Just clearing stuff up

A hidden school for anything not human? It's an elementary, jr. high, high school, and college in one? Haha, like such a thing could exist... Right?

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This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Solatium Academy?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

An ooc for me just to state things if i feel its needed

PsychoticChrono

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VelvetWizard stop replying to ruin, its not towards you

PsychoticChrono

Member for 0 years

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I'll also point things out here, if I feel nessesary. Such as, and you guys need to know this, PsychoticChrono is my co-GM in this roleplay. We basically run the plot together, and on that note, he and I are the only ones who know the plot of this story and the antagonists.

We wonder, are you ready to join us now? Hands in the air, we will show you how Come and try, Caramell will be your guide. So come on move your hips. Singing woa-oa-oa. Look at YouTube clips do it oh-la-la. You and me, can sing this melody. Dance to the beat, wave your hands together. Come feel the heat, forever and forever. Listen and learn, it is time for prancing. Now we are here, we'e Caramell Dancing! From Sweden to UK, we will bring our song. Australia, USA, and people at Hong Kong.

NethanielShade

Member for 0 years

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On a side note; me and Psychotic's characters are allowed to be OP, each of us only have two of them but it's for the plot. We have to develop it and there has to be strong enemies. Which we made. Also, the antagonists are honestly and truely supposed to be hidden for the time being. You can probably tell Melancholy's one of my two antagonists, but I'm not giving out the other yet.

NethanielShade

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Kim Kardashian makes a splash at NYC bash

NEW YORK (AP) ? Kim Kardashian isn't worried about the behemoth storm expected to pummel the eastern U.S. with rain and wind this week.

Dressed as a blond mermaid for her Halloween party Saturday night in New York, the star joked that her boyfriend, Kanye West ? wearing a nautical-looking outfit ? could "sail" her to safety if need be.

West didn't talk to press covering the event but smiled and took photos of Kardashian on his phone.

It's the second year Kardashian has hosted the Midori Green Halloween party. She has an endorsement deal with the liquor company.

The reality star said it took two months to plan her costume, inspired by the 1984 film "Splash," and two hours to get ready.

____

Online:

http://www.kimkardashian.com/

?___

Follow Nicole Evatt on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-10-27-People-Kim%20Kardashian/id-b1d079dd40cd49a3a0e2812cceb2a080

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Opel restructuring talks could last into 2013: union

HAMBURG (Reuters) - General Motors' loss-making unit Opel may need between two and three more months to reach a deal with German unions on a restructuring plan that could see thousands of job cuts and the closure of its Bochum factory in 2017, a union spokeswoman said.

Management of Ruesselsheim-based Opel and workers had agreed on Friday to extend a previous October 26 deadline for the negotiations which are being conducted on the basis that all four German plants will be protected from closure through 2016.

This intention could be abandoned at any time though, depending on the course of the negotiations, the union spokeswoman told Reuters on Sunday, without being more specific. There's now no firm deadline on the talks, she added.

Opel has a signed contract with IG Metall that protects the four plants from closure through the end of 2014. Management had said in June that the Bochum plant, which employs 3,300 workers, was "broadly expected to be closed" once that deal expired.

GM's European operations have lost a total of $16 billion over the past dozen years despite repeated rounds of job cuts.

With Europe's car market tumbling, labor representatives at Opel are under increasing pressure to accept deep cuts, even more so after rival Ford's decision this week to close two assembly plants in Europe, reducing capacity by 355,000 vehicles and its local workforce by 13 percent.

One of IG Metall's key bargaining chips in the talks with Opel management has been that it agreed in June to let Opel defer payment of an industrywide 4.3 percent wage increase to its German workers until October 31. That has allowed Opel to hold on to more cash as it tries to return to profitability.

The union spokeswoman said on Sunday that both sides had agreed on Friday that employees would receive all backdated wages for May through October with the November pay cheque.

After that, the 4.3 percent pay raise will be deferred indefinitely, she said, noting that workers at Opel's German plants were notified of the plans at weekend gatherings.

(Reporting By Jan Schwartz; writing by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/opel-restructuring-talks-could-last-2013-union-181209680--finance.html

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Artist will stare 'fitness for work' - Black Triangle Campaign

An award-winning disabled artist is to spend three days in bed in front of an audience, in an attempt to portray the contradictions of her impairment, and the government?s ?miserable, terrifying, punishing? fitness for work assessment regime.

The writer-director-activist Liz Crow is forced to spend much of her life in bed because of her impairment, but has always managed to keep that part of herself hidden from view.

?I have developed this incredibly stark way of living,? she says, ?and what other people see of me in public spaces is not how I am for most of my life. Even the people close to me don?t really know me at the most extreme.?

In?Bedding In?, she will make her ?twilight existence visible?, exposing the part of her life she spends in bed to public scrutiny, and for the first time ?parading? this private self in public.

The piece, part of this year?s SPILL Festival of Performance, in Ipswich, is Crow?s response to the government?s harsh benefits reassessment programme.

But rather than lying low for fear of being penalised by the Department for Work and Pensions, she has decided to ?stare that fear in the face?.

She is one of the hundreds of thousands of long-time incapacity benefit claimants who have been tested through the government?s reassessment programme, and subjected to the infamous work capability assessment, carried out by the government?s contractor Atos Healthcare.

Even though Crow has used a wheelchair for 26 years, Atos decided that she had no difficulty walking. She was placed in the work-related activity group (WRAG), for those thought able to move towards paid work.

But she knows she cannot make herself available for work, and so ? unless she wins her appeal ? she has resigned herself to having her benefits taken away because of the inevitable failure to co-operate with the regime.

?The consequences are that I may have no income coming in and don?t know how as a single parent I will care for my child, let alone my home, etc.?

Less than two weeks after her performance ends, she will need to parade her private self again, when she appeals to a tribunal against the decision to place her in the WRAG.

Crow is clear that she wants Bedding In to be about the complexity of her impairment, and not its ?tragedy?.

?I live a pretty good life with the complicated set of circumstances that I have got,? she says, ?but if I step out of my bed then it is not seen as complexity or contradiction, and in the current benefits system it means you fall through the gaps.?

Each day during the performance at Ipswich Art School Gallery, members of the public will gather around her bed to discuss the work, and its politics. The hope is that Crow will take the ?data? from these conversations and use them to further develop the piece.

?It is a political statement,? she says of the performance, ?but it is also trying to make visible this kind of internal wrestling that goes on for a lot of us with the benefits stuff.

?Since I got personal assistants 15 years ago I have managed to find a kind of fragile security in my life. I have rarely earned but I have, I hope, contributed.

?Now the benefits thing has kicked in it has all gone. Suddenly I don?t feel I have any security left whatsoever.?

Even if she wins her appeal, she faces the likely prospect of being reassessed again in another year or so, and then again, and again.

?The idea that this is life now: that is just dire. There are hundreds of thousands of us going through this assessment. There is some small comfort that there are a lot of us in it together but it is not much comfort because of the toll it takes.

?I have this tiny amount of time when I am well enough to do stuff and I am looking at that time being taken away.

?It has been really hard to create the life I have got, a reasonable life, and this big system comes along with these politicians who are so extraordinarily removed from a life like mine and they demolish what I have built up.?

The whole process feels, she says, like ?punishment?, not assessment, ?an endless round of justifying myself and fighting for a grain of security?.

?There are layers and layers of why it is so hard. One of the things is that if you fall through the gaps, for the press it is evidence that you are a scrounger and a fraudster.?

She is among the many disabled activists who believe that this cruel assessment process ? and the callous and incompetent way it is carried out by Atos ? are responsible for the premature deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of disabled people.

Even if these deaths are not caused by the process, she says, ?actually they died among all this shit, their last few months were so miserable and so frightening, and I think that?s unforgivable. To condemn people to a really miserable last few months is diabolical.?

Crow feels there is an affinity between her performance and the direct action protest carried out by members of Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) at Marble Arch in central London last weekend.

One of the reasons she is so impressed with DPAC?s campaigning work, she says, is that ?they have created an incredible visible presence but have found ways for all sorts of people to contribute?, particularly through social media.

She also sees links with her most recent piece of work, Resistance, an award-winning video installation about the Aktion-T4 programme, which led to the targeted killing of as many as 200,000 disabled people, and possibly many more, in Nazi Germany.

She began working on Resistance in 2008, and started thinking about its themes several years earlier, and felt even then that there were contemporary ?connections?.

?Those contemporary connections have just got stronger and stronger,? she says. ?I am appalled to feel that we are under greater threat now than we have been in all the years I have been involved in activism.?

She points to newspaper reports of alleged disability benefit fraud and the use of language like ?shirkers?, ?scroungers? and ?fakers? to describe disabled people. This kind of propaganda, she says, is ?eerily familiar? from descriptions of pre-Holocaust Germany.

The ?specifics? of what is happening now are not the same as in Nazi Germany, she adds, but ?the values beneath it are, this idea that we are somehow dispensable, more dispensable than others?.

She also points to the Paralympics, which she says ?makes the scrounger-fraudster rhetoric stronger, and leads to a backlash?.

There are even similarities between the Paralympic classification system, and the benefits assessment system. Both suit those who have a ?bio-mechanical, quantifiable impairment?, rather than less clear and easily-determined impairments.

Would-be Paralympians with ?nebulous impairments? fall through the gaps, she says, just as she and many tens of thousands of other disabled people have fallen through the yawning gaps in the benefits system.

Bedding In is part of?Disability Arts Online?s??Diverse Perspectives project, which is funded by Arts Council England, and is commissioning eight disabled artists to make new artwork that ?sparks conversations and debate about the creative case for diversity?.

Bedding In?takes place at the Ipswich Art School Gallery from 1-3 November, from 11am to 6pm, as part of the SPILL Festival of Performance in Ipswich.

Disability News Service

?

Source: http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/10/28/artist-will-stare-fitness-for-work-fears-in-the-face-with-bed-life-performance/

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BASF reveals its 'Smart Forvision' concept car in India

Bringing the electrical commuting to next level?, BASF one of the world?s leading chemical company, revealed a concept car named ?Smart Forvision? at the Indo-German Urban Mela in New Delhi. The car has been jointly developed by Daimler and BASF and integrates futuristic design with innovative technology that affects areas like fuel efficiency, temperature management and lightweight. Smart Forvision is also regarded as the best platform to showcase new and innovative technology.

Incorporating the automotive expertise of Daimler and material system skills of BASF, the vehicle showcases technology that delivers sustainable and complete electrical kinesis for the future. The designers and engineers have raised a mixture of visionary material and technology in this concept vehicle. Some of these technologies are still at the laboratory stage while the others have shown realistic chances of entering into production line. Smart Forvision was first revealed at the International Motor Show at Frankfurt.

BASF one of the largest suppliers of the chemical products for automotive industry has developed several sustainable and environmental friendly products for the energy efficient commutation for future. The two companies have combined their technological expertise to develop a vehicle that can provide answers for all the challenges that wait for us in the future.

New light weight body components, transparent organic solar cells, transparent LEDs, infrared reflective films and coatings and all plastic wheels help the concept vehicle to reduce the total energy consumption to an extra low level and increase it range and hence its practicality.

Energy efficiency

The new state of the art material allows the new concept car to become more efficient, it doesn?t only uses energy efficiently but also generate it. This results in an increase in range and further contributes more towards increasing and improving economy and performance of this electric car. The concept features highly energy efficient solutions like power generating solar cells that are based on the energy saving dye on the roof. The solar cells combine with the organic light emitting diode and give this vehicle a real design enhancement in an environmental friendly way.

The main challenge behind the electric commutation is the production and usage of the electric power required to move cars. Electric mobility is quite effective during climate change and also protects environment if the energy required to drive it is produced with lower CO2 emission. For this consecutive reason BASF is trying to produce energy from renewable sources of energy.

Light weight design

Lighter vehicle requires less energy to move, and also allows for greater range. So, making vehicle lighter is one of the key challenges for the future. Light weight design would mean replacing the traditional metallic components with light weight composite plastics that could offer the same functionality and usage. The weight can also be reduced by using reinforced materials in load bearing components like chassis. Further the Smart Forvision also showcases the all plastic wheels using a high performance material Ultramid developed by BASF. The material is as stable as the metals but weights 30% less.

Comprehensive temperature management

Heating and Air conditioning systems are one of the major consumers of energy in a vehicle. The amount of energy that is being required to heat or cool down the car can be reduced by using comprehensive temperature management system. The system uses innovative materials such as polymer films in the windows and high performance insulating materials.

The vehicle brings together these innovative technologies from the chemical industry in coagulation with the automotive industry to produce unique mobility solutions. Working together chemical and automotive industry are making quite a significant changes in the safety, environmental friendliness and affordability of the vehicle. In form of Smart Forvision, BASF and Daimler had laid the foundation of an efficient, uncompromising and sustainable electrical mobility.

Similar Articles

Source: http://www.indiandrives.com/basf-reveals-its-smart-forvision-concept-car-in-india.html

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Hunky Breast Cancer Screening App Gets a Hot Update [VIDEO]

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Hedge-funder pays $24M for co-op in building ... - The Real Deal

Hedge-funder pays $24M for co-op in building favored by billionaires

Phillippe Laffont buys apartment at 834 Fifth, home to Rupert Murdoch, Charles Schwab

October 26, 2012 01:30PM
By Katherine Clarke

Phillippe Laffont and the exterior and interior of 834 Fifth Avenue

Billionaires, like birds of a feather, tend to stick together.

Finance bigwig Phillippe Laffont, founder of tech-focused multibillion-dollar hedge fund Coatue, has purchased a three-bedroom apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue, a Rosario Candela-designed building best known for its billionaire contingent.

Laffont paid $24 million for the 15-room spread, $1 million more than its most recent asking price of $23 million, according to public records filed today with the city. The spread was originally listed in October 2011 for $27.5 million with Ann Jeffery and Mary Rutherfurd of Brown Harris Stevens. It underwent several price cuts, first to $25 million in February and then to $23 million in May.

The deal for the duplex residence closed October 12, public records show. The seller was the estate of late concrete mogul Walter Goldstein. The former CEO of Underhill Industries died in 2008.

The building is also home to News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, banking giant Charles Schwab and real estate developer and philanthropist Alfred Taubman. Billionaire Robert Bass purchased an apartment there for $34 million last year.

The Brown Harris Stevens sales team was not immediately available for comment. It was not clear who represented Laffont.

Source: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/10/26/hedge-funder-buys-at-834-fifth-avenue/

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Berlusconi denounces fraud verdict as 'political'

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Italian former premier Silvio Berlusconi reacts during a press conference in Rome, Italy. A court in Italy has convicted, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in prison. In Italy, cases must pass two levels of appeal before the verdicts are final. Berlusconi is expected to appeal. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Italian former premier Silvio Berlusconi reacts during a press conference in Rome, Italy. A court in Italy has convicted, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in prison. In Italy, cases must pass two levels of appeal before the verdicts are final. Berlusconi is expected to appeal. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

In this photo released by the Berlusconi press office Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi tapes a video message where he announces he will not run for a fourth term as premier in spring elections. Berlusconi has until now been coy about his intentions. But the three-time former premier posted a statement on his movement's website yesterday, under the headline: "I won't run for premier.", following today with a video where he confirmes his intentions. (AP Photo/Livio Anticoli, Berlusconi press office)

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, Italian former premier Silvio Berlusconi wipes his forehead during a press conference in Rome, Italy. A court in Italy has convicted, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in prison. In Italy, cases must pass two levels of appeal before the verdicts are final. Berlusconi is expected to appeal. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2011 file photo, Italian former premier Silvio Berlusconi grimaces during a press conference in Rome, Italy. A court in Italy has convicted, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in prison. In Italy, cases must pass two levels of appeal before the verdicts are final. Berlusconi is expected to appeal. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, File)

File- In this Thursday, March 8, 2012 file photo, then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, center, and then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, smile during their meeting in the mountain resort of Krasnaya Polyana near the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia. A court in Italy has convicted former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced him to four-years in prison. Berlusconi is expected to appeal. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)

MILAN (AP) ? A Milan court on Friday convicted former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced the media mogul to four years in prison ? a verdict that could see him barred from public office for five years.

The 76-year-old billionaire businessman ? who just two days ago said he would not run in Italy's spring election ? is expected to remain free until the appeals process is exhausted. In Italy, cases must pass two levels of appeal before verdicts are final.

Prosecutors had brought the case against Berlusconi and 10 other co-defendants over the purchase of rights to broadcast U.S. films on Berlusconi's Mediaset empire.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court said Berlusconi could not hold public office for five years or manage any company for three years, penalties that would take force only if the conviction is upheld.

"It is a political conviction that I can define perfectly well as incredible and intolerable," Berlusconi said in a phone call to his Italia 1 private network.

He denied that there was any connection between this case and his decision to step aside and allow another center-right candidate to seek the premiership.

"My lawyers and I never thought that such a conviction would be possible," he said.

Berlusconi has been convicted of lesser crimes in past trials, but they have always been thrown out on appeal. Other criminal investigations against him on charges including corruption have ended in acquittal or were thrown out because the statute of limitations had expired. He is also on trial in Milan on a charge of paying for sex with an underage Moroccan teen and trying to cover it up.

The court read its reasons for the fraud conviction immediately Friday, a rare event as judges have 90 days to write them. It's a sign they want to speed the case along to the appellate level before the charges expire ? sometime next year or in early 2014.

Berlusconi wasn't in the courtroom. In a statement, his lawyers denounced the verdict as "absolutely incredible" and said they would appeal.

For nearly 20 years, Berlusconi has dominated the Italian political scene. His star began to lose its luster, however, after a sex scandal pushed him into another trial in the same Milan courthouse and the European debt crisis effectively forced him out of office last November.

Berlusconi's designated political heir as the head of the center-right party he leads, Angelino Alfano, blasted Friday's verdict as "incomprehensible" and said he is confident an appeals court will throw out the conviction.

In this and other cases against him, the conservative Berlusconi has described himself as the innocent victim of prosecutors whom he contends sympathize with the left.

Prosecutors allege the 11 defendants were behind a scheme to purchase the rights to broadcast U.S. movies on Berlusconi's private television networks through a series of offshore companies and had falsely declared the payments to avoid taxes. They said the defendants then inflated the price for the TV rights of some 3,000 films as they relicensed them internally to Berlusconi's networks, pocketing the difference amounting to around ?250 million.

Berlusconi and three others were convicted, including a Hollywood producer, Frank Agrama, who received a three-year sentence.

Three other defendants were acquitted, including a close associate of Berlusconi's, Fedele Confalonieri, the chairman of Mediaset.

Four defendants were cleared because statute of limitations had run out on their charges.

Berlusconi and the three others convicted must deposit a total of ?10 million ($13 million) into a court-ordered fund while the appeals proceed.

In the other trial playing out in the Milan courthouse, Berlusconi is charged with paying for sex with an underage woman and trying to cover it up. He denies wrongdoing.

Berlusconi is not the first former Italian premier to be convicted on criminal charges.

Former Socialist Premier Bettino Craxi eluded an arrest warrant and turned up at his villa in Tunisia in 1994 after a court in Italy charged him in a massive corruption case. He was tried in absentia, convicted and sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison. He never returned to Italy and died in exile. Craxi was considered Berlusconi's mentor thanks to his opening up Italy to private television from a state monopoly.

Former seven-time Christian Democrat premier, Giulio Andreotti, was convicted of involvement in a Mafia-murder but he was cleared on appeal and never went to jail.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-26-Italy-Berlusconi%20Trial/id-371deb957e2a4c1b81a9f08f6cc0396c

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Tina Fey slams 'legitimate rape' remarks

Cindy Ord / Getty Images

Tina Fey speaks at the Center for Reproductive Rights Inaugural Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on Wednesday.

By Josh Grossberg, E! Online

Tina Fey has a bone to pick with politician Todd Akin over his comments on "legitimate rape."

Speaking at the Center for Reproductive Rights' Inaugural Gala in New York Wednesday night, the "30 Rock" star called out the Missouri Republican Senate candidate over his assertion in an August TV interview?that rape victims have a slim chance of getting pregnant because the body "has ways to try to shut the whole thing down."

"Todd Akin claims that women can't really get pregnant from a legitimate rape because the body secretes hormones," Fey told the crowd. "Now I can't even finish this sentence without getting dumber; it's making me dumber when I say it--but it's something about the body not being able to get pregnant when it's under physical stress. Mr. Akin, I think you are confusing the phrase 'legitimate rape' with the phrase 'competitive gymnastics.'"

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting 2013 Golden Globes

The funnylady's wisecrack isn't surprising, given that she's never shied away from addressing such hot-button topics dating back to her days anchoring Weekend Update on "Saturday Day Night Live." But as a woman, Fey clearly took offense to Akin's controversial view, which has been tacitly accepted by many ultraconservative anti-abortion activists.

"If I have to listen to one more gray-faced man with a two-dollar haircut explain to me what rape is, I'm gonna lose my mind," Fey added. "I watch these guys and I'm, like, 'What is happening? Am I a secretary on 'Mad Men'? What's happening?'"

We wonder what the comic actress's alter ego, Sarah Palin, has to say about it.

Tina Fey brings the funny at Comedy Central's Night of Too Many Stars benefit

The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global legal advocacy group dedicated to advancing and defending reproductive rights, and Fey was tapped to open up last night's program, which honored extraordinary leaders who have blazed new trails for women.

Other celebs in attendance included Stanley Tucci, Jane Seymour, Tate Donovan and Janeane Garofalo.

Hollywood gets political

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/10/25/14696492-tina-fey-slams-senate-candidate-over-legitimate-rape-remarks?lite

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"ER" Alum Ming-Na joins Joss Whedon's "S.H.I.E.L.D." pilot for ABC

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Government debt to rise as tax revenues wobble | Business ...

Pravin Gordhan has offered some optimism for SA's economic outlook despite his mid-term budget signalling plans for a rise in government debt.

• Read the full speech here.

This comes amid growing concerns over an environment in South Africa of decreased revenues through tax collection.

"We've survived worse than this to get where we are today," the finance minister told reporters ahead of his medium term budget policy statement in Parliament on Thursday.

After conceding that the government's prediction for real gross domestic product (GDP) fell marginally from the 2012 budget projection of 2.7% to 2.5% for 2012/13, Gordhan said the treasury expected growth to recover in coming years.

"In the next year or two we can produce remarkable results in this country. There is nothing in the numbers to indicate that South Africa will fall off a fiscal cliff in the immediate future," he added.

Although muted in 2013 at 3%, Gordhan said the government projected growth to pick up to 3.8% in 2014 and 4.1% in 2015.

This will have to happen during a time of decreased tax earnings with revised projections on overall tax illustrating a drop of R5-billion in estimated income for the 2012/13 financial year.

Gordhan was quick to point out this implied a fairly robust increase of 10.6% in tax collections from the 2011/12 financial year.

Revenue projections
Key drivers of the downward revision of tax revenue projections were found in a decrease in expected returns from personal and corporate income tax, as well as diminished expectations for earnings from mineral and petroleum royalties.

A further slide in anticipated tax earnings were prevented by an upward forecast in the revenue received from value-added-tax (VAT) and customs duties.

In order to maintain projected government expenditure through to 2016, Gordhan indicated a measured increase in government debt over the period.

Government debt will increase from R165.5-billion in the current financial year to R173.7-billion in 2013/14, before regressing to R151.5-billion in 2015/16.

This signifies total national government debt escalating from an estimated 35.7% in the current financial year to 37.7% in 2013/14 and 38.8% in 2014/15; before peaking at the precariously high level of 39.2% in 2015/16.

In accordance with this rising public sector debt, debt-servicing costs will increase from R89-billion in 2012/13 to R115-billion in 2015/16.

Nonetheless, Gordhan's statement projected the budget deficit to narrow towards 2015/16, falling from 4.5% of GDP to 3.1%.

Delivery targets
Figures for total spending by government for the aforementioned period translates to approximately 8.2% growth annually.

The revised estimate of total expenditure for 2012/13 is R967.5-billion ? R1.9-billion lower than estimated in the 2012 budget but still 8.9% higher than in 2011/12.

Gordhan explained that in order to bring the government's plans to fruition, resources and authority to spend funds will be stringently linked to project time frames and service delivery targets.

"Our budget process has to take into account that we cannot do everything at once and the economic outlook sets limits to what we can afford over the period ahead," he added.

Accordingly, Gordhan said it had been made abundantly clear to government departments that their spending ceilings would not be increased and any extra funds to process new or unexpected projects would have to be financed internally.

"Departments were told that if they want to do something different or unplanned for, don't just ask for more money," he said.

Expected total expenditure in the 2013/14 financial year equates to R1.24-trillion, rising to R1.34-trillion in 2014/15.

.

Source: http://mg.co.za/article/2012-10-25-00-government-debt-to-rise-as-tax-revenues-wobble/

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Georgia store offers gun raffle tickets to voters

ATLANTA (AP) ? Want a chance to win a rifle or handgun? Go vote. That's the message from an Atlanta-area sporting goods store.

The promotion caught the attention of the secretary of state's office last week and drew a complaint from a state senator who said it may break the law.

Georgia law prohibits anyone from giving or receiving money or gifts in exchange for voting, and felony charges could be brought if the law were broken, Secretary of State Brian Kemp said in a statement.

Eight billboards for Adventure Outdoors urge people to bring in their "I voted" sticker to enter a raffle for a Glock handgun or Browning rifle. The secretary of state's office warned the store owner that offering the raffle only to people who voted may be violating the law.

Store owner Jay Wallace said the raffle was open to anyone, even those who don't vote.

"Getting people involved is what it's all about," Wallace said Wednesday. "I would encourage other businesses to do the same thing."

No action will be taken as long as Wallace allows anyone to enter the contest, said Jared Thomas, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office.

"Should they violate what they told our office they would do, then that will be taken into account and actions will be taken accordingly," Thomas said.

Democratic State Sen. Vincent Fort of Atlanta filed a complaint Tuesday, saying businesses are not even allowed under the law to offer free food or drinks to voters.

"Now that that they've expanded it and allow all customers to participate, I think it's a legal raffle," Fort said. "I don't have any objections to it if it complies with the law."

Reaction to the raffle has been "almost 100 percent positive," Wallace said.

"We received some almost slanderous emails," he added. "I would say they're on the side of not liking guns, to put it mildly."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2012-10-24-Gun%20Raffle-Election/id-93cf7bd567d6440e88d96b405cc73561

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somme muster: The Low Down on Eye Tests | HEALTH & FITNESS ...

When is the most suitable time to have your glasses or lenses changed? We often never pay attention to our curative glasses or lenses we are wearing. Really we want to check our eyes frequently annually or at a minimum as soon as we feel inconvenient with our recent glasses or contact lenses.

Eye Vision Testcan be done by your doctor or optometrist to determine whether you need a less or even more corrective glasses or lenses. New prescribed glasses or lenses will be made according to your test result.

Generally the doctor will do easy test to test your eyes as follow:

1. Retinoscopy. It is usually the 1st eye exam that doctor will give you to make approximation of your prescription.

2. Refraction. During this test, doctor will be well placed to decide your actual prescription by utilizing phoropter in front of your eyes and shows you series of lenses selections. Here you can find the correct mix of lenses which may possibly make you see well.

3. Autorefractors and aberrometers. With this test, your GP can instantly determine your prescription. Your jaw need to rest stable on both invents while you look at a pinpoint of light or other image.

4. Cover test. This is the simplest and the most common test among the others to determine how your eyes work together.

5. Slit-lamp examination. It is also called a biomicroscope which will grant the doctor to gain magnified picture of the structures of the eyes so as to completely evaluates them for the sign of illness of infection,

6. Glaucoma test.

7. Visible field testing.

8. Dilation.

Eye Vision Testcan actually be simple to do as all you need is generally available on the net at this age. There are several sorts of eye tests which can on occasion be found online since they are essentially have been introduced long time ago. You should pick one of them which is acceptable according to your eyes problem. These are some of the tests:

- Eye test chart - This is a surprisingly straightforward optometrist's chart you'll find on the internet. Any difference in the dream of both of your eyes can be examined by utilizing this test.
- Eye vision test
- Snellen eye test
- Alzheimer's eye test

Snellen and Alzheimer's eye tests are conducted to diagnose if there's specific problem related to your vision. Eyes are absolutely important for homo sapiens, that's why you have to look after them properly. After you feel something weird to your vision, take a quick eye test either online or by making appointment with your optometrist. With the advance technology there's nothing not possible to discover a solution.

If you are concerned at all then contact your local optician in Leeds.

Source: http://healthusa2.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-low-down-on-eye-tests.html

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Source: http://somme-muster.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-low-down-on-eye-tests-health.html

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Source: http://ostendorfnearlean55.typepad.com/blog/2012/10/somme-muster-the-low-down-on-eye-tests-health-fitness.html

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Source: http://zachary84.typepad.com/blog/2012/10/somme-muster-the-low-down-on-eye-tests-health-fitness.html

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Default Tricks ? Possessing Difficulty Catching Species of fish Then ...

Fishing has been around for 1000s of yrs. Sportfishing is so enjoyable that many fisherman will insist that this total worst time of fishing is still significantly better than the most effective time of work that one could have. Staying outdoors is but one facet of offshore fishing that individuals delight in. Determining about unique tactics can make offshore fishing a lot more fascinating, as well as helping your skills. Read more for a few useful tips which can help you derive a lot more enjoyment from your time offshore fishing.

When you are out sportfishing, it is vital that you have the right kind of gear to complete the job. When you don?t know whether or not to carry reside bait, it will probably depend on what type of sea food you need to get. You have got to determine which sort of lure is right for a variety of offshore fishing situations.

When sportfishing for perch, you may want to put in a few hooks just here a bobber or pounds. Because perch live in schools, you might capture a couple of species of fish at once. You can even utilize this method with bluegills and acquire similar outcomes.

If a big seafood that you?ve hooked is seeking to get aside, you should remain relax. When the fish is seeking to swim aside, tend not to fight it and try to reel it in. Relax yourself, and let the pull and rod carry out the job for you. When the hook is placed inside the species of fish, set your drag. Try and keep a 45 education viewpoint as well as the tip from your rod ought to be pointed in the path in the fish.

When you first start offshore fishing, usually do not opt for the priciest gear. Fancy products isn?t required and you won?t take advantage of the sport just as much or how many fish you reel in. Decide on stuff that matches your financial allowance, and you?ll feel happier about enough time spent utilizing it within the water.

While searching for very good lakes or ponds for fishing, request people who do many driving a car in the city where you have an interest. Mailmen, shuttle motorists, video game wardens and other could all offer fantastic info. Usually make certain that fishing is enabled where you anticipate offshore fishing, and ensure that you get the essential allow.

In case you have trapped a walleye or pike, continue to keep an eyesight out for their teeth! This sort of sea food will bite at you with zeal, in addition to their the teeth are extremely very sharp. You want to get the fish?s abdomen once you get it take away the hook only when you are sure it really is dead. When you practice find and release, ensure you don gloves although removing the hook.

Be aware of when seafood are active. Most seasoned fishermen recognize that species of fish are most energetic in the early morning and delayed evening. However, this isn?t constantly the truth. Some kinds of seafood are active at other occasions. For this reason, you should do certain study for the species of species of fish you want to get.

Angling is anything at all but a difficult interest. In reality, it?s most likely one of the most stress-free hobbies all around. Among the finest elements of fishing would be the fact is a simple and calming activity to be thinking about. Individuals have exciting sportfishing because it relaxes them. Just go and learn what offshore fishing will do for yourself.

If for any reason you wish for further information about golf balls read Bertha I. Rynes?s site there?s plenty of details not covered on this page, go to Author?s web blog to uncover more.

Source: http://www.defaulttricks.com/possessing-difficulty-catching-species-of-fish-then-continue-reading-for-a-few-fantastic-recommendations-3/

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Rick T. Jimeson, Paso Robles, California

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://kcoy.tributes.com/show/Rick-T.-Jimeson-94633162

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Are you 6 to 7 months pregnant and employed? UC Berkeley invites ...

The UC Berkeley School of Public Health, in collaboration with the March of Dimes, is developing educational materials to help pregnant working women make decisions about taking maternity leave. Given that 50% of the workforce is comprised of women and that a large majority will get pregnant while employed, it is important for women to feel supported and have resources that can help them decide how best to maintain work-family balance considering their own personal and family situation.

??? In the United States, we lack a maternity leave culture. Two of every three mothers at first birth work during pregnancy. Most pregnant mothers work fulltime into their last month and, on average, return to work within three months after giving birth. This coincides with the amount of leave offered by the federal government under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). ?Under FMLA eligible new mothers are allowed to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for newborns with guaranteed health insurance coverage while maintaining the right to resume work at the conclusion of their leave. However, this law is restrictive. It only applies to mothers who work in companies with at least 50 employees and who have worked for an employer for at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months. For mothers who work in smaller companies, maternity leave benefits are often unclear and vary from state to state and across firms. Furthermore, human resource departments do not necessarily offer clear directives. In California, there are laws and governmental programs in place that support maternity leave and may even pay wages during maternity leave, but not all women know about these resources.

??? The maternity leave educational materials we are designing will help women consider the resource options available to them in California, as well as weigh the pros and cons of taking maternity leave before and after childbirth from a health standpoint. The scientific evidence so far suggests that there may be some health benefits of taking maternity leave. Some studies have found an association between leave before delivery and a reduced risk of problems with the childbirth. Other studies have found that postpartum leave is associated with improved health for mothers and their babies. We aim to find out what factors influence working women as they decide if taking maternity leave is right for them.

?

??? We are currently recruiting pregnant women for this study. Please feel free to distribute the information below. If you would like to have some flyers, please email Elaine Kurtovich at matleavestudy@berkeley.edu.

?********************************************

The UC Berkeley School of Public Health is looking to enroll pregnant, working women in a research study to learn more about how women make decisions about taking maternity leave.

?To participate you must be:

? 6-7 months (24-31 weeks) pregnant

? working during pregnancy

? over 18

? English- or Spanish-speaking

? living in California

Interested?

? To sign up for the study online go to http://tinyurl.com/UCBmatleavestudy

? To sign up for the study by phone call (888) 490-8223.

If you are eligible, you will be asked to take a 10-minute survey online or over the phone

4 weeks after your due date. If you take the survey after you deliver, you will receive a

$10 Amazon.com gift card (or $10 Babies R Us gift card if you do the survey over

the phone) and will be entered into a drawing to win a Kindle Fire.

**Refer a friend and get a $10 Amazon.com gift card!**

Questions? For more information, contact the study director, Elaine Kurtovich (888-490-8223/matleavestudy@berkeley.edu).

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Source: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/are-you-6-to-7-months-pregnant-and-employed-uc-berkeley-invites-you-to-take-part-in-a-study-about-maternity-leave/

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Girl Talk: I Think I've Figured The Allure Of Online Dating Out

Last night, I did something I thought I?d never do again, especially not on a random Monday evening: I reactivated my online dating profile.

I looked at the description of myself I wrote the last time I was single. I looked at the photos that I had thought best represented myself. ?I checked my months-old messages. I read the new messages that came in as my account had been re-activiated again. And all the while I thought, Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, what are you doing?

This morning, I deactivated it again. You see, I think I had just wanted instant gratification.

When I broke up with O?Boyfriend, a huge impetus to do so was my ambivalence about being in a relationship. I wasn?t feeling passionate about being in a relationship with him because I wasn?t feeling passionate about being in a relationship with anyone. I looked at my life ? the job I love at The Frisky, the job I love at BlackBook, my awesome friends, my supportive and loving family, my good health, my roommate?s cat who has stopped biting me all the time like the assole THAT HE IS ? and it felt complete. I feel happy right now with just me, with just what I bring to the table for myself. Adding a man to the mix felt like placing the one card on top of the whole house of cards that made it topple over.

Breakups are always crappy but I felt good about being by myself. I told my friends, my family, my coworkers and my therapist some version of ?I just want to enjoy being single for awhile.?

And I do. Ambivalent Single Lobster?forever!?But as days and weeks wore on, I started becoming more conscious of my self-esteem: my desirability to other people. One thing about not being in a relationship is that there?s 100 percent less affirmation that someone wants you. Despite all the reasons we didn?t work out, O?Boyfriend always made me feel wanted and desired; he told me all the time that he thought I was gorgeous. There was never any doubt in my mind that he was being sincere.

That?s gone now and it?s bittersweet; I am grateful to have been loved that thoroughly by someone, but I also can live without the charming self-esteem boost on tap. It doesn?t mean I don?t still want a self-esteem boost, though. Figuring out where to find it (outside of a relationship) is tricky. That part of my brain that switches off when I?m in a relationship that doesn?t pick up on other people flirting with me got turned on again ? and promptly got confused. Did the guy who said he wished he wasn?t in a relationship so he could have sex with other partners mean he might want to have sex with me? Does the woman who wants to hang out and is really looking forward to it have a little crush on me? I?m so confused!

That?s where online dating comes in. Whether guys are just looking at my profiles or send me messages and flirting, it?s confirmation of something. Sure, the only thing it confirms is someone was intrigued enough by a tiny little pixelated image, or a few sentences, to click my profile and read the whole thing. That really doesn?t mean anything. That?s like a random dude turning his head to check your ass out as you pass him on the sidewalk. But even if it doesn?t mean anything, it?s something.

I realized I had turned my online dating profile back on because I had been reading about a celebrity couple online. I felt schmoopy and nostalgic and wondered if I would ever find what she has. How will I find that? I switched my profile back on. I looked at guys who had sent me messages right around the time I deactivated my profile to date O?Boyfriend. I looked at guys who were checking my profile out now. I felt instantly gratified that, yes, some might want to be with me.

I felt chopped up with anxiety all last night and all this morning about being ?on the market again.? Because no, no, no. I?m not on the market. I?m very not on the market. I don?t want a boyfriend, let alone to respond to the inevitable series of going-nowhere online dating messages. What were you thinking, Jessica?

So I switched it off this morning and then bought myself a coffee that I love, in an outfit that I love, on my way to the job that I love. And I felt once again complete.

Contact the author of this post at Jessica@TheFrisky.com. Follow me on Twitter.

Source: http://www.thefrisky.com/2012-10-23/girl-talk-i-think-ive-figured-the-allure-of-online-dating-out/

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PRSA International Conference: It's all about Networking | Meltwater ...

Another great PRSA international conference is behind us and San Francisco sure didn?t disappoint. Power to the people in hippie town USA! And yes it?s the inter-networking of the attendees that made this conference so valuable.

The power of Social, with or without media

I heard a number of times people wondering when ?social media? will lose the media title and just become Social Networking (Biz Stone pops to my mind). Social media has had a dramatic influence on public relations. Transparency, trust, crowdsourcing and storytelling are just a few of the hot new themes in our profession. In fact, we now see the practices uncovered by social media utilized far beyond online communications, they?ve literally changed the way we practice public relations.

Of the 91 workshops, 21 had social media as part of the title or description. When I made the count that number felt so small because it felt like the topic arose in most of the sessions I heard. What an enormous jump it?s been over the last few of years when it was barely on the radar. We had nearly 11,500 tweets during the 3 day conference about PRSA! #PRSAICon was a Twitter trending topic on Sunday.

Integration of PR and Marketing

Another popular theme was the blurring lines of public relations and marketing. I think one could always debate the ?proper? roles for each discipline, but it?s become clearer than ever that we?re frequently at the same operational table. Lee Odden?s session on Content Marketing and PR was highly attended and one of the most discussed and shared sessions of the conference. I guess it struck a nerve. We also had sessions on branding, departmental integrations, digital convergence, integrated communications and inbound marketing. Again as compared to past conferences, we?re seeing a significant trend in a new cooperative environment with marketing.

Storytelling

Every year there seems to be a new term that?s coming off everyone?s lips. You know a word has reached Buzzword status when someone utters it and ceremonious eye rolls unfold across the room. While we all know that storytelling has always been part of the public relations tool kit, social media has crystallized it?s importance for communicating effectively in our brave new world. Storytelling, one could say, has become the alchemist that transforms corporate speak into interesting, value-adding reading material.

Picture taken from http://www.webershandwickseattle.com/2011/02/storytelling-powered-by-you/

?

However, while we can all discuss the merits of storytelling and marketing integration on social media channels, it?s the personal conversations and connections that happen during the conference that add the true value of PRSA. Perhaps it helped that my smartphone sat on the other side of the country-not so smartly in its charging station- that made me fully appreciate conversations. It refreshed me on the importance of personal relationships, often one at a time. Rich conversations are a unique source of knowledge, where one can learn from others viewpoints to grow skills and expand one?s network. So while technology surges forward I reflect that our primary role is still to relate to the public, to network and to build relationships that will in turn, help promote the value of our brands. I worry that with all these innovations, we forget about the fundamentals of what we really do. Now if implementation were so simple?

?

?

About Ric Pratte

Director, Agency Partner Program at Meltwater Group

Source: http://blog.meltwater.com/reflections-on-the-prsa-international-conference-in-the-city-by-the-bay

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