Thursday, January 31, 2013

Computer Science added to EBacc | Raspberry Pi

If you?re at BETT this week, come over to Stand B240 to meet one of the Robs, Clive and a bunch of impaled Jelly Babies.

The Department for Education (DfE) has just announced that Computer Science is to be added to the new English Baccalaureate or EBacc. The EBacc is a series of new qualifications to replace the GCSEs that English kids take at 16, designed to be more rigorous than the existing standards.

This is an enormous curricular change for England, which has traditionally recognised only Physics, Biology and Chemistry as core science subjects. Computer Science is now on a level footing with those subjects, carrying the same weight and prestige, and having an equal impact on choices pupils can make later about A Levels and University courses. This is wonderful news.

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, said today:

It is great news that Google is helping the brilliant Raspberry Pi project. We are replacing the old-fashioned ICT curriculum with a Computer Science curriculum. This will combine with the Raspberry Pi project to spread teaching of computer coding which is so educationally and economically vital.

The new Computer Science curriculum replaces the old ICT curriculum, discontinued last year. The old ICT courses did not prepare students for studying Computer Science at university (or for much else); we?re delighted to see their replacement being treated as a proper, exacting academic subject.?There?s a statement from the DfE that you can read in full over at their website; it?s worth a look.

What specifics would you like to see included in a new CompSci curriculum?

Source: http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/3183

brandon weeden felicia day nfl 2012 draft st louis rams miami dolphins buffalo bills pittsburgh steelers

Giffords' plea to Congress on guns: 'you must act'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? In a dramatic appeal, wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords urged Congress on Wednesday to enact tougher curbs on guns, saying, "too many children are dying" without them.

"The time is now. You must act. Be bold, be courageous, Americans are counting on you," she told the Senate Judiciary Committee at Congress' first gun control hearing since 20 elementary school children were shot to death in Newtown, Conn., late last year.

Giffords spoke haltingly, a result of the wounds suffered when she was shot in the head in an attempted assassination two years ago that left six others dead.

But in conflicting testimony a little more than an hour later, a top official of the National Rifle Association rejected bans on certain assault weapons and high capacity magazines advocated by President Barack Obama and gun control advocates in Congress.

Under persistent questioning from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the panel's chairman, the NRA's Wayne LaPierre also conceded that in a reversal, his organization no longer supports universal background checks for gun purchasers. He said criminals wouldn't subject themselves to a background check and the current system is a failure because the administration doesn't prosecute potential violators aggressively.

"Back in '99 you said, 'no loopholes, nowhere,' " said Leahy, referring to testimony delivered more than a decade ago. "Now you do not support background checks for all."

Other Democrats on the panel disagreed with LaPierre.

"That's the point. The criminals will not go to purchase the guns because there'll be a background check. It will stop them from original purchase. You missed that point completely. It is basic," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Retired Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, Giffords husband as well as a former astronaut and also a witness, said a limit on the size of ammunition magazines could have made a dramatic difference when a man opened fire in Arizona two years ago.

He "showed up with two 33-round magazines, one of which was in his 9 millimeter. He unloaded the contents of that magazine in 15 seconds. Very quickly. It all happened very, very fast. The first bullet went into Gabby's head. Bullet number 13 went into a nine-year old girl named Christina Taylor Green....

"If he had a 10-round magazine -- well, let me back up. When he tried to reload one 33-round magazine with another 33-round magazine, he dropped it. And a woman named Patricia Maisch grabbed it, and it gave bystanders a time to tackle him.

"I contend if that same thing happened when he was trying to reload one 10-round magazine with another 10-round magazine, meaning he did not have access to a high-capacity magazine, and the same thing happened, Christina Taylor Green would be alive today."

Giffords was not on the list of witnesses released in advance of the hearings, and in an unusual show of respect, members of the committee greeted her warmly outside the hearing room as she and her husband made their way inside. The former Democratic congresswoman was grievously wounded in an assassination attempt in Tucson, Ariz., a little more than two years ago, and has become a public advocate for gun control.

Kelly described the effect on his wife of the events of two years ago.

"Gabby's gift for speech is a distant memory. She struggles to walk, and she is partially blind. Her right arm is completely paralyzed," he told a rapt committee room.

In the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., massacre, Obama has issued a call for gun control legislation.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat and member of the committee, has introduced a bill to ban numerous assault-style weapons as well as high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The prospects for Senate passage are not strong, in part because of opposition from the NRA and in part from a reluctance among rural-state Democrats ? Leahy among them ? to support limitations sought by some advocates of restrictions on firearms.

Republicans pledged to listen carefully, and no more.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the panel's senior Republican, said that while the shootings in Arizona and Connecticut were terrible tragedies, they "should not be used to put forward every gun control measure that has been floating around for years." He also said any serious discussion of the issue 'must include a complete re-examination of mental health as it related to mass shootings."

In an opening statement of his own, Leahy said it is "a simple matter of common sense" that there should be a strengthening of background checks and that doing so would not threaten gun owners' rights. The checks are currently required for gun purchases from licensed dealers but not at gun shows or other private transaction.

At the same time, he said the Constitution's second amendment "is secure and will remain secure and protection....No one can or will take those rights or our guns away," he said.

He added, "let us forego sloganeering, demagoguery and partisan recriminations. This is too important for that."

Giffords' appearance ? not only her words, but her obvious difficulty in speaking ? served to underscore the emotion surrounding the issue of gun curbs.

The gunman in Tucson, Jared Loughner, used a 9 mm Glock pistol with an extended ammunition magazine in the attack that wounded the former congresswoman and killed six. The handgun would not have been illegal under a federal assault weapons ban that lapsed more than seven years ago, but the magazine that held more than 30 bullets would have been prohibited.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., indicated that whatever the committee produced wouldn't necessarily be the final product, saying the package would be debated by the full Senate and senators would be allowed to propose "whatever amendments they want that deal with this issue."

Despite the horrific Newtown slayings, it remains unclear whether those advocating limits on gun availability will be able to overcome resistance by the NRA and lawmakers from states where gun ownership abounds. Question marks include not just many Republicans but also Democratic senators facing re-election in red-leaning states in 2014. They include Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/giffords-plea-congress-guns-must-act-182733566--politics.html

enemy of the state golden globe nominees joe philbin miss america pageant 2012 shipwreck jose aldo vs chad mendes lana del rey

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Apple Has Trademarked the Design of its Stores

Yes, you are looking at a technical drawing of an Apple store. And yes, it does form part of an approved trademark request which means nobody can imitate Apple's temples to tech. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/CkNn1OSvncQ/apple-has-trademarked-the-design-of-its-stores

grenada grenada Sikh Sanya Richards Ross decathlon Honey Boo Boo Child marilyn monroe

A safer way to vaccinate

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Vaccines usually consist of inactivated viruses that prompt the immune system to remember the invader and launch a strong defense if it later encounters the real thing. However, this approach can be too risky with certain viruses, including HIV.

In recent years, many scientists have been exploring DNA as a potential alternative vaccine. About 20 years ago, DNA coding for viral proteins was found to induce strong immune responses in rodents, but so far, tests in humans have failed to duplicate that success.

In a paper appearing in the Jan. 27 online issue of Nature Materials, MIT researchers describe a new type of vaccine-delivery film that holds promise for improving the effectiveness of DNA vaccines. If such vaccines could be successfully delivered to humans, they could overcome not only the safety risks of using viruses to vaccinate against diseases such as HIV, but they would also be more stable, making it possible to ship and store them at room temperature.

This type of vaccine delivery would also eliminate the need to inject vaccines by syringe, says Darrell Irvine, an MIT professor of biological engineering and materials science and engineering. "You just apply the patch for a few minutes, take it off and it leaves behind these thin polymer films embedded in the skin," he says.

Irvine and Paula Hammond, the David H. Koch Professor in Engineering, are the senior authors of the Nature Materials paper. Both are members of MIT's David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. The lead author of the paper is Peter DeMuth, a graduate student in biological engineering.

Gradual vaccine delivery

Scientists have had some recent success delivering DNA vaccines to human patients using a technique called electroporation. This method requires first injecting the DNA under the skin, then using electrodes to create an electric field that opens small pores in the membranes of cells in the skin, allowing DNA to get inside. However, the process can be painful and give varying results, Irvine says.

"It's showing some promise but it's certainly not ideal and it's not something you could imagine in a global prophylactic vaccine setting, especially in resource-poor countries," he says.

Irvine and Hammond took a different approach to delivering DNA to the skin, creating a patch made of many layers of polymers embedded with the DNA vaccine. These polymer films are implanted under the skin using microneedles that penetrate about half a millimeter into the skin ? deep enough to deliver the DNA to immune cells in the epidermis, but not deep enough to cause pain in the nerve endings of the dermis.

Once under the skin, the films degrade as they come in contact with water, releasing the vaccine over days or weeks. As the film breaks apart, the DNA strands become tangled up with pieces of the polymer, which protect the DNA and help it get inside cells.

The researchers can control how much DNA gets delivered by tuning the number of polymer layers. They can also control the rate of delivery by altering how hydrophobic (water-fearing) the film is. DNA injected on its own is usually broken down very quickly, before the immune system can generate a memory response. When the DNA is released over time, the immune system has more time to interact with it, boosting the vaccine's effectiveness.

The polymer film also includes an adjuvant ? a molecule that helps to boost the immune response. In this case, the adjuvant consists of strands of RNA that resemble viral RNA, which provokes inflammation and recruits immune cells to the area.

Eliciting immune responses

In tests with mice, the researchers found that the immune response induced by the DNA-delivering film was as good as or better than that achieved with electroporation.

To test whether the vaccine might provoke a response in primates, the researchers applied a polymer film carrying DNA that codes for proteins from the simian form of HIV to macaque skin samples cultured in the lab. In skin treated with the film, DNA was easily detectable, while DNA injected alone was quickly broken down.

"The hope is that that's an indication that this will translate to large animals and hopefully humans," Irvine says.

The researchers now plan to perform further tests in non-human primates before undertaking possible tests in humans. If successful, the vaccine-delivering patch could potentially be used to deliver vaccines for many different diseases, because the DNA sequence can be easily swapped out depending on the disease being targeted.

"If you're making a protein vaccine, every protein has its little quirks, and there are manufacturing issues that have to be solved to scale it up to humans. If you had a DNA platform, the DNA is going to behave the same no matter what antigen it's encoding," Irvine says.

###

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice

Thanks to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 26 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126497/A_safer_way_to_vaccinate

KDKA Pumpkin Carving Ideas Hurricane Sandy path opm daylight savings sandy Time Change 2012

U.S. economy shrinks in 4th quarter

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy shrank from October through December for the first time since the recession ended, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles. The decline occurred despite faster growth in consumer spending and business investment.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. That's a sharp slowdown from the 3.1 percent growth rate in the July-September quarter and the first contraction since the second quarter of 2009.

Economists said the surprise decrease in the nation's gross domestic product wasn't as bad as it looked. The weakness was primarily the result of one-time factors. Government spending cuts and slower inventory growth subtracted a total of 2.6 percentage points from growth.

Those volatile categories offset a 2.2 percent increase in consumer spending, up from only 1.6 percent in the previous quarter. And business spending on equipment and software rose after shrinking over the summer.

"Frankly, this is the best-looking contraction in U.S. GDP you'll ever see," Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients. "The drag from defense spending and inventories is a one-off. The rest of the report is all encouraging."

Another positive aspect of the report: For all of 2012, the economy expanded 2.2 percent, better than 2011's growth of 1.8 percent.

Exports fell by the most in nearly four years, likely a result of Europe's recession and slower growth in China and some other large developing countries.

The economy may stay weak at the start of the year because Americans are coming to grips with an increase in Social Security taxes that has left them with less take-home pay.

Subpar growth has held back hiring. The economy has created about 150,000 jobs a month, on average, for the past two years. That's barely enough to reduce the unemployment rate, which has been 7.8 percent for the past two months.

Economists forecast that unemployment stayed at the still-high rate again this month. The government releases the January jobs report Friday.

The slower growth in stockpiles comes after a big jump in the third quarter. Companies frequently cut back on inventories if they anticipate a slowdown in sales. Slower inventory growth means factories likely produced less.

Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc. said this week that it reduced its inventories by $2 billion in the fourth quarter as global sales declined from a year earlier.

The biggest question going forward is how consumers react to the expiration of a Social Security tax cut. Congress and the White House allowed the temporary tax cut to expire in January, but reached a deal to keep income taxes from rising on most Americans.

The tax increase will lower take home pay this year by about 2 percent. That means a household earning $50,000 a year will have about $1,000 less to spend. A household with two high-paid workers will have up to $4,500 less.

Already, a key measure of consumer confidence plummeted this month after Americans noticed the reduction in their paychecks, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-economy-shrinks-0-1-133115372.html

punxsutawney phil groundhog day ground hog groundhog day 2012 serrano staten island chuck dr jekyll and mr hyde

Atlanta | New Client Marketing Institute - Marketing with a Book

Top Ten Ways to Attract Clients with Books and Speaking

Invitation

You are invited to apply for a no-cost seat at his private, invitation-only ?Marketing With A Book and Speech Summit? coming to Atlanta on Saturday, March 9 from 9 am to 4:30 pm.During the summit you?ll discover how to leverage your expertise into more high-paying clients by writing books with built-in marketing and speaking more for high fees. Leading the ?Marketing With a Book? session is Henry DeVries. As a ghostwriter and editor for consultants, he has worked on 43 book projects in the last six years. His proposals have earned five-figure advances for clients. His latest best-selling book, How to Close A Deal Like Warren Buffett, co-authored with Vistage speaker Tom Searcy, was published by McGraw-Hill in November of 2012 and was the #1 sales and marketing book on Amazon.com. To apply send an email to henry@newclientmarketing.com

By Henry DeVries

?With a book, you?re able to demonstrate that you understand like no one else the specific nature of the problems that your prospects face,? best-selling author Michael Levin recently told the New York Times.

?I always recommend targeting a niche with a book instead of writing for the general public,? added the noted ghostwriter. ?Write exactly for the people you?re trying to sell to. Show them that you understand their problems and that you offer solutions. In a book, you can lay out everything that you do to solve these problems. The goal is that if your book is generous enough with information, they?ll say, ?I could do this on my own, but I would be much better off hiring the author to solve this problem for me.? That?s the result we?re looking for. That?s why you want a book.?

What groundwork should you lay before you write a book?

There is a proven process for marketing with integrity and getting an up to 400% to 2000% return on your marketing investment. At the Marketing With a Book and Speech Summit we call it the Educating Expert Model, and the most successful professional service and consulting firms use it to get more clients than they can handle. The findings of our 8-year, $2 million research study about how the most successful professional and consulting firms use this model were published in our book, Client Seduction.

Here is the Reader?s Digest version. Before you can begin attracting clients, you need to create a marketing genetic code that is attractive to clients. All of your marketing messages, from networking discussions to speeches, will contain the elements of this marketing DNA that positions you as the Educating Expert. Here are 10 steps that will help you create these all-important marketing genes.

1. Create a business name or a website name that gives potential clients a hint at the results you can produce for them. The worst possible business name or website name is your name. I know, I know, McKinsey and Price Waterhouse are named after the founders. But you are not them. Sorry to say, clients don?t want us, they want results.
2. Write a headline for your website and marketing materials that describes your audience and the results you produce for them. Do this in no more than 10 words. Mine is ?We help professionals and consultants attract all the clients they want.?
3. Name your client?s pain. What are your client?s worries, frustrations and concerns that you help solve? This is also called the FUD factor: fear, uncertainty and doubt.
4. Describe your solution or methodology for solving these pains. What process do you follow to produce results? Offering a proprietary problem-solving process that you name and trademark is best. This answers the all-important question in their minds: ?Why should I do business with you instead of one of your competitors??
5. State the common misperception that holds many back from getting results. Why doesn?t everybody do what you named in step 4?
6. Tell your clients what they need to do in general to solve their problem. Pretend they weren?t hiring you and you had to describe the steps they should take for success.
7. List any other benefits they get from following your methods. What other good things do people get when they do what you advise?
8. Elaborate on your track record of providing measurable results for clients. Be specific as much as possible. Use numbers, percentages and time factors.
9. Create a website with free tips articles on how to solve these pains. Each article should be about 300 to 600 words. What?s a good format? Consider the numbered tips approach you are reading right now (easy to write, easy to read).
10. Make prospects an offer of a free special report on your website. You are offering to trade them a valuable piece of information for their email address. Tell them they will also receive a tips enewsletter from you. Assure them you will maintain their privacy and they can easily opt off your list any time they want.

Henry DeVries, marketing scientist and ghostwriter, is an expert on typing and talking: how to maximize revenues by writing books and making speeches. He speaks to thousands of consultants and service professionals each year, teaching them proven tactics that bring them new clients. Along with his best-selling books ? How to Close a Deal Like Warren Buffett, Self-Marketing Secrets, Client Seduction, and Pain Killer Marketing ? the buzz building tools of Henry DeVries have been used to dramatically increase revenues and leverage marketing budgets for two decades. In addition to authoring his own books, he ghostwrites at least four books a year. His goal is to win the Nobel Prize in Marketing. As a ghostwriter and editor for professionals and consultants, he has worked on 43 book projects in the last six years. His proposals have earned five-figure advances for clients. His latest best-selling book, How to Close A Deal Like Warren Buffett, co-authored with Vistage speaker Tom Searcy, was published by McGraw-Hill in November of 2012 and was the #1 sales and marketing book on Amazon.com. He has published with the top five publishers, privately published, independently published and association published, and personally knows the dos and don?ts of all current publishing options. He also has relationships with some of the most respected agents in the business and has launched and supported columns in Forbes.com, Inc.com, metro daily newspapers and CBS MoneyWatch helping clients to gain credibility, free publicity and larger reach.

Source: http://www.marketingwithabook.com/atlanta/

brandon jacobs brandon jacobs brian dawkins emma roberts north korea news north korea news giuliana and bill

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Ahead of the Bell: Amazon.com to post 4Q results

(AP) ? Amazon.com Inc. is expected to post strong revenue growth from the holidays when it reports fourth-quarter results after the market closes Tuesday, though profit margins will likely be squeezed by investments in the company's distribution network.

On average, analysts polled by FactSet are expecting earnings of 28 cents per share on revenue of $22.26 billion, according to a poll by FactSet. In October, Amazon forecast revenue of $20.25 billion to $22.75 billion for the quarter.

BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis said "any upside" to Wall Street's expectations "is still a very low hurdle given the difficulty the company has had expanding earnings in recent quarters."

Overall, investors have been more than forgiving about Amazon's thin margins on the premise that the company is investing in long-term growth. As of the stock market's close on Monday Amazon's stock was up about 10 percent year-to-date.

Share rose slightly in premarket trading Tuesday, along with other tech stocks, after Yahoo topped Wall Street expectations late Monday for its first full quarter under CEO Marissa Mayer.

Amazon.com , based in Seattle, is the world's largest online retailer. It also sells e-readers and tablet computers under the Kindle brand.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-01-29-US-Amazon-Ahead-of-the-Bell/id-9eb4e424e1c14d06857ffe46380903cb

emily maynard kola boof burmese python national signing day ferris bueller god bless america earned income credit

Wallenda crosses Fla. tightrope 200 feet over road

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) ? Famed daredevil Nik Wallenda glided 500 feet across a wire suspended 200 feet above the ground on Tuesday, wowing several thousand people below in his hometown of Sarasota.

Without a tether or safety net, Wallenda was the lone figure against a blue sky, aided only by a balancing pole. He made the death-defying stunt look easy, but the performance was anything but simple: it took dozens of circus workers to pull and release the thick black cables that controlled Wallenda's wire as he walked. The morning was windier than expected, and at one point near the end, Wallenda dipped down to one knee on the wire, which led to loud gasps among the crowd.

"I have to get into a zone where I kind of forget about everything else and just focus on what I'm doing," he said shortly before he stepped on the wire. "Fear is a choice but danger is real, and that's very, very true for my line of work."

When Wallenda went to one knee, the drama reached a fever pitch.

"Scary," said Neil Montford, a vacationer from the United Kingdom, while wiping sweat from his brow and looking skyward.

Wallenda, 34, wore a gold cross around his neck and prayed with his wife, children and parents prior to the walk.

"It's my job, it's my career, it's my passion, it's what I love to do," he said.

The Sarasota City Commission allowed the stunt without a tether. Wallenda wore a tether for the first time last summer when he walked across Niagara Falls because the television network that was paying for the performance insisted on it.

Wallenda is a seventh-generation high-wire artist and is part of the famous "Flying Wallendas" circus family. His great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, fell during a performance in Puerto Rico and died.

But Wallenda wasn't focused on the possibility of tragedy. In the hours before the stunt, Wallenda walked underneath the wire, which was suspended between a crane and a condo in downtown Sarasota. He spoke of his city, of the nearby sparkling bay and how he loved hear the cheers of the crowd while hundreds of feet up in the air.

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wallenda-crosses-fla-tightrope-200-feet-over-road-164138847.html

broncos broncos lehigh walking dead season finale matt flynn denver news frozen planet

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Nipro's Whitening Dental Care : DigInfo - sidneyvalajaga

DigInfo ? movie.diginfo.tv ? Nipro showed their new Poly-de-Clean-Gel whitening toothpaste, tablets and gum which use a natural condensed phosphate to white teeth. Other whitening toothpastes sometimes use harsh polishing agents which can wear away enamel and weaken teeth or foul tasting detergents which can cause ulcers in the mouth but this toothpaste uses only natural ingredients. The phosphates act immediately since they stick to the stain?s particles and remove them. They have been researching this product for about ten years and it will be released later this year.

? previous post

Medicinal value of Jambul/Jamun/Bla...

Black berry or Black plum is always appreciated for the color, flavor and taste of its fruit. When sucked, it changes the color of the tongue to purple due to its coloring properties. Besides these properties, its usefulness in treatment of diabetes is also praised by the people and health benefits ...

next post ?

The WRONG Way To Get Rid Of A Blist....

I had one of those white canker sores you get in your mouth, and it was killing me. So I decided to remove it. The bad way.

No post with similar tags yet.

Source: http://dentist.coastalweddingdreams.com/?p=4066

obama birth control mortgage settlement macauly culkin joe namath stefon diggs nazi ss naomi watts

Source: http://sidneyvalajaga.blogspot.com/2013/01/nipro-whitening-dental-care-diginfo.html

Clinton speech Michael Strahan Griselda Blanco Michelle Obama Speech eva longoria Rihanna wiz khalifa

Screeners of unusual size? I don?t think they exist. (Unqualified Offerings)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279777577?client_source=feed&format=rss

toysrus how to carve a turkey ipad 2 wal mart happy thanksgiving Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade 2012 Turkey Cooking Times

1 officer killed, 2 wounded near La. casino

A sheriff's deputy rides in a police vehicles as he leaves the scene of a shooting, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)

A sheriff's deputy rides in a police vehicles as he leaves the scene of a shooting, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)

Louisiana State Trooper Stephen Hammons gives information about the shootings Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)

A fire set by a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies is extinguished, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)

An Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office command post is driven to the scene of a shooting Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)

Louisiana State Trooper Stephen Hammons gives information about the shootings Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 in Charenton, La. Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after setting a deadly fire at a mobile home near a south Louisiana casino. (AP Photo/The Daily Iberian, Lee Ball)

(AP) ? Police on Saturday arrested a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer and critically wounding two sheriff's deputies after allegedly setting fire to a mobile home in south Louisiana, where an elderly man's body was found.

A Chitimacha tribal officer was pronounced dead at the scene of the shootings in Charenton, while two St. Mary Parish sheriff's deputies were critically wounded and taken to local hospitals, said Louisiana State Police Trooper Stephen Hammons.

Hammons said the officers were responding to a report of an armed man walking down a road near the Cypress Bayou Casino when Wilbert Thibodeaux, 48, of Charenton allegedly shot them.

"Thibodeaux fired at the Chitimacha Officer, fatally wounding him," state police said in a news release. "As two St. Mary Deputies, who were in the same car, arrived at the scene Thibodeaux fired multiple shots hitting the deputies. During the encounter, Thibodeaux was shot."

Investigators found the burned remains of a man after extinguishing a fire at a mobile home that Thibodeaux is suspected of setting before the officers confronted him, Hammons said.

Police identified the deceased man in the mobile home as Eddie Lyons, 78, of Charenton. "Detectives suspect Lyons was shot by Thibodeaux before the fire," state police said in a news release.

Thibodeaux was treated at a hospital for a gunshot wound that wasn't considered life-threatening and released, according to Hammons, who said investigators were questioning him Saturday evening. Charges against him are pending.

The state Fire Marshal's office is investigating the fire.

"Today is a difficult day for our partners in St. Mary Parish," Col. Mike Edmonson, the State Police superintendent, said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers are with the deputies and the officer's families tonight. I know the coming days and weeks will be difficult ones for the men and women of the Chitimacha Police Department and the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office. We will assist their agencies in any way we can during these trying times."

The casino is run by the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana and is less than a quarter-mile from the scene of the shootings. Hammons said the shootings occurred near but not on tribal land.

"Everybody is just in shock. It's small-town America," said Jacqueline Junca, the tribe's secretary and treasurer.

Police didn't immediately release the names of the officers. Authorities said they will do so at a Monday news conference.

Tribe councilman Toby Darden said the slain officer was married and had two grown children, but he declined to give his name.

"He's a real great guy. Extremely dedicated to his job. Very brave," Darden said.

He was one of seven full-time officers who patrol a 260-acre reservation that has roughly 150 homes, a grocery store, a small school and government offices.

"Everybody knows the officers personally," Darden said. "It's devastating."

Junca said the tribe has around 1,200 members, roughly half of whom live on the reservation.

Access to and from the casino was restricted for roughly 90 minutes as a precautionary measure while police responded to the shooting, said casino spokeswoman Nancy Herrington. Charenton is located about 45 miles southeast of Lafayette.

"We are very much in business and have been," Herrington said later Saturday. "We have events tonight. All of those are taking place."

A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office and a tribal police dispatcher referred questions about the shootings to the State Police.

"We've got a lot of unanswered questions," State Police Capt. Doug Cain said.

One of the injured deputies was taken to a hospital in New Orleans and the other was taken to a Lafayette hospital. Both were listed in critical but stable condition Saturday evening, Hammons said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-26-Louisiana-Officers%20Shot/id-3640a314a60f423d93b6abdeebfa431e

Star Trek: The Original Series Carlton Morgan Freeman Dead Stand Up to Cancer Azarenka NFL fantasy football Chris Kluwe

England Golf appoints new CEO

04-08 david joyThe director of Derbyshire Sport, David Joy, has been named the chief executive of England Golf, one of the most powerful positions in British golf.

His experience working with legislative and parliamentary bodies proved pivotal to the appointment, which hints towards some of the aims England Golf has for the next few years.

England Golf, the result of the 2012 merger between the men?s and women?s game, is the governing body for amateur golf in England, making it far and away the biggest golf union in Europe, with nearly 2,000 golf clubs and over 760,000 golf club members on its books. Almost every club golfer in England funds England Golf via a small levy in their subscription, and the body plays a major role in introducing the game to people, helping clubs operate as businesses and managing the handicapping system.

David, the former chief executive of Scottish Athletics, replaces John Petrie, who left last year and, like David, comes from a non-golfing background. He will begin work on April 22.

He said: ?This is a really exciting time for amateur golf following the merger of the men?s and women?s game.?I am delighted to be given the opportunity to join England Golf and to work with the board, the staff team, the volunteers at national, county and club level and our key partners, as we seek to take advantage of the many opportunities for golf development throughout England.?

Derbyshire Sport is one of 49 county sports partnerships in England and provides the strategic lead for sport and active recreation in the county. ??Within this role David has directed Derbyshire?s relationships with Sport England, Sports Coach UK and many national governing bodies of sport, including England Golf.

David is also a keen golfer and until recently was a member of Trentham Park Golf Club.

Nigel Evans, chair of the England Golf board, commented: ?We are delighted that David has agreed to join us.?His extensive experience in the governance of sport and working with a variety of stakeholders, including legislative and parliamentary bodies, will be extremely valuable.?We are looking forward to David using that experience to bring future development and further growth to England Golf.?

?

Source: http://www.golfclubmanagement.net/2013/01/england-golf-appoints-new-ceo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=england-golf-appoints-new-ceo

People Water Fred Willard Emmy nominations 2012 Ramadan 2012 Michelle Jenneke batman Colorado Shooting News

Magnitsky's mother thanks Obama for legislation

MOSCOW (AP) ? The mother of a whistle-blowing Russian lawyer who died in prison thanked President Barack Obama Friday for a U.S. law targeting Russian officials deemed to be human rights violators involved in her son's death.

Sergei Magnitsky died in jail of untreated pancreatitis in 2009 after accusing Russian officials of stealing $230 million from the state. The case has angered both Russian activists and the West, and in December the U.S. Congress passed legislation in Magnitsky's name, calling for sanctions against officials considered to be connected with human rights abuses.

Natalya Magnitskaya said she is grateful to Obama for facilitating the adoption of the bill.

"I would probably thank him after all for adopting this law, it will somehow keep my son's memory," she said. "Of course, it is sad that he became well-known on such an occasion."

Magnitsky, a lawyer for the Hermitage Capital fund, was arrested in 2008 on suspicion of tax evasion by the same Interior Ministry officials he accused of using false tax documents to steal the $230 million. An investigation by Russia's presidential council on human rights concluded he was severely beaten and denied medical treatment.

Prison doctor Dmitry Kratov, the only person to face trial in the case, was acquitted in late December.

The Magnitsky bill provoked retaliation from Moscow, including a measure barring Americans from adopting Russian children that President Vladimir Putin signed on Friday.

Magnitskaya criticized the Russian ban, saying it will not help Russian orphans.

"Turns out that it took them Sergei's death to start caring about Russian orphans," she said.

The bill is part of Russia's increasingly confrontational stance with the West and has angered some Russians who argue it victimizes children to make a political point.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/magnitskys-mother-thanks-obama-legislation-123248332.html

meryl streep oscar wins sasha baron cohen oscars oscar winners the artist sacha baron cohen oscars the old curiosity shop jane russell

Saturday, January 26, 2013

GOP senators will oppose Va electoral change

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) ? A Republican-backed bill to convert Virginia's winner-take-all method of apportioning presidential electors to one that awards electors one-by-one by congressional districts is likely doomed for the year.

At least two GOP state senators say they oppose the bill. That would leave it short of the majority it needs in a Virginia Senate where Democrats and Republicans hold 20 seats apiece.

Virginia's General Assembly is the first of several Republican-ruled legislatures from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania ? states President Barack Obama won last fall ? to address such legislation. Democrats denounce it as a Republican election-rigging scheme.

Republican Sen. Jill Vogel said she'd oppose the measure in a Senate committee Tuesday and on the floor should it get that far. GOP Sen. Ralph Smith of Roanoke also will oppose it.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-senators-oppose-va-electoral-change-180550098--election.html

freedom tower freedom tower eric church world trade center quick silver where have you been rihanna kirk cousins

Monday, January 21, 2013

Internet Marketing Tips From A 10-Year Veteran

For most newbies to the world of internet marketing, they believe that they can make incredible amounts of money extremely fast. I personally disagree with this notion. Now if you have a huge advertising budget, and you run ads everywhere (in the relevant locations), you will more than likely see sales immediately.

These sales aren?t necessarily ?profit sales?, but you have gained a customer that you can sell to over and over again. However sadly, most newbies don?t have a huge advertising budget, so instead, they have to run low cost PPC marketing campaigns, and use tons of free advertising to get customers into the door.

How willing are you to stick by your internet business and see if it works for you? Most people thinks that if you don?t see sales immediately, then you probably won?t see alot of sales in the future down the line. This is amazingly false. There are some people only who only made a handful of sales in their first year, and now they?re making over 5-figures a month. So just because things aren?t go so well now, you never know what?s in store for the future ? especially if you market your business correctly.

Yes, I know? marketing online is difficult, but you must have patience. Don?t worry ? your time will come when it comes to earning your fair share of profits on the internet. Just don?t proceed in haste. Make sure you take your time, learn what you need to know, keep educating yourself, and keep striving to get more new customers. The more you do this, the more likely you are to start building momentum in your business, and start getting alot of free and relevant traffic to your website.

For some people (depending on their advertising strategy), it just takes years for them to see the profitable results that they have dreamed of. There?s nothing wrong with this? eventually you will have a thriving business. It may not happen this year, but it will happen eventually down the line ? especially if you keep marketing each and everyday.

You have to have faith that your internet business will succeed, and everything that you do online should reflect this. For example, you should come up with a daily marketing plan. Start split testing your ads. Start setting up different autoresponder sequences to see which on is the most profitable for you. And more. There are alot of things that you can do to make your business profitable? I suggest you start looking into them.

Don?t do the same 1 marketing strategy over and over again everyday. You have to diversify your efforts. What if you build up 1 strategy and it works successfully for you, and then all of a sudden this 1 strategy no longer becomes effective for you? What would you do then? You would have to start from scratch all over again.

You can overcome this situation before it even happens. Relying on 1 marketing strategy will put you on the borderline of going out of business quickly. Use a multitude of strategies so that you can get targeted traffic from all the corners of the internet. It isn?t hard to do.

Make sure you take these tips and use them in your internet business today. It will be more than worth it.

Good luck with your internet marketing efforts.


For more internet marketing secrets, simply visit the website below:
http://www.internetmarketing-rules.com/internetmarketing.html

Source: http://blog.internetmarketing-rules.com/2013/01/internet-marketing-tips-from-10-year.html

Fred Willard Emmy nominations 2012 Ramadan 2012 Michelle Jenneke batman Colorado Shooting News joe paterno

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Follow DPS on Twitter!

ERROR

An error occurred while processing your request. What you can try:

  • Using your browser's back button may have caused the error. Type the address you were trying to access in the browser's address bar and log in again.
  • If the above suggestion does not work, completely close (quit) your browser, reopen the browser, and log in to the page again.
  • If the page you are trying to access requires cookies to be enabled in your browser, you can follow these instructions to enable cookies. Then, open a new browser window and log in again.

If you still receive this error after following the steps above, please contact the CIS Help Desk at (401)863-4357.


Source: http://morningmail.brown.edu/archive?id=43968

serrano staten island chuck dr jekyll and mr hyde edwin jackson punksatony phil 2012 groundhog day groundhog phil

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Student killed trying to evict party crashers, says family | Recent News

CALGARY ??? Ousting a group of party crashers cost Brett Wiese his life, according to the young man???s grieving family.

Wiese, a 21-year-old university student, was with friends at a large house party in Brentwood on the weekend.

That???s where he was stabbed to death, Kip Wiese said in an interview on Sunday.

A group had been kicked out of the house earlier in the evening, Kip said.

???They came back ?. with two vehicles, and four people entered the house,??? he said. ???At least two had knives, unbeknownst to the occupants of the house.

???Our Brett was asking them to leave and he was attacked and stabbed.???

Kip said his nephew was stabbed again by a second person as he continued trying to eject the unwanted group. He identified the first attacker as a 19-year-old man and the second as a 17-year-old woman, whom Brett didn???t know.

No charges have been laid.

Duty inspector Patty McCallum said late Sunday that several people have been taken into police custody for questioning.

Investigators consider the party crashers suspects, McCallum said earlier, but they have not been identified.

The other partiers have been interviewed by police and have been co-operative, she also told the Herald.

Police said they were called to the house early Saturday for reports that two men had been stabbed.

Officers arrived at an address in the 5100 block of Brisebois Drive N.W. shortly after 3 a.m. and found two people suffering from stab wounds.

Both were taken to the Foothills Medical Centre, according to an EMS official, but Wiese died of his injuries.

The other victim remains in the hospital in serious condition.

One man said neighbours were warned earlier in the week that the party could get loud. Neighbours also said police were called to the house more than once as the party was going on.

Mike, who lives across the street, said the house was busy overnight with partiers coming and going into the early morning hours.

???The cabs came and went,??? he said.

He believed the home was occupied by university students.

Yellow police tape stretched across several houses on both sides of Brisebois Drive on Sunday, but the blocked-off area of the crime scene was reduced later in the day. Onlookers stared at the Calgary Police Service???s forensic van parked in front of a house on the street.

Meanwhile, in the central Alberta town of Ponoka, Wiese???s family members were remembering the young man as a budding businessman, who kept sterling grades at the

Article source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/crime-and-justice/Police+investigate+fatal+stabbing+Brentwood+house/7811686/story.html

Source: http://www.recentnews.ca/student-killed-trying-to-evict-party-crashers-says-family/

humber raffi torres michael mcdonald jon jones vs rashad evans

Business Can't Solve the World's Problems ? But Capitalism Can ...

Business and capitalism get conflated ? in our media, our language and in our thinking. They are not the same thing. One is a sector, the other a methodology. By inextricably linking the two, we confine the practice of real, turbo-charged capitalism to business, and we dangerously limit the capacity of non-business organizations to innovate, fund, and bring to scale the kind of breakthrough ideas that will begin to solve the huge social problems we face today.

To be sure, business can change the world. That is one of the things it does, consistently. Innovations such as the assembly line, the car itself, the distribution of electricity and gasoline, now the iPad, Google, and so on, have by many measures made the world a better place. Indeed, as Carl Schramm writes in his provocative essay, "All Entrepreneurship Is Social," the fashionable new term "social business" in some ways "diminishes the contributions of regular entrepreneurs...people who... create thousands of jobs, improve the quality of goods and services available to consumers, and ultimately raise standards of living." He uses the refrigerated box car and its achievements in reducing food-borne illness and saving millions of lives in the process to make his point.

Business will move the great masses of humanity forward with advancements in pharmaceuticals, materials, process, and technology ? but it will almost always leave 10% behind. It will almost always leave unaddressed humanity's most disadvantaged and unlucky. Even social business will not address those issues for which markets cannot be developed. I serve on the board of a center for the developmentally disabled. More than anything, its clients need love. How do you monetize that?

This is where philanthropy comes in. Philanthropy is the market for love. The word itself derives from the Greek for "love of humanity." Philanthropy and, specifically, the charities that benefit from it and that are chartered to solve social problems can address those people and issues that business leaves behind. But they can do so effectively only if we allow them to use the tools of capitalism ? tools that the sector has thus far been denied, nearly wholesale.

We have two rulebooks ? one for charity and one for the rest of the economic world. We blame capitalism for creating huge inequities in our society, and then we refuse to allow the "nonprofit" sector to use the tools of capitalism to rectify them.

This nonprofit rulebook discriminates against charities in at least five different areas: compensation, marketing, risk taking, time horizons, and capital itself. We allow people to make a fortune doing any number of things that will harm the poor but crucify anyone who wants to make money helping them. This sends the top talent coming out of the nation's best business schools directly into the for-profit sector and gives our youth the mutually exclusive choice between making a difference and making money. This we call ethics. We let Apple and Coca-Cola plaster our billboards and television sets with advertising, but we are appalled at the notion of important causes "wasting" money on paid advertising. So the voices of our great causes are all but silenced, and consumer products get lopsided access to our attention, 24/7. This we do in the name of frugality. Amazon was permitted to forgo investor returns for six years to build market dominance. But if a charity embarks on a long-term plan with no return for the needy for six years, we are outraged. This we call caring. We aren't upset when Disney makes a $200 million movie that flops, but if a $1 million charity walk doesn't make a 75% profit to the cause in year one, we want the attorney general to investigate. So charities are petrified of exploring new revenue-generating methods and can't develop the powerful learning curves that the for-profit sector can. This we call prudence. We let for-profit companies raise massive capital in the stock market by offering investment returns, but we forbid the payment of a financial return ("profit") in charity. The result? The for-profit sector monopolizes the capital markets, while charities are left to beg for donations. This we call philanthropy.

Combine those five things and you have just put the humanitarian sector at an extreme disadvantage to the for-profit sector. Yet we still expect it to solve the world's problems.

Our social problems are gigantic in scale. We need gigantic responses to them. And if we freed the humanitarian sector to use the tools of capitalism, we could bring private ingenuity to bear on those problems, and we wouldn't have to depend on the government to fill the gaps.

Where would all the money come from? From us! If we were to give the humanitarian sector the right capital, talent, time, and ability to innovate, it could build the kind of demand for philanthropy that, say, Apple builds for music on iTunes (which, by the way, stimulates the same reward centers in the brain as giving). Then we'd be on our way to the kind of scale we need.

Americans give about $300 billion to nonprofit organizations annually, most of it to education and religious institutions. Only about 15% of that ? $45 billion ? goes to health and human services causes. If we could use the tools of capitalism to increase charitable giving in the U.S. from 2% of GDP to just 3%, that would amount to an additional $150 billion in annual giving. If that money went disproportionately to health and human services causes, it would amount to a quadrupling of donations to that sector. Now we're talking scale. Now we're talking about big change.

Business cannot solve all the world's problems. But capitalism can.

Follow the Scaling Social Impact insight center on Twitter @ScalingSocial and register to stay informed and give us feedback.

Scaling Social Impact
Insights from HBR and the Bridgespan Group

Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/2013/01/business-cant-solve-the-worlds.html

lotto winner michael oher jerry lee lewis cesar chavez winning lotto numbers

Monday, January 14, 2013

bigamous hymnbook: razeltrevin: glenkurma: Exploring Craft Kits ...

Posted by on January 8th, 2013

Art is becoming very popular amongst many people as a hobby and satisfying pastime . Because you can acquire create guides along with skill products in no time and have absolutely these folks supplied on to you suggests really united states usually are informing each of our creativity pass and they are doing art work while in the residence . Involvement in craft programs is particularly popular at present inside the wide variety of paintings supplies you can purchase and employ . Employing a person?s most liked products in addition to producing tasks in your house are usually expanding inside level of popularity due to capability of finding hobby/craft items . Hobby sets are a fun way for starters by using a job a high level novice and as soon as guess what happens style connected with art work you wish it is possible to carry on to acquire anyone supplies with larger sized amounts .

Craft systems are certainly various and range from garments paints , convenience paints , porcelain paints as well as glass displays . Many on-line providers at this moment give each art products and particular stock by using materials and also art resources and you can generally get them in the very economical rate . And also if you?re not used to artwork and produce you can take time to look over products rather than hunting shops without having idea that which you are looking for . A few other kits are usually like pleasant packs relating to learning and even experimenting with new mediums which includes acrylic delivers and gas or watercolour gives . Trustworthy on the web artwork companies may effort to provide more information and are also constantly a message apart when you?ve got any queries or maybe take some assistance relating to a creative opportunity you might like to practice .

Fabric offers are fantastic for individuals who would like to put together art work by using create * for a economy most of us wish to customise the properties as well as household furniture nevertheless we don?t wish to invest a lot of money ! Lots of people are actually individualising clothing at this time ? that is a great way to get creative along with allows you to get the kids involved or close friends . Craft work opportunities make great items as well ( clean ) so you can genuinely personalise a particular thing or maybe graphics to a family event or even good friends . Many people are making use of building styles in addition to using these to delicate household home furniture in the home , a lot like blinds , colours and hold covers . An opportunity is completely your own personal property in relation to crafts and also arts . Channels just like material along with a glass provides are getting to be most liked considering the customization part . Which you get in for a distinctive change to widespread gifts methods and once a lot more you can get all relevant parties . You must make a decision on art products you can test outside and build ( blank ) that are how we operate as well as offer you a eye-catching effect .

Related Posts

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.techwea.com/crafts-hobbies/exploring-craft-kits.html

critics choice awards 2012 colbert president huntingtons disease rob the firm new york philharmonic marines urinating on taliban

Source: http://glenkurma.blogspot.com/2013/01/exploring-craft-kits-home-and-family.html

hall of fame occupy dc ufc 143 fight card my fair lady conversion disorder the chronicle spinal stenosis

Source: http://razeltrevin.blogspot.com/2013/01/glenkurma-exploring-craft-kits-home-and.html

mega ball lottery winner lottery numbers mega millions lottery jackpot winning numbers mega millions megamillions drawing

Source: http://bigamous-hymnbook.blogspot.com/2013/01/razeltrevin-glenkurma-exploring-craft.html

mlb 12 the show sabu franchise tag lesotho a wrinkle in time benjamin netanyahu storm shelters

America's Top Recreational + Competition Sports

Guessed Order Of Most Played Recreationally; not just competitively.

List Criteria: Both Recreationally, and competitively...a guestimation. (I suppose if one considers how often people simply pass a football back and forth, well, that is actually more convenient than shooting Basketball, passing baseball, or reliable than kicking a Soccer ball back and forth...but I think Baseball gets the edge...

Slideshow View Blog View More Options More Options
  • Embed This List
  • Print This List
Views: 64??? Items: 56 Show:?? 25?? 100

Source: http://www.ranker.com/list/america-and-_39_s-top-sports/mr-analytical

taylor swift safe and sound delilah nevis 2012 sports illustrated swimsuit

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Asia stocks rise on positive start to US earnings

A man looks at an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. A positive start to U.S. corporate earnings season helped boost Asian stock markets Thursday. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

A man looks at an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. A positive start to U.S. corporate earnings season helped boost Asian stock markets Thursday. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

A woman walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. A positive start to U.S. corporate earnings season helped boost Asian stock markets Thursday. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

(AP) ? A positive start to U.S. corporate earnings season and a sharp improvement in China's monthly trade helped boost Asian stock markets Thursday.

Hong Kong's benchmark index rose on the heels of a decision by China's securities regulator to transfer some IPOs of mainland-based companies to the territory's exchange.

Major regional benchmarks rose after a handful of better-than-expected results from U.S. companies that also lifted Wall Street. Consumer products maker Helen of Troy, whose brands include Dr. Scholl's and Vidal Sassoon, reported a 15 percent profit increase. Electronic payments processor Global Payments said its fiscal second-quarter earnings rose nearly 15 percent, beating Wall Street expectations.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.9 percent to 10,666.84. South Korea's Kospi added 0.7 percent to 2,004.96 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.3 percent to 4,721.40. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand also rose.

The Hang Seng Index gained 0.9 percent to 23,419.46 following a decision by the China Securities Regulatory Commission to allow some initial public offerings of mainland companies to be carried out in Hong Kong.

The move is an effort to clear a backlog of IPOs that the understaffed CSRC cannot handle, said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.

"It's a practical way to handle an emergency problem," Lun said. It will boost the Hong Kong exchange's market capitalization by one-third, he said.

A rebound in China's exports also lifted investment sentiment. Export growth more than quadrupled from November to 14.1 percent in December. Imports rose 6 percent from November, when they failed to grow at all.

A weakening yen helped propel Japan's export-reliant carmakers higher. Mazda Motor Corp. soared 9 percent. Honda Motor Co. gained 2.6 percent. Isuzu Motors Ltd. rose 3.8 percent. Japanese steelmakers also posted solid gains. JFE Holdings jumped 5.8 percent and Kobe Steel added 6.7 percent.

Hong Kong-listed Aluminum Corp. of China surged 8.1 percent a day after U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa forecast demand would grow 7 percent in 2013, up from a 6 percent gain in 2012.

Later Thursday, the European Central Bank will meet to set monetary policy for the 17 countries that use the euro. It is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the record low of 0.75 percent even though the eurozone economy as a whole is back in recession. Investors are also awaiting the release in the U.S. of weekly jobless claims.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5 percent to close at 13,390.51 on Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.3 percent to 1,461.02. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.5 percent to 3,105.81.

Benchmark crude oil contract for February delivery was up 36 cents to $93.46 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 5 cents to close at $93.10 per barrel on the Nymex on Wednesday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3043 from $1.3053 while the dollar rose to 88.08 yen from 87.75 yen.

___

Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-10-World%20Markets/id-d057d98311894e2e8581bb8d4aad8bb5

oscar nominees oscar nominations 2012 kombucha tea separation of church and state dale earnhardt oscar predictions oscars