Monday, December 31, 2012

CSN: Pats blank Dolphins, earn first-round bye

December 30, 2012, 7:18 pm

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FOXBORO -- Bill Belichick had laid it our clearly on Friday.

"There's nothing that we can do to help ourselves unless we beat Miami," the Patriots coach said when addressing the myriad of postseason possibilities they faced heading into Sunday. "There's nothing we can do to help our situation unless we win. So we have to win for anything [positive] to happen . . . "

How right he was. They won . . . and, on a frigid late afternoon/early evening at Gillette Stadium, positive things happened.

They got the break they needed at 1 o'clock, when the Colts knocked off the Texans. They proceeded to help themselves with a stifling 28-0 shutout of the Dolphins -- their first shutout since a 59-0 win over the Titans in late October 2009 -- that enabled them to leapfrog Houston into the second overall seed, which carries with it a first-round bye, in the AFC playoffs.

The Patriots and Texans both finished with 12-4 records, but New England won the tie-breaker thanks to its head-to-head victory over Houston three weeks ago.

"It's great," said safety Steve Gregory, whose first-half interception jump-started the Pats' beatdown of the Dolphins. "Any time you can get a bye [in the] first round of the playoffs, it's a good thing."

The Pats didn't get any 4 o'clock help from the Chiefs, as Denver blasted Kansas City and clinched the overall No. 1 seed. So -- unlike their last two trips to the AFC Championship Game -- they'll have to go on the road if form holds and the Pats and Broncos win their semifinal-round matchups.

"Whatever it is, it is," said Belichick. "[Wherever] we have to play [in the postseason], we'll play."

But the case can be made that the bye -- which gives them a week to rest their ailing troops (no fewer than 21 players were on last week's injury list) -- is just as important as the seeding.

"[It's] good to get that rest, get some guys healthy," said Gregory. "I know some guys are banged up, so it's good for us."

The Pats took care of it early.

Gregory's interception on Miami's second possession gave the Patriots the ball on the Dolphin 28, and Tom Brady got them home in two plays: A 19-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, playing his first game since suffering a broken arm against Indianapolis on Nov. 18, and a 9-yard scoring toss to Wes Welker.

That made it 7-0, and may as well have been 70-0 the way the Pats' defense was handling the Dolphin offense. The Pats held Miami to 45 total yards in the first quarter (New England had 172), and only 106 yards in the first half. (New England had 279. The final Patriot advantage was 443-256.). They limited the Dolphins to 24:22 possession time, and had a season-high seven quarterback sacks.

Miami's only threat came in the third quarter, but then the defense made another big play: Dont'e Hightower recovered a botched handoff by quarterback Ryan Tannehill on the Patriots' 1-yard line.

"That's always awesome, when you walk away with a goose egg on the scoreboard," said defensive captain Vince Wilfork. "That's very, very satisfying."

By that time the score was 21-0 thanks to a pair of second-quarter touchdowns by Stevan Ridley. The first, from one yard out, capped a 13-play, 92-yard drive; the second, from two yards away, finished off a 14-play, 69-yard march.

The Patriots added their final touchdown in the fourth quarter when, after the defense had stopped Miami on fourth down and gave the offense the ball at the Dolphin 47, Brady hit Gronkowski with a 23-yard touchdown pass.

So now -- after the week off -- the second season begins. And the Pats' aim is to rise to the challenge as well as they did Sunday evening.

"We've got to start playing our best [football from here on in], and tonight was a good night to start it," said Wilfork.

"I think everyone knows once you go into the playoffs, teams step it up a notch, so we?re going to have to do our part and try to step it up and match [them]," said Devin McCourty.

"If we keep improving and getting better, we?ll be able to get there."

Tags: New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, patriots1230

Source: http://www.csnne.com/football-new-england-patriots/patriots-talk/Patriots-clinch-first-round-bye-with-28-?blockID=818559&feedID=10950

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270,000 Ohio Employers Win Workers' Comp Ruling | NBC 4i

By: Associated Press | NBC4i.com

Ohio overcharged about 270,000 businesses for workers' compensation premiums and must repay them, a county judge said.

It's a ruling could that cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation plans to appeal the decision issued Friday.

A group of mostly small businesses sued Ohio in 2007 for $1.3 billion, saying that they paid too much for their workers' compensation premiums between 2001 and 2008.

Cuyahoga County Judge Richard McMonagle agreed but has asked the group to lower their monetary request because they are not owed interest on the premiums.

"It will be something less than a billion dollars, but still a substantial amount of money," said Jim DeRoche, an attorney for the businesses.

He said the ruling will end up being good for the state's economy because the money will go to small businesses.

"This ruling gives the state the opportunity to help the hundreds of thousands of Ohio employers grow their businesses, create jobs and move Ohio forward," DeRoche said.

The judge set a final hearing for March 14 to determine how much money should be paid.

"While we are disappointed in the decision, we continue to maintain that our actions were lawful and that the plaintiffs' claims are without merit," Bill Teets, a spokesman for workers' compensation bureau, told The Plain Dealer.?

The lawsuit said the bureau gave discounted premiums to companies that joined for group insurance plans and charged companies not in the groups excessive rates to pay for the discounts.

Companies paying group rates were not charged premiums that covered their losses, lawyers for the small businesses said. That forced the other companies to cover the difference, they said.

The bureau discounted its group plans as high as 90 percent.

McMonagle already ordered the bureau three years ago to change its system for setting premiums for injury insurance. The maximum discount set by the bureau for group plans is 53 percent.

For additional information, stay with NBC4 and refresh nbc4i.com.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail stories@nbc4i.com.

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Source: http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2012/dec/29/270000-ohio-employers-win-workers-comp-ruling-ar-1294057/

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Damaged Beyond Repair

Damaged Beyond Repair

The village of Luchush seems peaceful, but the inhabitants are hiding a dark secret. Sacrifice, torture, and pure insanity runs through the mind of everyone born there. A group of people have just moved in...let the screams fill the air.

Owner:

Game Masters:

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

Topic Tags:

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.
Hello! ^^

I'm Kagerou, the creator of this lovely roleplay. I am currently 15 years old, and my real name is Shala (Shay-la). I love to write, lay cello, and play video games. I also like to talk OOC a lot to get perspective from my group/get to know them better. I would like it if you all introduced yourselves. You don't have to give names or ages or anything like that. ^^

This OOC is for the overview of the roleplay, town people and outsiders. There can be unrelated chat, of course. I encourage it. We're all friends here I hope.

Hope to see you here soon<3

User avatar
Kagerou
Member for 2 years



Kagerou! im totally interested in this :)

soooo can i make one of the Luchush-born, a teenager and a regular human???

ohhh and im Echo_Rose but either can call me Rose or Echo. Im 22 almost 23 yo and im an avid roleplayer, love horses, and can be totally random at times

User avatar
Echo_Rose
Member for 0 years


For now, let's just sick with one character. :D I already have someone interested in a Luchush character, and you can have one too. I just don't want to overwhelm people yet. If not a lot of people have joined by next week, then I'll let you have a second. :D

User avatar
Kagerou
Member for 2 years


okay cool :) ill try to work on them tonight but if not definately tomorrow :)

User avatar
Echo_Rose
Member for 0 years



Post a reply

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Four Benefits of ISO 9001 To Web Hosting Companies

trust-iso9001

ISO 9001 is a recognized industry standard for the quality management of business procedures. It applies to all processes, offers product control solutions and better management regulation for any business organization, and it can be especially helpful to data centres and their customers


Even so, it is expensive to implement, but once in place can help the data center save money in other operational costs. Virtual Internet can attest to the operational efficiencies and competitive "edge" it has gained by attaining both ISO 9001 and 27001 certification.? The following are four benefits ISO 9001 offers to any data center or Cloud based storage business.

?1 - Customer Trust

ISO 9001 inspires trust in your business customers an accredited certification offers proof of customer commitment. It demonstrates the data center's willingness to continually find new ways of improving their services. Once in place, orders are met consistently, issues resolved immediately and services are offered on-time and to the correct customer specifications. ISO 9001 demonstrates efficient quality management that complies with the most rigorous of external audits made by the ISO 9001 certification team.

?2 ? Cost Savings

An organization that implements ISO 9001 saves money as operations are streamlined. Every cost of every department is analyzed, creating more efficient productivity that costs less, and these savings can often be passed on to customers.

?3 ? Addresses Security Issues

ISO 9001 stresses quality assurance, and an aspect of this is security issues. Data centers complying to these standards also comply with ISO 27001 which ensures that:

  • Threats to the business are managed, assessed and managed on a continual basis.
  • Physical security is stressed within the physical environment, requiring name and restricted access to work areas.
  • ?CCTV security monitoring and planning are continually enforced.

?Bottom Line

Data centers with ISO 9001 compliance offer more efficient security options and efficiencies business clients need. Customers are more confident in trusting their crucial data to a data center that has undergone the stringent requirements of ISO 9001. Additionally, a business that undergoes the expense and the time commitment involved will continually improve services to meet their ISO9001 compliance. The only disadvantage to using an ISO compliant data center is that these require the reliance on the documentation of all procedures, decisions and implementations, including any special procedure requested by a client.


?Further Reading

Source: http://www.vi.net/blog/2012/12/four-benefits-of-iso-9001-for-web-hosting-companies/

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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Instagram Denies Holiday User Drop

instayellowSure, it's not unlike the New York Post to be?sensationalist. But in this case it misinterpreted data to suggest Instagram was hit harder by backlash to its terms of service changes than it actually was. Combined with it being a quiet-ish holiday news week, I am taking?a story?it published today on a 25 percent drop in Instagram users?with a little more than a grain of salt.

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

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Obama presses Congress to resolve fiscal cliff (Reuters)

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

Internet and Advertising | Philippine Country Blog

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Pets with Seasonal Affective Disorder may have a new option in ...

The gloomy days can wreak havoc on our bodies and our mood just the same.

Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD, is a definitive term used to refer to those symptoms that are associated with the lack of sunshine. Lethargy, unhappiness, irritability as well as an increase in the desire to sleep are just a few.

You might be surprised to learn that SAD affects animals as well. Dr. Alice M. Jeromin, RPh, DVM, Dipl. ACVD has written about how it's thought to contribute one type of hair loss in dogs.

Many researchers indicate that although we don't really know what a pet is experiencing, they are mammals, just like us, and they are affected by the same mammalian hormones, like melatonin. Melatonin has the ability to regulate biological rhythms, among other things.

Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland - and is inhibited by light to the retina, and it increases in production by darkness.

With the shorter days in the winter and subsequent higher level of melatonin, it can be a little challenging to try and combat the winter blahs that result for both humans and pets alike, and getting outdoors for a fair amount of time can be next to impossible.

Symptoms in pets typically manifest in behavioral changes like aggression, inappropriate soiling, lethargy, neediness and more.

One way to address SAD in humans - the use of a light box - has garnered interest for use in mitigating the effects of the disorder in pets.

A company out of Portland, OR now sells light boxes specially designed for companion animals.

Max Marvin, owner of Pawsitive Lighting, came up with the idea for the boxes after using a light box in his own battle with severe insomnia several years ago.

The premise of the light box is that it mimics the sun by radiating artificial sunlight to an indoor space. Thusly, it helps to balance the production of melatonin, which aids in correcting things like the sleep cycle and mood.

After using the light box and getting good results, Marvin noticed something: his dog seemed to benefit from it too.

Marvin then decided to forge ahead and partner with a light-therapy device manufacturer in the UK to develop the Sol Box, a light box designed for dogs and cats.

The unit, priced at around $200, delivers 10,000 lux to your pet, and is recommended for use for about 35-45 minutes per day.

Do you feel that your pet is affected by the lack of sunlight? What kinds of changes have you observed in your furry pal?

Click here to read more on SAD in pets.

Source: http://www.annarbor.com/pets/pets-dogs-cats-animals-sun-winter-light-sol-box-pawsitive-lighting/

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Friday, December 28, 2012

AP IMPACT: Ordinary folks losing faith in stocks

In this Sept. 12, 2012, photo, Andrew Neitlich poses in front of one his investment homes in Venice, Fla. Neitlich once worked as a financial analyst picking stocks for a mutual fund. During the dot-com crash 12 years ago, Neitlich didn't sell his stocks, but like many others he is selling now. An analysis by The Associated Press finds that individual investors have pulled at least $380 billion from U.S. stock funds since they started selling in April 2007. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

In this Sept. 12, 2012, photo, Andrew Neitlich poses in front of one his investment homes in Venice, Fla. Neitlich once worked as a financial analyst picking stocks for a mutual fund. During the dot-com crash 12 years ago, Neitlich didn't sell his stocks, but like many others he is selling now. An analysis by The Associated Press finds that individual investors have pulled at least $380 billion from U.S. stock funds since they started selling in April 2007. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

In this Sept. 12, 2012, photo, Andrew Neitlich poses in front of one his investment homes in Venice, Fla. Neitlich once worked as a financial analyst picking stocks for a mutual fund. During the dot-com crash 12 years ago, Neitlich didn't sell his stocks, but like many others he is selling now. An analysis by The Associated Press finds that individual investors have pulled at least $380 billion from U.S. stock funds since they started selling in April 2007. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

(AP) ? Andrew Neitlich is the last person you'd expect to be rattled by the stock market.

He once worked as a financial analyst picking stocks for a mutual fund. He has huddled with dozens of CEOs in his current career as an executive coach. During the dot-com crash 12 years ago, he kept his wits and did not sell.

But he's selling now.

"You have to trust your government. You have to trust other governments. You have to trust Wall Street," says Neitlich, 47. "And I don't trust any of these."

Defying decades of investment history, ordinary Americans are selling stocks for a fifth year in a row. The selling has not let up despite unprecedented measures by the Federal Reserve to persuade people to buy and the come-hither allure of a levitating market. Stock prices have doubled from March 2009, their low point during the Great Recession.

It's the first time ordinary folks have sold during a sustained bull market since relevant records were first kept during World War II, an examination by The Associated Press has found. The AP analyzed money flowing into and out of stock funds of all kinds, including relatively new exchange-traded funds, which investors like because of their low fees.

"People don't trust the market anymore," says financial historian Charles Geisst of Manhattan College. He says a "crisis of confidence" similar to one after the Crash of 1929 will keep people away from stocks for a generation or more.

The implications for the economy and living standards are unclear but potentially big. If the pullback continues, some experts say, it could lead to lower spending by companies, slower U.S. economic growth and perhaps lower gains for those who remain in the market.

Since they started selling in April 2007, eight months before the start of the Great Recession, individual investors have pulled at least $380 billion from U.S. stock funds, a category that includes both mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, according to estimates by the AP. That is the equivalent of all the money they put into the market in the previous five years.

Instead of stocks, they're putting money into bonds because those are widely perceived as safer investments. Individuals have put more than $1 trillion into bond mutual funds alone since April 2007, according to the Investment Company Institute, a trade group representing investment funds.

Selling stocks during either a downturn or a recovery is unusual. Americans almost always buy more than they sell during both periods.

Since World War II, nine recessions besides the Great Recession have been followed by recoveries lasting at least three years. According to data from the Investment Company Institute, individual investors sold during and after only one of those previous downturns ? the one from November 1973 through March 1975. And back then a scary stock drop around the start of the recovery's third year, 1977, gave people ample reason to get out of the market.

The unusual pullback this time has spread to other big investors ? public and private pension funds, investment brokerages and state and local governments. These groups have sold a total of $861 billion more than they have bought since April 2007, according to the Federal Reserve.

Even foreigners, big purchasers in recent years, are selling now ? $16 billion in the 12 months through September.

As these groups have sold, much of the stock buying has fallen to companies. They've bought $656 billion more than they have sold since April 2007. Companies are mostly buying back their own stock.

On Wall Street, the investor revolt has largely been dismissed as temporary. But doubts are creeping in.

A Citigroup research report sent to customers concludes that the "cult of equities" that fueled buying in the past has little chance of coming back soon. Investor blogs speculate about the "death of equities," a line from a famous BusinessWeek cover story in 1979, another time many people had seemingly given up on stocks. Financial analysts lament how the retreat by Main Street has left daily stock trading at low levels.

The investor retreat may have already hurt the fragile economic recovery.

The number of shares traded each day has fallen 40 percent from before the recession to a 12-year low, according to the New York Stock Exchange. That's cut into earnings of investment banks and online brokers, which earn fees helping others trade stocks. Initial public offerings, another source of Wall Street profits, are happening at one-third the rate before the recession.

And old assumptions about stocks are being tested. One investing gospel is that because stocks generally rise in price, companies don't need to raise their quarterly cash dividends much to attract buyers. But companies are increasing them lately.

Dividends in the S&P 500 rose 11 percent in the 12 months through September, and the number of companies choosing to raise them is the highest in at least 20 years, according to FactSet, a financial data provider. Stocks now throw off more cash in dividends than U.S. government bonds do in interest.

Many on Wall Street think this is an unnatural state that cannot last. After all, people tend to buy stocks because they expect them to rise in price, not because of the dividend. But for much of the history of U.S. stock trading, stocks were considered too risky to be regarded as little more than vehicles for generating dividends. In every year from 1871 through 1958, stocks yielded more in dividends than U.S. bonds did in interest, according to data from Yale economist Robert Shiller ? exactly what is happening now.

So maybe that's normal, and the past five decades were the aberration.

People who think the market will snap back to normal are underestimating how much the Great Recession scared investors, says Ulrike Malmendier, an economist who has studied the effect of the Great Depression on attitudes toward stocks.

She says people are ignoring something called the "experience effect," or the tendency to place great weight on what you most recently went through in deciding how much financial risk to take, even if it runs counter to logic. Extrapolating from her research on "Depression Babies," the title of a 2010 paper she co-wrote, she says many young investors won't fully embrace stocks again for another two decades.

"The Great Recession will have a lasting impact beyond what a standard economic model would predict," says Malmendier, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.

She could be wrong, of course. But it's a measure of the psychological blow from the Great Recession that, more than three years since it ended, big institutions, not just amateur investors, are still trimming stocks.

Public pension funds have cut stocks from 71 percent of their holdings before the recession to 66 percent last year, breaking at least 40 years of generally rising stock allocations, according to "State and Local Pensions: What Now?," a book by economist Alicia Munnell. They're shifting money into bonds.

Private pension funds, like those run by big companies, have cut stocks more: from 70 percent of holdings to just under 50 percent, back to the 1995 level.

"People aren't looking to swing for the fences anymore," says Gary Goldstein, an executive recruiter on Wall Street, referring to the bankers and traders he helps get jobs. "They're getting less greedy."

The lack of greed is remarkable given how much official U.S. policy is designed to stoke it.

When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke launched the first of three bond-buying programs four years ago, he said one aim was to drive Treasury yields so low that frustrated investors would feel they had no choice but to take a risk on stocks. Their buying would push stock prices up, and everyone would be wealthier and spend more. That would help revive the economy.

Sure enough, yields on Treasurys and many other bonds have recently hit record lows, in many cases below the inflation rate. And stock prices have risen. Yet Americans are pulling out of stocks, so deep is their mistrust of them, and perhaps of the Fed itself.

"Fed policy is trying to suck people into risky assets when they shouldn't be there," says Michael Harrington, 58, a former investment fund manager who says he is largely out of stocks. "When this policy fails, as it will, baby boomers will pay the cost in their 401(k)s."

Ordinary Americans are souring on stocks even though stock prices appear attractive relative to earnings. But history shows they can get more attractive yet.

Stocks in the S&P 500 are trading at 14 times what companies earned per share in the past 12 months. Since 1990, they have rarely traded below that level ? that is, cheaper, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. But that period is unusual. Looking back seven decades to the start of World War II, there were long stretches during which stocks traded below that.

To estimate how much investors have sold so far, the AP considered both money flowing out of mutual funds, which are nearly all held by individual investors, and money flowing into low-fee exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, which bundle securities together to mimic the performance of a market index. ETFs have attracted money from hedge funds and other institutional investors as well as from individuals.

At the request of the AP, Strategic Insight, a consulting firm, used data from investment firms overseeing ETFs to estimate how much individuals have invested in them. Based on its calculations, individuals accounted for 40 percent to 50 percent of money going to U.S. stock ETFs in recent years.

If you assume 50 percent, individual investors have put $194 billion into U.S. stock ETFs since April 2007. But they've also pulled out much more from mutual funds ? $580 billion. The difference is $386 billion, the amount individuals have pulled out of stock funds in all.

If you include the sale of stocks by individuals from brokerage accounts, which is not included in the fund data, the outflow could be much higher. Data from the Federal Reserve, which includes selling from brokerage accounts, suggests individual investors have sold $700 billion or more in the past 5? years. But the Fed figure may overstate the amount sold because it doesn't fully count certain stock transactions.

The good news is that a chastened stock market doesn't necessarily mean a flat stock market.

Bill Gross, the co-head of bond investment firm Pimco, has probably done more than anyone to popularize the notion that stocks will prove disappointing in the coming years. But he says what is dying is not stocks, but the "cult" of stocks. In a recent letter to investors, he suggested stocks might return 4 percent or so each year, about half the long-term level but still ahead of inflation.

And if America's obsession with stocks is over, some excesses associated with it might fade, too.

Maybe more graduates from top colleges will look to other industries besides Wall Street for careers. Of every 100 members of the Harvard undergraduate Class of 2008 who got jobs after graduation, 28 went into financial services, such as helping run mutual funds or hedge funds, according to a March study by two professors at the university's business school. The average for classes four decades ago was six out of 100.

Of course, those counting the small investor out could be wrong.

Three years after that BusinessWeek story on the "death of equities" ran, in 1982, one of the greatest multi-year stock climbs in history began as the little guys shed their fear and started buying. And so they will surely do again, the bulls argue, and stock prices will really rocket.

Neitlich, the executive coach, has his doubts.

Instead of using extra cash to buy stocks, he is buying houses near his home in Sarasota, Fla., and renting them. He says he prefers real estate because it's local and is something he can "control." He says stocks make up 12 percent his $800,000 investment portfolio, down from nearly 100 percent a few years ago.

After the dot-com crash, it seemed as if "things would turn around. Now, I don't know," Neitlich says. "The risks are bigger than before."

___

Follow Bernard Condon on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BernardFCondon.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-27-Investor%20Revolt/id-121fb83a292e444aa2900796b9a97441

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Happy Birthday, Denzel Washington!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/happy-birthday-denzel-washington/

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Bethenny Frankel & Jason Hoppy Split Up!

The reality stars are ending their marriage after three years! See more celeb pairs who are back to going solo

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/gone-splitsville-celebrity-breakups/1-b-16462?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Agone-splitsville-celebrity-breakups-16462

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No ethics breaches found in Countrywide VIP loans

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The House Ethics Committee says it found no violations by House members whose mortgage loans went through the VIP section of the former Countrywide Financial Corp.

The committee said nearly all the allegations involved loans that were granted so long ago that they fell outside the panel's jurisdiction. The committee added that participation in the VIP program did not necessarily mean borrowers received the best financial deal available.

The committee said that it was concerned with the actions of House staff members who may have reached out to Countrywide lobbyists for assistance with their personal loans.

The report said that if these staff loans had been more recent, there may have been disciplinary action.

Countrywide was taken over by Bank of America in 2008.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-ethics-breaches-found-countrywide-vip-loans-225602331--politics.html

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

CRITIQUE ARTICLE 2: Use of Career Education and ... - Blog Archive


ARTICLE 2:

Use of Career Education and Occupation Information Services in

Boosting Enrolment into Vocational and Technical Education

Programs in Nigeria

By:

Igbinedion, V. I.1 & I. J. Ojeaga1

Department of Vocational and Technical Education, Faculty of Education, University of Benin, Benin

(International Education Studies; Vol. 5, No. 4; 2012)

ARTICLE REVIEW:

The authors has discussed about to address issues of youth unemployment, poverty and international competitiveness in skills development towards current and projected opportunities and challenges. Numerous reforms in vocational and technical education programs over the years, they still remain greatly detested by students and parents in Nigeria as evidenced in low enrolment when compared with sciences, engineering, banking and finance, and medicine.

The authors was also describe that technical and vocational education in Nigeria is so misconstrued that it has become extremely difficult in management perspective, to administer the program to meet societal ever changing needs. Presently, the program is bedeviled by many challenges that hinder the realization of its objectives as specified by the National Policy on Education of Federal Government of Nigeria (2004). One of these challenges is low enrolment. It is the concern of that enrolment into technical and vocational programs may be low not because Nigerian youths are lazy nor do not want to use their hands to work. But it may be because many Nigerians do not fully understand the benefits, scope and content of the program and lack of vocational or career education and occupation information services to students while in or out of schools.

The authors also mentioned that many of them make choices without proper understanding of their abilities, interests and attitudes. Most of the young people are said to select occupations like medicine, engineering, accounting mainly because of the positions and prestige attached to the job and not necessarily as a result of conscious assessment of the individual?s interests and abilities. Therefore, career education may be a veritable means of providing career awareness and information services to students in order to improve enrolment in vocational and technical education in Nigeria. Students, parents and the society at large look unto the school to help the adolescents and youth make career decision based on realistic abilities, interests and availability. Therefore, it is required to use of career education and occupation information services in boosting enrolment in vocational and technical education programs in Nigeria.

In addition, from the author?s research, they are also identified some of the factors responsible for low enrolment in TVET in Nigeria which are:

1.? Poor Societal Perception: Many people are yet to understand the meaning, scope and content of vocational and technical education. Some view it as education for the handicapped or education for those who cannot cope with the sciences. (Osa-Edoh ,2008)

2.??? Poor Societal Attitude: The attitude of people towards vocational and technical education contributes to the problems in teaching the subject. It notes that in schools, the teacher could be teaching people who are not interested in the subject that is being taught. (Idialu, 2007).

3.???Elitism: Elitism could be described as the belief of a group in society that because of superior privileges, power and talent they tend to hold on to this belief through a system of education that will sustain this group?s interest. (Oviawe and Anavberokhai, 2008).

4.??? Poor Entry Level: Students who enroll in vocational and technical education programs are considered to have low aptitude. The technical schools find it hard to attract good students because there is a strong misconception that they are reserved for the never-to- do-wells and other negative by-products. Those admitted because they cannot find other things to do barely pass through the program because of poor aptitude and attitude. (Oviawe and Anavberokhai, 2008).

5.?? Lack of Recognition: There is a low recognition associated with manual labor in Nigeria. Unlike her counterparts in developed countries, the skilled craftsman does not enjoy the same recognition. (Oviawe and Anavberokhai, 2008).

6.????Discrimination against Graduates of Technical and Vocational Education: There is also the problem of unhealthy perception or discrimination against technical graduates. It was stated that this discrimination is virtually visible amongst graduates of technical schools (technical college, monotechnics, colleges of technology, polytechnics) and university graduates. Up till now, the former is being managed by National Board for Technical Education while the latter is under the supervision of National Universities Commission. countries, the skilled craftsman does not enjoy the same recognition (Ogidefa, 2010).

DISCUSSION

From the above, it shows that the TVET programmes in Nigeria are still not being acceptable by most of the people. Low prestige given to the TVET is the most factors that hinder the participation of the students to the TVET. Other factors like discrimination to the TVET programme, poor entry level to TVET, elitism, etc are also will become crucial if no actions taken to this issue. It is agreed that it was difficult to the government in enhancing or rebranding the educational systems especially TVET as it requires a lot of financial support and resources. However, due to the current globalization of the economy systems, the government of Nigeria needs to do something in promoting TVET as the economy will grow with the support from the TVET. The growth of the country is actually depending on how many unemployed in that country. The less number of unemployed, the more established the country. Few actions can be taken in promoting TVET like career conference, field trip, collaborating industrial training, providing career information center, etc.

REFERENCE

2.? Ogidefa, I. (2010). Enhancing Technical Vocational Education in Nigerian Schools. Socyberty. Retrieved from:

3.??? Osa-Edoh G. I. (2008). The Place of Vocational And Technical Education In Skills Acquisition By Secondary School Students ? Implication For Counseling. Technical and Vocational Education Journal. 1(2). 84-90.

4.? Oviawe, J.I. & Anavberokhai, M.O. (2008). The Role of Entrepreneurship Education In The Realization Of The National Economic Empowerment And Development Strategy (NEEDS). Technical and Vocational Education Journal, 1(1).

Prepared By: Nurihah Mohamad Saleh (MP 111227)

Source: http://citve1213.blogspot.com/2012/12/critique-article-2-use-of-career.html

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Movie Ripping Becomes Legal In UK For Individuals

Not that it would really be much of a worry since many people just do it regardless of the law, but UK residents set to receive any CDs or DVDs this Christmas will be able to do so safe in the knowledge that they can use a computer to back up their content without being?hunted?down by legislation, provided that the disc ripping that occurs is for personal use only.

disc_pileAfter?a law amendment passed on Friday (21 December), the UK coalition?government has legally permitted consumers the right to burn content to their hard drives as ?digital copies?, with the law covering copied video content, music, and e-books, so long as it has been taken directly from the source?(as disc-to-file) and not used commercially.

While the rule also allows users to store their copied content onto a cloud storage service (seen in this case as similar to a hard drive, and rejecting rights holders? claims that this could create a form of illegal piracy),?it remains a crime to remove a??technical protection method? (TPM) from all copyrighted content, mainly designed to protect from copying in large quantities.

Government business secretary Vince Cable said of the changes: ?[The new legislation is] not only common sense but good business sense. Bringing the law into line with ordinary people?s reasonable expectations will boost respect for copyright, on which our creative industries rely. We feel we have struck the right balance between improving the way consumers benefit from copyright works they have legitimately paid for, boosting business opportunities and protecting the rights of creators.?

With a report on the matter summarising that the alterations create??a fair balance? between fair use for consumers?and?protecting the revenue streams of rights holders, will this trivial improvement be appreciated as a greater amount of freedom to use a paid-for disc as the user pleases?

Welcome to WorldTVPC Blog dedicated to bringing the latest news from the world of online tv, streaming services and TV hardware. We have news, links and a comprehensive review section. Hope you enjoy and we welcome all constructive comments

Steve Sanger

Related News:

  1. TV Networks Halt Aereo With Legal Claim
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  3. Sony Take On The Job Of A Movie
  4. Surfthechannel Crashes In Court As More Pirate Movie Sites Get Tracked Down
  5. American Internet Providers Create Hadopi-Style Copyright Alerts

Source: http://www.worldtvpc.com/blog/movie-ripping-becomes-legal-in-uk-for-individuals/

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Family Happy To Bring Premature Babies Home For The Holidays ...

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ? It?s been a merry Christmas for one couple who was able to bring their premature babies home for the holidays.

The twins were delivered five weeks premature, in an effort to save their lives after complications arose.

Angela and Todd Clever were overjoyed when they found out they were having not one, but two babies.

?Yes, happy,? Angela Clever said. ?I wasn?t surprised. We have another set of twins.?

But joy turned to fear when there was a problem with the tissue inside the womb and the girls were delivered via an emergency caesarian section.

?I had five or six nurses on me at once, doing different things, trying to get me ready,? she said. ?And I had a nurse trying to find each heartbeat, and they were having problems. It was pretty scary.?

Viera, at 4 pounds 5 ounces, was able to stay at the local hospital where the twins were born.

But her sister Vaila wasn?t breathing.

?I could see them trying to get her to breathe,? Clever said. ?And from where I was laying and she looked gray and right then I feared for the worst.?

She was flown into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at West Penn Hospital.

In Valia?s three weeks in the NICU, she had to deal with some heart issues, seizures and bleeding around the brain.

?She had all the lines and tubes and monitors hooked up to her, and you couldn?t touch her and you couldn?t hold her,? Todd Clever said. ?It was scary on one hand, but knowing she was where she needed to be was somewhat of a calming factor.?

She?s now up to 6 pounds 8 ounces, thanks to advancements in the Neonatal care.

?We?re really fortunate the medicines we used worked right away,? Dr. Nilima Karamachandani at West Penn Hospital said.

Now, she may be able to go home for the holidays and be with her twin sister and the rest of her family for Christmas.

?That would be a fabulous Christmas present,? Clever said.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Holiday News

Source: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/12/25/family-happy-to-bring-premature-babies-home-for-the-holidays/

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