Monday, June 25, 2012

Blind marching band set to walk in International Parade

LORAIN ? The Ohio State School for the Blind?s ?Marching Panthers? will march along side the Lorain Lions Club in the International Festival today.

The group is the only blind marching band in the country and possibly the world, the group said.

The band members march guided by volunteers. Their signature show drill is a Braille version of ?Script Ohio,? in which the band spell out Ohio, in Braille, while playing Le Regiment.

The band hopes to demonstrate the abilities of those with disabilities and to show other schools and band directors that all students with visual impairments may participate in marching bands.

The band?s director, Dan Kelley, has been blind since birth. Kelly and many of the band members have ?perfect pitch,? the ability to identify the pitch of any note, which helps in learning music and blending together as an ensemble. The students learn through listening, large print and Braille sheet music.

The Lorain Lions Club is championing vision with the Lions Vision Clinic Project in conjunction with Lorain County Health and Dentistry.

Children between the ages of 3 and 5 can receive free vision screenings and guests can learn about the project at the Lorain Lions booth at the International Festival.

maya angelou mary kay ash tiny houses bon iver joan of arc tony robbins abraham lincoln vampire hunter

U.S. says DEA agent killed drug suspect in Honduras

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

the secret life of bees full moon amber rose aubrey o day masters live johan santana viktor bout

Sunday, June 24, 2012

airlinewriter: Judge rules for @AmericanAir, blocks #union election for customer-service agents: http://t.co/DjNSRWVp

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

mothers day kirk cousins ovechkin one world trade center bks new dark knight rises trailer khloe and lamar

Canada a step closer to beach volleyball dream

?Toronto may have lost its bids to international competition? for the 1996 and 2008 Games, but it?s still a city on a beach where Olympic dreams can come true.

More Related to this Story

On July 7, at Ashbidge's Bay on the shores of Lake Ontario,? four Canadian teans -- two men's and two women's -- will compete for the right to be part of the 2012 Olympic field. Each team has a pair of players. Bottom line: four will become Olympians.

???But right now we are all celebrating the moment,?? said Martin Reader of Comox.B.C..? ??On Monday morning when we return to Toronto it I?ll be back to business.?

Canada earned an Olympic spot in men?s and women?s beach volleyball Saturday by winning both finals at the Continental Cup Games qualifying tournament in Mazatlan.Mexico.

The men?s team comprised of Christian Redmann of Toronto and Ben Saxton of Calgary as well as the pairing of Reader of Comox, B.C., and Josh Binstock of Toronto defeated Mexico 3-1 in the men?s final

"?This is just starting to sink in now, it is so exciting,?? said Reader, who had to get to the last European venues -- where he found out he'd have to qualify via the Continental Cup--? after seeking a loan from the Canadian Volleyball Association and financial aid from the Canadian Athletes Now fund. The national players haven't actually received their financial assistance from national programs for seven months because of legal actions tying up the disbursement of funds. Instead, the players reached into their own pockets, plumbed limits on personal liines of credit, and asked the Mom and Dad Banks for loans to keep ther Olympic? dreams alive.

???We?ve received just so much support over that we can?t thank everybody enough.? We knew that Mexico would be tough in the final, and their A team was probably the strongest opponent we faced here." Reader said

Redmann and Saxton defeated Ulises and Lombardo Ontiveros 21-11, 21-13 but Mexico tied the match 1-1 as Aldo Miromontes and Juan Virgen beat Binstock and Reader 21-15, 21-18.

Binstock and Reader bounced back with 21-16, 21-18 victory over the brothers Ontiveros and Redmann and Saxton closed the match defeating a team of Miromontes and Virgen 21-17, 11-21, 15

"That third match probably the most pressure we?ve ever faced in our career,?? said Binstock. "We had our backs to the wall and 1,000 Mexican fans cheering against us.? We were down almost the entire third set but like we?ve done so many times this season we found a way to get it done.??

In the women?s final, Heather Bansley and Liz Maloney of Toronto as well as Annie Martin of Sherbrooke, Que., and Marie-Andr?e Lessard of Ville LaSalle, Que., beat Mexico in their final 3--0. Bansley and Maloney opened the match defeating Martha Revuelta and Vanessa Virgen 21-12, 21-14.? Martin and Lessard put Canada up 2-0 with a 21-18, 16-21, 15-12 win over Candelas Bibiana and Mayra Garcia.? Bansley and Maloney sealed the match beating Bibiana and Garcia? 21-14, 21-14.

To decide which pair gets the Olympic spots, the two Canadian teams must play off July 7 at Ashbridges Bay in Toronto.

avatar the last airbender david wright cory booker cj wilson cubs ellsbury brad pitt and angelina jolie

Experimental drug stops breast cancer cells from growing; Eating disorders, body image concern common in women over 50; Diet high in fat and calories speeds pancreatic cancer

(June 21, 2012 - Insidermedicine)

From Cincinnati - An experimental drug can stop breast cancer cells from spreading, according to a report published in Chemistry & Biology. Results of laboratory testing revealed that the experimental drug, Rhosin, was able to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells, did not affect non-cancerous cells and promoted the growth of early nerve cells.

From North Carolina - Most women over 50 suffer from body image concerns and eating disorder symptoms are common, according to a report published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Surveying nearly 1,900 women with an average age of 59, researchers found that 79% reported that their weight affected their self-perception, 62% said that their weight negatively impacted their life, 8% reported purging, 3.5% reported binge eating and that 66% were generally unhappy about their overall appearance.

From Los Angeles - A new report presented at the AACR's Pancreatic Cancer conference finds that a diet high in fat and calories speeds pancreatic cancer development. Researchers studied mice predisposed to pancreatic cancer, and found that those on a high calorie/fat diet had significantly accelerated cancer development.

taco bell breakfast menu ener1 national chocolate cake day epstein joshua komisarjevsky barney frank barney frank

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Ex-IRA man McGuinness, Queen Elizabeth to meet for first time

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

suzanne somers colbert colbert report legionnaires disease underwear bomber randy travis unclaimed money

Evaluation of land use regression models for NO2 in El Paso, Texas, USA

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

robert griffin iii dontari poe space shuttle nyc monkeypox nick perry 30 rock live nfl draft picks 2012

Deadly Israeli raids, Gaza rockets shake truce

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

dia frampton dia frampton zook eric decker eric decker dallas cowboys cheerleaders leftover turkey recipes

Friday, June 22, 2012

Fire sweeps through slum in Indian capital

Residents and fire fighters try to douse down the fire at a scrap yard in New Delhi, India, Friday, June 22, 2012. The fire broke out in a scrap yard and adjoining shanty town behind a government hospital in central Delhi Friday morning, fire brigade officials said, the cause of the fire was not known. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Residents and fire fighters try to douse down the fire at a scrap yard in New Delhi, India, Friday, June 22, 2012. The fire broke out in a scrap yard and adjoining shanty town behind a government hospital in central Delhi Friday morning, fire brigade officials said, the cause of the fire was not known. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Residents and fire fighters try to douse down the fire at a scrap yard in New Delhi, India, Friday, June 22, 2012. The fire broke out in a scrap yard and adjoining shanty town behind a government hospital in central Delhi Friday morning, fire brigade officials said, the cause of the fire was not known. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

(AP) ? A fire swept through a slum in the Indian capital on Friday, destroying hundreds of shanties where residents had collected scrap plastic and rubber for resale.

No one was reported injured or killed, fire department chief A.K. Sharma said.

It took 25 fire trucks and some 70 firefighters about two hours to put out the flames. Black smoke billowed from burning heaps of plastic bottles, tarps, rubber tires and scraps of wood that had been amassed by the slum's thousands of residents who make a living collecting garbage for resale.

The fire destroyed nearly all of the makeshift slum dwellings that had been clustered next to three hospitals in the historical part of Delhi. The hospitals were protected from the blaze by a brick wall, Sharma said.

Resident Nasima Khatum cried as she surveyed the smoldering remains of the home where she lived with her two children.

"We used to sit here and eat and also used to sleep here," she said. "We are very poor."

Another fire a day earlier in the financial center of Mumbai gutted state government offices and killed five people before authorities could put it out, authorities said Friday.

Associated Press

nfl week 12 picks jason witten ucla vs usc rich rodriguez rich rodriguez the muppet movie the muppet movie

Video: Crude Oil Prices Plummeting

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

miranda kerr adriana lima victoria secret angels fox 4 fox 4 vs fashion show 2011 victoria secret fashion show

Anderson Cooper to Guy on Plane: B!tch, What the F Are You Doing?!


Things you didn't expect to see today ... Anderson Cooper recalling to Kathy Griffin about the time he tore some guy a new one on an airplane!

The CNN anchor appeared on Griffin's Bravo show Kathy Thursday night and described how someone was recently trying to take his photo on a plane.

When he saw the guy was trying to clandestinely "do the reverse iPhone thing" and snap a pic of AC - even as AC watched incredulously - he snapped.


Anderson Cooper on Kathy Griffin

"I've lately become emboldened and grabbed the guy on the shoulder," Anderson said, followed by, "Bitch, what the F are you doing?"

Bet you didn't see that coming ... nor did the guy with the iPhone.

The Silver Fox then added, "It was just one of those things where, as soon as I said it, I thought 'I can't believe I just said this to the guy!"

Neither can we, but it's pretty hilarious.

sea lion si swimsuit 2012 westminster dog show abe lincoln vampire hunter jeremy lin xi jinping matt bomer

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Introducing MindLink: New Enterprise Social Collaboration Platform ...

ENTERPRISE 2.0 CONFERENCE - BOSTON, June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

MindLink Being Unveiled During Enterprise 2.0 Conference; New Product Helps Eliminate Email Overload

Today at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference, Formicary Collaboration Group (http://www.fcg.im, Booth #220) introduced MindLink. ?MindLink is an enterprise social collaboration platform that fosters secure, streamlined, team-based communication and collaboration through a company's existing Microsoft environment and unified communications solution. ?MindLink specializes in social collaboration: multi-layered discussions between groups of people within an organization vs. social networking, which connects people on the individual, peer-to-peer level.

"Business success today depends on teams of individuals working towards collective goals," said Daanish Khan, Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, Formicary Collaboration Group (FCG). "But traditional email and social networking technology tools have fallen short in the enterprise in delivering business value because they're not ideal for interactive, team-based collaboration. ?MindLink, on the other hand, was built from the ground up to support efficient communication among groups. It's so effective in the enterprise that it frequently becomes the preferred mode of communications for groups working on common activities and goal."

With MindLink, knowledge workers within an organization can build engaged team- and interest-based communities that offer:

  • Open and transparent real-time and asynchronous communication and collaboration among ?groups
  • Efficient sharing of information by content experts throughout employee networks
  • Access to contextual information from line-of-business applications to drive dynamic discussions.


?

"Traditional businesses are very 'siloed' - they contain vast amounts of intellectual capital that is never accessed by the organization," explains Eileen Brown, CEO of social business consultancy Amastra and author of "Working The Crowd: Social Media Marketing for Business." "In contrast, the social business democratizes data by breaking down the information hierarchies and ensuring that knowledge stays alive, and a true organizational asset. MindLink brings together all the collaboration features, making them intuitive to use and accessible to everyone who needs them throughout the organization."

What Sets MindLink Apart

Data shows enterprises are increasingly intrigued with the idea of social collaboration tools to drive business productivity. ?But concerns around security, adoption and compliance are holding many back from implementing. ?

MindLink is unique because it's built on Microsoft Lync, Microsoft's unified communications platform, making it fast and easy to implement into an organization and integrate into employees' daily workflow and processes, supporting high user adoption. ?And because MindLink is available as either an on-premise or private cloud solution, it alleviates enterprise data security concerns. ?

The result is far more powerful and efficient group collaboration than traditional email and social networking tools enable, making for more productive and efficient teams.

Key MindLink Features and Benefits ? ?

  • Live Team-based Content/Communication Streams: ?Delivers live communication and information from internal systems (document management, project management, CRM) or external sources (news feeds, public social networks) into focus, team-based content and communications streams.
  • Customization: ?MindLink's LiveStream shows all message updates in a single view. ?MindLink enables employees to subscribe to content that's most relevant to them, eliminating the problem of information overload commonly associated with traditional email. Users can create conversation streams based on their individual projects, teams and interests, change the order of streams, or remove them from view completely, while still getting all updates in their LiveStream.
  • Central Access to Conversation Tools: ?MindLink provides users with a central place to access team conversations and individual instant messaging.
  • Status Updates: ?MindLink enables employees to effortlessly keep their colleagues in the know about their whereabouts and availability at all times, reducing the number of missed calls and needless emails.
  • Search and Storage: ?All MindLink conversation history is securely stored. Users can quickly search and retrieve relevant information from MindLink whenever it is needed.
  • Universal, Anywhere, Anytime Access: ?MindLink is available whenever and wherever a user may need it. ? ?It works on all major browsers and platforms - PC, Mac, iPad, Linux.


?

The MindLink Platform Consists of: ?

  • MindLink Anywhere: ?Browser based access to topic-based information and communication streams, with features including custom notifications, instant messaging, activity feed and co-worker connections. ?MindLink lets users focus on what's important - and filter out what isn't, letting them consume information based on their priorities. ?
  • MindLink Mobile: ?When users are on the go, they want to restrict the amount of information coming their way. ?MindLink allows users to filter out the noise by selecting a subset of streams to appear on their smart phone. Further granularity allows more restricted information in the Mobile LiveStream. Configure custom notifications based on specific streams or contacts.
  • MindLink for SharePoint: ?For organizations already using Microsoft SharePoint for team based project and document management, MindLink for SharePoint lets users introduce communication streams within their community sites. Individual streams can be exposed as SharePoint webparts for specific user communities.
  • MindLink for Outlook: ?Microsoft Outlook is the default communication environment for most knowledge workers. MindLink allows topic based streams to live alongside individual emails by exposing MindLink in Outlook, enabling fast adoption without taking users out of their comfort zone.
  • MindLink Connectors and API: Existing connectors, for example RSS, deliver content to the appropriate communication streams. MindLink's simple RESTful API makes it easy to develop new connectors helping drive dynamic discussions


?

Organizations without large IT departments or existing Microsoft infrastructure can still take advantage of MindLink's power through FCG's first US hosted service provider, Saratoga Springs, NY-based Thoughtbus. ?Already, Thoughtbus customers are preparing to implement MindLink throughout their organizations. ?

"We're always pursuing the promise of social software and its related power to empower collaboration," said Alberto Molina, President of SureTech.com. "To have MindLink's social platform integrated with Thoughtbus' powerful collaboration service for our email, SharePoint, mobile and Lync helps us streamline our business process for local and remote staff as well as for customer contacts and subcontracted teams."

FCG Secures $1.5MM in Capital Infusion, Announces US Expansion Plans

MindLink also shared news of more than $1.5 million in growth capital the company secured in April and announced the company has hired a West Coast sales manager in the US.

"FCG plans to use this capital infusion to expand our presence in North America and aggressively market MindLink to US organizations, where we're already seeing strong demand for our solution," commented Khan. ?

Pricing and Availability

MindLink is available immediately on a per-user subscription basis. ?

About Formicary Collaboration Group

Formicary Collaboration Group (FCG) is a provider of team-based social collaboration solutions. FCG's software leverages existing knowledge and communication assets to enable users to consume and share information and ideas, delivered through a next generation user experience providing best of breed Enterprise 2.0 and social features, and accessible on any device for today's increasingly mobile workforce. The management team has more than 10 years' experience working with medium to large sized businesses, facilitating better collaboration for both internal and external users.
FCG is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and RIM Alliance Member. FCG solutions are fully compatible with Microsoft Lync Group Chat 2010 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

SOURCE Formicary Collaboration Group

msft etan patz obama dog doug hutchison larry brown kevin hart thomas kinkade

Insight: The power brokers with Europe's fate in their hands

THE EDITOR: NIKOLAS BLOME

Nikolas Blome is one of the most powerful journalists in Europe. Chief political correspondent and deputy editor of Bild, continental Europe's most widely read daily newspaper, he commissions stories that attract some 12 million readers.

Few newspapers have been as influential in shaping German public opinion as the tabloid-style Bild, which has run inflammatory headlines and colorful front page articles about Greek waste and corruption that are deeply skeptical of Europe's rescue attempts.

"Greece is one of the most important issues we've dealt with in the last couple of years and because it affects the euro it's an issue that touches everyone," said Blome, 48, who defends his conservative political views in a weekly TV talk show.

He bristled at the suggestion that Bild has tackled Greece harder than other newspapers in Germany. "It's not just a topic for Bild newspaper. It's a topic for every newspaper."

Bild began reporting extensively about Greece early, running heavy coverage two years ago that some analysts say reinforced the German government's initial reluctance to intervene in the country's meltdown.

For Germans who have seen many of their social welfare benefits scrapped in a decade of belt-tightening, stories about Greek tax dodgers and pensions paid for years to dead people were incendiary. Bild's articles stoked public anger in Germany and fuelled taxpayer opposition to big bailout cheques.

"We were skeptical from the very start. The essential problem is that new multi-billion euro rescue packages are only short-term help. In my mind the problem won't be fixed with constant rescue programs," Blome said.

The paper, he said, has a "clear editorial consensus that Greece is not going to be rescued the way this is going and that it should probably leave the euro zone at least for the time being. Greece needs a currency devaluation, a new currency, a new drachma. That's the fastest and best way to restore the country's competitiveness. That's a view shared by everyone at the paper."

Bild has given a lot of space to Hans Werner Sinn, president of the Ifo institute think tank and a leading economist who regularly calls for Greece to leave the euro zone. Once isolated and viewed as somewhat absurd - Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble criticized his opinions as nonsense - Sinn's views are more mainstream now, thanks in part to Bild.

The paper's coverage has also touched on the comical. Stories demanding that Greece sell its islands and its Acropolis to raise money made it into newspapers and broadcasts in scores of different languages around the world and prompted several German politicians to demand Greece sell public assets.

"We didn't want to make fun of the Greeks with that story but we wanted to point out in a striking way what the problem is," Blome said. "If you're serious about reducing debts, then start privatizing. Then you've got to sell off public assets, just like other countries are doing. But Greek politicians felt that we were attacking their sovereignty. What nonsense!"

Blome, whose earlier career took him to Brussels as a correspondent, said many political leaders in Germany agree with Bild's take.

"There are a lot of people (in the government) who tell us privately that in the long or short term Greece is going to have to leave the euro zone. The government's official policy is, of course, different."

Blome said he and Bild editors realize a Greek exit from the euro zone could well lead to more turbulence - one of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's main arguments against it - but believes the current proposals won't work.

Bild, he said, is no more campaigning than any other German newspaper.

"I can't really identify with that ?campaign' accusation," he said. "What's true is that we've tackled this issue a lot and we have a clear opinion. If that's a campaign, go ahead and call it that. But also call the coverage of the (conservative) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung a campaign, and the same goes for the (liberal) Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, and Der Spiegel magazine."

Whatever else, Blome hopes Greece gets back on its feet.

"I hope they get a government that understands that there can't be any more money from other euro zone countries. I hope Greece gets its act together. But I don't think they're going to do it inside the euro zone."

THE CRISIS MANAGER: JOERG ASMUSSEN

Putting out fires is nothing new to European Central Bank board member Joerg Asmussen. His dad ran the local fire brigade when he was a boy: a round-the-clock job that required a cool head.

Now, the 45-year-old German official is considered one of the most efficient crisis managers in the euro zone, a veteran of Europe's sovereign debt and wider financial crises and a key government advisor on future challenges facing the region.

Still, he told Reuters: "Hectic people make me nervous."

His approach is to stay calm, gather data and evaluate, to determine his goal and decide how to get there.

"A good crisis manager is not hectic himself," he said. Decisions must be made "calmly, even if you are under pressure."

"You've got to know in advance exactly what your bosses want...and when you reach a point where you touch the line, you've got to pick up the phone," Asmussen said. "You can't shy away from getting someone out of bed at 2 a.m."

That calm under fire is one reason why Asmussen has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks since joining the German finance ministry as a junior advisor in 1996, and why he counts among his patrons Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble despite his membership of the opposition Social Democrats.

Asmussen was appointed German deputy finance minister in mid-2009 and since January has worked at the ECB, where he is responsible for the bank's international and European relations - code for crisis management.

So far he has shaped policy as a backroom negotiator but is now becoming more visible.

"You get one task. If your bosses think you've done reasonably well, you get the next," he said.

Asmussen's first portfolio at the finance ministry was the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which he says prepared him well.

"The Asian crisis was a good learning phase because of the cooperation with people who had known this kind of thing for a long time," he said. "Back then Juergen Stark and Klaus Regling headed the finance ministry's crisis team."

Personal contacts are crucial.

"The chemistry among the key players is extremely important. Independently of all the empirical data that you can study, you need to have a gut feeling for the people you're dealing with because sometimes you're operating all around the globe."

In his last years in the finance ministry, there were few German crisis meetings without Asmussen - either in the second row or in the room next door - on topics from Germany's banking rescue fund to the panel that decided carmaker Opel's future.

"Every minister and head of state or government has about five people he or she really trusts. There are always a hundred people who say they've spoken to the minister who wants this or that and that's why we have to act. My experience is those who have really spoken to the minister don't say it."

Aside from the daily fire-fighting, Asmussen thinks Europe's medium-term future poses more challenging questions.

"Further integration, fiscal union, banking union, democratically legitimate political union - we've got to achieve that and we have to have an open public debate on that because those are basic questions of our social order. You can't do that in the back room."

His job, Asmussen said, is not all that different from his father's.

"If there was a fire anywhere on Christmas Eve, the phone would ring and my dad would go to work."

His own family is relaxed about his duties, says Asmussen, even though he missed the birth of his second daughter because of the 2009 financial crisis, and interrupted his summer holiday last year to attend a crisis meeting in Brussels on Greece.

And despite the pace, he finds it easy to switch off.

"Whenever I have the opportunity to sleep, I sleep well. At most my two daughters keep me awake."

THE SHERPA: ANTONIO JOSE CABRAL

From his office on the 13th floor of the European Commission, Antonio Jose Cabral can look out over the rooftops of Brussels' 'European quarter' and the institutions tackling Europe's debt crisis - if he finds the time.

As senior adviser to Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and his chief diplomatic envoy, or 'sherpa', to the G20 countries, Cabral is a critical behind-the-scenes player in Europe's crisis-management machinery.

A 24-year Brussels veteran who began his career in the Portuguese central bank and finance ministry, Cabral has spent the past two years as Barroso's point-man analyzing and trying to solve the spiraling problems that have struck down Greece, Ireland and Portugal and now threaten Spain and Italy.

It is a job that requires attention to developments in financial markets and the mood in capitals across Europe, keeping Barroso "permanently informed", briefing him ahead of meetings with heads of state and government, and liaising with his global G20 counterparts, from Washington to Mexico City.

"Days are long, and there is a consequence to that," he said wryly, adding after a pause: "Nights are short."

This year alone he visited Mexico half a dozen times to prepare for this week's G20 in Los Cabos, where the euro zone and Greece were central to the discussions.

For Cabral, managing the crisis requires distilling a wealth of information down to its essence. It is about focusing sharply on the immediate, while never losing sight of the longer-term vision of economic and political integration that some of Europe's leaders are trying to bring about.

At the same time, the role involves explaining in detail the actions Europe is taking, especially to G20 colleagues, and reassuring them that efforts are moving in the right direction.

"It works with persuasion, patience... there are different levels," he said, explaining that he has just had a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, then held another with his own staff on how to negotiate a better position for the EU in the G20 communiqu? - which was intensively haggled over.

Paintings and photos of Lisbon hang on the walls of Cabral's quiet, orderly office. His desk is laden with blue A4 files. A volume entitled "The Euro" sits on a cabinet shelf among books on art and history. A fan of Tintin, Cabral owns several rare editions of the Belgian boy reporter's adventures.

Asked which moment during the crisis gave him most cause for concern, he paused before replying: "So far I have been able to sleep well". But then he mentioned the G20 summit in Cannes in November 2011, when Greece looked on the brink of leaving the euro zone, and the turbulent weeks that followed.

"The last two months of 2011, they were difficult," he said, listing concerns about the amount of debt Europe was due to issue, new governments in Spain and Italy, doubts about Greece's debt restructuring deal and the euro zone's financial 'firewall'.

"The pressure was immense," he said. "I advised President Barroso at the time that the concerns were a bit overdone, and I think reality showed that it was the case."

Asked whether he has ever been worried that the euro might collapse, there was no hesitation: "Never. That I have never doubted and I continue not to doubt. That's not only my conviction, but my determination."

Cabral was already a senior official in Brussels when the euro was introduced and regards economic and monetary union as part of his DNA. But he is careful to check the dreams of policymakers with the hard reality of integration.

"Having a vision is okay, but if you do not blend vision with realism, you might be adding to the problem rather than the solution," he said, explaining that steps needed to be carefully thought through before they are taken, even if they seem obvious.

"We must do it in a way that we are not trapping ourselves."

Barroso, he said, is a fast learner who has immersed himself in the complexities of international finance.

"Sometimes I tell him he can get rid of me because he knows as much as I do at this point," said Cabral. "But I think my presence is useful."

THE PROTESTER: IVAN AYALA

It has no formal structure, no clear leaders and no official spokesperson. Yet the "Indignados" movement remains a potent force in Spain, where protests against the handling of the economic crisis continue.

In mid-2011, the Socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero began sinking billions of euros into Spain's failing banks and imposing spending cuts, the likes of which had not been experienced for at least a generation.

Tens of thousands of people reacted by camping out and rallying for weeks in town squares in spontaneous protest against the country's economic and political system. That helped spark the global "Occupy" movement.

Ivan Ayala, a 31-year-old university researcher in macroeconomics, joined the Indignados (Indignants) movement, as it became known, soon after protests began.

Frustrated with Spain's political parties, he started going every day after work to Madrid's main square, Puerta del Sol, to participate in the movement.

A year on, the Socialists have been voted out, but unemployment is still around 25 percent and the country has accepted a 100 billion-euro bailout for its banks. Ayala continues to meet at least twice a week in a public square to debate economic policy with the group, also called 15-M after its May 15 beginning, which continues to organize regular demonstrations against banks and the government.

While 15-M is not a political organization, Ayala sees it as a social force holding politicians to account, affecting public policy and giving a voice to hard-up taxpayers and the unemployed. He likens it to social movements of the past, such as that demanding votes for women a century ago.

The group has achieved some concrete change. After months of 15-M protests against evictions of poor families who had defaulted on their mortgages, the government cajoled banks into signing up to an ethical code intended to delay evictions by two years in cases of families with no income.

Ayala, who runs his own business in Madrid exporting ethical products such as food and make-up, is skeptical that the euro zone's promised bailout of Spanish banks will stem the crisis. Like many critics of the euro project, he believes its foundations are flawed because of the diverse nature of the economies it has sewn together.

"Independently of the financial crisis, the euro crisis would have happened - it has just brought it forward," he said. "The solution would have been to not have gone into the euro."

He likened Spain's membership of the single currency to "sleeping with a gorilla".

"The gorilla is Germany, which has a different income, a different economic structure, very strong industry. Spain enters in this context and loses all its economic tools like the exchange rate."

Without giving the ECB the power to buy sovereign debt on the primary market, austerity measures in the region will fail to stem the crisis and could lead to the breakup of the euro zone, Ayala said. He views the prospects for Spain as grim.

"As Europe is at the moment, the euro is impossible to maintain because Spain is condemned to two, three lost decades, as Latin America was. I think they are going to throw Spain out of the euro and in the end it will be a relief."

Without the ability to let its currency devalue, there is a risk Spain will have to force salaries down to levels intolerable for a country where one in four is already jobless.

Ayala and other Indignados are not prepared to let that happen.

Most recently, 15-M raised money to file a legal case against Spain's fourth largest bank Bankia, being bailed out by 23.5 billion euros of public money. The case names former Bankia chief Rodrigo Rato, who is also a former Spanish economy minister and former managing director of the IMF.

"We need to go to politicians' homes, to shout, to bang pots and pans in front of all those politicians we suspect of having followed or following austerity policies that remove doctors or education," Ayala said.

THE BANKER: DOUGLAS FLINT

If fixing the euro zone crisis requires an accountant's precision and calmness, the new head of the global banking lobby group is in a good position to help.

Douglas Flint holds the chairmanship of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), which represents more than 450 financial firms and led creditors in the deal to restructure 206 billion euros of Greek debt this year.

The 56-year-old Scot, also chairman of HSBC, is seen as a low-key networker with strong contacts across the banking industry and in governments after 17 years at Europe's biggest bank, which has operations in 85 countries.

Far removed from the brash image of big-spending bankers, he was once reported by Britain's Times newspaper as saying: "He who shouts loudest shouldn't necessarily get noticed."

Flint took the IIF role from Josef Ackermann, the former boss of Deutsche Bank, who joked in his departing speech that his timing "might be perfect" as he handed over the reins.

Ackermann was the key go-between as German Chancellor Angela Merkel put pressure on Greece's creditors to take bigger losses.

With no end in sight to the euro zone crisis the IIF is likely to remain a central player. Flint believes restoring confidence in the euro zone project is crucial, and leaders need to get citizens to "buy into the vision."

"People want austerity and they want growth, so part of it is leading people to the understanding it's not a toggle switch between austerity and growth," he told Reuters shortly after taking over as IIF chairman, at a meeting in Copenhagen.

Though Flint was criticized for his role supporting HSBC's disastrous 2003 purchase of U.S. sub-prime lender Household - saddling the bank with billions of dollars of losses - the bank avoided government bailouts and emerged from the crisis in better shape than rivals thanks to its prudent approach to capital and liquidity. It is now undergoing its own austerity program, cutting costs to boost profits.

Flint is also regarded as an expert in complex regulatory and accounting issues. He has served on the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and in 2008 co-authored a report, "Containing Systemic Risk", with Goldman Sachs Bank USA Chairman Gerald Corrigan.

It will serve him well in the current environment. Regulatory changes are fast approaching and euro zone governments are clamping down hard in an effort to make their lenders watertight in the event of any further financial storms.

Flint has been a vocal critic when he considers reforms to be going too far. But he also sees that there is work to do.

"The benefits of the single market and a material economic union - to have a one-stop negotiation with the other significant unions like the United States, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East - are so obviously apparent," he said.

"The challenge is to lead people to understanding there are difficult choices. We want all the benefits of the single market and now we might have to address some of the bits that haven't been finished."

THE NETWORKER

The telephone in the office of Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann rarely stops ringing.

With two secretaries and a special advisor on hand, he takes only the important callers himself. But these days almost all the callers are important: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, fellow central bank governors and top foreign politicians all want Weidmann's views on the future of the euro zone.

He hardly gets a chance to come up for air between talks with decision makers in Europe and central bankers in the United States wanting to know the latest developments. Such calls can turn into heated debates.

"Critics on the other side of the Atlantic are of the opinion the ECB (European Central Bank) should follow the example of the Federal Reserve and buy more government debt. But we are not a federal state and not even the Fed buys debt from California or Florida," he said.

Four years of uninterrupted turmoil has turned a rigid routine into spontaneous clusters of emergency conference calls and rapidly-arranged get-togethers. Weekends and late night calls have became part of the routine, putting a strain on officials.

Weidmann's predecessor, Axel Weber, and his compatriot Juergen Stark - the ECB's chief economist at the time - decided to quit last year in protest at the ECB's purchases of troubled euro zone debt.

Others, like Weidmann's former ECB colleague, Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, whose term on the Executive Board expired in May, look forward to re-adjusting their work-life balance, which Gonzalez-Paramo said was tilted "in the wrong direction".

"You really don't know whether you have a weekend or not," Gonzalez-Paramo said. "You go somewhere and you stay all day long on the phone or on your laptop. This, I hope, is for some time at least over."

Weidmann has frequently said that he had no plans to follow in his colleagues' footsteps.

With growing doubts whether the euro zone can survive in its present form, planning for the worst case has become essential.

The Bundesbank has reactivated the task force it used in 2008 to manage the rescue of German banks IKB and Hypo Real Estate. Weidmann's advisers gather information about German banks' exposure to Greece - and to Portugal, Spain and Italy, the countries seen as most vulnerable if Greece left the euro zone.

The Bundesbank president stays in close contact with his ECB colleagues, including ECB President Mario Draghi and executive board member Joerg Asmussen, who has known Weidmann since their university days.

Despite the personal connection - and even though the distance between the Bundesbank and the ECB is less than five kilometers - the two central banks sometimes seem worlds apart. Weidmann is known as a hard-liner and often clashes with colleagues and politicians trying to push the ECB beyond its legal limits, such as asking it to back-stop governments to ease pressure from financial markets.

Short-term gains brought about by stretching the ECB's mandate may come at a high cost of lost credibility, he fears.

"Financial markets change their mind every other week. One day they demand more, the next day they complain about the consequences," Weidmann said.

(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum, Noah Barkin and Annika Breidthardt in Berlin, Luke Baker in Brussels, Sarah Morris in Madrid, Eva Kuehnen, Andreas Framke and Paul Carrel in Frankfurt and Steve Slater in London.; Editing by Sophie Walker and Richard Woods)

turbo tax katharine mcphee cold mountain valentines day ideas the villages florida egoraptor gisele bundchen

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

I Devour Books: Interview with Misty Gatlin

Hey everyone, today I would like to welcome Misty Gatlin, author of A Princess Broken! ?Misty was kind enough to answer some?interview?questions I had for her and I hope you guys enjoy it!

?Here is a little bit about Misty:

I am a mother of two beautiful children who is married to my high school sweetheart.? I?m a mother, wife,?teacher,?writer?and speaker.? I love doing what God has gifted me to do.My writing and speaking are both transparent and relevant.? My passion is to equip teen and college age girls with the tools to get through day-to-day life by building confidence in who they are in Christ.? I have worked with these age groups for more than 12 years through teaching and youth ministry.
Would you like to tell the readers a little bit about the book for those who have not read it yet? Book synopsis: Sarah defines herself as many things: broken, damaged, addicted, and hopeless. Hurt at an early age by someone dear to her, she retaliates by living a life filled with destruction. Her past has finally caught up with her, and she's ready to call it quits. Her story unfolds when she meets a compassionate stranger who helps her realize past decisions don?t define who she is, and what she thought was the end of her story is only the beginning. A life-changing decision is placed in front of her, and she's forced to face it head on. What will she choose, and where will that path lead her? So, what inspired you to write A Princess Broken? Honestly, I had a dream one Sunday afternoon about writing what I called a ?blog series.?? Every Tuesday and Thursday I would write around 700 words to the story.? The funny thing is I didn?t know where the story was going.? I literally wrote everything the day I posted it.? I discovered I work better under pressure, and the story was bringing new readers in by the hundreds each week.? Then readers came by the thousands each week, and I knew I had something real with it. I felt like I got to be the first person to read this book, and just as I devour any well written novel, I did the same with this one.? The only difference is I had to write it in order to see what was going to happen.? It was an experience I can?t explain. Are any of the events in the novel inspired by real life events? Somehow this is a difficult one to answer.? Yes and no.? I took snippets from my own life plus issues I see my students dealing with every day and sprinkled in whatever was in my imagination.? There?s nothing in the book that?s straight from real events other than a scene with Kate?s dad.? It was my dad?s story verbatim.? I journaled during that incident with him, and I literally re-wrote the events and feelings in this book.? I never intended for it to be a part of any book, but I felt strongly that it should be told, and it somehow seemed to fit well. Have you ever had a real life encounter with a person like Sarah from the novel? I don?t know that I?ve met someone exactly like her, but I teach at an alternative high school and work with youth at church, so I?ve encountered many girls who have similarities to her.? There?s also a little bit of me in both Kate and Sarah.? The book is very emotional. Were there any parts of the novel that you found difficult to write due to the emotions you had to convey to the reader? Oh, absolutely!? At one point near the end of the book I had to stop writing.? I was crying, and I had to process what I had just written.? I attempted to read that particular part out loud to my husband, and I just couldn?t get through it.? Whether it was a connection I felt with my characters or the fact that I mentally and emotionally placed myself in that situation, I don?t know, but it was definitely something I had never had to do before.? It was at that point I realized the power in this book. So what is your writing process like? Ha ha! I don?t know that I have a writing process.? It?s never the same.? I just get something in my head that won?t leave, and I write it down.? From that a story is created.? With A Princess Broken I just saw it play out in my head like a movie, and I wrote what I saw.? There are scenes with great description where I sat quietly and did what I assume actors do with method acting.? In my mind I was Sarah.? I dug deep and tried to feel what she would have felt during certain moments, and some things came to me in a very real way. There?s one scene in particular that almost sends chills through me when I read it, and you can read it in Friday?s tour stop.? I remember the day I wrote it; I even remember what I was wearing that day.? It was the scene where Sarah remembers the first time she cut herself.? It was almost as if I felt her emotion and pain, and I wrote what I felt.? I?ve had girls come to me after reading it telling me their own experiences were almost exactly what I had described.? The thing is I?ve never experienced that, but I somehow found myself writing as if I had lived it. Some think my mind is a bit crazy, and some think I have an imagination made especially for a writer.? Honestly I don?t care who is right.? It has given me some great stories.? There is no set process, however.? I just write when I can, and I can never force it.? If it?s not there, it?s just not there.? I took a week or two off in writing this book because nothing came to me, and I knew something forced would never turn out as good so I just left it alone, and my readers understood. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what type? I?m a music lover, so I can?t listen to it while I?m writing because I sing along with it.? If I?m writing for my blog (nonfiction), I might sometimes listen to worship music very quietly in the background.? If I?m writing fiction, though, I need complete silence around me.? Truly, I go to another place while I?m writing, so I have to be alone and with no distractions.? What advice would you give teens going through tough issues in their daily lives? First, understand you?re not alone.? Whatever situation you?ve found yourself in, you are not hopeless.? One thing I do for my students dealing with similar issues is listen to them and love them regardless of what they?ve been struggling with in life.? I will not judge them for doing the things they do, and I will not treat them as if they were bad people.? I don?t believe any of them are bad.? I believe there are many factors that go into making decisions they make, and they need to know there is hope for them.? They can make a change and have a better life. More than anything my advice would be to find someone to talk to.? Going through these issues alone will lead to more hopelessness, and a person?s self-worth plummets during those hopeless times.? There is always someone somewhere ready, willing, and equipped to help.? My advice is to seek them out, and I always offer myself up to anyone needing help.

_____________________________________________________________________________

I would like to thank Misty once again for letting me be part of this blog tour, and also thank her so much for taking the time to stop by for the interview! ?And make sure to check out A Princess Broken and Misty on her blog @?http://mistygatlin.com/! ?

norv turner jerry angelo

American Airlines, Communications Workers of America Locked In ...

Rosemary Capasso, 59, has worked as a passenger service agent at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for the last 30 years.

She splits her time between the ticket counter, where she checks-in baggage and prints out boarding passes, and the airport gates, where she helps passengers who have seating issues and flight delays. In her thirty-sixth year as an American Airlines employee, she makes $21.54 an hour.

In December, Capasso signed a union petition with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), hoping a union would give her and the other roughly 10,000 passenger service agents at the airline giant more leverage in contract negotiations with the company.

?Many of us want a union because we want a voice in our future,? Capasso said. ?As non-union [workers], we have no say in our future. American Airlines does to us whatever it sees fit.?

But the union election, which usually takes place a month after enough employees sign a petition, has been wrought with controversy and repeatedly delayed. On Thursday, a federal judge in Fort Worth will decide whether to issue an injunction to block the election, marking the latest chapter in a bitter seven-month battle between CWA and American Airlines.

Last December, more than 35 percent of service employees at the airport signed a petition requesting to be represented by the CWA. According to the old rules of the National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries, that should have triggered an automatic election.

But in February, the Senate passed a controversial provision in a bill funding the Federal Aviation Administration that moved the threshold up to 50 percent.

American Airlines points to the new rules outlined in the FAA bill as grounds for the company?s refusal to hold the election. Arguing that the new legislation cannot be applied retroactively, the NMB had demanded American Airlines proceed with the election, which had been scheduled to take place between June 21 and August 2.

American Airlines then sued the NMB and, in a victory for the company last week, U.S. District Judge Terry Means granted a temporary restraining order to prevent the election from taking place.

The CWA, with backing from Democratic leaders in Congress, have accused the airline of stalling. On May 15, Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sent a letter to American Airlines CEO Tom Horton, asking that his company proceed with the election. Leading Democrats in the House, including Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), followed shortly thereafter.

?American Airlines has tried every conceivable, ridiculous argument just to keep these individuals from having a voice in the workplace and it?s an outrage,? CWA spokesman Chuck Porcari told The Huffington Post. ?They seem to think they have the right to usurp the will of Congress?Congress and the NMB have made it clear that retroactivity is just not an argument here.?

A spokeswoman for American Airlines said the legal issues are not so cut and dry.

?This is an unprecedented issue in the history of the Railway Labor Act [the law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries] that merits a court review before any election takes place,? Missy Cousino wrote in an email. ?The CWA has acknowledged that a majority of these employees did not support its effort to unionize this workgroup, so we think it?s clear the union?s election application did not meet the threshold of 50 percent that the law says is required for a union representation election to be held."

The case has acquired even greater significance in the context of the ongoing bankruptcy court proceedings of the airline giant?s parent company. The bankruptcy case could mean significant concessions and job cuts for some of the company?s roughly 75,000 employees, as American Airlines is attempting to throw away its existing collective bargaining agreements with the three unions that represent the company?s pilots, mechanics and flight attendants. On Friday, a federal bankruptcy judge in New York will decide if the company can void those existing agreements.

Union supporters like Capasso say that American Airlines is dragging out the election process in order to more easily extract concessions from the non-union passenger service agents. Those concessions could be more difficult to obtain in the ongoing bankruptcy case if she and her fellow passenger service agents were represented by a union, they argue.

?Whenever the company wants to make changes to any work group, they have to negotiate with the three union work groups, and negotiating is a give and take,? Capasso said. ?With us, as non-union employees, it?s all a take. There is no give. The company, at will, can take whatever it chooses.?

American Airlines, however, denied the charge that it is deliberately stalling the election in order to more easily obtain concessions.

?The restructuring process is a separate matter from the [NMB case],? Cousino wrote in an additional email. ?We will continue to stand up for our employees while ensuring their right to a voice in the important decision about whether or not to seek union representation, if the correct law was applied. At this time, the issue is appropriately with the U.S. District Court and American will cooperate fully with the court in that process.?

CWA spokesperson Candice Johnson told HuffPost that the union will appeal the decision if the judge issues an injunction blocking the union election.

Also on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

cp3 lakers news rachel crow rachel crow steelers browns va tech dan gilbert

Petersen looks into the wind for aerodynamics exhibit | Hemmings ...


Photos courtesy Mercedes-Benz Classic

Aerodynamics is a key component of a car?s performance, as well as a key component of design, but you rarely hear people bragging about their car?s drag coefficient. A new exhibit, Aerodynamics: From Art to Science at the Petersen Automotive Museum, aims to help change that.

The exhibit, open through May 27, 2013, attempts to highlight some of the landmarks of aerodynamic design from the early days of motoring to the present. ?The timing for an exhibition of aerodynamic vehicles has never been better,? said Petersen Curator Leslie Kendall. ?Now that most automakers have turned their attention to perfecting the aerodynamic qualities of their cars, museum visitors will be fascinated to learn that the pursuit of sleeker, more efficient shapes actually began during the early 1900s. Not every visitor will find all of these early cars attractive, but they will certainly find them interesting.?

More than a dozen vehicles will be featured in the exhibit to illustrate how the art of streamlining evolved into the science of aerodynamics ? among them the 1940 BMW 328 Mille Miglia, a 1928 Martin Aerodynamic from the Lane Motor Museum, a 1938 Delahaye, a 1941 Tatra T-87, a 1979 Ford Probe design study, a 1937 Airomobile, a 1935 Chrysler Airflow and the 1992 Oldsmobile Aerotech.

The cars in the Peterson exhibit are some of the more radical examples of aero, but not every slippery car in history looked like a science experiment. Mercedes-Benz Classic recently rolled some of its more historically pleasing shapes into the wind tunnel to see how they would fare.

Up for consideration were a few million dollars? worth of classic Benzes from the 1950s: a 1952 W194 300 SL race car, a 1954 W198 300 SL production car and a 1951 W188 300S coupe. The results were interesting. The race car weighed in with a drag coefficient of .376 (wind speed 80.77 MPH) the production 300 SL was a close second at .389 while the 300S had a drag coefficient of .670.

Those numbers put the 300 SL race car in the league of a 1999 BMW Z3 coupe or a 1996 Ferarri F50; the production 300 SL in the neighborhood of a 1989 Mazda Miata or a 1978 Nissan 280ZX; while the 300S actually has a higher drag coefficient than a Mercedes G-Wagon which has a Cd of .54.

For the full details from the M-B wind tunnel test visit Daimler.com.

derek jeter gotye bill cosby divine mercy cabin in the woods the legend of korra three stooges

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

China conducts its first crewed spaceship docking, gives east Asia its place in space (updated)

China docks its first crewed space capsule, gives southeast Asia its place in space

Believe it or not, the only countries to have docked a human-helmed spacecraft in the first 50 years of spaceflight were Russia and the US. That small community just got bigger, as China's Shenzhou-9 has successfully docked with the Tiangong-1 module put in orbit for just such a test. The link-up is being used for experiments in the short term, but it's a key step in a program that will ultimately lead to a full-fledged Chinese space station. On top the wider ambitions, the docking also marks a victory for gender-neutral space travel: Liu Yang, one of three crew members, is the country's first female spacefarer. China's space program has a long road ahead, but it's clear the International Space Station won't be alone for much longer.

Update: Yes, China more accurately covers east Asia, not just the southeast. Our apologies!

China conducts its first crewed spaceship docking, gives east Asia its place in space (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSpace.com  | Email this | Comments

9th circuit court of appeals gisele bundchen tom brady randy travis arrested dickens amber portwood cujo greg kelly

Video: Mega Deals on Mega Yachts

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

les paul fred thompson fred thompson red hook romney tax return the tree of life movie academy award nominees 2012

Lima's unlikely superhero

In this photo taken June 13, 2012, Avelino Chavez, wearing his signature Superman costume, waves and greets riot police walking in formation toward a plaza where a protest is expected to take place in downtown Lima, Peru. Chavez, 52, took on the Superman persona 15 years ago, when he lost his job as a security guard, and says he has had work ever since. Chavez also says he only earns about $160 US dollars per month, but that he has the strength of a superhero. Chavez currently works to promote a travel agency. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this photo taken June 13, 2012, Avelino Chavez, wearing his signature Superman costume, waves and greets riot police walking in formation toward a plaza where a protest is expected to take place in downtown Lima, Peru. Chavez, 52, took on the Superman persona 15 years ago, when he lost his job as a security guard, and says he has had work ever since. Chavez also says he only earns about $160 US dollars per month, but that he has the strength of a superhero. Chavez currently works to promote a travel agency. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this photo taken June 14, 2012, Avelino Chavez, wearing his signature Superman costume, combs his hair at his home in Lima, Peru. Chavez, 52, took on the Superman persona 15 years ago, when he lost his job as a security guard, and says he has had work ever since. Chavez also says he only earns about $160 US dollars per month, but that he has the strength of a superhero. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this photo taken June 14, 2012, Avelino Chavez, wearing his signature Superman costume, poses for pictures with tourists in downtown Lima, Peru. Chavez, 52, took on the Superman persona 15 years ago, when he lost his job as a security guard, and says he has had work ever since. Chavez also says he only earns about $160 US dollars per month, but that he has the strength of a superhero. Chavez currently works to promote a travel agency. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

In this photo taken June 14, 2012, Avelino Chavez, wearing his signature Superman costume, combs his hair at his home in Lima, Peru. Chavez, 52, took on the Superman persona 15 years ago, when he lost his job as a security guard, and says he has had work ever since. Chavez also says he only earns about $160 US dollars per month, but that he has the strength of a superhero. Chavez currently works to promote a travel agency. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Avelino Chavez, wearing his signature Superman costume, talks with tourist police in the main square in downtown Lima, Peru, Friday, June 15, 2012. Chavez, 52, took on the Superman persona 15 years ago, when he lost his job as a security guard, and says he has had work ever since. Chavez also says he only earns about $160 US dollars per month, but that he has the strength of a superhero. Chavez currently works to promote a travel agency. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

(AP) ? It's not easy being Superman.

It only earns about $160 a month for Avelino Chavez, who dresses up daily as the caped hero.

But oh, the adventures!

The 52-year-old Chavez can't fly but does seem to be everywhere in Lima: at political rallies and speeches, at a wedding shoot for Peru's famed opera tenor Juan Diego Florez, hawking tours and flights on behalf of a travel agency in the central Plaza de Armas.

"Hola Superman!" people shout to him.

"Hola, Superamigo!" he'll shout back.

Chavez became a superhero 15 years ago after a failed go at bullfighting and jobs as a craftsman, laboratory worker and brothel security guard.

"I lost my job but realized that I could be Superman. I went to the story and bought a blue shirt and a cousin of mine who is a seamstress sewed the cape, the boots, the belt and the red tights," he told The Associated Press.

He hasn't lacked for work since.

One political party even asked him to run for Congress a decade ago. He agreed, but didn't win the seat.

Chavez says he tries to "maintain order in the city." In 2002, he says, he recovered from a thief a purse the man had stolen from a woman.

"My Kryptonite is my security," he says, referring the fictional element that protects the comic book character whose identity he's fused with his own.

As a younger man, Chavez said he sometimes dressed as Carlos Gardel, the Argentine crooner whose tangos "cut to the soul" or wore a beret that made him feel like the revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

But Superman proved the ticket to steady work.

Single and childless, Chavez lives in a rented apartment in a poor neighborhood in Lima's center.

He says he doesn't have a girlfriend.

"But when I get a girlfriend I would like to make love on the moon."

__

Associated Press photographer Martin Mejia contributed to this report.

Associated Press

gla republican candidates mike martz hokies quadrantid norv turner jerry angelo