Genesys research finds big business still uneasy with Customer ...

Aug 30, 2012 ? Research conducted by Genesys, an expert in customer experience solutions, found that many consumer-facing Fortune 500 companies shy away from listing social media as a means for customers to contact them. More than half (55 percent) of consumer-facing Fortune 500 businesses do not provide their Twitter handles on the ?Contact Us? page of their websites. Additionally, despite the fact that Facebook has 900 million users across the world; half of these businesses (51 percent) do not provide a link to their Facebook profile on the ?Contact Us? page.

The research also uncovered that corporations suffer from e-mail aversion, with nine out of ten failing to list an e-mail address on their contact page. Instead, 83 percent of companies include a contact form, often off-putting to consumers and seen as a ?black-hole.?

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• More than half of consumer-facing Fortune 500 Corporations suffer from social shyness with 55 percent of consumer facing corporations failing to list a Twitter handle on their ?Contact Us? page, and 51 percent failing to list a Facebook page.
• 27 percent of consumer-facing Fortune 500 corporations do not list social media channels on their website homepage.
• 89 percent of those same companies do not list an e-mail address on their site.
• 13 percent of companies do not list a phone number on their ?Contact Us? page.

The findings are based on Genesys analysis of consumer-facing Fortune 500 companies? websites. Consumer-facing company websites were defined as those which a consumer would visit to obtain answers or assistance regarding a product or service.

?These findings are an indication that social media is still a very new phenomenon,? explained Tom Eggemeier, head of Global Sales at Genesys. ?Many large consumer-facing companies are still struggling and not confident in their ability to deal with customer queries and complaints via social media. Consumer-facing companies need to resolve this disconnect by developing a customer service strategy that understands and integrates social media channels across every customer touch point.?

Category:?Market Research

Added By: Sam Collins on 30th Aug 2012 - 12:22
Number of Views: 55

Source: http://www.callcentreclinic.com/news/market-research/genesys-research-find-big-business-still-uneasy-with-customer-service-conversation-over-social-media-47131.htm

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Space Station 11: Jake's DIY Tricks For Home Improvement

Ever wonder how to seal up those pesky cracks between the window sill and the window pane? Well, if you're renting, the lazy-ass landlord should really have fixed it by now. (I mean, seriously, how embarrassing to hand over keys to a place with dirty white walls that you have to paint yourself and windows in such decrepit condition, not to mention the glaring lack of ceiling fans that the other apartments are blessed with during this gum-meltingly hot weather.) But, if he doesn't, here's what you do, in order to keep theoretical bats - out:

-Take some packing tape, which is meant for packing cardboard boxes.
-Tear uneven strips of packing tape off and slop them right in there over the crack.
-Tear off extra leaves from the Aloe plant in your bedroom.
-To fill in vertical spaces that the tape doesn't cover, simply stuff the Aloe leaves inside.

And here's another example:
Viola! No bats yet! Pretty sure bats hate Aloe plants, right?

You're welcome for this handy tip.

Source: http://spacestation11.blogspot.com/2012/08/jakes-diy-tricks-for-home-improvement.html

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Sport Psychology: The Zen of a Business Like Approach | Rachel Long

How do the pros stay so cool under pressure? What are their secrets to approaching intense competition and practice week after week, year after year? No doubt recreational players have much to learn from professional athletes, but many of these take home lessons are more subtle and have to do with how pros psychologically address competition. With a doctorate in sports science and a career of tennis coaching all levels of athletes, the author has some unique credentials to help answer these questions.

It is easy to see that recreational players of individual sports are usually passionate, independent people. Sometimes too passionate! Those who approach an individual sport like tennis, table tennis, or racquetball often react too ?black/white? to the outcome of discrete points. They show too much elation and too much disappointment before the end of competition. Getting pumped up after a good shot or key situation is fine, but this is often used excessively in recreational play.

The only point that is critical in individual sports is the last point. Until then, other points should be approached as part of the process of ?negotiating? the contest. Finding the thousands of grey shades between the ?black and white?, the good and bad perspective on performance, is actually practice in the Zen of competition and the ?Business Like? approach of the pros.

In poker, when a player displays body language or posture that says, ?I no longer think I can win?, it is called a ?Tell?. At a poker table tells convert to money. In individual sports, tells help adjust an observant players strategy from point to point, perhaps the rest of the match. A professional poker player is a great example of the proper approach to one on one competition. Let?s look at how thought patterns commonly progress during a match.

First, realize that almost every player walks onto the court thinking they will win that day. Generally, players have similar physical abilities, but on that day, one will convince the other they will not likely win at some point in the contest. Keep in mind, sports psychologists say ?that day only? because statistics show that it is rare for one player to dominate the other in wins and losses over their careers.

If you don?t currently make a living playing sports, you are a recreational player and you have the ?luxury? of thinking you have no chance against a particular person. A pro can?t afford to think that way because most are playing for meals and expenses. Some professional athletes may NOT start out treating competition like a business, but they quickly learn or get counseled, to make that adjustment.

A ?business like? approach also includes respecting the ability of all opponents in several ways. First, your opponent?s excellence, or just effort, is responsible for your improvement. The better they play, the better you must to win. It is a fact of human psychology that losses are more motivating to your practice effort, thus improvement, than wins.

Second, it is critical in a ?business like? approach to resist the temptation to find excuses for your loss. Remember that nearly everyone come to competition physically ?dinged up? in some form. Rarely do players feel perfect. Therefor, accepting defeat from another imperfect but worthy opponent, without hiding behind excuses, shows strength of character. That is the Zen of acceptance of competitions very nature. This takes mental practice to catch yourself going off track.

Again, if you lose, even just a point, PRACTICE giving your opponent credit at all times for playing a role in that. Often tennis students ask, ?but my double fault isn?t THEIR responsibility is it?? The answer is actually that it is. Their existence puts competitive pressure on your serve. In football, they now count what is called ?Pressures?. It is the perception that the quarterback felt an approaching tackler that caused him to misfire. It is the same in individual sports.

The ultimate respect for one?s opponent is a central tenant of martial arts as exemplified by the training of Shaolin Temple monks. For thousands of years great ritual and honor is given to the opponent, who represents our internal struggle. That is the Zen of battle.

The pros also know that giving your opponent credit takes pressure off your own performance. Self deprecation, angry displays at one?s own performance, essentially makes the competition two players against none! The business approach is to make your opponent play great to win as often as possible. If they can do that, they deserve to win.

It is also ?business like? to mentally PRACTICE treating your opponent as just another witness who is watching to see how the drama will play out in this match only. In other words, a ?short memory? allows you to leave past results where they belong so they don?t influence future events. Can you do this for the next point and the next?

Between points is the time to plan strategy, assess how your opponent is playing/feeling, what tendencies are unfolding, and how you will construct the next point BUT, it takes practice to avoid generalizing about how you are going to play that day or how often your opponent has beaten you. The Zen of this is to merely observe these negative thoughts and let them pass. With practice they will lessen just as distracting thoughts lessen as meditation becomes more skilled.

The truth is that human performance between two closely matched talents in a complex sport actually ?splatters? like a modern artist throwing paint toward a canvas. It is different every day like a kaleidoscope, with only tendencies to predictability. This perspective will help you become less judgmental about your own performance, a better competitor, and more appreciative of your good fortune to have such recreation. Gratitude for the amazing chance to ?play? is also Zen.

Jonathan Bailin, Ph.D. received his doctorate in Sport Science while coaching tennis at the University of Southern California. Currently, Jonathan operates a tennis coaching business in Marina del Rey, California, publishes research, consults for corporations in ergonomics, and enjoys recreational table tennis locally.

Dr. Bailin published http://TableTennisMenace.com when he rediscovered his first childhood passion, ping pong. On this site he uses his expertise to better guide consumers to the best products for them. Here you will find only the best and most popular ping pong tables, table tennis rackets, ping pong balls, table tennis supplies, and accessories from the most respected suppliers. Because of the sport?s universal appeal, modest space requirements, and potential to fight inactivity, he truly feels that whether you call it ?Ping Pong? or ?Table Tennis?, anyone can ?Be a Menace? at TableTennisMenace.com!

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathan_Bailin,_Ph.D.

Recommended Products:

Source: http://rachel-long.com/sport-psychology-the-zen-of-a-business-like-approach/

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Isaac's Size, Speed Help It Pack A Heavyweight Punch

Enlarge Gerald Herbert/AP

People walk in the storm surge from Hurricane Isaac along Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. Isaac was later downgraded to a tropical storm as it continued to grind its way through the Gulf Coast, dropping torrential rain and generating dangerous storm surges.

Gerald Herbert/AP

People walk in the storm surge from Hurricane Isaac along Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. Isaac was later downgraded to a tropical storm as it continued to grind its way through the Gulf Coast, dropping torrential rain and generating dangerous storm surges.

Isaac might not be in the same league as Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, but the latest storm to batter Louisiana's Gulf Coast is punching above its weight class in more ways than one, scientists say.

The 2005 Hurricane Katrina, which devastated Louisiana and parts of Mississippi and Alabama, was a Category 3 storm (sustained winds of 125 mph) moving at about 15 mph when it made landfall on the Gulf Coast. By comparison, Isaac was a weak Category 1 storm as measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with sustained winds of 74-95 mph. By Wednesday afternoon, Isaac had been downgraded to a tropical storm, although it still was close to the Gulf Coast and continued to dump torrential rain.

While Isaac is considerably less intense than Katrina, it is large and slow ? a dangerous combination ? and it's moving west of the Mississippi River, a track that intensifies storm surge, says Timothy Shott, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Tropical Cyclone Program.

"This storm has sustained tropical storm force winds currently extending out to about 175 miles from the center and the hurricane force about 45 miles from the center," Shott told NPR at about noon ET Wednesday.

Measuring Isaac on three criteria ? storm surge, rainfall and wind ? Shott would rate the storm "high impact" on all of them.

Even though the winds are Category 1, the slow movement of the storm increases their effect, he says. "There's also a connection between the size of the storm and the storm surge," Shott says. "We're seeing the storm surge inundation values coming in at 8, 9, 10 feet in those southeast Louisiana parishes."

When it comes to predicting storm surge, a lot of factors come into play, says Brian McNoldy, a senior research assistant at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami.

Among the questions: How large is the storm? How far do the tropical-force winds extend? How fast is it moving and how long has it been moving in the same way? How deep is the ocean offshore?

"Then the onshore land makes a difference too," McNoldy says. "If the land is really, really flat, like New Orleans, the storm surge can go a lot farther inland."

Putting 'The Cork' In Place

And, with Isaac moving overland at less than 10 mph, Isaac will have plenty of time ? perhaps 20 hours in some areas ? to bottle up storm surge in the Mississippi, effectively placing a cork in the bottom as it continues to add more water in the form of torrential rainfall.

It's not uncommon for hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico to be relatively slow movers and Isaac had been forecast to be just that, Shott says.

"Not every storm moves quickly and sometimes along the Gulf Coast and at these lower latitudes, the storms can slow down as this one has and as it was expected to do," he says.

McNoldy calls Isaac's stalling out over one of the most vulnerable flood plains in the country just "bad timing," but says it could have been far worse.

"We just got really lucky that this didn't strengthen more as it was moving across the Gulf of Mexico these last few days," he says.

Better forecasting has also been a boon. It turns out that models are getting quite good at predicting a storm's path, its speed and even the elusive storm surge. But predicting a hurricane's intensity has proved more difficult, McNoldy says.

"For intensity, in some cases we don't even know if we're putting the right data into the models," he says.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/08/29/160261153/isaacs-size-speed-help-it-pack-a-heavyweight-punch?ft=1&f=1007

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Has Fortress Investment Become the Perfect Stock? | Avid Investor ...

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Every investor would love to stumble upon the perfect stock. But will you ever really find a stock that provides everything you could possibly want?

One thing?s for sure: You?ll never discover truly great investments unless you actively look for them. Let?s discuss the ideal qualities of a perfect stock, then decide if Fortress Investment (NYSE: FIG??) fits the bill.

The quest for perfection
Stocks that look great based on one factor may prove horrible elsewhere, making due diligence a crucial part of your investing research. The best stocks excel in many different areas, including these important factors:

• Growth. Expanding businesses show healthy revenue growth. While past growth is no guarantee that revenue will keep rising, it?s certainly a better sign than a stagnant top line.
• Margins. Higher sales mean nothing if a company can?t produce profits from them. Strong margins ensure that company can turn revenue into profit.
• Balance sheet. At debt-laden companies, banks and bondholders compete with shareholders for management?s attention. Companies with strong balance sheets don?t have to worry about the distraction of debt.
• Money-making opportunities. Return on equity helps measure how well a company is finding opportunities to turn its resources into profitable business endeavors.
• Valuation. You can?t afford to pay too much for even the best companies. By using normalized figures, you can see how a stock?s simple earnings multiple fits into a longer-term context.
• Dividends. For tangible proof of profits, a check to shareholders every three months can?t be beat. Companies with solid dividends and strong commitments to increasing payouts treat shareholders well.

With those factors in mind, let?s take a closer look at Fortress Investment.

Factor	What We Want to See	Actual	Pass or Fail?
Growth	5-Year Annual Revenue Growth > 15%	(15%)	Fail
	1-Year Revenue Growth > 12%	(17.9%)	Fail
Margins	Gross Margin > 35%	(2.3%)	Fail
	Net Margin > 15%	(38.6%)	Fail
Balance Sheet	Debt to Equity < 50%	16.9%	Pass
	Current Ratio > 1.3	2.61	Pass
Opportunities	Return on Equity > 15%	(58.4%)	Fail
Valuation	Normalized P/E < 20	NM	NM
Dividends	Current Yield > 2%	5.1%	Pass
	5-Year Dividend Growth > 10%	(15.5%)	Fail
	Total Score		3 out of 9

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Total score = number of passes.

Since we looked at Fortress Investment last year, the company hasn?t been able to improve on its three-point score. Weaker revenue offset the company?s decision to initiate a dividend earlier this year, but the stock has managed to gain about 10% in the past year.

The private equity industry has been a big moneymaker, but not so much for the investors who bought shares of private-equity companies when they went public. Both Fortress and Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX??) have performed abysmally since their respective 2007 IPOs, with many investors having noted just how perfect their timing was in coming to market just before the bottom fell out of the private-equity market.

Despite its stock?s terrible long-term returns, Fortress has had some recent successes. For instance, its investment in RailAmerica (NYSE: RA??) will produce a nice profit for the company, as private-equity rival and newly public Carlyle Group is joining with Bank of America (NYSE: BAC??) to help finance Genesee & Wyoming?s purchase of the regional railroad.

Fortress is also the majority owner of Nationstar Mortgage, which recently managed to pick up most of the assets of Residential Capital, the failed mortgage servicing unit of Ally Financial. Despite a run-in with Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B??) , which tried to grab up the assets, Nationstar managed to hold onto the servicing rights. That pick-up should prove lucrative in the long run, although it comes with controversy over foreclosure practices.

However, it?s essential to remember that these successes helped Fortress?s fund clients, with only an indirect impact on Fortress itself and its shareholders. For Fortress to improve, it needs to see more investing successes like this, which would then boost interest in the company?s private-equity funds and start building assets and revenue back up. Until that happens, though, Fortress could languish for quite a while.

Keep searching
No stock is a sure thing, but some stocks are a lot closer to perfect than others. By looking for the perfect stock, you?ll go a long way toward improving your investing prowess and learning how to separate out the best investments from the rest.

Private equity has been a tough call for shareholders, but it?s even harder to understand the ins and outs of the banking industry.

Source: http://avidinvestorgroup.com/2012/08/has-fortress-investment-become-the-perfect-stock/

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Have Your Home Improvement Projects ... - Albuquerque Real Estate

? Posted by Rich Cederberg on Aug 30, 2012 in Buyers and Sellers | 0 comments

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As if mortgages weren?t already dificult enough to get, now comes a new wrinkle for home buyers: trouble with unpermitted sunrooms, additions and pools.

I?ve had several transactions this year that have threatened to terminate because of unpermitted work. It seems that appraisers are now required to note whether or not improvements have permits on file or not in their appraisal reports. The problem is, the city did not start keeping good records until 1978, so finding a permit for any work performed before then is virtually impossible.

I feel bad for appraisers, who, thanks to federal regulations, already work for less money than they used to. Putting the additional burden of searching for permits doesn?t seem fair.

Here?s where the wrinkle comes in. You find a house to buy and make an offer, the appraisal comes in after about two weeks, but then the mortgage company, instead of having the underwriter review the file, lets it sit until the entire file is complete. Sometimes it?s not looked at until a day or two before closing. Then the underwriter finds the problem in their final review and then major headaches begin.

The first time I encountered this issue was back in March. I had a listing with an inground pool and sunroom addition on a house. The appraiser looked for permits but couldn?t find any, I?m guessing because the work was done in the early 1970?s. Apparently the underwriter ?didn?t look at the appraisal until the day before the scheduled closing and the lender would not lend on the house. The mortgage company had to pull the loan from one lender and send it to another lender. This caused a dealy of about two weeks.

Can you imagine having all your personal items and furniture packed and ready to move, then finding out that you?re not going to close for two weeks? Incredible.

Anyway, once we switched lenders, we needed to have a licensed contractor go out to the house inspect the improvements and ceritfy that they were done to code and in a workman like fashion. That was the only way we could get lender #2 to take the loan.

What if the work had not been to code or constructed in a workmen like manner?

So whether you?re a home owner considering doing a large DYI project or a buyer looking for a new house, watch out for unpermitted work. It can cause a big problem getting a mortgage, and that?s not good whether you?re buying or selling.

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(Cute dog, huh?)

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Source: http://www.albuquerquerealestateplace.com/blog/buyers-and-sellers/have-your-home-improvement-projects-permitted/

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What to watch for at the GOP convention Wednesday

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, talks with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, talks with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Here are some things to watch for at the Republican National Convention Wednesday:

1. RIDING THE STORM OUT: As Hurricane Isaac batters the Gulf Coast, Mitt Romney and GOP conventioneers decide how to respond. Can they show empathy for storm victims even as they celebrate Romney's nomination? Is there a way to help out? Also, watch how President Barack Obama handles Isaac, seven years after Hurricane Katrina caused so much trouble for President George W. Bush.

2. RYAN'S BIG DAY: On the road, veep nominee Paul Ryan's the one who draws big crowds and noisy enthusiasm. So delegates are sure to show some love when he takes the stage at the end of the night. It's the biggest speech of the 42-year-old congressman's life ? so far.

3. ANOTHER PAUL: Supporters of renegade candidate Ron Paul have caused a bit of a ruckus at the otherwise carefully choreographed convention. Will they raise a racket when the show features a video tribute to Paul and a speech by his son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky?

4. REMEMBER McCAIN? The last man to take on Barack Obama gets his say Wednesday. After falling short as the party's 2008 nominee, John McCain returned to the Senate as a tough critic of Obama, especially on national security matters. Watch for him to assail Obama's leadership in world affairs. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may hit similar notes.

5. MITT'S AWAY GAME: After popping by the convention to catch wife Ann's remarks Tuesday night, Romney pops out for a speech to the American Legion in Indianapolis. It will serve as a warm-up to his big address coming Thursday; the convention is scheduled to include a remote connection to Indiana.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-29-US-CVN-Convention-What-to-Watch-For-Wednesday/id-9bdf825f36384701a55272ecca918d92

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Venice Film Festival focuses on artistic roots

VENICE, Italy (AP) ? The Venice Film Festival is focusing on its artistic roots this year, courting celebrated directors and not flashy Hollywood blockbusters.

Festival director Alberto Barbera trimmed the number of movies premiering at the world's oldest film festival, which opens Wednesday, to just 18 in competition for the coveted Golden Lion, Venice's top prize. And the overall selection is just 60 films ? about half the offerings in previous years.

"I don't like this idea of making it bigger and bigger year after year," Barbera said Tuesday. "Toronto is getting bigger and bigger every year and the same thing for Cannes and Berlin and so on. And I don't like that. It's not a proper way to promote a film."

The Venice lineup is heavy on auteur favorites like Terrence Malick, who premieres "To The Wonder" on Sunday and Paul Thomas Anderson, who travels to the Lido with "The Master" on Saturday. Both films are coups for Barbera, who returned this year to the festival he directed from 1998-2002 and hopes to crystalize Venice's identity as an artistic venue.

"Usually there are studio films here, even out of competition, to give it some glitz," said Maria Grazia Vairo, the Rome-based head of acquisitions for Eagle Pictures, an Italian film distributor.

It's not clear if the bigger Hollywood films weren't ready when Venice was making its selections or if the studios preferred to save on the intercontinental airfare and premiere pictures in Toronto, which overlaps with Venice and has a lineup of more than 300 movies.

Focusing on fewer films, not only from acclaimed directors but also from first-timers "may be a good thing," Vairo said. "We may discover films that are not as obvious."

Venice is planning to maintain its tradition as an outlet for world cinema, with selections from such places as Guatemala, Indonesia and Malaysia. This year, 20 of the 60 directors showing films are women ? something Barbera said happened by chance, not design.

Both trends are encapsulated in the selection of Haifa Al Mansour's "Wadjda," billed as the first feature ever shot in Saudi Arabia. The story focuses on a 10-year-old girl who longs for a bicycle despite her mother fears that society will see it as a danger to the girl's virtue.

Barbera said the film was "surprising" not only because cinema is forbidden in Saudi Arabia but because a female filmmaker "dares to tell a story about the conditions in her country."

The festival is also becoming more exclusive and sharpening its focus in other ways. Plans to expand the Lido island venue facing St. Mark's Square have been scrapped. Instead, the festival will focus on improving the venues it has.

And in keeping with Barbera's desire to better promote the films at the festival, he is launching Venice's first market to facilitate sales.

The move may also enhance Venice's standing on the film festival circuit, which starts with Sundance in January, moves to Berlin in February, heats up with Cannes in May then sees Venice and Toronto duel it out in late summer.

"I am very curious about this. I don't know what is going to happen, considering that Toronto will be in a couple of weeks," said Faruk Alatan of Medusa, an Italian film distribution and production company. "I hope that it works. It could help Venice become a different kind of festival, beyond its artistic nature."

The new director also has trimmed back on Italian movies, dropping the Controcampo Italiano section, comprising 21 films, entirely. This year there are 14 Italian feature films in the nation's premier festival, three of those in competition, including Marco Bellocchio's highly anticipated "Bella Addormentata," or "Sleeping Beauty," about a celebrated euthanasia case in Italy, and cinematographer Daniele Cipri's solo directorial debut, "It was the Son."

While an Italian-only section allowed many films to be seen it also created a crowded field.

"You had too many films being released during the Italian film festival, and they couldn't get attention," said Andrea Occhipunti of Lucky Red, an Italian production company. "There was more rigor" in the choices this year.

The 69th Venice Film Festival opens Wednesday with the world premiere of Mira Nair's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," an adaptation of the best-selling novel about a young Pakistani whose Wall Street career veers off course after the 9/11 terror attacks. The film shows out of competiton.

The festival ends on Sept. 8, with the awarding of the Golden Lion and other prizes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venice-film-festival-focuses-artistic-roots-184537855.html

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Turkey to press for safe zone in Syria

ISTANBUL (AP) ? There is no better lesson about the perils of setting up a safe zone in a country in conflict than Srebrenica, where Bosnian Serbs killed some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in 1995 in what had been declared a U.N.-protected enclave. Now Turkey is pressing the United Nations to set up a safe haven inside Syria to protect thousands of people fleeing the country's civil war as it strains to shelter an increasing flow of refugees.

Mindful of that bloody episode in the Balkans ? Europe's worst massacre since World War II ? Turkey and its allies, particularly the United States, have conducted detailed planning and extensive diplomacy ahead of a possible occupation of some territory in Syria, where activists say more than 20,000 people have died since an uprising began in March 2011 ? many of them civilians killed by regime forces.

Yet the idea of a buffer zone, or no-fly zone ? or more likely a combination of the two ? still poses complex legal and logistical challenges, as well as fears that intervention could trigger reprisal attacks and end up widening the conflict in an already combustible region.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday that he would press the U.N. Security Council on Thursday at a high-level meeting in New York to set up the safe zone, reflecting frustration at the failure of rhetoric, diplomacy, economic pressure and aid for the Syrian opposition to stop the bloodshed. However, such action amounts to military intervention because a security force would have to guard civilians, and Russia, an ally of Syria that has a military base there, and China have used their council votes to block action against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"We expect the U.N. to step in and protect the refugees inside Syria, and if possible, to shelter them in camps there," Davutoglu said. "When refugee numbers reach hundreds of thousands, this problem goes beyond being an internal issue and becomes an international one. No one has the right to expect Turkey to take on this international responsibility on its own."

Turkey has long floated the idea of a buffer zone to protect displaced Syrians from attacks by Syrian regime forces, but the issue is more pressing because the number of refugees in Turkey has exceeded 80,000 ? an amount it says approaches its limits. The U.N. refugee agency has said up to 200,000 refugees could eventually flee to Turkey, which shares a 566-mile (911-kilometer) frontier with Syria. Tens of thousands of Syrians have also fled to Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.

However, the humanitarian crisis is clouded by geopolitical interests and rivalries. Russia felt betrayed by the NATO military mission in Libya, where it believes a U.N. mandate to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to dictator Moammar Gadhafi was used as legal cover to unseat him.

If Russian cannot be persuaded, a group of allies, including the U.S., Turkey, France, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, could choose to proceed with a safe zone without the legitimacy of a U.N. resolution. But Assad, who still counts regional power Iran among his few supporters, could gain political capital by characterizing an intervention as a Western or sectarian vendetta against him.

With Syria known to be in possession of chemical weapons, and Israel pondering an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, allied planners must consider the worst-case scenarios of intervention ? an especially unappetizing prospect for the U.S. administration ahead of a presidential election in November. Turkey has said it will not act alone.

"Legally they need U.N. approval to create a buffer zone or no-fly-zone, but it doesn't seem possible in the near future because of Russia's opposition in the Security Council," said Ercument Tezcan, an international law expert at USAK, a research center based in Ankara, the Turkish capital. Still, he said, allies could establish a no-fly zone in Syria, just as U.S.-led powers did in Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds and Shiite Muslims from dictator Saddam Hussein, and enforce it on the basis of humanitarian intervention even though they would be violating Syria's sovereignty.

"There is no legal definition of humanitarian intervention," Tezcan said. "It just needs strong willpower, but these countries may be criticized by their publics and by history."

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius of France, which backs Turkey's idea for buffer zones, said in an interview Wednesday on France-Inter radio that setting them up without an internationally imposed no-fly zone to protect civilians is impossible.

"We continue to believe despite all the limits that there are, that something can be done in international legality," he said, citing Russo-Chinese vetoes on tougher U.N. language against Syria. "We cannot just sit idly by."??????

Since the powers that would establish any safe zone are also calling for Assad's ouster and supporting the Syrian opposition, a so-called humanitarian mission could easily be construed as the first step in regime change managed from the outside. There would be concerns about whether Syrian rebels are using any foreign-protected camps to stage attacks on regime forces, which in turn could try to launch long-range artillery or air strikes on those same locations inside Syria.

The grave burden of protecting civilians was evident at Srebrenica, where thousands were slain in summary executions and their bodies plowed into mass graves. International courts have ruled the massacre amounted to genocide. Dutch troops stationed in the enclave as U.N. peacekeepers were undermanned and outgunned, and failed to intervene.

"To be effective, a safe zone requires a serious armed force that can defend it and serious logistics to supply it and that means a lot of military boots on the ground and serious commitment," said Emir Suljagic, a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre who had worked as an interpreter for U.N. forces based in the town. He advocated an allied bombing campaign in Syria along the lines of those in Libya and Kosovo on the basis that, "the only answer to such violence is equally extensive violence."

Bosnian Serbs also took peacekeeping soldiers hostage in an attempt to deter United Nations commanders from ordering NATO air strikes against Serb forces surrounding Bosnian safe zones. This hostage situation blocked any serious military action by the U.N.

In 1994, under a U.N. mandate, France established a humanitarian zone in Rwanda in response to the genocide there, but the project was plagued by accusations that perpetrators of the violence benefited from it.

Human Rights Watch has urged countries that have taken in Syrian refugees to keep their borders open despite the pressure of greater numbers, and said the international community should contribute aid. In Beirut, HRW representative Lama Fakih expressed concern that the establishment of any safe zone could leave fleeing civilians in a potentially more precarious situation against their will.

"Under international law, they have a right to be able to leave their country and seek asylum in another country," Fakih said.

Turkey has experience with a buffer zone, helping to set one up in 1991 to deal with hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees flooding to the border from Iraq during Saddam's war with a U.S.-led coalition. International aid groups assisted Kurds on the Iraqi side of the border. The numbers flooding across from Syria are not as great, but Turkey is building four new camps to accommodate new arrivals. One opened late Tuesday, allowing authorities to start letting in several thousand more displaced Syrians who were waiting on the Syrian side of the border.

"If the situation in Syria becomes graver, it is possible that we will experience a mass exodus," said Atilla Sandikli, an analyst at BILGESAM, a research center in Istanbul. "A buffer zone has become inevitable."

----

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Aida Cerkez in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; and Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-press-safe-zone-syria-103741500.html

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MLB, ESPN extend television contract

NEW YORK (AP) ? Major League Baseball and ESPN extended their television contract through 2021 on Tuesday, a deal that almost doubles the amount of money the network will pay annually for baseball content while also all but eliminating blackouts of local broadcasts of ESPN games on Monday and Wednesday nights.

The deal was announced on Tuesday. It combines rights for TV, radio, digital and international that had been separate. The new single contract adds new rights to air a wild-card game, along with additional rights to highlights and digital content. It also gives the network more flexibility to show games involving popular teams.

The previous contracts were worth close to $360 million a year combined. A person with knowledge of the new combined deal says it will be worth about $700 million a year over eight years. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the financial figures were not released.

"ESPN's financial commitment to baseball is extraordinary. ... It's a testament to not only the strength of our game, but the unprecedented popularity with our fans," Commissioner Bud Selig said.

The deal also addresses a long-running complaint from local television markets that were prevented from carrying games that were broadcast on ESPN. For instance, if ESPN was carrying a Wednesday night game between the Dodgers and Giants, anyone in the Los Angeles and San Francisco metro areas who did not have the network could not see the game on television.

The new agreement, which begins in 2014, allows ESPN to increase the number of "coexists," meaning that a game between the Dodgers and Giants not only will be broadcast on ESPN, but also the local television stations in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"We're ESPN. We promote the game all day, we take 'Baseball Tonight' to the area and then when the game starts, there's a message that says 'Not carried in your area,'" ESPN President John Skipper said. "We are now out of that business. The coexist is very important to us."

ESPN still carries exclusive rights for Sunday night games, but Selig said he was pleased with the increased availability of all the games both locally and nationally during the work week.

"I think this deal is very fair," Selig said. "Given the number of games that we have, we certainly don't want to hurt any local rights holders. I don't think we have here at all. The clubs, on balance, are all going to be remarkably better off."

The deal also gives ESPN the rights to a wild card game, which will rotate between the AL and NL every other year, the ability to air live look-ins on "SportsCenter" and increased the number of times it can schedule a team on Sunday night baseball from five to six.

So does that mean yet another installment of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry on ESPN? Not necessarily, Skipper said. He said he knows the network is criticized for the perception that it schedules too many games from that series and said ESPN has committed to put every team in the league in that slot at least once per season.

"We want to have a balance to maximize the teams that are most popular and drive the most ratings, but we also want to work with baseball to feature every team and help grow the game," Skipper said.

___

AP Baseball Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mlb-espn-extend-television-contract-185623986.html

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Sustainable construction: Waste wanted | Eco-Business.com

The Supertrees at Singapore's Gardens by the Bay are made with Holcim high strength green concrete for a reduced carbon footprint. Image: Eco-Business.

The construction industry is scrambling to find sustainable building materials for Asia?s booming cities, and companies are now competing for industrial waste to replace some of the natural resources they consume, say experts.

In Singapore, the lack of natural resources and growing demand for green buildings are driving the hunt for alternative building materials, and several concrete manufacturers have turned to a limited supply of recycled materials and industrial by-products.

One manufacturer that has done so is Holcim Singapore, a subsidiary of the Swiss-headquartered Holcim Group.

?We look for win-win solutions that offer immediate value and provide a commercial advantage,? said managing director Sujit Ghosh in an interview at the firm?s recently opened Centre of Excellence.

Holcim established the new centre with support from Singapore?s Economic Development Board. Its aim is to take products at the research and development stage and turn them into commercial products saleable in Asian market.

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Holcim is no stranger to using recycled materials in its products. In 2007, prompted by the sand crisis (see sidebar), Holcim started using waste collected from Singapore?s shipping industry in the making of its concrete. But first, it had to convince the regulator, Building and Construction Authority (BCA), that such material was safe enough to be allowed in building codes, noted Dr Ghosh.

The new concrete, called Holcim Green, was made from recycled granite from old buildings. Part of the sand needed in the process was also replaced with processed copper slag used by shipyards to clean ships.

Holcim obtained its copper slag by setting up a joint venture with local waste processing firm ecoWise in 2008, but the 400,000 tonnes that Singapore?s shipyards discard annually is only enough for about one month of the manufacturer?s concrete production.

The company produces about 1.5 million cubic metres of concrete each year, of which 5 to 10 per cent is certified green concrete.

Now that copper slag and other alternative materials - such as debris from building demolitions ? have been approved by building regulators, competition for those resources is increasing, said Dr Ghosh.

The firm is currently finalizing plans to use waste materials from Singapore?s waste incinerators, known as incinerator bottom ash.

This waste, of up to half a million tonnes each year, would otherwise end up in the Republic?s only landfill. Semakau Landfill is located off-shore and is currently under expansion so that it can continue to receive waste through at least 2045.

Home-grown Samwoh Group, which specializes in road building and also makes certified green ready-mixed concrete, is another manufacturer recycling waste back into building supplies.

The firm has two plants in Singapore that recycle asphalt and concrete from construction projects.? In 2010, it also built the Samwoh Eco-Green Building following a joint study with BCA and Singapore?s Nanyang Technological University to prove the safety of buildings using high percentages of recycled content. The building was the first in the region to use 100 per cent recycled ingredients for the concrete aggregate, which is the material added to cement and water to make the final product.

A shortage of waste

Holcim?s Dr Ghosh said that if there was an unlimited supply of recycled materials and by-products, the industry could easily replace half of the virgin materials it consumes without affecting the quality of the concrete. However, the available supply of copper slag, construction debris and incinerator bottom ash combined provides only a fraction ? about 10 per cent ? ?of the material Singapore?s building industry needs for concrete, he noted.

?Asia is not going to decrease its insatiable demand to build, so we need to figure out how we can do more with less,? said Dr Ghosh.

To reduce the demand for concrete from the construction industry, Holcim developed an eco-friendly high strength concrete that can decrease the amount of material needed for building projects by up to 50 per cent.

Two years ago, Holcim again worked with BCA to amend building codes that allow the use of high strength concrete, which was already used in Europe and Japan.

Since then, the firm has seen increased interest from builders that want to lower their carbon footprint and increase available floor area by using less bulky concrete structures, noted Dr Ghosh.

He predicted that over the next five years, the company?s high strength concrete could grow to 20 to 30 per cent of its overall production now that BCA is encouraging the use of such materials to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings.

While green concrete and green building designs are important to reducing the building industry?s environmental impacts, they are only part of the solution, he said.

The industry has done a good job focusing on design and energy efficiency, but has only just begun to map out the overall environmental impacts of the construction process, he explained.

He has seen some progress, including growing emphasis on productivity and sustainable materials, and better sorting of demolition debris. Three years ago, contractors sent stones from demolition sites to the landfill with the rest of the debris, but now they are all reused, he noted.

However, Dr Ghosh said building developers will need a bigger push, possibly in the form of a carbon price, to fully address the impacts of a project from start to finish.

Source: http://www.eco-business.com/features/sustainable-construction-waste-wanted/

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93% Neil Young Journeys

All Critics (43) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (3)

"Journeys" is simply a trip most need not take.

I'd say the movie does a fine job of completing the trilogy, but I wouldn't be surprised if Demme and Young have more in them yet.

Like Young, Demme often takes an iconoclastic route. This is in part a concert film, yes, but not a traditional one.

Forget Crosby, Stills and Nash and maybe even Crazy Horse. Jonathan Demme might be Neil Young's ultimate collaborator.

As a songwriter, Young can still deliver: one of the best tunes here is a lovely, piano-propelled number, "Leia," that he hasn't even released yet.

The wartsy antipode of Katy Perry: Part of Me, with an intimacy and intensity bordering on the overwhelming.

"Journeys" is about looking back - not in sorrow or wistfulness, but in affection and, often, impassioned remembrance of times past and how they still resonate in the present.

A mesmerizing and intimate visit with a performer who is identified most closely with rock 'n' roll, but whose artistic curiosity has taken him in myriad directions musically throughout his 40-plus-year career.

Neil Young Journeys does for some of us what a rare film can do - it revives and renews our spirit. Neil Young and Jonathan Demme. Heart and soul. Wisdom and age. Fire and ashes. Lightning and thunder.

For fans, Journeys is like that box set of uneven rarities that they simply must own. For casual friends, it's 90 minutes in good company. For the rest - ho-hum.

An unusually fulsome tribute to the singer-songwriter from the director of The Silence of the Lambs.

On its own terms, "Neil Young Journeys" is an enjoyable concert film of a solo show in Toronto, interspersed with memories of his Canadian boyhood.

The concert camera work is sometimes a little tight for comfort (not really interested in Young's bridge work), though it adds to the intensity.

Movie fans probably don't need to hear him sing "Ohio" again, but "Neil Young Journeys" -- Jonathan Demme's second Young doc, if you're counting -- does have some new wrinkles.

In a sense, this film finishes a cycle that began with the homey and impressive "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" and continued with the raucous "Neil Young Trunk Show" of 2009.

"Look at Mother Nature on the run..."

A portrait of a true musical legend who is equally fascinating both onstage and off.

'Heart of Gold' was a great concert film, and 'Journeys' doesn't match it. BHut on its own it's a highly enjoyable ninety minutes of music and droll talk.

More Critic Reviews

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/neil_young_journeys/

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Conventions are here ... but where are celebs?

AFP - Getty Images file

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, and President Barack Obama.

By Courtney Hazlett, NBC News

The Democratic and Republican conventions of 2008 had guest lists that read like any legitimate Hollywood party. Ben Affleck, Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Susan Sarandon and literally dozens of other celebrities had a massive presence at political events and on the streets of Denver and St. Paul.?

Four years later, the tip sheets for the conventions? big events in Tampa and Charlotte, N.C., are decidedly less glamorous. Is this a sign that celebs have fallen out of love with politics? Is hope so 2008? While there will still be some Hollywood presence, the majority of A-listers will be of the political variety at these upcoming conventions, and according to some experts, that?s to be expected.

Related: Smithsonian curators troll for treasures at conventions

?It was unlikely to happen again. (2008) was a really unique confluence of events,? former democratic strategist Matthew Hiltzik told NBC News of the 2008 conventions. ?You had the entertainment world, which typically does skew democratic, and the opportunity to have a Democrat in the White House for the first time in eight years combined with historic nature of Barack Obama?s candidacy. It lead to overwhelming enthusiasm. I think this year it?s a lot more focused on the issues.?

That is definitely the case with the One campaign, Bono?s anti-poverty organization. In 2008, One was behind the DNC?s toughest party ticket: a Kanye West performance attended by Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker and Ashley Judd. This year, One is hosting panel discussions.

?No big parties this time, instead we?re focusing on policy-heavy panel discussions,? One spokesperson Ari Goldberg said. ?It?s not that celebs weren?t interested. It?s definitely a decision that was made on our end to be more policy heavy. It?s a time of fiscal responsibility, too.?

Hiltzik agrees that there?s added focus on the cost associated with such events. Headliners don?t perform out of the kindness of their own hearts, after all. At a minimum, it?s standard to cover travel expenses and accommodations for most celebrities, and some also command appearance fees. ?Four years later with many Americans facing challenging economic times, it would seem that the celebratory celebrity tone would be off message,? said Hiltzik.

Even though One has swapped Kanye in Denver for talks in Tampa it doesn?t mean there won?t be some fun. The Recording Industry Association of America (which was also part of the One/Kanye event in Denver) is teaming up with charity Musicians on Call for a Gavin DeGraw fundraiser concert in Tampa and one featuring Common in Charlotte, N.C.

?For us, it?s a bit of the same as 2008,? said RIAA?s Cara Duckworth. ?We celebrate music so we always get a good level of interest. And we?re seeing that leading up to both events. We?re happy to accommodate.?

Rock the Vote says its presence will be quite similar to that of 2008.

?We?re doing a concert at each of the conventions, which is what we did last (time),? spokesperson Chrissy Faessen said. ?For Rock the Vote, it?s core to our history. Musicians and artists have always been a part of how we deliver our message to young people. They?re great messengers for getting young people out there to vote.?

Regardless of the economy, ?people still love the music,? said Hiltzik. ?Some people are going to come out for the access to that concert, to the performance. The primary celebrity is most helpful when it?s musical talent performing at fundraisers. Those events have a much bigger draw than one where Joe Schmo celebrity shows up.?

Related content:

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/27/13457103-is-hope-so-2008-the-conventions-are-here-but-where-are-the-celebs?lite

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Will Google Ads for Google Products on Google Make You Switch to Bing? [Chatroom]

Today Google has an ad for Google's Nexus 7 tablet on Google's home page. Google Google Google Google did you know this page is called Google.com? Between search, a mobile os, hardware, and a social network, Google apparently does absolutely everything now. The ad is an obnoxious departure from the comfort and familiarity of a typically sparse page. And arguably an unfair advantage for its own product, considering Google doesn't usual advertise other devices in that sacred white space. Looking at you, FTC. But is it enough to make you use Bing or another search engine? What's your breaking point? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/iImKMbZePGo/will-google-ads-for-google-products-on-google-make-you-switch-to-bing

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Argentines sweep world tango competition

BUENOS AIRES (AP) ? Argentine couples recovered their dominance of the world's top tango dancing competition, sweeping both the Salon Tango and Stage Tango categories as the annual festival drew to a close.

Cristian Sosa and Maria Sciuto won Tuesday night's stage final with a score of 8.42, followed by four other Argentine couples at the top of an international field. Five Argentine couples also came out on top in the Salon competition the night before, besting a total of 487 couples from 32 countries.

Couples from Japan and Russia, Colombia and the United States have frequently wowed the judges in previous finals, but this year none managed to impress the panel as much as the hometown couples who danced before thousands of fans in the Luna Park stadium in the Argentine capital.

To the rhythm of "El Gordo Triste" (The Sad Fat Man), the champions swirled across the floor, smoothly nailing the genre's classic forms ? untranslatable moves such as the "boleos," ''ganchos" and the passionate embrace known as the "abrazo milonguero."

As with the winners of Monday night's Salon Tango final, Sosa and Sciuta left the stage with $8,600 dollars and two tickets to Paris to perform there.

The much anticipated final was dedicated to two of the best-known ambassadors of the genre: bandoneonista and composor Astor Piazzolla, who died 20 years earlier, and dancer Maria Nieves.

Drummer Daniel "Pipi" Piazzolla, Astor's grandson, interpreted along with several other young musicians two songs first performed by the Electronic Octet, a fusion of tango and rock led by the elder Piazzolla in the 1970s, and Nieves shared a dance with the champions of nine previous world tango competitions.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/argentines-sweep-world-tango-competition-024928657.html

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Aromatherapy Astrological Frequencies Training Courses, Health ...

CHELSEA: St. Louis Center starts 'Fitness for Life' with help from grants

With the help of two grants, residents at the St. Louis Center in Chelsea, a home for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, now have a functional fitness training program.

Reading FC fitness takes inspiration from New York Knicks

Reading FC fitness coach Karl Halabi reveals how the New York Knicks have helped shaped training at Madejski Stadium.

Lifesaver Paul turns fitness focus on himself

FEW people could be more committed to losing weight than Paul Newnes.

FITNESS CALENDAR

SUNSET STORYTELLING HIKE: Meet at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at Black Mountain Savings Bank, 200 E. State St. Return by 9:30 p.m. Three storytellers gather on Sunset Mountain to relate mostly true stories about the history of Black Mountain, Swannanoa, and North Fork. To register, call 669-9566 or visit www.swannanoavalleymuseum.org . museum members, non-members.

Devlin Tops In Spitfires Training Camp Fitness Testing

Defenceman Brandon Devlin finished tops overall among 47 Spitfires returnees, prospects and training camp hopefuls in fitness testing on Day One of 2012 Training Camp at the WFCU Centre on Monday.

Top 3 health events: training for runners, nature walk, free fitness classes

FREE 10-WEEK TRAINING FOR RUNNERS

Bluetooth SIG Adopts Key Profiles for Sports and Fitness Market

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group today finalized standards that will accelerate the proliferation of Bluetooth? wireless technology sensors that measure speed and cadence for running and cycling activity.

Global Sports and Fitness Clothing Industry

NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Global Sports and Fitness Clothing Industry http://www.reportlinker.com/p092497/Global-Sports-and-Fitness-Clothing-Industry.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=FitnessThis ...

Devon Fitness Club of Berwyn, PA voted Best of the Best for Personal Training!

BERWYN, Pa., Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- John McCaffrey and Lisa Hoekstra, owners of Devon Fitness Club ( http://www.devonfitness.com ) in Berwyn, PA, received the honor of Best of the Best for their ...

One-on-one training studios take fitness personally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Personalized fitness is no longer the domain of movie stars and world-class athletes. Studios providing one-on-one fitness are catering to clients who prefer their fitness far from the all-purpose gym crowd. "This is definitely a growing area," said Meredith Poppler of the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), the trade association of the fitness ...

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Applicable Consolidation Loan | Get Debt Management Plans From ...

Posted by admin | Posted in Debt Management | Posted on 28-08-2012

Loan consolidation debt is applicable when you want to pay off all your loans at once, and you can talk to your financial advisor on the necessary things that you will be required to do. Even though loan consolidation debt will take more time to be paid off, it will reduce you the burden of following up of your finances from different financial institutions. Loan consolidation has its disadvantage in that you will have to cut down on costs and the period of time that will take you to clear up the debt will be determined by your monthly income. If your monthly income is low, it will take you a longer time to clear it off.

When signing debt consolidation, you will be required to give out you name, identification number and your telephone number. This will help in ensuring that you can be reached easily in case of anything. Before taking a Loan consolidation debt, you have to look for a financial institution that has good services and their interest rates are not high. You should also calculate the amount of debt that is to be paid and this will put you in a better situation to decide on the amount you will be paying monthly.
It should be clear to you of how Loan consolidation debt works. In cases here you have doubts, you will be required to go and talk to your personal financial advisor or finance counsellor to make things clear to you on how loan consolidation debt works. The good thing about loan consolidation debt is that it will reduce you off some burden and even the stress level, since you will have to deal with only one financial institution. You will also be in a position to pay off your debts and at the same time be saving for the future.

Loan consolidation debt will also help you budget your expenses in an easier way. You will be in a position to calculate on your monthly finance and be aware of what you will be remained with for use of your monthly expenses.

Source: http://www.debtfinancialmanagement.com/applicable-consolidation-loan/

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Exclusive: Egypt's president rules out currency devaluation

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's new president said on Monday he would not impose new taxes or devalue the country's currency and that his government would rely instead on investment, tourism and exports to fix an economy ravaged by a year and a half of political turmoil.

Mohamed Mursi, 61, has a window of opportunity to push through economic change while he still commands political goodwill 50 days into his tenure as Egypt's first freely elected president, economists say.

Yet he must tread carefully to avoid angering a population that rose up to oust Hosni Mubarak last year partly because of high inflation and the widespread belief that the fast economic growth in the last years of the former president's rule was not reaching the poor.

Among measures that have been proposed by economists are a reduction in the value of the currency, which has fallen by only 5 percent over the last 18 months despite the drop in demand from tourists and investors.

But asked if his government had any thought of devaluing the Egyptian pound, Mursi said: "No. Definitely not. This is completely out of the question."

Mursi was speaking to Reuters in his first interview with an international news organization hours before leaving for China, where he hopes to attract investment and improve economic ties. Next month he flies to the United States on a similar mission.

"I am seeking out the interests of the Egyptian people in the east and the west. I will go wherever these may be," Mursi said, speaking from the ground floor of the presidential palace.

"The interests of the Egyptian people require that we balance our relations with the whole world."

The anti-Mubarak uprising and its aftermath chased away both tourists and foreign investors, two of Egypt's main sources of foreign exchange, putting pressure on the currency and helping to widen an already swollen budget deficit.

Mursi's officials acknowledge the challenge. They say Egypt needs to create 700,000 new jobs a year, a target that will require growth of 6 percent a year or more. That level had been achieved in the last years of Mubarak's rule, but stalled after he was toppled.

The government last week formally asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $4.8 billion loan to plug the financing gap in its budget and balance of payments.

In the last three months, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank have pledged Egypt more than $5 billion to help it stave off a balance of payments crisis, but the money will not provide a long-term fix for a hard-pressed nation of 82 million people.

A weaker pound would encourage exports and stop a drain on foreign reserves, which have fallen by more than half since the uprising, to $14.5 billion. Yet it would make tea, sugar and other imports bought by the poor even more expensive. Wheat, a big import and their main staple, is heavily subsidized.

NO TAXES

Mursi also ruled out any new taxes, at least in the short term. "There are no new taxes that will be imposed on the Egyptian people during this period," Mursi said.

"The tax system needs reviewing so that government support reaches those who need it, not those who don't," Mursi said. "There is a gradual plan so that taxpayers bear their true responsibility and pay what they truly owe."

These, he added, would be revisions and not new taxes.

"I am not talking about a sudden law that would impose a tax on the people to pay new taxes without study. We want to reduce the burden on the most impoverished. We want to support the poor and needy," he said.

The deficit in the new, 2012/13 budget is equivalent to 25 percent of total spending. The government has been relying on local banks for finance, but these banks have run low on funds to lend. This has pushed interest rates on some treasury bills up to almost 16 percent, further widening the deficit.

"We are trying by all means possible ... to reduce this deficit, and we envisage that within a few years, within three to five years, this deficit may decrease by a tangible amount.

"The situation now is more stable. The amount of reserves now at the central bank is above the limit of fear, above the red line," he said.

"The main axis is investment, encouraging investors, tourism, foreign trade, exports. That is what we are aiming for more than loans."

(Additional reporting by Samia Nakhoul and Edmund Blair; Writing by Patrick Werr and Marwa Awad; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-egypts-president-rules-currency-devaluation-085301537--business.html

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Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent ever recorded

ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2012) ? The blanket of sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean melted to its lowest extent ever recorded since satellites began measuring it in 1979, according to the University of Colorado Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center.

On Aug. 26, the Arctic sea ice extent fell to 1.58 million square miles, or 4.10 million square kilometers. The number is 27,000 square miles, or 70,000 square kilometers below the record low daily sea ice extent set Sept. 18, 2007. Since the summer Arctic sea ice minimum normally does not occur until the melt season ends in mid- to late September, the CU-Boulder research team expects the sea ice extent to continue to dwindle for the next two or three weeks, said Walt Meier, an NSID scientist.

"It's a little surprising to see the 2012 Arctic sea ice extent in August dip below the record low 2007 sea ice extent in September," he said. "It's likely we are going to surpass the record decline by a fair amount this year by the time all is said and done."

On Sept. 18, 2007, the September minimum extent of Arctic sea ice shattered all satellite records, reaching a five-day running average of 1.61 million square miles, or 4.17 million square kilometers. Compared to the long-term minimum average from 1979 to 2000, the 2007 minimum extent was lower by about a million square miles -- an area about the same as Alaska and Texas combined, or 10 United Kingdoms.

While a large Arctic storm in early August appears to have helped to break up some of the 2012 sea ice and helped it to melt more quickly, the decline seen in in recent years is well outside the range of natural climate variability, said Meier. Most scientists believe the shrinking Arctic sea ice is tied to warming temperatures caused by an increase in human-produced greenhouse gases pumped into Earth's atmosphere.

CU-Boulder researchers say the old, thick multi-year ice that used to dominate the Arctic region has been replaced by young, thin ice that has survived only one or two melt seasons -- ice which now makes up about 80 percent of the ice cover. Since 1979, the September Arctic sea ice extent has declined by 12 percent per decade.

The record-breaking Arctic sea ice extent in 2012 moves the 2011 sea ice extent minimum from the second to the third lowest spot on record, behind 2007. Meier and his CU-Boulder colleagues say they believe the Arctic may be ice-free in the summers within the next several decades.

"The years from 2007 to 2012 are the six lowest years in terms of Arctic sea ice extent in the satellite record," said Meier. "In the big picture, 2012 is just another year in the sequence of declining sea ice. We have been seeing a trend toward decreasing minimum Arctic sea ice extents for the past 34 years, and there's no reason to believe this trend will change."

The Arctic sea ice extent as measured by scientists is the total area of all Arctic regions where ice covers at least 15 percent of the ocean surface, said Meier.

Scientists say Arctic sea ice is important because it keeps the polar region cold and helps moderate global climate -- some have dubbed it "Earth's air conditioner." While the bright surface of Arctic sea ice reflects up to 80 percent of the sunlight back to space, the increasing amounts of open ocean there -- which absorb about 90 percent of the sunlight striking the Arctic -- have created a positive feedback effect, causing the ocean to heat up and contribute to increased sea ice melt.

Earlier this year, a national research team led by CU embarked on a two-year effort to better understand the impacts of environmental factors associated with the continuing decline of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The $3 million, NASA-funded project led by Research Professor James Maslanik of aerospace engineering sciences includes tools ranging from unmanned aircraft and satellites to ocean buoys in order to understand the characteristics and changes in Arctic sea ice, including the Beaufort Sea and Canada Basin that are experiencing record warming and decreased sea ice extent.

NSIDC is part of CU-Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences -- a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration headquartered on the CU campus -- and is funded primarily by NASA. NSIDC's sea ice data come from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder sensor on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program F17 satellite using methods developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/lYn6QuZ4AYQ/120827130726.htm

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Sharapova eases into 2nd round at US Open

Maria Sharapova, of Russia, returns a shot to Melinda Czink, of Hungary, at the 2012 US Open Tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Maria Sharapova, of Russia, returns a shot to Melinda Czink, of Hungary, at the 2012 US Open Tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Britain's Andy Murray returns a shot to Alex Bogomolov Jr., of Russia, at the 2012 U.S. Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, in New York. Murray won the match. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Australia's Samantha Stosur reacts after defeating Petra Martic of Croatia at the 2012 US Open Tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

A fan uses an umbrella to keep dry during a rain delay at the 2012 US Open Tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Mel C. Evans)

Rain drops cover a logo during a rain delay for the 2012 US Open Tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Maria Sharapova's stomach ache turned out to be nothing more than that.

That lopsided loss she suffered at the Olympics ? well, that may have only been a false alarm, as well.

Playing her first match since a blowout loss to Serena Williams in London and a stomach virus that forced her out of two tuneup tournaments, Sharapova returned to tennis in fine fashion Monday at the U.S. Open.

The third-seeded Russian came back from a three-week break and defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-2, 6-2 in a stress-free, 67-minute first-round match at blustery Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Sharapova's victory in front of the half-filled stadium was her first match since a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Williams at the London Games in a gold-medal showdown that looked and felt more like one of these first-round wipeouts Sharapova usually inflicts.

Turns out, Sharapova was dealing with some stomach pain then, which only got worse a few weeks later. She went to the doctor for a series of tests, including an ultrasound to see if she was pregnant. The test turned up negative.

"Just because of the pain I was having, it was really weird," said Sharapova, who is engaged to basketball player Sasha Vujacic. "They told me I was fine, not pregnant. Then, I'm like, 'Can I get my money back?'"

It has been an eventful summer for one of tennis' biggest stars.

After serving as the flagbearer for Russia, then finishing as the silver medalist at the Olympics at Wimbledon, Sharapova's original plan was to come to North America and play in tuneups in Montreal and Cincinnati to acclimate herself to the hard courts.

But the Olympics took a lot out of Sharapova, and when she arrived in Canada, she got knocked down by a stomach ache so bad that she went to the doctor.

It turned out to be a virus ? her body's way of telling her to take it easy, she said, so she withdrew from the events and took a few weeks off.

"It was a nice break in a way, but after so many weeks of practicing, you're just eager to get back on the court," she said.

She looked eager to get off the court, as well, showing very few signs of rust against her 88th-ranked opponent.

Wearing a soft-pink dress with a touch of mauve ? more subdued than what she usually wears for, say, a nighttime appearance ? Sharapova served five aces and maxed out at 115 mph. It took her 31 minutes to finish the first set and she was up 3-0 in the second before Czink got her only break.

That made things only mildly interesting, and only for a very short time. Leading 4-2, Sharapova won one point by chasing a ball almost into the stands on the sidelines, reaching out to get it back, then closing in on the net to win the point. Czink stood there shaking her head, hardly believing what she had just seen.

Sharapova said it was not problem getting the blowout loss to Williams out of her mind.

"It doesn't stick with you," she said. "I mean, personally, I've been part of many different types of matches in my career. Looking back at that week, it was really special. It was so hectic."

The routine win closed out a day session filled mostly with by-the-book results: Defending champion Sam Stosur's 6-1, 6-1 victory over Croatia's Petra Martic, No. 3 Andy Murray's 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 win over Alex Bogomolov Jr., of Russia and, of course, a two-hour rain delay at a tournament that has finished on a Monday for four straight years because of bad weather.

No. 1 Roger Federer's quest for a sixth U.S. Open title began later Monday against American Donald Young.

Before Federer played, No. 23 Kim Clijsters extended her Flushing Meadows winning streak to 22 straight matches, defeating the youngest player in the field, 16-year-old American Victoria Duval, 6-3, 6-1.

Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka, the Australian Open champion, began the quest for her second Grand Slam title of the year with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Alexandra Panova.

Stosur wrapped up her win before the rain came, and any thought that the early round jitters might get to her ? the way they did in first-round exits at the Australian Open and the Olympics or a second-round loss at Wimbledon ? were over before the crowd even got settled.

The seventh-seeded Aussie won the first 19 points ? she was five away from a perfect set before she double-faulted ? and needed only 51 minutes to finish the match.

"It did pop into my head for a split second," Stosur said of the prospect of a golden set. "Then I hit the double fault and it was erased and I was quickly on with the next point."

Murray is trying to become the first man to win the Olympics and the U.S. Open in the same year. His first match of 2012 at Flushing Meadows gave him a decent test ? with just a little something to worry about.

He fell down a break to open the first two sets but won the last five games of the first and last four games of the second, then cruised in the third, which he began by shouting "focus."

"It's an important stage of the match, when he was up 4-3 in the second with a break, then I won three games in a row and momentum was with me," Murray said. "You want to win the matches as quickly as possible."

He finished with 46 winners to 24 for Bogomolov, and handled the array of drop shots Bogomolov tried on him. Leading 4-1 in the third set, Murray grabbed his left hamstring while lunging for a ball near the net. But he closed out the match with no problem.

"Maybe I didn't take enough fluid," Murray said.

That could have been the problem No. 22 Florian Mayer encountered, as well. He withdrew while trailing 19-year-old American wild card Jack Sock 6-3, 6-2, 3-2, saying he felt dizzy and had blurred vision.

"He played the perfect match," Mayer said. "He hit the forehand fast, didn't really make any mistakes, just played really good."

Sock advanced to the second round for the second straight year. He'll be joined by Americans James Blake, a four-set winner over Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, 23rd-seeded Mardy Fish, who beat Go Soeda of Japan in three sets, and Tim Smyczek, who won 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 over Bobby Reynolds in a 3-hour, 33-minute, all-American matchup between qualifiers.

"It's obviously the biggest tournament for us Americans but I'm just trying to go about my business and treat it like any other week," said Smyczek, ranked 179th, after recording his first victory in a Grand Slam tournament.

Other winners included 24th-seeded Marcel Granollers on the men's side and 11th-seeded Marion Bartoli, No. 9 Li Na and No. 5 Petra Kvitova in the women's draw.

Andy Roddick, Serena Williams and defending champion Novak Djokovic were scheduled to play Tuesday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-27-US%20Open/id-a3a1e40c4fa84dda9fa7ae8d90b39ad6

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