Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Short Sales vs Foreclosures: the Children - Carolina One Real Estate

childrenWe were recently troubled by the findings of a research paper authored by Julia Isaacs of the?Brookings Institute?for the organization?First Focus?which was titled?The Ongoing Impact of Foreclosures on Children. In the report, Ms. Isaacs quantified the number of children that have been impacted:

  • 2.3 million children have already lost their homes to foreclosure
  • 3 million additional children are at risk of losing their home

She also noted the four ways foreclosures may affect children negatively:

  1. Families receiving foreclosure notices are much more likely to move than other families. Children who move frequently do less well in school.
  2. Homeowners receiving a foreclosure notice are under a lot of financial and psychological stress. Parents under financial distress sometimes engage in harsher and less supportive parenting. ?This can lead to negative behaviors on the part of children, making it harder for them to interact well with peers and in school.
  3. Foreclosures have a negative impact on physical as well as mental health, with studies finding higher rates of non-elective visits to emergency rooms and hospitals in ZIP codes with the highest foreclosure rates.
  4. Children living in or near foreclosed homes may suffer the consequences of living in neighborhoods with more vacant houses, higher crime rates, lower social cohesion, and a lower tax base.

The?Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics?just published a?report?on the impact of the housing crises on child abuse. Their conclusion:

?Multicenter hospital data show an increase in pediatric admissions for physical abuse and high-risk traumatic brain injuries (TBI) during a time of declining all-cause injury rate. Abuse and high-risk TBI admission rates increased in relationship to local mortgage delinquency and foreclosure trends.?

If you find that one of your clients is at risk of foreclosure, explain their options. The new?National Mortgage Settlement?might give them a pathway to stay in their home.

You can get information on the opportunities the settlement offers?here.

However, if they have exhausted all their options and now must decide between a short sale and foreclosure, help them analyze what is the best decision for themselves and their families.

In most cases, a short sale will be the better option for them and their children as they will be able to have some control over the moving date and the move itself. This will create a level of dignity in the move that will alleviate some of the pressure on the parents and as a result lead to more effective parenting.

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Source: http://charlestoncreativerealestate.com/archives/2108

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Monday, July 30, 2012

How Can Businesses Adapt to BYOC and The Consumerisation of ...

by Paul Rudo

Dell and Intel recently teamed up to conduct a study to determine the organizational impacts that will emerge as a result of the consumerisation of IT, with the hopes of extracting insights that would help organizations succeed, thrive and capitalize on new opportunities.

This study was conducted with input from over 8000 workers in 11 nations, and input from top thought leaders within the industry. From this study, emerged the Expert Insights report which outlines many of the most important ways in which the role of IT will change, and how organizations will need to adapt to the way employees are working with information and new technology.

Cross-Platform Convergence

In a world of consumerised IT, you?ll be free to pick the operating system of your choice. ?Technology choices will become irrelevant since employees will access corporate systems via cloud interface that rely on universal standards.

In particular, the rapid adoption of mobile computing seems to be creating pressure for companies to move in this direction.

In the future, a typical user might have a desktop computer for ergonomically comfortable working, a laptop for on-the-road productivity, a tablet for information consumption, and a mobile phone for convenience.

Companies must be proactive in adapting to these trends in order to keep up with employee demand and attract the best people. This must be done carefully in order to avoid data loss, security, privacy and compliance threats.

Generational Differences

As the pace of technological and social change continues to accelerate, the differences between generations will become more pronounced.

From an IT perspective, companies will need to be flexible in offering options which conform to how different generations of employees prefer to work. Older employees will be resistant to change, and will want to adhere to the carefully tested and established processes which they?ve come to know and trust. But more junior employees will be more adaptable to change, and may even bring new demands relating to their own technology preferences.

This difference will be particularly pronounced in developing countries which are transitioning from a manufacturing or resource economy into a knowledge economy.

Trust Between Employers and Employees

There are 2 major ways in which the relationship between employers and employees will change.

First, many employees may decide to adapt a more liberal attitude towards employee management. This will mean moving away from a bureaucratic ?rules-based? management philosophy in exchange for a management philosophy which focuses more on empowering employees and cultivating values which are important to the organization.

There will also be a change in terms of the visibility which employers will have into their workforce productivity. Pervasive monitoring technologies will make it easier for employers to spy on their employees or collect and analyze data about their workers. This kind of monitoring will bring up important privacy implications which will affect the trust between employers and employees.

Crowdsourcing

One of the most dramatic career impacts of this new trend will be the way in which projects are completed. Instead of relying on teams of carefully-selected full-time employees, projects will be broken up into task groups? and these tasks will then be outsourced to a just-in-time outsourced labour market.

In the future, projects will be completed by large teams of individuals ? each working as an independent contractor. In most cases, these workers will never have met each other.

This outsourcing trend has can clearly be seen on sites like Elance, 99designs, and Amazon?s Mechanical Turk. Many working within this industry have complained that the current state of outsourcing is exploitive and creates white-collar sweatshops. There will no doubt be some significant social change occurring as a backlash to this in the future.

Measurement Of Productivity

The consumerisation of IT will give employees the freedom to work from home and escape the limitations of a strict 9-5 window. Instead, business will take place on a 24 hour schedule, and from anywhere in the world.

In a knowledge economy, output is harder to quantify than it would be in an assembly line environment.

Employers will need to place more trust in their employees and give them more freedom in their work, while also focusing on productivity metrics which measure the quality of output and the value provided by the work of these employees.

Change In The IT Manager Role

As strange as it may sound, the IT department can soon become the greatest potential barrier to new technology. This sentiment can be seen in the way that IT places restrictions on access to resources, web sites and applications.

Currently, the role of IT consists mainly of providing employees with the tools required to do their work, and establishing the processes for producing and exchanging information within the organization.

But as IT becomes consumerised, IT?s job will become more adaptive. It will be the role of the IT department to ensure happiness, fulfillment and wellbeing of employees in order to ensure retention of quality staff while also offering an environment which is attractive to top talent. In this sense, the IT manager?s role will have some overlap with that of HR.

IT will need to be attentive to user needs, and focus on adapting to the new ways in which employees want to work. In order to do this, they will have to overcome a number of challenges such as security, privacy, legacy technology and budget constraints.

Employees Will Lead Innovation

Gone are the days when IT decisions would be made from the top and pushed downwards through the organization.

Employees in today?s increasingly flexible, decentralized work environments are much more tech-savvy. ?They are more opinionated about how they want to work with technology, and want to make their own choices when it comes to applications and hardware. Restrictions and constraints will meet resistance and be seen as unwelcome.

Employee input should be actively sought, and those suggestions should be taken seriously in order to stimulate new innovative ideas. However, there should also be mechanisms in place to hold employees accountable to the success of their proposed initiatives.

If you?d like to find out more about the study, the full report can be found here.

Related posts:

  1. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD ) is coming. Are you ready?
  2. Want To See How Businesses Will Use The Cloud In The Future? Look At How The Creative Industry Is Using It Today!
  3. How Hard-As-Nails Canadians Protect Their Businesses From Disaster
  4. Social Media Marketing (Facebook, Twitter, Etc?) Is A Pointless Waste Of Money For Most Businesses
  5. The Open Architecture Of Web 2.0 Presents New Web Security Threats For Businesses

Source: http://enterprisefeatures.com/2012/07/how-can-businesses-adapt-to-byoc-and-the-consumerisation-of-it/

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Success: Robotic Japanese spaceship docks with space station (+video)

A robotic Japanese spacecraft carrying food, equipment, and student science experiments for the International Space Station successfully docked with the orbital outpost.

By Clara Moskowitz,?Space.com / July 27, 2012

Japan's HTV 3 unmanned cargo spacecraft approaches the International Space Station July 27, 2012 to deliver food, supplies and science experiments.

NASA TV

Enlarge

The third in a series of robotic Japanese spaceships has safely arrived at the International Space Station today (July 27), bearing a delivery of food, equipment and student science experiments for the orbital outpost.

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'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // --> A sped up timelapse video of the Japanese HTV-3 Cargo Spacecraft as it approached the International Space Station Friday.

The unmanned, school bus-size H-2 Transfer Vehicle-3 (HTV-3), also called Kounotori 3 ("White Stork" in Japanese), flew to about 40 feet (12 meters)?away from the ISS, where it was grabbed at 8:23 a.m. ET (1223 GMT) by the space station's 58-foot long (18 m) robotic arm, which was controlled from inside by astronauts Joe Acaba of NASA and Aki Hoshide of JAXA (the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency).

Using the Canadarm2 robotic arm, Acaba and Hoshide maneuvered Kounotori 3 to the Earth-facing docking port on the space station's Harmony node at 10:34 a.m. ET (1434 GMT).

"I think we couldn?t have had a better day and we're looking forward to a great HTV mission," Capcom Cady Coleman told the astronauts from Mission Control in Houston.

"You guys were great, thanks a lot for helping us out," Acaba replied. "Thanks a lot for all the food."

Today's arrival follows the?failed docking attempt?on Monday (July 23) of an unmanned Russian Progress spacecraft. The Progress 47 craft was testing a new rendezvous system, which apparently failed to work as planned. The vehicle, which had already been at the space station, had undocked in order to test the new system in a re-docking. Russia plans to try again on Sunday (July 29) to dock the Progress 47.

Kounotori launched?atop a Japanese H-2B rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on July 20. It is the third such vehicle launched from Japan, following the flights of?HTVs 1 and 2?in September 2009 and January 2011, respectively.?[Photos: Japan Launches 3rd Robotic Supply Ship to Space Station]

The spaceship is loaded with 4 tons (3,600 kg) of cargo, including care packages with food, clothing and other items for the space station's crew. The vehicle, which is 33 feet (10 m) long and 13 feet (4 m) wide, is also carrying a camera called the ISERV (International Space Station SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System).

The camera is to be installed on the station, for use by ground-based scientists who can manipulate it via remote control. The system is intended for studies of natural disaster sites and environmental issues on Earth.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/2AM4agcFNRw/Success-Robotic-Japanese-spaceship-docks-with-space-station-video

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Animal Lovers Disappointed in Withee Abuse Probationary Sentence

Laurie Dethloff of Grand Island's Central Nebraska Humane Society remembers what she calls a "catastrophic event," the 2008 dumping of 23 dead and dying dogs in a Hall County cornfield by convicted animal abuser Denise Withee.

Withee was sentenced in 2009 to five years of probation and was forbidden to own or possess any animals; however, authorities say that in January of this year she was discovered living with thirteen dogs. Withee was sentenced to ninety days in prison, and ordered to undergo a mental evaluation. On July 26, Withee was sentenced to nine years of probation, and forbidden to own or live with any animals.

"We were excited that there were some penalties where she had to spend time incarcerated. The probation in the past has not worked," commented Dethloff.

Some observers say the case challenged the court to separate possible mental issues from profit motives.

"There's a difference between hoarding where there's a mental illness, and you love everything and you can't let it go. There's also a system that's an animal broker, where you get animals and you buy and sell. The care is not as good as someone that is a licensed breeder. This is someone that is in it for the money," Dethloff observed.

Some folks we spoke with said they thought the Withee sentence was simply too lenient to serve as a real deterrent to animal abuse.

"It was a little bit disrespectful. He already gave her probation once and she violated it. To give her probation again would be kind of going easy on her, I would say," commented Nick Patrck while visiting Island Oasis in Grand Island.

"Honestly, I think she needs a year or so in jail to sit down and think about it, and really reflect on what she's done," said fellow swimmer Samantha Hankins.

And some recommended psychological counseling. "I don't see how any one can be exactly right in the mind doing this to animals," opined Island Oasis patron Wendy Martak.

Source: http://www.1011now.com/home/headlines/Animal-Lovers-Disappointed-in-Withee-Abuse-Probationary-Sentence--164217406.html

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Chinese Firm That Nailed Apple for $60 Mil Sued by Its Own Lawyers

By Maureen O'Gara

Article Rating:

July 29, 2012 01:00 PM EDT

Reads:

623

I distinctly remember marveling that a bankrupt Chinese company dragging around at least $400 million in debt owed to Chinese banks was able to afford lawyers to sue Apple when it lodged a short-lived suit against Apple in America.

Well, according to a Google translation of a Chinese-language story in Sina Tech, Grandall, the Chinese law firm, was fronting Proview Shenzhen's expenses and now it's suing Proview in China for a piece of the $60 million Apple agreed to pay to get clear ownership of the iPad trademark in China that Proview contested. Apple, of course, claimed it had already paid for the privilege.

Grandall wants the $2.4 million Proview promised or 4% of the $60 million that the Chinese court overseeing the negotiation ordered deposited in a special account to pay the banks. Proview reportedly refuses to pay the bill, calls the Grandall suit "a nonsense," and recants its alleged agreement because it's broke.

Apple released its latest iPad in China last Friday because of the settlement. China is Apple's second-largest market.

Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025. Twitter: @MaureenOGara

Source: http://iphoneforbusiness.ulitzer.com/node/2321476

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Friday, July 27, 2012

#SciAmBlogs Wednesday - like a fish on a bicycle (not needing a shower), extraterrestrial communication, building a jellyfish, and more.






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UK scrambles fighter jet after plane loses contact

In this image made available by The British Royal Air Force, RAF Northolt in London hosts Typhoon Fighters from RAF Coningsby for a 9 day Military Exercise to prepare for the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games in this photo dated May 5, 2012. The exercise codenamed Olympic Guardian runs from the 2nd to the 9th of May and will build upon the RAF's existing defence of UK Airspace to protect from potential threats during the Olympic Games.(AP Photo/Stewart Paterson, RAF)

In this image made available by The British Royal Air Force, RAF Northolt in London hosts Typhoon Fighters from RAF Coningsby for a 9 day Military Exercise to prepare for the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games in this photo dated May 5, 2012. The exercise codenamed Olympic Guardian runs from the 2nd to the 9th of May and will build upon the RAF's existing defence of UK Airspace to protect from potential threats during the Olympic Games.(AP Photo/Stewart Paterson, RAF)

LONDON (AP) ? Britain's Ministry of Defense scrambled a Typhoon fighter jet Wednesday after an airplane lost contact with air traffic controllers.

The move comes amid heightened security in London, just two days ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony.

The ministry said the commercial aircraft did not enter restricted airspace over London, but had lost contact with air traffic control, prompting the launch of a Typhoon shortly after noon.

Communications were quickly restored and no further action was required, the ministry added.

Britain's Royal Air Force deploys Typhoon jets in response to a variety of problems. In April, two Typhoons were scrambled after a small civilian helicopter used an incorrect frequency and emitted an emergency signal.

Typhoons are also part of the Ministry of Defense's multi-tiered security plan for the upcoming games, which will also rely on thousands of troops, warships, surveillance aircraft and sniper-toting helicopters.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-07-25-Britain-Security/id-8968aa5c4b694cc0bd1ef2fbb231c779

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

PFT: Peyton shows 'tremendous improvement'

img19650266Getty Images

The recent comments from Packers president Mark Murphy regarding his inability to support an 18-game regular season was met by many with approval.? And that was my initial reaction, too.

But then I saw the fine print.

?I would be in support of a move to two and 16,? Murphy said. ?Reduce the number of preseason games. The challenge there obviously is you?re losing revenue.?

Ding ding ding ding ding!? (And then Gus Fring blows up.)

As we?ve mentioned a time or two in the past year, the NFL surrendered in the new CBA the ability to unilaterally expand the regular season.? But the league now has the ability to unilaterally shrink the preseason from, coincidentally, four games to two.

So the league can cut the preseason in half, if the league wants.? And then, when the players crunch the numbers and realize the impact of the lost 47-cents-on-the-dollar revenue share on the salary cap, all of a sudden that 18-game regular season may look pretty good.

Especially when the players crunch the numbers regarding the positive impact of two more regular-season games on the bottom line.

As explained during Wednesday?s PFT Live, that?s the only way the NFL can sell an 18-game season, given the current sensitivity to injuries and concussions.? The players have to want it, and the players have to initiate the effort to get it.

To make that happen, the NFL must risk losing its share of the preseason revenue.? And if you think the preseason revenue isn?t a big deal, remember that it was the potential loss of revenue from preseason games that served as the moment at which the league and the NFLPA realized that the lockout needed to end, one year ago Wednesday.

So the ultimate reality show is now in the early stages of a new game of chicken.? Will the owners risk preseason revenue to cajole the players into wanting to expand the regular season?? Will the players shrug at the reduced salary cap resulting from a reduced preseason?

It?s unclear how it will work out, but it?s becoming more clear that those issues will soon be front and center, for both the league and the union.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/25/john-fox-sees-tremendous-improvement-from-peyton-manning/related/

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Some harmful effects of light at night can be reversed

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Chronic exposure to dim light at night can lead to depressive symptoms in rodents -- but these negative effects can be reversed simply by returning to a standard light-dark cycle, a new study suggests.

While hamsters exposed to light at night for four weeks showed evidence of depressive symptoms, those symptoms essentially disappeared after about two weeks if they returned to normal lighting conditions.

Even changes in the brain that occurred after hamsters lived with chronic light at night reversed themselves after returning to a more normal light cycle.

These findings add to the growing evidence that suggest chronic exposure to artificial light at night may play some role in the rising rates of depression in humans during the past 50 years, said Tracy Bedrosian, lead author of the study and doctoral student in neuroscience at Ohio State University.

"The results we found in hamsters are consistent with what we know about depression in humans," Bedrosian said.

But the new study, published online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, also offers some hope.

"The good news is that people who stay up late in front of the television and computer may be able to undo some of the harmful effects just by going back to a regular light-dark cycle and minimizing their exposure to artificial light at night," Bedrosian said. "That's what the results we found in hamsters would suggest."

Bedrosian conducted the study with Ohio State colleagues Randy Nelson, professor of neuroscience and psychology, and Zachary Weil, research assistant professor in neuroscience.

This study is the latest in a series out of Nelson's lab that have linked chronic exposure to light at night to depression and obesity in animal models.

The new study found that one particular protein found in the brain of hamsters -- and humans -- may play a key role in how light at night leads to depression.

They found that blocking effects of that protein, called tumor necrosis factor, prevented the development of depressive-like symptoms in hamsters even when they were exposed to light at night.

The study involved two experiments using female Siberian hamsters, which had their ovaries removed to ensure that hormones produced in the ovary would not interfere with the results.

In the first experiment, half of the hamsters spent eight weeks in a standard light-dark cycle of 16 hours of light (150 lux) and 8 hours of total darkness each day. The other half spent the first four weeks with 16 hours of normal daylight (150 lux) and 8 hours of dim light -- 5 lux, or the equivalent of having a television on in a darkened room.

Then, these hamsters were moved back to a standard light cycle for either one week, two weeks or four weeks before testing began.

They were then given a variety of behavior tests. Results showed that hamsters exposed to chronic dim light at night showed less total activity during their active period each day when compared to those in standard lighting conditions.

Those hamsters exposed to dim light also showed greater depressive symptoms than did the others-- such as less interest in drinking sugar water that they usually enjoy.

But within two weeks of returning to a standard light cycle, hamsters exposed to dim night light showed no more depressive-like symptoms than did hamsters that always had standard lighting. In addition, they returned to normal activity levels.

After the behavioral testing, the hamsters were sacrificed and the researchers studied a part of their brains called the hippocampus, which plays a key role in depressive disorders. Findings showed that hamsters exposed to dim light showed a variety of changes associated with depression.

Most importantly, hamsters that lived in dim light showed increased expression of the gene that produces tumor necrosis factor. TNF is one of a large family of proteins called cytokines -- chemical messengers that are mobilized when the body is injured or has an infection. These cytokines cause inflammation in their effort to repair an injured or infected area of the body. However, this inflammation can be damaging when it is constant, as happens in hamsters exposed to dim light at night.

"Researchers have found a strong association in people between chronic inflammation and depression," said Nelson, who is a member of Ohio State's Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research.

"That's why it is very significant that we found this relationship between dim light at night and increased expression of TNF."

In addition, results showed that hamsters that lived in dim light had a significantly reduced density of dendritic spines -- hairlike growths on brain cells which are used to send chemical messages from one cell to another.

Changes such as this have been linked to depression, Bedrosian said.

However, hamsters that were returned to a standard light-dark cycle after four weeks of dim light at night saw their TNF levels and even their density of dendritic spines return essentially to normal.

"Changes in dendritic spines can happen very rapidly in response to environmental factors," Bedrosian said.

In a second experiment, the researchers tested just how important TNF might be in causing the negative effects seen in hamsters exposed to light at night. In this experiment, some hamsters were given a drug called XPro1595, which is a TNF inhibitor -- meaning that it negates the effects of some forms of TNF in the brain.

Results showed that hamsters exposed to dim light at night did not show any more depressive-like symptoms than standard-light hamsters if they were given XPro1595. However, the drug did not seem to prevent the reduction of dendritic spine density in hamsters exposed to dim light.

These results provide further evidence of the role TNF may play in the depressive symptoms seen in hamsters exposed to dim light. But the fact that XPro1595 did not affect dendritic spine density means that more needs to be learned about exactly how TNF works, Nelson said.

###

Ohio State University: http://researchnews.osu.edu

Thanks to Ohio State University 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.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/121973/Some_harmful_effects_of_light_at_night_can_be_reversed

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Check Point Software Technologies Increases Share Repurchase ...

Redwood City, CA ? Wed, 18 Jul 2012

Check Point? Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that its board of directors has authorized an expansion to the on-going stock repurchase program.? Under the expanded plan, Check Point is authorized to repurchase up to one billion dollars of its outstanding shares during the next two years.

As of June 30, 2012, Check Point has approximately 204.8 million shares of common stock outstanding.? Check Point started its share buyback program in 2003.? Since then, Check Point has purchased approximately 87.5 million shares for a total of approximately $2.2 billion.

?We believe that our market leadership and long term growth prospects make this an effective time to further utilize our cash to increase shareholder value.? concluded Tal Payne, Chief Financial Officer of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Share purchases will take place in open market transactions or in privately negotiated transactions and may be made from time to time depending on market conditions, share price, trading volume and other factors. Such purchases will be made in accordance with applicable U.S. securities laws and regulations.? For all or a portion of the authorized repurchase amount, Check Point may enter into a plan that is compliant with Rule 10b5-1 of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that is designed to facilitate these purchases. The repurchase program is for a period of two years, does not require Check Point to acquire a specific number of shares, and may be suspended from time to time or discontinued. The share repurchases will be funded from available working capital.

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.?
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, provides customers with uncompromised protection against all types of threats, reduces security complexity and lowers total cost of ownership. Check Point first pioneered the industry with FireWall-1 and its patented stateful inspection technology. Today, Check Point continues to develop new innovations based on the Software Blade Architecture, providing customers with flexible and simple solutions that can be fully customized to meet the exact security needs of any organization. Check Point is the only vendor to go beyond technology and define security as a business process.?Check Point 3D Security uniquely combines policy, people and enforcement for greater protection of information assets and helps organizations implement a blueprint for security that aligns with business needs. Customers include tens of thousands of organizations of all sizes, including all Fortune and Global 100 companies.?Check Point's award-winning ZoneAlarm solutions protect millions of consumers from hackers, spyware and identity theft.??

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to our expectations regarding our share repurchase program, including the time and amounts of any repurchases. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks include the possibility that we will not execute on our share repurchase program in the manner expected, including with respect to timing and amounts of repurchases. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Check Point?s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report filed on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2011, and our reports on Form 6-K. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Check Point as of the date hereof, and Check Point disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Source: http://canadian-vc-financing-m.posterous.com/check-point-software-technologies-increases-s

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New Mexico Jazz Festival Poetry Reading: A.B. Spellman & Hakim Bellamy

2012 New Mexico Jazz Festival: Poetry Reading: A.B. Spellman & Hakim Bellamy. Retired NEA Deputy Chairman, poet and jazz historian, A.B. Spellman, who?s Meet the Artist sessions have become a New Mexico Jazz Festival tradition since its inaugural year in 2006, brings his own work to audiences in a special poetry reading shared with New Mexico?s most recently named Poet Laureate, Hakim Bellamy.

Source: http://www.itsatrip.org/events/default.aspx?eventid=19734

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Are You In An Emotional Affair? (2) 07/22 by Building Right ...

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Source: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/building-right-relationships/2012/07/22/are-you-in-an-emotional-affair-2

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Thai Troops Shot Italian Photographer

Government troops are believed to have shot an Italian photographer who was killed during mass opposition street protests in 2010 in Bangkok, police told an official inquest in Thailand on Monday.

Police Colonel Suebsak Pansura, who is heading a team investigating the case, said they had questioned 47 witnesses and experts over the death of Fabio Polenghi and gathered evidence to submit to prosecutors.

"The conclusion found that the cause of his death was believed to have been a gunshot from the authorities on duty," he told Bangkok's Criminal Court on the opening day of the inquest.

Polenghi was shot and killed on May 19 2010, the day when soldiers firing live ammunition stormed the anti-government "Red Shirt" protest movement's sprawling rally base in the center of Bangkok.

Police could not find the bullet which fatally wounded him in the heart, but experts said he was shot by a high-velocity gun. The inquest will attempt to ascertain who was responsible.

Polenghi, 48, was working as a freelance photographer covering the protests in which tens of thousands of Red Shirts brought central Bangkok to a standstill for two months with demands for snap elections.

Street battles between soldiers with rifles and mostly unarmed protesters claimed more than 90 lives and left nearly 1,900 people injured, mainly civilians.

The kingdom, which remains deeply divided by the bloodshed, now has a new government allied to the Red Shirts' hero, fugitive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, whose sister Yingluck is prime minister.

No soldiers or officials have been prosecuted in connection with the deaths during the unrest, prompting anger from relatives and rights groups, who say those responsible are being protected by a culture of impunity in Thailand.

Yingluck's government said in November there was clear evidence that troops were responsible for the death of another journalist during the unrest, Japanese cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto of the Thomson Reuters news agency.

Source: http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/47493-thai-troops-shot-italian-photographer

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Natural Healing with Chinese Food Therapy.

In your quest to find more natural healing methods and natural supplements to good health, you?d be well advised to consider the ancient healing methods of the Chinese.

Chinese dietary therapy, also known as Chinese nutrition therapy, combines the principles of Chinese medical theory and nutrition.

The Chinese have long recognized the medicinal therapy of food and evaluates individual foods by how they affect the body. Although actual documentation about food therapy was found around 500 BC, it?s believed to date back as early as 2000 BC.

Simply put, Chinese food therapy involves the use of certain foods to aid in the healing of certain body ailments or assists in keeping healthy other bodily functions. Followers of food therapy believe in the concept of yin and yang in food; the yin foods are believed to lower the body?s metabolism, or decrease the body?s heat, while the yang foods are said to increase the body?s heat or increase metabolism.

The Chinese believe in four food groups: grains, vegetables, fruits and meats.

There?s no classification for dairy products, which are considered unsuitable for humans. The Chinese believe a balanced diet will consist of the following food combinations on a daily basis: 40 percent grains, 30 to 40 percent vegetables, 10 to 15 percent meats and the rest of the foods should be nuts and fruits.

In Chinese food therapy, foods are then further classified by taste. The tastes are defined as pungent, salty, bitter, sweet and sour. Each taste is believed to have a direct effect on a specific body organ.

The sour flavor enters the liver and gallbladder.

The bitter flavor enters the heart and small intestine.

The sweet flavor enters the spleen and stomach.

The pungent flavor enters the lungs and large intestine.

The salty flavor enters the kidney and bladder.

When consumed in moderation, the food benefits the organ, but if over consumed, it can have a negative effect on the organ.

The pungent and sweet flavors are considered yang and tend to be warming. They direct energy outward and higher into the body. The other three flavors?sour, bitter and salty?are yin and considered to be cooling. They direct energy inward and lower in the body.

So, by using the information above, we know that we can use cooling foods to counteract overheated conditions. Warming foods are excellent for people who feel too cold. If someone is deficient or lacking in something, we can use foods that are building.

The Chinese and followers of Chinese food therapy truly believe that you ?are what you eat.?

One simple example of Chinese food therapy is the remedy for a cough. The Cantonese cough remedy required apricot kernels, watercress and dried duck gizzards. The ingredients are slow cooked for several hours, and a bit of pork can be added for flavor (though you can?t add beef or chicken because both will nullify the healing effects of the watercress). The watercress removes the excessive amount of yang in the body, while the duck gizzards are added to balance the yin yang of the recipe. The apricots target the lungs.

Pears can also be used to treat a cough associated with hot lungs. Pears are sweet and slightly sour with a cooling nature and a special affinity for the lungs. They can help eliminate heat and excess mucus, while moistening the lungs and dryness in general. However, those with a weak digestive system must use caution.

Food therapy is much more than the Western concept of proteins and carbohydrates. It can be as simple or complex as we make it. Much of it is common sense when we stop and think about it, but as with any type of therapy, caution should always be used. Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford is a very in depth book dealing with food nutrition that I highly recommend for those interested in better nutrition. Many acupuncturists will make food recommendations according to the person?s Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis as Chinese medicine believes in treating the whole person, not just the immediate symptoms.

Take the time to learn from Chinese healing wisdom?you may just be surprised how it benefits your health.

Editor: Lynn Hasselberger

Like elephant health & wellness and elephant food on facebook.


Incorrect source, offensive, or found a typo? Or do you want to write for Elephant?

Leona Harter, M.Ac., L.Ac., LMT, loves to heal things through the power of Acupuncture, Massage Therapy, Qigong, Yoga and Herbs in her private practice at Leona Harter Acupuncture and Wellness in Southeast Georgia. She guides her patients on their path of self-discovery while offering natural healing techniques that can be incorporated into any daily routine. She can be connected with via Facebook or via email at info@leonaharter.com.

Source: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/07/natural-healing-with-chinese-food-therapy/

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Romney charges Obama's ad attacks 'misdirected'

FILE - In this July 4, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. make a lemonade stop as they walk in the Fourth of July Parade in Wolfeboro, N.H. With the campaign entering a six-week period before the national nominating conventions kick off the fall campaign, how Romney takes advantage of his assets and seeks to overcome his hurdles against President Barack Obama will partly determine whether he?s able before then to break out of what polls show is a close race. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this July 4, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. make a lemonade stop as they walk in the Fourth of July Parade in Wolfeboro, N.H. With the campaign entering a six-week period before the national nominating conventions kick off the fall campaign, how Romney takes advantage of his assets and seeks to overcome his hurdles against President Barack Obama will partly determine whether he?s able before then to break out of what polls show is a close race. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this June 19, 2012 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney talks about the vetting of a vice presidential running mate in Holland, Mich. With the campaign entering a six-week period before the national nominating conventions kick off the fall campaign, how Romney takes advantage of his assets and seeks to overcome his hurdles against President Barack Obama will partly determine whether he?s able before then to break out of what polls show is a close race. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Barack Obama campaigns during the pouring rain at the historic Walkerton Tavern & Gardens in Glen Allen, Va., near Richmond, Saturday, July 14, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(AP) ? Mitt Romney demanded Monday that President Barack Obama back away from his persistent attacks on Romney's record at Bain Capital, advising that it would be better "if you spent some time speaking about your record."

"What does it say about a president whose record is so poor that all he can do in this campaign is attack me," Romney said in a nationally broadcast interview.

Obama said an interview that he has run mostly positive campaign ads but said they have not been given much attention in the media.

In his interview on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends," Romney was asked whether Obama should apologize for a series of statements and campaign commercials suggesting that Romney has not been truthful in his accounts of his record as head of Bain Capital, a private equity firm.

Romney responded, "I think when people have accused you of a crime, you have every reason to go after them pretty hard." He defended his business record but did not demand an apology from Obama. Romney also declined to make a fuller disclosure of tax returns than he has already committed himself to releasing.

The latest exchange of barbs came as Obama prepared for a town meeting Monday in Ohio, a critical state for both candidates this year, and Romney was poised to join Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on a fundraising trip.

Obama's campaign has been arguing that Romney's record at Bain Capital indicates that jobs were shipped overseas under his watch. That pitch has been given a lot of attention at a time when the nation's unemployment rate remains above 8 percent and millions are out of work.

Asked about this, Romney said he was "very proud of the record I had in my business career." He added: "I'd say to the president, wouldn't it be interesting Mr. President, wouldn't it be interesting if you spent some time speaking about your record."

"A campaign spent on false charges and dishonesty doesn't have long legs," Romney said.

"When millions upon millions of dollars are given by the Obama administration to the businesses of campaign contributors, that's a real problem, particularly at time when the middle class is really suffering in this country," the former Massachusetts governor said. "This is a tough time in America. But if you're a contributor to Barack Obama your business may stand to get billions or hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from the government. I think it's wrong. I think it stinks to high heaven."

Obama, in an interview broadcast on "CBS This Morning" Monday, was asked about the large number of negative ads that have been run against Romney by his campaign in recent weeks.

"If you look at the ads that we do," he replied, "first of all, we've done a whole slew of positive ads that talk exactly about how we need to change our education system, how we need to change our tax code, how we need to rebuild America, how we need to promote American energy So those just don't get attention in the news."

"I've got a very different approach," Obama said. "And the more detailed we get into what he's saying and what I'm saying, I think that serves the democratic process well."

Romney was asked about statements by Obama supporters, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, that he simply "stop whining" about the Obama attacks. He responded, "The best offense is to look at the president's record. ... He just hasn't been able to do the job he was going to try and do."

"The president has only one thing going and that is constant attacks on me," Romney said. "They're dishonest, they're misdirected and I think the American people recognize that kind of politics is something of the past. It may work in Chicago, but it's not going to work across America."

Romney refused calls by Democrats ? and some Republicans ? to release several years of tax returns. He said the Obama campaign was only looking "for more things for their opposition research to try to make a mountain out of and to distort and to be dishonest about."

Romney has released his 2010 returns and has pledged he will also release a complete return for 2011, but no more.

Republican Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama suggested at a governor's conference this weekend that Romney do a fuller release of tax reforms.

Romney's campaign said Sunday that Obama is willing to say anything to win a second term and should say he's sorry for attacking the Republican's successful career at Bain Capital.

"No, we will not apologize," the president responded, adding that if Romney wants credit for his business leadership, he also needs to take responsibility. The Obama campaign says that with Romney at the helm, Bain Capital sent thousands of well-paying American jobs to China.

Questions about Romney's tenure at Bain Capital, the fortune he earned there, foreign bank accounts and his refusal to release more of his tax returns have dogged the former Massachusetts governor. Romney insists he left the firm in February 1999 to take over the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, but documents indicate he was still in charge as late as 2001.

Romney's advisers, trying to explain the discrepancies between Romney's account and federal documents, offered fresh explanations to shift the campaign back to more comfortable ground.

"He actually retired retroactively at that point," Romney adviser Ed Gillespie said Sunday. "He ended up not going back to the firm after his time in Salt Lake City. So he was actually retired from Bain."

A second adviser, Kevin Madden, said Romney had no choice but to have his name listed on Security and Exchange Commission documents as he sought to transfer the company's leadership to partners.

"The reason that there is a document that had ... his signature is because, during that transition from 1999 to 2002 ... there was a duty to sign those documents," Madden said.

The exact role Romney played at the firm between 1999 and 2001 is important not only because critics have raised questions about his truthfulness, but also because Bain was sending U.S. jobs overseas during the period.

Documents on file with the SEC place Romney in charge of Bain from 1999 to 2001, a period in which the company outsourced jobs and ran companies that fell into bankruptcy. Romney has tried to distance himself from this period in Bain's history, saying on financial disclosure forms he had no active role in the company as of February 1999.

But at least three times since then, Bain listed Romney as the company's "controlling person," as well as its "sole shareholder, sole director, chief executive officer and president." One of those documents ? as late as February 2001 ? lists Romney's "principal occupation" as Bain's managing director.

Romney launched a rare, five-network interview blitz on Friday and insisted he was not involved with Bain during the time it sent jobs overseas and had no day-to-day responsibility for the firm.

"I had no role whatsoever in the management of Bain Capital after February of 1999," he said. "I was an owner, and being a shareholder doesn't mean you're running the business."

That wasn't enough for Obama.

"Mr. Romney claims he's Mr. Fix-It for the economy because of his business experience, so I think voters entirely legitimately want to know what is exactly his business experience," Obama told WAVY-TV in Portsmouth, Va., in an interview taped Saturday and posted on the station's website Sunday

"Mr. Romney is now claiming he wasn't there at the time except his filings with the SEC listing says he was the CEO, chairman and president of the company."

Gillespie appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN's "State of the Union. Madden spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-16-Presidential%20Campaign/id-fca341dec12c4889882713225cdb4f44

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Monday, July 16, 2012

Argentina President has cancer will have surgery

Kuwait Times Sunday 15th July, 2012

Published Date: December 29, 2011 BUENOS AIRES: Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will undergo surgery next week, two months after being reelected in a landslide vote, her spokesman said. Kirchner, the country's first elected female president, was found to have cancer "on the right lobe of the thyroid gland" during a routine medical examination on December 22, said spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro. ...

Read the full story at Kuwait Times

Source: http://www.argentinanews.net/index.php?sid/207446981/scat/d9ed072d737073b4

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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Charlie Sheen quits Twitter, tells fans to 'reach for the stars'

HOLLYWOOD, CA - JUNE 26:  Actor Charlie Sheen attends the FX summer comedies party at Lure on June 26, 2012 in Hollywood, California.  (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Charlie Sheen has officially signed off from Twitter, but says his next endeavor will be 'epic.'

Charlie Sheen is closing out one very infamous part of his public persona.

The outspoken "Anger Management" actor officially signed off from Twitter Thursday after more than a year's worth of coining quotable phrases and unleashing head-scratching outbursts online.

"Reach for the stars everyone," he wrote as his farewell. "Dogspeed cadre. c out."

Sheen, 46, began his Twitter adventure in March 2011, a few months after the actor had a very public meltodown in New York's Plaza hotel.

His first tweet, a photo of himself and then-goddess Bree Olson with the caption "Winning...! Choose your Vice," sent the media into a frenzy.

The TV actor even landed himself in the Guinness Book of World Records for racking up 1 million Twitter followers in the shortest time ever - it only took him 25 hours and 17 minutes to hit seven digits, officials said.

PHOTOS: THE WILD TIMES OF CHARLIE SHEEN

During his time on the microblogging site, Sheen coined such terms as "#winning" and "#tigerblood" and wrote about his "warlock" ways with reckless abandon.

"Just got invited to do the Nancy Grace show. ...I'd rather go on a long road trip with Chuck Lorre in a '75 Pacer," he wrote at one point during his media blitz.

Sheen even put out a job listing for a social media intern via Twitter that received more than 74,000 applicants in just under 48 hours.

"I'm looking to hire a #winning INTERN with #TigerBlood," he wrote, linking to an application he posted on Internships.com. "Do you have #TigerBlood? Are you all about #Winning? Can you #PlanBetter than anyone else? If so, we want you on #TeamSheen as our social media #TigerBloodIntern!"

No word yet on Sheen's next personal project, but the actor reportedly told TMZ: "Thank you for all your amazing support. Trust me when I say please 'follow' me to my next endeavor. It's gonna be epic."

jchen@nydailynews.com

Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/latino/~3/nmoMC38sp3o/charlie-sheen-quits-twitter-tells-fans-followers-reach-stars-article-1.1114921

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'Hobbit' Panel Brings Middle-earth Back To Comic-Con

Fans are introduced to Evangeline Lilly's elf and Martin Freeman's comical Bilbo.
By Kevin P. Sullivan


Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman
Photo: Albert L. Ortega/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1689641/hobbit-comic-con.jhtml

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New Mexico Settles Emissions Case with Western Refining

David McNew, Getty Images

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) ? A Texas-based oil refining company has agreed to pay New Mexico $444,000 in penalties to settle emissions violations at its plant near Gallup.

The New Mexico Environment Department announced the settlement with Western Refining of El Paso this week.

The department claims the company violated state air pollution standards by allowing excess sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants to be emitted at the Ciniza refinery.

The violations took place between July 2009 and March 2012.

The settlement also calls for Western Refining to make upgrades and infrastructure improvements at the plant over the next several years.

State officials say the improvements are expected to permanently reduce emissions.

Western also operates a refinery in El Paso and has retail service stations and convenience stores in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and Colorado.

Source: http://kfyo.com/new-mexico-settles-emissions-case-with-western-refining/

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Micro Niche Finder ? The Most Valuable ... - SEO and Link Building

This article about ? Get Micro Niche Finder ? hopefully will enable you to clear your mind in the doubts you have about this product.

Among the many Web optimization tools available on the internet, Micro Niche Finder is the most beneficial. Through the fast changing internet, you can find plenty of individuals who are doing e-commerce business with the relative growth of purchasers in buying the items they desire. Accordingly, one excellent method to help internet marketers improve the profit and sales of their venture is that they have to change their e-commerce business into a virtual and software-based operation. However in engaging into e-commerce dealing and internet marketing endeavor, you should make sure to select the top keywords for your webpage. In line with, if your targeted keywords are really useful then expect to get awesome results on your website marketing. Let?s discuss more regarding Micro Niche Finder and figure out what they will contribute to the success of your on-line business.

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In due course, it is of most importance to think about the keywords for the niche site you choose. The victory of your would-be enterprise relies on it, so make sure to pick the proper key phrases. At this point in time, online marketers wish to make their web pages get more traffic and then generate a lot of cash thus selecting the best search terms would be of most concern. Moreover, finding a possible source for helpful key phrases that you can use to market your particular site is totally difficult especially for newbie marketer.

How Micro Niche Finder Functions

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Source: http://www.ofloveandtreason.com/micro-niche-finder-the-most-valuable-keyword-research-tool

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FAA proposes fining Boeing $13.5 million

(AP) ? The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday proposed fining Boeing $13.5 million for failing to meet a deadline to provide airlines with instructions on how to prevent fuel tank explosions like the one that destroyed TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island, N.Y., 16 years ago, killing all 230 people on board.

The fine ? the second largest the FAA has ever proposed ? underscores the difficulty the agency has had prodding industry to comply with important safety regulations that can be complex or expensive to implement.

In July 2008, then-Transportation Secretary Mary Peters held a news conference along with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board to celebrate new regulations aimed at preventing another tragedy like the one in 1996, when a fuel tank on the Boeing 747 exploded minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy Airport. Victims' relatives were on hand for the news conference, which was held in the building where the doomed plane's wreckage had been reconstructed in the investigation.

Four years later, not only has Boeing been late in meeting those regulations, but airlines are balking at making some of the aircraft fixes they're required to make.

The longer airlines can delay retrofitting the fuel tanks of older planes, the fewer repairs they'll have to make because those planes are continually being replaced with newer aircraft with differently designed tanks, said John Goglia, a former NTSB member and expert on aircraft maintenance.

"Every plane they don't have to retrofit is going to save them a lot of money," he said.

U.S. airlines, through the trade group Airlines for America, have been asking the FAA to extend the deadlines for retrofitting their fleets, which fall in 2014 and 2017. "There is simply not enough time to retrofit airplanes ... by the rule's deadline," the group wrote to the FAA on March 28.

On Friday, the FAA said it would not issue a blanket extension but would consider extension requests by individual airlines for the 2014 deadline when they must retrofit half their fleets.

"The safety of airline passengers and employees is the highest priority for our members, and as such, we follow the rigorous standards set by the FAA, including only installing FAA-certified modifications on our aircraft," the airline trade group said in a written statement on Friday. "Our members are working with the FAA to complete the approved modifications."

The FAA's regulations required aircraft manufacturers to develop design changes and service instructions for installing systems to reduce the risk of fuel tank flammability by Dec. 27, 2010. Other manufacturers met the deadline, but Boeing was 301 days late on providing instruction for its 747 planes and 406 days late for its 757 planes, the FAA said Friday.

"We take this matter very seriously," Acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said.

Boeing Co. spokesman Miles Kotay said the aircraft maker "has made pioneering efforts in the complex process of developing and certifying the fuel-tank inerting systems at issue and is committed to continuing those efforts."

He said Boeing has put the nitrogen generating systems the FAA wants on all planes it has built since August 2010. And since June 2008, the systems have gone on every 737, he said. The nitrogen makes it harder for volatile gases to ignite. Boeing makes more of those planes than any other model.

The FAA's penalty involves older 747s as well as the 757, which Boeing no longer makes. Both planes are flown by Delta, United and Continental. The 757 is also flown by American Airlines and US Airways. In total, 383 U.S.-registered planes are affected by these delays, the FAA said.

An investigation by the NTSB determined the TWA explosion was caused by a buildup of oxygen in a partially empty fuel tank while plane sat in the summer sun waiting to take off.

For years, it appeared there was no economical way to redesign fuel tanks on existing planes. But an FAA employee persisted in trying to find a reasonable technological fix to the problem ultimately leading to the solution lauded by officials as example of the agency at its finest at the 2008 news conference.

Goglia said the FAA developed the nitrogen protective system as an affordable, light safety measure ? "something Boeing said couldn't be done ? and after all that good work we now have foot-dragging by the industry not to do it."

The largest fine FAA has ever proposed was $24.2 million against American Airlines for failing to make required repairs to the wiring of some planes. Although that fine was proposed two years ago, the FAA is still in negotiations with the airline ? which filed for bankruptcy last year ? on a final settlement. The next largest proposed fine was $10.2 million against Southwest in 2008 for safety violations. The fine was settled for $7.5 million.

___

Freed reported from Minneapolis.

___

Follow Joan Lowy at http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-07-13-Boeing%20Fine/id-45cec9bb3818495a8bd359574cbda13c

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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Tornado hurtles across Duddon Estuary

FREAK weather hit Millom as residents captured stunning footage of a tornado hurtling over the town.

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The cyclone was spotted on Wednesday evening as intense hailstone rained down.

Jenny Brumby, who lives at Millom Pier, noticed the twister on the Duddon Estuary around 8pm and sent a video, filmed on her mobile phone, to the Evening Mail.

Her son?s startled reaction was ?What?s that? Is it going to get us??

Mrs Brumby said: ?I heard my son Connor say ?What?s that??

?We looked out of the window and I said ?It?s a tornado!?

?It didn?t do any damage, it was just picking up sand as it went along the beach for around half a mile.?

?My sister-in-law was in the garden and we shouted for her to come over. My nephews came over too and the youngest one, Elliot, who?s seven, was especially interested.?

The hail had yet to melt when Alan Fallow reported for work as caretaker at St James? Catholic Primary School, in Millom, yesterday. He said: ?I go to school about 6.30am and always check the ground.

?And you know how you get snow that goes against the fence and lingers?

?It was like that, but it was very slippery. In fact, I had to wash it away with buckets of water. It was like a spawn, if you will.

?It took some clearing up. If I hadn?t washed it away, it wouldn?t have moved.?

Edward Mills, of High Carley, near Ulverston, is an honorary Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Offering a potential explanation for the tornado, he said: ?Well, we have been in that kind of weather regime. In Millom, maybe the topography had something to do with it, coming in around Black Combe.

?I think it was probably a very isolated occurrence which you tend to get with that type of shower.

?Generally, if it doesn?t touch the ground, it?s usually a funnel cloud ? a tornado in the making ? if it does touch, it?s a tornado, and if it?s over the sea, it?s a waterspout.

?So it definitely sounds like a tornado if it was touching the sand.

?They say there are more tornados in Britain per square mile than there are in America.?

Source: http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/tornado-hurtles-across-duddon-estuary-1.975191?referrerPath=/evening_mail_news_round-up_1_118665

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