Deadly storms leave millions without power in eastern U.S

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 4 million homes and businesses were without power on Saturday amid a record heat wave in the eastern United States after deadly thunderstorms downed power lines from Indiana to New Jersey. At least 11 people were killed.

Statewide emergencies were declared in Washington D.C., Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia because of damage from overnight storms, which brought hurricane-force winds along a 500-mile (800-km) stretch.

Forecasters predicted more severe thunderstorms as renewed heat blanketed the area on Saturday.

Temperatures surpassed 100 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) in several southern cities, including Atlanta, where the mercury hit 106 degrees (41 Celsius), and Charlotte, North Carolina, where it reached 102 F (38 C), according to Accuweather.com. The nation's capital cooled down to 96 Fahrenheit (96 C).

Restoring power in some areas could take up to a week. Utilities in Ohio and Virginia described damage as catastrophic.

"It's going to be a while before some folks get power, and with the heat, that's our big concern," said Bob Spieldenner, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

More than 1 million Virginia customers had no power in the worst outage not linked to a hurricane in the state's history, he said.

Six people were killed in Virginia in storm-related incidents.

Utilities or state emergency agencies reported the following outages and damage:

- Maryland: About 869,000 customers without power with outages reported in every county.

- West Virginia: More than 600,000 customers without power.

- Ohio: Power out across two-thirds of state, about 1 million homes and businesses without electricity, and one storm-related death reported. Governor John Kasich said power could take a week to be restored fully.

- New Jersey: Atlantic County declared a state of emergency, and at least 206,000 customers were without power. Two cousins, aged 2 and 7, were killed by a falling tree in state park.

- District of Columbia: 67,000 power customers affected. State of emergency declared.

- Pennsylvania: 32,500 homes and businesses without power.

- Indiana: 135,000 customers with power lost.

- Kentucky: 187 customers without power.

- North Carolina: 618 homes and businesses with power lost.

The storm also knocked out Amtrak passenger rail service between Washington and Philadelphia, Amtrak said.

Power companies called in crews from utilities in neighboring states to help restore electricity.

FEEL THE HEAT

The widespread power outages came as the National Weather Service forecast more heat and severe thunderstorms across the Ohio Valley, through the mid-Atlantic states and into New York.

Blazing temperatures in New York, where thermometer readings were in the 90s on Saturday, came ahead of a possible strike by 8,500 Consolidated Edison workers over a new contract. The union membership has authorized its leaders to call a strike at midnight Saturday, when the collection bargaining agreement expires.

If the 8,500 Con Ed workers do walk off, that would leave managers and any crews the company can hire to fix whatever problems arise as 8.2 million New Yorkers crank up their air conditioners to beat the heat.

Up and down the East Coast, state and local officials urged residents to seek air-conditioned areas, drink lots of water and wear light-colored clothing. They also called for people to watch out for those most vulnerable to high heat - the elderly, small children and the mentally ill.

"Our biggest concern right now is temperatures going up to 100 degrees today," said Ed McDonough, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Emergency Management.

Records for June were broken on Friday in Washington, Atlanta, Nashville, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky. The temperature hit at least 104 F (40 C) in all four cities, according to the National Weather Service.

The high temperatures were blamed for the deaths of two brothers, ages 3 and 5, in Bradley County in eastern Tennessee. They had been playing outside in 105-degree heat.

The high heat prompted the AT&T National golf tournament at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, to close the competition to spectators and volunteers on Saturday.

Weather even struck the Internet. The storms disrupted power for Amazon.com Inc cloud computing operations and disrupted online services such as the video streaming website Netflix, photo sharing company Instagram and online pinboard Pinterest, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A representative from Amazon could not be reached for comment. Netflix and Pinterest reported on their Twitter pages by early Saturday that they had resolved their problems.

(Additional reporting by Paul Thomasch in New York, Susan Guyett in Indianapolis and Tim Ghianni in Nashville; Editing by Bill Trott and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/storm-hits-washington-dc-area-thousands-without-power-035759980.html

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AP sources: Some at Gitmo could go to Afghanistan

FILE - In this May 25, 2012 file photo, Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Obama administration is considering a new gambit to restart peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The plan to send several Taliban detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a prison in Afghanistan, could boost the credibility of Afghan President Hamid Karzai as he and U.S. officials try to draw the Taliban back to peace negotiations. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)

FILE - In this May 25, 2012 file photo, Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Obama administration is considering a new gambit to restart peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The plan to send several Taliban detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a prison in Afghanistan, could boost the credibility of Afghan President Hamid Karzai as he and U.S. officials try to draw the Taliban back to peace negotiations. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration is considering a new gambit to restart peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan that would send several Taliban detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a prison in Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials told The Associated Press.

Under the proposal, some Taliban fighters or affiliates captured in the early days of the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and later sent to Guantanamo under the label of enemy combatants would be transferred out of full U.S. control but not released. It's a leap of faith on the U.S. side that the men will not become threats to U.S. forces once back on Afghan soil. But it is meant to show more moderate elements of the Taliban insurgency that the U.S. is still interested in cutting a deal for peace.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others have said that while negotiations with the Taliban are distasteful, they are the best way to settle the prolonged war.

The new compromise is intended to boost the credibility of the U.S.-backed Afghan government. President Hamid Karzai and U.S. officials are trying to draw the Taliban back to negotiations toward a peace deal between the national Afghan government and the Pashtun-based insurgency that would end a war U.S. commanders have said cannot be won with military power alone.

The Taliban have always been indifferent at best to negotiations with the Karzai government, saying the U.S. holds effective control in Afghanistan. The Obama administration has set a 2014 deadline to withdraw forces and is trying to frame talks among the Afghans beforehand.

Under the new proposal, Guantanamo prisoners would go to a detention facility adjacent to Bagram air field, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, officials of both governments said. The prison is inside the security perimeter established by the U.S. military, and is effectively under U.S. control for now. It is scheduled for transfer to full Afghan control in September.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta would have to sign off on the transfer and certify that the men did not pose a danger. He would not confirm details of the new proposal at a Pentagon news conference Friday, but he said discussions continue to try to promote a peace deal.

"There are no specific commitments that have been made with regard to prisoner exchanges at this point," he said. "One thing I will assure you is that any prisoner exchanges that I have to certify are going to abide by the law and require that those individuals do not return back into the battle."

Any such transfer is unlikely to include the five most senior Taliban figures held at Guantanamo, the subjects of separate negotiations with the Taliban that have stalled, a senior U.S. official said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the transfer is still under discussion and no offer has been made.

Afghan officials and other diplomats said it is not yet clear whether the new proposal could include those five, but said it has not been ruled out. Republicans in Congress bitterly opposed the plan to send those men to house arrest in Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation that has emerged as a key broker with the Muslim Taliban. The opponents feared the men would be set free and endanger the U.S.

The latest proposal was a topic of recent discussions in Washington with members of Karzai's peace committee, a group of elders charged with reaching out to the Taliban on the government's behalf.

"The possibility is strong," for a transfer to Afghanistan that includes the five top figures, said Ismail Qasemyar, international relations adviser for the Afghan High Peace Council.

Afghans involved in the discussions were still angling to get all 17 prisoners, including the five most senior men, released or transferred. The Taliban has demanded release of all the Guantanamo detainees as a condition for talks.

The Taliban abandoned direct talks in March, accusing the U.S. of reneging on several promises. The United States considers the talks suspended, not dead. The U.S. and the Afghan government are pursuing several new avenues to restart talks, including the use of proxy emissaries to the Taliban, diplomats said.

Karzai has long sought the return of all 17 Afghans imprisoned at Guantanamo, men he sometimes calls brothers, as a point of national pride. He has argued that their imprisonment at the detested Guantanamo prison undermines his credibility as a national leader, and that Afghanistan's own institutions should deal with captured insurgents.

The U.S. has said publicly that, in regards to the five senior Taliban, they would be transferred to another country's control, not released. But terms for the proposed transfer to Qatar were fairly loose. Officials briefed on the discussions said the men would have to agree not to return to fighting, forswear any ties to al-Qaida, and submit to a ban on their travel. Beyond that it was not clear how closely they would be controlled by the Qatar government.

The Taliban would have been asked to release Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only U.S. prisoner of war from the Afghan conflict.

Qatar recently sent a letter to U.S. officials with proposals to rekindle talks, a U.S. official said, but it was not clear whether the new proposal for transfer to Afghanistan was among them.

The latest Bagram proposal would appeal to the Taliban, Qasemyar said.

"The High Peace Council could use that opportunity as a goodwill gesture," he said in an interview.

Qasemyar said that the proposal may have benefits for the U.S. beyond boosting his organization's bargaining power with the Taliban.

"What I gathered from what I heard in Washington is the U.S. government was afraid that if they released a prisoner and he went back to fighting," the Obama administration "would lose faith before the Congress or before the people of the United States," he said.

A way around that concern, Qasemyar said, is "to send them to the Afghan government. Then that responsibility would be shifted to our side."

Karzai supports the new proposal, Qasemyar said, despite some concern in the Afghan government that the five could become a rallying point for ethnic tension in Afghanistan.

Mullah Norullah Nori, for example, could be a problem for Karzai. He was a senior Taliban commander in Mazar-e-Sharif when the Taliban fought U.S. forces in late 2001. He previously was a Taliban governor in two provinces in Northern Afghanistan, where he has been accused of ordering the massacre of thousands of Shiite Muslims.

___

Riechmann reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated Press writers Heidi Vogt in Kabul and Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-06-29-US-Afghanistan-Taliban/id-4bf2d78bee52445a93bb660ff2d8c304

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A handful of thoughts ? CRM Software And Your Organization

Most firms nowadays are in fierce competition not just with one another but also with regards to technologies. Computers and technology develops each day and businesses find it extremely tough to keep up. Then there is certainly the need to use technology within your company successfully, efficiently and to capitalize on it.

A software program system which has been about for a couple of years is CRM. This is a customer relationship management program. This system is developed to manage the interactions with customers. It uses technologies to synchronize and organize the sales departments activities in an automated system. CRM systems have now been developed further to include the advertising and marketing, client services and technical assistance activities.

CRM software captures info on consumers and which is in turn utilised by the company to gain new clientele, retain current customers and to get past clientele back. It is a tool to determine the companys relationship with its consumers. The outcomes from the CRM system may be utilized to enhance customer satisfaction and to form crucial business choices.

The benefits that can be had from CRM systems are considered the following:

1. Decrease in the general expense of accumulating consumer data
2. Marketing tactics may be improved
3. Long term planning is enhanced
4. Merchandise development is improved
5. Customers input is utilized a lot more effectively.
6. The ability to adapt more readily to developments
7. Quality and effectiveness in the company improves
8. This ought to translate into far more profitability

You will find a huge number of CRM systems obtainable that can be used for specific areas of the enterprise or as an integrated program.

There is certainly Online CRM that may link all the different phases of the sales process. This implies that sales team will devote less time on each phase, thus improving productivity. Each prospective consumer is recorded from the first interaction, through each and every phase up to the final sale by a contact management system. This is tracked so the CRM system can document opportunities, forecasts and potential or current territories.

The CRM system for marketing and advertising will aid the company to produce sales leads and to identify potential clients. The software will track and evaluate various advertising campaigns regardless of whether utilizing e-mails, direct mail, telephone or social media. If employed correctly this is a huge advantage to an organization. This type of data might take months to correlate. Here it really is carried out by software program as data is compiled on consumers.

CRM software can also provide businesses with the ability to improve their customers experience. This is the reason why customers requests are dealt with more efficiently. In turn a customer is satisfied that the company cares for them and tells other people of the good encounter.

A comparatively new CRM platform is the appointment system. Potential customers can be contactedto arrange an appointment either by means of e-mail or perhaps a website. As soon as scheduled, the appointment is automatically recorded on the appropriate persons calendar.

Most of these CRM systems are integrated so data could be shared by several departments. There are also different analytic capabilities which are generally part of the program. These provide evaluation of the compiled data in terms of sales forecasts, consumer satisfaction, information quality, consumer trends, success of advertising and marketing campaigns and many more.

If this details on CRM systems has excited you to new possibilities, go to http://www.applicor.com

For more information about Crm Software visit our website: click here

Source: http://myselfpallavi.com/2012/06/28/crm-software-and-your-organization/

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Fitness And Weight Loss For girls - Free Articles

A lot of people want to adhere to a weight loss tracker and also a healthier and well balanced life-style so as to realize a slim, slender and attractive physique. In the event you tend to be more conscious about ones body, then you definately will require to perform more exercises that may help you to burn calories and thus cut down weight. Youll generally ought to possess a plan just before you truly beginning operating on the perform outs. Executing the function outs beneath a coach would be the greatest possibility, since the coach will know how to method n your function outs and which workout routines will ideal fit for the well being. As an example, for those who are far too fat, then just working or skipping would not reduce the weight, youll have to endure a lot more calorie burning exercises.

There are plenty of workout plans you can abide by, among them the easy kinds are running, skipping, strolling, hiking, jogging, dancing and many others. may very well be effective for just a small scale work out that will be suitable for the novices. You could be doing sit - ups a huge selection of occasions or you may perhaps be working within the machines at the gymnasium for several hours, however they may not get the job done out for you personally. So, you must instead look at to get a balanced exercise and weight loss course underneath a personal trainer. As a substitute of performing operate outs beneath a coach in a very single room with other folks might be a lot less efficient than executing perform outs beneath a personal trainer for the health and fitness center.

When you get appropriate coaching and an efficient weight loss spa, then you definitely will naturally have higher your strength, potential, flexibility and conditioning from the physique. The weight loss patch will not only allow you to reduce your weight and also enable you to burn off calories commonly that may reduce your weight. Subsequent an effective method for workout routines will help you to maintain your weight below control, control your cholesterol and blood strain, increase your energy and enhance your bones and many others. Trainers are there to assist you do the exercises that are finest fitted together with your height, weight and power stage. As a result, normally consider to observe a weight loss ads underneath a personal trainer.

Should you really dont have any really serious injury, then you definitely can do every kind of regular workout routines to help maintain your weight and burn your calories which is able to minimize that further fat from the human body. From time to time, not weight loss blogs but additionally a healthful and well balanced diet plan will add on the advantages of your operate outs. Consider to go bit by bit by decreasing weight little by very little each week rather than check out to go on a rapidly rate, which could fairly lead to hurt for your overall health. In addition, a registered fitness personalized trainer would allow you to get these duties completed conveniently.

Source: http://www.tuneinarticles.com/articledetail.php?artid=202775&catid=98

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Internet Marketing Strategies - Monitoring Online Business

In the online world, internet marketer has wide options to measure each and every business activity. How well any site is performing can be monitored easily as a number of tools and techniques are used by the experts.

Certain metrics are there which can be considered to monitor the performance of business. Through this article, we'll come to know about such points in detail.

Qualified research & click through rates

Qualified research is all about measuring the quality and quantity of individuals visiting to the site. When a number of visitors come to the site and perform an action regarding the purchase of product or service, it becomes a qualified research.

Click through rates are used while noting down the direct response of the visitors when presenting any material.

Audience response

The metric which is used to note down how your target audience respond to your products, service or business idea, it is called as brand perception lift.

This helps the experts in deciding further marketing steps as well as needed changes in the techniques.

Content and audience

Another useful internet marketing strategy to check the performance is to analyze the relation between audience and contents on the site. Different media efforts including online advertising services are used by the experts to analyze the engagement score.

Action rate

The action rate is determined by checking different aspects or marketing efforts like determining how effective the marketing campaign is? Are visitors getting converted to potential customers successfully? Many more things are checked to analyze the end action rate.

Checking ROI

One of the most useful metric which is considered as per advanced online marketing strategies is checking ROI.

Here, the experts check out which activity has been getting more response and positive results in generating more return on investment. The kind of contents, tools and other activity options on the websites are analyzed so that the experts spend their time towards bettering the performance of the business.

Marketing efforts and money

This metric is meant to detect, is money spending in the right amount for better returns. It helps in analyzing how competitively internet marketing strategies or efforts work in comparison to the associated cost. Thus, further investment decisions are based on monitoring the performance ratio of money and marketing efforts.

Hence, these are the useful metrics which are taken into account by professional online marketing firms to support growth, development and overall performance of client's business in the online world.

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Holistic Entrepreneur Spotlight: Jane Manthorpe | Global ...

Before I found the GAHP membership and then the GAHP Certification program I was a wee bit lost in the woods on how to truly connect with my authentic self. I am going through a big transformation in my life as I leave my career of 27 years as a Company Accountant and Consultant in the corporate world and breaking out to follow my dream of creating and designing my own successful business as a Holistic Coach and Health and Fitness Mentor (specializing in raw food nutrition, body fitness via Chi Running and Walking and Spiritual Coaching). I felt spiritually connected in a way but knew I could go deeper but did not know how, there was something missing on how to really connect and stay connected. I was seeking guidance and was longing to know more on how to connect with my intuition and spiritual self for finding answers and help me make some tough decisions in my life.
?
Since being part of the GAHP Holistic Coaching Certification program to become a Holistic Coach, I have experienced and several amazing breakthroughs of connecting with my authentic self receiving such clear clarity of guidance that has guided me to make some fairly big decisions. Also, breakaway from some energy blocks which were affecting my clarity of thought and preventing me from progressing in some areas of my journey with my business creation and direction. I have made such great headway and made some fantastic leaps of success with both my business and my personal life.

I now know how to connect with my intuition and know what messages are coming from my true self and what are coming from my conditioned self. I also have special tools I can use to really get connected with my spirit and ways to clear sabotaging negative thoughts and actions so I can keep on my path of purpose.

The GAHP Certification training was very enlightening and was a mixture of live training at the start of program where we were all invited to attend a live training to connect and experience wonderful coaching from Shelley Riutta who shared some amazing spiritual techniques and methods to connect with our guidance within.

I experienced a tremendous breakthrough as I connected with my mum who died recently. I knew she was with me in spirit and learned in such a gentle way how to connect with her and came away from the live training feeling such joy and connect with others who shared my journey. The high vibration of the live event was so much I felt it even though I was connected to the live event via online from New Zealand it was an experience of joy, laughter and great breakthroughs as we all journeyed to connect with our authentic selves and share our journeys.

I would totally recommend the GAHP Holistic Certification program to anyone wishing to know more about connecting and finding their true authentic self. You will learn how to connect with them to receive the guidance that if you allow it and take action will guide you to a life full of joy and contentment.

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Cat Adoption Extravaganza | Austin Pets Alive!

June 27, 2012 ? Make a comment ?

by austinpetsalive ? Posted in: Adoptions, Awareness/ PR

Since January 1st, we have rescued more than 2,000 cats/kittens compared to just 1,250 at this time last year ? now it?s time to find them all homes! Starting tomorrow, June 28, through July 14, we?re offering an amazing adoption special on cats and kittens!

• $0 adoptions on ready-to-go cats and kittens (regardless of age)
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• $75 for 2 non-ready-to-go cats and kittens

You can check out all of the cats available for adoption here, and check here daily for a list of locations where you can find each cat. Questions about our adoption process or about a certain kitty you?re interested in bringing home? Feel free to email email hidden; JavaScript is required.

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Lana Del Rey, A$AP Rocky 'National Anthem' Video: Rewriting History

New clip finds Del Rey and Rocky playing Jackie and John F. Kennedy and is loaded with both social and political commentary.
By James Montgomery

Lana Del Rey and A$AP Rocky in the music video for "National Anthem"
Photo:

Last week, when news broke that Lana Del Rey and A$AP Rocky would be portraying star-crossed Camelot couple Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy in the video for LDR's "National Anthem," we were pretty sure the clip would create controversy. And now that it's premiered, we're going to stand by that assumption.

On Wednesday morning (June 27), Del Rey posted the "Anthem" clip on YouTube, and it's sure to cause a stir — for all the reasons you'd probably expect, and a few you wouldn't.

Sure, there are some who will object to the clip's re-telling of history: Del Rey actually plays both Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe — a loaded proposition when you consider the long-standing rumors of an affair between the actress and the commander in chief — and the clip opens with her doing Monroe's sultry "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" from 1962. She then switches to the more demure Jackie, the doting wife to Rocky's JFK, and their love story unfurls over seven hazy, dreamlike minutes. In a way, the dual roles seem to be director Anthony Mandler's way of exploring the complexities of one of our nation's most celebrated (and discussed) first couples: the notion that, from the outside, all appeared to be perfect, while, internally, their marriage was wrought with indiscretions and very stormy indeed.

There is also the fact that the clip is loaded with social commentary. The scenes of Del Rey and Rocky cavorting in the Kennedy's Hyannis Port compound very boldly show the so-called "American Camelot" (the term used to describe the unbridled hope associated with the Kennedy presidency) through a decidedly 2012 prism. Here is the first family reimagined as a beautiful white wife and a confident, powerful black husband, very much in love, caring for their biracial children, holding court with their associates. It was a scene that was practically unimaginable during the 1960s, and one that, sadly, is still sure to rankle some today.

To say the least, it is evocative, and yet, to his credit, Mandler manages to avoid hammering the viewer with any of it. Instead, he shows the love between the two in a series of fleeting glances, caresses and smiles. And in a deft way of heading off those who say he's disrespecting the Kennedy legacy, he largely avoids what most have come to associate with JFK's presidency: his assassination in 1963. Sure, the scene exists in the video, and it is shot Zapruder-style, but he spares us any of those grisly, "back-and-to-the-left" film frames. Instead, we hear a single gunshot, then watch as Del Rey's Jackie crawls over the trunk of the couple's convertible, a look of horror and shock on her face. In a way, that only impacts the terror of the moment and drives home the point that, regardless of racial makeup, this is a couple that truly was in love.

It also manages to capture the sheer sadness of the moment. After all, in a lot of ways, Kennedy's assassination represented the death of a dream: It was the moment when the idyllic 1960s began to disappear and only served as a preview for the tremendous social and political upheaval that would come to define the decade.

So while "National Anthem" may boldly redefine both an era and an iconic couple and make us reconsider our social stigmas, it is, at the end, a very truthful representation of the love two people shared, a doomed, unsustainable thing that, for a fleeting moment, we all dared to believe in. And I'd like to think that's the main message of the video: the willingness to trust in the impossibility of love, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. Sure, you can focus on the racial aspects of the clip or its historical accuracy, but it seems like you'd be missing the point, really.

What did you think of the "National Anthem" video? Let us know in the comments!

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• Lana Del Rey
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Buying Insurance vs. Paying a Fine: What's the Tradeoff? | Mother ...

Since the healthcare mandate is on everybody's mind today,?Ezra Klein asks a good question: does the mandate even matter?

[If you choose not to buy insurance] you have to pay a penalty of $695 a year (that?s the 2016 number; after 2016, it rises with inflation) or 2.5 percent of your annual income, whichever is greater....[But suppose] you simply refuse to pay the mandate. What can the government do to make you pay?

Well, unlike if you refuse to pay your taxes, it can?t throw you in jail or put a lien on your home or other property (page 336 of the legislation). It can potentially reduce your tax refund, but that?s really it. If you?re not getting a tax refund, you?re free and clear. Given these specifics, it?s worth asking why anyone thinks the mandate will work at all. And it?s worth saying that some don?t.

So the fine is small and the government can't do much to collect it anyway. But in practice, there's an even more important question: how many people would fail to buy insurance and be forced to pay the fine in the first place? On the left, a fair number of people think that ACA's subsidies are stingy enough that poor families simply won't be able to afford insurance even if they want it, which would mean paying the fine instead. But is that true?

What follows is back-of-the-envelope stuff, but I think it's in the right ballpark. Let's take a family of four where the policyholder is age 35 and has an income of $40,000. How much would insurance cost them? According to this handy calculator from Kaiser, here's what that family would have to pay (converted into a monthly premium):

• Premium cost: $925
• Federal tax credit: $760
• Net cost of policy: $165

However, this overstates things because it's based on the cost of a "silver" policy. But you don't have to buy a silver policy. You can pay more and get a gold or platinum policy, and more importantly, you can pay less and get a bronze policy. Bronze policies don't provide great coverage, but they do provide the basics and they also cover health emergencies. It's a reasonable option for someone who just can't afford more. By my rough calculation, a bronze policy would cost about $125 less than a silver policy. This means that the net monthly premium for our family of four would be about $40. That's not much ? and it's half the cost of the fine.

But how about a family of four with an income of $50,000? After subsidies, their cost for a bronze policy would probably come to about $166 per month. That's more than the fine ($166 vs. $100) but not a lot more. How many families earning $50,000 would forego health insurance for a net cost of $66 per month? Not too many, I'd guess, even if the insurance policy is mediocre.

As for families making more than $50,000, hardly any of them are uninsured in the first place. This paper estimates only about 1.6 million uninsured adults with incomes consistently above $50,000. It's just not a big number.

You can play with these numbers endlessly, and if you choose the worst possible set of circumstances you can always come up with an example or two of people who would be forced to pay a fair amount of money for health insurance they'd rather not have. But here are the basics for a family of four:

• Under $30,000, families qualify for Medicaid and pay nothing for insurance.
• Under $37,000 or so, most families can buy a bronze policy for free.
• Between $37,000 and $45,000, the cost of a bronze policy is quite small, and certainly less than paying the fine.
• Above $45,000, the cost of a bronze policy is a bit more than the fine.
• Above $50,000, the cost of a bronze policy is significantly more than the fine, but there aren't very many uninsured families in this category.

The numbers work out differently for single people, but singles under 30 also have the option of buying only catastrophic coverage. We don't know yet how much policies like this are going to cost, but certainly substantially less than a bronze policy. For most under-30s, this means they have the option of free or nearly free coverage all the way up to a fairly high income level.

There are a lot of numbers in this post. Sorry about that. And I don't mean to imply that the mandate is meaningless: in fact, it probably has both an objective and a subjective effect. Objective because it makes the financial case for buying insurance stronger, and subjective because most people prefer to obey the law. Still, it's not overwhelmingly important. My personal preference would be for true national healthcare, and failing that, for higher subsidy levels under Obamacare. Nonetheless, the truth is that Obamacare makes insurance available to all poor families and most working class families either free or at very small cost. It's a pretty good deal. The mandate is a backstop, and it's one I support both on a substantive policy level and as a matter of constitutional law. But the subsidies and the insurance regs are the heart of Obamacare, and they always have been.

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(Part 3 of 3) ? Growth Versus Value Investing - Personal Finance ...

Big Idea ? Investing ? Stocks

Objective ? Readers will be able to differentiate between growth and value investing.

Investing for Value or Growth

When investing in stocks you are taking a risk - the higher the risk that you take, you demand a higher?potential return.? Two of the major strategies investors use to pick good investments include fundamental analysis and technical analysis. ?The differences are explained below:

• Fundament analysis ? Picking investments based on financial statements, earnings projections, potential new products and other financial factors.? Ratios that investors look at include the?price-to-earnings multiple (P/E), dividend yield and growth, price-to-book value of a firm, and earnings per share (EPS).?
• Technical analysis ? Picking investments based on price trends and movements, moving averages, chart patterns, analysis of historical data, and many other relationships.

Today?s post focuses on fundamental analysis, and two major approaches including growth and value investing.?? Among other factors, investors focus on the profit of a company, and how the market is valuing the company based on that profit expectation. Some investors focus on stocks that offer value, and others focus on stocks that offer high potential earnings growth.

Investing for Growth?

When investing for growth, investors are concerned with the future earnings growth of a company.? Earnings are typically measured by the EPS (earnings per share).?? This number can be tracked and found in the company?s financial statements, on a brokerage research report, Yahoo finance, or many other sites.? The EPS is calculated as follows:

There are three types of EPS numbers:

• trailing EPS, which uses the previous year?s earnings
• current EPS, which uses the current year?s earnings
• forward EPS, which uses the projected earnings for the next year

A shareholder earns a share of the company?s profits, and you want the company to grow its earnings. ?A few typical characteristics of growth stocks include the following:

• Pay no dividends or small dividends, as growth companies usually invest profits to finance future growth.
• Higher P/E ratios?than income stocks or value stocks-
  • The P/E ratio is how much an investor pays per share (stock price) relative to each dollar of earnings.
  • As the stock rises and EPS remains constant, investors are paying more for their share of a company?s future earnings.
  • If a company earned $1.25 over the last year and the stock price is $50, the P/E is calculated as follows:

• The P/E of the S&P 500 has averaged approximately 15 over the last century.? Growth stocks typically have P/Es that are well above 15.
• Price-to-Book Value ? Typically, growth stocks have a market value (market capitalization) that trades at a higher premium to the company?s book value (Assets ? Liabilities = Book Equity).

Example of a Growth Stock?

In isolation, the measures mentioned above cannot tell the whole story of a stock?s value.? Investors need to compare these measures across stocks in a similar sector and industry to discover relative value and opportunities.? Growth investors try to identify companies with high historical earnings growth, and more importantly the prospect of high forward earnings growth.? For this, investors are willing to pay a higher P/E and market value for a company?s growth.? For example, assume that two companies have the following details:

Company	Latest EPS	Stock Price	P/E
ABC	$1.50	$15.00	10
DEF	$1.50	$45.00	30

?

Why would an investor want to pay a P/E of 10? ($15 for $1.50 in profits) for Company ABC and a P/E of 30 ($45.00 for $1.50 in EPS) for Company DEF? Investors in company DEF are investing in faster potential earnings growth.? Consider the following:

• The market is pricing that company DEF?s earnings are expected to increase much more quickly than company ABC?s earnings.
• In return, investors are willing to pay a higher stock price, or higher P/E, for the potential of earning a portion of DEF?s explosive earnings growth.
• DEF is considered riskier than ABC based on its higher P/E.
• Though the companies have similar prices, ABC?s P/E is 1/3?of DEF?s P/E. ?This may suggest investors believe DEF has significantly higher earnings growth prospects than ABC.

Value Investing

The table from above can be used to discuss value investing too.?? Assuming companies ABC and DEF are in similar industries, you can compare the companies across a variety of factors. Similar to what I asked before ? Why would an investor want to buy company ABC with a P/E of 10, as opposed to DEF with a P/E of 30?? Assuming other factors remain constant, a value investor would construct the following arguments:

• Value investors argue that the market may undervalue a company at a point in time, in this case ABC.
• A stock that has a lower P/E relative to similar companies may be considered a ?buy,? and a higher P/E stock may be considered a ?sell.?
• Companies sometimes go through difficult periods and the market may overreact by driving the stock price below investors? perceived market price. Value investors look to capitalize on this cheap valuation.
• Though value investors focus on low P/E, low price-to-book value, low price-to-sales ratios, and higher dividend yields, it is equally as important to have a forward looking thesis for buying a value stock.?? Thus, investors must value the company based on forward earnings, and use this valuation to justify a good stock versus ?value trap.?
• In the table from the previous example, value investors would argue that if ABC has similar characteristics and prospects as DEF, then ABC?s low P/E reflects a buying opportunity.

All stocks that have fallen in price are not ?value? stocks.? Some stocks have low P/Es for a good reason, as they represent not only bad stocks, but also bad companies.? A ?value trap? involves buying a stock that you think is a bargain, but in reality it is a company whose prospects have stagnated.?? Thus, the ?cheap stock? deserves a lower P/E and cheaper market value.? It is important to compare companies and differentiate a cheap stock from a bad company.? If you don?t do your analysis, investors can fall into a ?value trap.?

Historical Performance ?- Growth Versus Value

From 1992 to 2011, the S&P 500 Growth Index averaged an annual return of 9.30%, and the average annual return on the S&P 500 Value index was 8.98%.¹? By this measure, growth has outperformed value.?? However, during this period growth investments had higher annualized volatility relative to value investing, with volatility of 21.33% and 17.87%, respectively.¹? Sophisticated investors measure risk-adjusted returns, which includes how much the investment returned for the level of risk you took.? Said differently, you can earn $100 in two different ways, one relatively risky and one less risky.?? Investors prefer earning $100 in the least risky way possible.? It is superior when you can earn higher returns that are not driven by taking excess or incremental risk.

The Sharpe Ratio is a measure of this risk-adjusted return.? It measures the expected excess return of investment versus a risk-free investment, and divides it by the historical volatility of that return.? In short, it shows how much of a return an investor can ?expect? above the risk free rate, but then calibrates it for the risk of the investment.? Clearly, the higher the numerator (expected return) and the lower the denominator (volatility or risk) implies a higher Sharpe Ratio and larger returns for less risk.? From 1992 to 2011, value investing has provided a slightly higher Sharpe ratio.¹

The data presented above and referenced in the source below are subject to bias.? The period of 1992-2011 is no indicator of future performance.?? It would be prudent for any researcher or investor to evaluate how growth and value strategies have performed in different decades and both secular bull (stocks going up) and secular bear (stocks going down) markets.

Takeaways

When considering a growth or value investing strategy consider the following:

• Growth investors focus on explosive earnings growth and are willing to forsake dividends.
• Growth investors are willing to pay higher P/Es, and these stocks can be riskier.
• Value investors look for ?bargains? and tend to focus on lower P/Es, lower price-to-book values, and higher dividend yields.
• Some studies have shown that value investing has marginally outperformed growth investing over longer periods in terms of total return.
• It is important to consider risk-adjusted returns, such as the Sharpe Ratio, and not just total return.
• Typically investors can manage risk better and earn better risk-adjusted returns by combining a growth and value diversification strategy.

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Upcoming Post-

How Mutual Funds Work ? Using Mutual Funds Effectively

Assessment-

1.? How do value and growth investments differ in terms of P/E ratios and price-to-book value?

2. ?What is a main risk of investing in growth stocks?

3.? What is a main risk of investing in value stocks?

4. Does a stock price of $600 imply that it is riskier than a stock that is $60?? Why or why not?

Answers to yesterday?s questions-

1.? What are some differences between small-cap and large-cap stocks?

• Historically small caps have had a higher average return, but they are have been more volatile.

• Small-cap stocks tend to reinvest profits, as these stocks typically have higher future growth expectations.

• Small-cap stocks have market capitalizations below $2 billion, and large-cap stocks have market capitalizations above $10 billion.

2. How can knowledge of stock classifications help you with your investment portfolio?

Knowledge of stock classifications can help you understand the risks and potential returns of stocks in different economic cycles.? ?Classifications will help you better understand how stocks correlate with each other and prepare you to create a diversified portfolio.

?

Source-

1 ? Retrieved from Seeking Alpha, ?Growth vs. Value Investing?

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Are you as well read as the average 10th grader?

Forty-five US states have adopted the Common Core, a set of standards that spell out what US public school students learn in each grade, from kindergarten to graduation. How would you match up? Test yourself on everything from Ovid to Shakespeare to see how familiar you are with the novels, short stories, plays, and poems that the Core expects 9th and 10th graders to have read.

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Global warming spells bad news for emperor penguins, study finds

Researchers at the?Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have found that melting sea ice could lead to dramatic declines in populations of emperor penguins.?

By Wynne Parry,?LiveScience Senior Writer / June 21, 2012

WHOI biologist Stephanie Jenouvrier readies an Emperor penguin chick (about 5 months old) for tagging during fieldwork in December 2011 in Terre Ad?lie.

Courtesy of Stephanie Jenouvrier, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Enlarge

Emperor penguins depend on the sea ice that rings the continent of Antarctic, so it's no surprise that global warming, which is expected to melt some of that ice, may be bad news for these flightless, 4-foot (1.2-meter) tall birds.

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Since detailed information on most colonies is not available, the research focused on one well-studied colony of emperor penguins, at Terre Ad?lie in East Antarctica, to get an idea of what might happen to emperor?penguins?over the course of this century.

Their results aren't reassuring; they project this colony is likely to decline from 3,000 breeding pairs to 575 by 2100, a potentially "huge decline," said lead researcher St?phanie Jenouvrier, a biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Sea ice is important for penguins and for other things living around Antarctica. For instance, krill, the tiny shrimplike animals that penguins and other animals eat, feed on algae that grow on the underside of sea ice. What's more the?penguins raise their young?on the ice during the harsh Antarctic winter. However, this makes getting close enough to the birds to study difficult for scientists.

In work published in 2009, researchers with the British Antarctic Survey used satellite images to identify 38 locations with colonies around the continent by looking for the stains the emperor penguins' droppings left on the white ice.

While?sea ice in the Arctic?has receded to new lows in recent years, the dynamics are different at the southern end of the planet. The West Antarctic Peninsula, which juts north, has warmed rapidly. And one emperor penguin colony, historically located on Emperor Island in the peninsula's Dion Islands,?appears to have disappeared entirely.

However,?shrinking sea ice?is not the case for all of Antarctica's waters, but, ultimately, global warming is expected to shrink Antarctic sea ice significantly.

The current research focused on a colony of penguins at Terre Ad?lie. It is located near a research station making it possible for scientists to make detailed observations of the birds every winter since in 1962.

Based on observations at this colony, Jenouvrier and colleagues developed a mathematical model describing the population dynamics of emperor penguins, factored in the effects of sea ice and looked at how climate change may affect the penguins' numbers using?a series of climate models.

They produced a wide range of results. At one end, the projections showed the complete loss of the penguins before the end of this century; the most optimistic projection predicted an increase in population until just before 2080 and a sharp decrease the last decade or so of the century.

The median, or middle, projection, however, estimated a decline to 575 breeding pairs by 2100.

"Overall, the ensemble of models predicts that population declines are far more likely than population increases. We conclude that climate change is a significant risk for the emperor penguin," the researchers write of their results detailed today (June 20) in the journal Global Change Biology.

Follow?Wynne Parry on Twitter?@Wynne_Parry?orLiveScience?@livescience?. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

Copyright 2012?LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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SSD and Business Continuity (Part 1) ? Vision Solutions Inc.

by Ian Masters, Sales Director Northern Europe, Vision Solutions

This is the first instalment of a two-part series on the impact of Solid State Disk (SSD) on business continuity. Ian Masters, Vision?s Sales Director of Northern Europe explores the significance of SSD and how it plays into the need for heightened levels of continuity.

Solid state disk (SSD) has the potential to be a game changer to the world of enterprise storage. The main advantage of SSD-based storage is that it offers faster performance and reduced latency, as well as lower heat output compared to traditional disk. Organizations needing the highest levels of speed and execution are turning to SSD for exactly these benefits, but the top tier applications they store on SSD are usually the ones in greatest need of protection against disaster as well.

This makes solid business continuity planning essential. If you are not careful in your approach, integrating SSD into your storage can affect existing disaster recovery plans.

Continuity options

Companies traditionally tackle business continuity through duplication, i.e. protecting IT assets and applications by maintaining a mirrored copy of all data. At the base level, enterprise storage is typically deployed with one block of storage at the primary site to support the production data and applications, and then a second block at the replication site. This site can be a second company location, or alternatively, a remote server hosted by a service provider. Activity on the primary storage is replicated over to the secondary location in order to provide a comprehensive backup.

While effective, this approach can be expensive, as you have to buy double the amount of identical hardware and potentially double the volume of software licenses. If an investment has been made in a certain brand of storage for the production site, then the same brand and model can be required at the secondary site as well.

This approach is normally linked to synchronous replication, where an action at the primary site is reproduced at the secondary site immediately. This limits the distance that can exist between the two sites while keeping the data sets synchronized, as light can only travel at a certain speed over the network. For linking locations that are further away geographically, or where network speeds are not high, an asynchronous approach is suitable. This ensures that data is kept in the same order, but it does not have to be done at the same time on both sites.

In the next installment of this blog post, Ian Masters explores in detail several important points for companies to consider when introducing SSD arrays into their networks.

41.878114 -87.629798

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What is the Definition of Personal Finance? ? Happy Mom Works at ...

The definition of Personal finance is an inclusive term with regard to all the financial characteristics of an individual?s or household?s financial circumstance and monetary decision making. Managing your own finances is not actually just about protection, but those who possess self control, preservation, and accountability, as well as those who test themselves to economize so they can follow their dreams, can appear comparatively secure that their personal finance abilities will ease them through rough periods.

Discussing ones? own finances is the easy task however, the most demanding piece of the financial puzzle is the execution. The incentives for obtaining a hold on personal finance are as abundant as the individuals who are careful with their money, but some advantages are fundamental to everybody.

We all have a particular quantity of cash to spend or reserve, and deciding upon the optimum method to use our cash maintaining it to appreciate and spend at the suitable moment is what home finance budgeting is all about. Those who administer their money properly are less probable to stay dependent on their folks or the authorities for financial assistance and those who purchase everything that captures their eyes frequently neglect the liberty to purchase or do activities that matter most to them, however with robust money management abilities, even those with moderate revenues can afford to do many of the activities other people only speculate around.

Not all debts are bad, although you should ensure that your debts are at an manageable level and be ready in case there is a variation in your financial environment. Conventional targets the majority of adults have are settling credit card and or academic loan obligations, retirement, college fees for youngsters, medical costs, and estate preparation. The uncomplicated reality is that if you could understand the psychological obstacles that place you into debt in the first instance, then coming out of debt and establishing prosperity becomes much simpler.

A crucial constituent of individual finance is financial preparation, a vigorous routine that needs habitual observation and re-evaluation. As we said previously, finance planning is one of those effects that is extremely easy to grasp and know but considerably harder to achieve. However, a lot of personal finance guidance is pertinent solely to the degree that it suits your own unique circumstance and when you arrange to better and administer your finances you have to recognize that they are your affairs and your alone.

Personal finance is required for achieving long-term targets and obtaining security, which is very demanding to obtain without these skills and the knowledge to implement your plans. It is however the only sure fire way to take authority over your life enabling you to meet any financial crises and accomplish any financial targets that turn out to be realizable resrticted to only your own imagination and determination to succeed.

Please visit our main site for further expert articles on Insurance related subjects at Insurance Information and to view the original article please visit Definition Personal Finance

Author: Jonathan Grigson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Normandy Harbor Names Sublet as Marketing Director for Southwest Florida

Workers? compensation carrier Normandy Harbor Insurance Co. has hired Robert E. Sublet as director of marketing for southwest Florida.

In his new position, Sublet will work with Normandy Harbor?s independent agency partners in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Desoto, Highlands, Hendry, Polk, Hardee, Okeechobee, Glades, Pasco, Osceola and Monroe counties.

Sublet joins Normandy Harbor from Patriot National Insurance Group, where he was territory sales manager. He also held sales and underwriting positions with Philadelphia Insurance Co., CNA Insurance Co., and Allmerica Financial Corp.

Normandy Harbor is headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale.

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Israel bombs Hamas targets in Gaza as truce unravels

GAZA | Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:08am EDT

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched air raids on Hamas security targets in Gaza on Saturday, wounding more than 20 people, medical officials in the Islamist-ruled territory said, as militants stepped up rocket fire, wounding an Israeli man.

The escalating violence threatened to unravel Wednesday's shaky Egyptian-brokered truce, which had temporarily calmed violence that erupted on Monday after a raid across Egypt's Sinai border in which an Israeli man and two gunmen were killed.

Hamas medical officials said a six-year-old Palestinian boy had been killed in an air strike but Israel's military denied any involvement.

Israel confirmed its aircraft had struck two militant targets in the Islamist-ruled territory.

Hamas medical officials said a third Israeli air raid had killed the six-year-old boy at a soccer field near the town of Khan Younis, and wounded two other people. They said a baby was wounded in a separate attack in Rafah, at the Egypt border.

Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, denied any Israeli involvement in the boy's death, saying on Twitter that the report was the result of "false rumors" and that the boy had died due to an explosion of ordnance belonging to Palestinian militants.

Another Israeli military spokeswoman said she had no report of any air strikes in Rafah, where the baby was reported to have been hurt.

The Israeli strikes were reported after the worst rocket assault in six days of fighting. One projectile slammed into the Israeli town of Sderot wounding an Israeli man in the neck just as he was trying to enter a concrete shelter.

The rocket was one of more than 150 fired into Israel in the past week, the military said, after a relatively calm period. At least 15 were fired at Israel on Saturday, nearly three times as a day ago.

At least six other rockets were intercepted by an Israeli missile defense system, the military said.

Israel's military chiefs scheduled urgent consultations to weigh a "course of action," a military spokeswoman said. Israeli authorities also urged many of the 1 million Israelis who live in the south to stay indoors or close to fortified shelters.

Officials in Gaza said Israel had attacked security targets in Gaza City and in northern and southern parts of the crowded coastal strip before dawn.

Nobody in Gaza claimed responsibility for the rocket fire at Israel, but a security source said the missiles had been launched by members of a fringe Salafi group sympathetic to al-Qaeda, two of whose militants were killed in Israeli raids on Friday.

Israel blamed the Salafis for Monday's cross-border raid from Egypt, after which Israel launched punitive air raids on nearby Gaza, killing 10 Palestinians, many of them militants but also including a 14-year-old boy.

Hamas militants had conditionally pledged to adhere to the truce brokered by Egypt if Israel also held fire. Israel never formally commented on the deal but its officials have pledged to respond to any rocket fire from Gaza.

Egypt has brokered such deals in the past and stepped in this time fearing the violence, which coincided with a hotly contested presidential race in Cairo, could spiral out of control.

(Reporting by Saleh Salem; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alessandra Rizzo)

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Mayor Ford can?t buy land that sparked heated clash with Toronto journalist

TORONTO - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford won?t be able to buy a piece of parkland that sparked his now infamous clash with a journalist last month.

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority has denied Ford?s bid to purchase the roughly 275-square-metre parkette next to his west Toronto home.

The authority says selling the public land would go against its conservation mandate.

Ford said he wanted the property to create a wider security buffer around his home.

The mayor last month confronted a Toronto Star reporter who came to see the parkette, accusing Daniel Dale of spying on him.

He admitted to angrily chasing Dale on May 2 and said the journalist looked frightened. Dale?s version of events had Ford charging him with a cocked fist.

A week later, police ruled out any charges against Dale, despite the mayor?s assurances he had turned over incriminating video of the incident.

Dale said at the time he wasn?t allowed to view the footage, but believes it cleared him of any wrongdoing.

The dispute sparked widespread debate over press freedom and privacy rights, with many residents and commentators picking sides.

Some political pundits and insiders suggested Ford?s antics are jeopardizing Toronto?s reputation.

The mayor painted the incident as the latest in a series of personal attacks by the Star, with whom he has clashed repeatedly over the years.

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Pitsfield Fourth of July Parade gets fundraising boost

Saturday June 23, 2012

PITTSFIELD -- Online donations have helped boost fundraising for the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade.

Less than two weeks before the Independence Day celebration, organizers said on Thursday the $55,000 raised to date has picked up and is ahead of last year?s pace for late June. In mid-May, the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade Committee was reporting it was running behind.

Parade coordinator Peter M. Marchetti credits, in part, the committee accepting contributions through the group?s website for the first time.

"By utilizing PayPal, we have received at least $3,000 in donations," Marchetti said.

Potential donors can go to www.pittsfieldparade.com to make a contribution or mail a check to the parade committee at P.O. Box 1738, Pittsfield, MA 01202.

Meanwhile, the parade has lined up 150 parade units, among the highest participation in years, according to Marchetti. He said there will be 10 floats, 21 local and regional bands, area military veterans organizations, police and fire departments and political dignitaries.

In keeping with the parade theme of "Movie Classics," the parade committee recently named four current and former downtown movie theaters as the grand marshals. Marchetti expects representatives from The Beacon Cinema, Little Cinema at the Berkshire Museum, Colonial Theatre, and Barrington Stage Co. to march in the parade.

"We are thrilled and excited

to be part of this huge parade," said Kate Maguire, artistic director and CEO for Berkshire Theatre Group, which manages the Colonial Theatre.

"I just love a parade," she added.

The quartet of grand marshals has also symbolizes the city?s downtown revitalization efforts, according to parade committee President Betsy Bean.

"The committee felt it made sense to do a ?tip of the hat? to honor the rebirth of downtown Pittsfield ... a large part of the reason for increased economic activity and growth in the city," Bean said.

In addition, the parade poster depicts the Palace Theatre surrounded by movie characters, paying homage to one of the three former movie theaters on North Street -- The Capitol Theatre and Showplace being the other two.

The parade will begin at the intersection of South and West Housatonic streets at 10 a.m. on July 4 and follow a route established three years ago. The participants will march straight from South Street to North Street via the southbound lane and proceed from North to Wahconah Street, ending at Wahconah Park.

To reach Dick Lindsay:
rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com,
or (413) 496-6233.

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Tesla Model S first drive: the sports sedan goes electric (update: video)

It's no secret that we have a few automobile enthusiasts in our midst here at Engadget, and we're pretty sure there are some in the audience as well -- you know who you are. Still, you don't have to be a car nut to appreciate all the innovation and technology that's gone into Tesla's sophomore vehicle -- the Model S electric sedan. So strap yourselves in and hold on to your kneecaps: you're about to ride along with us as we drive the Model S for the very first time. Excited? We are too -- hit the break for our first drive video and impressions.

Gallery: Tesla Model S drive

Continue reading Tesla Model S first drive: the sports sedan goes electric (update: video)

Tesla Model S first drive: the sports sedan goes electric (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 21:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Almost live from Jerusalem with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Powerlineblog)

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Sandusky trial: Deliberations begin after impassioned defense

BELLEFONTE, Pa. ? For 72 minutes Thursday morning, defense attorney Joe Amendola paced in front of the jurors' box and accomplished what many thought impossible: make an impassioned and purposeful case that Jerry Sandusky was innocent of child abuse charges.

Jerry Sandusky faces 48 counts of sexual molestation and faces up to 400 years in prison. (REUTERS)He invoked Mother Teresa and Joe Paterno. He directly attacked some of the state's strongest evidence against his client, including Sandusky's stumbling interview with NBC. He painted the picture of overaggressive cops, social workers and even a newspaper hell-bent on getting the former Penn State defensive coordinator.

And he consistently challenged jurors to consider the totality of the circumstances, that no one ever alleged anything against Sandusky until he was in his mid 50s, that the police didn't arrest him on numerous previous accusations and that Sandusky couldn't have had the time to commit all these crimes. He concluded that this was the work of a vast conspiracy driven by money from potential civil suits.

"Folks, do we have to get hit in the head with a brick to figure this out?" Amendola said before pointing at Sandusky seated at the defense table. "This man's life is at stake."

Amendola maximized what was the limited amount of material the defense had to work with. If Sandusky beats the long odds of earning an acquittal or even if the jury comes back hung, then it's because of this closing argument, far and away the defense's best moment of the nearly two-week trial.

[Related: Sandusky juror profiles: Most of the seven women, five men have Penn State ties]

Of course, nothing may be enough to save Sandusky from 48 counts related to sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period (four counts were dropped from the original 52). During the trial, the state presented waves of emotionally powerful testimony, devastated witnesses and Sandusky's own bizarre behavior.

Deputy attorney general Joseph E. McGettigan III followed Amendola with his own summation, which was halting and not nearly as strong but mocked the vast conspiracy theory that would require compliance from hundreds of participants over decades.

"It's not about conspiracies, it's not about time-travel conspiracies, it's not about people making financial fortunes," McGettigan said. "? It collapses under itself.

"? This is about what happened to those boys," he said as he pointed at the boyhood pictures of eight of the alleged victims.

The jury received the case at 1:12 p.m. ET and will be sequestered during deliberations. Sandusky, who has maintained his innocence, faces as many as 400 years in prison.

The case against him is strong, with McGettigan using Amendola's own words from his opening statement by reminding the jury that it was the defense that stated, "The Commonwealth has overwhelming evidence against Mr. Sandusky."

No matter the outcome, no matter which way you fell on Sandusky's guilt, what Amendola pulled off was some tremendous lawyering. He's been oft-criticized for his tactics since the Sandusky scandal went national in November, but he delivered on his reputation as a fine attorney Thursday morning in a warm, crowded courtroom.

His strongest arguments were pointing out that Sandusky was never accused of anything until the mid-1990s.

"So out of the blue, when he is in his mid 50s, he decides to be a pedophile," he said. "Does that make sense?"

[Related: Sandusky, Ohio: Proud city fights off an adverse double meaning]

He tried to destroy the testimony of former Penn State assistant Mike McQueary, who alleges he walked in on Sandusky engaging in anal sex with a boy in a locker room shower. He noted that McQueary didn't stop this crime and didn't call the cops. McQueary did tell five men, including his father, Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno and university officials, and none of them believed it was worth arresting Sandusky at the time.

Joe Amendola (REUTERS)That, Amendola said, suggests McQueary didn't see what he now says he saw because there's no way they wouldn't have reported it.

"You all have common sense," he said. "Does that make sense?"

He later asked why the police didn't arrest Sandusky in 2008, when Victim No. 1 came forward with considerable accusations.

"They could have arrested him in 2008 if they thought he was such a monster," Amendola argued. "Jerry's a monster. If he's such a monster, why didn't they arrest him in 2008?"

He harped on police who coached alleged victims and said the boys are financially motivated to accuse Sandusky. Amendola even tried to blame the conspiracy for besmirching the reputation of Penn State, the fallout of which included firings of good men and even "a dead coach," a reference to the iconic Paterno.

Later, McGettigan scolded Amendola for pulling Penn State into this case.

In his best and most dramatic moment, McGettigan closed his presentation by walking directly behind the seated Sandusky and telling the jury that while they can't erase the horrible acts committed on the children, they can help make things right.

[Related: Dan Wetzel: Defense rests without letting Jerry Sandusky testify]

"What you can do, should do, must do is come out and say the defendant, that he molested, abused and hurt these children," McGettigan said. "You can't give back those souls, those pieces of the souls he took.

"You can acknowledge it and give him the justice he deserves, find him guilty of everything."

In a case where the defendant has acknowledged that he regularly laid in bed with boys and hugged, wrestled and tickled boys in the shower, there wasn't much room for the defense to work with.

Amendola's argument, at the very least, could play well to any juror that may distrust authorities or see Sandusky as a railroaded former local hero.

Considering many thought Sandusky stood little chance, Amendola at least gave him hope.

McGettigan didn't let up, though. He went, again, through the brutal details of Sandusky molesting the boys, pounding home each act and playing on the state's great advantage: the alleged victims' testimonies. It's one thing to allege a giant conspiracy, it's another to cause jurors to forget about the often-powerful personal testimony of anguished accusers and witnesses.

He defended McQueary, the police investigators, the children's youth services staffers and the host of others who testified against Sandusky. He asked that if nothing happened in the shower the night McQueary walked in, why didn't Sandusky bring forward the boy today to say it was an innocent event? Today he's a grown man who has not been identified and did not testify.

Jerry Sandusky's wife Dottie arrives at the courthouse. (AP)McGettigan also took time to rebut a number of Amendola's assertions that weren't factually correct. He lacked the flair of the defense attorney, but he had a mountain of evidence and facts on his side.

The prosecution also brought in three of the alleged victims and their families to sit in the first two rows of the gallery, near the jury. The alleged victims spent McGettigan's 64-minute long closing argument looking directly at jurors.

On the other side of the court, Dottie Sandusky sat with four of her and Jerry's adopted children ? three sons and a daughter. One of their children, Matt, who was on the witness list but did not testify, was not present.

Judge John Cleland gave jurors detailed jury instructions and then reminded them that "you must decide those charges on the evidence."

After they shuffled out to Courtroom No. 2 to get to work, Amendola expressed that he was "tired."

"We faced such an uphill battle, it was like climbing Mt. Everest from the foot of the hill," he said. "We just tried to get to an even playing field."

Just a few feet away, Sandusky stood with his hands in his pockets. He visited with family as his wife gently rubbed his back and arm. His fate would be determined just down the hall.

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