Monitoring Your Heating and Air Conditioning Systems ? Epic Articles

Dec 12
30

If you are installing a new heating or AC system in your house, the most critical choices to make are purchasing high quality products and professional service. Multiple types of furnaces are manufactured which all have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Depending on your home and location, your home temperature and utility bill can improve dramatically if you buy an appropriate furnace. Cooling systems are also very different and it is essential to use a system that is the most effective. When you hire a heating and air conditioning professional, they can evaluate your home and help choose the system that best meets your needs. These specialists are also skilled in fixing all varieties of repairs on these systems. Notice a large change in your year-round comfort with experienced heating and air conditioning specialists by your side. A/C Repair Corpus Christi TX

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Source: http://epique-mag.com/monitoring-your-heating-and-air-conditioning-systems-2/

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ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch review: new touchscreen, same solid performance

While Windows 8 inspired plenty of crazy new form factors, it also gave laptop makers a good reason to circle back and tweak their tried-and-true products to bring them into the touch-optimized era. One example is ASUS' Zenbook Prime line of Ultrabooks. We've seen quite a few of them in the last year; the UX31A landed in our offices last summer, and we reviewed the 15-inch UX51Vz mere weeks ago.

But a dry spell is nowhere in sight: ASUS just released another 13-inch Zenbook, the $1,099-and-up UX31A Touch. The name says it all: it's the UX31A we've known and, er, liked, but with a capacitive display added in. Of course, this slightly different iteration still provides an opportunity to improve the laptop in other ways (for instance, we thought the UX31A featured a subpar touchpad). So, does this new touchscreen model improve upon an already finely crafted Ultrabook? Jump past the break to find out.

Gallery: ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch review

Continue reading ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Touch review: new touchscreen, same solid performance

Filed under: Laptops, ASUS

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/31/asus-zenbook-prime-ux31a-touch-review/

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Nobel Scientist, Wash U Professor Dies In Rome

Posted on: 11:54 am, December 30, 2012, by Staff Writer, updated on: 11:43am, December 30, 2012

ROME (AP) _ Rita Levi-Montalcini, a biologist who conducted underground research in defiance of Fascist persecution and went on to win a Nobel Prize for helping unlock the mysteries of the cell, died at her home in Rome on Sunday. She was 103 and had worked well into her final years.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, who announced her death in a statement, called it a great loss ?for all of humanity.? He praised her as someone who represented ?civic conscience, culture and the spirit of research of our time.?

Italy?s so-called ?Lady of the Cells,? a Jew who lived through anti-Semitic discrimination and the Nazi invasion, became one of her country?s leading scientists and shared the Nobel medicine prize in 1986 with American biochemist Stanley Cohen for their groundbreaking research carried out in the United States. Her research increased the understanding of many conditions, including tumors, developmental malformations, and senile dementia.

Italy honored Levi-Montalcini in 2001 by making her a senator-for-life.

A petite woman with upswept white hair, she kept an intensive work schedule well into old age. ?At 100, I have a mind that is superior _ thanks to experience _ than when I was 20,? she said in 2009.

Levi-Montalcini was born April 22, 1909, to a Jewish family in the northern city of Turin. At age 20 she overcame her father?s objections that women should not study and obtained a degree in medicine and surgery from Turin University in 1936.

She studied under top anatomist Giuseppe Levi, whom she often credited for her own success and for that of two fellow students and close friends, Salvador Luria an Renato Dulbecco, who also became separate Nobel Prize winners. Levi and Levi-Montalcini were not related.

After graduating, Levi-Montalcini began working as a research assistant in neurobiology but lost her job in 1938 when Italy?s Fascist regime passed laws barring Jews from universities and major professions.

Her family decided to stay in Italy and, as World War II neared, Levi-Montalcini created a makeshift lab in her bedroom where she began studying the development of chicken embryos, which would later lead to her major discovery of mechanisms that regulate growth of cells and organs.

With eggs becoming a rarity due to the war, the young scientist biked around the countryside to buy them from farmers. She was soon joined in her secret research by Levi, her university mentor, who was also Jewish and who became her assistant.

The 1943 German invasion of Italy forced the Levi-Montalcini family to flee to Florence and live underground. After the Allies liberated the city, she worked as a doctor at a center for refugees.

In 1947 Levi-Montalcini was invited to the United States, where she remained for more than 20 years, which she called ?the happiest and most productive? of her life. She held dual Italian-U.S. citizenship.

During her research at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, she discovered nerve growth factor, or NGF, the first substance known to regulate the growth of cells. She showed that when tumors from mice were transplanted to chicken embryos they induced rapid growth of the embryonic nervous system. She concluded that the tumor released a nerve growth-promoting factor that affected certain types of cells.

The research increased the understanding of many conditions, including tumors, developmental malformations, and senile dementia. It also led to the discovery by Stanley Cohen of another substance, epidermal growth factor, which stimulates the proliferation of epithelial cells.

The two shared the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1986.

Levi-Montalcini returned to Italy to become the director of the laboratory of cell biology of the National Council of Scientific Research in Rome in 1969.

Source: http://fox2now.com/2012/12/30/nobel-scientist-wash-u-professor-dies-in-rome/

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Luck and Chuck! Colts topple Texans from 1 seed

Rookie QB gives coach a great welcome back with victory over Houston

Brent Smith / Reuters

Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) yells to his teammates on the sidelines prior to the kickoff.

updated 7:09 p.m. ET Dec. 30, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS - Chuck Pagano put on his dancing shoes and savored every moment of Sunday's postgame celebration.

He took his customary linebacker stance on the sideline, hands on bended knees. He signaled touchdowns when the Colts scored, patted Deji Karim on the helmet after a 101-yard kickoff return for a game-changing touchdown, and gestured for penalty flags to be thrown.

And after Indianapolis beat AFC South champion Houston 28-16, Pagano even tossed aside the stodgy image of an NFL coach and began jumping around with players, assistant coaches and even team owner Jim Irsay like he was a kid again.

Why not?

"There was a lot of high-fiving, a lot of dancing, a lot of hugging going on and a lot of celebrating," an emotional Pagano said. "There's a lot to celebrate right now."

It started with Pagano's return.

He took an indefinite leave Sept. 26 to begin the first of three rounds of chemotherapy for leukemia Sept. 26 and didn't make it back to the sideline until Sunday when the cancer was in complete remission.

But the party began much earlier.

When Pagano first walked onto the field, he waved to the fans and hugged his wife, Tina.

When fans gave him a standing ovation after a 1-minute video played on the stadium's two Jumbotrons just before kickoff, a choked up Pagano held his tears in check.

When he left the field, he hugged everybody in sight ? assistant coaches, Colts players, even Texans players and coaches ? before moving the postgame party to the locker room, where Irsay presented him with a game ball and they did a do-si-do together.

"What a day, what a day," he said. "We could go into what transpired out there over the last three hours and five, 10 minutes whatever, from a stats standpoint and big plays, penalties and run offense and run 'D', all of that stuff. But just down the road, I have watched all of this take place for the last 12 ball games."

Players had a different kind of welcome-back celebration planned.

"Guys really did not want to lose in his first game back and heading into the playoffs," rookie quarterback Andrew Luck said. "To get a win, I think means the world to him."

Luck, as usual, had a big hand in the victory. He was 14 of 28 for 191 yards with two more touchdowns and no interceptions.

He wasn't alone, though.

Karim swung the game with the kickoff return just seconds after the Texans took their only lead, and when Luck converted on third-and-23 with the 70-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter, the crowd was in a frenzy.

The Colts (11-5) will play at Baltimore in the wild-card round next weekend. The slumping Texans (12-4) have lost three of their last four and won't know their AFC seeding until after Denver and New England finish later Sunday.

"We had a great opportunity the last two weeks, but we won't feel sorry for ourselves," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said after giving Pagano a hug and whispering in his ear after the game. "We'll focus on keeping our confidence up, even if we have to play next week."

Indy did everything it needed to Sunday.

The Colts prevented J.J. Watt from getting too close to Luck ? or any closer to Michael Strahan's NFL sacks record (22?). Watt finished with 20?.

"We didn't win, so I could care less about the record. It's about winning," Watt said.

Luck broke Peyton Manning's franchise record for completions by a rookie but fell 15 short of Sam Bradford's NFL mark. Luck also moved into third all-time among rookies with 22 TD passes.

And Indy completed the second greatest turnaround in league history ? winning nine more games than it did in 2011.

"Man, this has been a great year, a storybook ending," Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne said. "Let's keep it going. Hopefully we can continue to write this movie."

It didn't take long for the Colts to assert themselves in this emotional environment ? or to turn the game when the Texans took their only lead. Shayne Graham made a 37-yard field goal with 5:22 left in the third quarter, a lead that lasted all of 12 seconds.

Karim fielded the ensuing kickoff a yard deep in the end zone, found a seam in the middle of the field and never slowed until he reached the opposite end zone to make it 21-16. Pagano patted him on the helmet after the longest kickoff return since the Colts moved to Indy in 1984.

Then, facing third-and-23 from the 30, Luck threw a perfect strike through a narrow opening, hitting Hilton in stride for a 70-yard TD to make it 28-16.

On a day the Texans mostly settled for field goals, that's all the Colts needed.

Luck masterfully led the Colts to a 14-6 halftime lead.

Houston made it 14-13 when Arian Foster broke through a hole for a 13-yard TD run and saluted Pagano by tapping the (hash)Chuckstrong sign hanging on the wall behind the end zone instead of doing his trademark bow. Foster ran 16 times for 96 yards.

Graham's 37-yard field goal gave Houston the lead with 5:22 to go in the third quarter, but Karim's long TD return set off a celebration that didn't end until after Pagano had done his dance.

"It's like a dream come true again," Pagano said. "It's the greatest feeling in the world to be down there."

Schaub finished 24 of 36 for 275 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. Foster ran 16 times for 96 yards.

NOTES: Andre Johnson caught 12 passes for 141 yards and became the second player in league history with three seasons of 100 or more catches and 1,500 or more yards. The other: Former Colt Marvin Harrison. ... Manning had 326 completions, Luck finished the season with 339. ... Watt had a shared sack taken away in the first half when the officials erased a sack-fumble of Luck because of the Tuck Rule. ... The Colts lost starting guard Joe Reitz in the first half with a head injury. ... Houston linebacker Daryl Sharpton left the game with a hip injury. Linebacker Tim Dobbins left in the second half with what Kubiak thought was a shoulder injury.

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

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PFT: AP comes up short, but Vikes reach playoffs

PFT: Rookie Blair Walsh kicked a game-ending field goal to lift the Vikings over the Packers and clinch a playoff spot, despite Adrian Peterson coming up nine yards short of the single-season rushing record.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50324689/ns/sports-nfl/

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GOP Rep. Supports DOMA Repeal

Rep. Richard Hanna, a Republican congressman from New York who was voted into office in the 2010 Tea Party election, has come out in favor of repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and guaranteeing federal recognition of all legal marriages performed in the states.

?New York State allows all its citizens the freedom to marry the person they love,? he said. ?Under the Tenth Amendment, the federal government has a Constitutional responsibility to respect New York?s right to set its own laws. It?s my job to see that it does.

?It is right to extend equal protection under federal law to all couples who are legally married without infringing upon religious freedom and beliefs,? Hanna continued. ?This legislation does not tell states who can be married or who must be treated as married, nor does it require any religious institution to violate their own convictions.

?I respect the deeply held beliefs on both sides of this issue,? he said. ?The simple fact remains that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure all legally married couples are treated equally under federal law ? and this bill would achieve that proper standard.?

He is the second Republican member of the House to do so, following Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freethoughtblogs/dispatches/~3/Rt-S9n0vbTs/

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[All iPads] Do you 'manage' your iPad Apps that are open?

What I mean is, do you spend much time going in and killing apps that you've recently used? I was with iPhone from the very start but in the last year or so I've been pretty fully dedicated with Android. I always made it a point to back out of apps so they'd close down when I was done using them.

I know that both iOS and Android do a pretty good job about killing processes as needed but I tried to manage it myself if I can. I never used things like Task Killers but I'd do what I could on my end.

But as it stands, I'm getting tired of worrying about that crap, lol. I just got my iPad 4th Gen and wondered if I should be perfectly fine with ZERO concern about all the apps running in the multitasking bar.

Source: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1516815&goto=newpost

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Experts: Trained police needed for school security

The National Rifle Association wants armed volunteers in all US schools. But school safety experts and school board members say there's a huge difference between a trained law enforcement officer who becomes part of the school family ? and a guard with a gun.

By Larry Margasak,?Associated Press / December 29, 2012

Cori Sorensen, a fourth grade teacher from Highland Elementary School in Highland, Utah, receives firearms training with a .357 magnum from personal defense instructor Jim McCarthy during concealed weapons training for 200 Utah teachers in West Valley City, Utah.

Rick Bowmer/AP

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The student's attack began with a shotgun blast through the windows of a California high school. Rich Agundez, the El Cajon policeman assigned to the school, felt his mind shift into overdrive.

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People yelled at him amid the chaos but he didn't hear. He experienced "a tunnel vision of concentration."

While two?teachers?and three students were injured when the glass shattered in the 2001 attack on Granite Hills High School, Agundez confronted the assailant and wounded him before he could get inside the school and use his second weapon, a handgun.

Recommended:?Second Amendment Quiz

The National Rifle Association's response to a Connecticut school massacre envisions, in part, having trained, armed volunteers in every school in America. But Agundez, school safety experts and school board members say there's a huge difference between a trained law enforcement officer who becomes part of the school family ? and a guard with a gun.

The NRA's proposal has sparked a debate across the country as gun control rises once again as a national issue. President Barack Obama promised to present a plan in January to confront gun violence in the aftermath of the killing of 20 Sandy Hook Elementary School students and six?teachers?in Newtown, Conn.

Agundez said what happened before the shooting in the San Diego County school should frame the debate over the NRA's proposal.

With a shooting at another county school just weeks before, Agundez had trained the staff in how to lock down the school, assigned evacuation points, instructed?teachers?to lock doors, close curtains and turn off the lights. He even told them computers should be used where possible to communicate, to lessen the chaos.

And his training? A former SWAT team member, Agundez' preparation placed him in simulated stressful situations and taught him to evade a shooter's bullets. And the kids in the school knew to follow his advice because they knew him. He spoke in their classrooms and counseled them when they came to him with problems.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, school boards, administrators,?teachers?and parents are reviewing their security measures.

School security officers can range from the best-trained police officers to unarmed private guards. Some big-city districts with gang problems and crime formed their own police agencies years ago. Others, after the murder of 13 people at Columbine High School in 1999, started joint agreements with local police departments to have officers assigned to schools ? even though that was no guarantee of preventing violence. A trained police officer at Columbine confronted one of two shooters but couldn't prevent the death of 13 people.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/HvpWj2hJBfA/Experts-Trained-police-needed-for-school-security

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Is HR (as a job category) dead? | SmartBlogs SmartBlogs

Recently, I was entering candidates into our database and came across the title ?vice president of people and culture.? Because our system has a finite number of job categories, I was forced to choose ?human resources? for this particular individual. Doing so just felt wrong because in my mind there?s clearly a difference.

This got me thinking: Is HR as a job category going away? Are we moving away from titles such as ?vice president of human resources?? More and more, I?m seeing titles reflect words like ?people? and ?culture? and ?talent? versus the traditional human resources. And while I certainly understand this trend, it?s important not to simply replace one with the other.

To me, ?human resources? still reflects the function of managing personnel, from recruitment and onboarding to performance and compensation. As industry experts might suggest, HR is more transactional than strategic.

?People? and ?culture,? on the other hand, represent the broader workforce from which a company draws its value. I?m not sure when business and HR leaders began to make this distinction, but it seems to have taken hold in many organizations ? for good reason. In today?s competitive job market, where employers are seeking the best talent to create competitive advantage, a company?s people and culture can make a big difference. In fact, at Riviera Partners, we strongly believe that cultural fit is a critical component to talent acquisition and retention ? and overall company success.

Therefore, it makes sense to have a leader (e.g., director or VP) oversee this important area if he or she truly is focused on understanding and driving culture, versus simply sporting a new title but still managing the more transactional HR.

Speaking of ? someone still needs to manage job descriptions, offer letters, regulatory and compliance issues, payroll, and other functions that typically fall under HR.

In answering my own questions, I don?t believe HR as a job category is dead. However, the evolving business environment and workplace necessitates a different way to look at human capital as a core asset of a company. This is especially true in today?s ultra-transparent society, where information about a company?s culture can spread like wildfire on social media to the benefit or detriment of the organization.

HR (or people or culture or talent) organizations must address new generations of candidates who have different views and expectations of employment, focusing on hiring those who fit the company and keeping them motivated to perform.

I suppose there?s really no right or wrong answer, in terms of titles. It?s all in how you view your organization and what you want from your HR or talent acquisition function and initiatives.

Michael A. Morell is a founding and managing partner for Riviera Partners, a leading provider for technical search and recruiting services in Silicon Valley and nationally. He has more than 15 years of experience in recruiting, technology sales and management. Morell focuses on recruiting executive-level talent in the areas of engineering and product management, and also has operational responsibility for Riviera?s contingency search practice, which focuses on individual contributor level roles within engineering organizations. Follow him on Twitter.

Source: http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2012/12/28/is-hr-as-job-category-dead/

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Report Implicates Chinese Officials in Human Body Plastination Abuse

13 Dec 2012

NEW YORK?A new report details how, for the last ten years, Chinese officials have supported a multi-million dollar human trafficking operation that involves murdering Chinese citizens and plastinising their cadavers, a procedure that replaces body fluids with polymers for tissue preservation. Evidence further suggests that the vast majority of victims are Falun Gong practitioners.

?Bodies?The Exhibition, owned by Premier Exhibitions, is one of the biggest buyers of plastinised bodies from China and maintains this disclaimer: This exhibit displays human remains of Chinese citizens or residents which were originally received by the Chinese Bureau of Police. The Chinese Bureau of Police may receive bodies from Chinese prisons. Premier cannot independently verify that the human remains you are viewing are not those of persons who were incarcerated in Chinese prisons.?

The report (view online) comes in the wake of mounting evidence and growing attention to organ transplant abuses by Chinese military hospitals where, again, victims are mostly Falun Gong practitioners.

The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, WOIPFG, published the report on November 24. It states that China has become the largest exporter of human specimens, which, when fully preserved through plastination might sell for $800,000 USD.

Evidence suggests that public security provides the vast majority of cadavers. The source of cadavers is not executed criminals, however, but prisoners of conscience from labor camps and brain washing centers, the report maintains.

The report corroborates phone recordings with government officials, publications by medical universities, advertisements by Chinese plastination companies and the expansion of labor camps to accommodate detained Falun Gong practitioners.

Several pieces of evidence specifically implicate former Communist Party chief, Bo Xilai, and his wife, Gu Kailai. Bo controlled numerous labor camps that are in close proximity to the largest plastination factories in China.

To view a previous press release on organ transplant abuse, see here.

For a Falun Dafa Information Center Fact Sheet on organ harvesting, including the connection to Bo Xilai and other officials, see here.

Essential Background

In July of 1999, China's autocratic Communist Party launched an unlawful campaign of arrests, violence, and propaganda against Chinese citizens practicing Falun Gong (or "Falun Dafa") with the intent of "eradicating" the apolitical practice. Former Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution fearing the practice's growing popularity among the Chinese people (70 to 100 million) was overshadowing his own legacy (article). Since then, the Falun Dafa Information Center, based in New York, has reported over 3,500 deaths from abuse and over 80,000 cases of torture. The United Nations, Amnesty International, Chinese human rights lawyers, and foreign media have also documented Falun Gong torture and deaths at the hands of Chinese officials (samples). Hundreds of thousands of Chinese who practice Falun Gong remain in captivity, rendering them the single largest group of prisoners of conscience in China (article). Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that is Buddhist in nature, but not part of the religion of Buddhism. It consists of slow-moving "qigong" exercises, meditation, and teachings for daily life centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance (about Falun Gong).

Source: http://www.faluninfo.net/article/1291

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Enjoying the Small Things: CHRISTMAS

Writing posts at the end of the year, after precious days of close family moments, feels a bit like filling a time capsule with the last special things you want to remember before closing the cap. As Brett and I fulfilled our Christmas morning parent duties, satisfyingly smiling at their squeals of delight, there were seconds where we caught each other's eyes.? We didn't need to say anything; it was understood.? Did you see that?? Wasn't that precious? How funny is she?? Oh God, she's getting so big.?

My friend Colette expressed the perfect explanation to me earlier this year of why supporting Down syndrome cognition and memory research is so important to her?for her son,?Dex.? "All my memories--the things that make me laugh, moments with family, holidays, vacations--it's?a scrapbook in my brain, something I always have to go back to later in life," she explained.? "If I'm ever sad or want to?smile, I can remember?all those?times, like flipping through snapshots in a scrapbook.? I want Dex to have a scrapbook too."

Yeah, that.?

That's what these pictures are.? And what these stored images in my brain are that keep making me smile every time I think of them.

Those long swishy nightgowns that were perfectly too big enough to make?my girls?look smaller.

And crayon-drawn letters with big spaces between them.? High pitched "How do you spell Santa?" pleas because it's probably the last year she'll ask.? And another year of reindeer food and watching the sky and staring at two sisters sound asleep together on the night before Christmas.

Installing the Reindeer Runway

Nella steals some of Santa's milk

Our Christmas Scrapbook:

Brandyn fed Nella blueberries at the rate of one blueberry? per milisecond.? Any slower, she'd go nuts.

Late Christmas Eve, my dad and Gary installed this amazing fairy garden in our front landscaping. It is just as much a gift for me as it was for my girls. There's even a hand-painted castle with flags for each of my?babies.?

And then morning. Being awakened by a soft little tap-tap-tap on my back. An excited whisper. Can we go see if Santa was here?? Lainey knows the Christmas drill now.? She waits patiently in bed with Daddy while I go turn on the tree lights and make a pot of coffee and turn on Nat King Cole and light candles and make just enough noise to wake Nella and Poppa, and?the boys quickly follow.

North Pole money

Boots on dogs?? Very funny.? Lainey fell on the ?floor laughing.? Latte gets weirded out and paddles her feet across the floor all frantic.? Thank you, Poppa.

I love how teenage brotherly entertainment means random wrestling matches.? They both laugh while they pretend to beat the crap out of each other, out of nowhere.? Apparently, it's very funny.

She spots the fairy garden.

I'll share deets on fairy garden later. Gary's a horticulturist and has a nice list of plants that work good in fairy gardens as well as some resources where you can find materials to build your own.

My favorite part of Christmas? When the morning spills over into complete calm. Everyone finds a different corner of the house, kids play with new toys, adults?rest on couches, the mess on the living room floor dissolves into the setting and everything is quiet and happy and good. I collapsed on the couch late morning, not intending to sleep, but I fell into one of those half awake naps where my eyes were closed and my brain was off duty but I was very aware that I was smiling and listening to the girls' chatter while they tested out new toys.?

Likewise, the afternoon delivered with more grandparents and more love. More scrapbook pages.? And a honey baked ham.

Two people are texting.? Can you find them?

We're still in vacation mode. And feeling so thankful for family and home.

To?scrapbooks?being filled with much love.? Chin-Chin.

Source: http://www.kellehampton.com/2012/12/christmas.html

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Consumer sentiment weakens as fiscal crisis looms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer confidence fell more than expected in December, hitting a four-month low as a looming fiscal crisis sapped what had been a growing sense of optimism about the economy.

Other data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment aid fell last week to nearly its lowest level in 4 1/2 years, while new home sales last month hit their highest level since April 2010.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 65.1 from 71.5 in November.

Gauges of business sentiment have weakened recently on worries about $600 billion in tax hikes and government spending cuts scheduled for early January. Now consumers also appear apprehensive, a sign worries about the so-called "fiscal cliff" could bite into household spending.

"People are hearing about (the cliff) and it negatively impacts confidence and investor sentiment and even holiday sales," said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at Landcolt Capital in New York.

Also, with business sentiment weakening in recent months as the fiscal cliff has approached, many economists think hiring may remain sluggish even as the pace of layoffs ease.

The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000, the Labor Department said. That was lower than analysts' forecasts for 360,000 new claims last week.

"This recent improvement in the claims data is potentially a favorable signal for the labor market," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

After spiking in the wake of a mammoth storm that ravaged the East Coast in late October, the weekly levels of new claims have now dropped to their lowest levels since the early days of the 2007-09 recession. The four-week moving average fell 11,250 last week to 356,750, the lowest since March 2008.

The claims data for last week has no direct relation to the Labor Department's monthly employment report, but suggests the surge in layoffs since the recession has at least run its course.

Companies in recent months have been adding to their payrolls at a lackluster pace, and analysts expect the monthly employment report due on January 4 will show 143,000 jobs created in December, down from 146,000 in November.

Analysts said the holiday season can make it more difficult to seasonally adjust the claims data, another reason to be cautious.

"There is usually a high margin of error in predicting the monthly payroll number," said Michelle Meyer, senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch at New York. "That's even more the case this month from the residual effects of the hurricane and year-end seasonal adjustments," she said.

U.S. stocks opened flat, while longer-dated U.S. Treasuries rose after the data and after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it was unlikely a budget deal would be reached before year end.

Following a truncated holiday break in Hawaii, U.S. President Barack Obama has returned to Washington to restart negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff, which if not averted would likely put the U.S. economy back into recession.

The signs of progress in the claims data also included a caveat, at least for the latest week.

Obama declared Monday a holiday for federal workers and many state offices followed suit and were unable to provide complete data for last week's jobless claims. Data for 19 states was estimated, a Labor Department official said.

Fourteen of those states, including Texas and California, submitted their own estimates, which tend to be fairly accurate because the state officials work with a significant amount of data, the Labor Department official said.

Analysts said the holiday season was another reason to be cautious about the report's positive tenor. Also, with business sentiment weakening in recent months as the fiscal cliff has approached, many economists think businesses are holding back on hiring.

"A significant improvement in labor market conditions ahead of any resolution to the fiscal cliff is unlikely," said Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays in New York.

Separately, the Commerce Department said new U.S. single-family home sales accelerated in November to a 377,000-unit annual rate while the median sales price jumped 14.9 percent from the same month in 2011, signs that the U.S. housing recovery is gaining some steam.

In a fourth report, the Chicago Federal Reserve said its index of factory activity in the U.S. Midwest increased in November to 93.7 from a revised 92.2 in October.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Additional reporting by Richard Leong and Ryan Vlastelica in New York; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jobless-claims-fall-trend-reading-four-half-low-133656610--business.html

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Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. commander in Gulf War, dies at 78

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., the hard-charging U.S. Army general whose forces smashed the Iraqi army in the 1991 Gulf War, has died at the age of 78, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

The highly decorated four-star general died at 2:22 p.m. EST (1922 GMT) at his home in Tampa, Florida, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Schwarzkopf, a burly Vietnam War veteran known as Stormin' Norman, commanded more than 540,000 U.S. troops and 200,000 allied forces in a six-week war that routed Hussein's army from Kuwait in 1991, capping his 34-year military career.

Some experts hailed Schwarzkopf's plan to trick and outflank Hussein's forces with a sweeping armored movement as one of the great accomplishments in military history. The maneuver ended the ground war in only 100 hours.

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who built the international coalition against Iraq, said he and his wife "mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation," according to a statement released by Bush's spokesman.

Bush has been hospitalized in Houston since late November.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta praised Schwarzkopf as "one of the great military giants of the 20th century." General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he "embodied the warrior spirit," and called the victory over Hussein's forces the hallmark of his career.

PHYSICAL PRESENCE

Schwarzkopf was a familiar sight on international television during the war, clad in camouflage fatigues and a cap. He conducted fast-paced briefings and toured the lines with a purposeful stride and a physical presence of the sort that clears barrooms.

Little known before Iraqi forces invaded neighboring Kuwait, Schwarzkopf made a splash with quotable comments. At one briefing he addressed Saddam's military reputation.

"As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist," he said, "he is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier. Other than that, he's a great military man, I want you to know that."

Schwarzkopf returned from the war as a hero and there was talk of him running for public office. Instead he wrote an autobiography titled "It Doesn't Take a Hero" and served as a military analyst.

He also acted as a spokesman for the fight against prostate cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1993.

Schwarzkopf was born August 22, 1934, in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Colonel H. Norman Schwarzkopf Sr., the head of the New Jersey State Police. At the time, the older Schwarzkopf was leading the investigation of the kidnapping and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh's infant son, one of the most infamous crimes of the 20th century.

The younger Schwarzkopf graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1956. He also earned a masters degree in guided-missile engineering from the University of Southern California and later taught engineering at West Point.

CHESTFUL OF MEDALS

Schwarzkopf saw combat twice - in Vietnam and Grenada - in a career that included command of units from platoon to theater size, training as a paratrooper and stints at Army staff colleges.

He led his men in firefights in two Vietnam tours and commanded all U.S. ground forces in the 1983 Grenada invasion. His chestful of medals included three Silver and three Bronze Stars for valor and two Purple Hearts for Vietnam wounds.

In Vietnam, he won a reputation as an officer who would put his life on the line to protect his troops. In one particularly deadly fight on the Batangan Peninsula, Schwarzkopf led his men through a minefield, in part by having the mines marked by shaving cream.

In 1988, Schwarzkopf was put in charge of the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, with responsibility for the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. In that role, he prepared a plan to protect the Gulf's oil fields from a hypothetical invasion by Iraq. Within months, the plan was in use.

A soldier's soldier in an era of polished, politically conscious military technocrats, Schwarzkopf's mouth sometimes got him in trouble. In one interview, he said he had recommended to Bush that allied forces destroy Iraq's military instead of stopping the war after a clear victory.

Schwarzkopf later apologized after both Bush and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney fired back that there was no contradiction among military leaders to Bush's decision to leave some of Saddam's military intact.

After retirement, Schwarzkopf spoke his mind on military matters. In 2003, when the United States was on the verge of invading Iraq under President George W. Bush, Schwarzkopf said he was unsure if there was sufficient evidence that Iraq had nuclear weapons.

He also criticized Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defense at the time, telling the Washington Post that during war-time television appearances "he almost sometimes seems to be enjoying it."

(Reporting by David Alexander and Ian Simpson; Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Stacey Joyce and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/famed-gulf-war-u-general-schwarzkopf-dies-former-012253521.html

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7 reasons writers should blog - Writers' Know-how -

Here are my reflections on some of the reasons that I think writers should maintain a blog. They are by no means mutually exclusive.

In no particular order?

Practise writing

Blogging is older than you think! Blog Girl, by Mike Licht http://www.flickr.com/photos/notionscapital/Blogging is a very forgiving medium in some respects. You can, if you like, keep a blog going just for the sake of experimentation with different writing styles. You don?t have to share it with anyone else, except if you?d like their feedback on something you?ve tried. You could even use your blog for writing against a creative writing prompt each day. If your efforts are not, in your opinion, wonderful, who?s to know?

Keep an online notebook

To an extent, this could be similar to the previous point.Rather than, or as well as, keeping a notebook or scrapbook of conversations overheard, or things seen, you could post it as a blog. Again, you don?t have to share it with anyone, and it?s there whenever you wish to refer to it, from wherever you happen to be.

There are alternatives ? perhaps even better alternatives. (For example, Evernote is especially useful for this sort of thing. I think that when the Moleskin Evernote notebook is available (which I am told will be in January 2013 in the UK), you will be able to have the best of both worlds: write something in the notebook, then take a photo of it and upload it to your Evernote account.) However, the advantage of a (private?) blog is that you can practise writing, keep notes, and do lots of other things all in one place, and then easily share all of it if and when you feel confident enough to do so.

Reflect

This could be subsumed under the previous heading, or it could be more organised, and possibly deeper, than merely keeping notes. You may, for example, wish to write your views on a particular book, play, or blog you?ve just experienced. Your reflections could even be developed into reviews, for public consumption.

~

So far, much of what I?ve said suggests having a private blog, for the most part. But there are compelling reasons to have a public blog as well.

Showcase your work

I should not like to mislead you into believing that there are hordes of editors and publishers who have nothing better to do than trawl the internet looking for their next best-selling author. However, it does no harm to have what amounts to an online showcase for your best work. If you cannot obtain permission to publish the items from whomever you?ve sold them to, perhaps you can publish links to them instead. At the very least, you could list the places where your work has appeared, like I have done on my Writing page.

I don?t think your blog writing alone is likely to cut much ice, because it is an act of self-publishing. Being (a) published by someone else and (b) paid for it is much better.

Unless, of course, you?ve written a blog which not only has attracted thousands of followers but could also be reasonably easily turned into a book.

Show you?re an expert

This is not quite the same as showcasing your work, although there will be an element of that. If you earn your living from an occupation other than writing, or if you only write about particular issues, you can use your blog to show that you are an expert in your field. If people believe you are, they are much more likely to buy your next book or hire you to speak at their next conference.

Marketing

Which, indubitably, brings us on to marketing. A blog is a great way of marketing yourself and your books. Not in an obnoxious ?Buy my latest book: it?s even better than the last one, which was a masterpiece!? kind of way, but by both showing yourself to be an expert and demonstrating that you are a valuable member of that particular community.

For example, if I wrote crime thrillers, I would write how-to articles on how to commit the perfect murder (!) ? probably without going into so much detail that someone could actually do so! --? review TV crime thrillers, and write a series of blog posts about how crime fiction has changed over the last 100 years.

Oh, and I?d also promote my latest book and book signings!

Share the love

Hidden in the previous section was a desire to share useful and/or interesting information with other people. A series about crime fiction, for example, would be interesting I think, as would reviews of crime fiction websites, books, and social networking forums. In short, if you find something useful, share it with others. It should keep them coming back in the future.

And even if it doesn?t, it?s a nice thing to do anyway.

Conclusion

There is an interplay between the reasons for blogging that I?ve suggested. In other words, they overlap, and many writers who have a blog probably do so for many if not all of these reasons.

And there are almost certainly many other reasons that writers should have their own blog. If you think I?ve left some out, please email me or leave a comment below.

Source: http://www.writersknowhow.org/articles/2012/12/27/7-reasons-writers-should-blog.html

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12262012 ? Creating Urgency with a Real Estate buyer to pressure ...

Believe it or not, this was posted up on a National Realtors Website as part of the strategies to use when dealing with ?Buyers that are Driving you nuts!!!?

I was hoping to find the LOL ? after ward ? Heck, I would have even thought a LMAO would have been appropriate. ?However, there was nothing of the kind.

If you have an agent that is telling you that you need to do something right now and cannot wait, make sure they are pushing from the ?Facts? and not opinion. ?Also, determine what they have to lose if you don?t step forward and seal the deal. ?If they have their commission hanging in the balance ? you may want to re-think you relationship with them. ?click here to read our article on Firing your real estate agent

However, if they tell you that you better pull out of the deal. ?You should not write that offer, you should ask for more items to be repaired. ?Or that you should walk from the deal, you may realize something much different. ?It could be that your Realtor is 100% on your side and wants the best for you and is watching your back like a seal team member watches his?brethren.

When approaching homes that are for sale, I cannot help but wonder sometimes how the agent with the listing obtained the sales price. ?Did they see data that I did not? ?Did I miss something? ?Why was the home that they had listed so expensive? ?Looking at price per square foot ? this just happened in Stevenson Ranch with a couple of our clients. We looked at a home that was priced at about 1 and 1/4 million dollars. ?However, this home, according to the square footage, condition and upgrades was 300k over priced.

The view was stellar and I would venture to say that the home was almost ?one of a kind?. ?I would also venture to say that the inventory with regard to any home, including one of a kind homes, is poor to say the least.

However, did this home need to be priced at 300k over the comparables? ?Maybe in the sellers eyes. ?Maybe the?Realtor?expressed to them they could get that amount. ?Will that agent be able too or did they ?buy the listing? from the owner by over promising? ? They could if there was a no?appraisal?contingency for the buyers approaching the plate with a suitcase full of money. ? Or at least a buyer with 20% down that wanted to make up the difference in Cash and stated within contract they?d waive the?appraisal.

However, when my clients wanted to offer much less than the ?asking price? on this home, I could not fault them. ?Heck, if they wanted to offer full list price, I would have faulted them. I would have told them that I am dead set against offering full list price for the home. ?Especially?in an unsure and unstable market.

Back in 2004, we had clients that offered more than list price on a home in Burbank. ?They had our blessing to do so. ?The home was priced at $400K and they offered $550K. ?Knowing what the market was doing and how it was increasing, I was sure this would have been a great investment and it was. ?In fact, we sold that very same home in late 2006 for over 715k. ?Sometimes, it?s okay to offer more than list price ? you just have to get a game plan together to do so and the stars?definitely need to be in alignment

When do you hold them, when do you show them, when do you walk away and when do you run? ?If you did not get the reference, the questions were from a song by Kenny Rodgers.

When you are getting unverified pressure from your real estate agent that is making you feel uncomfortable and when it becomes a ?Do or Die? scenario ? Run. ?Make sure you are getting the best advice possible. ?Make sure your trusted Realtor is on your side 100%. ?And feel free to do some ?Testing??occasionally?when dealing with your?Realtor? ?You may see something that will influence a decision that will keep you safe from harm.

Santa Clarita real estate and community events written about by Connor and Paris MacIvor with REMAX of Santa Clarita CA.? Turning to the most current real estate and housing market trends and news ? they release that information in the form of a Daily Santa Clarita real estate news update. They are also recognized authors on Google Plus and within the Santa Clarita real estate community.

Tagged as: day after christmas house cleaning, firing a realtor, high pressure sales, how to pressure a client, pressuring a real estate client, santa clarita ca

Source: http://blog.paris911.com/2012/12/26/12262012-creating-urgency-with-a-real-estate-buyer-to-pressure-them-into-buying-now/

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Husband Of Slain Officer Arrested in Wisconsin

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/husband-of-slain-officer-arrested-in-wisconsin/

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Nelson Mandela released from hospital in South Africa

Odd Andersen / AFP - Getty Images

View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa's first black president.

By NBC News staff and wire services

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela was released from a hospital in Pretoria on Wednesday evening, a government spokesman told NBC News.

Mandela, 94, had been admitted more than two weeks ago for what were described as routine tests but then was treated for a recurring lung infection and then underwent surgery to remove gallstones.

Mac Maharja, a spokesman for President Jacob Zuma, told NBC News that doctors were satisfied with?Mandela's progess and that the anti-apartheid hero will receive "high care" at his Johannesburg home.

Zuma had visited Mandela on Christmas Day and had said he was "in good spirits."

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"He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making," said Zuma.

Mandela, who came to power in historic elections in 1994 after decades struggling against apartheid, remains a symbol of resistance to racism and injustice at home and around the world.?

He has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis while in jail as a political prisoner. But this is his longest stay in hospital since he was released from prison in 1990.

He spent time in a Johannesburg hospital in 2011 with a respiratory condition, and again in February this year because of abdominal pains though he was released the following day after a keyhole examination showed there was nothing serious.

Zuma, who has just been re-elected as president of the ruling African National Congress party, last week described Mandela's condition as serious.

"The Mandela family truly appreciates all the support they are receiving from the public. That is what keeps them going at this difficult time," said Zuma.?

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Mandela spent 27 years in prison, including 18 years on the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town.?

After his release, he used his popularity to push for reconciliation between whites and blacks. This reconciliation is the bedrock of the post-apartheid "Rainbow Nation."

Sworn in as South Africa's first black president in 1994, Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term in office and has largely been absent from public life for the last decade.

His fragile health has prevented him from making any public appearances in South Africa, though he has continued to receive high-profile domestic and international visitors, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton in July.

Mandela now will receive treatment at his home in Houghton, a suburb of Johannesburg.?

This article includes reporting by NBC News' Rohit Kachroo and Reuters.?

Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images file

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/26/16169259-anti-apartheid-hero-nelson-mandela-94-released-from-hospital-in-south-africa?lite

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