Obama, In Morning Joe Interview, Predicts War Inside Republican Party If He Is Reelected

President Barack Obama said in an interview Monday that the Republican party would have to overcome an internal war if he were reelected, but expressed hope that the partisan gridlock in Washington could come to an end.

"There are a whole range of issues I think where we can actually bring the country together with a non-ideological agenda," Obama said in a pre-taped interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"The question?s going to be, how do Republicans react post-election?" he continued. "Because there?s going to be a war going on inside that party. It just hasn?t broken up. It?s been unified in opposition to me."

Obama has blamed the slow economic recovery during his first term on the obstructionist agenda of congressional Republicans, who have blocked many of the president's proposals. He has repeatedly argued that the House GOP has waged ideological warfare over historically bipartisan issues. Republicans have countered that the president is fundamentally unwilling to compromise.

Asked by host Joe Scarborough what would be different if, in a second term, Obama was once again dealing with a Republican majority in the House, the president expressed more optimism that Democrats and Republicans would come together to tackle the debt and deficit.

"I truly believe that if we can get the deficit and debt issues solved, which I believe we can get done in the lame-duck or in the immediate aftermath of the lame-duck, then that clears away a lot of the ideological underbrush," he said. "And then now we can start looking at a whole bunch of other issues that, as I said, historically have not been that ideological."

Still, Obama seems prepared for the possibility that if he is reelected, Republicans in Congress might not be willing to cooperate. In an interview with Time magazine, the president said he would be willing to "look for ways to do [things] administratively and work around Congress."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who infamously stated before the 2010 midterm elections that the "single most important thing" for Republicans would be to ensure that Obama be a one-term president, recently told The Huffington Post that cooperation in a second Obama term would require that the president have "an epiphany."

"The question for him is, 'Do I go to the middle and meet these guys halfway, like Reagan and Clinton did, or do I just double down on the left and we throw things at each other for four years?" McConnell said.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/obama-morning-joe_n_2038103.html

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NYSE shuttered for 2nd day as Sandy pounds away

Wall Street remained shuttered Tuesday as post-tropical storm Sandy battered New York City for the second straight day.

The New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and CME exchanges remained closed while officials tested contingency plans and backup systems, hoping to ensure trading can resume as normal later in the week.

Large parts of Manhattan were flooded by late Monday and early Tuesday. Water cascaded over several seawalls in lower Manhattan and a highway close to the island's east side was flooded.

CNN and other U.S. media reported early Monday morning that the trading floor of the NYSE was under a metre of water.

But a spokesman for the exchange confirmed to CBC News that those reports were untrue. "[That] report was totally wrong," Ray Pellechia said. "No water at all in [the] building or surrounding streets."

Officials say they hope the exchange can open and get back to normal business on Wednesday. "It's a monumental event, and we take it very seriously," said Larry Leibowitz, NYSE's chief operating officer. "It's not a hyped-up drama."

At a Duane Reade drugstore a block or so away from the NYSE building, there were signs of life. One man was buying candles, scented, and asking for extra matches, as another walked out clutching a 12-pack of beer.

Airlines cancelled thousands of flights and stranded travellers, while insurers brace for payouts estimated to be in the $5 to $10 billion range, catastrophic loss modelling firm Eqecat said.

The company's preliminary estimates are that the total damage will range between $10 billion and $20 billion. That could top last year's $15.8 billion tally for Hurricane Irene. CoreLogic, a private data provider, estimates there are 284,000 homes worth about $88 billion in the hurricane's path.

If so, Hurricane Sandy would be among the 10 most costly hurricanes in U.S. history. But it would still be far below the worst ? Hurricane Katrina, which cost $108 billion and caused 1,200 deaths in 2005.

"Assuming the storm simply disrupts things for a few days and it doesn't do significant damage to infrastructure, then I don't think it will have a significant national impact," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said Monday.

Experts also note that while natural disasters often hit the economy in the short term, the rebuilding dollars that follow often stimulate the economy to come back stronger than it was before.

Here are some more ways the world's largest economy is being affected by the storm:

Air travel in the Northeast is all but stopped for at least two days. Airlines cancelled more than 10,000 flights for Monday and Tuesday from Washington to Boston. The disruptions spread across the nation and overseas, stranding passengers from Hong Kong to Europe. Carriers could suffer a short-term hit to earnings as they spend more to shuffle crews and planes. The airline cancellations have already surpassed those from Hurricane Irene last August and are on par with those from a major snowstorm that socked the East Coast early last year.

Three nuclear plants were shut down as a precaution, and authorities dispatched monitors to examine 11 others for signs of stress. The Salem Unit 1 in southern Delaware, Nine Mile Point and Indian Point 3 in N.Y. were all shuttered. The fear is that Sandy could disrupt the flow of water that the plants need to intake to stay cool, but as of yet there's no evidence that's happening.

The nation's major retailers are expected to lose billions of dollars, and the losses could extend into the crucial holiday shopping season. Sales at department stores, clothing chains, jewellers and other sellers of non-essential goods are expected to suffer the most.

Power outages and disruptions in major East Coast cities "may take a toll on demand unlike anything we have seen before," Phil Flynn, a senior market analyst for Price Futures Group, wrote in a report. Some of the biggest oil refineries in the Northeast were closed, and others were running at reduced capacity. As businesses closed and drivers stayed home, demand for gasoline was expected to fall.

The cost to insurers is expected to rival the insured damage from Hurricane Irene last year. Damage from Irene cost insurers roughly $5 billion, according to Sterne, Agee & Leach Research. Because the storm is hitting a highly populous region, with "one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the world," the damages are likely to run into the billions, say analysts at Morgan Stanley.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyse-shuttered-2nd-day-sandy-pounds-away-144417162--finance.html

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Source: http://www.mustreads.info/wonderful-self-help-brian-urlacher-jersey-ideas-if-youve-been-sensing-depressed/

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Text, don't call, once Sandy hits, say carriers

2 hrs.

Suzanne Choney , NBC News

Wireless carriers have made extensive preparations to deal with the impact of Hurricane Sandy, and are asking customers to do the same. Among the best things you can do to help keep your phone battery going and to ease network congestion is to limit your voice calls???keep them short???and to send text messages instead.

"Limit non-emergency calls to save battery power and free up wireless networks for emergency workers and operations and send brief text messages instead," Verizon Wireless says in a hurricane preparedness statement. "When the network gets busy, texts have a higher chance of getting through the first time and can be more efficient."

Among other tips offered by Verizon, AT&T,?Sprint and T-Mobile:

• Keep phones and phone accessories???batteries and chargers???in sealed plastic bags?to avoid water damage.
  
• If you have an extra phone battery and you?have power, charge that battery so it's ready.
• Add to your phone's contact list all key emergency phone numbers and email addresses, including police,?fire and rescue agencies; schools and service people.
• If you are being evacuated, forward home or work phone calls to your wireless number.
• Use your phone's camera to take photos or video of your property and valuables before the storm hits, so you have "before" photos if your home suffers storm damage.
  
• If cell service is down in your area, but your home Wi-Fi network is working, switch to Wi-Fi on your phone.
• Expect high-call volume, which can lead to network congestion. If that's the case, you'll hear "fast busy" signals on your wireless phone (or a slow dial tone on your landline phone). If that?happens, hang up, wait several seconds and then try the call again. That allows your original call data to clear the network before you try again.

For additional tips on conserving your cellphone's battery, see NBC News' Bob Sullivan's Facebook page here. He says:?

How to conserve cell phone power during the storm: a nice set of tips. 1) Airplane mode 2) Turn off cell, wifi to gadget isn't searching for networks til you need them. Added to this, I have my auto jump-start battery in the house, which has a convenient USB port, too. Yours might at least have a cigaretter lighter 12V out ...?use a car charger or converter with that. HT to @steverubel

In advance of Sandy, all carriers have been deploying portable cell sites and mobile emergency generators?in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast?that can replace damaged cell towers. Carriers?are also coordinating their work with local and emergency agencies.

You can read more about your carrier here: Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on?Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/text-dont-call-once-sandy-hits-say-wireless-carriers-1B6739587

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Stock futures end shortened session lower on storm, Europe

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell in a shortened session on Monday and cash equity trading was canceled as powerful Hurricane Sandy bore down on the U.S. East Coast while renewed uncertainty in Europe hurt sentiment.

All U.S. stock markets were closed on Monday and may remain closed on Tuesday, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange said, depending on the damage from the huge and dangerous storm on financial center New York City overnight and on Tuesday. Index futures stopped trading electronically at 9:15 a.m. and will stay shut until further notice.

Sandy, a mammoth storm, took aim at the most densely populated U.S. Northeast Coast on Monday, forcing hundreds of thousands to seek higher ground, halting public transport and closing schools, businesses and government departments.

Italian political turmoil and Spanish hesitancy over seeking euro zone assistance put the two countries on the front line of the region's debt crisis and back under market pressure on Monday as their leaders met in Madrid.

"We have an illiquid market, we have a risk-off situation from overseas and we have some issues going on in the States with Sandy, so that is impacting things a little more than expected," said David Lutz, managing director of trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore.

Lutz was tracking markets from his home in Annapolis, Maryland, a coastal town near Washington D.C. that is expected to escape the worst of the storm surge as Sandy makes landfall further north.

"I do have a lot of customers that are still in, whether they're in New York City or overseas," he said. "I think a fair amount of people are probably logging in from home just because at this point in time there's a lot of information gathering for us U.S. traders," he said.

S&P 500 futures fell 4.9 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 69 points and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 15.75 points.

Futures closed well off their lows of the session when S&P 500 futures fell more than 10 points. Futures will not reopen as usual during the day, including the popular S&P 500 e-mini contract that allows smaller traders to access index futures.

Frank Lesh, a futures trader at FuturePath in Chicago, said he is expecting his day to be much quieter than usual as the e-mini is his firm's biggest contract, but he is continuing to trade other futures contracts such as copper, soybeans and grains.

"I guess it's going to be a quiet day," said Lesh. "We don't know if we're going to reopen tonight. I guess they're going to follow the lead of New York."

E-mini contracts typically trade around the clock, closing for just 45 minutes of each day.

If the market closure continues for more than a day it may start causing problems for investors who need to trade in and out of positions, investors said.

"If you go two days, you really start to create some serious financial stress for some players that need to get something done," said Jim Paulsen, chief investment officer at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. "A two-day closure will create more stress and therefore will allow electronic trading. That's my best guess."

CME Group closed its interest rate operations, including Treasury, Eurodollar and fed funds futures and options on futures markets on the trading floor at 12:00 noon on Monday in line with a closure of the cash market.

In Europe, Spanish and Italian bond yields rose and German Bund futures hit two-week highs on Monday, partly prompted by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's threat to bring down the Rome government.

Greece's foreign lenders have refused to make any further concessions on changes to labor laws contested by a junior coalition partner, the country's finance minister said on Sunday, prolonging an impasse on a crucial austerity package.

Athens has been locked in talks with its EU and IMF lenders on the austerity package for months, but a final agreement has been held up by the small Democratic Left party's refusal to back the new wage laws.

Weaker revenues have been a concern this U.S. earnings season. Just 36.9 percent of S&P 500 companies so far have reported revenue that beat forecasts, compared with the 62 percent that typically exceed expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data as of Friday.

Stocks slid last week, following a series of weak results, especially from U.S. multinational companies. For the week, the Dow fell 1.8 percent, the S&P 500 lost 1.5 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 0.6 percent.

The S&P 500 index is off nearly 4 percent since a peak in September and the index has fallen below its 50-day moving average, a closely watched momentum indicator. Some analysts are now looking to the 100-day moving average as the next area of support at 1,396.8. The index closed at 1,411.94 on Friday.

European shares fell for the first time in four sessions on Monday, hit by worries over weak company results. The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> fell 0.4 percent to 1,093.23 points and the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index <.stoxx50e> fell 0.7 percent to 2,477.62 points.

Canadian ETFs traded in Toronto that hold U.S. equities or are exposed to U.S. indexes, such as the Horizons S&P 500 Index C$ Hedged ETF , are available to trade. Some ETFs will be ineligible for subscriptions or redemptions. Horizons ETF warned that the bid/ask spread could be abnormally wide.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-lower-storm-earnings-cash-markets-closed-112834767--sector.html

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Sunday, October 28th, 2012 at 11:35 am ?

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Clink that change in to a jar every single night. Have you been being affected by financial difficulties? The majority of us are. Whenever we acquire our bank account transform every single night and squirrel it away, it is actually awesome how quick it is going to build up right into a wonderful emergency save. When we need to get these antibiotics your physician suggested, your money arrange could keep us from dipping further into our credit history.

Talk about how you feel. Many individuals, specially males, have trouble articulating the way that they sense within. The simple truth is, indicating your feelings can present you with a sense of launch and feelings of freedom. Discover some people that will listen without judging you and also inform them how you feel.

Pleasure

A technique that one could support your self deal with tension is usually to do intensifying muscle rest. One at a time, tense up a muscle, carry it, and after that relieve the tension. This assists to unwind the body, and studies show that people?s emotional pressure falls as their system stress is lowered.

Deep breathing

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Quickly changing any adverse believed that goes into your brain with a seriously considered thankfulness will bring you to pleasure! A pleasant heart is one that is full of thank you, so you usually have things to be grateful for. So teach the brain to focus more on the optimistic factors in your life, house, and job, and the path to a greater you will get a lot less resistance.

Whenever you find the appropriate technique for your personal growth strategy, it will make reaching your primary goal much simpler and offer your prepare a larger probability of good results. Self improvement will not be one thing that can be done when and be done. The tips earlier mentioned can provide you with what you ought to reach your long-term goals.

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Source: http://eagertoread.com/?p=1271

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Giant Working Instagram Camera Is This Year's Costume To Beat

Last year a working Nikon DSLR costume wowed us, but with the continued rise of smartphone photography, who wants to wear a clunky dedicated camera this Halloween? Not Eric Micotto, who totally one-ups last year's effort with a working Instagram camera getup. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BV54Yq1A1Io/giant-working-instagram-camera-is-this-years-costume-to-beat

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Marissa Mayer?s First M&A Deal: Yahoo Acquires Stamped As Part Of Major Mobile Push

Yahoo has bought Stamped, the New York City-based startup that built an app to let people record and share recommendations of their favorite things with friends. The pricetag is in the double digit millions, a nice return for investors who pitched $3 million into the startup.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/kO-aMVSZGBk/

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Is the Internet Crashing Across America? (Edit: Probably Not!)

Don't break out your shotgun, gas mask, and emergency rations, but make sure you know where they are: it looks like an enormous chunk of the Internet in North America is dead. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/NdMqaqOP9c0/is-the-internet-crashing-across-america

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DIY Word Wall Art Ideas - Articles :: Networx

One of the easiest and most economical ways to add personality and artwork to one?s home is to do it yourself. Art projects can be fun family projects or personal journey?s of self-expression. Best of all, many projects can be done with even the most limited art skills. The internet is filled with great ideas for projects that can be customized to fulfill your own needs and interests. Here are three great DIY projects that feature word wall art:

Negative Space Wall Art featured on ?A Beautiful Mess? Blog: We all have snippets of songs or a line of poetry that speak to us. For this easy project, all you need are vinyl alphabet letters that are available at craft or hardware stores, a painting or poster you don?t mind re-purposing and white acrylic craft paint and brushes.

Plot out the placement of the letters to spell out your phrase and apply the vinyl letters to your background piece of art. Overpaint the entire piece and when dry, pull off the vinyl letters revealing pieces of the underlying art behind the empty letters. ?The result is a ?reverse? print that is truly a one of a kind piece. Frame or leave unframed as you prefer.

Say It Your Way Word Art featured on ?A Small Snippet? Blog: Here?s another way to express yourself. Prepare an old frame with new paint and take the inside measurement. Select a phrase or song lyric and type it into a computer program such as Photoshop or Apple?s Pages, or any that allows you to create different text boxes - one box per word. Layout your phrase using two or three different fonts and font sizes in a manner that is pleasing to you. The page size should match your frame measurement.

Many printing stores such as FedEx Printing, Stapes or a local printing company will be able to print out your document on their large printers for very little money. Email them the file (based on their instructions) and it will be ready for pickup shortly thereafter. Simply frame, hang and enjoy!

The ABC?s of Wall Art featured on ?A Time for Everything? blog: Sometimes, inspiration comes from the building blocks of our language, the ABC?s themselves. Start by collecting all the letters of the alphabet in various sizes and shapes. Many home stores, art supply stores and hardware stores sell oversize letters for decorative uses; some are finished, others may be unfinished. Be creative - you might use a plate or enormous button for the ?O?, a ruler for the ?I? or even stencil a letter onto another shaped piece. Remember that ?N? and ?Z? or ?M? and ?W? are interchangeable.

You may wish to paint or decoupage some of your letters - this is a great place for a lot of creativity! Once you have all your letters assembled, start laying them out in a manner that fits your space - it?s completely up to you. Hang your letters with movable picture hanging strips that are available in hardware or stationary stores.

Do you want more word art inspiration? Check out these posts on Hometalk, the social network where people share and help with everything home and garden:

DIY Pallet Word Art

DIY Vintage Syle Word Art

DIY Chipboard Word Art Project

Linda Merrill is an interior designer who works with Boston plumbers and electricians.

Source: http://www.networx.com/article/diy-word-wall-art-ideas

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Video: Colin Powell endorses Obama, says Romney?s foreign policy is concerning

Dog debarking policy raises howls of protest

Sue Perry and Karen Mahmud, the owners of two debarked dogs, Porter and Lola, are demanding the American Veterinary Medical Association condemn the practice regarded as either barbaric mutilation or as the last resort of pet owners desperate to stop incessant noise.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/49559658#49559658

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QuickBooks Premier Edition 2013

Should you drop the $400 it'll cost you to upgrade to this year's small business accounting software of choice, QuickBooks Premier Edition 2013 ? Tricky question. If you're already using QuickBooks (or any other small business accounting system), you know that the pace of change in the field has slowed over the last several years. The growth of these products has become evolutionary rather than revolutionary. They've come a long way in the two decades or so since they were first available and affordable on personal computers, meaning that you have about all of the tools you need to process your receivables and payables, run payroll and track inventory, and create reports.

But there are a couple of major areas where these applications can improve. They can move more of their operations into the cloud to take advantage of what the internet offers and/or improve their aging, crowded work screens. Intuit is working on the first by continuing to build out QuickBooks Online. And a long overdue revamp of the desktop program's user interface is the highlight of QuickBooks 2013 (all versions, though we reviewed Premier). Whether you upgrade to this new edition depends on how old your current version is and the importance of usability to your accounting staff. The program's actual functional enhancements don't offer enough incentive to spend a few hundred dollars to update your software, but the other enhancements well might.

Unfamiliar With QuickBooks?
If you've never used QuickBooks or read much about it, here's what you need to know. For many years, it's won our Editors' Choice award. Though it has some formidable competition like Sage 50 U.S. (formerly Peachtree Accounting), I've recommended it above the others for several reasons, including:

? Its simplicity and usability. 20 years of growth had taken a toll on QuickBooks' interface, but it was still the easiest overall to learn and master.
? Its blend of features. Intuit's family of desktop applications offered a set of tools that would meet the needs of many small businesses, but it wasn't so feature-packed that it was overwhelming.
? Its extensibility. The Intuit App Center has grown to include hundreds of add-ons that integrate with QuickBooks and provided specialized functionality.

QuickBooks is a double-entry accounting system, which basically means that it follows standard bookkeeping rules. You don't have to worry about that because the program takes care of the debits and credits in the background. You'll do your work much as you do on paper or via another software program.

Numerous Lifelines
When you have questions, as you will, you can choose from a variety of support options. QuickBooks has a fairly comprehensive built-in help system, but it's slower and more troublesome to use than the one that appeared in long-ago versions. There's an online troubleshooting database and community forums, and many accounting professionals provide assistance; you can find a local expert on the website.

Be aware, too, that QuickBooks' long history and countless upgrades and revisions have made it a very complex piece of software. If you have hardware that's more than a couple years old, you may experience slow operation at times.

Accounts, Records, Transactions and Reports
QuickBooks may organize things differently than you do now, but it accomplishes the same tasks. It sets up a Chart of Accounts for you based on your business type and helps you create bank and credit card accounts. You can still hand-write checks if you want and enter them in the program's registers, but it's easier to do so within the software. QuickBooks accommodates online banking and merchant accounts, so you can accept credit cards and electronic checks.

Information about your customers, vendors and employees is stored in individual records. When you begin entering financial data on forms like invoices and purchase orders, these records will be used to automatically populate fields on your transaction forms. Record and transaction information will also be used to create the reports you'll need to run. QuickBooks contains dozens of ready-made templates and allows you to customize your output and/or export it into Excel. Because of the close integration throughout the system, you should be able to avoid duplicate data entry.

The transaction forms and other screens where you actually do your work look like their paper counterparts in many cases. You use them to do the same accounting chores you're used to doing, like sending invoices, estimates and purchase orders; entering and paying bills; running payroll and dispatching paychecks, filings and taxes; and tracking inventory. QuickBooks uses a lot of the same conventions that you're familiar with from other Windows software, like icons, pull-down lists and menus.

Slimming Down
Intuit had three goals for the new versions of QuickBooks. The company wanted to make it, "...easy to use, easy to understand and easy to look at." QuickBooks 2013 achieves all three of those goals with its totally redesigned interface. The difference between 2012 and 2013 is startling. You can now move quickly to the most commonly-used functions from the opening view.

The new home screen contains three basic components by default. The old interactive process map that illustrates your workflow remains, but the icons are larger and more spread out. All of the extra navigational links that had been tacked on over the years are gone, absorbed by other, hidden parts of the program.

Standard file menus are still there, but there's a new vertical navigation panel that contains a customizable list of shortcuts to QuickBooks functions on top. Directly below are links to reminders and alerts; account balances; your favorite reports; and open windows. And the lower pane provides access to additional Intuit services. You can display the toolbar to the left, across the top, or not at all.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/F-J4-I5WUAA/0,2817,2411362,00.asp

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Commander Eyes Army Troop Rotations in Asia-Pacific

Commander Eyes Army Troop Rotations in Asia-Pacific

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2012 ? As operations draw down in Afghanistan, the senior Army commander in the Asia-Pacific said he looks forward to opportunities to begin 30- to 45-day rotational deployments that will enable soldiers to train with their counterparts throughout the region.

In another development, Army Lt. Gen. Francis J. Wiercinski announced yesterday that for the first time in U.S. Army Pacific?s history, an allied army general will assume one of its highest positions. Australian Maj. Gen. Rick Burns will join the staff Nov. 4 as deputy commanding general for operations.

Speaking during a ?DOD Live? bloggers roundtable yesterday, Wiercinski underscored the importance of expanded Army engagement as the United States implements new strategic guidance focused on the Asia-Pacific region. But acknowledging that neither the United States nor its allies and partners in the region have an interest in establishing new U.S. bases there, he said he favors troop rotations to support more exercises and other military-to-military engagements.

The Marine Corps already is pulling six-month rotational deployments in Darwin, Australia, and the first Navy littoral ship will begin a rotation in Singapore beginning this spring.

Similar arrangements for the Army will help regional armies get to ?know each other and ? know each other?s techniques, tactics, procedures and doctrine,? Wiercinski said.

?Relationships matter,? he told the bloggers, making it easier for militaries to operate together.

To reduce the time and cost of supporting troop rotations, Wiercinski hopes to pre-position equipment and supplies at key locations for the rotational forces to fall in on when they arrive in the theater. Equipment previously used in Iraq, or slated to be returned from Afghanistan as forces draw down there, could be pre-positioned in the Asia-Pacific region rather than mothballed in the United States, he said.

Pre-positioned equipment and a system of trained rotational forces provides more capability in the region and ensures better preparedness for contingencies that may arise, he said.

Asked about tensions on the Korean peninsula, Wiercinski said the United States? goal is to use the diplomatic process to prevent conflict from occurring. ?It will not serve anyone?s national interest if we have to go to conflict across the [Demilitarized Zone],? he said. ?And everyone knows that no one would want that.?

Noting that nobody has a crystal ball that can predict what will happen or what capabilities will be needed, Wiercinski identified one exception. ?I can absolutely tell you that there will be a natural disaster in the Asia-Pacific rim soon,? he said, whether it?s an earthquake, tsunami, typhoon or other disaster.

As a result of that likelihood, most of the exercises U.S. Army Pacific participates in include a humanitarian assistance and disaster response element.

?I think all of the nations that we have in the region are focused on this area, because we know that is the enemy that is constantly with us and will attack at some point of time in the near future,? Wiercinski said.

Asked if the U.S. ?rebalance? to the Asia-Pacific marginalizes the role of the Army, Wiercinski offered an emphatic ?no.?

Twenty-seven of the 28 militaries in the region are army-dominant, he noted, and 21 regional chiefs of defense are army generals.

?We live in the human domain ? the land domain. It is where ? the human state is affected by anything from humanitarian assistance [and] disaster relief to armed conflict,? he said. ?It involves human beings on the ground, and that takes an army to sustain that.?

Recognizing that every military service has a role to play in national responses, Wiercinski said the Army is uniquely organized and equipped to provide the sustainment the entire military needs to operate.

?We are the service that is in there for the long haul,? he said. ?When something occurs on the ground, it is the Army that has the staying power that is there to assist.?
?

Source: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=118313

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In race to 270, it may come down to 106 counties

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) ? How Virginia goes in the presidential election may come down to voters who live amid the small wineries, affluent subdivisions and Civil War battlegrounds of Loudoun County.

Voters in the tony Hamilton County suburbs around the humming riverside economic engine of Cincinnati may tip the balance in Ohio.

To win Florida, either President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney probably will have carried Hillsborough County, where the urban seaport town of Tampa bleeds into communities of Spanish-speaking voters and retired Midwesterners.

Those areas are vastly different, yet each is full of fickle voters and bound by a proclivity to swing between Republican and Democrat every four years. All are main targets as the president and his Republican challenger look for enough victories in enough states to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House.

The race may come down to an even narrower slice of the electorate than the nine most contested states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. The outcome probably will depend on what happens in the 106 counties that Republican George W. Bush won in 2004 and that voted Democrat Obama in 2008, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The AP reviewed the vote returns in those nine states during the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections to identify the counties that have swung between the parties and were most likely to do it again on Nov. 6.

These counties are home to people such as Matt Blunt, a 42-year-old IT manager from Sterling, Va., in Loudoun County, outside Washington. Blunt voted for Obama in 2008, hoping he could change Washington's bitter tone, but now backs Romney.

"What I see in Romney is the stronger potential for leadership than we've seen in the past four years," Blunt said, adding that Obama "hasn't lived up to the promise."

In these counties more than anywhere else, voters' phones ring every night with automated telephone surveys. Every day, glossy mailers hit their mailboxes. Televisions crackle day and night with campaign ads.

In fact, voters in the Cincinnati, Tampa and northern Virginia TV markets have been subjected to presidential campaign advertising totaling $127 million, almost one-fifth the total spent nationwide this year.

"There's more ? and more concentrated ? contact with voters in these counties that swung back and forth in these states than anybody," said Charlie Black, a veteran Republican presidential campaign strategist and informal Romney adviser.

In a race where any bit of an advantage could make the difference, the campaigns go to all this trouble to sway a tiny fraction of the electorate. In 2008, there were 6.2 million votes from those 106 counties; that was not even 5 percent of the roughly 137 million who voted for president.

There is no single reason to explain why these counties seem to shift with the political wind. Their voters are far from monolithic, having little in common other than their voting patterns.

In most of these places, there are few truly undecided voters, forcing Obama and Romney to subdivide the electorate in their attempt for any edge.

In northern Virginia, for example, Obama is reaching out to newcomers and younger veterans. Romney's pitch is stronger toward retired military members, sportsmen and social conservatives.

In counties in the West, Obama is courting educated women and Hispanics. Romney is attempting to make inroads with both, but is more focused on businesswomen and small-business owners.

As a whole, voters in these counties are less racially diverse than the nation, with a smaller percentage having with a college education.

One such area is working-class Sandusky County, Ohio, where the automotive industry's rebound has pushed the county's unemployment below the state average. The list also includes parts of southern Virginia with a substantial African-American population and North Carolina's Research Triangle.

If there's one area where these counties are linked, it may be that many have a wide segment of working-class white voters, an important group for Romney and one that Obama has struggled with.

In the hunt for 270, Obama starts with more states and electoral votes in his column. Romney must take back from the incumbent some states that Obama carried four years ago, including North Carolina and Virginia, which had been reliably Republican until 2008.

In Virginia, public and private polls show Obama narrowly ahead. Internal Republican polls have shown Romney leading in Loudoun and Prince William counties. Over time, these once reliably Republican counties have become more politically diverse, as younger, well-educated, racially and ethnically diverse voters have flocked to Washington's suburbs. Obama won four years ago by aggressively going after them and the state's robust African-American electorate.

Romney can win Virginia by taking Loudoun County away from the Democrats, holding down Obama's likely edge in other Washington suburbs, and running up big numbers in rural southern Virginia and the conservative Tidewater area.

In Ohio, Romney needs Hamilton County, especially the Cincinnati suburbs, to offset Obama's edge in Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton. Obama needs to trim Romney's advantages in the suburbs and southeastern Ohio's coal country.

The dynamic is similar in Nevada's Washoe County. It's home to Reno, a gambling mecca at the foot of the Sierra Nevadas that is a diverse mix of people, including retired and active-duty military from the nearby Naval air base, Hispanics and transplants from northern California.

If Romney stands a chance of carrying Nevada, he needs to cut into Obama's edge in Las Vegas and run up big margins in the vast ranching and mining country elsewhere. But he stands little chance of beating Obama in Nevada without Washoe County, which accounts for 15 percent to 20 percent of the state's vote.

While Obama has concentrated his Nevada efforts on Las Vegas, Romney has focused aggressively on Washoe County's veterans, and for good reason.

"Washoe is a county where Republicans need to win to have a chance in Nevada," Democratic pollster Paul Maslin said.

But some swing-voting counties don't look like they may be swinging back any time soon.

The best example is Osceola County, a bedroom community to Orlando, Fla., that has experienced an influx in the past decade of Puerto Ricans, Hispanics who are U.S. citizens.

The shift of these typically Democratic-leaning voters, as well as other Spanish-speaking voters in Colorado and Nevada, is part of longer-term trend going in the Democrats' favor and spreading into other neighboring states over the coming generation.

While it bodes well for Democrats in the future, there are no guarantees for Obama this year.

___

Schneider reported from Florida.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/race-270-may-come-down-106-counties-135724363--election.html

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GE focus for Wall Street, Spanish, Italian bond yields fall

LONDON (Reuters) - Spanish and Italian bond yields hit their lowest levels in over half a year on Friday after euro zone leaders firmed up plans for a common bank watchdog, while world shares and the euro remained on course for strong weekly gains despite a dip.

Wall Street is expected open mixed when trading resumes, after solid results from manufacturing bellwether GE Electric helped offset Thursday's surprisingly weak earnings from tech giants Google and Microsoft.

Europe saw profit taking in both equity <.fteu3> and currency markets following sharp gains earlier in the week, while oil and gold prices were steady.

European leaders at a summit in Brussels said a new supervisor would be in place next year, paving the way for the bloc's rescue fund to inject capital directly into ailing banks.

With that and the prospect of European Central Bank support looming, benchmark Spanish bond yields have come down around half a percentage point this week and both Spain and Italy have seen dramatically stronger bond sales.

Spanish 10-year yields fell to their lowest in 6-1/2 months as markets digested news from the EU summit. Italian yields also fell to levels not seen in over seven months, helped by a jumbo sale of 4-year bonds on Thursday.

"There is more of a general understanding that the ECB backstop is actually effective," UniCredit chief euro zone economist Marco Valli said of the central bank pledge to buy sovereign bonds on the secondary market.

"The market has brought yields in Italy and Spain down to levels which, for the time being, seem to be much more consistent with debt sustainability," he added.

"The big question now remains will Spain go for support? And if so, when?"

HIGHS REACHED?

Global economic data in recent days and signs of progress in defusing the euro zone debt crisis has left the MSCI index of world shares <.miwd00000pus> up almost 3 percent for the week, near a 15-month high, and the euro up about 1.5 percent against the dollar.

With equity investors in a mood to book profits after four sessions of gains, world shares were down 0.3 percent on Friday ahead of the start of U.S. trading.

Stock futures also pointed to falls for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones after General Electric met forecasts with a 8.3 percent rise in quarterly profits.

The pan-European Euro STOXX 50 was down almost 1 percent at 1150 GMT but was still on course for one of its best weeks of 2012, up over 3 percent since Monday.

"It is possible that the highs for the year are in," said Lex van Dam, hedge fund manager at Hampstead Capital. "Company earnings remain under pressure.

"Today feels very much like a risk-off environment."

In currency markets, the euro, at $1.3056, hovered below its one-month high against the dollar as the EU summit reconvened on Friday, while the yen was near a two-month low against the dollar as speculation mounted over the possibility that the Bank of Japan will take fresh stimulus measures.

The Australian dollar was steady at $1.0365, off a three-week high of $1.0415 hit on Thursday. Gold, which has been slowly slipping this month as the dollar has strengthened, fell to $1,733.90, heading for its second successive weekly decline.

THREE FACTORS

The euro zone's troubles, the upcoming U.S. election and growth in China are the three principle factors dominating global financial markets.

Over the weekend, Spain's Basque and Galicia regions hold elections in what is been seen as an effective referendum on the country's spending-cut program.

Investors had speculated that Spain might check itself in to a fiscal rehabilitation program once these votes were out the way, but the recent fall in its borrowing costs have left many struggling to put a timeframe on any such move.

"If the market is open, as it is at the moment, signing your name on a MOU signs away some sovereignty over economic policy and that is politically costly," said Deutsche Bank economist Mark Wall. "So we need some kind of event to push us into the end-game."

Copper and other metals attuned to the economic cycle fell on Friday but remained on track for weekly gains, boosted by signs that world powerhouse economies China and the United States are stabilizing.

Oil prices held above $112 a barrel, but were set for their third weekly fall in five weeks, as the restart of Britain's largest oilfield is imminent.

"We have enough supply," said Jeremy Friesen, a commodities strategist at Societe Generale, adding that Brent prices would probably trade between $110 and $115 a barrel this quarter.

"Short of any geopolitical or economic shocks," he said, "The market will probably grind lower this month."

(Additional reporting by Tricia Wright and Florence Tan; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-ease-eu-strikes-bank-reform-deal-035041748--finance.html

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Kinetic Events proud to host founders of Africa?s largest social networking website, Chidi Nwaogu and Chika Nwaogu to speak at IT Leaders West Africa Summit

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Chidi Nwaogu and Chika Nwaogu LAGBook (Microsoft Word)

The anticipated annual IT Leaders West Africa Summit will take place from 28 to 29 November 2012 in the heart of Ghana?s esteemed capital city, Accra. The summit is produced by international business-to-business conferencing company, Kinetic Events; key strategic information providers to the IT and telecoms sector within Africa. The summit is proudly endorsed by ITES in West Africa.

South Africa, Republic of, Oct, 2012 ? West Africa is aiming to further develop and improve ICT activity beyond simple challenges of connectivity, encouraging investment and expenditure within local production and development. Until recently, new regulations currently pending before parliament could be implemented in third-quarter 2012 would have mandated the purchase of local IT products and services when they are available.

The IT Leaders West Africa Summit organisers, Kinetic Events is proud to announce that the summit will be hosting the founders of Africa?s largest social networking website, Chidi Nwaogu and Chika Nwaogu to speak at the summit.

The LAGBook twins will present a must-attend keynote session focusing on ?The Arab Spring ? One year later? where they will focus on the role of social media and mobile in developing countries. The keynote is set to deliver topical debate among attendees as the twins take on the social media monster and how this revolutionary innovation will not be harnessed, despite threats of government intervention in some cases. The diversification and growth of social media has created new platforms for communication. The LAGBook twins will address new challenges and opportunities that this global trend faces each day.

Founded in 2010 by computer programmers and college students of the University of Lagos; Chidi and Chika Nwaogu created LAGBook; Ladies and Gentlemen Book; originally created as a platform for communication among students of the university. LAGBook was created by the inquisitiveness of the twin brothers to find out exactly which faculty a girl they saw on campus belonged to.

Over 3,000 students registered within two months of running, including the girl they were trying to find. Larger expansion came soon after the launch of Africa?s largest social networking website. LAGbook expanded throughout the Nigerian population, through 24 African English speaking countries, then to everyone with African descent and the youth with a demographic of between 18 and 30 years old, around the world.

LAGbook is now one of the first social networking sites in Africa to claim over 70 thousand members in less than two years. Based on the circle of friends? technique for networking individuals in virtual communities, LAGbook is considered one of the largest social networking websites born out of Nigeria. LAGbook.com first went live in 2010 and was quickly adopted by over three thousand users within the first few months of inception. LAGbook?s rapid success has inspired a new generation and movement of social networking websites within Africa. Earlier this year in August 2011, LAGbook boasted a membership base of more than 35 thousand registered users, continuing to grow in Africa and abroad.

Currently, LAGbook has attracted over 300,000 members around the globe in countries including Nigeria, Germany, France, China, Turkey, Japan, South Africa and Australia. Chika Nwaogu and twin brother Chidi Nwaogu, born May 1990 in Lagos, Nigeria; are the co-founders, co-chief executive officers and co-presidents of LAGBook. The LAGBook twins studied electrical and electronic engineering at the Imo State University before moving to study physics at the University of Lagos. Chika Nwaogu is an investment partner at LAGbook Capital, a venture capital firm focusing on acquiring and investing in promising African internet start-ups. The twins each currently hold 49.597% of LAGbook?s stakes.

The summit is proud to host the LAGBook twins this year The IT Leaders West Africa Summit provides an ideal opportunity for discovery through effective enterprise solutions in delivering IT projects and to share experiences with industry peers.

For more information, to apply to attend, comment or photographs, visit www.itleaders-westafrica.com or contact Shaunei Meintjes on +27 21 555 0866 or shaunei@kineticevents.net. Follow @ITLeadersAfrica and @KineticEventsSA on Twitter for daily updates and news feeds.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Africabusinesscom/~3/6HFKIbqxjOg/

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Sen. Portman: Romney 'probably' could win without taking Ohio

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Zeiss Cinemizer head-mounted OLED display wends its way into stores

Zeiss must be doing well in the lens business, as it hasn't exactly been in a rush to get its Cinemizer OLED on to shelves. Still, we're happy to say that the head-mounted display is at last slipping into retailers: Amazon partners are now carrying the regular 870 x 500 version for $749 in the US (German titling aside) and £578 in the UK. It doesn't look to be the version with head tracking that we tried earlier this year, but you'll still get a 3D image through HDMI 1.4 in addition to 2D through either the HDMI link or analog input. The price makes it a tempting alternative to the more advanced but costlier Sony HMZ-T2 -- and for those who'd like something slightly more discreet-looking while they zone out with a good movie.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wearables, HD, Sony

Zeiss Cinemizer head-mounted OLED display wends its way into stores originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink OLED-Info  |  Amazon (US), (UK)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/15/zeiss-cinemizer-head-mounted-oled-display-wends-its-way-into-stores/

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Colombia rebels opaque heading into talks

FILE - In this combo image of file photos shows the five main negotiators representing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, in the peace talks with the Colombian government, from left: in a Sept. 4, 2012 file photo Marco Leon Calarca; in a Nov. 8, 2007 file photo Ivan Marquez; in a Sept. 4, 2012 file photo Ricardo Tellez; in a Jan. 13, 2002 file photo Simon Trinidad; and in a Sept. 4, 2012 file photo Andres Paris. The faces and names of the negotiators for Colombia's main leftist rebel movement, who open peace talks with government on Monday in Norway, are largely unfamiliar to their countrymen. (AP Photo/Files)

FILE - In this combo image of file photos shows the five main negotiators representing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, in the peace talks with the Colombian government, from left: in a Sept. 4, 2012 file photo Marco Leon Calarca; in a Nov. 8, 2007 file photo Ivan Marquez; in a Sept. 4, 2012 file photo Ricardo Tellez; in a Jan. 13, 2002 file photo Simon Trinidad; and in a Sept. 4, 2012 file photo Andres Paris. The faces and names of the negotiators for Colombia's main leftist rebel movement, who open peace talks with government on Monday in Norway, are largely unfamiliar to their countrymen. (AP Photo/Files)

A poster with an image of missing army sergeant Hector Velasquez sits at the Bolivar's square during a protest organized by activists and relatives of people allegedly disappeared by rebels, in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. Demonstrators demanded participation in the peace talks between Colombia's government and Colombia's main leftist rebel movement, FARC, that will start on Monday in Norway. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

A man shows a photo of a missing person during a protest organized by activists and relatives of people allegedly disappeared by rebels, in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. Demonstrators demanded participation in the peace talks between Colombia's government and Colombia's main leftist rebel movement, FARC, that will start on Monday in Norway. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

People demonstrate during a protest organized by activists and relatives of people allegedly disappeared by rebels, in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012. Demonstrators demanded participation in the peace talks between Colombia's government and Colombia's main leftist rebel movement, FARC, that will start on Monday in Norway. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) ? Absent from the peace talks opening in Norway this week between Colombia's main leftist rebel movement and the government will be the guerrilla heavyweights who presided a decade ago over the last attempt to end a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives over nearly half a century.

Either they are dead, mostly killed in military raids, or believed to be in the field commanding an insurgency badly battered by a Colombian military fortified by years of U.S. financial and logistical support.

This time, most of the faces and names of the negotiators for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are little known to their countrymen. And unlike in the last talks in 1999-2002, the rebels this time enjoy no safe haven. President Juan Manuel Santos would not agree to one.

Both parties to the negotiations were keeping a low profile heading into the talks at an undisclosed location outside Oslo. There is no media access and even the hour and date of the first meeting are uncertain, though a news conference is set for Wednesday.

The rebels, meanwhile, have offered only a vague sense of what they will demand in exchange for laying down their arms, beyond land reform and guarantees of safety for fighters who demobilize.

On Sunday, about 200 people rallied in central Bogota to demand an accounting from the FARC for relatives kidnapped by the rebels and never released.

Andres Pastrana, who presided over Colombia's last round of peace talks that ran nearly the entire length of his 1998-2002 presidency before collapsing in discord, is among Colombians who wonder why two still-powerful commanders who took part in the previous negotiations, Joaquin Gomez and Fabian Ramirez, will be absent from the Norway talks.

"The question we have to ask is: Is the FARC monolithically united behind this process?" said Pastrana, who met secretly with legendary FARC founder Manuel Marulanda in 1998 to arrange the last round of talks. "I don't have that very clear. Let's hope it is."

The FARC negotiators, whose discussions with the government are to move to Havana later this month, include one member of the rebels' ruling six-man Secretariat, Ivan Marquez, as well as Marco Leon Calarca, the rebels' public voice during the 1990s.

Another negotiator, Ricardo Tellez or Rodrigo Granda, was seized in 2004 by Colombian agents in Venezuela but freed by the Colombian government three years later as a good-faith gesture to encourage the FARC to free all its "political hostages."

The rebels released their last such captives in April, meeting a condition of the agreement under which secret preliminary talks began on Feb. 23 in Havana.

The only top FARC negotiator well-known to Colombians, Ricardo Palmera, is serving a 60-year sentence in the United States. A former banker, he gained fame during the last talks.

Colombia's chief prosecutor has said that Palmera could be allowed to participate in the Oslo talks via teleconference from a prison in Colorado.

Palmera was convicted in the abduction of three U.S. military contractors whose surveillance plane crashed in rebel territory in 2003 due to mechanical failure. The three men were rescued in July 2008 along with former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt in a sophisticated ruse involving Colombian commandos posing as international relief workers.

Many of the FARC's former top leaders have been killed by the military in raids that began tipping the conflict in the government's favor in 2008.

Marulanda died of an apparent heart attack in 2008 just after its chief spokesman at those talks, Raul Reyes, was killed in a cross-border military raid into Ecuador that briefly brought regional tensions to a boiling point. In September 2010, the group lost its undisputed field marshal, Jorge Briceno, or Mono Jojoy, in an air assault on his jungle hideout. And Marulanda's successor atop the FARC, Alfonso Cano, was killed by Colombia's military last year.

The rebels' footprint is also much diminished, though the insurgents have stepped up hit-and-run attacks in recent months, particularly on oil installations.

While the FARC operated in more than half of Colombia's 1,102 municipalities at the height of its strength in the 1990s, its activity is now focused on just 70 municipalities, the Defense Ministry says. The FARC's current top commander, Timoleon Jimenez, commands an estimated 9,000 rebels, a force depleted by desertions from roughly twice that number a decade ago.

Jimenez acknowledged on Sept. 4, when both sides announced the formal peace talks, the damage inflicted on his organization by the U.S.-backed military buildup that began in 2000 under Pastrana and was intensified by his successor, Alvaro Uribe, for whom the country's current president, Santos, served as defense minister from 2006-2009.

"Let us seek dialogue, a bloodless solution, an understanding through political means," Jimenez, 53, said in an interview published last month by the Communist Party weekly Voz.

The weekly's editor, Carlos Lozano, says it is crucial to the FARC that if its fighters lay down their arms and enter politics they are not hunted down and killed as some 5,000 partisans were in the 1980s from the rebels' then-political arm, the Union Patriotica.

While Colombians are weary of the decades-long conflict, the FARC's leftist politics remains anathema to Colombia's ruling elite. The peasant-based insurgency grew out of a 1950s agrarian self-defense movement that later fused with communist activists who the U.S. government helped suppress.

The agreement signed Aug. 26 in Havana setting the peace talk agenda says the goal will be to achieve "economic development with social justice" for the great majority of Colombians. It prioritizes access to fertile land for the rural poor, full political rights and the end of rebel participation in the illegal narcotics trade.

While the last priority is the government's, the others are FARC goals, Lozano said. The government accuses the group of being financed by the cocaine trade.

Colombia is a land of deep inequities. Much of its countryside is controlled by cattle ranchers who in the 1980s formed far-right militias to defend themselves against rebel kidnapping and extortion.

More than 1.2 million people have been forcibly displaced in the past five years and 5.2 million people since 1985, mostly by the far-right militias, according to the CODHES independent rights group.

Sixty percent of Colombia's fertile land is in the hands of just 14,000 landowners while 2.5 million peasants together own no more than 20 percent, according the Alejandro Reyes, director of Colombia's INCODER land reform agency.

Former President Belisario Betancur, who attempted to make peace with the rebels during his 1982-86 term, says he's optimistic this time around. But the 89-year-old Betancur says he's not sure how FARC demands for a more equitable society and for attacking rural poverty can be met quickly.

"Governments can't satisfy FARC demands by decree," he said. "Imagine. That would be childish, a utopia."

___

Associated Press writers Cesar Garcia in Bogota and Frank Bajak in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-14-Colombia-Peace%20Talks/id-c66babe773584d9cba3a02b898bd20b7

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Stress Relief Techniques - My Phenom Fitness

It is well known that exercise is one of many great stress relief techniques that bring numerous advantages and improvements to one?s physical health. But are you aware that exercise also affect one?s mental function and is beneficial when dealing with anxiety? In particular, those who suffer from stress and anxiety may find that taking an active part in an exercise program can help them when dealing with anxiety and can be great for stress relief techniques. How is this possible?

Mental health experts believe that often times, anxiety not only brings excess tension to the body, but that anxiety also weighs on our emotions, adding to the stress experienced. As the body remains tensed, the mind also becomes cluttered and overwhelmed because of this.? One way to help clear this up is through regular exercise. Doing basic routines releases body chemicals and hormones that will help reduce stress and tension. The mind and body can then become relaxed, which can be very helpful when dealing with anxiety. Thus, this leads to a diminished feeling of anxiousness which is why exercise is one of many great stress relief techniques that you can implement in your life.

Below are just some of the exercises you can do as a form of stress relief techniques. These exercises will be great in dealing with anxiety that you may have.

Stress Relief Techniques #1: Cardio Boxing
One of many very effective stress relief techniques is to do cardio boxing.? Pounding and punching on the bags are helpful because it can release pent up emotions and frustrations and can, as a result, be very effective when dealing with anxiety. The actions work like this catharsis that opens up clogged thoughts and takes away all the tension in the body. As soon as you?re done with the routine, you will see that you will feel lighter and less anxious, and the stress felt will be reduced. This is one of many beneficial stress relief techniques that can aid you in dealing with anxiety.

Stress Relief Techniques #2: Walking
Whether you?re doing walking exercises on the treadmill or simply walking outside, walking can help with tension relief. We often tell people who are very angry and argumentative to take a walk to clear their mind because it frequently can help in the dealing with anxiety that they may have. This works in the same principle because the mind can focus on other things. Exercise does not need to be intense to have great benefits, and any physical activity, such as something as simple as this (walking) can deliver results and be of great help when dealing with anxiety in your life. It truly is amazing how simple stress relief techniques such as walking can help when dealing with anxiety.

Stress Relief Techniques #3: Yoga and Stretching
Yoga, stretching and similar stress relief techniques can provide anxiety relief, just as much as other forms of exercises. Even if these routines have low intensity, the mere fact that your body and mind puts focus on doing something, they can help take your mind off your worries and help in dealing with anxiety. Plus, these routines also offer a calming effect that withers away stress and tension. With yoga routines most especially, this method works behind the idea that the body and the mind should create a balance. If one is distracted or in pain, the person cannot function properly.

Other than our physical well-being, there are other aspects to health that one should take care of, such as our mental or emotional well-being and our dental health. Read up on tips and guides to maintaining good dental health at http://bracescostinfo.com.

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Source: http://www.myphenomfitness.com/stress-relief-techniques/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stress-relief-techniques

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