Justin Bieber Twitter; 'Won't Let U Down,' Cryptic Message To Selena Gomez?

(Photo : Reuters) Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez Back Together But Won't Spend Christmas Together

Justin Bieber took to his Twitter to send a rather cryptic message on December 29. The "Boyfriend" singer has been in an on-again, off-again relationship with actress, Selena Gomez. Some wonder whether Bieber's Twitter message could be to officially reconcile with Gomez.

"Won't let u down," Justin Bieber tweeted on Saturday afternoon and produced over 25,000 retweets in only several hours.?

Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber have been rocky the last few weeks, but recent reports suggest their relationship is coming back to their normal, lovey dovey selfs. Could this message be Bieber's promise to Gomez for 2013?

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Meanwhile, Justin Bieber?has been busy ?preparing his hit "Believe" album in a special acoustic version for release early next year. The18 year-old singer has been spreading news about the expected album on Twitter to fans. Now, Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, is also giving the album it's praises on Twitter claiming that fans will love the new sound.?

"the #BELIEVEacoustic is up for preorder. the tone and sound of this album is special. the new song is amazing. enjoy," Scooter Braun posted on December 21.?

He also confirmed that Justin Bieber plays the guitar in the "Believe" acoustic version and that Bieber penned two extra songs to add to the album at the last minute.?

"for those asking yes?@justinbieber?played guitar on the acoustic album. and yes there r now 10 song not 8 because he wrote 2 new ones 2nite," Braun wrote.?"[N]o BS when i say we are all really happy with how?#BELIEVEacoustic?turned out as it all sounds new and organic. Think u will all love it"?

"8 wasnt enough. had to write some more new ones. now im putting out 10 SONGS on?#BELIEVEacoustic. Im telling u," Bieber also posted on Friday.?

Here is a list of the expected songs from the "Believe" acoustic version, in stores January 29.?

1. Boyfriend?(Acoustic Version)

2. As Long As You Love Me?(Acoustic Version)

3. Beauty And A Beat?(Acoustic Version)

4. She Don't Like The Lights?(Acoustic Version)

5. Take You?(Acoustic Version)

6. Be Alright?(Acoustic Version)

7. All Around The World?(Acoustic Version)

8. Track 8 (Acoustic Version)

9. New Track 9

10. New Track 10

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Source: http://www.fashionnstyle.com/articles/4458/20121229/justin-bieber-twitter-wont-u-down-selena-gomez.htm

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Auto Insurance For Teenage Drivers: How to Minimize It

Teenagers are excited about getting their independence when they pass their road tests. As a parent, however you may be stressed about including your kids on your auto insurance policy. Oklahoma City Insurance companies usually view teenagers as high risk drivers due to their lack of experience and perceived incompetence behind the wheel. Teenagers are often adventurous on the road; they may want to try stunts they have seen in movies or on television. Insurance companies know this, that is why your premiums will increase when your teenager starts driving. Fortunately, there are several factors you can control to minimize the raise in premiums when you add teens to your insurance policy.

Type of Vehicle

Teenagers often like customized, fast and sporty vehicles. These teens enjoy speeding which is exactly what makes them high risk drivers. Insurance companies on the other hand, hate seeing teenagers in fast vehicles. The faster the vehicle, the higher the chances of an accident. Think twice before buying a sports car or other turbo-charged vehicle since your insurance premiums will shoot up. In addition to worrying about premiums, you should ensure that your child drives a car which is even safer than yours because teens are more likely to get into accidents due to their lack of experience and willingness to take risks.

Driving History

Insurance companies favor drivers with clean driving records. If your teenager causes any type of accident, your insurance premiums will rise. Your premiums will also go up if your child gets speeding tickets because breaking driving laws can increase the risk of accident. Teens who have few to no driving related incidents on their records will be seen as a lower risk, so you'll pay less if your kids keep their driving records clean.

Enrollment in a Teen Driving School

All teenagers should take driver's education in order to lower their risk level. Insurance companies will offer lower premiums to kids who are in these types of programs. The grades your kids get in these classes can also significantly impact the premiums. Insurance companies often award a 25% premium discount to teenagers who score a mean grade of ?B? or more in driver's education courses.

Driving Frequency

Your premiums will be higher if your teen drives more frequently because every time an adolescent gets behind the wheel, it's considered a higher risk than if an adult was driving. Thus, ?if your child is listed as an occasional driver, your premiums will be low compared to if he or she is listed as a permanent driver. If possible, limit your child's use of the car to occasional drives in order to keep premiums low. If you want your child to be able to drive frequently, take extra safety precautions to minimize the risk to your teen and to your vehicle. You might also want to consider getting separate insurance for your teen driver to save money on your premiums.

There are lots of factors to consider when adding teenagers to auto policies. If you are thinking about getting a vehicle for your teenage driver or adding your child to your policy, call an agent at Strunk Insurance today at 800-375-8356 for a free quote.

Posted Saturday, December 29 2012 8:40 PM
Tags : oklahoma city, OK, teenager, driving, auto, car, insurance, vehicle

Source: http://www.strunkinsurance.com/blog/auto_insurance_for_teenage_drivers_how_to_minimize_it.aspx

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Lenders in debt battle as they plan HMV revival

By Neil Craven, Financial Mail On Sunday

PUBLISHED: 17:22 EST, 29 December 2012 | UPDATED: 17:22 EST, 29 December 2012

HMV?s lenders plan to block efforts by turnaround fund Apollo to buy the firm?s debt as they plot a revival of its fortunes.

Music industry sources said Apollo Global Management had been planning to buy the retailer?s debt, which would give it control of HMV.

Apollo has already acquired ten per cent of the debt and must now negotiate with about six banks.

Bruised: HMV in Central London

However, the lenders are understood to be reluctant to sell their loans too cheaply and are still hopeful that HMV can survive without a takeover.

A source said: ?There is a feeling among the banks that they have come this far, so let?s see it through.?

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Financial Mail reported in June that restructuring firms were looking to take over the debt as a cheap way of gaining control of HMV. Its stock market value is only ?8.6million and the debts are ?176million.

The restructuring firms believe they can overhaul HMV more efficiently off the stock market.

That could mean closing unprofitable stores and making deals with landlords over leases. Next month, HMV faces crunch talks with banks.

It warned just before Christmas that it could miss looming financial targets.

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2254598/Lenders-debt-battle-plan-HMV-revival.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

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U.S. plane stuck in Iran for repairs after emergency landing

DUBAI (Reuters) - A small U.S. commercial plane has been stuck in Iran for nearly three weeks after making an emergency landing near the city of Ahvaz, the country's airports director said on Sunday.

The plane was forced to land because of technical problems, Mahmoud Rasoulinejad said, quoted by the Mehr news agency.

"After landing, the crew traveled on to countries around the Persian Gulf and the plane is currently being repaired," he said.

Rasoulinejad did not specify who owned the aircraft, where it was headed or the nationality of the crew members. It would soon be ready to return to the skies, he said.

Ahvaz lies near Iran's border with Iraq in the southwest of Iran, an important area for the country's oil industry.

Earlier this month Iran trumpeted the capture of a compact U.S. intelligence ScanEagle drone in its airspace, which U.S. officials have denied.

In December 2011 Iranian forces announced they had captured a U.S. RQ-170 reconnaissance drone in eastern Iran which had been reported lost by U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

(Reporting By Marcus George; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/small-u-plane-makes-emergency-landing-iran-report-080644202.html

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Blast in Pakistan's Karachi kills six on bus, 48 hurt

Scientologists may be facing their most daunting court case yet, and all it took was for someone to stop calling them a cult. After a years long legal battle, federal prosecutors in?Belgium now believe their investigation is complete enough to charge the Church of Scientology and its leaders as a criminal organization on charges of extortion, fraud, privacy breaches, and the illegal practice of medicine. "The decision follows years of investigation that was triggered by a complaint by the Labour Mediation Service in the Brussels Region. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blast-pakistans-karachi-kills-six-bus-48-hurt-123159946.html

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The choice in the national debt crisis: Sink or swim together

by Paul R. Sebastian, Ph.D. Gallipolis Daily Tribune

Our country is headed toward a real cliff beyond the so-called ?fiscal cliff? that approaches on January 1 as automatic deep cuts in government spending and increased taxes kick in and drag the whole economy down, unless an agreement is made before or shortly after that date. A quick fix to avoid the fiscal cliff would not solve the problem because still looming would be unsustainable budget deficits and debt which has increased more than a trillion dollars ($1,000 billion) per year or 51 percent in the last four years from $10.7 trillion to $16.2 trillion or about $150,000 per family. Under George W. Bush, it increased 88 percent from $5.7 trillion in his eight years. ObamaCare, as now formulated, won?t help the deficit or the economy because of the expansion of Medicaid for the poor. So both parties are at fault.

This year?s budget deficit is about $1.1 trillion (one-third of the total budget of $3.5 trillion which is a very high 22.4 percent of gross domestic product = total value of all goods & services produced in a year = total national income of $15.6 trillion). The interest alone on the federal debt is $258 billion per year, making up 10.8 percent of federal revenues. It will be much higher once interest rates go up again. We owe two-thirds of the debt to American holders of treasury securities including the Federal Reserve Bank and one0-third of it or $5.4 trillion to foreign creditors, especially Communist China ($1.2 trillion = 7.1 percent), Japan ($1.1 trillion = 6.8 percent), and the oil exporting countries ($262 billion = 1.6 percent).

We just can?t keep borrowing one-third of the federal budget indefinitely. It?s impossible! Something has got to give. Yes, the U.S. Treasury can borrow from the Federal Reserve Bank by selling it bonds (IOUs) in exchange for printing up more money so to speak (also IOUs ? ?Federal Reserve Note? is written on every dollar bill). So the Federal Reserve Bank?s Balance Sheet has Treasury bonds (IOUs) as assets backing up our currency as liabilities (Federal Reserve Notes ? IOUs). But more money chasing after the same amount of goods is a formula for eventual inflation, i.e., higher prices. We?ve already done too much of that which increases the money supply ? creating money out of nothing as the dollar bill buys less and less.

Sooner or later, the credit of the U.S. Government will disappear. Our creditors will lend the Government less and less money and won?t renew their treasury securities that mature. After all, they know that the dollar will go down in value because of increased inflation and it will be worth less and less on the international markets. Can any family survive by rolling up credit card debt equal to a third of its income year after year, borrowing from one credit card to pay off the other? Of course, the family has to cut back drastically and do without things they are accustomed to having.

At this rate we are headed toward financial collapse which would mean runaway inflation and an almost worthless dollar that will be brutal toward everyone with savings and fixed income through pensions and annuities. It happened to Germany twice in its history. To stabilize such an economy severe austerity measures (a big shock) would be necessary, leading to much higher taxes and deep cuts in government spending ? much less in defense, government programs, entitlements and health care for the poor, etc., low investment, business bankruptcies, and a deep recession if not a depression with massive unemployment and perhaps social chaos. Italy, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and especially Greece are hurting. Austerity programs in the latter, for example, have caused riots.

The current fiscal cliff pales in comparison to the big cliff. To avoid the latter, it is crucial that we formulate a long-range strategy, such as gradually increasing austerity or a long series of mini-shocks so that the economy can adjust. A quick fix band aid won?t cut it. It only postpones the day of reckoning and kicks the can of worms down the road to the next generation. In that way we?ll create bigger problems in the long run more difficult to solve ? perhaps a monster incapable of solution.

Cooperation. There?s no way that the people of the United States will ever be able to pay back the debt, but balancing the budget with a small surplus for the debt would stabilize the economy. It?s a huge task in our entitlement society to balance the budget, let alone have money left over to pay off the debt. To prevent our country from going over the precipice, the victors and the vanquished in this election must reach out to each other, compromise, and work together for the common good. If the ship of state sinks, Democrats and Republicans, all of us will go down with it.

To prevent the worst, everyone ? conservatives and liberals ? must work together wherever possible for the good of the country. As they should, liberals care about the poor, but expect Big Government to do it all. Responsible conservatives also care about the poor, but through the churches and faith-based charities, community organizations, state and local governments, individual and business social responsibility.

There?s still time to right the ship. Republicans and Democrats in Congress must stop the rigid gridlock and be objective and flexible. To solve our debt problem, a lot of sacrifice will be required. We?ll have to drastically cut spending and social programs. There are agonizing choices as to where to make cuts ? damned if we do; damned if we don?t. People with different interests will scream: ?not my benefits; not my program; not my tax deductions (as for charitable donations); not my tax credits?. There?s a limit to how much spending can be cut (i.e., discretionary spending); most is fixed (interest on the debt, Social Security, Medicare, pension payments, etc.). So, let?s face it ? the T word. We?ll have to pay more taxes. Both sides must yield to compromise.

With cut government programs for the poor, we can?t leave the needy hanging out to dry. We?ll have to do much more as individuals and businesses with our time, talent and treasure. We?ll have to give more of our time to the church and community in volunteer work. We?ll have to be more generous in donating to charities. Churches will have to do more. Community organizations will have to do more. Businesses will have to be more involved than ever with the community and give back more of their resources. After all, the citizens of the community are the life blood, support, and sustenance of every business as employees, customers, lenders through their bank savings, and as investors. Yes, it?s all about sacrifice for the common good ? all of us.

We can alleviate the debt crisis if we as individuals and as a nation make sacrifices now. The longer we wait, the worse it will get. Austerity when a financial collapse is imminent would be much, much worse.

Pray for the good of the country that these fears are not realized. We must right the ship of state before it goes over the falls. He won; we lost, but we can help him to become a successful president for the common good of the country. It?s not important who gets the credit.

Source: http://mydailytribune.com/bookmark/21265264

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Magloire's return helps spark College of Staten Island to 83-52 Tournament of Heroes win (photo gallery)

Welcome back, Bloochy Magloire.

It didn?t take long for the College of Staten Island?s high-scoring guard at make his presence felt Saturday night as the Dolphins rolled to a 83-52 victory over Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in the opening round of the 11th annual Tournament

of Heroes.

Magloire, a key component to last season?s 26-5 team that won two games in the NCAA Division III Tournament, hit his first shot of the season ? a 3-pointer from the top ? to give CSI a 18-15 lead six minutes into the game.

The Dolphins did not trail thereafter.

?He?s an explosive offensive player who makes a big difference,? said CSI coach Tony Petosa after watching his team extend its winning streak to six while improving to 6-1. ?No question he can really make teams worry.?

Magloire, a 6-foot-3 Susan Wagner HS product, finished with 17 points in his first action after missing the first six games due to an academic issue.

The visiting Trailblazers (3-7) had plenty of other matters to worry about, however. Junior point guard Jonathan Chadwick-Myers had a game-high 18 points, while 6-11 Dylan Bulger (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Matt Van Manen (11 points, 10 rebounds) contributed double-double numbers.

The Dolphins ran at will and sophomore forward Javon Cox was active with eight points, nine rebounds and a dominating seven blocked shots that tied a school single-game record.

?We don?t have as much depth or athleticism as we had last year,? said Petosa of the NCAA Sweet 16 qualifier, ?but we can be a very good defensive and rebounding team.?

CSI raced to a 43-28 halftime edge and used a 14-5 run to build a 57-33 lead just six minutes into the second half. The host team shot 51.7 percent from the floor while holding MCLA to 26.2 percent (17 of 65).

The Dolphins also owned a 48-39 rebounding advantage and blocked 12 shots, the second highest total in school history.

CSI advances to Sunday?s 3 p.m. championship game against Methodist (N.C.), an 86-71 opening-game winner over SUNY Institute of Technology.

The Dolphins have never won their own Tournament of Heroes title, although Petosa said that isn?t an obsession with his young squad.

?We want to get better every day,? he said. ?We want to win games and we want to become a better team.?

Now that Magloire?s back on board, those goals are looking better and better. ?

NOTES: Methodist?s 6-6 junior forward Bryan Hockaday, a Curtis HS product, had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the 2-7 Monarchs. ... Methodist, from Fayetteville, N.C., had six players score in double figures, led by Brandon Monk?s 18 points, while SUNYIT?s Desmian Greer led all scorers with 26 points ... SUNYIT (0-8) faces MCLA in Sunday?s 1 p.m. consolation game. ?

MCLA (52)

Cross 1-3 0-0 2, Shabazz 1-3 3-3 5, Jones 6-17 4-5 17, Viches 3-6 0-0 7, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, DelRosario 1-5 0-2 2, McGee 0-4 2-4 2, Maurice 1-7 0-0 3, Hunter 0-0 0-0 0, Barbosa 0-1 2-2 2, Bostick 2-6 0-4 5, Turner 2-7 0-0 6, Muller 0-4 1-2 1.

Totals: 17-65 12-22 52. ?

CSI (83)

Cox 3-5 2-6 8, Chadwick-Myers 6-10 2-3 18, King 2-5 3-4 7, Van Manen 4-6 3-6 11, Bulger 5-10 2-2 12, Magloire 6-15 2-2 17, Husslein 1-1 0-1 2, Rollock 1-1 1-2 3, Swanberg 1-2 0-0 3, Joseph 1-1 0-0 2, LaRocca 0-1 0-0 0, Fakorode 0-0 0-0 0, Tate 0-1 0-0 0, Braimah 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 30-58 15-26 83.

Halftime: 43-28, CSI.

Three-point goals: MCLA 6-24 (Jones 1-4, Viches 1-3, DelRosario 0-2, McGee 0-1, Maurice 1-4, Bostick 1-4, Turner 2-5, Muller 0-1). CSI 8-20 (Chadwick-Myers 4-7, King 0-2, Swanberg 1-2, Magloire 3-9). Rebounds: MCLA 39 (DelRosario 6); CSI 48 (Bulger 12, Van Manen 10, Cox 9). Assists: MCLA 7; CSI 20. Turnovers: MCLA 22, CSI 23. Total fouls: MCLA 21, CSI 19. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: Bostick, Muller. ?

Source: http://www.silive.com/colleges/index.ssf/2012/12/magloires_return_helps_spark_c.html

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Family watches home torn down after deadly blast | Fox 59 News ...

The final homes affected by the explosion in the Richmond Hill neighborhood were demolished, Friday, including the house which sits directly next to the epicenter of the blast.

The final homes affected by the explosion in the Richmond Hill neighborhood were demolished, Friday, including the house which sits directly next to the epicenter of the blast.

Glenn and Gloria Olvey have lived in their south side home for seven years. They and their two young daughters were home on the night their neighbor?s house exploded.

?It was a nightmare,? said Glenn Olvey.

On Friday, the Olvey?s returned to their destroyed house to watch crews demolish it.

?You can?t put into words seeing a house that you?ve live in for 7 years, gone,? said Glenn Olvey.

He shared his family?s accounts about the night of the blast, of which they only remember bits and pieces.

?(I) just stood up, walked around in the back of the love seat where my youngest one was sitting at,? he remember. ?The next thing you know, it was a warm rush of air. No real sound? it blew me into the kitchen.

?I remember flying through the air, hitting something, then having everything fall on top of me.?

He said in a matter of seconds, his entire family was trapped underneath dry wall and furniture.

?My wife had everything on top of her and we didn?t know if we were gonna get out.?

Miraculously, they did get out. A few neighbors ran into the home to pull the Olvey?s out and take them to paramedics. The family suffered cuts, bruises, scrapes and had to have stitches.

One of the hardest parts in the next weeks was finding out his neighbor, Moncey Shirley, her boyfriend Mark Leonard and his brother Bob Leonard are now charged with intentionally setting off the blast.

?I?ve always been brought up innocent until proven guilty. We?ll let the courts decide who?s responsible, what they?re responsible for.?

He said the thought of it, though, makes him angry and he wonders why anyone would do such a thing?

Now the family is focused on healing. Before they left the debris, Glenn Olvey walked up to the rubble and picked up a brick to keep. It was a piece of his family?s past as they now try to move forward.

?I hope it?s closure. And I hope that it?s not just closure for us, but for everybody else in this neighborhood.?

The Olvey?s aren?t sure yet if they will re-build in Richmond Hills, but they will keep the plot.

Source: http://fox59.com/2012/12/28/family-watches-home-torn-down-after-deadly-blast/

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Scott Steinberg: Change Management 101: How Businesses Win ...

Among the most frequently-cited topics in the business world today is strategic innovation. Leaders and managers often wonder how to deal with change management since the world is constantly in flux and everything is changing at a brisk pace ? including markets, best practices and customer expectations. The challenge: It often seems that as soon as we wrap our heads around one new idea, it changes shape, or something completely new comes down the creek and we?re left reeling. So how can we as management executives and leaders possibly stay ahead of the curve in a world, and commercial marketplace, that moves this quickly?

Fortunately, there?s no need for crystal balls, tarot cards, or cloying incense. The irony is that most any enterprise can see where trends are headed long before they come down the pike: The trick is rather to have the good sense to step aside so you don?t get run over by them. Start by implementing processes, platforms and people-centric solutions that allow you to stay abreast of rising trends and topics, then proactively develop, implement and test new methodologies, products and services to address these emerging areas of concern. From there, observe the responses prompted by these solutions and react, iterating accordingly as you go. That makes it a bit easier to adapt. Ultimately, it pays to be proactive: It?s wiser to stock a fire extinguisher on-hand before the roof catches flame then finding yourself having to sprint for one while the house is burning down around you.

While such observations may sound trite, the challenge is that successfully addressing and adapting to strategic innovation requires implementing a culture of participation ? not necessarily the type of culture built into most Industrial Age organizations. But it?s key to remember that executives, managers and front line employees alike seldom have trouble spotting emerging innovations. More often, troubles surround their ability to successfully communicate these opportunities and challenges to upper management, and obtain the organizational buy-in needed to quickly and concisely respond to these potential hazards. As a business leader, to succeed, it?s important to think of change management as an ongoing, not occasional, activity that should be ingrained in any enterprise from day one. Organization-wide, you need to open yourself up to the possibility of change instead of steeling yourself against it, and both flatten lines of communication and optimize leadership, decision-making and action-based hierarchy to allow for flexible and powerful responses to rising areas of concern.

Important to keep in mind: The market, and industry, is constantly moving around us. Many leaders harbor an inherent fear of or resistance to change, partially because we?re afraid that the move we make might not be the right one. However, if we want to succeed, it?s vital to note that freezing up is not an option ? if the path is constantly shifting in front of us, doing so is tantamount to hitting cruise control while steering headlong off the road. Think of running your business like playing a game of football: Yards will be gained, yards will be lost, and you?ll often get clobbered ? all that matters is moving the ball down field in the aggregate. Strategic innovation requires that you constantly be trying, failing and learning from mistakes ? market-leading products, services and organizations are seldom born fully matured. All develop over time, as further experience, information and insight is gained, allowing us to make better and more informed choices.

The key here: Decision makers need to make decisions, even if they don?t have perfect information. Even the most successful organizations and managers in the world are never 100 percent sure how outcomes will play out ? and sometimes, they?re even aware that first attempts may well be disastrous. As Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz famously stated, ?No good plan survives first contact with the enemy.? In other words, the second that you hit the battlefield, every variable can change. So to succeed, you need to be prepared to meet those potential changes, and respond in kind. To this extent, you need to experiment, prototype, gain hands-on learning and ? whether speaking from an organizational or personal level ? constantly be striving to acquire the experience, skills, contacts, insights and connections that will help diversify and strengthen your outlook as a result of each successive attempt. So long as you?re doing so strategically and in measured, cost-effective fashion with an eye towards eventual success, short-term failure can actually pave the way to success. In the same way that early prototype versions of high-tech products lead to polished end products, so too can nascent leadership strategies and approaches eventually grow into powerful ways of addressing developing topics and trends.

From a broad level, it pays to encourage employees to speak up and contribute, open channels of communication, and create incubators within any given organization. Make sure that leaders at all levels can communicate with one another and share ideas. Keep up with emerging trends, and once you have a better idea of what?s coming down the pike, you can prototype with new strategies, new products, and new processes designed to piggyback on or steer safely clear of them. And ultimately, keep your organization?s end goals in mind ? you can lose individual battles, but still win the war. Don?t be afraid of failures, as long as they?re measured, strategic, and cost-effective ? after all, said failures are the best way to learn. Apple?s iPod didn?t spring from the blueprints and off the assembly belt in one smooth motion: Countless experimentation and mistakes were involved before the company got the design right.

As a leader, give yourself permission to speak up, try and do, and give others within your organization permission to do so, too. Don?t allow employees to keep quiet, or keep their heads down ? encourage their contributions and insights. And when all?s said and done with an initiative, don?t worry if it isn?t perfect ? instead, ship your product or venture and see what happens, iterating as you go. Vital to recall: It pays to have back-up plans, keep experimenting new approaches, and leave yourself enough headroom to maneuver as new feedback and information is gained. You don?t need an industry prophet, fortune teller or high-powered management consultant to realize the secret: Constant motion and flexibility are how you stay ahead of the curve.

Follow Scott Steinberg on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/AKeynoteSpeaker

Source: http://www.redliontrader.com/streamingnews/scott-steinberg-change-management-101-how-businesses-win-with-innovation/

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Washington State men beat Idaho State 74-39 - Sat, 29 Dec 2012 PST

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Washington State?Cougars
(Full-size photo)

KENNEWICK ? This trip to the Tri-Cities felt very business-like for the Washington State men?s basketball team.

Get in, win, get out. And get on with a stretch of games that figure to be much more difficult than the one the Cougars played Saturday afternoon at the frigid Toyota Center.

An overmatched Idaho State team offered WSU little resistance in its nonconference finale, as the Cougars led by 20 points at halftime and rolled to a 74-39 win before 4,590 mostly crimson supporters in a home-away-from-home game.

WSU finishes its nonleague schedule with a 9-4 record, three of those losses coming by two or fewer points. The Cougars have yet to defeat a team from a BCS conference ? they?ve played just two ? but coach Ken Bone said he?s relatively pleased with his team?s progress since the start of the season.

?If I were to put a letter grade on it, I would say a B-plus,? Bone said. ?It?s not exactly where we want to be, but I think we?ve made great strides in certain areas that could really help us out in Pac-12 play.?

One of those areas, Bone said, is the acclimation of senior Mike Ladd to the point guard position. Ladd steadied WSU during a sloppy start on Saturday, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the game?s first 12 minutes.

?Mike again stepped up and provided what we needed,? Bone said. ?It?s being a point guard and running the show, but at the same time tonight it was providing points at a time we had a hard time getting points.?

Another facet of WSU?s game that pleases Bone: the Cougars? ability to find shots for senior forward and leading scorer Brock Motum, who scored 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting against ISU?s unconventional 1-3-1 zone defense.

?We know our strengths,? said sophomore guard DaVonte Lacy, who scored 16 points. ?We go to Brock and we go to whoever?s on fire. Mike played well today so we went to him. I think we know our strengths, we know where our bread is buttered so that?s what we?re going to continue to get better at.?

The butter went on smooth enough yesterday. WSU was simply the superior team, and enjoyed overwhelming margins in a number of statistical categories ? field-goal percentage (49.0 to 37.2), second-chance points (20-0) and, perhaps most important to Bone and the Cougars, rebounding (43-16 overall and 15-2 on the offensive glass).

?Rebounding is a big key,? said Ladd, who also led the team with nine rebounds. ?Defensive rebounding, blocking out, finding guys, and (also) on the offensive end.?

They did all of that against the Bengals (1-10). No ISU player had more than three rebounds, and the game was won in the first half when WSU allowed ISU to shoot just 6 for 20 from the field. That fueled a 34-14 halftime lead.

?We?ve got to try to put two halves together every game,? Motum said. ?If we played defense the same way we did tonight in the first half in the second half, they?d have had 28 for the game and that?d have been outstanding.?

That?s where WSU has been most consistent. Entering the weekend, the Cougars led the Pac-12 in scoring defense at 56.5 points per game, and ranked second in field-goal percentage defense at 37.3.

Idaho State might have hung around longer than it did if it had been able to make some shots. The Bengals actually led, 8-6, with 10:51 remaining in the first half. But the Cougars reeled off a 10-0 run, ISU made just three field goals the rest of the half and WSU won for the seventh time in eight games.

Pac-12 play begins Jan. 5 with a game in Pullman against Washington.

?We want to continue our momentum,? Lacy said. ?I don?t think we?ve lost since the Gonzaga game, so we want to keep that win streak alive going into next?week.?

Source: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/dec/29/washington-state-men-beat-idaho-state-74-39/

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Alt-week 12.29.12: the speed of gravity, disease-smelling dogs and catching asteroids

Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.

2012, we salute you. All in all, you've been a pretty good year. There's been highs, lows, and lots of inbetweens. Above all else, though, you've been generous in the alternative arena. Whether it's the discovery of certain particles, or activities in space, 2012 had it covered. What better way to finish it off, then, with a disease smelling dog, a plan to catch an asteroid and a growable hangover cure. This is alt-week.

Continue reading Alt-week 12.29.12: the speed of gravity, disease-smelling dogs and catching asteroids

Filed under: Science, Alt

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/29/alt-week-12-29-12-the-speed-of-gravity-disease-smelling-dogs/

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Texas looks to build on Alamo Bowl win

SAN ANTONIO -- In the end the balloons fell from the sky and swirled around the jubilant, and yes relieved, Texas players and coaches.

A tumultuous season on and off the field was over with an ending that, while not to script, featured enough feel-good moments that it was clear, at least on this day, nobody would burst their bubble.

And now, following a 31-27 win over No. 13 Oregon State (9-4) in front of 65,277 fans at the Valero Alamo Bowl Saturday, the wonder is if that bubble in on the rise.

That's long been the claim of Texas coach Mack Brown. This youth-laden team was one built for the future, Brown continually contended in the face of increasing criticism. The future started 15 minutes early for Texas. The No. 23 Longhorns (9-4), an underdog who played the part to Tony-worthy accolades for three quarters, showed fourth-quarter mettle and moxie rarely seen from a program whose heartbeat had been faint for several seasons.

Finally there was a team coming together. For three years and three quarters there were questions if this collection of players, coaches and the person at the top was right for Texas football. One win won't end those questions. It will quiet them if only because of the way that win came about. Texas had not won after trailing by 10 points all season. The Longhorns trailed 27-17 after David Ash threw an ill-timed interception in the third. That's when Texas folds, Bevo shrugs and the Longhorns start talking about their next recruiting class.

Not this time. The words they had thrown around -- commitment, earn the right, swagger, never quit -- became tangible feelings and were, for the first time, manifested on the field in that fourth quarter.

Read the complete story here.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/62075/texas-looks-to-build-on-alamo-bowl-win

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?MS At Home? Launches Our Third Video - Multiple Sclerosis Blog

December 28, 2012

?MS At Home? Launches Our Third Video

As many of you have seen the first in our the video series we named ?MS At Home? ? and the response has been quite popular ? I wanted to make sure you were all aware of the continuing series.

The third video in the multiple sclerosis series of 6 short segments posted yesterday and is already stirring conversations. (if you missed the second MS video in the series that will play right after the current offering.

In this interview with Sharon Dodge and Bobbie Severson, we talk about the family connection with MS. Mrs. Dodge was diagnosed with MS just 8 years after her father lost his battle with a particularly aggressive form of the disease. Now, she fights the good fight for herself and her three children; hoping they never hear the words ?You have MS.?

As we head into the New Year?s weekend, I thought that her words of hope and inspiration were a proper way to end 2012 and look forward to 1212.

Nurse Practitioner, Bobbie Severson from the Swedish MS Center gives some very interesting figures as to the propensity of MS in families if one member has MS (we?re talking a jump from 1:750 to 1:40~!

Have a look, leave a comment on our video or, you can comment here as you always do.

Wishing you and your family the best of health.

Cheers

Trevis

You can also follow me via our Life With MS Facebook page, on Twitter, and in our group on MS Connection.org. Also, check out our bi-monthly MS blog for the United Kingdom, look for our very special new monthly blog for the National MS Society, and don?t forget to check out TrevisLGleason.com.

Source: http://www.everydayhealth.com/blog/trevis-life-with-multiple-sclerosis-ms/ms-at-home-launches-our-third-video/

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Slate?s 2012 Longreads

??The Wedding: Will and Erwynn met at church and fell in love. But they had a big problem??don?t ask, don?t tell.? The unlikely story of the first gay military union,? by Katherine Goldstein.

Photo by Jeff Sheng.

We?ve gathered the best of Slate?s 2012 longreads below, on everything from the crisis in American walking to the rise and fall of Prog rock. Perfect for long flights and traffic-clogged car rides!

?Where?s _why? What happened when one of the world?s most unusual, and beloved, computer programmers disappeared,? by Annie Lowrey. As Lowrey challenges herself to learn computer programming, she stumbles onto the case of a ?Ruby on Rails,? a coding whiz who mysteriously vanished in 2009.

?The Chickens and the Bulls: The rise and incredible fall of a vicious extortion ring that preyed on prominent gay men in the 1960s,? by William McGowan. When the FBI and the NYPD uncovered a network of blackmailers shaking down gay targets in 1965, they did something unexpected. Rather than shrugging, or arresting the victims, they worked their way into the ring and broke it open, using, for the first time, the resources of law enforcement to defend the rights of persecuted gay men.

?The Crisis in American Walking: How we got off the pedestrian path,? by Tom Vanderbilt. What strolls on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening? Not man, anymore, says Vanderbilt, digging into the strange and unsettling decline of on-foot ambulation in the United States. His four-part series explores reasons for the drop-off, pedestrian walking habits, urban ?walkability? scores, and strategies for getting America back to bipedalism.

?The Wedding: Will and Erwynn met at church and fell in love. But they had a big problem??don?t ask, don?t tell.? The unlikely story of the first gay military union,? by Katherine Goldstein. Goldstein follows two men in the armed forces down the winding road to marriage, just nine months after the repeal of the ban on openly gay soldiers.

?Georgia?s Hunger Games: Fewer than 4,000 adults in the southern state receive welfare, even as poverty is soaring. How Georgia declared war on its poorest citizens?leaving them to fight for themselves,? by Neil deMause. Rising poverty rates, plunging welfare rolls, and a state government that sees financial aid as a gladiatorial contest: The dystopian reality in Georgia could have risen from the pages of a Suzanne Collins novel. Combining grim statistics and face-to-face conversations with poor Americans, deMause argues for a policy overhaul. ?

?The Conversion: How, when, and why Mitt Romney changed his mind on abortion,? by William Saletan. Saletan follows the candidate?s fluctuating attitude on abortion from pro-choice to pro-life?and explains the significance of the shift.

?Prog Spring: The brief rise and inevitable fall of the world?s most hated pop music,? by David Weigel. Weigel explores the overstuffed, visionary madness of progressive (?prog?) rock.

?How To Measure for a President,? by John Dickerson. What does it take to be an effective commander (and everything else)-in-chief? Dickerson proposes a checklist of traits?note the absence of leadership?we should look for whenever we evaluate candidates for the highest office in the land.

?The Case of the Mormon Historian: What happened when Michael Quinn challenged the history of the church he loved,? by David Haglund. Faith and intellectual inquiry don?t always go hand-in-hand, especially when that (Mormon) hand wants to chronicle the ?problem areas? of the LDS past. In his study of historian Michael Quinn, Haglund paints a moving portrait of a man torn between loyalty to his church and hunger for the truth. ??

?Free To Be: Forty years ago this fall, a bunch of feminists released an album. They wanted to change ? everything,? by Dan Kois. In 1972, one record revolutionized the way a generation of kids?and their parents?thought about gender. Interlacing the history of Free To Be You and Me with anecdotes from his own life as a father, Kois explains why the oddball hippie album still matters in 2012.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=bdbc397155b7e1317b6fe4409d2580c1

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Maine same-sex couples marry in first hours of law

AAA??Dec. 29, 2012?3:09 AM ET
Maine same-sex couples marry in first hours of law
By DAVID SHARP??By DAVID SHARP

Michael Snell, left, and Steven Bridges speak to a reporter, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, outside City Hall before obtaining a marriage license under the state's new law in Portland, Maine. Bridges and Snell held a commitment ceremony six years ago but made marriage official under state law with a simple ceremony early Saturday as Maine's new law permitting same-sex marriage took effect at the stroke of midnight. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Michael Snell, left, and Steven Bridges speak to a reporter, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, outside City Hall before obtaining a marriage license under the state's new law in Portland, Maine. Bridges and Snell held a commitment ceremony six years ago but made marriage official under state law with a simple ceremony early Saturday as Maine's new law permitting same-sex marriage took effect at the stroke of midnight. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Steven Bridges, left, receives a wedding ring from Michael Snell, early Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, at City Hall in Portland, Maine. Same-sex couples in Maine are now legally allowed to marry under a new law that went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Donna Galluzzo, left, and Lisa Gorney leave the City Clerk's office after obtaining their marriage license, early Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, at City Hall in Portland, Maine. Same-sex couples in Maine are now legally permitted to marry under a new law that went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A crowd cheers at 12:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, as the first same-sex couple to be legally married in Maine departs City Hall in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Steven Bridges, left, and Michael Snell arrive at City Hall in Portland, Maine, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, where they plan to obtain a marriage license. Same-sex couples in Maine will be allowed to marry as a new law goes into effect at 12:01 AM Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) ? Maine's gay marriage law has taken effect, and some couples took advantage of it right away.

The law went into effect Saturday a minute after midnight, and some cities and towns held special hours to issue marriage licenses, with some granted in the wee hours of the day.

Portland, the largest city in the state, opened at midnight to accommodate couples who didn't want to wait to get married.

Other communities including Bangor, Brunswick and Augusta were holding special Saturday hours.

Voters approved gay marriage in November, making Maine and two other states the first to do so by popular vote. The law already is in effect in Washington state; Maryland's takes effect Tuesday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-29-Gay%20Marriage-Maine/id-9473273312f044ef88c042c17536e0f5

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Publishing Your eZine the Cons | My life - ooremicy's posterous

As with any other types of businesses, publishing your own online newsletter a.k.a. eZine has its share of drawbacks, in spite of the several benefits it offer.

The purpose of this article is not to scare you away with the disadvantages of publishing your own eZine, as the benefits are often more attractive. However, I will also show you how you can easily tackle the cons.

One obvious challenge most beginning eZine publishers face is the creation of eZine content. Creating your own content can be tiresome, especially if you are not a gifted writer and that you run out of ideas every so often that your publishing schedule is threatening you.

A way of taking care of this problem is to create your content in advance. You can compile 30 days worth of content in one day, for example. If you are not blessed with writing skills, you can broker the writing task to capable freelance writers which you can find at places such as http://www.elance.com/ or http://www.rentacoder.com/. While you need to pay for such services, you are at liberty to take the credit for written articles.

Alternatively, you can republish articles from article directories such as http://ezinearticles.com/. This is a free method you can use in making content, provided you include the resource box of the original author and that the article has republishing rights conveyed.

In conclusion, you can easily tackle the content creation challenge using the mentioned methods that do not require writing on your part, free or paid.

[Insert Your Resource Box Here]

(Words: 253)

This entry was posted in Internet Marketing on December 25, 2012 by SWELEX.

Source: http://blog.swelex.com/teamangel/publishing-your-ezine-the-cons.html

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Source: http://ooremicy.posterous.com/publishing-your-ezine-the-cons-my-life

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Source: http://nenunokbi.posterous.com/publishing-your-ezine-the-cons-my-life-ooremi

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HP says gov't investigating troubled Autonomy unit

NEW YORK (AP) ? Autonomy, the British business software company now owned by Hewlett-Packard Co., is facing a Justice Department investigation over improper accounting under previous management, according to HP.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Thursday, HP said Justice officials had informed the company on Nov. 21 that they were opening an investigation into the allegations, which HP said in November that it had uncovered after a senior Autonomy executive came forward.

HP also reiterated that it provided information to the SEC and the U.K. Serious Fraud Office related to "accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and misrepresentations at Autonomy." HP said it was cooperating with all three government agencies.

Justice officials had no comment.

HP, which bought Autonomy for $10 billion in 2011, took an $8.8 billion charge to reflect that the U.K. company isn't worth what it paid. HP says about $5 billion of that charge stemmed from improper accounting. HP also faces shareholders lawsuits related to the troubles at Autonomy.

Autonomy founder and former CEO Mike Lynch has said the allegations are false. He responded in a statement Thursday that HP had yet to provide a detailed calculation of that $5 billion or provide any explanation of the allegations. The statement was posted online at Forbes magazine's website.

The Autonomy mess has deepened a steep decline in HP's stock price, which has cut the Palo Alto, Calif., company's market value by nearly half this year. HP had already been struggling because its personal computer and printer businesses have been faltering as more people buy smartphones and tablet computers.

As a result of its alleged accounting practices, Autonomy appeared to be more profitable than it was and seemed to be growing its core software business faster than was actually the case. HP has said the moves were apparently designed to groom the company for an acquisition.

Once HP bought the company, Autonomy's reported revenue growth and profit margin quickly declined. Lynch continued to run the company as part of HP, but HP CEO Meg Whitman forced him out on May 23 because it was not living up to expectations. With Lynch gone, according to Whitman, a senior Autonomy executive volunteered information about the alleged accounting irregularities, prompting an internal investigation.

Among other things, Autonomy makes search engines that help companies find vital information stored across computer networks. Acquiring it was part of an attempt by HP to strengthen its portfolio of high-value products and services for corporations and government agencies.

HP's stock fell 27 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $13.77 in midday trading Friday.

WEAU-TV

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-12-28-Hewlett-Packard-Autonomy/id-ae57ac0d55974e8eba2f1aa0832a362f

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How To Properly Use Your Credit Card - Options Finance

People need all the help they can get these days when it comes to managing finances. These cards can be beneficial to consumers, but they sometimes also make a mess of one?s financial situation. Read the following tips to learn how to manage credit responsibly and what to avoid.

Individuals under 18 can rarely obtain a credit card by themselves. You might gain access to a card through an adult?s joint account. Some stores cater to teens but big companies don?t.

Interest Rate

Be careful about selecting a card with a zero percent interest rate. This can sometimes encourage individuals to overspend. Once the zero-interest period runs out, people could wind up having a large balance, with a high interest rate, that they struggle to pay off.

Know whether the payment due date on your credit card is the actual due date or a suggested one. Many times, credit card companies will have suggested due dates that can be a couple weeks before a true due date. If you have a suggested due date, find out what your actual due date is, too. This gives you a better idea of how long you have to make your payment if you are in a pinch.

When you buy with a credit card on the Internet, keep copies of your receipt. Keep this receipt so that when your monthly bill arrives, you can see that you were charged exactly the same amount as on the receipt. If it differs, file a dispute of charges with the company as soon as possible. This smart technique will serve you well and ensure that you never get overcharged for your purchases.

Fully pay off your monthly credit card charges when you receive the bill. Unless you have % interest, you will get a finance charge put on your bill when it is not paid for completely. These finance charges can make it exceptionally difficult to dig yourself out of debt, especially if you are only making the minimum payments required.

The first place you should look to for a credit card is your bank, especially if you have been doing business with them for years. They have your personal information in their files and can approve you more easily. You could also try a credit union in your area.

Credit Card Account

Don?t open a credit card account if you don?t have enough self-discipline to use the card responsibly. Some people just can?t help spending beyond their means. These individuals should not have credit cards. When they open up a credit card account, they are prone to have a terrible financial future.

Negotiate interest rates with your credit card company. A lot of the time these credit card companies will help you to lower your interest rate if you just request it. You can probably get a low APR if you have good credit and have been making all of your payments on a timely manner.

Keep your bank cards to a minimum. Keeping a large number of cards on hand serves to complicate your financial life. Also, you greatly increase the chances of getting yourself into debt.

Consider sticking with a large bank that issues cards, as they sometimes offer the best options. Their cards may come with more perks, and larger, well-established companies may have better business practices. when taking out a credit card that you plan to use a lot, go with one of the major companies. After all you are risking your credit score.

Always adhere to a budget when it comes to using charge cards. You should have a budget for your income, so include your credit in your budget. Try not to think of bank cards as a source of extra money. Set aside a budgeted amount that you are allowed to spend, and never allow yourself to put more than that on your cards. Don?t go over that amount, and pay the balance off every month.

Again, consumers often have no support as they work out how to use their credit cards properly; as a result, they often end up paying unnecessarily high interest on their purchases. Ideally, you have picked up some handy spending advice from this article and have a better idea about how to use your charge cards in a safe and responsible manner.

It?s essential that you comprehend everything you can about financial markets today. Therefore, it makes sense to conduct some research independently and keep this piece on financial markets today. When you get this knowledge, you?ll have no issues in the future.

Source: http://www.optionstradinganalysis.com/2012/12/28/how-to-properly-use-your-credit-card/

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Chicago PMI Employment Index - Business Insider

Earlier this morning, we learned that the Chicago PMI climbed to 51.6 in December.? This was slightly ahead of economists expectations.

The gain was largely driven by a jump in the new orders sub-index.

However, the employment index collapsed to a three-year low.

Should we be worried?

TD Securities' Eric Green thinks we should take a deep breath and think about what happened.

"That may look worse than it really is, however," he writes. "The drop in employment reflects the prior weakness in new orders in November and to a lesser degree owing to the fiscal cliff which breeds well understood uncertainty."

Indeed, the exact opposite of what happened in this month's employment index could happen in an upcoming month.

"With the bounce back in new orders, employment will also bounce back, and ultimately everything flows from new orders which is now comfortably back above its 6m average of 50.8," writes Green. "Fade the weakness in employment and treat the release in much the same way as the headline would suggest which is better, not worse."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chicago-pmi-employment-index-2012-12

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Time runs short to avert longshoremen's strike

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2012 file photo, a truck driver watches as a freight container, right, is lowered onto a tractor trailer by a container crane at the Port of Boston in Boston. The crane and a reach stacker, left, are operated by longshoremen at the port. The longshoremen's union may strike if they are unable to reach an agreement on their contract, which expires Dec. 29, 2012. A walkout by dock workers represented by the International Longshoremen?s Association would bring commerce to a near halt at ports from Boston to Houston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2012 file photo, a truck driver watches as a freight container, right, is lowered onto a tractor trailer by a container crane at the Port of Boston in Boston. The crane and a reach stacker, left, are operated by longshoremen at the port. The longshoremen's union may strike if they are unable to reach an agreement on their contract, which expires Dec. 29, 2012. A walkout by dock workers represented by the International Longshoremen?s Association would bring commerce to a near halt at ports from Boston to Houston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? In just a few days, a walkout by thousands of dock workers could bring commerce to a near standstill at every major port from Boston to Houston, potentially delivering a big blow to retailers and manufacturers still struggling to find their footing in a weak economy.

More than 14,000 longshoremen are threating to go on strike Sunday ? a wide-ranging work stoppage that would immediately close cargo ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico to container ships.

The 15 ports involved in the labor dispute move more than 100 million tons of goods each year, or about 40 percent of the nation's containerized cargo traffic. Losing them to a shutdown, even for a few days, could cost the economy billions of dollars.

"If the port shuts down, nothing moves in or out," said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. And when the workers do return, "it's going to take time to clear out that backlog, and we don't know how long that it's going to take."

Shipments of such varied products as flat-screen TVs, sneakers and snow shovels would either sit idle at sea or get rerouted, at great time and expense. U.S. factories also rely on container ships for parts and raw materials, meaning supply lines for all sorts of products could be squeezed.

Joseph Ahlstrom, a professor at the State University of New York's Maritime College and a former cargo ship captain, called container ships the "lifeblood of the country."

"We don't fly in a lot of products. It's just too expensive," Ahlstrom said. "The bulk of the products we import come in inside containers."

The master contract between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, a group representing shipping lines, terminal operators and port associations, expired in September. The two sides agreed to extend it once already, for 90 days, but they have so far balked at extending it again when it expires at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

The union said its members would agree to an extension only if the Maritime Alliance dropped a proposal to freeze the royalties workers get for every container they unload. The Alliance has argued that the longshoremen, who it said earn an average $124,138 per year in wages and benefits, are compensated well enough already.

Federal mediators have been trying to push negotiations along, but there has been no word from either side on the progress of the talks since Dec. 24. As recently as Dec. 19, the president of the longshoremen, Harold Daggett, said the talks weren't going well and that a strike was expected.

The work stoppage would not be absolute. Longshoremen would continue to handle military cargo, mail, passenger ships, non-containerized items like automobiles, and perishable commodities, like fresh food.

Yet the economic damage could still be severe.

"The global economy moves by water, and shutting down container ports along the East and Gulf coasts while the national economy remains fragile benefits no one," Deborah Hadden, acting port director at Massport, the public agency that oversees shipping terminals in Boston. It is not a part of the contract dispute.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said "the livelihood of thousands of Florida families lies in the balance."

The White House weighed in, too, urging dockworkers and shipping companies Thursday to reach agreement "as quickly as possible" on a contract extension. Obama spokesman Matt Lehrich said the administration is monitoring the situation closely.

If it happens, the walkout could be the biggest national port disruption since 2002, when unionized dockworkers were locked out of 29 West Coast ports for 10 days because of a contract dispute.

The ports only reopened after President George W. Bush, invoking powers given to him by the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, ordered an 80-day cooling-off period. Some economists estimated that each day of that lockout cost the U.S. economy $1 billion. It took months for the retail supply chain to fully recover.

An East Coast port freeze would have its biggest impact at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where 3,250 longshoremen handled 32.3 million tons of cargo in 2010. The authority is not a party to the contract dispute.

Other major ports affected would include Savannah, Ga., which handled 18 million tons, and Houston and Hampton Roads, Va., which each handled more than 12.5 million tons.

Thousands of other jobs would be directly affected by the shutdown. Truck drivers might not have any cargo to transport, tug boat captains no ships to guide and freight train operators nothing to haul.

Simultaneously, another labor dispute involving dock workers was playing out on the West Coast.

Longshoremen at several Pacific Northwest grain terminals worked Thursday under contract terms they soundly rejected last weekend. The owners implemented the terms after declaring talks at an impasse. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union has yet to announce its next move.

Workplace rules, not salary and benefits, have been the obstacle to a new deal.

The dispute involves terminals in Portland, Ore., Vancouver, Wash., and Seattle, where longshoremen have been working without an agreement since the last contract expired Sept. 30.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas in Washington and Tamara Lush in Tampa, Fla., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-27-Longshoremen-Contract/id-6fd9a081ed7d4fe08769bcb207eef154

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UNC research uncovers new insight into cell development and cancer

Public release date: 27-Dec-2012
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Contact: William Davis
william_davis@med.unc.edu
919-966-5906 x254
University of North Carolina Health Care

CHAPEL HILL - Long-standing research efforts have been focused on understanding how stem cells, cells capable of transforming into any type of cell in the body, are capable of being programmed down a defined path to contribute to the development of a specific organ like a heart, lung, or kidney. Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has shed new light on how epigenetic signals may function together to determine the ultimate fate of a stem cell.

The study, published December 27, 2012 by the journal Molecular Cell, implicates a unique class of proteins called polycomb-like proteins, or PCL's, as bridging molecules between the "on" and "off" state of a gene. While all of these specialized types of cells share the same genetic information encoded in our DNA, it is becoming increasingly clear that information outside the genome, referred to as epigenetics, plays a central role in orchestrating the reprogramming of a stem cell down a defined path.

Although it is understood that epigenetics is responsible for turning genes "on" and "off" at defined times during cellular development, the precise mechanisms controlling this delicate process are less well understood.

"This finding has important implications for both stem cell biology and cancer development, as the same regulatory circuits controlled by PCL's in stem cells are often misregulated in tumors," said Dr. Greg Wang, senior author of the study and Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study, led by postdoctoral research fellows Drs. Ling Cai and Rui Lu in the Wang lab, and Dr. Scott Rothbart, a Lineberger postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Brian Strahl, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, identified that PCL's interact with an epigenetic signal associated with genes that are turned on to recruit a group of proteins called the PRC2 complex which then turn genes off.

"In stem cells, the PRC2 complex turns genes off that would otherwise promote reprogramming into specialized cells of organs like the heart or lungs," said Wang.

In addition to its fundamental role in cellular development, elevated levels of PRC2 have been found in cancers of the prostate, breast, lung, and blood, and pharmaceutical companies are already developing drugs to target PRC2. Wang and colleagues determined that the same mechanisms controlling PRC2 function in stem cells also applies in human cancers.

"The identification of a specific PCL in controlling PRC2 in cancer cells suggests we may be able to develop drugs targeting this PCL to regulate PRC2 function in a more controlled manner that may maintain PRC2 function in stem cells while inhibiting it in the tumor," said Wang.

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This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health grants (GM085394 and GM068088), the Department of Defense, the V Foundation for Cancer Research, and the University Cancer Research Fund, and was performed in collaboration with scientists at the University of California at Riverside, Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Study co-authors from UNC also included Bowen Xu, a student in the Wang Lab, and Ashutosh Tripathy, a Research Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

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Public release date: 27-Dec-2012
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Contact: William Davis
william_davis@med.unc.edu
919-966-5906 x254
University of North Carolina Health Care

CHAPEL HILL - Long-standing research efforts have been focused on understanding how stem cells, cells capable of transforming into any type of cell in the body, are capable of being programmed down a defined path to contribute to the development of a specific organ like a heart, lung, or kidney. Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has shed new light on how epigenetic signals may function together to determine the ultimate fate of a stem cell.

The study, published December 27, 2012 by the journal Molecular Cell, implicates a unique class of proteins called polycomb-like proteins, or PCL's, as bridging molecules between the "on" and "off" state of a gene. While all of these specialized types of cells share the same genetic information encoded in our DNA, it is becoming increasingly clear that information outside the genome, referred to as epigenetics, plays a central role in orchestrating the reprogramming of a stem cell down a defined path.

Although it is understood that epigenetics is responsible for turning genes "on" and "off" at defined times during cellular development, the precise mechanisms controlling this delicate process are less well understood.

"This finding has important implications for both stem cell biology and cancer development, as the same regulatory circuits controlled by PCL's in stem cells are often misregulated in tumors," said Dr. Greg Wang, senior author of the study and Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study, led by postdoctoral research fellows Drs. Ling Cai and Rui Lu in the Wang lab, and Dr. Scott Rothbart, a Lineberger postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Brian Strahl, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, identified that PCL's interact with an epigenetic signal associated with genes that are turned on to recruit a group of proteins called the PRC2 complex which then turn genes off.

"In stem cells, the PRC2 complex turns genes off that would otherwise promote reprogramming into specialized cells of organs like the heart or lungs," said Wang.

In addition to its fundamental role in cellular development, elevated levels of PRC2 have been found in cancers of the prostate, breast, lung, and blood, and pharmaceutical companies are already developing drugs to target PRC2. Wang and colleagues determined that the same mechanisms controlling PRC2 function in stem cells also applies in human cancers.

"The identification of a specific PCL in controlling PRC2 in cancer cells suggests we may be able to develop drugs targeting this PCL to regulate PRC2 function in a more controlled manner that may maintain PRC2 function in stem cells while inhibiting it in the tumor," said Wang.

###

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health grants (GM085394 and GM068088), the Department of Defense, the V Foundation for Cancer Research, and the University Cancer Research Fund, and was performed in collaboration with scientists at the University of California at Riverside, Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Study co-authors from UNC also included Bowen Xu, a student in the Wang Lab, and Ashutosh Tripathy, a Research Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/uonc-uru121912.php

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