Monday, December 31, 2012

Plug-In Hybrid Utility Trucks by ODYNE - CleanMPG Forums

Bucket trucks go high-techHarry Clark - CleanMPG - Dec. 30, 2012

The Odyne Hybrid truck.

I have personally spent many hours in a conventional bucket truck burning an awful amount of diesel and gasoline iwhile inspecting bridges for the NY State DOT. ODYNE appears to have a better way...

Odyne is a leading manufacturer of advanced turnkey hybrid drive solutions including advanced PHEV technology enabling trucks over 14,000 lbs to have substantially lower fuel consumption, lower emissions, improved performance, quieter job site operation and reduced operating and maintenance costs.

Odyne?s modular system reduces fuel consumption by up to 50% compared to traditional diesel engines, depending on the application. The system offers the greatest benefit for trucks with driving cycles that have a high percentage of starting and stopping and extended periods of work site engine idle time to provide power to equipment or tools. An Odyne hybrid system helps fleet managers reduce their carbon footprint and meet sustainable energy goals by displacing the use of fossil fuels with cleaner, lower cost electricity from the grid, while providing a quieter, safer working environment.

Odyne ihas developed proprietary and patented hybrid technology featuring robust automotive grade components combining reliable electric power conversion, power control and energy storage technology with advanced electric propulsion motors and modular lithium ion battery systems. The Odyne hybrid power system interfaces with Allison Transmission?s industry leading fully-automatic transmissions and features Remy?s HVH250 series electric motor, boasting industry leading power density and efficiency, Johnson Controls modular lithium-ion battery systems and other robust quality components designed for rugged applications.

The system easily integrates with medium or heavy duty vehicle powertrains and is optimized for the demanding work truck market. An Odyne system can be installed on a wide variety of new and existing vehicles and is applicable across chassis manufacturers. According to a company release, the company has delivered more large trucks PHEV systems for fleets across the US than any other supplier.

The System overview

  • Quiet operation for safer working conditions and extended work day
  • Zero or significantly lower emissions at the job site
  • Extra power for 12 volt loads
  • Air conditioning and cab heating (optional) with the engine off
  • Flexible operation, with software tailored to the application
  • Parallel hybrid system for non-hybrid powertrain backup
  • Regenerative braking to restore battery power
  • High Capacity electrical energy storage increases vehicle efficiency
  • Hybrid launch assist for improved acceleration, climbing and initiation of turns
  • Power for vehicle mounted equipment and/or optional work site 120V/240V electrical loads with engine off
ODYNE ADVANTAGE
  • A minimally intrusive design that preserves the chassis warranty, providing greater reliability
  • More productive time in the field with fewer trips to the pump
  • Charging from the grid at off-peak rates, ability to operate as hybrid without charging
  • Fuel savings of up to 1750 gallons annually over the truck life
  • Depending on duty cycle, up to 50% fuel economy improvements v.s. non hybrids
  • Reduced fleet operating and maintenance cost
  • 50 extra horsepower while driving (anti-idle trucks don?t offer)


Last edited by atlaw4u : Today at 11:04 AM.

Source: http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46147

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Fiscal cliff talks in danger of foundering in the Senate; Mitch McConnell seeking help from Vice President Joe Biden

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Source: http://www.politicsinstereo.com/2012/12/30/fiscal-cliff-talks-in-danger-of-foundering-in-the-senate-mitch-mcconnell-seeking-help-from-vice-president-joe-biden/

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Backed Or Whacked: Ignoring The Little People

backed-whackedEditor?s note:?Ross Rubin?is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at?Techspressive. Each column looks at crowdfunded products that have either met or missed their funding goals. The period leading up to the New Year is often a time of self-reflection. Resolutions often relate to people wanting to create a better version of themselves or at least a thinner version of themselves. Many also want to be more giving. Following through on these challenges often helps if you have support.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wkhTtnCXI28/

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Afghanistan Violence Falls In 2012, Insider Attacks Rise Dramatically

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Violence in Afghanistan fell in 2012, but more Afghan troops and police who now shoulder most of the combat were killed, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.

At the same time, insider killings by uniformed Afghans against their foreign allies rose dramatically, eroding confidence between the two sides at a crucial turning point in the war and when NATO troops and Afghan counterparts are in more intimate contact.

"The overall situation is improving," said a NATO spokesman, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Lester T. Carroll. He singled out Afghan special forces as "surgically removing insurgent leaders from the battle space."

Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said Afghan forces were now charged with 80 percent of security missions and were less equipped to face the most lethal weapon of the militants ? roadside bombs.

"Our forces are out there in the battlefields and combat areas more than at any other time in the past," he said, citing reasons for the spike in casualties.

U.S. troop deaths, overall NATO fatalities and Afghan civilian deaths all dropped as insurgent attacks fell off in their traditional strongholds in the country's south and east. However, insurgent activity was up in the north and west, where the Taliban and other groups have been less active in the past, and overall levels of violence were higher than before a U.S. troop surge more than two years ago.

U.S. troop deaths declined overall from 404 last year to 295 as of Saturday. The Defense Department says 1,701 U.S. troops have been killed in action in Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion in 2001 until Dec. 26. Of those, 338 died from non-hostile causes. Some 18,154 were wounded.

A total of 394 foreign troops, including the Americans, were killed in 2012, down from 543 in 2011. The British, with the second-largest military presence, had 43 killed ? the second-highest toll among countries with forces in Afghanistan, by AP's count.

The AP keeps daily tallies of casualties and violent incidents across Afghanistan based on reports from NATO and Afghan officials. Most cannot be independently verified, and other incidents may never come to light. The statistics sometimes vary from official counts because of time lags, different criteria and other reasons.

Deaths from so-called insider attacks ? Afghan police and troops killing foreign allies ? surged to 61 in 45 attacks last year compared with 2011, when 35 coalition troops were killed in 21 attacks.

The number, provided by the NATO command, does not include the Dec. 24 killing of an American civilian adviser by a female member of the Afghan police because the investigation is ongoing.

The focus of NATO's mission has largely veered from the battlefield to training the Afghans ahead of a pullout of most troops by 2014. The U.S plans to maintain a residual force, the size of which is now being determined.

A NATO report that tracks violence in the country showed a rise this year compared with the period before the surge of U.S. troops into the country. But the levels were down from last year and a peak in the summer of 2010. Kabul and the country's second-largest city, Kandahar, saw a considerable drop in lethal attacks, but districts in Kandahar province remain among the most restive in Afghanistan.

Militant attacks, the report said, decreased countrywide by 7 percent through November compared with the same 11-month period last year. But they were up in the northern and western parts of the country, which previously had been among the most peaceful regions.

Although NATO officials frequently credit Afghan troops with successful unilateral operations, a recent U.S. congressional report noted that higher-level Afghan units still need vital air, logistics and other support from foreign forces.

More Afghan police and soldiers are dying in the conflict, according to numbers provided by the interior and defense ministries.

More than 1,050 Afghan troops died this year, substantially higher than last year, although the ministry could not provide the exact 2011 death toll.

Nearly 1,400 police died in the 10 months from March 21 to the end of the year, compared with about the same number for the 12 months beginning March 21, 2011. The Afghan government follows a calendar year starting March 21.

NATO says Afghan security forces have grown from 132,000 in March 2011 to 333,000 this month.

The AP tally showed that at least 822 Afghan civilians had been killed by the Taliban and other militants this year while another 119 died in NATO airstrikes and other operations. That was a decrease from last year, when 1,151 were killed by insurgents and 283 by NATO. Substantially smaller numbers perish when caught in crossfires.

The United Nations reported different casualty figures but also noted that civilian deaths had decreased, reversing a five-year trend of mounting civilian deaths. Its latest report says that during the first six months of the year, 1,145 civilians died in conflict-related violence, compared with 1,510 in the same period of 2011. The U.N. considers insurgent land mines and roadside bombs to be particularly deadly for civilians.

Close to 3,000 militants were reported to have been killed by coalition and Afghan forces this year, compared with more than 3,500 last year. The NATO command does not issue reports on the number of insurgents its troops have killed, and Afghan military figures, from which the AP compiles its data, cannot be independently verified.

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/30/afghanistan-violence-falls-insider-attacks-rise_n_2385817.html

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You must Read The Nutrition Labels On The Foods You happen to ...

All of this facts may possibly just confuse you! You?ll want to definitely commence slowly and attempt not doing too much at 1 time. The ideas that adhere to can help you get started shedding pounds and maintain you from feeling overwhelmed.All of this information may just confuse you! You should really start slowly and try not doing too much at one time. The tips that follow will help you start losing weight and keep you from feeling overwhelmed.

look this site It?s always a fantastic thought to add colorful vegetables for your meals when slimming down. Super foods are chock filled with minerals, fiber, and nutrients which you have to have to survive. Some vegetables incorporate spinach, broccoli, kale or asparagus. Find different approaches to prepare and cook these vegetables so you could eat them generally.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but fats has to be eaten in order to be burned. Some fats, like Omega-3, are effective, and are hardly ever discovered in processed foods. Having said that, these fatty acids, ordinarily located in fish, bring about successful fat reduction simply because they nourish the body and lower your cholesterol.

Get a food diary to monitor the amount of calories you consume. Should you maintain notes on almost everything you consume, the mistakes you make might be more clear to you. A food journal is a fantastic solution to see for anyone who is making any errors in your diet program.

Weight reduction requires some sacrifice but not in taste. Previously, food low in calories and fat was bland and tasteless. Now you can incorporate sweeteners and preservatives to make your meals additional attractive. This can mean you still appreciate the taste of what you might be consuming, when continuing to drop some pounds.

lose weight fast You?ll need to program your meals ahead of time to ensure a suitable nutritional balance. Let your self uncomplicated access to each and every of one?s meals by packing away adequate food for five or six smaller meals and storing them inside a portable cooler.

Don?t look at the scale. You could be met with disappointment if you continually check your scale to find out for those who have lost any weight. Exercise builds muscle, which can be really a bit denser than fat. Judge by how nicely your clothes fit, not by your weight.

If you are walking, tighten your stomach muscles and stand up straight. Should you notice you may have relaxed your muscles, just flex once again and continue with your day. Not only will this strengthen your posture, nevertheless it will assistance tone the muscles you use to stand up straight ? like your bottom!

To chart your progress, take before and after photos during the program of one?s eating plan. This assists you get perspective about your progress even once the scale says you haven?t lost any weight. This could also be utilised to show your loved ones and associates just just how much progress you?ve produced.

how long does it take to lose belly fat Weight reduction efforts need to be believed of as way of life adjustments, not swift solutions that will help you fit into a favored swimsuit. If you?re capable of modify the bad habits which you normally do, the chances of achieving weight reduction will be larger.

There?s no magic pill for fat reduction. You will need to modify what you might be doing physically and tweak what you will be putting into the body. In the event you will observe our tips, you will find good results at efficiently losing the weight that you just want to lose and keeping it off.

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Source: http://ovariancervicaluterinecancer.hostingsiteforfree.com/2012/12/30/you-must-read-the-nutrition-labels-on-the-foods-you-happen-to-be-eating/

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Watch Out: Your New Year's Midnight Delivery Messages on Facebook Aren't Private (Updated)

You know how Facebook added that Facebook Stories feature that lets you automatically spam all your "friends" with automatic "Happy New Year" inanities? Well, beware because they aren't private, thanks to a security cock-up. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/iDNom5MFoy8/watch-out-your-new-years-midnight-delivery-messages-on-facebook-arent-private

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Maxim Property (Southwark, London, by unhappyse1)

Review of Maxim Property from 30 December 2012

Very poor. Not given copy of lease and charged for inventory that they never gave me either. Poor at dealing with repairs, broken washing macihne not fixed after a month. Not given any information about where my tenancy deposit is held, as i suspect it has not been deposited with a government backed scheme as it should be.

Source: http://www.qype.co.uk/review/3489464

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Asian nations giving enthusiastic welcome to 2013

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) ? Fiscal cliff? Recession? Not in Asia, where the first countries to see 2013 dawn will enthusiastically welcome the new year.

Increasingly democratic Myanmar will have a public countdown for the first time. Jakarta plans a huge street party befitting Indonesia's powering economy.

In Sydney, eager revelers camped over Sunday night on the shores of the harbor to get the best vantage points as 1.5 million are expected to see the fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

In Hong Kong, this year's 12.5 million Hong Kong dollar ($1.6 million) fireworks display was being billed by organizers as the biggest ever in the southern Chinese city. Police expect as many as 100,000 people to watch, local news reports said.

The buoyant economies of the Asia-Pacific are prepared to party with renewed optimism despite the so-called fiscal cliff threatening to reverberate globally from the United States and the tattered economy of Europe.

Celebrations were planned around the world later Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands expected to fill Times Square in New York City to watch the drop of a Waterford crystal-studded ball.

One day after dancing in the snow to celebrate the first anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un's ascension to supreme commander, North Koreans were preparing Monday to mark the arrival of the new year, marked as "Juche 102" on North Korean calendars - the number referring to 102 years since the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. "Juche" means self-reliance, the North Korean ideology of independence promoted by Kim, who was born in 1912. His grandson now rules North Korea.

In New Delhi, the festive mood was marred by the death Saturday of a young rape victim.

Several hotels, clubs and residents associations in Indian capital decided to cancel planned festivities and asked people to light candles to express their solidarity with the victim whose plight sparked public rallies for women's safety.

"Let there be no New Year celebrations across the country. It will be a major tribute to the departed soul," said Praveen Khandelwal, the secretary-general of the Confederation of All India Traders, an umbrella group of traders who run shops and businesses across the country.

In a field in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, workers early Monday were testing a giant digital countdown screen with the backdrop of the revered Shwedagon pagoda.

Arranged by local Forever Media group and Index Creative Village, a Thai major event organizer, the celebration will be the first public New Year countdown in Myanmar, a country ruled for almost five decades by military regimes that discouraged or banned big public gatherings.

"We are planning this public new year event because we want residents of Yangon to enjoy the public countdown like in other countries," said Win Thura Hlaing, managing director of Forever Blossom company, a subsidiary of Forever Media.

With live music performances by singers and celebrities, colorful light shows, food stalls, fireworks and other events at the venue, the countdown is expected to draw 50,000 people, Win Thura Hlaing said.

Jakarta's street party will center on a 7-kilometer (4-mile) main thoroughfare closed to all traffic from nightfall until after midnight. Workers were erecting 16 large stages along the normally car-clogged, 8-lane highway through the heart of the city. Indonesia's booming economy is a rare bright spot amid global gloom and bringing prosperity ? or the hope of it ? to Indonesians.

Spirits in the capital have been further raised by the election of a new, populist governor, who is pledging action in tackling the city's massive infrastructure problems.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said about 1.5 million spectators were expected to line the harbor to watch the 6.6 million Australian dollar ($6.9 million) fireworks display, while another 2 million Australians among a population of 22 million would watch it on television.

"This is really putting Australia on the map in terms of welcoming people to the new year," Moore told reporters at the harbor before the event.

Thousands lined the harbor shore in festive crowds under a blue summer sky by late afternoon, their number undiminished by Australian government warnings that the Washington deadlock on the U.S. debt crisis was partly to blame for a slowing Australian economy.

Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue is host for the event.

Florida tourist Melissa Sjostedt was among the thousands gathered near a southern pylon of the bridge. She said seeing the fireworks would fulfill an ambition started a decade ago when she read about them in a National Geographic magazine.

"Ever since that, I've always wanted to see this for real, live, in person," the 30-year-old said.

Despite the somber mood in the Philippines due to devastation from a recent typhoon, a key problem for authorities remained how to prevent revelers from setting off illegal huge firecrackers ? including some labeled "Goodbye Philippines" and "Bin Laden" ? that maim and injure hundreds of Filipinos each year, many of them children.

A government scare tactic, which involved doctors displaying brutal-looking surgical scalpels used for amputations of firecracker blast victims, has not fully worked in the past so health officials came up with a novel idea: Go Gangnam style.

A government health official, Eric Tayag, donned the splashy outfit of South Korean viral star PSY and danced to the tune of his Youtube-hit "Gangnam Style" video while preaching against the use of illegal firecrackers on TV, in schools and in public arenas.

"The campaign has become viral," Tayag said. "We've asked kids and adults to stay away from big firecrackers and just dance the Gangnam and they're doing it."

The number of firecracker injuries has gone down since the campaign was launched early this month.

Hong Kong feng shui master Raymond Lo predicted 2013 would be less turbulent than 2012 because the Chinese new year in February will usher in the year of the snake, bringing an end to the year of the dragon, which was associated with water. Water is one of the five elements in feng shui theory, the Chinese practice of arranging objects and choosing dates to improve luck.

"Water is fear. So that's why we have had so much turbulence especially in the winter months," such as doomsday prophecies, school shootings and concerns about the fiscal cliff, said Lo.

"But the good news is that the coming year of the snake is the first time that fire has come back since 2007. Fire actually is the opposite to water, fire is happiness. So therefore the year of the snake is a much more optimistic year. So you can see signs of economic recovery now," he added.

"The positive thing is that people are very optimistic, therefore it will have a very strong drive on the economic recovery. We expect the stock market will do well, the property market will do well," Lo said.

___

Associated Press writers Aye Aye Win in Yangon, Jean Lee in Pyongyang, Chris Brummitt in Jakarta, Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-nations-giving-enthusiastic-welcome-2013-061809017.html

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Vikings Reach NFL Playoffs: Adrian Peterson Powers Minnesota Past Packers

MINNEAPOLIS ? Adrian Peterson picked up the Minnesota Vikings and gave them a thrilling ride to the playoffs, where the next stop on this improbable journey is, yes, Green Bay.

This game was so full of action, intrigue and tension they're going to stage it again next weekend.

Peterson finished 9 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record, but he still powered the Vikings past the Packers 37-34 Sunday with 199 yards to set up a rematch at Lambeau Field in a first-round playoff game.

"I told myself to come into this game focused on one thing, and that's winning," Peterson said.

Peterson rumbled around the left side of the line for a 27-yard gain in the closing seconds, his career-high 34th carry exactly one year after reconstructive surgery on his left knee. That set up Blair Walsh's 29-yard field goal as time expired and put the Vikings (10-6) in the postseason after consecutive last-place finishes.

"For our guys to be as resilient as they were, it has you swelling with pride," coach Leslie Frazier said.

The division champion Packers (11-5) dropped to the NFC's No. 3 seed. Their five-game winning streak against the Vikings ended.

"I had a feeling that we had the game in the bag the whole game," Vikings cornerback Chris Cook said. "It was just a vibe that I had on the sideline, in how we were carrying ourselves."

Aaron Rodgers completed 28 of 40 passes for 365 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions, connecting with Jordy Nelson from 2 yards to tie the game with 2:54 remaining. But Christian Ponder threw for three scores, including one to Peterson.

Ponder went 16 for 28 for 234 yards, including a 65-yard zinger in stride to Jarius Wright midway through the fourth quarter that set up Ponder's third touchdown toss.

"It's disappointing. A lot of us wanted that extra week," Rodgers said.

Peterson finished with 2,097 yards, becoming the seventh player in NFL history to reach the 2,000 mark. He had to work for it, pulling out all the cutbacks, stutter-steps and spins he could find in his exceptional skill set. His longest run was only 28 yards against a defense geared to slow him down, and the first contact often came at, near or behind the line of scrimmage.

"It wasn't meant to happen, or it would've happened. Not to say it doesn't hurt, because it does," Peterson said of Dickerson's 28-year-old record. "But we came in here tonight and accomplished the ultimate goal, and that was getting a win and punching our ticket to the playoffs."

The Packers cut the lead to 27-24 late in the third quarter on a touchdown reception by James Jones. The on-field ruling was a fumble at the goal line, triggering an automatic review. Because the Packers threw the challenge flag after the replay process began, however, they were only penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, not prevented from benefiting from the overturned call. That's what happened to Detroit infamously on Thanksgiving, when a disputed score by Houston was prevented from review.

After posting a 9-23 record over the last two years, the Vikings made so many strides in 2012 that the season was already a success. But no NFL team would ever be satisfied by finishing in defeat against a division rival, and the emotion and energy behind the quest was palpable all afternoon.

"It took us a little while to adjust to the crowd noise, and we didn't get going," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "That usually happens up here. This is a tough place to play, no doubt. We anticipated this being the loudest environment of the year. They pumped it in here pretty good today."

The NFC North was sewn up by the Packers two weeks earlier. Even though the bye remained in the balance the top seed didn't do the Packers any good last season. They went 15-1 and lost their opener at home to the eventual champion Giants.

Rodgers played without injured leading receiver Randall Cobb, so Greg Jennings was the main guy, grabbing eight passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. But the Vikings sacked Rodgers five times, recovering a fumble on one of them at midfield to set up a third-quarter touchdown.

Rodgers has 24 touchdowns, only four interceptions and a 70 percent completion rate over 10 career starts against the Vikings. His poise, arm strength and savvy came through clear against them as much as any other team. Plus, cornerback Antoine Winfield's aggravated hand injury kept him on the sideline for most of the game.

Just as Ponder capably complemented Peterson, DuJuan Harris came out of nowhere to provide Rodgers some help. Green Bay has been proving lately it's not a one-sided offense, either, and Harris rushed 14 times for 70 yards

But this was Peterson's show. Second-and-27? He surged off right tackle and bounced outside for 28 yards on a drive that ended with his second touchdown, a 2-yard reception that pushed the lead to 27-17 in the third quarter. The "MVP" chants from the crowd rang out in earnest after that.

NOTES: Cobb's absence meant the Packers went without a 1,000-yard receiver for the first time since 2003. Cobb finished with 954 yards. ... Vikings WR Jerome Simpson was woozy after an end-zone collision in the third quarter, falling back down after trying to get up the first time. He passed concussion tests and returned to the game.

___

Follow Dave Campbell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaveCampbellAP

___

Online: and

Links:


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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/30/vikings-playoffs-packers-adrian-peterson_n_2385971.html

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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Council on Foreign Relations Hacked by Chinese Hackers

In a report?published?by?right-wing?Washington Free Beacon,??an advanced malware attack against one of America?s most powerful decision making ?foreign policy groups was conducted last week, in which the website of ?Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and its servers were infected.

council_foreign_relations-hacked

The cyber experts are now investigating the attack have reveled that?the attack is one of its kind and relatively new?ploy called a ?drive-by? website cyber attack, detected around 2:00 p.m. on 26th December.

The experts added that they suspects the Chinese hackers behind the attack in which the servers operating the CFR?s website were infected, then via infected servers the CFR members and others who visited or ?drove by? the site were infected.

However, the malware was removed on Thursday, the experts believe that the attackers removed the malware themselves to prevent further tracing or the IT experts at CFR got rid of it.

?The malware was apparently pushed onto the systems of visitors via a vulnerability in Internet Explorer,? writes?Softpedia?s Eduard Kovacs. ?The malicious software planted on the server used Mandarin Chinese language, experts from a private security firm told the Free Beacon. Also, it appears that the attack targeted only people or intelligence related to China because the malware was configured to infect only visitors who had set their browsers to support Chinese language characters.?

EsecurityPlanet?s Jeff Goldman,?writes that in an email conversation, the member of CFR?David Mikhail?confirmed the attack.

According to the email confirmation:

?The Council on Foreign Relations? Web site security team is aware of the issue and is currently investigating the situation,? he wrote. ?We are also working to mitigate the possibility for future events of this sort.??

Council on Foreign Relations is a powerful group that consist of elite class of the country and commonly known as the?? Shadow Government of the United States?.

Source: http://hackread.com/council-on-foreign-relations-hacked-by-chinese-hackers/

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Wagner College men's team knocks off Penn in overtime, 68-63 (photo gallery)

Point guard Kenny Ortiz was explaining why his Wagner team continues playing ? and winning ? overtime games at Spiro Center, Saturday?s 68-63 victory over Penn being the Wagner?s third in three home games this season.
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?We just like to give the home crowd some entertainment,? the junior declared with a broad smile after scoring a career-high 23 points in the Seahawks? fourth win in their last five games.
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?We refuse to lose,? the 5-foot-11 Southern Mississippi ?transfer went on after scoring Wagner?s final eight points as the team improved to 6-5. ?In the overtime, I saw they were having trouble keeping me out of the lane and I just went for it.?
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Wagner has also defeated Princeton and Coppin State so far this season in overtime.
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?Sometimes we make things harder than we have to,? coach Bashir Mason said after Ortiz made six consecutive free throws over the final 19 seconds to ice the game. ?But we have a gritty group of guys, and going to overtime doesn?t worry me.?
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Latif Rivers, last year?s team high scorer, returned from an eight-game injury absence to score 15 points including three 3-point baskets in regulation and a clutch running bank shot with 2:40 left in overtime.
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Senior star Jonathon Williams did not suit up. The 6-5 senior, who leads the Seahawks this year in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg), has been hampered by what has been diagnosed as a hip flexor by the Wagner medical staff.
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Missing Williams, made Rivers? return all the more important.
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?Having him back makes everyone more comfortable,? said Mason. ?When Latif is out there, I feel like I have a guy who can make a perimeter shot when we need one.?
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Rivers, who was 3 of 5 from 3-point range, missed a corner jumper with 40 seconds left in regulation, but an Orlando Parker rebound and the forward?s converting of 1 of 2 free throws tied the score at 54-54.
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Overtime came after Penn?s Miles Cartwright (19 points) missed a buzzer jump shot for the win.
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Wagner, which opens its Northeast Conference schedule at home on Thursday against Monmouth, won the overtime tap and scored on a Mario Moody jam off a pretty drive-and-kick from Ortiz, who finished with six assists.
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Then Ortiz, last season?s NEC defensive player of the year, stole the ball in the paint at the other end and found Josh Thompson for a run-out fast-break basket and a 58-54 lead.
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?That was critical,? said Mason. ?To open overtime with a basket, a stop, and another basket, is a huge edge. It?s only four points, but it?s a big four points.?
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Rivers? key basket on a fade-away bank shot came moments later.
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And Ortiz, who led the Seahawks with 10 rebounds, scored on a huge put-back in traffic for a 62-58 Wagner lead with 1:13 to go.
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?Kenny managed the game in the second half the way I?ve seen him do it in the past,? Mason said of his point guard?s 16 points post-first half performance. ?He didn?t start off the game great, and I pulled him just to try and hit the reset button a little. But he and the rest of the guys really stepped up when they had to.?
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Wagner trailed 31-29 at halftime.
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According to Ortiz, some of his big day was attributable to the return of his backcourt mate Rivers.
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?It?s an easier game for me when he?s out there,? Ortiz said. ?I know if I drive and find Latif for a kick-out it?s like an automatic basket waiting to happen.?
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Penn was without the services of team high scorer Fran Dougherty. The 6-8 Dougherty, who is averaging 15.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, both team highs, was diagnosed with mononucleosis earlier this week.
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Wagner trailed 22-13 in the opening minutes, before a pair of Rivers 3-pointers ignited a 12-4 Seahawk run. The junior had been out since Nov. 18, when he played in Wagner?s 88-57 loss at Syracuse.
???
He played 28 minutes Saturday.
???
?The knee didn?t bother me,? he insisted. ?I feel like I?m making progress, coming back. But you have to play in live games, you can?t simulate that.?
???
Rivers will sit out the Monmouth game due to a one-game NEC-imposed suspension for a scrap at the end of Wagner?s final game last year, a 71-64 loss to Robert Morris in the semis of the conference tournament. ?

NOTES: Sophomore Moody (6 points, 6 rebounds) got his first career start ... Rivers has already amassed 898 points in his career ... The Seahawks turned the ball over 19 times. ?

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

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'Do something!' Americans fed up with D.C. over 'cliff'

Americans from across the country express their frustration with lawmakers in Washington who have yet to reach an agreement on averting looming tax increases.

By Tracy Connor, NBC News

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker said Friday that ?the American people should be disgusted? the nation?s leaders haven?t been able to avert the fiscal cliff.

Well, mission accomplished.

John Makely / NBC News

Abigail Holt, 17, (right), of Hartford, Conn., says Washington's inability to avert the fiscal cliff is "annoying."

Across the country, people are shaking their heads about negotiations that go nowhere and fingers that point everywhere while the nation hurtles toward the precipice of a new economic crisis.

?They should make a plan, make up their minds and do something!? Abigail Holt of Hartford, Conn., told NBC News.

She?s 17 years old and admits she?s just learning about the federal government and the fiscal cliff. But she knows this much: ?It?s annoying.?

And that's being polite.

Writing in the Daily Beast, Howard Kurtz called the nation's capital "the country?s biggest day-care center." The famous sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer hit below the belt, noting on Twitter that "Members of Congress who can't compromise probably aren't good lovers."

Californian Pat Marshall said the politicians "appear to be very self-centered on making sure that they?re taken care of and the American public comes second."

After an hourlong meeting Friday with congressional leaders that he described as "constructive," President Obama acknowledged that people outside Washington were bewildered by D.C. "dysfunction" and that time -- and patience -- were running out.

Lawmakers have 'lost touch'
Indeed, with higher taxes and deep spending cuts looming without a deal, Americans? faith in Washington is dissipating by the day.

A Dec. 9 Gallup poll found that 59 percent thought it was likely the White House and Congress could hammer out a deal to avoid a slide down the cliff; by this week, that had sunk to 50 percent.

Skeptics were gaining ground, meanwhile: 48 percent think an agreement before the year-end deadline is unlikely, up 10 points from two weeks earlier.

John Makely / NBC News

Rich Dodds, 49, of Houston, Texas, says the elected officials in Washington have "lost touch" with Americans who will be affected by the fiscal cliff.

?It doesn?t feel like they?re doing much,? said Rich Dodds, 49, an energy product manager from Houston, Texas. ?I think they?ve lost touch with who the American people are. It?s a pretty elite group in Washington.?

The fact that both houses of Congress went into recess -- the Senate took a nearly week-long break, and the House is still on vacation until Sunday -- bothered some.

?This is one of the most important issues and they are not even working,? said Bill Prosser, 49, a telecommunications salesman from Clifton, Va. ?I?m very disappointed in them.?

Nicole Hayward, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was so angered by the congressional recess that she posted a petition on Change.org demanding lawmakers get back to business.

?I turn on the news every day while I?m getting ready for work and I saw coverage about how Congress was going to break for the holidays and we might not have a resolution,? the marketing director said. ?I thought, who cares about their holiday vacation? It really got me going.?

Hayward got only 101 signatures on her petition. She attributed the lack of interest to cynicism.

?The reason why the average American doesn?t pay attention to this issue and the details is they think Congress will come together and pass something that just kicks the can down the road and things won?t change in [their] life,? she said.

John Makely / NBC News

Bill Prosser, 49, of Clifton, Va., says members of Congress should be locked in a room until they can make a deal.

Bipartisan blame
Inside the Beltway, Democrats are condemning Republicans and vice versa for the stalemate. But the nation?s voters are more bipartisan in their blame, with neither Republicans nor Democrats obtaining majority support.

?Essentially, right now, 25 percent of the public approves of the job the GOP congressional leaders are doing and 40 percent approves of the job the Democratic leaders are doing,? said Jocelyn Kiley, a senior researcher for the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Prosser thinks there?s a time-tested way to bring the two sides together before Jan. 1 -- something akin to the old papal conclaves in which cardinals were locked in a room until they chose a new pontiff.

?Just say you?re not going to leave until you have a deal,? Prosser said.? ?Get in a room -- and get it done!?

Who do you blame for the nation teetering on the edge of the fiscal cliff?

?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/29/16216300-do-something-americans-fed-up-with-washington-as-fiscal-cliff-deadline-looms?lite

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Education & Reference 2016: Petal the Owl Colours - alyeuokbu& ...

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Source: http://jonopriaiona.blogspot.com/2012/12/education-reference-2016-petal-owl.html

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Pending home sales hit 2-1/2 year high

15 hrs.

Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes rose in November to their highest level in 2-1/2 years, an industry group said on Friday, further evidence of a strengthening housing market recovery.?

The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, increased 1.7 percent to 106.4 - the highest level since April 2010 when the home-buyer tax credit expired.?

Economists polled by Reuters had expected signed contracts, which become sales after a month or two, to rise 1.0 percent after a revised 5.0 percent increase in October. It was the third straight month of gains.?

"Home sales are recovering now based solely on fundamental demand and favorable affordability conditions," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.?

Pending home sales were up 9.8 percent in the 12 months through November.?

The housing market has turned the corner after a dramatic collapse, which dragged the economy through its worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.?

Home sales and prices are rising, encouraging builders to undertake new construction projects.?

Home resale contracts were up in three of the country's four regions. They were unchanged in the South.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/pending-home-sales-hit-2-1-2-year-high-1C7752997

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Michigan State edges TCU 17-16 in BWW Bowl

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) ? Michigan State labored on offense throughout the first half, unable to get anything going on the ground, in the air, anywhere.

For a team that had lost five games by a combined 13 points during the regular season, it was starting to feel familiar.

The Spartans changed their luck by turning to brutally effective running back Le'Veon Bell in the second half, setting up Dan Conroy for another game-winning kick in a bowl game.

Bell ran for 145 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown, Conroy kicked a 47-yard field goal with 1:01 left and Michigan State rallied to beat Texas Christian 17-16 in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on Saturday night.

"With so many close games and losing like we did during the season, to have one go our way was definitely sweet," Conroy said.

It wasn't always pretty for the Spartans.

Michigan State (7-6) managed 76 yards of offense during the first two quarters as TCU bottled up Bell.

The 237-pound junior started to wear down the Horned Frogs in the second half, grinding out 107 of his yards on a 32-carry night.

Behind Bell, the Spartans went on the longest drive in their bowl history in the third quarter, marching 90 yards to set up freshman Connor Cook's 15-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Burbridge.

Michigan State then recovered a muffed punt by TCU's Skye Dawson at the 4-yard line midway through the fourth and Bell scored two plays later by racing around left end for a 14-13 lead.

TCU (7-6) still had a little life after blowing a 13-point halftime lead, moving just far enough to set up Jaden Oberkrom for the longest field goal in the bowl's history, a 53-yarder that put the Horned Frogs up 16-14 with 2:42 left.

They just left Michigan State too much time.

Starting at their own 25-yard line, the Spartans moved 45 yards in eight plays, setting up Conroy for his second game-winner in a bowl after beating Georgia with a 28-yarder in the third overtime of the 2012 Outback Bowl.

Michigan State's defense held after that, sending the Spartans to their second straight bowl win after three consecutive losses.

"There was no doubt in my mind that after so many losses in similar fashion that we were going to come out on top in this one," Spartans linebacker Max Bullough said.

The Horned Frogs shut down Michigan State's offense in the first half and did just enough when they had the ball to put together three scoring drives.

In the second half, TCU couldn't get anything going against the Spartans' defense ? 84 total yards ? and its defense gave up the long scoring drive in the third quarter, along with the game-winner in the fourth.

Trevone Boykin threw for 201 yards and an interception on 13-of-29 passing for the Horned Frogs.

"A little bit empty feeling inside because we felt like we left a lot on the field," TCU coach Gary Patterson said.

TCU and Michigan State came to the desert with an awful lot of similarities.

The Horned Frogs opened their first season in the Big 12 with four straight wins before losing four of their final six games. Michigan State started 4-2, then lost four of six down the stretch.

Michigan State had the nation's fourth-best defense and was 10th in scoring defense during the regular season. TCU was 18th in total defense and 10th against the run.

Michigan State quarterback Andrew Maxwell was up-and-down in his first season as Kirk Cousins' replacement, throwing 13 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. Boykin took over after four games for Casey Pachall, who was suspended and later left the team, and threw for 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

The biggest difference between the teams was Bell.

He ranked third nationally with 137.3 yards rushing per game and had 1,648 on the season, second-most in Michigan State history and 242 fewer than TCU had as a team.

Early on, the Horned Frogs gave him nowhere to go.

Filling holes inside and stringing plays out toward the sidelines, TCU stuffed the bruising Bell on nearly every touch, holding him to 38 yards on 11 carries in the first half.

Of course, it didn't seem to matter what Michigan State did. The Spartans had 29 yards on 12 plays in the first quarter and weren't a whole lot better in the second, with Maxwell throwing two near-interceptions on consecutive passes and an ill-advised trick play that probably should have resulted in a turnover, too.

The Spartans still seemed to be stuck in the ruts in the third quarter before grinding out a 14-play scoring drive led by Cook, who replaced Maxwell for the second time in the game. They had their biggest play on a floating pass from Bell to fullback TyQuan Hammock (29 yards), then Cook threw his first career touchdown pass, a 15-yarder to Burbridge on a crossing route that cut TCU's lead to 13-7.

"I thought Connor did a good job on the 90-yard drive, gave us a little momentum," Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said.

TCU didn't exactly have its way with Michigan State's defense in the first half and missed some chances to build a bigger lead.

The Frogs started gashing the Spartans for decent-sized chunks with their option midway through the first quarter, setting up Matthew Tucker's 4-yard touchdown on an end-around.

Boykin had an impressive off-the-back-foot throw to freshman Kolby Listenbee for 59 yards on the last play of the first quarter and nearly had a 19-yard touchdown pass to open the second, but LaDarius Brown was bumped and dropped the ball in the end zone. Oberkrom followed with a 47-yard field goal and added another from 31 yards after Boykin hit Josh Boyce on a 61-yard pass to put TCU up 13-0 at halftime.

The Frogs couldn't keep it up in the second half.

With Michigan State clogging the running lanes and chasing Boykin around, TCU had 30 yards of offense in the third quarter and continued to struggle in the fourth. The Horned Frogs did manage the short scoring drive to set up Oberkrom's late field goal, but ended up going backward on their final drive after Conroy's kick.

"What I thought happened in the third quarter was Michigan State dialed up the heat and we didn't have an answer," Patterson said.

Michigan State did ? for one of the few times this season.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/michigan-state-edges-tcu-17-16-bww-bowl-065431343--spt.html

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California sales tax on its way up

California's sales tax is set to increase one-fourth of a percent on January 1. That means your purchases in most of Orange County will be taxed at 8 percent, up from the current rate of 7.75 percent.

In short, you'll pay an extra quarter for every $100 you spend in 2013.

Shoppers at Toyota of Tustin examine vehicles Monday and consider deals in advance of January's sales tax increase.

JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ADVERTISEMENT

Sales tax savings

Here is how much you can save by purchasing certain items before the new sales tax rate goes into effect.

Cup of coffee: 1 cent

Olloclip lens for iPhone: 17 cents

Nice dinner for two: 35 cents

Western Digital hard drive: 85 cents

Oakley Airwave goggles: $1.50

Vizio 60" big-screen TV: $2.50

Kia Rio: $34.00

State voters approved the quarter-cent tax hike on the November ballot as part of Proposition 30, although the measure received a 59 percent "no" vote in Orange County. Funds raised by the increase will go to K-12 schools and community colleges.

Consumers can save money by making any major purchases before Tuesday.

"It won't matter unless you're buying a big ticket item like a car," said Dennis Malloy, a salesperson at Easylife Furniture in Costa Mesa.

Malloy said none of his customers have mentioned the tax hike, which won't make much of a difference when purchasing couches and beds that sell for hundreds of dollars. "But if you're getting a car, you better buy now."

Tustin Toyota is using its web site, email blasts and radio spots to urge people to make purchases now and "beat the burden of the tax increase." The year-end marketing blitz has been successful. December sales are up 50 percent compared to the same time last year, said new car director Greg Vernon, speculating that a key reason for that bump is that people want to pay less on taxes.

"Quite a few customers have mentioned the tax hike," Vernon said. The big seller this month has been the Sienna XLE minivan, with a retail price of $33,360. "Even if it's just two or three hundred dollars, that's a substantial savings," he said.

But not everyone is talking up the tax hike to hike up business. Americans face a far bigger financial uncertainty as the "fiscal cliff" negotiations over federal tax increase and spending cuts remain unresolved.

Sean Taylor, member services manager for the Orange County Automobile Dealers Association, said he hasn't heard of other car dealers incorporating the impending tax increase into marketing campaigns.

Even people who would save the most by making an early purchase are seemingly unfazed about paying more sales tax next year. Acquiring a 2013 Lamborghini Aventador for $397,500 before 2013 would yield almost $1,000 in sales tax savings. "But that only works if you're buying the car in cash," said Pietro Frigerio, general manager of Lamborghini Newport Beach in Costa Mesa. None of his customers have mentioned the tax hike. Most of his clients lease, so Frigerio said they would only save a couple of dollars per month.

In La Habra, where voters approved a 20-year half-cent hike four years ago, sales tax will increase to 8.5 percent. That is still lower than the Los Angeles County, where consumers will pay 9 to 10 percent for retail purchases next year. Los Angeles city voters will vote in March on another half-cent hike.

On Twitter, the social network where consumers often air complaints about companies and government, much of the recent Orange County chatter about tax hikes has centered around the "fiscal cliff" stalemate and national policy, with very little mention of California's tax increases.

Although the statewide tax hike is just one-fourth of a percent, the tax increase still could have a marginal effect on consumer spending, said Scott W. Drenkard, economist with the Tax Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C. "When prices go up, demand goes down. It's just the law of supply and demand."

"I'm more concerned about the income tax hike that was already retroactively imposed," Drenkard said. That increase, also a part of Prop. 30, will affect households that earn more than $250,000 a year, and will apply to income earned during 2012.

Contact the writer: 714-796-3589 or ksablan@ocregister.com


Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/tax-382037-hike-increase.html

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Obama says time for action on fiscal cliff is here (Reuters)

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Retail Events: Bring More Business into Your Retail Store

retail eventsRetailers?are always looking for a way to stand out from the crowd, to be memorable and, most importantly, to be a customer?s sole source for whatever products you offer. There are countless ways to do this and you are most likely already sitting on your biggest goldmine? your customer database.

What do you do with all those names in your?point of sale system database?? You have been collecting names from every shopper who makes a?credit card purchase?and your POS technology will tell you who bought what, who shops sales, and who spends the most.

Make the most of your technology systems by using that customer database to have trunk shows for specific designers, wine and cheese parties to meet a rep from a particular line of merchandise, or better yet, a local manufacturer of something you carry,?always with ?special invitations? to those customers that have purchased these lines in the past.

Here are some events that I have seen our retailers recently organize:

Educational Classes

An excellent example is Joann?s Fabrics, who offer dozens of classes based around their products and demographics. What do your clients frequently ask you how to do? Your customers are likely to have similar points of interest and can be brought together into a community within your retail space; this adds value to your product or service.

Related:?Find the Right Retail Display For Your Event

Themed Events

Origins bring together ladies for movie night or ?Pajama Night? where girls can get complimentary facials and enjoy a movie (in store). Salons can offer blow outs at a discount, liquor stores can have a themed night and bring in a?food truck?to create a cohesive experience. There are numerous holidays, themes and even a movie can be used to inspire an event.

Block Parties

Get together with your neighboring retailers to create a group event, you can even get neighboring restaurants in on it by asking if they can sponsor the finger food served. The neighboring stores do not have to all have the same target audience but you will find couples, friends and even families may come out of the woodwork to check it out. If you do not have any local restaurants, consider calling a few food carts or trucks and inviting them to participate.

Crafting or DIY Events/Parties

This will depend on your store?s customer demographic and product but anything from necklace-making classes, screen printing parties, tie-dye parties, the sky is the limit!

  • Screen printing parties: Customers bring garments to be screen printed with a cool set graphic, perhaps created by a local artist; you can, of course, include your logo or?website?at the bottom of the graphic or offer a graphic that is just your logo. Play some music, get some food and drinks sponsored and your customers and future customers are sure to have a good time and remember you.
  • T-shirt Refurbish Party: Have your customers bring in old t-shirts and have stations where they can learn to transform them with scissors into an entirely different piece.

Make sure you maximize the benefits of the party by running a raffle or sign-in table to capture your visitor?s name and email. Gather contact data from everyone who attends your events and then get them entered into your POS?s customer relationship management system so you can promote to them in the future.? Even if they don?t buy something, they can be entered into your?POS system?for future promotions.

You can additionally promote your event in advance through local area event pages, social media, newspapers,?emails to existing clients?and more. By bringing in multiple parties (food or drink sponsors, for example) you can additionally ask if they can also promote the event through their promotional channels.

One Step Retail Solutions?is your one step resource for all of your retail technology needs. As a top nationwide point of sale reseller for over 27 years, One Step Retail Solutions has helped thousands of retailers achieve their goals through top-of-the-line technology resources, greatly improving profits and more efficient operations.

Experts: Schools need trained police, not just guard with a gun

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The student's attack began with a shotgun blast through the windows of a California high school. Rich Agundez, the El Cajon policeman assigned to the school, felt his mind shift into overdrive.

People yelled at him amid the chaos but he didn't hear. He experienced "a tunnel vision of concentration."

While two teachers and three students were injured when the glass shattered in the 2001 attack on Granite Hills High School, Agundez confronted the assailant and wounded him before he could get inside the school and use his second weapon, a handgun.

The National Rifle Association's response to a Connecticut school massacre envisions, in part, having trained, armed volunteers in every school in America. But Agundez, school safety experts and school board members say there's a huge difference between a trained law enforcement officer who becomes part of the school family ? and a guard with a gun.

The NRA's proposal has sparked a debate across the country as gun control rises once again as a national issue. President Barack Obama promised to present a plan in January to confront gun violence in the aftermath of the killing of 20 Sandy Hook Elementary School students and six teachers in Newtown, Conn.

Agundez said what happened before the shooting in the San Diego County school should frame the debate over the NRA's proposal.

With a shooting at another county school just weeks before, Agundez had trained the staff in how to lock down the school, assigned evacuation points, instructed teachers to lock doors, close curtains and turn off the lights. He even told them computers should be used where possible to communicate, to lessen the chaos.

And his training? A former SWAT team member, Agundez' preparation placed him in simulated stressful situations and taught him to evade a shooter's bullets. And the kids in the school knew to follow his advice because they knew him. He spoke in their classrooms and counseled them when they came to him with problems.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, school boards, administrators, teachers and parents are reviewing their security measures.

School security officers can range from the best-trained police officers to unarmed private guards. Some big-city districts with gang problems and crime formed their own police agencies years ago. Others, after the murder of 13 people at Columbine High School in 1999, started joint agreements with local police departments to have officers assigned to schools ? even though that was no guarantee of preventing violence. A trained police officer at Columbine confronted one of two shooters but couldn't prevent the death of 13 people.

"Our association would be uncomfortable with volunteers," said Mo Canady, executive director of the National Association of School Resource Officers ? whose members are mostly trained law enforcement officers who "become part of the school family.'"

Canady questioned how police officers responding to reports of a shooter would know whether the person with a gun is a volunteer or the assailant.

Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson, who also was a top Homeland Security official and will head the NRA effort, said the program will have two key elements.

One is a model security plan "based on the latest, most up-to-date technical information from the foremost experts in their fields." Each school could tweak the plan to its own circumstances, and "armed, trained, qualified school security personnel will be but one element."

The second element may prove the more controversial because, to avoid massive funding for local authorities, it would use volunteers. Hutchinson said in his home state of Arkansas, his son was a volunteer with a local group "Watchdog Dads," who volunteered at schools to patrol playgrounds and provide added security.

He said retired police officers, former members of the military or rescue personnel would be among those likely to volunteer.

There's even debate over whether anyone should have a gun in a school, even a trained law enforcement officer.

"In general teachers don't want guns in schools period," said Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, one of the two large unions representing teachers. He added that one size does not fit all districts and said the union has supported schools that wanted a trained officer. Most teachers, he said, do not want to be armed themselves.

"It's a school. It's not a place where guns should be," he commented.

The security situation around the country is mixed.

?Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he has the authority to mobilize private citizens to fight crime and plans to post armed private posse members around the perimeter of schools. He said he hasn't spoken to specific school districts and doesn't plan to have the citizen posse members inside the buildings.

?The Snohomish School District north of Seattle got rid of its school officers because of the expense.

?The Las Vegas-based Clark County School District has its own police department and places armed officers in and around its 49 high school campuses. Officers patrol outside elementary and middle schools. The Washoe County School District in Nevada also has a police force, but it was only about a decade ago that the officers were authorized to carry guns on campus.

?In Milwaukee, a dozen city police officers cover the school district but spend most of their time in seven of the 25 high schools. In Madison, Wis., an armed police officer has worked in each of the district's four high schools since the mid-1990s.

?For the last five years, an armed police officer has worked in each of the two high schools and three middle schools in Champaign, Ill. Board of Education member Kristine Chalifoux said there are no plans to increase security, adding, "I don't want our country to become an armed police state."

?A Utah group is offering free concealed-weapons permit training for teachers as a result of the Connecticut shootings. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne proposed a plan to allow one educator in each school to carry a gun.

Ed Massey, vice chairman of the Boone County, Ky., school board and president of the National School Boards Association, said his district has nine trained law enforcement officers for 23 schools and "would love to have one in every school."

"They bring a sense of security and have done tremendous work in deterring problems in school," he said. "The number of expulsions have dramatically decreased. We used to have 15 or 20 a year. Now we have one or two in the last three years."

An officer, he said, "is not just a hired gun. They have an office in the school. They are trained in crisis management, handling mass casualties and medical emergencies."

He said a poster given out by the local sheriff's department shows one of the officers and talks about literacy and reading.

Kenneth Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm, said having trained officers in schools is "more of a prevention program than a reactive program if you have the right officers who want to work with kids."

But he also criticized a drop in funding for school security, saying, "Congress and the last two administrations have chipped away to the point of elimination of every program for school security and emergency planning."

Dr. Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center that provides training to schools, said the NRA's suggestion of using volunteers "is a whole new concept of school safety." He questioned whether the NRA wants to bring the best sharpshooters on campus.

"How is that going to create a positive atmosphere for young people?" he asked. "How does that work on the prevention side?"

Agundez, 52, who retired as a policeman in 2010, learned shortly before his retirement just how much his trained reaction to a shooter affected students at Granite Hills High.

He was writing a traffic ticket and the driver's whole body started shaking. He had been a student that day nine years earlier.

"He gave me a hug," Agundez recalled. "He said 'I always wanted to thank you.' You saved our lives."

___

Associated Press writers Todd Richmond, Michael Tarm, Greg Moore, Ken Ritter, Sandra Chereb and Donna Blankinship contributed to this report.

___

Follow Larry Margasak on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/LarryMargasak

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/experts-trained-police-needed-school-security-091515160--politics.html

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

Obama to discuss fiscal cliff on NBC's 'Meet the Press'

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

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-discuss-fiscal-cliff-nbcs-meet-press-233117592--business.html

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Din of Hammers, Oil Wells Signal Bakersfield Boom

For most of its existence, Bakersfield has inhabited that awkward in-between place. Not as sophisticated as Los Angeles, just over the Tehachapi Mountains to the south, not as wealthy as its longtime economic rival Fresno, equidistant to the north.

But as many communities continue to struggle economically, good things are happening in this place best known for endless oil fields and the "Bakersfield Sound" ? a twangy style of steel guitar music made popular by hometown country crooners Buck Owens and Merle Haggard.

Bakersfield and surrounding Kern County find themselves in lofty positions on key national lists measuring economic vitality: No. 1 metro area for long-term private sector job growth, No. 1 county for construction gains and No. 1 large metro area for annual economic growth.

Cheap land, affordable housing, proximity to Los Angeles, a location that's within a three-hour drive of 90 percent of the state's population, and a planning department that doesn't throw up roadblocks are driving the region's economic revolution, business leaders say.

Caterpillar's new parts distribution center at the confluence of Interstate 5 and Highway 99, the state's two major north-south transportation arteries, went from handshake to grand opening last August in just eight months. It joined 35 other logistics centers near there such as Ikea, Frito Lay, Dollar General, Famous Footwear and Target, drawn to the county because it is a one-day turnaround for truckers delivering from San Francisco to San Diego.

The demand for industrial and office space has left Kern County with little inventory.

"Everything is moving," said David Wagner, contractor Wallace & Smith's superintendent on a 28,000-square-foot business complex that's now a skeleton of I-beams. "The developer already has tenants for this and it won't open until April."

The contractor just finished a 160,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Delano, a NASCAR-style racetrack and a regional blood bank. It has four apartment complexes under construction and will break ground in February on a minor league baseball stadium.

Electrician Bryce McCall wondered during the downturn whether he had chosen the right profession. Not anymore.

"My wife and I would discuss whether I would be better off going to the oil fields," he said as he drilled wiring conduits in a new garage at a new development. "Now the jobs are happening and we're starting to pick up."

There's such an active business climate that this fall the Kern County Economic Development Corporation and Bakersfield Californian newspaper bucked industry trends by launching a print paper, the Kern Business Journal, now on its second edition. A new east-west freeway through the middle of town is paved and close to opening.

Long reliant on agriculture and oil, there's diversity of industries emerging, with renewable energy and aerospace gaining a foothold.

At the Mojave Air and Space Port in southeast Kern County, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo preps for the day it will carry passengers into suborbital space, and Paul Allen's Stratolaunch Systems is building the world's largest aircraft ? one that will carry rockets with commercial cargo and, eventually, passengers to the edge of space.

The wider, extended runway the company needs already was built. The space port complex has 400 acres pre-approved for construction.

Source: http://feeds.abcnews.com/click.phdo?i=e83a411e8c3f46d64b1d49a4051bde9c

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Norman Schwarzkopf Dead: Retired General Dies At 78

WASHINGTON ? Truth is, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf didn't care much for his popular "Stormin' Norman" nickname.

The seemingly no-nonsense Desert Storm commander's reputed temper with aides and subordinates supposedly earned him that rough-and-ready moniker. But others around the general, who died Thursday in Tampa, Fla., at age 78 from complications from pneumonia, knew him as a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who preferred the somewhat milder sobriquet given by his troops: "The Bear."

That one perhaps suited him better later in his life, when he supported various national causes and children's charities while eschewing the spotlight and resisting efforts to draft him to run for political office.

He lived out a quiet retirement in Tampa, where he'd served his last military assignment and where an elementary school bearing his name is testament to his standing in the community.

Schwarzkopf capped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991 ? but he'd managed to keep a low profile in the public debate over the second Gulf War against Iraq, saying at one point that he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and the Pentagon predicted.

Schwarzkopf was named commander in chief of U.S. Central Command at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base in 1988, overseeing the headquarters for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly two dozen countries stretching across the Middle East to Afghanistan and the rest of central Asia, plus Pakistan.

When Saddam invaded Kuwait two years later to punish it for allegedly stealing Iraqi oil reserves, Schwarzkopf commanded Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of some 30 countries organized by President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.

At the peak of his postwar national celebrity, Schwarzkopf ? a self-proclaimed political independent ? rejected suggestions that he run for office, and remained far more private than other generals, although he did serve briefly as a military commentator for NBC.

While focused primarily on charitable enterprises in his later years, he campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2000, but was ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In early 2003 he told The Washington Post that the outcome was an unknown: "What is postwar Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That's a huge question, to my mind. It really should be part of the overall campaign plan."

Initially Schwarzkopf had endorsed the invasion, saying he was convinced that Secretary of State Colin Powell had given the United Nations powerful evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After that proved false, he said decisions to go to war should depend on what U.N. weapons inspectors found.

He seldom spoke up during the conflict, but in late 2004 he sharply criticized Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon for mistakes that included erroneous judgments about Iraq and inadequate training for Army reservists sent there.

"In the final analysis I think we are behind schedule. ... I don't think we counted on it turning into jihad (holy war)," he said in an NBC interview.

Schwarzkopf was born Aug. 24, 1934, in Trenton, N.J., where his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police, was then leading the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnap case. That investigation ended with the arrest and 1936 execution of German-born carpenter Richard Hauptmann for murdering famed aviator Charles Lindbergh's infant son.

The elder Schwarzkopf was named Herbert, but when the son was asked what his "H" stood for, he would reply, "H."

As a teenager Norman accompanied his father to Iran, where the elder Schwarzkopf trained the Iran's national police force and was an adviser to Reza Pahlavi, the young Shah of Iran.

Young Norman studied there and in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, then followed in his father's footsteps to West Point, graduating in 1956 with an engineering degree. After stints in the U.S. and abroad, he earned a master's degree in engineering at the University of Southern California and later taught missile engineering at West Point.

In 1966 he volunteered for Vietnam and served two tours, first as a U.S. adviser to South Vietnamese paratroops and later as a battalion commander in the U.S. Army's Americal Division. He earned three Silver Stars for valor ? including one for saving troops from a minefield ? plus a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and three Distinguished Service Medals.

While many career officers left military service embittered by Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was among those who opted to stay and help rebuild the tattered Army into a potent, modernized all-volunteer force.

After Saddam invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Schwarzkopf played a key diplomatic role by helping persuade Saudi Arabia's King Fahd to allow U.S. and other foreign troops to deploy on Saudi territory as a staging area for the war to come.

On Jan. 17, 1991, a five-month buildup called Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm as allied aircraft attacked Iraqi bases and Baghdad government facilities. The six-week aerial campaign climaxed with a massive ground offensive on Feb. 24-28, routing the Iraqis from Kuwait in 100 hours before U.S. officials called a halt.

Schwarzkopf said afterward he agreed with Bush's decision to stop the war rather than drive to Baghdad to capture Saddam, as his mission had been only to oust the Iraqis from Kuwait.

But in a desert tent meeting with vanquished Iraqi generals, he allowed a key concession on Iraq's use of helicopters, which later backfired by enabling Saddam to crack down more easily on rebellious Shiites and Kurds.

While he later avoided the public second-guessing by academics and think tank experts over the ambiguous outcome of the first Gulf War and its impact on the second Gulf War, he told The Washington Post in 2003, "You can't help but ... with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say, `Look, had we done something different, we probably wouldn't be facing what we are facing today.'"

After retiring from the Army in 1992, Schwarzkopf wrote a best-selling autobiography, "It Doesn't Take A Hero." Of his Gulf War role, he said: "I like to say I'm not a hero. I was lucky enough to lead a very successful war." He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and honored with decorations from France, Britain, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

Schwarzkopf was a national spokesman for prostate cancer awareness and for Recovery of the Grizzly Bear, served on the Nature Conservancy board of governors and was active in various charities for chronically ill children.

"I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army and I'm very proud of that," he once told The Associated Press. "But I've always felt that I was more than one-dimensional. I'd like to think I'm a caring human being. ... It's nice to feel that you have a purpose."

Schwarzkopf and his wife, Brenda, had three children: Cynthia, Jessica and Christian.

___

Stacy was the AP's Tampa, Fla., correspondent when he prepared this report on Schwarzkopf's life; he now reports from the AP bureau in Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press writers Richard Pyle in New York and Jay Lindsay in Boston contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/norman-schwarzkopf-dead_n_2372657.html

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