White Sox crush Rays, move into first

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:21 p.m. ET May 29, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Philip Humber didn't match the performance in his previous win. Nearly impossible to do that.

After more than a month without a win, though, he was still pretty happy.

Humber won for the first time since throwing a perfect game in April, and the Chicago White Sox extended their winning streak to seven games by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 7-2 on Tuesday night.

"I just tried to simplify things," Humber said. "My only goal was let's not walk anybody. I walked one guy, but at the same time, I feel like that's really kind of been what's been biting me lately. I've just been beating myself a lot. That was something I was kind of proud, just being able to pound the strike zone."

Hideki Matsui homered in his Tampa Bay debut. The Rays purchased the 2009 World Series MVP's contract from Triple-A Durham before the game.

Humber (2-2) was 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA over six starts since his gem against Seattle on April 21. The right-hander allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings Tuesday.

"It was a good start and hopefully something I can build on," Humber said.

Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo both had two RBIs for the White Sox, who have won six in a row on the road.

Ramirez had an RBI double during a five-run sixth against James Shields (6-3) as Chicago took a 6-2 lead. A.J. Pierzynski, Viciedo and Orlando Hudson hit run-scoring singles, while Alejandro De Aza drove in a run with a grounder.

"We were able to get to him one inning," said White Sox DH Adam Dunn, who started the sixth by drawing a walk. "Other than that, he shut us down. I know that we were going to have to really grind it out against him. He's one of the best in the game, and anytime you get a guy like that and something kind of goes wrong, you need to take advantage of it."

Shields gave up six runs and 10 hits in six innings.

Matsui put the Rays ahead 2-0 on a long homer to right off a Humber fastball in the fourth. It was his first homer since Sept. 19 against Texas while with Oakland.

"It was nice to hit the home run, but we lost the game," Matsui said through a translator. "Physically I feel fine. So hopefully I can just keep building from here."

Matsui, who turns 38 on June 12, started in left field. He played 13 games with Durham after signing a minor league contract with Tampa Bay on April 30.

"He's been a quality batsman in the league for a long time," Humber said. "First pitch of the at-bat, I felt like it was a pretty decent pitch, but he put a good swing on it. You've got to tip your cap sometimes, but he's a good hitter and it's not a mistake he's been around as long as he has."

The White Sox got to 2-1 in the fifth when Viciedo singled, went to third when Shields was charged with an error for an errant pickoff attempt and scored on Ramirez's single.

Viciedo hit a solo shot in the eighth. The White Sox have homered in 15 consecutive games.

"We just weren't at the top of our game," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Chicago's Paul Konerko went 0 for 4, including three strikeouts, to stop his 14-game hitting streak.

NOTES: Matsui got a nice ovation, with a few fans giving him a standing ovation, before his first at-bat. He finished 1 for 4. ... Viciedo has driven in 12 runs in his last six games. ... Maddon said 3B Evan Longoria (partial tear left hamstring) continues improving, but is at least a few weeks away from being ready for a minor league rehab assignment. ... Pierzynski has 12 RBIs over his last 12 games. ... With the addition of Matsui, Tampa Bay DH Luke Scott could get some playing time at first base.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

transtar 316 william daley truffles truffles alabama vs lsu alabama vs lsu

Private Cloud Hosting Provider ScaleMatrix ... - My Best Web Hosting

Chelmsford, MA (PRWEB) May 09, 2012
Arbor Networks, Inc., a leading provider of security and network management solutions for enterprise and service provider networks, today announced that ScaleMatrix, a global leader in Private Cloud Hosting and Colocation, has selected Arbors Peakflow SP platform, the industrys leading network-wide infrastructure security and traffic-monitoring platform.
According to a recent report from Infonetics Research titled DDoS Prevention Appliance Market Outlook, Arbor Networks was cited as the dominant leader for DDoS prevention overall, with a 75.4% market share in the carrier transport and wired broadband market segment, versus 8.8% for the next competitor.
Headquartered in San Diego, CA, ScaleMatrix is a rapidly growing provider of colocation, managed services and private cloud hosting solutions. Customers include leading finance, healthcare, and gaming organizations. Arbor Networks works with hosting providers around the world and understands that the issue of availability is paramount. Hosting providers often have a higher risk of DDoS attacks than other online businesses because hosting providers, in effect, aggregate the risk of all their customers. An attack on one customer can affect others and potentially the entire hosting operation because of the heavy reliance on shared infrastructure. The overall impact of a DDoS attack is a function of the time it takes to detect the attack, the time needed to mitigate it and the extent of service degradation both before and after mitigation.
Security concerns are the number one impediment to businesses looking to leverage the benefits of hosted infrastructure. Companies need absolute confidence that data and applications are going to be secure and available, always. To make that happen for our customers, we have turned to the world leader in availability protection, Arbor Networks, said Mark Ortenzi, ScaleMatrix chief executive officer.
ScaleMatrix is a rapidly growing, innovative provider of a wide variety of services, from colocation to VPN to Infrastructure, Software, Platform and Compliance as a Service. Underpinning all of these is availability. These services must be available on demand. Arbor Networks has been focused on the denial-of service issue for more than a decade. Arbors Peakflow SP platform provides availability protection for the vast majority of the worlds service and hosting providers in operation today, said Colin Doherty, Arbor Networks president.
Integrated DDoS Detection & MitigationScaleMatrixs deployment of the Peakflow SP platform ensures that DDoS attacks are identified and mitigated before they get to customer premises. ScaleMatrix is using Arbors Peakflow SP platform to monitor customer access points at the edge of their infrastructure, in addition to constantly monitoring the entire Internet, looking for attacks that could disrupt or impact the availability of customer services. When Peakflow SP identifies an attack, customer traffic is diverted to the Arbor Threat Management System where it is scrubbed, and attack traffic surgically removed, while legitimate business traffic is passed through to the customer. Arbor is delivering an integrated solution that identifies and surgically removes network and application-layer attacks without interrupting the flow of legitimate traffic. This means that customer-facing services remain available while ScaleMatrix actively mitigates attacks.
Botnet protection via the ATLAS Intelligence Feed A new feature within the Peakflow platform is the ATLAS Intelligence Feed (AIF) which delivers deep DDoS signatures in real-time to keep networks protected against hundreds of botnet-fueled DDoS attack toolsets and their variants. This unique feed includes geo-location data and automates the identification of attacks against infrastructure and services from known botnets while ensuring that updates for new threats are automatically delivered without software upgrades. The ATLAS Intelligence Feed enables ScaleMatrix to directly benefit from the depth and breadth of Arbors research team.
The Arbor Security Engineering & Response Team (ASERT) is a recognized industry expert when it comes to Internet threat analysis. ASERTs primary focus is on botnets, which account for a majority of the DDoS attacks on the Internet today. ASERT has unique visibility into DDoS botnets because of its ATLAS infrastructure, which combines a darknet sensor network with traffic data from more than 100 service provider customers around the world. This enormous dataset enables ASERT to develop a unique, globally-scoped view of malicious traffic traversing backbone networks that form the Internet?s core. This insight is critical, as botnets are constantly changing and updating to thwart detection.
For more information on Arbor Networks DDoS Detection & Mitigation Solutions, please go to:http://www.youtube.com/user/ArborNetworks
About ScaleMatrix ScaleMatrix takes an infrastructure-based approach to providing best-in-class hosting solutions to clients at every stage of their IT Lifecycle development. By investing heavily in both facilities and personnel, and developing strategic relationships with critical hardware, software, and support service vendors we are able to offer our clients industry leading solutions which include design, deployment, and ongoing management as part of our standard offering. For additional information, visit ScaleMatrix at http://www.scalematrix.com.
About Arbor NetworksArbor Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of network security and management solutions for next-generation data centers and carrier networks, including the vast majority of the world?s Internet service providers and many of the largest enterprise networks in use today. Arbor?s proven network security and management solutions help grow and protect customer networks, businesses and brands. Through its unparalleled, privileged relationships with worldwide service providers and global network operators, Arbor provides unequalled insight into and perspective on Internet security and traffic trends via the ATLAS Active Threat Level Analysis System. Representing a unique collaborative effort with 100+ network operators across the globe, ATLAS enables the sharing of real-time security, traffic and routing information that informs numerous business decisions.
For technical insight into the latest security threats and Internet traffic trends, please visit our website at arbornetworks.com and our blog at http://ddos.arbornetworks.com.
Trademark Notice: Arbor Networks, Peakflow, ArbOS, How Networks Grow, ATLAS, Pravail, Arbor Optima, Cloud Signaling, the Arbor Networks logo and Arbor Networks: Smart. Available. Secure. are all trademarks of Arbor Networks, Inc. All other brand names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Arbor Networks to Present on DDoS Threat Landscape at World Hosting Day 2012

Chelmsford, MA (PRWEB) March 15, 2012 Arbor Networks, Inc., a leading provider of security and network management solutions enterprise data centers and carrier networks, today announced that they are presenting an overview of the Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Threat Landscape at World Hosting Days 2012, the worlds largest Hosting event, held March 20-23, 2012 in Rust, Germany. According to a recent report from Infonetics Research titled, DDoS Prevention Appliance Market Outlook, Arbor Networks was cited as the dominant leader for DDoS prevention overall as well as in the Carrier Transport and Wired Broadband, Enterprise Data Center and Mobile market segment....

Tags: infrastructure security, network security, DDoS attack, San Diego, Private Cloud Hosting, Arbor Networks

occupy oakland occupy oakland morgellons disease arik armstead sag awards red carpet torrey pines nhl all star game 2012

Chocolate 101 : Becoming a Chocolate Connoisseur!

At last!!?The day has arrived when we can finally learn the secrets to becoming a chocolate connoisseur. So far we have learned about the history of chocolate, how it is made, and about the different types of chocolate available.

______________________

Click on these sites to review previous Chocolate 101 blogs.

______________________

After learning the above about chocolate, we are now ready to judge chocolate. In the following paragraphs we will learn how to?discern the following: appearance, aroma, texture, and taste?of chocolate, along with?the?6 steps on how to eat chocolate. I can?t wait. Without further adieu, let?s begin!

_______________________

Appearance

-Most important in judging the appearance of fine chocolates is that it should have a satiny, smooth finish indicating that the cocoa butter has been properly tempered (crystallized). Keep in mind, however, that dark chocolate has a shinier appearance than does milk chocolate. This does not necessarily?mean that dark chocolate is of better quality, it just means that milk chocolate contains milk which clouds the finish.

-Examine the detail and care that has been put into the chocolate?s design. The edges should be clean and the molding should be clear.

-If the chocolate is too old, it will develop a hazy, white film called ?bloom?.? Also, the look of flour on chocolate may indicate that the manufacturer has used cocoa powder instead of cocoa beans. Cocoa powder is most commonly used in chocolate of lesser quality.

-Do not be swayed by color. The shade of color is influenced by many factors, such as bean type and roasting time, as well as milk content.

______________________

Aroma

-Taste is 90% smell, so we consider aroma to be the most important feature?when judging chocolate. Practice makes perfect. If you know how to judge wine, you are ahead of the game and know the importance of being aware of your sense of smell.

-Treat chocolate like you would a fine glass of burgundy wine. Fine chocolate does have a bouquet of it?s own. To describe what you smell, refer to fruit, flowers, woodland, and spice. Consider these questions. Does the chocolate smell strong or is it subtle? Do you detect any other scents besides cocoa beans?? such as vanilla, any spices, or fruit flavors?

-If you?re having trouble detecting the scents, lightly rub your thumb against the chocolate to warm it up, and then try smelling the chocolate again. It takes practice to describe a chocolate?s ?nose?.

-To develop a nose for chocolate, become aware of your surroundings and the smells around you. After a rainfall, consider taking a walk in a nature-setting, take in the smells. When buying fruit at a fruit market, take note of the different aromas?created by the?fruit there. Smell the spices in your cabinet and the herbs in your garden. The biggest problem with smell now-a-days is that we are so bombarded by artificial smells that we have lost our memory recall for natural scents. Unfortunately, when many people smell a fine chocolate for the first time, they do not recognise it as chocolate, because for them, chocolate should smell of sugar and vanilla, or even worse, the smell of artificial flavoring which gives it a longer shelf life (thus making it less healthy). A bouquet of fine quality, bitter-sweet cocoa beans and fresh dairy should greet your senses.

______________________

Texture

-Break your piece of chocolate in half and listen to the sound. High quality chocolate produces a sharp, crisp sound and has?a clean edge. With the exception of truffles, the outside coating of fine chocolates is often molded in a sleek, semi-hard shape that ?snaps? when you bite into it. The higher the cocoa quantity and the better the tempering, the louder the ?snap? of the chocolate. Professional chocolate-tasters can tell a great deal about the quality of chocolate just by this sound.

-If it breaks easily and neatly without much effort, then you can assume that the balance between cocoa bean and butter is correct. If it?s brittle or soft, the chocolate may be either old or improperly stored. Due to the milk content in milk chocolate, dark chocolate will break more easily than milk.

-The inside of a chocolate piece is called the center or filling, and in fine chocolates, it should be specifically intended to complement the outside coating in terms of flavor and texture.

-When you actually have the chocolate in your mouth,?it should be velvety smooth without the graininess that comes from incomplete refinement.

______________________

Taste

Think about what ingredients are present within the chocolate that make it unique.?As you?try to be?aware of the ingredients and characteristics of chocolate with your nose, try to discover the same with your taste-buds.??Is it salty or sweet? Fruity or nutty? What kind of fruits are contained within the chocolate? Is it earthy?

-Notice the way in which the ingredients compliment each other and create harmony. Chocolates that are complex may start off with one flavour and then evolve into another. For example, the piece of chocolate you try may start out sweet and then turn salty or bitter. This quality of the flavour of chocolate evolving from one characteristic to another is when chocolatiers really work their magic in creating truly fantastic, interesting chocolate.

-One note of caution, if you notice sugar as an ingredient, there is too much in the chocolate. Excess sugar is used to disguise poor quality cocoa beans. The manufacturer may be trying to disguise burnt, metallic, or mouldy flavour.

-Look for the special ?finish? or pleasant aftertaste that lingers on the palate. When it comes to chocolate and it?s hypnotic power over man, this aspect of chocolate is probably what is most influential. This special ?finish? makes us feel sublime and we should revel in it.

______________________

How to eat chocolate

1. Make sure that your chocolate is room temperature so that it will melt as soon as it hits your mouth. Do not refrigerate chocolate as cold chocolate does not release it?s flavors and aromas until it has warmed. If need be, rub your thumb gently over the chocolate to warm it up.

2. Smell the chocolate and look for the bouquet. Describe the chocolate?s nose by referring to fruit, flowers, woodland and spice as described above.

3. Bite into the chocolate. Notice the way in which the outside coating of the chocolate and the filling compliment each other. Look for the ?snap? when you bite into it.

4. Never rush the experience. Let the chocolate melt against the roof of your mouth. Feel the texture. It should be velvety smooth.

5. Roll the chocolate over your tongue allowing the flavors to permeate your mouth. As you did with smelling the chocolate, try to detect the ingredients that make that piece of chocolate unique. Try to note whether one flavor evolves into another.

6. You should feel sublime after tasting a piece of chocolate. Look for that ?special finish? or pleasant aftertaste that lingers on the palate.

______________________

MMM. There is nothing in the world like a good piece of chocolate. It is believed that chocolate releases endorphins in the brain that give pleasure. Be aware of that as well. If you are tasting more than one chocolate at a sitting, be sure to cleanse your palate with room temperature water and unsalted crackers or bread. Also, be sure to eat your chocolates in proper order from lowest percentage of chocolate to highest.

______________________

Now you are on your way to becoming a chocolate connoisseur. It will take practice, but with a little self-awareness and appreciation for it?s attributes, you will learn to better appreciate chocolate. To be a chocolate connoisseur, one might think you should become a Buddhist or a monk. Really, though, to become more aware of your senses and being conscious of the simple pleasures in life is something we should?strive for?in everything we do. We are often too rushed, tending to the frivolous details of everyday life, to appreciate what the world has to offer. With chocolate, wine, cheese, nature, ahhh-hmmm, and other things, one should take the time to revel in the magic and beauty that is given to us in this world and see it as a gift.

_______________________

Stay tuned for my next Chocolate 101 blog concerning what food and drink items best compliment chocolate (as in wine), and what the health benefits are along with other scientific facts. I?ll also share a list of chocolates that you may find at Herma?s Fine Foods and Gifts. As you know, she imports chocolate and has quite a lot to offer. I hope you better enjoy chocolate in being able to discern the different qualities that make chocolate special and unique. Until next time, this is Meredith signing off!

______________________

RECAP: Your chocolate should have a satiny, smooth appearance.?- ?Bloom? is a hazy, white film that indicates chocolate is too old. ? Practice detecting fruits, flowers, woodland, and spice scents in fine chocolate. ? Rub your thumb over chocolate to release aroma and flavor. Chocolate should be room temperature. ? Listen for the ?snap? when you break your chocolate. -?When tasting chocolate, it?should be velvety smooth without the graininess that comes from incomplete refinement- Concentrate on how the tastes compliment each other and note whether one flavor evolves into another. ? Look for that ?special finish? or aftertaste that lingers on your palate.

luke bryan april fools global payments the killing eli young band wrestlemania country music awards 2012

Lessons You will need To Learn Within Web Hosting | Home 2

An established hosting business will also provide you with the functionality to setup your own hosting offers & their rates for you to showcase to your market place & web hsoting clients.

By means of modifying many existing piece of software code, you could make a web style and design content with an attractive appearance and exquisite. In Addition, numerous features mean to combine with other applications, such as ASP.Online, Web 0 applications, and several various other platforms.

Reseller web hosting is a type of support through which several servers are generally operated by simply one organization making it possible for consumers to make their particular content offered via the internet. A very organization can also provide other solutions such as internet connectivity along with e-mail hosting. Essentially the customers upload the material they want utilized in the internet and the web host company creates such information available to internet users.

Most of the start-up firms face snug budget, they will purchase based on their recent needs. They will go for extra purchase of place when marketing their very last product. This specific elasticity is yet another great thing why you need it.

A separate hosting service is some sort of specialized type of hosting where a fully managed machine is focused to the needs of 1 user. Even though this service is designed for large business websites which receive countless hits every day, small firms can benefit from committed hosting as well. Having dedicated hosting, you?ve got full accessibility to the entire hosting server.

Traditional web hosting is really a necessity for the majority of companies. Service shop with a web site requires a web hosting host for the web site. Most companies use a third party supplier to posting the web site on hosting server. Remote hosting server space might be purchased for any relatively affordable. Fast as well as reliable contacts are required to make sure 99 percentage up duration of the website.

One final thing to look out for in a web hosting supplier is their states over the uptime that they can supply. Some firms will claim that they can provide 100% uptime. These companies are lying. There is absolutely no such matter as 100% up-time. Even Google?s website lacks 100% uptime. The uptime regarding 99% is good enough.

Another way to save money on hosting can be searching for businesses that offer a totally free mail host. Some hosting strategies also include numerous domains along with free e-commerce software. If you intend to start an online business, choose a web host that gives free human resources software, totally free SSL Certificates, as well as affordable cost processors.

Consequently our buddy Dave begins with a really easy Web Hosting package, with a bit of web space along with a database. He or she installs WordPress and will begin to blog seriously, and then determines he wants to start his online business. Together with his basic consideration he commissions a Web Style and design Company to develop him a great eCommerce website, with his blog built in as among the features. Seeing that his shop grows, they finds that he can grow his web site fairly effortlessly, without having to worry about any restrictions like he previously had with the Internet service provider.

Electronic basic safety mechanisms, cooling down systems, as well as Internet connections all call for the use of energy. The actual hosting industry has a negative effect on the environment. The great thing is that more and much more hosting providers are usually jumping arvixe review on-ship to reduce the destruction. Some of them have got datacenters that use renewable energy to power and cool their web servers. Others utilize solar panels to make some of the strength they need to maintain the servers installed and operating. Those who do not have the financial resources to create renewable energy can purchase Renewable Energy Records and convert to supplied vitality.

railgun jk rowling new book between two ferns ihop statins chardon sean young

links.html | Publin

About publin

Publin is Dublin?s best pub price comparison and deal listing website. On this site you?ll find an expanding directory of well over 100 pubs complete with a description, a photo, location, a price list for the most popular drinks and any drinks specials they may be running on any given night of the week. If you're visiting Dublin and need some help, feel free to email us for advice. Publinie@gmail.com

snooty fox el debarge portland weather clintonville battlestar galactica blood and chrome my morning jacket roger goodell

DDT: regional bank retail business transformation :insurance news

• Written by admin
• Posted May 30, 2012 at 1:44 am

DDT management consulting recently released ?regional bank retail business transformation challenges and implementation strategy of? white paper points out, retail transformation is a regional bank retail business the route one must take to achieve sustainable development.In view of the regional banks to actively explore the development of retail business transformation when facing the challenge, the white paper proposed ?as one of three? retail business transformation Delta, which adhere to the customer as the center, take the difference of market competition strategy, carry out the transformation of working system, and through the fine business management and operation of the means will transition to the job falls to real point, from the strategic, operational and implementation of three level to solve the regional banks in the retail business transformation of the practical problems encountered in. In addition, retail business transformation need to clear the implementation path. Before transition to market, competition and resource and ability of comprehensive and objective assessment; then formulate business ability promotion strategy and specific transition path planning. (Zhang Zhaohui ran Wei)

krill oil black friday 2011 rhodium uppity uppity stuffing brandon mcinerney

Tips Self Improvement: Leadership Skills Video Training Tips

Steer clear of the mistakes some management improvement trainers have created with regards to business training DVDs. We're listing to help other professional improvement trainers and HR individuals who have to determine the best method to put together and produce leadership trainings for their executives and peak performers.

1. "Business Training DVDs use up an excessive amount of time": We heard this from a corporate trainer. If we're part of the Millennial or younger, we were raised watching on-line videos. Most likely, he is boring us. Video can frequently be short, 3 to 5 minutes in length, and favored with regard to backing up a specific coaching lesson.

2. "Leadership development video coaching clips are distracting": Business performance trainers need to have an objective or reason why they want to use video in their management training courses. They need to have a story line that includes several multimedia components: text, video, in person coaching and even online interaction. All of these need to be geared toward teaching a particular business skill.

3. "Business training films don't offer lots of info": Really management training video clip programs as well as harassment on-line video courses present a lot of information and usually include leader's instructions mixed with PowerPoint's that coaches can use. Facilitators can also re-use this material to create their own courses saving money and time.

4. "Off-the-shelf business attitude video courses are too standard and not specific enough": Sometimes this may be correct in the event you are endeavoring to teach how to install a faucet or solve a plumbing problem. On the other hand, if you are coaching teams on essential organizational effectiveness, so-called "soft skills", off-the-shelf business attitude video courses can help significantly in displaying great leadership skills from management who have outlasted the examination of time. These leadership skills video trainings can also be inserted into new programs or maybe freshen up old trainings.

5. "Leadership skills video training and team building DVDs cost too much money": Comparing the cost of an off the shelf leadership video training to creating videos yourself, you'll find the off the shelf business training videos are a steal. You can make a business case by estimating the time and salaries of the people who would need to plan, shoot and edit videos and also the projects they wouldn't get done. Off the shelf leadership DVDs and videos are also a life-saver when it comes to refreshing existing trainings or creating new trainings. There's so much material to use over and over again.

6. "A leadership coach is not needed if you buy team building videos": Training departments have shown their corporate training video courses in their entirety but have often decided to have a trainer explain why the leadership skills video training is important to the jobs people are performing. In fact, showing emotive business videos and having an instructor answer questions, boosted how much people remembered by as much as ninety percent according to the Navy.

7. " You Tube Clips perform just as well": That's true but one specific instructor told us how a commercial launched in the middle of a video she was showing. She said it diminished her authority with the class as well as the reputation of the business who had hired her because they were viewed as too cheap to invest in proper leadership training videos.

8. "The on-camera personalities in the team building videos do not dress like our workers so we can't use the training": This is like saying you won't watch the evening news or listen to a professor because s/he dresses differently from you. It's nonsense. All a trainer needs to do is provide context on why the video training is important and how it relates to the business. Do not get diverted with the peripherals; when the content material and the idea resonate, that is the route to take for success.

9. "Leadership video lessons aren't needed. (Really, leadership coaching in general is not important)": A business school head actually said this believing that his students just wanted to learn math skills. Unfortunately, for these students, when they start to work, they'll find they are lacking in the skills needed to influence and work within teams. They may actually get stymied in being promoted because they don't have the behavioral skills to succeed.

10."We're too busy for these 'touchy-feely' programs": That's not going to fly with the younger generation. They prefer career development trainings to a bonus by a margin of three to one. Also, over half of them said they'd leave a job if they aren't giving this type of training.

the walking dead season 2 finale born free walking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham

Nigeria oil bill waters down its reforms

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's long-awaited oil law, when it finally comes, looks likely to be a botched job that gives favourable tax terms to foreign oil firms while doing little to satisfy calls for transparency and reform of a corrupt and wasteful sector.

A new draft of the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is close to being finalised, potentially ending years of uncertainty that has blocked billions of dollars of investment.

Licensing rounds, contract renewals and investment have been put on hold for five years pending the new bill to regulate Africa's top oil and gas industry. Passing the bill will allow such work to resume.

But provisions that would have forced the government to publish how much oil it pumps and all the payments it receives from oil firms - in an industry where secrecy is blamed for corruption - have been stripped from the bill.

"I expect the petroleum industry to be happy. I expect many Nigerians to be upset," said Pedro Van Meurs, an oil and gas expert who has consulted with the government on the PIB.

"Transparency provisions related to corporate income tax, hydrocarbon tax and production sharing were deleted. This should be a source of concern."

The PIB is meant to change everything from fiscal terms to overhauling the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Its comprehensive nature caused years of disputes between lawmakers, ministers and oil majors.

The latest copy proposes some changes that will improve transparency: keeping royalty payments secret will not be allowed, for instance. Oil company profit taxes proposed in the bill are also in the public domain for the first time.

But it does not require disclosure of oil sales, of other taxes like income and hydrocarbon tax, nor of payments to the government, including signature bonuses. Openness on such subjects is vital to clean up the energy sector, say campaigners.

President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned a task force in January to fast-track a new copy of the PIB, which makes the passage of this condensed version more likely, even if the national assembly debate on it takes a while.

"Passage of any piece of legislation brings a level of certainty to the industry that has been absent for years," said Gordon Bottomley, Nigeria analyst at Ergo, a New York-based advisory firm that has been closely tracking the PIB.

"(But) the re-organisation of ... Nigeria's oil and gas industry is going to be far from painless. And this bill, in terms of transparency, appears less than desirable."

NEW POWERS FOR MINISTER

The bill also gives the oil minister new supervisory powers over all industry institutions, including a new regulator to police downstream and upstream, raising concerns about checks and balances. Lawmakers had rejected drafts that did this in the past.

It says anyone who "interferes" with the minister will be fined or imprisoned. And it allows the oil minister and the directors of state institutions to receive gifts, which will not please civil society groups calling for an end to graft.

Foreign oil companies like Shell, Chevron and Exxon will be relieved that tax changes are more favourable compared with previous versions. This could be a sticking point with lawmakers seeking a better deal for Nigeria.

Analysts say that the taxes foreign firms pay on profits onshore, which will be published under the PIB, will amount to a big cut from the taxes that are now levied in secret.

Furthermore, the cut will apply both to existing fields and to new fields, unlike in earlier versions of the law which cut taxes only on new fields, the analysts say. Van Meurs says the government could lose 20-50 percent of its tax revenue per barrel on existing assets.

NATIONAL OIL COMPANY

Detail is thin on plans to partly sell off the mismanaged NNPC, seen by experts as the biggest barrier to progress.

Nigeria exports some 2 million barrels per day (bpd) but could double that with a better-managed state oil firm able to pay for its share of joint ventures, foreign oil majors say.

NNPC was last month described by parliament as "answerable to no one" in a probe into a $6.8 billion fuel subsidy fraud. It is accused by oil traders of owing billions in unpaid bills.

The NNPC rejects allegations of corruption or insolvency.

The PIB proposes a new National Oil Company (NOC), which will within three years be partly listed, in theory leading to much-needed accountability.

But the PIB isn't clear on what assets the NOC gets. The old NNPC would still exist and keep joint ventures and production sharing contracts with oil majors, which cover the majority of Nigeria's known oil and gas reserves, for an indefinite period.

"For arguably the most important element of the bill, it is worrying the section on NNPC is both brief and vague," an executive at an oil major operating in Nigeria said.

There is also no domestic gas pricing in the bill, which is key to unlocking the world's seventh largest gas reserves.

Left in doubt are onshore licenses Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is in the process of renewing. She signed a 20-year one with Exxon worth trillions of dollars in February and has promised to do the same with Shell and Chevron by June.

It has not been made clear whether they will include clauses exempting them from the PIB, in which case a huge portion of the oil business would not be governed by the new bill.

"It's meant to be single framework for everything in oil and gas. If you are going to have it but then do a special deal for, say, Exxon ... That would be a huge departure from what the bill was meant to be," said Antony Goldman, head of PM Consulting.

avastin robert wagner robert wagner live with regis and kelly heavy d funeral christopher walken ok state

LIVE@Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir

Watch UFC 146 Online, Watch UFC 146, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Free Streaming Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Putlocker, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Novamov, Watch UFC 146 Online, Watch UFC 146, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online

CLICK HERE TO WATCH UFC 146 ONLINE

CLICK HERE TO WATCH UFC 146 ONLINE

Tonight, UFC 146 Dos Santos vs. Mir comes to you live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. When this card was first announced, people were going crazy over the original main event between Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem. Unfortunately, Overeem was pulled from the card after a failed drug test and the MMA world was up in arms trying to figure out who would take his place. Two weeks later, Dana White announced via Twitter that former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir, would be filling in against Junior Dos Santos

CLICK HERE TO WATCH UFC 146 ONLINE

Watch UFC 146 Online, Watch UFC 146, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Free Streaming Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Putlocker, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Novamov, Watch UFC 146 Online, Watch UFC 146, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Free Streaming Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Putlocker, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Novamov,Watch UFC 146 Online, Watch UFC 146, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Free Streaming Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Putlocker, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Novamov,Watch UFC 146 Online, Watch UFC 146, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Free Streaming Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Putlocker, Watch UFC 146 Dos Santos vs Mir Online Novamov Watch UFC 146 Online

sf 49ers joe paterno died 49ers game ravens ray lewis steven tyler national anthem penn state

Video: Giuliani downplays previous claims on Romney and jobs (cbsnews)

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

times square 2012 predictions new years eve ball drop new years eve times square 2012 2012 holidays prosperity japan earthquake

Columbus Dispatch: Gay families struggle to safeguard adopted kids

adopted children play in the backyard of their home in Worthington.

?The caseworkers who conducted the pre-adoption home studies treated Ray and Matt Lees as a couple.

Results of background checks and financial reviews and observations about their relationship and the condition of their large suburban home added up to a pleasing portrait.

?Together, you are a great family,? Matt said, paraphrasing a caseworker?s summary. ?But now, from a legal perspective, we are going to remove one of you from the equation.?

Because same-sex couples cannot marry, they cannot jointly adopt in Ohio and several other states that prohibit second-parent adoption. That should remind Americans that the nation?s long-running debate about gay marriage is a child-welfare issue, too, advocates for same-sex couples say.

It?s also an issue that is being pushed to the forefront by growing numbers of those couples who are turning to, and often being embraced by, agencies seeking permanent homes for tens of thousands of foster children.

According to the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, adoptive parenting is on the rise among same-sex couples in the U.S. About 19 percent of same-sex couples who are raising kids reported having at least one adopted child in 2009, nearly double the 10 percent who reported adopting in 2000, the institute said.

?The child-welfare system has gotten it. They know they need all kinds of families,? Matt said. ?Now, it?s about the laws catching up with reality.?

When only one half of a couple has legal standing as parent, children are vulnerable to snags with custody, support, medical care, school records and inheritance, among other things.

?It is a disservice to these children that their parents don?t have those legal protections,? said Ellen Kahn, the director of the Family Project at the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based resource group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender families. ?What if the mom with legal standing gets diagnosed with stage-four cancer? How can you not give legal recognition to the other parent??

Matt, 40, and Ray, 43, have done their best to piece together the legal framework that their eight children need. But to manage it, they split the kids. Ray is the legal parent of the first three children adopted ? Jenny, 12; Aaron, 8; and Kalis, 3. Matt is legal parent to five siblings the couple hadn?t planned to adopt but did, rather than see them separated in foster care and sent to scattered homes. They are Keuwan, 7; Kanyae, 6; Keyona, 4; Kalashia, 2; and Josiah, 1.

?We?re sort of spreading the risk around,? Ray said. ?This way, if I passed away, my kids would get my Social Security and that would help Matt. And vice versa. It?s crazy, but that?s how it is because we can?t inherit from each other.?

The Worthington residents, who both work at Nationwide, have been together 16 years and share a name. But they must maintain separate family-health-insurance plans and meet two different deductibles. And they have spent thousands in attorney fees to craft the special custody and power-of-attorney documents that allow them to care for each other?s children in case of emergency or absence.

?We have to carry legal documentation with us at all times,? Ray said.

Rita Soronen, the president and CEO of the Columbus-based Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, said most adoption workers want to find the best families for kids, whether that?s a same-sex couple, single parent or husband and wife.

The foundation brought Kahn to Columbus to speak during its Wendy?s Wonderful Kids Summit this month, and Matt and Ray served on a parent panel.

When Kahn asked a roomful of child-welfare and adoption caseworkers whether any had enough families for all the waiting children, no hands went up. She said GLBT families often are more willing to adopt from foster care and to take older children or those with special needs. ?We know a lot about the concept of family by choice,? Kahn said. ?It?s not always your family of origin who?s standing by you.?

Ray said he occasionally hears comments from people who say he and Matt shouldn?t be parents.

?Unless you?re taking in a child, don?t talk to me,? he said. ?More than 28,000 kids age out of foster care every year with no home. Get back to us when you step up.?

The couple opened their home to two children from Haiti and six from county foster-care systems in Ohio. They bought a 12-passenger van, added four rooms to their home and hired a part-time nanny.

?We didn?t envision all this,? Matt said, smiling.

Being able to marry wouldn?t make them any less tired. But, as parents, it might help them rest more easily.

rprice@dispatch.com

pellet gun clay aiken zambrano orange bowl tim howard goal ben gibbard nfl playoff schedule

Sponsored By:

We were unable to forward you to the advertisement you clicked on.

The likely cause for this is that your browser, feed reader, or email application is configured to not accept cookies, or your reader may launch an external browser to view links without sharing cookies.

• If you're using Internet Explorer, make sure your privacy setting is at medium or below.
  • Select 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu in your browser window
  • Click the Privacy tab
  • Adjust your privacy setting if necessary
    ?
• If you're using a reader that embeds Internet Explorer (examples: Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Feed Demon), you'll also need to select Internet Explorer as your default web browser.
  • Open Internet Explorer
  • Select 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu in your browser window
  • Click the 'Programs' tab and check the box for Internet Explorer to check if it is the default browser and save your change
  • Close your browser, re-open it, and when prompted, select Internet Explorer as your default
  • You can then click on an ad in your newsletter and visit the site you wish to view

josh hutcherson google april fools office space shell houston open ray allen mega millions winners anthony davis

Skype For iPad

RankDirectory.org 2012(c). RankDirectory.org is not affiliated with any other website. It only provides information about sites' details & ranks to the public.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
All site details including title, description, thumbnails and keywords, are the property of their respective owners

paranormal activity 4 love and hip hop 2012 nfl mock draft iowa caucus lemonade diet steve jobs action figure chris jericho

Sotheby to auction Jobs Atari memo, Apple I motherboard

Rare working computer one of six known to exist

Auction house Sotheby's will be selling two bits of history soon -- one strongly related to Apple, the other less so -- both tied to the late Steve Jobs. On June 15, the company will be auctioning a rare working Apple I motherboard, one of only six known to exist in this state, and expected to fetch more than $180,000. Also being auctioned in a separate lot is a rare handwritten memo and typed report from Jobs from his time at Atari.

The handwritten memo acts as an addendum to the report Jobs prepared while working at the company on the game later known as Atari's World Cup Football. The document dates from around two years prior to the start of Apple, but does list Jobs' design company name "All-One Farm Design" which pre-dates his co-creation of Apple. The address for "All-One Farm Design" is listed as the same residence and garage that later housed Apple in its earliest days, the home of Jobs' parents. The name comes from a communal farm Jobs used to visit.

The memo is a standard addendum to an engineering report and shows Jobs long before his more conceptual work years. The memo makes further suggestions for streamlining and improving the game, increasing the "shelf life" for arcade operators by introducing more playable elements. The document, which begins in cursive but reverts to conventional lettering thereafter and is addressed to Jobs' supervisor Stephen Bristow, shows that even before Apple, Jobs had an interest in improving the customer experience.

The full report covers topics such as adding more sounds and increasing the durability of the hardware for the game, which would have been sold as a tabletop video game to arcades at the time. The stamp of the design company includes a Buddhist mantra, "gate gate paragate parasangate bodhi svahdl" or "going, going, going on beyond, always going on beyond, always becoming Buddha."

The rare Apple I motherboard is one of fewer than 50 still known to exist, most of which are now in museums. Because the motherboard is still in operational condition, it may exceed Sotheby's estimates. Apple's original founding contract was recently sold by the auction house for $1.6 million, more than ten times its original estimate of $150,000. A 2010 auction of a non-functional Apple I brought in over $213,000 during an auction at Christie's, a great increase over a 2002 auction where one fetched a mere $14,000.

by MacNN Staff

baa dodgers triple play samoyed kenny powers kenny powers carl hagelin triple play

Varieties of Tasks Performed by Commercial Sewer Building ...

Wastewater management sewer contractors perform important work involving the installation and maintenance of underground sewer systems. The kind of work they conduct is on a much grander scale than household repairs and entails using heavy machinery such as bulldozers and hydraulic jaw crushers.

Commercial sewer construction companies carry out tasks associated with underground sewer systems and water pipes. This sort of work is referred to as wet utility construction since it pertains to pipeline that transfers liquefied products.

Construction blueprints developed for municipality projects are designed by civil engineers. Most often, engineers need help from subsurface utility engineering (SUE) contractors to obtain 3D imaging maps of the construction site.

SUE uses a variety of non-invasive equipment to assess if existing pipes or underground utilities exist. These surveying methods have made the job of excavation substantially easier and less dangerous because they discover previously installed pipeline systems.

Sewer builders are required to obtain professional training to become adept in how to install sewer pipeline and comprehend government regulations such as those enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Dependent on the category of sewer pipeline construction projects, contractors are retained to complete work as a subcontractor or the General Contractor. Most of the time, sewer contractors are retained by General Contractors that are retained by the project manager.

This is particularly true when sewer construction pertains to city projects which are financed by tax payer dollars. Public works projects include any type of construction that involves public sewer and water lines.

The main variation between residential and commercial sewer contractors is that commercial work involves jobs that are completed on subsurface pipes and outside of properties, while non-commercial companies perform work inside homes and structures.

It is advisable to research sewer contractors and the types of projects they have been involved with. It is recommended to acquire job quotes from a few contractors, along with client referral lists.

Working together with experienced commercial sewer contractors can help project owners conserve money and time while lessening project delays frequently connected with underground pipeline construction.

Find out more about the work carried out by commercial sewer building companies from Kana Pipeline. We have been involved with sewer pipeline construction since 1984 and are recognized as a premier wet utility construction contractor in California. Visit our pipeline construction blog for more info about the pipeline industry at KanaPipeline.com.

justin bieber boyfriend marianas trench camille grammer camille grammer us supreme court breaking dawn part 2 trailer mississippi state

Extreme hunger in East Africa and the Sahel: Building response systems that work

Arid soils in Mauritania, where crops have failed because of a severe drought and the Sahel region faces a major food crisis: Over 700,000 people are affected in Mauritania and 12 million across West Africa (picture credit:?Pablo Tosco/Oxfam International).

Senegalese singer Baaba Maal has visited Mauritanian communities at the center of the current food crisis in the Sahel. Low rainfall, poor harvests, a lack of pasture and rising food prices are among the key factors driving this crisis, which now affects one in four people across the country. (...)

Read the original article...

heavy d funeral christopher walken ok state ok state kurt budke regis philbin regis and kelly

AdWatch: Romney "day one" vows oversimplify

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

friends with kids pacific standard time northern mariana islands summer time coolio daylight savings time 2012 ricky rubio

Chain restaurants not exactly helping in fighting the obesity epidemic

82% of Americans eat at a restaurant at least once per week. We have become a fast food nation, often dependent on quick meal ideas. Yet in general home cooked meals are far more nutritious than food from chain restaurants. Many of these restaurants have been substituting quality ingredients for cheaper options, and have sacrificed nutritional value for the sake of taste. One study set out to measure just how unhealthy these chain restaurants can be. The study published, in the journal of Public Health Nutrition, found that out of 245 of the most popular chains in the US 96% failed to meet nutritional guidelines set out by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Out of the 245 restaurants studied, 30,923 menu items were analyzed for their nutritional content. Fast food, buffet, and family style restaurants were all included in the study. Food items ranged from the common burger, to the supposedly ?healthy? salad, to pasta entrees, and all that lay in-between. Only some of the restaurants had their nutritional content on the menu or on their website, and many were only provided through email upon request.

Denny?s, Red Lobster, Pizza Hut, and other family style restaurants were discovered to have entr?es that were worse than many fast food eateries. On average they exceeded fast food eateries by some 271 calories, 435grams of sodium, and 16 grams of fat. Appetizers had on average 813 calories. And the majority of entr?es far exceeded sodium recommendations; not a surprising fact considering the highly processed food that goes into these establishments.

It seems too that it is not entirely the restaurants fault that they are contributing to America?s expanding waistline. So many people do not realize the actual serving sizes for most items on a menu. For example one slice of pizza or one piece of fried chicken counts as a full serving size. And most people far exceed recommended portion sizes at buffets.

The USDA hopes to make some changes. They will soon be publishing a regulation requiring restaurants with more than 20 locations to have calorie counts on their menus. They will also be encouraging eateries to provide customers with healthier menu options, with an emphasis on lowering the sodium content. These researchers are currently conducting another study to comparing menu changes one year later.

clear channel drexel dale george will obama birth certificate nick cannon lindsay lohan saturday night live

Stuck this site On A Home Improvement Job? Use These Tips To Get It

Stuck this site On A Home Improvement Job? Use These Tips To Get It Done!

Because of the state of the housing market, some homeowners are looking to make many improvements before listing their property in order to increase the value. You won?t necessarily need a professional to assist you in making these improvements, but you should still read these tips to learn more about the topic.

If you are hiring a contractor to work on your home improvement project, it is important to check their license number. Do not just take what the contractor tells you at face value; you can check their credentials online to ensure that they are licensed to perform the type of work you require. Unfortunately, some people will attempt to scam you, so it is best to be certain that you know who you are hiring.

If you think you may have black mold, do not attempt to fix it yourself. Black mold is extraordinarily toxic, and many homeowners who try to remove it themselves end up in a hospital. It is best to leave this type of removal to the professionals, and let them work to keep your family safe.

When you are maintaining the exterior of your home during the fall season, make sure to check your gutters for leaf clogs or have someone come and clean them for you. This way you will not have roof damage or unforeseen leaks occurring during the winter and save yourself the stress associated with a problem that could movies online for free have been prevented.

Just because you bought a book on your home improvement or saw a show that highlighted how to do it doesn?t mean you?re an expert. If this is your first time completing a project like this you should expect additional costs and a longer time frame than someone you hire might take.

One of the best home improvements for your house is a wood deck addition. Not only is it a wonderful place to enjoy the outdoors, it also offer a great return on your investment when you re-sell your home. Most homeowners recoup 81 percent of the money that they spent on this home improvement. Just remember to do proper maintenance each year to the deck to optimize it?s return potential.

If your water pressure seems low, you may need to clean the screens that are located in the head of the faucet. Unscrew the faucet head and soak the screens in a solution specifically meant for dissolving hard water build-up; white vinegar also works in a pinch. The minerals that build up on the screens can reduce the amount of water that can flow through the faucet.

If your air conditioner is more than seven years old, consider improving your home by replacing it. When purchasing a new air conditioner, look for the Energy Star label. This label will let you know how energy efficient the unit is and if it is a good buy for saving money in the future.

There are dozens of ways that you can improve Check this out your home which will also up the value of it on the market. This can be a good way to invest in the future of your home as well as a way to enjoy it more while you are the owner.

One of the smallest improvements to your home with the biggest impact is a deep cleaning of the house. Spending the time to clean every section of your house will improve the overall smell, look, and environment of your home. A thorough cleaning is often overlooked as a cost effective method of home improvement.

Any contractor who offers you a discount for paying in cash is doing something illegal, so don?t get involved with him. You won?t have any paper trail by paying with cash, and you therefore won?t have any recourse if he takes your money and leaves you with no home improvements completed.

The most important thing you need to know when choosing a new siding for your home is to know the R-Value. The R-Value is the measure of thermal resistance used in the building industry. Be sure you know the R-Value that is right for your zip code. These statistics are available through the US Department of Energy.

Now, of course, not everyone out there is attempting to sell their home. Some people just want to make improvements to change things around. Wherever you fall in the home improvement spectrum, remember to read this article closely and to use these tips to assist you. They just might help you get out of a jam.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2012 at 12:12 am and is filed under emerge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

virginia beach crash kellie pickler stephen hawking marion barry virginia beach jet crash ridiculously photogenic guy amanda bynes dui

Key West Limo companies - Limo Rentals Limousines - Author Article

Key west limo Sedan Service is a transportation service where the mean vehicle is a luxury sedan. Key West Limos provides high quality sedans where people can be fit up to three persons and three pieces of luggage. Key West limos have different services for Key West; client can call the company and rent a sedan to be driven to Key West. key west limousines Service is a service from any airport or port to anywhere in Key West in a chauffeured sedan. Key west limo companies are competitive because the sale of limos is higher than years ago. Sedan is the vehicle more used in a transportation service because renting a sedan means to pay for a good vehicle to be transported to our destiny. Our clients rent our sedans because we bring them safety and quality, all our clients? needs is very important to us since we provide the best Key West Limo Sedan Service. Key West Limo Sedan Service has a better service in Key West than any public transportation service. Renting a limousine to be transported means to rent a safe car with a trained driver and a personalized customer attention, all of that in a confortable price. Key west limo Sedan Service provides limousine transportation to Key West. Since Key West has many places to visit, the limousine transportation for this city has increased nowadays. Key West has beautiful hotels and restaurants where people can stay and have sea food. On the other hand, Key West has many activities for tourists to enjoy such as boating, scuba diving and snorkeling. Each place in Key West gets people attention so when they arrive in Florida, they rent a Key West Limo Sedan Service and go to Key West to enjoy of them.

nick cannon kidney failure consumer financial protection bureau casey anthony video recess appointment eastman kodak eastman kodak richard cordray

Nuclear talks with Iran set to resume next month

World powers negotiators arrive at the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Negotiators from the U.S. and five other world powers sat down Wednesday with a team of Iranian diplomats to try to hammer out specific goals in the years-long impasse over Tehran's nuclear program.(AP Photo/Mohammed Ameen, Pool)

World powers negotiators arrive at the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Negotiators from the U.S. and five other world powers sat down Wednesday with a team of Iranian diplomats to try to hammer out specific goals in the years-long impasse over Tehran's nuclear program.(AP Photo/Mohammed Ameen, Pool)

EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, left, poses for a photo with Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Saeed Jalili in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Negotiators from the U.S. and five other world powers sat down Wednesday with a team of Iranian diplomats to try to hammer out specific goals in the yearslong impasse over Tehran's nuclear program. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iran and six world powers wrapped up talks Thursday still far apart over how to oversee Tehran's atomic program, but with resolve to keep dialogue going as an alternative to possible military action.

Envoys said they will meet again next month in Moscow after negotiations stretched out for extra hours and a sandstorm shut the airport in Iraq's capital. But the two sides agreed on little else during two dramatic days of discussions that underscored the serious challenges of reaching accords between Iran and the West.

"It is clear that we both want to make progress, and that there is some common ground," European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is formally leading the talks, told reporters. "However, significant differences remain. Nonetheless, we do agree on the need for further discussion to expand that common ground."

Saeed Jalili, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, offered a lukewarm assessment of what the negotiations achieved, in light of European and American refusal to lift tough sanctions as Tehran had hoped.

"The result of the talks was that we were able to get more familiar with the views of each other," Jalili said at a press conference after Ashton left.

The Baghdad discussions began with hopes for progress before each side accused the other of failing to offer meaningful, realistic proposals. More tellingly, they also showed that U.S. diplomats and others are pressing neither for quick deals nor for ultimatums that could derail the sensitive talks.

"We are moving in a step-by-step process," a senior American official told reporters in Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone. "It's good for them. It's good for us. It's good for the world."

The tempered approach offers insights into shifting American priorities over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The U.S. has gradually moved off its demands for an immediate and complete halt to Iran's ability to make nuclear fuel, which the West and allies fear could someday provide the foundations of warhead-grade material. Iran denies it seeks atomic arms.

Instead, the Baghdad talks unveiled a Western-backed incentive package that seeks to end Iran's highest-level uranium enrichment as a first step. That leaves open speculation that Washington could ultimately accept Iran's demand to keep its enrichment labs in operation ? although possibly at reduced levels to produce lower-grade fuel suitable for its lone power-generating reactor.

Such a compromise would likely require Iran to reciprocate with moves such as allowing greater U.N. nuclear inspections and suspending work at a bunker-like enrichment site south of Tehran.

The senior U.S. official said it was still "premature" to delve into this type of endgame bargaining. "It's having the discussion about the end of the road before you've taken the first step in the road," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations more candidly.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said significant differences remain between the two sides and that it's now up to Iran "to close the gaps."

"Iran now has the choice to make: Will it meet its international obligations and give the world confidence about its intentions or not," Clinton said.

The overall message, however, was somehow to keep talking. The Moscow negotiations are set for June 18-19.

"All parties in the talks want to gain time," said Bruno Tertrais, a senior researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. "The Western countries want sanctions to keep hitting Iran, and Iran wants to keep the talk of military action in the distance."

The open channels between Iran and the six-nation bloc ? the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany ? could push back threats of military action that have shaken oil markets and fostered fears of triggering a wider Middle East conflict.

Oil prices rose toward $92 a barrel Thursday with the negotiations failing to hit a fast-track stride.

Israeli leaders, on the other hand, have been highly critical of the talks, claiming it allows Iran to buy time and drive a wedge between Washington and Jerusalem. On Wednesday, Israel's defense minister, Ehud Barak, said even possible moves by Iran to open its nuclear facilities to greater U.N. inspect don't rule out a possible Israeli military strike.

The world powers opened the Baghdad talks with a U.S.-backed proposal calling on Tehran to halt the production of 20 percent enriched uranium, which is the highest grade of enrichment that Iran has acknowledged.

In exchange, the world powers offered benefits, including medical isotopes, some nuclear safety cooperation and spare parts for civilian airliners that are needed in Iran.

Staking out a hard-line reply, Iran emphasized it has every right to pursue uranium enrichment for peaceful uses. Jalili said Iran would consider suspending the 20 percent level but only if the world powers recognize its right to enrich uranium.

He also said the West would have to give in to demands to supply Iran with enough nuclear fuel to run a Tehran medical research reactor that currently depends on the 20 percent-level enriched uranium.

"It could be an issue for cooperation over discussions related to the Tehran reactor," Jalili said.

Western leaders fear the 20 percent-level material ? well above the 3.5 percent enrichment needed for energy-producing reactors ? can be turned into warhead grade at about 90 percent enrichment in a matter of months. Iran insists its reactors are only for energy and research.

Iran went into the talks urging the West to scale back on recently toughened sanctions, which have targeted Iran's critical oil exports and have effectively blackballed the country from international banking networks. The 27-nation European Union is set to ban all Iranian fuel imports on July 1, shutting the door on about 18 percent of Iran's market.

The senior U.S. official predicted the pace of the talks would speed up in upcoming rounds.

"We are urgent about it, because every day we don't figure this out is a day they keep going forward with a nuclear program," the official said. "And there are all kinds of assessments about how long it will take them to get there."

"We still think we have some time for diplomacy, but it's not indefinite," he said.

Talks resumed in Istanbul last month more than a year after an attempt at Western dialogue with Iran collapsed.

Iran pushed for the second round in Baghdad as a way to showcase its regional influence and close ties to the Iraqi government after the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq. During the talks, a mortar strike outside the Green Zone killed at least one person and wounded eight, according to police and medical officials. The level of violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq, although deadly attacks on security forces and civilians are still common.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

new orleans weather sparkle sacagawea new hope baptist church associated press foster friess new orleans hornets

Kylie's golden moment in Cannes

AAA??May. 24, 2012?11:34 AM ET
Kylie's golden moment in Cannes
LOUISE DIXONLOUISE DIXON, Associated Press??

Actress Kylie Minogue, left, and actor Denis Lavant wave as they arrive for the screening of Holy Motors at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

Actress Kylie Minogue, left, and actor Denis Lavant wave as they arrive for the screening of Holy Motors at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

Actor Denis Lavant, right, and Kylie Minogue pose as they arrive for the screening of Holy Motors at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

From left, director Leos Carax, actors Kylie Minogue and Jeanne Disson arrive for the screening of Holy Motors at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan)

Actress Kylie Minogue poses as she arrives for the screening of Holy Motors at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

Actor Denis Lavant, right, and Kylie Minogue pose as they arrive for the screening of Holy Motors at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

Cannes, France (AP) ? Kylie Minogue dazzled in Dolce & Gabbana gold on the Cannes red carpet.

There was one problem ? she didn't have any pockets.

The Australian singer attended the world premiere of "Holy Motors" Wednesday ? a surreal movie that sees her return to acting.

Minogue walked up the famous Palais steps in a glittering floor length metallic gown.

The former soap star loved the experience, but missed being able to contact her friends and family.

Minogue says: "I would have liked to have had my phone last night, straight afterwards, so I could call home, call my boyfriend and say, 'oh my God, that was amazing' ? but no, I didn't have my phone."

In "Holy Motors," which is directed by Leos Carax, Minogue plays an old flame of the central character.

Associated Press

photo of whitney houston in casket carrot top george huguely whitney houston casket photo match play championship the national enquirer marie colvin