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Sunday, September 30, 2012
York College men's soccer wins in 2OT against Salisbury
Chris Weaver's goal lifted the Spartans past CAC rival Salisbury, 2-1.
York, PA -Chris Weaver scored in the second overtime to lift the York College men's soccer team over conference rival Salisbury, 2-1.
The Sea Gulls scored the first goal of the match early on as Matt Greene's header beat York goalie Jesse Derksen.
With time slowly running out, the Spartans finally got on the board as Eli Bjerk scored the equalizer to send the game to overtime. Bjerk's goal came only minutes after Derksen saved a Salisbury penalty kick.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first overtime period, so a second was needed to try and decide the winner. Weaver notched the game-winner in dramatic fashion as he was able to beat one defender and then put the ball by Salisbury keeper John Vnenchak.
York College improved to 8-2-1 overall on the season. The Spartans hold a 2-0 record in CAC play.
??
YORK 2, SALISBURY 1 (2OT)
Salisbury -- 1???0???0???0 -- 1
York -- 0???1???0???1 -- 2
???First Half --1. Sal, Matt Greene.
???Second Half --2. York, Eli Bjerk.
???Second Overtime -- 3. York, Chris Weaver.
???Shots On Goal --Salisbury 6; York 8.
???Corners --Salisbury 11; York 5.
???Goalies --Salisbury, John Vnenchak (4 saves); York, Jesse Derksen (6 saves).
??
College roundup
Field hockey
???---?Salisbury 3, York 1: The Spartans fell to 5-4 on the season at the hands of Salisbury University.
Holly Martin scored for York to put the Spartans up 1-0 early in the game. Salisbury answered on a Mallory Elliott goal to tie the game at 1-1 going into the half.
In the second half, Bernice Jere and Summer Washburn scored for the Sea Gulls to extend their lead to 3-1.
For the Spartans, Abby Baker recorded nine saves in her first career game.
??
SALISBURY 3, YORK 1
Salisbury -- 1???2 -- 3
York -- 1???0 -- 1
???First Half -- 1. York, Holly Martin (Kailey Brewer); 2. Sal, Mallory Elliott.
???Second Half -- 3. Sal, Bernice Jere; 4. Sal, Summer Washburn.
???Shots On Goal -- Salisbury 16; York 9.
???Corners -- Salisbury 6; York 2.
???Goalies -- Salisbury, Rachel Clewer (1 save); York, Abby Baker (9 saves).
Source: http://www.ydr.com/sports/ci_21664591/york-college-mens-soccer-wins-2ot-against-salisbury?source=rss
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Russia reveals shiny state secret: It's awash in diamonds
'Trillions of carats' lie below a 35-million-year-old, 62-mile-diameter asteroid crater in eastern Siberia known as Popigai Astroblem. The Russians have known about the site since the 1970s.
A giant Russian national flag is on display near the Kremlin in central Moscow March 6.
Thomas Peter/REUTERS
EnlargeRussia has just declassified news that will shake world gem markets to their core: the discovery of a vast new diamond field containing "trillions of carats," enough to supply global markets for another 3,000 years.
Skip to next paragraph Fred WeirCorrespondent
Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998.?
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The Soviets discovered the bonanza back in the 1970s beneath a 35-million-year-old, 62-mile diameter asteroid crater in eastern Siberia known as Popigai Astroblem.
They decided to keep it secret, and not to exploit it, apparently because the USSR's huge diamond operations at Mirny, in Yakutia, were already producing immense profits in what was then a tightly controlled world market.
The Soviets were also producing a range of artificial diamonds for industry, into which they had invested heavily.
The veil of secrecy was finally lifted over the weekend, and Moscow permitted scientists from the nearby Novosibirsk Institute of Geology and Mineralogy to talk about it with Russian journalists.
According to the official news agency, ITAR-Tass, the diamonds at Popigai are "twice as hard" as the usual gemstones, making them ideal for industrial and scientific uses.
The institute's director, Nikolai Pokhilenko, told the agency that news of what's in the new field could be enough to "overturn" global diamond markets.
"The resources of superhard diamonds contained in rocks of the Popigai crypto-explosion structure are, by a factor of 10, bigger than the world's all known reserves," Mr. Pokhilenko said. "We are speaking about trillions of carats. By comparison, present-day known reserves in Yakutia are estimated at 1 billion carats."
The type of stones at Popigai are known as "impact diamonds," which theoretically result when something like a meteor plows into a graphite deposit at high velocity. The Russians say most such diamonds found in the past have? been "space diamonds" of extraterrestrial origin found in meteor craters. [Editor's note: The original version misstated the type of deposit needed to create impact diamonds.]
They claim the Popigai site is unique in the world, thus making Russia the monopoly proprietor of a resource that's likely to become increasingly important in high-precision scientific and industrial processes.
"The value of impact diamonds is added by their unusual abrasive features and large grain size," Pokhilenko told Tass. "This expands significantly the scope of their industrial use and makes them more valuable for industrial purposes."
Russian scientists say the news is likely to change the shape of global diamond markets, although the main customers for the super-hard gems will probably be big corporations and scientific institutes.
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More women are now heart specialists: India?s first woman cardiologist
Friday, September 28, 2012
New Delhi: At 93, she still does the rounds of the hospital she founded. Dr S Padmavati, India?s first woman cardiologist, says cardiology is a very demanding field that was keeping women away, but things are changing.
Dr S Padmavati
Dr Padmavati, chief consultant in cardiology at the National Heart Institute, said: ?There is no routine, no fixed hours? it is a very demanding field? so not many women choose to become cardiologists.
?But things are changing now, many women are coming forward as heart specialists,? Dr Padmavati told IANS in an interview.
According to 2010 figures from the American College of Cardiology, ?Women still account for less than 20 per cent of all cardiologists in the US. A 2009 census carried out by the Royal College of Physicians in the UK in three territories revealed that a mere 90 of the 766 cardiologists were females, or in other words not more than 11.75 per cent.
The situation is not very different in India, though there is no compiled data available.
Dr Padmavati said she never felt any sense of discrimination.
?All my male colleagues were very cooperative. In fact, I must say there is little discrimination in India. There was more antagonism against women in the West at the time. There it was tough even for a woman to get into a medical school,? she said.
The veteran led the group of doctors that founded the National Heart Institute, and is the founder president of the All India Heart Foundation.
Born in Myanmar, Dr Padmavati did her MBBS from Rangoon Medical College, followed by an FRCP from Royal College of Physicians, London and FRCPE from Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. She later shifted to the US.
She came to India only in 1953 and joined as a lecturer in Lady Hardinge Medical College, where she set up the cardiology clinic.
?When I joined Lady Hardinge, all women there were British. There was nothing in the cardiology department and we had to set it up. After that I also set up a cardiology department in G B Pant Hospital. We got Rs 5 lakh for setting up the cardiology department, today Rs 5 lakh is nothing,? said Dr Padmavati.
Her list of degrees includes a cardiology course in Sweden, a fellowship in John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore and Harvard Medical School.
Talking about the old days, she recalled how in 1981, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had come to inaugurate the National Heart Institute despite the day being Rajiv Gandhi?s birthday, August 20.
?Indira Gandhi was a very approachable woman, and a great leader. I just asked her and she agreed to inaugurate the institute even though it was on 20th August, Rajiv Gandhi?s birthday,? the doctor said.
?Politicians in those days were very approachable. You cannot think of the same now. I settled in India because of Rajkumari Amrit Kaur,? she said.
Kaur was the health minister of India for ten years after independence.
Talking about the incidence of heart disease among women, the veteran said the number of women heart patients across the world is huge, even though the common perception is the opposite.
?It is commonly believed that women are safe from heart diseases. But the fact is that more women die due to heart disease than breast cancer or cervical cancer,? said Dr Padmavati.
World Heart Day 2012, Sep 29, focuses on women and children as the theme for this year.
?More than 35 million women die of heart problems, and five million die of breast cancer. The difference is that women develop heart problems at a later age and the symptoms are different as well,? she said.
?Women have more atypical symptoms ? vague chest and abdominal pain, tiredness, vomiting, rather than the typical picture of cardiac pain which men experience. By the time they realise it is a warning of heart attack, it is too late,? Dr Padmavati said.
?Many times, the blockage in women?s arteries is not visible in angiography. The reason is that while men usually have blockage in the major arteries, women have blockage in smaller arteries which does not get detected,? she said, and added that a lot of research is needed in women?s cardiology.
Asked if heart problem in women has increased over the years, the doctor said awareness has increased, helping more cases be reported. [Source: IANS]
by Anjali Ojha
Categories:?NEWS
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Aalatimescom/~3/S6JYVmNYAyI/
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Libyans hand over their weapons in arms collection drive
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Hundreds of Libyans handed in weapons left over from last year's war on Saturday, part of a drive by the North African country to rid its streets of arms and crack down on rogue militia groups.
As the day went on, a trickle of people turned into longer lines in Tripoli and in the eastern city of Benghazi, where tents were set up in squares for military officials to collect arms, explosives and even rocket propelled grenade launchers.
Amid a celebratory atmosphere, women and children looked on as men queued to turn over their weapons as they listened to a military marching band and pop music.
"We want our country to be safe and secure ... We don't want to see weapons anymore," Tripoli resident Mohammed Salama said, as he stood in line to hand over a rifle.
"We want to live our lives. The time of war is over."
Libya's new rulers have struggled to impose their authority on a country awash with weapons, and many Libyans are fed up with militias, formed during the war but which still patrol the streets and often take the law into their own hands.
A September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed, was followed by anti-militia protests in the city last week, increasing pressure on the authorities to tackle insecurity.
The government has since taken a twin-track approach - vowing to dissolve rogue militias that operated without official government permission, but also offering public backing to many of the most powerful armed groups, which have official licenses to operate, as it seeks to build stronger security forces.
Saad Bakar, head of a small brigade in Benghazi, handed over rifles and ammunition on Saturday, saying he was ready to disband his group.
"We were waiting until today to make sure that the weapons go to the right place," he said. "We want to join the army as individuals."
STEP FORWARD
In Benghazi, an organizer said more than 800 people had been registered as having come to the collection point. In Tripoli, an army official did not give an exact figure but said the number had superseded expectations of around 200 people.
One participant said he had even heard that a tank had been handed over.
Those numbers suggest a fraction of the arms that spilled out of Muammar Gaddafi's arsenals have been handed over but the initiative is seen as a step forward in a country where many still keep their weapons citing a precarious security situation.
"I want to live in a peaceful place where only the police and army have arms," Benghazi businessman Ibrahim Ali said after handing over a machine gun.
But he said he would still keep hold of his rifle for now. "When I can call the police and they are able to arrive quickly, then I can give them that weapon," he said.
The collection drive is a collaboration between the army and a private television station which drummed up support through live broadcasts from Tripoli and Benghazi.
Organizers in both cities, who said the event would be repeated in other cities, planned to raffle off prizes, including cars at the end of the day-long collection.
"Libyan people need stability ... They are handing over weapons to the military so that they are kept in the right place and not on the streets," said Yussef al-Mangoush, the army's chief-of-staff. "This is the beginning, we began this in Tripoli and Benghazi. We will go to other cities."
Mohammed Arusi, a 58 year old engineer who was queuing to hand over a rifle in Tripoli, said he was satisfied the security situation was changing for the better.
"It's not like before, the army is getting stronger," he said. "You cannot buy safety, you have to feel safe. And I feel safe right now." (Additional reporting by Ali Shuaib and Ayman al-Sahli in Tripoli and Omar al-Mosmary in Benghazi; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/libyans-hand-over-weapons-arms-collection-drive-203759894.html
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Cano back in lineup after being hit by pitch
Associated Press Sports
updated 11:35 a.m. ET Sept. 29, 2012
TORONTO (AP) -Robinson Cano is set to start at second base and bat fourth for the New York Yankees against the Toronto Blue Jays a day after getting hit in the hand by a pitch.
X-rays of Cano's left hand were negative.
Cano was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning of Friday's 11-4 victory over Toronto. He stayed in the game and batted twice more.
Also, infielder Jayson Nix left the team Saturday to fly back to New York, where he's scheduled to undergo an MRI on his left hip. Manager Joe Girardi said Nix was injured making a play at third base in Thursday's series opener.
Nix's absence leaves Eduardo Nunez as New York's primary backup infielder. Nunez is in the starting lineup Saturday at shortstop. Derek Jeter is the designated hitter.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsReds' Bailey no-hits Pirates
Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds threw the season's seventh no-hitter, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 on Friday night.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49223708/ns/sports-baseball/
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Saturday, September 29, 2012
Interview with Violinist Mark O'Connor - Arts Desk
Violinist, fiddler, guitarist and mandolin player Mark O?Connor is something of a musical polyglot, or maybe schizophrenic. As a composer, his music blends classical music with jazz, bluegrass, Appalachian folk, flamenco, and whatever else he?s feeling at the moment, and his collaborators range from Yo-Yo Ma to Rosanne Cash. Apparently bored with simply performing music, then composing his own, O?Connor decided to develop his own method of music instruction, humbly called the O?Connor Method. It is, by his account, a more holistic approach than the punishingly repetitive Suzuki method, but it still sounds vague as to what exactly it entails (more on that below). Still, it?s an intriguing new trajectory for a guy who doesn't like to stick to only one thing very long.
O?Connor plays three nights in D.C. starting tonight. Appropriately, it?s not at a classical venue but at Blues Alley. O?Connor spoke with Arts Desk by phone.
How did you get into jazz?
I trained with [French jazz violinist]?Stephane Grappelli. I was 17 at the time and he was 71. That was a very formative training period for me. He died in 1997 and I missed him so much I put a jazz group together in 1998,?The Hot Swing Trio. It?s been 15 years and this is the group I?m bringing with me to Washington.
What do you call your music? Contemporary classical? Classical fusion?
I just call it American music at this point. I don?t try to separate the genres, I try to bring them together and not repeat the old.
Is the line that defines classical music becoming more blurred due to people like yourself?
When I started making a career out of it, people said what I was doing was impossible. You have to pick and choose one style. I didn?t listen to those naysayers. I wasn?t very anxious to take the academic route. I wanted to make American music more academic, to bring ragtime into the conservatory.
Historically, classical composers have had a hard time succeeding in the broader culture of music, unless someone got a breakout film score. But to put together a great career as a composer is harder and harder to do. I feel it?s because we?re ignoring our best source material: American music. The African-American musical experience especially should always have a central place in American music.
Describe your teaching method.
It?s only been around for three years but I?ve been thinking about it for a long time. The way they teach violin to kids, it?s almost like an indoctrination of thinking about music. I hear thousands of stories firsthand of people who quit playing the violin after learning it as a child. It?s usually something that was not a great part of their childhoods. My childhood included other things like basketball, skateboarding, so I wanted to make the violin part of that experience. If you took Suzuki lessons, you used the same temperament, the same tempo, the same few keys, the same expressions. What I teach is an all-inclusive, holistic approach that is embodied in the American music system.
Given your work with multiple styles, genres and instruments, do you worry about cultivating a ?jack of all trades, master of none? reputation? Do you ever feel the urge to focus on just one thing?
When you focus on one thing you don?t have to neglect the others. I had people tell me things like ?your bluegrass will hurt your classical.? I had heroes of mine tell me I shouldn?t play more than one instrument. It?s not accurate. What helps an artist is inspiration. I pick and choose what I want to express, and I see a lot more multi-instrumentalists out there today. So I advise my violin students, pick a second instrument. Why not? It gives you a chance to experience harmony.
O?Connor plays at Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW on Friday Sept. 28, Saturday Sept. 29, and Sunday, Sept. 30 at 8 pm and 10 pm. $45. 202-337-4141.
Photo by Christopher Mclallen
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World's largest solar farm coming to California
Analysts predict First Solar will win the rights to supply NextEra Energy Inc. with solar arrays for what will be the world?s largest solar farm, according to Consumer Energy Report.
The sun is reflected on a solar panel at a solar power field in Kawasaki, near Tokyo in this June 2012 file photo. The Blythe project, based in southern California, will soon surpass the capacity of Arizona?s Agua Caliente solar farm, a huge facility built exclusively by First Solar, according to Consumer Energy Report.
Toru Hanai/Reuters/File
EnlargeWhile the contract hasn?t been finalized, analysts are predicting that First Solar will win the rights to supply NextEra Energy Inc. with solar arrays for what will be the world?s largest solar farm. The two companies are currently working together on the 550-megawatt Desert Sunlight solar farm in Riverwide County, California.
Skip to next paragraph Consumer Energy ReportOur mission is to provide clear, objective information about the important energy issues facing the world, address and correct misconceptions, and to actively engage readers and exchange ideas.?For more great energy coverage, visit?Consumer Energy Report.
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NextEra?s Blythe project, based in southern California, will soon surpass the capacity of Arizona?s Agua Caliente solar farm, a huge facility built exclusively by First Solar that is currently 85 percent complete with 250 megawatts of capacity. Despite the fact that there has been no official word as to who NextEra will choose to build and supply the new project, First Solar is reportedly the only manufacturer of thin-film panels large enough to handle the job, according to analysts interviewed by Bloomberg News; the Blythe project will have a final capacity of 1,000 megawatts, requiring an extensive amount and array of materials.
With the economy currently facing unprecedented turmoil, especially in the renewable energy sector, First Solar has seen its stock drop 68 percent in the past year. Today?s speculation, however, gave the company a much-needed boost, bumping its stock up 11 percent while reminding the industry just how deep its manufacturing capabilities are.
?It would definitely be a positive for First Solar if they were able to win a 1,000-megawatt project,? said Ben Schuman, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities.
Despite the rampant speculation, a spokesman for Florida-based NextEra reiterated that the company has yet to choose a panel provider for the project, suggesting that they may work with more than one supplier.
Source:?First Solar May Supply World?s Largest Solar Farm
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JoAnn Fabric & Craft Stores ~ Save 40% on Fabric
September is National Sewing Month
40% Off Coupon for Regular Priced Fabric
JoAnn?s is a great place for fabric.? They have an amazing selection for all kinds of projects and craft ideas.
Before this month is over, take advantage of offer and get some fabric for your next project.? Maybe something for the holidays??
Click HERE for your printable coupon.? It?s good on-line or in stores.
There are some exclusions so make sure to read the fine print on the coupon.
~Coupon expires Sunday, September 30, 2012
Source: http://truecouponing.com/2012/09/joann-fabric-craft-stores-save-40-on-fabric/
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High debate stakes: Romney looks to gain momentum
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Barack Obama is cruising into the presidential debates with momentum on his side, yet he's still struggling to revive the passion and excitement that propelled him to the White House. Mitt Romney is grasping for his last, best chance to reboot his campaign after a disastrous September.
The fierce and determined competitors in the tight race have a specific mission for the three debates, the first of which is Wednesday night in Denver.
Obama, no longer the fresh face of 2008, must convince skeptical Americans that he can accomplish in a second term what he couldn't in his first, restoring the economy to full health.
Romney, anxious to keep the race from slipping away, needs to instill confidence that he is a credible and trusted alternative to the president, with a better plan for strengthening the economy.
"The burden in many ways is heavier on Romney," says Wayne Fields, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who specializes in political rhetoric. "What we see right now is an uncertainty about whether he's ready for the job."
For all the hundreds of campaign appearances, thousands of political ads and billions of dollars invested in the race, this is a singular moment in the contest. Upward of 50 million people are expected to watch each of the debates, drawing the largest political audience of the year.
Forty-one percent of Americans reported watching all of the 2008 debates, and 80 percent said they saw at least a bit, according to a Pew Research Center poll.
That intense interest tends to crowd out everything else for a time, adding to the debates' importance. With polls indicating that Obama has been gaining ground steadily in the most competitive states, the pressure is on Romney to turn in a breakout performance.
The Denver debate, 90 minutes devoted to domestic policy, airs live at 9 p.m. EDT, with the two men seated side by side in elevated director's chairs. Romney and Obama debate again Oct. 16 in Hempstead, N.Y., and Oct. 22 in Boca Raton, Fla. Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan have their lone debate Oct. 11 in Danville, Ky.
With early or absentee voting already under way in more than half the states, any first impressions created in the debates could well be last impressions. What the candidates say is sure to matter immensely, but how they say it may count for even more.
"We remember visual impressions from debates more than we remember specific words," says Alan Schroeder, a Northeastern University professor who's written a history of presidential debates.
Whether the candidates smile or grimace, strike a confident or defensive pose, speak with a resonant or strained tone of voice, it all matters. That may be particularly true for the all-important undecided voters and those still open to changing their minds.
Staunch Democrats and Republicans may well be firm in their choices, says Patti Wood, an Atlanta-based expert on body language, but if less partisan voters are "frightened in general about their lives, if they're insecure, they're going to pick the most charismatic person."
Both candidates have challenges to overcome on that score, according to Wood.
Obama, 51, has been sounding "very tired and very strained" lately, she says, and Romney, 65, "has a problem with appearing superior and cold."
Overall, she says, "Romney is looking a little bit younger than Obama right now," in terms of energy if not wrinkles.
Both candidates are experienced and competent debaters. But each, setting the judgment bar high for his opponent, is working overtime to puff up the skills of the other guy and play down his own debate credentials.
Romney recently described the president as "eloquent in describing his vision" during the 2008 debates. But the GOP nominee added that Obama "can't win by his words, because his record speaks so loudly in our ears."
Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki stresses that Romney has been preparing for the debates with "more focus than any presidential candidate in modern history." Sketching sky-high stakes, Psaki says the Republicans fully expect the debates to be "their turning point" in the campaign.
The president himself mocked the idea that Romney still can alter the campaign dynamic.
"Every few days he keeps on saying he's going to reboot this campaign and they're going to start explaining very specifically how this plan is going to work ? and then they don't," he said last week while campaigning in Virginia.
For all their positioning, both candidates will use the debates to try to surmount the same challenges that they long have confronted.
Romney, frequently criticized for shifting his positions to sync up with the politics of the moment, needs to project "a kind of character, a kind of maturity that allows him to be presidential," says Fields.
Obama, an incumbent who's shown himself to be comfortable in the media glare, "doesn't have to prove that part," says Fields. "He has to prove that he has real answers to problems that have not been solved in his first term, and for which there is a great deal of unrest."
Romney is sure to be questioned anew about his caught-on-video comment dismissing the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income tax as victims who won't take responsibility for their lives.
Former President Bill Clinton, offering a bit of unsolicited advice to the opposition, says Romney would be wise not to "double down on that 47 percent remark."
"That will cause difficulties, because we now know that the overwhelming number of those people work and have children," Clinton said recently. He added that the most important job for Romney is to "find a way to relate to more people in these debates and speak to more of them."
On Saturday, the Obama campaign posted a Web video urging debate viewers take Romney's claims of private-sector experience with a grain of salt. "Remember, it wasn't about creating jobs," the video says. It includes testimony from steel- and paper-plant workers laid off after Bain Capital takeovers.
Also Saturday, the Romney campaign announced plans for his wife Ann to speak at a rally Monday in Henderson, Nev., where Obama is planning three days of private debate preparation. And Romney points to Syria, Libya and Iran to criticize Obama's foreign policy as "one of passivity and denial" in his weekly podcast.
Meantime, there's no shortage of advice swirling around the two candidates: loosen up, study up, be aggressive, don't overdo it, admit mistakes, don't apologize, project confidence, ooze emotion, use humor, make eye contact, get more sleep.
It's enough to paralyze even the most skilled orator if not kept in perspective.
"That's what so tricky about this," says Schroeder. "Debates themselves are this kind of interesting blend of the choreographed and the spontaneous. ... What you want is for the candidate to be prepared but not to overlook those opportunities to improvise when you see an opening."
The stakes are lower for the debate between Biden and Ryan. It offers the prospect of a looser and more entertaining discussion between two candidates with vastly different styles and personalities.
In 2008, Biden's debate with Republican Sarah Palin attracted 70 million viewers, easily topping the 63 million high-water mark for the presidential debates that year.
___
Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nbenac
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/high-debate-stakes-romney-looks-gain-momentum-123059511--election.html
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How To Thank Your Customers Using Mobile Marketing | Eric Chua ...
When it comes time for you to start your mobile marketing plan, you may wonder where to begin, as there are so many things to consider when trying to promote your business. In this article, we will provide tips that will enable you to have success in mobile marketing.
You have to give a little in order to receive a lot. Incentives and rewards should be regular components to any mobile marketing. For example, you could offer local event notices, weather updates, or even discounts. However, a coupon offer can increase sales during your campaign.
Although many people use their phones for texting, they are not necessarily familiar with the meaning of the abbreviations. If you send an advertisement to someone and they do not understand it, their opinion of you will go down and you will even lose their business.
TIP! You need to not only focus on attracting new prospects, but keeping your old prospects when it comes to mobile marketing. The relationships you have already built will likely be more receptive to your mobile marketing updates than new customers.
Changes in your market will dictate changes in your customer base. You can gain or lose customers based on outside influences that you cannot control. Outdated or irrelevant technology can actually hurt your business, so it is important to remain up-to-date on new developments to maintain a competitive edge.
Do not send too many offers on mobile platforms. Stick to the essential ones. By doing this you make sure your customers don?t get annoyed and actually get excited when they see a new offer.
Make sure you market through all platforms your costumers might use. Your messages should come across equally well on iPhone, Blackberry, and Android devices. Simple messages that will work for all these is easier than custom fitting one for each. Mobile marketing is no exception to the ?simpler is better? principle.
TIP! Try to make it as easy as possible. Make sure you don?t have too many links to click on.
You need to use short code that is dedicated. The price tag is higher, but this will help to protect your brand. You may also derive a bit of legal coverage from its use.
Make the most of your online website. Advertise on your site to easily create more traffic for your apps or mobile site. When consumers see your site, they can see how to stay connected with you on the go.
Begin your efforts with the acquisition of phone numbers for your database. Do not slap customers? cell numbers onto your subscriber list just because you have access to them. You really need to get their permission before starting. Ask your existing online customers to join your mobile database, and give them a coupon for referring friends.
TIP! Test your mobile marketing campaigns on every platform your readers will be using to view them. Be sure your messages display well on all platforms: Android devices, Blackberry, and iPhone.
Focus on creating value for your target market. When connecting with people in your outer social circle, it is often necessary to include something of value to attract their attention. You might want to send a gift certificate, depending on who you are targeting. For middle class families, you want to send family-related items.
When creating content for your mobile marketing campaign use short easy to understand messages. Make sure customers know what your message is, so they absorb it and respond.
Combine your mobile campaign and your social media efforts. If you have specific mobile marketing material, it will bring in more people to your main webpage. When you provide your reader room to comment and other ways that they can participate on your site, you will see your sales soar.
TIP! Before starting any successive mobile marketing campaigns, stop and make sure that the preceding one was actually successful. Don?t just focus on your sale numbers, but the lifespan of your campaign.
Mobile marketing is not the place to be overly wordy. Lengthy pages with mass amounts of information are not effective and will just become lost in translation. Short and sweet is what you are going for. This is a fast-paced world, and time is money!
Mobile marketing is a great way to make you more profitable. Tons of people now use their phones for checking email, communicating, and even downloading applications and updating social network profiles. Both are great options to market your business. Take your marketing closer to where your customers are located.
Remember, it is harder to navigate through your website using mobile equipment. A mobile marketing campaign should be built on an intuitive and user-friendly platform that allows the user to view your messages on their mobile device. This can translate in pages that appear more simple to computer users. However, you want your site open for as many users as possible.
TIP! The many uses of social media on mobile devices make it one of the foremost ways to expand your marketing campaign. Reward people who share deals that are are on your website, or Twitpic your store, for example.
Mobile marketing is an excellent method of gaining additional customers. However, you should ensure that the campaign you use for your mobile marketing attempts are able to work on various platforms. If the site doesn?t work with certain platforms, you are leaving those potential customers behind. Don?t leave money on the table over technical issues.
If you are not an expert on designing for a mobile audience, then by all means, hire one. It can be hard to put together an effective and successful mobile site. Leave this to the professionals if you doubt your talent at all.
TIP! Whenever you are holding an important online sale or promotional event, send a text message to all of the customers on your mobile marketing list reminding them of the occasion a few hours before it starts, as long as this time does not fall too late in the evening or too early in the morning. This will create excitement and get them prepared for the sale or event.
Always keep the line of communication open with your customers. Allow them to give you feedback every step of the way. It doesn?t matter whether the feedback is negative or positive. All customer feedback can help you improve.
Your mobile marketing campaign should be compatible for use with a multitude of hand-held devices. There are many different mobile devices that content can be viewed on. Your scripting needs to be compatible with all of them for your campaign to be effective.
Do not send text messages to your customers too early in the morning or late at night. Even your very best customer will be irritated by receiving a text message in the early morning or late at night, no matter what the message says.
TIP! Sometimes, changes in the marketplace can affect your customer base. Always stay current with the newest technology out there or your business may suffer.
It is important to include both a link for older cellphones that will direct to your browser-based website, as well as a mobile link for smartphones or tablets. If your regular website uses flash, then link users back to a mobile site exclusively, since many tablets and smartphones do not use flash.
As you can see, most mobile marketing techniques share some fundamentals. Specifically, the differences arise in how the technical aspects are executed. Research, coupled with common sense, is all you need to decide which one will be best for your business and budget
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Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/how-to-thank-your-customers-using-mobile-marketing-5
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Wall-Ye robot does grunt work at vineyards
58 min.
Winemaking is the latest industry to be hit by robot?fever: French inventors have created a robot that rolls among the grapevines, checking and perhaps pruning as it goes.
A wine grower in France complained three years ago to?Christophe Millot that they were always short on staff. Millot designed the Wall-Ye robot, which is indeed named after Pixar's trash-collecting WALL-E, and the pair have been working together on it ever since.
Wall-Ye moves around on treads and is equipped with a number of cameras for navigation and inspection of vines.?It navigates by GPS, but also recognizes each plant individually and can carry out?special instructions or follow up on previous work.
There are plans to make it able to prune vines and eventually pick grapes, but for now it is limited to less complicated tasks. But checking for bugs, disease, temperature variations and soil problems are important parts of running a vineyard ? and they can be tedious.
Another winemaker, Claire Gazeau-Montrasi, explains in the AFP video above?that she would welcome a robot that took care of the most boring jobs. Like a Roomba or similar household robot, it can do its job slowly but surely, working around its owner's schedule.
At ?25,000, or around $32,000, Wall-Ye isn't cheap, though there are larger and more expensive systems that are capable of more. Automation of agriculture hasn't made it to vineyards quite yet because of the delicate nature of the task, but that may soon change, with?robots like Wall-Ye leading the charge.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/wall-ye-robot-does-grunt-work-vineyards-6150501
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China's manufacturing declines, but at slower pace
BEIJING (AP) ? Chinese manufacturing contracted for the 11th straight month in September amid a fall in new orders, though the decline might be easing, a business survey showed Saturday.
HSBC Corp.'s purchasing managers' index, based on a survey of more than 400 companies, was 47.9 for September, slightly up from 47.6 in August. The index measures manufacturing activities on a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 show a contraction.
HSBC said Chinese manufacturing declined again in September, as new export orders fell at the sharpest rate in 42 months amid weak international demand. Its employment index also fell further, likely because of reduced production levels.
HSBC's China economist Hongbin Qu said in an accompanying statement that "the sharper contraction of new export orders and the lingering pressures on job markets mean that Beijing should step up easing to support growth and employment."
He said that Chinese manufacturing growth was likely bottoming out and that fiscal measures should play a more important role in the coming months.
China's economic growth fell to a three-year low of 7.6 percent in the second quarter. Beijing has cut interest rates twice since June 1 and is pumping money into the economy by encouraging investment by state companies. But authorities are moving cautiously in reversing the economic slump, after China's huge stimulus in response to the 2008 crisis fueled inflation and a wasteful building boom.
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AP Exclusive: Brown did service at his old daycare
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Chris Brown has logged more than 1,400 hours of community service for the 2009 beating of former girlfriend Rihanna, basically completing his sentence. The Associated Press has learned one-third of those hours were recorded at a rural Virginia daycare center where the singer spent time as a child and his mother once served as director.
And in the last seven months, an AP analysis of the work records indicates Brown's labor credits increased by four times from what they had been during the previous two years. Yet through it all, Brown hasn't stopped being an R&B superstar, performing worldwide, releasing an album and even getting injured in a nightclub brawl.
Brown's service records have come under scrutiny by a prosecutor and a judge, who are trying to ascertain their accuracy. At a Monday hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg called the accounting of Brown's community service by Richmond, Va., Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood "somewhat cryptic."
No specific concerns were detailed by the court, yet the AP analysis of Brown's service shows that in the past seven months, the artist has been credited for working 701 hours ? a feat that previously took him 28 months to achieve, clocking sporadic, shorter shifts mostly at Richmond police and fire stations.
In recent months, the logs show Brown has essentially been working three jobs ? performing cleanup duty in Richmond police precincts by day, janitorial chores at the daycare 45 miles east by night, and hit songs for global audiences in between.
Ida Minter, the administrator of the Tappahannock Children's Center, said Brown attended the nonprofit facility "off and on" for more than 12 years and his mother was employed there for 24 years, including as director.
Brown's community service at the center began in January 2010, but work entries dramatically increased in March of this year. Most of his shifts were logged between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. and were typically listed as "general cleaning," with some entries describing him painting or stripping and waxing floors. It is unclear who supervised him.
Brown's attorney Mark Geragos said Monday that he welcomed inquiries from Los Angeles probation officials and said he urged Brown to work double shifts so the lawyer wouldn't have to keep coming back to court.
Minter described Brown's work at the daycare center favorably.
"I think Chris always goes beyond because he always wants to give back to where he grew up," she told the AP. "And this was a part of his home because his mom worked here full-time."
"If you've ever been involved in stripping and waxing, it's hard," she said. "It's a lot of work."
Minter said Brown was always accompanied by someone while working at the center, but she said she couldn't discuss who it was.
The singer, who pleaded guilty to felony assault in June 2009, only worked at night and on weekends when no children were present, Minter said. That is supported by the logs, which also showed that Brown only worked one other weekend shift that wasn't at the daycare center.
Brown has been undeniably busy in recent months, releasing his new album "Fortune," traveling to France for a video shoot, winning a Grammy Award, performing at other award shows and resuming his friendship and music collaboration with Rihanna.
He has also drawn negative attention for being present at a bottle-throwing brawl at a New York City nightclub that left him with a cut chin. And in February, a woman in Miami accused him of taking her cellphone to prevent her from snapping pictures of him.
It was after that incident that Brown, 23, accelerated his work schedule, completing the 701 hours in seven months, according to the records filed Monday.
Meanwhile, the singer has remained an active promoter of his work on Twitter, where he sends out almost daily links to his music and clothing line, and also interacts with fans.
His international travel, which must be approved by Schnegg, has somehow been squeezed around his marathon community service sessions.
In July, for instance, Brown is listed as working 42 hours in four days before leaving for France. Upon his return, he worked 12 consecutive days, logging 164 hours, 100 of which were at the daycare described in Norwood's log as "Tappa Day Care."
March was similarly busy, with Brown being credited for work on 20 of the month's 30 days; he was approved to travel to Cancun, Mexico, for five of the remaining days.
Before this week, Brown had received praise from Schnegg and had never been in danger of violating his probation. But that could change if the inquiry the judge ordered turns up irregularities with the singer's service.
Schnegg allowed Brown to perform his work in his home state of Virginia under the supervision of Norwood, but on Monday noted there are discrepancies in the chief's accounting.
For one, Brown's work log shows he has put in 1,402 hours, but a couple of errors in the data may push the total up to 1,404. And although Brown was sentenced to perform 1,440 hours of labor, the chief wrote in a letter dated Sept. 14 that Brown had completed all his service hours.
Norwood's spokesman declined to respond to questions from the AP on the discrepancies. "Chief Norwood has reported directly to the judge, providing periodic updates regarding the progress of Chris Brown's community service," spokesman Gene Lepley said.
Prosecutors "are not happy with the quality of the report," Schnegg said Monday. "They don't know if it's reliable, yes or no."
District Attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the office would make all its comments on the case in court.
The judge and prosecution aren't the only ones concerned about the administration of Brown's sentence. In August, Virginia probation authorities recommended that Richmond police stop supervising Brown after the singer tested positive for marijuana and what they believed was unapproved travel to France. However, they made no critical comments about his community service.
Geragos, Brown's attorney, declined comment for this story, but he said at Monday's court hearing that he believes his client has completed all his community service.
Brown's labors have left a lasting mark at the Tappahannock Children's Center: a colorful wall mural featuring a huge clown face and splashes of purple, orange, green and yellow. The words "Big Room" ? the informal name of the large space amid a warren of smaller classrooms ? is painted in fat letters along a wall where jackets are hung on hooks.
Brown approached Minter, who has known Brown since his birth, to ask if he could use his art skills on the walls of the big room, she said.
The singer is not the only celebrity to perform community service with an entity to which they have close ties. Mel Gibson and Sean Penn had similar arrangements.
Both actors had received permission in advance for the assignments in misdemeanor cases. Before Monday's filings, there had been no mention of Brown working at his boyhood daycare center in probation reports.
___
Steve Szkotak reported from Richmond, Va.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-brown-did-old-daycare-151502349.html
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Friday, September 28, 2012
No sign of remains in new Mich. search for Hoffa
Roseville Police Department detectives carry soil samples removed from a shed floor of a Roseville, Mich., home Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Police have been told by a source that former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa may be buried beneath a driveway. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Roseville Police Department detectives carry soil samples removed from a shed floor of a Roseville, Mich., home Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Police have been told by a source that former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa may be buried beneath a driveway. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2012, file photo, people photograph a driveway in Roseville, Mich. that a tipster said could be the final resting place of missing Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa. Authorities plan to take soil samples from under the driveway. Hoffa?s mysterious disappearance, assumed death and myriad searches for his body have been the stuff of urban legends for more than three decades. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
Authorities drill for soil samples in the floor of a shed at a Roseville, Mich., home Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Police have been told by a source that former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa may be buried beneath a driveway. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Media and spectators watch as authorities drill for soil samples in the floor at a Roseville, Mich., home Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Police have been told by a source that former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa may be buried beneath a driveway. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
ROSEVILLE, Mich. (AP) ? Authorities drilled through concrete and removed two samples of wet soil and clay in a modest Detroit-area neighborhood Friday in the latest effort to find the remains of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975.
There was no visible sign of human remains, but test results could be ready by Monday, Roseville Police Chief James Berlin said.
"We're not sure if anything is down there. That's what this is all about," Berlin said.
They drilled the concrete floor of a shed adjacent to a driveway where a recent radar test revealed a shift in the soil. The latest investigation was launched after a man told police that he saw a body being buried under the driveway 35 years ago and "thinks it may have been Jimmy."
Authorities have already said they don't think the timeline adds up and that it's unlikely Hoffa's body is there. He was last seen July 30, 1975, outside a restaurant in Oakland County, more than 30 miles to the west.
"I don't believe it's Mr. Hoffa. I don't know what it is," said Berlin, who was contacted last month by the man who said he witnessed a body being buried there. "We received credible information that a crime may have occurred. We're not doing anything we wouldn't have done on any other case.
"That shed did not exist at the time this allegedly occurred. The prior outbuilding that was there did not have a concrete floor."
The homeowner, Patricia Szpunar, 72, has lived there since 1988. She said her son uses the 12-by-12 shed to store two workbenches and his motorcycle. Police detectives appeared two weeks ago and said they may need to search her yard for a dead body.
"I laughed at them," Szpunar said Friday. "I looked at them and said, 'What? Do you think Jimmy Hoffa is buried in my backyard?' ... They just looked at me, and asked why I said Jimmy Hoffa."
Berlin said the brick, ranch-style home may have been owned in the 1970s by a gambler with ties to organized crime.
Hoffa was an acquaintance of mobsters and adversary to federal officials. He spent time in prison for jury tampering. The day he disappeared, Hoffa was supposed to meet with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit mafia captain.
He was declared legally dead in 1982. Previous tips led police to excavate soil in 2006 at a horse farm more than 100 miles north of Detroit, rip up floorboards at a Detroit home in 2004 and search beneath a backyard pool north of the city in 2003.
There were even rumors that Hoffa's remains were ground up and tossed into a Florida swamp, entombed beneath Giants Stadium in New Jersey or obliterated in a mob-owned fat-rendering plant.
On Friday, about 150 people filled the street near Szpunar's home as state Department of Environmental Quality workers drilled for samples.
"I want to see if they are going to find something," said 25-year-old Heather Strohscherin, who lives two blocks over and doubts the site is Hoffa's final resting place.
"It is a good spot," she said. "Who would guess in the backyard in a Roseville neighborhood?"
Berlin said the site will be treated as a crime scene until at least Monday, pending results of the soil tests.
As for the homeowner's knowledge about Hoffa's disappearance?
"Sure, I read about it in the paper. I've listened to it on TV," Szpunar said. "But not because I'm that interested in it. It was just because it was current news."
___
David Aguilar in Detroit contributed to this report.
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America's best jobs program? Trade reform with China.
China has flagrantly violated trade rules since?joining the World Trade Organization ? and the US has lost 50,000 factories and 6 million manufacturing jobs.
In this July file photo, a container ship from China is offloaded at Massport's Conley Terminal in the port of Boston. Since China joined the World Trade Organization, many US manufacturers have closed US factories and set up shop in China to reexport their goods here.
Stephan Savoia/AP/File
EnlargeThe best jobs program is trade reform with China ? not more government stimulus. The presidential candidate who best conveys this singular, ineluctable truth to the American people between now and election day will carry the manufacturing swing states of Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin and thereby win the election.
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The case for China trade reform as both a winning political and economic strategy is firmly rooted in the history of U.S.-China trade relations and its destructive consequences. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization with strong bipartisan support, and in lobbying for China?s entry into the WTO, President Bill Clinton promised ?for the first time, China will agree to play by the same open trading rules we do? and ?for the first time our companies will be able to sell and distribute products in China.?
Instead, since 2001, China has flagrantly violated WTO rules by flooding our markets with illegally subsidized exports. Meanwhile, putatively ?American? multinationals like Boeing, Caterpillar, and GM have shut down plants in cities like Seattle, Peoria, and Detroit while opening massive operations in places like Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai ? all to leverage China?s illegal subsidies and ultra-lax environmental and worker rules and then dump their products back into American markets.
As a result of this twin assault on America?s manufacturing base by state-run Chinese companies and offshoring multinationals, our once great country has devolved into a ?Triple Zero Economy? characterized by near zero growth in jobs, wages, and, stock returns even as over 50,000 factories have disappeared along with 6 million manufacturing jobs.
Here is an even more chilling set of statistics: For the five and half decades prior to China?s entry into the WTO, our gross domestic product grew at a rate of 3.5 percent. Since 2001, however, that rate has fallen to a mere 1.6 percent annual growth rate. This slower growth, in turn, has led to the failure to create more than 20 million jobs ? not coincidentally, exactly what we need to put America back to work.?
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Abbas accuses Israel of 'ethnic cleansing'
UNITED NATIONS (AP) ? Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of ethnic cleansing Thursday for building settlements in east Jerusalem.
"It is a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people via the demolition of their homes," Abbas said in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
Shortly after, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked Abbas in his own address to the assembly.
"We won't solve our conflict with libelous speeches at the U.N.," Netanyahu said.
Israel conquered the eastern part of Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Mideast War. It later annexed it but the move has not been internationally recognized. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to the capital of their future state in the West Bank.
Abbas also said he has opened talks on a new bid for international recognition at the U.N., but didn't specify exactly when he will ask the General Assembly to vote.
"Intensive consultations with the various regional organizations and the state members" were underway, he said.
The Palestinians will apply to the General Assembly for nonmember state status.
That stands in sharp contrast to last year, when they asked the Security Council to admit them as a full member state, but the bid failed.
Abbas insisted that the new quest for recognition was "not seeking to delegitimize Israel, but rather establish a state that should be established: Palestine."
Palestinian officials said their bid is likely to be submitted on Nov. 29.
Abbas said in a speech to the assembly that efforts to win Palestine status as an observer state ? a lower level than last year's failed bid for recognition as a full state ? were not intended to pose any threat to Israel.
"We are not seeking to delegitimize Israel, but rather establish a state that should be established: Palestine," Abbas said.
However, Abbas said he was "speaking on behalf of an angry people," who believed they were not winning their rights despite adopting a "culture of peace and international resolutions,
"Israel gets rewarded while continues the policies of war, occupation and settlements," he said.
Abbas also accused Israel of seeking to "continue its occupation of East Jerusalem, and annex vast parts of West Bank ... and refuses to discuss seriously the Palestinian refugees issue."
He claimed that Israeli actions threatened to undermine the Palestinian Authority to the point "which could lead to its collapse."
Palestinian officials said that their bid for recognition will likely be submitted to the General Assembly on Nov. 29, after the U.S. presidential election. Abbas has sought to avoid entangling the Palestinian statehood bid in U.S. presidential politics.
Appealing to other nations for their support, Abbas asked world leaders to help avoid a new "catastrophe" in Palestine. "Support the establishment of the free state of Palestine now, and let peace win before it's too late," he said.
"We have started intensive consultations with the various regional organizations and the state members in order for the General Assembly to take a decision granting the state of Palestine the status of nonmember state during this U.N. session," he said.
At last year's General Assembly, Abbas took center stage with his attempt to win full membership to the world body. However, that application failed to win enough support in the U.N. Security Council.
Palestinians did win membership last year of UNESCO, the Paris-based U.N. cultural agency ? despite the objections of Israel and the U.S.
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Russian official snubs meeting of "Russophobic" Europe lawmakers
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior Russian official said on Thursday he would skip a meeting of European lawmakers next week because of "Russophobic" attitudes among them, in a fresh sign of tensions between Moscow and Europe.
Russia has rejected European criticism of its human rights record and of the two-year jail sentences handed to members of punk band Pussy Riot last month for a protest against President Vladimir Putin in a church.
Parliament speaker Sergei Naryshkin, a member of the ruling United Russia party, was to have been a key speaker at the October 1-5 session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, France.
"But as the session's opening was nearing we felt that key strategic proposals of mine would not be heard by a number of leaders of the Parliamentary Assembly and a number of Russophobic delegations," Naryshkin said in televised remarks.
"I came to the conclusion that it will be possible for me to address a PACE session (only) when the conditions are suitable," said the chairman of the State Duma lower house.
Critics of United Russia, formerly headed by Putin and now by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, say it is helping orchestrate a Kremlin clampdown on dissent by hastily passing restrictive legislation, such as laws tightening controls of Internet and foreign-funded NGOs and increasing fines for protesters.
State-run RIA news agency reported that the rest of the Russian delegation would take part in the PACE session, which is due to discuss Russia's adherence to its obligations as a Council of Europe member, including over human rights, pluralist democracy and the rule of law.
Russia has made some "very positive steps", but some measures introduced raise serious concerns, PACE said in a document posted on its website.
The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said this month that Russian authorities had been "chipping away" at fundamental rights and freedoms since Putin's return to the presidency in May.
(Editing by Pravin Char)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-official-snubs-meeting-russophobic-europe-lawmakers-112054313.html
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NY's latest sex scandal dogged by sordid past
FILE - In this April 18, 2012 file photo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, speaks during an affordable housing news conference as Assemblyman Vito Lopez, D-Brooklyn, right, listens at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Accusations of sexual harassment that emerged over the summer have unraveled in public before a state ethics committee, revealing more sexual misconduct accusations against Lopez and a secret six-figure payoff to the accusers with taxpayer money that was approved by Silver. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
FILE - In this April 18, 2012 file photo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, speaks during an affordable housing news conference as Assemblyman Vito Lopez, D-Brooklyn, right, listens at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Accusations of sexual harassment that emerged over the summer have unraveled in public before a state ethics committee, revealing more sexual misconduct accusations against Lopez and a secret six-figure payoff to the accusers with taxpayer money that was approved by Silver. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
FILE- In this April 18, 2012, file photo, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, left, walks with Assemblyman Vito Lopez, D-Brooklyn, to an affordable housing news conference at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Accusations of sexual harassment that emerged over the summer have unraveled in public before a state ethics committee, revealing more sexual misconduct accusations against Lopez and a secret six-figure payoff to the accusers with taxpayer money that was approved by Silver. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
FILE- In this April 18, 2012, file photo, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, D-Brooklyn, speaks during an affordable housing news conference as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, left, listens, at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Accusations of sexual harassment that emerged over the summer have unraveled in public before a state ethics committee, revealing more sexual misconduct accusations against Lopez and a secret six-figure payoff to the accusers with taxpayer money that was approved by Silver. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
FILE- In this Sept. 19, 2012, file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference in the Red Room at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Accusations of sexual harassment that emerged over the summer have unraveled in public before a state ethics committee, revealing more sexual misconduct accusations against an assemblyman and a secret six-figure payoff to the accusers with taxpayer money that was approved by one of the most powerful lawmakers in the state. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? It was an odd assignment for the young, pretty staffer when she was ordered to go along on a trip to Atlantic City with her boss. But the reason soon became clear.
She said she spent much of the trip struggling to fend off the advances and kisses of 72-year-old Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez. He was persistent, she said, and eventually put his hand between her legs.
She and another female staffer said it was part of a regular routine of office harassment that included inappropriate touching and comments about their bodies, how they dressed and even how they were getting along with their boyfriends. They said the job included writing letters to Lopez about how much they loved their jobs ? letters Lopez complained were "insufficiently effusive," according to his official censure.
The accusations that emerged over the summer are hardly unusual in a state capital, especially Albany, which has such a rich history of sexual misconduct by lawmakers that it has its own, unwritten Las Vegas-like code: What happens north of Bear Mountain stays there.
But what began as a relatively modest scandal has pierced the veil of the so-called Bear Mountain Compact, unraveling in public before a state ethics committee, revealing more sexual misconduct accusations against Lopez and a secret six-figure payoff to the accusers with taxpayer money that was approved by one of the most powerful lawmakers in the state.
That lawmaker, Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was initially singed by the scandal, with some political opponents calling for his resignation. A special prosecutor is investigating whether crimes were committed, and a wide-ranging probe by the state's nascent ethics watchdog is exploring the roles played by other powerful Democrats, including the attorney general and comptroller.
How effectively the Joint Commission on Public Ethics handles the politically charged case will reflect on the man who created it as part of his campaign promise to "clean up" Albany: Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, long considered a possible presidential candidate in 2016.
"You will always find situations where people do things wrong," Cuomo said. "You will always find situations where people in power make mistakes, or abuse their power, or abuse their authority, or are corrupt or venal."
"The question becomes when people make a mistake, or when a bad thing is done, what is the response?"
In the case of Lopez, a longtime Democratic dealmaker who was lampooned in New York City tabloid headlines as "King Leer" and "Gropez," the allegations that emerged over the summer were found credible by New York's Assembly ethics committee. The panel censured him Aug. 24, and Silver stripped Lopez of seniority perks and power.
The censure revealed a previously unknown set of accusations against Lopez made in June that were settled secretly with $103,000 in public money approved by Silver. That deal was crafted with input from lawyers with the attorney general's and comptroller's offices.
Lopez, who has called the scandal an "onslaught of character attacks," said: "I have never sexually harassed any staff, and I hope and intend to prove in the coming months the political nature of these accusations."
Cuomo is the third governor in a row to try to put more teeth in ethics oversight. Four years before Cuomo took office, Democrat Eliot Spitzer created his own ethics board to sanitize Albany, only to resign amid charges he solicited prostitutes. His Democratic successor, David Paterson, was forced to admit on just his second day in office that he had affairs with a "number of women" while a state senator.
Such clashes of sex and power have become part of the lore of Albany, where a cluster of taverns a short walk from the Capitol had for years featured a loud mix of pols and young staffers mingling over scotch and steaks. In the 1990s, the New York Post's front page declared Albany "Sin City."
And a decade ago, the Albany County district attorney investigating claims of sexual harassment and rape in the Capitol put it this way: "Any father who would let his daughter be an intern in the state Legislature should have his head examined."
After the initial flurry, Silver appears to have blunted any serious threat to his power from this scandal.
Silver, a 69-year-old lawyer from Manhattan, is one of Albany's most powerful, little-understood and private of figures, called "the Sphinx" by some for his ability to prevail in budgets and policy.
A renowned political strategist, he may even have strengthened his position by making sexual harassment harder to get away with. By publicly admitting he was wrong to seal the case with a confidentiality agreement and promising not to do any others, he issued a strong early warning to lawmakers.
Democratic Assemblyman John McEneny says the Lopez case has already struck back at sexual harassment, just as previous reforms to the legislative intern program addressed some of the barhopping and relationships with young ? usually female ? staffers.
"Individually, there will always be a problem as long as there are human beings," said McEneny, a member of the Assembly ethics committee. "But institutionally, we tend to take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again."
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