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Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Best Ways To Market Your Business Efficiently | 1st about ...
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Posted In: Writing and Speaking, General. Any time you begin to promote your new web site, probably the most productive ways to increase its search engine ranking is to engage in article marketing. This implies writing ...
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Santorum picks up Tancredo endorsement (AP)
LAKEWOOD, Colo. ? Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has picked up an endorsement from former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo (tan-KRAY'-doh).
The failed gubernatorial and presidential candidate is a tea party favorite.
Santorum was campaigning in Colorado on Wednesday ahead of next week's GOP caucuses there, in hopes of building some momentum for his White House bid. Santorum also was endorsed Wednesday by former congressman Bob Shaffer and former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.
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Volcanoes may have sparked Little Ice Age
A mysterious, centuries-long cool spell, dubbed the Little Ice Age, appears to have been caused by a series of volcanic eruptions and sustained by sea ice, a new study indicates.
The research, which looked at chemical clues preserved in Arctic vegetation as well as other data, also pinpointed the start of the Little Ice Age to the end of the 13th century.
During the cool spell, which lasted into the late 19th century, advancing glaciers destroyed northern European towns and froze the Thames River in London and canals in the Netherlands, places that are now ice-free. There is also evidence it affected other continents.
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More science news from msnbc.com
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Artist?takes the 'still' out of still life
Life isn't still. Paintings don't have to be either. And now, thanks to Seattle-based artist Scott Garner, still life art is catching up with the times.? It comes to life when tilted.
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Artist?takes the 'still' out of still life
"This is the first time anyone has clearly identified the specific onset of the cold times marking the start of the Little Ice Age," said Gifford Miller, a geological sciences professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the lead study researcher. "We also have provided an understandable climate feedback system that explains how this cold period could be sustained for a long period of time."
The cause appears to have been massive tropical volcanic eruptions, which spewed tiny particles called aerosols into the atmosphere. While suspended in the air, the aerosols reflect solar radiation back into space, cooling the planet below. ?
The cooling was sustained after the aerosols had left the atmosphere by a sea-ice feedback in the North Atlantic Ocean, the researchers believe. Expanding sea ice would have melted into the North Atlantic Ocean, interfering with the normal mixing between surface and deeper waters. This meant the water flowing back to the Arctic was colder, helping to sustain large areas of sea ice, which, in turn, reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere. The result was a self-sustaining feedback loop.
Miller and colleagues came to these conclusions by looking at radiocarbon dates ? based on how much of the radioactive form of carbon they contain ? from dead plants revealed by melting ice on Baffin Island, in the Canadian Arctic. Their analysis found that many plants at both high and low altitudes died between A.D. 1275 and A.D. 1300 ? evidence that Baffin Island froze over suddenly. Many plants also appeared to have died at around A.D. 1450, an indication of a second major cooling.
These periods coincide with two of the most volcanically active half centuries in the past millennium, according to the researchers.
They also found that the annual layers in sediment cores from a glacial lake linked with an ice cap in Iceland suddenly became thicker, indicating increased erosion caused by the expansion of the ice cap in the late 13th century and in the 15th century .
"This gave us a great deal more confidence that there was a major perturbation to the Northern Hemisphere climate near the end of the 13th century," Miller said.?
Simulations using a climate model showed that several large, closely spaced eruptions could have cooled the Northern Hemisphere enough to spark sea-ice growth and the subsequent feedback loop.
It's unlikely decreased solar radiation, a separate theory to explain the Little Ice Age, played a role, according to the researchers.
The research will appear Tuesday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
You can follow LiveSciencesenior writer Wynne Parry on Twitter @Wynne_Parry. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.
? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46196417/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
AP Enterprise: Monkey owners flee La. crackdown (AP)
NEAR THE TEXAS-LOUISIANA LINE ? Even in their Texas hideout, Jim and Donita Clark are terrified that wildlife agents from their home state of Louisiana will descend on their motorhome and seize the four Capuchin monkeys they've reared for 10 years.
Four months ago, the couple fled before authorities showed up at their house for an inspection, and ever since they've been hiding out with their monkeys ? all of them cooped up in the recreational vehicle.
Exotic animal owners like them say wildlife agents have been cracking down in Louisiana and around the country after high-profile cases of exotic animals getting loose or attacking people. At least six states have also banned the ownership of wild animals since 2005, and Congress is also mulling tighter restrictions.
The couple fears the monkeys will be confiscated and sent to a zoo if they return home to DeRidder, La.
"It's not what I fought for ... to be treated like this," said Jim Clark, a 60-year-old disabled Vietnam veteran, as tears streaked his face. "It's not right to think they can come into your house and do this to you with or without a warrant."
As Clark talked on a recent day, the adorable monkeys looked on from their cages. Hands gripping the cage bars, a couple of the hyper, super-inquisitive furry creatures ? capable of lightning-fast vertical leaps ? barely moved and cooed softly. The motorhome is a far cry from the DeRidder house that boasts two monkey playrooms and a large outdoor enclosure.
"To take these guys out of their home and throw them in a zoo? It's like taking a little child out of a mansion and throwing it into the ghetto," Donita Clark said. "It's that devastating. It's destroyed us both emotionally. We'll never be the same."
Crackdowns in Louisiana and elsewhere have gained momentum since a man in Ohio released his personal zoo of lions, tigers, zebras, bears and monkeys before killing himself. The 2009 face-mauling of a Connecticut woman by a chimpanzee also highlighted the dangers of keeping wild animals in residential neighborhoods.
"It was a wakeup call to the nation that we should no longer tolerate the reckless decision-making by a small number of people," said Wayne Pacelle, the head of the Humane Society of the United States.
Veterinarians and primate experts generally agree that monkeys ? like all wild animals ? shouldn't be adopted as pets.
"They are not animated toys. They're so intelligent they're difficult to keep in a stimulated environment long term," said Dr. Patricia V. Turner, the president of the Association of Primate Veterinarians.
She said monkeys kept in homes often end up obese and suffering from emotional stress that takes the form of self-biting. Monkeys are garrulous social creatures and need to be around their own kind, she said.
In Congress, one proposed bill would ban unlicensed professionals from buying, selling or moving primates across state lines. Meanwhile, 24 states now ban the ownership of primates and 11 others require permits, according to the Humane Society. Hundreds of cities and counties also have local bans.
Exotic animal lovers feel like they are under assault.
"So many of us want to disappear, and have our own community where we can safely keep our monkeys," said Ann Newman, the owner of seven monkeys in Arkansas and the president of the Simian Society of America, a membership group for monkey lovers.
Monkey owners say their animals hardly pose a serious danger to the public ? they're unlikely to do the kind of injury a wild big cat or great ape might.
To Dan Stockdale, a celebrity wild animal trainer in Tennessee, the backlash on exotic animals owners goes too far. He said many private owners do a better job than some zoos and sanctuaries.
"Unfortunately, exotic animals and those who own exotic animals are in the spotlight. Society's knee-jerk reaction is eliminate them."
Ohio lawmakers are considering whether to forbid anyone from having a wild animal as a pet after the incident there.
"If they start confiscating, you're going to see a lot of people going underground," said Nancy Nighswander, who leads Uniting A Politically Proactive Exotic Animal League, a group lobbying against bans on private ownership of wild animals. She lives in Tiffin, Ohio, and owns five monkeys and a cougar.
There is no accurate count on how many pet primates there are in the U.S., but estimates range between 3,000 and 15,000.
Louisiana has taken a hard-nosed approach. In 2003, the Legislature passed a law banning exotic animals as pets, but allowed people who already owned monkeys to keep them. Starting in 2006, owners were required to obtain permits, keep their animals away from the public and have yearly veterinary checkups. There were only about 20 households in Louisiana with wild animals, all of them monkeys, according to state officials.
Now the state says it will issue new permits only after a home inspection.
"Louisiana has strict laws and regulations to prevent the kind of situation that happened in Ohio," said Maria Davidson, a former zookeeper and state Wildlife and Fisheries Department biologist who crafted the state's ban on wild pets. "You certainly don't want a monkey loose in your neighborhood."
The Clarks got their first monkey ? Tina Marie ? more than 10 years ago from a woman who was unable to look after the animal.
"We felt sorry for her," Donita Clark said. "I had never thought of having monkeys in my life."
They adopted three other Capuchin monkeys ? Meeko Mae, Sara Jo and Hayley Suzanne ? and became a bit monkey crazy.
They built a large cage and a wire walkway into their modest home in DeRidder. The monkeys slept in the house, going to sleep when the lights were turned off. They took showers in the bathroom, complete with shampoo and soap. They wore diapers.
The Clarks networked with other monkey owners and invited humans and simians to picnics at their home. The self-taught experts helped others learn to care for their monkeys and build cages.
Now, monkey owners in Louisiana accuse the state of bully tactics and unlawfully confiscating monkeys. They point to at least three instances since 2009 when monkeys were seized.
"It's like someone walking into your home and taking your kids," Donita Clark said, paging through binders with photographs, written testimony and documents she'd collected from aggrieved monkey owners.
Davidson said the right action was taken in those cases. In one case, the monkey owner did not have a permit; in another, a snow monkey allegedly bit the hand of a girl and in the third case the owners allegedly had violated their permit requirements.
The Clarks fear they could be next. On Oct. 27 wildlife agents and sheriff's deputies showed up at their home. But the Clarks had already fled after getting a tip.
Davidson said the state didn't intend to seize their monkeys and just wanted to inspect their home. She said the Clarks' flight was suspicious. But she added: "We'll give Donita the benefit of the doubt."
The Clarks, however, say they're not going home until they're assured the monkey's won't be taken.
Their exile is hard on them and the monkeys.
"They're arguing with each other like we're arguing with each other," Donita Clark said, sitting on the couch in the RV and looking at her girls.
"They have not seen daylight since October," Jim Clark said. "These guys are like humans. They need sunlight."
The couple feels stuck. They don't tell friends or family where they are because they're so terrified. And they're running low on money.
"I'm terrified 24 hours a day and there's no light at the end of this tunnel, no way out," Donita Clark said.
"But we're not going to give up," Jim Clark said to encourage his wife. "We're not going to let them go. We promised them forever a home."
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Monday, January 30, 2012
99% A Separation
All Critics (88) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (88) | Rotten (1) | DVD (2)
Asghar Farhadi's emotionally epic movie is not just a masterpiece dramatically, it is a movie dramatically of its moment.
It's small. It's real. And it's deeply moving.
This is a trenchant emotional thriller that you watch in dread, awe, and amazing aggravation.
Some films wear their artistry so lightly they appear simply to be happening, the inner workings of the story guided by an unseen hand.
The film involves its audience in an unusually direct way, because although we can see the logic of everyone's position, our emotions often disagree.
This is primarily a human story about a marriage unraveling, the husband torn between love for his daughter and devotion to his father, the daughter torn between one parent and the other.
Emotionally resonant beyond the filmmaker's own country and culture, it is a compassionate yet searingly precise film that refuses to name villains, nor to let any of its protagonists off the hook
Sometimes, in an attempt to do the best we can for the people we love, we end up wreaking irreparable damage.
[The film] puts us in the uncomfortable role of the adjudicator.
Culturally specific but universally relatable, this slowly escalating Iranian drama boasts incredibly impressive motivational clarity.
For all the stifled truths of its characters, Farhadi's film feels like a gust of brisk air.
...like being caught in a barbed-wire fence of ethical dilemmas.
Feels like a peek through a neighbor's window.
The progressively tedious atmosphere ultimately prevents the film's final scenes from making any real emotional impact...
Estabelece definitivamente Asghar Farhadi como um dos diretores mais consistentes e fascinantes do Cinema contempor?neo.
More Critic ReviewsSource: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_separation_2011/
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Three killed when Sacramento commuter train hits vehicle (Reuters)
(Reuters) ? At least three people, including a toddler, were killed when a light rail train carrying 50 passengers hit a vehicle in Sacramento on Saturday, and investigators were working to determine the cause, police said.
A fourth person from inside the vehicle was taken to hospital in critical condition, and eight rail passengers were taken to hospital for medical checks after the crash.
"A vehicle was struck. The vehicle was on the tracks when it was hit," Watch Commander Lieutenant Steve Winton told Reuters. "Two people died at the scene and two went to the hospital."
One of those taken to hospital, a toddler whose age was estimated at around two, was later confirmed to have died, a police dispatcher said.
Local television station KCRA reported that witnesses said the vehicle may have tried to drive around safety barriers as the train approached. Police said the train would have been travelling at about 45 to 55 miles per hour at the time of the collision.
(Reporting By Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Dan Whitcomb)
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
Private investors near deal on Greek debt
Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)
Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leaves Maximos Mansion after a meeting with Greek Prime minister Lucas Papademos, Charles Dallara and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, left, and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leave Maximos Mansion after a meeting Charles Dallara and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)
Charles Dallara, left and Jean Lemiere from the Institute of International Finance leave Maximos Mansion after meeting Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)
Charles Dallara managing director of the Institute of International Finance arrives at Maximos Mansion for a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Athens on Saturday Jan. 28 2012. Talks between Greece and private creditors on halving the country's privately held debt load have ended and a deal is very close, according to the creditors' representatives. (AP Photo)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? A disorderly and potentially devastating Greek debt default is looking much less likely.
Greece and investors who own its bonds have reached a tentative deal to significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed ?130 billion bailout.
Negotiators for the investors announced the agreement Saturday and said it could become final next week. If the agreement works as planned, it will help Greece remain solvent and help Europe avoid a blow to its already weak financial system, even though banks and other bond investors will have to accept multibillion-dollar losses.
Still, it doesn't resolve the weakening economic conditions in Greece and other European nations as they rein in spending to get their debts under control.
Under the agreement, investors holding ?206 billion in Greek bonds would exchange them for new bonds worth 60 percent less.
The new bonds' face value is half of the existing bonds. They would have a longer maturity and pay an average interest rate of slightly less than 4 percent. The existing bonds pay an average interest rate of 5 percent, according to the think tank Re-Define.
The deal would reduce Greece's annual interest expense on the bonds from about $10 billion to about $4 billion. And when the bonds mature, instead of paying bondholders ?206 billion, Greece will have to pay only ?103 billion.
Without the deal, which would reduce Greece's debt load by at least ?120 billion, the bonds held by banks, insurance companies and hedge funds would likely become worthless. Many of these investors also hold debt from other countries that use the euro, which could also lose value in the event of a full-fledged Greek default. This is the scenario analysts fear most and why they hope investors will voluntarily accept a partial loss on their Greek bonds.
The agreement taking shape is a key step before Greece can get a second, ?130 billion bailout from its European Union partners and the International Monetary Fund. Besides restructuring its debt with private investors, Greece must also take other steps before getting aid. It must cut its deficit and boost the competitiveness of its economy through layoffs of government employees and the sale of several state companies, among other moves.
Greece faces a ?14.5 billion bond repayment on March 20, which it cannot afford without additional help.
The country got its first bailout in May 2010 when the EU and the IMF signed off on a ?110 billion aid package, most of which has already been disbursed.
Private investors hold roughly two-thirds of Greece's debt, which has reached an unsustainable level ? nearly 160 percent of the country's annual economic output. By restructuring the debt held by private investors, Greece and its EU partners are hoping to bring that ratio closer to 120 percent by the end of this decade. Without a deal, analysts forecast that ratio ballooning to 200 percent by the end of this year as the Greek economy falters.
Meanwhile, Greece's public creditors ? ? the IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank ? are baffled by the government's repeated failure to meet deficit targets. They want more government wage cuts. That is meeting resistance by Greek politicians afraid of losing an election tentatively scheduled for the spring. But those same politicians also worry that the nation will be denied a second bailout if doesn't reduce its deficit.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Saturday night asked those who oppose structural changes to reconsider their stance.
"The coming days will be decisive for the next decade ... We must answer to tough dilemmas and we must do so with foresight and a sense of responsibility and not hide behind each other," he told reporters after meeting with the public creditors.
In return for the first bailout, Greece's public creditors have unprecedented powers over Greek spending. However, Greece's problems will not be fixed simply by cutting government spending. In order to bring its debts to a more manageable level, the country must also find ways boost economic output, which would enable it to collect more taxes.
If no debt-exchange deal is reached with private creditors and Greece is forced to default, it would very likely spook Europe's ? and possibly the world's ? financial markets. It could even lead Greece to withdraw from the euro.
Sarah Ketterer, co-manager of Causeway International Value Fund, a $1.4 billion mutual fund that invests in European stocks, said the region's markets have rebounded this month largely on expectations that negotiators would reach a deal along the lines of the one being finalized now.
Any last-minute breakdown in the talks could trigger a sharp decline in European markets, she said. But a rally is unlikely if negotiations succeed.
"The equity markets have ... largely already discounted this, and you can see that in the confidence that has returned in European equities since the end of December, and especially for financial stocks," Ketterer said.
She said there "really was no other option" than reaching a deal for bondholders to take a haircut of 50 percent or more.
Ketterer said a Greek deal could help restore bond market confidence. That would help Italy manage its own debt crisis ? one that Ketterer views as more critical than Greece's because of Italy's greater size.
The investors who own Greek bonds are being represented by Charles Dallara, managing director of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, and Jean Lemierre, senior adviser to the chairman of the French bank BNP Paribas.
___
AP personal finance writer Mark Jewell in Boston, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels contributed to this report.
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