Don't Start A Home Improvement Project Without This Advice ...

Are you looking for a home improvement that costs almost nothing but adds both curb appeal and value to your home? Enhance your landscape by forming rock walls. The large rocks can be gathered for free. There are several online sites that give instructions on how to form garden paths and stately flowers beds with rock slabs.

If your home has an appliance that burns gas, oil, coal, or wood, you should install a carbon monoxide detector. These detectors are very simple to install, and they can help to save your family?s life if there is a leak of this colorless, odorless gas in your home. Be sure to change the batteries twice yearly.

Don?t underestimate your home-improvement project. Before you get started, put all the necessary steps into a project plan. Estimate for more time than you think the project will take. Then have someone else give you a second opinion on your project plan to make sure you did not leave any steps out.

Cover your door knobs, hinges and other hardware with petroleum jelly before painting. It is an easy way to insure they don?t get covered in paint. All you have to do when you are finished painting is use a soft cotton cloth to wipe the petroleum jelly from the surfaces of the hardware.

One of the critical elements to doing any home improvement is to have the proper materials and equipment to do the job. Before starting any home improvement project, it would be a good idea to read about it some and figure out what is going to be needed to complete it. Another great resource is asking questions at the local home improvement store, they also sometimes offer classes on basics of home improvement.

When considering doing some home improvements, think about the time that the new appliances you are purchasing will last. A new refrigerator should last a minimum of twenty years, while a washer and dryer only has a life span of a little more than half that. So choose your appliance wisely when doing any remodeling project.

One of the easiest ways to improve your heating and air condition system is to clean the air vents. You know the air vents are dirty when they look black. Dust the vents thoroughly. Check the vents occasionally because if they turn black quickly, there may be a bigger problem.

Make up a cabinet plan before placing the order. Be sure to consider where your appliances are going to go and where the hook ups and plumbing run. Also, remember where the electrical outlets are located around the kitchen. These things are very important when it comes time to do the install.

Before beginning home improvements apply for the appropriate building permits. Any home improvement that involves plumbing, electricity, or structural changes can require a permit. Check your local laws. If you proceed without a permit then you can be fined or it could make the house harder to sell in the future.

When you are looking to renovate a number of rooms in your home, or balance multiple projects simultaneously, it is best to have a plan for each area. All you have to do is look at your written plan to see the next step that you need to take. This way you will still be on track, even if you jump from improvement to improvement.

These are just a few of the ways home improvement projects can be kept under control and ultimately beneficial to your home market value. Whether you learn a better way to do a project you already have in mind or get an idea for a whole new home improvement job, studying the subject always pays off.

Lewis Pocklington produces e-books on Read More Here

Source: http://ibuzzs.com/health-fitness/dont-start-a-home-improvement-project-without-this-advice/

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Ice Cream Sandwich now available for everyone with a Droid RAZR/RAZR MAXX

Who needs push when you've got pull? The Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Motorola Droid RAZR and RAZR MAXX has been trickling out for a week or so now. But today it's available to anyone with those devices. Just hit the menu button, choose Settings>About and get your ICS on.

And while you're at it, be sure to check out our preview of what you'll be getting in the update.

More: Droid RAZR forums; RAZR MAXX forums

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/FkWsn1BVQd4/story01.htm

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Jennifer Weiner on Social Media, Blogging & Writing About ...

Women?s fiction writer Jennifer Weiner always seems to have a story to share. She has wielded her pen to write ten books, speak out about gender balance in The New York Times? fiction coverage and live-tweet episodes of The Bachelor.

Drawing from the experiences of?working as the executive producer/screenwriter on the ABC Family TV show State of Georgia, Weiner (pictured) presents her latest novel The Next Best Thing. It features dramatic characters, a Hollywood dream and an inside look into the?Los Angeles show business culture.

We caught up with Weiner to pick her brain for social media tips, advice on connecting with readers on her blog and how to write about controversial issues.?The highlights follow below?

Q: Do you have any tips on how writers can use social media to connect with readers?
A: (1) Be yourself. I know that sounds trite, but that?s really the only thing I can tell you that will help. Don?t try to sound like Colson Whitehead or Neil Gaiman or Judy Blume; just be yourself.
(2) Talk to readers! Thank them for reading your books, re-tweet observations they make.
(3) Make connections. One of the joys of social media has been that it?s given me ?people? again ? a virtual water cooler where I can hang out and discuss The Bachelor, or the book I can?t wait to read this fall (Jami Attenberg?s The Middlesteins, in case you were wondering).
(4) Pay attention. Look at the authors who are doing it well, and figure out what?s making it work. How often do they tweet? What?s it about?
(5) Finally, give. Give recommendations, tell jokes, talk about a great new restaurant you found or recipe you tried.

Q: How should authors use their blogs? Is it all about promoting the book? Where do you draw the line on sharing personal life details?
A: Obviously, there?s a promotional element to any kind of social-media presence an author has but it should NEVER be just, ?Hi! It?s me! Buy my book!? You have to give people something of value, whether it?s your funny take on reality TV, or recipes, or stories about your life, or your family vacation, or your garden whatever. If all you?re doing is shilling, not only will you not sell your book, you will actually and actively drive readers away.

I?m really lucky. Before I was a novelist, I was a journalist. I loved writing every day, and I loved the immediacy of the interaction that newspapers provided. When you had something to say, you could say it in the paper, the very next day, whereas with novels, any smart observations had to wait until the next book came out. Social media gives me that immediacy, that chance to talk to people again, and comment on the issues of the day when they happen, not weeks or months or years later.

That being said, every writer has to decide for herself where the line is about her personal life. I have very consciously decided that there are just places I won?t go: no pictures of my kids or my house, no talk about my personal life. I?ll tell the occasional anecdote about one of my daughters, or my incredibly cute and unbelievably gassy dog Moochie, but that?s it. I don?t check in on Foursquare, I don?t tweet about pouring my morning coffee, and I don?t post pictures of my kids holding copies of my books.

For me, what feels best is talking about what I?m watching, and what I?m reading. I love reading a great book ? Liz Moore?s Heft and Jillian Medoff?s I Couldn?t Love You More or Sarah Pekkanen?s These Girls ? and then using social media to tell the world about them. Every writer has to find what feels best for her, then go with it and if all of social media feels awful, then just stay away (even if your publisher tells you that you need to). Readers can smell insincerity and obligation. They know when you?re just tweeting because your editor told you to tweet. Better silence than that kind of forced engagement.

Q: You tackle a lot of controversial subjects in your novels from society?s views on female obesity to philandering politicians to female fertility/childbearing in the 21st century; what?s the best way to tackle a controversial subject when writing your stories?
A: I don?t want to write message books, where readers come away feeling like they?ve spent four hundred pages being whomped over the head with my beliefs. But I want to write stories that engage with the way we live now, which means a certain amount of topicality. My advice is, characters first, issues second. If you?ve built a hero or a heroine who is interesting enough for readers to want to spend hours in his or her company, then you can have your protagonist dealing with the issue of the day but if you start with the issue, and then turn to your character, you?ll end up with a preachy ? and, probably boring ? book.

Q: You also tackle a lot of controversial subjects in real life. Can you talk about your experiences in trying to speak out about gender balance in The New York Times fiction review coverage?
A: It?s funny ? part of me wishes I was wired differently; that I could notice unfairness and imbalance and just think, ?Hey, people buy my books, what do I care? Why should I care what people call them, why does it matter that the New York Times ignores them? I got mines!?

But that?s not the way I?m built. Some of it?s my childhood, and my parents, who came of age in the sixties and were going to change the world, via the power of Pete Seeger folk songs and Free to Be You and Me. Some of it?s what the brilliant Laura Zigman calls ?hurt writer-feelings.? Writers are sensitive types, and being neglected by the paper you grew up reading is a hard thing to ignore.

Some of the response is predictably silly ? there are people who believe that once you?re on the bestseller list you?ve forfeited your right to complain about anything, or even point out when things are unfair. Some of it is really painful, like when a quote-unquote ?literary? lady writer says that the only reason I care about the issue of who the Times reviews and profiles, and how frequently, and in which section, is because of the way they?ve treated me (which, of course, is absurd ? if all I cared about was getting a Times review for myself, wouldn?t I spend all my time praising the paper, instead of pointing out what it does wrong?)

But it?s like Gandhi said. ?First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.? I think that women who?ve spoken out about issues of gender equity at places like the Times and NPR have been ignored. God knows we?ve been belittled. I think now we?re in the fighting stage. I hope that, someday, we?ll win. I hope that if either of my daughters is a writer, she won?t have to jump through an extra, female-specific set of hoops to prove that what she?s written is worthy of serious consideration, even if ? especially if ? it deals with romance, and friendship, and family, and maybe even shoes.

Q: TV scripts and women?s fiction novels seem like two different animals; how did working in television writing influence your novel writing? And vice versa?
A: Before I was a novelist, I was a journalist. I spent ten years in newsrooms, so, in many ways, being in a writers? room in LA felt like coming home. Spending eight months in Hollywood getting a show up and running ? and then watching it go down hard ? was a rough experience, but it gave me great stories to tell (true story: I had to cast a goat. Turns out, in Hollywood, goats have head shots. And reels.) And I think that all my years as a novelist gave me a strong sense of voice and character, of how to use words on a page to bring someone to life.

Q: What?s next for you?
A: Another good question! Right now I?m gearing up for the ?Cupcakes Across America? tour and wondering which guy Emily on The Bachelorette is going to wind up with.

Source: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/jennifer-weiner-on-social-media-blogging-writing-about-controversial-issues_b53810

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PunchJump: NCAA Football 13 PS3, Xbox 360 pre-order sacked to $44.99 - http://t.co/RNEppgLC

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

Source: http://twitter.com/PunchJump/statuses/218467299575857153

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Talisman Energy exits GTL project

After participating in Sasol Canada's feasibility study for a GTL (gas-to-liquids) facility, Talisman Energy (TSX:TLM)(NYSE:TLM) has decided not to proceed with the next phase of the project.

"After careful consideration, we have concluded that there are better ways to allocate capital in support of our strategy," said John A. Manzoni, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Talisman's immediate focus is to accelerate investment in near-term liquids opportunities, with the goal of increasing liquids and oil-linked gas production to 300,000 barrels a day by 2015. We wish Sasol every success as they evaluate the next phase of this project, and we look forward to continuing a positive relationship in the joint development of our Montney assets."

Talisman was granted the option to participate in the feasibility study as part of the ongoing partnership between Talisman and Sasol that includes two 50 per cent working interests in two natural gas assets and associated infrastructure in Talisman's Montney shale resources in northeast British Columbia. Talisman's decision to exit the GTL project will not impact the upstream partnership.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser. More

Related Companies

Source: http://feeds.oilvoice.com/~r/OilvoiceHeadlines/~3/P1BBfS4otGg/01d0cef76ce0.aspx

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Use cleaning deposit as last month's rent? | Real Estate | South ...

Landlords, think twice before allowing this

Landlords, think twice before allowing this

Robert Griswold
Inman News?

Q: My wife and I moved out of our home last year and rented it to a couple. The property has many upgrades and was in excellent condition when we moved out. The tenants are on a month-to-month lease and I just received their 30-day notice of moving out for the end of next month.

I knew they might have to move because of a job situation, but they tell me that they are not going to pay the last month's rent. Instead, they want me to take the last month's rent out of their cleaning deposit. The cleaning deposit really isn't that much for such a nice home, but they claim that they will leave the house cleaner than it was when they moved in. Can they do that?

Also, when can I place my "for rent" sign on the property?

A: I can imagine that nearly every one of my readers who is a landlord knows the answer to this one and has had a tenant try to pull the same stunt. The answer is no. They can't do it legally, as the "cleaning deposit" is to be used solely for cleaning and any damage beyond ordinary wear and tear.

Many years ago landlords would collect "first and last month's rent plus a cleaning deposit" as the security deposit, and that is probably still in the minds of some renters. Or, more likely, some renters are just aware that many landlords will not object and will let the tenant essentially reduce the cleaning deposit by the equivalent of an entire month's rent. In most circumstances, that will not leave you with much money in case they don't leave the rental in immaculate condition.

So my advice is this: Don't let your tenants do this without a fight. I would immediately contact them in writing and tell them that the "cleaning deposit" is to be used only for any cleaning or excessive damages upon move-out, not rent. Tell them that you will immediately serve them with a legal notice for the unpaid rent if the rent is not paid in full no later than the due date. Be sure to mention that you will also charge and collect late charges, and that you will turn over their file to a tenant-landlord attorney if the rent is not paid in full before the legal notice expires.

This should be enough to discourage them unless they really are determined to not pay the rent for some nefarious reason like they just don't have the money. Of course, you need to be prepared to follow through if your tenants persist in this scheme to shortchange you on your cleaning deposit.

It sounds like this rental property is a large home and it can cost a lot to clean and repair damages, and you will want the full cleaning deposit to be available. The reality of today's rental market in most areas is that cleaning and security deposits are already very low due to the economy and that means there is no extra money to cover the last month's rent in most instances.

I understand that there are times when an honest tenant will truly leave the property in better condition than when he moved in, and that's great. But the agreement was that the rent would be paid each and every month, including the last month. Then the entire cleaning deposit will remain available to be used or refunded as needed and as determined by inspecting the property after the tenant has vacated the property.

Over the years, I have received countless questions from inexperienced or "too nice" landlords who fell for this tenant ploy only to find that the tenant left the rental home or apartment in horrible condition. They would have been OK if they had the full cleaning deposit. But now they had only a pittance of the cleaning deposit left after agreeing to let the tenant deduct the last month's rent. Then it is usually the case that the landlord is out of pocket to address the damage and cleaning needed beyond ordinary wear and tear with very little chance to ever recover their losses from the long-gone tenant.

While the final statement and disposition of the cleaning deposit will show that the tenant owes the landlord money, how easy is it to collect? It isn't and it would likely have been unnecessary if the landlord had demanded the tenant not use the cleaning deposit to cover any rent. But you need to tell them in writing that you reject their proposal and will take immediate legal action if necessary and remind them that any legal expenses incurred will be charged to them. That should discourage most tenants from this tactic.

Your second question is straightforward; you can place your "for rent" sign in front of the property as soon as you have received the written notice of intent to vacate from your tenant. In most states, you also have the right to enter the rental unit upon proper notice to show the property to prospective renters or purchasers too.

Now there are some landlords who prefer to show the rental property only after the tenant has vacated and all of the turnover work has been completed so the rental really shows well. I generally agree that it is better to show the rental unit when it is vacant and rent-ready, but there can be times when you have a very responsible tenant who keeps the rental home or apartment in a condition that can be shown. In that case, you may be able to reduce the "downtime" or lost rent between tenants, which is always important.

This column on issues confronting tenants and landlords is written by property manager Robert Griswold, author of "Property Management for Dummies" and "Property Management Kit for Dummies" and co-author of "Real Estate Investing for Dummies."

Email your questions to Rental Q&A at rgriswold.inman@retodayradio.com. Questions should be brief and cannot be answered individually.

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TheDude said...
Mandy Moore is pretty smokin. I wish I was cool enough to date her. Does anybody know how I can get her number?

*/ var formWrap = $( 'media_add_comment' ); var commentForm = formWrap.getElement( 'form' ); commentForm.setStyle( 'display', 'none' ); var msgPar = new Element( 'p', { 'html': 'Thank you, your comment has been added.' }); msgPar.inject( formWrap ); if ( comment != '' ) { if ( !flagged ) { if ( name == '' ) name = 'Anonymous'; var commentWrap = $( 'comments_wrap' ); var commentUl = commentWrap.getElement( 'ul' ); var commentLi = new Element( 'li', { 'class': 'clear' }); var numDiv = new Element( 'div', { 'class': 'num', 'html': '?' }); var commentPar = new Element( 'p', { 'html': '' + name + ' said...
' + comment }); numDiv.inject( commentLi ); commentPar.inject( commentLi ); commentLi.inject( commentUl ); } else { msgPar.set( 'html', 'Comment has been sent for approval' ); } } } function displayNewComment() { var msgP = document.getElementById("msg"); msgP.innerHTML = "Thank you for your submission. Your comment has been added below."; if(comment != "") { if(!flagged) { var commentSection = document.getElementById("ajaxSection"); var commentDiv = document.createElement("div"); var timeStamp = 'Jun 29, 2012 at 07:06AM'; commentDiv.innerHTML = ''; commentSection.appendChild(commentDiv); } } } function validateCommentForm(form){ var fieldEmail = document.getElementById("field.email"); var fieldName = document.getElementById("field.name"); var nameValue = fieldName.value; var emailValue = fieldEmail.value; var filter = /^([a-zA-Z0-9_\.\-])+\@(([a-zA-Z0-9\-])+\.)+([a-zA-Z0-9]{2,4})+$/; if (filter.test(emailValue)) { var fieldBody = document.getElementById("field.body") var bodyValue = fieldBody.value; bodyValue = bodyValue.replace(/&/g,"&"); bodyValue = bodyValue.replace(/,"/g,">"); bodyValue = bodyValue.replace(/\r\n/g,"
"); bodyValue = bodyValue.replace(/\n/g,"
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"); fieldBody.value = bodyValue; if(navigator.appName == 'Microsoft Internet Explorer') { if(document.getElementById('submit').disabled) { document.getElementById('submit').disabled=false; } else { document.getElementById('submit').disabled=true; } } return insertComment(form,true,function(){return showEditorialComment(nameValue, bodyValue)}); } else { alert('Please enter a valid Email below.'); form.elements[field.email].focus(); return false; } }

Source: http://www.southphillyreview.com/real-estate/use_cleaning_deposit_as_last_months_rent-160711635.html

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So You Think You Can Dance Top 20: Revealed!

Did your favorite make the cut?

So You Think You Can Dance whittled its Season 9 contestants down to the top 20 last night, preparing viewers for the show's first live performance episode on Wednesday, July 11.

Here is a look at the top 10 females:

Alexa Anderson
Hometown: Chandler, AZ
Age: 19
Dance Specialty: Contemporary

Lindsay Arnold
Hometown: Provo, UT
Age: 18
Dance Specialty: Latin Ballroom

Witney Carson
Hometown: American Fork, UT
Age: 18
Dance Specialty: Latin Ballroom

Audrey Case
Hometown: Edmond, OK
Age: 18
Dance Specialty: Jazz

Janaya French
Hometown: Aurora, CO
Age: 20
Dance Specialty: Lyrical Contemporary

Eliana Girard
Hometown: West Palm Beach, FL
Age: 21
Dance Specialty: Contemporary Ballet

Amber Jackson
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Age: 21
Dance Specialty: Contemporary

Janelle Issis
Hometown: Birmingham, AL
Age: 24
Dance Specialty: Belly Dancing

Amelia Lowe
Hometown: Butler, NJ
Age: 18
Dance Specialty: Contemporary

Tiffany Maher
Hometown: Plantation, FL
Age: 19
Dance Specialty: Jazz

And the top 10 males...

Daniel Baker
Hometown: Newcastle, Australia
Age: 24
Dance Specialty: Balle

Nick Bloxsom-Carter
Hometown: Oak Park, CA
Age: 20
Dance Specialty: Ballroom

Cole Horibe
Hometown: Honolulu, HI
Age: 26
Dance Specialty: Martial Arts Fusion

Matthew Kazmierczak
Hometown: Peoria, AZ
Age: 21
Dance Specialty: Contemporary

Dareian Kujawa
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
Age: 20
Dance Specialty: Contemporary

George Lawrence II
Hometown: Decatur, GA
Age: 19
Dance Specialty: Contemporary

Brandon Mitchell
Hometown: Kansas City, KS
Age: 27
Dance Specialty: Stepping

Cyrus Spencer
Hometown: Duluth, GA
Age: 22
Dance Specialty: Animation/Robotics

Will Thomas
Hometown: Troy, MI
Age: 19
Dance Specialty: Contemporary

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp
Hometown: Zurich, Switzerland
Age: 23
Dance Specialty: Ballet

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Jobless claims numbers show small declines

Jobless claims for the week show declines in both initial and continued unemployment claims this period, while seasonally adjusted initial claims remained below the closely watched 400K level.?

By SoldAtTheTop,?Guest blogger / June 28, 2012

This chart shows total continued employment claims over the past two years. Both initial and continued unemployment claims declined this period while seasonally adjusted initial claims remained below the closely watched 400K level.

SoldAtTheTop

Enlarge

Today?s jobless claims report showed an decline to both initial and continued unemployment claims while seasonally adjusted initial claims remained below the closely watched 400K level.

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Seasonally adjusted ?initial? declined to 386,000 claims from last week?s revised 392,000 claims while seasonally adjusted ?continued? claims declined by 15,000 resulting in an ?insured? unemployment rate of 2.6%.

Since the middle of 2008 though, two federal government sponsored ?extended? unemployment benefit programs (the ?extended benefits? and ?EUC 2008? from recent legislation) have been picking up claimants that have fallen off of the traditional unemployment benefits rolls.

Currently there are some 2.70 million people receiving federal ?extended? unemployment benefits.
Taken together with the latest 3.10 million people that are currently counted as receiving traditional continued unemployment benefits, there are 5.80 million people on state and federal unemployment rolls.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on paper-money.blogspot.com.

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Spider-Man Gets An 'Amazing' New Sidekick

Andy 'Alpha' Macguire will be introduced in 'Amazing Spider-Man' #692 as Peter Parker's new partner in crime fighting.
By Josh Wigler

"Amazing Spider-Man" comic
Photo:

Swinging on webs and catching bad guys can be a fun but lonely gig. Lucky for your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler Spider-Man then: He's about to get a new sidekick!

Peter Parker will find himself armed with a brand-new partner in crime fighting when "Amazing Spider-Man" #692 hits shelves in August, Fox News reports. In the issue, 15-year-old teenager Andy "Alpha" Macguire — who shares a last name with a Spider-Man of old — will make his Marvel Comics debut just in time to celebrate the "Amazing" comic book's 50th anniversary. And his origin reflects the iconic web-head's very own beginnings.

In the current "Spider-Man" comics, Peter Parker no longer works at The Daily Bugle as a photographer — he's now a scientist, and young Andy visits his lab as part of a student field trip. Andy finds himself the unwitting recipient of new powers when one of Parker's inventions malfunctions, leaving the elder superhero with the burden of teaching the youngster how to use his great powers responsibly.

"Part of it is that Spider-Man is grown up," Marvel Entertainment editor in chief Axel Alonso told Fox News about why now is the right time to introduce a Spidey sidekick. "He's older, more seasoned, but young at heart. He's still a young man, but he's been around. It's interesting because it flips the paradigm. Teen hero Spider-Man is now responsible for this teen hero sidekick. He's responsible because one of his inventions caused this kid to get his powers. He's directly responsible for the responsibility this kid now has with his new powers. He feels he has a responsibility to make sure this kid walks the right path, which won't prove easy."

Alpha doesn't have the same confidence problems that young Peter Parker did, however. The new character is described as brash and edgy, posing problems for Peter "as he molds a potentially unpredictable teen who's more powerful than he is."

"If you put Spider-Man and Batman in the same situation, you're going to have way more fun with Spider-Man," writer Dan Slott said of the new dynamic duo. "With Batman, he never really screws up the way Spider-Man does; he always seems to make the right decision. But with Spider-Man, he always screws up. He's us as a superhero. Batman is a paragon of what we'd like to be, but in reality, we're more like Spider-Man. He makes all the mistakes we make."

And Alpha is bound to make some mistakes as well. Exactly how big are those mistakes? That's anybody's guess, as the new character's power-set remains a mystery. Regardless of what he's capable of, Alpha's introduction is sure to raise more than a few eyebrows in the weeks to come.

Are you excited to meet Spidey's new sidekick, or do you prefer your wall-crawler to swing solo? Let us know in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @roundhoward!

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

Related Videos

• MTV Rough Cut: 'The Amazing Spider-Man'

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CATCHING THE EXOTIC PET BUG? | Society of Biology blog

Guest blog from Elaine Toland FRSPH, Director of the Animal Protection Agency

Although I personally don?t get to see wildlife as much as I?d like, wild animals and humans may be increasingly crossing each others? paths as low-cost getaways to remote locations allow for greater access to biodiversity. Often, excursions into the relative unknown wilds of nature encourage certain ?cautions? for the foreign traveller ? such as anti-malaria pills and jabs, and while we?re there we watch what we eat, drink or touch. A bite from a wild animal would very likely trigger alarm bells and see us venture to the sometimes ?medical jungle? that can be local ?Accident and Emergency?.

But since wild animals have been kept in captivity, zoonotic (animal-to-human) diseases have not been confined to in-situ ?animal contact experiences?. Zoos, circuses, petting zoos and the like have all played a small but sometimes important role in human disease outbreaks. A new report in the Journal of Environmental Health Research highlights the significant and growing source of zoonotic infections and infestations that arise out of exotic pet trading and keeping.

The report authors (led by a Society of Biology Fellow) list 70 diseases contractible from captive exotics and conclude that what we know is merely the ?inflamed tip of a large and expanding boil? (my choice of words but surely suitable for The Lance-it?!).

Whether wild-caught or captive-bred, it seems exotic pet animals including fishes, frogs, snakes, turtles and primates introduce novel and sometimes highly pathogenic microbes and macroparasites right into everyday homes. Once ?in? they are almost impossible to safeguard against because they quickly disseminate around the home and present a constant potential source of illness. Keep reptiles in your home and you are 17 times more likely to experience sickness than in a home without them. And, apparently, many people getting sick may never link it to their pet lizard because, often, zoonotic diseases resemble gastrointestinal and flu-like conditions and something or someone else gets the blame.

So, I think that while we are becoming more familiar with wild animals, the vast raft of bugs they innocently carry on and in them represents a new unknown ? one that we invite, Trojan horse-like, right into our living spaces. And once in our homes, we have little to no chance of not crossing paths with them. Just as most accidents happen in the home, it seems to me that the domestic environment may also now be the riskiest place to pick up an exotic disease!

?

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Amazing Michael Kors Handbags Self Help Recommendations That ...

Producing oneself the most effective that you could be is no Michael Kors Outlet little project. It can take time, even years of self-discipline and construction. This information will provide you with the recommendations that you can use to start all by yourself quest. Everybody is distinct and you will definitely locate one thing on this page which works for you.

In case you have made the decision that you want to function on some type of personal music skill however are unable to sing you then need to look into some devices to experience. A lot of people love playing the guitar because it is not overly deafening and might be simple to discover the essentials.

No matter what, will not let any person or anything at all get in the way of your dreams. You will have times that you are discouraged, and nothing is apparently operating in your love. Consistently fit everything in that you could Michael Kors Handbags to comprehend your goals, due to the fact which is the only technique that you are profitable and expand being a particular person.

We all need to get a very little greater at selflessness. We are all efficient at discovering how to be selfish. Selfless will be the complete opposite of selfish. Selfless is forgetting our own selves in order to make sacrifices to assist other folks. Becoming selfless every so often versus. self-centered is a great way to boost our self improvement.

Effective time management is essential to finalizing, so make sure to set-aside time every day to judge your overall overall performance. It can be difficult to revisit shortcomings so rapidly as soon as they have transferred, but revisiting problems instantly after can help you determine that you gone wrong and amend this habits in the foreseeable future.

Place yourself out there and community on your own. This reveals much more prospects in your daily life and connects you Michael Kors Outlet with others that you may possibly study from. These individuals can also will discover something of your stuff. The more people you realize the more chance and knowledge that you are in position to profit from them.

The arts really are a outstanding way to increase personal development. Rehearsing an art richly improves the quality of daily life. If you lift a paintbrush and begin to utilize colour, you might be adding body and mind, creating eye-hand control, and attracting after depths of understanding you didn't know you have inside you.

Self improvement is difficult function, so make sure you boost your own personal battery power. Take the time to be with yourself. Working out is an excellent strategy to clear Michael Kors Handbags your mind of your stress of day to day lifestyle, and allows you to training self-willpower. You'll feel better about your self and build higher stamina to get via your day time!

Among the most difficult tips to ingest would be to agree to blame. Consider the accountability for exactly what goes completely wrong in your daily lifestyle. Don't make lame excuses, just own the second. It really is you containing paved the best way to this second and it is very important stay in the driver's seat, no matter the cause. Using this type of, you will get the respect of your friends, loved ones and friends and open up the entrance to some tremendous personalized development.

As mentioned at first with this write-up, every individual Michael Kors is different. The ideas offered here that will work for you might be possibly not what is wonderful for somebody else. Begin using these tips as a beginning point, or perhaps a recharging part of your ultimate goal of self improvement.

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Self Help Steps To An Alternative You - CareCrunch Answers

Personal development means becoming personal conscious. Knowing who you really are and what you need to get are very important. Bearing that in mind you can depend on advice this sort of since you will see here that may relocate you ahead toward your targets for being a greater you. Read on and weigh these thoughts in with your own.

In order to be effective with the trip of personal development, you have to have a sound base out of which to build on. Ensuring your success depends upon your own personal appearance and confidence ranges. These are generally two easy facts you can boost, which can therefore assist you in properly identifying all the things you would want to enhance with in your life.

Developing a day walking routine can offer an enhancement for your self improvement plan. Morning hours sun rays is perfect for your thoughts and strolling will work for your whole body. This can be used a chance to softly think about the forthcoming day time and commend yourself for obtaining them back to your new, healthier start.

Consider the infrequent holiday break. If you believe as if you are receiving overloaded with all sorts of each day tensions, take some time off of to go on a holiday that is away from your home or perhaps in your own home. Lower the ties to the things which are triggering you tension, so that you can truly unwind.

Constantly try and present yourself in an optimistic light-weight. Whilst you must not get worried a great deal in regards to what an individual thinks about you, if you wish to market your self, you have to be understood. Just do effectively to be on your own so that you don?t fresh paint an untrue persona for folks just to have their company.

One of the more important things somebody are capable of doing to further improve their life is to exercising efficiently. When we physical exercise furthermore we improve our thought of ourselves additionally it assists in keeping an essential compound balance in our entire body. Also, during times of stress and anxiety or depression physical exercise may help us place our existence in standpoint and work through the tough occasions.

Perseverance is really a building block in virtually any great self improvement system. Committed goals and meticulous planning are normal self improvement processes, however are of tiny aid in the event the initially indication of problems triggers the complete software to be abandoned. Faults and failures are inevitable ? personal development is all about shifting previous them, not eradicating them.

Now, don?t you are feeling far better after looking at all of the recommendations? That was a lot of info to consider and study through, but no less than now you know what to perform and where to start together with your self improvement. As well as, you could always recommend returning to the above mentioned listing of ideas, if you forget about.

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Getting The Upper Pointer On Asthma Allergy ? Peregrinatio Articles ...

Asthma allergy is the many one anatomy of allergy today. And since asthma allergy is inherited, ditty can make a note of c depress it at a little ones age. The diagnosis process representing asthma allergy is a easily understood and very straightforward probe and wishes closely detect if you do play a joke on asthma and not barely some other typeface of allergy.

Symptoms of an asthma allergy

An asthma allergy erecaid reaction can alternate in order, from mild to severe. The following are symptoms of an asthma allergy:

?? Headache
?? Fever
?? Chronic coughing
?? Box pain or tightness
?? Difficulty in breathing
?? Rapid breathing or wheezing
?? Irritating or ulcer throat
?? Itchy, watery eyes
?? Runny nose
?? Ceaseless sneezing
?? Restlessness

Some of the mentioned symptoms keep the after all is said indicators to conditions like pulmonary disease; sinusitis and influenza so make unfaltering you guide a doctor payment a more fussy diagnosis. What you thought as an asthma allergy may indeed be something else.

An asthma allergy compensation that is kind to centre in position can be identified with tightness of the box, spewing and coughing up mucus, having arduousness sleeping and tireless wheezing.

A oppressive asthma allergy revile may be characterized by means of the mortal physically having tribulation in speaking, a bluish color to the person???s lips and fingernails, and breathlessness. When this happens, the patient be required to be gracious with their medication.

Asthma Allergy Treatment

The asthma allergy is treated aside medicines prescribed not later than the doctor. These medicines reduce the protuberance of the mucous membrane and help regulate the air citation of the child with asthma allergy. Called ???controller medicines???, they pinch simplify the anguish of the asthma allergy jump:

?? Mast cell stabilizers - non-steroidal medications that govern the irritation through stopping the league from releasing fiery chemicals.

?? Corticosteroids - another anti-inflammatory medication.

?? Anti-leukotrienes ??? it stops the drama of leukotrienes that are directorial for the wax in swelling that causes constriction of the airway muscle and unite the windpipes of the patient.

The drugs mentioned are tolerant of to assist patients with asthma allergy to outdistance switch of their asthma and acknowledge on living a routine life. They are available in capsules, tablets and inhalers. A yourselves hardship from asthma attacks should continually draw their panacea along first since these attacks are unpredictable.

Asthma Allergy Ban

An asthma allergy criticize cannot be prevented since doctors are not satisfied what causes asthma. But there are ways that a myself with an asthma allergy can crop the symptoms or completely shun having an attack.

?? Have a antiseptic and dust-free environs close vacuuming the house.

?? If you breathe closer a dusty road where cars again pass on, crowd invalid on the way in overlook of your house. This drive a stop to the dust from flying into the home.

?? Regularly cleansed the bug, air-conditioning and other ducts that come in write to with air.

?? Shun places that father piles of environmental allergens like molds, pollens, animal dander and secondhand cigarette smoke.

?? Dress in a mask when cleaning the assembly or affluent to a obligation full of allergens.

?? Warm up regularly and fight for a strong diet.

In the expiration, the no more than route to bring down asthma is to learn how to live with the condition. Healthy living is a celebrated surrender to reverse one???s sustenance about when a bodily has asthma. And with the mitigate of today's field, it is not impossible to example a abundant life. Regard for an allergic repulsion, limerick should not halt enjoying fixation even if they possess asthma.

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CDC trying out free rapid AIDS test at drugstores

Walgreen's pharmacy manager Sarah Freedman stands in her store in Washington, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Would you go to a pharmacy to get tested for the AIDS virus? Health officials want to know. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced a $1.2 million pilot project to offer free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and clinics in 24 cities and rural communities. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Walgreen's pharmacy manager Sarah Freedman stands in her store in Washington, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Would you go to a pharmacy to get tested for the AIDS virus? Health officials want to know. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced a $1.2 million pilot project to offer free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and clinics in 24 cities and rural communities. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

This undated image provided by OraSure Technologies shows an OraQuick ADVANCE Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test. Health officials in the United States have set up a pilot program to find out if people would go to a drugstore for an AIDS test. The $1.2 million project will offer free rapid HIV tests with the OraQuick device at pharmacies and in-store clinics in 24 cities and rural communities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday, June 26, 2012. (AP Photo/OraSure Technologies)

Walgreen's pharmacy manager Sarah Freedman stands in her store in Washington, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Would you go to a pharmacy to get tested for the AIDS virus? Health officials want to know. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced a $1.2 million pilot project to offer free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and clinics in 24 cities and rural communities. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Walgreen's pharmacy manager Sarah Freedman stands in her store in Washington, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Would you go to a pharmacy to get tested for the AIDS virus? Health officials want to know. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced a $1.2 million pilot project to offer free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and clinics in 24 cities and rural communities. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Walgreen's pharmacy manager Sarah Freedman stands in her store in Washington, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Would you go to a pharmacy to get tested for the AIDS virus? Health officials want to know. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday announced a $1.2 million pilot project to offer free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and clinics in 24 cities and rural communities. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

ATLANTA (AP) ? Would you go to a drugstore for an AIDS test?

Health officials want to know, and they've set up a pilot program to find out.

The $1.2 million project will offer free rapid HIV tests at pharmacies and in-store clinics in 24 cities and rural communities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday.

Officials are hoping testing for the AIDS virus will become a routine service at drugstores like blood pressure checks and flu shots.

"By bringing HIV testing into pharmacies, we believe we can reach more people by making testing more accessible and reduce the stigma associated with HIV," CDC's Dr. Kevin Fenton said in a statement. He oversees the agency's HIV prevention programs.

The tests are already available at seven places, and the CDC will soon pick 17 more locations.

The HIV test is a swab inside the mouth and takes about 20 minutes for a preliminary result. The test maker says it's correct 99 percent of the time. If the test is positive, customers will be referred to a local health department or other health-care providers for a lab blood test to confirm the results, counseling and treatment.

When the project ends next summer, CDC officials will analyze what worked well and what didn't, said Paul Weidle, the epidemiologist who is heading up the project.

An estimated 1.1 million Americans are infected with HIV, but as many as 20 percent of them don't know they carry the virus, according to the CDC. It can take a decade or more for an infection to cause symptoms and illness.

Since 2006, the CDC has recommended that all Americans ages 13 to 64 get tested at least once, not just those considered at highest risk: gay men and intravenous drug users. But fewer than half of adults younger than 65 have been tested, according to the agency's most recent statistics.

It's important to know about infection not only for treating the condition but also to take steps to prevent spreading it to others. An HIV diagnosis used to be a death sentence, but medications now allow those infected to live longer and healthier lives.

On special occasions, health organizations have sent workers to some drugstores to offer HIV testing. This week, Walgreens ? the nation's largest chain of pharmacies ? is teaming with health departments and AIDS groups to offer free tests in 20 cities.

But the CDC program is different: It's an effort to train staff at the pharmacies to do the testing themselves, and perhaps make it a permanent service.

"I'm excited. It's such a new and novel thing for us," said Sarah Freedman, who manages a Walgreens in Washington, D.C., that is participating in the pilot program.

At her pharmacy, prominent signs advertise the test but the testing is done in a private room. They've also taken steps to make sure that a customer can very quietly request the test. For example, they've put out stacks of special test request cards ? they look like business cards ? at George Washington University and nearby businesses. Anyone seeking a test can simply hand the card to the clerk, she said.

Only three or four customers have gone through with a test in the first few weeks.

"We get a lot of questions," she said. "Usually they get the information and they go and sit on it and think about it."

There's a second Walgreens in Washington offering the test, as well as branches in Chicago and Lithonia, Ga. Other test sites: East Pines Pharmacy in Riverdale, Md., Mike's Pharmacy in Oakland, Calif. and a federal Indian Health Service location in Billings, Mont.

Each location will get enough tests to check 200 to 300 people. Made by OraSure Technologies Inc., the $17.50 test is the only government-approved rapid HIV test that uses saliva. Other rapid tests on the market analyze a finger-prick blood sample.

Rapid tests are used routinely in doctor's offices, hospitals and clinics.

The OraSure test can also use a blood sample but the CDC drugstore program will use a mouth swab, said company spokesman Ron Ticho. The stick-like testing device is used to wipe the inside of the mouth, then it is put in a solution. If two lines appear, that indicates a positive test.

The company is seeking government approval to sell it over-the-counter for home testing. A decision is expected later this year.

The test is sold in about 40 countries. Ticho said he is not aware of another country where pharmacies routinely offer the testing.

___

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/

Associated Press

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Instagram?s New ?Explore? Brings The Future Of Photo Discovery Into Focus

"Explore: photos taken nearby".?Instagram may be looking to follow in Foursquare's footsteps and?give you more to do than just post and browse the main feed?with today's iOS app update that merges Popular with search to create its own Explore tab. It also added new Facebook sharing controls, visual and speed improvements, better commenting, autocomplete for search, and revamped profiles. For now you can only search for users and hashtags, but I envision Explore blossoming to let you hone in on photos from specific times or locations. For example, you could select to see all the pics taken from 9am to 4pm yesterday near Market Street in San Francisco to reveal a rainbow of photos from Gay Pride.

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The Truth About Water: Bottle vs. Tap | healthkicker

The Truth About Water: Bottle vs. Tap

Did you know that...

Bottled water is not safer than tap water. In fact, the federal government requires more rigorous and frequent safety testing and monitoring of municipal drinking water.

Bottled water is thousands of times more expensive than tap water. Compare $0.002 per gallon for most tap water to a range of $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon for bottled waters.

Bottled water hurts the environment. After millions of barrels of oil are used to produce and ship plastic water bottles, 75% of them land in the garbage or our waterways instead of the recycle bin.

To make 1 bottle of water, 3 times that amount of water is wasted in production.

Independent testing of bottled water conducted by the Environmental Working Group in 2008 found that 10 popular brands of bottled water, purchased from grocery stores and other retailers in 9 states and the District of Columbia, contained 38 chemical pollutants, with an average of 8 contaminants in each brand.

American consumers drink more bottled water every year, in part because they think it is somehow safer or better than tap water. They collectively spend hundreds or thousands of dollars more per gallon for water in a plastic bottle than they would for the H20 flowing from their taps. Rather than buying into this myth of purity in a bottle, consumers should drink from the tap. Bottled water generally is no cleaner, or safer, or healthier than tap water. In fact, the federal government requires far more rigorous and frequent safety testing and monitoring of municipal drinking water.

In some cases, beverage companies use misleading labels, including marketing bottled tap water as spring water. In fact, as much as 40 percent of bottled water is bottled tap water.

Furthermore, the production of bottled water causes many equity, public health, and environmental problems. The big beverage companies often take water from municipal or underground sources that local people depend on for drinking water. Producing the plastic bottles uses energy and emits toxic chemicals. Transporting the bottled water across hundreds or thousands of miles spews carbon dioxide into the air, complicating our efforts to combat global climate change. And in the end, empty bottles are piling up in landfills.

Myth: Bottled water tastes better than tap water.
Fact: In taste test after taste test, people can't tell the difference. Corporate Accountability International's "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign has held countless taste tests comparing bottled water to tap water, as have many media outlets, from The New York Times to Cleveland's local TV news channel. The results generally favor the tap. Ultimately, however, the point isn't whether one tastes better than the other?its how our tastes are shaped by advertising, rather than by what's good for us. Between 10 and 15 percent of the price of a bottle of water goes to cover advertising costs. We not only buy their myths, it turns out we pay extra for them.

Myth: Bottled water is convenient.
Fact: What is more convenient than nearly-free water running from your kitchen tap, and from public sources in schools, parks, offices, and sports stadiums? Sadly, we have come to confuse "disposability" with convenience; but there is nothing convenient about shipping water thousands of miles from its source, or all the waste and other costs associated with needless production and disposal of plastics. More convenient than buying bottled water is buying a reusable bottle and filling it from public sources. The leading organizations that promote reusable bottles recommend stainless steel or lined aluminum as sturdiest and safest.

Myth: Plastic bottles are recyclable, and are being made with thinner plastics, making them increasingly "green."
Reality: Some 4 billion PET bottles end up in the U.S. waste stream each year, costing cities some $70 million in cleanup and landfill costs. A plastic water bottle can take up to 1000 years to degrade in a landfill; when plastic is burned in incinerators, it releases dioxins, some of the most harmful man-made chemicals that exist. And most recycling is actually downcycling: making lower quality products than the originals, and requiring the addition of virgin plastics and toxic chemicals in the process. There is nothing green about that.

Myth: Still, bottled water is green. I mean, it's got to be, it's water...
Fact: It takes about three liters of water and approximately 3.4 megajoules of energy to produce and sell a single liter of water in a plastic bottle. The 31.2 billion liters of bottled water consumed annually in the United States require more than 17 million barrels of oil to produce. According to the Container Recycling Institute, in the U.S. an estimated 144 billion containers were wasted in 2005. While recycling the bottles offers moderate environmental benefits, drinking tap water has a MUCH lower carbon footprint than drinking bottled water. That makes drinking tap water one of the best, and easiest, things we can do to reduce global warming.

Myth: Bottled water plants bring desirable jobs.
Fact 1: Bottled water plants bring few jobs.
Overall, bottled water facilities employ few people. In 2006, the nation? 628 water-bottling plants employed fewer than 15,000 people, so each plant averaged only around 24 employees.

As studies have shown, when a new bottling plant comes to a town, the couple dozen jobs it does bring benefit mostly people from outside the community, not the residents who gave up control over their water for the promise of jobs. In the long-term, one study says, a town's residents occupy only 10 to 40 percent of all new jobs created by overall employment growth.

A typical bottled water plant with 24 workers will employ between two and 10 local residents. This is a far cry from what towns expect when they sign control of their water away to corporate interests.

Fact 2: Bottled water plants bring low-wage jobs.
Local residents that do secure jobs at bottled water plants likely will earn low wages. A bottled water employee? annual earnings fall more than a thousand dollars short of what the average U.S. worker makes. Compared to a typical manufacturing job, bottled water workers are really losing out ? to the tune of $10,000 each year.

Setting the bar low is no way to lift up a cash-strapped community. If anything, it could further depress wages and scare away businesses that rely on households surplus income ? two losses that cut into a local government? tax base and drive down the local economy.

Fact 3: Bottled water plants bring dangerous jobs.
Such low wages can't possibly compensate bottled water workers for the risks they take every day at their jobs.

In 2006, bottled water manufacturing had one of the highest rates of workplace injury and illness. With one incident for every 11 workers, bottled water workers are injured and fall sick more than twice as often as the typical private sector worker. The injury rate of bottled water workers is also 50 percent higher than both the broader manufacturing industry and the construction industry. What's more, nearly half of these cases were so serious that they required job transfer or restricted duties at work.

These injuries and illnesses are often severe and can have lasting effects. Bottled water workers lose their hearing eight times more often than a typical private sector worker. They suffer three times as many sprains and strains, and they are caught in an object or piece of machinery three times as often. The work at these plants is so hard that bottled water workers experience overexertion three times as often as typical private sector workers.

What good is creating jobs that are so dangerous that injury prevents people from working them?

Bottled water wastes fossil fuels in production and transport. Bottled water production in the United States used the energy equivalent of 32 and 54 million barrels of oil to produce and transport plastic water bottles in 2007?enough to fuel about 1.5 million cars for a year. Rather than being recycled, about 75 percent of the empty plastic bottles end up in our landfills, lakes, streams and oceans, where they may never fully decompose.

Do you drink bottled water? How often? Will you change that and switch to tap and reusable water bottles? Thoughts?

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GM grass producing cyanide gas, kills herd of cattle (Americablog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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'Jeopardy!' host Trebek suffers mild heart attack

FILE- In this Friday, April 28, 2006, file photo, Alex Trebek holds the award for outstanding game show host, for his work on "Jeopardy!" backstage at the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Sony Television spokeswoman Paula Askanas said Sunday, June 24, 2012, that Trebek is in a Los Angeles hospital recovering from a mild heart attack. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

FILE- In this Friday, April 28, 2006, file photo, Alex Trebek holds the award for outstanding game show host, for his work on "Jeopardy!" backstage at the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Sony Television spokeswoman Paula Askanas said Sunday, June 24, 2012, that Trebek is in a Los Angeles hospital recovering from a mild heart attack. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek is in a Los Angeles hospital recovering from a mild heart attack.

Sony Television spokeswoman Paula Askanas said Sunday that Trebek was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday. She says the 71-year-old Trebek is expected to fully recover and be back giving answers when "Jeopardy!" resumes production on a new season next month.

While he was in the hospital on Saturday, "Jeopardy!" won a Daytime Emmy award for best game show.

Trebek has been hosting "Jeopardy!" for 28 years.

Associated Press

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Does Paraguay risk pariah status with president's ouster?

Ousted president Fernando Lugo denounced his removal as a 'parliamentary coup,' and hinted that domestic and international pressure could reverse his impeachment.

By Peter Orsi,?Associated Press / June 24, 2012

Paraguay's new President Federico Franco gives a thumbs up as he arrives to give a news conference at the presidential palace in Asuncion, Paraguay, Saturday. Paraguay's newly sworn in president is promising to honor foreign commitments and reach out to Latin American leaders after the Senate removed President Fernando Lugo from office in a rapid impeachment trial on Friday.

Jorge Saenz/AP

Enlarge

Fernando Lugo emerged early Sunday to denounce his ouster as Paraguay's president as a "parliamentary coup" and a "foreordained sentence" that was not based on proper evidence.

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Lugo said his truncated presidency was targeted because he tried to help the South American nation's poor majority. Asked whether he had any hope of retaking office, Lugo exhorted his followers to remain peaceful but suggested that popular national and international clamor could lead Paraguayan lawmakers to reverse his impeachment.

"In politics, anything is possible," Lugo said.

He added that he was visited by Roman Catholic bishops before Friday's Senate trial for alleged poor performance of duties, and agreed to accept the outcome of a process he considered illegitimate only to avoid bloodshed.

Lugo spoke in a pre-dawn special televised "open microphone" program hosted by a state-funded public television channel that was created by his government. As Saturday turned into Sunday, a long line of speakers queued up in front of the station's headquarters to vent their frustration over what they called an institutional coup, calling for strikes and protests to demand his return.

"We will not recognize any other president," chanted the crowd of at least 200 people, waving Paraguayan flags and bundled up against the Southern Hemisphere winter.

The nighttime protest broke the quiet of an otherwise sleepy day when many shops were closed and streets were largely empty. Some alleged that the public station was being censored by the nascent government of Federico Franco, who took the oath of office the previous day.

Earlier Saturday, Mr. Franco set about forming his new government as he promised to honor foreign commitments, respect private property, and reach out to Latin American leaders to minimize diplomatic fallout and keep his country from becoming a regional pariah.

In a brief appearance before international journalists, Franco tried to broadcast a sense of normality a day after lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to kick Lugo out of office.

"The country is calm. I was elected [as vice president] in 2008 by popular vote. Activity is normal and there is no protest," Franco said.

His first two appointments were Interior Minister Carmelo Caballero, who will be tasked with maintaining public order in this poor, landlocked South American nation, and Foreign Minister Jose Felix Fernandez, who will immediately hit the road to try to appease fellow members of the Mercosur and Unasur regional trade blocs.

"Our foreign minister will go to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to meet with authorities and explain to them that there was no break with democracy here. The transition of power through political trial is established in the national constitution," Franco said.

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Chinese Dominate Asian Beach Games Podium

Chinese Dominate Asian Beach Games Podium

Spectacular Closing Ceremony In Haiwang

Asian Beach Games

Haiyang, China

China's Bipeng Wei and Yihua Feng have won gold in the Techno 293 at the Asian Beach Games in Haiyang, China.

Wei took gold in fine fashion winning eight of 11 races with Navin Singsart (THA) finishing nine points behind in second. Thailand's Nattaphong Phonoppharat rounded off the men's podium.

Feng was just as impressive winning seven races on way to gold. Thailand's Siripon Kaewduang-Ngam claimed gold at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and one year later reached the ISAF Youth Worlds podium finishing second. And she had to make do with silver again finishing behind the Chinese sailor. Yiping Wu completes the women's podium.

Men's Results

Women's Results

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