Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Ex-wrestler says 'heel' kicked him in bid to win (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - A former professional wrestler is suing his opponent and the Indiana-based promoter who arranged their bout last year, claiming his foe was supposed to lose their match but had other ideas and kicked him so hard in the crotch that one of his testicles ruptured and had to be removed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120229/ap_en_tv/us_pro_wrestler_injured_lawsuit

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

G20 finance chiefs against big three rating agencies power. ? RT

G20 finance chiefs against big three rating agencies power. (Reuters / Chris Helgren)

The Finance Ministers of the G20 want to curb the influence of the ratings agencies. Fitch, Standard and Poor?s, and Moody?s have all been criticised over the year for their unregulated power.

The G20?s Financial Stability Board which recommends changes to the global financial system is looking at ways to reduce the weight ratings agencies have on investment decisions.

It wants to see a regulator controlling the rating agencies. ?It was suggested, that the objectivity of rating agencies should be definitely controlled? explains Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

Meeting in Mexico the G20 Finance Ministers have put a deadline of November this year to come up with a proposal. Russian Vice-Finance Minister says recommendations previously suggested by the FSB haven?t been implemented.

?The great desire to move forward in this direction faced numerous technical problems due to the existing infrastructure of the financial markets, where rating agencies play a significant role?, Sergey Storchak , Vice-Finance Minister of Russia said after the G20 meeting.

Rating agencies have been around the block influencing the decisions of investors, that there are doubts how the finance world would function without their opinion.

The statement from the G20 Ministers says, ?We have tasked the FSB to coordinate, with the IMF and World Bank, a study to identify the extent to which the agreed regulatory reforms may have unintended consequences for EMDEs( emerging markets and developing economies?.

Meanwhile European as well Asian officials have long criticized the agencies, especially those based in the United States. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called for the creation of an independent European rating agency. "It is time for Europe to prove capable of facing up to the credit ratings agencies," Mr Westerwelle said.

While the head of China's leading ratings agency, Dagong Global Credit, Guan Jianzhong called for the creation of a global credit rating system with uniform standards.

Source: http://rt.com/business/news/rating-agencies-pressure-293/

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Monday, February 27, 2012

Rangers star Josh Hamilton: 'My loyalty is here'

Texas Rangers left fielder Josh Hamilton throws during spring training baseball, Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Texas Rangers left fielder Josh Hamilton throws during spring training baseball, Friday, Feb. 24, 2012, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton speaks to reporters before the baseball team's practice at their facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Friday, Feb. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron T. Ennis) MAGS OUT

Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton speaks to reporters before the baseball team's practice at their facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Friday, Feb. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron T. Ennis) MAGS OUT

Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton speaks to reporters before the baseball team's practice at their facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Friday, Feb. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron T. Ennis) MAGS OUT

(AP) ? When it comes to the Texas Rangers, star Josh Hamilton wants to make this clear: "My loyalty is here."

A couple days after his comments led some to wonder about his future, the former AL MVP clarified his remarks Sunday. Hamilton is eligible for free agency after this season.

"If it does go to free agency, the first place I'm coming is here," Hamilton said. "If I owe anything, it is that."

Hamilton has helped the Rangers win two straight AL pennants. His agent and Rangers recently put off talks on a new deal after Hamilton had a relapse with alcohol. The outfielder has been troubled by drugs and alcohol throughout his professional career.

On Friday, Hamilton said: "The Rangers have done a lot for me, but I've got a question for y'all: Have I done a lot for the Rangers? I think I've given them everything I've had."

"I love Texas. I love my fans. I love fans of the Rangers. I love the organization. I love my teammates. I love everything about it," he said then. "But I'm not going to sit here and say that I owe the Rangers. I don't feel like I owe the Rangers."

On Sunday, Hamilton left no doubt about where he wants to play.

"This is where I've been. This is where my family's been, so obviously I would love to stay here more than anywhere else. First of all, they get a chance to do what they need to do to keep me here," he said.

Hamilton was the 2010 AL MVP, leading the league with a .359 batting average and .633 slugging percentage while hitting 32 home runs. He hit .298 with 25 home runs last year in an injury-interrupted season.

If there are contract talks once the Rangers get past opening day, Hamilton said agent Mike Moye would handle them.

"If it's during the season, I'm not going to know about them because I've asked not to know about them," Hamilton said. "I trust my agent. He's not just my agent, but a close friend and mentor of mine, somebody I go to for advice and I really trust. I leave that up to him. I just say call me when there is something worth talking about.

"I'm just going to leave it up to him. If they approach him and he feels like it is something to go forward with, I'll leave it up to him. It's not going to be something I'm focusing on, concentrating on," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-02-26-BBA-Rangers-Hamilton/id-397b6232958a4b99999dfef5add8f3d5

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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Afghanistan demands NATO put Koran-burners on trial (Reuters)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters - Afghanistan wants NATO to put on public trial those who burned copies of the Koran at a NATO base, President Hamid Karzai's office said on Thursday, after a third day of bloody protests over the incident.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120223/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_korans

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It: Ancient Computers in Use Today ...

It?s easy t? wax nostalgic ?b??t ??? technology?t? remember fondly ??r first Apple IIe ?r marvel ?t t?? ??? mainframes t??t ran ?? punched cards. B?t ?? one ?? t???r r???t mind w???? ??? those outdated, underpowered dinosaurs t? r?? a contemporary business, ??t alone a modern weapons system, r???t? Wr???! Tags:? Technology Hardware

Link:
If It Ain?t Br?k?, Don?t Fix It: Ancient Computers ?? U?? Today

Source: http://bluefootmedia.com/if-it-aint-broke-dont-fix-it-ancient-computers-in-use-today-37451.html/

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Google Forward Fashion Online Shopping | Good Info - Article ...


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By: Himfr Oreitta
Submitted: 2012-02-19 03:36:06 | Word Count: 1062

Google new personalized clothing shopping site Boutiques.com on November 17 was launched, quickly became the focus of the industry. Internet search giant Google is able to fashion brands and retailers more and more networking opportunities?

Many fashion designers, celebrities and fashion have become Boutiques.com of the first fashion boutique owner. Like.com one of the founders and director of product management at Google, said Munjal Shah, "Some celebrities and fashion bloggers who are actively involved at their own expense, while others are invited to participate in Google." These include the "Sex and the City" actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Star Sister Katie Holmes, and with the same name brand designers, including Oscar De La Renta, Tory Burch, Cynthia Rowley, Marchesa, Isaac Mizrahi, Tracy Reese, and Erin Fetherston; and fashion British Chinese bloggers, including the influx of people Susie Bubble, high heels girl Jane Alridge and so on.

[ advertisement ]


And Google itself does not sell any merchandise, the website through a hyperlink to the user by clicking the retailers website or other sellers to purchase the site. Anyone can set up here and share their personalized clothing shop, as long as the choice of a good fashion style, site layout, brand and products.

Technology and style go hand in hand

From a technical perspective, Boutiques.com basis from August this year, Google acquired a visual search engine Like.com relevant skills and experience, combined with inherited Google search and Google some of the features shopping, website more stylish design features to the viewer to bring more upscale, personalized Web boutiques.

Google is currently no clear Boutiques.com of the charges, but certainly will be the amount of the user to click and transfer fee to the merchant. The user will be linked to the website to which businesses depend on their personal fashion style of choice, take the initiative to visit or search results.

Although the network itself is not involved in the sale of goods, but Google has a similar pay PayPal's shopping platform, called Google Checkout, the platform also supporting mobile phone software.

Google said in a press release, "the way people buy fashion apparel and purchase the camera is entirely different. For fashion, the product reviews and specifications is not very important, the key is to meet personal tastes in proper. Boutiques.com use computer vision technology combined with its intelligent learning for automatic analysis of the user's tastes, and find the user might like commodities. "

Peter Arnold is the president of Cynthia Rowley, who also recently opened a shop on Boutiques.com. Arnold said, "With the behavioral marketing model together with Google's own powerful resources, Boutiques.com fashion for the user's online shopping experience great changes."

"We need to rethink the whole online shopping process," Munjal Shah example Pandora music site explains, "Pandora is based on the music have the same preferences with the user to select other users to play music off." To help users understand their own style of dress, the site offers a quiz called Stylyzer. Different styles include classic, fashion, street, romantic, bohemian, trendy or casual. Sellers can choose products and colors, styles and patterns. Web site users based on similar tastes in fashion and the site selected visual search technology to automatically recommend shop and new products. Celebrity merchandise store will automatically update in the sold out prompting the user have been sold out. Web site also "times", which is often users search for the goods will automatically become hot product introductions to other customers.

Currently in development Boutiques.com with YouTube and Google for more cooperation. But specifically, how standards have not been released, but if the site in Google search for "fashion" when the top-ranking related information, it will bring mass access to the Boutiques.com. In any case, Shah said, "He hits and visits must be amazing, which is why everyone wants to participate in the fashion of our owner."

Fashion online shopping platform for all kinds of competition

Fashion community and fashion Polyvore ShopStyle search engines also offer a similar service. They are the two largest non-Internet retail fashion Web site, according to Google Analytics data, which has about 1.6 million monthly visits. And the same with the Boutiques.com is that they allow the user to collect the photos from the entire Internet, to share and hyperlinks to other Web sites to make a purchase.

In addition to online shopping and fashion and some in the Facebook and MySpace pages on the fashion game, as Zynga company out of "Fashion Wars" and the Sugar Company that the "Retail Therapy", the game players responsible for the operation and management a virtual fashion boutiques, the player's virtual goods store by clicking on the link to the corresponding site on the kind of brand purchase.

With large network of Google traffic, no doubt this new fashion Web site has potential beyond the current best competitors.

As early as in the U.S. mobile business market, stand her ground in the eBay recently fashion items are in full swing to enhance e-commerce services. eBay created a one-stop shopping site eBay Fashion, LookBook street fashion show site, and FashionVault discount designer clothing site, but also for the Narcisco Rodriguez, Norma Kamali, and Derek Lam number of exclusive brands such as Monopoly series.

When asked why there is confidence in the online shopping industry giant eBay than to do better, Shah threatened, "because it is Google, eBay is not more attractive than you? Does eBay have long to explore this area, they have many partners also tried various different paths. But Google has the world - from YouTube to Gmail. Google with eBay are two very different platforms. "

Boutiques.com also with some major fashion sites such as Lookbook.nu and the Polyvore community together. "It will only bring more business opportunities," Polyvore vice president of product management, said Jess Lee. "Technology industry giant Google to join the fashion industry, fashion show in the network is very optimistic about the prospects, but also confirms what we have been walking in the right direction."

Through exposure on the Boutiques.com, brands and retailers in the shop will have a chance to win a greater number of visits, and thus hopefully stimulate their sales. It also allows online shop offers games and other entertainment facilities with the method, which is before their own can not provide the network platform.

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Source: http://www.goodinfohome.com/Art/761890/274/Google-Forward-Fashion-Online-Shopping.html

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Monday, February 20, 2012

Planning For A Trip? Hire A Travel Planner

A Travel Planner is a who blueprints travels and holiday escapes if you are based on the targeted requires on the client. If you wish to become a travel planner you?re using the services of customers to know their demands plus while using travel suppliers to think of the very best appropriate travel bundle for your client.

Why a Travel Planner becomes necessary?
The necessity of a travel planner arises as a normal travel agent struggles to offer personalized expert services to clients. A general travel agent blends with numerous consumers each day as against your own travel planner who works with a lesser number of clients. Second, a travel agent?s employment would be to make certain that the seats and resorts are reserved to the trip around the specified dates whereas a travel planner?s task is to fully grasp client?s preferences, prices, interests etc.

and offer acceptable solutions.

Travel Planning Business Requirements
To get started on your personal travel planner company you will end up recommended to have:

* A telephone
* A laptop with Internet connectivity and a printer
* Understanding of utilizing travel sites for instance Kayak.com, Expedia.com and Priceline.com
* Usage of take a trip guidebooks and maps, often online or hard copies
* Web exploring skills to see info on places and foibles for visiting a place
* An itinerary format you will be filling out and printing to give to clients

Operations
Being a travel planner your current day-to-day operations will involve dealing with consumers who definitely have asked for on your service. You are usually necesary to check out client?s office or home to the achieving to learn their demands, if telephonic conversation is not satisfactory.

You will be on the lookout for the top flight citation prices, hotels relating to your client?s liking and spending budget and information regarding the locations that you purchaser should check out. Once you?ve finished your analysis, you will end up compiling all the alternatives and may show your client. This might need another trip to your client?s home or office.
You ought to preserve primary balances to help keep track of your wages and expenses.

Marketing
You can easlily publish a commercial in newspapers and propagate flyers in your locality. Some freelance job boards including elance.com and odesk.com also carry these kinds of requirements to help you to contact the buyers there. The biggest marketing device for travel planning are the clients who are pleased with the services. Ask them to refer new clients to you and you can, in turn, give them discounts on their next travel plan.

Upfront Cost to Start
You will be primarily spending on purchasing a computer and printer if you don?t have one. Apart from that the main expenditure might be on advertising and promoting your company.

Pricing
The prices to your services will be based on the hours required to complete the research. You also need to add the price tag on telephone calls, visits to client?s place (fuel and time).

Regulatory and Insurance Requirements

There are no regulatory or insurance requirements therefore to work as a travel planner.

The author like to travel to different places either for business, or just a relaxing vacation. Likes to read books and magazines and collects them as well.

Source: http://www.1directory.net/travel-and-leisure/planning-for-a-trip-hire-a-travel-planner-6025.html

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Friday, February 17, 2012

Directory Of Home Improvement Tools | chaliceantiques.com

Power tools are a piece of daily life, especially for worksmen, and accidents will and do come to pass often. They provide progressive ideas, suggestions for redecorating according to your finances. Some drywall, a drywall cutting knife, belt sander reviews and identical paint will work. Because of this you have to be sure you have a minimum of one hammer if not two before even thinking about any project. Both of these kinds are important resources, which you should have in the house at all instances. Galco holsters are usually placed on your hip to guide you carry the hammers wherever you have to go.

According for you to Joe Newland, Black & Decker?s products manager for open-air products. Check your tools once in a while for exposed electric, loose plug hooks or damaged attaches. DIY is prefer building or mending something, that is, without the allow of professionals or simply experts. The ladder is among the most basic home improvement tools utilized for reaching areas of work if you end up vertically challenged. There are rental stores you can get your supplies of them tools from. Regardless, the following post on tools will assist you chose the biggest tools for redesigning projects.

When you are thinking about a home progression plan, analyze how a great deal water your family uses. It includes info like dimensions, materials etc. A must in your home improvement toolbox is a electrical tools required for wiring jobs. There may be a great many other things that might prove to be needed depending about the specifics or an customizing style of shed which you may want. But, basic could frequently turn into for a longer period turnover. However the general consensus in the marketplace is one involving caution. They are every important and aren?t going to be listed in any order worth addressing because no one thing is highly recommended more important when compared with any other if you think about the whole mission.

Let?s converse simple hand tools and what exactly you need versus what you would imagine you need. These tools are extremely easy and straightforward to work with, handy and low priced. Some of the various tools you would require would include reputable goggles, a good set of two ear protection, masks, drills and baseball gloves. Don?t leave nails protruding, bend them through or pull these people. A gallon from primer normally features about 175 rectangle feet of wall surface area since a greater percentage from it is absorbed towards the wall.

To make your bathrooms a truly restful space, you can always give a steam shower, a body medical spa, or a comfortable bathtub where one can soak for hours and also the tensions within the day to flow faraway from you. You can invest in a cordless drill for making it easier to hold it around for you or try the one that plugs into your all. Also be sure that you will be thoroughly familiar along with how each tool really works before you abandon. Therefore, when considering home improvement you will have goggles, ear protectors and masks to begin on. If you lack all these essential tools, you can find them at your localized hardware store. The first time you must cut something or need some pliers or quite a few such thing you can expect to wish like crazy you needed listened to myself.

Source: http://www.chaliceantiques.com/2012/02/16/directory-of-home-improvement-tools/

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Black hole came from a shredded galaxy

ScienceDaily (Feb. 15, 2012) ? Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found a cluster of young, blue stars encircling the first intermediate-mass black hole ever discovered. The presence of the star cluster suggests that the black hole was once at the core of a now-disintegrated dwarf galaxy. The discovery of the black hole and the star cluster has important implications for understanding the evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies.

"For the first time, we have evidence on the environment, and thus the origin, of this middle-weight black hole," said Mathieu Servillat, who worked at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics when this research was conducted.

Astronomers know how massive stars collapse to form stellar-mass black holes (which weigh about 10 times the mass of our sun), but it's not clear how supermassive black holes (like the four million solar-mass monster at the center of the Milky Way) form in the cores of galaxies. One idea is that supermassive black holes may build up through the merger of smaller, intermediate-mass black holes weighing hundreds to thousands of suns.

Lead author Sean Farrell, of the Sydney Institute for Astronomy in Australia, discovered this unusual black hole in 2009 using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope. Known as HLX-1 (Hyper-Luminous X-ray source 1), the black hole weighs in at 20,000 solar masses and lies towards the edge of the galaxy ESO 243-49, which is 290 million light-years from Earth.

Farrell and his team then observed HLX-1 simultaneously with NASA's Swift observatory in X-ray and Hubble in near-infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths. The intensity and the color of the light shows a cluster of young stars, 250 light-years across, encircling the black hole. Hubble can't resolve the stars individually because the suspected cluster is too far away. The brightness and color are consistent with other clusters of young stars seen in other galaxies.

Farrell's team detected blue light from hot gas in the accretion disk swirling around the black hole. However, they also detected red light produced by much cooler gas, which would most likely come from stars. Computer models suggested the presence of a young, massive cluster of stars encircling the black hole.

"What we can definitely say with our Hubble data is that we require both emission from an accretion disk and emission from a stellar population to explain the colors we see," said Farrell.

Such young clusters of stars are commonly seen in nearby galaxies, but not outside the flattened starry disk, as found with HLX-1. The best explanation is that the HLX-1 black hole was the central black hole in a dwarf galaxy. The larger host galaxy then captured the dwarf. Most of the dwarf's stars were stripped away through the collision between the galaxies. At the same time, new young stars were formed in the encounter. The interaction that compressed the gas around the black hole also triggered star formation.

Farrell and Servillat found that the star cluster must be less than 200 million years old. This means that the bulk of the stars were formed following the dwarf's collision with the larger galaxy. The age of the stars tells how long ago the two galaxies crashed into each other.

The future of the black hole is uncertain at this stage. It depends on its trajectory, which is currently unknown. It's possible the black hole may spiral in to the center of the big galaxy and eventually merge with the supermassive black hole there. Alternately, the black hole could settle into a stable orbit around the galaxy. Either way, it's likely to fade away in X-rays as it depletes its supply of gas.

"This black hole is unique in that it's the only intermediate-mass black hole we've found so far. Its rarity suggests that these black holes are only visible for a short time," said Servillat.

More observations are planned this year to track the history of the interaction between the two galaxies.

The new findings are being published in the February 15 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. S. Farrell, M. Servillat, J. Pforr, T. Maccarone, C. Knigge, O. Godet, C. Maraston, N. Webb, D. Barret, A. Gosling, R. Belmont, K. Wiersema. A Young Massive Stellar Population Around the Intermediate Mass Black Hole ESO 243-49 HLX-1. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2012 (in press) [link]

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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215123945.htm

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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Whitney Houston's Greatest Videos

'How Will I Know,' 'The Greatest Love of All' among Houston's most iconic videos.
By Gil Kaufman


Whitney Houston in her "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" video
Photo: Arista Records

Long before Lady Gaga rolled around nearly naked in viscous goo, Rihanna showed off her S&M fetish, Christina squeezed into leather peek-a-boo chaps or Nicki Minaj dressed up like a male fantasy Barbie, Whitney Houston proved you could make a fuss without making a spectacle.

The legendary R&B singer, who died Saturday at age 48 after reportedly consuming prescription drugs and alcohol on the eve of the 54th annual Grammy Awards, became one of the most important artists of the early music-video era by taking the road less traveled.

While such fellow trailblazers as Michael Jackson and Madonna created video fantasy worlds full of monsters, gangsters, street-fighting men and naughty brides, Houston mostly skipped the drama and stood front and center in her most iconic clips doing the thing that she did best: singing her heart out.

With her model-worthy looks and luminous smile, Houston knew exactly how to telegraph her charm through the TV — and later on the big screen in "The Bodyguard" and three other starring roles — which may explain why most of her most notable videos involve just a bit of perfunctory storyline and focus on her performance.

Here are some of our favorite Houston video moments:

"I Will Always Love You": Is it even possible to come up with a concept for a clip that could match the grandeur and emotional heft of the breakout single from "The Bodyguard" soundtrack? It is, and smartly, that big idea was to focus on an elegantly suited up, forlorn-looking Houston sitting in an empty theater and staring into the distance as she watched clips from the movie scroll by. Houston blasted into the song's towering finale via a quick zoom to her face, eyes closed, and then popping open as she hit the money note. How bad was Houston? She perfectly delivered the titanically tear-jerking drama of the song without ever once getting up from her chair.

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)": Whitney did ballads like nobody's business, but she also knew how to throw down, as she did in the "Dance" video, the first single from her second album, Whitney. Dressed in a body-hugging purple dress, towering curly wig and colorful dangly earrings, Houston again focused on singing directly into the camera while a series of dancers showed off their moves in wide-shot cutaways. When it was Houston's time to shine, though, the camera pulled in close to capture that sparkle in her eye and that 1,000-watt beam as she changed through a series of going-to-the-club outfits and mostly shimmied adorably in place.

"How Will I Know": The third single from Houston's debut album was the one that changed everything. The clip helped introduce the singer to a wider audience when it became one of the first videos by a black female singer to earn heavy rotation on MTV. The concept was simple: Whitney in another of her trusty big hair bows and sexy minidresses sang right at the lens while dancers high-kicked and sashayed through a rainbow-paint-splashed maze of a set. All Houston had to do was walk, sing and smile and the rest was history. We're still not sure, though, what was up with that dude in the half-suit, half-wedding dress.

"Greatest Love of All": The final single released from Houston's debut album helped cement the M.O. for the classic Whitney video. Standing on yet another stage in an empty theater, Houston, wearing one of her beloved leather jackets, belts the big ballad with vigor as stage hands work around her, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the star of the show is crushing it right in front of them. While there appears to be some backstory involving Houston making her stage debut as a child, once Whit changes into that beaded white dress and matching chunky earrings to do her slinky saunter to center stage for the big finale ... forget about it.

"I'm Your Baby Tonight": The title track from Houston's third album, released in 1990, is what passed for a high-concept clip from the singer. Dressed in a white suit, with matching bowler and cane, Houston hip-swayed through a Cotton Club-type nightspot before transporting into a Manhattan penthouse. She walked through another mirror into a third scene where she was all three members of a Supremes-style girl group and finally ended up in a beatnik club, her haired pulled back as she rocked chopped bangs. As always, the focus was on images of Houston lip-synching the song's lyrics with attitude as the camera lingered on her luminous skin and smile.

Share your condolences with Whitney's family and friends on our Facebook page.

Related Videos Related Photos

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679194/whitney-houston-greatest-videos.jhtml

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

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Ariz. bill could ban teachers from cursing

By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com

Cussing in Arizona public schools could cost teachers their jobs if a bill sponsored by a group of five Republican lawmakers is passed.

The bill would require teachers to limit their speech to language compliant with Federal Communications Commission regulations on what can be said on TV or radio.

Sen. Lori Klein, R-Anthem, is the main sponsor of Senate Bill 1467, which establishes a three strikes penalty system for anyone teaching in a public school who violates the FCC standards.


Msnbc.com could not reach Sen. Klein on Monday, either by phone or email. Klein told azcentral.com the bill stems from constituent complaints about teachers in local high schools using ?inappropriate language? in front of students.

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"Students are young and impressionable and teachers should not be using four-letter words in the classroom," Klein said.

FCC regulations limit obscene, indecent and profane speech, and have defined profanity as ?including language so grossly offensive to members of the public who actually hear it as to amount to a nuisance.?

Penalties would range from a one-week suspension without compensation for a first offense to being fired for a third offense.

According to the bill, a school may even fire a teacher after the first or second occurrence. The bill applies to any public pre-school program, K-12 school, vocational education program, community college or university in Arizona.

?That is really problematic,? David Hudson of the First Amendment Center told msnbc.com. There are ?serious First Amendment problems with it, serious academic freedom violations.?

Hudson said the bill is ?ridiculously overbroad,? ?unnecessary? and ?unconstitutional.? The bill would limit teachers? language wherever they are, whether in the classroom or the teachers? lounge.

?I would be stunned if that bill passes,? he said.

Hudson said that controlling the language in classrooms should be the schools? responsibility. He is not aware of similar sets of regulations elsewhere in the United States.

The Senate Education Committee has not yet scheduled a hearing for the bill.

Profanity is not always protected under the First Amendment, and public schools have vast discretion in controlling what type of language can be spoken on school grounds.

In the 1986 case of Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, the Bethel School District in Spanaway, Wash., suspended 17-year-old Matthew Fraser for two days after what was deemed a lewd spring election campaign speech at a school assembly with 600 students present. His candidate won.

The courts held that the delivery of the speech in front of an engaged audience was disruptive and contrary to the values the school intended to promote. Hudson said this case is sometimes used as a precedent in dealing with public school teachers using profane language in classrooms.

Chief Justice Warren Burger delivered the opinion of the Court: ?The undoubted freedom to advocate unpopular and controversial views in schools and classrooms must be balanced against the society's countervailing interest in teaching students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior.?

The Arizona Education Association could not be reached for comment.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/13/10399473-ariz-bill-aims-to-make-teachers-speech-comply-with-fcc-rules

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Friday, February 10, 2012

New Festival for Foodies - Scotland Food and Drink

Dumfries and Galloway is set to become a May Day Bank Holiday destination for food lovers with the help of a new event to encourage foodie tourists to visit the region.

Date:

Fri, 10 Feb 2012

Source:

The Galloway Gazette

Developed by Savour the Flavours of Dumfries and Galloway, ?Flavour Taster? will be a four-day celebration of Dumfries and Galloway food and drink, a bite sized version of the autumnal ?Flavour Fortnight? event, taking place from 4th ? 7th May 2012 says the Galloway Gazette.

?Flavour Taster? has been developed by Savour the Flavours to capitalise on the success of Flavour Fortnight and the growing interest across the UK in local and artisan food and drink.

Liz Ramsay, Project Manager of Savour the Flavours, said: ?Flavour Taster gives us an opportunity to put quality local food and drink right at the heart of the tourism experience in Dumfries and Galloway. We have some truly world class products in this region, as well as inspirational people in the industry who are happy to share their passion with visitors to Dumfries and Galloway. The success of Flavour Fortnight in becoming one of Scotland?s biggest food festivals in just two years is a testament to the creativity and the enthusiasm of the industry here.

?Our hope is that Flavour Taster will help introduce foodies to Dumfries and Galloway and encourage visitors who are already here to discover the flavours of our region, and we hope it will encourage more visitors to return for longer breaks in the autumn to enjoy ?Flavour Fortnight?.?

?Savour the Flavours? is funded by LEADER and Dumfries and Galloway Council, and the council have provided extra funding for ?Flavour Taster? through the South of Scotland Business Competitive Project, a new European funded project that supports local businesses and promotes economic growth.

news of the new food festival comes hot on the heels of the announcement from Scottish Enterprise that tourism businesses and event organisers in Scotland have experienced an eight per cent increase in turnover and seven per cent increase in sales per visitor over the last 12 months thanks to a new national food and drink project, called Experiencing Scotland.

The Experiencing Scotland project, which is funded and delivered by Scottish Enterprise, was developed in October 2010 to encourage tourism businesses to work in partnership with food and drink producers to get more local Scottish produce onto their menus.

More Information

The Galloway Gazette

Flavour Fortnight

Source: http://www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org/news/article-info/3415/new-festival-for-foodies.aspx

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QUIZ: How Well Do You Know Jennifer Aniston?

As America's sweetheart turns 43 on Feb. 11, test your knowledge on her life, loves and career throughout the years!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/jennifer-aniston-trivia-quiz/1-b-425601?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Ajennifer-aniston-trivia-quiz-425601

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Thursday, February 9, 2012

After doubts grow, a regime backer flees Syria

In this Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 photo, 3-year-old Ali al-Yousef, left, son of Syrian defector Younes al-Yousef sit in their apartment in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Yousef worked as a cameraman for a pro-regime TV station early in the uprising against President Bashar Assad but lost faith in government claims that the protesters were armed gangs and terrorists. He fled Syria and is now waiting in Cairo for Assad's regime to fall. The flags, background, represent the Syrian revolutionary flag. (AP Photo/Ben Hubbard)

In this Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 photo, 3-year-old Ali al-Yousef, left, son of Syrian defector Younes al-Yousef sit in their apartment in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Yousef worked as a cameraman for a pro-regime TV station early in the uprising against President Bashar Assad but lost faith in government claims that the protesters were armed gangs and terrorists. He fled Syria and is now waiting in Cairo for Assad's regime to fall. The flags, background, represent the Syrian revolutionary flag. (AP Photo/Ben Hubbard)

In a Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 photo, Syrian defector Younes al-Yousef speaks during an interview at his apartment in Cairo, Egypt. Al-Yousef worked as a cameraman for a pro-regime TV station early in the uprising against President Bashar Assad but lost faith in government claims that the protesters were armed gangs and terrorists. He fled Syria and is now waiting in Cairo for Assad's regime to fall. The flag, background, represents the Syrian revolutionary flag. (AP Photo/Ben Hubbard)

(AP) ? Younes al-Yousef rarely goes outside in Cairo, fearful that even here someone will recognize him and word will get back to Damascus. He stays in a simple, rented apartment with his wife and children, smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee and watching TV for the latest from the homeland he fled, Syria.

Al-Yousef is waiting for the fall of a regime that he once believed in. He served as a cog in its machine, as a cameraman for a pro-government television station that showed Syrians "the reality" of the uprising.

"I was a supporter and I benefited from the regime, I can't deny it," the 35-year-old told The Associated Press in an interview in his apartment. "I tell you the truth, I was with the regime heart and soul."

But he said that as he watched security forces blast towns where protesters took to the streets to demand the ouster of President Bashar Assad, he could no longer believe the line he was helping bring to the public, that "terrorists" were tearing apart the country.

He expressed his doubts to a colleague. Then, fearing retaliation, he packed up his family and fled the country.

Al-Yousef's account of his experiences could not be independently confirmed, given the chaos in Syria and the limitations put on journalists by the government.

But his story gives a glimpse into how the regime has used one of its most powerful tools on the home front, the media, to keep the broader public on its side as it faces the greatest internal challenge in 40 years of rule by the Assad family.

Since protests began in March, the government has insisted they were not a popular uprising like those that toppled dictators in Tunisia and Egypt but the work of terrorists and armed groups in a foreign-backed plot to tear Syria apart. For Syrians watching the influential pro-regime media, this has been the cause of the daily bloodshed.

The message resonates among Syrians who have been taught for years that the Assads' secular, nationalist rule is what keeps the country together. There is particularly fear among minorities ? the Alawites, a Shiite Muslim offshoot, and Christians ? that Sunni Muslim fundamentalists will take over and retaliate against them. Even among the Sunni majority, which has been the backbone of the uprising, some fear the country will be torn apart if Assad goes.

Al-Yousef says he never had any reason to doubt the government's version.

Before the uprising, he had a store selling camera equipment in Kfar Takharim, a town amid hills of olive groves in the northwestern province of Idlib, near the Turkish border. He did video work, filming weddings. He had good relationships with local officers in the security apparatus, a necessity for anyone trying to get ahead.

He occasionally did video work for the Dunya satellite TV station, which is majority owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Assad and one of Syria's wealthiest men. His work for the station alongside its local Idlib correspondent picked up when the uprising began.

He said he would see demonstrations in the area but wouldn't film them because he knew the channel didn't want that. The protests were put down by security forces with tear gas and clubs.

It wasn't until May that he encountered shootings. There was a giant demonstration in the city of Idlib, the provincial capital, and al-Yousef said he heard gunfire and saw ambulances wailing by. Later, locals told him security forces had killed a dozen people.

"It was understood that those people are saboteurs, terrorists," he said. "That was our idea about them, and the journalist or correspondent was like a security officer in his relationship with the security services and the army."

As time went on, the protests grew larger and more frequent. Al-Yousef said that when he and the Dunya correspondent would hear about a planned demonstration, they would show up early to film it when only a few dozen people had arrived and use that footage even if it grew larger later on.

Then came the siege of Jisr el-Shughour, a town just over the hills from the Turkish border that in June rose up and virtually drove out regime police. Several dozen soldiers and police joined protesters in the town, the first significant instance of armed defectors siding with the uprising. Regime forces responded with a heavy siege.

The days of heavy fighting that lasted until the regime retook the town gave the small-town wedding videographer his first real look at such violence. It rattled him.

"People got killed and I saw dead bodies. I wasn't used to that. So I started wondering how that happened," he said.

At one point, he entered the town to get some of his relatives out. He found it nearly empty of people, but intact. A few days later, the security services brought him in to film. He found destruction everywhere.

"The city was a wasteland, stores had been burnt and smashed," he said. He asked a security officer what happened. The officer said gunmen and terrorists had attacked the town. "We believed what he said."

But his suspicions grew. Each time he was taken into town, he would film pro-regime "residents" ? mostly brought in from outside town. When the security forces took him to film mass graves they said were full of people killed by the terrorists, al-Yousef was convinced that they were faked ? saying he recognized bodies that were dug twice out of different locations.

"This is when I started thinking about a conspiracy. I hadn't seen any gunmen or terrorists and I was hearing army officers tell me that we came here because of gunmen and terrorists," he said. "So where is the conspiracy that you kept telling us about, the big conspiracy against Syria?"

In August, he decided that he couldn't go on with the job. He told the Dunya correspondent; they argued and parted ways. He soon heard that the correspondent told the authorities he was helping the terrorists.

On Sept. 2, he took his wife, Fatima, and two kids, aged 2 and 3, across the border to Turkey. They left so fast they barely carried more than the clothes they were wearing.

While in Turkey, a security official he knew back home contacted him and tried to coax him back, saying nothing would happen to him. He didn't believe him. Twice, Syrians he didn't know in Turkey tried to meet him. He shunned them, fearing they would kidnap him.

He moved on to Cairo in late October, and he says the efforts to get him back to Syria have continued. He said he frequently receives phone calls from Syrians who want to meet him. One recently said he had brought him money from his brother, but his brother had never heard of the man, al-Yousef said.

"If the want to get me, they'll get me. It's an issue of revenge now," he said.

With his savings running out, he struggles to pay rent with support his family sends him.

He thinks about Syria all the time, he said. He's convinced Assad will eventually fall.

"Before, we had no one in Syria who dared to call for freedom," he said. "The people will not go back. It's impossible for them to go back."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-02-08-ML-Syria-Fleeing-the-Regime/id-23f0fc48988141f4b5a221653b3bab73

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Solitaire Blitz Coming Early March | Video Game News & Reviews ...

Posted by Tom Rippon on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 ? Leave a Comment?

PopCap Games announce their upcoming Facebook exclusive game, Solitaire Blitz, along with a teaser trailer and screenshots.

PopCap Games, one of the most well-known and successful casual game developers, have today announced their upcoming release, Solitaire Blitz which is coming soon, exclusively to Facebook users.

Solitaire Blitz is an aquatic themed card game that will also have social features, allowing players to take on their friends via Facebook. Although it is currently slated for a beta mode to begin soon, PopCap have indicated that it should be available for all Facebook users by the beginning of March.

Based on the familiar card game, Solitaire, Solitaire Blitz aims to make the experience far more casual and social by pitting players against one another in a fast-paced environment. The game is being displayed today at press events in Europe and North America, but Facebook users will have to wait until March to see the game in its complete state.

See the teaser trailer for Solitaire Blitz below, followed by screenshots.

Source: http://bnbgaming.com/2012/02/07/solitaire-blitz-teaser-trailer/

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Opening A Hair Salon Business | Be Smart | Marketing Tools | Salon ...

:? Be Smart

Initial Research

It is important to know what is required of you, your money and time when opening a hair salon business. ?Preparing a plan of action is the single most important thing to do when starting a business.

Many entrepreneurs and salon business owners believe that being a jack of all trades will make your business successful. ?Unfortunately, it?s just the opposite. Being prepared and using your level of discernment will first and foremost save you from a lot of business mishaps and glitches.

Knowing your target audience and defining it can be very tricky if you have not completed your research. Unfortunately, what you think your business should offer does not necessarily define your audience or dictate what they will want.

If your business is a hair salon, you don?t want to target just anyone with hair. ?You need to be more specific. How do you expect your marketing to be effective if you don?t even know who you are targeting?

Let?s take for ?example. ?Hair dressers, similar to general contractors, have a specialty ? one type of service they are exceptional at. If it is hair coloring, hair cutting, extensions, etc ? clarifying this specialty will aid you in targeting your future prospective clientele.

Are you using your greatest stylists? ability and assets to focus and bring in your target customer?

Relationship Building Marketing Strategies

Your business plan should include in its marketing plan an area for customer service. ?Planning to provide good customer service is strategic and is a great relationship builder for the future.

Be sure to keep records of your services and clients the same as patients in the hospital. They will really feel good about the fact that you know their preferences, hairstyles and services they want. But, you need to ask every once in awhile if there are any changes.

In addition, a marketing plan should be important to every salon business owner. You need to plan every step to avoid making as many mistakes as possible. When you plan ahead it gives you the opportunity to look forward instead of backwards. ?You can consistently budget your marketing calendar based on revenue collected and expenses.

A piece of advice I?d like to share with you in regards to opening a hair salon business is ? KNOW YOUR WORTH and know that you are not cheap! People need salons just as much as we need them as clients.

Many of your prospective clients need salons to be able to unwind and have the opportunity to feel good about themselves. With an increase of women in the workforce the need for hair and beauty services increase. ?The sound of the phone ringing for makeovers and pampering is just the thing we love to hear. It feels good, to look good. You can laugh at your salon worries if you follow this simple plan!

To Your Success,

Natalie

Source: http://salonbusinessmarketingtools.com/sales-marketing/opening-a-hair-salon-business-be-smart/

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Monday, February 6, 2012

After UN veto, US floats coalition on Syria (AP)

BEIRUT ? The United States proposed an international coalition to support Syria's opposition Sunday after Russia and China blocked a U.N. attempt to end nearly 11 months of bloodshed, raising fears that violence will escalate. Rebel soldiers said force was now the only way to oust President Bashar Assad, while the regime vowed to press its military crackdown.

The threat of both sides turning to greater force after Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution raises the potential for Syria's turmoil to move into even a more dangerous new phase that could degenerate into outright civil war.

The uprising inspired by other Arab Spring revolts began in March with peaceful protests against Assad's regime, sparking a fierce crackdown by government forces. Soldiers who defected to join the uprising later began to protect protesters from attacks. In recent months, the rebel soldiers, known as the Free Syrian Army, have grown bolder, attacking regime troops and trying to establish control in pro-opposition areas. That has brought a heavier government response.

More than 5,400 people have been killed since March, according to the U.N., and now regime opponents fear that Assad will be emboldened by the feeling he is protected by his top ally Moscow and unleash even greater violence to crush protesters. If the opposition turns overtly to armed resistance, the result could be a dramatic increase in bloodshed.

At least 30 civilians were killed Sunday, including five children and a woman who was hit by a bullet while standing on her balcony as troops fired on protesters in a Damascus suburb, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group.

Government forces firing mortars and heavy machine guns also battered the mountain town of Zabadani, north of Damascus, a significant opposition stronghold that fell under rebel control late last month. Bombardment the past two days has wounded dozens and forced scores of families to flee, an activist in the town said.

"The situation is terrifying. Makeshift hospitals are full," said the activist, who only gave his first name, Fares, for fear of government reprisal. He said the town has been under siege for the past five days and there is a shortage of food and heating fuel during the cold winter.

The commander of the Free Syrian Army told The Associated Press that, after the vetoes at the U.N., "there is no other road" except military action to topple Assad.

"We consider that Syria is occupied by a criminal gang and we must liberate the country from this gang," Col. Riad al-Asaad said, speaking by telephone from Turkey. "This regime does not understand the language of politics. It only understands the language of force."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned that chances for "a brutal civil war" would increase as Syrians under attack from their government move to defend themselves, unless international steps provide another way.

Speaking to reporters in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, she called the double veto at the U.N. Security Council on Saturday "a travesty."

"Faced with a neutered Security Council, we have to redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations," she said, calling for "friends of democratic Syria" to unite "support the Syrian people's right to have a better future."

The call points to the formation of a formal group of like-minded nations to coordinate assistance to the Syrian opposition, similar but not identical to the Contact Group on Libya, which oversaw international help for opponents of the late deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. In the case of Libya, the group also coordinated NATO military operations to protect Libyan civilians, something that is not envisioned in Syria.

U.S. officials said an alliance would work to further squeeze the Assad regime by stepping up sanctions against it, bringing disparate Syrian opposition groups inside and outside the country together, providing humanitarian relief for embattled Syrian communities and working to prevent an escalation of violence by monitoring arms sales.

The main Syrian opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council, backed the idea.

Radwan Ziadeh, a prominent figure in the SNC, wrote on his Facebook page that friendly countries should form an "international coalition ... whose aim will be to lead international moves to support the revolution through political and economic aid."

A deeply sensitive question is whether such a coalition would back the Free Syrian Army. There appears to be deep hesitation among Western countries, fearing further militarization of the conflict.

Omar Idlibi, an activist with the Syrian National Council, said action by a "friends coalition" to increase sanctions and other steps would boost peaceful opposition through protests.

But, he said, it should also include support to the FSA, which he said would prevent civilians from taking up arms, worsening the conflict.

The FSA, he said, "is a national Syrian army and as the regime has the right to get help from its Russian and Iranian allies, it is the right of the opposition to ask for help from its friends in enabling the Syrian people to achieve change."

The FSA, based in neighboring Turkey, is believed to number several thousand soldiers and it almost daily announces claims of groups of soldiers joining its ranks that cannot be confirmed. It is heavily outgunned by the powerful regime military, which still has the power to conduct focused operations that can drive the rebels out of any areas they gain control of.

But the military cannot cover everywhere at once, and FSA troops appear to be proving effective at hit-and-run attacks and have put up staunch resistance in assaults on opposition-dominated urban areas.

On Sunday, rebel soldiers attacked a military convoy in the northwestern province of Idlib, killing 14 government troops, the Observatory said, reporting that 14 other regime soldiers were killed in fighting elsewhere.

Early Saturday, regime forces bombarded the restive central city of Homs, apparently in response to FSA attacks. Activists said the bombardment was the deadliest incident of the uprising, killing more than 200 people in a single day. The regime denied any bombardment, and there was no way to independently confirm the toll.

Gunfire continued to ring out Sunday in several neighborhoods of Homs, and at least 23 people were killed in the city and nearby towns, including three children, the Observatory said. Grisly video posted by activists online showed a young boy said to have been wounded in the shooting, his jaw torn away. The video and the Observatory's casualty reports could not be independently confirmed.

The Russian and Chinese vetoes effectively killed an Arab League plan that called for Assad to hand over power to his vice president and allow the creation of a unity government. The resolution would have expressed support for the Arab League plan, which Assad rejected.

The Syrian government touted the U.N. result as a victory.

The state-run newspaper, Tishreen, vowed that Damascus will press its crackdown aiming to restore "stability and security and confront all forms of terrorism." The regime has portrayed the uprising as the work of terrorists and armed gangs as part of a foreign conspiracy.

Hundreds of regime supporters rallied in a Damascus square, waving Russian and Chinese flags in gratitude for blocking the resolution.

"Thanks Russia, thanks China for undermining the Western conspiracy against our country," said Nibal Hmeid, a 24-year-old teacher at the rally. She said Assad should now settle the situation "decisively and militarily against those armed criminals."

____

AP correspondent Matthew Lee reported from Sofia, Bulgaria. AP correspondent Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120205/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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