Day of stunts, stagecraft on presidential campaign

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a news conference outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility, Thursday, May 31, 2012, in Fremont, Calif. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a news conference outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility, Thursday, May 31, 2012, in Fremont, Calif. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

David Axelrod, a strategist for President Obama, addresses a crowd in front of the Statehouse, in Boston Thursday, May 31, 2012. Axelrod criticized former Mass. Gov. and Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's record as governor of the state during his remarks. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

David Axelrod, a strategist for President Obama, addresses a crowd in front of the Statehouse, in Boston Thursday, May 31, 2012. Axelrod criticized former Mass. Gov. and Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's record as governor of the state during his remarks. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a news conference outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility, Thursday, May 31, 2012, in Fremont, Calif. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush take part in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 31, 2012, to unveil the Bush portrait. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) ? Stunts, stagecraft, scripts ? and a touch of the surreal ? shaped the presidential campaign Thursday as Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama sought an edge on voters' No. 1 issue, the economy.

On one coast, Romney made a surprise trip to the former California headquarters of solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra to accuse Obama of currying favor with campaign supporters by giving a federal loan to the green energy company that later went bankrupt.

"This half-a-billion-dollar taxpayer investment represents a serious conflict of interest on the part of the president and his team," the Republican presidential candidate said as he stood outside the shuttered company and held it up as Exhibit A of presidential missteps on the economy.

He offered no proof of his claim during a visit that was shrouded in a highly unusual amount of secrecy because, aides said, the campaign feared Obama would interfere with his Republican rival's plans to appear there.

At roughly the same time across the country in Boston, Obama's campaign staged its own event outside Massachusetts' Statehouse to argue that Romney's record as governor from 2003 to 2007 proves he is ill-prepared to manage the nation's economy.

"Romney economics didn't work then and it won't work now," Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said at a news conference, pointing to a poor record of job creation, increased fees and the addition of $2.6 billion to the state's debt on Romney's watch.

Axelrod's appearance attracted several dozen Romney supporters, including many who protested loudly by chanting "Where are the jobs?" and holding signs that said "Obama isn't working."

The competing events, complete with rival Web videos and frenzied backers, made for an oddball day on the campaign trail and showed the degree to which Obama and Romney's teams are trying to undercut each other's economic credentials during the nation's slow-moving recovery, easily the top issue for voters.

The jockeying also came one day before Friday's May employment report, which will offer the latest window into the nation's economy.

Economists were expecting the report to say that employers added 158,000 jobs, which would be better than the past two months but well below the winter's pace of 252,000 jobs per month. They also expect no change in the unemployment rate, which was 8.1 percent in April.

Obama, himself, stayed above the fray of the day, embracing an opportunity to appear presidential as his Republican rival struggled to draw attention to his campaign.

The Democratic incumbent was at the White House on Thursday. He appeared with former President George W. Bush, the man he repeatedly blames for the nation's economic turmoil, for the unveiling of Bush's official portrait during a rare, nonpolitical event in an election year.

But on this day, Obama had little to say about the campaign and kept a bipartisan tone during the unveiling.

"We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those differences. We all love this country," Obama said as the last two Republican presidents, George W. Bush, and his father, George H.W. Bush, looked on.

Romney was far more direct.

He staged what amounted to almost a taunt to the president by traveling to the shuttered Solyndra plant here. His campaign didn't announce the event location or subject in advance and barred reporters from disclosing the venue until arrival. A senior Romney aide said the campaign was concerned the Obama administration would work with local officials to prevent Romney from holding an event there.

Yet, for all the preparation, and underscoring the challenge of being the challenger, Romney's event was pre-empted by live cable TV coverage of the Bush portrait unveiling.

Solyndra has emerged as a vulnerability for Obama because the company received $535 million in loan guarantees from Obama's Energy Department in 2009 only to go bankrupt two years later, sparking an ongoing investigation. The loan guarantee program, designed to spur alternative energy projects, was created during the Bush administration.

Republicans have been assailing Obama on Solyndra for months, partly by pointing to the connection between Obama fundraisers and the company while arguing that the president used government policies to benefit campaign supporters.

Steve Spinner, a former Energy Department official, raised at least $500,000 for Obama's campaign. Emails released earlier by congressional investigators show that Spinner was actively involved in the Solyndra loan despite pledging to step aside because his wife's law firm represented the company. One of Solyndra's investors was the foundation of George Kaiser, an Oklahoma billionaire who has supported Obama.

Kaiser has said he was not active in helping Solyndra receive the loan. White House records show that Kaiser was a frequent visitor to the White House. He has said he did not discuss Solyndra on those visits, although the company's name did come up at least once during one of those visits.

The administration says the loan was awarded on the merits and that extensive GOP efforts have failed to turn up a "smoking gun." The Energy Department's inspector general so far has only criticized the Energy Department for general problems with the loan program. It has not addressed charges of political cronyism.

But Romney suggested a political payoff, saying: "Free enterprise to the president means taking money from the taxpayers and giving it freely to his friends."

At the Obama campaign's Boston event, Romney backers heckled Axelrod by shouting, "Solyndra, Solyndra."

"You can shout down speakers my friends, but it's hard to Etch A Sketch the truth away," Axelrod responded, referring to a comment by a top Romney aide, Eric Fehrnstrom, about Romney shifting gears for the general election campaign.

Romney used his trip to Southern California to gain another type of political capital ? the endorsement of former first lady Nancy Reagan. After hosting Romney and his wife, Ann, at her Los Angeles home on Thursday, the widow of President Ronald Reagan issued a statement saying that "Ronnie" would have joined her in liking Romney's "business background and his strong principles."

___

Thomas reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington and Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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The finest gold dust in the world

Public release date: 30-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Florian Aigner
florian.aigner@tuwien.ac.at
43-158-801-41027
Vienna University of Technology

Scientists at the Vienna University of Technology found a method to locate single gold atoms on a surface -- this should pave the way to better and cheaper catalysts

This release is available in German.

Most people value large chunks of gold but scientists at the Vienna University of Technology are interested in gold at the smallest possible scale, because single gold atoms are potentially the most reactive catalysts for chemical reactions. However, when gold atoms are placed on a surface they tend to ball up into tiny nuggets consisting of several atoms. A team of surface scientists now managed to fix single gold atoms on special sites of an iron-oxide surface. This could open the door to more efficient catalysts, requiring less of the precious material.

Gold Does Not Like to Be Alone

Gold is a noble metal and does not usually bond with other elements, but as a catalyst it facilitates chemical reactions. It can, for example, facilitate the conversion of poisonous carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. The effectiveness of gold as a catalyst depends on the size of the gold particles. Some evidence suggests that it works best if the gold is present in the form of single atoms. So far, however, this could not be studied in detail. "If individual gold atoms are put on a surface, they usually cluster up, forming nanoparticles", says Gareth Parkinson, who oversaw the experiments in the research group of Professor Ulrike Diebold at the Institute for Applied Physics at the TU Vienna.

Hot Surfaces Loose Atoms

Higher temperatures lead to a higher mobility of the gold atoms, so in order to stop the atoms from clustering, most surfaces must be cooled to a temperature so low that the desired chemical reactions would stop entirely. The researchers at the TU Vienna found a special kind of iron-oxide surface, which locks the single gold atoms in place.

A Good Place to Settle Down

The key to success is a slight deformation of the iron-oxide crystal structure. The oxygen atoms of the topmost layer are not aligned in perfectly straight lines, they are bent into wiggles by the atoms below. At the points where the lines of oxygen atoms are close to each other, the gold atoms attach permanently without losing grip. Even if the surface is heated, the gold atoms stay put only at 500 degrees celsius they start forming clusters.

"When a gold atom hits the iron oxide surface, it diffuses to one of the sites where it can be attached to the surface", says Gareth Parkinson. That way, many single gold atoms can be placed close to each other. When a gold atom hits a position already occupied by another gold atom, however, the two bond and start moving across the surface, picking up additional gold atoms along the way. When they have reached a critical size of at least five atoms, they become immobile again and the miniature gold nugget comes to rest.

New Paths for New Research

Ulrike Diebold expects that the new method will answer important open questions about catalysis. "We have created an ideal model system for probing the chemical reactivity of single atomic species", says Diebold. The recent experiments will also help to advance theoretical research: the quantum mechanically complex bonding between single atoms and this particular surfaces provide an excellent test case for theoretical calculations of highly correlated electron systems.

###

Original publication: http://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.216103

Picture download: http://www.tuwien.ac.at/dle/pr/aktuelles/downloads/2012/goldstaub/

Further Information:

Prof. Ulrike Diebold
Institute for Applied Physics
Vienna University of Technology
Wiedner Hauptstrae 8, 1040 Vienna
T: +43-1-58801-13425
ulrike.diebold@tuwien.ac.at

Gareth Parkinson, PhD
Institute for Applied Physics
Vienna University of Technology
Wiedner Hauptstrae 8, 1040 Vienna
T: +43-1-58801-13473
gareth.parkinson@tuwien.ac.at

---

[ | 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: 30-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Florian Aigner
florian.aigner@tuwien.ac.at
43-158-801-41027
Vienna University of Technology

Scientists at the Vienna University of Technology found a method to locate single gold atoms on a surface -- this should pave the way to better and cheaper catalysts

This release is available in German.

Most people value large chunks of gold but scientists at the Vienna University of Technology are interested in gold at the smallest possible scale, because single gold atoms are potentially the most reactive catalysts for chemical reactions. However, when gold atoms are placed on a surface they tend to ball up into tiny nuggets consisting of several atoms. A team of surface scientists now managed to fix single gold atoms on special sites of an iron-oxide surface. This could open the door to more efficient catalysts, requiring less of the precious material.

Gold Does Not Like to Be Alone

Gold is a noble metal and does not usually bond with other elements, but as a catalyst it facilitates chemical reactions. It can, for example, facilitate the conversion of poisonous carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. The effectiveness of gold as a catalyst depends on the size of the gold particles. Some evidence suggests that it works best if the gold is present in the form of single atoms. So far, however, this could not be studied in detail. "If individual gold atoms are put on a surface, they usually cluster up, forming nanoparticles", says Gareth Parkinson, who oversaw the experiments in the research group of Professor Ulrike Diebold at the Institute for Applied Physics at the TU Vienna.

Hot Surfaces Loose Atoms

Higher temperatures lead to a higher mobility of the gold atoms, so in order to stop the atoms from clustering, most surfaces must be cooled to a temperature so low that the desired chemical reactions would stop entirely. The researchers at the TU Vienna found a special kind of iron-oxide surface, which locks the single gold atoms in place.

A Good Place to Settle Down

The key to success is a slight deformation of the iron-oxide crystal structure. The oxygen atoms of the topmost layer are not aligned in perfectly straight lines, they are bent into wiggles by the atoms below. At the points where the lines of oxygen atoms are close to each other, the gold atoms attach permanently without losing grip. Even if the surface is heated, the gold atoms stay put only at 500 degrees celsius they start forming clusters.

"When a gold atom hits the iron oxide surface, it diffuses to one of the sites where it can be attached to the surface", says Gareth Parkinson. That way, many single gold atoms can be placed close to each other. When a gold atom hits a position already occupied by another gold atom, however, the two bond and start moving across the surface, picking up additional gold atoms along the way. When they have reached a critical size of at least five atoms, they become immobile again and the miniature gold nugget comes to rest.

New Paths for New Research

Ulrike Diebold expects that the new method will answer important open questions about catalysis. "We have created an ideal model system for probing the chemical reactivity of single atomic species", says Diebold. The recent experiments will also help to advance theoretical research: the quantum mechanically complex bonding between single atoms and this particular surfaces provide an excellent test case for theoretical calculations of highly correlated electron systems.

###

Original publication: http://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.216103

Picture download: http://www.tuwien.ac.at/dle/pr/aktuelles/downloads/2012/goldstaub/

Further Information:

Prof. Ulrike Diebold
Institute for Applied Physics
Vienna University of Technology
Wiedner Hauptstrae 8, 1040 Vienna
T: +43-1-58801-13425
ulrike.diebold@tuwien.ac.at

Gareth Parkinson, PhD
Institute for Applied Physics
Vienna University of Technology
Wiedner Hauptstrae 8, 1040 Vienna
T: +43-1-58801-13473
gareth.parkinson@tuwien.ac.at

---

[ | 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.

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A rare gain for the Dow on hopes for China growth

NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market is desperately looking for good news.

On Tuesday, oil prices fell, the euro sank to a 22-month low, and the yield on the U.S. government's 10-year Treasury note fell near a historic low after a report suggested that Spain will have more trouble repaying its debts.

But stocks rose anyway. In fact, they had one of their best days in an otherwise dreary month. Investors focused on hopes that China is poised to rev up its economic growth machine and that upcoming elections in Greece will help the country stay in the euro.

"The overriding news isn't that great," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at investment advisors Banyan Partners. "But Greece and China are taking the pressure off the market in the short term."

Gains in industrial stocks that depend heavily on the Chinese economy, like Caterpillar and Alcoa, helped push the Dow Jones industrial average up 125.86 points. The Dow closed at 12,580.69, up 1 percent.

China is the largest market for aluminum, which Alcoa makes, and Caterpillar recently said it is aggressively courting China to sell its construction equipment. Both stocks gained 3 percent.

It was only the fifth gain for the Dow this month. The index is down 4.8 percent for May and is headed for its first monthly loss since September. The main culprits behind the decline have been the increasing likelihood that Greece will drop out of the euro currency and a worsening of Spain's financial condition.

Facebook plunged 10 percent to $28.84, shaving $25 billion off from the company's market value in its first seven days of trading. The glitch-plagued IPO has drawn scrutiny from regulators and ire from disgruntled investors who had trouble executing trades.

Blackberry maker Research in Motion plunged 11 percent in after-hours trading to $10 after the company said it expects to post a loss in its first quarter amid tough competition in the smartphone business.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed up 14.60 points at 1,332.42, and the Nasdaq composite added 33.46 points to 2,870.99.

U.S. markets were closed Monday for Memorial Day.

Oil prices fell below $91 after ratings agency Egan Jones downgraded Spain's debt Tuesday. Crude oil prices have been dropping steadily from $106 four weeks ago amid signs of slowing global growth.

Analysts have been concerned that Spain and other weak European economies could drag the European Union into recession this year. It would lead to lower demand from Europe, a region that consumes 16 percent of the world's oil. It also could harm trading partners like the U.S. and China and slow down global demand for oil.

The same worries flagged in the report sent the euro to $1.246, its lowest point against the dollar since July 2010. Investors fled to the safety of U.S. government bonds, sending the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury note as low as 1.71 percent, near an all-time low.

Stock investors on Tuesday appeared relieved with news from Greece that a party in favor of abiding by the terms of the country's financial rescue could win in national elections next month. That could avoid a catastrophic rift with Greece's international creditors and keep the struggling country within the euro zone.

There was also some positive news from the beleaguered U.S. housing market. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller report found that home prices increased in 12 of the 20 cities it tracks. The increase in March from the month before was the first in seven months. It was the latest evidence of a slow recovery taking shape in the troubled housing market.

In Europe, concerns that Spain's ailing banking sector might worsen the European debt crisis sent the Spanish stock market to nine-year lows. Other European markets rose.

Spain's banks are sitting on huge amounts of soured investments in the country's imploded real estate market. That has led to the recent nationalization of Bankia, the country's fourth-largest lender. Bankia revealed last week that it needs far more money in state aid than previously expected, $23.8 billion.

Madrid's Ibex index fell 2.3 percent and Bankia dropped another 13.6 percent.

Other stocks that were making big moves:

? Interline Brands shot up 40 percent after the maintenance company said it is being acquired by a pair of private equity groups for about $811 million.

? Patriot Coal rose 6 percent after the company said its CEO is leaving the company. Last week Patriot announced that it is working with private equity firm The Blackstone Group after there were concerns that the mining company could run short on cash.

? ConocoPhillips rose over 2 percent after a Citi analyst said the company is likely to pay hefty dividends this year thanks to asset sales that generated higher returns than analysts expected.

Associated Press

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Justin Bieber? to Face Criminal Charges for Alleged Photographer Battery?

Gonna focus on the important stuff. the music.

So Justin Bieber Tweeted yesterday, following news breaking that the singer has been accused of battery by a paparazzi member who claims Bieber sent him to the hospital via a physical parking lot altercation outside a mall on Sunday.

Unfortunately for Justin, however, authorities aren't ready to alter their focus just yet.

This isn't the ideal time for a photo of Justin Bieber and Mike Tyson to hit the Internet.

Sources confirm to TMZ that the alleged incident will, indeed, be referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney for possible criminal prosecution.

Police have requested an interview with Bieber, who is currently in Norway, and the investigation is not yet complete. It's also not unusual for cops to refer any high-profile case to prosecutors.

If somehow convicted, Bieber could face six months in prison. For now, though, let's focus on the music, as Justin has requested, shall we?

Listen to his latest single, "Die in Your Arms," now!

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The Variable Consequences of Debunking Family Myths ? The ...

I received this ferrotype when my maternal grandmother died. She always said it was of her grandparents, who had passed away before she was born. The stories she heard about them from relatives were thus linked in her mind with these images.

However, as my older brother began investigating our genealogy, the family story about this picture didn?t add up. The ferrotype technology was out of fashion in the era it was supposedly taken and the military uniform is of a Pennsylvania regiment in which my great-great-grandfather did not serve. Further spadework proved that the image is in fact a generation further back in our family tree than our grandmother knew. When she visualized her grandparents she was in fact relying on a picture of her great-grandparents.

I doubt it would have bothered her much to learn the truth. She?d have felt silly for a few minutes but then let it go. After all, she didn?t know them personally so it just isn?t that big of a deal.

The debunking of family myths is not always so benign. I had a colleague whose faith in his own family and in people in general was shattered when he learned that the woman he thought was his mother was in fact his maternal grandmother, the woman he grew up thinking was his older sister was in fact his mother and his ?uncle? on the other side was in fact his grandfather. The family had created a network of lies to cover up two scandals (an out of wedlock teen pregnancy and a military desertion). They fooled everyone for decades. Once my colleague found out the truth from his dying mother, he could never forget nor forgive the deceptions. He himself died, in his 80s, still bitter about the myths of his childhood.

In a less serious but still painful case, two women on Antiques Roadshow brought in for appraisal a violin that had been in their family for many years. The family story was that it was a Stradivarius, which the master craftsman had produced in honour of his beautiful new wife Faciebat Ano (Her name was even on the violin!). When the appraiser revealed that Faciebat Ano means ?Made in the Year? and the instrument was a cheap reproduction, their disappointment in the destruction of their family myth must have been accentuated by the humiliation of looking ignorant on national television.

My favorite family myth story concerned two women from Manchester. One of them in late life began digging into her family?s history and found that she had a distant cousin who was probably still living. She tried to track the cousin?s whereabouts and found that she resided only a few miles away! She introduced herself and the cousin was delighted. They found they had similar tastes and similar ideas and why shouldn?t they? They were family after all. Even their husbands got on well, to the point that the four of them dined and played bridge together regularly.

But then the woman who had originally discovered the connection realized that she had misunderstood a baptism certificate of an ancestor. When she corrected the resulting cascade of misinterpretations within her family tree, she realised that her ?distant cousin? wasn?t related to her at all. The friendship, despite being based on a fairy tale, endured. This makes me wonder: If everyone were deluded into believing that some proportion of total strangers were in fact long lost relatives, would we all be blessed with a larger circle of friends?

Posted: Sunday, May 27th, 2012 at 11:32 pm
11 Comments ?

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Angels ace Jered Weaver leaves with back injury

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Comcast/Xfinity TV Player App Arrives On Android, Good For Any Device Running Android 2.3 Or Above

Let?s take a trip back in time to January 2011 and a promise from Comcast/Xfinity?that Android tablet owners would be able to stream on-demand content to their tablets sometime in 2011. Fast forward to 2012 and while Comcast may have been a little overzealous in their timeframe, they did go a little further than their original promise by bringing on-demand content to any Android running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and above.

Watch thousands of XFINITY ON Demand? TV Shows & Movies anytime, anywhere.

Download the XFINITY? TV Player and put a world of entertainment in the palm of your hand. Watch your favorite XFINITY On Demand TV? shows and movies on your Android phone or tablet ? wherever you go.

Of course you?ll need an existing Xfinity TV or Comcast Digital Video service connection along with a Comcast ID or Comcast.net email address and password to log in. You can ?Enjoy TV Shows and movies from your favorite networks, including premium channels like HBO, Starz, Showtime, Cinemax and cable channels like TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network and BBC America.?

Google Play

Tags: comcast, google play, on-demand, xfinity

About David Beren

David is the Founder and Managing Editor of TmoNews.com. He considers himself a Jedi Knight, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a connoisseur of fine cell phones. He has been involved in the wireless industry since 2003 and has been known to swap out phones far too many times in any given year. Should you wish to contact him, you can do so: david@tmonews.com.

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A new form of for-profit social entrepreneurship | Social ...

I am reading a fair amount on social entrepreneurship ideas these days. It is an exploding area in our society, with many new books coming onto the market.

A book I plan to use in one of my classes is Creating a New Civilization through Social Entrepreneurship (published 2011, edited by Patrick Petit). The forward to the book is by Muhammad Yunus, an economics professor in Bangladesh who won a Nobel Peace Prize for giving loans of only a few dollars to poor people in Bangladesh who wanted to start small street businesses.

Professor? Yunus started by lending his own money, the first loan being $27 to several families. This was the beginning of what has been called microcredit, the loaning of small amounts of money to very poor people with no collateral required.

The word ?grameen? means village, and Mr. Yunus eventually started what he called Grameen Bank. The clients of Grameen Bank are the owners of the bank. This social entrepreneurship project has changed parts of our world.

The above is a very brief introduction to some of the work of Professor Yunus. My reason for introducing him is to share one of his broad ideas expressed in the Foreword of the book I earlier mentioned.

Professor Yunus proposes the establishment of what he calls social businesses. His notion of a social business is one that is explicitly created to assist people in need but has the capability of making profit. However, all money made in a social business would go back into serving people in need.

So far this sounds like an income-producing nonprofit corporation, but there is more.

Yunus suggests that one form of social business involves socially conscious investors who contribute money to the business, receive their investment back, but receive no dividends. All profit for this type of business would be used to expand outreach and improve the services delivered to people in need.

The big difference between Yunus? notion of social business and a nonprofit corporation is that in a social business, contributors can get back their money if the business is successful.

This is a fascinating idea, a hybrid between for-profit and nonprofit corporations. In this new idea, no money is given away by the donors. Rather, it is like the money is on loan to be returned to the contributor with no interest.

Yunus has a big idea ? he visualizes a separate stock market with all the formality that is a part of the existing stock market. There is huge complexity here, but what if?

I like the idea of socially conscious people loaning their money to an organization whose core purpose is to assist people in need. If money could be returned to the donors (as long as sales of a product are adequate), then this seems to bring so much more potential to fund raising for the purpose of helping people in need.

For the last couple of days I have been thinking about Yunus? idea, and I simply want to share it with you. This idea greatly impresses me.

Thank you for reading my small blog.

Best wishes. ? Keith

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Family Owned HVAC Company Defies Odds and Opens New ...

Defying the economic down-turn in Southern Ontario, Home Comfort Canada announced the launch of a commercially focused branch - Mueller Mechanical.

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 25, 2012 -- On May 1, 2012, Home Comfort Canada announced the launch of its new subsidiary, Mueller Mechanical. While the company has over 25 years of experience in providing Southern Canada with residential heating and air conditioning (HVAC) services, this new branch will provide more particular service to commercial and industrial clients.

Mueller Mechanical provides clients with more extensive design and installation assistance particular to commercial spaces. This more focused service offers both new and old customers with solutions that are better fitted to the demands of an industrial location. From a small office building to the largest factory space, Mueller Mechanical coordinates with clients to create HVAC options that are best suited to their particular needs. Technicians and staff are qualified to install and maintain any type of HVAC equipment, irrespective of type or manufacturer.

Home Comfort Canada has been a strong presence in the Southern Canadian HVAC service industry for over two decades because of its superior customer service, quality and reliability. Additionally, HCC is backed by licensing from Toronto Municipal Licensing and membership with the Technical Standards and Safety Authority in Ontario. Combined with its superior staff and trained technicians, this has allowed the company to show steady growth even in a struggling economy.

With the opening of Mueller Mechanical, HCC is better able to accommodate industrial needs both large and small. The new branch already shows high levels of customer satisfaction, and promises to offer the same reliable service and product standards as its residential customers have come to expect.

About Mueller Mechanical: A new subsidiary of Home Comfort Canada, handling commercial and industrial HVAC services in the Greater Toronto Area. Mueller Mechanical handles all heating, cooling and air handler unit HVAC projects from home furnaces and air conditioners to extensive rooftop units and make up air units. Family Owned HVAC Company Defies Odds and Opens New Commercial Branch

Contact : Brenda Mueller Mueller Mechanical 966 Pantera Dr Mississauga, ON, L4W 2S1 647-444-0831 al@muellermechanical.ca http://www.muellermechanical.ca

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California: Anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act ruled unconstitutional

A district court judge in California has become the third federal judge to declare the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denies federal benefits to same-sex couples, as unconstitutional.

The controversial act, passed in 1996, was deemed to be discriminatory by Judge Claudia Wilken, becoming the first to throw her weight against the anti-gay measure since President Obama announced his support for equal marriage.

Previously a court in Massachusetts under judge Joseph Tauro, and another in California under Jeffrey White had ruled similarly. Both judgments in California are set for appeals.

DOMA, in defining marriage as ?a legal union of one man and one woman as husband and wife,? outlaws many federal benefits, most crucially joint tax returns and immigration rights to spouses. This, Judge Wilkens declared, was ?a burdensome legislation that is the product of sheer anti-gay animus, and devoid of any legitimate governmental purpose,? according to the San Fransisco Chronicle.

The judge also overturned another legislation from 1996 which denied same-sex couples federal tax benefits under long-term health insurance plans. This too, she argued, was based on ?moral condemnation and social disapprobation of same-sex couples,? citing congressional transcripts which declared same-sex partnerships as ?an attack on the family,? that would ?undermine the traditional moral values that are the bedrock? of the US.

Five married same-sex couples have filed another anti-DOMA federal lawsuit in New York, and another a third federal case is being heard regarding the constitutionality of DOMA in?Boston.

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What Are The Types Of Pest Control?

Pest control is referred to proper management or regulation of a kind of species which are referred as pest since they are perceived as detrimental for the health of humans, ecology and economy as well.

History
Pest controlhas its inception at time of origin of agriculture since there was always a need of this control to keep crops pest free.? So that the production of food happens in maximum, it is always advisable to protect the crops from pest.
The most conventional approach taken for the prevention at first is to destroy the unnecessary weeds by getting them burnt and to kill comparatively larger herbivores like crows, other birds. The techniques which are being used since history are crop rotation, selective breeding and companion planting.

Different types to control pests

Biological control
Biological pest controlis done by management and control of natural parasites and predators.

As for example mosquitoes can be controlled by Bt Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis, which infects the larvae of the mosquito and kill them. This kind of treatment is done with minimal harm caused to the ecological balance.

Elimination of breeding grounds
Proper drainage and waste management of unused still water will help in eliminating the main breeding ground for many pests since garbage gives shelter and food to many unwanted organisms.

Poisoned bait
The most common method to control rat is Poisoned bait, though this does not stand out to be much effective when other sources of food are around.

Field burning
The field on which sugar cane is harvested is traditionally burnt to kill eggs and insects which are there on the field.

Hunting
When stray cats and dogs have an outrageous population in an area then local people takes the initiative to isolate the owner less animals and kill them.

Traps
There are many traps available in market today from where one can buy traps to catch rats and mice to remove them from house.

Poison spray
One of the most common pest control method is the Poison Spray method. This spray method by planes, different hand operated units and trucks which carries the equipment for spraying. The Crop dusters generally fly over the area of farmland to spray poison and destroy the pest.

Space fumigation
In this process a structure is needed which had to cover an area completely and make it airtight when the deadly gas is used for a long time in a killing concentration. It is an expensive process.
Space treatment

This is apt for control in residential and commercial buildings. Usually airtight sealing or evacuation is not need for this by using contact pesticides which minimizes long lasting effects.

Sterilization
Researched was conducted previously in 1970s where sterilization was tried but the process proved to be unsuccessful. One effective method to do soil sterilization is called soil steaming. Here hot steam is used to kill the pest.

Destruction of infected plants
The forest services are at times forced to destroy trees in a particular area which are infected. This is done so that the infection does not spread across

Natural rodent control
Different wildlife organization use rodents to control other pests.

Repellents
Oil of Balsam fir is EPA approved rodent repellent which is non toxic.

http://www.optimumpestcontrol.com/
?

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Pope's butler charged over leaks scandal

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Articles Ezines ? Mexican Boxing Legend Carlos Palomino In Profile

The US mainstream sports media likes to proclaim certain athletes as good or bad ?role models?, but they?re almost single minded in their obsession with winning. Great NBA players like John Stockton, or NFL players like Dan Marino are criticized for never having won ?the big one?.

The mainstream sports media also likes to depict boxing as a repository of sleaze, but the reality is that more so than other sports ?the sweet science? cares about ?how the game is played?. Boxing pundits place great emphasis on the competitive quality of a fight?great fights like the Morales-Barrera trilogy, Hagler-Hearns or Hagler-Leonard are considered such for the heart and resolve shown by the fighters, not because of who won. The 2004 fight between current ?pound for pound? king Manny Pacquaio and Juan Manuel Marquez is a perfect example?despite breathtaking action from start to finish the fight was ultimately ruled a draw.

Fighters can even be criticized for not having any losses on their record. While the highest level fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Rocky Marciano are certainly exceptions, an undefeated record can often suggest a poor level of opponent as much as it does fistic superiority. A glossy won/loss record alone isn?t enough to cement a legacy of greatness in the glorious history of boxing?that has to be earned inside the ring with heart, skill, toughness and character.

The true greats distinguish themselves both by how they ?play the game? as well as their championship accomplishments. Few fit that description more aptly than Mexican welterweight great Carlos Palomino. The native of Sonora, Mexico rose to prominence by holding the welterweight title during the late?70?s. During this time, he set a laudable example by becoming the first reigning world champion boxer to earn his college degree.

Palomino immigrated from Mexico as a child and began to train in boxing as a teenager. He showed a lot of promise as an amateur, but delayed his professional debut until?72 in order to serve in the US Army. While enlisted, he became All Army Welterweight Champion and won the national AAU championship. After turning pro, he worked his way up the ranks steadily until he finally won the title in June?76. Palomino scored a TKO victory over Englishman John Stracey in London, England and would defend his belt seven times before dropping the title via split decision to another first rate champion in Wilfred Benitez. He lost his next fight to yet another great in Roberto Duran, and decided to retire from the ring. He posted a credible 4-1 record during a late?90?s comeback before deciding to retire for good.

Palomino got into acting after his boxing career came to a close, and has worked steadily both in television and film. He?s also done a number of commercials, most famously the early Miller Light Beer ?tastes great/less filling? TV spots.

In the ring, Palomino was something of a hybrid of Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales?a very intelligent, technically sound fighter with deceptive power. His best power shot was a left hook, but he?d more frequently break his opponent down with a punishing body attack. He may have been a more tactical competitor than the prototypical blood and guts Mexican fighter, but a worthy claimant to the proud tradition of great fighters from south of the border.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on Pay Per Head. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and Price per head sites.

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Google Pushes First Penguin Algorithm Update 1.1

No matter that it?s late Friday night on the start of a three-day holiday weekend in the U.S., Google has just pushed out the first update to its recent webspam-fighting Penguin algorithm. Let?s call it Penguin 1.1.

Google?s Matt Cutts announced the news a short time ago on Twitter, calling it a ?data refresh? that impacts less than one-tenth of a percent of English-language searches.

Although webmasters and SEOs have been speculating consistently in recent weeks that Google had already pushed out a Penguin update (or several), Cutts specifically says this is the first update since Penguin launched back on April 24th.

Google has described Penguin as an algorithm change that?s aimed at webspam and, more specifically, ?sites that we believe are violating Google?s quality guidelines.?

Penguin led to immediate outcries from across the SEO industry, with many questioning if it made search results better or worse. Because it?s an algorithmic change, Google said it wouldn?t consider reconsideration requests made via Webmaster Central, but it did setup a form for webmasters to use if they believe Penguin had hit their sites by mistake.

Even though tonight?s update affects a small percentage of English searches, that form is still online.

For more about the Penguin update, see the articles listed below.

Related Topics: Google: Penguin Update | Google: SEO | Top News

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Oldest Jewish archaeological evidence on the Iberian Peninsula

ScienceDaily (May 25, 2012) ? Archaeologists of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) found some of the oldest archaeological evidence so far of Jewish culture on the Iberian Peninsula at an excavation site in the south of Portugal, close to the city of Silves (Algarve). On a marble plate, measuring 40 by 60 centimetres, the name "Yehiel" can be read, followed by further letters which have not yet been deciphered. The Jena Archaeologists believe that the new discovery might be a tomb slab. Antlers, which were found very close to the tomb slab in the rubble gave a clue to the age determination.

"The organic material of the antlers could be dated by radiocarbon analysis with certainty to about 390 AD," excavation leader Dr. Dennis Graen of the Jena University explains. "Therefore we have a so-called 'terminus ante quem' for the inscription, as it must have been created before it got mixed in with the rubble with the antlers."

The earliest archaeological evidence of Jewish inhabitants in the region of modern-day Portugal has so far also been a tomb slab with a Latin inscription and an image of a menorah -- a seven-armed chandelier -- from 482 AD. The earliest Hebrew inscriptions known until now date from the 6th or 7th Century AD.

For three years the team of the University Jena has been excavating a Roman villa in Portugal, discovered some years ago by Jorge Correia, archaeologist of the Silves council, during an archaeological survey near the village of S?o Bartolomeu de Messines (Silves). The project was aiming at finding out how and what the inhabitants of the hinterland of the Roman province of Lusitania lived off. While the Portuguese coast region has been explored very well, there is very little knowledge about those regions. The new discovery poses further conundrums. "We were actually hoping for a Latin inscription when we turned round the excavated tomb slab," Henning Wabersich, a member of the excavation reports. After all, no inscriptions have been found so far and nothing was known about the identity of the inhabitants of the enclosure.

Only after long research the Jena Archaeologists found out which language they were exactly dealing with, as the inscription was not cut with particular care. "While we were looking for experts who could help with deciphering the inscription between Jena and Jerusalem, the crucial clue came from Spain" Dennis Graen says. "Jordi Casanovas Mir? from the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona -- a well-known expert for Hebrew inscriptions on the Iberian Peninsula -- is sure that the Jewish name "Yehiel" can be read, -- a name that is already mentioned in the Bible." Not only is the early date exceptional in this case, but also the place of the discovery: Never before have Jewish discoveries been made in a Roman villa, the Jena Archaelogist explains.

In the Roman Empire at that time Jews usually wrote in Latin, as they feared oppressive measures. Hebrew, as on the re-discovered marble plate, only came back into use after the decline of the Roman supremacy, respectively in the following time of migration of peoples from the 6th or 7th century AD. "We were also most surprised that we found traces of Romans -- romanised Lusitanians in this case -- and Jews living together in a rural area of all things," Dennis Graen says. "We assumed that something like this would have been much more likely in a city."

Information about the Jewish population in the region in general was mostly passed down by scriptures. "During the ecclesiastical council in the Spanish town Elvira about 300 AD rules of conduct between Jews and Christians were issued. This indicates that at this time there must have been a relatively large number of Jews on the Iberian Peninsula already," Dennis Graen explains -- but archaeological evidence had been missing so far. "We knew that there was a Jewish community in the Middle Ages not far from our excavation site in the town of Silves. It existed until the expulsion of the Jews in the year 1497."

In the summer the Jena Archaeologists will take up their work again. Until now they have excavated 160 square metres of the villa, but after checking out the ground it already became clear that the greater part of the enclosure is still covered in soil. "We eventually want to find out more about the people who lived here," Graen explains the venture. "And of course we want to solve the questions the Hebrew inscription has posed us."

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s the ROI of Your Personal Finance Strategy?

I thought I had the world figured out when I moved to New York. ?The apartment I rented had bathroom tiles imported from Spain that made it feel like I was showering in a tropical grotto. ?While the yearly rent was 1/4 of my yearly pre-tax salary, I wanted to and felt like I was living the dream.

At the end of the first few months, I would end up with less than $50 dollars in my bank account. ?Reality woke me up when I almost had to borrow some money from a friend to make ends meet one month. ?So much for having the world figured out! ?My ?living the dream? was fast becoming a ?nightmare.? ?Out of necessity, I started to focus on my personal finances.

Two years later I had cut my rent to 6% of my pre-tax salary and my new apartment building had a gym, a door-man and was 1 block away from the subway station. ?My bank account balance never got down to $50 dollars at the end of the month again. ?Now, I was much closer to living the dream!

As leaders in early stage businesses, we constantly have to evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of our decisions. ?Do we invest in online vs offline advertising, do we invest in branding vs technology, do we invest for the short term or long term, etc. ?Every decision we make for our business is scrutinized as pros and cons are weighed. ?Why then, do we find it so difficult to translate that thinking to our own personal financial lives?

The ROI of my personal spending decisions was killing me. ?Once reality hit, I started treating my personal finance decisions like business decisions. This involved scrutinizing my spending habits like they were investment projects ? what was the expected financial and happiness return for the spend. ?Slowly but surely, I dug myself out of the hole and returned to financial stability.

The first step was focusing on compounding returns.

A healthy portion of my discretionary spend was based around after-work drinks which I had convinced myself were good from a networking point of view. ?Doing some quick math one night I realized that it was more like a one time project that only yielded the pain and suffering of a hang-over the next morning. ?In fact, most of the networking occurred during the first hour if at all ? after that things went down hill. ?So I found discretionary spending projects that had compounding returns ? like cooking classes, which continue to pay off every single night. ?This way less money was spent while yielding greater returns over the long haul.

The second step was focusing on auxiliary costs.

I had a good idea of how much I was spending on activities, but not how much I was spending on the supporting activities. ?For example ? A trip to the driving range cost $30 dollars, which was easy to slot away in my head as not overly expensive. ?However, as I slowly focused on the auxiliary costs, I realized that I was spending money on lots of other things while I was there ? renting a few golf clubs, buying an extra buckets of balls, enjoying some lunch, as well as spending the next week fantasizing about playing a great deal more golf. ?All of a sudden, it wasn?t just $30 that were spent at the driving range, it was closer to $100. ?Yikes ? I was severely undervaluing the cost of that one activity. ?Sadly, it was the same with a great deal of other activities. ?Taking into account the total cost really made a difference.

The third step was focusing on the time horizon from investment.

Slowly I realized that it was important to focus on how much time the pleasure could be enjoyed. ?While I loved spending $5 dollars at Starbucks on a Friday treat, the joy only lasted about 30 minutes. ?However, I could get the same amount of enjoyment from buying a $5 dollar e-book from Amazon and spend a full week reading it. ?Now instead of a having a Friday treat, I had a weekly treat!

Focusing on these three steps definitely helped me focus on the ROI of my personal finances as well as bringing more stability to my life. ?My advice would be, start by focusing on one aspect of your spending and go for the small wins. ?Slowly but surely, just like interest rates, the benefits will accrue naturally.

Sebastian Gutierrez is the co-founder and CTO of LetsWombat.com. ?Outside of his day job of connecting brands with event audiences, he loves to explore NYC food spots, art galleries, and help fellow entrepreneurs succeed. ?Follow him on Twitter here.

Tags: personal finance, roi, Sebastian Gutierrez, strategy

Category: Personal Finance

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Heat resting up before return to East finals

MIAMI (AP) ? Dwyane Wade has been battling knee soreness. LeBron James was hobbling after a falling into a courtside cameraman. Chris Bosh remains sidelined indefinitely with an abdominal strain. Mike Miller looks to be in agony whenever he moves.

An extra day of rest doesn't sound like much, but it means plenty right now to the Miami Heat.

Now halfway to their goal of an NBA championship, the Heat took a welcomed ? and needed ? day off Friday after closing out their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup with the Indiana Pacers.

The East finals open Monday in Miami against either Philadelphia or Boston, teams that will settle their second-round series with a Game 7 on Saturday night.

"We can use it," James said after the Heat ousted the Pacers with a Game 6 win in Indianapolis on Thursday. "Any team in the postseason, any extra day that you can get, it definitely helps us. So we're going to take advantage of it."

It's not like the Heat were planning to sit at home all day, since most players at this time of year tend to hit the training room on off days. Still, for the first time in a while, Friday provided a chance for the reigning East champs to relax a bit, especially after three hard-fought wins in five days allowed Miami to claw back from what was a soon-forgotten 2-1 series deficit to the Pacers.

Wade and James combined to score 197 points in the final three games of the Indiana series, while the Pacers' starters collectively managed 184. Other Heat players stepped up along the way ? Udonis Haslem with 14 points in Game 4, Shane Battier with 13 in Game 5, Miller with 12 in Game 6 ? but with Bosh sidelined, it was Wade and James who welcomed the challenge of having to handle much of the offensive responsibility.

"I don't know if they've been required to shoulder as much responsibility as they've had to now, particularly now that Chris is out," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "And we're making no excuses. We have enough. But they have to give us more and that's what competition will do. You play against good competition in this league and it brings out the best in you ? you hope."

Bosh told ESPN.com this week that he is improving, but stopped short of offering a date for his possible return.

He was hurt midway through Game 1 of the Indiana series, meaning nearly two full weeks have passed since he was diagnosed with a strained lower abdominal muscle. The best-case scenario for recovery for someone with that type of injury is typically 2-3 weeks, though the Heat have never deviated from saying Bosh is out indefinitely.

"I appreciate extra rest," Wade said. "I'm never going to cross my eye on that at all. I feel like it's well-deserved. I think also it gives us an opportunity to get Chris more therapy, more treatment the days that we're off and he moves that much closer to being able to rejoin this ballclub. I thought this was a very physical series ... so the rest will do us some (good)."

The Pacers probably would suggest Wade couldn't get much better than he was in the last 10 quarters of their series.

Wade was awful ? 2 for 13 shooting, five points, five turnovers ? in Game 3, an Indiana blowout that many thought put the Pacers in control of the series. He started Game 4 by missing seven of his first eight shots. And from there, the 2006 finals MVP was in 2006 finals MVP form again: Wade shot 39 for 57 the rest of the series, putting up 41 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's clincher.

Since 1992, according to STATS LLC, there's been 52 instances of someone having at least 40 points and 10 rebounds in a playoff game. Of those, 50 came from players listed to be at least 6-foot-6. The other two are by Wade, perhaps generously listed at 6-foot-4.

"Spectacular, from the beginning to the end," James said of Wade's Game 6 effort. "He got in a rhythm early and just kept going."

James missed a layup with 1:34 left in the first half on Thursday, his left leg crashing into a television cameraman sitting just beyond the baseline. He was shaken up and briefly tended to on the Heat bench, but played all but 28 seconds of the second half and insisted he was fine afterward. And Miller ? who has dealt with several injuries in his two Miami seasons ? makes running jokes about his health, not even acknowledging things hurt even though he's taken to sitting on the floor during games of late to help stretch his back.

Miller had 10 points in the first five games of the series. His 12 on Thursday came on four 3-pointers, his specialty.

"It's all about opportunity," Miller said. "That's what this team has right now, opportunity."

The way they all see it, the job is only half done. Miami has eight postseason wins. It takes 16 to win an NBA title. So even though some aches and pains are there, it doesn't change the goal.

"It's a no-excuse season," Spoelstra said, a familiar refrain for him in recent weeks. "And this is a no-excuse team."

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Follow Tim Reynolds on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ByTimReynolds

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