Will Delphi Automotive Continue to Motor Along? | Wall St. Cheat ...

With shares of Delphi Automotive (NYSE:DLPH) trading at around $36.14, is DLPH an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let?s analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

C = Catalyst for the Stock?s Movement

Delphi Automotive is gorgeous on the surface. The stock has outperformed the S&P 500 by a wide margin since its IPO, cash flow is excellent, revenue is growing at a rapid pace, earnings have been impressive, and analysts are predicting strong growth going forward. It will also replace Titanium Metals (NYSE:TIE) on the S&P 500 beginning today. However, just like a gorgeous woman (or man,) it?s always a good idea to make sure you know all the details before making any kind of investment.

Catalysts are critical to discovering winning stocks. Check out our newest CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.

The last quarter saw EPS come in well ahead of consensus, but guidance is always the key, and Delphi Automotive guided lower. This was mostly due to weakness in Europe. In addition to that, billionaires John Paulson and Paul Singer have cut their positions in the company. A $250 million investment on restructuring won?t help the short term, either.

Let?s take a look at some important numbers before forming a conclusion on Delphi Automotive.

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To contact the editor responsible for this story: editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

Source: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/will-delphi-automotive-continue-to-motor-along.html/

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'Parental Guidance' Review: Bette Midler & Billy Crystal Film Is ...

LOS ANGELES -- The schmaltz is piled on thick, and if the comedy were any broader it would require an Imax screen, but still there's something touching about how hard Billy Crystal and Bette Midler hustle to peddle the threadbare material that makes "Parental Guidance" a perfectly tolerable, if uninspired, moviegoing experience.

As "the other grandparents" who are given a golden opportunity to bond with their seldom-seen grandchildren, Billy and Bette work double-time, well aware that it's not just the juvenile characters they have to entertain, but also the paying audiences who could count on both of them for a good laugh back in the day.

That they manage to pull their weight even when the achingly formulaic plotting threatens to drag them under is a testament to their "let's-put-on-a-show" spirit. The end result should appeal to audiences, including bonding grandparents and grandkids, looking for a little undemanding holiday cheer.

Crystal is Artie Decker, who has just lost his longtime gig as "De Voice of the Fresno Grizzlies" when the minor-league baseball team decided to upgrade the outfit with the sort of talent that knows its way around a Facebook page or a Twitter account.

Already despondent, he's not exactly jumping up and down over the news that he and his wife Diane (Midler) have been recruited to babysit their daughter Alice's (Marisa Tomei) three kids when she and her tech-geek husband Phil (Tom Everett Scott) get a last-minute opportunity to have some out-of-town alone time.

As expected, uptight Alice's no-sugar-allowed helicopter parenting clashes mightily with Artie and Diane's old-school approach to child-rearing, not to mention the fact that Phil has programmed his smart home to be intuitive within an inch of its inhabitants' lives.

Also as expected are the resulting gags built around technologically challenged Artie. Fortunately, old pro Crystal comes armed with an arsenal of rim-shot-ready rejoinders that hit the mark more than they miss.

While his character has been given more of an emotional arc than Midler's (unsurprising, since the genesis of "Parental Guidance" came from a newly minted grandparenting experience in producer Crystal's life), it's still nice to see Midler strutting her stuff in her first onscreen comedy role in years.

And Tomei is always a welcome presence, even when she's saddled with what's essentially a one-note character for most of the film.

It would have been nice if director Andy Fickman ("Race to Witch Mountain") and husband-and-wife screenwriters Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse ("Surf's Up") could have mined some fresher stuff from this frequently played ballgame, but at least when you've got Crystal calling the shots, you can still count on the occasional change-up.

"Parental Guidance," a 20th Century Fox release, is rated PG for some rude humor. 104 minutes.

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Motion Picture Association of America rating definition for PG: Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/24/parental-guidance-review-bette-midler-billy-crystal_n_2359577.html

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PFT: 49ers lose WR Manningham to torn ACL

AP

The NFL Most Valuable Player award seems to be a two-man race heading into Week 17, with Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning the contenders. Vikings coach Leslie Frazier has already gone on the record as saying there?s no doubt that Peterson is the MVP, and it?s not surprising that Fox has now come out to vocally support Manning.

Fox said at his press conference today that he believes Manning deserves the honor because Manning has had to adjust to a new team and new teammates and has made that adjustment flawlessly in his first season in Denver.

?Obviously I might be a little biased and with all due respect to everybody involved, I think what?s unique about Peyton . . . he?s done it in a new city with a new team,? Fox said. ?At that position, in my personal opinion, that?s what separates him from the rest of the field.?

Peterson and Manning each have one more game to attempt to impress the panel of 50 voters the Associated Press assembles to vote on the MVP award, but they appear to be neck and neck through 15 games of the season. Peterson, who has gained 1,898 yards this season, has a huge opportunity to bolster his case by surpassing the the 2,000-yard mark on Sunday, and maybe even breaking Eric Dickerson?s all-time record of 2,105 yards, while potentially leading the Vikings to the playoffs with a win over the Packers. Manning doesn?t have any high-profile statistical benchmarks to meet on Sunday, but he does have the opportunity to lead the Broncos to home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, if they win on Sunday while the Texans lose.

My bet is that if Peterson tops 2,000 yards and the Vikings beat the Packers, Peterson gets the nod. If Peterson falls short and the Vikings lose, that will open the door to Manning winning the MVP for the record fifth time.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/24/49ers-lose-mario-manningham-to-torn-acl/related/

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Don't skip the cover letter | Get to Work - seattlepi.com

Increase your chance of getting an interview by using a cover letter with your resume.

So much about looking for a job has changed in the last few years. Have you ever wondered if you still? need a cover letter?

The fact is, the cover letter is still an important part of your job-search plan, and skip the generic letter. It won?t really help get you noticed. What will get? you noticed is a well-crafted letter that helps establish you as someone who should be interviewed.

Still not convinced? Here are my top 10 reasons to use a cover letter:

1. It is an additional platform for marketing your skills and conveying your interest in the company.
2. A well-done cover letter showcases your communication skills.
3. Hiring decision-makers read compelling cover letters.
4. A cover letter gives you more room to personalize your message to the employer.
5. You can use it to fill in any gaps in your resume.
6. You can use it to market your transferable skills.
7. You have one more opportunity to keep your name in front of the hiring decision maker.
8. You can employ creative strategies that bridge your value to the employer?s needs, painting a verbal picture that draws attention.
9. It gives you a chance to make use of additional key words that target the employer?s needs.
10. A cover letter provides closure by giving you a vehicle to ask for the job or ask about next steps.

Do you use cover letters? Why or why not?

Source: http://blog.seattlepi.com/gettowork/2012/12/24/don%E2%80%99t-skip-the-cover-letter/

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A huge collection of odd TV stuff needs a home

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, James Comisar holds an original TV Guide issue featuring William Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy of "Star Trek." The item is part of his television memorabilia collection in a temperature- and humidity-controlled warehouse in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, James Comisar holds an original TV Guide issue featuring William Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy of "Star Trek." The item is part of his television memorabilia collection in a temperature- and humidity-controlled warehouse in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, James Comisar holds the costume George Reeves wore in the 1950s TV show "Adventures of Superman." The item is part of his television memorabilia collection in a temperature- and humidity-controlled warehouse in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, James Comisar shows a dress worn by Lucille Ball. The item is part of his television memorabilia collection in a temperature- and humidity-controlled warehouse in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, James Comisar shows costumes from the "Star Trek" original series. The items are part of his television memorabilia collection in a temperature- and humidity-controlled warehouse in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 photo, James Comisar holds a communicator prop used on the original Star Trek series. The item is part of his television memorabilia collection in a temperature- and humidity-controlled warehouse in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? James Comisar is the first to acknowledge that more than a few have questioned his sanity for spending the better part of 25 years collecting everything from the costume George Reeves wore in the 1950s TV show "Superman" to the entire set of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."

Then there's the pointy Spock ears Leonard Nimoy wore on "Star Trek" and the guns Tony Soprano used to rub out a mob rival in an episode of "The Sopranos."

"Along the way people thought I was nuts in general for wanting to conserve Keith Partridge's flared pants from 'The Partridge Family,'" the good-natured former TV writer says of the 1970s sitcom as he ambles through rows of costumes, props and what have you from the beginnings of television to the present day.

"But they really thought I needed a psychological workup," Comisar, 48, adds with a smile, "when they learned I was having museum curators take care of these pieces."

A museum is exactly where he wants to put all 10,000 of his TV memorabilia items, everything from the hairpiece Carl Reiner wore on the 1950s TV variety program "Your Show of Shows" to the gun and badge Kiefer Sutherland flashed on "24" a couple TV seasons ago.

Finding one that could accommodate his collection, which fills two sprawling, temperature-controlled warehouses, however, has sometimes been as hard as acquiring the boots Larry Hagman used to stomp around in when he was J.R. on "Dallas." (The show's production company finally coughed up a pair after plenty of pleading and cajoling.)

Comisar is one of many people who, after a lifetime of collecting, begin to realize that if they can't find a permanent home for their artifacts those objects could easily end up on the trash heap of history. Or, just as bad as far as he's concerned, in the hands of private collectors.

"Some of the biggest bidders for Hollywood memorabilia right now reside in mainland China and Dubai, and our history could leave this country forever," says Comisar, who these days works as a broker and purchasing expert for memorabilia collectors.

What began as a TV-obsessed kid's lark morphed into a full-fledged hobby when as a young man writing jokes for Howie Mandel and Joan Rivers, and punching up scripts for such producers as Norman Lear and Fred Silverman, Comisar began scouring studio back lots, looking for discarded stuff from the favorite shows of his childhood. From there it developed into a full-on obsession, dedicated to preserving the entire physical spectrum of television history.

"After a couple years of collecting, it became clear to me," he says, "that it didn't much matter what TV shows James watched in the early 1970s but which shows were the most iconic. In that way, I had sort of a curator's perspective almost from the beginning."

In the early days, collecting such stuff was easy for anyone with access to a studio back lot. Many items were simply thrown out or given away when shows ceased production. When studios did keep things they often rented them out for small fees, and if you lost or broke them you paid a small replacement fee. So Comisar began renting stuff right and left and promptly losing it, acquiring one of Herman Munster's jackets that way.

These days almost everything has a price, although Comisar's reputation as a serious collector has led some people to give him their stuff.

If he simply sold it all, he could probably retire as a millionaire several times over. Just last month someone paid $480,000 for a faded dress Judy Garland wore in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz." What might Annette Funicello's original Mickey Mouse Club jacket fetch?

He won't even think about that.

"I've spent 25 years now reuniting these pieces, and I would be so sick if some day they were just broken up and sold to the highest bidder," he says.

He, and every other serious collector of cool but somewhat oddball stuff, face two major obstacles, say museum curators: Finding a museum or university with the space to take their treasures and persuading deep-pocketed individuals who might bankroll the endeavor that there's really any compelling reason to preserve something like Maxwell Smart's shoephone.

"People hold television and popular culture so close to their hearts and embrace it so passionately," says Dwight Bowers, curator of entertainment collections for the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, who calls Comisar's collection very impressive. "But they don't put it on the same platform as military history or political history."

When the Smithsonian acquired Archie Bunker's chair from the seminal TV comedy "All in the Family," Bowers said, museum officials took plenty of flak from those offended that some sitcom prop was being placed down the hallway from the nation's presidential artifacts.

The University of California, Santa Cruz, took similar heat when it accepted the Grateful Dead archives, 30 years of recordings, videos, papers, posters and other memorabilia gifted by the band, said university archivist Nicholas Meriwether.

"What I always graciously say is that if you leave the art and the music aside for one moment, whatever you think of it, what you can say is they are still a huge part of understanding the story of the 1960s and of understanding the nation's counterculture," says Meriwether.

Comisar sees his television collection serving the same purpose, tracing societal changes TV shows documented from the post-World War II years to the present.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation looked into establishing such a museum some years back, and Comisar's collection came up at the time, said Karen Herman, curator of the foundation's Archive of American Television.

Instead, the foundation settled on an online archive containing more than 3,000 hours of filmed oral history interviews with more than 700 people.

While the archive doesn't have any of Mr. Spock's ears, anyone with a computer can view and listen to an oral history from Spock himself, the actor Leonard Nimoy.

Comisar, meanwhile, believes he's finally found the right site for a museum, in Phoenix, where he's been lining up supporters. He estimates it will cost $35 million and several years to open the doors, but hopes to have a preview center in place by next year.

Mo Stein, a prominent architect who heads the Phoenix Community Alliance and is working with him, says one of the next steps will be finding a proper space for the collection.

But, really, why all the fuss over a place to save one of the suits Regis Philbin wore on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire"?

"In Shakespeare's time, his work was considered pretty low art," Comisar responds.

Oh, he'll admit that "Mike and Molly," the modern TV love story of a couple who fall for each other at Overeaters Anonymous, may never rank in the same category as "Romeo and Juliet."

"But what about a show like 'Star Trek'?" he asks.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-24-Oddball%20Archives/id-665f6f9650ca418f848b60513ea34984

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Brain Cancer and Environmental Toxins | Psychology Today

?

In November of 2002, just after his thirteenth birthday, Trevor Schaefer was diagnosed with brain cancer. Life was complicated at the time. His parents were going through a nasty divorce, and his crippling headaches had been misdiagnosed as everything from sinus infections to stomach flu.

Still, life was more good than bad for Trevor. He had great friends in his small Idaho community, straight As in school, and a mother who would do anything for him. She couldn?t cure his cancer, however. It took surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy to do that. Trevor?s path to health?along with the healing that his family needed?is beautifully chronicled in a new book by Susan Rosser (with Trevor and his mother, Charlie Smith). The Boy on the Lake: He Faced Down the Biggest Bully of His Life and Inspired Trevor?s Law is written like a novel, so that readers can ?live? Trevor?s experiences with him.

Trevor?s story is a riveting tale of personal courage and survival, but its importance does not end there. Trevor and Charlie noticed a disproportionately large number of childhood cancers in their community. They reasoned that some environmental factor must be responsible. They investigated abandoned mines, mills, and factories near their home and discovered that numerous toxins were polluting their town?s air and water.

Going public with what he and his mom had learned, Trevor became an advocate for children?s cancer and the inspiration for a new law that would, if enacted, help us better address the horror of environmentally induced ?cluster cancers.? (United States Senate Bill S. 76, a.k.a. ?Trevor?s Law?). Supporters of the law say that mathematically improbable clusters of various illnesses afflict children in many small towns, where citizens face an up-hill battle in gaining any attention?much less action?from government agencies whose mission is to monitor and improve environmental quality. Writes reviewer Alice Shabecoff, "The Boy on the Lake is an easy-to-read reference on how America?s small towns, and the children who live in them, are slipping through the cracks of environmental overreach and falling victim to a broken system??

I was so impressed with the book that I invited Trevor (now age twenty-one and a college graduate) to write a guest post for this column. Here?s what he sent me:

Childhood Cancer: The Bully You Can?t Escape

by Trevor Schaefer

A bully is defined as someone that uses strength or power to intimidate those who are weaker. The thing about cancer, especially childhood cancer, is that it does not matter how strong or weak the child is or whether the child is from a rich family or poor family, the most popular kid in school or the class clown; cancer has the strength to intimidate anyone in its path.

When a child is diagnosed with cancer, everything changes. Cancer dictates how the child will live or die in the short term and plays a major role in the child?s quality of life in the long term. Despite advancements in treatment and the overall decline in the mortality rate for children with cancer, the threat of relapse and the lasting effects of treatment are constant reminders of the malingering bully.

In November of 2002, just one month into my fourteenth year, I was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a highly malignant form of brain cancer. While my family life wasn?t perfect at the time of my diagnosis, I still led a pretty charmed life. I lived on the shore of Payette Lake, a beautiful glacial-body of water in the small, mountain town of McCall, Idaho. I was an avid wakeboarder and snowboarder, and I had just started playing football for my school team. Life seemed pretty close to perfect.

The bullying began with headaches. They weren?t too bad at first, but they soon became nauseating and incapacitating. That?s how bullies start, attacking you physically. Wearing you down and altering your daily life. A trip to the doctor to find out why you?re feeling so run down. The results from various medical tests revealing the worst fear: malignant brain cancer. What can be more terrifying to a newly minted teenager? My only thought was, ?Am I going to die??

You see, the thing with cancer is that it?s not just a physical bully. Cancer attacks the mental well-being of not only the host, but also the family of the host. And with the incidence of childhood cancer increasing by over 20% from 1975-2007, the issues resulting from a diagnosis of cancer are becoming more common. Mothers are typically hard-wired to protect their children. When cancer strikes a child, parents can be devastated. Families break apart from the stress that cancer brings with it. Resentment or jealousy is common. The cancer-child?s need for constant observation can be taken by siblings as an unfair grab for attention. No one can escape the force of cancer.

What?s worse, is that the bully doesn?t go away with the pronouncement of being cancer-free. In fact, the very treatment that helps to fight cancer leaves lasting scars, from memory loss and ringing in the ears to infertility.

Yes, cancer is a bully that never leaves the host alone. All that can be done is to find a way to live with it, to cope with the fact that every day is filled with challenges. The best way to combat a bully like cancer is to communicate. Sharing with others, whether similarly situated or with someone who is just a good listener, is the best way to maintain a positive outlook and to keep the bully at bay.

For More Information:

The Boy on the Lake (Amazon).?

Listen to a radio interview with Trevor.?

More from Trevor on DailyGood.?

?

?

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-sense/201212/brain-cancer-and-environmental-toxins

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Indatus and Mocura to Establish Headquarters in Louisville, Create 100 Jobs

Sister technology, software and communications companies to occupy renovated historic building

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -??Governor Steve Beshear today joined company and local officials in Louisville to announce that two companies, Indatus and Mocura, both under the ownership of ICIM Corporation, plan to establish headquarters on 118 East Main Street in Louisville. Indatus and Mocura will create 100 new jobs and establish a tier-2 datacenter with full network operations center and staff in the renovated historic building.

The property, at 118 E. Main Street, is registered as a historic building for art deco design in Kentucky.? It was also the original headquarters of Four Roses Bourbon, home to the Miller Paper Company, and, most recently, Bridges and Smith Paint Company. Renovation of the historic site, touted as the ?Gateway to Whisky Row? is estimated to be completed by late December 2013. The project also includes the refurbishing of 9,000 square feet on the first floor available for lease to a retail or restaurant space, as well as renovating 9,000 square feet of basement space.

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Indatus is a 22-year-old, privately-held company, with products that have been in the ?cloud? (running at least partially over the internet on a remote server accessed by the user with a browser) for more than 10 years. These products and services are leading the way in cloud-based technologies, software and communications systems. Indatus has more than 8,000 customers across North America, varying from small businesses to global Fortune100 companies.

Mocura is an 18-month-old sister company to Indatus, which covers three areas of products and services that are solely focused on enterprise-level apps and data gathering.? The company?s market-ready mobile applications, custom-developed mobile applications and mobile device management tools utilize existing SaaS cloud architecture to manage data. Mocura grew more than 1,000 percent in the last 12 months and is quickly becoming a major player in the rapidly changing mobile business process arena.

?This project is such a great example of what happens when motivated government agencies and institutions work together with common purpose,? said Dave Durik, CEO of Indatus. ?We are just extremely excited and honored to be the recipient of the attention.?

For more information on Indatus, visit?www.indatus.com; for Mocura, go to?www.mocura.com.

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Source: http://www.mfrtech.com/articles/40600.html

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Hard Reset Samsung Galaxy S3 for Snappier, Error-Free Performance [Quick Guide]

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Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/416542/20121219/hard-reset-samsung-galaxy-s3-snappier-error.htm

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10 airports you won't want to leave

1 day

Erin Gifford

It?s nice to get where you?re going, but sometimes, it?s even better to be delayed. Whether offering movie theaters, nature trails, golf courses or world-class art museums, today?s airports are making it, dare I say, desirable, to be stuck at the airport.

?I have been stuck on many long layovers, especially heading to East and Southeast Asia,? said Annie Wang, a strategy analyst for TravelNerd. ?Now I specifically look for certain airports to layover?since some airports have gone above and beyond to offer special amenities to their passengers.?

Here are 10?airports where you won?t mind having to wait to board your next flight:

Singapore Changi Airport
Singapore?s Changi Airport is the hands-down favorite among stranded travelers, even travelers who just want to spend a few hours exploring the world?s first in-airport butterfly garden or navigating the nature trails. Take a free two-hour guided tour of Singapore, enjoy the 4D Cinema, play video games, explore the aviation gallery or slide down a four-story slide while you wait for your flight.

?Singapore is a fun place to be delayed or stranded,? says Robert Reid, U.S. travel editor for Lonely Planet. ?The terminal is fun on its own: free movie theater, a hotel, tons of sitting areas with comfortable seats, showers. Every hub airport should have showers available for people coming off overnighters and bound for connections.?

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport?
It?s easy to see why passengers love Amsterdam?s Schiphol Airport, particularly art lovers. The Rijksmuseum, an annex of the famed in-town museum of the same name, is open daily and is home to a permanent exhibition of 10?works from Dutch masters. Just crossed the Atlantic on an overnight flight? Visit Back to Life for a massage and an oxygen treatment to recharge. Or book a shower cabin at Yotel.

Munich Airport
Visiting?Munich Airport? Stop by?Airbr?u, a Bavarian-style tavern with an indoor beer garden and an on-site brewery -- the only in-airport brewery in Europe. Have an extra 30 minutes? Let the brew master show you first-hand how the beers are brewed. For children, ?kinderterminals? provide an interactive look at how the airport works. At Air Berlin Kinderland, kids can make arts and crafts, watch movies and play with building blocks. And, don?t forget the miniature golf course.

London Heathrow Airport
London?s Heathrow Airport offers a luxury experience ideal for traveling fashionistas with shops like Burberry, Cartier, Gucci and an 11,000-square-foot Harrods. Families should look out for three soft play areas in Terminals 4 and 5 to exercise and entertain young children, then head to any information desk for free coloring books and crayons. For shut-eye between flights, book a personal cabin with free Wi-Fi and hot drinks at Yotel for a quick four-hour stay.

San Francisco International Airport
Enjoy the flavors of the city even if you?re only spending a few hours at San Francisco International Airport. Nearly all of the airport eateries are outposts of popular in-town restaurants, including Ebisu and Lark Creek Grill. After a quick bite, relax and de-stress in the yoga room. For families, hit the SFO Kids? Spot, an interactive exploration area featuring weather-related exhibits.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, live music greets visitors at six venues across the concourses that showcase the best from the live music capital of the world. Nearly 20 concerts take place each week, offering Latin Jazz to Western Swing. Hungry? Stop at Salt Lick BBQ. Texas barbecue doesn?t get much better than this.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
If you?re connecting through Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, then the Phoenix Airport Museum is a must. One of the largest airport museums in the nation, more than 600 items are on display, including over 20 hand-crafted animal sculptures that pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Phoenix Zoo.

Vancouver International Airport
At Vancouver International Airport passengers are treated to a 30,000-gallon aquarium that houses5,000 sea creatures. Upstairs, a smaller cylindrical tank holds 100 moon jellyfish. Look for comfy lounge chairs and padded benches throughout the airport that let weary travelers stretch out and relax. No wonder YVR was voted the best place to catch a nap while waiting for a flight.

Hong Kong International Airport
Long layover in Hong Kong? Catch a movie in the IMAX theatre or visit the Aviation Discovery Center for aviation-themed exhibits, including a cockpit simulator. I-Sports offers a variety of sports simulators or go for a real hole-in-one on the SkyCity Nine Eagles Golf Course. Exhibitions on tea through the ages, Chinese medicine and Cantonese opera also dot the airport.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
For little ones, head to the Aquafina Junior Flyer?s Club or McDonald?s Play Areas at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for kid-friendly playscapes, like soft-foam cars. In Terminal D you?ll find media chairs and 10 screens featuring three different video feeds: CNN, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. You?ll also find a yoga studio and a walking path to release all your flight delay-induced tensions.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/itineraries/10-airports-you-wont-want-leave-1C7429540

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Find Out To Spot The Ideal Health Insurance Package

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You may get a unique reduced-cost healthcare care card should you handle to qualify for the plan. This card can help you get a decrease rate in the insurance coverage business you determine to utilize. This card enables you to visit a physician in their network that provides decreased expense healthcare for all those with low incomes. You are able to make utilization of a tax-exempt Wellness Spending Account as well for prescriptions as well as other healthcare supplies, and use your discount card for care. This may price you much less out-of-pocket for healthcare care, and expense you significantly less every month in premiums.

Whenever you pick your provider for health insurance, comprehend what your coverage entails. For those who have health insurance which covers incidents like these, it may make a distinction in paying for the down time you should incur.

Ensure that your insurance coverage program covers all elements of pregnancy and childbirth prior to obtaining pregnant. You need to know this since you will find health insurance plans that usually do not cover specific procedures pertaining to pregnancy and labor.

Cautiously examine the relation in between your medical doctor of selection and also the health insurance organization you're thinking about. In case your favored physician just isn't inside a potential carrier's network, it might be sensible to look for option insurance coverage providers.

When getting a health insurance policy, know just what occasions and situations the policy covers. In case your healthcare coverage functions for these sorts of occasions, you might wind up with much less cash to spend for the time out of perform.

You have to reevaluate your health insurance policy on a yearly basis. Concentrate on any adjustments, and regardless of whether a brand new program is required.

When you are inside the industry for health insurance to cover your complete loved ones, take the time to investigate accessible discounts. Many different businesses supply discounts whenever you acquire for several members of a loved ones. Ask the insurer about this and any other discounts just before you agree to purchase any insurance coverage policy.

See in case your medical doctor will be thinking about bartering solutions with you, must you possess a ability that could advantage the physician. She had her headaches cured, and he got a site!

Some agencies might deny your enrollment or claim in the event you usually do not fill out the types inside the correct way. Steer clear of this difficulty by taking the time to double verify the type.

Have health insurance, not only to suit your needs, but for the children. Kids have several illnesses that finish becoming fairly pricey if they are not insured. Issues for example development problems, or perhaps a situation which needs medication, like ADHD, as well as, lots of kids require braces are all really costly. Producing certain that your kids have health insurance is important so you'll be able to afford what their well being needs.

In the event you are contacted by an insurance coverage carrier in conjunction together with your application, usually do not give details for which they didn't ask. Give them only the details they straight request, nothing at all a lot more. Any extraneous details you throw in to the conversation will get recorded by them, and could come back to haunt you later within the type of greater premiums or perhaps total denial of coverage.

Every state has its personal guidelines for insurance coverage, so you've got to purchase coverage inside the state of the residence. What this indicates is the fact that you could not be covered to get a hospital pay a visit to out-of-state. Just make sure to determine what your insurance coverage must supply with regards to coverage so you understand what to anticipate.

It is necessary to program for the larger expense of a person policy versus a group policy frequently provided by employers. You could discover your self forced to compromise on each coverage and deductible. Take some time to analysis organizations to ensure that you are able to get the very best prices and coverage.

Examine your prescription coverage yearly. Each and every year, whenever you re-enroll within your insurance coverage program, your insurance coverage business has the correct to alter the strategy terms. Read each of the paperwork once you re-enroll and ask your insurance coverage agent to clarify something you happen to be confused about. In certain, maintain an eye on the prescription drugs covered by your program and note adjustments that might take place from year to year. If a medication you count on every day just isn't covered any longer, you might want to locate a brand new insurance coverage carrier.

Prior to opting into your company's well being care pool strategy, you ought to 1st concentrate on the wellness of you as well as your loved ones to view if this kind of program is correct to suit your needs. This can be a balancing act, becasue you might pick to purchase much less insurance coverage coverage since from the decrease premiums as well as the reality that you simply have no existing or expected well being problems. This may conserve you cash straight away, but could wind up costing much more if any difficulties arise inside the future.

Group plans are in the end less expensive as time passes, and this really is the cause why insurance coverage prices are less expensive with an employer than for all those who supply their particular insurance coverage. The simplest way to go about it really is to join a trade organization that offers membership discounts in insurance coverage premiums.

Read your health insurance policy completely to uncover which medicines are eligible for coverage. Ensure you remain on leading of issues, and make sure that the list carries your prescriptions annually prior to re-enrolling.

Prior to you select a wellness care policy, be sure you are ready by taking into account the varying components accessible. When beginning, be particular to possess documents in order. Be able to speak about what you'll need and want, and study a couple of businesses prior to eventually picking a single; do all these items to create certain you might be pleased along with your insurance coverage policy.

Use the wellness rewards provided by your own personal health insurance business. Your well being insurer could provide a discount for wholesome pursuits for example smoking cessation items, weight-loss plans and fitness center memberships. Carrying out all of those items is an excellent approach to decrease your insurance coverage expenses.

You don't wish to learn concerning the limitations of one's health insurance policy once you get sick. Prepare oneself and discover all you'll be able to about insurance coverage as well as your choices. Residing your life with negative health insurance is not great. Nonetheless, you'll be able to repair this difficulty anytime you would like, so do it now!

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Source: http://www.peanutallergy.com/boards/schools/find-out-to-spot-the-ideal-health-insurance-package

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15 Easy Weight Loss Tips to De-Bloat and De-Stuff ... - Fitness

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 1: Fuel Up on the Right Breakfast
The last thing you may want to do after a food binge is eat more the next morning, but having a morning meal is essential to getting your diet back on track. Choose a breakfast that includes a balance of lean protein and fiber, says Christine Bransford, M.S., R.D., a dietitian at Chicago weight loss center DayOne Health. ?Having foods high in insoluble fiber like whole grains can help move things along in your body and eliminate bloat.?

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 2: Eat Some Melon
Watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew are high-liquid fruits, which can help flush out toxins and relieve water retention and bloat. Smart! Have a cup of chopped fruit in the morning, or make a quick smoothie with vanilla yogurt and lime juice.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 3: Reset Your Idea of Portions
If your portion sizes ballooned during the holidays like floats in the Macy?s Thanksgiving Day Parade, use portion-control tricks to get back on track. Remember, the goal is to feel comfortably full?not overstuffed. ?Using a salad plate, which is usually eight or nine inches in diameter, can help someone visualize what a reasonable-size plate should look like,? Bransford says. These tips will also help you figure out how much to eat and how to stick to it.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 4: Make Simple Food Swaps

Using spices in place of fat in many dishes can boost flavor and combat that inflated-waistline feeling. ?Cinnamon and ginger are digestive aids and commonly used in home remedies to help with gassiness and bloating,? says Las Vegas nutritionist Andy Bellatti, M.S., R.D.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 5: Go Bananas for Potassium
You know you have to cut back on salt to de-bloat, but did you also know you should stock up on foods that are high in potassium? It can help your flatten your stomach by flushing out excess sodium in your system. Try potassium-rich bananas, raisins, milk, and yogurt.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 6: Restart Your Diet With Plant-Based Protein
To reboot your healthy-eating habits, step away from the white rice and cook lean protein, which can stave off hunger longer than simple carbohydrates. Grilled chicken breast isn?t your only option; Bellatti recommends plant-based sources like beans and lentils. ?When you eat them, you?re getting lean protein and fiber, which is so important for feeling better and restarting a healthy diet.?

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 7: Chew on Fennel Seeds
Many types of gum, even the sugar-free kinds, are made with sugar alcohols like mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol, which can make your distended feeling even worse. For fresh breath plus a de-bloating benefit, nosh on fennel seeds instead.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 8: Know Which Carbs to Avoid
Repeat after Bellatti: ?Carbs are not intrinsically bad.? If you?re trying to give your metabolism a clean slate, carbohydrates can even help you slim down by giving you an energy boost. Bellatti says the problematic carbs are processed ones ?like white flour, refined grains, and added sugars.?

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 9: Eat Your (Leafy) Greens

Low in calories and packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, greens are essential to jump-starting any new eating plan. ?Dark, leafy greens are hands down some of the best things you can eat,? Bellatti says. The nutritionist?s pick: kale, because of its versatility. ?You can stir-fry it, blend it in a smoothie, or make chips out of the leaves.?

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 10: Add Artichokes to Your Plate
Artichokes are a great fat-busting food. Low in carbs and high in fiber, these spiky globes also take a long time to eat, allowing your body to register when you?ve had enough. Try sprinkling lemon juice and olive oil over steamed artichokes for a simple and sophisticated side or appetizer.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 11: Be Extra Mindful of Alcohol Choices
Celebrations and family get-togethers provide plenty of opportunities to imbibe, but choosing the right drink can help relieve your post-holiday ick feeling. ?Limit yourself to one or two drinks in a sitting, and opt for wine, vodka with a low-sugar mixer, or a dry cider,? says Chicago dietitian Kelly Schmidt, R.D., a nutrition counselor at Paleo Infused Nutrition. Things to skip: margaritas, the punch bowl, and beer.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 12: Stop Adding Sweeteners
One of Bellatti?s core principles for detoxing is banishing the sweet stuff. He advises against artificial sweeteners and suggests green stevia powder if you must sweeten your morning coffee or tea. If you need a sweet kick while snacking, Schmidt recommends naturally sweet fruits like dates, figs, and berries.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 13: Avoid Carbonation
If you?re trying to get back to your healthy habits, you?re obviously not reaching for sugary sodas, right? Right. And although bubbly drinks like seltzer or diet soda contain no calories, they still have air, which can get trapped in your body and leave you feeling like a balloon. Now?s the best time to return to good old water; try dropping in ginger root slices for flavor and to help with digestion.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 14: Just Keep Drinking Water!
And speaking of water, excuse our broken record-ness, but make sure you?re drinking lots of it. Yes, we?ve said that one or two (million) times before, but you need to do it to keep your body running properly and flushing out lingering toxins. ?Increasing your water intake will help your kidneys excrete the excess salt and water from your body quickly and decrease the bloat,? says Bransford. Counterintuitive? Perhaps. Effective? You better believe it.

Post-Holiday Weight Loss Tip 15: Top Off Your Slim-Down Diet With Exercise
Although exercise won?t necessarily make you lose weight right away, some of the benefits include cardiovascular strength, healthy bones, and better sleep and stress levels?the perfect antidote to holiday madness. ?Do something you enjoy and exercise to an extent that won?t make you stressed out,? says Schmidt. Your body, mind, and waistline will thank you.

Article source: http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2012/11/15-easy-weight-loss-tips-to-de-bloat-and-de-stuff-yourself-after-the-holidays

Source: http://fitness.autoblogsdemo.info/?p=5127

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Animoto turns Facebook photos into 'Best of 2012' videos

Animoto, the app that turns Facebook photos into slideshow videos, added a highlight reel feature today that lets users create videos based on their most popular photos of the year.

The magic behind the highlight reel is Facebook's Open Graph. Animoto pulls the photos and captions from your profile -- these include ones you posted and those you're tagged in -- based on how many times your friends commented or liked them, or how many people were tagged in it. The videos are set to music and can include text.

The result, Animoto CEO Brad Jefferson said, is a video of the most memorable moments of your year. "It's going to make you cry if it's a birth of a child; it's going to make you happy if it's a high school adrenaline rush type of thing," he said.

The new "best of" feature launches just as the holiday season kicks off. Jefferson said the company chose this time because many people create and share holiday videos this time of year.

Animoto debuted its iOS app last year during the holidays for the same reason, but what sets the highlight reel feature apart is that the app automatically chooses your most popular photos for you. You can still choose the music and theme, as well as swap out any photos you don't want in the video before sharing it.

Facebook released a similar app to encourage people to switch over to the Timeline format. The Timeline Movie Maker pulls photos and videos to create a video of a user's entire Timeline and sets it to music. While the Timeline app has more of a cinematic feel to it, you can't tweak it or personalize it with text.

Animoto users have created more than 30 million videos since the company started in 2006. The company, which has raised $30 million, has 60 employees and is headquartered in New York; it also has a San Francisco office. While users can make an unlimited number of 30-second or shorter videos for free, they have to pay a subscription fee to make longer videos. Jefferson said the idea behind the business model is that people will pay for quality content and services. Animoto has 5 million registered users with 150,000 subscribers.

"As long it has value, we find that people are willing to pay for it," Jefferson said.

This story was updated at 12:31 p.m. PT to fix a typo in the amount of money Animoto has raised. It's raised $30 million.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57555967-93/animoto-turns-facebook-photos-into-best-of-2012-videos/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

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Massive Marsupials Once Swung from Treetops Down Under

Some 15 million years ago, mobs of 150-pound (70-kilogram) marsupials roamed the treetops of Australia's rain forests, researchers say.

Nimbadon lavarackorum belonged to a family of large-bodied marsupials known as the diprotodontids that went extinct about 11,000 years ago. During the diprotodontids' reign in Australia, they ranged from sheep-size wombatlike creatures to the mega-herbivore Diprotodon, which stood at 13 feet (4 meters) tall and weighed up to 6,100 pounds (2,800 kg).

Nimbadons were on the small-end of this spectrum, and they lived during the Middle Miocene (about 16 million to 11.6 million years ago). These ancient marsupials are best known from 26 different specimens found at the bottom of a vertical cave in northwestern Queensland, where a group of them apparently plunged to their deaths. In a new study, researchers examined Nimbadon bones and compared them with other species to get a clearer picture of how these ancient animals might have lived.

The researchers said they found striking similarities between Nimbadon skeletons and those of current koalas, including strong forelimbs, large claws and highly mobile shoulder and elbow joints. These features, combined with the Nimbadon's short hind limbs, suggest that the animals had excellent climbing and grasping skills and also could have used their long, flexible arms to suspend themselves from branches and reach for food and supports.

Even though the diprotodontids were thought to have lived on the ground, all these characteristics point to a life in the trees, which would make Nimbadons the largest herbivorous mammals to have ever lived in the forest canopies of Australia ? an ecological niche that is now empty, the researchers say.

"The findings presented here indicate that we are only beginning to understand the range of morphological and niche diversity displayed by this ecologically important and widespread group of Australasian marsupials ? the diprotodontids," the researchers concluded.

The study, led by a team from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, was published online Nov. 21 the journal PLoS ONE.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook?& Google+.

Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/massive-marsupials-once-swung-treetops-down-under-132022576.html

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?They Need Jobs, So Let Them Burn?: Fox Business Host On - Home

Fox Business host and self-evidently despicable person Charles Payne:

It is tragic. I don?t think something like this will happen again. Don?t think that the people in Bangladesh who perished didn?t want or need those jobs, as well. I know we like to victimize everyone in this country, particularly when it comes to for-profit motivation, which is being assaulted. But, you know, it is a tragedy but I think it is a stretch, an amazing stretch, to sort of try to pin this on Walmart but, of course, the unions in this country are desperate.

Let?s take this line by line.

?It is tragic.? Said in an offhanded ?let?s get this out of the way so I?m not accused of being heartless? way.

?I don?t think something like this will happen again.? Actually, it happens a lot. Hundreds of garment workers in Bangladesh have been killed in fires in recent years. In fact, at least 10 people were injured in another garment factory fire Monday. It?s true that a fire killing more than 100 people is rare, if that?s what Payne means by ?something like this,? but if he just means a fatal fire in a Bangladeshi garment factory, then yeah, it?s going to happen again unless there are big, big changes in labor and workplace safety laws there.

?Don?t think that the people in Bangladesh who perished didn?t want or need those jobs, as well.? Well, Charles, people need jobs. But the thing is, ?I need this job? and ?I look forward to choosing between burning to death or jumping out of an eight-story building to escape burning to death? are two very different things. ?I need this job? should not be a license for exploitation. In fact, garment workers have been fighting to improve working conditions even though by law they are not allowed to unionize, unlike many other workers in Bangladesh. Though the minimum wage for garment workers is now just $38 a month, less than two thirds of the country?s per capita income, that $38 represents a big increase that workers protested and fought for this year. Yes, these workers need jobs, but their fight to make those jobs better, and the large protests they?ve staged in the wake of this fire, show that it?s not as simple as ?well, they need jobs, so let them burn.?

?I know we like to victimize everyone in this country, particularly when it comes to for-profit motivation, which is being assaulted.? Victimize? Let?s talk about victims. Like the at least 112 victims of this fire in which there were no fire extinguishers, exits were inadequate or even locked, and one manager reportedly told people to get back to work after a fire alarm sounded. I?m pretty sure they, and not the profit motive, are the victims here.

?But, you know, it is a tragedy but I think it is a stretch, an amazing stretch, to sort of try to pin this on Walmart but, of course, the unions in this country are desperate.? In the wake of this fire, it kind of defies belief how many companies whose clothes were found in the burned factory have said their clothes shouldn?t have been there anymore, that, yes, they?d used that factory in the past but had stopped just in time to deny that their clothes should have been there. Amazing. So no, it?s not just Walmart. It?s also Sears and Dickies and Ikea and who knows what other companies. But as the largest retailer in the world, Walmart does more than any other company to set prices and labor conditions for manufacturers.

Really, Payne might as well have said, ?I realize I?m supposed to say this is tragic, but I?m a little confused about why I?m supposed to think the tragedy is the loss of more than 100 lives and not the potential threat to Walmart?s profits.?

?

By: Laura Clawson, Daily Kos, November 27, 2012

November 28, 2012 - Posted by raemd95 | Corporations | Bangladesh, Charles Payne, Fox Business Network, Garment Workers, Jobs, Labor, Wages, Walmart, Workplace Safety

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Source: http://mykeystrokes.com/2012/11/28/they-need-jobs-so-let-them-burn-fox-business-host-on-bangladeshi-fire-victims-lets-not-victimize-poor-walmart/

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Should I sell stock now to avoid higher taxes in 2013? - The Help ...

Both of my daughters own Home Depot stock that my father gave them. With the pending tax changes in 2013, should I sell their stock now and place the money into their 529s? One starts college in the fall of 2014, and the other in 2016. ?Kathi L.

Long-term capital gains rates are set to rise from 15% to 20% in 2013 (though President Obama and Congress may end up agreeing on other rates). But you shouldn't let a potential tax increase guide your investment decisions, says Charles Buck of Buck Financial Advisors in Woodbury, Minn.

And yet Buck's advice is to sell the stocks ? but for another reason: You have all your eggs in one Home Depot basket. "The stock price could and would drop quickly if we slipped into another recession," he says. Even a poorly timed market downturn could mean less money for your daughters' educations.

Since you're going to need the money in the next few years, consider selling and stashing the proceeds in your daughters' 529 plans. These plans typically offer broad diversification that can help protect your savings, and qualified distributions aren't subject to federal, and in many cases state, income tax.

? Austin Kilham

Got a question for the Help Desk? Send it to?helpdesk@cnnmoney.com.

Source: http://helpdesk.blogs.money.cnn.com/2012/11/27/sell-stock-avoid-higher-taxes-2013/

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Syrian war clouds Turkish plan to clear land mines

FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, a land mine expert works in mined land in the Karkemish archaeological site at the Turkey-Syria border in Gaziantep province, Turkey. Starting in the 1950s, Turkish forces planted more than 600,000 U.S.-made "toe poppers" _ mines designed to maim, not kill _ and other land mines along much of its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, which runs from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq. The aim was to stop smugglers whose cheap black market goods undercut the Turkish economy and later to thwart Kurdish rebels from infiltrating Turkey's southeast. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, a land mine expert works in mined land in the Karkemish archaeological site at the Turkey-Syria border in Gaziantep province, Turkey. Starting in the 1950s, Turkish forces planted more than 600,000 U.S.-made "toe poppers" _ mines designed to maim, not kill _ and other land mines along much of its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, which runs from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq. The aim was to stop smugglers whose cheap black market goods undercut the Turkish economy and later to thwart Kurdish rebels from infiltrating Turkey's southeast. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo land mine experts work in mined land in the Karkemish archaeological site at the Turkey-Syria border in Gaziantep province, Turkey. Starting in the 1950s, Turkish forces planted more than 600,000 U.S.-made "toe poppers" _ mines designed to maim, not kill _ and other land mines along much of its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, which runs from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq. The aim was to stop smugglers whose cheap black market goods undercut the Turkish economy and later to thwart Kurdish rebels from infiltrating Turkey's southeast. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2012 file photo, a land mine sign at the Turkey-Syria border is seen from in Akinci village in Gaziantep province, Turkey. Starting in the 1950s, Turkish forces planted more than 600,000 U.S.-made "toe poppers" _ mines designed to maim, not kill _ and other land mines along much of its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, which runs from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq. The aim was to stop smugglers whose cheap black market goods undercut the Turkish economy and later to thwart Kurdish rebels from infiltrating Turkey's southeast. (AP Photo/Christopher Torchia, File)

AKINCI, Turkey (AP) ? For two people walking into a Turkish minefield, they looked awfully assured.

The pair strode in from Syria on a recent afternoon, following a faint track across the grassy plain. They slipped into Turkey through a fence near a vacant military watchtower and vanished into an olive grove.

Such hazardous crossings are a smuggler's tradition at the border, where Turkish plans to clear a vast belt of land mines have been clouded by Syria's civil war. Last week, Turkey asked NATO allies to deploy Patriot missiles as a defense against any aerial attacks from Syria after shells and bullets spilled across the border, killing and injuring some Turks.

Starting in the 1950s, Turkish forces planted more than 600,000 U.S.-made "toe poppers" ? mines designed to maim, not kill ? and other land mines along much of its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, which runs from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq. The aim was to stop smugglers whose cheap black market goods undercut the Turkish economy and later to thwart Kurdish rebels from infiltrating Turkey's southeast.

However, the mines also killed and maimed civilians, took arable land from Turkish farmers and are now considered by many as a too-crude method of policing.

Turkey says it plans to clear anti-personnel mines on the Syria border by 2016, missing a March 2014 deadline required by the international Mine Ban Treaty. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a Geneva-based group that won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, has criticized Turkey for its slow progress.

The European Union has committed ?40 million ($52 million) to demining and surveillance equipment near Turkey's border Iran and Armenia on the basis that Turkey could eventually become the EU's most eastern border. Turkey, adjacent to the Middle East and Central Asia, has long been a drug trafficking route and a transit point for migrants who enter Europe illegally.

Since last year, nearly 200,000 Syrian refugees have crossed into Turkey, mostly through border posts or areas known to be free of mines. A Syrian man and two children were reported killed in August, however, by an explosive in an area of Mardin province that had been mined by the Turkish military. Syrian forces last year were also suspected of laying some mines to stem an embarrassing refugee flight into Turkey.

A Turkish smuggler in the border village of Akinci, south of the city of Gaziantep, said he has charged Syrian refugees up to 25 Turkish lira ($14) each to lead them through Turkish minefields. He has also acted as a lookout, monitoring shifts of Turkish military sentries and telling another smuggler who escorts Syrian clients, usually before dawn.

"I don't know where they are going. I don't care," said the gaunt man, who would not give his name and claimed he was desperate for cash. "I know it's risky for me, but I have to do it."

According to lore, villagers used to enter the Akinci mosque, which lies beside a minefield, for prayers and then sneak out the back into Syria for business.

On foot, mule or motorcycle, smugglers traditionally brought in items from Syria, including tea, gasoline, cigarettes, electronics and livestock, to sell for a profit in Turkey. The Syrian war has disrupted but not extinguished the trade among communities that were abruptly divided when the border was drawn in the last century.

Some smugglers try their luck at border posts, which became easier to cross when visa requirements were removed in 2009 after the warming of ties between Turkey and Syrian President Bashar Assad, now an enemy because of his attacks on the Syrian opposition. A few weeks ago, a Syrian man was detained while trying to enter Turkey with gold bars in his waistband.

Approved traffic moves the other way, as Turkey and other nations that oppose Assad send logistical and humanitarian aid to Syrian rebels and civilians. While Turkey says it is not arming the insurgency, Syrian rebels have told The Associated Press they receive some weapons and ammunition from the Turkish side with only sporadic interference from border patrols. According to rebels, these weapons are bought with funding from rich Syrians or sympathetic Gulf Arabs.

Fences are down and cars can cross in some parts adjoining Syria's Idlib province, an opposition stronghold.

The first mines on the Syrian border were planted after smugglers killed two customs agents in 1956. Turkey laid more mines in the 1980s and 1990s, at the height of its war with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which was backed by Syria. Turkey is again worried about possible infiltration by Kurdish rebels who are cheered by an autonomy grab by their ethnic brethren in Syria.

The Turkish defense ministry told the AP it started evaluating bids from demining companies in July and would sign contracts once the assessment is complete.

"Developments in Syria to this day have not affected our plans or work," the ministry said. NATO said it is assisting with "technical preparations" for the mine clearance.

Cenk Sidar, managing director of Sidar Global Advisors, a Washington-based consultancy, said he believed that Turkey would sign contracts but wait until the Syrian civil war is resolved.

"According to plans, the government will build electronic border surveillance systems simultaneously with the demining. Even this seems too risky at this point," Sidar wrote in an email. "It may take a few years, and some qualified/selected firms may change their pricing or conditions due to the increasing instability."

Between 2010 and 2011, a Turkish firm, Nokta, and a partner from Azerbaijan cleared more than 1,200 mines around an archaeological site, Karkemish, on the Syrian border. They found anti-tank mines and M14 mines known as "toe poppers." It was hard to work with metal detectors because the soil also contained remnants of coins and other ancient fragments; some mines had to be dug out by hand rather than detonated to avoid damaging cultural treasures.

There is no reliable data for casualties from mines laid by the Turkish military, which reported 21 people killed and 85 wounded by explosives set by the PKK in 2011. Those rebels took up arms in 1984 in the name of Kurdish rights; Turkey and the West label them terrorists.

Residents around Akinci recalled a villager who lost a limb to a mine several years ago while cutting trees for military sentries. Halil Kaya, 64, said he had heard of several dozen people over the decades who were killed or injured by mines. A deep furrow runs down Kaya's right forearm from a Turkish military bullet in his days as a smuggler.

Mehmet Dagdeviren, 49, said the Turkish military had softened and now might only fire warning shots at smugglers. He interrupted the chat to take a phone call, then rushed to a car and drove away.

A delivery from Syria needed collection.

___

Umut Colak in Akinci, Turkey, Bulut Emiroglu in Istanbul and Ben Hubbard in Beirut contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-28-Turkey-Border%20Mines/id-e18f8f48020d449f803a50b989406469

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For Black Moth Super Rainbow, Barrel-Aged ... - Food Republic

"I?m not a big burger guy or anything, but Kuma?s is pretty fucking phenomenal," says Fec.

?

Touring musicians have a great gig. Rock and roll! It?s doubly great when they?re interested in exploring the international culinary world. We do realize some bands subsist solely on Taco Bell and Coke Zero. Shame on them! There?s Hatch chile to sample in New Mexico.?Pappy Van Winkle?in Kentucky. Doppelbock outside Hamburg. Tortas on the California-Mexico border. In?Good Food, Rocks, we track down a band member serious about their grub ? and who has held a job in the food industry too.

?When I?m recording, eating becomes kind of a burden,? reveals Black Moth Super Rainbow creative center Tobacco (n? Tom Fec). ?When I get into the zone, I just want to go for 16 hours straight. I dump a can of chickpeas into a bowl and try to drink them down as fast as possible.?

The statement, which comes at the end of a 30-minute call with the Pittsburgh musician, is a bit of a shocker, as we've just talked extensively about barrel-aging Negronis, Pequod?s vs. Burts (it?s a Chicago pizza thing), Philly chef Marc Vetri and the masterful barbecue at his hometown favorite Union Pig and Chicken. It turns out that homeboy is really into food, but aparently art comes first. And bless him for it. BMSR's latest album, Cobra Juicy, is one of the year?s best ? a collection of songs built around Reagan-era analog synths and tape machines mingling with everything from Beck guitar licks to the bass lines and buzz saws of a midnight Justice?set. You can hear it live in a city near you. And if you like it, buy the man a bourbon. Small batch, of course. ??

Have you had any jobs in the food service industry?
I was a busboy at an upscale Italian place for one day. The owner was weird, the manager was weird and everyone just sucked, so I just didn?t come back.

So that?s your food career right there?
I actually always wanted to work at a pizza place and I still kind of do, but I never did it. Maybe one day, just for fun.

What?s your fascination with pizza?
It?s not even the pizza. I guess I just created a fantasy in my head where hanging out with friends, driving around and delivering pizzas to all these weird people in town would just be so much fun. I?m at that point where I definitely don?t need to get any kind of job, but want that all to be kind of my hobby.

Do you like pizza? Do you make it at home?
I don?t make it, but I like it. I?m getting pickier as I get older I think. When you find really good shit, it?s hard to then go back. There?s this one place in town that?s about a half-hour outside of the city that not a lot of people know about. The crust is almost a pastry ? it?s buttery and the sauce is really sweet. I?ve never had anything even similar to it. It?s called Jioio?s.

Tell me more about the dining scene in Pittsburgh?It?s pretty underrated and dare I say unknown.
Yeah, you just have to dig in. Over the past two years some things have really popped up. I wouldn?t say it exploded here or anything, and it?s not like you have a shitload of options. But you can find one or two of each type of food that is amazing, even better than other cities. I don?t want to start a controversy, but I think some of the best things that I?ve had here are better than I?ve had in New York.

Let?s start some controversy?
We have this barbecue called Union Pig and Chicken. I?m going to guess that people around here would consider [Kevin Sousa] our local star chef because he also owns Salt of the Earth and runs this hot dog place. Union Pig and Chicken is hands-down the best barbecue I?ve ever had, including in the South.

And you?ve toured the South, like Texas and Mississippi?
Yeah. I?d say the second best I?ve ever had was in St. Louis ? I can?t remember the name of the place ? but I?ve been everywhere in the country and this guy has the best barbecue. It?s not even close.

What food item that Pittsburgh is known for?
Well, that?s the thing. I?m not proud of what Pittsburgh is known for. I hate this because any time I have friends who are coming through, they are like, ?We have to go to Primanti Brothers!? And that?s fucking gross. Have you heard of this place?

Yeah, it?s like a place that you see on The Food Network?
Probably, I?m sure. It?s what we?re most famous for, which is really any kind of shitty sandwich covered in coleslaw and fries. They?re open all night, which is their thing, but it?s just trash. Greasy food is great, but they don?t even do that well [laughs]. I?m going to get killed if anyone from Pittsburgh sees this!

It?s like delis getting a lot of press in New York, but they all fucking suck. What are some of your favorite cities around the world for the food?
Number two would be Philly and that?s mainly because one of my best friends from high school works at a few restaurants there. He works at Osteria and Vetri. He knows how to show us around, so I?m a little biased towards that city. In terms of finding stuff on my own, my favorite city is Chicago.

Where do you like eating in Chicago?
I?m not a big burger guy or anything, but Kuma?s is pretty fucking phenomenal. I?ve never had a burger that good anywhere else. Then the pizza ? if you go outside of that typical Chicago pizza ? there?s a place called Pequod?s. The guy who started Pequod?s left and is doing his own thing at Burt?s. Pequod?s is amazing and most people would say it?s better, but I like Burt?s even more because it?s more eccentric and apparently the guy picks up all of the shit on the way in to work. Everything is super fresh and it?s made with care because he?s the only one back there.

What food and drink is on your tour rider when you?re on the road?
I like to go really simple. The hardest thing to find when you?re on tour and waiting at a venue is fruits and vegetables, and that?s all that I want. I need blueberries, avocados, broccoli, celery, strawberries and shit like that. And you don?t always get it.

You sound like you?re pretty health-conscious? Do you drink?
I?m pretty healthy. I like a good cocktail or a really good liquor. If it?s something different, I?m totally down.

What kind of cocktails do you like?
My friend in Philly designs the alcohol menu for the Vetri restaurants and got me into Negronis hardcore. We got a barrel here at our house and I?ve been aging my own kind of Negronis. Artichoke Negronis.

Oh, with Cynar?
Yeah, yeah.

Why barrel-age a cocktail?
It just mellows out. Especially a drink like a Negroni. Campari is fucking rough. It?s like ehhhh and gets into your throat. The barrel takes the edge off of it and totally smooths it out. It?s really nice. We got into that because there?s a place in Pittsburgh called Meat and Potatoes and they started doing barrel-aged Manhattans and Negronis recently, and it?s the best shit ever.

What kind of gin do you use in your Negronis?
We?ve still been working on the best. Since we only have one barrel, we can only make it once a month. We?re still working it out. We?ve tried every kind. The latest batch was Bombay and that was pretty good.

Bombay is good. I personally like Beefeater because it has great juniper and isn?t too citrusy.
My favorite is Hendrick?s, but it?s too much for a Negroni.

What other cocktails do you like to make at home or order on the road?
I just like really simple stuff usually. When we?re on the road, unless we?re at an amazing cocktail place, I?d rather get something straight. Some people just go overboard ? even when you order something normal that you think is simple, it?s all sugared up. It?s just nasty. We?ll just try to find like one Prohibition-era kind of place in town and get one thing that?s really good. The best drinks that we?ve probably ever had were at Village Whiskey in Philadelphia. The burger is actually almost at Kuma?s level too.

Do you cook at home?
Not really. I like to eat stuff really plain ? cut up an avocado, eat some celery. I think the most complex I like to get is like broccoli with pasta sauce. I like to eat really clean.

Why eat clean?
I don?t know. I like to run a lot and when you?re digesting easier, it makes everything go smoother and I feel better. Right now, I?m so tired ? we just got home from tour yesterday ? I?m so tired from changing up my routine and eating so much crap. I couldn?t wait until this morning to just have blueberries and flaxseed. I also feel that since I?m not a great cook, I?d rather just once a week pay someone at a restaurant who is really good at it [laughs].

Do you run competitively?
It?s just for my own personal sense of accomplishment. I?ve never been in a race but am definitely working on getting my times to a really good spot.

Chefs really like your music. Have you heard that before?
I haven?t heard that but I also don?t know any chefs [laughs]. I?ve definitely never heard it in any of the restaurants that I go around town.

You have a lot of food imagery in your song titles. Does food play a role in the creative process?
It?s not necessarily that, but I always like the song titles to be a major part of what the whole concept and art of it is. I like to create titles that you can?t really place ? but when you think about them and combine what I?m saying ? it creates its own new thing. I?ve always liked adding some kind of taste into my titles because if you can taste the title, you just think of it in a different way.

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Read more Good Food, Rocks on Food Republic:

Source: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/11/27/black-moth-super-rainbow-barrel-aged-cocktails-new

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RV industry's recovery gains speed in 2012

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) ? The RV industry's recovery from the Great Recession has picked up speed.

Recreational Vehicle makers are churning out higher numbers of travel trailers bound for dealers' lots and, ultimately, campgrounds.

Overall shipments from manufacturers to dealers ? a key measure of consumer demand ? are expected to rise 10 percent in 2012 and could gain another 4.5 percent next year, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association said Tuesday.

Through September, shipments were up nearly 11 percent from the same period last year, the group said. The higher-than-expected number had dealers, manufacturers and suppliers feeling more optimistic as they gathered this week for an annual industry trade show.

"We made up a lot of ground this year," said Jeffrey Pastore, owner of Hartville RV Center in northeastern Ohio. "We're seeing a lot more buyers walking in the door, and we're seeing those buyers with more money in hand."

Sales at his dealership are up about 18 percent so far this year, and he's predicting another 15 percent gain in 2013. It's a big turnaround from 2009, when sales plunged 40 percent amid the country's worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

"It was dreadful," said Tom Stinnett, an RV dealer in southern Indiana. "There were a lot of us wondering if we were going to make it."

Shipments to dealers slumped to 165,700 units in 2009, as weak demand and evaporated credit left dealer lots clogged with vehicles and forced the industry to lay off tens of thousands of workers. This year's shipments are expected to be better ? hitting 277,300 units ? although that is still below the 353,400 in 2007.

Jobs are coming back, too. RV manufacturers and suppliers have started hiring, and the industry's workforce has risen to 375,000 from below 250,000 in 2008, according to RVIA. It's still below the 530,000 from 2007.

Driving the industry's gradual comeback have been less-expensive towable RVs attached to pickups or hitched to other vehicles.

Towables, which now account for about 90 percent of the new RV market, cost between $8,000 and $100,000, with an average price of $32,000, according to RVIA. Before the recession hit, towables represented eight out of every 10 new RVs shipped.

By contrast, stand-alone motor homes range in price from $55,000 to $1.5 million for top-of-the-line, bus-like vehicles. The average price is $100,000 for the amenity-filled moving homes.

"It's a given that consumers love to do this, or there would be no market at all because they don't have to have it," Stinnett said. "But they're simply not willing to commit as much money."

KZ RV, based in Shipshewana, Ind., has regained about three-fourths of its pre-recessionary business, but the manufacturer has seen the shift in consumer demand toward towables. Its most popular products cost between $10,000 and $35,000 ? well off its top-of-the-line RVs, which run about $90,000, said Andy Baer, the company's vice president of sales.

"Seven years ago they didn't give a thought to buying a top-of-the-line product, kind of similar to the housing industry," Baer said. "People are more in tuned with what the reality is that they can comfortably afford today."

Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Thetford Corp., which supplies toilets and sinks to RV makers, saw its business plunge by 70 percent during the recession. It survived the downturn because RV owners upgraded existing models, said Executive Vice President Kevin Phillips. Now, the company is having a good year as existing RV owners purchase upgrades and entry-level buyers enter the market, he said.

Winnebago Industries Inc., best known for its premium products, also has adjusted to the new market.

The company, headquartered in Forest City, Iowa, is rolling out towable products again after a decades-long absence from that market.

And Winnebago has stepped up its presence in the market for entry-level motor homes priced in the $60,000 to $70,000 range. Those vehicles offer fewer features and amenities than their pricier counterparts.

"That's where we see a lot of the movement in the industry," said Scott Degnan, the company's vice president of sales.

Winnebago's profits soared in its last fiscal year, which ended Aug. 25. Winnebago earned $45 million over those 12 months, up from $11.8 million in the prior year. Revenue rose 17 percent to $581.7 million.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-11-27-On%20The%20Road%20Again/id-f220394f5f284d97b4fd32734a2a537c

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