The nuanced relationship between language and different types of perception

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2012) ? New research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, examines the nuanced relationship between language and different types of perception.

Bilingual Infants Can Tell Unfamiliar Languages Apart

Speaking more than one language can improve our ability to control our behavior and focus our attention, recent research has shown. But are there any advantages for bilingual children before they can speak in full sentences? We know that bilingual children can tell if a person is speaking one of their native languages or the other, even when there is no sound, by watching the speaker's mouth for visual cues. But N?ria Sebasti?n-Gall?s of Universitat Pompeu Fabra and colleagues wanted to know whether bilingual infants could also do this with two unfamiliar languages. They studied 8-month-old infants, half of whom lived in either Spanish- or Catalan-speaking households and half of whom lived in Spanish-Catalan bilingual households.

The researchers looked at whether the infants could discriminate between English and French, two unfamiliar languages, using only visual cues. They found that the bilingual infants could tell the difference between the two languages, while the infants who lived in single-language households could not. These findings suggest that infants who are immersed in bilingual environments are more sensitive to the differences in visual cues associated with the sounds of various languages.

The lead author was N?ria Sebasti?n-Gall?s. The article was published in the September 2012 issue of Psychological Science.

Skilled Deaf Readers Have an Enhanced Perceptual Span in Reading

Though people born deaf are better able to use information from peripheral vision than those who can hear, they have a harder time learning to read. Researchers have proposed that the extra information coming in could distract from, rather than enhance, the process of reading. But no research has actually compared visual attention in reading between hearing and deaf readers. In a new study, Nathalie B?langer of the University of California, San Diego and colleagues investigated this issue by measuring the perceptual span, or the number of letter spaces used when reading, of skilled deaf readers, less-skilled deaf readers, and hearing readers.

The experimenters manipulated the number of letter spaces that the participants saw while reading text on a screen. They found that, compared to the other two groups, skilled deaf readers read fastest when they were given the largest number of letter spaces, showing that they had the largest perceptual span. Regardless, they were able to read just as fast as skilled hearing readers. Contrary to previous hypotheses, these findings suggest that enhanced visual attention and perceptual span are not the cause of reading difficulties common among deaf individuals.

The lead author was Nathalie N. B?langer. The article was published in the July 2012 issue of Psychological Science.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal References:

1. N. Sebastian-Galles, B. Albareda-Castellot, W. M. Weikum, J. F. Werker. A Bilingual Advantage in Visual Language Discrimination in Infancy. Psychological Science, 2012; 23 (9): 994 DOI: 10.1177/0956797612436817
2. N. N. Belanger, T. J. Slattery, R. I. Mayberry, K. Rayner. Skilled Deaf Readers Have an Enhanced Perceptual Span in Reading. Psychological Science, 2012; 23 (7): 816 DOI: 10.1177/0956797611435130

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/H4-efgoCm9c/120928125300.htm

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Tradability Issues In Regulation D Rule 504 Offerings

Rule 504 ("Rule 504") of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") provides an exemption from the registration requirements of the federal securities laws which allows issuers to offer and sell up to $1,000,000 of their securities in any 12-month period. Rule 504 is an exemption frequently misunderstood and misused to create illegal free trading shares. As discussed below, fraudsters attempt to make an "end run" around Rule 504 requirements by improperly relying upon state statutes in Delaware, Wyoming, New York and Texas which have been the subject of various SEC enforcement actions.

The abuses surrounding Rule 504 are so widespread that the SEC has brought numerous enforcement actions against attorneys rendering legal opinions for the issuance of free trading shares in Rule 504 offerings. In addition, DTC often refuses to accept opinions from attorneys rendering bogus opinions to issue free trading shares in reliance upon Rule 504.The Rule 504 exemption is available to issuers that are not blank check companies and that do not have to file reports with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. A blank check company is defined under federal securities law as a development stage company that does not have a specific business plan or purpose or has indicated that its business plan is to engage in a merger or acquisition with an unidentified company or companies.Investors in Rule 504 Offerings receive "restricted" securities, meaning the securities cannot be resold without registration or an applicable exemption. Rule 504 provides three circumstances where issuers can issue securities that are not restricted.

The reality is that issuers simply do not comply with the requirements of Rule 504 that would enable them to issue unrestricted securities. Investors and issuers that rely upon legal opinions to issue unrestricted shares in offerings made in reliance upon Rule 504 should be aware that violations involving unregistered distributions of securities to the public including those issued in 5Rule 04 offerings do not require proof of intent; meaning that reliance an opinion rendered by securities counsel is not an effective defense to these violations.

Requirements to Issue Unrestricted Securities in Rule 504 Offerings.

Unrestricted securities may be issued in a Rule 504 offering if and only if:

i. The issuer registers the offering in one or more states that require a publicly filed registration statement and delivery of a substantive disclosure document to investors; ii. The issuer registers and sells the offering in a state that requires registration and disclosure delivery and also sells in a state without those requirements, so long as the company delivers the disclosure documents required by the state where the company registered the offering to all purchasers including those in the state which has no such requirements; or iii. The company sells exclusively according to state law exemptions that permit general solicitation and advertising, so long as the company sells only to "accredited investors."

Because states make it extremely difficult to obtain clearance of a state registration statement, the requirements above are rarely ever complied with.Every single state statute that provides for an accredited investor exemption has a corresponding statute that requires the securities be "purchased for investment" which means they are held by the purchaser for twelve months prior to resale. Thus, any purchaser of securities in a 504 offering who publicly resells the securities purchased within twelve months engages in a distribution and is deemed to be an "underwriter".Stock certificates that represent shares issued in a Rule 504 offering are required to have a legend that sets forth the restrictions of transferability. Transfer agents in conjunction with their compliance procedures require an attorney's opinion before issuing free trading shares.A review of recent enforcement actions against attorneys evidences the use of bogus legal opinions in connection with Rule 504 offerings. The misuse of Rule 504 to sell "free trading" shares has become rampant and the SEC as well as the Justice Department have filed actions against the attorneys who render bogus legal opinions to remove restrictive legends.

http://www.securitieslawyer101.com/the-rule-504-myth/
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Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/tradability-issues-in-regulation-d-rule-504-offerings-295260

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The One-Minute Rule That Will Help Keep Your Place Clutter-Free [Clutter]

If you're a member of the Never Have Time to Clean Club and your messy home is getting you down, try this new cleaning strategy. If something that'll help keep your place tidy takes less than a minute to do, just do it.

Kelly Exeter writes on News.com.au that this simple rule has saved her from spending large chunks of time battling piles (piles of clothing, piles of paper, piles of magazines). It takes less than a minute to file a bill you just paid, put a read newspaper in the recycling bin, or hang up an article of clothing.

Having one-minute cleaning accessories at hand also helps. For example, cleaning wipes at the bathroom sink and a trash can for junk mail by your front door.

This is like David Allen's Getting Things Done rule for dealing with tasks, except applied to housekeeping. If you want to get even more chores done, try the eight-minute rule for chores.

The one-minute cleaning rule that will change your life | News.com.au

Photo by mlpeixoto

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/igIH_fmUecU/the-one+minute-rule-that-will-help-keep-your-place-clutter+free

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FDA warns about risks of online pharmacies

By Linda A. Johnson, The Associated Press

The Food and Drug Administration is warning U.S. consumers that the vast majority of Internet pharmacies are fraudulent and likely are selling counterfeit drugs that could harm them.

The agency on Friday launched a national campaign, called BeSafeRx, to alert the public to the danger, amid evidence that more people are shopping for their medicine online, looking for savings and convenience.

Instead, they're likely to get fake drugs that are contaminated, are past their expiration date or contain no active ingredient, the wrong amount of active ingredient or even toxic substances such as arsenic and rat poison. They could sicken or kill people, cause them to develop a resistance to their real medicine, cause new side effects or trigger harmful interactions with other medications being taken.

"Our goal is to increase awareness," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told The Associated Press, "not to scare people away from online pharmacies. We want them to use appropriate pharmacies."

That means pharmacies that are located in the U.S., are licensed by the pharmacy board in the patient's state and have a licensed pharmacist available to answer questions. In addition, the pharmacy must require a valid doctor's prescription for the medicine. Online drugstores that claim none is needed, or that the site's doctor can write a prescription after the customer answers some questions, are breaking the law.

Research by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, which represents the state pharmacy boards, found that of thousands of online pharmacies it reviewed, only about 3 percent follow state and federal laws. In fact, the group's website lists only a few dozen Internet pharmacies that it has verified are legitimate and following the rules.

Most consumers don't know that. An Internet survey, conducted by the FDA in May, questioned 6,090 adults. It found that nearly one in four Internet shoppers has bought prescription drugs online, and nearly three in 10 said they weren't confident they could do so safely.

The campaign comes after some high-profile cases of counterfeit drugs reaching American patients earlier this year.

In February and again in April, the FDA warned doctors and cancer clinics around the country that it had determined they had bought fake Avastin, a pricey injectable cancer medicine, from a "gray market" wholesaler. The fake Avastin vials originated in Asia or Eastern Europe and were transferred through a network of shady wholesalers before being sold to clinics by a wholesaler claiming to be in Montana.

In another case, the FDA issued a warning in May after learning consumers shopping on the Internet had bought fake versions of generic Adderall, a popular medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

No deaths or serious injuries have been linked to those fakes, but Hamburg notes that when drugs don't help patients get better, doctors usually blame the disease or assume a different medicine is needed. That means most fakes aren't detected.

So the FDA, which has put increasing focus on the counterfeiting problem, on Friday launched a website, www.FDA.gov/BeSafeRx , that shows consumers how to determine if an online pharmacy is safe.

"Buying prescription medicine from a fake online pharmacy can be dangerous, or even deadly," the site warns.

It includes tips on how to spot illegal pharmacies, links to state databases of licensed pharmacies and explanations of all the dangers of rogue pharmacies. Besides likely getting fake drugs, that includes the risk that they will infect your computer with viruses, sell your personal and financial information to other rogue websites and Internet scammers, or charge you for products you never ordered or received.

Many rogue pharmacies claim to be in Canada ? because Americans know medicines are cheaper there and assume that's why they're getting a deal. Many fraudulent sites even put the word Canada in their name, or display the Canadian flag prominently on the site. Their web storefronts are slick and look professional. And they all offer prices that are unbelievably low.

"If the low prices seem too good to be true, they probably are,' Hamburg said.

The FDA is collaborating with several other federal agencies and departments and even Interpol in the campaign, Hamburg said, and it has asked medical and pharmaceutical industry groups to join in.

It's also reaching out to doctors, pharmacists and medical facilities to spread the word. They'll get access to materials they can download, from patient fact sheets and discussion guides to sample blog items and web banners for a practice's own website. There's also a list of tips to help doctors determine if a patient may be buying medicine online.

The agency will do a follow-up survey to see if the campaign's message is reaching the public.

"What's truly important to us is that consumers know how to look for an online pharmacy that's legitimate and safe," Hamburg said.

Related stories:?

Congressional investigators claim "fake pharmacies" are popping up around the country that purchase drugs in short supply, and then turn around and sell them at higher prices. NBC's senior investigative correspondent Lisa Myers reports.

Source: http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/28/14140712-fda-warns-of-rising-risks-of-online-pharmacies?lite

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Obama touts 'economic patriotism' in 2-minute ad

President Barack Obama shakes hands with supporters after speaking at a campaign event at The Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center at Kent State University Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, in Kent, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

President Barack Obama shakes hands with supporters after speaking at a campaign event at The Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center at Kent State University Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, in Kent, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters after a speech at The Seagate Center in Toledo, Ohio, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, during a campaign stop. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to supporters at The Seagate Center in Toledo, Ohio, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2012, during a campaign stop. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event at The Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center at Kent State University Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, in Kent, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is pitching a broad economic argument to voters before next week's debate with Republican opponent Mitt Romney, buying TV time in seven battleground states to promote a "new economic patriotism."

In a two-minute ad, Obama looks into the camera as he promotes an economic plan he says will create 1 million manufacturing jobs, cut oil imports and hire thousands of new teachers.

The ad set to air in New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Nevada and Colorado comes as both men shadow each other while looking for votes in a closely contested race. It was not running in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, underscoring the states where the president's campaign contends the election is truly being fought.

On Thursday, the two candidates are scheduled to campaign in the same state for the third straight day, this time in Virginia, a critical battleground in the Nov. 6 election. Romney is to appear in suburban Washington for a veterans' event, while Obama speaks in Virginia Beach.

The simultaneous visits follow an all-day duel Wednesday in Ohio, where Romney declared he can do more than Obama to improve the lives of average people. Obama scoffed that a challenger who calls half the nation "victims" was unlikely to be of much help.

Amid the hunt for working-class voters, Romney released a new ad Thursday aimed at coal miners. It included video of Obama as a candidate in 2008 saying he would support laws to force emitters of greenhouse gases to buy allowances at auction. "So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them," Obama says in the ad.

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul responded to Obama's two-minute ad by arguing that the GOP nominee can deliver a recovery, while Obama has mishandled the economy during his four years in office. "In the time it takes his latest ad to run, our national debt grows by at least another $5 million," Saul said in a statement.

Saul cited the Commerce Department's announcement Thursday of sluggish economic growth in the last quarter as evidence of Obama's economic failings. The growth rate was lowered from a previous estimate of 1.7 percent to 1.3 percent for the April-June quarter because of the severe drought that reduced farm production in the Midwest.

Meanwhile, new Republican-leaning independent groups have entered the presidential advertising fray as polling suggests Romney's campaign may be losing ground against Obama in key states such as Ohio and Florida.

The commercials, aimed at voters who supported Obama in 2008 but are now undecided, join those from the campaigns and outside groups swamping a narrow and possibly shrinking map of competitive states in the fast-moving presidential contest. Americans for Job Security launched an $8.7 million ad buy in six battleground states, while the Ending Spending Action Fund, a new conservative group bankrolled by billionaire Joe Ricketts, was set to debut a $10 million, four-state ad campaign on Thursday.

Polls show Obama widening his lead in several key states amid backlash from a leaked video in which Romney disparages the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income tax as government-dependent Obama supporters who see themselves as victims and won't take responsibility for their own lives.

Obama's campaign was reveling in the latest public polling but trying to crush any sense of overconfidence. "If we need to pass out horse blinders to all of our staff, we will do that," campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

Romney went after working-class voters at three stops in Ohio, while Obama rallied college crowds at Bowling Green and Kent State. Early voting in Ohio begins next week.

"If President Obama were to be re-elected, what you'd see is four more years like the last four years, and we can't afford another four more years like the last four years," Romney told a boisterous crowd in Toledo at his final stop on Wednesday.

Romney said the country had lost more than half a million manufacturing jobs in the past four years. "This is not the path we want for America," he said.

Romney's campaign has been reeling from his caught-on-video comments at a Florida fundraiser last May. New opinion polls, conducted after the video became public last week, show Obama opening up apparent leads in battleground states, including Ohio and Virginia.

Romney told ABC News that the race was in a statistical tie in some national polls.

"I'm very pleased with some polls, less so with other polls, but frankly at this early stage, polls go up, polls go down," he said.

Obama was not about to let the video comments fade away. He said Wednesday that "America is not about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us together, as one nation, as one people."

He added, "You can't make it happen if you write off half the nation before you take office."

Obama supporters also are working to keep Romney's "47 percent" comments alive. Democratic super PAC Priorities USA Action and a political group tied to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees released a radio ad in Ohio and Virginia airing the remarks. The ad, part of a $1.25 million radio buy, tells listeners Romney's "just not looking out for us."

Obama flubbed a line at Kent State while building to his argument for keeping jobs in the United States. He mistakenly said, "I want to see us export more jobs." He quickly corrected himself, saying he meant to say "export more products."

"Excuse me," Obama said. "I was a channeling my opponent there for a second."

___

Associated Press writers Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples in Ohio, Beth Fouhy in New York and Ben Feller and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-27-Presidential%20Campaign/id-6395560086dc459cbdd380a19ce74c5b

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Adobe rolls out Photoshop Elements 11, Premiere Elements 11 ...

Adobe has announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11, newly designed versions of its consumer photo- and video-editing software.

Photoshop Elements 11 offers a solution for editing, organizing and sharing photo creations, while Premiere Elements 11 lets you create home movies. Available as stand-alone products, they can also be purchased together. Both solutions are available for Mac OS X and Windows.
?
According to Lea Hickman, vice president products, Creative Consumer Business, Adobe: Photoshop Elements 11 offers:

??A completely refreshed, user-friendly interface featuring the same engine as Adobe Photoshop, with Quick, Guided and Expert editing modes; one-click options; a helpful Action bar; and big, bold icons;

??The ability to organize photos based on people, places (via Google maps geo-tagging) or events easily and intuitively;

??New Guided Edits make pro-level effects like tilt-shift, vignettes and high and low-key easy to create;

??New filters, including Comic, Graphic Novel and Pen & Ink;

? The ability to extract objects from different photos;

? The ability to share photos via email, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo and more.

Hickman says that Premiere Elements 11 boasts:

??An improved user interface, including many of the same updates found in Photoshop Elements 11;

??The ability to add polish with a range of effects, transitions, themes, titles, disc menus, and professional-level effects and sound;

??The ability to give videos Hollywood movie styles with FilmLooks; you can apply slow and fast motion effects; dial-in colors with slider controls; effortlessly integrate blends for seamless transitions; and make adjustments with Quick Presets;

??The ability to show off finished creations with integrated video sharing on Vimeo.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11 software is available now at www.adobe.com, and will soon be available at retail outlets such as Amazon.com, B and H Photo and Video, Best Buy, Costco, New Egg, Office Depot and Staples. The Photoshop Elements 11 & Premiere Elements 11 bundle is available now for a suggested retail price of US$149.99, with upgrade pricing of 119.99.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11 are available individually for a suggested retail price of $99.99, with upgrade pricing of US$79.99. (Prices listed are the Adobe direct store prices in the U.S.; reseller prices may vary. Prices don't include tax or shipping and handling.)
?
Education pricing for students, faculty and staff in K-12 and higher education is available from Adobe Authorized Education Resellers and the Adobe Education Store. Visit www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/volumelicensing/education for more information about education volume licensing for higher education and K-12 institutions.

Source: http://www.macnews.com/2012/09/25/adobe-rolls-out-photoshop-elements-11-premiere-elements-11

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Why the Health Care Tax Credit Eludes Many Small Businesses ...

The Agenda

How small-business issues are shaping politics and policy.

The Agenda has now profiled three small businesses that are struggling in different ways with providing health insurance to employees. The companies are very different ? they trade in very different parts of the economy, and couldn?t be located much further apart?geographically ? but they do have one thing in common: Though all three have fewer than 25 employees, not one has qualified for the tax credit in the Affordable Care Act that was intended to help small businesses pay for health insurance. Indeed, the credit is one element of the controversial health law that has already fallen short of expectations.

Estimates of the number of businesses eligible to take the tax credit have ranged from 1.4 million to 4 million companies, but in May, the Government Accountability Office reported that only 170,300 firms actually claimed the credit in 2010. Of these, only a small fraction, 17 percent, were able to claim the whole credit.

For eligible companies, the credit effectively refunds 35 percent of health insurance expenses between 2010 and 2013.* After 2014, the credit increases to 50 percent and is available for any two consecutive years. The credit is fully available to companies with 10 or fewer full-time employees and average wages below $25,000. It phases out as the number of employees rises to 25 and wages grow to $50,000. In 2009, there were about 4.6 million companies with fewer than 10 employees, according to the Census Bureau, and 5.7 million with fewer than 100.

The credit was aimed squarely at the smallest companies, which rarely offer health insurance to employees. However, as we reported two weeks ago, it appears not to have persuaded very many to start offering insurance. The most recent study of employer health insurance from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that just half of all companies with fewer than 10 employees offered insurance, a share that has not moved much since 2005.

So why has the credit fallen short of expectations? The G.A.O. concluded that the credit was too small to sway business owners. Moreover, it said, claiming the credit is a task so complicated as to discourage many companies from trying. Companies have to determine the number of hours each employee worked in the year, as well as compile information about their insurance premiums. ?Small-business owners generally do not want to spend the time or money to gather the necessary information to calculate the credit, given that the credit will likely be insubstantial,? the report said, citing conversations with tax preparers. ?Tax preparers told us it could take their clients from two to eight hours or possibly longer to gather the necessary information to calculate the credit and that the tax preparers spent, in general, three to five hours calculating the credit.?

The G.A.O. report hints at the complexity with this delicious example:

On its Web site, I.R.S. tried to reduce the burden on taxpayers by offering ?3 Simple Steps? as a screening tool to help taxpayers determine whether they might be eligible for the credit. However, to calculate the actual dollars that can be claimed, the three steps become 15 calculations, 11 of which are based on seven worksheets, some of which request multiple columns of information.

It may be tempting to hold the Internal Revenue Service responsible for whatever burden accompanies the tax credit, but in this case, the complexity is written directly into the law. It turns out that legislators wrote the provision in a way that makes it appear more generous than it really is. Many businesses with both fewer than 25 employees and average wages below $50,000 are in fact unable to claim the credit.

Under the law, once such a business has calculated its potential credit, it is required to reduce the credit first to account for any excess employees over 10 and then separately reduce the potential credit to account for any excess average wages paid over $25,000. For many companies, the two reductions exceed the potential credit itself ? meaning the business gets no credit.

That?s what happened to Carrie Van Dyck, who along with her husband owns the Herbfarm Restaurant outside of Seattle. Excluding its owners, the Herbfarm, which we profiled in June, employed the equivalent of about 21 or 22 full-time staff members, who were paid an average wage of about $35,000 ? a few thousand dollars over the credit?s threshold for 21 employees. The result surprised Ms. Van Dyck, she said recently by e-mail, because ?it would seem that we are a pretty typical small, mom-and-pop type business that this should apply to.?

Of course, by making the credit less generous, the senators who wrote the law made it less expensive to the United States Treasury. Now it is apparent that credit will be even cheaper than planned: initially it was expected to cost the Treasury $2 billion in 2010; instead it cost the government only a quarter of that.

The law also excludes owners and owners? families from counting toward the credit, which can cut both ways. On the one hand, owners don?t count as employees and their salaries are excluded from the annual wages, exclusions that could make some companies eligible for a bigger credit than they might otherwise have gotten. On the other hand, premiums paid for the owners? and their families? insurance aren?t eligible for the credit, which for some companies, as You?re The Boss commenter JAB recently noted, ?greatly reduces the incentive to provide coverage for employees.?

The White House has said that the number of businesses claiming the credit for 2011 has grown to at least 360,000, but that is still well below even the smallest estimate of eligible businesses. Some advocates for the law say that more businesses will take advantage of the credit in 2014, when it grows to 50 percent, especially if the new insurance exchanges make it easier and cheaper for small companies to offer insurance.

The Obama administration has proposed making more businesses eligible for the credit, in part by starting phase-outs at higher thresholds, and also by changing the way it is calculated so that every business within the limits, such as the Herbfarm Restaurant, can take some amount of credit.

But judging from the comments of Representative Sam Graves, chairman of the House Small Business Committee, the initiative is unlikely to pass a Republican-controlled House anytime soon. ?This tax credit has already largely failed to attract small-business owners, and expanding it will not make the president?s health care law affordable,? the Missouri Republican said in a statement. ?For small employers that do not offer health insurance, tax incentives are unlikely to cause many of them to choose a massive new expense they just cannot afford in the first place.? It was Mr. Graves who sought the G.A.O. report.

Of course, a business denied a credit has not been made worse off by the 2010 health law. But the law surely has raised and dashed a lot of hopes, and these are the early days ? the sweeping changes that are the law?s hallmark don?t come until 2014.

Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/why-the-health-care-tax-credit-eludes-many-small-businesses/

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MySpace is ready for a big comeback, says Justin Timberlake

MySpace was huge. The social network had millions of users before Facebook shoved it aside. But now, Justin Timberlake and two investors have announced big plans for a rebuilt MySpace.

By Pamela Cyran / September 25, 2012

Justin Timberlake poses at the premiere of "Trouble with the Curve." The musician and actor has purchased MySpace with two business partners.

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

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A "new MySpace" waits just around the corner, says Justin Timberlake, who purchased the once-massive social network with two investors.

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When media titan News Corp. first purchased MySpace in July, 2005, for $580 million, the thought of selling it just six years later for $35 million was unthinkable. But it happened. Now, a year later, plans for MySpace's next evolution are finally revealed.

Over the last three years, MySpace lost hundreds of millions in revenue and went through extensive layoffs, cutting over half their employees. Currently the MySpace audience is only?54 million.?Compared to Facebook's nearly 1 billion members,?many consider MySpace to be extinct.

On June 30, News Corp. sold?MySpace to singer-turned-actor Justin Timberlake and Chris and Tim Vanderhook. Their plan is to completely rebuild the site from scratch.

The redesigned MySpace now puts music at its center. It's a place for artists to connect with their fans.

?In a single sentence, it?s a social network for the creative community to connect to their fans,? Tim Vanderhook told The Hollywood Reporter. ?We?re going after artists, right after this we?ll be talking to various artists to come on the platform. We want to give them a chance to help build it with us. We?re really far along, but we really want that last twenty percent to really be crafted by more people like Justin that actually know the tools and things that they need.?

The Hollywood Reporter also notes that Timberlake?s role is obvious when it comes to promoting and recruiting, however, he won?t reveal who will be his first targets. Eventually, the site will reach out to undiscovered talent and their fans.

?So it?s not about just the established, it?s also about the unsigned,? Chris Vanderhook said in The Hollywood Reporter article.

A new feature will allow fans to be profiled on their favorite artists? page. In other words, Timberlake admirers may one day see their picture on his page with the caption ?#1 fan.? The new co-owners believe that this method of connecting fans and artists will be a big attention-grabber for potential users.

Recently, Timberlake posted a teaser video on Twitter?revealing the new MySpace. According to MTV News, the interface looks ?a bit like Facebook-meets-Instagram, with hints of Pinterest and Windows 8.?

Among other things, users can peruse not only their friends? photos, but playlists as well. The new ?trending? tab shows everything from schedules of bands performing on late-night shows to magazine profiles of artists. For easy sharing and connecting, the new design features a drag-and-drop method.

However, even with all the new attractive bells and whistles, MySpace will still have to compete with the social network that wounded MySpace in the first place: Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/okc1AOne73w/MySpace-is-ready-for-a-big-comeback-says-Justin-Timberlake

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Fax Server Pro 5.7.924 Free Download - Fax ... - FreeSoft4Down.com

Fax Server Pro is a client and server system designed to integrates fax communication with your IT infrastruct

Publisher's description:

Fax Server Pro is a client and server system designed to integrates fax communication with your IT infrastructure. Sending a fax is as simple as printing from any Windows application. Incoming fax messages are routed directly to desktops or email as PDF files -- the de facto standard in storing and exchanging documents.

Fax Server Pro provides some advanced features such as email delivery, PDF conversion, Reading Track, CSID/Caller ID routing, public phone book and more...all with an easy-to-use user interface. And it is compatible with a variety of fax modems.

Key Features:
- User-friendly Interface;
- Multi-Language Support;
- Reading Track
- Fax to Email addresses as PDF or TIFF attachment
- Adobe PDF to fax without Adobe Reader
- Support sending and receiving faxes on Multiple modems. The theoretical limit is 16 modems;
- Support acquiring images from your scanner for faxing;
- Simple as faxing and fast as printing
- Automatic fax routing
- Public Address Book
- Fax broadcasting
- Network-wide access from every workplace

Program Release Status:

Major Update

Program Install Support:

Install and Uninstall

System Requirements:

Fax modem

OS Support:

Windows 2003, Win2003, WinXP, Win2000, WinServer, WinOther, WinVista

Source: http://www.freesoft4down.com/Windows/Fax-Server-Pro-5.7.924.zip/33058

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Engadget Live: Join us at 4AM ET for an 'ask me anything' Q&A with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop!

You may have since forgotten, but today was the original kick-off day for Nokia World 2012. With the big show canceled and the devices already launched, we instead opted to drop by the smartphone maker's headquarters just outside Helsinki. We're spending three days here in Finland, meeting with executives to get an inside look at the company's next-generation smartphone lineup. Our first face-to-face is with Nokia's chief executive himself, Stephen Elop, who has generously offered up 30 minutes to answer your questions. Because of the time constraints, we won't be able to accommodate every request, but we'll certainly do our best.

There are two ways to submit your questions: leave a comment below, or you can send us a tweet @EngadgetLive -- once the session begins, we'll only be able to accept messages through Twitter, and you're welcome to ask questions before we start and as a follow-up to Stephen's responses, as well. In order to accommodate the largest possible audience, we'll be using our liveblog tool to post both questions and answers, so bookmark this page and hop on over there at 4AM Eastern tomorrow. As always, you'll also find the local time just below. Now about those questions...

September 25, 2012 4:00 AM EDT

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Engadget Live: Join us at 4AM ET for an 'ask me anything' Q&A with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/24/ask-me-anything-nokia-stephen-elop/

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NBA Rumors: Rasheed Wallace Signing Would Be Foolish for New York Knicks

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Source: bleacherreport.com --- Sunday, September 23, 2012
The New York Knicks' search for a backup power forward has taken an interesting twist. According to ESPN?s Ric Bucher , Rasheed Wallace has been seen around the Knicks' practice facility working out with Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas: NBA news: Rasheed Wallace working out at NYK practice facility w/Camby and Kurt Thomas. Knicks' considering. ? Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) September 23, 2012 The organization is apparently considering bringing in the 38-year-old big man, who played his most recent NBA minutes back in June of 2010. The 15-year veteran last served as a backup for the Celtics?a team that actually started him in a losing effort for Game 7 of the NBA Finals that year. Wallace has been linked to a number of NBA franchises since retiring in the summer of 2010, notably the Miami Heat prior to the 2012 playoffs and the Celtics back in 2011. However, none of these have come to fruition because of the mercurial forward?s health and lack of desire to play. While Rasheed has the size, standing 6?11?, 230 pounds, and proven skills?with career averages of 14.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals?to be a solid rotation player for a contending team like the Knicks, his attitude and age should be a major deterrent in actually inking him to a guaranteed deal. New York is only considering him because the Knicks have been seeking another serviceable 4 to log minutes behind superstar Amar ?e Stoudemire. 39-year-old Tho ...

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1344508-nba-rumors-rasheed-wallace-signing-would-be-foolish-for-new-york-knicks

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Complete Guide on Exercise Programs and Health Habits in ...

Reducing Heart Disease Risk

Before you are at risk for heart disease or a heart attack, you should take the necessary steps to lead a healthy lifestyle. There are ways you can begin to reduce your risk of heart disease. Before you begin making any drastic changes in your life, you should consult your physician so they will be aware of your changes and help guide you. Before you try taking medications to alter your health, you should try the natural approach. You can control almost every factor of your health with the exception of your gender, family history and age. Other than those factors, you have complete control.

When you begin making these healthy changes you need to understand that these changes are going to make you feel better and need to be adopted for a lifetime. There are several factors such as your diet, physical activity; losing weight and quitting smoking that can help you achieve better health. These are lifestyle changes that can help you turn your life around.

Healthy Eating

One of the very first steps you can take is to eat healthy. This sounds very simple, but in many cases it is about being rational and training your brain and taste buds to accept healthy foods as your basis for nutrition. Typically this means introducing more whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits into your diet.

Keep saturated and Trans fat to a minimum. Meats, baked goods, fried foods, dairy products and processed food tend to carry high amounts of these types of fat. These foods tend to raise your bad cholesterol levels. Instead replace them with omega-3 fatty acids found in olive oil and fish. Omega-3 fatty acids can lower your risk of a heart attack and help the prevention of blood clots.

Fiber is very important and can be found in vegetables, fruits and whole grains. When you make your diet a mainstay of such vitamin rich foods you can reduce your LDL cholesterol level and protect your heart. It is also advisable to lower the amount of sugar and salt you consume. The less salt you consume, the better your blood pressure levels remain and reducing the amount of sugar you eat can help you lose weight and control diabetes.

Great Exercise Programs

Exercise is an important key to losing weight, as well as maintaining it. It is not necessary to become an athlete to live a healthy life. When you adopt a sixty minute exercise routine a week, you are helping yourself become physically fit and preventing bad health too. You can join gyms that offer moderate aerobic workout programs with professionals that can make sure you do the exercises properly and do not harm yourself. If you are severely overweight or already have a heart problem, then it is advised that you start very slow and keep your physician informed of your progress and listen to their advice.

In order to see major changes you should exercise for at least two and a half hours every week. The type of exercise that is best for you is a moderately intense aerobic workout. You can also reduce the amount your exercise to an hour and fifteen minutes a week if you increase your workout to an intense and vigorous aerobic activity. All of this information thus far is regarding adults without heart disease.

Quit Smoking

Smoking raises your risk for heart disease. If you are a current smoker, then talk to your physician about products that may help you stop smoking. There are even classes available that can help you curb your nicotine addiction. Second hand smoke should be avoided at all costs, as well. Smoking can be a very addictive habit. You will need the support of your friends and family in order to stop.

Shelly is a professional blogger. She has written many articles and blogs on Health and Nutrition to educate people about Designer Glasses. She believes that sharing the knowledge with others can help them in many ways.
Complete Guide on Exercise Programs and Health Habits in Reducing Heart Disease Risk

This site is for information and support only and NOT a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment!

Source: http://health-club.org/exercise-programs-health-habits

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Dawn Sees Hydrated Minerals on Giant Asteroid

ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2012) ? NASA's Dawn spacecraft has revealed that the giant asteroid Vesta has its own version of ring around the collar. Two new papers based on observations from the low-altitude mapping orbit of the Dawn mission show that volatile, or easily evaporated materials, have colored Vesta's surface in a broad swath around its equator.

Pothole-like features mark some of the asteroid's surface where the volatiles, likely water, released from hydrated minerals boiled off. While Dawn did not find actual water ice at Vesta, there are signs of hydrated minerals delivered by meteorites and dust evident in the giant asteroid's chemistry and geology. The findings appear today in the journal Science.

One paper, led by Thomas Prettyman, the lead scientist for Dawn's gamma ray and neutron detector (GRaND) at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz., describes how the instrument found signatures of hydrogen, likely in the form of hydroxyl or water bound to minerals in Vesta's surface.

"The source of the hydrogen within Vesta's surface appears to be hydrated minerals delivered by carbon-rich space rocks that collided with Vesta at speeds slow enough to preserve their volatile content," said Prettyman.

A complementary paper, led by Brett Denevi, a Dawn participating scientist based at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., describes the presence of pitted terrain created by the release of the volatiles.

Vesta is the second most massive member of the main asteroid belt. The orbit at which these data were obtained averaged about 130 miles (210 kilometers) above the surface. Dawn left Vesta earlier this month, on Sept. 4 PDT (Sept. 5 EDT), and is now on its way to its second target, the dwarf planet Ceres.

Scientists thought it might be possible for water ice to survive near the surface around the giant asteroid's poles. Unlike Earth's moon, however, Vesta has no permanently shadowed polar regions where ice might survive. The strongest signature for hydrogen in the latest data came from regions near the equator, where water ice is not stable.

In some cases, other space rocks crashed into these deposits later at high speed. The heat from the collisions converted the hydrogen bound to the minerals into water, which evaporated. The holes that were left as the water escaped stretch as much as 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) across and go down as deep as 700 feet (200 meters). Seen in images from Dawn's framing camera, this pitted terrain is best preserved in sections of Marcia crater.

"The pits look just like features seen on Mars, but while water was common on Mars, it was totally unexpected on Vesta in these high abundances," said Denevi. "These results provide evidence that not only were hydrated materials present, but they played an important role in shaping the asteroid's geology and the surface we see today."

GRaND's data are the first direct measurements describing the elemental composition of Vesta's surface. Dawn's elemental investigation by the instrument determined the ratios of iron to oxygen and iron to silicon in the surface materials. The new findings solidly confirm the connection between Vesta and a class of meteorites found on Earth called the Howardite, Eucrite and Diogenite meteorites, which have the same ratios for these elements. In addition, more volatile-rich fragments of other objects have been identified in these meteorites, which supports the idea that the volatile-rich material was deposited on Vesta.

The Dawn mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. It is a project of the Discovery Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall mission science. Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft.

The framing cameras were developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, with contributions by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, and in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering, Braunschweig. The framing camera project is funded by the Max Planck Society, DLR and NASA. The gamma ray and neutron detector instrument was built by Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., and is operated by the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Ariz.

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

To view new images and for more information about Dawn, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/dawn and http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov .

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---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal References:

1. Thomas H. Prettyman, David W. Mittlefehldt, Naoyuki Yamashita, David J. Lawrence, Andrew W. Beck, William C. Feldman, Timothy J. McCoy, Harry Y. McSween, Michael J. Toplis, Timothy N. Titus, Pasquale Tricarico, Robert C. Reedy, John S. Hendricks, Olivier Forni, Lucille Le Corre, Jian-Yang Li, Hugau Mizzon, Vishnu Reddy, Carol A. Raymond, and Christopher T. Russell. Elemental Mapping by Dawn Reveals Exogenic H in Vesta's Regolith. Science, 2012; DOI: 10.1126/science.1225354
2. B. W. Denevi, D. T. Blewett, D. L. Buczkowski, F. Capaccioni, M. T. Capria, M. C. De Sanctis, W. B. Garry, R. W. Gaskell, L. Le Corre, J.-Y. Li, S. Marchi, T. J. McCoy, A. Nathues, D. P. O?Brien, N. E. Petro, C. M. Pieters, F. Preusker, C. A. Raymond, V. Reddy, C. T. Russell, P. Schenk, J. E. C. Scully, J. M. Sunshine, F. Tosi, D. A. Williams, and D. Wyrick. Pitted Terrain on Vesta and Implications for the Presence of Volatiles. Science, 2012; DOI: 10.1126/science.1225374

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/cXsFMS_81fQ/120920202045.htm

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Worldwide: United fall fare sale | Vacation Deals | Travel + Leisure

Why Go:

Fall is an ideal time to travel, an in-between period less crowded than both the summer just past and the holiday season to come. Save on flights from United to destinations from Boston to San Francisco, to Tokyo and Buenos Aires, and beat the traffic.

What You Get:

• Roundtrip economy airfare

Source: http://www.travelandleisure.com/vacation-deals/worldwide-united-fall-fare-sale

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Video: Got rum? Make a Pedro Collins cocktail

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

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/48780458/

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Genealogy in Time upgrade - British GENES

From Genealogy in Time (http://genealogyintime.com):

400 Million More Records

GenealogyInTime Magazine has added 400 million new records to their two free search engines. The Genealogy Search Engine (which covers ancestral records) now searches an additional 100 million more records, while the Family Tree Search Engine (which covers genealogy forums and online family trees) searches approximately 300 million more records. In total, the two search engines now cover 5.7 billion records across more than 1,000 different websites.

GenealogyInTime Magazine now gets over 40,000 queries per month for the two search engines. This makes them one of the most popular alternatives to FamilySearch for people wanting to look for free ancestral records. Significant holdings exist for the United States, Canada, England/Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Europe, Australia and New Zealand with minor holdings for the Caribbean, South America and South Africa.

Some of the highlights of the latest addition to the Genealogy Search Engine include:
? 55 million new records for the United States and 6 million new records for Canada. These are primarily ancestral records held in digital archives of public libraries and universities across North America. Many of these new records are photographs.
? 23 million new records for England, Ireland and Scotland. These are primarily twentieth century obituaries.
? 14 million new records for Europe. These are primarily birth/marriage/death records from Central and Eastern Europe.
? 2 million more ship passenger records.

The underlying technology has also been improved:
? The search routines for both search engines have been strengthened to provide better results.
? The number of returned records for a search query has been increased from 8 pages to 10 pages.
? Results are delivered even faster than before.
Access to both search engines is free and the underlying records are also free.

Genealogy Search Engine
Family Tree Search Engine

GenealogyInTime Magazine also has a number of genealogy articles to help you with online searches.

(With thanks to Miles at Genealogy in Time)

Chris

Scottish Research Online - 5 weeks online Pharos course, ?45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 26 SEP 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx?(from June 12th 2012)

Source: http://britishgenes.blogspot.com/2012/09/genealogy-in-time-upgrade.html

Nazanin Boniadi

Health Insurance Is Important To Have. Follow the following ...

The subject of health insurance can be confusing. It can seem impossible to figure out because there are many variables and confusing terms to consider. Due to the importance of choosing the right insurance policy, you need to make sure you know what you are doing. In the following paragraphs, you?ll find some advice that will help you get started.

Look online for quotes and to compare prices. You can get quotes by going to the websites of specific providers or by using a marketplace website that can give you quotes on various policies from a number of providers.

If you just graduated college and need insurance, there are some choices for you to think about. Many employers will provide health insurance for their employees that you can use. Until you reach 26, you are able to be listed on your parents? insurance policy. You can also check our personal plans though too.

If you expect to get pregnant soon, it is essential that you get an insurance policy that covers all your expenses, from doctor visits to labor to hospital maternity stays. You need to know this as some insurance plans do not cover all aspects of the pregnancy and labor.

Find out about healthcare savings accounts, and determine if they would work for you. These accounts take money from pretax income and save you money that would be spent on medical costs. Prescriptions and some other medical expenses can be paid for with the funds that accumulate. However, these accounts are not perfect, so educate yourself before opening one.

Premiums are flexible, as you can select what to include, or exclude, in your policy. You can increase your co-payments to save money on premiums, or change how much of your prescription costs will be covered. You can even exclude dental or vision coverage if you feel you won?t need it this year. The more coverage you have, the higher your premium, so truly consider what you need versus what you?re being offered.

As this article demonstrated, the complex business of health insurance can be broken down into comprehensible terms. All you need is to find some time to research this important topic. Once you?ve educated yourself, it?ll be easier to make better decisions regarding health insurance.

We hope you found these tips useful. You might find these sites on the following issues interesting as well. For examples, How about varicose veins and spider veins related issues, like Varicose Veins Home Treatment or what about yeast infection and candida treatment related issues, like Natural Cure For Yeast Infection. We wish you health and happiness!

Source: http://www.adem06.com/uncategorized/health-insurance-is-important-to-have-follow-the-following-suggestions-to-get-the-best-deal-2/

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Fatwa Flashback

TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 09: Writer Salman Rushdie arrives at the 'Midnight's Children' Premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 9, 2012 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images

The timing of Salman Rushdie?s memoir is almost uncanny. Joseph Anton: A Memoir lands amid the ongoing Islamic furor over a video trailer that insults the Prophet Mohammed, calling to mind the fatwa placed on Rushdie by Iran?s Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 following publication of The Satanic Verses.

Rushdie?s memoir delves deeply into his experience of living for nine years under a death sentence and the havoc that wrought on his family and his personal freedom. The title derives from the literary alias Rushdie adopted at the behest of the British police who were looking out for him during the fatwa period. ?Joseph? comes from Joseph Conrad and ?Anton? from Anton Chekhov.

Rushdie sat down recently with Slate?s Jacob Weisberg to talk about his new book and why he chose to write a memoir in the third person.

In part two of the interview, Rushdie reflects on how the fatwa changed him and shares an amusing encounter with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.? And in the third segment, he answers Slate reader questions, including his take on the 2012 election and how he came to be a nonbeliever.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=89552ccbf19d4753c367cc97c6f9585f

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Weekly Meditations for Healthy Sex (Sept. 16 - 23) - Huffington Post

It's important for conscious acts of emotional and sexual intimacy to develop as a daily practice for healthy sex.

What is healthy sex?

• Healthy sex is consensual sex between adults and yields pleasure and personal growth. It does not include trauma, lies, secrets, crimes, shame, guilt, or regrets.
• Healthy sex comes from being relational and operates on the premise that only through an intimate connection with another can highly erotic, spiritual sex occur.
• Healthy sex, intimate sex, erotic sex, and sex as a spiritual act develop from honest conversations about difficult topics that grow and strengthen a relationship.

At the Center for Healthy Sex, we find inspiration from many sources to treat sex addiction, love addiction, and sexual dysfunction. Attachment theory is a component of our philosophy -- behavioral patterns imparted in infancy affect the way we grow up to live our lives. Because this early programming becomes so ingrained, it takes consistent and sustained effort to rewire the neural pathways.

For this reason we've created daily meditations for you to reach your potential for sexual health. (You can subscribe for free here.) Here are three meditations on the themes of arousal, values, and open-heartedness for you to ponder and practice this week.

Meditation 1: Arousal

"Arousal leaves us mind-blind." -- Malcolm Gladwell

When our sexual arousal owns us, indeed we become "mind-blind." Thinking that the object of our arousal is the answer to our loneliness, pain, and fears, we're blindly led by our sexual organs to people and places we'd not otherwise consider when operating from our "mind-sight," meaning our ability to "see" from a place of clarity. Intrusive sexual thoughts are often the result of a triggered state of hyperarousal -- the lower brain's fight/flight/freeze response to stress. What casual thought patterns precede any sexual arousal you experience throughout the day? We tend to think of arousal as solely the domain of the genitals, missing the magic of full-body and sensory arousal. What a joy to leave the collapsed state of compulsively seeking relief through sex and celebrate the full-body, heart-centered arousal that comes from genuine joy states!

Today, make the word "arousal" synonymous with "happiness." Arouse your senses by taking a deep breath of morning air, seeing the beauty and abundance that surrounds you, tasting the sweet and savory on your tongue as you eat your first meal of the day, and feeling the skin of your lover's hand or lips as they wish you a "good morning."

Daily healthy sex acts:

• Do one thing to arouse your senses in celebration of your sexuality as a source of joy, wholeness, and all that's good about you.
• Eat a piece of delicious fruit, smile at your neighbor, or give your partner a hand massage.

Meditation 2: Values

"Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You've got to find the treasure so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense." -- Paulo Coelho

What does it mean to have values? It's one of the most misunderstood concepts, probably because values are so often programmed, lectured, and preached, their meaning forced on us. As children we discover the magic of play, the delights of taste, the warm glow of love, but we are rarely afforded the same organic opportunity to unearth the sacred vitality of our personal values.

Truthfully, values derive from being able to assign personal importance to aspects of our life. It's the art of valuation. The word implies worth, the ability to assess the meaning of our choices and desires. That's why it's important to live in harmony with our values, because this is what we actually treasure in life.

If we're not living up to our values, maybe they're not ours to begin with, or, just as likely, there is conflict within our value system, our functional ability to qualify experiences. The power to reclaim personal values is one of the great joys of life. Let true values ring throughout life and guide your every action -- especially behind closed doors where no one's watching, whether in the secret privacy of your bedroom or in your own value-able heart.

Daily healthy sex acts:

• Take a few minutes today and write out any of your values that come to mind. Are these truly your values, and what you are doing to live up to them?
• Share your values. This feels vulnerable, and it's common for many people to share their values chiefly through doling out advice. Realize that your values are about you and not about anyone else. Let those you trust know what's important to you.

Meditation 3: Open-heartedness

"Open your heart and take us in,
Love -- love and me." -- William Ernest Henley

Every person possesses the quality of open-heartedness. The real test is to stretch into open-heartedness whenever you feel like isolating and shutting down. It's so easy to close a heart, especially against a partner, if not all humankind at times. Withholding love is called "cold," open-heartedness is called "warm," and it's possible that there is actual vital energy being shared.

Open your heart to yourself. Show yourself love even when you fall short or fail to be open, because certainly your shame, disappointment, regret, and expectation are not going to open that heart.

There's a saying that anger is like picking up a burning ember to throw at someone: You get burned in the process. It's the same with closed-heartedness. You might close your heart to protect yourself from intimidating or hostile forces, and yet closing your heart is one of the most detrimental things you can do. Closing your heart as a form of protection is a contradiction. The only protection in any challenging situation is to open your heart, to keep life alive and vital energy flowing inside you.

Daily healthy sex acts:

• Share with a partner or friend what opens your heart and what closes your heart.
• Feel the vibration of your own opening heart. Let the vibration expand, basking everyone you encounter today with its warmth.

?

?

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Follow Alexandra Katehakis, M.F.T. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sexaddexpert

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexandra-katehakis-mft/meditation-sex_b_1885307.html

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How to beat 'Bama: Hit, think, pray

They say no team is unbeatable. They apparently haven't seen Alabama play recently.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide has been startlingly good this season, outscoring Michigan, Western Kentucky and Arkansas 128-14. Each of Alabama's games has essentially been over at halftime.

And, oh by the way, did we mention Alabama is the defending national champion.

So what's the game plan? Where do you start looking for a way to beat the Tide?

"You've got to say a little prayer the night before, Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart said.

Uh-oh.

Taggart likes to kid. Before his Hilltoppers played Alabama he joked the Tide was the next NFL expansion team.

If he found a weakness on the game tape, he wouldn't share it Monday, but he did say, as you might expect, the No. 1 priority when beating Alabama is to not beat yourself. Limit turnovers, penalties and mistakes.

Former Arkansas and Mississippi coach Houston Nutt said: "You've got to play error-free football."

The same can be said about beating any very talented team: LSU, Florida State, Oregon, etc. With Alabama, the margin for error is thinner.

Former NFL quarterback Gary Danielson, who has been the lead analyst for CBS' Southeastern Conference coverage for seven years, uses a hockey analogy to describe what it's like to play against Alabama.

"If you're going to go against Alabama you have to win the one-one-one battles against the boards," he said. "It's a rough, tough game. And there's 11 battles going on on the field right now and you can't get pushed around on the boards."

It's not just about avoiding the careless turnover or silly penalty, it's about matching Alabama's attention to detail ? which is unsurpassed.

"When you have outside leverage as a defensive end you can't get hooked (inside)," Danielson said. "You have to do your basic job. If you're a corner and you have inside technique, you can't get beat inside. If you're a safety and you have the responsibility of not giving up the deep touchdown, you can't come up and try to make a tackle 3 yards from the line of scrimmage and get beat for a touchdown.

"On offense, if you're a running back and you have blitz pick up, you have to pick it up. If you're a wide receiver and you have to make the easy catch, you have to make the easy catch. They're too good to give them stuff."

In a world of spread offenses and multitalented quarterbacks, zone-options and air raids, Alabama's offense is relatively old-school. The quarterbacks throw. The running backs run. The receivers catch. The Tide plays tight ends and even lines up a fullback at times.

To beat Alabama, you've got to stop the run, Nutt said.

To do that, you've got to get through a line that is so good last season's All-American tackle, Barrett Jones, is now playing center to make room for the future All-American tackle, Cyrus Kouandjio.

To beat Alabama, you've got to win the turnover battle, said Nutt, who is now working for CBS Sports Network.

Then he adds: "But the thing they do best, is they don't turn it over."

To beat Alabama's ferocious and fast defense, you have to have a high-quality quarterback and offensive balance, Danielson said.

"If you let them use all of their plays on defense, and not force them to play right- and left-handed, they'll pound most college teams," he said.

Even with all his high praise, Danielson doesn't believe Alabama is unbeatable. However, the list of teams talented enough to have a shot is pretty short.

"I would say this: Eight games, if the bus shows up they're going to win. The other four games or five, you have a chance to beat them but you have to do a lot of sound fundamental things."

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SUN BELTED

The punching bag is starting to hit back.

The Sun Belt Conference followed up the biggest upset of the season, Louisiana-Monroe's overtime victory against Arkansas, with another strong weekend against the SEC.

ULM nearly made it two straight over the SEC by taking Auburn to the wire and Troy played toe-to-toe with Mississippi State. But the high point was Western Kentucky winning 32-31 at Kentucky in overtime on what will easily go down as one of the plays of the year.

Instead of kicking an extra point to tie the game, coach Willie Taggart went for a winning 2-point conversion and got it on a trick play. Running back Antonio Andrews threw back to quarterback Kawaun Jakes, who scampered into the end zone for the Hilltoppers' first victory against an SEC opponent.

"I don't call it gutsy," Taggart said of the decision. "I call it cool. That's pretty cool. That was sweet."

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN LOW

The Pac-12 might want to return Colorado to the Big 12.

The Buffaloes, in their second season in the Pac-12, are a wreck. Saturday's 69-14 loss at Fresno State dropped Colorado to 0-3. A winless season seems not only realistic, but likely. The Buffs' best chance may be Saturday at Washington State, but they have lost 25 of their last 26 games outside Colorado.

Many fans have already turned on second-year coach Jon Embree. He shut down his Twitter account last week after a loss to Sacramento State because of all the nasty messages he was getting.

Colorado has only three senior starters and a depth chart stuffed with underclassmen. Embree was hired to replace Dan Hawkins in part because the school needed an affordable option. Embree is in the second season of a five-year deal that pays $720,00 annually, making him the lowest paid coach in the Pac-12.

On Monday, University President Bruce Benson told The Denver Post he was standing behind Embree and the man who hired him, athletic director Michael Bohn.

"We're going to rebuild and be positive and move forward," Benson told the newspaper.

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HEISMAN WATCH

Teddy Bridgewater deserves some early season Heisman hype. The Louisville quarterback has completed 81 percent of his passes, leading the Cardinals to victories against Kentucky, Missouri State and North Carolina.

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LAST WORD

"I'm as healthy as can be. You guys are going to be stuck with me for a while," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini told reporters Monday. Pelini was taken to the hospital at halftime of the Cornhuskers' game Saturday with what he said turned out to be nothing more than a severe case of heartburn.

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AP Sports Writer Eric Olson in Lincoln, Neb., contributed.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphdrussoAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/beat-bama-hit-think-pray-082651947--spt.html

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PFT: Disorganized Saints (0-2) fall to Panthers

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The handshake was anti-climactic, a civil exchange that wouldn?t have been worth mentioning without the context.

It was the bludgeoning Jim Harbaugh?s guys gave Jim Schwartz?s on the field that made this one noteworthy.

The 49ers pounded the Lions into submission in prime time, sending a message that they?re still going to win games by being more physical than your side.

The 49ers ran for 148 yards in a 27-19 win over the Lions, with Frank Gore looking like a young man again and pacing the offense.

They also held a potent offense to four Jason Hanson field goals for the meaningful 58 minutes, bullying the Lions at the line of scrimmage.

It?s become fashionable to say it?s a passing league, as if minimizing old ways takes away their effectiveness. But the two most dominant-looking teams of the day were the 49ers and the Texans, who get it done in the old style.

You might not want to watch it every week, but when it?s executed well, it?s still an impressive thing to watch.

Here are five more things we learned on Sunday Night Football:

1. Alex Smith has grown beyond being compared to a Trent Dilfer-style handler, whose only job is to not screw it up.

He makes plays occasionally, and he even bled for good measure. Those third-down conversions late were beautifully designed and beautifully executed.

But the beauty of Smith in this offense isn?t what he does, it?s what they don?t bother asking him to do, and him being OK with that.

He?s got an average arm, but makes up for it by throwing (and not throwing) at the right time.

He?s a prime example of the fit being more important than the talent, and he and Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman fit together perfectly.

They could do different things with a better player, but Smith has also grown to the point where they?re able to work with him.

2. The Lions are missing something on offense.

It?s easy to pin it on suspended running back Mikel Leshoure, who will return next week.

But if not him, it needs to be someone. They need some degree of balance, and the cast of characters they?re using at the moment (Kevin Smith, Joique Bell) aren?t getting it done.

Leshoure would probably suffice. In a perfect world, they could use him in tandem with Jahvid Best, still on the PUP list because of his post-concussion issues. Best?s ability as a pass-catcher out of the backfield would be especially useful on third down, where the Lions struggled so much early.

3. Harbaugh can talk about No. 1 receivers all he wants. It?s his fullbacks and tight ends that make his offense go.

Vernon Davis is a matchup nightmare, and not just for the Lions. I?m not sure (short of a young Dennis Rodman) who is capable of covering this guy.

But Delanie Walker?s role as the move tight end/fullback shouldn?t be overlooked.? He doesn?t turn up in box scores often, but he?s excellent at rooting out linebackers.

He had a number of tooth-rattling blocks that made Frank Gore look faster than he really is, and rarely gets mention. Consider this a small step toward catching up.

4. Speaking of which, Randy Moss gets a lot of credit from opposing defensive backs. Why is another question.

He had four catches for 47 yards and a score last week, one for 14 against the Lions.

This isn?t the Moss that can knock the top off a defense, but they sure play him that way when he?s on the field.

5. Matt Stafford is a very good quarterback.

Matt Stafford threw some very bad balls.

His first half pick was quacking before Dashon Goldson got his hands on it, and he threw a few in the dirt as well. He also locks onto Calvin Johnson to the exclusion of other targets.

Maybe it was windy, or maybe the 49ers forced him to look more erratic than he actually is. Either way, he did not leave this one looking good.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/16/saints-fall-to-0-2-as-panthers-remember-theyre-a-running-team/related/

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