there, earning it the title "ignorosphere," notes Ed DeLuca, a solar physicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.

But over the past five to 10 years, as physicists developed models to more fully represent the sun's processes, it became clear that the ignorosphere could be ignored no longer.

It's the region that generates most of the ultraviolet light the sun delivers to Earth, affecting everything from sun tans to atmospheric chemistry and climate. It's thought to play a key role in the solar outbursts that can disrupt power grids and satellite navigation. And, mysteriously, it's the region where temperatures in the sun's atmosphere soar.

At the top of the sun's lower atmosphere, known as the chromosphere, temperatures rise from about 10,000 degrees at the sun's surface to roughly 36,000 degrees. Processes in the interface region ? only about 200 miles thick ? kick those temperatures up to 1 million degrees F., feeding an even hotter outer atmosphere, or corona. There, temperatures are comparable to those in the sun's core.

Getting a handle on what's happening in the interface region is challenging because the region is so thin and because the processes taking place there are so fast. And with more mass than all the matter in the corona or in the solar wind currently flowing through the solar system, the interface region's density can make it hard to observe.

Hints of just how fast processes are have come from Japan's Hinode orbiting solar observatory.

Taking one image every 4 seconds, the craft delivered data that allowed researchers to produce a short video starring a dense forest of hair-like tendrils of plasma rising through the interface region. These represent the central cores of jets of hot gas that rise to give the top of the interface region the look ? from a distance ? of rolling hills.

The hair-like cores are about 100 miles wide and some 10,000 miles long, said Alan Title, a solar physicist with Lockheed Martin Corporation and the mission's lead scientist, during a prelaunch briefing. They rocket up through the transition region at about 270,000 miles an hour, and last for about 10 minutes before vanishing, only to be replaced by fresh tendrils.

The images Hinode captured were scientifically useful. But seeing them, scientists also realized "for the first time that four-second exposures and just one wavelength [of light] wasn't enough" to see the full structures, Dr. Title said

NASA?s new solar telescope, known as IRIS, aims to remedy that.

As satellites go, it's a lightweight. Some seven feet long, the craft and its telescope weigh 403 pounds. IRIS is set for launch between 10:27 and 10:32 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time tonight from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast. It's being launched on an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket ? a launch vehicle carried aloft underneath an L-1011 jet, then release for its final ascent.

IRIS has 20 times the ability of previous telescopes to see fine details. Its instrument, an imaging spectrometer, can make measurements 20 times faster than its predecessors. And it is designed to gather ultraviolet light at several groups of wavelengths.

And that's a good thing, Dr. DeLuca says, because if the models are correct, processes in the interface zone are nothing if not complicated.

From the sun's core through its surface, the photosphere, the sun's hot gas is dense enough to twist and contort the star's magnetic fields, DeLuca explains. Up in the corona, the reverse it true, with magnetic fields working their will on the hot gas, giving shape to the enormous, glowing coronal loops that appear there.

In the ignorosphere, however, magnetic fields hold sway over gas in some areas. In others, the opposite happens. And still other regions neither gas nor magnetism holds sway over the other, DeLuca says. The shapes of structures in this region are equally complex.

Still, to understand the corona's energy budget and the role magnetic fields play in transferring energy from the sun's surface to the corona, getting a handle on the interface region is important.

"It's all gotta go through the chromosphere and interface region," he says.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/LUj1MgmvDJo/NASA-launching-IRIS-a-new-eye-on-poorly-understood-region-of-sun

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Veronica Mars Movie Adds Martin Starr, Ken Marino

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/veronica-mars-movie-adds-martin-starr-ken-marino/

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Pitch-Perfect: Why Our Shoulders Are Key To Throwing

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Pitch-Perfect: Why Our Shoulders Are Key To Throwing
Being able to throw stones with power and precision must have been fun for humans' early ancestors. It was essential, too, since we lack the the fangs and claws of other predators. A recent study suggests the ability to fire rocket fastballs depends on shoulder anatomy that chimps don't share.

Source: NPR
Posted on: Thursday, Jun 27, 2013, 8:51am
Views: 8

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128809/Pitch_Perfect__Why_Our_Shoulders_Are_Key_To_Throwing

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S?o Miguel scops owl was wiped out after arrival of humans in the Azores

June 27, 2013 ? On S?o Miguel Island in the Azores, there used to exist a small, nocturnal bird of prey, related to the European scops owl, named Otus frutuosoi, which was very probably driven to extinction with the arrival of the first settlers in the 15th century. An international study, in which Spanish researchers participated, has for the first time identified fossils of this species endemic to the island.

On 28 August 2011 researchers Juan Carlos Rando, from the University of La Laguna (Tenerife), and Josep Antoni Alcover from the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies in Mallorca unearthed some small fossil bones buried not far below the ground of the ?gua de Pau cave (S?o Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal).

Two years later, an article published by the journal Zootaxa has revealed that the remains found belong to an extinct species of scops owl which has been given the name Otus frutuosoi in honour of the 16th-century Azorean historian Gaspar Frutuoso.

Carbon dating the fossils indicates that they are from 1,970 years ago. The hypothesis entertained by the researchers is that the arrival of human beings to the archipelago in the 15th century changed its ecosystem and caused the extinction of the species.

"Humans have a history of changing island ecosystems. When humans arrived on the island mice started to appear and laurisilva -- a type of humid forest -- was destroyed. This surely played a large part in the extinction of the S?o Miguel scops owl," Alcover explains.

Scops owls are nocturnal birds of prey, and this new species in particular is phylogenetically related to the Otus scops, or European scops owl, which with a length of 20 cm is the smallest nocturnal bird of prey on the Iberian Peninsular.

It is calculated that the wing surface of the Otus frutuosoi measured a maximum of 114 cm2, at least 33% less than the European scops owl, and although its legs were 11.6% longer, "the appearance of its body was more squat," according to the experts.

"The body of the extinct scops owl of the Azores was shorter and wider than that of its modern-day European relatives. Its beak was short and small, similar to that of the nightjar. Having long legs and very short wings, it must have been a very poor flyer and thus more of a land-dwelling bird," the scientist points out.

The second extinct scops owl on North Atlantic islands

A year ago, the same team of scientists documented another extinct bird of the same genus, although bigger, in Madeira: the Otus mauli.

Due to its anatomical features, the scientists believe that the Otus frutuosoi was an insectivore and must have lived on the ground of the laurisilva, where it would have found food and protection.

Otus frutuosoi remains have only been found on S?o Miguel Island in the Azores, therefore it is considered endemic to the island, although the authors do not discount the possibility of finding more fossils of the same species or other similar ones in various parts of the archipelago.

"The discovery of endemic scops owls in Azores and Madeira indicates that on occasions atmospheric conditions have occurred that have dragged these birds with them. Some reached safe land, where they survived and developed in isolated conditions, and new species formed," concludes Alcover.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/phbEXUJ2L_8/130627083044.htm

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Rev. Jesse Jackson: Paula Deen Can Be 'Redeemed'

CHICAGO -- Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson says he's agreed to help celebrity chef Paula Deen try to make amends for her past use of a racial slur, saying she shouldn't become a "sacrificial lamb" over the issue of racial intolerance.

Jackson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Deen called him this week, and they discussed how she might recover.

Jackson says if Deen is willing to acknowledge mistakes and make changes, "she should be reclaimed rather than destroyed."

Jackson says he's more troubled by racial disparities in jobs, lending, health care, business opportunities and the criminal justice system.

Her admission of using the slur first came in a lawsuit deposition. It later cost her an endorsement deal with Smithfield Foods and her job with the Food Network.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/jesse-jackson-paula-deen_n_3506218.html

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Ancient horse's DNA fills in picture of equine evolution

A 700,000-year-old fossil proves astoundingly well preserved

By Tina Hesman Saey

Web edition: June 26, 2013

Enlarge

LEADING THE DNA DERBY

Researchers extracted DNA from these pieces of a 700,000-year-old horse bone and compiled the world?s oldest genome.

Credit: Ludovic Orlando

A frozen fossil of a horse has yielded the oldest genome sequence ever compiled. Clocking in at about 700,000 years old, the horse DNA is nearly 10 times older than the previous record holder, the genome of an 80,000-year-old Denisovan, an extinct evolutionary cousin of Neandertals and modern people.

The extreme age of the horse?s genetic material has raised hopes that scientists can find even more primitive DNA, perhaps a million years old or more. The ancient DNA also provides scientists with some of the first clues about the genetic changes that accompanied horse domestication.

An international team of researchers deciphered the genome of the horse from the Middle Pleistocene, along with those of a 43,000-year-old horse, a modern donkey and five contemporary domestic horse breeds. Using those data, the researchers pushed back the emergence of the ancestor of horses, zebras, asses and donkeys to about 4 million to 4.5 million years ago. That makes the ancestor twice as old as previously thought, the team reports in the June 27 Nature.

The study also hints at both the origin and future of the last truly wild lineage of horses.

Prior to the new work, researchers had pulled snippets of DNA that were hundreds of thousands of years old from cave bear fossils and ice cores. Those samples? molecules were far smaller than the billions of chemical units, or nucleotides, that make up a genome, an organism?s complete set of genetic instructions. ?It was literally nothing more than a few nucleotides,? says study coauthor Ludovic Orlando, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Copenhagen. ?

So Orlando and his colleagues were astounded by how well preserved the biological molecules were in the ancient horse foot bone. The fossil was found in permafrost at the Thistle Creek site in the Canadian Yukon. ?

Experts on ancient DNA say that natural deep freezes such as permafrost are the place to look for really old specimens. ?They took advantage of the best possible conditions,? says Carles Lalueza-Fox, of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona. But, he says, the question remains: ?How far back can you go in nonpermafrost environments??

The study may help settle a debate over whether a Mongolian equine called the Przewalski?s (pronounced sheh-val-skees) horse is really wild and not domesticated, like all other horse breeds. Named for a Russian colonel who led an expedition in 1881 that found them, Przewalski?s horses were extinct in the wild for decades until a captive breeding program reintroduced them to Mongolia in the mid-1990s.

Some experts consider these sturdy steppe animals a separate species (Equus ferus przewalskii) and the last wild horse. Others insist the wild horses are a subspecies, a feral offshoot of domestic horses (Equus ferus caballus) like the American mustang, Chincoteague pony or Australian brumby. The debate has been difficult to resolve because, until Orlando and his colleagues deciphered the genomes of the two prehistoric horses, scientists had no examples of wild ancestral horses to compare with Przewalski?s and domestic horses.

By lining up the DNA from the ancient and modern horses, the researchers concluded that Przewalski?s horse is a separate, truly wild species that split sometime between 38,000 and 72,000 years ago from the lineage that led to domestic horses. Since that time the two groups have not interbred, the researchers found. ?It is 100 percent wild. There?s not domestic genetics present in that horse.?

Despite stemming from only 13 or 14 animals in breeding programs in zoos, Przewalski?s horses have retained more genetic diversity than the domestic horse breeds the team examined. That diversity is good news for conservation efforts. ?It might mean we could have a very good chance at saving that horse population,? Orlando says.

Meanwhile, the researchers are gleaning information about horse domestication by identifying genes that differ among domestic horses, Przewalski?s horses and the fossils. So far, genes involved in production of blood and sperm, muscle organization and coat color show signs of being important for domestication.

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/351242/title/_Ancient_horses_DNA_fills_in_picture_of_equine_evolution

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IG: IRS credit cards used for wine, pornography

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Poor oversight by the Internal Revenue Service allowed workers to use agency credit cards to buy wine for an expensive luncheon, dorky swag for managers' meetings and, for one employee, romance novels and diet pills, an agency watchdog said Tuesday.

Two IRS credit cards were used to buy online pornography, though the employees said the cards were stolen. One of the workers reported five agency credit cards lost or stolen.

IRS employees used agency credit cards to make more than 273,000 purchases totaling nearly $108 million in 2010 and 2011, according to the report by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

The vast majority of those purchases were legitimate, the report said. However, the report said the IRS has inadequate controls to prevent inappropriate purchases.

For example, investigators found that one IRS employee spent $2,655 on diet pills, romance novels, steaks, a smartphone and baby-related items, including bottles, games and clothes. The case was referred to the IG's office that investigates employee misconduct, the report said.

Among other "improper" purchases identified by the inspector general:

? $3,152 to rent a popcorn machine and to buy prizes for an employee event, including bandanas, stuffed animals, sunglasses and stovepipe hats.

? $418 for novelty decorations and swag at managers' meetings, including kazoos, bathtub toys and "Thomas the Tank Engine" wristbands.

? $119 for Nerf footballs that were never used and were found stored in a filing cabinet.

"Inadequate procedures to identify, report and address inappropriate use leaves the IRS purchase card program vulnerable to repeated violations of applicable laws and regulations," said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

The report comes as the IRS faces intense scrutiny over agents targeting conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. Documents released Monday show that liberal and progressive groups were singled out, too.

Also, the inspector general released a report earlier this month that detailed lavish spending at employee conferences. In all, the agency spent nearly $50 million on employee conferences from 2010 through 2012.

"Clearly, any inappropriate card use impacts our bottom line and is cause for concern," said acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, who took over the agency last month. "Wasteful spending cannot be tolerated, and any employees found to be abusing the system will be held accountable. In fact, we are following up on several inappropriate incidents mentioned in the report, ranging from internal actions to criminal charges."

"That said, more than 99.75 percent of IRS purchases adhered to the rules," Werfel added. "The IRS has made important progress over the past two years in strengthening the controls in our purchase card program. We are committed to protecting taxpayer resources, and we will take quick action to implement all of TIGTA's recommendations."

The new report highlighted a 2010 conference in Washington for tax officials from other countries. At a luncheon, the IRS bought 28 bottles of wine ? for 41 guests, the report said. A dinner at the conference cost the agency $140 a person, four times the allowable government rate at the time.

In all, the agency spent more than $50,000 on meals, receptions and meetings at the five-day conference, the report said. Agency credit cards were used for about $12,500 of the purchases.

"It is important to note that the luncheon described in the report took place in 2010 for an international business meeting of tax officials from several of the world's largest countries. This meeting is an important forum for international leaders on major tax issues," Werfel said. "However, given the excessive purchases for the luncheon, I am directing the IRS business units to more closely review spending in advance for any similar events to ensure all spending is appropriate."

The IRS participates in the General Services Administration's SmartPay purchase card program. Under the program, agency employees can use purchase cards, which act like credit cards, to buy work-related items. The maximum amount for an individual purchase is $3,000.

More expensive items are subject to competitive pricing policies.

In 2010 and 2011, internal controls at the IRS found 327 cases in which employees divided their purchases to skirt the $3,000 limit. The inspector general's office found an additional 34 cases. In all, the purchases totaled $493,000, the report said.

The report said 94 employees were responsible for the purchases, including 22 workers who had done it more than once in a six-month period. However, the report said, none of the employees were disciplined.

As for the two IRS employees whose cards were used to buy pornography, the inspector general's report didn't determine who bought the material or whether their cards were actually stolen. One of the employees is no longer at the agency. The IG is continuing to investigate the other employee, the report said.

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ig-irs-credit-cards-used-wine-pornography-190551115.html

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Coding camps for kids rise in popularity | New Orleans CityBusiness

ATLANTA ? The video game Jacob Asofsky is creating is simple: ?Someone who is trying to take over the world and you try to stop them.?

The 12-year-old from Florida is spending two weeks at a summer camp in a program that teaches programming skills to young people.

?It?s about having fun, but it also gives them the tools to be able to do this at home because they don?t have this in school,? said Taylor Jones, director of the iD Tech Camp at Atlanta?s Emory University.

So-called coding camps for children are becoming more popular amid a growing effort to expand access to computer programming and inspire more youths to seek computer science degrees and careers in technology. Their rise underscores a seeming mismatch in the U.S. economy: people like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tumblr founder David Karp illustrate the opportunities programming skills can create, yet universities are not graduating enough code-savvy students to meet employers? demands.

The iD Tech Camps, which have grown from 200 students in 1999 to 28,000 enrolled this year in courses at dozens of locations nationwide, use interest in gaming to build bridges to computer programming and hopefully careers in Web developing, film animation and app creation for smart phones. Courses start at $829 for a one-week course during the day with overnight students paying $1,348.

On a recent weekday, Asofsky was attending an iD Tech Camp on the campus with some 95 other youths under the age of 17. He was using the gaming software RPG Maker to create a video game in which the main character travels around the world, buys animals and armor and interacts with others along the way.

?I have to say the interface of actually making a game is just as fun as playing a game,? Asofsky said. ?It?s a lot like playing a game inside a game.?

Early courses for children starting at age 7 use the photo and illustration software Adobe Photoshop and the gaming software Multimedia Fusion to create a simple arcade-style game.

?We sit down and talk about what makes games fun,? said instructor Melissa Andrews, who was working with the youngest group of campers. ?We get it down to the basics so they can make their own game.?

Courses for older children include designing apps, creating sophisticated, 3-D, first-person shooter games using the Unreal Developer?s Kit ? also known as UDK ? and learning programming languages like Java and C++. The idea is to build self-confidence and spark interest in learning how computers work, all to perhaps plant the seed of a future career in programming.

There will be 1.4 million computing jobs by 2020 but only 400,000 computer science students by that time, according to Code.org, a nonprofit with a list of who?s who in the tech world on its advisory board including Twitter creator Jack Dorsey and Dropbox CEO Drew Houston.

And the jobs pay well. The median annual wage for a computer programmer, for instance, was $71,380 in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, jobs for network and computer systems administrators are growing at double the national average, with a median annual salary of $69,160.

Yet high schools and universities seem to be out of step with the job market. Nine out of 10 high schools don?t offer computer programming classes and the number of students graduating from college with a computer science degree is down from a decade ago, according to Code.org.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama said programming should be a required course in high school, similar to foreign languages.

?Given how pervasive computers and the Internet is now and how integral it is into our economy and how fascinated kids are with it, I want to make sure they know how to actually produce stuff using computers and not just simply consume stuff,? Obama said during a Google+ Hangout.

Yale Oseroff?s high school back in Virginia doesn?t offer programming classes. The 17-year-old is spending his fourth year at an iD Tech Camp working through C++, a popular programming language used for systems and application software, for drivers to communicate between an operating system and devices like printers and to create some video games.

?I?m learning (computer) networking, which is what I want to do in college,? he said, as he worked on developing a program to capture usernames and passwords and store them in a database.

On the Georgia Tech campus, the Institute for Computing Education offers a variety of camps clustered into elementary, middle and high school groups. Courses include making apps with App Inventor, creating moving sculptures with the WeDo Robotics systems that uses rotational motion and creating animations using Alice software.

Barbara Ericson, director of computer outreach at the Institute for Computing Education at Georgia Tech, said people sometimes ask: why not wait until children are older to start teaching them how to program?

?Anything over the age of 7 is capable, they are capable of learning reasoning,? she said.

During a presentation earlier this month at a technology conference in Washington, D.C., Code.org founder Hadi Partovi said less than 5 percent of U.S. high school students spend class time learning computer science while it?s a graduation requirement in China. He noted that many ?software? jobs are outside the tech industry such as banking, retail, government and entertainment, which makes programming skills particularly versatile.

?It could mean starting your own company,? he said. ?But it could mean you?re a doctor and you?re tired of entering the same data into a chart using paper and you want to write an app that does it for you.?

To sign up for free CityBusiness Daily Updates, click here.

Source: http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2013/06/25/coding-camps-for-kids-rise-in-popularity/

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The Adorable Mini-Sports Car Has Gotten a Remarkable Upgrade

As you may or may not remember, a few years ago we posted photos of these incredible, half-scale sports cars that?despite being called "children's cars"?are more badass than any car any adult could ever hope to own. And although the junior cars' visionary, Nathan Redfearn, was getting ready to shut down production, the beautiful, tiny, and fully-functional cars struck a chord with so many people that they were able to keep going?much to our benefit. And now they're even getting an awesome new upgrade.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hKrvnwoLyZY/the-adorable-mini-sports-car-has-gotten-a-remarkable-up-563566055

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Self Improvement: Tips And Tricks For A Better You - ProjectPB ...

Initiating personal development is really hard sometimes. This exciting journey has multiple facets. These can range from developing better eating habits to thinking more positively. Many different methods for developing yourself exist, it?s just a case of choosing a path. Achieving your self improvement goals will leave you with a feeling of satisfaction, that everyone around you will notice.

Always read from multiple sources on self improvement. Having a good personal development book can give you insight and advice that will make a difference in your life forever. Books on the topic of self improvement can be poorly written. To avoid this, make sure you read books that have been reviewed well.

Spend time with people who are like-minded to you. Like-minded people will help strengthen your resolve while reinforcing positive attitudes.

TIP! Always make your own decisions, so you do not miss any opportunities that life is providing you. Make decisions based on your own knowledge and what you can learn from your research.

Anytime and anywhere, be ready for when your ideas strike. Carry a journal or diary with you, everywhere you go. Make detailed notes, and later, when you have the chance and are feeling creative, take your ideas further.

You should stay in great physical condition in order to get the best out of self improvement. Always keep a healthy routine that includes exercise, diet, and sleep in order to be successful. Though many take these simple things for granted, they are often hard to incorporate into personal habits.

A critical step of personal development is the realization and acceptance of your insignificance. You will want to learn all you can, once you realize that you have only scratched the surface of all there is to be known. Once you understand this concept, your natural desire to learn and grow will kick in, inspiring you to improve who you are.

TIP! Base your development plan on your values and goals. Focusing on areas contrary to your values does not make sense.

One way to raise your self-esteem is to give other people compliments. By being proactive and reaching out, being nice to others will help you to treat yourself nicely as well.

Each day should be an opportunity to top the previous day?s accomplishments. Keep aiming higher and higher. Encourage yourself to top yesterday?s accomplishments and set the stage for tomorrow?s successes.

Exercise is for everyone, not just people who are trying to lose a few pounds. There are many physiological benefits associate with exercise. For one thing, exercise stimulates your brain to produce chemicals that improve your mood.

TIP! Therapy is a good way to work through serious issues. While self-help books can be effective, many cannot provide the benefits that come from personal, targeted interaction with a therapist.

Do not boast about your accomplishments. Talk to people and find out more about their own achievements. You will find that you will learn more about those around you better by doing this. Not only that, you can respect them by knowing more about them.

Speaking to a pastor or a professional counselor can be very rewarding. They are trained to help you with issues, and also are experienced. They are able to look into your life from the outside and analyze things you can?t see. By speaking with a professional about your problems, you can lead a much healthier and enjoyable life.

Speaking to a therapist or religious official can really help you out. These professionals are trained and experienced in helping you understand and manage the issues you have. Their job is to listen to you and your concerns and help you gain a new outlook on your situation. Speaking with a professional is a great step toward personal development.

TIP! Treat everyone, regardless of status, with a high level of respect. The way you act toward others says something about your character, not theirs.

An excellent method of helping you with your anxiety is going to the movies with a friend. Movies are social settings, but they do not require conversation or uncomfortable socialization. This will help get you used to being in the same vicinity with lots of different people.

If you are never able to meet the goals you set, then it?s time to figure out your problem areas and make some changes. Try to find out what the goals of your peers are, and ask them how they?re able to meet them successfully. It?s possible your goals are too lofty, you?re missing a step along the way, or you?re just not putting the resources necessary into meeting your goal.

Are you a steady drinker? Do you make a habit of smoking or engaging in other harmful vices? Our body is a temple, and therefore it should be treated like one. Try getting rid of your bad habits; it can be important to making your life better. Look at your life, what you are doing that may be harmful, and work on omitting things that need to be removed from your life.

TIP! When dealing with depression issues, altering your diet to include a greater intake of complex carbohydrate may help. Serotonin can lower if you don?t eat enough carbs.

You should not shop out of comfort. Instead of shopping, spending money and adding more charges to your credit card bill, keep busy with a hobby. Not only will you have fewer debts to deal with, but your house will be less cluttered with stuff that you do not really need.

Hopefully this article has helped you learn a few ways to personally develop yourself better. You can always find new and innovative ways to improve the person that you are. Remember, you are never too old to develop positive personal habits.

You can learn how to handle difficult problems without over-reacting. Learning ways to maintain your composure when stressed will help boost your self-esteem, and help you triumph under any circumstance. Take a few seconds to focus on your breathing.

TIP! Organization should be central in your life. Completing an organization project will make you feel confident and productive.

Many people would like to understand Self Improvement, but they don?t always know how they should go about it. Thankfully, this article contains excellent tips to help you move ahead. Simply make the best use possible of this valuable information.

Source: http://www.projectpb.net/blog/index.php/personal_development/self-improvement-tips-and-tricks-for-a-better-you/

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Apple Releases iOS 7 Beta For iPad And iPad Mini With New Update, Brings Voice Memos Back

Apple has released a new beta of its iOS 7 software for developers today, and the big news is that the iPad version has arrived. Back when Apple announced iOS 7, it said the tablet version would follow the iPhone version a few weeks later, and they've stayed good to that promise. The iPad version support is available from the developer channel for those registered as iOS devs.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dCR9kBQMKg0/

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Supreme Court punts on affirmative-action case

The Supreme Court has surprised legal experts by declining to strike down the University of Texas' use of race in undergraduate admissions. On Monday, the justices sent the case back to a lower court for a rehearing, dodging a decision on whether affirmative-action policies at public colleges around the country are unconstitutional.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court's conservative-leaning swing vote, wrote the opinion for Fisher v. University of Texas, which was decided 7-1. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court's liberal leader, dissented, arguing that the lower court's decision in favor of affirmative action should stand.

Kennedy said the federal Fifth Circuit must rehear the case to decide whether UT "offered sufficient evidence to prove that its admissions program is narrowly tailored to obtain the educational benefits of diversity." The court also requires the lower court to decide whether the college could use any "race neutral" means of creating a diverse campus before resorting to affirmative action, a slightly stricter standard than has been expressed by the court in the past.

"Strict scrutiny imposes on the university the ultimate burden of demonstrating, before turning to racial classifications, that available, workable race-neutral alternatives do not suffice," the justices wrote.

The decision comes as a surprise, since during oral arguments in the case in October, many of the conservative-leaning justices seemed poised to issue a broader ruling invalidating the use of race in admissions. Kennedy has also frequently expressed skepticism of affirmative-action programs.

"Affirmative action lives to see another day," Adam Winkler, a constitutional law expert at UCLA, told Yahoo News. "The Supreme Court seemed prepared to strike a real blow against affirmative action back in October. But the Fisher case reaffirms [previous] Supreme Court cases that allow universities to take race into account."

Abigail Noel Fisher brought suit against the University of Texas after she was denied admission in 2008. UT automatically admits Texans who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, but fills its remaining seats by judging applicants on a combination of GPA, test scores, race and other factors. Fisher claimed she was discriminated against because she is white when she was denied admission. The college argued that Fisher's GPA and standardized test scores made her inadmissible regardless of her race and that using race as one factor in admission helps it maintain a diverse student body.

The Supreme Court established in 2003 in Grutter v. Bollinger that universities could use race as a factor in admissions as long as they did not use quotas (for example, that 10 percent of the class must be black). The justices said affirmative action was still necessary to create a diverse student body, which it ruled was a compelling state interest. The majority wrote that they believed that in 25 years, affirmative action would no longer be necessary and should be stopped. This "sunset" provision was skewered by the four dissenting justices.

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas both wrote in concurring opinions that they would overrule Grutter on the grounds that it improperly allows publicly funded universities to discriminate on the basis of race. The conservative justices noted, however, that the plaintiffs in the Fisher case did not ask the court to overrule Grutter.

In a blistering dissent, Thomas wrote that universities' desire for a diverse student body is not necessary or pressing enough to justify affirmative action, which he describes as racial discrimination. Thomas compared the case for "racial tinkering" in admissions to arguments made by segregationists 60 years ago that "separate but equal" education would ultimately help black people. "The Constitution does not pander to faddish theories about whether race mixing is in the public interest," Thomas wrote. "The Equal Protection Clause strips States of all authority to use race as a factor in providing education."

The Fisher case was argued 10 months ago, and many legal experts were stumped as to why the justices were taking such an unusually long time to release an opinion. Winkler said he believes the 10-page opinion the justices ended up releasing "certainly did not take eight months to write," and that the court may have initially written a broader ruling that eventually fell apart due to internal court politics. The court has agreed to hear another case dealing with affirmative action next fall and may issue a broader decision then. That case deals with whether voters are allowed to ban affirmative action at state universities through ballot initiatives.

Justice Elena Kagan, a President Barack Obama appointee, recused herself from the case, most likely due to her work on it as solicitor general.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/supreme-court-punts-affirmative-action-case-141850745.html

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Don Rickles honored by Friars Club

NEW YORK (AP) ? Lucky Don Rickles: The Friars Club holds a night in his honor and everyone plays nice.

Almost everyone.

Robert De Niro, who appeared with Rickles in the 1995 movie "Casino," joked that he was sure the 87-year-old comedian had died and Monday's gathering at the Waldorf Astoria was actually a memorial. "Don would have been so proud," De Niro said as Rickles laughed along.

In fact, it was a tribute to the man known as "Mr. Warmth," who received a lifetime achievement award from the Friars, with guests attending the black-tie dinner finding bottles of Jack Daniels ? a favorite beverage of Rickles' old friend, Frank Sinatra ? at their tables and boxes of Godiva chocolate.

Bob Newhart, Joan Rivers and Louis CK were among the comics praising the master roaster, while taped greetings came from Jon Stewart, Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld among others. Natalie Cole, John Mayer and Diana Krall sang for him, and just about everyone sweared, from Bob Costas to Bob Saget.

Lewis Black said that "Rickles" should be a verb, meaning to ridicule "exquisitely." Kathy Griffin recalled attending a Rickles show in the 1990s with Andre Agassi, the rare celebrity unamused by Rickles' patented ribbing. It turns out Agassi had a good reason to miss out on the jokes: The tennis star later admitted he was hooked on crystal methamphetamine at the time.

Rickles, of course, had insults prepared. "So many stars here, nobody big," he said. He told Krall that her husband, Elvis Costello, was the "real star" of the couple. Black was "full of anger and hate" and likely "to die young." As for Rickles himself: "I'm standing here, barely."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-25-People-Don%20Rickles/id-066a52e404dd43c6b002244dd3de9e44

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Don Draper hits rock bottom in 'Mad Men' finale

TV

Drusilla Moorhouse TODAY contributor

10 hours ago

Frank Ockenfels / AMC

Don Draper might not have jumped out the window, but his life at Sterling Cooper & Partners came to an abrupt end in "Mad Men's" season finale.

For the first time, the great pretender lifted the curtain hiding his sordid, tragic past, but no one in his new world wanted to see it. Don Draper was hired and championed for the fa?ade he created -- Dick Whitman is not welcome on Madison Ave.

After skipping another meeting to get soused in a bar, Don found himself in the drunk tank -- which seemed to be a wake-up call. Megan found him the next morning draining all their liquor -- in the sink instead of down his throat for a change.

And so for one of the firm's most important pitches -- to Hershey's -- Don was on time and sober. (Except for the drink a knowing Ted urged on him so that he wouldn't get the shakes, or worse.)

For a moment, the clients were enchanted by Don's portrayal of Hershey's as "the currency of affection, the childhood symbol of love."

Unfortunately for SC&P, Don chose that moment to bare his soul -- revealing that he grew up as an unwanted orphan in a whorehouse. As a kid, Don said, a Hershey bar "was the only sweet thing in my life."

Now, Don is surrounded by sweet things -- adoring women, children of his own, and all the trappings of success -- but his soul is too bitter to taste them. On Thanksgiving Day, SC&P called him into the office and game him the boot.

"In Care Of" was a lovely bookend to "Mad Men's" fourth-season finale, "Tomorrowland," in which Don proposed to his secretary -- using the engagement ring the real Don Draper gave to his wife Anna -- during a trip to California with his kids.

When Sunkist requested a SC&P rep work with them in Los Angeles, half the staff at SC&P were seduced by the sunshine and palm trees' siren call -- and the promise of a new start. Of course, Don claimed Stan's idea of a satellite for himself and announced his plans to the firm. Megan, thrilled to finally take advantage of all the Hollywood offers she'd received, quit her job.

Then Ted convinced Don to let him go instead, because the only way he could save his marriage was to put 3,000 miles between him and Peggy, with whom he'd finally shared a night of passion. Don agreed, infuriating Megan, who walked out after his "bi-coastal" platitudes.

But even Pete is going west. After learning his mother was "lost at sea" (someday this show will run out of metaphors), likely murdered by her nurse-turned-husband, Pete's face was shot off (metaphorically) in Detroit -- by Bob Benson!

Don's double-identity heir apparent will be running SC&P next year, right? Bob Benson has definitely played the best cards, even sharing Thanksgiving with his BFF Joan and Roger, whom she'd invited to spend time with their son.

In another neighborhood, Don is spending Thanksgiving with his kids, but there's no turkey in sight. Instead, even Sally is at a loss for words as he shows them the decrepit whorehouse where he grew up, where a little boy is playing on the front steps.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/don-draper-hits-rock-bottom-mad-men-finale-6C10423973

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