Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler told 16 WAPT News that her opposition to Jackson State University's plan to open a satellite campus has nothing to do with race.
The mayor responded Wednesday to allegations from state Sen. Kenny Wayne Jones.
Click to read more.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50644604/ns/local_news-jackson_ms/
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Six weeks after the massacre of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school ignited new calls to curb U.S. gun violence, the issue reaches Congress on Wednesday amid questions about whether lawmakers can agree on significant legislation.
In hearings that begin in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, President Barack Obama and other Democrats are seeking the largest gun-control package in decades.
Former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, grievously hurt in a 2011 mass shooting that left six people dead and 13 wounded, will make an appearance at the hearing.
According to a senior Democratic aide and a person familiar with the proceedings, Giffords will testify. Her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, also is due to testify. The couple recently founded Americans for Responsible Solutions, a group intended to combat gun violence.
Others set to testify include National Rifle Association Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre, whose group is an influential opponent of gun restrictions.
Obama's proposals to curb gun violence include reinstating the U.S. ban on military-style "assault" weapons, limiting the capacity of ammunition magazines, and more extensive background checks of prospective gun buyers, largely to verify whether they have a history of crime or mental illness.
Republicans and some pro-gun Democrats envision a more modest package. It is unclear whether there is sufficient support in the Democrat-led Senate and the Republican-led House of Representatives to pass any gun restrictions beyond improved background checks.
"We are trying to weigh things that could make a big difference against things that can pass," said Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York. "I think background checks is the sweet spot."
That sentiment reflects how the calls for gun control - so prominent during the emotional days following the December 14 shootings in Connecticut - will face political reality in Congress.
"We must come together today as Americans seeking common cause," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said in his prepared opening statement for the hearing.
Facing opposition by the NRA and others who assert that new restrictions on firearms would violate their constitutional right to bear arms, Leahy, a gun owner, said: "Let us forego sloganeering, demagoguery and partisan recriminations."
'TOO IMPORTANT'
"This is too important for all that. We all abhor the recent tragedies - in just the last two years - in an elementary school in Connecticut, in a movie theater in Colorado, in a sacred place of worship in Wisconsin, and in front of a shopping mall in Arizona."
Giffords, an Arizona Democrat who was the target of an assassination attempt, survived a head wound but later retired from the House.
Most Republicans and some Democrats in Congress favor gun rights and represent constituents who do as well. The NRA has called any attempt to restrict weapon sales an assault on Americans' constitutional right to bear arms.
In recent days, some Republican lawmakers have joined Schumer and other Democrats in emphasizing better background checks of gun buyers, rather than Obama's plan to ban the sale of rapid-firing assault weapons like the one used in the Connecticut shootings.
Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a Judiciary Committee member, said that "we all recognize the need for more effective background checks." But, Flake said, "people say responsible gun owners should be able to own any type of weapon or (ammunition) clip within reason."
The NRA's plan for securing schools has revolved around putting armed guards on campuses. In a statement released Tuesday that he plans to give before the Senate panel on Wednesday, LaPierre sounded a familiar refrain of gun-rights supporters, calling on better enforcement of existing gun laws rather than new laws.
"We need to look at the full range of mental health issues, from early detection and treatment, to civil commitment laws, to privacy laws that needlessly prevent mental health records from being included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System," he said.
Federally licensed firearms dealers are required to run background checks for criminal records on gun buyers. But the government estimates that 40 percent of purchasers avoid screening by getting their guns from private sellers, including those at gun shows.
The White House's plan would require screening for all prospective buyers.
The background check provision is generally regarded as the gun-control measure most likely to receive bipartisan support, but even it could face some difficulty.
Although Obama's Democrats hold a 55-45 edge in seats in the U.S. Senate, the president's call to revive the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 faces an uphill fight.
(Editing by David Lindsey and Will Dunham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amid-questions-senate-begins-hearings-gun-control-115838971.html
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Animal Crossing: New Leaf returned to the top of the Japanese software chart during the week ended January 27.
Vita was the only system to register a lift in weekly sales, but it was 3DS that continued to dominate on the hardware front, shifting more units tthan all other consoles combined, according to Media Create data republished on NeoGAF.
Software sales Jan 21 - Jan 27
Weekly hardware sales (previous week)
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New rules went into effect Sunday allowing businesses to pass along directly a credit swipe fee to customers. In all likelihood, you haven?t notice a difference, as most businesses are choosing not to do that.
As part of a settlement this summer among Visa, MasterCard, several big banks and businesses, retailers can charge what?s being called a ?checkout fee? to credit card customers. The rule does not apply debit cards.
Typically, that fee would be between 1.5 and 3 percent percent of your total purchase, according to Consumer Action.
The lawsuit started as a means for businesses, many of whom have been absorbing these fees, to try to find a way to manage the increasing burden.
?Bottom line, you?re not getting all the profits. You have to pay part of it to someone else,? said Nora Proctor, part owner of P&R Baked Goods and Desserts in Harrisburg.
But there are a host of challenges in implementing this rule, meaning the vast majority of consumers aren?t being impacted, according to the National Retail Federation.
Ten states forbid businesses from directly passing on swipe fees. Any business operating in those ten states cannot charge costumers the swipe fee in one state and not another. New York is among those states.
For example, it?s not permitted to charge a customer this fee at a Target store in Pennsylvania and not at a Target store in New York.
That largely leaves small businesses to decide whether they want to charge the fee. The National Retail Federation says many are choosing not to for several reasons. For one, most business owners don?t want to risk being the first in the neighborhood to do it.
?Who wants to do that? You want your customer to continue to come back, time and time again. And, if you start to pass on a fee to them, then they might think a little bit more about it before they come in,? said Proctor.
Beyond that, some find the paperwork and approval process too time-consuming. Businesses would also be required to clearly post signs saying they?re charging the fees.
State Rep. Adam Ravenstahl (D-20th), said the deal is bad for consumers.Even though most aren?t being impacted, his concern is another settlement could be reached and this practice would become more common.
He?s drafting legislation that would allow Pennsylvania to become like the ten states which ban checkout fees.
?I don?t know anyone who wants to pay in terms of fees and taxes. So, it?s certainly a consumer protection piece of legislation,? said Ravenstahl.
The ten states which ban checkout fees are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.
Managers of the National Retail Federation say they?ve asked member businesses across the country and haven?t found one that plans to institute these fees.
The NRF said several of the plaintiffs involved in last summer?s settlement have fired their attorneys and are trying to work out a new deal.
Source: http://fox43.com/2013/01/29/are-new-swipe-fees-actually-burdening-consumers/
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SEVARE, Mali (AP) ? Tuareg fighters in northern Mali say they have seized control of the strategic city of Kidal and seven other northern towns from Islamist extremists.
The website of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad ? the Tuaregs' name for northern Mali ? made the claim Tuesday.
It was not possible to independently verify the Tuareg movement's claim. The Tuaregs' statement comes as French and Malian forces say they control the fabled desert city of Timbuktu.
The Tuareg group said it is "fully subscribed to the fight against terrorist organizations" and will work with French troops.
But it "categorically refuses" to allow the return to the north of the Malian army, which it accuses of summary executions of civilians.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tuaregs-seized-mali-towns-islamists-093208317.html
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shares hit a new record on Tuesday after it reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, fueled by the growth of higher-margin businesses during the fiercely competitive holiday quarter.
The world's largest Internet retailer said that its cloud computing services, video content sales and its aggressive expansion in e-books helped increase profitability.
In addition, a growing network of warehouses or fulfillment centers closer to customers held down shipping costs as it vied with Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other major retailers for consumer dollars over the holidays.
Chief Executive Jeff Bezos highlighted the Kindle's e-book business, calling it a multi-billion dollar category that grew about 70 percent in 2012. Its traditional physical book business rose about five percent in the same period, he noted.
"We're now seeing the transition we`ve been expecting," Bezos said in the company's results statement.
Profits have shrunk in recent years as the company invested for longer-term growth, building massive fulfillment centers, developing a Kindle Fire tablet hardware business in competition with Apple Inc, and expanding into Internet-based cloud services.
The fourth-quarter profit results suggested that Amazon may be able to generate attractive returns from such spending, analysts said.
"The fourth-quarter operating income was up more than expected," said R.J. Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "This supports the bull case that Amazon can monetize its growth over the longer term."
The Seattle-based company said operating income jumped 56 percent to $405 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $260 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Amazon's stock climbed 11 percent to $288 in after-hours trading. It hit a record of $284.72 on January 25.
The company also said fourth-quarter revenue rose 22 percent to $21.27 billion as it grabbed a big share of online spending during the holidays. But it was the profit that initially caught Wall Street's eye.
"It was a much better-than-expected gross margin, a strong forward indicator to drive margin expansion. What is really important is gross profit dollars and that line is stronger," said Ken Sena at Evercore Partners.
The gross profit margins were 24 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with Wall Street expectations of about 22 percent.
"Incredibly strong margins," said Jordan Rohan, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. Amazon generated the highest quarterly gross margin in its North America business in more than three years, he noted.
Amazon mainly operates as a retailer, buying products at wholesale prices, storing them and then selling at a slight mark-up to consumers online.
But the company has expanded into other businesses that are potentially more profitable, including cloud computing, digital content and acting as an online marketplace for other merchants.
These newer businesses are growing faster than the company's original retail operations, boosting profitability.
(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amazon-quarterly-revenue-rose-22-percent-21-27-210721523--sector.html
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This week's good reads includes a look at the billowing fog surrounding bank regulations, the disappearance of unskilled labor jobs, the American tradition of self-help, and a profound act of forgiveness by a victim's family.
A ?skilled worker? in Massachusetts checks the plastic coating on a solar panel.
Alfredo Sosa/Staff
EnlargeHere?s the short answer to the question posed on the cover of the latest Atlantic Monthly, ?What?s inside America?s banks??: No one knows. Not the regulators, not sophisticated investors, and not even the bankers themselves.
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?Banks today are bigger and more opaque than ever, and they continue to behave in many of the same ways they did before the crash,? write Frank Partnoy and Jesse Eisinger, authors of the Atlantic piece.
Complexity and opaqueness are the core of the problem, according to the authors. They cite a wide range of former bankers, investors, and regulatory officials who know the banks best and who ?absolutely? don?t trust their accounting. Even the banks with the best reputations, JP Morgan or Wells Fargo, are impenetrable black boxes with annual reports that defy parsing by even the most expert readers.
The fog of financial complexity is matched by a fog of rules ? as regulators parry moves by the bankers ? but always a few moves behind. The famed Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 ran to 37 pages. Dodd-Frank of 2010 was 848 pages and may balloon to 30,000 in the end. By the time the law?s ?Volcker Rule? is finalized, ?only a handful of partners at the world?s biggest law firms will understand it.?
The authors would offer the following version instead: ?Banks are not permitted to engage in proprietary trading. Period.?
That would save a lot of paper.
Traditionally, technology has raised incomes for each generation by raising worker productivity. But ever smarter technologies are replacing the need for unskilled labor altogether, argue economists Jeffrey Sachs and Laurence Kotlikoff in a paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Think, for example, of the fully automated turnpike tollbooths or checkout stands at Home Depot. Investors are benefiting from these innovations, as are highly skilled programmers and technologists. (And lines are shorter.) But the jobs that are disappearing are the unskilled ones that offer young people a first few steps up the economic ladder. Without them, the authors argue, we don?t really have a ladder, and lifetime well-being slips by a generation. So what to do? For individuals, this sounds like a warning to get some skills.
?Although smart machines substitute for unskilled workers, they are designed and run by skilled workers. So it?s no surprise that the incomes of skilled workers have risen relative to those of unskilled workers.? The authors note that this is one reason the wage premium for college graduates has increased from around 40 percent in 1999 to more than 80 percent today.
From Benjamin Franklin to Oprah Winfrey, from ?How to Win Friends & Influence People? to ?The 4-Hour Workweek,? self-help advice is a very American phenomenon ? and getting more so, according to Laura Vanderkam writing in the quarterly City Journal. More than 45,000 self-help book titles are in print, she writes, and the genre?s share of all titles published doubled from 1975 to 2000.
?There is much to mock? in this field, she notes, and she runs through its history and various critiques. But there is much that is useful as well. Socially mobile Americans construct their own notions of the good life, in DIY-style, ?from what we see of the world around us ? and what we find at the bookstore.?
In these weeks following the Newtown, Conn., shooting, there is something ? dare we say healing? ? in The New York Times Magazine story by Paul Tullis about the killing of Ann Grosmaire by her fianc?, Conor McBride, in 2010. The crime came in a moment of overwhelming emotion after an argument between the two community college students that had stretched on for 38 hours. It was not premeditated exactly, but it wasn?t an accident either.
As the father of the mortally wounded and unconscious Ann sat with her in a Tallahassee, Fla., hospital, he ?felt? her say ?Forgive him? so clearly that he spoke his refusal aloud. But he kept hearing that message in her voice. A devout Roman Catholic, he was praying in the hospital four days later, shortly before removing her from life support, when he ?realized it was not just Ann asking me to forgive Conor, it was Jesus Christ.?
The journey the family went on then took them through a process called ?restorative justice,? which strives for agreement among everyone involved in and affected by a crime over how to make restitution. This means that victims, offenders, and their families sooner or later end up sitting around a table and talking.
The upshot, in this story as in others, is forgiveness. Says Ann?s mother, Kate: ?I think that when people can?t forgive, they?re stuck. All they can feel is the emotion surrounding that moment.... Forgiveness to me was self-preservation.?
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MTV News exclusively goes behind the scenes of the upcoming romantic thriller.
By Amy Wilkinson, with reporting by Brian Phares
Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough in "Safe Haven"
Photo: Relativity Media
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1700969/safe-haven-set-visit.jhtml
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Big changes are coming in how a fourth of all Minnesotans get health insurance as the state rushes to build a new kind of marketplace that will help about 1.3 million people choose their best coverage options.
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It's called a health care exchange, a centerpiece of the Obama administration's health care overhaul. If it lives up to advance billing, consumers will go to a web site similar to Expedia where they can get the information they need to choose a plan, learn if they qualify for help and sign up - all in less than an hour.
The project faces tight deadlines so that coverage can begin Jan. 1. Open enrollment begins Oct. 1.
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The executive director of the exchange, April Todd-Malmlov, vows it will be ready by then.
Source: http://www.kdlt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23752&Itemid=57
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama begins his second term straining to maintain a good relationship with Egypt, an important U.S. ally whose president is a conservative Islamist walking a fine line between acting as a moderate peace broker and keeping his Muslim Brotherhood party happy with anti-American rhetoric.
The White House last summer had hoped to smooth over some of the traditional tensions between Washington and the Brotherhood, a party rooted in opposition to Israel and the U.S., when Egypt overthrew dictator Hosni Mubarak and picked Mohammed Morsi as its first democratically elected leader.
But a spate of recent steps ? from Brotherhood-led attacks on protesters, to vague protestations of women's freedoms in the nation's new constitution, to revelations of old comments by Morsi referring to Jews as "bloodsuckers" and "pigs" ? have raised alarm among senior U.S. officials and threatens $1 billion in American aid to Egypt.
Though the Brotherhood was founded in Egypt, its influence and affiliates have spread across the Mideast and into North Africa ? where two recent terrorist attacks and a French assault on Islamist militants in Mali have presented Obama with a new front in the battle against extremism for his second term.
The White House has little interest in picking a fight with the Muslim Brotherhood, which has grown in size and stature across the region since the Arab Spring revolts. The Brotherhood and similar Islamist movements are regarded warily by monarchies in Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. Its members are part of the opposition coalition seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. It has small followings in Qatar, Algeria, and a like-minded ? although not officially affiliated ? ally in Tunisia.
When Egyptians elected Morsi, he offered words of moderation, brokered a cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza and bore down on terrorist dens in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Morsi-led government is "a new administration and they're obviously having growing pains," said a senior Obama administration official who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity so he could discuss the diplomatic relationship more candidly.
Since the Tahrir Square revolution two years ago, Washington has tried to help Egypt build a democratic state without appearing to tread on its sovereignty. Morsi won election last June with 51 percent of Egypt's vote.
A new eruption of political violence in Egypt over the weekend left about 50 people dead, deepening the malaise as the Morsi struggles to get a grip on enormous social and economic problems. He has declared a 30-day state of emergency and curfew in the three Suez Canal provinces hit hardest by the violence.
The White House is increasingly concerned about the direction the Brotherhood is taking Egypt: "It's not just about majority rule," the administration official said. "There are democratic principles that we continue to support."
Morsi's anti-Semitic comments, made in separate speeches in 2010 but which surfaced this month on Egyptian TV, also accused Obama of being a liar. They shocked U.S. officials who sprang to condemn them as counter-productive to American-supported peace efforts in the Mideast. But they surprised few people in Egypt, who have heard Brotherhood officials make similar statements for years.
Morsi initially struggled to respond to the U.S. backlash from the comments. His office issued a statement committing to uphold religious freedoms and tolerance, and condemning violence.
"The president strongly believes that we must respect and indeed celebrate our common humanity, and does not accept or condone derogatory statements regarding any religious or ethnic group," the statement said, without addressing the fact that Morsi himself made those comments.
The statement, however, did little to soothe U.S. lawmakers ? Democrats and Republicans alike ? who have balked at approving $1 billion in aid to Egypt that Obama promised in 2011 to help the new government settle an economic crisis that has drained the country's central bank and devalued the local currency in the revolution's aftermath.
"How would the American people feel about cutting money to education programs here and giving money to a government that is anti-Semitic?" Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding to foreign governments, said.
"I don't think the administration has any right to say they are going to grant this foreign aid because I think this Congress may very well condition it," Wolf said. "I think there are a lot of questions, and I don't think it's a given."
Part of the proposed $1 billion aid package depends on International Monetary Fund approval of its own $4.8 billion loan to Egypt. But that loan has stalled for months because of Egypt's instability.
Despite its misgivings about Morsi, the White House still is pushing Congress for the funding, acknowledging that Egypt's downfall all but certainly would roil the already turbulent Mideast and North Africa.
"It's not in our interest to have an economic collapse in Egypt," said the senior Obama administration official.
The Brotherhood describes itself as a non-violent social organization dedicated to instilling Islamic values in the society. In Egypt, where it formed, the group was repressed by former regimes for decades and has struggled with adjusting to its new role leading the government. Its members, fearing a coup, are widely blamed with attacking anti-Morsi protesters outside the presidential palace in Cairo last month in clashes that left at least 10 people dead.
"What they missed was the fact that they are a governing party now, and to be getting into street battles when you also have commanding presence in the Egyptian state shows inexperience and panic," said Nathan Brown, a professor at George Washington University who has been researching Islamic movements for nearly a decade. "This is the kind of group that will be a pain to deal with for the United States, but it's not al-Qaida; it's not a security threat."
He added: "The biggest fear on the part of the (Obama) administration is a political breakdown in Egypt. They are worried that a collapse in the Egyptian state would be destabilizing on the region, and might allow the flow of arms and fighters among more radical movements in the region ? especially in trouble spots like Sinai and Gaza."
Obama administration officials said Morsi's promises to abide by Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel, and continued security cooperation with Israel over the volatile Sinai Peninsula shows his willingness to be a reasonable partner. Morsi's work in November to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rules was "a good first step," the senior Obama administration official said.
But Washington remains wary of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, "who come from a very conservative viewpoint with issues that are very important to America," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Gillibrand was part of a delegation of U.S. lawmakers who met with Morsi in Cairo this month shortly after his 2010 statements surfaced. She stopped short of saying Morsi appeared chastened but described him as mindful of "how important America is to the viability of his presidency and the economy."
She said lawmakers want to see what actions he takes, "and we want to see if his words match those deeds and actions," Gillibrand said.
___
Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/washington-casts-wary-eye-muslim-brotherhood-081823131--politics.html
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The LVUSD Performing Arts Education Centers (PAEC) in Agoura Hills and Calabasas kicked off their grand opening festivities Friday night in both cities.
The $44 million identical facilities, located on the Agoura Hills and Calabasas high school campuses, were entirely funded through Measure G, which passed in 2006.
"I like to describe these as 'welcome to our new classrooms,'" Dan Stenosky, LVUSD superintendent, said at the Agoura Hills site reception. "This is a cultural community assett."
The gala weekend long festival entitled "LVUSD Festival of the Arts and Education: A Grand Opening Celebration" in Agoura began the evening with a donor reception and facility tour followed by performances from the Agoura High School music program.
Agoura High Principal Larry Misel, who is retiring at the end of this year, expressed his enthusiasm over the finished product.
"This is really designed as an educational facility, so kids are not only performing, they're learning everything they'll be able to use to go right out into the world to get a job," he said.
The debut of the program is a dream long held by former superintendent Don Zimring, who attended the celebration. "This was part of the vision we had backin 1996," he said. "It took us this long to get here but we never wavered ... I was hopefully one of its strongest, loudest advocates."
The center, designed by architect John Sergio Fisher, houses a 650-seat main theater and the smaller 'black box' for educational classes and smaller productions. The state-of-the-art facility will offer the school district theater arts education, cross-curricular instruction, virtual programs, lectures, live presentations and more.
In addition, the buildings are open for rental to outside groups.
"This will be a cultural hub where the arts and education will not only enrich the students but also the greater community," said Lesli Stein, school board president.
Theater student and senior Sydney Heller, a back-stage tour guide for the evening, said she feels fortunate to be a part of this program.
"With a lot of public schools across the country cutting back on arts programs, this is really a big deal for us, because it shows that our community really respects what we do," she said.
Another unique aspect of two district theaters is the opportunity for Agoura and Calabasas to join creative forces, according to theater manager Gilles Chiasson.
"I will continue to stress the notion that students from both communities will have an opportunity to perform at both venues, regardless of where they live," he said. "I don't see the rivalry."
Box offices at both sites will offer tickets to either theater. For program information and to purchase tickets, go to the PAEC website.
Source: http://agourahills.patch.com/articles/performing-arts-and-education-center-opens-with-flourish
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Companies can now split payments for multiple facilitators and send money to non-Dwolla users.
After the?expansion of transaction limits from $10,000 to $50,000,000?for businesses in need of large transactions and the debut of bank to bank payments through their Guest Send API, Dwolla continues to make their payments network B2B (business to business) friendly. The Des Moines, Iowa-based tech startup rolled out two new feature updates yesterday after hearing feedback from its users.
Business transactions aren?t always as simple as consumer or peer-to-peer transactions. Depending on the transaction, multiple companies, banks or other parties need to get paid for their participation in a deal. To?accommodate?these intermediaries or facilitators, Dwolla has a feature called Facilitator Fees?which allows a percentage or flat rate amount removed from every transaction as a fee. Previously, only one facilitator could get paid. Now, Dwolla has updated its Facilitator Fees feature to allows for payments to be split multiple times to pay more than one facilitator.
Previously, the new Guest Send?transaction method was used to transfer?funds to a Dwolla user from a non-Dwolla user?s bank account. Now,?Dwolla has updated Guest Sent to allow money to be sent to anyone, whether they are or are not a Dwolla user. Dwolla will hold the money until the receiver claims it.
For more information on these two new features, check out the Dwolla blog.
For more small business resources, follow?Firmology?on?Twitter?or?LinkedIn.
To contact the writer on this story: Philip Nowak in Chicago at philip.nowak@firmology.com. Please?contact us?if you?d like to?submit a small business innovation story or small business tech startup, product or service.
Written by Philip Nowak
Philip Nowak is the founder of Firmology, a?news?and information media company focused on helping small businesses grow through?small business technology?and innovation.?You can find Philip on?Google+,?Twitter,?LinkedIn?and?Quora.
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So Facebook got caught using people's likenesses in Sponsored Stories without their permission.
A class action lawsuit ensued and it was settled for $20 million.
Now Facebook might have to cough up $10 for you if you are one of the people affected by the settlement, reports Buzzfeed.
If you recently got a "LEGAL NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION" email loaded with legalese, then congratulations ? you can afford a nice lunch out.
File a claim form here?and do it quickly. Buzzfeed's John Herrman points out that there are 150 million Facebook users in the US and only $20 million to go around.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-class-action-lawsuit-2013-1
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The Google Chrome Beta for Android has once again been updated, this time with a singular but interesting change. The new version 25.0.1364.47 enables access to chrome://flags, a hidden menu page that allows all sorts of experimental, work-in-progress features to be switched on (at your own risk).
Among these, as Googler Brandon Jones points out on Google+, is support for WebGL, a JavaScript API for rendering accelerated graphics. Many of the features on the list aren't supported on the Android branch yet, but there are quite a few that may be of interest to web developers and the hacking/tweaking crowd.
If you're already running Chrome Beta, you can grab the latest version from the Play Store app. If not, you can find it at the Google Play link above.
Source: Google Chrome Releases
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/mSxM5biLfo0/story01.htm
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One of the ideas suggested in the comments of [Insert Great Idea for a Blog Post Here] was an explanation of how, exactly, I started speaking about self-publishing at workshops, seminars and other events, and how a tending-towards-reclusive, sweat-pants-wearing writer is supposed to transform, Clark Kent/Superman style, into a polished, enthused and entertaining public speaker for up to six hours at a time, and stay that way while a roomful of people are looking at you.
I can?t really tell you how to start getting speaking engagements, because there?s no simple, five-step process, and anyway?controversial!?not everyone deserves to get them. It?s kind of like writing a book. Just because you managed to write 100,000 words does not mean that that book should be published, and just because you figured out how to self-publish does not mean you should be paid to explain the process to other people. Good speakers not only have the knowledge, they?re good at delivering it too. Essentially, that means that they?re entertaining. This doesn?t necessarily involve cracking jokes and doing a little jig at the top of the room, but it does mean that you can?you must? keep your audience totally engaged for anywhere from one to six hours without them feeling bored, confused or like they?re back in school, and that you have the stamina needed to do it.
If that sounds a bit scary, it should, because most of the time the events you?re speaking at aren?t free, and in fact some of them can be quite expensive. This is because it?s presumed that for whatever amount of time the workshop or seminar is on for, the participants are getting to listen to?and ask questions of?an expert. Are you an expert?
Speaking engagements tend to pay really, really well, when you consider the time involved, i.e. ?x amount for 90 minutes of my time? Yes, please! and this is why they can seem oh-so-attractive to self-publishers who only have e-book royalties coming in.
Except that?s not what you?re getting paid for. The time involved is not just the amount of time you?re scheduled to speak for, but the years of your life you?ve put into collecting the knowledge that qualifies you to speak, and the hours or days you spent preparing for the talk?which, if we?re talking about a full day?s workshop, could mean weeks upon weeks of devising, designing and practicing the delivery of a PowerPoint presentation. Consider that too.
I may sound a bit doom and gloom about this, but it?s only because I think people have a rosy view of getting paid to talk about self-publishing (or anything, for that matter), and this leads them to thinking they should be doing it when really, they?re not right for it. And who will suffer then? The people who paid to listen to them.
On the flip-side, if you?ve figured out how to do this self-publishing business, you?ve achieved more than most. It?s easy for me to format an e-book from a Word document, for example, but if someone rarely sends an e-mail, it?s going to seem like an Everest climb to them. They might relish the idea of getting a real, live person to patiently explain how to do it, instead of trawling through online articles and books full of terms they don?t understand. So if you are suitable for speaking about self-publishing, you should do it. There?s definitely a demand there, and it can be oh so much fun.
So how did I start getting speaking engagements?
I should start by telling you that even though I love to live as a hermit most of the time (as most writers do), I really enjoy public speaking. (I thought this was a bit weird until I met Joanna Penn?of The Creative Penn?and she told me that she?s the same, essentially an introvert who, for some reason, enjoys doing something totally extroverted: talking to an audience. Both of us also need post-speaking crash days to recover from what it takes out of us.) I loved debating when I was in school, and I was good at it, if I do say so myself. I have no qualms about talking in front of an audience, as long as I know what it is I?m talking about.
I should also point out that I live in Ireland, where the old joke of everyone knowing everyone else is actually true. I was told once that maybe 400 people in this entire country work in publishing; it?s not hard to meet most of them once you start going to a few events. So while I might have had a somewhat easy path to professional speaking through making contacts, it would of course be an entirely different mountain to climb for someone living in London or New York.
But anyway. In January 2010, Vanessa O?Loughlin?whom I?d ?met? through Twitter?told me that she was organizing Ireland?s first self-publishing event, the One Stop Self-Publishing Conference, in October of that year. Vanessa was already well-established as the head of Inkwell Writers, who organized writing workshops and events in and around Dublin.
At this stage the release of Mousetrapped was still two months away but I said to myself, I?m going to speak at that event. This was totally idiotic as I wasn?t even yet a self-publisher, let alone a successful one, but I promised myself I?d be there, somehow.
If you go far enough back in the chain, Twitter is responsible for every single speaking engagement I?ve ever done. Click to see a larger version.
Fast forward to October, and I was attending the One Stop Self-Publishing Conference. Attending, not speaking; I?d got a discounted ticket in exchange for agreeing to live-tweet every session of the one-day event. I?d sold just under 1,000 books since March and was hardly setting the world on fire, but in Ireland?s self-publishing sphere, this was an achievement. A week before the conference, Vanessa called to say the afternoon keynote speaker had dropped out, and could I fill in?
So now I was speaking at the One Stop Self-Publishing Conference, just as I?d told myself I would.
Here?s the funny thing: I really didn?t treat it very seriously. I wore jeans, and walked to the top of the room with my notes scribbled on a yellow legal pad. I thought about nothing other than telling my story, and telling it within the time frame: about half an hour, with fifteen minutes for questions. But I had a huge advantage before I even spoke: the person before me had been very technical, and spoke in a bit of a monotone. I?d also noticed that, during the day, the speakers the audiences seemed to enjoy the most were not the ones with the knowledge, necessarily, but the ones who told their personal stories. For example, a professional cover designer had imparted fantastically useful advice, but the self-published children?s book author before her was way more popular with the crowd, even though he ?educated? us very little.
I?d been in a room with endless free coffee since 9:00am and I only had my personal story. So jeans or no jeans, I knew I?d do well. And I did. My little 30-minute giddy ramble about my self-publishing experience went down like a six-figure KDP Select Fund bonus, and it was the best feeling ever. I wanted to do it again.
In the audience (and also speaking) that day was Sarah, who I?d hired to copyedit Mousetrapped. Almost two years later, she?d bump into Ben, another Twitter friend and fellow Apollo nut, who had just pitched the idea of doing a social media workshop to Faber Academy. They loved it, and suggested adding a self-publishing element. Did Ben know anyone who could do that? He thought of me, but he?d never seen me speak. When he met Sarah the subject came up, and she assured him that I could do it. That?s how I got to do Faber Academy last year. It went exceptionally well, which is why Ben and I get to do it again next month.
One of the participants at the Faber Academy workshop last year was the lovely Alexandra, a traditionally published author who was looking to e-publish her backlist. A few months later she?d get in touch to invite me along to another London event she was chairing: a e-book seminar for Women in Journalism (UK). So that?s how I got to do that.
And so on and so on. I meet people through Twitter (good old fashioned networking, if you want to be fancy about it); they invite me to speak; me speaking leads to more opportunities. So if I had to answer the question ?How do I get speaking engagements?? my absolute shortest answer would be Twitter!
(But then that?s pretty much my shortest answer to everything got to do with self-publishing success, so there you go.)
You?ll probably want to know how much to ask for/expect, or even how I much I ask for/expect. Well, I?m not going to tell you. It?s private, and it?s also not going to be of any use to you, because any figure would only be an example of what I get and absolutely nothing to do with you, with your events, your environment, etc. I will tell you this though: if you?re doing this right, you won?t really need to worry about it.
I really believe that if you can, you should aim to get invited by an established company/event/festival/etc. to speak at something they?re organizing, as opposed to organizing your own workshop or seminar. It?s?so?much easier. And if they?re a professional operation, they?ll?tell?you the fee, and this fee will be what they pay all their speakers, a kind of standard. A less professional?or less reputable?operation might ask,?well, how much would you do it for??Because they?re trying to get away with paying you as little as they can.
I can tell you that in two and a half years of doing this I?ve?never?been asked how much my fee is. I?ve just been presented with what?s on offer, and either agreed or disagreed to take part. (Actually, I?ve never disagreed, come to think of it. But then I?ve been very, very lucky.)
Compensation for speaking engagements usually falls into one of these categories:
Whether it?s expenses only or expenses plus a fee, there?s a game to play. Let?s say you?re getting paid ?500 for a full day workshop, but that?s it; no expenses. Or let?s say there?s no fee at all for participating in a panel discussion, but they are willing to give you ?200 towards the expenses you incur traveling to get there. Well, in both these cases the less you spend, the more you make. (Amount paid ? expenses incurred = profit.) And so begins the challenge of budget travel.
I have this down to a fine art by now. Here are some tips for saving on your travel expenses:
Some events pay on the day but most pay afterwards, in response to an invoice you?ve sent them. Remember to keep all your receipts and evidence of your travel expenses such as booking confirmations, etc. I don?t send these to the organizers; I just bill them the amount. But I do say something like ?Receipts are available on request.?
Credit: from the Mountains To Sea Dun Laoghaire Book Festival Facebook page. L-R: Vanessa O?Loughlin, me, Adrian White, Arlene Hunt.?
About getting speaking engagements:
About the presentation itself:
About delivering it:
Is there anything else you?d like to know about speaking engagements? Were there any surprises in this post? Is this the longest blog post you?ve ever read in your life? Leave your questions or comments below.
I have four speaking engagements coming up: one in London, one in Dublin, one in Waterford and one in Chipping Norton at ChipLitFest. You can find more details about each of them on my News page.
And here?s another tip: if you don?t know what to blog about, ask your followers. They?ll make great suggestions, and you?ll end up writing nearly 4,000 words about the very first one??This idea was suggested by Diane. Please contact me to claim your free digital edition of Self-Printed, if you?d like one.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 on track to close above 1,500 for the first time in more than five years on bullish data from Europe and strong earnings reports.
The benchmark was on track to extend its winning streak to eight days, the longest since a nine-day run in late 2004.
Data showed sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell in December but rose in 2012 to the highest level since 2009, a sign the troubled U.S. housing market has turned a corner.
"Economic data in the U.S. has been trending higher, albeit modestly. Things are incrementally better," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.
"The market was able to move forward despite deterioration in Apple and that's also a positive."
Apple shares dropped 1.2 percent to $444.99, and the iPhone maker was swapping places as the most valuable U.S. company with ExxonMobil Corp
Adding to the bullish tone, German business morale improved for a third consecutive month in January to its highest in more than six months. In addition, European banks said they will repay the European Central Bank much more than expected of the loans the bank gave them during the crisis.
"Good news in credit markets helps set the stage for (more investment in) riskier assets," Krosby said.
Procter & Gamble
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 58.8 points or 0.43 percent, to 13,884.13, the S&P 500 <.spx> gained 7.85 points or 0.53 percent, to 1,502.67 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> added 23.19 points or 0.74 percent, to 3,153.58.
The benchmark S&P 500 index is up more than 5 percent so far in January. The equity market's strong start this year has been attributed to solid corporate results, an agreement in Washington to extend the government's borrowing power, encouraging signs from the global economy and seasonal inflows into stocks.
Helping to lift the Nasdaq Composite, Starbucks
Thomson Reuters data through Friday showed that of the 147 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings, 68 percent exceeded expectations. Since 1994, 62 percent of companies have topped expectations, while the average over the past four quarters stands at 65 percent.
Halliburton Co
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/p-rises-seventh-day-1-500-too-steep-003249283--sector.html
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(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp reported stronger-than-expected sales in the United States and Asia despite economic uncertainty worldwide, offsetting unexpected costs including the bill for cleaning up after Superstorm Sandy.
Shares in the world's biggest coffee chain rose 1.9 percent in after-hours trade on Thursday, even though the company's first-quarter profit matched but did not exceed Wall Street estimates and it merely repeated its forecasts for the full year. Starbucks often tops profit expectations and raises forecasts.
Seattle-based Starbucks is frequented by affluent consumers with extra money to spend on premium drinks like lattes and mochas, but the chain's executives joined industry peers in adopting a cautious stance for the new year, largely because of concerns that this month's U.S. payroll tax increase could depress consumer spending.
It's too early to tell whether the tax hike that is reducing take-home pay will have an impact on the company's business, Chief Financial Officer Troy Alstead told Reuters.
Starbucks' results landed a day after fellow restaurant bellwether McDonald's Corp reported an unexpected rise in December sales at established U.S. restaurants. But McDonald's also warned that its January same-restaurant sales would fall as it follows strong year-ago results and fights for the business of budget-conscious diners.
"We don't know where the consumer is going to shake out this year," Edward Jones analyst Jack Russo said.
U.S. AND ASIA STRONG
Starbucks reported net earnings of $432.2 million, or 57 cents per share, for the fiscal first quarter that ended December 30, meeting the average analyst estimate compiled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. That was up from $382.1 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier.
Overall revenue jumped almost 11 percent to $3.80 billion during the quarter, which is Starbucks' biggest for sales.
Global sales at stores open at least 13 months were up 6 percent - topping the 5.5 percent rise analysts polled by Consensus Metrix had expected. Performance was helped by a 4 percent increase in traffic and a 2 percent increase in average spending per visit.
Same-store sales rose 7 percent in the U.S.-dominated Americas region - which contributes about 75 percent of overall revenue at Starbucks - and topped analysts' estimate of 5.9 percent.
Sales at established shops were up 11 percent in the China/Asia Pacific region and down 1 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Results from Asia were better than expected, while EMEA was a bit worse.
Executives said they were pleased with the performance of the new Verismo single-cup coffee and espresso brewer. More than 150,000 Verismo brewers were sold in the first quarter, CFO Alstead told Reuters.
Overall operating margin expanded 40 basis points to 16.6 percent, despite a contraction in the Americas due to expenses related to Superstorm Sandy in the United States, litigation and a large conference the company hosted.
Seattle-based Starbucks reiterated its forecasts for the full year, including earnings per share of $2.06 to $2.15.
Shares in Starbucks rose 1.9 percent to $55.62 in extended trading after closing at $54.57.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/starbucks-stays-hot-u-asia-shares-rise-004359417--finance.html
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Public release date: 24-Jan-2013
Share ] Contact: Hanspeter Ngeli
naegelih@vetpharm.uzh.ch
41-446-358-763
University of Zurich
Our DNA is constantly under attack from UV light, toxins and metabolic processes. Proteins and enzymes continually repair the damaged DNA. Unrecognized and therefore unrepaired damage to the genetic material, however, accelerates aging and causes cancer and genetic disorders. A team headed by veterinary pharmacologist and toxicologist Hanspeter Ngeli has now discovered that the protein XPD plays a key role in locating damaged DNA.
XPD protein as scanner
Genetic information is stored on approximately three billion base pairs of adenine/thymine or cytosine/guanine in the thread-like DNA double helix. The researchers reveal that the XPD protein works like a scanner that glides along the DNA double helix, scouring the bases for signs of damage. As soon as one of the protein's ferrous sensors encounters damage as it moves along, it is stopped, thereby marking damaged spots in need of repair. Besides patching up DNA, XPD is also involved in cell division and gene expression, thus making it one of the most versatile cell proteins.
Basis for possible courses of therapy
While repairing the DNA protects healthy body tissue from damage to the genetic material, however, it diminishes the impact of many chemotherapeutic substances against cancer. "Damage recognition using XPD opens up new possibilities to stimulate or suppress DNA repair according to the requirements and target tissue," explains Hanspeter Ngeli. The results could thus aid the development of new cancer treatments.
###
Literature:
Nadine Mathieu, Nina Kaczmarek, Peter Rthemann, Andreas Luch, Hanspeter Naegeli. DNA quality control by a lesion sensor pocket of the xeroderma pigmentosum group D helicase subunit of TFIIH. Current Biology. January 24, 2013. doi: 10.1016/
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 24-Jan-2013 Share ] Contact: Hanspeter Ngeli
naegelih@vetpharm.uzh.ch
41-446-358-763
University of Zurich
Our DNA is constantly under attack from UV light, toxins and metabolic processes. Proteins and enzymes continually repair the damaged DNA. Unrecognized and therefore unrepaired damage to the genetic material, however, accelerates aging and causes cancer and genetic disorders. A team headed by veterinary pharmacologist and toxicologist Hanspeter Ngeli has now discovered that the protein XPD plays a key role in locating damaged DNA.
XPD protein as scanner
Genetic information is stored on approximately three billion base pairs of adenine/thymine or cytosine/guanine in the thread-like DNA double helix. The researchers reveal that the XPD protein works like a scanner that glides along the DNA double helix, scouring the bases for signs of damage. As soon as one of the protein's ferrous sensors encounters damage as it moves along, it is stopped, thereby marking damaged spots in need of repair. Besides patching up DNA, XPD is also involved in cell division and gene expression, thus making it one of the most versatile cell proteins.
Basis for possible courses of therapy
While repairing the DNA protects healthy body tissue from damage to the genetic material, however, it diminishes the impact of many chemotherapeutic substances against cancer. "Damage recognition using XPD opens up new possibilities to stimulate or suppress DNA repair according to the requirements and target tissue," explains Hanspeter Ngeli. The results could thus aid the development of new cancer treatments.
###
Literature:
Nadine Mathieu, Nina Kaczmarek, Peter Rthemann, Andreas Luch, Hanspeter Naegeli. DNA quality control by a lesion sensor pocket of the xeroderma pigmentosum group D helicase subunit of TFIIH. Current Biology. January 24, 2013. doi: 10.1016/
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uoz-asf012313.php
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