Daiwa CEO sees 2013 Nikkei rally on Abe economy boost

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average could rally nearly 30 percent in 2013 due to an aggressive push to reflate the economy under the country's new premier, the chief executive of Daiwa Securities Group told Reuters in an interview.

While securities executives are known for their bullish market predictions, the comments from Takashi Hibino reflect an optimism among business leaders that the policies of Shinzo Abe will give Japan's sluggish economy a needed jolt.

Abe, who is set to become prime minister on Wednesday after his opposition Liberal Democratic Party won this month's lower house election, is a proponent of fiscal expansion and aggressive monetary policy to defeat deflation, which has sapped the world's third-largest economy for nearly two decades.

"If the correct policies are enacted the market will rise," Hibino said in an interview on Friday. His comments were embargoed for release on December 26.

"There has not been an administration as committed to escaping deflation. And that's why this time I choose to be optimistic."

Hibino predicted that the Nikkei, which has surged 15 percent since mid-November when elections were called, would likely trade between 9,500 and 13,000 next year. The upper limit would mark a 29 percent gain on Tuesday's close of 10,080.12.

On the back of the upturn in stocks, Hibino said he was confident Japan's second-largest brokerage would generate a net profit in the current financial year through March 2013, after losing a combined 76.7 billion yen ($904.5 million) in the previous two years.

Daiwa cut more than 500 jobs overseas starting in 2011 to stem the losses. Its biggest weakness has been investment banking, where it has struggled since ending a joint venture with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in 2009.

Hibino said Daiwa, whose chief rival is industry leader Nomura Holdings Inc, was not looking for a partner in investment banking, noting that speculation it could come under the umbrella of a Japanese lender had recently died down.

He said Daiwa was not planning any further headcount cuts overseas but was shifting some staffing numbers within Europe. This included putting more people in regions such as Germany where demand for banking services was strong and trimming staff elsewhere, although he did not specify where cuts would take place.

Daiwa's biggest focus will be on encouraging customers to shift more of their savings into investment products, Hibino said. This strategy hinges in part on expanding its online bank, which has amassed 2 trillion yen in assets since its launch last year.

Japanese households hold the bulk of their 1,500 trillion yen in assets in low-yielding savings accounts, and persuading them to invest more has been a long-held ambition of the securities industry that has been slow to materialize.

Hibino believes conditions are now ripe for capturing that latent demand. He said Japanese stocks have bottomed out and the decades-long strengthening of the yen came to an end last year, boding well for corporate profits.

"Savings to investment is something that has been talked about for a long time but hasn't happened. That's because the markets have been going down," he said.

($1 = 84.7950 Japanese yen)

(Editing by Edmund Klamann)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/daiwa-ceo-sees-2013-nikkei-rally-abe-economy-031311604--sector.html

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The Kindle Fire HD

The Kindle Fire HD delivers a tablet experience many folks will love, but is it the right choice for me? Have a read and see what a total Android nerd thinks of Amazon's latest offering.

Amazon’s new Kindle tablets don’t get the attention that other Android tablets get. Android purists tend to scoff at them, thinking that the operating system being used -- a true custom fork of Android 4.0 -- is entirely too basic, lacking many of the features and customization settings that stock Android or the more traditional OEM builds like Sense or TouchWiz have.

But simple -- and consistent -- software has a place. Amazon’s removal of some of the more advanced parts of the Android OS are also part of the reason not much talk goes on about the Kindle Fire HD -- it tends to just work, and users have few issues they need to sort out. Amazon has perfected the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) philosophy of smart devices.

I’ve had both Kindle Fire HD devices here for a while, and have spent a good bit of time playing with the hardware and Amazon’s operating system as shipped. It’s time I put down a few words about them.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/TpTiL3tqG64/story01.htm

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/272578052?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Hawaiian Islands are dissolving from within, study says

Dec. 21, 2012 ? Most of us think of soil erosion as the primary force that levels mountains, however geologists have found that Oahu's mountains are dissolving from within due to groundwater.

Someday, Oahu's Koolau and Waianae mountains will be reduced to nothing more than a flat, low-lying island like Midway.

But erosion isn't the biggest culprit. Instead, scientists say, the mountains of Oahu are actually dissolving from within.

"We tried to figure out how fast the island is going away and what the influence of climate is on that rate," said Brigham Young University geologist Steve Nelson. "More material is dissolving from those islands than what is being carried off through erosion."

The research pitted groundwater against stream water to see which removed more mineral material. Nelson and his BYU colleagues spent two months sampling both types of sources. In addition, ground and surface water estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey helped them calculate the total quantity of mass that disappeared from the island each year.

"All of the Hawaiian Islands are made of just one kind of rock," Nelson said. "The weathering rates are variable, too, because rainfall is so variable, so it's a great natural laboratory."

Forecasting the island's future also needs to account for plate tectonics. As Oahu is pushed northwest, the island actually rises in elevation at a slow but steady rate. You've heard of mountain climbing; this is a mountain that climbs.

According to the researchers' estimates, the net effect is that Oahu will continue to grow for as long as 1.5 million years. Beyond that, the force of groundwater will eventually triumph and the island will begin its descent to a low-lying topography.

Undergraduate student Brian Selck co-authored the study, which appears in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Unfortunately for him, he joined the project only after the field work in Hawaii took place.

Instead, Selck performed the mineralogical analysis of soil samples in the lab back in Provo. The island's volcanic soil contained at least one surprise in weathered rock called saprolites.

"The main thing that surprised me on the way was the appearance of a large amount of quartz in a saprolite taken from a 1-meter depth," Selck said.

After he graduates from BYU, Selck will pursue a career in hydrogeology. BYU geology professor David Tingey joins Nelson and Selck as a co-author on the new study.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Brigham Young University.

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Journal Reference:

1. Stephen T. Nelson, David G. Tingey, Brian Selck. The denudation of ocean islands by ground and surface waters: The effects of climate, soil thickness, and water contact times on Oahu, Hawaii. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2013; 103: 276 DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2012.09.046

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/iIgbOTg7c0U/121221114044.htm

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Sensory Persuasion For Sensible Marketing - Work On the Internet

The new age marketing scenario is extremely aggressive in its promotion and sales tactics and media exploitation techniques. The pressures on modern day businesses to keep up with constant competition in meeting consumer demands, and maintaining popularity in the market, has been driving marketersinto introducing innovative ideas and styles into the field, and to keep on constantly experimenting with all sorts of advertising trends. All kinds of traditional platforms like news papers, banners, radio and television are still being fully exploited, along with modern day avenues like the internet and other visual medias. All sorts of promotions through email marketing, pop ups, search engine optimizations, online catalogue shops and web ads are filling up the internet, and direct marketing options are being revolutionized by firms that deal with experiential marketing gimmicks for bringing about quick and effective changes in meeting sales targets.

Many businesses in the small scale market, and the international corporate arena, are concentrating on employing unique attention grabbing and outstanding ad promotions, that register impressively in the minds of the audience and reign in customers, by etching their name in the audience memory. Guerilla marketing stunts are forever being crafted and presented in public spaces, and are creating waves in the advertisement arena. The best experiential marketing firms have already established their names in the business field, with their team of innovative marketers regularly coming up with the most effective and successful ad campaigns. They are experienced in providing customers with interactive platforms, where they can try out the new products or business services to test their credibility, and the special promotions are tested out through sensory aspects of sight touch or taste, to etch the experience in the mind and memory of the prospective customer.

This speeds up the audience in connecting with the promoted brand, and creates a niche for the product in their list of preferences, by letting them judge independently and intelligently by comparing with already patronized products. Experiential marketing can boost up revolutionary sales margins in introductory products, as this type of publicity is strategically different from other conventional types of ad campaigns, which only informs or reminds the customer of the arrival or existence of a specific product in the market, and doesn???t give chance for hands on comparison with other products.

Although this type of marketing through sensory experience was prevalent in the food industry, especially in patisseries, for informing regular customers of the introduction of new menus and tastes, it is only in the recent times that this kind of strategy has been tried out in all sorts of other products and services. In the computer and information arena itself, the introduction of certain informative sites, introductory free usage of antivirus packages and basic trial offers of all kinds of downloadable services, are examples of experiential marketing. Special Media Agency gimmicks like Pop Up Shops, introductory Freebies, smart vending machines and interactive installations in popular public spaces are quite effective in creating impressions beyond ordinary ads, and are usually quick in covering initial publicity costs and raising profit margins discernibly.

This content has been taken from http://www.cybershimla.com/article.php?id=120943

Pop Up Shops results in viral word of mouth which leads to exponential outcomes. We are dedicated in providing innovative and creative ideas, that translate into long term brand building strategies.To know more about News for Media Agency Please have a look at our website.

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Source: http://www.workoninternet.com/business/reviews/miscellaneous/221632-article.html

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Obama And Gun Control: A Timeline On The President's Mixed Record Of Advocacy And Inaction

It may have taken him four years in the White House, but President Barack Obama is signaling that he is at last ready to do something to prevent more of the kinds of mass shootings that have taken place on his watch.

Obama was a vocal advocate of gun control in his early days as an Illinois politician, and during his term in the U.S. Senate, he routinely backed gun control bills. It wasn't until he became president that he went quiet on the matter; in fact, the only two gun measures he's signed into law actually expanded gun rights.

Below, a look at the pivotal moments in Obama's on-again, off-again relationship with gun control reforms.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/20/obama-gun-control-timeline_n_2338860.html

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Putin: Russia recognizes need for change in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. Putin says a draft bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children is a legitimate response to a new U.S. law that calls for sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators. But he has not committed to signing it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. Putin says a draft bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children is a legitimate response to a new U.S. law that calls for sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators. But he has not committed to signing it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. Putin says a draft bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children is a legitimate response to a new U.S. law that calls for sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators. But he has not committed to signing it. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. Putin says a draft bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children is a legitimate response to a new U.S. law that calls for sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators. But he has not committed to signing it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. Putin says a draft bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children is a legitimate response to a new U.S. law that calls for sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators. But he has not committed to signing it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Members of the media raise their hands to ask questions as Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. Putin says a draft bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian children is a legitimate response to a new U.S. law that calls for sanctions on Russians deemed to be human rights violators. But he has not committed to signing it. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

MOSCOW (AP) ? Russian President Vladimir Putin distanced himself further than ever before from his longtime ally in Syria on Thursday, saying he understands Syria needs change and that he is not protecting its president.

Putin, however, warned that efforts to unseat Bashar Assad could plunge Syria even deeper into violence. He insisted that Russia has not changed its stance and believes that only a negotiated settlement can end the civil war.

Putin's assessment came a week after Russia's top envoy for Syria was quoted as saying Assad's forces were losing control of the country. Although the Foreign Ministry backpedaled on that statement, analysts have suggested for months that the Kremlin is resigned to Assad's fall.

Russia has blocked international attempts to step up pressure on the Assad regime, leading to accusations that it is supporting Assad.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has long stated that Russia is not propping up Assad, as did Putin in strong words on Thursday.

"We are not preoccupied that much with the fate of the Assad regime; we realize what's going on there and that the family has been in power for 40 years," Putin said during his annual hours-long news conference. "Undoubtedly, there is a call for changes."

"We are worried about another thing: what happens next," he said. "We don't want to see the opposition come to power and start fighting the government that becomes the opposition, so that it goes on forever."

Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of the Russia in Global Affairs journal, said Moscow's stance has been consistent and Putin's statements do not signal a change.

"Russia has always said it did not support Assad personally, that it wanted a political dialogue" between Assad's government and the opposition, Lukyanov said.

Putin said Russia's position "is not to keep Assad and his regime in power at any cost, but to allow the people to come to an agreement on how they will live further and how they will ensure their safety and their participation in governing the country and then start changing the current order based on those agreements."

Only a negotiated settlement, he said, would "prevent a breakup of the country and an endless civil war."

"Agreements based on a military victory cannot be effective," Putin said.

___

Mansur Mirovalev contributed reporting.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-20-Russia-Syria/id-73665193975b4575b958fe79f3db3191

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Mars Curiosity rover explores 'Yellowknife Bay'

Dec. 19, 2012 ? The NASA Mars rover Curiosity this week is driving within a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay," providing information to help researchers choose a rock to drill.

Using Curiosity's percussive drill to collect a sample from the interior of a rock, a feat never before attempted on Mars, is the mission's priority for early 2013. After the powdered-rock sample is sieved and portioned by a sample-processing mechanism on the rover's arm, it will be analyzed by instruments inside Curiosity.

Yellowknife Bay is within a different type of terrain from what the rover has traversed since landing inside Mars' Gale Crater on Aug. 5, PDT (Aug. 6, UTC). The terrain Curiosity has entered is one of three types that intersect at a location dubbed "Glenelg," chosen as an interim destination about two weeks after the landing.

Curiosity reached the lip of a 2-foot (half-meter) descent into Yellowknife Bay with a 46-foot (14-meter) drive on Dec. 11. The next day, a drive of about 86 feet (26.1 meters) brought the rover well inside the basin. The team has been employing the Mast Camera (Mastcam) and the laser-wielding Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) for remote-sensing studies of rocks along the way.

On Dec. 14, Curiosity drove about 108 feet (32.8 meters) to reach rock targets of interest called "Costello" and "Flaherty." Researchers used the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) at the end of the rover's arm to examine the targets. After finishing those studies, the rover drove again on Dec. 17, traveling about 18 feet (5.6 meters) farther into Yellowknife Bay. That brings the mission's total driving distance to 0.42 mile (677 meters) since Curiosity's landing.

One additional drive is planned this week before the rover team gets a holiday break. Curiosity will continue studying the Martian environment from its holiday location at the end point of that drive within Yellowknife Bay. The mission's plans for most of 2013 center on driving toward the primary science destination, a 3-mile-high (5-kilometer) layered mound called Mount Sharp.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity during a two-year prime mission to assess whether areas inside Gale Crater ever offered a habitable environment for microbes. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl , http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ . You can follow the mission on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/_mK5Njodqys/121219112659.htm

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Students to skype with troops in Afghanistan

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, OH (FOX19) - Students at Anderson High School are getting the opportunity to cyber-chat with troops in Afghanistan.

The social studies students are going to interview the members of the 361?Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron (Ravens).

The soliders will answer questions posed by the students that will include: what day-to-day life is like at Kandahar Air Field; Why they feel it?s important to serve their country; About ?our cause? in Afghanistan; and talk about politics in 21st Century United States.?

Source: http://anderson-mtwashington.fox19.com/news/news/101895-students-skype-troops-afghanistan

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Birdsong bluster may dupe strange females, but it won't fool partners

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Male birds use their song to dupe females they have just met by pretending they are in excellent physical condition.

Just as some men try to cast themselves in a better light when they approach would-be dates, so male birds in poor condition seek to portray that they are fitter than they really are. But males do not even try to deceive their long-term partners, who are able to establish the true condition of the male by their song.

Researchers at the University of Exeter studied zebra finches to establish how trustworthy birdsong was in providing honest signals about the male's value as a mate. Singing is a test of the condition of birds because it uses a lot of energy. Fit and healthy birds are thought to be able to sustain a high song rate for longer, making them more attractive to females.

The research team, which included scientists from the Universit? de Bourgogne in France, looked at short and longer encounters with unknown females, as well as patterns of song around females who were familiar to them.

The team discovered that males in poor condition could "cheat" and vary their song to give a false impression to stranger females. But they did not even try to fool those who knew them, who used song as a reliable test of their underlying qualities. The research is published on December 19 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Dr Sasha Dall, of the University of Exeter, was involved in the research. He said: "Every man wants to cast himself in a favourable light when he meets an attractive female, and we have shown that birds are no different. But just like many humans, it seems zebra finch males are unable to dupe females who know them well enough. When the birds were in an established relationship, the female could tell the true condition of a male by his song, and judge whether he would make a good father for her next brood."

Zebra finches are Australia's most popular finch. They make common pets and are widely used in scientific research. They are particularly easy to keep, and adapt extremely well to their surroundings. For zebra finches, both colour and birdsong are important factors in choosing a mate.

The research was funded through a young researcher prize of the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation for life sciences and a PhD grant, as well as two honorific master grants provided by the Conseil R?gional de Bourgogne in France.

The team studied 91 male and 91 female birds from a colony at the Universit? de Bourgogne and 12 of each gender from a colony at the University of Exeter. The body condition of each of the birds was measured. Scientists then videoed both brief and longer encounters between birds of each gender who were unknown to each other, and patterns of behaviour when they were with their mate, with whom they pair for life. They were also monitored to see if they showed signs of mutual attraction and going on to breed.

In the study, there was no difference in the singing of male single birds in either short or long encounters with unknown females. But, when in front of their partners, paired birds who were in good condition sang at a higher rate than those in poor condition.

Dr Morgan David, who led the research, said: "This is the first study to find evidence that the link between male body condition and birdsong differs depending on the context of the encounter with the opposite sex. It could have significant implications for learning more about the evolution of courtship patterns such as birdsong."

###

University of Exeter: http://www.exeter.ac.uk

Thanks to University of Exeter for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126003/Birdsong_bluster_may_dupe_strange_females__but_it_won_t_fool_partners

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AP Interview: Syria rebels fear chemical weapons

ANTAKYA, Turkey (AP) ? Syrian rebels are closely monitoring the regime's chemical weapons sites, but don't have the means to seize and secure them, their newly elected military commander told The Associated Press.

Gen. Salim Idris, who defected from the Syrian army in July, said he is "very afraid" a cornered Syrian President Bashar Assad will unleash such weapons on his own people.

Syria is said to have one of the world's largest chemical arsenals. Earlier this week, Syria's U.N. ambassador said the regime would not use such weapons under any circumstances. However, recent U.S. intelligence reports indicated the regime may be readying chemical weapons and could be desperate enough to use them.

Idris, a 55-year-old German-trained electronics professor, was chosen earlier this month as chief of staff by several hundred commanders of rebel units meeting in Turkey.

With the election of Idris and a 30-member military command center, Syria's opposition hopes to transform largely autonomous groups of fighters into a unified force. The reorganization came after Syria's political opposition won international recognition this month as the sole representative of the Syrian people.

In an interview late Tuesday, Idris said the rebels could defeat the regime within a month if supplied with anti-aircraft weapons. Assad's troops are stretched thin and have lost ground in recent months, particularly in northwestern Syria, but have kept rebel fighters pinned down with massive air bombardments.

The West has refused to supply Syria's opposition with weapons for fear they could fall into the hands of Islamic militants among the rebels, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, which was designated a terrorist group by the U.S. last week. Idris played down possible threats posed by al-Nusra, saying that while the group was not part of the new unified command, "they are not terrorists."

Without foreign military help, driving out the regime could take "one, two or three months," Idris said, speaking in a hotel lobby in the southern Turkish town of Antakya near the Syrian border.

He claimed that more than 120,000 armed men are fighting Assad's military, a figure difficult to confirm independently in the chaos of Syria's civil war. Idris said the new military command represents the vast majority of these fighters, and that he has begun taking command inside Syria in recent days.

Idris said that on Tuesday, he spent much the day near the central city of Hama, observing a successful rebel attempt to capture five regime checkpoints.

Syria's conflict began with a popular uprising in March 2011, but quickly turned violent, with protesters taking up arms in response to a brutal regime crackdown. Activists say more than 40,000 Syrians have been killed and aid officials estimate some 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting.

Idris portrayed Assad as a powerless figurehead, saying decisions are made by his inner circle of fellow Alawites, followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The ruling elite won't surrender and is willing "to set everything on fire," warned Idris, who served in the military for 35 years, including as dean at the military's technical college in the city of Aleppo, now a major battleground.

The regime "can and will" use chemical weapons unless the international community forces Assad to leave, Idris said, speaking in fluent German.

He said rebel fighters are trying to monitor the chemical weapons sites. "We know exactly where they are and we are watching everything," Idris said. "But we don't have the capability to put them under our control."

The West has shown little desire to intervene militarily in Syria's conflict, but President Barack Obama has said the regime's use of chemical weapons against the rebels would be a "red line."

U.S. officials have said the regime launched more than a half-dozen Scud missiles in recent days, the first time it has used such weapons in this conflict.

Idris said he was aware of three launches, adding that two missiles fell in Syria's eastern desert and a third on the outskirts of a town close to Aleppo.

Idris, citing information from rebel sympathizers within the regime, said Scud missiles are being trained at northwestern Syria, the area close to the Turkish border, and could be fired at any moment.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-syria-rebels-fear-chemical-weapons-050612819.html

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Prosecutor: US soldier had blood of victims on him

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011, file photo, Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The preliminary hearing for Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in March, begins Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, with villagers expected to testify by video from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Bales is scheduled to appear at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the pretrial hearing, which is expected to last two weeks. (AP Photo/DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011, file photo, Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The preliminary hearing for Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in March, begins Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, with villagers expected to testify by video from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Bales is scheduled to appear at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the pretrial hearing, which is expected to last two weeks. (AP Photo/DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011, file photo, Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The preliminary hearing for Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in March, begins Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, with villagers expected to testify by video from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Bales is scheduled to appear at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the pretrial hearing, which is expected to last two weeks. (AP Photo/DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011, file photo, Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System photo, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The preliminary hearing for Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in March, begins Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, with villagers expected to testify by video from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Bales is scheduled to appear at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the pretrial hearing, which is expected to last two weeks. (AP Photo/DVIDS, Spc. Ryan Hallock, File)

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. (AP) ? The soldier accused of killing 16 villagers in a nighttime rampage in Afghanistan returned to his base wearing a cape and with the blood of his victims on his rifle, belt, shirt and pants, a military prosecutor said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was incredulous when fellow U.S. soldiers drew their weapons on him when he returned to Camp Belambay in southern Afghanistan last March, prosecutor Lt. Col. Jay Morse said as a preliminary hearing opened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Bales then turned to one sergeant at the scene and said: "Mac, if you rat me out ..." Morse said.

Bales, 39, has been charged with 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder in one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Nine of the victims were children. The hearing will help determine whether the case goes to a court martial.

Bales has not entered a plea. His attorneys have not discussed the evidence in the case, but say Bales has PTSD and suffered a concussive head injury during a prior deployment to Iraq.

The father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash., sat beside one of his civilian lawyers, Emma Scanlan, in green fatigues as an investigating officer read the charges against Bales and informed him of his rights. Bales said, "Sir, yes, sir," when asked if he understood them.

Morse said Bales seemed utterly normal in the hours before the March 11 killings. With his colleagues, Bales watched the movie "Man on Fire," a fictional account of a former CIA operative on a revenge rampage.

Just before he left the base, Morse said, Bales told a Special Forces soldier that he was unhappy with his family life, and that the troops should have been quicker to retaliate for a roadside bomb attack that claimed one soldier's leg.

"At all times he had a clear understanding of what he was doing and what he had done," said Morse, who described Bales as lucid, coherent and responsive.

Bales is accused of slipping away from the remote outpost with an M-4 rifle outfitted with a grenade launcher to attack the villages of Balandi and Alkozai, in a dangerous district.

American officials have said they believe Bales broke the slaughter into two episodes ? walking first to one village, returning to the base and slipping away again to carry out the second attack.

The prosecutor said Bales returned to the base at one point, telling a colleague about shooting people at a village. The soldier apparently took it as a bad joke and responded: "Quit messing around."

Prosecutors played for the first time a video captured by a surveillance blimp that showed a caped figure running toward the base, then stopping and dropping his weapons as he's confronted. There is no audio. Morse said Bales was the caped figure.

After being taken into custody, Morse said, Bales said: "I thought I was doing the right thing."

The hearing is scheduled to run as long as two weeks, and part of it will be held overnight to allow video testimony from witnesses, including an estimated 10 to 15 Afghans, in Afghanistan.

Bales' attorney, John Henry Browne, said the hearing will give the defense a chance to see what the government can prove. They are expecting a court martial.

Bales is an Ohio native who joined the Army in late 2001 ? after the 9/11 attacks ? as his career as a stockbroker imploded. An arbitrator entered a $1.5 million fraud judgment against him and his former company that went unpaid, and his attempt to start an investment firm in Florida also failed.

He was serving his fourth combat tour after three stints in Iraq, and his arrest prompted a national discussion about the stresses posed by multiple deployments.

Scanlan, his attorney, declined to say to what extent the lawyers hope to elicit testimony that could be used to support a mental-health defense. Bales himself will not make any statements because his lawyers said he would have nothing to gain.

Bales' wife, Karilyn, who plans to attend the hearing, had complained about financial problems on her blog in the year before the killings, and noted Bales was disappointed at being passed over for a promotion.

Browne described those stresses as garden-variety ? nothing that would prompt such a massacre ? and has also said, without elaborating, that Bales suffered a traumatic incident during his second Iraq tour that triggered "tremendous depression."

Bales remembers little or nothing from the time of the attacks, the defense said.

Scanlan, who deferred an opportunity to give an opening statement, said the Army had only recently turned over a preliminary DNA trace evidence report from the crime scenes, but defense experts have not had time to review it.

Bales, who spent months in confinement at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., before being transferred to Lewis-McChord last month, is doing well, Scanlan said.

"He's getting prepared," she said, "but it's nerve-wracking for anybody."

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-11-05-Afghanistan%20Massacre/id-8d1b23bad08048e0ac202c961379a429

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NBA 2012 RS (03 nov) CHA Bobcats v DAL Mavericks 540p

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Tips For A Successful Web Marketing Plan

Saturday, November 3rd, 2012 at 9:38 am ?

Many people have made a bundle from online marketing. By using the information in this article, you will be able to turn web marketing into a profitable venture. Apply the tips in this article to start seeing positive results from internet marketing business ventures.

Anything you write as part of your online marketing efforts needs to be worded in positive terms only. Even common phrases that are sort of negative like ?worry free? can put customers into a negative frame of mind. g.

Pay-per-sale affiliate plans can be tricky. They can also be very rewarding if they work. Do your homework and see whether or not this is something you might be interested in.

Before you fully commit to an affiliate company, double check and make sure that you are going to get commissions for all sales. You need to know if they can track all orders, even those made by mail or phone. If you have earned profits through these alternative methods, you certainly want to ensure that you are paid.

In an ideal world, every affiliate website would be a breeze to use, but this is not always the case. Some sites are not user-friendly. Do not let the quality of your website design determine how well your business is. Not only is this helpful, but it also builds trust and encourages purchases.

This can be vital if you have an elderly audience, such as baby boomers. By increasing the font, you can surprisingly increase sales if it makes the text easier to read.

As you use internet marketing, think of giving your customers jobs as affiliates. You can use a customer?s purchasing record to determine whether or not they would be receptive to becoming your affiliate. If you can get one of your customers to become an affiliate for your business, you can increase your sales through their efforts. This can boost revenue and improve the visibility of your product.

Make sure you understand how order tracking works with the affiliates that you have chosen. If you direct orders to the company that get made by phone or by mail, and those orders are not connected back to your affiliate ID, you could lose out on significant portions of your commission.

It is important that your readers are able to trust your content. Readers that really like what you write will keep coming back for more, and they are also more likely to try your links.

It is good to act on suggestions from just a few books about affiliates than using several. There will be little to no return initially and be prepared to not make money until you get it right. However, if you find yourself doing more research than is necessary, recognize that you are stalling. Stop reading, choose a few tips and go out and apply them.

Be certain that you remain current on all the latest news in your industry. If it seems to you like you are falling behind, you probably are. If you don?t change this quickly, your competitors will quickly take business away from you.

Sometimes the age-old motto holds true, you must spend to earn. This motto is especially true when it comes to affiliate marketing. Invest some of your profits right back in your web marketing program. Advertising with venues, such as Google and Facebook, can yield a great return on investment.

Give your potential buyers a lot of information about your product, like screen shots and user reviews. By providing more information to a possible consumer, you have a higher chance of them making the investment in your products and sending additional business to you.

Take the tips and the advice that was included in this article and apply it to your upcoming online marketing business. Learning the established tricks of this trade from the experiences of veterans will benefit you substantially.

Eric Green

Skype ID: thedigitalgangster

P.S. If you are a Network Marketer or Affiliate Marketer, check out these 3 MLM Tips.

Stop Struggling in your business and learn exactly how you can be generating 100 Percent Commissions with one simple Blogging System.

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2. Tips To Make Money In Web Marketing
3. Make More Money With Our Web Marketing Tips
4. Fit These Affiliate Marketing Tips Into Your Plan
5. Make A Competitive Affiliate Promotion Plan With These Suggestions

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Source: http://thedigitalgangster.com/tips-for-a-successful-web-marketing-plan/

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George Lucas & Disney: Vocally Anti-Corporate Filmmaker Sells To Movie Giant

LOS ANGELES ? There's no mistaking the similarities. A childhood on a dusty farm, a love of fast vehicles, a rebel who battles an overpowering empire ? George Lucas is the hero he created, Luke Skywalker.

His filmmaking outpost, Skywalker Ranch, is so far removed from the Hollywood moviemaking machine he once despised, that it may as well be on the forest moon of Endor.

That's why this week's announcement that Lucas is selling the "Star Wars" franchise and the entire Lucasfilm business to The Walt Disney Co. for more than $4 billion is like a laser blast from outer space.

Lucas built his film operation in Marin County near San Francisco largely to avoid the meddling of Los Angeles-based studios. His aim was to finish the "Star Wars" series_ his way.

Today the enterprise has far surpassed the 68-year-old filmmaker's original goals. The ranch covers 6,100 acres and houses one of the industry's most acclaimed visual effects companies, Industrial Light & Magic. Lucasfilm, with its headquarters now in San Francisco proper, has ventured into books, video games, merchandise, special effects and marketing. Just as Anakin Skywalker became the villain Darth Vader, Lucas _once the outsider_ had grown to become the leader of an empire.

"What I was trying to do was stay independent so that I could make the movies I wanted to make," Lucas says in the 2004 documentary "Empire of Dreams." "But now I've found myself being the head of a corporation ... I have become the very thing that I was trying to avoid."

After the blockbuster sale announcement Tuesday, Lucas expressed a desire to give away much of his fortune, donate to educational causes and return to the experimental filmmaking of his youth. Still, the move stunned those who've followed him. He'd contemplated retirement for years and said he'd never make another "Star Wars" film.

Dale Pollock, the author of the 1999 biography "Skywalking," said Lucas disdained the Disney culture in interviews he gave in the 1980s, even though he admired the company's founder. "He felt the corporate `Disneyization' had destroyed the spirit of Walt," Pollock said.

Lucas said through a spokeswoman on Saturday that he never said such a thing. But his anti-corporate streak is renowned. In the Lucasfilm-sanctioned documentary "Empire of Dreams", Lucas says on camera that he is "not happy that corporations have taken over the film industry."

Growing up in the central California town of Modesto, the independent streak was strong in young Lucas. The family lived on a walnut ranch and Lucas' father owned a stationery store. But, like his fictional protege Luke, George had no interest in taking over the family business. Lucas and his father fought when George made it clear that he'd rather go to college to study art than follow in his father's footsteps.

Lucas loved fast cars, and dreamed that racing them would be his ticket out. A near-fatal car crash the day before his high school graduation convinced him otherwise.

"I decided I'd better settle down and go to school," he told sci-fi magazine Starlog in 1981.

As a film student at the University of Southern California, he experimented with "cinema verite," a provocative form of documentary, and "tone poems" that visualized a piece of music or other artistic work.

The style is reflected in some of the short films he made at USC: "1:42:08" focused on the sound of a Lotus race car's engine driving at full speed and "Anyone Who Lived in a Pretty How Town," inspired by an e.e. Cummings poem. In later interviews, Lucas described his early films as "visual exercises."

Lucas' intellectual explorations led to an interest in anthropology, especially the work of American mythologist Joseph Campbell, who studied the common thread linking the myths of disparate cultures. This inspired Lucas to explore archetypal storylines that resonated across the ages and around the world.

Lucas' epic battle with the movie industry began after Warner Bros. forced him to make unwanted changes to an early film, "THX 1138." Later, Universal Pictures insisted on revisions to "American Graffiti" that Lucas felt impinged on his creative freedom. The experience led Lucas to insist on having total control of all his work, just like Charlie Chaplin and Walt Disney in their heyday.

"In order to get my vision out there, I really needed to learn how to manipulate the system because the system is designed to tear you down and destroy everything you are doing," Lucas said in an interview with Charlie Rose.

He shopped his outline for "Star Wars" to several studios before finding a friend in Alan Ladd Jr., an executive at 20th Century Fox. Despite budget and deadline overruns, and pressure from the studio, the movie was a huge success when it was released in 1977. It grossed $798 million in theaters worldwide and caused Fox's stock price at the time to double.

In one of the wisest business moves in Hollywood history, Lucas cut a deal with distributor Fox before the film's release so that he could retain ownership of the sequels and rights for merchandise. He figured in the 1970s that might mean peddling a few T-shirts and posters to fans to help market the movie. Over the decades, merchandising has formed the bedrock of his multi-billion-dollar enterprise, resulting in a bonanza for Lucas from action figures, toys, spinoff books and other products.

Industrial Light & Magic, the unit he started in a makeshift space in the Los Angeles suburb of Van Nuys, moved to the ranch in northern California and lent its prowess to other movies. It broke ground using computers, motion-controlled cameras, models and masks. Its reach is breathtaking, notably among the biggest science fiction movies of the 1980s: "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," "Poltergeist," "Back to the Future," "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" and more.

"Between him and (Steven) Spielberg, they changed how movies got made," said Matt Atchity, editor-in-chief of movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.

These days, the talent at ILM has spread around the globe, and many former employees have become top executives at other special effects companies, said Chris DeFaria, executive vice president of digital production at Warner Bros.

"You meet anybody who's a significant executive or artist at a company, they've spent their time at ILM or got their start there. That's probably one of George's greatest gifts to the business," DeFaria said.

Lucas helped make the tools that were needed for his films. ILM developed the world's first computerized film editing and music mixing technology, revolutionizing what had been a cut-and-splice affair. Pixar, the imaging computer he founded as a division of Lucasfilm, became a world-famous animated movie company. Apple's Steve Jobs bought and later sold it to Disney in 2006.

But the goliath Lucas created began to weigh on him. Fans-turned-critics felt the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy he directed fell short of the first films. Others believed his revisions to the re-released classics undid some of what made the first movies great.

Giving up his role at the head of Lucasfilm may shield him from the fury of rebellious fans and critics. He said in a video released by Disney that the sale would allow him to "do other things, things in philanthropy and doing more experimental kind of films."

"I couldn't really drag my company into that."

Still, Lucas is not planning on going to a galaxy far, far away.

Speaking on Friday night at Ebony magazine's Power 100 event in New York, Lucas said: "It's 40 years of work and it's been my life, but I'm ready to move on to bigger and better things. I have a foundation, an educational foundation. I do a lot of work with education, and I'm very excited about doing that."

This week he assured the incoming president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy that he'd be around to advise her on future "Star Wars" movies _just like the apparition of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi helps Luke through his adventures.

"They're finishing the hologram now," he told Kennedy. "Don't worry."

___

Liedtke reported from San Francisco. Global Entertainment Editor Nekesa Mumbi Moody in New York contributed to this story.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/george-lucas-disney-sale_n_2072189.html

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California also worries about extreme storms after Sandy

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, researchers in California are grappling with their own questions about increasingly extreme weather.

1. Science news from NBCNews.com

   1. Climate issue heats up after superstorm

      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: The climate change issue has been virtually a non-issue during the presidential campaign ? but it's primed to take a higher profile after the elections, in part due to Hurricane Sandy's horrific aftermath.

   2. How to cope with lab-animal tragedy
   3. Elephant can speak Korean ? out loud
   4. Bulgaria claims to find Europe's oldest town

The Pacific Ocean isn't warm enough to produce a superstorm like Sandy on the West Coast, researchers say, but climate change could give rise to more frequent severe storms in the region.

"We can see very big storms, and there are a couple of issues related to climate change to think about," said Roger Bales, director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) at the University of California, Merced. Winter snowstorms, for example, help build up the snowpack in the mountains, which the state depends on for its year-round water supply.

"But if you warm the climate, those storms become rain events ? there's more immediate runoff, less water storage, and the rain will actually melt some of the existing snowpack," Bales said.

The state already sees a handful of major snowstorms over California's mountains each winter. A series of such storms, however, could unleash destructive flooding and landslides in the state.

"It's not uncommon during the winter, at least once, that we will see storms coming off the Pacific and drop more than 100 inches of snow in the mountains over short durations," Robert Rice, a researcher with SNRI, said in a statement Thursday. "That could translate into 10 inches of precipitable water ? numbers similar to what they're measuring in Hurricane Sandy."

Scientists are also concerned with "atmospheric rivers" like the so-called Pineapple Express, which drives moisture across from Hawaii to the West Coast and can produce severe, localized damage.

"We have very large storms that cross into California and affect our region ? not with the same widespread damage as Hurricane Sandy, but with water and wind that are comparable to hurricanes and tornados," Rice said.

The SNRI researchers have advocated for a monitoring system to observe snowpack statewide, which they say would help control California's water resources more efficiently.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also onFacebook & Google+.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49683335/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Hannah the Pet Society raises questions as it expands quickly ...

Lease or buy?

There are arguments for either when it comes to a home or car. Now add "pet" to the list.

Hannah the Pet Society, a 2-year-old venture based in Portland, uses dating service-like software to matches people with pets that best fit their lifestyle, personality and means.

But customers attracted to the cuddly lineup at the company's Clackamas Town Center storefront don't plop down cash and walk out with one of Hannah's dogs, cats, rabbits or guinea pigs. They enroll in an unconventional program that mimics an HMO, complete with contract terms and termination fees.

Customers agree to pay $39 to around $200 a month, depending on species and size, that covers food deliveries, routine and emergency veterinary care at Hannah facilities, flea treatments, dental work, nail trims, training and initial supplies, such as a litter box or leash. The company requires a specific commitment depending on the animal's age. After that period, a client may buy out of the contract, a cost of as much as $600 for dogs.

Hannah says it has 1,000 human members with 1,400 pets, most of which were members' existing pets, and aims to open a second location in Washington Square soon. Next year it plans to unveil two 15,000-square-foot hospitals -- one near the Tigard mall and another near Mall 205 in Southeast Portland -- for routine and emergency care, surgeries and training.

That's an ambitious growth strategy for an upstart with a controversial model in a place that's passionate about its pets.

Portland has more than its share of pet supply and day care centers, as well as a few pet-friendly pubs. Animal lovers here are so emphatic about adopting "rescue" animals that the practice was parodied on the city-spoofing TV show, "Portlandia."

While "lease" is technically accurate, critics use it as a pejorative. They say the program devalues animals, treating them as products instead of family members.

They also question whether Hannah overplays its commitment to finding homes for rescued animals. They suspect Hannah relies heavily on animals acquired from breeders, citing images of apparent pure-breed puppies on the company's website and social-media pages.

Others, including Portland-area veterinarians, county animal agencies and the city's largest nonprofit shelters, including the Oregon Humane Society, say they won't adopt animals directly to Hannah out of concern its decisions about care could be less ethical or responsible than that of an individual.

"I'm not sure to what extent Hannah owners have control and discretion over their pets' health," said Sharon Harmon, director of the Oregon Humane Society. "That kind of murkiness left us with too many questions."

Pet hospital model
For pet advocates, in and out of Oregon, Hannah's pet subscription plan is unheard of. Yet aside from its 75-question pet-matching process and the ownership issue, the health plan is similar to an all-inclusive care model at the Banfield Pet Hospital chain founded in Northeast Portland by veterinarian Scott Campbell.

As Campbell managed what became the world's largest vet chain, his research led him to believe a pet's physical and mental health began with the right owner. Further, he contended, a preventive care model in which owners pay in advance for regular checkups and treatments kept animals alive years longer.

Before selling his Banfield stake in 2007, Campbell was featured in a trade publication series on revolutionary veterinarians. "Still today people want to focus on illness rather than wellness," he told "Veterinary Economics."

If costs continued to grow, Campbell contended, people will be less likely to schedule vet visits. And that, of course, isn't good for the industry.

Even if vets agreed with the philosophy, many independent operators were wary of his corporate machine, which had become the Walmart of vet clinics. That perception intensified after Banfield teamed up with national retailer PetSmart.

Indeed, pet spending has mushroomed, whether due to need, rising vet costs or more options for splurging on four-legged family members. Owners are expected to spend $52.9 billion on their pets this year, according to the American Pet Products Association. That's a 28 percent jump over five years, and a 79 percent surge in the last decade.

Will Novak, a veterinarian who had worked for Campbell at Banfield, said that company tried to limit costs by selling pet insurance but found premiums were too expensive. At Hannah, where Novak serves as CEO, the unique ownership twist caps costs without the middleman.

"Our cost is about 50 percent less than if you paid for it on your own," he said. "The cost stays the same, no matter what happens. There are no surprises."

If customers can't pay Hannah's monthly fee, they can return pets and pay off any balance, the company said. No one will show up to repossess the animal.

In addition to happier and healthier pets the format makes business sense: Increased longevity means increased profits.

Still, the humane society's Harmon and rescue volunteers fear Hannah vets might not offer a full range of care options when a pet is ill. Novak counters that customers can always buy out their contracts to seek a second opinion. If a pet's condition is potentially fatal, he said, Hannah will waive the $600 cancellation fee.

"Buyer beware!"
Portland area pet owners who've heard of Hannah's model liken it to 'Big Brother' watching. Customer Berniece Sullivan says it feels more like someone's always on standby to help.

A single mom on a fixed income, she put off her three children's pleadings for a puppy out of concerns about unexpected vet expenses. She heard about Hannah this year and, after a series of visits and the required hourlong pet meeting, her family walked away with a terrier mix puppy named Rudy.

"Having that sense of financial security," she said, "helps you sleep well at night knowing you won't have some kind of phenomenal fee -- or, have to decide to end their life -- if something awful happens."

So much so, she added her 9-year-old cat to the plan recently for $58 a month.

Sullivan isn't sure about Rudy's background. She thinks he's a rescue dog, but really it was his big brown eyes that were the attraction.

That worries Denise Hampton, a longtime animal rescue volunteer who helped author a news release last month warning "buyer beware!" and slamming Hannah's business practices.

She says Hannah employees overstate, whether intentionally or due to a lack of training, the company's partnerships with rescue groups and shelters. At the same time, she worries that if Hannah takes the cream of nonprofits' adoptable crop, they'll struggle.

"If they were getting dogs from breeders and being honest that would be fine for some people," she said. "Others could just say, 'This isn't for me.'"

Indeed, Hannah executives said they paid for animals in the past from pet owners who had the occasional or accidental litter. However, the company decided it wanted a new location at Washington Square in Tigard, a mall with strict policies forbidding stores selling pets from breeders.

To avoid confusion, Hannah's Placement Services Director Lori Davis said the company narrowed its focus and will now only adopt animals from nonprofit shelters, rescue groups or humane societies, either locally or across the country. The company also will buy animals from families who can no longer care for a pet.

Columbia Humane Society is the only local county shelter adopting directly to Hannah. Lisa Beggio, the shelter's lead, said the partnership has increased the tiny agency's adoption rate by double digits.

Beggio said she's adopted more than 100 dogs and cats to Hannah and in addition to adoption fees ranging from $50 to $500 she receives a $5 monthly residual for each pet.

"That goes right back into our spaying and neutering," she said.

And she earns it, she says, as Hannah has a strict animal screening process for medical and behavioral issues.

A number of pet groups nationwide say most folks acquire pets through family or friends, not stores or shelters. That's especially true in rural Columbia County, Beggio said. She can't afford the marketing city shelters can and gets a fraction of their traffic. Hannah extends her reach.

"And they're not just taking cute fluffy dogs either," she said. "They've taken hounds that are notoriously hard to place and huskies, too. Critics are losing sight of what the big picture is as far as what we're here to do:

"Find homes for homeless dogs."

Laura Gunderson

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/window-shop/index.ssf/2012/11/hannah_the_pet_society_raises.html

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Barnes & Noble drops prices of Nook Color and Nook Tablet ahead of holiday season

Following the recent launch of the new Nook HD and HD+ in the US and the UK, Barnes & Noble has dropped the prices on their existing tablet range ahead of the holiday season. The cheapest Nook, the somewhat aging Nook Color is now down to just $139, with the Nook Tablet being reduced to $159 and $179 for the 8GB and 16GB versions respectively. 

With the cheapest Amazon Kindle Fire coming in at $159, the Barnes & Noble devices are priced competitively. It isn't the first price cut we've seen in recent months on the existing Nook range, but as we head into the busy holiday season, more choice for less dollars is a choice we'll take. 

Source: Barnes and Noble

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

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Mott looks to repeat Breeders' Cup double

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) ? Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott is halfway to repeating his Breeders' Cup daily double.

Mott pulled off a rare parlay last year, winning the $2 million Ladies' Classic with Royal Delta and the $5 million Classic with Drosselmeyer.

Mott snared the first leg on Friday, the opening day of the 15-race season ending championships at Santa Anita, as Royal Delta defended her title with a convincing victory in the Ladies' Classic.

And Mott has three shots Saturday in the Classic: Flat Out, 5-1, Ron the Greek, 6-1 and To Honor and Serve, 8-1.

"We have more work to do and we've got three good chances in there," Mott said. "We're certainly not counting out chickens before they hatch. They're doing very well and I think any one of the three has a chance."

The horse to beat in the Classic is Game on Dude, the 9-5 favorite, the runner-up in the Classic last year. Game on Dude, trained by Bob Baffert, is a perfect 5 for 5 at Santa Anita.

Don't discount momentum, and Mott certainly has it on his side.

"I know it's a deep race and there are good horses in there, horses that have proven themselves over this racetrack," Mott said. "We can't stop now. You've got to push forward and look to tomorrow."

Among the nine races Saturday, Shanghai Bobby puts a perfect 4 for 4 mark on the line in the $2 million Juvenile and Point of Entry looks to extend his winning streak to six against some of world's top grass horses in the $3 million Turf.

Royal Delta led all the way in winning the Ladies' Classic by 1? lengths, making the defending champion the only favorite to win on an upset-filled opening day of the Breeders' Cup.

Jockey Mike Smith earned his 16th victory in the event's 29-year history, breaking a tie for most wins with fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey.

"I hope to be around a few more years to add to it," the 47-year-old rider said.

Royal Delta was the 8-5 favorite in the field of eight fillies and mares, considered one of the deepest fields among the 15 races during the world championships. She ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.80 and paid $5.40 to win.

After Royal Delta's win last year at Churchill Downs, she was sold for $8.5 million to Benjamin Leon. Mott didn't think he would be training the filly anymore and felt sad the day he had to walk her out of his barn.

"It was like walking to my best friend's funeral," he said earlier this week.

Mott attended the Keeneland sale and congratulated Leon after his purchase, not realizing that a couple weeks later Royal Delta would be back in his care.

"It's such a matter of pride to have a horse of that quality," Mott said. "I thought she could do it again if things went well and they did."

With two Ladies' Classic titles to her credit, Mott and Leon were already looking ahead to next year with Royal Delta. They plan to run her in the $10 million Dubai World Cup, where she finished ninth in March, and then have her close out her career at the Breeders' Cup.

Six different jockeys, trainers and owners won each of the Breeders' Cup races in front of 34,619 fans on a sunny day.

The biggest upset was Calidoscopio's 4?-length victory in the $500,000 Marathon, jockey Aaron Gryder's first Breeders' Cup win. The 17-1 shot from Argentina paid $36.40 to win and at 9 became the oldest Breeders' Cup champion.

Age also played a part in the second-biggest upset. Sent off at 15-1 odds, Hightail kicked off the two-day world championships with a nose victory in the $500,000 Juvenile Sprint, giving Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas his leading 19th Breeders' Cup victory at 77.

"At my age it's significant," Lukas said. "I still have the passion for it and I train every day and ride every day. I'm not going to retire. I'm going to ride out there one morning, fall off the pony. They will harrow me under and if the harrow goes over me a couple of times that will be the end of it."

In the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf, 11-1 shot Flotilla rallied to win by 1? lengths and paid $24.80. Trainer Mikel Delzangles and jockey Christophe Lemaire, both from France, won their first Breeders' Cup race.

Zagora won the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf by three-quarters of a length at 9-1 odds. She paid $20.40 to win under Javier Castellano for owner Martin Schwartz, who made his fortune trading on Wall Street.

Beholder led all the way to win the $2 million Juvenile Fillies, holding off 3-2 favorite Executiveprivilege by one length.

It was the 13th Breeders' Cup victory for jockey Garrett Gomez and the seventh for Mandella, who last won at the world championships in 2003 when he had four victories.

Beholder paid $9.80 to win, while trainer Bob Baffert's Executiveprivilege had her five-race winning streak ended after she drifted out in the stretch.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mott-looks-repeat-breeders-cup-double-081709700--spt.html

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