Blog Post: Video: Skulls of the Shogun arrives for Windows Phone, PC, and Xbox

In case you haven?t heard, Microsoft broke new gaming ground today, officially launching the first title specifically designed to be played across a Windows Phone, Windows 8 PC, Surface, and Xbox 360.

Skulls of the Shogun is a multiplayer mash up combining arcade-style fighting with turn-based strategy?plus visuals inspired by 1960s-era Japanese anime thrown in for good measure. (Do I have your attention yet?) The game?the first Microsoft title designed to be paused on one device, and pick up and played on another?works with up to four players on any combination of supported devices.

Download it from the Windows Phone Store

Download it from the Windows Store

Download it from Xbox Live Marketplace

To really appreciate how cool it is, you?ve got to see it in action. Check out the short video below hosted by one of the game?s creators and a member of the Xbox team showing how it all works.

For a limited time, you can also pick up Skulls at a discount. The Windows 8 version costs $9.99 (normally $14.99), while the Windows Phone version is $4.99 (normally $6.99). The Xbox LIVE edition is available for 1200 Microsoft Points. Also, if you?re curious how developer 17-BIT coded it and what inspired the retro Japan theme, then definitely check out the fun Q&A our friends on the Windows Experience Blog published today. Xbox?s Major Nelson, meanwhile, plans to have 17-BIT as guests on his podcast later this week. Watch his blog for details.

Source: http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2013/01/30/skulls-of-the-shogun-arrives-the-first-game-for-windows-phone-pc-and-xbox.aspx

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Students of Shiva Boys? Hindu College pose for a photograph with teachers after...

Students of Shiva Boys? Hindu College pose for a photograph with teachers after topping the qualifying round of WASA?s third annual National Secondary Schools Quiz Competition, titled In the Know with H2O?Adopt a River, held from January 21 to 25 at the utility?s Public Education Centre, Farm Road, St Joseph. READ MORE: http://ht.ly/hhGZD

Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151262365778067&set=a.87957863066.90374.78081948066&type=1

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Bill Seeks Protection for Enormous Condors

A bill has been introduced to the Peruvian Congress that would protect Andean condors, a huge species of raptor that is in decline and in danger of dying out in some parts of its territory.

Backers of the bill would like to do away with an Andean ritual in which condors are strapped to the backs of raging bulls, which conservationists say hurts and kills the birds, according to Andean Air Mail & Peruvian Times, a regional news website. The law would declare the birds a "national treasure" and implement jail sentences for anybody who hurts or kills one.

Andean condors are some of the largest birds on Earth, with 10-foot (3 meter) wingspans. They can fly up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) in a single day, and they feed on the remains of dead animals like cattle and other large mammals. The birds inhabit the Andes Mountains, ranging as far north as Colombia and south to Patagonia. There are approximately 10,000 condors left, and they are classified as "near threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.?

The bill targets a ritual called the "yawar" festival, in which a condor, representing indigenous people, is tied to the back of a wild bull, representing colonists, according to Reuters. The clawing of the bird enrages the bull; townspeople then take turns running in front of the angry bovine. It's unclear exactly how the ritual affects the birds, according to the news service, although some scientists say it leaves the condors too traumatized or injured to survive.

There are probably no more than 500 condors in Peru, and the population is in decline, according to the Peruvian Times. The bird's population takes a while to grow since the animals are long-lived and reproduce infrequently. The bill would lead to a captive breeding program for the condors, according to the Times.

The Andean peoples have held Condors sacred for thousands of years. A 445-foot (135 m) depiction of a condor is one of the best known Nazca Lines, the geoglyphs mysteriously carved into the Peruvian desert more than 1,500 years ago, according to Reuters. Quechua-speaking communities throughout the Andes consider the bird sacred.

The bill was sponsored by Peruvians who live near Colca Canyon, a popular tourist destination twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, now home to just 25 condors, a fraction of those seen in years past, Reuters reports. The Colca Canyon Provincial Mayor Elmer C?ceres said his province slaughters donkeys every week and leaves them as food for the condors, according to the Peruvian Times.

He told that site that some 80 percent of the region's visitors come to see the birds, and asked Peruvian supporters of the legislative initiative to visit the province's website and sign a petition to save the condor. It's too early to say if, or when, the bill might be passed, according to reports.

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet. We're also on?Facebook?and Google+.

Copyright 2013 OurAmazingPlanet, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bill-seeks-protection-enormous-condors-133118070.html

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Surprised Scientists Find Lifeforms Six Miles Above Earth's Surface

For the first time, scientists have found lifeforms where nobody thought it was possible: floating in the troposphere, the slice of the atmosphere approximately four to six miles (eight to 15 kilometers) above Earth's surface. And not just a tiny few, but lot: 20% of every particle in that atmospheric layer are living organisms. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FLNjmsZYm8g/surprised-scientists-find-lifeforms-six-miles-above-earths-surface

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Doctor-patient relationship: Physicians' brain scans indicate doctors can feel their patients' pain -- and their relief

Jan. 29, 2013 ? A patient's relationship with his or her doctor has long been considered an important component of healing. Now, in a novel investigation in which physicians underwent brain scans while they believed they were actually treating patients, researchers have provided the first scientific evidence indicating that doctors truly can feel their patients' pain -- and can also experience their relief following treatment.

Led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Program in Placebo Studies and Therapeutic Encounter (PiPS) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, the new findings, which appear online? January 29 in Molecular Psychiatry, help to illuminate one of the more intangible aspects of health care -- the doctor/patient relationship.

"Our findings showed that the same brain regions that have previously been shown to be activated when patients receive placebo therapies are similarly activated in the brains of doctors when they administer what they think are effective treatments," explains first author Karin Jensen, PhD, an investigator in the Department of Psychiatry and Martinos Center for Biological Imaging at MGH and member of the PiPS. Notably, she adds, the findings also showed that the physicians who reported greater ability to take things from the patients' perspective, that is, to empathize with patients' feelings, experienced higher satisfaction during patients' treatments, as reflected in the brain scans.

"By demonstrating that caring for patients involves a complex set of brain events, including deep understanding of the patient's facial and body expressions, possibly in combination with the physician's own expectations of relief and feelings of reward, we have been able to elucidate the neurobiology underlying caregiving," adds senior author Ted Kaptchuk, director of the PiPS and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Our findings provide early evidence of the importance of interacting brain networks between patients and caregivers and acknowledge the doctor/patient relationship as a valued component of health care, alongside medications and procedures."

Previous investigations have demonstrated that a brain region associated with pain relief (right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, VLPFC) and a region associated with reward (rostral anterior cingulate cortex, rACC) are activated when patients experience the placebo effect, which occurs when patients show improvement from treatments that contain no active ingredients. The placebo effect accounts for significant portions of clinical outcomes in many illnesses -- including pain, depression and anxiety.

Although behavioral research has suggested that physicians' expectations influence patients' clinical outcomes and help determine patients' placebo responses, until now little effort has been directed to understanding the biology underlying the physician component of the clinical relationship. Jensen and her colleagues hypothesized that the same brain regions that are activated during patients' placebo responses -- the VLPFC and rACC -- would similarly be activated in the brains of physicians as they treated patients. They also hypothesized that a physician's perspective-taking skills would influence the outcomes.

To test these hypotheses, the scientists developed a unique equipment arrangement that would enable them to conduct functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the physicians' brains while the doctors had face-to-face interactions with patients, including observing patients as they underwent pain treatments.

The experiment included 18 physicians (all of whom had received their medical degree within the last 10 years and represented nine separate medical specialties). Two 25-year-old females played the role of "patients" and followed a rehearsed script. The experiment called for the participating physicians to administer pain relief with what they thought was a pain-relieving electronic device, but which was actually a non-active "sham" device.

To ensure that the physicians believed that the sham device really worked, the investigators first administered a dose of "heat pain" to the physicians' forearms to gauge pain threshold and then "treated" them with the fake machine. During the treatments, the investigators reduced the heat stimulation, to demonstrate to the participants that the therapy worked. The physicians underwent fMRI scans while they experienced the painful heat stimulation so that investigators could see exactly which brain regions were activated during first-person perception of pain.

In the second portion of the experiment,each physician was introduced to a patient and asked to perform a standardized clinical examination, which was conducted in a typical exam room for approximately 20 minutes. (The clinical exam was performed in order to establish a realistic rapport between the physician and patient before fMRI scanning took place, and was comparable to a standard U.S. doctor's appointment.) At this point the physician also answered a questionnaire, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, used to measure the participant's self-reported perspective-taking skills.

During the third step, says Jensen, the physician and patient were led into the scanner room. "The physician went inside the scanner and was equipped with a remote control that could activate the 'analgesic device' when prompted," she explains. Mirrors inside the scanner enabled physicians to maintain eye contact with the patient, who was seated on a chair next to the scanner's bed and hooked up to both the thermal pain stimulator and the pain-relieving device.

Then, in a randomized order, physicians were instructed to either treat a patient's pain or to press a control button that provided no relief. When physicians were told not to activate pain relief, the "patient" exhibited a painful facial expression while the physicians watched. When the physicians were instructed to treat the patients' pain, they could see that the subjects' faces were neutral and relaxed, the result of pain relief. During these doctor-patient interactions, fMRI scans measured the doctors' brain activations.

Following the scanning session, the physicians were removed from the scanner and told exactly how the experiment had been performed, says Jensen. "If the physician did not agree with the deceptive component of the study, they were given the opportunity to withdraw their data. No one did this."

As predicted, the authors found that while treating patients, the physicians activated the right VLPFC region of the brain, a region previously implicated in the placebo response. Furthermore, Jensen adds, the physicians' ability to take the patients' viewpoints correlated to brain activations and subjective ratings; physicians who reported high perspective-taking skills were more likely to show activation in the rACC brain region, which is associated with reward.

"We already know that the physician-patient relationship provides solace and can even relieve many symptoms," adds Kaptchuk. "Now, for the first time, we've shown that caring for patients encompasses a unique neurobiology in physicians. Our ultimate goal is to transform the 'art of medicine' into the 'science of care,' and this research is an important first step in this process as we continue investigations to find out how patient-clinician interactions can lead to measurable clinical outcomes in patients."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. K B Jensen, P Petrovic, C E Kerr, I Kirsch, J Raicek, A Cheetham, R Spaeth, A Cook, R L Gollub, J Kong, T J Kaptchuk. Sharing pain and relief: neural correlates of physicians during treatment of patients. Molecular Psychiatry, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/mp.2012.195

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/w165jz3M4c4/130129080622.htm

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Bullying Makes Middle Schoolers Cool

Anti-bullying campaigns might be tough to enforce in middle schools, because nasty behavior, whether it's picking fights or spreading ugly rumors, seems to boost kids' popularity, new research shows.

A group of psychologists studied nearly 2,000 students at 11 middle schools in Los Angeles. They conducted surveys in the spring of seventh grade and the fall and spring of eighth grade; participants named their peers who were considered the "coolest," as well as those who "start fights or push other kids around," and those who "spread nasty rumors about other kids."

Often, the students who ranked coolest at one point were named among the most aggressive during the next survey, the researchers said. Conversely, the ones thought to be most aggressive went on to rank among the most popular.

"The ones who are cool bully more, and the ones who bully more are seen as cool," study researcher Jaana Juvonen, a UCLA professor of psychology, said in a statement. "What was particularly interesting was that the form of aggression, whether highly visible and clearly confrontational or not, did not matter. Pushing or shoving and gossiping worked the same for boys and girls."

The findings are in partial agreement with previous studies that showed popular kids are most likely to act aggressively toward other kids.

The new study, detailed in the February edition of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, suggests anti-bullying programs need to be more subtle to succeed. Juvonen said campaigns should focus on bystanders, showing them how their tacit approval allows bullies to thrive. Other research has shown that bullies choose their victims wisely, often targeting kids who are unpopular and less likely to be defended by onlookers.

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

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bullying-makes-middle-schoolers-cool-212104687.html

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Tiger headed toward another win at Torrey

Tiger Woods hits his second shot on the sixth hole during the fourth round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, at the Torrey Pines Golf Course on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Tiger Woods hits his second shot on the sixth hole during the fourth round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, at the Torrey Pines Golf Course on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Tiger Woods chips in for birdie on the fourth hole during the fourth round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at the Torrey Pines Golf Course on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Tiger Woods reacts after chipping in from 40 feet for birdie on the fourth hole during the fourth round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at the Torrey Pines Golf Course, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Tiger Woods follows through with his tee shot on the first hole to begin the fourth round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in San Diego. The tournament will not conclude until Monday. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Erik Compton, right, a two-time heart transplant recipient, talks with Tiger Woods during a delay on the third tee at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? The Pacific air was so cold at the end of a 10-hour day at Torrey Pines that Tiger Woods thrust both hands in the front pockets of his rain pants as he walked off the course at the Farmers Insurance Open.

It was a fitting image. Woods made a marathon day look like he was out for a stroll.

Staked to a two-shot lead going into the third round of this fog-delayed tournament, Woods drove the ball where he was aiming and was hardly ever out of position. Even with a bogey on the final hole ? the easiest on the back nine ? Woods still had a 3-under 69 and expanded his lead by two shots.

In the seven holes he played in the fourth round later Sunday afternoon, Woods hit the ball all over the course and still made three birdies to add two more strokes to his lead.

Thanks to the fog that wiped out an entire day of golf on Saturday, the Farmers Insurance Open didn't stand a chance of finishing on Sunday.

Woods just made it look like it was over.

He had a six-shot lead with 11 holes to play going into the conclusion of the final round on Monday. The two guys chasing him were Brandt Snedeker, the defending champion, and Nick Watney, who won at Torrey Pines in 2008. Neither was waving a white flag. Both understood how much the odds were stacked against them.

"I've got a guy at the top of the leaderboard that doesn't like giving up leads," Snedeker said. "So I have to go catch him."

"All we can do tomorrow is go out and try to make him think about it a little bit and see what happens," Watney said.

And then there was Erik Compton, a two-time heart transplant recipient who had a birdie-eagle finish in the third round that put him in third place through 54 holes, still five shots behind Woods. Someone asked Compton about trying to chase Woods. He laughed.

"I'm trying to chase myself," he said.

Woods was at 17-under par for the tournament, and more than just a six-shot lead was in his corner.

He finished the third round at 14-under 202, making it the 16th time on the PGA Tour that he had at least a four-shot lead going into the final round. His record on the PGA Tour with the outright lead after 54 holes is 38-2, the exceptions being Ed Fiori in 1996 when Woods was a 20-year-old rookie and Y.E. Yang in the 2009 PGA Championship.

Woods attributed his big lead to the "whole package."

"I've driven the ball well, I've hit my irons well, and I've chipped and putted well," he said. "Well, I've hit good putts. They all haven't gone in."

Woods has a good history of Monday finishes, starting with Torrey Pines. It was on this course along the coast north of La Jolla that Woods won a 19-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate to capture the 2008 U.S. Open for his 14th major.

He also won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on a Monday in 2000 when he rallied from seven shots behind with seven holes to play. He won his lone title in The Players Championship on a Monday, along with a five-shot win in the Memorial in 2000, and a scheduled Monday finish in the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston.

Woods even gets to sleep in.

A Monday finish because of weather typically resumes in the morning so players can get to the next tournament. CBS Sports, however, decided it wanted to televise the conclusion, and so play won't begin until 2 p.m. EST. That decision might have been based on Woods being headed toward victory ? just a hunch.

Woods already has won seven times at Torrey Pines, including the U.S. Open. That matches his PGA Tour record at Bay Hill and Firestone (Sam Snead won the Greensboro Open eight times, four each on a different course).

The tournament isn't over, and Woods doesn't see it that way.

"I've got to continue with executing my game plan. That's the idea," he said. "I've got 11 holes to play, and I've got to play them well."

He seized control with his 69 in the third round that gave him a four-shot lead, and he might have put this away in the two hours he played before darkness stopped play.

He badly missed the first fairway to the left, but had a gap through the Torrey pines to the green and had a two-putt par. He missed his next shot so far to the left that the ball wound up in the first cut of the adjacent sixth fairway. He still managed a simple up-and-down for par.

After a 10-foot birdie on the par-3 third, Woods couldn't afford to go left off the tee again because of the PGA Tour's largest water hazard ? the Pacific Ocean. So he went miles right, beyond a cart path, a tree blocking his way to the green. He hit a cut shot that came up safely short of the green, and then chipped in from 40 feet for birdie.

"I was able to play those holes in 2-under par," Woods said. "And then I hit three great drives right in a row."

One of them wasn't that great ? it was in the right rough, the ball so buried that from 214 yards that Woods hit a 5-wood. It scooted down the fairway and onto the green, setting up a two-putt birdie the stretched his lead to six shots. And after another good drive, the horn sounded to stop play. Because it was due to weather, Woods was able to finish the hole, and he two-putted for par.

Eleven holes on Monday were all that were keeping him from his 75th career win on the PGA Tour, and delivering a message to the rest of golf that there could be more of this to follow no matter what the golf course.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-28-Farmers%20Insurance%20Open/id-a2b66573e60e45d98a5603c5f2fcd8cb

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offshore wind and supply chain conference & exhibition 2013 - AECC

Home ? AECC Blog ? OFFSHORE WIND AND SUPPLY CHAIN CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2013

Today Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) are pleased to welcome the Offshore Wind and Supply Chain Conference and Exhibition to the Venue for the third year running!

The two-day conference runs this week on Tuesday 29^th and Wednesday 30^th January 2013 and over 1000 delegates are expected to attend, nearly double the numbers for 2012?s conference.? There will be 58 exhibitors from the Offshore Industry showcasing their products in AECC?s Boyd Orr Suite, alongside the conference sessions which will be taking place.

This event provides the perfect opportunity to engage with industry contacts, make new connections and hear about the latest developments. It will feature a mix of discussions, workshops and plenary sessions.

This year the conference will celebrate the huge progress the sector is making, showcasing how Scotland is building on decades of experience in offshore engineering to spark a new energy boom in Scotland.

The event draws on the experience of the oil and gas industry and lessons learnt from offshore wind so far, and promises an experience which will be both exciting and informative.

First Minister, The Rt. Hon Alex Salmond MSP opened the conference, which is free to attend, this morning.

Brian Horsburgh, AECC?s Managing Director, commented: ?The Offshore Wind and Supply Chain is growing year on year and we are looking forward to hosting this for the third consecutive year.? Visitor numbers are expected to be double what they were in 2012 which confirms the topical content of the event.? This event is very appropriate to us, as AECC is the National Energy Exhibition Centre, and the renewables market is something which is becoming increasingly important throughout Scotland.?

?

ENDS

?

For more information on AECC please contact Sarah Coutts, PR & Marketing Executive on 01224 330430 or email scoutts@aecc.co.uk.

For more information on Offshore Wind and Supply Chain Conference please contact Rachelle Money, Communications Manager, Scottish Renewables on 0141 353 4983? or email? rachelle@scottishrenewables.com

?

Source: http://www.aecc.co.uk/2013/press-releases/offshore-wind-and-supply-chain-conference-exhibition-201/

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babubai: Pet Dental Care Tips ? Eagle Hardware Farm & Ranch

Pet Dental Care Tips

Yellow teeth and plaque buildup mean your pet needs a visit to the vet.

Chew on this?did you know that 8 out of every 10 pets over the age of three suffers from gum (periodontal) disease? ?Proper prevention and dental treatment is necessary, without it your pets can suffer from tooth decay, bleeding gums, tooth loss, and even internal organ damage.

February is National Pet Care Dental Month. ?Take the time to know the signs of oral disease in pets:

• Bad breath. ?Your pets breath will not smell great, but persistent bad breath is a sign that your pet needs a dental visit.
• Red, bleeding, swollen, or receding gums
• Yellow-brown plaque or tartar on your pets teeth
• Loose, infected for missing teeth

What can you do to prevent oral disease?

• Schedule annual wellness visits to your veterinarian, including dental visits and cleaning.
• If you groom your pet monthly, see if your groomer offers teeth cleanings! ?Many of them offer this service.
• Brush your pets teeth regularly! ?Pick up pet tooth brushes and tooth paste at your local pet store.
• Feed pet food that is specifically designed and formatted to for tartar control and plaque buildup.
  • Choose kibble over wet pet food. ?Kibble is better for their teeth
  • Avoid table scraps and human food. ?Often these foods get stuck in your pets teeth and gums

Keeping your pet healthy includes their teeth! ?Start you pet dental plan this month!

?

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 26th, 2013 at 9:42 am and is filed under News & Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://www.eaglehardwarefarmandranch.com/news-updates/pet-dental-care-tips-2013-01-3143

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Source: http://babubai29.blogspot.com/2013/01/pet-dental-care-tips-eagle-hardware.html

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Write With Spike

Hey Y?all,

My friend Amy Friedman?who wrote a terrific essay that appeared in Stricken, an anthology about grief that I co-edited-- has a new memoir out. Desperado?s Wife, about the time in her life when she was married to a man in prison for murder. You can get the book by visiting AmyFriedman.net, Pages A Bookstore in Manhattan Beach, California and on Amazon. Watch her website for an airdate announcement for her interview with Katie Couric. Below, Amy answers questions about her life and her book. SG: Hi Amy. Great to be back in touch. Will you start out by giving us a little background re: your writing career? AF: I began writing short stories when I was a teenager, inspired at first by a desire to give voice to a grandmother who had stopped speaking and whose story I wanted to know. And then I never stopped, though throughout my teens and 20s and into my 30s I was a devout fiction writer. I received my MFA in creative writing from City College of New York, worked for years as an editor and writer, and in 1985 moved to Kingston, Ontario, Canada where I happened upon a newspaper that was, at the time, a literary wonder. The Kingston Whig Standard had a beautiful Saturday magazine. I sent off a couple stories to the editor who invited me in for a talk and offered me a weekly column. That column is what turned me into a personal essayist and memoirist. Over the eight years I wrote Hard Lines, that column, I also published two memoirs and hundreds of stories and essays. I also began writing Tell Me a Story for The Whig, a newspaper feature of adaptations of myths, legends, folk and fairytales and within a year I was under contract with Universal Press Syndicate?to syndicate the column internationally. Twenty years later, I?m still writing that weekly column. I also teach personal essay and memoir in Los Angeles where I moved in 2002. SG: Your new book, Desperado's Wife, is a memoir about a time in your life when you met a prisoner who was behind bars for murder, married him, and what ensued. I'm guessing a question you are often asked is, "What were you thinking?" or "How could you marry a murderer?" Is that right? Will you give me a little laundry list of FAQs you get hit with and a couple of answers you perhaps have memorized by now? AF: Why is definitely the question, and it?s often followed by an eye roll or two. And quickly followed by the question: Did you ever get to sleep together? And how did you get past the fact that he had killed someone, were you afraid? The shortest answer is you have to read the book, which of course leads me to your next question?why I decided to write it. So I?ll take those two together. Will and I were married for 7 years, 5-1/2 of which he was in prison (I met him during his 7^th year inside); when he was paroled (and yes, even those who have been sentenced to murder receive parole?though less and less in the States), and the last 18 months of our marriage we lived together, but the marriage disintegrated when our strongest bond?the fight we were waging together to win his parole?was gone. He also did not cope well with the world when he was first released?he fell apart emotionally and that put a strain on our relationship?a strain that finally broke us apart. ?But he did not fall apart in the way most people imagine released prisoners do. The general image of a ?murderer? is someone who does nothing else?who moves through the world seeking to kill. When I was an official visitor (I first visited prison as a columnist so that I could learn about prison), and during the years Will and I were married, I came to know dozens of men serving time for murder. It?s important to understand that each of these people were individuals, each one with a story?bar fights gone awry, drug rivalries, accidents, drunk driving. Most of the stories involved drugs and/or alcohol. I did not meet any serial killers (though it is the women who marry psychopaths and serial killers that seems to me to inspire psychologists to write books about ?those prisoners wives.?) But Will and I fell in love the way people do outside?at first I was drawn to him because he was intelligent and when I asked him questions about prison, he was the person who gave me the answers that made most sense. For instance, the very first thing he told me was that if I wanted to understand prison, I ought to talk to prisoners? families because they understand prison and never did anything to hurt anyone. And so I began to talk to families. I also continued to talk to Will (and many other prisoners, guards and administrators) until one day a prison official told me I was welcome to continue visiting, that I was welcome to write stories about prison for the paper, but that I was NOT permitted to talk to one inmate. That inmate was Will. I was na?ve enough to think that the official had just given me valuable information?had told me that it was Will who was telling me the truth about prison. I ignored his instruction and continued talking to Will, at which point prison officials wrote a letter to my editor letting him know the prison was expelling me, refusing to allow me in. My editor who had always been my staunch supporter did not support me in my effort to fight for the right to keep visiting. The prison I later learned (by accessing their letter through the Privacy Commission Act) had accused me of inappropriate behavior (which was untrue)?I argued with my editor: This was, I said, Canada, a free country; prison officials could not decide who could and who could not investigate what went on behind those walls, who a writer could or could not talk to. Alas, at just that point in time the paper had been purchased by a large corporate syndicate and my editor, worried about his own job, turned his back on me. I?m rebellious by nature, and that literally pushed me into Will?s arms because once I was forbidden to visit prison, the only way I could continue going in was to sign on as a personal visitor. And I did. And soon after that, Will?s mother and children invited me to join them in what were known as Private Family Visits (colloquially conjugal or trailer visits). I applied to do so, but the warden (whom I had interviewed many times and knew well and with whom I had always gotten along) refused my request. He told us we could have a trailer visit in a year?if we ?behaved.? Will asked me to marry him?if we were married, the prison could not refuse us the visit. By that time I was so angry and alienated from those around me who were judging without knowledge and turning their backs on me, and I was so attracted to and engaged by and in love with Will, I quickly agreed. Again, that?s the snapshot. What followed were years of great difficulty because overnight after I married Will, I became, in the eyes of the prison system and of many outside, just as suspicious and subject to invasion of privacy as were all prisoners. All prisoners? wives, children, parents, sisters and brothers and friends suffer the humiliation of things like strip searches and long waiting lines and hostility and job loss and every other imaginable indignation. Indeed, the publisher canceled my column, friends turned their backs, for a while so did my family, a board of directors on which I had long served kicked me off its board, and I wound up in combat against prejudice and misunderstanding?the sort that I think inspires those eye rolls, and the question. That?s not to say I don?t understand why or how people ask, but one of the reasons I knew I had to write the book was to continue what I started out to do when I first visited prison?long before I met Will. That was to paint a picture of the world that is prison, to try to better understand and then describe in writing what happens to those impacted by prison, to write about what it is like trying to have a have a relationship against the odds. When the relationship collapsed, I collapsed for about a year. I knew I would have to write about it to find my way back to making sense of the story, of all the specifics of what happened. ? There?s another important piece to the book and that is that Desperado?s Wife is actually two love stories?the love story between me and Will, but maybe more important, the love story between his daughters and me. They were 14 and 8 when we met, and I helped to raise them for most of those years. And they are still two of the most important loves of my life. One of the reasons I wanted to write the book was to help to lift the mantle of shame from them, a mantle that is the result of others? lack of understanding and prejudice against anyone who loves a prisoner.

?SG: Has writing it been healing?

AF: Yes, but also painful. The book took ten years to write?because it started out filled with the fury I felt towards those who had turned their backs and full of the despair the divorce left me feeling. After several drafts of writing with an agenda of sorts (to prove prisoners wives are no different from other women who love someone), I realized I had to give up trying to prove anything. I decided to try to write the book as a novel from the point of view of a prisoner?s child?that way readers wouldn?t come to the book with a built-in question (how could you love him?) because everyone understands a child?s love for a parent (no matter how flawed that parent is). And after another three years of working on the novel, I finished it and a good friend and colleague read it and looked me in the eye and said, ?You do realize you have to write this as a memoir.? At first I wanted to punch him, but I knew he was right. I went back to the drawing board, back to beginning as if I were walking into prison for the first time, open and ready to learn what there was to learn, to find what there was to find. The journey led me to a deep understanding of how this story happened, to my realization that ever since childhood I?d longed to know what prison does to human beings in large measure because I am the daughter of a man who was a Jewish prisoner of War in World War II and granddaughter of a man who was a prisoner of War in Siberia in World War I. That is how I know that prison seeps deep under the skin not only of those who are imprisoned but of their loved ones, and future generations. SG: Where is your ex-husband-- does he know about the book? AF: He was released from prison in 1999, and he has remained out, living and working in Canada. There is no animosity between us, and though I haven?t consulted with him about the book. We did have a conversation a few years ago when an excerpt of the book was published in the NewYork Times Modern Love column,?and he found out about it and read it. I was worried?that?s why I hadn?t told him about it. I thought he would object to my telling this story. But in fact he called me and told me he fully supported me in anything I wrote, that he knew me to be a person of integrity, and he was confident that my writing would always reflect that integrity. SG: This is probably one of those stupid questions, since I know we should take life on a case-by-case basis, but if I told you that I was going to marry a prisoner, would you counsel me one way or the other, for/against? AF: Not stupid at all, but the answer has two parts. The first is yes, I would. In fact, a friend of mine has a daughter who is engaged to a man in prison, and I?ve been talking to her for months, trying to convince her to wait until he is released to marry him. But the counsel does not come in the form of ?he?s a loser, why would you do that?? or ?you?re throwing your life away.? Rather it?s that the life of a prisoner?s spouse is full of suspicion and hostility and loneliness and a kind of poverty of the soul. Part two: I know that my counsel and anyone else?s is likely useless. People in love do what they feel they need to do, what they must do. Love is powerful medicine, and I don?t think there?s a verbal antidote, and if you?re anything like me, if I counsel you for or against, you?ll rebel against my counsel. SG: What was your publishing process-- agent, NY publisher, etc? Or more DIY? Whichever it was, will you tell us the pitfalls and rewards you encountered? AF:?Ah publishing! For the last 10 years, ever since I moved back to the States, it?s been more or less the bane of my existence. I have an agent (my second in the last ten years), and both have loved the book and sent it out far and wide. The rejections have come mostly in this form: This is a fascinating story and beautifully written but it would not interest enough people. One editor even wrote, ?But there aren?t enough prisoners? wives to make this saleable.? But my agent convinced me she could keep at it. In the meantime, a producer at the Katie Couric show came to me?she?d read my piece in the New York Times and another excerpt in Salon and a third in your book, Stricken: 5,000 Stages of Grief, and she wanted me to appear on Katie to tell my story and feature the book, and I decided I would not appear on the show without a book. So I went the self-publishing route. The reward is I have a book between covers, the pitfall?because the book is self-published it is ineligible for all kinds of reviews and awards for which I wish it were eligible and the cost, of course?in terms of money and time invested in doing everything on my own?hiring my own editors, copyeditors, designers, and so on, and working with no publicist or machine behind me. But I?ve reached out for reviews and so far these have been more positive than I could have dreamed?most people have told me that once they picked up the book they couldn?t put it down?and I think it?s opened some eyes, and hearts. That?s my hope. And of course it would be nice to make back the investment ? And meantime my agent has the self-published version out for consideration too. We shall see. SG: How's the marketing going? My experience is that it's pretty tough out there to get noticed. On the other hand, I really am pleased that, as a self-publisher this time around-- I got to write exactly what I wanted. But the marketing can be a bit exhausting. Agreed? AF:?Absolutely agreed. I?ve gone this route before with a series of CD Audiobooks I?ve produced from Tell Me a Story, and when I put those out into the world, I developed a schedule which was this: For three years, each day I wrote one letter to someone?to librarians, to reviewers, to bloggers, to schools, to churches, to women?s groups. And now, six years since the release of the first CD, I do nothing and the CDs continue to sell?not gangbusters but it?s always amazing to me, and I sell at least one CD or story each day to someone somewhere. I thought to do that with this book, but in some ways I?d prefer now to put that energy into writing the next book. That?s why people like you, and interviews like this, are blessings. I?m scheduled to do a radio interview with KPFK (Experience Talks) in early February. But you?re absolutely right. Making this book be and say precisely what I wanted it to be and say is, ultimately, what matters. And that it exists has left me with the energy to begin to put prison behind me. SG: Working on another big project now?? AF: Slowly, slowly bringing myself back into an old novel I first wrote when I was in graduate school, and ?I have another book recently completed that?s coming out in September. This is with St. Martin?s Press, it?s a co-authored memoir with Anne Willan. In other words, I?m the ?ghost? (I?ve ghosted several books, though for this one I have an author credit). Anne is a well-known cooking teacher and author of 30 books who had a famous cooking school in Paris, and the book?s called One Souffle at a Time, and I love her and the story and the book?and it couldn?t be more different from Desperado?s Wife. Her story is one of travel, adventure, food, life in a chateau in Burgundy?very little darkness, lots of light, and Anne?s amazing recipes, too. SG: What else would you like to tell me? AF: Without you and Stricken, I don?t know that I would have ever finished Desperado?s Wife. The writing and the efforts to entice editors was such a slog until the day your co-author, Katherine Tanney, called to tell me you and she had submitted my excerpt to Dan Jones at Modern Love and that he wanted to run a portion of my piece. That opportunity seriously turned everything around for me, first because at the time so many editors were telling me no one cared about the story of a prisoner?s wife, and then because Dan cared so deeply, and afterwards because the feedback was oceanic, and 95% was positive. So I honestly feel that without you and Katherine on my side, I might not have made the long trek to publication.

And this: That 95% of prisoners get out of prison eventually, and families of prisoners are the single best hope that that release will end up being positive and nurturing. And as Will told me on the first day we met, prisoners? families understand prison, and they never did anything wrong. Before I was a prisoner?s wife, I thought all those women (wives, moms, daughters, sisters) standing at the bus stop outside the prison waiting to go home were probably smuggling drugs or knives. Ninety-nine percent of them not only aren?t smuggling knives and guns and drugs, they?re only trying to hold tight to their love, despite the burden of sorrows.

Source: http://writewithspike.blogspot.com/2013/01/normal.html

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Proceed with caution | European CEO

As a new era of regulation dawns, Raffi Festekjian, CEO of the Finance, Risk and Compliance unit for Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, explores a more integrated approach to risk management

Across the globe, financial institutions are rethinking and implementing new approaches to risk management; setting up committees and unifying financial, compliance and operational risks in order to establish an enterprise-wide risk management culture across the institution. Breaking down silos and understanding the complex relationship between all types of risk (both financial and non-financial) will aid in identifying programme gaps and in doing so, limit exposure across the firm.

Establishing an enterprise perspective
Risks are considered warranted when they are understandable, measurable, controllable and within an organisation?s capacity to readily withstand adverse results. Sound risk management practices enable them to take risks knowingly, reduce risks where appropriate and strive to prepare for a future, which by its nature cannot be predicted with absolute certainty.

The economic and regulatory pressures driving the financial services market today have created more explicit mandates to manage risk across the enterprise. These include those driven by Basel II & III; which aim to ensure that credit, market and operational risks are quantified, and strengthen the capital adequacy requirements of banks; Solvency II, which harmonised EU insurance regulation aims to ensure capital adequacy of insurance firms; and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which supports the synchronisation of accounting standards globally.

These mandates underscore that risk management cannot be practised effectively in silos. As a result, integrated risk management is becoming a de facto practice for many organisations. It promotes a continuous, proactive and systematic process to understand, manage and communicate risk from an enterprise perspective in a cohesive and consistent manner. It is about supporting strategic decision making that contributes to the achievement of overall objectives. It requires an ongoing assessment of risks at every level and in every sector of the organisation, aggregating these results at the corporate level, communicating them and ensuring adequate monitoring and review. Integrated risk management involves the use of these aggregated results to inform decision-making and business practices within the organisation.

Integrated data management
An integrated approach to risk management has produced a clear convergence between risk and finance regulatory frameworks such as the IFRS. Examples include the accounting reform to move from an incurred loss model to a forward-looking model of provisioning, and the harmonisation of the definition of the regulatory capital components.

The complexity and effort associated with new risk management requirements are steadily increasing. For example, the onset of Basel III is setting off an avalanche of data, results, reports and documentation, which will need to be managed by firms around the world. On top of this comes an intensified level of detail as well as increased frequency and volume of data that needs to be disclosed, thus multiplying the need for resources within institutions who are dedicated to analysing and processing the necessary information.

Being unaware of compounded risks created in multiple data systems, across business units can substantially alter a firm?s risk profile, leaving them exposed to greater market, credit, regulatory and even reputational risk than anticipated. What?s needed is a more accurate understanding of net exposure ? not only the risks produced by market dynamics, but also the significant and often hidden risks and offsetting positions inside your operations. In this context the introduction of an integrated risk management concept is generally considered as a major step towards optimised overall risk control.

However, to meet the regulatory challenges of the future with an integrated risk approach, firms have to equip themselves well. Not just with core capital buffer and adapted risk appetite, but particularly with a financial information architecture that creates consistent and precise data, which is managed end-to-end and overcomes the traditional silos.

Optimising risk and performance
The current environment creates an inflection point and challenges financial organisations to look at their latest systems and data from an increasingly holistic point of view. These are what I would refer to as transformative opportunities for global financial institutions to optimise risk and performance across all levels of their organisation.

A single source for the data, if it?s a clean set of data, creates a golden opportunity. With it, you can bring together, in a single application environment, the tools organisations need to manage, measure, and report all financial activities. This includes financial, IAS/IFRS and multi-GAAP accounting, management reporting information, risk and capital management, and compliance.

Aggregated, normalised data is critical, but it is not enough in today?s environment of constant regulatory change and dynamic competitive environment. It needs to be married to the financial service-specific content so that the data output, the information derived from that single source of data, is set in the context of the opportunity or obligation an organisation is trying to address. This critical, actionable intelligence helps organisations make the right performance, risk and business decisions. Quickly.

Transformational opportunity
This is a unique opportunity for financial organisations that creates a strong competitive advantage for organisations. Whether its regulatory reports for a specific country, performance metrics that drive investment and capital allocation, or calculations to ensure compliance with capital requirements of Basel III, firms can manage regulatory obligations more efficiently, manage risk and performance holistically, but most importantly of all, make the best decisions possible in an incredibly dynamic environment.

It is clear that the current high-risk environment provides a unique transformational opportunity for firms with the vision and ambition to grasp it. To take advantage of this opportunity organisations need a partner that can help them. Whether complying with regulatory requirements, addressing a single key risk, or working toward a holistic risk and performance management strategy, more than 15,000 financial services customers worldwide count on the knowledge, technology and consulting services provided by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services for a comprehensive and dynamic view of finance, risk management and compliance.

For further information visit www.wolterskluwerfs.com

Source: http://www.europeanceo.com/finance/2013/01/proceed-with-caution/

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Cosmetic Dentistry ? Blog Archive ? Improved Self Confidence ...

26 Jan 2013

Posted by admin

A smile makeover may be the best cosmetic change a person can make in himself or herself. Smile makeovers have the potential to transform a person?s entire body image because our smiles are so personal and make such powerful statements about our personalities and livelihoods.

If You Don?t Like Your Smile, You Won?t Smile
It will likely come as no surprise that a person?s self esteem is often inseparably linked to the quality of his or her smile. When two people meet for the first time, the smile is one of the first things noticed by either party. The eye is drawn to a smile because the mouth is one of the most expressive features of the human face. People with poor smiles caused by damaged, discoloured, or missing teeth are often less likely to participate in social activities, less likely to excel in work or school, and even less likely to develop meaningful relationships with other people. With all the advances made in modern dentistry, it isn?t necessary any longer for people to cope with the smiles they?ve been given. A smile makeover in London can dramatically transform one?s appearance, thereby improving self esteem and self image.

What Can Pendragon Do For Your Smile?
The customers who visit Pendragon Health in London often ask what the dental technicians and medical professionals can do to improve their smiles. The answer, of course, is that the opportunities for smile improvement are endless when customers are treated by physicians with the knowledge, experience, and equipment that the dentists at Pendragon have. There are hundreds of different types of cosmetic dentistry procedures that customers can use to improve their smiles.

The smile makeover cost is often the one thing that consumers have trouble with. However, customers are often surprised to find that the costs are much lower than what they expected. This is why Pendragon offers free consultations to prospective customers. Those who want a dramatic smile makeover in Holborn can come in and have questions answered, so they will know precisely what to expect during and after a surgical dental procedure.

Source: http://www.pendragonhealth.co.uk/blog/improved-self-confidence-linked-to-smile-makeover/

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401k Gold Investing Fundamentals | Liberty

Gold coins have become the right commodity to involve in the retirement program as well as your Individual Retirement Accounts as they have the highest long-term benefit. In the classes of investments that are utilized for retirement plans, gold IRAs are the most versatile.

Financial assets like bonds depend upon others? results and may vary with time but gold?s worth isn?t at the mercy of human error. This will make a gold Individual Retirement Account the best option for all types of retirement plans.

DeGaulle, previous French president, claimed that gold is without any national biases and it is recognized around the world as a commodity having constant price that stays unchanged. It demonstrates gold IRA to be the right vehicle for retirement programs. Real gold assets make the perfect solution for personal savings.

Gold Individual Retirement Account lessens instability for an individual?s retirement account. From older days, gold has constantly moved in the other direction as compared with stocks. So, it?s related negatively to those funds and has better price as compared to them in the stock market.

As said before, gold IRA investing is a great decision to make for a person?s retirement. It can let you preserve the worth of your dollars in the future. If you want to know more, check out Gold IRA

This entry was posted in Careers on January 26, 2013 by admin.

Source: http://dwiminneapolis.com/careers/401k-gold-investing-fundamentals/

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Car Insurance Michael Crabtree Jersey Guidelines Everyone ...

Number of View: 43

As fun as planning for anything happening Michael Crabtree Jersey to your vehicle may seem, it is actually a crucial explanation to get started on buying your car insurance now, even when you use a plan previously. Yet another thing is price ranges fall a good deal, so that you can have far better protection for a greater selling price. These tips beneath can assist you start looking.

Theft of your own motor vehicle aspects in when insurance providers calculate your premium. For those who have an auto security alarm or system set up on your vehicles, you might are in position to drastically lower your superior since these protect against theft and aide within the recovery of taken autos, making you less of an accountability.

In case you are striving to reduce your car insurance plan, you might want to consider investing in a diverse vehicle one that is known as far better to generate and has some additional safety measures. Having these two stuff Michael Crabtree Jersey will make it less likely that one thing bad will occur for your auto, that will reduce your insurance premiums.

Purchase automobile insurance from the internet. Some companies will charge you much less if you apply on-line as there is much less over head concerned. The process is also computerized, so the organization does not have to pay for as much to get your details processed. This means 5-10 % cost savings to suit your needs.

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Source: http://naalokam.com/archives/6421

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Health insurance law debate heats up with GOP praise, Democratic ...

AUGUSTA, Maine ? Lawmakers traded barbs Friday on a 2011 health insurance reform law that Republicans praise for leading to lower premiums in the individual and small-group markets, but Democrats deride for allowing insurers to raise rates without scrutiny.

Democrats made the health insurance reform law a central theme during the 2012 campaign season that ended with them recapturing legislative majorities in both the House and Senate. Now that lawmakers are back at the State House, Democrats already have introduced two bills that target key elements of the law.

Meanwhile, Republicans this week celebrated a new analysis from the state Bureau of Insurance that shows a growing percentage of customers renewing their small-group policies have seen premiums drop since the health insurance reform law passed.

?Some of my Democratic colleagues have said they want to change the law, but in light of the numbers we?re beginning to see as the reform takes effect, we need to be careful about altering this new reform before its potential benefits have been realized,? Rep. Joyce Fitzpatrick of Houlton, the ranking Republican on the Legislature?s Insurance and Financial Services Committee, said in a statement.

The insurance overhaul bill ? called Public Law, or PL, 90 ? was an attempt to spur more competition in Maine?s health insurance market by making it easier for insurers to offer new plans for small groups and individuals, and by allowing small businesses to band together and negotiate more favorable rates.

The bill also created a high-risk pool ? or reinsurance program ? to protect insurance companies from the high costs of covering patients who require the most medical care. The law funds the program in part through a $4 assessment on the monthly premium of anyone with private insurance.

In addition, the law allows insurers to charge different rates based on patients? age, geography and health status. Proponents say that part of the bill is an attempt to woo more young, healthy patients into the marketplace by allowing insurers to charge them less.

Eventually, the law will allow insurers to market plans certified in other states to Maine consumers.

Democrats have said the law does away with important consumer protections and has disproportionately caused premium increases among small businesses in rural areas.

One provision targeted by the two Democratic bills allows insurance companies to raise rates in the small-group market ? which includes small employers with 50 or fewer employees ? by 10 percent or less without approval from the state?s Bureau of Insurance. Before the law passed, the Bureau of Insurance had to sign off on all rate increases for small group and individual policies.

Rep. Adam Goode of Bangor and Sen. John Patrick of Rumford, both Democrats, have proposed separate bills that restore that rate-review provision. Goode?s bill also requires that the administrative body that oversees the high-risk pool conduct its proceedings in public.

?We shouldn?t give insurance companies the freedom to raise premiums without publicly justifying why those increases are necessary,? Goode said in a prepared statement. ?This bill will ensure that the superintendent uses available tools to bring transparency and accountability to the process and stop any unnecessary rate hikes.?

Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa on Thursday presented the new analysis on premium changes in the small-group insurance market to the Legislature?s Insurance and Financial Services Committee.

Some 17.5 percent of small groups renewing their policies in the last quarter of 2012 saw their premiums decrease, the data showed, compared to 2.9 percent that saw lower premiums two years earlier, before the insurance reform took effect. The number of small groups renewing their policies dropped by 13.4 percent during the two-year period.

The data also showed a 40 percent increase between 2011 and 2012 in the number of individual policies sold by insurers.

A similar analysis prepared by the Bureau of Insurance in September 2012 showed that the small groups seeing their premiums increase more than 40 percent were more likely to be in northern and eastern Maine than in southern Maine regions.

But the analysis presented Thursday showed those geographic differences starting to subside.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/25/news/state/health-insurance-law-debate-heats-up-with-gop-praise-democratic-bills-to-change-it/

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Republican Chambliss says retiring from Senate because of gridlock

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia announced on Friday he will not seek a third term in 2014, saying he was fed up with the partisan gridlock in Congress that has left the country lurching from one fiscal crisis to another.

Targeted by the conservative Tea Party movement for backing a year-end deal that raised taxes on the wealthy, Chambliss was one of the few Republicans willing to work with Democrats on a debt reduction plan.

Chambliss, 69, who earlier served in the House of Representatives, stressed that he was not retiring because he feared more conservative Republicans would try to unseat him in the primary election.

"This is about frustration, both at a lack of leadership from the White House and at the dearth of meaningful action from Congress, especially on issues that are the foundation of our nation's economic health," Chambliss said in a statement.

During December's negotiations to avoid the New Year's Day austerity measures known as the "fiscal cliff," Chambliss rebelled against anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist and said he was open to President Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes on the wealthy.

He was criticized by fellow conservatives, who have signed Norquist's "taxpayer protection pledge." But Chambliss said he cared "more about this country" than he did about a 20-year-old pledge.

Congress eventually passed a last-minute deal that extended tax breaks for all Americans except families earning more than $450,000 per year.

But conservative activists were irate with lawmakers for raising taxes without cutting spending and started looking for replacements for Chambliss and other Republicans who backed the deal.

No Republican challenger to Chambliss had yet announced for the Georgia primary, but U.S. Representatives Tom Price and Paul Broun are seen as potential candidates.

On Friday, Broun's office in a statement said he was considering running for the Senate. A spokeswoman for Price had no immediate comment.

A spokesman for Newt Gingrich said the former Republican presidential candidate from Georgia would not run in the 2014 Senate race. Herman Cain, another former Republican presidential candidate from the state, could not be reached for comment.

Democrats said Georgia now offered their party one of the best pick-up opportunities. "There are already several reports of the potential for a divisive primary that will push Republicans to the extreme right," the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said in a statement.

Chambliss is a member of the so-called Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group of senators working for deficit reduction that has so far failed to come up with a viable plan.

"Sadly, I don't see the legislative gridlock and partisan posturing improving any time soon," Chambliss said, citing the 2011 debt ceiling impasse and the fiscal cliff battle as "Congress at its worst."

(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/georgia-republican-senator-chambliss-retire-aide-160756662--business.html

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Bill filed in Miss. seeks to nullify federal laws

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) ? Mississippi defied the union during the Civil War and civil rights era, and at least two lawmakers think it is time to do so again.

Republican state Reps. Gary Chism and Jeff Smith, both of Columbus, filed a bill this month to form the Joint Legislative Committee on the Neutralization of Federal Laws.

Chism said Thursday that the tea party-backed measure is a response to President Barack Obama's federal health care overhaul and proposals to curb gun violence.

"Certainly, the Obamacare started this," Chism told The Associated Press, referring to the health care plan, "but then gun show loopholes that the president wanted after Newtown really put an exclamation on that ? that we need to do something to stand up for the Tenth Amendment."

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says powers not specifically reserved for the federal government are reserved for the states.

House Constitution Committee Chairman Scott DeLano, R-Biloxi, said the bill has a good chance of being debated and that he has heard from other lawmakers who support it.

But Mississippi College constitutional law professor Matt Steffey said the measure is a waste of time because federal law trumps state law when the two are in conflict.

"It is hard to imagine a less productive use of time by key legislative officials than to pursue that which they have no power to pursue," Steffey said.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant last week asked legislators to block enforcement of "any unconstitutional order" from Obama regarding guns.

Mississippi has resisted federal laws as far back as the Civil War and during the civil rights era. During the 1950s and '60s, a state agency called the Sovereignty Commission spied on people believed to be sympathetic to racial equality. The agency was dismantled in the late 1970s.

Some critics compare the proposal by Chism and Smith to an attempt to rekindle the Sovereignty Commission.

"It's absolutely the most horrendous idea that has ever come before this august body," said Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville. "It's awful. It is wrongheaded. It is anti-New Testament. It is political fodder for the right and borderline stupid."

Rep. Kelvin Buck, D-Holly Springs, a member of the Legislative Black Caucus, said he sees the bill as part of a trend of defiance toward federal authority. "I think much of it is because we have an African-American president," Buck said.

"I think it is outrageous," Buck said. "In my view, it is taking us back to the pre-civil rights era."

Chism said the bill is not an attempt to roll back civil rights advances. He also said it is not an attempt to revive the Sovereignty Commission.

"That was an ugly past," he said. "It ain't got nothing to do with that."

Smith did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The Central Mississippi Tea Party said in a news release in December that it wants state lawmakers this year to "re-establish limited federal involvement in Mississippi."

____

Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bill-filed-miss-seeks-nullify-federal-laws-014736791.html

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U.S. business urges Obama pursue new trade negotiating power

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading U.S. business group urged President Barack Obama on Thursday to build on trade successes of the past two years by seeking legislation that would allow him to submit trade deals to Congress for straight up-or-down votes without amendments.

"I think the message to the president and the administration is: It's time to engage the business community and Congress in discussions about Trade Promotion Authority," Myron Brilliant, senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told reporters at a briefing on the group's 2013 trade priorities.

Congress last passed a Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA, bill in 2002 and that was after a bitter fight in the U.S. House of Representatives. Only 25 of approximately 210 House Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the legislation, reflecting the strong opposition of the AFL-CIO labor federation and others on the left who associate trade agreements with job losses.

The legislation, by barring amendments to trade agreements, has been considered essential to encouraging other countries to make their best offers in talks with the United States.

It also gives Congress the opportunity to set negotiating objectives for the White House in areas such as labor, environment, agriculture and intellectual property rights.

The law expired in June 2007 and Obama has never asked for a renewal, to the frustration of many Republicans and some Democrats who favor an activist U.S. trade agenda.

Even so, his administration has been negotiating a proposed regional free trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership with 10 other countries. It also is widely expected to launch talks with the 27-nation European Union this year.

Brilliant argued the White House needs TPA to complete the talks on both those initiatives and others such as a proposed International Services Agreement.

Both U.S. Senator Max Baucus, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Representative David Camp, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, have identified renewal of Trade Promotion Authority as one of their top priorities this year.

But the White House, which is in the midst of finding new leaders for both the U.S. Trade Representative's office and the Commerce Department, has not sent a clear signal that it is ready to push for the legislation.

"The administration recognizes trade promotion authority as an important tool to support trade policy. During this administration, USTR has consulted closely with Congress on trade issues. We will continue to do so on the range of issues, including TPA, as appropriate," an administration official said.

Republican President George W. Bush used the 2002 legislation to negotiate trade deals with Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru and Singapore.

Congress passed the last of those trade deals - the Colombia, Panama and South Korea pacts - on broadly bipartisan votes in 2011 after the Obama administration negotiated a number of changes to address Democratic concerns.

During a period of gridlock on other issues, Republicans and Democrats also came together last year to renew the charter of the U.S. Export-Import Bank and approve "permanent" normal trade relations with former Cold War foe Russia.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials said that track record makes them optimistic of bipartisan support in Congress for Trade Promotion Authority if Obama makes it a priority.

But they also acknowledge the somewhat "abstract" legislation is harder to sell to many Democrats than a specific agreement with tangible trade benefits.

(Reporting By Doug Palmer; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-urges-obama-pursue-trade-negotiating-power-212517812.html

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