UN Panel: Israeli Settlements Are Illegal

GENEVA -- The United Nations' first report on the broad policy of Israeli settlements concluded Thursday that the government's practice of "creeping annexation" clearly violates the human rights of Palestinians, and called for an immediate halt.

In its report to the 47-nation Human Rights Council, a panel of investigators said Israel is violating international humanitarian law under the Fourth Geneva Convention, one of the treaties that establish the ground rules for what is considered humane during wartime.

The Israeli government has persisted in settling Palestinian-occupied territories, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank, "despite all the pertinent United Nations resolutions declaring that the existence of the settlements is illegal and calling for their cessation," the report said.

The settlements are "a mesh of construction and infrastructure leading to a creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian State and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination," it concludes.

French judge Christine Chanet, who led the panel, said Israel never cooperated with the probe, which the council ordered last March. At a news conference, she called the report "a kind of weapon for the Palestinians" if they want to take up their grievances before The Hague-based International Criminal Court.

In December, after winning de facto U.N. recognition of statehood, the Palestinians accused Israel of planning more "war crimes" by expanding Jewish settlements.

Because it was not authorized to investigate within Israel, Chanet said, the panel had to travel to Jordan to interview more than 50 people who spoke of the impact of the settlements, such as violence by Jewish settlers, confiscated land and damage to their olive trees that help support them.

Another panel member, Pakistani lawyer Asma Janangir, said the settlements "seriously impinge on the self-determination of the Palestinian people," an offense under international humanitarian law.

The panel's report to the U.N.'s top human rights body immediately drew the condemnation of Israel, whose foreign ministry accused the council of taking a systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel, with the report being merely "another unfortunate reminder" of that bias.

"The only way to resolve all pending issues between Israel and the Palestinians, including the settlements issue, is through direct negotiations without pre-conditions," the ministry said. "Counterproductive measures ? such as the report before us ? will only hamper efforts to find a sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict."

The Geneva-based U.N. council was set up in 2006 to replace a 60-year-old commission that was widely discredited as a forum dominated by nations with poor human rights records.

Earlier this week, Israel became the first nation to skip a review of its human rights record by the council without giving a reason. Diplomats agreed to postpone their review until later this year based on Israel's request for a deferral.

The council, which could have proceeded with the review or canceled it, said its agreement to defer would set precedent for how to deal with any future cases of "non-cooperation." All 193 U.N.-member nations are required to submit to such a review every four years, and council diplomats said they worried that if nation were let off the hook that could undermine the process.

Related on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/un-panel-israeli-settlements-illegal_n_2589394.html

lee evans lee evans 49ers vs giants giants vs 49ers sf 49ers joe paterno died 49ers game

Dozens interested in Wash. pot consultant job

Khurshid Khoja, left, an attorney with San Francisco based Greenbridge Corporate Counsel, asks a question as he sits with marijuana cultivation expert Ed Rosenthal, right, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., as they attend an information session put on by Washington's Liquor Control Board for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Khurshid Khoja, left, an attorney with San Francisco based Greenbridge Corporate Counsel, asks a question as he sits with marijuana cultivation expert Ed Rosenthal, right, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., as they attend an information session put on by Washington's Liquor Control Board for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Bill Thomas, of Clarkston, Wash., wears a large hemp necklace Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., as he attends an information session put on by Washington's Liquor Control Board for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Washington state Liquor Control Board, speaks Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., at an information session for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Washington state Liquor Control Board, speaks Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., at an information session for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. Listening at left is David Lampach, president and Co-Founder of Steep Hill Lab, a medical marijuana testing facility in California. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Washington state Liquor Control Board, speaks Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., at an information session for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) ? The job description requests an unlikely mix of skills: five years of regulatory experience, with a law degree preferred, and extensive knowledge of all things marijuana.

But that didn't stop dozens of people from turning out Wednesday ? in flannel and suits, ponytails and hemp necklaces ? to find out more about becoming Washington state's official marijuana consultant.

As officials figure out how to regulate the state's newly legal marijuana, they're hiring an adviser to fill in the gaps of the typical bureaucrat's education: how cannabis is best grown, dried, tested, labeled, packaged, regulated and cooked into brownies.

The Liquor Control Board, the agency charged with developing rules for the marijuana industry, reserved a convention center hall for a state bidding expert to take questions about the position and the hiring process.

"Since it's not unlikely with this audience, would a felony conviction preclude you from this contract?" asked Rose Habib, an analytical chemist from a marijuana testing lab in Missoula, Mont.

The answer: It depends. A pot-related conviction is probably fine, but a "heinous felony," not so much, responded John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Liquor Control Board.

Washington and Colorado this fall became the first states to pass laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and setting up systems of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores where adults over 21 can walk in and buy up to an ounce of heavily taxed cannabis.

Both states are working to develop rules for the emerging pot industry. Up in the air is everything from how many growers and stores there should be, to how the marijuana should be tested to ensure people don't get sick.

Sales are due to begin in Washington state in December.

Washington's Liquor Control Board has a long and "very good" history with licensing and regulation, spokesman Mikhail Carpenter said.

"But there are some technical aspects with marijuana we could use a consultant to help us with," Carpenter said.

The board has advertised for consulting services in four categories. The first is "product and industry knowledge" and requires "at least three years of consulting experience relating to the knowledge of the cannabis industry, including but not limited to product growth, harvesting, packaging, product infusion and product safety."

Other categories cover quality testing, including how to test for levels of THC, the compound that gets marijuana users high; statistical analysis of how much marijuana the state's licensed growers should produce; and the development of regulations, a category that requires a "strong understanding of state, local or federal government processes," with a law degree preferred.

Farley said the state hopes to award a single contract covering all four categories, but if no bidder or team of bidders has expertise in all fields? regulatory law, statistical analysis and pot growing ? multiple contracts could be awarded. Or bidders who are strong in one category could team up with those who are strong in another. Bids are due Feb. 15, with the contract awarded in March.

Habib, the chemist, said she's part of a team of marijuana and regulatory experts from Montana who are bidding for the contract. They're fed up with federal raids on medical dispensaries there.

"We want to move here and make it work. We want to be somewhere this is moving forward and being embraced socially," she said.

Khurshid Khoja, a corporate lawyer from San Francisco, wore a suit and sat beside a balding, ponytailed man in a gray sweatshirt ? Ed Rosenthal, a co-founder of High Times magazine and a recognized expert on marijuana cultivation. They're on a team bidding for the contract.

"I've seen the effect of regulation of marijuana all my life," Khoja said. "I'd like to see a more rational, scientific approach to it."

Several people asked whether winning the contract, or even subcontracting with the winning bidder, would preclude them from getting state licenses to grow, process or sell cannabis. Farley said yes: It would pose a conflict of interest to have the consultant helping develop the regulations being subject to those rules. But once the contract has expired, they could apply for state marijuana licenses, he said.

After the questions ended, the bidders mingled, exchanging business cards and talking about how they might team up. One Seattle-area marijuana grower, a college student who declined to give his name after noting that a dispensary he worked with had been raided by federal authorities in 2011, approached Rosenthal star-struck.

"It would be my dream to smoke a bowl with you after this," he said.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-01-31-Pot%20Consultant/id-8475db1488a84d5fa7dd10bf537db6cc

earl csco big bend national park leon russell meredith vieira prop 8 maria menounos

Consulting Jobs Require You to Name Microsoft's Worst Product, Coffin Math

Insight

By Beecher Tuttle, 30 Jan 2013

How many people will buy coffins in a country with five million people? What?s Microsoft?s worst product? These are just a couple of the questions M.B.A. graduates and prospective interns from New York University?s Leonard N. Stern School of Business were asked by consulting companies in recent months.? If you can answer them and the others below, you may have a shot at a job with the likes of an IBM, Oracle or Bain.

• A coffin company in a little country called Moldavia makes budget-priced, machine-made coffins and hand-made, high-end coffins. The company?s craftsmen who make the hand-made coffins are slowly retiring and new people are harder to find. The company is thinking about revamping their factories to install machinery to manufacture high-end coffins. What issues would they have to think about to make this decision? How could we estimate the market size for coffins in Moldavia if there are 5 million residents, people only live to age 75 and coffins are sold at $1,000 each (you have to make your own assumptions)

• How profitable would it be to serve a cup of coffee to a tourist on Alcatraz?

• Should you get an offer from multiple consulting firms how will you decide which firm?

• A private equity firm is looking to acquire a company that installs and operates independent banking machines/ATMs. It is looking to get a 25% return over the next five years. What factors should it be looking at when considering the acquisition?

• How would you prepare a proposal for a client who is manufacturing a special cable which can be used in power lines and telephone lines? The client wants to evaluate the future of this product.

• You?ve been hired by a PE firm to evaluate buying a dormant cell phone network in a city of 5 million people for $50 million. They plan on offering a $30 a month plan that offers free calls anywhere in the metro area but nowhere else. Market penetrations of cell phones is 40%, max is 60%. There are 3 players in the market. The average customer life is 3 years. Acquisition cost is $500 per customer, 20% of non-cell phone users would be interested in the plan, 10% of users would switch. Should they do it?

• Tell me about a poorly marketed product. What do you think was the rationale behind this marketing?

• Tell me a Microsoft product that you hate? How would you fix it?

• The new CEO at Apple is asking you for help on continuing Steve Jobs? legacy through Apple?s products and services. Where do you begin?

• You have a company that is the number one producer of baby nutritional products in Europe. You would like to launch your product in the U.S. What are the issues around launching that product? Given these issues, would you recommend launching the product?

(Note: Some questions were altered for grammar and readability purposes)
Check out our previous post on interview questions posed by asset managers, commercial banks, private wealth managers and other finance firms.

Source: http://news.bankingtech.efinancialcareers.com/newsandviews_item/wpNewsItemId-133277

The Campaign Kinesio tape randy travis Allyson Felix Kourtney Kardashian Baby Girl Ashton Eaton London 2012 basketball

128GB Surface Pro ships with 83GB free, 64GB has only 23GB

That 64GB, $800 Microsoft Surface Pro you plan on buying next week? Maybe you should temper your storage expectations a bit, as the base model actually only allots 23GB of that space for use. The larger 128GB version offers a bit more space at 83GB, but is still losing a massive 45GB of space to the full Windows 8 operating system and various included applications. Microsoft confirmed as much this afternoon, and issued the following the statement:

"The 128 GB version of Surface Pro has 83 GB of free storage out of the box. The 64GB version of Surface Pro has 23GB of free storage out of the box. Of course, Surface Pro has a USB 3.0 port for connectivity with almost limitless storage options, including external hard drives and USB flash drives. Surface also comes pre-loaded with SkyDrive, allowing you to store up to 7GB of content in the cloud for free. The device also includes a microSDXC card slot that lets you store up to 64GB of additional content to your device. Customers can also free up additional storage space by creating a backup bootable USB and deleting the recovery partition."

The Surface RT suffered the same issue when it launched late last year -- the 32GB base version only included 16GB of storage, while the 64GB version had 46GB available. The situation is what we'd call less than ideal, though you can always expand the on-board storage via the solutions Microsoft proposes. Of course, that means doling our more cash on an already expensive tablet -- not the best thing to find out after you've shelled out $800.

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/29/surface-pro-hdd-space/

there will be blood there will be blood nigel barker 420 secret service fenway park philadelphia flyers

Health & Fitness News | Premier Training International's Official Blog ...

This final post of the series looks at how Hypopresive Exercise Techniques can be integrated into fitness programs.

Hypopresive techniques are a fantastic treatment method in the therapeutic field, especially in women?s health. They help to reduce organ prolapse, and cure incontinence better than any other technique available. Because it is so well established as a therapeutic method, it is often difficult to understand how this technique fits into fitness and preventative work.

Reprogramming?
Clients who have been assessed as having reduced core function will benefit from an initial phase of corrective programming that includes reprogramming of the reflex function of the abdominal wall and pelvic floor. Hypopresive exercises are very efficient in reprogramming.

Warm up
As part of a warm up, hypopresives stimulate the whole body, increasing body temperature. They also serve to activate the core and pelvic floor, so they are better able to handle the pressure changes within the abdominal cavity during training. They also stimulate the sympathetic nervous system at a much higher rate than a typical warm up, preparing your client more fully for the workout to come.

Cool down
The hypopresive exercises can be used during the cool down or stretching portion of the workout. The postures are great to restore alignment, increase intervertebral disk space, and improve posterior chain flexibility. Most importantly, these exercises help to re-establish proper core function again after a hyper-presive workout. They are very important for women participating in high risk activities for the pelvic floor, such as running, weight training, fitness classes, and other high-impact activities.

Standalone workout
A 20 minute dynamic hypopresive exercise sequence is extremely challenging and can easily take the place of a typical 1-hour workout. Most clients will love the fact that it produces results in less time.

Kesh Patel
Research & Development Manager

Source: http://blog.premierglobal.co.uk/2013/01/hypopresive-exercise-techniques_30.html

Super Bowl 2013 Tony Gonzalez Richard Blanco The Following Anna Burns Welker Martin Luther King, Jr. Mlk Quotes

Why do I get back pain when I get my periods? - John Hart Fitness

Menses pain is not fun, yes, it is a male writing this but I know how much my wife suffers each month so I hope the following helps a little ladies. This pain is certainly not uncommon. Your lower back pain during your period is caused by the same condition that causes you, your cramps. The pain you are experiencing in the front and lower back is known as primary dysmenorrhea which is a flashy word for cramps.

Dysmenorrhea is caused by too much prostaglandin during your cycle. These chemicals that are produced in the uterine lining cause your uterine muscles to contract so that you can shed the lining each month. It is this that leads to the cramping. These are also causing your back pain as they can radiate from the abdomen to the back and even your thighs.

If you have always had similar menstrual symptoms then it?s probably nothing to worry about. But see a doctor if the condition last more than a few days. In the meanwhile try the following to see if it eases the pain. Take an over the counter anti-inflammatory , use a heating pad on your lower back, take a hot bath, try exercising ( as in a long slow walk), and try taking some magnesium complex from the health food store?.. As men we know??? if all this doesn?t help???? EAT CHOCOLATE!!!!! J

Source: http://www.johnhartfitness.com/pain-periods

mets shades of grey pittsburgh penguins record store day jennie garth space needle nashville predators

What Do You Know? Carter May Have Called It Right On Israel After All

Posted by Bob Lord

About 5 or 6 years ago, President Carter wrote Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, which immediately drew scathing criticism from the AIPAC crowd, led by Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz found a handful of inaccuracies in the several hundred points President Carter made. President Carter acknowledged the few mistakes he made, but the media onslaught was so ferocious that his book never received a fair review.?

I've always thought history ultimately will be kind to President Carter. I'm still in the minority, but this may bring my view closer to vindication. The documentary, Gatekeepers, directed by Dror Moreh, an Israeli, has been nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. Here's how Huff Po describes Gatekeepers:

Moreh's film, which was nominated for a Best Documentary Feature Oscar, features surprisingly candid interviews with six retired directors of Israel's domestic spy agency, the Shin Bet, and offers a sobering look into the targeted killings behind Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories. It has sparked a collective soul-searching for many both in Israel and the United States.

"There is something that I felt while I am here in America, that most of the majority of the Jewish population here are cherishing Israel," Moreh told HuffPost Live host Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, adding that American Jews look to Israel as a post-Holocaust "safe haven." Moreh argues that this had led the American Jewish population to the "wrong conclusion...that they have to support Israel no matter what."

Moreh said this point of view is actually "damaging the state of Israel."

Then, Moreh concludes by pretty much validating all that Carter had to say:

"They don't understand that we are going towards an apartheid country," Moreh added. "By not criticizing it, by accepting everything Israel does politically and especially towards the conflict, they are damaging their own goal, to protect the state of Israel as a safe haven for them."

It's almost like Moreh read Carter's book.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BlogForArizona/~3/4_i2USlI5dE/maybe-carter-called-it-right-on-israel-after-all.html

S B H c mitt romney mark zuckerberg mark zuckerberg

Twitter Gets More Transparent With A New, Dedicated Site Reporting 6,646 Copyright Complaints And 1,858 Gov?t Info Requests

Twitter, now at 200 million monthly active users, is ramping up to be a big player in content delivery with embedded video services from Vine the latest move in that direction. But to play nice with rights holders and authorities, it is also making sure that it's keeping all activity clean. To that end, today the company launched a new, dedicated site, transparency.twitter.com, where it will house all updated stats and other information linked to information requests from government officials, copyright flags from content companies, and full-blown takedown requests.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/fVh9nf7xZhk/

madonna give me all your luvin video roseanne barr president green party day 26 new hunger games trailer sasquatch david choe

Earthquake Early Warning in California Shifts Closer

An early warning system for California earthquakes could soon get a much-needed dose of money, a state lawmaker announced today (Jan 28).

State Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) introduced legislation to fund a California-wide earthquake early warning system during a press conference at Caltech. The technology for a warning system already exists, through a prototype called the California Integrated Seismic Network, but scientists need more money to take it public. Other earthquake-prone countries with public warning systems include Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Turkey.

The estimated cost to create a public warning system is $80 million. This will cover adding new seismic monitoring equipment and upgrading the state's existing network, as well as public outreach and education, said Lucy Jones, senior adviser for risk reduction for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), one of the monitoring network partners. "If we were building it from scratch, it would cost $650 million," she said.

Padilla added, "If you think about the lives we can save, the injuries we can reduce, and the billions upon billions of damages associated with every large earthquake, the system would more than pay for itself."

It would take from one to three years to fully launch the new system, Jones said.

Hope for more funding

However, Padilla's bill has no funding source within the state's budget, which is only now recovering from years of billion-dollar deficits. He hopes to identify a funding source by August, he said. The project also needs federal funding, Padilla said. Private groups have stepped in to help: The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation kicked in $6 million in 2011 for the prototype.

"I'm moving on the state funding piece because I don't want to wait for the federal government. We ought to deploy it sooner rather than later," Padilla said.

There is a 99 percent chance of a magnitude-6.7 earthquake or larger in the next 30 years in California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's most recent forecast, released in 2008. But the state's been relatively quiet for the past two decades ? college students born and raised in the Golden State have never lived through a catastrophic earthquake.The last big shaker, the Northridge quake in 1994, killed 60 people and caused about $13 billion in damage. [The 10 Biggest Earthquakes in History]

"We should do this before the next big earthquake," said Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson, one of the project leaders. "Then we will not miss the opportunity of saving lives," he told OurAmazingPlanet.

How earthquake early warning works

The warning system relies on the speed of light to outrun earthquake waves, which travel at the speed of sound, Hauksson explained. "It's like lightning and thunder. You see the lightning first, and hear the thunder later."

Here's how it works:

California is dotted with a dense network of sensitive seismic monitoring equipment called seismometers. When an earthquake starts, the nearest seismometers ? and there are almost 1,000 in California ? detect ground shaking and send electronic signals at the speed of light to computers that rapidly analyze the strength and location of the quake.

The early warning system relies on the time delay between two earthquake waves. The first wave to emerge from an earthquake, called the P-wave, is an acoustic, or sound wave. It may make a slap or a bump as it passes, but doesn't cause much shaking. The second wave out is an S-wave (sometimes called secondary waves), and they travel at half the speed of the P-wave ? about 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) per second. The slower S-wave is the destroyer, the source of heavy shaking during an earthquake.

A computer can figure out the earthquake's size and location from the P-wave, and send out a warning signal before the damaging S-wave arrives. [Video: Earthquake Early Warning System Demonstration]

The signal arrives a few seconds to a minute before shaking, depending on the distance between the earthquake epicenter and the user's location, said Doug Given, the USGS early earthquake warning project coordinator. The primary users will be emergency personnel, hospitals, nuclear reactors, trains, factories and schools, Jones said. However, the signal will be publicly available, as in Japan, where programmers have created custom signal apps for phones, Hauksson said.

The prototype in place today works best for smaller earthquakes, and needs to be improved so it has fewer false alarms and can perform better during major quakes, such as those expected on the San Andreas Fault, Hauksson said. A recently published study suggests that California could experience a statewide earthquake, with the fault ripping apart for hundreds of miles.

"This is a starting point," Hauksson said.

The early warning system is a partnership between Caltech, the USGS and the University of California, Berkeley.

Reach Becky Oskin at boskin@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @beckyoskin. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet. We're also on?Facebook?and Google+.

Copyright 2013 OurAmazingPlanet, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earthquake-early-warning-california-shifts-closer-223726888.html

march madness swain match day nene dark shadows trailer nate mcmillan clooney arrested

Beyonce on Lip-Synching Scandal: Can I Live?!?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/beyonce-on-lip-synching-scandal-can-i-live/

j lo j lo sacha baron cohen ryan seacrest octavia spencer meryl streep oscars school shooting ohio billy crystal

Watch the World's Highest Resolution Drone-Mounted Camera in Action

Sure, your phone can take a decent picture, but it's not even in the same universe as the best camera the government's got. At 1.8 gigapixels, the DARPA-developed ARGUS-IS the highest resolution surveillance platform in the world, and, when mounted to a drone, can single-handedly do the work of an army of 100 predator drones watching the area of one medium-sized city. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/r8YCqlLy4Ac/watch-the-worlds-highest-resolution-drone+mounted-camera-in-action

Dexter Season 7 Ryder Cup 2012 Johnny Lewis yom kippur yom kippur avengers soa

Sarah Palin Interview After Fox News Departure Addresses Mitt Romney Election Loss, Tea Party 'Fight'

Despite parting ways with Fox News, Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (R) said she's not done sharing "the message of the beauty of freedom and the imperative of defending our republic" in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News.

The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee emphasized the 2014 elections, calling focus on the upcoming races "imperative."

"It?s going to be like 2010, but this time around we need to shake up the GOP machine that tries to orchestrate away too much of the will of constitutional conservatives who don?t give a hoot how they do it in D.C.," Palin said. "D.C. is out of touch, obviously."

Palin also reflected on the most recent presidential election, comparing Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan's 2012 loss to the own defeat she and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) faced in 2008.

"Conservatism didn?t lose. A moderate Republican candidate lost after he was perceived to alienate working class Reagan Democrat and Independent voters who didn?t turn out for him as much as they did for the McCain/Palin ticket in 2008," Palin said. "Granted, those same voters also didn?t turn out for Obama as strongly either."

When asked about her reaction to the media declaring "both you and the Tea Party dead and buried," Palin said she was "raised to never retreat and to pick battles wisely, and all in due season."

"When it comes to defending our republic, we haven?t begun to fight!" Palin said. "But we delight in those who underestimate us."

HuffPost Media reported earlier:

Real Clear Politics was the first to report that Palin ? who reportedly signed a $1 million-a-year contract with the network in 2010 ? will not be renewing it. The New York Times' Brian Stelter later confirmed the news with Fox News.

A "source close to Palin" told RCP that she had turned down a new offer. Fox News merely told the New York Times in a statement that it wished her the best.

Click here to read the full Palin interview with Breitbart News, and watch a video of some of Palin's best Fox News moments above.

Also on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/sarah-palin-interview_n_2559359.html

ambien wwdc heart attack grill madden 13 cover dalai lama tamera mowry slow jam the news

Researchers build a working tractor beam, on a very small scale

We recently saw research that suggested negative radiation pressure in light could lead to a practical tractor beam. A partnership between the Czech Republic's Institute of Scientific Instruments and Scotland's University of St. Andrews can show that it's more than just theory: the two have successfully created an optical field that flipped the usual pressure and started pulling objects toward the light. Their demo only tugged at the particle level -- sorry, no spaceships just yet -- but it exhibited unique properties that could be useful here on Earth. Scientists discovered that the pull is specific to the size and substance of a given object, and that targets would sometimes reorganize themselves in a way that improved the results. On the current scale, that pickiness could lead to at least medicinal uses, such as sorting cells based on their material. While there's more experiments and development to go before we ever see a tractor beam at the hospital, the achievement brings us one step closer to the sci-fi future we were always told we'd get, right alongside the personal communicators and jetpacks.

Filed under: Science, Alt

Comments

Via: BBC

Source: University of St. Andrews, Nature

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/26/researchers-make-a-working-tractor-beam/

jim carrey san francisco chronicle kourtney kardashian pregnant kourtney kardashian pregnant billy cundiff super bowl tickets superbowl

Amy Koch: Affair gave GOP foes an opportunity (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279793662?client_source=feed&format=rss

Martha Raddatz Chris Lighty JJ Watt jerry sandusky johnny depp hayden panettiere raul ibanez

Investing In College Town Real Estate

Savvy investors have been investing in college town real estate for a long time, and if you haven't, it might be time to follow suit. College towns make attractive investments for a variety of reasons. In the following article I will touch on several of these reasons, and even give you some insider tips on how to avoid some of the common headaches investors associate with college town real estate investing.

Why Investing In College Towns Is Attractive

Tenants

First and foremost, the biggest draw for real estate investors to college towns tends to be the large number of prospective tenants. Of course you have college students - who will need a place to stay for the approximately four years they attend school. You might be thinking - what about all the dorms? Well, the truth is most colleges and universities have a huge deficiency in the amount of on campus housing available for students. Some schools are worse than others, though, so if you intend to target college students, it would be advisable to do some research into which schools have the biggest need for off campus housing. Before we move on, I want to point out one big advantage of renting out to college students - they are willing (and generally looking) to rent single rooms. That means if you buy a big house with five or six bedrooms, you can potentially get five or six tenants out of it. While a single tenant wouldn't pay $2,500 for the entire property, five separate tenants might pay $500 each. By renting out property by the room, you are able to increase your profits substantially.

While students tend to be the first potential tenants that come to mind when you think of college towns, they are by no means the only tenants. One of the often overlooked facts about college towns, is that they have some of the most educated populations in the country. I know that seems obvious, but you'd be surprised how many investors neglect that fact. The reason why this is important is that businesses tend to flock to the more educated parts of the country, because they know that is where the employees they want are. Since college towns are more educated overall then typical towns, they make attractive places for businesses to open up. All these new businesses need employees, and those employees will need housing - you probably get the drift.

Another often overlooked source of tenants in college towns is retirees. That might seem a little strange, but I assure you that more and more retirees are flocking to college towns. College towns actually make great places to retire for a number of reasons. There are numerous cultural and sporting activities and the cost of living tends to be attractive in college towns. Today's retirees aren't happy to just sit around all day, they want to enjoy their retirement, and college towns provide them a great outlet for that.

Stability

Beyond the stable of tenants college towns offer, they also make great investment locations because of the stability they offer. Since the rental market in college towns - especially in smaller ones - is centered around the college, they are not impacted nearly as much by economic dips. Most college students don't have jobs, so they don't have to worry about losing one. In fact, the worse the job market gets, the longer students will likely stay in school. They know that as soon as they leave school they will have to start paying back those student loans. So if job prospects are weak, they may elect to go to graduate school - delaying the job search, and making themselves more attractive to employers with the additional education in the process. The number of students attending college is higher than ever before, and with the value placed on education in our culture, that isn't likely to change anytime soon.

Common Problems Investors Face With College Town Real Estate

Since we covered the reasons you should consider investing in college town real estate, we should at least mention the biggest drawback. The biggest problem, and subsequently hesitation, investors have with investing in college town properties happens to be the same reason that makes them so attractive - the students. The sheer number of students means potential tenants are aplenty, however, if you've seen the movie Animal House (or any number of college party movies), you are probably scared to death with the thought of renting your house out to college kids. While frat houses - as they are portrayed in the movies - are certainly not normal, college kids in general don't always make the best tenants. The occasional party is to be expected, and since they are kids - likely living away from their parents for the first time - they are still learning how to take care of themselves, let alone someone's else's property.?

Before you completely talk yourself out of investing in college town real estate, though, let me offer up some tips for how to get your cake and eat it too.

Tips For College Town Investing

While it might seem a little counter-intuitive, I suggest that you don't target students for your college town rental property - especially if you are worried about the idea. What's the point of investing in a college town if you aren't going to rent the property out to college students? Well, do you remember earlier when we talked about the other sources of tenants, and the increased market stability? Those positives still remain, and by avoiding college students you remove the main disadvantage from the equation. Even without college students, the rental market in college towns is good.

When targeting non-students for your rental property, you also have the ability to expand your property search beyond the general borders of the school. While most students don't have cars, and thus need to live within walking distance to school, that is not the case with other tenants. Naturally the farther away you get from the school the more affordable property tends to be. It is important not to go too far away from the school, though, or you will lose some of those other benefits we discussed earlier. You want the property to still be convenient for tenants in the event they work at or nearby the school.?

Another tip I have for college town investors is that it is possible to use your IRA to invest in these areas. I've found that because of their relative stability, college town properties make incredible investments for your retirement account. If you didn't know you could invest in real property using your IRA, you most certainly can - people have been doing it since the IRA was invented. The common name for the account you need is a self-directed IRA. If you do a quick Google search you can find all sorts of information about self-directed IRAs, or you can contact me directly, and I'd be happy to walk you through what they are, and how you can use them to buy real estate.

Conclusion

College towns have historically made great places to invest. With their huge tenant bases, educated populations and relative market stability - something that is unlikely to change anytime soon. If you don't fear renting out your property to students, as an investor you can enjoy great cap rates - especially because you can rent out your property by the room. If you like the benefits of college towns, but aren't especially keen on the idea of renting out your property to college students, no problem. It is possible to have the best of both worlds. College towns have a lot to offer residents and investors alike, and if you haven't looked into investing in college town real estate previously, I hope I've been able to sway you enough to at least consider the possibility.

Brett Immel is a senior partner at Hanover Companies - the Nation's premier resource for real estate investors and investment property. Hanover has just acquired a BULK portfolio of Cash Flowing, Tenanted, and Rehabbed Single Family Homes in Metro Memphis.?Homes start at $31,900!! All our properties have Non-Recourse financing already in place, so you can start cash flowing in your Self-Directed TODAY.?Call us today, inventory is limited 877-373-2805.

Source: http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/investing-in-college-town-real-estate-60390.aspx

gwen stefani overeem laron landry mary j blige burger king islands joe flacco 2013 nissan altima

Russian forces kill three militants in North Caucasus

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian security forces killed three suspected militants on Friday in a shootout in the North Caucasus, where the government is fighting an Islamist insurgency, authorities said on Friday.

Security forces stormed a house where suspected militants were hiding out in the town of Chegem, near the regional capital Nalchik, after the gunmen refused to surrender.

"Despite efforts to persuade the rebels to stop putting up resistance, they refused and opened intensive fire on security forces," the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in statement. "The decision was taken to storm."

Clashes between security officials and suspected militants are routine in Russia's mostly-Muslim southern provinces.

Russian forces killed 391 suspected militants and arrested 461 more in the North Caucasus last year, the head of the Interior Ministry's operations in the region, Sergei Chenchik, said on Friday.

Militants killed 211 law enforcement officers and 78 civilians in 2012, he added, quoted by Interfax agency.

(Reporting By Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-forces-kill-three-militants-north-caucasus-182447640.html

eddie royal iditarod nfl free agents 2012 encyclopedia brittanica nfl free agency jonbenet ramsey jason campbell

Chicken guts, pork lard will fuel Mazda's race car

12 hrs.

Paul A. Eisenstein , The Detroit Bureau

Mazda hopes ride a tankful of chicken guts, beef tallow and pork lard to victory at the grueling Rolex 24 endurance race in Daytona over the coming weekend.

No, the maker isn?t sponsored by the local butcher.? It?s powering its new Mazda6 race car with a custom-made fuel blend that starts out with scraps from Tyson Foods. That organic glop has been converted into a special bio-fuel that will stoke the new SkyActiv-D clean diesel engine that will power Mazda?s entry into the new Grand-Am GX Class at the 24-hour race.

?It?s meat packing residue,? explains John Doonan, the director of Mazda?s ambitious motorsports operation.? And the ultimate blend is so clean the Mazda6 race car won?t need particulate filters or any of the other devices used on other diesel-powered race cars.?

Indeed, Mazda is not the only manufacturer that has switched from gasoline or ethanol to diesel power on the track.? Audi has dominated the Le Mans endurance circuit for much of the past decade, in fact, with a series of racers that routinely leave the competition struggling to keep up.??

The Detroit Bureau:?Nissan Likely to Launch a Number of US-made Hybrids in the Next Year

That?s helped put the spotlight on the German manufacturers focus on the diesel technology it?s putting on the street.? At the Los Angeles Auto Show last November, the maker announced it would soon add four new diesel models to its U.S. line-up.

European car buyers are well aware of diesel?s advantages ? it delivers near hybrid levels of fuel economy and far more power than gas-electric powertrains. Americans, however, are just beginning to catch on. So, it?s Mazda that now needs to get the message across as it prepares to introduce its own new diesel engine to the U.S. market.

In fact, the engine that will be powering the Mazda6 on the Daytona track started out as one of the first production diesels the maker assembled back in Japan last year.??

The Detroit Bureau:?Putting Pedal to the Metal? Here's How Much Extra Fuel You'll Use

The new Mazda6 SkyActiv-D racecar will have some big tire tracks to fill, replacing the maker?s successful RX-8 model.? Mazda will also field two new teams starting with the 2013 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.? It will lose its two previous teams, including Dempsey Racing, which was owned by actor and motorsports fanatic Patrick Dempsey.The maker gave its racing team a mandate, explains Doonan, ?to use as many production components as possible. The only things we?ve changed are the crankshaft, pistons and connecting rod.?? And with good reason considering the track-tuned SkyActiv-D will be churning out 400 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque, about double what a street-legal 2014 diesel-powered Mazda6 will be making when it goes on sale later this year.

It?s a risky move to launch a new car with new teams and drivers but Mazda is hoping it will pay off and put the brand in the spotlight this year.

The maker has been going through plenty of changes everywhere you look.? It has largely wound down a decades-old relationship with Ford Motor Co. and stopped producing the Mazda6 at a plant the two makers jointly operated in suburban Detroit.

Mazda, meanwhile, has established several new ? if more limited ? alliances with Toyota and Fiat.? The Italian maker?s Alfa Romeo division plans to work with Mazda to develop a new sports car that both companies can sell.? Ford Mazda, it will serve as the replacement for its aging Miata 2-seater. Toyota, meanwhile, will base a replacement for its subcompact Yaris off the Mazda3 platform. And Mazda will produce some of the new models for Toyota out of a plant it is currently setting up in Mexico.?

The Detroit Bureau:?Mazda betting on alliances with Toyota, Fiat

More alliances could follow, according to Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi.? That could help the small Japanese automaker reduce the hefty expense of developing new products.? Not that Mazda is waiting for assistance.? It has been rolling out an assortment of new models, such as the well-reviewed CX-5 crossover.?

It has also introduced a new concept, dubbed SkyActiv, that it claims can compete with the efficiency of rivals? hybrid products. At its heart, SkyActiv is a new approach to powertrain technology but it also entails steps Mazda engineers are taking to improve the overall efficiency of the maker?s vehicles, down to finding ways to reduce the weight of the lugnuts on the wheels of the new Mazda6.

The all-new version of the sedan will be offered with both the new SkyActiv gasoline and diesel powertrains.

Unfortunately for those who might opt for the SkyActiv-D, they?ll likely have a hard time finding the synthetic diesel Mazda will use on the race track. The renewable blend was developed by Dynamic Fuels, a 50/50 joint venture of Tyson Foods and Syntroleum, and it is being produced at a $150 million refinery which opened up near Baton Rouge, Louisiana two years ago.?

Why Tyson? Because the maker has had to find ways to dispose of 1.5 million pounds of chicken, pork and beef products every single day. Now it can avoid the cost of dumping that offal and potential make some money from it.? The refinery is producing about 75 million gallons of synthetic diesel annually and could ramp up to provide even more.

A number of refiners are working to come up with bio-fuels. The most readily available are ethanol blends. They?ve been controversial because, until now, most have used food stocks, such as corn ? though newer, so-called cellulosic production methods can create the alcohol fuel from waste.?

The Detroit Bureau:?Toyota Settles First of 100s of Wrongful Death, Injury Lawsuits

Many of the new bio-diesel blends use waste products ? though a select number of filling stations near San Francisco recently began offering a blend created from algae.

Dynamic Fuels ultimately hopes to begin selling some of its synthetic diesel to the public and is shooting for a $5 a gallon price tag, notes Mazda?s U.S. CEO Jim O?Sullivan.

Some shuttle buses operated by Alamo and National Car Rental are already testing it on the street. And the U.S. Navy is also using the bio-diesel blend on some of its ships.

Those who buy the new Mazda6 with SkyActiv-D will have to settle for conventional, petroleum-based diesel fuel. But the maker is hoping that with a 14.5 gallon tank of distilled guts under its hood, the Mazda6 race car will dominate its field when the flag drops at Daytona on Saturday.

Copyright 2013 The Detroit Bureau

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/chicken-guts-pork-lard-will-fuel-mazdas-race-car-1C8119010

Leryn Franco The Campaign Kinesio tape randy travis Allyson Felix Kourtney Kardashian Baby Girl Ashton Eaton

Mommypage Learn How to Balance It All with Nicole D. from ?Tiny ...

Tell us more about yourself, your site, and your family.

I am a mother to four ? two boys and two girls, ranging in age from 15 months to 13 years . My husband is a supportive, albeit sports-obsessed, P.E. teacher. Together we are raising our noisy brood in Annandale, VA. After my second child was born in 2006, I decided to leave my job in public relations/communications and stay home, but I still needed to earn an income. This is when I opened my home-based daycare and discovered that there is an amazing secret society that forms when you put a few toddlers and preschoolers together. ?I love what I do, even though it isn?t always easy balancing everything. Anyone who says raising a family is easy is probably lying. Embracing our imperfections and letting go of our mother?s guilt is the key to surviving it all. Tiny Steps Mommy is where I write about all of this ? parenting, children, families, daycare, and surviving the chaos one tiny step at a time.

Why did you decide to start your site?? What has been your favorite part about blogging?

In March 2012, I started my blog Tiny Steps Mommy as an outlet for me to express my thoughts and keep my writing skills fresh. I have always loved writing. It is my passion. Yet for many years I put it on the back burner because I didn?t think I had the time. I discovered that I could make the time by giving up a little sleep and a lot of television. Amazingly, I do not miss watching TV and I feel more energized than ever because I am doing something that feels fulfilling. I also discovered that other people are actually reading my writing, which feels great. It is a great confidence booster when you pour your heart into writing something and then people you don?t even know say that you have touched them, or that they relate to you. I think this may be my favorite part of blogging ? making an impact.

How do you balance your daycare and spending time with your family?? What advice can you give to other busy moms?

The reason I started my daycare was to be home with my family. Even though my daycare is open 52.5 hours every week (five days a week) and I am working much more than I did in an office, I never feel like my job is getting in the way of spending time with my family. I manage this by incorporating my children into everything I do with the daycare ? it truly is a family business. This does not mean it is always easy, especially when my children are tired of sharing my attention. My last two children were born into this world where there are ?friend? days (weekdays) and ?non-friend? days (weekends). It is their normal. I have to admit though that in the evenings, I need some non-child time, which is why I depend heavily on my husband to manage the evening/bedtime routine. Having a supportive and hands-on partner is critical to surviving. My best advice to busy parents (which is every parent) is to take some time for you and accept the help of others when it is offered (don?t be afraid to ask either). Also, if your partner or someone else helps, then do not micromanage the way he or she does things, because that may be the last time help is offered. Help is help.

What is it like having four children?? How do you manage taking care of everyone?

My husband and I both grew up in large families. To us a noisy home is a happy home, which is why being a party of six feels absolutely right. Our biggest challenge is making sure we parent to the personalities of each child. Similar to teachers who have to teach based on the different learning styles of their students, parents have to parent to the unique personality of each child. A one-fits-all method does not work. The tricky part is customizing your parenting, while being fair to all. We are not perfect and neither are our children. I think once you accept this, it makes everything a little easier.

What are a few things you?ve learned from motherhood?

• I am going to make mistakes.
• My children are going to make mistakes.
• There are not enough hours in a day to get everything done.
• It?s okay not to keep up with the laundry.
• You have to be flexible and roll with the unexpected.
• Children grow fast, so enjoy every moment you can.
• Laughter is the best medicine.
• Hug, hug, hug, and then hug again.

What are your top 5 favorite things to do with your family?

1. Snuggle in bed and tickle and laugh
2. Visit playgrounds and play tag
3. Curl-up and watch a family movie
4. Reading books together
5. Go on nature walks (mini adventures)

?

?

?

Site | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Email: nicoledash@gmail.com

Source: http://www.mommypage.com/2013/01/learn-how-to-balance-it-all-from-nicole-d-from-tiny-steps-mommy/

metta world peace suspension apple earnings report john l smith apple earnings the glass castle jennifer hudson trial north korea threat

Technical writing: Deakin University

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://writefish.com.au/technical-writing-du/

stephen jackson nba trade deadline ncaa tournament marchmadness mike d antoni nba trade rumors 2012 ncaa tournament schedule

Gaming press hoaxed over Xbox and surface rumours ...

Several major gaming press sites have been hoaxed by a disgruntled gamer who pretended to be a Microsoft employee who seeded rumours about next-gen hardware.

Posing as an anonymous insider, the hoaxer distributed an email claiming to know details of the next Microsoft console as well as a dedicated Surface-based gaming tablet which was dubbed the X-Surface.

The mail was sent out to a number of gaming publications early yesterday morning. Eight hours later it was being circulated as a valid news piece, although qualified as a rumour by most who published it. Before long, it had spread to many major gaming specific and technology sites, a ripple-effect which the hoaxer aptly describes as "Chinese whispers."

In the flurry of leaks and rumours surrounding the forthcoming next generation of home consoles, nearly every site has covered at least one set of leaked specifications or another, including GamesIndustry International. By taking advantage of the whirl of information, pulling various stats from different reports to form a nebulous but semi-convincing whole, the hoaxer exposed one of online reporting's major flaws: the rush to be quickest to publish.

"It's all about being first," the hoaxer wrote on a Tumblr page exposing the fake emails. "To get such news out (whether you believe it or not) before any other publication does, will guarantee you page impressions, and that all-important advertising revenue. Gaming 'journalism' is completely broken.

"By tagging a post with 'rumour', most writers/editors believe they can get away with spreading false information for their own benefits. They are the only ones to gain from such practices, whilst the gaming fans end up with speculation and, sometimes, outright lies."

Microsoft declined to comment on the situation.

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-01-24-gaming-press-hoaxed-over-xbox-and-surface-rumours

egypt soccer riot mike kelley puxatony phil josh harvey clemons college football recruiting rankings ground hog day 2012 aaron carter

Wordless Wednesday ? Demon Speeding : Mom Knows It All. ? PR ...

An appropriate song to get pulled over by, don?t you think?

Thanks for stopping by! If you have a picture up for Wordless Wednesday, leave your link below! Then head on over to From Val?s Kitchen and Here And There

Tags: featured, music, wordless wednesday

Category: Me And Mine

Source: http://www.valmg.com/index.php/2013/ww-demon-speeding/

HGTV Sugar Bowl 2013 chick fil a chick fil a rose parade bowl games rose bowl

East Africa economies set to benefit from energy prospects

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Booming oil and gas investment in East Africa will sustain robust economic growth in Uganda and Tanzania, despite the corruption and power failures blighting the nations, a Reuters poll found on Thursday.

Tanzania, the region's no.2 economy, could see its economy expand around 7.0 percent this year from an estimated 6.6 percent in 2012, before growing another 7.1 percent next year, the survey showed.

"We are forecasting Tanzania to continue to outperform the region in terms of economic growth in 2013 on the back of continued investment in the energy sector and infrastructure," said Mark Bohlund, economist at IHS Global Insight.

Still, like neighbouring Uganda and Kenya, Tanzania frequently suffers from blackouts, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned it needs to limit power outages if it wants to maintain buoyant growth.

Uganda, the third biggest economic power in the region, could see growth of 5.6 percent this year from 4.2 percent last year, with a further acceleration to 6.5 percent in 2014.

That's a fairly similar outlook to Kenya, East Africa's largest economy according to a Reuters poll in November.

Analysts do not expect power outages in Tanzania and the cloud of corruption hanging over Uganda's government to deter further investment into East Africa's untapped energy deposits.

For Uganda, major western donors including Britain, its biggest bilateral source of aid, suspended their financial support to the country toward the end of last year after allegations of $13 million in stolen aid.

"In any case, continued exploration and investment in the natural resource sector should more than offset the effect of the aid freeze," said Shilan Shah, Africa analyst at Capital economics.

The government is hopeful that foreign donors will restore aid, which makes up a quarter of the nation's budget, after it pledged to refund stolen and embezzled funds.

A drought in 2011 prompted an inflation surge through East Africa, but better rains and tighter monetary policy stance by the central banks are subduing inflation, albeit slowly.

Ugandan inflation should ease from an average 14.6 percent last year to around 6.8 percent in 2013, and reaching 7.9 percent next year.

The Central Bank of Uganda left its benchmark lending rate at 12 percent at the beginning of this month - ending a run of growth-boosting cuts that began last June when the base rate was 21 percent.

Tanzanian inflation should also fall into single digits this year after averaging an estimated 16 percent in 2012. The poll showed it easing to 9.6 percent this year, and then to 7.8 percent next year.

"We are forecasting inflationary pressures to be relatively contained in 2013 on the back of sluggish economic activity," added Bohlund from IHS Global Insight.

"But (they) remain vulnerable to increasing food and energy prices as well as a weaker shilling."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/east-africa-economies-set-benefit-energy-prospects-132318098--finance.html

the matrix oceans 11 ferris state hockey mary poppins john derbyshire kinkade thomas kinkade paintings

Under French pressure, key Mali rebel group splits

French soldiers patrol in armored vehicles, in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French soldiers patrol in armored vehicles, in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French soldiers patrol in armored vehicles, in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French soldiers look with binoculars in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A Malian soldier takes position in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French soldiers patrol in armored vehicles, in the outskirts of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The U.S. airlift of French forces to Mali to fight Islamic extremists is expected to go on for another two weeks, Pentagon officials said, as hundreds of African troops from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso and Senegal are now joining the French-led intervention. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

SAN, Mali (AP) ? Mali's rebel movement showed new signs of discord on Thursday in the wake of punishing French air strikes, with one wing of the Ansar Dine group now pledging to negotiate an end to the country's crisis and possibly even fight against its former comrades-in-arms.

France's air and land campaign that began two weeks ago to save Mali's embattled interim government has shaken up the military landscape and put the international spotlight on the former French colony. Mali's government was on a new political defensive, urging its soldiers to respect human rights after new allegations that they had carried out summary executions in zones of battle against the radical Islamists.

Three al-Qaida-linked extremist groups have controlled Mali's vast northeast for months, capitalizing on chaos that followed a coup d'etat in Mali's capital, Bamako, in March. But in a new sign of splintering, former Ansar Dine leader Alghabass Ag Intalla told the Associated Press on Thursday that he and his men were breaking off from Ansar Dine "so that we can be in control of our own fate."

"We are neither AQIM or MUJAO," he said of the other groups, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa, known by its French-language acronym. "We are a group of people from the north of Mali who have a set of grievances that date back at least 50 years."

The comments suggested that at least some of Islamist fighters are searching for an exit in the wake of the French airstrikes. French radio RFI reported earlier Thursday that Intalla's new group will be called the Islamic Movement for the Azawad, a Tuareg term for northern Mali, and his men are willing to fight their former comrades-in-arms in Ansar Dine.

"We are not terrorists. We are ready to negotiate," Intalla told the AP.

A French diplomatic official said France was taking seriously the claims of a split within Ansar Dine ? but needed proof, not just words.

AQIM and MUJAO have been classified as terror groups by the U.N., and Ansar Dine has been "clearly associated" with them ? even if some of its members have raised doubts about how close those ties are, the official said.

"The other groups that have formed need to show which side they're on ... and prove it on the ground," said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. "Are they with the terrorists, or not?"

"They could, for example, free up territory themselves and no longer say that the Malian army is not welcome in the north ? and instead work with it," the official said.

Late last year, Ansar Dine held talks in neighboring Burkina Faso with Malian government representatives, and one of the sticking points was a disagreement over whether Malian law or Islamic Shariah law would be applied. Rebels have at times applied their interpretation of Shariah to carry out public executions, amputations, and whippings ? for infractions ranging from possessing cigarettes to women going out without headscarves.

Intalla suggested a new flexibility: "Shariah is our religion, we cannot renounce our religion. But whatever causes problems within it, we're willing to take a look at."

On Jan. 19, the group said in a statement on a jihadist forum that "the people of northern Mali are prepared to sacrifice everything in order to live under Shariah-based governance," according to SITE Intelligence Group.

An elected official from Kidal, who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisal, told the AP Thursday that the split was a long time coming and reflected how Ansar Dine, which took over the northern city of Kidal, enlisted large numbers of fighters and coopted local authorities for economic and political reasons ? not ideological ones. Intalla, an ethnic Tuareg and the heir to Kidal's traditional ruler, isn't believed to be a radical Muslim, he added.

Word of the new dissension within rebel ranks came as the government was confronting its own troubles: The most vocal allegations yet that its depleted army ? which was badly splintered and weakened during the coup d'etat ? had been responsible for human rights abuses along the battle zones separating the rebels in the north and government-controlled south.

"For several days information has come to use pointing to abuses committed on the ground that point to abuses that verge on human rights violations," the prime minister's office said in a statement. "The government reminds the army and security forces to show strict respect of human rights ... the government will see to the strict respect of these norms."

On Wednesday, a witness told the AP that Malian soldiers shot people accused of ties to the radical Islamists at a bus stop in Konna, along the dividing line, and threw their bodies into nearby wells around the time when the French campaign began. Also Wednesday, French human rights group FIDH accused Malian forces of dozens of "summary executions" in the area.

French President Francois Hollande authorized a military intervention two weeks ago and fighter jets have pounded rebel training camps, arms depots and bases. Since then, the Islamists appear to have fled from the cities, although they still remain firmly in control of much of northern Mali, likely using their desert bases and the area's natural topography, including cave systems in the Kidal region.

SITE said that in Ansar Dine's statement, the group said "it had no intention to take over the capital, Bamako, and push to the south, and that France used those allegations to justify its colonial ambitions." The group also added that the fighters' withdrawal was "a strategic choice and was not forced upon them by the enemy, except in the case of protecting civilian lives and property."

The French military said late Wednesday that 2,300 French troops are involved in code-named operation Serval, and the African contingent totals 1,500 soldiers in both Mali's capital, Bamako, and the capital of neighboring Niger, Niamey. France says it will stay as long as needed, but that it hopes African forces will eventually take the lead.

France ? Mali's former colonial ruler ? has received logistical help from Western allies including Britain, Germany, Denmark and the United States, but no Western troops have been committed to fighting alongside the French and Africans.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking Thursday about the Mali situation in Davos, Switzerland, said the military action needed to be supported by "an intelligent political response" to resolve the crisis in the longer term.

"The French are right to act in Mali and I back that action," he said, adding: "We need to address the poisonous narrative these terrorists feed on, close down the ungoverned space in which they thrive and deal with the grievances they use to garner support."

___

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Dakar, Senegal, Baba Ahmed in San, Mali, and Angela Charlton in Davos, Switzerland, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-24-AF-Mali-Fighting/id-6eb524c7fb0e4ffbbb6b2ce94674b63d

Sugar Bowl 2013 chick fil a chick fil a rose parade bowl games rose bowl auld lang syne