NHL lockout: Union presents counteroffer

FILE - This Aug. 14, 2012, file photo shows NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, left, and Bill Daly, deputy commissioner and chief legal officer, following collective bargaining talks in Toronto. The NHL is set to get back to the bargaining table Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, with the locked-out players? association after a new contract offer from the league broke the ice between the fighting sides. "We delivered to the union a new, comprehensive proposal for a successor CBA," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement Friday, Dec. 28. "We are not prepared to discuss the details of our proposal at this time." (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young, File)

FILE - This Aug. 14, 2012, file photo shows NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, left, and Bill Daly, deputy commissioner and chief legal officer, following collective bargaining talks in Toronto. The NHL is set to get back to the bargaining table Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, with the locked-out players? association after a new contract offer from the league broke the ice between the fighting sides. "We delivered to the union a new, comprehensive proposal for a successor CBA," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement Friday, Dec. 28. "We are not prepared to discuss the details of our proposal at this time." (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2012, file photo, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, right, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly speak to reporters in New York. The NHL made a new proposal to the players' association, hoping to spark talks to end the long lockout and save the hockey season. Daly said Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, the league made its offer Thursday and was waiting for a response. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The NHL players' union presented a counteroffer to the league Monday in the latest attempt to resolve a lockout and start a shortened season.

The sides met at NHL headquarters and negotiated for the first time since they met with a federal mediator on Dec. 13. They took a break while the league considered the proposal, and union representatives stayed in the building in case further talks ensued.

So far, a deal has been elusive and well out of reach.

The New Year's clock is ticking while the window to reach a labor agreement to save the season is rapidly closing. No one has said exactly how much time remains, but the belief is the NHL wants an abbreviated season to start no later than Jan. 19.

That leaves a little less than two weeks to reach an agreement and hold one week of training camp before the puck would drop on a 48-game campaign.

The league and the union had informational discussions ? by conference call and in meetings ? with staff members that lasted much of Saturday and ended Sunday. Those talks were spurred by the nearly 300-page contract proposal the NHL presented to the union Thursday.

All games through Jan. 14 have been canceled, claiming more than 50 percent of the original schedule. The NHL wants to reach a deal by Jan. 11 and open the season eight days later.

Bargaining sessions with only the NHL and union hadn't been held since Dec. 6, when talks abruptly ended after the players' association made a counterproposal. The league said that offer was contingent on the union accepting three elements unconditionally and without further bargaining.

The NHL then pulled all existing offers off the table. Two days of sessions with mediators the following week ended without progress.

A person familiar with key points of that previous offer told The Associated Press that the league proposed raising the limit of individual free-agent contracts to six years from five ? seven years if a team re-signs its own player; raising the salary variance from one year to another to 10 percent, up from 5 percent; and one compliance buyout for the 2013-14 season that wouldn't count toward a team's salary cap but would be included in the overall players' share of income.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the new offer weren't being discussed publicly.

The NHL maintained the deferred payment amount of $300 million it offered in its previous proposal, an increase from an earlier offer of $211 million. The initial $300 million offer was pulled after negotiations broke off this month.

That proposal was for 10 years, running through the 2021-22 season, with both sides having the right to opt out after eight years.

The NHL is the only North American professional sports league to cancel a season because of a labor dispute, losing the 2004-05 campaign to a lockout. A 48-game season was played in 1995 after a lockout stretched into January.

It is still possible this dispute could eventually be settled in the courts if the sides can't reach a deal on their own.

The NHL filed a class-action suit this month in U.S. District Court in New York in an effort to show its lockout is legal. In a separate move, the league filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, contending bad-faith bargaining by the union.

Those moves were made because the players' association took steps toward potentially filing a "disclaimer of interest," which would dissolve the union and make it a trade association. That would allow players to file antitrust lawsuits against the NHL.

Union members voted overwhelmingly to give their board the power to file the disclaimer by Wednesday. If that deadline passes, another authorization vote could be held to approve a later filing.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-31-HKN-NHL-Labor/id-fe07bb971aea41c2b0973a6b93d8b064

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Rice wins Armed Forces Bowl, 33-14 over Air Force

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ? When Rice freshman quarterback Driphus Jackson was suddenly thrust into action in the Armed Forces Bowl, he drove the Owls within 2 yards of a tying touchdown before his errant pitch.

Jackson more than made up for that miscue that ended the first half.

After starter Taylor McHargue was knocked out the game because of a concussion, Jackson threw for 264 yards with two second-half touchdowns to Jordan Taylor, and Rice beat Air Force 33-14 on Saturday.

"I couldn't get down (after the fumble). The guys had all the confidence in the world in me," Jackson said. "Things slowed down for me in the second half."

Rice (7-6), which had to win four in a row just to get bowl eligible, has won both of its bowl games under sixth-year coach David Bailiff. Before their 2008 Texas Bowl victory, the Owls had lost their only four bowl games since winning the 1954 Cotton Bowl.

"This football team has overcome a lot of adversity and really played well down the stretch," Bailiff said. "We had a very motivational talk with our team just before the winning streak, and our coaching staff and players worked hard and kept improving every game."

And this is a Rice team with only seven seniors, three of them tight ends.

The Owls were 1-5 after a loss at Memphis on Oct. 6, and their only loss was 28-24 to Conference USA champion Tulsa.

"We had our ups and downs. To cap it after the start we had, it means the world," said running back Turner Petersen (nine carries for 81 yards).

Air Force (6-7) scored on consecutive drives in the second quarter with backup quarterback Kale Pearson in the game. But the Falcons had a season-low 214 total yards.

Jackson's first series ended with a bad pitch near the goal line only 2 seconds before halftime, when the Owls trailed 14-7. It was the third lost fumble by Rice in the second quarter.

"We didn't make a lot of adjustments at halftime," said Taylor, who had nine catches for 153 yards and three TDs, including a 16-yarder from McHargue in the first quarter. "The coaches just told us to execute and protect the football better than we did in the first half."

Jackson had consecutive completions of 25 and 22 yards before a 2-yard keeper and then a 22-yard TD to Taylor on Rice's opening drive of the second half.

The Owls went ahead to stay, 21-14, when Jackson hit six passes in a row to set up Charles Ross' 2-yard TD run.

"As soon as the starter went out, we knew there were adjustments we had to make," Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. "We put an enormous amount of strain on our defense. Any time you make only 12 first downs, you're going to tax your defense."

Jackson, who started against Houston when McHargue had a shoulder problem, completed 15 of 21 passes and rushed for 32 yards.

"After having one start under my belt, I knew what to expect," Jackson said. "I had an idea of how to manage the game. They gave me the keys and told me to go."

McHargue never returned after a helmet-to-helmet collision on a 5-yard run with about 5 minutes left in the first half.

He put his head down and ran into defensive back Steffon Batts, and fumbled. McHargue was noticeably wobbly while being helped to the sideline.

The Falcons then went 35 yards in nine plays for a 14-7 lead. Mike DeWitt converted fourth-and-1 with a 2-yard run, and Wes Cobb scored on a 1-yard run.

Jackson then came in for the Owls and had keepers of 5 and 14 yards before a 23-yard pass to Taylor. After another 10-yard pass for first-and-goal from the 2 before Jackson's bad pitch.

McHargue hit 6 of 8 passes for 31 yards. He stood on the sideline after halftime wearing a warmup suit and a cap.

Since the Falcons' last game, senior quarterback Connor Dietz has graduated from the academy and been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.

Dietz ran six times for 11 yards and completed only 1 of 3 passes.

Pearson wasn't must better, 2-of-8 passing for 44 yards with six carries for 11 yards. But he was on the field for both of Air Force's scoring drives with a 9-yard TD run

The Falcons have made a school-record six consecutive bowl appearances under Calhoun, but are 2-4 in those games (1-3 in the Armed Forces Bowl). Air Force lost four of its last five games to finish this season.

Chris Boswell made field goals of 24 and 25 yards in the fourth quarter, before Jackson hit Taylor for a 34-yard TD with 1:38 left.

Boswell, who made six field goals of at least 50 yards during the regular season, had apparently made a 52-yarder early in the second quarter before officials blew the whistle for an Air Force timeout. Boswell got another try, but pushed it wide right with about 9 minutes left in the first half.

That's when Pearson took over for Air Force, leading them 66 yards in 10 plays. He had a 15-yard pass and ended the drive with a wide sweeping run to get into the front corner of the end zone to tie the game at 7.

"We really struggled. We had a good second quarter," Calhoun said. "But there's no way you win this game playing well in one quarter."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rice-wins-armed-forces-bowl-33-14-over-202123145--spt.html

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Central Asian migrants change the face of Moscow

MOSCOW (AP) ? Timur Bulgakov has a black belt in karate, two university degrees, a powerful SUV and a small yet thriving construction company. The 28-year-old's success is impressive for a Muslim migrant from Uzbekistan whose first job in Moscow 10 years ago was as a delivery boy.

But his story is no longer that unusual.

The old Moscow, populated largely by Slavs, is rapidly giving way to a multi-ethnic city where Muslims from Central Asia are the fastest growing sector of the population. And they are changing the face of Moscow as their numbers rise and they move up the career ladder, taking on more visible roles in society.

Muslim women wearing hijabs are a growing sight on the capital's shopping streets. Bearded men sport Muslim skullcaps and hang trinkets with Koranic verses in their cars. Many more are non-practicing Muslims who blend in with secular attire, although their darker skin, accented speech and foreign customs often provoke frowns from native Muscovites. Meanwhile, their children ? some born and raised in the capital ? throng kindergartens and schools.

Russia's Federal Migration Service estimates that about 9.1 million foreigners arrived in Russia to work in 2011. More than a third came from three impoverished Central Asian countries that were once part of the Soviet Union: About 2 million from Uzbekistan, 1 million from Tajikistan and more than 500,000 from Kyrgyzstan. Local experts say the number of Central Asian arrivals is at least twice as high. And hundreds of thousands of Central Asians have already acquired Russian passports and are off the migration services' radar.

The Central Asian migration has been the driving force in boosting Russia's Muslim population to more than 20 million, from some 14 million 10 years ago ? a phenomenon experts call one of the most radical demographic makeovers Russia has ever seen.

"Today, we're standing on the verge of a powerful demographic explosion, a great migration period equal to the one that took place in the first centuries A.D.," said Vyacheslav Mikhailov, a former minister for ethnic issues and a presidential adviser on ethnic policies.

Muslims are expected to account for 19 percent of Russia's population by 2030, up from 14 percent of the current population of 142 million, according to the U.S. government's National Intelligence Council report on global trends published this month.

"Russia's greatest demographic challenge could well be integrating its rapidly growing ethnic Muslim population in the face of a shrinking ethnic Russian population," the report said. The changing ethnic mix "already appears to be a source of growing social tensions."

By the most conservative estimates, 2 million Muslims now live in Moscow, a city of nearly 12 million.

Polls show that nearly half of Russians dislike migrants from Central Asia and Russia's Caucasus ? another source of Muslim migration. They have become the bogeymen of Russian nationalists, accused of stealing jobs, forming ethnic gangs and disrespecting Russian customs.

"If you build a mosque in downtown Moscow, slaughter sheep on your holiday and impose your traditions on us, no one will want you as a neighbor," said Dmitry Demushkin, a veteran Russian neo-Nazi skinhead who heads a nationalist party.

Central Asian labor migrants for years have filled the lowest paying jobs, working as janitors, street cleaners, construction workers, vendors at outdoor markets and unlicensed cab drivers whose run-down cars are popularly known as "jihad taxis." Many live in trailers on construction sites, in squalid basements and overcrowded flophouses or sleep inside their cars. The uncertain legal status of many of the migrant workers has left them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation from employers. They also have fallen victim to xenophobic attacks.

But in recent years, they are increasingly becoming more established members of the work force. And a significant minority, like Bulgakov, now run their own successful businesses.

The undisputed star among Russia's Central Asian business figures is ethnic Uzbek Alisher Usmanov: His interests in mining, telecoms and Internet startups have made him one of Russia's richest men, with a fortune estimated at $18.1 billion, and he is the co-owner of British soccer club Arsenal.

Filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, who was born in Kazakhstan and educated in Uzbekistan, has directed some of Russia's most top grossing movies. Recently he moved to Hollywood, directing this year's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and before that "Wanted," a 2008 action flick with Angelina Jolie.

Uzbek native Mirzakarim Norbekov has penned half a dozen bestsellers based on the medical teachings of Muslim medieval scholar Avicenna, who was born in what is now Uzbekistan. His medical training center in Moscow charges hundreds of dollars for short healing courses.

And while the Central Asian influx has caused frictions, there are also abundant signs of non-Muslim Muscovites embracing things seen as quintessentially Central Asian. Uzbek restaurants, fast-food joints and clay-oven bakeries that churn out round flat-cakes and meat pies have become ubiquitous; fashionistas sport oriental silk scarves and pashminas that resemble hijabs; and many ethnic Russian housewives buy halal meat believing it to be healthy and devoid of chemical preservatives.

The trend may have deep roots in Russian history: Unlike most West European capitals, Moscow has absorbed Muslims into its population for centuries.

The principality of Moscow emerged as a regional power some 700 years ago, when the Golden Horde, a state dominated by Mongols and Muslim Tatars, controlled parts of what is now southern Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. As Moscow took over the Horde's territories and invaded lands that once had been conquered by Arabs, Persians and Turks, Muslim nobles became part of the Russian elite and Muslims were free to practice their faith under the czars.

Novelist Vladimir Nabokov proudly wrote that his aristocratic family descended from Nabak, an illegitimate son of Genghis Khan. Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and writer Mikhail Bulgakov were the offspring of Tatar nobles.

"Muslims are not newcomers here, and all the current problems are temporary," said Vladilen Bokov, a devout Muslim and member of the Public Chamber, which advises the Kremlin on social issues.

The Central Asians are far from a homogeneous group: Kyrgyz are proud of their militant nomadic heritage, while Uzbeks and Tajiks extol their cultures that produced poets and scholars who contributed to medieval Muslim civilization.

Czarist armies finished the conquest of Central Asia by early 20th century and Stalinist purges decimated their elites. The Soviet era reshaped their economies and agriculture and made "Russification" a key to success for several generations of their best and brightest. In the 1980s, Central Asian conscripts became a majority in the Soviet Army as birth rates among ethnic Russians plummeted.

Communist Moscow tried to win sympathies of Central Asians ? and uproot their Muslim traditions ? by building schools and universities. Their graduates are still qualified to work as bank clerks, computer engineers, artists and medical doctors in Russia. Employers often praise them for their hard work, career ambitions and indifference to alcohol ? Russia's proverbial scourge.

The 1991 Soviet collapse was followed in their overpopulated republics by ineffective economic reforms, political unrest a resurgence of Islamic traditions and a gradual loss of Soviet mentality. But the number of Russian speakers remains high. They visit Russia visa-free and can stay here for up to three months, or longer if they get work or residence permits.

Construction company owner Bulgakov has faced his share of hardships.

Square-jawed and burly, he recalled over a cup of steaming tea how he stole some undercooked buckwheat from a dormitory kitchen several days after losing a job. He lost another job after beating up his supervisor for calling him a "churka," a pejorative term for Central Asians. Bulgakov said that during a hospital visit he heard a doctor reproaching his ethnic Russian wife for failing to "find a decent Russian man."

After several years of selling construction paint, Bulgakov started his own company.

Now his company renovates apartments of affluent Muscovites and works on occasional contracts with the Defense Ministry. He also has joined Kremlin's United Russia party and wants to run for office in the Moscow suburb of Ivanteevka where he lives with his wife and two children.

Bulgakov, who sports a white-gold ring with a sparkling diamond, has this advice for fellow Central Asians seeking a better life in Moscow.

"If you want to work, just work," he said, "If you don't, you'll find a thousand excuses ? 'I am being oppressed, abused, beaten.'"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/central-asian-migrants-change-face-moscow-072858730.html

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Budget struggle raising anxiety for health care (The Arizona Republic)

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sannyasnews

I just came across Osho?s provocative words below?? And I am asking anyone with long? experience of Osho and Osho?s ashram/commune, (such as many of the contributors to Sannyasnews),? whether Osho is just here ?the speaker?,? as is often said speaking very well, but contrary wise on all manner of subjects to take his disciples beyond their egos ? and sometimes with the tongue very much in the cheek?? Or when He pronounces on such subjects,? can he be said in the normal sense to be standing behind his words??

?? Shantam

Osho: Premarital and Extramarital Relationships
Man is by nature polygamous. Monogamy is enforced on him. To satisfy his polygamous nature, man created prostitutes. Prostitution and Private Property are by-products of Marriage and Family. And this ugly institution of prostitution and possessing private properties will not disappear from the world unless marriage disappears.
Most of the marital problems arise because premarital and extramarital sex is denied. In a better human society premarital and extramarital sex should be appreciated.
Unless a man or a woman has lived in many pre-marital relationships there is no possibility of choosing a right partner. This is such a simple phenomenal! Unless you have experienced many women and men in your life, how can you choose who is going to be the right person to live with?
I am not against extra-marital relationships. Extra-marital relationships help marriage, they don?t destroy it. The people who are against them are really teaching you possessiveness in an indirect way. When I say I am not against extra-marital relationships I am teaching you non-possessiveness.
Extra-marital relationships are very significant, immensely helpful to psychological growth and maturity. In the new world, to which I have dedicated my whole life, there should be no marriage ? only lovers. And as long as they are pleased to be together, they can be together; and the moment they feel that they have been together too long, a little change will be good. All the psychologists are agreed on one point: couples who love each other should have a few love affairs once in a while. Those love affairs will renew their relationship, will refresh it. You will start seeing beauty and a greater intimacy again in your old lover. Intimacy is far more fulfilling than any sexual relationship can ever be.
If one allows nature without any inhibitions to take its own course, one transcends biology, body, mind, without any effort and can taste the ultimate bliss which is not dependent on your biology, body or mind. But we are full of inhibitions. If you are repressive, then you cannot transcend biological pulls naturally, without any effort. So, the first thing to be remembered is that nature is right.
To transform sexual energy into spirituality is my basic approach.

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Source: http://sannyasnews.org/now/archives/2428

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December 28, 1908: The Tsunami of Messina

In the early morning of December 28, 1908 a 30 to 42 seconds long earthquake with a reconstructed magnitude of 6.7-7.2 hit the Italian cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria. The earthquake damaged 90% of the buildings and broken pipes fuelled a firestorm, an aftereffect known from many other earthquakes; however one of the most unusual effects of this earthquake was an 8 meter high tsunami which killed almost 2.000 people.

The earthquake killed estimated 40.000 people in the two cities alone, 27.000 people along the shores of the Strait of Messina - some historic documents claim 100.000 to 200.000 victims ? one of the deadliest natural disasters recorded during historic times in Europe.

Fig.1. A historical representation ? a ?Vue de l?Optique composition? (a hand-coloured copper engraving used in a Laterna magica) ? shows ships on the Strait of Messina during a series earthquake in 1783 with more than 35.000 victims.

South Italy is located between the borders of the two major continental plates of Europe and Africa and several microplates of the Mediterranean Sea. This geometry forms ?belts? with intense tectonic activity, recognized already in 1862.

The origin of the tsunami of Messina is still today an unsolved geological problem. The entire region is dominated by the large rift-zone of the Calabrian Arc, formed by the slow rollback of the oceanic crust of the Ionian Sea.

Fig.2. Simplified tectonic settings of South Italy and the intensity of the December 1908 earthquake after the modified Mercalli scale (data from INGV site). In this model the earthquakes of Calabria and Sicily are mostly associated with a rift valley formed by the rollback of the Ionian Sea.

This tectonic setting is characterized by faults with downwards movements, unusual to produce the upward push needed to generate a tsunami. Also no prominent fault or escarpment was until today discovered in the Strait of Messina or along the coasts of Sicily. Finally it is strange that the tsunami hit the shores 8 to 10 minutes after the quake, too late according to some researchers to be associated directly to the quake. A new hypothesis proposes that the tsunami of 1908 was therefore the result of a large underwater landslide, triggered by the earthquake.

The bottom of the sea revealed also that tsunami are frequent (in geologic time) catastrophes in the Mediterranean Sea. In sediments of the bay of Augusta (Sicily) researches discovered twelve layers, dated to 4.500 years, with microorganisms, especially foraminifers, living along the shores of the island. These layers were probably formed during past tsunami, when sediments were eroded from the beach and then transported by the backwash currents into the bay.

Bibliography:

MARAMAI, A.; GRAZIANI, L. & TINTI, S. (2007): Investigation on tsunami effects in the central Adriatic Sea during the last century ? a contribution. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. (7): 15-19
PIGNATELLI, C.; SANS?, P. & MASTRONUZZI, G. (2009): Evaluation of tsunami flooding using geomorphologic evidence. Marine Geology 260: 6-18
SMEDILA, A.; DE MARTINI, P.M.; PANTOSTI, D.; BELLUCCI, L.; DEL CALO, P.; GASPERINI, L.; PIRROTTA, C.; POLONIA, A. & BOSCHI, E. (2011): Possible tsunami signatures from an integrated study in the Augusta Bay offshore (Eastern Sicily-Italy). Marine Geology 281: 1-13
SOLOVIEV, S.L.; SOLOVIEVA, O.N.; GO, C.N.; KIM, K.S. & SHCHETNIKOV, N.A. (2000): Tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea 2000 B.C.-2000 A.D. Advances in Natural and Technological Research, Kluwer Academic Publisher: 260

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=4f396e2ceae93219e4bf8e05d0d67111

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What Happens When You Get Alcohol Poisoning?

As regular Happy Hour readers know, there's nothing we like more than finding new, innovative, and fun approaches to drinking. But there's a darker side that must be acknowledged. Specifically, you can poison yourself and die. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/QDqwV8Xa2RA/what-happens-when-you-get-alcohol-poisoning

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Genie Backup Manager Home Edition 9.0

Genie Backup Manager Home Edition is a long-established consumer-level backup program that has always impressed me with its clarity, power, and well-chosen range of genuinely useful features. The previous version won our Editors' Choice award, and the latest one comes tantalizingly close to winning it again. The only thing that holds it back is its inability to create a bootable rescue disk on a USB flash drive. It still creates bootable rescue disks only on optical disks, and the era when virtually every computer had an optical drive is over. If you can lie with this one minor limitation, then Genie Backup Manager is a fast, efficient, and beautifully designed application for saving and restoring data.

Interface and Options
Genie Backup Manager's main menu is elegant and informative, with big buttons leading to wizards that perform Backup, Restore, and Disaster Recovery. (The Disaster Recovery wizard creates an emergency recovery disk that you can boot from when disaster strikes.) The Backup wizard lets you create and optionally reuse backup jobs. You create these jobs in a simple interface that lets you choose a backup location either on a local disk, including optical and USB disks, or a network disk, or an FTP location, with fully up-to-date support for secure FTP if needed.

You can choose to backup items from your Windows user "profile," which means that you can select documents from your Documents folder, or media files, or Outlook data files, Windows settings and registry data, and much else. You can also choose specific folders, disks, or Windows-specific locations such as your Libraries and shared folders in a HomeGroup.

Further options let you save your backups in ZIP format or with all files readily accessible. One especially useful feature lets you create archives in the form of executable programs that you can run on computers that don't have Genie Backup Manager installed. This feature reflects the very real possibility that you won't have your backup software available when you need to restore your data in a hurry, or that you sometimes need to restore your backups on someone else's computer.

Backing Up
Genie offers you the standard choice of full or incremental backups, with an option to make your backups "mirror" the source folders, so that files that you delete on the source will also be deleted from the backup. This is a valuable backup type that works in a similar way to file synching services like Dropbox, but it should only be used with the understanding that it won't let you recover deleted files. You can also schedule backups in an intuitive and flexible way. When you've created a backup job, you can modify or reuse it by selecting it from a list in the Backup wizard. You can also modify existing jobs from the app's main menu.

If you choose this program for the non-experts in your family, you can switch to an even simpler interface that offers only the option to create and run a Backup job, or to Restore files. But if you want to use your expertise, you can click unobtrusive "More settings" buttons in the wizard interface and set up e-mail notifications of backup jobs or only of errors and other expert-level features.

Performance
Genie Backup Manager wasn't as speedy as Acronis or NTI, taking 2 minutes 45 seconds to backup an 800 MB folder to a USB3 drive?almost twice the time as Acronis?but speed isn't the most crucial factor in backups. What matters most is reliability and ease of use, because if a backup program isn't easy to use, you're not likely to use it.

I like Genie Backup Manager a lot, and if it could only create emergency boot media on a flash drive, I would happily promote it to share our backup software Editors' Choice with Acronis Backup and Recovery.

More Backup Software Reviews:
??? Genie Backup Manager Home Edition 9.0
??? Paragon Backup & Recovery 12 Home
??? Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5
??? SugarSync
??? Cubby (beta)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/UVl7FIrsI8w/0,2817,2413508,00.asp

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US economy could handle short fall over 'cliff'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The economic threat that's kept many Americans on edge for months is nearing reality ? unless the White House and Republicans cut a budget deal by New Year's Day.

Huge tax increases. Deep cuts in domestic and defense programs. The likelihood of sinking stock prices, reduced consumer spending and corporate layoffs. The risk of a recession within months.

Still, the start of 2013 may turn out to be far less bleak than feared. For one thing, the two sides may strike a short-term agreement before New Year's that postpones spending cuts until spring. President Barack Obama and members of Congress return to Washington Thursday.

Even if New Year's passed with no deal, businesses and consumers would not likely panic as long as some agreement seemed imminent. The $671 billion in tax increases and spending cuts could be retroactively repealed.

And the impact of the tax increases would be felt only gradually. Most people would receive slightly less money in each paycheck.

"The simple conclusion that going off the cliff necessarily means a recession next year is wrong," says Lewis Alexander, an economist at Nomura Securities. "It will ultimately depend on how long the policies are in place."

It's always possible that negotiations between President Obama and Republican congressional leaders will collapse in acrimony. The prospect of permanent tax increases and spending cuts could cause many consumers and businesses to delay spending, hiring or expanding.

Without any agreement at all for months, the fiscal cliff would cause the U.S. economy to shrink 0.5 percent in the first half of 2013 and fall into recession, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.

But most economists expect a deal, if not by New Year's then soon after. Businesses and consumers will likely remain calm as long as negotiators seem to be moving toward an agreement.

"The atmosphere is more important than whether the talks spill" into next year, said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.

Here's why many are optimistic that a brief fall over the cliff wouldn't derail the economic recovery:

? Though the fiscal cliff would boost taxes by $586 billion for all of 2013, the tax hit for most people would be modest at first. The expiration of Social Security and income tax cuts would be spread throughout 2013. For taxpayers with incomes of $40,000 to $65,000, paychecks would shrink an average of about $1,500 next year. That would be a significant bite over the full year, but the initial hit would be just $130 in January, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

? About a third of the tax increases wouldn't touch most Americans. Some would hit businesses. Others, such as higher taxes on investment income and estates, and the expiration of middle-income tax credits, wouldn't come due until Americans filed their 2013 taxes in 2014.

? The Internal Revenue Service has delayed any increases in tax withholding that would otherwise kick in. Without a deal, the top income tax rate for single people with taxable income between about $36,000 and $88,000 would rise from 25 percent to 28 percent. But that won't start to reduce Americans' paychecks in early January, even if no deal is reached by then.

? About $85 billion in spending cuts to defense and domestic programs would take weeks or longer to take effect. That means government agencies wouldn't cut jobs right away.

If a short-term agreement is struck, some taxes would probably still go up. These would include a 2 percentage point cut in Social Security taxes that's been in place for two years. Its expiration would cost the typical household about $1,000 a year. With income gains sluggish, that could dampen consumer spending.

A temporary deal that delays some hard decisions could reduce business and consumer confidence. It would also mean:

? Extended unemployment benefits would end for 2 million people. The federal government's program pays for about 32 weeks of extra benefits, on average, on top of the 26 weeks most states provide. Weekly unemployment checks average about $320 nationwide.

? The stock market would probably drop, though maybe not by much. Many Wall Street analysts expect a partial deal of some kind. "There is starting to become a little bit of an acceptance that we fall off the fiscal cliff," said J.J. Kinahan, a strategist for TD Ameritrade.

? The expiration of the Social Security tax cut and the end of emergency unemployment benefits would likely shave 0.7 percentage point off economic growth next year, the CBO estimates. The economy is now growing at about a 2 percent annual pace.

If no deal at all was reached by January and budget talks dragged on, many businesses might put off investment or hiring. That's why most economists say it would be crucial to reach a deal within roughly the first two months of 2013.

In addition, many more people would be affected if something called the alternative minimum tax isn't fixed.

The financially painful AMT was designed to prevent rich people from exploiting loopholes and deductions to avoid any income tax. But the AMT wasn't indexed for inflation, so it has increasingly threatened middle-income taxpayers. Congress has acted each year for a decade to prevent the AMT from hitting many more people.

If it isn't fixed again, roughly 33 million taxpayers, including married couples with income as low as $45,000 ? down from $74,450 in 2011? could face the AMT. Previously, only 5 million taxpayers had to pay it. Taxpayers subject to the AMT must calculate their tax under both the regular system and the AMT and pay the larger amount. Without a fix, a middle-income household would pay an average of $1,231 more, according to the Tax Policy Center.

The IRS has said it assumes Congress and the White House will fix the AMT in a deal to avoid the cliff. If they don't, the IRS will need weeks to reprogram computers and make other adjustments. In the meantime, about 100 million taxpayers couldn't file tax returns early next year because they couldn't determine whether they owe the AMT. Refunds would be delayed.

The gravest scenario would be if the budget talks collapsed and the tax increases and spending cuts appeared to be permanent.

In that case, Macroeconomic Advisors warns that the Dow could plunge up to 2,000 points within days. Businesses would turn gloomier in anticipation of Americans paying higher taxes and spending less.

The economy would shrink at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the first three months of 2013, estimates Joel Prakken, an economist at Macroeconomic Advisors. That compares with an estimated 1.9 percent growth rate if a deal is reached. CBO forecasts that the unemployment rate would rise to 9.1 percent from the current 7.7 percent.

Last week, Obama and House Speaker John Boehner narrowed their differences on income tax increases and spending cuts. But with the two sides deadlocked, Boehner scheduled a vote on a bill to prevent taxes from rising on those earning less than $1 million a year. Opposition from anti-tax conservatives, and Democrats, forced him to cancel the vote.

The gridlock caused stocks to fall Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 121 points.

Obama called for a vote on a stripped-down agreement that would raise taxes only on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans and extend emergency unemployment benefits. Automatic spending cuts would be postponed.

Whatever the outcome, some trends could offset part of the economic damage. The average retail price for gasoline has dropped 15 percent this fall, for example. Lower gas prices give consumers more money to spend elsewhere.

And if the crisis is resolved, as many expect, the boost to business and consumer confidence would encourage more hiring and spending.

"We could end up with a much more robust recovery than anybody's envisioned" if a deal is reached, said David Cote, CEO of Honeywell International.

__

AP Business Writers Christina Rexrode, Steve Rothwell and Daniel Wagner contributed to this report. Rexrode and Rothwell reported from New York.

__

Follow Chris Rugaber on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-26-US-Fiscal%20Cliff-Economy/id-1e1dbe79db8b41638f985650d966e308

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NextGuard: The Search For High-Den

The Universe's premiere military police force has fallen. And now it's up to the NextGuard Initiative to build a new one from scratch.

Owner:

Game Masters:

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

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Hey Jay this looks pretty cool! I think I wanna join. I'm going to wait until you out up your character though, before I start making mine. I know you said they are a bunch of rookies with their own unique skills, but are you looking for specific roles like for example a captain, cook, medic that sort of thing? Or does it not really matter. I am also going to PM you about a power I have in mind. (:

SuperNinjaRoo

Member for 0 years

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Nah, I'd rather it be a grab bag:

"What do you mean you're not a doctor?!"

"I was trying to get a Physics PhD!"

"Well that's nice, but I don't think that PhD can save me from BLEEDING OF MY FUCKING LASER WOUNDS!"

JayZeroSnake

Member for 2 years

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Haha alright, I'll be PMing you shortly (:

SuperNinjaRoo

Member for 0 years

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Post a reply

RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.

If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.

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AVIAddXSubs Adds Subtitles to AVI files for Your iPad, Xbox, or PS3

Windows: If you need subtitles with your movies, you've probably found that subtitles are a big pain point on devices like the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or iPad. AVIAddXSubs easily adds subtitles to your movies for use on subtitle-incompatible devices.

The reason why subtitles get lost in the ether on these devices is because they don't read .SRT files, which are often what contain the subtitle tracks?instead, you have to have them "burned in" to the video file. Neither do they play .mkv files, which come with subtitle options built-in (check out our handy guide to video formats if you want to know more).

AVIAddXSubs is a Windows app that takes .SRT files and "burns" them into your to your PS3/Xbox 360/iOS-compatible .avi files, so you can watch them on any device with the subtitles you want. It also works in Wine, so Mac users can use Winebottler to run it as a standalone OS X app.

Hit the link below to download AVIAddXSubs, and check out the Guiding Tech link for a full how-to on adding subtitles to your movies.

AVIAddXSubs | Calcitapp via Guiding Tech

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Publishing Your eZine the Cons | My life

As with any other types of businesses, publishing your own online newsletter a.k.a. eZine has its share of drawbacks, in spite of the several benefits it offer.

The purpose of this article is not to scare you away with the disadvantages of publishing your own eZine, as the benefits are often more attractive. However, I will also show you how you can easily tackle the cons.

One obvious challenge most beginning eZine publishers face is the creation of eZine content. Creating your own content can be tiresome, especially if you are not a gifted writer and that you run out of ideas every so often that your publishing schedule is threatening you.

A way of taking care of this problem is to create your content in advance. You can compile 30 days worth of content in one day, for example. If you are not blessed with writing skills, you can broker the writing task to capable freelance writers which you can find at places such as http://www.elance.com/ or http://www.rentacoder.com/. While you need to pay for such services, you are at liberty to take the credit for written articles.

Alternatively, you can republish articles from article directories such as http://ezinearticles.com/. This is a free method you can use in making content, provided you include the resource box of the original author and that the article has republishing rights conveyed.

In conclusion, you can easily tackle the content creation challenge using the mentioned methods that do not require writing on your part, free or paid.

[Insert Your Resource Box Here]

(Words: 253)

This entry was posted in Internet Marketing on December 25, 2012 by SWELEX.

Source: http://blog.swelex.com/teamangel/publishing-your-ezine-the-cons.html

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Gunmakers, Video Game Companies Quietly Forge Marketing Connection

The New York Times:

As Electronic Arts prepared to market Medal of Honor Warfighter, the latest version of its top-selling video game released in October, it created a Web site that promoted the manufacturers of the guns, knives and combat-style gear depicted in the game.

Read the whole story at The New York Times

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/25/gunmakers-video-games_n_2362456.html

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U.S. moves to sell advanced spy drones to South Korea

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration formally proposed a controversial sale of advanced spy drones to help South Korea bear more of its defense from any attack by the heavily armed North.

Seoul has requested a possible $1.2 billion sale of four Northrop Grumman Corp RQ-4 "Global Hawk" remotely piloted aircraft with enhanced surveillance capabilities, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement dated on Monday and distributed on Tuesday.

South Korea needs such systems to assume top responsibility for intelligence-gathering from the U.S.-led Combined Forces Command as scheduled in 2015, the security agency said in releasing a notice to U.S. lawmakers.

"The proposed sale of the RQ-4 will maintain adequate intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities and will ensure the alliance is able to monitor and deter regional threats in 2015 and beyond," the notice said.

The United States has agreed with Seoul to turn over the wartime command of Korean troops later this decade. Current arrangements grew from the U.S. role in the 1950-1953 Korean War that repelled a North Korean takeover of the South.

Seoul has shown interest in the high-altitude, long-endurance Global Hawk platform for at least four years. The system, akin to Lockheed Martin Corp's U-2 spy plane, may be optimized to scan large areas for stationary and moving targets by day or night and despite cloud cover.

It transmits imagery and other data from 60,000 feet at near real-time speed, using electro-optical, infrared and radar-imaging sensors built by Raytheon Co.

The possible sale has been held up by discussions involving price, aircraft configuration and a go-slow on release of such technology subject to a voluntary 34-nation arms control pact.

The Defense Department began informally consulting Congress on the possible Global Hawk sale in the summer of 2011, only to withdraw it pending further work on the make-up of the proposed export to Seoul amid lawmakers' arms-control concerns.

The formal notification to Congress came less than two weeks after a North Korean space launch of a satellite atop a multi-stage rocket, a first for the reclusive state, widely seen as advancing its ballistic missile program.

A White House statement denounced the December 12 launch as a "highly provocative act" that would bear consequences for violations of United Nations resolutions. The North is banned from testing missile or nuclear technology under international sanctions imposed after its 2006 and 2009 nuclear weapons tests.

In October 2008, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters that the United States was "very sympathetic" to South Korea's interest in Global Hawk. But he cited issues that had to be overcome because of the so-called Missile Technology Control Regime, or MTCR.

The pact, established in 1987, has been credited with slowing the spread of ballistic missiles and other unmanned delivery systems that potentially could be used for chemical, biological and nuclear attacks.

Pact members, including the United States, agree to curb their exports of systems capable of carrying a 500-kilogram (1,102-pound) payload at least 300 kilometers (186 miles). The Global Hawk falls under a strong presumption against export under MTCR guidelines.

The notification to Congress did not mention that a U.S. government waiver for such an export would be required.

Arms-control advocates fear that this could fuel instability and stir regional arms-race dynamics as well as provide diplomatic cover for an expansion of such exports by Russia, China and others.

The Obama administration agreed earlier this year to let South Korea, a treaty ally, stretch the range of its ballistic missile systems to cover all of North Korea, going beyond the voluntary pact's 300 km (186 miles).

The congressional notification is required by U.S. law and does not mean that a deal has been concluded.

If a sale takes place, it would be for the third generation of Global Hawk drones known as Block 30, the security agency's notice to Congress said.

The Pentagon, in its fiscal 2013 budget request, proposed mothballing its own Block 30 Global Hawks and ending plans to buy more of that generation. Doing so would have no effect on the administration's plans to acquire other versions of the long-range drone.

South Korea's possible Global Hawk purchase would mark the system's first sale in the Asia-Pacific region. It has already been sold to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Australia, Japan and Singapore each have shown interest in buying Global Hawk systems, Northrop Grumman officials have said. Company representatives had no comment on the Christmas holiday on the proposed sale to Seoul.

(Reporting by Jim Wolf; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-moves-sell-advanced-spy-drones-south-korea-195243564.html

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Lawmakers play waiting game with 'fiscal cliff' deadline in sight

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With only a week left before a deadline for the United States to go over a "fiscal cliff," lawmakers played a waiting game on Monday in the hope that someone will produce a plan to avoid harsh budget cuts and higher taxes for most Americans from New Year's Day.

Though Republicans and Democrats have spent the better part of a year describing a plunge off the cliff as a looming catastrophe, the nation's capital showed no outward signs of worry, let alone impending calamity.

The White House has set up shop in Hawaii, where President Barack Obama is vacationing.

The Capitol was deserted and the Treasury Department - which would have to do a lot of last-minute number-crunching with or without a deal - was closed.

So were all other federal government offices, with Obama having followed a tradition of declaring the Monday before a Tuesday Christmas a holiday for government employees, notwithstanding the approaching fiscal cliff.

Expectations for some 11th-hour rescue focused largely on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, in part because he has performed the role of legislative wizard in previous stalemates.

But McConnell, who is up for re-election in 2014, was shunning the role this year, his spokesman saying that it was now up to the Democrats in the Senate to make the next move.

"We don't yet know what Senator Reid will bring to the floor. He is not negotiating with us and the president is out of town," said McConnell's spokesman, referring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. "So I just don't know what they're going to do over there," he said.

Two-day-old tweets on leadership websites told the story insofar as it was visible to the public.

House Speaker John Boehner's referred everyone to McConnell. McConnell's tweet passed the responsibility along to Obama, saying it was a "moment that calls for presidential leadership."

Reid's tweet said: "There will be very serious consequences for millions of families if Congress fails to act" on the cliff.

The next session of the Senate is set for Thursday, but the issues presented by across-the-board tax hikes and indiscriminate reductions in government spending, were not on the calendar.

The House has nothing on its schedule for the week, but members have been told they could be called back at 48 hours notice, making a Thursday return a theoretical possibility.

However, aides to the Republican leaders in Congress said there were no talks with Democrats on Monday and none scheduled after negotiations fell off track last week when Boehner failed to persuade House Republicans to accept tax increases on incomes of more than $1 million a year.

"Nothing new, Merry Christmas," an aide to Boehner responded when asked if there was any movement on the fiscal cliff.

But a senior Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said White House aides were talking with Senate Democratic staffers about the situation.

SCALED-BACK EXPECTATIONS

If there is some last-minute legislation, Republicans and Democrats agreed on Sunday news shows that it will not be any sort of "grand bargain" encompassing taxes and spending cuts, but most likely a short-term deal putting everything off for a few weeks or months, thereby risking a negative market reaction.

A limited agreement would still need bipartisan support, as Obama has said he would veto a bill that does not raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

On Monday, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison urged fellow Republicans to be flexible.

"We're now at a point where we're not going to get what we think is right for our economy and our country because we don't control government. So we've got to work within the system we have," she told MSNBC.

Two bills in Congress could conceivably form the basis for a last-minute stopgap measure.

Last spring, Republicans in the House passed a measure that would extend Bush-era tax cuts for everyone, reflecting the party's deep reluctance to increase taxes.

The Democratic-controlled Senate passed a bill in August, extending lower tax rates for everyone except the wealthiest Americans - a group defined at that point as households with a net income of $250,000 or above. Obama has since increased that to $400,000 a year, in an effort to win Republican support.

Analysts say Democrats might be able to get the backing of enough Republicans in both the House and Senate, especially if they are willing to raise the number to $500,000.

Under that scenario, lawmakers might also put off spending cuts of $109 billion that would take effect from January and agree to Republican demands for cuts in entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the government-run health insurance plans for seniors and the poor.

However, with only a few work days left in Congress after Christmas, there is a good chance that no deal can be worked out and tax rates would then go up, at least briefly, until an agreement is reached in Washington.

"We may go off the cliff on January 1, but we would correct that very quickly thereafter," Democratic Representative John Yarmuth told MSNBC.

The prospects of the United States going over the fiscal cliff dampened enthusiasm on Wall Street for a "Santa rally" in the holiday season, when stocks traditionally rise.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 51.76 points, or 0.39 percent, in Monday's shortened holiday session.

Failure to work out tax rates in the coming days would cause chaos at the Internal Revenue Service, said analyst Chris Krueger of Guggenheim Securities.

"Next weekend is going to be a total, total debacle," he said. The IRS is unlikely to have enough time to revise its tables for withholding taxes.

"The withholding tables are sort of like an aircraft carrier, you can't turn the thing on a dime." he said.

(Additonal reporting by Alina Selyukh, Patrick Temple-West and David Lawder and Mark Felsenthal in Honolulu; Editing by Alistair Bell, Fred Barbash, David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-play-waiting-game-fiscal-cliff-deadline-sight-041126510--business.html

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