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Source: http://twitter.com/wbaustin/statuses/252043861969494016
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Sunday, September 30, 2012
Video: Can race pendulum swing back?
In Afghanistan, who is in charge?
??On Saturday night, an Afghan soldier approached Americans, killing a soldier and a contractor; with that, the number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan is around 2,100 in the United States? 11-year-war in the country. Insider attacks have become increasingly common ? and no one seems to have a good answer about how to stop them. NBC?s Lester Holt and Richard Engel report from Kabul.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/49229946#49229946
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Faces Of Child Labor (PHOTOS)
Though it may seem a barbaric practice of the past, child labor is still alive and well in the U.S. and around the world, and international efforts to stop abuses of child labor by 2016 are moving slowly.
The U.S. Labor Department this week released a report that found 134 products in 17 countries that may have ties to child or forced labor. Major companies like Chuck E. Cheese have been fined for allegedly violating child labor laws, and popular products, including Hershey chocolate bars, have been accused of having ties to child labor. Thanks to opposition from big agriculture, the White House recently scrapped rules proposed last year that would have prevented minors from performing certain agricultural tasks.
Child labor has long been a part of economic life. In U.S. history, as the Industrial Revolution moved the workplace from farm to factory, employers often preferred child workers because they were less likely to strike and were usually cheaper, according to the Child Labor Public Education Project. Child labor was such a prominent part of factory life that in 1938 the federal government was forced to pass a law to set age minimums and hour limits.
Below, photos of child labor from 1911 offer a look back and a reminder of conditions that persist today:
Also on HuffPost:
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Saturday, September 29, 2012
Flea Markets and Antique Shops | Canada Forum | Fodor's Travel ...
We will be in Montreal the first week of October and will have some free time to do some shopping. I am interested in Flea Markets and Antique Shops. I do not want to look at a lot of junk but neither do I want 'pedigree' antiques. Just looking to have a fun day and maybe find a treasure.
Thank you for any hints or help that you can share.
loveyblue
Source: http://www.fodors.com/community/canada/flea-markets-and-antique-shops.cfm
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The 12 Best Social Networking Apps - Business Insider
Kevin Smith, Business Insider
Realizing that 100 apps is?a lot to digest, we decided to break up the list by category.
Over the next several days we'll republish the individual sections to help you get through the best apps easier.
Here's our definitive list of the best social media apps you can get today.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/best-social-media-apps-in-the-world-2012-9
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Pornography's Effect on the Brain, Part 1 | The Occidental Observer ...
NEMO REPENTE FUIT TURPISSIMUS
?No one became extremely wicked all at once.? ? Juvenal, Satires
The aim of this essay is a controversial one: to provide evidence in support of the thesis that porn addiction, especially when accompanied by compulsive masturbation over a long period, alters brain chemistry and can eventually produce brain damage. This is not a conspiracy theory. It is an intellectually defensible thesis for which there is now a growing body of scientific evidence.
Perhaps the quickest way to tame and tranquilize an unruly nation is to turn its citizens into sex addicts: for just as children are easily taken in by predators who tempt them with candy, most people are only too pleased to live under governments that offer them the seductive pleasures of porn: that is to say, cheap and easy orgasms as substitutes for happiness.
Sex addiction, especially when fueled by internet pornography, has been likened to crack cocaine or heroin addiction, only much worse. It allows its victims no respite. It is a sickness of the soul that drives many to suicide, transforming its worst sufferers, like Ted Bundy and Gary Bishop, into serial killers. (See here and here).
The striking similarity between orgasm and the heroin rush was confirmed in 2003 when Dutch scientist Gert Holstege announced in a press release relating to his research that brain scans of orgasm resembled brain scans of shooting heroin. Laboratory rats know all about this, as a famous experiment in the 1950s by James Olds and Peter Milner conclusively demonstrated.
1.? UNDERSTANDING? BEHAVIOR? MODIFICATION
Rats go into a veritable frenzy pressing levers (in Skinner boxes) in order to give themselves powerful pleasurable sensations, even if it means depriving themselves of food and life. ?Some rats,? we are told, ?would self-stimulate as often as 2000 times per hour for 24 hours, to the exclusion of all other activities. They had to be unhooked from the apparatus to prevent death by self-starvation. Pressing that lever became their entire world.?
In a subsequent related experiment involving humans, a woman suffering from severe pain was allowed to stimulate the pleasure centers of her brain by turning an amplitude dial: so much so that she developed a chronic ulceration at her fingertip. She became so addicted to erotic self-stimulation that she had to beg her family to limit her access to the stimulator. (See also here)
OPERANT CONDITIONING CHAMBER OR ?SKINNER BOX?
American behaviorist psychologist BF Skinner (1904-1990) devised the operant conditioning chamber or Skinner box in the early 1930s. His object was to experiment with behavior modification in animals and then apply the same results to human beings. His major discovery was the concept of reinforcement: behavior that receives positive reinforcement (reward) tends to be repeated and strengthened, and behavior that receives negative reinforcement (punishment) tends to be extinguished. When placed in the Skinner box, the rat will learn to press a lever. This will trigger a reinforcing stimulus such as food or water, or a punishing stimulus such as an electric shock. The rat will rapidly learn to press the right lever and avoid the wrong one. In short, good habits can be acquired and bad habits destroyed in a systematic and scientific way under laboratory conditions.
Seven important points are worth noting here. These will allow the reader to trace the connection between operant conditioning and porn addiction.
(1) In the 1950s, psychologists James Olds and Peter Milner made a vitally important breakthrough in behavior modification research: they introduced innovations to the Skinner box so that the lever, instead of delivering food pellets when pressed, would now deliver direct brain stimulation through electrodes planted deep in the brain. Rats would now press the lever as many as 7000 times an hour to stimulate the pleasure centers of their brains. All other activities, including eating and drinking, were neglected. Every single moment was spent in pleasurable self-stimulation.
(2) How does this relate to porn addiction? Quite simply, the porn addict is behaving exactly like the rat in a Skinner box. His lever is masturbation, and his positive reinforcement or reward is the orgasm. His addiction is the result of self-imposed operant conditioning, i.e., he is conditioning himself without knowing it. The buildup to orgasm and the orgasm itself is accompanied by direct brain stimulation through the release of psychotropic chemicals into the bloodstream, especially dopamine, that produce precisely the same feelings of elation and euphoria in the porn addict which the rat experiences by the stimulation of the electrodes implanted in its brain.
(3) What triggers the release of the psychotropic chemicals into the bloodstream? The exciting erotic images. So it goes like this: Erotic mind pictures ?> trigger psychotropic chemicals ??> which stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain ?> which in turn produces obsessive-compulsive behavior (or addiction) in an attempt to relive the pleasurable sensations ??> which finally cause neuroplastic changes in brain structure as a result of constant chemical bombardment.
(4) Further brain research was to give rise to truly spectacular results in behavior modification, but this was at the cost of ?deeply unethical experiments?, to quote one politically correct academic researcher. This research, conducted by two daring and enterprising scientists called Drs. Moan and Heath, was abruptly halted because, among other things, it had come up with a possible cure for homosexuality. Moan and Heath had obtained permission to engage the services of a hooker to see if she could turn on a confirmed homosexual male in the laboratory. Initially, the sight of this sexy young woman not only left patient B-19 completely cold but actually disgusted him. He found the idea of having sex with an attractive female quite repulsive. However, on being wired up and having the pleasure centers of his brain stimulated with electrodes, while the hooker proceeded to perform her tricks on him, patient B-19 began to perk up and soon experienced an impressive ?erection. ?And then, despite the milieu and the encumbrance of the electrode wires [poor B-19 was attached to an EEG machine the whole time], he successfully ejaculated [in her vagina].?
(5)? Needless to say, such experimentation could not be allowed to continue, even with B-19?s full consent and cooperation and even though many homosexuals might want to become heterosexual and start families. It was political dynamite. So the experiments were abruptly halted, with Drs. Moan and Heath receiving a sharp rap on the knuckles and the stern disapproval of their politically correct peers. Since we are expected to believe that homosexuality is as ?normal? and ?healthy? a practice as heterosexuality, it follows that it is deeply offensive and ?homophobic? to suggest that homosexuals might want to undergo heterosexual conditioning to ?normalize? them. Even if they should wish to become heterosexuals, they should not be allowed to do so ?on ethical grounds.? After all, one does not allow people to self-mutilate or commit suicide. One needs to protect them from themselves. In the same way, homosexuals, for their own good, need the state to protect them from the threat of heterosexuality.
(6)? The blocking of research into sensitive areas of behavior modification for political reasons has had far-reaching consequences which cannot be discussed here in detail. Suffice to say that if it is considered ?ethically wrong? (= politically incorrect) to permit research that would yield an effective cure for homosexuality, then huge sacrifices in knowledge are deliberately being made in order to maintain the status quo on behalf of a corrupt elite?an elite that is not only against the idea of heterosexualizing gays but is actually committed to the homosexualization of America ? beginning with the homosexualization of children and their corruption by exposing them to child porn in the classroom.? ?
(7)? It is clear that successful behavior modification could, in theory, produce a Utopian society of model citizens. There need be no more sociopathic and criminal behavior in society, no more personality disorders, no more phobias and manias, no more neuroses, no more depression, no more crippling addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, eating, shopping, and self-harming. ?Such vast improvements in the mental health of society clearly cannot be permitted. If there were no more criminals, what would the police and legal profession do? There would no longer be a need for their services. That cannot be allowed. They need criminals. Fighting crime is their job. Similarly, if there are no more sick people, what would Big Pharma and the medical profession do? They need sick people. Fighting sickness is their job. A sad situation indeed when the greatest threat to the established order is a Utopian society of model citizens who have nothing wrong with them! Perfection, if it were ever achieved, would have to be banned.
(For further details on some of the points listed above, see here, here and here)
2.? PORN ADDICTION COMPARED TO HEROIN OR CRACK COCAINE ADDICTION
Columbia university neurologist Dr Norman Doidge, in his book The Brain That Changes Itself, describes how pornography causes rewiring of the neural circuits. He notes that in a study of men viewing internet pornography, the men looked ?uncannily? like rats pushing the levers in experimental Skinner boxes. ?Like the addicted rats,? Dr Doidge points out, ?the men were desperately seeking their next fix, clicking the mouse just as the rats pushed the lever.?
All addictions, Dr Dodge tells goes on to tell us, cause ?lifelong, neuroplastic changes in the brain.? This includes porn addiction:
Dopamine is also involved in plastic change. The same surge of dopamine that thrills us also consolidates neuronal connections. An important link with porn is that dopamine is also released in sexual excitement, increasing the sex drive in both sexes, facilitating orgasm, and activating the brain?s pleasure centers. Hence the addictive power of pornography.
The men at their computers looking at porn were uncannily like the rats in the cages of the NIH, pressing the bar to get a shot of dopamine or its equivalent. Though they didn?t know it, they had been seduced into pornographic training sessions that met all the conditions required for plastic change of brain maps. Since neurons that fire together wire together, these men got massive amounts of practice wiring these images into the pleasure centers of the brain, with the rapt attention necessary for plastic change.
They imagined these images when away from their computers, or while having sex with their girlfriends, reinforcing them. Each time they felt sexual excitement and had an orgasm when they masturbated, a ?spritz of dopamine,? the reward neurotransmitter, consolidated the connections made in the brain during the sessions. (See here)
It is in this way that pornography becomes a serious addiction, comparable to heroin or crack cocaine addiction, and begins its slow and deadly assault on the brain.? And as other research has shown, it facilitates callousness in sexual relationships?sex completely divorced from love and an interest in family and children.
3.? PORNOGRAPHY AND BRAIN DAMAGE: IS THERE A LINK?
Recent research has shown that pornographic images become permanently embedded in the brain, releasing large amounts of naturally occurring chemicals into the bloodstream: e.g., dopamine, epinephrine, oxytocin, serotonin, vasopressin, prolactin, and enkephalins or endogenous opiods, i.e., the brain?s own endorphins. People who view porn obsessively become literally intoxicated: drunk with an overdose of psychotropic chemicals. These mind-altering substances are now known as erototoxins, a relatively recent neologism meaning ?sex poisons?. This poison-bearing pornography, it has been shown in recent laboratory tests, ?actually alters brain chemistry? and will in time produce brain damage.
Just as alcohol in large quantities consumed over a long period will damage the liver and kidneys, and just as long-term tobacco addiction will adversely affect the? lungs and cardiovascular system, so highly charged erotic imagery accompanied by compulsive masturbation can eventually, it is argued, lead to chemico-biological brain damage. This will of course be strenuously denied by the Masturbation Lobby, but the claim has nevertheless been made by responsible medical researchers.
Dr. Gary Lynch, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine, in discussing the effect that a single highly erotic image can have on the brain, points out ominously:? ?What we are saying here is that an event which lasts half a second [image imprint], within five to ten minutes has produced a structural change that is in some ways as profound as the structural changes one sees in [brain] damage.? (See here)
Dr Judith Reisman goes one step further. She refers to this brain damage as ?brain sabotage?, thereby implying that pornographers are in fact engaged in a species of ?sex terrorism?. She asks:
How does this ?brain sabotage? occur? Brain scientists tell us that ?in 3/10 of a second a visual image passes from the eye through the brain, and whether or not one wants to, the brain is structurally changed and memories are created; ?we literally grow new brain? with each visual experience.? Children and others who cannot read can instantly decode and experience images?. In fact, erotic (any highly arousing) images commonly subvert left hemisphere cognition.
Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, Psychiatrist and Professor at Princeton University, in his testimony to a Senate subcommittee on pornography toxicity, expresses himself even more forcefully:
Like cigarettes, that particular form of expression we call pornography is a delivery system that has a distinct and powerful effect upon the human brain and nervous system. Exactly like cigarettes, this effect is to cause a powerful addiction. Like any other addiction, the addiction is both to the delivery system itself?the pornography?and to the chemicals that the delivery system delivers.
It may seem surprising that I should speak of ?chemicals,? when one might be thinking instead of ?sex.? But, in fact, modern science allows us to understand that the underlying nature of an addiction to pornography is chemically nearly identical to a heroin addiction. (Emphasis added)
The pornography addict soon forgets about everything and everyone else in favor of an ever more elusive sexual jolt. He will eventually be able to find it only among other ?junkies? like himself, and he will place at risk his career, his friends, his family. He will indulge his habit anywhere and everywhere, at any time. No one, no matter how highly placed, is immune. (See here)
Porn addiction, we are told by practicing neurosurgeon Donald L. Hilton, Jr., MD, produces long-term brain damage in which
the frontal lobes atrophy or shrink. Addiction scientists have called this condition hypofrontality and have noted a similarity in the behavior of [porn] addicted persons to the behavior of patients with frontal brain damage? [which] can also result from a car wreck.
All addictions create, in addition to chemical changes in the brain, anatomical and pathological changes which result in various manifestations of cerebral dysfunction collectively labeled hypofrontal syndromes. In these syndromes, the underlying defect, reduced to its simplest description, is damage to the ?braking system? of the brain.
They are well known to clinical neuroscientists, especially neurologists and neurosurgeons, for they are also seen with tumors, strokes, and trauma. Indeed, anatomically, loss of these frontal control systems is most apparent following trauma, exemplified by progressive atrophy of the frontal lobes seen in serial MRI scans over time.
Not a peep of any of this in the mainstream media. You don?t need three guesses to know why. The world porn industry generates $97 billion a year in revenues. If porn damages your brain, this is the last thing the wealthy elitists who run the world and control the mass media would wish to tell you. ?The publishing industry is now heavily involved in pornography,? Dr E. Michaels Jones points out, ?and it is not in their interests to explain to the public that they are in the business of enslaving people.? (p.560)
Is one a Victorian prude for suggesting there is something seriously amiss here? The simple fact is that one awkward question remains unanswered by all these self-appointed ?sex experts??many of them egregious frauds and sexual perverts like Kinsey and Reich?and it is this: how can all this compulsive masturbation and porn consumption be good for you if they end up damaging your brain?
Masturbation doesn?t necessarily make you blind. Let?s hope it doesn?t. Maybe it?s not the eyes, but the brain, that ardent aficionados of the solitary vice need to worry about.
?End of Part 1
Dr Lasha Darkmoon (email her) is?an academic with higher degrees in Classics. She is also a?poet and translator. Her articles can be read here, her poetry here.?
Source: http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2012/09/pornographys-effect-on-the-brain-part-1/
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Video: Opportunity, education for girls in Afghanistan
>>> american troops have been here in afghanistan for nearly 11 years. there is a growing population of afghans who have come of age since then. they no longer want to be defined by the struggles of their parents, the soviet invasion , civil war , and the rise of the taliban . richard engel is nbc's chief foreign correspondent. richard , good to see you.
>> it's good to see you here. this war has been going on a long time. the afghans remember when it started. some of the kids were just 5 and 6 years old that we spoke to. there have been some improvements for afghan people . but as we saw, it has not won the american people a lot of loyalty or many thank yous.
>> reporter: there has been undeniable progress for afghans because of america's longest war . without it, many of the newborns at this kabul clinic delivered premature or after complicated pregnancies wouldn't be alive. the director of this clinic wouldn't be here either if it weren't for the war. the taliban banned women from top professions.
>> it was the first time in afghanistan , i think, that a lady leading this unit.
>> reporter: just a few blocks away, more changes. thousands of girls going to school. the taliban banned girls education and used this school as the headquarters. under the taliban , almost no girls went to school. now nearly three million do. in fact, about 35% of all school children in this country are girls. it's a dramatic social change the taliban is still fighting. we met this 17-year-old. bright, pretty, smart, she wants to be an economist someday. but like everyone here, she worries about what will happen after the americans leave.
>> maybe a past situation, like women were not able to go out. they were just allowed to stay at home and do the home chores.
>> reporter: she returned from pakistan with her family after the taliban fell. her family is making contingency plans to leave again.
>> who knows what happens in future. i'm real concerned.
>> reporter: this 15-year-old is the top student in her class. a fan of beyonce and other american poll culture, she isn't convinced the u.s. did any good here. do you think that the americans should or should not have come to afghanistan ?
>> what can i say? leave us guys alone.
>> reporter: the war has been too long. too many deaths.
>> reporter: you think it's time to leave?
>> yeah. pack up and go.
>> reporter: if the united states hasn't won the heart and mind of this 15-year-old, what about the rest of afghans?
>> richard , the fact that a generation is now coming of age post- taliban , is that in itself the best defense of the taliban coming back into power, folks who would stand firm?
>> maybe not. the taliban is an armed group. these schoolgirls are not going to fight against the taliban . they are all very worried about what is going to happen in this country. and we've spoken to politicians, political analysts, and they think after these troops leave that there could be a civil war in this country, and many afghans now don't remember 9/11. they just remember ten years of war. and they're asking themselves why? why did this happen? why did we have to have all of this war for ten years?
>> 300,000 afghan troops, local police , national police have been trained. the strategy to get these folks home is to turn it over to afghan troops. questions about readiness and supplies and that sort of thing. but are they fighting an enemy who has an organization -- are the taliban fragmented? are they the fighting force that they used to be?
>> there are many groups. we all call them the taliban . there's different groups that fall under the umbrella of the taliban . right now the afghan security forces have an advantage. they have the upper hand because they have american fire power , air power behind them. once the americans leave, it will be a much more even fight with the taliban and other militant groups here.
>> all right, richard . thanks again.
Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49222591/
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US consumers more confident in September
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Higher stock prices and rising home values boosted a measure of consumer confidence in September to its second-highest level in nearly five years.
The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment rose to 78.3 this month from 74.3 in August. That's just below May's reading of 79.3, which was the highest since January 2008.
Americans were also more optimistic about future jobs prospects, the survey found. And the number of consumers who expect the economy to keep growing is double the number of those who expect a decline.
The report echoes a survey released Tuesday by the Conference Board that also found a jump in confidence.
But the brighter outlook hasn't yet translated into more spending. Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending barely grew in August, the Commerce Department said Friday.
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Small Business Owners - Sage Ireland
Sep 27 2012
By Nick Goode, Head Of Sage One
A colleague and good friend of mine, who runs a large customer services operation, often says ?our customers don?t buy products, they buy peace of mind and time back?. From customers I hear all the time that admin, bookkeeping, finances, payroll are a necessary pain.
Sometimes I wonder why I am in the world of cloud accounting and payroll! A different way of thinking about this is that if we do a great job of providing online services that all start-ups and small businesses need, and make these as easy, affordable and secure as possible, then we are actually giving peace of mind and time back.
Our customer services teams know well that there can be a surge of calls between 6 and 9pm. Why? Because many sole traders and very small businesses get home and do their admin. Running a business sounds like a dream to many but the juggling required is not for the work shy. We?d rather those business owners put their feet up, go to the gym, play with their kids, than do their admin in their leisure time. If you knew you could invoice your clients during the day, input expenses and customer information on the go, you?d get time back.
One of our accountants in the UK explains time back really well in his video on Sage One. Cloud technology is not just ?online?, it?s connected: your business data connected to your accountant so that he or she can amend, advise, update your accounts whenever they want.
Payroll can be a monthly and annual chore with month and year end tying you to your desk. Not any more. We challenge you to pay your staff in under five minutes from your sofa with Sage One Payroll. All the paperwork is stored online and you can use your iPad or whatever device you choose from wherever you are.
Social media, online email and phone apps have raised the bar on usability and this spills over into business apps too. You?re on your own, you need this to work, it has to be intuitive. Time and peace of mind, again.
Finally, security. What gives you more peace of mind, your own computer or someone else?s? Your own I imagine. But what if someone else has the latest security software, in the most scalable data centre, with ?failover? so that if one computer fails another picks up its data and processes? The irony in my opinion is that data in the cloud is more secure that at arm?s reach. Adjacent to security, availability, I?ve never accidently overwritten a document online, or lost my data altogether. Online your data is more secure and more available that it is at home? peace of mind.
Sage One, our cloud based accounts and payroll software.
Related posts:
Source: http://www.sage.ie/blog/index.php/small-business-owners-time-sage/
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Gunman kills businessman, 3 others at Minn. office
This undated photo provided by Chad Blumenfield shows his father-in-law Reuven Rahamim, owner of Accent Signage Systems, a sign-making business in Minneapolis that was the site of a workplace shooting Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. A police spokesman says the gunman killed four people, including Rahamim, and injured four more before turning the gun on himself. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Chad Blumenfield)
This undated photo provided by Chad Blumenfield shows his father-in-law Reuven Rahamim, owner of Accent Signage Systems, a sign-making business in Minneapolis that was the site of a workplace shooting Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. A police spokesman says the gunman killed four people, including Rahamim, and injured four more before turning the gun on himself. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Chad Blumenfield)
Officers with the Minnesota State Patrol man the Penn Avenue bridge over Bassett's Creek near the scene of a shooting at a business in the 2300 block of Chestnut Avenue West in Minneapolis, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. The shooter who opened fire inside a Minneapolis sign company was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Thursday and was among "several" people killed in the incident, the city's deputy police chief said. (AP Photo/The St. Paul Pioneer Press, John Autey)
An unidentified woman is consoled at the scene of a shooting that left at least two dead and four others wounded at Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Richard Tsong-Taatarii) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT
An officer walks through the area as police investigate a shooting at Accent Signage Systems on the north side of Minneapolis Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. Police say left at least two people were killed and four others wounded. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Renee Jones Schneider) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT
An officer secures the area as police investigate a shooting that left at least two dead and four others wounded at Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Richard Tsong-Taatarii) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? A man burst into a sign-making business in Minneapolis, fatally shooting the owner and three others in the office before turning the gun on himself, family and officials said Friday.
Police have not revealed the name or apparent motive of the shooter who injured at least four others in the Thursday afternoon attack, and say a search of the suspect's home turned up nothing.
Reuven Rahamim, 61, was shot to death in "a senseless act of violence" at Accent Signage Systems Inc. in Bryn Mawr, a mainly residential neighborhood on the northwest side of the city, son-in-law Chad Blumenfield said in a statement.
"Other members of the Accent family tragically lost their lives as well, and we mourn their loss," Blumenfield said. He provided no details.
UPS driver Keith Basinski was among those killed, the mail service said in a statement Friday. UPS Northern Plains District President Jill Schubert did not say why Basinski was at the Accent offices. She said the company was "profoundly shocked and saddened" at his death.
Authorities have not revealed the names of the others killed.
A police summary describes a chaotic scene with multiple 911 calls from the business and one caller saying someone had been shot. When police arrived, they found four people already dead. Dozens of police squad cars and SWAT officers swarmed the area. The first officers on the scene evacuated workers from the business and closed off several blocks.
Of the wounded, John Souter's condition was upgraded from critical to serious as of Friday morning and Eric Rivers remained in critical condition, according to Christine Hill, a spokeswoman for the Hennepin County Medical Center where they were being treated. She had no information on the condition of a third man earlier listed in critical condition.
A fourth person injured has been treated and released, Hill said Friday.
Late Thursday, police searched a house in south Minneapolis where the suspected shooter had lived but found "nothing that we know of," police spokesman Sgt. Stephen McCarty told the Associated Press. He confirmed the address of the suspect's home but declined to confirm a newspaper report that named the gunman.
There was no evidence of life at that house early Friday except a light in the basement and a boarded-up window with pieces of broken glass nearby. No one responded to a knock on the door.
Thomas Pitheon, a neighbor who lives across the alley, said he came home just after dark Thursday and found "about a dozen" SWAT team members around the house. Pitheon said he had only exchanged pleasantries with the homeowner whom he described as "an average guy" in his 40s.
Rahamim started Accent Signage Systems, Inc. in the basement of his Minneapolis home in the early 1980s, according to the business publication Finance & Commerce. Rahamim said he chose that name because he wanted it to be the first sign company listed in the Yellow Pages.
The small interior signage company specializes in American with Disabilities Act-compliant signs after developing a patented method to create Braille signs for the blind. U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce Francisco Sanchez praised the company for its innovation during a visit to the facility in August, the paper reported.
Rahamim was born and raised in Israel and served as a soldier in the Israeli army before coming to the U.S., Blumenfield said.
"He loved his work and dedicated much of his energy to developing new and greener products," he said by email. "He loved cooking and having people over at his home. He loved spending time with his children and grandchildren and especially loved to take his grandson for bike rides."
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton expressed his condolences.
"I deplore this senseless violence," Dayton said. "There is no place for it anywhere in Minnesota."
___
Associated Press writers Patrick Condon, Doug Glass and Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis, Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee, and Barbara Rodriguez in Chicago contributed to this report.
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Friday, September 28, 2012
The Values of Colleges Do Matter
When comparing the colleges in any area, you may spend a lot of time focusing on the curriculum offerings and the type of programs the school is known for through alumni success. You may want to get into a specific program. You may be looking for a scholarship. However, all of this is very important but so is the value set of the school. What type of core values does it have? Is it able to meet your needs through these values? If you are not sure, take the time to learn a bit more about the school before you decide to enroll.
Quality Education
One of the key things you should see in the core values of the colleges you are considering is the quality of the education provided. Some schools teach curriculums that are outdated or that fail to meet the demands of the industry in which the student will enter. The fact is, if the quality of education is not there, you cannot succeed in the best possible manner. Find out what the school offers to help you to know they are committed to constantly providing the highest quality of education possible.
Available Resources
Times are tough for some universities. This is evident in the rising tuition costs and the dwindling number of enrollees. However, as you are considering which school to attend, be sure the one you do select has the resources to meet your needs. This includes the human resources to teach classes at a smaller size. It includes financial resources to ensure that all classrooms are stocked and that all materials you need are onsite. It also includes providing you with buildings, classrooms, and equipment that are well maintained and up-to-date. Does the facility really offer the right resources for your success?
Preparing You for the World
While your focus may be on obtaining a degree, it is also important to consider whether the college has the tools to help you to enter the world and find a job easily. Does it offer career-planning services? Does the school consistently train and adjust curriculums to meet the needs of the workforce? You want to know that when you leave this school that you will have the tools, knowledge, and skills to get a job in the field.
Colleges are not all the same. As you consider all of the options you have, nothing is more important than having a school that?s dedicated to helping you to succeed. This is a growing and changing industry and only the best facilities can prepare you for the work force that lies ahead of you. Look for a school with a set of values that makes it clear to you that the facility is doing all it can to prepare you.
When you are considering michigan colleges, make sure to do your research. You can start by visiting https://www.swmich.edu.
Source: http://toddsblogs.com/referenceandeducation/2012/09/28/the-values-of-colleges-do-matter/
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D-Day for al-Qaida in Somalia? Last bastion attacked
By NBC News wire services
MOGADISHU, Somalia --?Troops launched an amphibious assault before dawn Friday on the al-Qaida militant group al-Shabab's last stronghold in Somalia.
Other African Union forces were traveling overland to link up with the joint Kenyan-Somali force in the port city of Kismayo.
The commander of the U.N-backed African Union troops, Lt. Gen. Andrew Gutti, said the aim was to "liberate the people of Kismayo to enable them to lead their lives in peace, stability and security."
Col. Cyrus Oguna, the Kenyan military's top spokesman, said the attack met minimal resistance, but al-Shabab denied that the city had fallen and said fighting was taking place.
Oguna told The Associated Press that al-Shabab, which formally merged with al-Qaida in February, had incurred "heavy losses" but that Kenyan forces have not yet had any injuries or deaths.
"We came from the beach side and we're moving towards the main city. Our surveillance aircraft are monitoring every event taking place on the ground," he told Reuters.
"For now, we're not everywhere. We've taken a large part of it without resistance, I don't see anything major happening," he said.
Born in the USA, but now among Somalia's Islamist terrorists
Residents in Kismayo, a city of about 193,000 people, contacted by The Associated Press said that Kenyan troops had taken control of the port, but not the whole city.
"Al-Shabab fighters are on the streets and heading toward the front line in speeding cars. Their radio is still on the air and reporting the war," resident Mohamed Haji told The Associated Press. Haji said that helicopters were hitting targets in the town in southeastern Somalia.
At an international one-day summit Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said the world would "pay a price" if it fails to help Somalia overcome terrorism, piracy and starvation. ITV's Lee Comley reports.?
Another resident, Ismail Suglow, told Reuters that he could hear shelling from the ships and that the rebels were responding with anti-aircraft guns.
"We saw seven ships early in the morning and now their firing looks like lightning and thunder. Al-Shabab have gone towards the beach. The ships poured many AU troops on the beach," he added.
Expert: War on terror at 'critical' point as al-Qaida looks to regroup in Africa
On Thursday, residents said planes had dropped leaflets on Kismayo warning civilians to evacuate within 24 hours, Reuters reported.?More than 10,000 residents fled Kismayo in the last several weeks.
Resident Faduma Abdulle said Friday that she is now leaving too.
She said al-Shabab made an announcement on its radio station Friday to trick residents into moving toward the invading troops.
"They told residents through their radio to loot a Kenyan ship that washed up on the coast, but instead the residents who rushed there were attacked by helicopters," she said. "Some of them have died but I don't know how many. The situation is tense and many are fleeing. It's a dangerous situation."
A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Cdr. Dave Hecht, said the U.S. Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, is closely monitoring the situation but that "we are not participating in Kenya's military activities in the region."
Militants: Taking city not 'a piece of cake'
Al-Shabab said it would not give up Kismayu easily.
"Going into Kismayo is not a piece of cake. We are still fighting them on the beach where they landed," Sheik Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab's spokesman for military operations, told Reuters on Friday. "For us, this is just the beginning, our troops are spread everywhere."
Oguna said the assault is part of a four-prong attack involving Kenyan forces currently in villages outside Kismayo.
The amphibious assault landed between 10:30 p.m. Thursday and 2 a.m. Friday local time (3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Thursday ET)?, he said. Some of the troops had night-vision goggles, he said.
Somali Olympic chief killed in Mogadishu suicide blast
African Union troops pushed al-Shabab out of Mogadishu in August 2011, ending four years of control of the capital by the fighters.
The Ugandan and Burundian troops that make up the bulk of the African Union force in Mogadishu have slowly been taking control of towns outside of Mogadishu.
The expanding control by AU troops sent al-Shabab fighters fleeing south toward Kismayo, north to other regions of Somalia and across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, according to American and African Union officials.
Kenya police: Imminent attack by suicide bombers thwarted
Al-Shabab still holds sway across many small, poor villages of southern Somalia. The loss of Kismayo would be significant.
The militants taxed goods coming into its port. Al-Shabab lost its major source of financing last year when it was pushed out of Bakara market in Mogadishu, where it also charged taxes.
The march toward Kismayo by the Kenyan forces has been nearly a year in the making.
Masked 'goons' kill at least 17 in attacks on churches in Kenya
Kenyan troops entered Somalia last October after a string of kidnappings inside neighboring Kenya, including of Westerners in and around the beach resort town of Lamu, which is also seeing the construction of a new port and could one day be final point of a new oil pipeline from South Sudan.
Kenyan forces were bogged down by rain and poor roads for months but have making slow and steady progress toward Kismayo in recent weeks.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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FIFA sets 2014 World Cup match kick-off times
Associated Press Sports
updated 4:29 p.m. ET Sept. 27, 2012
ZURICH (AP) -FIFA has selected kick-off times for 2014 World Cup group games, with several matches scheduled in early afternoon in tropical climates.
FIFA says the north-east coastal cities of Natal, Recife and Salvador each have two of their four group-stage matches starting at 1 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).
Manaus, in the western Amazon rainforest, hosts two matches at 3 p.m. local time (1900 GMT), plus the late-night match on the opening Saturday, June 14, at 9 p.m (0100 GMT).
FIFA says it took into account rest periods for players, local temperatures, global broadcast schedules and fans' travel plans.
FIFA's executive committee scheduled the 32-team finals tournament draw for Dec. 6, 2013, at the Costa do Sauipe in Bahia.
The 2014 World Cup is played June 12-July 13.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49199270/ns/sports-soccer/
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Home Business Online ? What You Should Know - Ninja SEO ...
As people are discovering that it is often far less expensive to run an Internet business than it is to open a physical storefront, many new businesses are being created online. Moreover, many of these online businesses are being run from home. While this is often the most cost-effective way to start a new company, there are a number of things that people should consider before they start a home business online.
Success Rarely Happens Overnight
While there are some amazing success stories in which people decide to open an Internet shop from their home on a whim and find amazing and almost instant success, these stories are the exception, not the rule. Most Internet businesses require an enormous amount of time to be invested to become profitable. While there are many forms of free online advertising, these methods often take months to take affect and begin driving traffic to a website. This is why people should not depend on income from their online business until they have an established Internet presence.
Online Businesses Are Different From Regular Businesses
Many people do not fully grasp how different Internet businesses are from regular businesses with physical locations. Customers cannot be spoken to face-to-face, and products and services have to be sold to people who cannot touch or try them. Despite the fact that more and more people are shopping online, this is often a large hurdle to overcome. This is especially true for new online businesses that do not yet have a good reputation to fall back on.
Additionally, online marketing is a completely different animal from classic marketing. While it is usually far less expensive, the amount of research required for a successful search engine optimization (SEO) or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign is enormous. If people are not using highly targeted advertising methods, they may drive large amounts of traffic to their website, but high traffic volume does not always translate into sales.
Being Tech Savvy Is Vital To Success
There are a number of things that people need to be experienced with and knowledgeable about to run a successful Internet business. To begin with, an online storefront needs to look professional and be easy for visitors to navigate. Most people will not purchase things from an online store that does not appear well-designed. It is also important that people who run online storefronts and process credit card transactions understand and can implement Internet security protocols. If transactions are not properly encrypted, it puts both the consumer?s and the website?s sensitive information at risk of being stolen by hackers.
People who run a home business online also need to keep up with current technological trends. For example, many people are beginning to use smartphones and tablets to do their Internet shopping. This means that more and more webmasters are starting to design websites for both mobile devices and regular computer browsers to ensure that they reach the largest number of people. If business owners do not keep up with these types of trends, they will not be able to stay competitive.
Source: http://ninjaseomethods.com/home-business-online-what-you-should-know/
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Putting away the toys time | Your online newspaper for London ...
Photos by Mike Maloney/London Community News/Twitter: mdmaloneyphoto
Shorter days and cooler nights are not just a sign of the onset of fall, but they also generally foretell the end of the summer show and shine season as well.
And that was the case on Tuesday night (Sept. 25) when the Cherryhill Village Cruizers wrapped up the season with their final show of the year at the Cherryhill Mall.
Since early June, on average, about 100 classic cars and their owners have made the trip from as far away as Strathroy and Ingersoll to the mall on Oxford Street every Tuesday night to join with fellow automotive enthusiasts.
Showing everything from classic originals from the early 1900s, 60s muscle cars and the latest models off the assembly line, there has been a little bit of everything to tickle the fancy of most any car buff each night.
As a show of thanks to the community that has come out and supported them all summer, the Cherryhill Village Cruizers made donations of more than $1,500 to each of two local charities ? Mission Services London and to Jesse?s Journey ? with money that was raised over the course of the summer through raffles and by donation.
Find us on Facebook: London Community News
Source: http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/2012/09/putting-away-the-toys-time/
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An Online Business Is Just Like A Traditional Business And It Must ...
Something a lot of people falsely believe is that an online business is a thing that does not require individuals to have to pay taxes. Actually you are going to discover that this is a thing that is believed by many men and women, when you work from home you do not pay taxes. There plenty of folks these days who are turning to the Internet so as to make cash and one of the primary reasons is this misconception. Of course there are some other things aside from taxes that you?re going to have to take care of for your business, which includes any sort of licenses you might need. For individuals who go through and do your research and discover everything you are going to need to do, it might give you reservations about starting a web based business. I browse the guidance coming from Stansberry & Associates Invesment Research in my company judgements.
Everything that?s involved in running an online business can wind up being incredibly overwhelming, particularly for people that have no experience in running any sort of business. Due to this, their understanding of operating a business and the taxes involved is practically nothing, therefore, a lot of them think that a business on the web is exempt from paying taxes. Regardless of what kind of business you may have you must understand that anytime you are making a profit you are going to need to pay taxes on these monies. There are various excuses people use for not paying taxes, but the most common is they are working from home.
Since most men and women work at a job where the taxes are withheld automatically, they don?t know what a business does when it comes to taxes. The location of a business does not matter with regards to taxes, but it is based on the amount of income, together with the type of products sold. You will need to learn about the tax structure of a business, no matter where it is located, simply because if you make cash, you owe taxes. For people who work all by yourself and in addition have no employees whatsoever, yes, you still need to pay taxes simply because this is actually a sole proprietor business. Running a business is not going to be a thing that is super easy for many individuals because they have never had any type of experience with all of the tax stuff that they need to know.
Another thing you ought to bear in mind is that the Federal taxes which are going to need to be paid are going to end up being filed differently according to whether you are incorporated or if you are a sole proprietor. So proprietors are going to be responsible for filing a personal tax return and you are going to be required to pay a self employment tax. The way a corporation will need to file their taxes will be something that is much different than if you are a sole proprietor. Mainly because there is so many different ways that you can actually end up filing your corporate income tax it?s going to be vital for you to research or consult a professional. Have a look at the following Stansberry Research write-up for additional details on employment.
Of course for anybody who is running any sort of business it is always advisable that you speak to an accountant so you can make sure you?re following all the tax laws in your area. As long as you don?t mind the extra work that?s going to be required, and as long as you do your research on all the laws in your area, an internet business may be a good idea.
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Coral hotspots found in deepwater canyons off northeast US coast
ScienceDaily (Sep. 25, 2012) ? For the first time in decades, researchers have conducted an extensive exploration for deep-sea corals and sponges in submarine canyons off the northeastern coast of the US. The survey revealed coral "hotspots," and found that a new coral habitat suitability model could help predict where corals are likely to occur. The model is being developed by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) and the National Ocean Service's Biogeography Branch.
Among the canyons surveyed during the July 6-18 cruise aboard the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow were Toms, Middle Toms, and Hendrickson canyons off New Jersey, and Veatch and Gilbert canyons off Georges Bank. All of these were known or suspected habitats of deep-sea corals. More than 70 deepwater canyons, ranging in depth from 100 meters (about 330 feet) to more than 3,500 meters (about 11,500 feet), exist along the Northeast US continental shelf and slope. Few are well studied.
"The deep-sea coral and sponge habitats observed in the canyons are not like those found in shallow-water tropical reefs or deep-sea coral habitats in other regions," said Martha Nizinski of NEFSC's National Systematics Laboratory in Washington, DC, a zoologist and deep-sea coral specialist who served as the chief scientist on the recent research cruise aboard the NOAA ship Bigelow. "We know very little about the distribution and ecology of corals in the canyons off the Northeast coast," she said. "Although our explorations have just begun, we've already increased our knowledge about these deepwater coral habitats a hundred times over."
Findings from this cruise will not only improve knowledge about deep-sea life off the Northeastern US, but will also aid the New England and Mid-Atlantic fishery management councils in their efforts to manage these habitats, which support a variety of fish species and other marine life.
The July survey on the Bigelow was the culmination of a larger mission to explore deepwater canyons, and gain increased knowledge of deep-sea corals. The Bigelow was one of three NOAA ships involved in the Atlantic Canyons Undersea Mapping Expeditions (or ACUMEN), which has been used to document the deepwater canyons on the continental shelf and slope from Norfolk, Virginia, to New England. During February-June 2012, the NOAA ships Okeanos Explorer and Ferdinand R. Hassler extensively mapped offshore areas designated as priorities by the NEFSC deepwater coral research team and external partners.
Using high-quality multibeam sonar maps, NEFSC scientists and collaborators explored the deepwater canyons in the Northeast. Cruise objectives included gaining a better understanding of deep-sea coral diversity and distribution in the region, and testing the accuracy of a habitat suitability model to predict where deepwater corals exist in the Northeast.
Bottom topography, as well as various other environmental factors, historical coral records, and model predictions helped guide the search and sampling of coral habitats. The science team aboard the Bigelow, using TowCam, a towed deep-sea digital imaging system operated by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), was then able to photograph what was on the bottom at the sites they chose, which is important for groundtruthing the modeling data.
Many corals observed during the Bigelow cruise live at depths between 200 and 2,000 meters (roughly between 650 and 6,500 feet deep). Although no specimens were collected during this expedition, more than 38,000TowCam images will be analyzed in the coming months. Data derived from these images will be used to evaluate the presence or absence of corals in areas having historical records; to quantitatively verify the habitat suitability model; and to enhance knowledge of the diversity and distributions of deep-sea corals in the region. These data will also provide the baseline information for a three-year research effort in the Northeast funded by NOAA's Deep-Sea Coral Research and Technology program.
"These are the first surveys in several decades for deep-sea corals and sponges in the mid-Atlantic," said David Packer, a marine ecologist at the NEFSC's James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory at Sandy Hook, NJ. Packer participated in the Bigelow cruise, and was excited about the amount and variety of corals, sponges, and related marine life encountered during the survey and the importance of these findings for the future of deep-sea coral research in the region. "We previously had little or no data about some of the canyons or the available data were decades old, so what we learned in just a few weeks provided a 'quantum leap' in our knowledge about the canyons and their habitats."
The modeling effort to develop the predictive habitat suitability maps was conducted by Amy Drohan at the NEFSC's Sandy Hook lab and Brian Kinlan and Matt Poti, both at NOS. Kinlan participated in the Bigelow cruise and was able to use his expertise to interpret the model findings in the field as well as help guide the search for coral hotspots.
Although the July cruise focused on only a few of the canyons mapped using multibeam sonar, the researchers will also use the bathymetry data collected by the Okeanos Explorer and the Hassler at other deepwater canyons to refine and revise their coral model. In fact, work has already started on a revised model incorporating the new findings.
"Like the hub of a wheel with many spokes, the July Bigelow cruise was central to a project that seemed to grow over time as opportunities arose to leverage resources and use these to their fullest potential," said Nizinski, who has studied deep-sea coral habitats off Florida, off the North Carolina coast, and in the Gulf of Mexico.
"What originally started with 16 days of ship time, provided and funded by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center to explore deepwater canyons off the Northeast coast, rapidly developed into a much larger project," Nizinski said. "What started with informal discussions between NOAA and colleagues led to a major field program that first surveyed and mapped deepwater canyons along the northeast continental shelf and slope, followed by underwater observations to verify coral occurrence. We are excited about the possibilities given the results from this first cruise."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/eCxOhEzjv3g/120926094550.htm
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Pink tops Billboard album chart, "Gangnam" No. 1 digital song
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop rocker Pink scored her first Billboard No. 1 album on Wednesday, while South Korean singer Psy, who has taken the Internet by storm with his horsey dance moves, landed at No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart with his hit "Gangnam Style."
Psy recently appeared on the "Today" show and "Saturday Night Live" to perform "Gangnam Style" while doing his choppy dance steps that vaguely recall a child riding a stick horse.
Pink's "The Truth About Love" sold 280,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, making it the third-highest debut of 2012, behind Justin Bieber's "Believe" and Madonna's "MDNA." It is the singer's best-selling debut to date.
Pink beat debuts from Kanye West's GOOD music rappers, The Killers and Carly Rae Jepsen. Sales of Pink's album were aided by a major Target promotional campaign as well as Amazon MP3 offering the record for a discount price of $5. The lead single - "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" - also topped Billboard's pop songs airplay chart this week.
K-pop viral phenomenon Psy, who has racked up some 270 million YouTube views, sold 301,000 digital copies in the U.S. last week of his "Gangnam Style" hit, knocking Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" from its month-long run in the top spot.
The 34-year-old rapper, whose real name is Park Jai-sang, told a news conference in Seoul this week he would perform the song topless if it hit No.1 on the Billboard chart.
Elsewhere, "Cruel Summer," the latest compilation release from Kanye West's GOOD Music label featuring West collaborating with artists including Big Sean, Pusha T and 2Chainz, sold 205,000 copies in its first week to secure the No. 2 position on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Vegas rockers The Killers came in at No. 3 with their fourth studio album "Battle Born," selling 113,000 copies in its first week. Although the band went straight to No. 1 in the UK last week, a chart-topping album in the Billboard 200 has eluded them.
Newcomer Carly Rae Jepsen, who shot to fame with the catchy summer hit "Call Me Maybe," released her debut set "Kiss" last week, and sold 46,000 copies, notching No. 6 on the chart.
Jepsen was just below last week's chart-topper Dave Matthews Band's "Away From The World" at No. 4 and Little Big Town's "Tornado" at No. 5.
"Call Me Maybe" has sold 5.7 million copies in the U.S. to date, making it 2012's biggest selling single behind only Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know."
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant, Sofina Mirza-Reid and Jan Paschal)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pinks-truth-love-tops-billboard-album-chart-174625208.html
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The Slenderman Stories: The Orphanage | Video Game Blog, Video ...
Often times, comparing video games can be like comparing apples and oranges, however with Slenderman games this just never seem to be the case; it?s more akin to comparing two?different?jars of the same jam: sure they are objectively?different?objects but there doesn?t seem to be any reason to get one over the other, and if you didn?t like the taste of one jar, I am certain that another jar of the same jam won?t taste any better.
However, then came along ?Shadow Shifters??The Slenderman Stories: The?Orphanage? and while it still seems to be another jar of?miscellaneous?spread, it tastes a good deal better and has a lot more substance than anything else I?ve seen on the shelves lately.
There is only so much one can actually do with the Slenderman; I?m not exactly anticipating?Slenderman Kart Racer or the like. The games keep to themselves, or rather each other, and none of them ever seem to build vertically off of one another so much as expand horizontally: there is new ?content?, but it?s all the same level of depth (finding sheets of paper in the woods as opposed to finding teddy bears in a children?s school). But?The?Orphanage?actually challenges this dusty rule for once, adding a bit more depth to the core gameplay (in the form of your flashlight now functioning as a camera that can see spirits), more-than-half-decent music, interesting set pieces, and an actual plot, of sorts. Though what has surprised me the most so far is the pleasant lack of the Slenderman himself insofar. It isn?t that I dislike the Slenderman as an antagonist, but the game certainly wants to focus more on its own, unique plot than toss around ?standardized? scare-tactics at the player, and I can respect it immensely for this.
From Silent Hills: Shattered Memories
But before I give The?Orphanage?a free pass, let me tell you a funny story about this game: I actually had an article, much like this one, written up a full week ago, but the very day I was going to finish it, I went over to a friend?s flat to do a bit of man-child gaming, and when I arrived, he was playing?Silent Hill: Shattered?Memories. I watched for a bit; it looked interesting enough, but I was purely audient. Then, out of nowhere, Harry Mason whips out a camera phone and my first thoughts are ?Say, that looks familiar to some?other?horror?game I?ve been looking at all week.? and then seconds later he flips on the phone?s camera and starts looking at a ghostly child?s spirit through it, and my thoughts then switch to ?Whelp, time to write a new article.?
What I liked about the phone in?Shattered?Memories?was that it really did feel like a phone; it called folks, recieved messages, had the aforementioned camera, and several other features. On the other hand,?the player?s phone in?The Orphangae functions about the same as the flashlight in?Luigi?s?Mansion?(point at ghost: see ghost). ?Yes, I may be entirely wrong in saying this, but research is a crucial part of game development; half because it helps to be familiar with the topic of whatever you?re making, and half so you don?t end up lifting your core game mechanics from something that?s already been released.
However, unlike most of the?Slenderman games, you spend a lot of time in?The?Orphanage?indoors. Don?t get me wrong, I liked the outdoors in the slew of Slenderman mods and?rubbish?because you?occasionally?had to go inside small, indoor locations, like restroom facilities, and that provides excellent contrast and makes the player feel somewhat entrapped, but what has to be realized is that the player feels trapped because they know there is no escape if the Slenderman waits for them around the corner, on their way out.?The?Orphanage?mimics this technique, despite being indoors because there is a balance between large, open rooms and smaller, cramped ones, and where it earns extra points is the atmosphere this creates: the fact that the plot focuses more on rescuing the spirit of a young boy, rather than the Slenderman himself seems more at home indoors, in a sort of?haunted house?Ghostbusters kind of way.
On the other hand, speaking of the plot, I can?t help but be?ensnared?by the feeling that it is rather half-baked. The move to make the plot about saving a young boy?s spirit is rather brilliant: fitting in with the series? mythos, as well as branching out into the domain of true story telling. Though while the story has a well defined objective and antagonist, the role of a true protagonist is left wanting. ?Having a faceless protagonist works well under the right conditions:?Gordon Freeman needn?t say a single word with all the well-characterized NPC?s in the game that fulfill the role of storytellers. Whereas, look at the characters of?The?Orphanage:?you, the boy, and the Slenderman, as far as we know. Only the boy seems to speak (and even that is speculative), and seeing as that is mostly to give instructions to the players, unless Shadow Shifters manages pull off the same level of narrative gameplay as?ICO, the storytelling may flop, and I have my reasonable doubts about that; instead I predict as series of bloodstained notes scattered about that are meant to tell you the whole story. Who knows, though, there may very well be some NPC?s in the?orphanage?s?grounds that do the talking, but then it just begs for my Are We Silent Hill Yet? stamp.
The Slenderman Stories: The?Orphanage? is something I would pay money to experience, if it?s any consolation, and it is certainly the most impressive Slenderman game out there, but praise aside it has a few elements left wanting. It clearly has a focus on storytelling, but there do not seem to be any storytellers; it aims to have more advanced gameplay, but is has all been done before, and better. I know it seems hard to still say this, but it is good for what it is worth, and it may just be the seed of confidence in me that says my worst fears will be dispelled and the holes get patched up; the team at Shadow Shifters seems very in tune with their fans and have thus far ?deliver an intriguing experience I want to know more about. Based on the content they upload, they clearly care about their game, and in complete honesty, so do I. Whatever it may turn out to be, it may at least be the start of something that evolves the Slenderman games beyond self-parasitic blip.
Article from Gamersyndrome.com
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Source: http://gamersyndrome.com/2012/video-games/the-slenderman-stories-the-orphanage/
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Syrian warplanes bomb Aleppo, kill 3 children
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian warplanes bombed two buildings on Monday in the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least five people including three children from the same family, activists said.
The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll could very well rise with more people feared to be buried under the rubble of the two destroyed buildings.
Aleppo-based activist said Mohammed Saeed said the raid came before dawn. He added that the aim behind such strikes on residential areas is to "terrify the people and try to turn them against the Free Syrian Army rebel group.
"The regime wants people to say that had the Free Syrian Army not entered the city, the regime wouldn't have bombed us," Saeed said.
The fight for Aleppo, a city of 3 million that was once a bastion of support for President Bashar Assad, began in late July and is critical for both the regime and the opposition. If it falls to the opposition, it would be a major strategic victory in the civil war, giving fighters a stronghold in the north near the Turkish border. A rebel defeat, at the very least, would buy Assad more time.
Activists say nearly 30,000 people have already died in the uprising against Assad's rule that began 18 months ago, inspired by the other revolts around the Arab world against authoritarian rulers.
The Observatory the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said the airstrikes on the southern neighborhood of Maadi destroyed the targeted buildings. An amateur video showed people digging through a pile of rubble in search of survivors.
Fighting and shelling have been a daily occurrence in Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial capital, since late July when rebels attacked it and took over several neighborhoods. Repeated attacks by government troops to regain control of the areas have so far been unsuccessful.
The battle for Aleppo has marked the first time that the regime has used helicopters and warplanes regularly to strike from the air, bringing an even heavier toll of civilian casualties than before when military forces relied heavily on often indiscriminate artillery and tank shelling.
The Observatory said five people were killed in the latest airstrikes while the LCC said eight died. The LCC said the dead included three children from the same family. Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said the death toll could rise with more people feared buried under the rubble.
The Observatory and the LCC reported violence elsewhere in the country including attacks by government troops backed by helicopter gunships on the southern town of Sheikh Miskeen in Daraa province.
The Observatory said rebels and troops were fighting near the military air base of Tabaqah in the northern province of Raqqa. Last week, rebels captured a major border crossing with Turkey in Raqqa.
The latest attacks came as the U.N.'s top human rights body prepared to vote on a resolution next week that would condemn abuses in Syria, call for perpetrators to be held accountable and extend the mission of a U.N. expert panel which has been collecting evidence of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The draft resolution was submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday by Arab countries including Morocco, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Kuwait. It is likely to receive a majority in the 47-nation council when it goes to a vote at the end of next week.
The Geneva-based council received a report earlier this month from the Commission of Inquiry it appointed to investigate abuses in Syria. The panel reported that an increasing number of 'foreign elements,' including Islamic militants, are now operating in Syria. The panel also submitted a confidential list of Syrian officials who it said could be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Associated Press writer Frank Jordans contributed to this report from Berlin.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-warplanes-bomb-aleppo-kill-3-children-115911243.html
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