FBI: Minnesotans may be joining Somali terror group

Young American men continue to slip through a terrorist recruiting pipeline from the homeland to join the ranks of jihadists half a world away in East Africa, with two going as recently as three months ago, according to federal officials.

The FBI confirmed a report by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) that in July two young men disappeared from their neighborhoods in Minneapolis and are believed to have traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabaab, the embattled al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group.

Under "Operation Rhino," for years the FBI has been investigating what has been described as a recruiting pipeline from the Twin Cities, which boast large Somali immigrant populations, to Somalia. Both top U.S. officials and at least one prominent member of al-Shabaab said Americans account for dozens of the terror group's fighters. A 2011 Congressional report put the number around 40.

"Minnesota represented!" writes American-born rapping jihadist Omar Hammami in an autobiography posted online in May, though he claimed most of the U.S. recruits were already dead. "Those Minnesota brother[s] have almost all left their mark on the [jihad] and most have received martyrdom, while the rest are still waiting."

Kyle Loven, chief division counsel for the FBI's Minneapolis field office, said recruits going to Somalia from Minnesota "continues to be a matter of grave concern and the FBI remains fully committed to resolving this situation."

The FBI said that in the recent case, two young Minnesota men, 19-year-old Mohamed Osman and 20-year-old Omar Ali Farah, left their homes for their trek to Somalia in mid-July. Osman's family told MPR he was religious, but they were stunned when he disappeared.

"It made me mad because he didn't speak to no relative about it," Osman's cousin, Jamal Salim, said. "We're heartbroken about it because he's like our sibling. Imagine not knowing what's going on with your own brother -- how he's been feeling, who he's been talking to, and what they're telling him. We lost a brother, and I don't know how to get him back."

Earlier this month some details about how exactly young men are recruited for jihad emerged during the federal trial of a man who was convicted of recruiting more than 20 fighters for al-Shabaab in America in 2007, according to The Associated Press.

At the trial of Mahamud Said Omar, three former recruits who had survived their trip to Somalia only to return to the U.S. testified that they were talked into fighting by charismatic, devout older men who promised paradise for those who died in combat against "invaders."

READ: Minnesota Trial Opens Window on Somalia Terror Group

Al-Shabaab has suffered several recent defeats at the hands of African military forces and lost its final urban stronghold in Somalia earlier this month. But Western and Somali security experts told ABC News they are concerned such defeats may tempt the terror group into abandoning insurgency in Somalia for a renewed focus on international terrorism.

An African Union official said there is worry that the same fighters driven out of Somalia could launch attacks abroad, from Kenya and Uganda to the U.S.

During Congressional testimony in January, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper listed al-Shabaab as one of the most significant terror threats to the homeland, in part due to a "foreign fighter cadre that includes U.S. passport holders... [who] may have aspirations to attack inside the United States."

READ: Intel Head James Clapper on Greatest Threats in 2012

U.S. Special Representative for Somalia James Swan told reporters last month that al-Shabaab's recent loses caused some of the terror group's foreign fighters to flee, but Swan did not know if that meant they were abandoning jihad or simply heading to a different al Qaeda-affiliated group in another country such as Yemen.

ABC News' Rym Momtaz contributed to this report.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/americans-slip-minnesota-somali-terror-group-fbi-175411584--abc-news-topstories.html

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Empathy represses analytic thought, and vice versa: Brain physiology limits simultaneous use of both networks

ScienceDaily (Oct. 30, 2012) ? New research shows a simple reason why even the most intelligent, complex brains can be taken by a swindler's story -- one that upon a second look offers clues it was false.

When the brain fires up the network of neurons that allows us to empathize, it suppresses the network used for analysis, a pivotal study led by a Case Western Reserve University researcher shows.

How could a CEO be so blind to the public relations fiasco his cost-cutting decision has made?

When the analytic network is engaged, our ability to appreciate the human cost of our action is repressed.

At rest, our brains cycle between the social and analytical networks. But when presented with a task, healthy adults engage the appropriate neural pathway, the researchers found.

The study shows for the first time that we have a built-in neural constraint on our ability to be both empathetic and analytic at the same time

The work suggests that established theories about two competing networks within the brain must be revised. More, it provides insights into the operation of a healthy mind versus those of the mentally ill or developmentally disabled.

"This is the cognitive structure we've evolved," said Anthony Jack, an assistant professor of cognitive science at Case Western Reserve and lead author of the new study. "Empathetic and analytic thinking are, at least to some extent, mutually exclusive in the brain."

The research is published in the current online issue of NeuroImage.

A number of earlier studies showed that two large scale brain networks are in tension in the brain, one which is known as the default mode network and a second known as the task positive network. But other researchers have suggested that different mechanisms drive this tension:

One theory says that we have one network for engaging in goal directed tasks. This theory posits that our second network allows the mind to wander.

The other theory says that one network is for external attention, and the second network is for internal attention.

The new study shows that adults presented with social or analytical problems -- all external stimuli -- consistently engaged the appropriate neural pathway to solve the problem, while repressing the other pathway. The see-sawing brain activity was recorded using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Jack worked with former Case Western Reserve undergraduates Abigail Dawson, now a graduate student at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand; Katelyn Begany, now a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley; and Kevin P. Barry, now a graduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Other co-authors are, from Case Western Reserve: former research assistant, Regina L. Leckie and Angela H. Ciccia, an assistant professor of psychological sciences; and Abraham Z. Snyder, MD, a professor of radiology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Jack said that a philosophical question inspired the study design: "The most persistent question in the philosophy of mind is the problem of consciousness. Why can we describe the workings of a brain, but that doesn't tell us what it's like to be that person?"

"The disconnect between experiential understanding and scientific understanding is known as the explanatory gap," Jack said. "In 2006, the philosopher Philip Robbins and I got together and we came up with a pretty crazy, bold hypothesis: that the explanatory gap is driven by our neural structure. I was genuinely surprised to see how powerfully these findings fit that theory." Philip Robbins is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Missouri.

These findings suggest the same neural phenomenon drives the explanatory gap as occurs when we look at a visual illusion such as the duck-rabbit, he continued. The drawing of the head of the animal can be seen as a duck facing one direction or a rabbit facing the other, but you can't see both at once.

"That is called perceptual rivalry, and it occurs because of neural inhibition between the two representations," Jack said. "What we see in this study is similar, but much more wide-scale. We see neural inhibition between the entire brain network we use to socially, emotionally and morally engage with others, and the entire network we use for scientific, mathematical and logical reasoning.

"This shows scientific accounts really do leave something out -- the human touch. A major challenge for the science of the mind is how we can better translate between the cold and distant mechanical descriptions that neuroscience produces, and the emotionally engaged intuitive understanding which allows us to relate to one another as people."

The researchers recruited 45 healthy college students, and asked each to take five 10-minute turns inside a magnetic resonance imager. Meanwhile, the researchers randomly presented them with 20 written and 20 video problems that required them to think about how others might feel and with 20 written and 20 video problems that required physics to solve.

After reading the text or viewing the video, the students had to provide an answer to a yes-no question within seven seconds. Each student's session in the MRI included twenty 27-second rest periods, as well as variable delays between trials lasting 1, 3 or 5 seconds. Students were told to look at a red cross on the screen in front of them and relax during the rests.

The MRI images showed that social problems deactivated brain regions associated with analysis, and activated the social network. This finding held true whether the questions came via video or print. Meanwhile, the physics questions deactivated the brain regions associated with empathizing and activated the analytical network.

"When subjects are lying in a scanner with nothing to do, which we call the resting state, they naturally cycle between the two networks," Jack said. "This tells us that it's the structure of the adult brain that is driving this, that it's a physiological constraint on cognition."

The finding has bearings on a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, from anxiety, depression and ADHD to schizophrenia -- all of which are characterized by social dysfunction of some sort, Jack said. "Treatment needs to target a balance between these two networks. At present most rehabilitation, and more broadly most educational efforts of any sort, focus on tuning up the analytic network. Yet, we found more cortex dedicated to the social network."

Perhaps most clearly, the theory makes sense in regards to developmental disabilities such as autism and Williams syndrome. Autism is often characterized by a strong ability to solve visuospatial problems, such as mentally manipulating two and three-dimensional figures, but poor social skills. People with Williams syndrome are very warm and friendly, but perform poorly on visuospatial tests.

But, even healthy adults can rely too much on one network, Jack said. A look at newspaper business pages offers some examples.

"You want the CEO of a company to be highly analytical in order to run a company efficiently, otherwise it will go out of business," he said. "But, you can lose your moral compass if you get stuck in an analytic way of thinking."

"You'll never get by without both networks," Jack continued. "You don't want to favor one, but cycle efficiently between them, and employ the right network at the right time."

The researchers continue to test the theory, studying whether brains will shift from the social network to the analytical when students in the MRI see people depicted in a dehumanizing way, that is, as animals or objects. The group is also studying whether disgust and social stereotyping confound our moral compass by recruiting the analytical network and depressing social network activity.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Case Western Reserve University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Anthony I. Jack, Abigail Dawson, Katelyn Begany, Regina L. Leckie, Kevin Barry, Angela Ciccia, Abraham Snyder. fMRI reveals reciprocal inhibition between social and physical cognitive domains. NeuroImage, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.10.061

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/CgV_MJ971XY/121030161416.htm

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Hit-Boy's Verses Never Made It To Cruel Summer

G.O.O.D. Music hitmaker dreams of landing a feature on a Kanye West song.
By Carly Wolkoff with reporting by James Lacsina

Hit-Boy
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696465/hit-boy-cruel-summer-album.jhtml

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Investors: Dig Through Stocks in 'Frankenstorm' Aftermath ...

? ?

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It might be unseemly to hope for tons of property destruction, but the fact is that whether they hope for it or not, it won?t change the outcome. And in those cases where there is a lot of property damage ? as it looks like will be the case with Hurricane Sandy ? it?s worth looking at trading opportunities, particularly in stocks that also make for good long-term investments.

Insurers are the first area to look at. A huge storm can put a dent in an insurer?s near-term earnings, but that should be viewed as a buying opportunity after the stock drops from weak holders. Insurance is a great business. If it weren?t, the free market would?ve killed it ages ago. Underwriting is now so nuanced and refined that insurers know more about risk than you ever could.

Berkshire Hathaway?(NYSE:BRK.B) is the obvious big play, and you get the diversification of Warren Buffett?s holding company to boot. As a conglomerate, trading at 16 times earnings is not a bad deal at all. Berkshire?s insurance underwriting business actually lost $830 million in the first half of last year, and it presently sits on a $675 million profit. It?s hard to say how exposed it?ll be here, but this is a long-term hold, so if you are considering it, you might as well buy in after Berkshire announces how hard it got hit.

Allstate?(NYSE:ALL) rests on the cheaper side of insurance companies, trading at 9 times earnings, and it also pays a 2.2% dividend. Allstate offset its own $1.17 billion first-half underwriting loss from last year with $657 million this year.

The other area where stocks might see a pop are home-improvement stores. In this sector, it?s tough to do better than?Home Depot?(NYSE:HD). After all these years, the company continues to grow impressively, with long-term growth rates at 15%, and trading at 20 times this year?s estimates. That?s not outrageously expensive when you consider that the company churned out $5.43 billion in free cash flow last year, and already has produced $3.7 billion in the first half of this year. It?s a solid buy for the portfolio, even with Hurricane Sandy bearing down.

You also can consider?Lowe?s Companies?(NYSE:LOW), which similarly is pegged at 15% long-term growth, although this year is expected to be flat. Free cash flow here also is impressive, tallying $2.5 billion in each of the past three years. LOW pays a 2% yield and carries $9 billion in debt (to Home Depot?s $10.7 billion), which is very manageable given the free cash flow. It also trades at 20 times estimates.

Finally, when a storm like this hits, I think booze. Somebody will be drowning their sorrows because they don?t have insurance and thus can?t afford to fix things up using a home improvement company. Here I like?Beam?(NYSE:BEAM), not just for its whiskey, but because it?s still growing at 12% long-term and has ample free cash flow.

As of this writing, Lawrence Meyers did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Source: http://investorplace.com/2012/10/frankenstorm-churns-out-investing-opportunities/

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If your customer service happens on Facebook you should be worried

I happened on an interesting research paper this weekend entitled ?The State of Social Customer Service? created by NM Incite. ?It defines ?social care? as customer service that is solicited through social media (primarily on Facebook or Twitter) and explains the benefits of social listening to cater to these ?social care? customers. ?Other key insights (verbatim from the study):

47% of all social media users have used social care, with usage as high as 59% among 18-24 year olds;?usage spans all ages and genders

71% of those who experience positive social care (i.e., a quick and effective brand response) are likely to?recommend that brand to others, compared to just 19% of customers that do not receive any response

Nearly 1 in 3 social media users prefer to reach out to a brand for customer service through a social
channel compared to the phone

A single negative customer experience posted in public can wipe out the effect of up to five positive customer messages (this is actually a statistic cited from a yet unpublished marketing study)

The study itself offers a powerful consumer insight, but I?m not sure that it?s as universally applicable as many people would like to believe. ?Let me explain.

Writers laud these findings

Here is a sample of articles covering this study:

Consumers preferring to seek customer service via social media, survey reveals
Customer Service via Facebook May Be the Wave of the?Future
Consumers Demand Service Through Social Media
47 Percent Want Customer Service On Social Media [Study]

To read these analyses, a third of customers prefer seeking customer service via social media, Facebook social media is the wave of the future and the majority of business models are completely antiquated!

Here?s the issue: there really aren?t a lot of companies that actually do this, so these respondents are answering in the hypothetical. ?Additionally, what they?re proposing is rather cost-prohibitive for most small to medium sized businesses. This is by design: ?NM Incite is a partnership between?Nielsen?and McKinsey providing big-data analytics to brands. ?This study wasn?t meant to persuade a small business to migrate their customer service to Facebook. ?It was meant to persuade bigger businesses to use NMI as an analytics vendor.

The recent Vocus / Duct Tape Marketing study on social media utilization painted a picture of small and medium sized businesses that oftentimes add social media to the marketing department duties without adding headcount or a lot of budget. ?In this scenario, maintaining a 24-hour response team for social media would not only be silly, but it would be expensive. ?Not to mention the fact that depending upon your target demographic (Gen M specifically), there is evidence that Facebook and Twitter are not going to be the preferred social networks for them. ?Because some people prefer to interact on Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, App.net, LinkedIn, or some other site, should you have a social presence that is a mile wide and an inch deep? ?Or more precisely, a mile wide, a mile deep and resource intensive? ?You can see that something as innocuous as this study could cause a company to go nuts if they took it too seriously.

Benchmarking Big

I took a very unscientific look at a couple of big companies who are apt to perform ?social care,? to look at how they measure up to the ideal that the NMI study sets.

The first I looked at was Walgreens. ?Walgreens is thought to be an innovator in social care, though I pointed out a few months back their overdependence on autotweeting when they they autotweeted an in-store?promotion to a lady whose pet had died. ?Sufficed to say, they?ve gotten better. ?They autotweet responses to anyone who mentions them (mostly by Foursquare check-in), but they have a dedicated team for most of the day who actually respond to inquiries and have a separate Twitter handle (presumably to keep?complaints?off of their main account). ?They also have a Facebook page where they respond to inquiries, but haven?t quite figured out that they can?t tag individual users from their corporate account (which is a little awkward). ?They seem to respond intermittently to people on Facebook, showcasing that FB is not an ideal place to be handling customer service to begin with.

All in all, Walgreens does a pretty admirable job of follow-up, and they make it clear where customers can go for help. ?They do have boundaries, and they have some issues performing consistent customer service on Facebook.

?

AT&T is probably one of the worst customer service organizations I?ve ever dealt with. ?They?ve been my cell carrier for many years as I?ve been locked into cell contracts with them, but they make no concessions for any inconveniences that they cause and are a very fragmented organization (presumably due to?their?different acquisitions). ?On Facebook, AT&T doesn?t allow people to post on their page (except in comments, which they don?t respond to), so they?re not doing a lot of FB customer service. ?On Twitter, they do respond to complaints but in a curious way. ?They?ve got customer care teams named after their team leads, but the people responding have different names. ?For instance, as shown below the member of Team Natasha servicing a customer is Nancy. ?I find this hilarious. ?Is is Natasha? ?Is it Nancy? ?Does it matter?

AT&T makes an effort for social care, but isn?t performing on par with the ideal that this study presents, either.

Benchmarking Small

My daughter had a minor medical issue recently, which caused her a lot of pain. ?No matter what a person?s threshold of pain is, their threshold for a child?s pain is decidedly less. ?So when my kid was in pain and her doctor wouldn?t see her for a day, we switched pediatricians.

To me this is the undercurrent of any customer service study ? I?m not sure that customers are as excited to dictate the platform where customer service is performed as they are to get their problems solved. ?Trying to take a study purposed to persuade customers to buy a social analytics and monitoring solution and implying that it may be the new customer service norm is a stretch.

At the end of the day people may say that they?d love for you to address their problems on Facebook, but they really just want you to address their problems. ?Period.

One last point?..

To the point about one negative social comment equal to five positive social comments ? I find this a little misleading. ?All audiences and platforms aren?t created equal, so positioning something so variable as absolute seems false to me. ?For instance, if I were to go onto Twitter to lament my kid?s pediatrician there is very little chance that anyone will see it and give it a second thought.

It will be interesting to see the research behind this figure when it is finally published, but it seems like a rather?provocative?and simplistic?statistic for a much more sophisticated mechanism.

What are your thoughts about customer service through social media? ?Is any company rocking your world on Facebook? ?Is it more important where customer service happens or whether it happens?

I see social media as a huge differentiator for small businesses and try to tailor my insights to support that view. I am the 12th most influential social media blogger according to Kred, and the single most influential person on the topic of David Hasselhoff according to Klout. Neither of those is probably true. Representing Cincinnati, Ohio and my hometown of Seattle, Washington.

Source: http://leaderswest.com/2012/10/29/facebook-customer-service/

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Vietnam: Make Rights a Priority on EU Visit | Human Rights Watch

(New York) ? European Union President Herman Van Rompuy should publicly press Vietnam to release all political prisoners and detainees, respect freedom of religion, and abolish forced labor in drug detention centers during his visit from October 31 to November 2, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today.

Earlier in October Human Rights Watch sent a memo, summarized below, to the European Union outlining key recommendations on each of these issues. The memo includes the names of some political prisoners who should be immediately and unconditionally released.

?While Europe sees Vietnam as an important trading partner, President Van Rompuy should not relegate human rights to a secondary issue,? said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Right Watch. ?Vietnam regularly imprisons its citizens for asking for democracy and the same freedoms that Europeans take for granted. Van Rompuy has an ethical obligation to make clear to the Vietnamese government that it cannot operate a repressive dictatorship without consequences for its relations with the EU.?

Human Rights Watch Recommendations to European Union President Van Rompuy

The Vietnamese government continues to systematically suppress freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Independent writers, bloggers, and rights activists who question government policies, expose official corruption, or call for democratic alternatives to one-party rule are routinely placed under intrusive police surveillance.

Critics face multiple forms of police harassment, including intimidation of family members, arbitrary prohibitions on travel within Vietnam or abroad, and fines. Authorities also arbitrarily detain critics incommunicado for long periods without access to legal counsel or family visits. Many are sentenced to long terms in prison for violating vague national security or other draconian laws. Police frequently torture suspects to elicit confessions and respond to public protests over evictions, confiscation of land, and police brutality with excessive use of force.

While there is a plethora of serious human rights problems in Vietnam, Human Rights Watch recommends that President Van Rompuy focus on the following three key areas in his trip to Vietnam from October 31-November 2. These areas are political prisoners and detainees and lack of basic freedoms; repression of the right to freely practice religion; and forced labor in drug detention centers.

1. Political prisoners and detainees and lack of basic freedoms
Vietnam continues to suppress peaceful dissent and punish dissenters for forming organizations that the government views as hostile to its interests. During the first nine months of 2012 alone, the government sentenced at least 31 peaceful dissidents and activists to prison for exercising their rights to freedom of speech and freedom or organization enshrined in the Vietnam Constitution.

The government bans all political parties, unions, and human rights organizations that are independent of the government or the Vietnamese Communist Party. Decree 45 (2010) provides for strict government control of associations, which effectively serve as agencies of government ministries or the party.

Vietnamese workers are forbidden from organizing unions independent of the government-controlled labor confederation. Government regulations impose fines on workers who participate in ?illegal? strikes not approved by the government and enable local officials to force striking workers back to work.

Activists who announce the formation of independent trade unions in Vietnam are arrested, imprisoned, harassed, intimidated, beaten, and in some cases ?disappeared.? Le Tri Tue, one of the founders of the Independent Workers? Union, has been forcibly disappeared since May 2007. Labor activists are punished with harsh prison sentences, such as Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung, Do Thi Minh Hanh and Doan Huy Chuong, who were imprisoned in 2010. On August 2012, the People?s Court of Hanoi sentenced the rights advocate Le Thanh Tung to five years in prison for defending workers and land petitioners.

Vietnam frequently uses vaguely worded and loosely interpreted national security and other crimes in Vietnam?s penal code and other laws to imprison peaceful political and religious dissidents. These include ?activities aiming to overthrow the people?s administration? (penal code article 79, penalty up to death sentence); ?undermining national unity policy? (article 87, penalty up to 15 years in prison); ?conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam? (article 88, penalty up to 20 years in prison); ?disrupting security? (article 89, penalty up to 15 years in prison); ?fleeing abroad or stay abroad to oppose the people?s government? (article 91, penalty up to life sentence); ?supplemental punishment? which strips former prisoners convicted of ?national security? crimes of certain rights, puts them on probation up to five years and allows confiscation of part or all of their property (article 92); and ?abusing rights to democracy and freedom to infringe upon the interests of the State and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens? (article 258, penalty up to 7 years in prison).

Discrimination against ethnic minority groups that are culturally and, in many cases, linguistically different can significantly worsen the already horrific prison conditions for ethnic minority prisoners.

Political prisoners include: 1) Tran Huynh Duy Thuc(sentenced to 16 years in prison); 2) Nguyen Van Hai(a.k.a Dieu Cay; 12 years); 3)Nguyen Cong Chinh (11 years); 4) Pham Thi Phuong(11 years); 5) Ta Phong Tan (10 years); 6) Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung(9 years); 7) Tran Thi Thuy(8 years); 8) Phung Lam(7 years);? 9) Do Thi Minh Hanh(7 years); 10) Doan Huy Chuong(7 years); 11) Cu Huy Ha Vu(7 years); 12) Nguyen Tien Trung (7 years); 13) Pham Van Thong(7 years); 14) Nguyen Ngoc Cuong(7 years); 15) Dinh Dang Dinh(6 years); 16) Nguyen Xuan Nghia(6 years); 17) Nguyen Kim Nhan(5 years and six months); 18) Ho Thi Bich Khuong(5 years); 19) Le Thanh Tung(5 years); and 20) Phan Ngoc Tuan (5 years).

Ethnic minority prisoners include: 1) Rmah Hlach?(a.k.a. Ama Blut; sentenced to 12 years); 2) Siu Hlom?(12 years); 3) Siu Ben?(12 years); 4) Noh?(12 years); 5) Siu Nheo?(10 years); 6) Siu Wiu?(10 years); 7) Siu Brom?(10 years); 5) Siu Thai?(a.k.a. Ama Thuong; 10 years); 6) Nhi?(a.k.a. Ba Tiem; 10 years); 7) Roh?(10 years); 8) Rah Lan Mlih?(9 years); 9) Ro Mah Pro?(9 years); 10) Rah Lan Blom?(9 years); 11) Siu Koch?(a.k.a. Ama Lien; 9 years); 12) Kpuil Mel?(9 years); 13) Ro Lan Ju?(a.k.a. Ama Suit; 9 years); 14) Pinh?(9 years); 15) Kpuil Le?(8 years); 16) Kpa Sinh (8 years); 17) Ro Mah Klit?(8 years); 18) Am Linh (a.k.a. Ba Blung; 8 years); 19)?Y?h?(a.k.a. Ba Nar; 8 years); and 20) R? Mah Then?(8 years).

Recommendations:
President Van Rompuy should call on the Vietnamese government to:

?????? Release all political prisoners and detainees, including those imprisoned or detained for exercising their rights to free expression, assembly, movement, or political or religious activity.

?????? Amend or repeal provisions in the penal code and other laws that criminalize peaceful dissent on the basis of imprecisely defined ?national security? crimes, including penal code articles 79, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, and 258. ?

?????? As an immediate confidence-building measure, allow access to prisoners or detainees by families, legal counsel, and outside observers from the EU, European embassies and international humanitarian and human rights groups.

?????? Provide information about the situation of ethnic minority prisoners who have been convicted for ?undermining national unity policy? (article 87) or ?disrupting security? (article 89).

?????? Bring media and other laws into compliance with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

?????? Authorize the publication of uncensored, independent, privately run newspapers and magazines.

?????? Remove filtering, surveillance, and other restrictions on Internet usage and release people imprisoned for peaceful dissemination of their views over the Internet. ?

Van Rompuy should also call for the immediate release of political prisoners or detainees who have serious health problems so that they can receive proper medical treatment. In July and September 2011, Nguyen Van Trai and Truong Van Suong died in prison. Some of the most urgent cases for immediate release are:

?????? Father Nguyen Van Ly, 65,?who was sentenced on March 30, 2007, by the People?s Court of Thua Thien ? Hue for ?conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam? according to article 88 of the penal code. He suffered multiple strokes in prison in 2009, as a result of which his right arm and leg are paralyzed. In 2010, he was released on medical parole for 16 months and kept under house arrest. In July 2011 Father Nguyen Van Ly was sent back to prisonto serve the rest of his eight-year prison term.

?????? The poet and anti-corruption campaigner?Nguyen Huu Cau, 65,?who has served a total of 34 years in prison since 1975. His first term in prison was from 1975 to 1980 in a re-education camp; the second term has been from 1982 until the present for exposing corruption of local authorities. Authorities convicted him of ??destruction,? a very serious charge in the early 1980s when Vietnam was a largely closed country. The prosecutor in his trial was one of the officials whom Nguyen Huu Cau had accused of corruption. Authorities used songs and poems he wrote as evidence of his ?reactionary? activities. Originally sentenced to death, Nguyen Huu Cau is now serving a life term. He has lost most of his vision and is almost completely deaf.

?????? The Hoa Hao Buddhist activist?Mai Thi Dung, 43,?who is currently serving an 11-year prison term. During the crackdown on independent Hoa Hao Buddhist groups in 2005, the government convicted Mai Thi Dung of disrupting public order according to article 245 of the penal code and sentenced her to five years in prison. In 2007, while she was in prison, the People?s Court of Vinh Long tried her for involvement in a protest by independent Hoa Hao Buddhist groups in 2001 and sentenced her to an additional six years in prison, again for violating article 245. She is now reportedly gravely ill, with both of her feet paralyzed, and suffering from gallstones and various diseases.

?????? The Hoa Hao Buddhist activist Nguyen Van Lia, 71,?formerly a religious prisoner, who was sentenced to five years in prisonon December 13, 2011, for ?abusing rights to democracy and freedom to infringe upon the interests of states and the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and citizens? according to article 258 of the penal code. His sentence was reduced to four years and six months on appeal in March 2012. He has reportedly by family members lost most of his hearing, has several broken ribs from previous injuries, resulting from assaults by anonymous thugs, and suffers from high blood pressure.

2. Repression of freedom of religion
Vietnam continues to closely monitor, systematically harass, and sometimes violently crack down on independent religious groups that remain outside of official, government-registered-and -controlled religious institutions. Religious organizations that faced such actions by the authorities include unrecognized branches of the Cao Dai church, the Hoa Hao Buddhist church, independent Protestant house churches in the central highlands and elsewhere, Khmer Krom Buddhist temples, and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).

On March 26, 2012, the Protestant pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh was sentenced to 11 years in prison for ?undermining national unity? under article 87 of the penal code for his religious activities. From March to September 2012, the authorities sent 17 other religious activists to prison. At least 32 other religious activists are currently in detention awaiting trial. Religious leaders including the UBCV supreme patriarch, Thich Quang Do, and independent Hoa Hao Buddhist leaders Le Quang Liem and Vo Van Thanh Liem are under house arrest and face continuous, sometimes intrusive, surveillance.

In June and July, 2012, local authorities harassed, intimidated, and tried to prevent Catholic priests from performing masses at the house of a Catholic follower in Yen Khe commune, Con Cuong district, Nghe An province. Also in June, local government authorities harassed and prevented priests from performing prayer sessions at the house of a Catholic follower in Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district, Nghe An province. In both cases, local Catholics have filed multiple requests to concerned authorities to form new parishes, but the authorities have not granted permission.

Recommendations
Van Rompuy should press the Vietnamese government to:

• Allow independent religious organizations to freely conduct peaceful religious activities in accordance with international legal standards.
• End restrictions on peaceful gatherings or activities by religious groups that are not registered with the government, such as unsanctioned organizations of Hoa Hao Buddhists, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, and Cao Dai, Protestant and Catholic groups.
• Stop pressuring these groups to join government-authorized churches.
• End abusive police surveillance and harassment of religious leaders and followers.
• Allow so-far unrecognized religious organizations to obtain legal status and operate independently of already-registered religious organizations if they choose to do so.
• End its longstanding discrimination against ethnic minority Christians in the Northern and Central Highlands and ethnic Khmer Buddhists in the Mekong Delta and allow independent NGOs, UN agencies, diplomats, and the media to freely monitor conditions in these remote and difficult to reach areas.

?

3. Forced labor in drug rehabilitation centers

People dependent on drugs may be held in government detention centers, where they are forced to perform menial work in the name of ?labor therapy,? the mainstay of Vietnam?s approach to drug treatment. In early 2011 there were 123 centers across the country holding some 40,000 people. Their detention is not subject to any form of due process or judicial oversight and routinely lasts for as long as four years. Infringing center rules ? including the requirement to work ? is punished by beatings with truncheons, shocks with electrical batons, and being locked in disciplinary rooms, where detainees are deprived of food and water. Children who use drugs are also held in these centers, where they must also perform ?labor therapy,? and are beaten and abused. Former detainees reported being forced to work in cashew processing and other forms of agricultural production (including potato or coffee farming), garment manufacturing, construction work, and other forms of manufacturing (such as making bamboo and rattan products). Under Vietnamese law, companies that source products from these centers are eligible for tax exemptions. Some of the products produced as a result of forced labor made their way into the supply chain of companies who sell goods abroad, including to the US and Europe.

Recommendations
Van Rompuy should publicly call on the Vietnam government to:

• Close all drug detention centers.
• Release all detainees in drug detention centers and allow them to access treatment in the community.
• Instruct the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) to abolish forced labor in all centers under its authority, including drug detention centers.
• Carry out prompt, independent, and thorough investigations into the labor conditions in drug detention and others types of centers, as they amount to forced labor in violation of Vietnamese and international law. Follow up abuses and crimes with appropriate legal actions (including criminal prosecution) against those who have committed crimes or other offences against detainees in violation of Vietnamese law.
• Publish a list of all forms of work in which detainees in the centers are involved, which products are processed using detainee labor in the centers, and the companies whose products are processed using detainee labor in the centers.
• Instruct the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) to provide adequate compensation to detainees and former detainees for the forced labor they performed while in detention.
• Promptly ratify and effectively implement ILO Convention No. 105 (Abolition of Forced Labor).
• Meet the government?s obligations under ILO Convention 29 by immediately revising the Penal Code to establish a specific criminal offense applicable to forced labor.

In the context of the EU's existing preferential trade programs with Vietnam, the EU should initiate an ongoing review of Vietnam?s eligibility, in light of Vietnam's failure to protect of the rights of people who use drugs. The EU currently grants Vietnam preferential trade benefits under its own system of Generalized System of Preferences. The European Council Regulation governing this system allows for ?the suspension of preferential arrangements, regarding all or certain products originating in a beneficiary country, where it considers that there is sufficient evidence that temporary withdrawal would be justified,? including where there are ?serious and systematic violations of principles? laid down in certain international human rights and labor rights conventions, on the basis of the conclusions of the relevant monitoring bodies.

Source: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/29/vietnam-make-rights-priority-eu-visit

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Hawaii tsunami: Smaller waves than predicted after Canada quake

Hawaii tsunami: Initial tsunami waves are small. But Hawaii residents got a good test of tsunami preparedness in the wake of Saturday's magnitude 7.7 earthquake off Canada.

By Mark Thiessen and Oskar Garcia,?Associated Press / October 28, 2012

US Geological Survey map of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck near the Queen Charlotte Islands Saturday evening.

USGS

Enlarge

The first waves of a tsunami hitting Hawaii on Saturday night were smaller than expected, roughly three hours after evacuations were ordered for coastal areas threatened after a powerful earthquake struck off Canada.

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Gerard Fryer, a geologist tracking the tsunami for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said the largest wave in the first 45 minutes of the tsunami was measured in Maui at more than 5 feet, about 2 feet higher than normal sea levels.

State and local officials warned residents and tourists not to go back to inundation zones until an all-clear is given, though no major damage was reported.

RELATED: Five biggest tsunamis

At first, officials said Hawaii wasn't in any danger of a tsunami after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the western coast of North America Saturday night, sparking tsunami warnings for southern Alaska and western Canada.

Later, officials issued a warning for Hawaii as well, saying there had been a change in sea readings. About the same time, a tsunami advisory was issued for a 450-mile stretch of U.S. coast running from north of San Francisco to central Oregon.

A small tsunami created by the quake was barely noticeable in Craig, Alaska, where the first wave or surge was recorded Saturday night.

Fryer said it could take several hours for the danger to pass in Hawaii, especially if the waves get bigger.

"It's beginning to look like the evacuation may not have been necessary," Fryer said.

The National Weather Service said there were reports of water quickly receding in bays, including Hilo Bay on the Big Island.

The warning in Hawaii spurred residents to stock up on essentials at gas stations and grocery stores and sent tourists in beachside hotels to higher floors in their buildings. Bus service into Waikiki was cut off an hour before the first waves, and police in downtown Honolulu shut down a Halloween block party.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie proclaimed an emergency, mobilizing extra safety measures.

While television traffic cameras showed onlookers at the beach in Waikiki, Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle warned people to stay away from the surf for several days.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Xez5EApAKiw/Hawaii-tsunami-Smaller-waves-than-predicted-after-Canada-quake

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Improvisation: How to Score Halloween Horror - EasyEarTraining.com

Learn how to improvise your own Halloween horror music. Before laptops and Logic, TV and and Technicolor, early horror film composers at the dawn of the 20th century used improvisation to enhance the silent silver screens. They composed hauntingly dramatic scores, freaky monster music, and thrilling moments of Halloween horror by combining improvisation and traditional classical music scores.

Unlike horror film composers today that write directly for film digitally, early film composers like J.S. Zamecnik combined traditional classical music and original dramatic motifs into ?playbooks? for the hundreds of pianists, theater orchestras, and organists who performed live at the picture palace.

Photoplay books like Sam Fox Moving Picture Music Vols. 1-3 provided musical direction and cues for improvisation. Other books simply pulled out sections from specific classical works and gave a list of excerpts and music cues to fit a specific film. The early silent film composers of these books used tried and true musical ideas to create spooky, scary, and dramatic music cues.

Contemporary film composers sync up audio to video using their iPad or laptops. While high-end film gigs use a live orchestra, conductor, and recording sessions, many indie composers simply use improvisation to find inspiration for their latest Halloween horror flick at home. A good improv can yield hours of good spooky material!

While most of the music you improvise won?t see the light of day, learning how to improvise these musical sketches in a variety of styles will improve both your compositional and ear training skills.

We?re going to use a particular short film clip as an example of how to improvise and then develop your score for a horror movie.

Halloween ear training improv practice

Start by watching the Halloween silent video excerpt below. In this excerpt, our hero Jettison sleeps peacefully as an evil alien being prepares to abduct him into a horrific alternate dimension:

Watch the video a few times. Log important moments of tension, action, and drama.

Example timecode list for key moments in the video

If you have a program like Logic, Garageband, or Protools, import the video into your program and improvise with your MIDI controller.

If you don?t have a good program for film scoring, just grab your instrument and watch the video in your media player or online. Record your performances in Quicktime or Audacity by manually syncing the video:

1. Hit Record
2. Tap four beats to your metronome
3. On beat four start the video by clicking PLAY
4. Record your improvisation

Choose one or maybe a few simple instruments. The goal is not to make a finished track, but to develop a few ideas to use later.

Don?t worry about quantizing, mixing, or reverb!

Use harmonic tension to increase suspense, brass and percussion to build drama, and synth effects to match the images.

Add accents for scene changes and important moments.

Play with a variety of styles: fun, scary, quirky, dramatic, sci-fi, etc.

Here?s an example of the rough musical ?sketch? this might produce:

Clearly there are a lot of issues with this track so far!

Use your listening skills and hear where the track needs improvement. Quantize, automate channels, and add a fade-out. Improve video sync by moving dramatic accents. Change the tempo.

In the second version of this improvised score, I added an accelerando to the final measure:

In the final version of this music sketch, I added in a few sound effects and audio effects to give the track a more sci-fi feel. To minimize the horns at the end, I dropped a noisy rocket effect and blended it with the final accents to transition to the next scene where the alien abducts our hero:

Here?s the finished version with the audio set to video:

What d?you think? Can you hear and see how the score has been developed to better suit the video content?

Try it yourself! Here are a few exercises you could do with this clip, or any other horror movie excerpt:

Halloween Activity 1

Create a spooky soundtrack in the style of the old silent era films. Use piano, organs, and acoustic instruments. Keep rhythms and harmony simple.

Halloween Activity 2

Use only synthesized sounds and electronic instruments to create a scary sci-fi Halloween soundtrack. Think Forbidden Planet or Blade Runner.

Halloween Activity 3

Get dramatic! Create an orchestral Halloween sound in your home studio. Start with piano and then orchestrate the piano part for full orchestra. Add brass, strings, percussion, and woodwinds. Avoid using too much ?tutti? (all instruments playing at the same time). Mix and match the musical palette to create spooky ensemble sounds.

Recommended resources

Download excerpts from all three volumes of J.S. Zamecnik?s Moving Pictures at the Petrucci Library. The Petrucci Library provides musicians with both old and new scores, from opera to string quartets to tape music. Use the simple search engine to find scores by composer, era, and instrumentation.

Find out more about photoplay music in the Silent Era at the Mont Alto?s Motion Picture Orchestra website.

Share your spooky Halloween music with us! Post a link to your album or improv in the comments below.

We?ll continue tomorrow with some great examples of effective film music and the techniques used. Until then, if you have any questions, just give a shout!

Related posts:

Source: http://www.easyeartraining.com/2012/10/29/improvisation-how-to-score-halloween-horror/

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Holiday Email Campaigns ? Think Beyond December ...

The NRF is forecasting 12% increase in online sales and a 4.1% increase in overall sales this holiday season - meaning that shoppers will spend $96 billion online and $586.1 billion in total.? That?s just in November and December.? However, people don?t stop shopping in January; and, while the revenue might not be counted towards the holidays, it certainly counts towards online retailers? bottom lines.

As you plan your holiday strategy this year, think beyond December and what you can do to keep customers shopping into 2013.? Here are five Post Purchase Email Campaign tactics you should try, beyond the usual holiday sales and gift card redemption campaigns:

1. Get What You Really Want - People typically give gifts that they?d like to receive from retailers that they know and trust.? And just because they?re giving away all of their favorite merchandise doesn?t necessarily mean they?ll get it in return.? In January, try a post purchase email campaign to new customers letting them know that it isn?t too late for them to purchase items that they really wanted.? Be clever ? last year, Apple sent out an email the day after Christmas with the subject line ?Wasn?t under the tree? Get it now from the Apple Store.?
2. Cross-Sell / Upsell ? Similarly, a cross-sell / upsell post purchase campaign after the holidays will generate a lot of additional revenue in January.? These campaigns can be set up in advance and automatically deployed with accessories and other products related to the merchandise that was previously purchased.? Be sure to include an easy way for the recipient to forward and share the message.
3. Request a Product Review ? There are many benefits of shopping online during the holidays ? no crowds, 24 hour availability, better selection, easier price checks and inventory checks, and, of course, convenience, to name a few.? In fact, a Bazaarvoice study in March of this year found that online shoppers are more satisfied than in-store shoppers across all demographics.? After the holidays, send a post purchase email requesting a product review or survey.? Customers love to provide feedback and they like to know that their opinions are valued ? and new shoppers love to read reviews from other customers.? Everyone wins.?? We?ve even seen survey and review request emails with conversion rates of 15-20% even though the emails aren?t promotional, so don?t be surprised if these campaigns drive additional revenue.
4. No hassle returns ? A study last year by Motorola found that 40.5% of shoppers are dissatisfied with the return/exchange process provided by online retailers.? Let your customers know you care by sending out a post purchase campaign detailing your return policy to make it as simple as possible for customers to get the merchandise they really want.? This campaign will help set you apart from your competitors and will keep trust levels high.
5. Back in stock announcements ? If you?re one of the retailers lucky enough to be selling this year?s hottest gifts, let customers know when inventory levels have been replenished.?? You should consider adding a notification module on your website so shoppers can sign up for an email alerting them that the product they want is available for purchase; however, for the best selling gifts an email may be sent out to your entire customer base, too.? These emails keep customers happy and buying well after the holidays.

Source: http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2012/10/29/holiday-email-campaigns-%E2%80%93-think-beyond-december/

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Hotels In Kalpa Provide All That Can Make You Happy!

Hotels in Kalpa will make your stay remarkable as Kalpa is wonderful with a viewer getting the sensation that you are seated in the lap of the hills with the whole variety of hills being noticeable. Also noticeable from this position is the holy Shivling stone on the Kailash hill that changes its shade at different factors in the day.
Hotels in Kalpa
The Monk Kalpa hotel in Kalpa This Monk Kalpa one of the Hotels in Kalpa is situated below the Military Get away on Roghi Street. The exact property or home is 267 km from Shimla Terminal and 244 km from Shimla station. The closest bus programs are at Shimla and Rampur. The Monk-Kalpa provides stunning opinions of the snowfall dressed Himalayan ranges such as the Kinner Kailash and the Shiva Linga.

The Monk-Kalpa has 18 well-furnished visitor areas such as 11 double rooms. The resort has 2 Bungalows and 5 Europe Bungalow Camping tents. The in-room services include television and hot water facility. The Monk-Kalpa has an in-house eating place providing Native Indian and traditional foods.

The additional facilities provided by the hotel are medical facilities, room services, cold/hot water, vehicle parking services etc.

Kinner Villa Hotel in Kalpa
Kinner Apartment is situated in Kalpa. The villa is 270 kms away from Chandigarh Terminal. The closest railhead is Chandigarh Train Place, which is 270 kms away. It also provides touring offers to the visitors. This place has got in house restaurant and approximately there are 20 rooms available. The facilities provided by this hotel are vehicle parking, laundry services, travel desk etc.

The charges for this hotel Kinner villa are approximately Rs 1800 which includes the room and the breakfast.

Hotel Rakpa Regency - Hotel in Kalpa
Situated in Kalpa at a size of 2960 mts amsl near to the region head office at Reckong Peo (Kinnaur), this Economic climate resort is at a range of 250km from Shimla. The facilities available in this hotel are quick room service available, laundry service and guest vehicle parking.

The look of the hotel is very attractive and it is one of the hotels in Kalpa which is quite noticeable as it is very huge. The Himalayan ranges can be admired and enjoyed as this hotel has very big and nice lawn to sit and relish the view. During summer season it is good place to sit in the sun that prefers to get tanned.

This hotel can be opted by the people whose budget is medium as the price ranges between Rs 1500.

About the Author:
At GTI Travels (p) LTD, we want to make you merry, savor the best in travelling whether you are looking for Wildlife Tour, Pilgrim Tour, Hikking in India, Honeymoon Tour or whatever, we have complete package for India Tourism. What are you waiting for pack you backpack and visit us because it's not just travel, it's a lifestyle.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Hotels-In-Kalpa-----Provide-All-That-Can-Make-You-Happy-/4236715

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Russian opposition leaders detained in Moscow

MOSCOW (AP) ? Moscow police on Saturday briefly detained several opposition leaders as well as a dozen other activists while they were protesting against the intensifying crackdown on Russian opposition.

Hundreds of people gathered Saturday afternoon outside the headquarters of Russian security agency FSB, a successor to the KGB, and outside the office of the Investigative Committee to protest the crackdown on the opposition as well as the treatment of leftist activist Leonid Razvozzhayev.

Investigators earlier this week said that Razvozzhayev had turned himself in and confessed to plotting riots. But days later, he disavowed his confession and filed a complaint over what he said was his abduction from Ukraine. Rights activists who visited Razvozzhayev in jail say he had been tortured into confessing.

Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny as well as leftist firebrand Sergei Udaltsov and liberal Ilya Yashin were detained while they were standing in the vicinity of the FSB headquarters with posters saying "I'm against torture and repression". They were released several hours later after they were charged with staging an unsanctioned protest, which carries a fine.

Several dozen activists stood alone at various points along the route between the FSB building and the Investigative Committee headquarters, holding signs in "one-man pickets," the only legally allowed form of protest without prior approval. A few of them were detained outside the police station where the three men were kept while calling for their release.

Navalny said he thought the charges against him were fabricated and expected protesters who witnessed his arrest to support his account in court.

Elsewhere in Moscow, Brooklyn Nets owner and former Russian presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov announced that he's leaving business to focus full-time on politics, returning to the political arena after remaining silent through a five-month Kremlin crackdown on the opposition.

Prokhorov told reporters after the conference that he wants to lead "a third power" in the country, competing both with the Kremlin and the opposition.

The 47-year-old Prokhorov, who is believed to be worth about $13 billion, finished third in Russia's presidential election in March amid speculation that his candidacy was orchestrated by the Kremlin. Though he denied the claim, he was nowhere to be seen as the government launched a crackdown on the opposition this spring, arresting activists and introducing new harsh legislation.

Prokhorov appeared Saturday at the first conference of the party he set up several months ago, announcing that he would put his money in a trust fund and let his partners at the investment vehicle Onexim run the shop.

____

Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-opposition-leaders-detained-moscow-142955428--finance.html

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The GIFT ? Phil Heath Mr.Olympia 2012 to Finaaaaaally Tribute ...

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Phil Heath Mr Olympia 2011 ? Phil Heath Posing Routine at the Mr Olympia 2011
Phil Heath Olympia 2011 Winner ? The Gift Phil Heath
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Seasoned Accountant To Carry Out Self Assessments | Travel

For self assessments in Milton Keynes, you need to hire a skilled accountant within your area. You?ll find many professional accountants in Milton Keynes that work either for a certain company or independently as a freelancer. Looking for an accountant in Milton Keynes should be extremely easy, and you would be able to find one with only a few clicks of the mouse if you choose to look for one on the web.

Self assessments are usually carried out by accountants who also act as tax return advisers. Companies paying their Tax returns and VAT returns in Milton Keynes help them stay on the right side of the HMRC. The HMRC is very particular with regards to the taxes imposed on businesses, especially in the light of British austerity measures. Having a professional accountant at your disposal will allow your company to carry out its usual routines while not having to stress about making an error while paying tax bills.

An accountant can provide payroll services in Milton Keynes. The payroll plays an important role in a company?s operation mainly because it takes into account all of the employees? benefits, salaries and bonuses. The employees? salaries play an important part in every company?s net income. It?ll also provide business owners the power to assess their employees? performances.

Accountants Milton Keynes 4U can help you find a skilled accountant within your region easily.

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Source: http://nicoleevaemery.com/accounting/seasoned-accountant-to-carry-out-self-assessments/

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Google Maps adds natural terrain by default outside of satellite views, reminds us the world isn't flat

Everyone knows that Google prides itself on mapping accuracy. If you hadn't checked beyond the base maps in the past few years, though, you'd have thought the terrain was charted in the "here be dragons" era -- it's been as flat as a board. Take a second look today. Google has overhauled Google Maps worldwide to show hills, deserts and lush zones by default, as well as label the geographical features that hadn't previously been identifiable in a sea of white. The map overhaul isn't so nuanced enough as to remind us how steep the hills can be in San Francisco, but it will remind us that Gobi refers to more than just a chipset.

Filed under: GPS, Internet, Google

Google Maps adds natural terrain by default outside of satellite views, reminds us the world isn't flat originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/26/google-maps-adds-natural-terrain-outside-of-satellite-views/

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VoIP Telephone System Expands to Boston | Hugo Hosting

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) Oct eighteen, 2012

Classic extended-length telephone calls link people to buddies, household and liked kinds who might dwell huge distances apart from 1 an additional. This procedure is excellent for bringing people together but the expense is prohibitively pricey.

An substitute communication technique has been created that circumvents the higher expense of standard lengthy-length telephone calls. This substitute method is known as VoIP, which stands for Voice over World wide web Protocol. Some folks could question: ?Just what is VoIP??.

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VoIP phones in Boston are rapidly becoming the common technique of enterprise communication. This is mostly since VoIP telephones can converse about the world without having the concern of dropped calls, downed strength or phone lines and unneeded security risks. There are just also numerous negatives to employing conventional extended-length communication technologies.

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Additionally, the tone and communication quality of VoIP calls is equivalent to that of traditional mobile phone calls and in some situations is even much more very clear than common calls. This program completes telephone calls by reworking an analog voice sign into a electronic signal and then sending that digital details in the type of ?packets?. This is precisely the identical system utilized by any computer accessing the Internet.

Despite the fact that VoIP utilizes the very same communication strategy as pcs, it is not at all essential to very own a specialized computer for VoIP calls. In reality, it is not even required to own a computer at all. There are several internet hosting services readily available, this kind of as Boston hosted VoIP networks. These solutions can digitize buyer calls on their personal.

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? Tech ? Tags: Boston, Expands, System, telephone, VoIP

Source: http://www.hugohosting.com/voip-telephone-system-expands-to-boston.html

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All quiet as deadline for full NHL season nears

NEW YORK (AP) ? With only hours remaining before an NHL-imposed deadline to make a deal with the players' association and preserve a full hockey season, all was quiet between the sides.

By Thursday afternoon, the sides were still not in contact.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman already painted a pessimistic picture on Wednesday, saying it was unlikely that a new collective bargaining agreement would be reached by Thursday that would allow the NHL to play a condensed 82-game schedule starting on Nov. 2.

In making its most recent offer to the players, the NHL presented a proposal that included a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenues. But that was contingent on the sides making a deal by Thursday and getting the season under way following a week of training camp.

Talks broke down last week, and the NHL turned down the union's offer to return to the table this week with no preconditions.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/quiet-deadline-full-nhl-season-nears-185744224--nhl.html

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Huddleston Discusses Tonight's Final Obama-Romney Debate

Debate scholar says that, on certain foreign policy topics, neither candidate will have a distinct advantage.

FLORENCE (PRWEB) October 22, 2012

The University of North Alabama news team recently sat down with Dr. Bill Huddleston, a debate scholar and professor of speech communication, to discuss tonight?s presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. Huddleston said that, when it comes to foreign policy, the focus of tonight?s debate, the President has a distinct advantage as an incumbent with a record to reference.

?I expect Romney to play up his relationship with Israel and his foreign tour he took during the Olympics in August. I expect Obama to play up that (he) promised we?d get out of Iraq, and we did. (He) promised we?d get Osama bin Laden, and we did,? Huddleston said.

However, on certain foreign policy topics, neither candidate will have as much of an edge, he said.

ON IRAN

?The real focal point will be centered on Iran ? how to prevent Iran from going nuclear. That?s where the issues are not as clearly defined and the President does not have as much of an advantage. I expect Romney to really emphasize that. I expect the President to try to reassure people he is in control and can prevent that from taking place.?

ON LIBYA

?I believe both candidates will stay away from Libya. I may be wrong. ? Romney has difficulty being seen as trying to make it a political football. The President wasn?t perhaps as decisive as he wanted to be under those circumstances. So I expect both candidates will downplay Libya. There may be some token references.?

ON CHINA

?They?re going to say that China is the problem financially for the United States, and since we?re talking financially, (Romney will say) let?s go talk about jobs. Obama will not want to take that bate. He?ll move away from that. He?ll talk about China as an independent nation and good relationships with China, but he will not try to talk about the deficit to China, or very little.?

Josh Woods
University of North Alabama
256-856-2950
Email Information

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/huddleston-discusses-tonights-final-obama-romney-debate-201814301.html

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Amazon posts 3Q results below expectations

FILE-In this Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, file photo, Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, speaks at the introduction of the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Paperwhite personal devices, in Santa Monica, Calif. Amazon reported third-quarter results below Wall Street?s expectations on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, including a large loss that was weighed by its stake in its online deals service LivingSocial and continued investments in technology and distribution centers to grow its business. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

FILE-In this Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, file photo, Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, speaks at the introduction of the new Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Paperwhite personal devices, in Santa Monica, Calif. Amazon reported third-quarter results below Wall Street?s expectations on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, including a large loss that was weighed by its stake in its online deals service LivingSocial and continued investments in technology and distribution centers to grow its business. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Amazon reported third-quarter results below Wall Street's expectations on Thursday ? including a large loss, weighed by its stake in online deals service LivingSocial and continued spending on its Kindle business and distribution centers.

Though expected, it was Amazon's first loss since July 2003.

The world's largest online retailer posted a loss of $274 million, or 60 cents per share, in the July-September period. That's down from earnings of $63 million, or 14 cents per share, a year earlier.

The latest quarter's results include a loss of 37 cents per share related to Amazon's minority stake in LivingSocial. Without this charge, it still would have lost 23 cents per share, worse than what analysts were expecting.

Revenue grew 27 percent to $13.81 billion, from $10.88 billion, falling short of analysts' expectations.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet, on average, were expecting a loss of 7 cents per share on revenue of $13.91 billion.

Beyond LivingSocial, Chief Financial Officer Tom Szkutak attributed the quarter's loss to Amazon's heavy investments in its Kindle e-reader and tablet business, as well as in new geographic locations such as China and in video content. Amazon is also spending money on centers for fulfilling orders. It said this month that it's hiring 50,000 temporary workers at its distribution centers across the U.S. during the holiday season.

The quarter's operating expenses rose 28 percent to $13.8 billion from $10.8 billion.

Amazon.com Inc. said its $199 Kindle Fire HD tablet is its best-selling product worldwide, but as usual, it did not give specific sales figures.

"Our approach is to work hard to charge less. Sell devices near breakeven and you can pack a lot of sophisticated hardware into a very low price point," founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

Amazon has a larger version of the Kindle Fire HD out next month.

Amazon's results come two days after Apple Inc. introduced a smaller iPad, the Mini, for $329. In its press release announcing the results, Amazon included a list trumpeting its high-definition Kindle Fires as cheaper than the iPad Mini and with more features. However, Apple's iPad has a much wider selection of third-party apps.

For the current quarter, which includes the important holiday shopping period, Amazon forecast revenue of $20.25 billion to $22.75 billion. Analysts were expecting a bit more at $22.82 billion.

Seattle-based Amazon's stock was down $1.94 to $220.98 in after-hours trading after initially falling sharply, to as low as $204.17. The stock closed down $5.57, or 2.4 percent, at $222.92 in the regular trading session.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-25-Earns-Amazon/id-74678a5d6d2e4489b1267372cec9da3f

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