Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Wall St. inches up as deals provide support for rally

By Leah Schnurr

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose slightly on Monday as acquisition activity gave support, but investors were hesitant to rush into the market with indexes hovering around record levels.

Deals, including Yahoo's $1.1 billion bid for Tumblr, indicate that companies continue to search for growth through acquisitions, a bullish sign for stocks. Yahoo was up 1.2 percent at $26.83.

The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 finished Friday at fresh record highs and the Nasdaq Composite is at its highest since late 2000. A light economic and earnings calendar could leave the market vulnerable for a pullback, but those have been shallow and short-lived as investors take any weakness as a new chance to increase long positions.

On Monday, the Dow climbed to an all-time intraday high at 15,391.84, while the S&P 500 edged up to a new intraday record high at 1,672.84. Both major indexes are up about 17 percent for the year so far.

Even so, investors have remained wary of becoming too enthusiastic, which has helped keep the rally from getting overdone, said Mark Lehmann, president of JMP Securities, an investment bank based in San Francisco.

"The more days we go up and the more people who are in disbelief that we go up every day, the better," Lehmann said. "This is the least well-regarded bull market I think we've seen in a very, very long time."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> edged up 14.44 points, or 0.09 percent, to 15,368.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> gained 2.43 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,669.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> added 1.33 points, or 0.04 percent, to 3,500.40.

Actavis rose 2.4 percent to $128.53 after the company said it will acquire Warner Chilcott Plc in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $5 billion. Warner Chilcott gained 2.9 percent to $19.77.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and Plains Exploration & Production said they would pay shareholders more in dividends if they approved Freeport's roughly $6 billion takeover offer for Plains. Plains shares jumped 7.3 percent to $48.85, while Freeport gained 0.7 percent to $32.90, reversing an earlier decline.

Websense Inc shares surged 28.6 percent to $24.73 after the company agreed to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners.

Shares of Tableau Software and Marketo continued to climb after both companies' shares began trading last Friday. Tableau gained 16.7 percent to $59.23, while Marketo jumped 12.3 percent to $25.95.

"That tells you investors are looking at new ideas, and dusting off some old ideas," Lehmann said. "People are looking for growth."

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before Congress on Wednesday is seen by many as the highlight of the week for markets. The beginning of the end of the Fed's massive bond-buying program, which has given strong support to stock gains, might come sooner than many investors think if recent gains in the U.S. labor market hold.

The Fed will also release minutes from its most recent policy-setting meeting on Wednesday, which will be parsed for signs of the direction of monetary stimulus.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-little-changed-records-acquisitions-eyed-114451808.html

Fallon Fox Chris Webber linda perry luke bryan WrestleMania 29 Lilly Pulitzer Ben And Jerrys

Kerry to Mideast to advance struggling Syria plan

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back to the Middle East this week to press his case for peace talks between Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad's regime amid increasing signs the new U.S. strategy to halt the war is being undermined by Russia.

Kerry departs Monday for discussions with the sultan of Oman. He then goes to Jordan to gather with 10 of America's closest European and Arab partners to discuss how to advance a political transition and end more than two years of bloodshed in Syria, before traveling on to Israel.

For the Syria negotiations to succeed, the Obama administration is banking on Russia's help.

The U.S. and Russia have wrangled repeatedly while more than 70,000 Syrians have died, but they now say they're working together to start direct talks between Syria's government and the opposition in Geneva next month. Washington demands Assad's ouster, while Russia continues to provide the Syrian leader with military aid and diplomatic cover, but President Barack Obama this week said the meeting "may yield results."

The optimism echoes the message of Kerry, who during his Moscow visit earlier this month declared that the old Cold War foes, by rejuvenating Syrian peace hopes, were demonstrating how they "can accomplish great things together when the world needs it."

For all the heady talk of cooperation, however, Russia has continued to rebuff American demands that it cut off military support for Assad.

Moscow is preparing to give Syria state-of-the-art ground-to-air missile systems, Israeli officials say. It is beefing up its naval presence near its base in northwestern Syria, reports suggest. And, in the latest revelation, U.S. officials say Russia has provided the Assad regime with anti-ship cruise missiles.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the transfer of the advanced anti-ship missiles is "an unfortunate decision that will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering."

On the diplomatic front, the situation isn't much better. There, Russia has repeatedly blocked a proposal for an expanded Security Council trip to Turkey and Lebanon to study Syria's refugee crisis, according to U.N. diplomats.

The continued friction between Moscow on the one hand and Washington and its partners on the other comes as the Obama administration is evaluating a range of options, including military ones, to break the stalemate in Syria's civil war and respond to evidence that Assad's forces used small amounts of chemical weapons in two attacks in March. Obama previously declared chemical weapons use his "red line" for a more forceful American intervention, though Kerry and other U.S. officials have since suggested that no such step would be taken while the new peace push still has hope.

Russia's missiles support significantly boosts Syria's capability to target manned planes, drones and incoming missiles after its systems were easily circumvented in 2007 when Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear reactor site along the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria. Apparently successful Israeli strikes in recent weeks on weapons convoys to Hezbollah show the Syrian defenses are still far from impregnable, but the new weaponry adds further considerations as the United States tries to change Assad's calculation that he can prevail in Syria's civil war.

While more and better anti-missile systems wouldn't immediately change the fight between Syria's government and armed opposition, they would make it more dangerous for the U.S. and other governments to try to enforce a no-fly zone in the country or otherwise intervening militarily. And with Washington mulling over the options, the war continues. The refugee toll has topped 1.5 million people and much of the country has slipped into lawlessness.

Kerry's weeklong trip will also see him try to advance his two-month effort to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The secretary has convinced the Arab world to help by sweetening its deal of universal recognition for the Jewish state if it pulls out of most of the territory in east Jerusalem and the West Bank that it conquered in the 1967 Mideast war. But he has struggled to gain any public concession from Israel, which was accused of taking steps last week to legalize four unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank. The Palestinians see that land as part of its future state.

Kerry also will travel to Ethiopia to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity, the precursor to today's African Union.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-mideast-advance-struggling-syria-plan-080859747.html

guinea bissau google stock google stock china gdp dont trust the b in apartment 23 johnny damon kirk cameron

Monday, May 20, 2013

The Latest Turn of the Screw (talking-points-memo)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306913157?client_source=feed&format=rss

david wright cory booker cubs cj wilson ellsbury brad pitt and angelina jolie brad and angelina

Israel gunman shoots 4 dead at bank, kills self

JERUSALEM (AP) ? A gunman stormed into a bank in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba Monday, killing four people in a gunfight and taking a hostage before killing himself, police said.

Police initially suspected a bungled bank robbery but later changed their assessment.

They identified the gunman as a former military officer who fell on hard times financially. The 40-year-old man arrived at the bank to withdraw money and settle a debt, police said. He reportedly got into an argument with the bank manager and came back an hour later with a handgun that was licensed to him and opened fire.

The dead included the bank manager, his deputy and two clients. Four other people were wounded, one seriously.

After the shooting rampage, the man then took a woman hostage and held her for an hour in the bathroom before turning the gun on himself.

"He kept one hand on my mouth and said 'shut up or I'll kill you,' and the other hand held the gun in front of me," recounted the hostage, Miriam Cohen, in an interview with Israel's Channel 10 TV. "Then he put the gun in his mouth ... and I heard a gunshot."

"The murderer came in with an intention to shoot," national police chief Yohanan Danino told reporters.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-gunman-shoots-4-dead-bank-kills-self-134224670.html

happy holidays Stores Open On Christmas Day Santa Claus Feliz Navidad Netflix down Ryan Freel Melissa Nelson

Friday, May 17, 2013

Syria ex-minister leads rebuilding plan

In this picture taken on Friday May 10, 2013, Syrian economist Abdullah al-Dardari, a chief economist at the Beirut-based U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and a former deputy prime minister in President Bashar Assad's government, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, In Beirut, Lebanon. Al-Dardari tells The Associated Press in a rare interview that his six-member expert team has been overwhelmed with requests for the reconstruction plan to support the Kerry-Lavrov initiative on the off chance it would succeed. A group of economists led by one of Syria's top reformists are feverishly drawing up a comprehensive post-war reconstruction plan, even as the country's civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

In this picture taken on Friday May 10, 2013, Syrian economist Abdullah al-Dardari, a chief economist at the Beirut-based U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and a former deputy prime minister in President Bashar Assad's government, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, In Beirut, Lebanon. Al-Dardari tells The Associated Press in a rare interview that his six-member expert team has been overwhelmed with requests for the reconstruction plan to support the Kerry-Lavrov initiative on the off chance it would succeed. A group of economists led by one of Syria's top reformists are feverishly drawing up a comprehensive post-war reconstruction plan, even as the country's civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

(AP) ? A six-member U.N. team led by a former Syrian planning minister is drawing up a comprehensive postwar reconstruction plan even as the country's civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight.

A joint U.S.-Russian push to bring together Syria's political opposition and representatives of President Bashar Assad's regime to negotiate a peaceful transition has given their work new urgency.

In a rare interview, the U.S.-educated economist, Abdullah al-Dardari, told The Associated Press that more than two years of fighting have cost Syria at least $60 billion and caused the vital oil industry to crumble. A quarter of all homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, and much of the medical system is in ruins.

Now, he says, the Syrians have to be ready to rebuild when the fighting ends. He says his team has been overwhelmed with requests for a reconstruction plan to support the U.S.-Russian initiative on the off chance it succeeds.

"I see a glimmer of hope," said al-Dardari, who now works for a Beirut-based U.N. development agency. "There appears to be more readiness for a political compromise by different groups in the opposition and by officials in the government."

Earlier this month, the U.S. and Russia agreed on a joint push to get Syria's political opposition and representatives of the Assad regime to negotiate a political transition in Syria. An international conference, possibly to be held in early June, would help launch talks.

Despite much skepticism, the initiative, announced by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week in Moscow, is the first serious attempt in a year to end Syria's civil war, which has killed more than 70,000 people and displaced more than 5 million.

The two sides remain far apart on the terms for negotiations, with the opposition insisting Assad must step down first and the regime unwilling to commit to an open-ended cease-fire. Both say they want to hear more about the agenda and participants before agreeing to talks.

Al-Dardari's plan, known as the National Agenda for the Future of Syria, is being drafted on the assumption that the conflict, now in its third year, will end by 2015 and that Syria will remain territorially united with a central government based in Damascus, regardless of who ends up ruling the country.

"Is that possible? If one looks at the situation today, then the immediate reaction is, 'No, it's not possible,'" al-Dardari said.

"However, I think the human losses and the catastrophic destruction should create sufficient moral pressure on the parties of this conflict ? internal and external, since this has become a proxy war ? to think seriously of a political compromise."

Syria's vicious civil war, in which the government has relied heavily on its air power to crush the rebels, has destroyed towns and wiped out entire blocks of apartment buildings. Centuries-old markets and archaeological treasures ? once a major tourist draw and source of revenue ? have been gutted by flames and gunfire in places like Aleppo and Homs ? an irreplaceable chapter of history wiped out in a few hours of battle.

Factories, oil pipelines, schools, hospitals, mosques and churches have been systematically destroyed.

The fighting has devastated the Syrian economy, halting the country's oil exports and destroying much of its manufacturing industry and infrastructure.

Deep divisions among Syria's opposition and rebel groups are likely to complicate any international effort to help in reconstruction. Syrians also are convinced they will get little outside help to rebuild.

Al-Dardari appears well placed to be a leading figure in postwar reconstruction plans.

A Sunni Muslim who served as Syria's minister of planning for two years until Assad named him deputy prime minister for economic affairs in 2005, al-Dardari has been credited with masterminding the opening up of Syria's socialist-style economy into a free market enterprise, courting foreign investors and advocating political reforms to accompany the country's economic transformation.

He quietly left his government post in the summer of 2011, a few months after the uprising erupted against Assad's regime, which is dominated by Syria's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. He joined the U.N soon after and remains a neutral figure who meets with opposition representatives and government officials.

Since August, he has been working as chief economist at the Beirut-based U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), heading a team of six economists and 30 experts inside and outside Syria.

Al-Dardari knows he faces a monumental task in any reconstruction effort.

He estimates the overall damage to Syria's economy three years into the conflict at $60-$80 billion. The economy has shrunk by about 35 percent, compared to the 6 percent annual growth Syria marked in the five years before the conflict began in March 2011. The economy has lost almost 40 percent of its GDP, and foreign reserves have been extensively depleted. Unemployment has shot up from 500,000 before the crisis to at least 2.5 million this year.

The fighting has destroyed or damaged 1.2 million homes nationwide, a quarter of all Syrian houses, al-Dardari said. In addition, around 3,000 schools and 2,000 factories have been destroyed, and almost half of the medical system ? including hospitals and health centers ? is in ruins.

To rebuild the 1.2 million homes, Syria needs $22 billion, plus an additional $6 billion to provide electricity, water, gas and other infrastructure, he estimates.

"The projections are sobering, if not scary," al-Dardari said, adding that fighting needs to end to strengthen the chance of Syria remaining a unified country, not a collection of self-ruled, sect-based entities.

"The fighting needs to stop soon, very soon, and it needs to end with a political solution that will preserve national sovereignty and territorial integrity, or there will be no economic reconstruction, and we'll lose Syria as a country altogether," he warned.

His team has put the reconstruction of the country's energy sector as a top priority. "It will provide a major source of cash for a country that will be stripped of cash," al-Dardari said.

Before the uprising, the oil sector was a pillar of Syria's economy, with the country producing about 380,000 barrels a day and exports ? mostly to Europe ? bringing in more than $3 billion in 2010. But the vital industry has buckled as rebels captured many of the country's oil fields, setting wells aflame and looters scooping up crude. Exports have ground practically to a standstill as production has dwindled.

The priority for any postwar government, al-Dardari said, will be repairing the pipelines and wells that were destroyed, rebuilding Syrian refining capacity to its prewar level of 200,000 barrels a day and bringing daily oil exports to 160,000 or 170,000 barrels a day.

His group is also in touch with Syrian industrialists and businessmen who would form the crux of any reconstruction effort.

The prospect of implementing any rebuilding plan hinges on the ability of the country's warring parties to come together, al-Dardari said ? a tall order in the face of the sectarian hatred and brutal revenge killings that have marked the uprising,

But without territorial unity, a central authority and a strong, functioning civil administration across the country's 14 provinces, Syrian investors, who al-Dardari says will provide the bulk of funds for rebuilding, will not return and infuse the needed cash.

"If I were a Syrian businessman or woman who left Syria and took my business with me, and were to fly back into Damascus airport, I would want to see that Syrian customs ? not some sort of other entity ? and Syrian police are there," al-Dardari said.

Al-Dardari's project does not address the political makeup of a postwar government in Damascus.

"We are planning for the rebuilding of Syria after the dust settles," he said. "We don't interfere in the question of who should run Syria."

___

Follow Barbara Surk at http://www.twitter.com/BarbaraSurkAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-17-Syria-Reconstruction/id-427e181e8b4343fe8388cde84b31bc92

tupac hologram tupac back tax deadline death race buffet rule carlos santana dodgers triple play

Majority of Colorado sheriffs file suit against new gun laws

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

Sheriffs in Colorado filed a federal lawsuit Friday ahead of the implementation of new state gun laws that broaden background checks and limit the size of ammunition magazines, saying that the bills would be nearly impossible to enforce.

The laws "severely restrict citizens' rights to own, use, manufacture, sell, or transfer firearms and firearms accessories," the sheriffs said in their complaint in the U.S. district court.

"This is a bipartisan effort," said Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith. "These are Democratic sheriffs and Republican sheriffs who came together."

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, magazine-maker Magpul Industries, and the Colorado State Shooting Association were among other groups that filed suit alongside sheriffs against the laws, which are set to take effect June 1.

Scarred by some of the deadliest incidents of gun violence in American history, including last year's Aurora movie theater shooting and the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, the state's gun control bills gained national attention as various states and the federal government debated new gun restrictions.

The sheriffs said in the filing that their ability to enforce the laws, particularly the ban on magazines that hold more than 15 rounds, will be constrained by other concerns.

"The Sheriffs have limited resources and limited public funds to spend on investigations," they said in the court documents. "They cannot expend those resources to conduct investigations that would be necessary to monitor compliance with the new magazine restrictions. No documentation has ever been required for the retail or private purchase of magazines, making it a practical impossibility for the Sheriffs to determine whether one of the many magazines already in existence was obtained after the effective date."

The sheriffs also said that Coloradans would find it difficult to comply with expanded background check regulations that would require transfers between individuals to be conducted through a federally licensed firearms dealer.?That's because many licensed firearms dealers in the state "are unwilling to conduct the transfer under such conditions," they argued.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers released a statement on Friday saying that his office would pursue court rulings on the gun legislation ?as expeditiously as possible.?

?Colorado citizens, and law-abiding gun owners in particular, deserve such clarification,? Suthers said in the statement.

The state has 64 sheriffs, said Chris Olson, executive director of the County Sheriffs of Colorado. The lawsuit is being brought forth ?by individual sheriffs? and his organization is not a party to the suit, he said.

At least one lawman has said that deciding which laws are constitutional should stay out of the hands of Colorado?s sheriffs.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson, whose county includes the Aurora movie theater where 12 people were killed last year, released a statement in January pushing back against sheriffs who said they would not enforce new gun laws.

?Public safety professionals serving in the executive branch do not have the constitutional authority, responsibility, and in most case, the credentials to determine the constitutionality of any issue,? Robinson said in the statement. ?Law enforcement officials should leave it to the courts to decide whether a law is constitutional or not.?

Robinson identified himself as a supporter of Second Amendment rights in the statement, and said he would like to see better mental health services and stricter penalties for people who commit gun crimes.

Related:

?

?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2c12b747/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C170C183238420Emajority0Eof0Ecolorado0Esheriffs0Efile0Esuit0Eagainst0Enew0Egun0Elaws0Dlite/story01.htm

south by southwest i want to know what love is courtney mercury retrograde bath salts heart shaped box lucid

Ryan Seacrest Calls Randy Jackson's "American Idol" Departure 'Bittersweet'

'I am coming back, yes. I will host,' Seacrest says of his lone wolf status for next year.
By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by James Lacsina

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707358/american-idol-ryan-seacrest-randy-jackson-departure.jhtml

ashley olsen new apple tv sun flare love hewitt new ipad solar flare joseph kony 2012

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Nations pledge billions to rebuild Mali

BRUSSELS (AP) ? A plan to turn Mali into a stable democracy rather than a terrorist haven drew massive support Wednesday as various nations and international organizations pledged 3.25 billion euros ($4.22 billion) to help reconstruct the conflict-ridden West African nation.

The objective of the donors' conference in Brussels had been to raise 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) to support an ambitious 4.3 billion euro ($5.6 billion) plan drafted by Malian officials aimed at helping what many observers now view as a failed state re-emerge as a stable and secure democracy.

By Wednesday evening, the pledges made far exceeded that goal.

"This conference was a total success," Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore, said, as he expressed unreserved thanks to the international community.

While the goal had been to raise 2 billion euros, he admitted he would have been pleased with 1.6 billion. The fact that the conference raised twice that much showed just how serious a threat the international community sees in an ungoverned Mali.

A list of the pledges was not immediately released. But French President Francois Hollande said his country would contribute 280 million euros ($363.3 million). Germany committed 100 million euros to the project, to be paid out through 2014 provided Mali's planned elections take place.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the Obama administration would ask Congress for $180 million in funding for Mali in 2014, after the elections.

And a British official said the U.K. would pledge 128 million pounds ($195 million) to help make Mali and the broader Sahel region more secure ? but it was unclear how much of that was specifically for Mali.

The day before the conference, the European Union had announced it would give 520 million euros ($674.8 million ) over the next two years ? more than one-quarter of the amount sought.

Mali fell into crisis in 2012 as disparate rebel groups took over the north and a military coup ousted the government, which is based in the south. Many international officials feared that Mali's vast ungoverned northern area was giving terrorist groups free reign to hatch plots targeting other nations.

In January, France, Mali's former colonial master ? acting on the request of the Malian government ? sent troops to retake control of the northern region. They were ultimately assisted by troops from other African countries and the effort has largely been a success.

But the question is what comes next.

"The war is being won," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday. "We must now win the peace."

As the conference opened Wednesday, Mali's finance minister, Tiena Coulibaly, said the country's crisis had had grave consequences for Malians, as hotels stood empty and trade and the economy collapsed.

"This has led to poverty ? extreme poverty ? to unemployment and the occurrence of disease," Coulibaly said.

Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Program, also described a dire situation for Malians.

"We still have 300,000 people who are internally displaced from northern Mali living in southern Mali, and another 175,000 people who are in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania," Cousin told The Associated Press. "The government is now estimating that over 660,000 children under the age of five are in danger of being chronically malnourished."

Beyond that, she said, more than 700,000 adults "are in need of immediate food assistance."

She said the country could not recover as a functioning state without international assistance.

EU officials, saying that elements of the Malian army were unpaid, unmotivated and untrained, sent a mission earlier this year to train several battalions so that in the future they could keep control of the country's territory without foreign help.

International officials have insisted that, in exchange for assistance, Mali return to democracy. Traore said Tuesday that presidential elections would begin July 28 and that neither he nor members of his government would be candidates.

Mali's needs are enormous, according to EU officials. Roads and schools and infrastructure need to be rebuilt, as well as the economy, so that people ? soldiers included ? actually get paid when they show up for work. Talks with different ethnic groups ? including the Tuaregs in the north, who have rebelled periodically for years ? must be held, and a measure of decentralization agreed upon while the country's territorial integrity is preserved

Wednesday's conference was organized by France, the European Union and Mali. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said a new page had been opened in Mali's history. Traore said "a new step in the battle against terrorism" had been taken.

But humanitarian organizations warned that Wednesday's conference needed to be seen as only the beginning.

"These generous pledges to help Mali are very welcome," said Marietou Diaby, Oxfam's country director in Mali. "But they need to be seen as a down payment, not a one-off check. ... As we have seen in Afghanistan and Somalia, long-term peace cannot be achieved without a sustained commitment both within the country and within the international community."

___

Associated Press writers Cassandra Vinograd in London and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Don Melvin can be reached at https://twitter.com/Don_Melvin

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nations-pledge-billions-rebuild-mali-182252157.html

kansas vs ohio state winning mega million numbers bruce weber google maps 8 bit mirror mirror texas relays meniscus

China says EU solar duties to "seriously harm" trade ties

BEIJING | Thu May 16, 2013 5:00am EDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - China warned the European Union on Thursday that imposing duties on Chinese solar panels would "seriously harm" bilateral trade ties, upping the tone of its criticism a week after the EU said it would move ahead with hefty penalties in June.

The European Commission has agreed to impose average import duties of 47 percent on solar panels from China, according to officials, a move they say is to guard against the dumping of cheap goods in Europe.

China's Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang said he hoped reports about the duties were unreliable.

"If this information is true, this action by the European Union would seriously harm China-Europe trade relations," Shen told a news conference.

Shen said "provoking trade friction with China" was like "dropping a boulder on one's own foot" and would not help Europe break free from economic crisis.

Trade friction between China and the EU is already high. The EU has 31 trade investigations, 18 of them involving China. The solar case is the largest to date, impacting 21 billion euros ($26.9 billion) of imported Chinese solar panels, cells and wafers.

The Commission said this week it was prepared to launch another investigation into anti-competitive behavior by Chinese producers of mobile telecoms equipment.

China is expected to decide in June whether to levy its own duties on imported European, U.S. and South Korean solar-grade polysilicon, a raw material used in solar panel production.

The English-language China Daily newspaper cited an official with the surname Zhang as saying the Ministry of Commerce was likely waiting for an official EU decision before issuing its polysilicon ruling.

The EU solar duties would come into effect once the Commission publishes the decision in its Official Journal. Beijing has said it will defend against what is calls protectionist behavior.

On his first overseas trip since taking the office in March, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the end of May will stop in Germany, the world's biggest solar market last year.

German officials have called the European Commission's stance on the solar duties "hard" and say they are urging it to reach an amicable solution with China.

(Reporting by Michael Martina and Aileen Wang; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/4UB_c4Na8W4/story01.htm

thomas kinkade paintings navy jet crash virginia beach isiah thomas easter recipes live free or die hard carlos pena amanda bynes arrested

Scientists uncover fundamental property of astatine -- rarest naturally occurring element on Earth

May 14, 2013 ? An international team of scientists, including a University of York researcher, has carried out ground-breaking experiments to investigate the atomic structure of astatine (atomic number 85), the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth.

Astatine (At) is of significant interest as its decay properties make it an ideal short-range radiation source for targeted alpha therapy in cancer treatment.

The results of the project, which was conceived by Professor Andrei Andreyev, an Anniversary Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of York, and Dr Valentine Fedosseev, from CERN, the European laboratory for nuclear physics research in Geneva, are reported in Nature Communications.

Through experiments conducted at the radioactive isotope facility ISOLDE at CERN, scientists have accessed, for the first time, the ionization potential of the astatine atom. This represents the essential quantity defining chemical and physical properties of this exclusively radioactive element.

The successful measurement fills a long-standing gap in Mendeleev's periodic table, since astatine was the last element present in nature for which this fundamental property was unknown.

As binding energy of the outermost valence electron, the atomic ionization energy is highly relevant for the chemical reactivity of an element and, indirectly, the stability of its chemical bonds in compounds.

Professor Andreyev, who moved to York from the University of the West of Scotland last year, said: "Astatine is of particular interest because its isotopes are interesting candidates for the creation of radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment by targeted alpha therapy.

"The experimental value for astatine serves also for benchmarking the theories used to predict the atomic and chemical properties of super-heavy elements, in particular the recently discovered element 117, which is a homologue of astatine."

Astatine was discovered by D. Corson and co-workers in 1940 by bombarding a bismuth target with alpha particles. The most stable isotope of this element has a half-life time of only 8.1 hours. In 1964, McLaughlin studied a 70 ng sample of artificially produced radioactive isotopes of astatine and was first to observe two spectral lines in the UV region. Apart from this, no other data on astatine's atomic spectrum was known before the study launched at CERN?s ISOLDE.

At ISOLDE, short-lived isotopes created in nuclear reactions induced by a high energy proton beam release from target material and can immediately interact with laser beams inside the hot cavity of laser ion source.

Once the wavelengths of lasers are tuned in resonance with selected atomic transitions the atoms are step-wise excited and ionized due to absorption of several photons with total energy exceeding the ionization threshold. This so-called Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS), in combination with electromagnetic separator, supplies pure isotopic beams of different elements for many experiments performed at ISOLDE.

Among these, is a study of short-lived nuclides by in-source resonance ionization spectroscopy using a highly sensitive (below 1 isotope per second) detection of nuclear decay. Physicists from KU Leuven, Belgium developed the setup for this study. The first laser-ionized ions of astatine were observed and identified by its characteristic alpha-decay in these experiments. Also the ionization threshold of astatine was found by scanning the wavelength of ionizing UV laser.

A second phase of the study of the atomic spectrum of astatine took place at the ISAC radioactive isotope facility of the Canadian national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics TRIUMF in Vancouver, where new optical transitions in the infrared region of spectrum were found. With the newly found transitions a highly efficient three-step ionization scheme of astatine was defined and used at ISOLDE RILIS for further study of astatine spectrum.

The researchers probed the interesting region around the ionization threshold and found a series of highly excited resonances -- known as Rydberg states. From this spectrum the first ionization potential of astatine was extracted with high accuracy.

Dr Fedosseev, the RILIS team leader working at CERN, said: "The in-source laser spectroscopy today is a most sensitive method to study atomic properties of exotic short-lived isotopes. For artificially produced elements, like super-heavy ones, this could be a real way to probe their spectra. The success in the study of astatine spectrum added confidence to such projects started recently at GANIL, France and at JINR, Russia."

Professor Andreyev, who joined York as one of 16 Chairs established to mark the University's 50th Anniversary in 2013, added: "This development allows several new phenomena to be investigated, such as the size (radii) of astatine nuclei, along with a very exotic type of nuclear fission. Our collaboration has recently initiated a series of experiments to reach these goals."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/30tRy5lo6kc/130514112735.htm

legion baby found alive in morgue rockies second degree murders bobby petrino brian dunn vin scully

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Music City Eats: Nashville food, wine and spirits festival debuts ...

(PR NewsChannel) / May 15, 2013 / NASHVILLE, Tenn.?


MCEatsGRAMMY-Award winning artists Caleb and Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon, world-renowned chef Jonathan Waxman, Vector Management?s Ken Levitan and Andy Mendelsohn, and C3 Presents (whose festival production credentials include Austin City Limits Music Festival, Lollapalooza, and Austin FOOD & WINE Festival), are pleased to announce the debut of Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine & Spirits Festival, September 21-22, 2013. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 17, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. CT at?www.musiccityeats.com.

Quintessentially Southern with soulful spirit, Music City Eats brings together acclaimed national chefs and superstars of the local culinary scene for Nashville?s inaugural Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine & Spirits Festival. Featuring local restaurant showcases, cooking demonstrations, wine, beer & spirits tastings, intimate panel discussions and, of course, live music, Music City Eats will present the best of high and low cuisine, dishing up authentic Southern flavor in a fresh, inspiring way.

?Nashville is proud to host Music City Eats at Public Square, the front lawn of our city, to showcase our best tastes and sounds,? Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said. ?The unique combination of music and food falls right into the sweet spot of where we are as a city these days.?

?With a lineup that includes chefs Jonathan Waxman and Tim Love, and hosts Caleb and Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon, FOOD & WINE couldn?t pass up the opportunity to partner on the first-ever Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine, & Spirits Festival,? said FOOD & WINE Magazine SVP and Publisher Christina Grdovic. ?We believe that music is an essential ingredient of the FOOD & WINE experience, and there isn?t a better place to experience it than in Nashville.?

?Nashville, long admired for its music and hospitality, has had an enormous explosion of culinary talent in recent years,? said Jonathan Waxman. ?A few years ago Caleb Followill quietly slipped into my restaurant Barbuto in New York, and we bonded over food and music, and throughout our many conversations, he kept asking why there wasn?t a Food & Wine festival in his hometown of Nashville. So this year, we are doing it, and we are inviting some truly amazing chefs from around the country, and most importantly the best chefs and restaurants in Nashville. I am extremely excited by our shindig, and the Kings and I can?t wait until September rolls around.?

Taking place in the casual, laid-back atmosphere that is downtown Nashville, Music City Eats will showcase local, regional and national chefs. On Saturday and Sunday, Public Square Park festival grounds will host cooking demos, panel discussions, book signings, and the Flavors of Nashville, where the city?s top chefs and restaurants will serve their Southern dishes and fabled Nashville favorites, along with distinguished wine, beer and spirits purveyors on Saturday, and a new batch of chefs and restaurants dishing up a Revival Brunch on Sunday.

A signature event of Music City Eats is Saturday night?s Harvest Night presented by CITI and Petty Fest presented by Jameson at War Memorial Plaza and Auditorium. Featuring some of the country?s best chefs serving signature dishes, Harvest Night will offer attendees the opportunity to sample dishes from coast-to-coast, under a nearly full moon and Nashville sky before attending the all-star Petty Fest Nashville. Paying tribute to the legendary music of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Petty Fest Nashville celebrates all things Petty, and will be hosted by the Kings of Leon and the Cabin Down Below Band, along with many other very special guests.

?We love food as much as music and believe that Nashville can be a foodie haven if given the proper exposure to all of our great chef friends, which is why we are putting this festival on,? said Nathan Followill.

Flavors Of Nashville will feature an all-star line-up of chefs, including: Erik Anderson & Josh Habiger (The Catbird Seat); Carey Bringle (Pegleg Porker); Matt Farley (The Southern); Sarah Gavigan (Otaku South); Joseph Lenn (The Barn at Blackberry Farm); Pat Martin (Martin?s Barbecue); Deb Paquette (Etch); Giovanni Pinato (Giovanni Ristorante); Barclay Stratton (Merchants); Tandy Wilson (City House); and many more to be announced.

Featured chefs at Harvest Night will include: John Besh (Besh Restaurant Group, Author, TV Personality, Inedible to Incredible; New Orleans, Louisiana); Tom Colicchio (Craft Restaurants and Riverpark, TV Personality, Top Chef; New York City); Giada De Laurentiis (Chef, Author, TV Personality, Giada at Home, Everyday Italian, Next Food Network Star, The Today Show); Mike Lata (FIG, The Ordinary; Charleston, South Carolina); Edward Lee (610 Magnolia and Milkwood; Louisville, Kentucky); Donald Link (Herbsaint, Cochon, Butcher, Calcasieu, Peche; New Orleans, Louisiana); Tim Love (The Lonesome Dove, Queenie?s, Woodshed Smokehouse, Love Shack, White Elephant Saloon; Fort Worth, Texas); Aaron Sanchez (Mestizo, TV Personality, Chopped, Heat Seekers; New York City); Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo (Animal, Son of a Gun; Los Angeles); Nancy Silverton (Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza, Author; Los Angeles); Michael Symon (Lola, Lolita, Roast, B Spot, TV Personality, Next Iron Chef, Author; Cleveland, Ohio); Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto, Author, A Great American Cook and Italian My Way, Top Chef Masters; New York City); and Trisha Yearwood (TV Personality, Trisha?s Southern Kitchen.)

Ticket options include a Two-Day Pass or All-In Pass, and all attendees must be 21 years of age or older. The 2-Day Pass ($275 per person) includes access to cooking demonstrations, wine & spirits tastings, intimate panel discussions, Saturday?s Flavors of Nashville and Sunday?s Flavors of Nashville Revival Brunch, and a one-year FOOD & WINE Magazine Subscription (US Only).

The All-In Pass ($500 per person) includes access to cooking demonstrations, wine & spirits tastings, intimate panel discussions, Saturday?s Flavors of Nashville and Sunday?s Flavors of Nashville Revival Brunch, a one-year FOOD & WINE Magazine Subscription (US Only), as well as Saturday?s Harvest Night presented by CITI and Petty Fest presented by Jameson.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.musiccityeats.com, or follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/musiccityeats) and Facebook (Facebook.com/musiccityeats). Additional chefs, along with the programming schedule, will be announced in the coming weeks.

For media credentials, please fill out an online application here: www.musiccityeats.com/press

Music City Eats is generously sponsored by FOOD & WINE Magazine, Citi, Jameson Irish Whiskey, and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau.

About Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine, & Spirits Festival
Music City Eats: Nashville Food, Wine & Spirits Festival is the brainchild of Grammy award winning artists (and Nashville residents) Caleb and Nathan Followill of grammy winning band Kings of Leon, world renowned chef Jonathan Waxman, Austin-based C3 Presents ? producer of Austin FOOD & WINE Festival, Austin City Limits Music Festival, and Lollapalooza ? and Vector Management?s Ken Levitan and Andy Mendelsohn.

Taking place in the historic venues and outdoor spaces of downtown Nashville, Music City Eats makes its debut in 2013 with an authentic, fresh and inspiring experience that will have even the most discriminating gourmet coming back for more.

About C3 Presents
C3 Presents creates, books, markets and produces live experiences, concerts, and private events. C3 is the force behind Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas and Lollapalooza in Chicago. Other events in the C3 portfolio include the Austin FOOD & WINE Festival, Orion Music + More, Wanderlust Festival, Lollapalooza Brazil, Lollapalooza Chile, and Big Day Out Australia. C3 books and promotes more than 1,000 concerts in arenas, theaters, casinos, and clubs across the US annually, making it the third-largest promoter in the country. In addition to event production and booking, C3 manages the careers of select artists.

Direct link:??http://www.prnewschannel.com/2013/05/15/music-city-eats-nashville-food-wine-spirits-festival-debuts-september-21-22-2013-music-city-eats-nashville-food-wine-spirits-festival-debuts-september-21-22-2013-music-city-eats-nashville-f/

SOURCE:??Visit Music City

This press release is distributed by PR NewsChannel. Your News. Everywhere.

Source: http://www.prnewschannel.com/2013/05/15/music-city-eats-nashville-food-wine-spirits-festival-debuts-september-21-22-2013-music-city-eats-nashville-food-wine-spirits-festival-debuts-september-21-22-2013-music-city-eats-nashville-f/

fiona apple CJ Spiller tracy morgan Chase.com Talk Like a Pirate Day raiders Demi Lovato

Watch the Google I/O Keynote Right Here, Right Now

It's Google Day! Google I/O, that magical time of year when everybody's favorite search megalopolis shows off its latest doodads and Doodles. And you can watch the keynote unfold in real-time right here, starting at 12pm EST/9am PST.

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ycrSWYjWT78/watch-the-google-i-o-keynote-right-here-right-now-506725260

bob marley weather the walking dead the walking dead Walking Dead Season 3 smash Richard III

Urban Storage Startup Boxbee Is Opening For Business In The San ...

Have a lot of stuff? Don?t have a lot of space to store that stuff? Don?t know how you?d get yourself organized enough to keep track of it, even if you did have the space? No worries. Urban storage startup Boxbee has the solution to all your too-much-stuff-having problems.

The idea behind Boxbee is simple: You put stuff in a box. Then Boxbee comes and takes the box and puts it in secure storage for $6 per month per box. If you want your stuff back, Boxbee will deliver it to you for $15 plus $2 per box. Boxes are 24 inches long by 20 inches tall by 12 inches wide, so they?re not HUGE. But they should provide ample space for users to keep their winter clothes stored away for a few months.

In addition to the storage service itself, Boxbee has a web interface and mobile app for keeping track of all the stuff you?ve stored. That is, you can take photos and categorize items that you?ve got in one box or another. That way, when you need items in a particular box, you can make sure that you get the right one.

On the storage side, Boxbee manages a network of commercial warehouses and keeps tabs on what goes where with the help of barcodes. Pretty soon, it?ll be moving to RFID tags, which should improve the process even more. Since it operates in a 15-mile radius of San Francisco, the company can make deliveries from its warehouses within hours of a request being made.

Boxbee hopes that by making storage more convenient and a little less expensive than renting out a whole unit, it will be able to tap into a new market of customers who should probably be storing their crap somewhere other than their tiny apartments, but don?t want to deal with the cost and hassle of doing so.

The company launched at um, LAUNCH, where it received the best new startup award. It has been operating in private beta since then, spending the last few months as part of the AngelPad startup incubator in San Francisco (which has its demo day next week!). The startup is in the process of raising a seed round, which it will use to make a few more hires and expand into new markets.


Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/14/too-much-stuff-having-problems/

oscars jane fonda abc bradley cooper channing tatum Jennifer Aniston naomi watts

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Obama slams IRS targeting, defends Libya effort

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama on Monday called reports that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups "outrageous" and said anyone responsible should be held accountable. He pushed back strongly against fresh Republican criticism of the administration's handling of last year's deadly Benghazi attacks, calling it a political "sideshow."

The president was dogged by the persisting political controversies as he tended to diplomatic duties during a visit with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Obama acknowledged that people are properly concerned about acknowledgements from the IRS that conservative political groups were targeted during the 2012 campaign to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. But he angrily dismissed continued questions over September's insurgent attack in Libya that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

"There's no there there," Obama said. "The fact that this keeps on getting churned up, frankly, has a whole lot to do with political motivations."

Cameron and Obama had a meeting in the Oval Office before appearing before the media in the East Room of the White House to take questions.

The two leaders said they had discussed several pressing international issues, including the Mideast peace process, trade and preparations for a coming summit of the world's leading industrial nations in Northern Ireland. They said they were committed to working together to keep pressure on Syria's President Bashar Assad and assist the opposition in a protracted civil war. Cameron said, "There is no more urgent international task."

Domestically, Obama is facing heat at the start of his second term on several fronts.

The Internal Revenue Service, an independent agency in the Treasury Department, apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups. The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.

But a draft of an inspector general's report obtained by The Associated Press says senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011. The Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration is expected to release the final report this week after a yearlong investigation.

The portion of the draft report reviewed by the AP does not say whether anyone in the Obama administration outside the IRS was informed of the targeting.

Obama said he first learned about the matter from news reports last week.

"If in fact IRS persons engaged in the kind of practices that have been reported on and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that's outrageous and there's no place for it," Obama said. "And they have to be held fully accountable."

He said the IRS must operate with absolute integrity and apply laws without partisanship.

"I've got no patience with it," he said. "I will not tolerate it and we will find out exactly what happened."

Obama's response on Benghazi comes after disclosure last week of emails that the administration had turned over to congressional investigators. They show that political considerations influenced the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used five days after the Sept. 11 assault, with State Department and other senior administration officials asking that references to terror groups and prior warnings be deleted.

The White House has insisted that it made only a "stylistic" change to the intelligence agency talking points from which Rice suggested on five Sunday talk shows that demonstrations over an anti-Islamic video devolved into the Benghazi attack.

Obama said the focus should be on making sure that diplomats serving around the world are adequately protected, which he acknowledged those in Benghazi were not.

"The whole issue of talking points, frankly, throughout this process has been a sideshow," Obama said.

"If anybody out there wants to actually focus on how we make sure something like this doesn't happen again, I'm happy to get their advice and counsel," Obama said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-slams-irs-targeting-defends-libya-effort-162121360.html

Australian Open Girls Hbo Golden Globes homeland homeland Miss America 2013 Aaron Swartz

Windows 8.1 Will Be A Free Update For Windows 8 and Windows RT Users, Public Preview To Launch June 26

windows8.1Windows Blue will be called Windows 8.1 and will launch as a public preview on June 26, Microsoft revealed today. While the company remains mum about what exactly we can expect from Windows 8.1 (boot to desktop? the return of the Start menu?), Microsoft says that Windows 8.1 "will help [it] to deliver the next generation of PCs and tablets with our OEM partners and to deliver the experiences customers? both consumers and businesses alike ?need and will just expect moving forward." The update will be available for Windows 8 and the ARM-based Windows RT.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WXpIg9uKWNA/

lottery tickets mega lottery sag aftra mega mill power ball livan hernandez soledad o brien

UK's Lord Ahmed resigns from Labour Party

LONDON (AP) ? A member of Britain's House of Lords quit the Labour Party on Monday, two days before he was due to face a hearing over allegations he made anti-Semitic remarks in a television interview.

Nazir Ahmed was suspended from the Labour Party in March following a report that he blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his 2009 prison sentence for dangerous driving.

Ahmed had insisted he did not recall making the alleged comments to an Urdu-language broadcaster in Pakistan, but was due to appear before Labour's National Executive Committee on Wednesday about the accusations.

His lawyer Stephen Smith said he did not think Ahmed would have received a fair trial from the Labour panel, and the party confirmed Monday that Ahmed had resigned. He remains a member of the House of Lords.

The alleged remarks came to light when the Times of London said it had obtained footage of an Urdu-language TV interview where Ahmed blamed his 12-week prison sentence on pressure put on courts by Jewish-owned media organization.

The controversy came a year after Ahmed was suspended from the Labour Party amid reports he offered a bounty for the capture of President Barack Obama ? comments he denied.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uks-lord-ahmed-resigns-labour-party-220011274.html

the Grammys 2013 State of the Union 2013 katy perry Rihanna Katy Perry Grammys 2013 taylor swift taylor swift

Angelina Jolie has double mastectomy to elude breast cancer

By Paul Casciato

LONDON (Reuters) - Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has had a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer and says she hopes her story will inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease.

Jolie wrote in the New York Times on Tuesday the operation has made it easier for her to reassure her six children that she would not die young from cancer, like her own mother did at 56.

"We often speak of 'Mommy's mommy', and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me," wrote Jolie, 37.

"I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a 'faulty' gene."

The Oscar-winning actress said her doctors had estimated she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

"Once I knew this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy," she said.

Partner and fellow Hollywood star Brad Pitt was by Jolie's side through three months of treatment that ended late in April, she said. The two got engaged last year.

Jolie said that even though she had kept silent about her treatment while it was going on, she hoped her story would now help other women.

"I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested."

Breast cancer alone kills some 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization. It is estimated that one in 300 to one in 500 women carry a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene mutation, as Jolie does.

Her decision was hailed by breast cancer patients and charities.

Richard Francis, Head of Research at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity in Britain, said it demonstrated the importance of educating women with the gene fault.

"For women like Angelina it's important that they are made fully aware of all the options that are available, including risk-reducing surgery and extra breast screening," Francis told Reuters.

Breast Cancer Campaign Chief Executive Baroness Delyth Morgan said Jolie's openness in talking about her experience and her decision to have surgery would raise awareness of the disease and its risk.

Jolie won a 1999 best supporting actress Oscar for "Girl, Interrupted".

She lends her star power to a range of humanitarian campaigns, including serving more than 10 years as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

In April, she urged governments to step up efforts to bring wartime sex offenders to justice.

(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies and Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/angelina-jolie-says-cancer-fears-led-her-double-055255364.html

twin towers gizmodo cnet iPhone 5 9-11 Chris Brown Tattoo Innocence of Muslims

This Is The New Vikings Stadium

Last night, at a formal presentation at Minneapolis's Guthrie Theater, the Vikings released the first renderings of their new billion-dollar stadium.

Read more...

    

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/zNAJobkHAgk/this-is-the-new-vikings-stadium-505511047

fun. hepatitis c symptoms david bradley david foster wallace pinterest attwireless taylor swift zac efron

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Get to the first page of Google with your YouTube videos

I want to very quickly get back to the basics.? So let?s talk ?how to rank a video!? Traffic is the name of the game with any online business and in my opinion Video Traffic is the best form of traffic because when people come through having watched your videos, 2 things happen.

1.? They are instantly connected with you.? Meaning that they now have an opportunity to know you and of course this is your opportunity to let yourself show then the very best of what you can be and what you have to offer?and they are either going to love you or hate you.? Now don?t get upset if someone doesn?t like you.? Stay you!? Never be anything you aren?t.? In fact, embrace that divide, it weeds out your hardcore fans from those who can?t get on board.

2.? For those who love you?Feed them more!!!? Here?s what is going to happen!? If you provide content that they can absorb, benefit from and repeat, they?ll want to go deeper and watch more of your content.? That of course leads them into a more nurtured and qualified path?.Which eventually brings them through as customers.

So with that said, I want to get back to the basics and show you how you can get your videos in front of your audience and how best to move that targeted traffic from your videos into your business.


Examine the video asset you are trying to get ranked.

What is your video about? Or better yet what is your business about?

It starts with your audience, can you answer these questions:

Who is your ideal audience?? What are they searching for?? And what are you solving for them?

If you can answer the first question, then I can help you with getting the 2nd?and then of course it is really up to you to answer the third question, ?What are you solving for them.?

So with that said, let?s take a look at what your ideal client or audience is searching for.

Here is a Fact:? Because Google owns YouTube, it give a higher ranking in the search engines to YouTube videos.? So when optimizing a YouTube video your goal is to not only get ranked inside YouTube, but Google as well.

That?s why we are going to start with taking a look at search results with Google?s Keyword Tool. (If you want to get access to Google?s keyword tool simply search for ?Google Keyword Tool?)

1.? Keyword analysis.

Keyword analysis is one of the most important aspects to target marketing.? For those that do not know, the keywords of a text are the buzzwords that describe whatever your content is about.

So in the case of Video, when we are Titling, Describing and Tagging a video, we must have accurate and descriptive keywords that explain what the video is about.? That is the first layer.? The second layer to Keywords is that you want to use Keywords that are already being searched.

We are going to examine?Google?s Keyword Tool search results and compare it to YouTube?s Keyword Tool results. (Did you realize that YouTube had it?s own keyword tool? Yep, in fact YouTube has its own search algorithm)? In this video, let?s dive in to keyword optimizing your video!? You might be surprised with what we find.

In this video let?s take a look at the keyword phrase:

How to Sing?

Funny enough this keyword phrase gets16 Million Global Monthly Searches and has Low competition. (NICE!)

In fact let?s see what that search result is when we type it into Google.

In the above video we go into doing a bit of keyword analysis.

However I didn?t get time to do the video uploading and optimization in YouTube, so with that said, I am going to do a new post where we delve deeper into uploading the YouTube video and optimizing it with the appropriate title, description and tags.? However I am only offering it up to those who sign up to the VTC early bird list.?

VTC is my new course that I am rolling out soon and you have an opportunity to get it at a big discount by signing up to the early bird list below.

You can learn more about it by clicking below!

Click Through To Get Access to The VTC Early Bird List and Access to The Next Video Optimization Post.

If You Liked This Get More With Free Email Updates

Source: http://caseyzemanonline.com/2013/05/how-to-get-to-the-first-page-google-with-your-youtube-videos/

news channel 9 insanity workout mass effect 3 launch trailer yelp huntsville al channel 2 news adrienne bailon

Councilman: Ohio kidnap victims getting lawyers

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - Manchester City 0 Wigan Athletic 1 - FA Cup final result at Wembley Stadium Scorer: Ben Watson 90 Red card: Pablo Zabaleta, Manchester City 84th Halftime: 0-0; Att: 86,254 Lineups: Manchester City: 1-Joe Hart; 5-Pablo Zabaleta, 33-Matija Nastasic, 4-Vincent Kompany, 22-Gael Clichy; 21-David Silva, 42-Yaya Toure; 18-Gareth Barry (10-Edin Dzeko 90+1), 32-Carlos Tevez (17-Jack Rodwell 69), 8-Samir Nasri (7-James Milner 54), 16-Sergio Aguero Wigan Athletic: 1-Joel Robles; 17-Emmerson Boyce, 3-Antolin Alcaraz, 33-Paul Scharner, 18-Roger Espinoza; 16-James McArthur, ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/councilman-ohio-kidnap-victims-getting-lawyers-184036865.html

Phil Ramone louisville Kevin Ware Injury Video Richard Griffiths FGCU Reid Flair tony romo