Wal-Mart's 1Q profit, sales disappoint

In this May 9, 2013 photo, a worker pushes shopping carts in front of a Walmart store in La Habra, Calif. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expected to report quarterly results on Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this May 9, 2013 photo, a worker pushes shopping carts in front of a Walmart store in La Habra, Calif. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expected to report quarterly results on Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The first few months of the year were tough for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The world's largest retailer reported Thursday that its first-quarter profit edged up just slightly, and the company struggled with a sales slump in its namesake business during the three-month period. The discounter also offered a quarterly profit outlook that came below Wall Street's projections. Its stock fell on the news.

Wal-Mart blamed a litany of factors affecting its budget-conscious customers, including a payroll tax increase, delayed tax refunds, job worries and bad weather. It is the latest in a string of big-name, consumer companies from McDonald's to Macy's, to cite such hurdles in the first quarter of the year.

"Frankly, we had a more difficult quarter than expected," said Wal-Mart's President and CEO Mike Duke in a pre-recorded call.

Wal-Mart is considered an economic bellwether because the retailer accounts for nearly 10 percent of nonautomotive retail spending in the U.S. The latest results indicate that many American households with lower incomes continue to struggle even as the job and housing markets improve.

"This is a reality check for Wal-Mart's low-income shoppers," said Brian Sozzi, CEO and chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisers. "The low-income shopper is even more financially stressed than people realize."

While the company said lingering cool weather into April was a culprit in a sales shortfall for seasonal goods like spring fashions and sporting goods such as camping gear, Charles Holley, Wal-Mart's chief financial officer, told reporters on a conference call that economic worries loom large.

"Our customers tell us that jobs and employment are high on the list of concerns," he said.

Additionally, like many companies, Wal-Mart said that business during the first quarter was hurt by the government's delay in processing income taxes and paying refunds. Wal-Mart said it cashed less in income tax refunds than a year ago.

Another big hurdle for Wal-Mart's financially strapped shoppers have been tax changes, which executives said started having more of an impact as the first quarter progressed. An increase in the payroll tax of two percentage points, which took effect Jan. 1, means that a take-home pay for a household earning $50,000 a year has been sliced by $1,000.

Such factors all helped to depress results. Wal-Mart earned $3.78 billion, or $1.14 per share, in the quarter that ended April 30. That compares with $3.74 billion, or $1.09 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 1 percent to $113.43 billion. That figure excludes Sam's Club membership fees. Results fell short of Wall Street expectations for earnings of $1.15 per share on revenue of $115.78 billion.

Revenue at stores open at least year, a key measurement for retailers because it excludes the effect of stores that open or close during the year, also fell below expectations.

Wal-Mart reported a 1.4 percent drop in revenue at stores open at least a year at its namesake business, which accounts for about 60 percent of the company's total revenue. That was the first drop since the second quarter of 2011. At Sam's Club, the figure rose just 0.2 percent, held down by less traffic from business customers, bad weather and lower-than-expected inflation.

Wall Street analysts had expected its U.S. namesake business to be unchanged and were projecting a 1.2 percent rise at Sam's Clubs.

Still, Wal-Mart said that business has picked up in May fueled in part because of warmer weather. The company expects revenue at stores opened at least a year to be up as much as 2 percent at its namesake U.S. business

Internationally, though, Wal-Mart faces slower growth amid a global recession.

A bribery scandal also threatens to slow its business overseas. Allegations first surfaced a year ago that Wal-Mart failed to notify law enforcement that company officials authorized millions of dollars in bribes in Mexico to speed up getting building permits and gain other favors. Wal-Mart has been working with government officials in the U.S. and Mexico on that investigation.

Wal-Mart has already slowed its expansion plans in Mexico, and last November it said it was looking into potential U.S. bribery law violations in Brazil, China and India.

Wal-Mart said that it expects expenses related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ? which forbids American companies from bribing foreign officials ? to be in the range of $65 million to $70 million in the current quarter. The company cited that the figure is higher than the $40 million to $45 million costs it has incurred in past quarters. That's partly because the company is investing more in improving its compliance controls.

Wal-Mart said that it expects earnings per share to be in the range of $1.22 to $1.27 in the current quarter. Analysts had expected $1.29 per share.

Shares fell $1.36 per share, or 1.7 percent, to close at $78.50 Thursday. That's at the high end of its 52-week range of $61.25 to $79.96.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-16-Earns-Wal-Mart/id-9fd25887a0754d5a974d586a56ff4653

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Nicki Minaj to Exit American Idol: Report

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/nicki-minaj-to-exit-american-idol-report/

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Useful Suggestions For Your Online Marketing Needs - Maynas Eric

Most modern businesses utilize Internet promotion. Online marketing involves using advertising, search engine optimization and other methods that will generate interest and sales. This article contains advice for using online marketing techniques.

Long before site ranking becomes a concern for you, you need to build yourself an outstanding website. If you have a website, start out with this step. The more attractive your site appears, the less work it will be in the future.

Present content about your products such as a video or article to convince your visitors to purchase from your company. Doing so will ensure that your future customers are fully informed about your products before deciding to make a purchase. This demonstrates to a customer that you are not simply trying to make money from a sale. It shows that you want to provide your customers with plenty of information about your products so that they can make their own purchasing decisions.

TIP! Flashy websites look neat, but avoid making your website too distracting. When someone comes to your website you have about five seconds to capture their attention and make them want to stay.

The name internet promotion makes it seem that this type of marketing is done only on the internet; however, this is not true. Invite bloggers to conferences so you can meet them in person. You can improve a community feeling this way, making bloggers want to write all about your product or service.

Attaching your keyword to internal links is very useful. By giving visitors other links to previous posts, you can drive more traffic to your website. Internal linking helps people stay on your page for longer periods of time and can provide you with greater chances of ranking higher during search engine results.

You can make a great impression by including a banner showing your business name, mission statement or slogan. Banners are generally displayed along the top of a website or just under the title. This helps to keep your site professional while showing what you are all about. This can also help highlight any services you offer.

TIP! Internet marketing can be problematic, but you can fix it. If you know how to start your business you will be better off.

You should let your customers rate your products and leave comments of why they gave a particular rating. Honest feedback will help you offer better items for your customers, because they will be confident in buying your products since they already know that other people have tried them already.

Now here?s some advice on online marketing. Let your customers know not to worry about anything when they?re on your site. Put a site-wide link to your privacy policy at the top right corner of your site. These guarantees are a great way to gain the confidence of consumers that are iffy about shopping online. They will be more likely to purchase what you?re selling if they know you are protecting their identity.

Web marketing can be successful with dedication and hard work. You can?t find a large company who found ?luck? and ended up being powerful and successful. Was it just a coincidence that Coca Cola found success? Definitely not. Of course, none of that was possible without an aggressive and intensive marketing campaign.

TIP! To trick people into clicking on ads, create a discreet image that links to a page describing the product you are selling. Ensure you use the font that you use in your articles and linking it.

Offer proof that any claims you make about a product you are selling are true. For example, if you?re selling a Spanish course, show a video of yourself speaking Spanish to prove how well it worked for you. Make a video of yourself demonstrating your products or performing the services you advertise to convince your audience.

Do not use spam. Web crawlers, which quickly post hundreds or thousands of comments in a short amount of time, rarely produce the desired effect for your business. And actually your impersonal touch will probably turn people off and make them feel irritated instead of interested.

Having your business listed in Google is the path to success. Google is used by millions of people every day, so your company needs to be listed if you want to know exactly who is searching for you. Being listed on Google will ensure that your company is successful.

TIP! Even if you hit a few bumps in the road when it comes to internet marketing, you must persevere. You gain absolutely nothing from giving up.

Starting a blog is a great way to increase traffic. It?s crucial to have up-to-date content on your site at all times. Visitors who want and expect to follow frequent updates will stop by your site over and over again.

How good is your service or product? Having a great marketing strategy will not provide long term success for something that is of low quailty. In order to see your sales grow, you should be sure that you are marketing a quality product, one that is superior to your competitors products.

In conclusion, many businesses use Online marketing to sell products and services. Internet marketing uses methods such as search engine optimization and advertising to generate sales interest. If you remember the advice in this article, you can use Internet promotion to seriously boost interest in your own products and services.

TIP! Many businesses have a place on their website called a ?squeeze page.? It is a way to prompt your visitors to give you their email address.

Join me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/maynaseric

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/useful-suggestions-for-your-online-marketing-needs-4

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Tunnel collapse kills 2 workers at Indonesian mine

TIMIKA, Indonesia (AP) -- Rescuers have found two bodies and have evacuated three of more than 30 miners who have been trapped for a day after a tunnel caved in at a giant U.S.-owned gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia, authorities said Wednesday.

The search was continuing for the other trapped miners, whose fate was unclear, Papua police spokesman Lt. Col. Gede Sumerta Jaya said. The cave-in occurred Tuesday at Grasberg mine in remote Mimika district in Papua, the easternmost province in the vast archipelago nation.

The mine is owned by Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. A statement from PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary that runs the mine, said a tunnel in the underground training area collapsed. The company believed 40 employees and contract workers were in a classroom in the tunnel when the accident happened, and three workers managed to escape unhurt from the scene.

"The rescue process is difficult and will take some time to complete," the statement said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with our fellow employees and their families as we proceed with rescue efforts."

Thousands of workers are employed at the mine, which has been plagued by violence since production began in the 1970s. In 2011, production was crippled when 8,000 unionized employees walked off the job after demanding higher pay. The four-month strike ended after the company agreed to a 37 percent wage hike and improved benefits.

The restive province holds some of the world's largest gold and copper reserves.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tunnel-collapse-kills-2-workers-004615183.html

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Defense Department civilians furlough 11 days, not 14

May 13 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $5,849,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,388,064 3. Kevin Streelman $2,572,989 4. Billy Horschel $2,567,891 5. Matt Kuchar $2,493,387 6. Phil Mickelson $2,220,280 7. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,207,683 8. D.A. Points $2,019,702 9. Steve Stricker $1,977,140 10. Graeme McDowell $1,910,654 11. Jason Day $1,802,797 12. Webb Simpson $1,759,015 13. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 14. Hunter Mahan $1,682,939 15. Charles Howell III $1,561,988 16. Russell Henley $1,546,638 17. Martin Laird $1,531,950 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-civilians-unpaid-leave-11-days-135934056.html

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Nancy Pelosi: If John Boehner Were A Woman, People Would Call Him 'The Weakest Speaker In History'

WASHINGTON -- Not only is House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) a weak leader, but if he were a woman, people would be calling him "the weakest speaker in history," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday.

During an interview on MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes," Pelosi, who served as House speaker for four years before Boehner took over, was asked point-blank if she thinks Boehner is a weak speaker.

"I will say this about John Boehner, and I have a good relationship" with him, Pelosi said. "If he were a woman, they'd be calling him the weakest speaker in history."

She said Boehner deserves that title because House Republican leaders "have never been able to pass anything without our coming to the rescue." The one exception to that rule, she said, is the GOP's "nasty" and "unprincipled" budgets.

"You know what, if a woman was speaker and nothing was happening in this way, they'd say, 'Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh,'" Pelosi said. "I'm just getting a little, shall we say, tired of some of the ways they take a pass on some and not on others. We get criticized for accomplishing things. They don't get criticized for not accomplishing things."

A request for comment from Boehner's office was not immediately returned.

It's true that Boehner has relied on Democrats to pass nearly all major bills out of the House this year. There are nine enacted bills and joint resolutions so far in this session of Congress. Of those, Boehner violated the so-called Hastert Rule -- an informal requirement that a majority of the majority supports a bill in order to bring it to a vote -- four times to get them passed. Those bills include the fiscal cliff deal, Hurricane Sandy aid, the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill and a bill relating to federal acquisition of historic sites.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/13/nancy-pelosi-john-boehner_n_3269336.html

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The Tiny Seahorse's Tail Could Help Create A New Type of Armor

Seahorses are amazing little creatures?the males give birth, they swim upright and they're incredibly adorable. But did you know that the seahorse is one of the toughest little creatures on our tiny little world? In recent tests, researchers have found that the tail of the underwater equine can be compressed to about half its size. And that could have major implications for how we build the armor of the future.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/N6zZoCrjixE/the-tiny-seahorses-tail-could-help-create-a-new-type-o-504493149

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New drug reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer's in mice

May 13, 2013 ? A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer's disease in aged mice following short-term treatment. The findings, published May 14 in the journal Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, may pave the way to a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease in humans.

"J147 is an exciting new compound because it really has strong potential to be an Alzheimer's disease therapeutic by slowing disease progression and reversing memory deficits following short-term treatment," says lead study author Marguerite Prior, a research associate in Salk's Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory.

Despite years of research, there are no disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer's. Current FDA-approved medications, including Aricept, Razadyne and Exelon, offer only fleeting short-term benefits for Alzheimer's patients, but they do nothing to slow the steady, irreversible decline of brain function that erases a person's memory and ability to think clearly.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, the sixth leading cause of death in the country and the only one among the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.

J147 was developed at Salk in the laboratory of David Schubert, a professor in the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory. He and his colleagues bucked the trend within the pharmaceutical industry, which has focused on the biological pathways involved in the formation of amyloid plaques, the dense deposits of protein that characterize the disease. Instead, the Salk team used living neurons grown in laboratory dishes to test whether their new synthetic compounds, which are based upon natural products derived from plants, were effective at protecting brain cells against several pathologies associated with brain aging. From the test results of each chemical iteration of the lead compound, they were able to alter their chemical structures to make them much more potent. Although J147 appears to be safe in mice, the next step will require clinical trials to determine whether the compound will prove safe and effective in humans.

"Alzheimer's disease research has traditionally focused on a single target, the amyloid pathway," says Schubert, "but unfortunately drugs that have been developed through this pathway have not been successful in clinical trials. Our approach is based on the pathologies associated with old age-the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases-rather than only the specificities of the disease."

To test the efficacy of J147 in a much more rigorous preclinical Alzheimer's model, the Salk team treated mice using a therapeutic strategy that they say more accurately reflects the human symptomatic stage of Alzheimer's. Administered in the food of 20-month-old genetically engineered mice, at a stage when Alzheimer's pathology is advanced, J147 rescued severe memory loss, reduced soluble levels of amyloid, and increased neurotrophic factors essential for memory, after only three months of treatment.

In a different experiment, the scientists tested J147 directly against Aricept, the most widely prescribed Alzheimer's drug, and found that it performed as well or better in several memory tests.

"In addition to yielding an exceptionally promising therapeutic, both the strategy of using mice with existing disease and the drug discovery process based upon aging are what make the study interesting and exciting," says Schubert, "because it more closely resembles what happens in humans, who have advanced pathology when diagnosis occurs and treatment begins." Most studies test drugs before pathology is present, which is preventive rather than therapeutic and may be the reason drugs don't transfer from animal studies to humans.

Prior and her colleagues say that several cellular processes known to be associated with Alzheimer's pathology are affected by J147, including an increase in a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which protects neurons from toxic insults, helps new neurons grow and connect with other brain cells, and is involved in memory formation. Postmortem studies show lower than normal levels of BDNF in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

Because of its broad ability to protect nerve cells, the researchers believe that J147 may also be effective for treating other neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as stroke, although their study did not directly explore the drug's efficacy as a therapy for those diseases.

The Salk researchers say that J147, with its memory enhancing and neuroprotective properties, along with its safety and availability as an oral medication, would make an "ideal candidate" for Alzheimer's disease clinical trials. They are currently seeking funding for such a trial.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/k0o8ZSyH9cg/130513202449.htm

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Molecular basis of strawberry aroma

May 13, 2013 ? You know that summer is here when juicy red strawberries start to appear on the shelves. In Germany, this seasonal fruit has never been more popular: on average 3.5 kilos per head were consumed in 2012 -- a full kilogram more than ten years ago. Scientists from the Technische Universit?t M?nchen (TUM) decided to find out what gives strawberries their characteristic flavor.

It is not just our sense of taste that determines what a foodstuff "tastes" like. In fact, the tongue can recognize basic tastes like sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (savory). But to get that "rounded" taste experience, we also use our sense of smell -- and strawberries provide a good example of this. The characteristic aroma of a fresh strawberry is the result of around a dozen different aroma compounds. One of these plays a particularly important role: HDMF (4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone), which is also known under the brand name Furaneol.

Prof. Wilfried Schwab, head of Biotechnology of Natural Products at TUM, who has spent many years researching the biological structure of this substance, explains: "A ripe strawberry has a particularly high concentration of this compound -- up to 50 milligrams per kilo -- which lies a far above the odor threshold. This compound gives the ripe fruit its characteristic caramel-like aroma."

HDMF is also found in pineapples and tomatoes. In plants, the aroma develops in a multi-step pathway from the from the fruit sugar fructose. "We were particularly interested in the biocatalytic process that leads up to the final compound," comments Prof. Arne Skerra from the TUM Chair of Biological Chemistry. In this process, a molecule precursor binds to the FaEO enzyme (Fragaria x ananassa enone oxidoreductase), which converts it into the final product, namely HDMF.

Molecular analysis reveals a new biosynthetic route

The TUM scientists were able to map this reaction path in detail. To understand how enzymes catalyze the biosynthesis of these new metabolic products, the research team took advantage of X-ray structural analysis. This allowed them to view the 3D structure of the molecules. "For the strawberry aroma, we investigated altogether six different enzyme-molecule combinations -- and ended up understanding how FaEO produces the HDMF flavor compound," explains Dr. Andr? Schiefner from the Chair of Biological Chemistry.

In the course of their research, the scientists discovered that the catalytic reaction involved a hitherto unknown mechanism. The compound is reduced and electrons are specifically transferred to a particular part of the molecule. Thus, the FaEO enzyme represents the first member of new class of biocatalysts -- a discovery which could lead to useful applications in industrial biotechnology.

The latest research results provide valuable insight into the development of taste in widespread cultivated plants, as Skerra explains: "Unlike coffee or vanilla, the biochemical processes that produce the strawberry aroma are very complex. But now our TUM research team has shed light on an important step in its biosynthesis." Thus, biosynthetic processes might be used soon to prepare the true flavor of strawberry from fructose, for example to make drinks or food such as yoghurt taste even more like the real thing.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/O_cpgS9USd4/130513110922.htm

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Android gaming service expected to debut at Google I/O

May 13 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $5,849,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,388,064 3. Kevin Streelman $2,572,989 4. Billy Horschel $2,567,891 5. Matt Kuchar $2,493,387 6. Phil Mickelson $2,220,280 7. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,207,683 8. D.A. Points $2,019,702 9. Steve Stricker $1,977,140 10. Graeme McDowell $1,910,654 11. Jason Day $1,802,797 12. Webb Simpson $1,759,015 13. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 14. Hunter Mahan $1,682,939 15. Charles Howell III $1,561,988 16. Russell Henley $1,546,638 17. Martin Laird $1,531,950 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/android-gaming-expected-debut-google-o-035955727.html

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The Way to Build a Meaningful Internet Network Marketing Business ...

If you think that you can create a successful Internet network marketing business by sitting at a PC all day when you feel like it, and then checking your checking account deposits, you are so wrong.

Successful Internet network marketing businesses don?t happen overnight, they require months and possibly a year of tough work before seeing any kind of return on your tough work and time.

Some people are given to believe that an Internet network marketing business is easy, they go in with no pragmatic concepts of the easiest way to start to build the business, and they fail swiftly. They do not understand that to start any business you want a system, and although they?ve attempted a little bit of this or that, it never amounted to a system, so they?re doomed to fail.

You Have Got To Plan your Internet Network Marketing Business from The First day

The great majority of Internet network marketing businesses are run right out of peoples homes, and most individuals think that home-working would be the best thing, but when they try they become distracted by everything. If you have worked in an office there might be some relaxing background music, but there definitely was no TELEVISION ? it is a major distraction and you will never be well placed to concentrate if you?ve a TV on while you?re working. Find another room away from the TV where you can work, and then plan everything from what time you?re going to get up in the morning to what time you?re going to stop work. Give yourself breaks, stretch your legs and eat a good lunch. It is really easy to become exhausted home-working, as there is always some aspect of your business that requires attention.

Break down the term ?Internet network marketing business?, each of those words is important ; it?s your business which involves networking and marketing.

Join the 2 words ?network? and ?marketing? to each other and understand the term ?network marketing? doesn?t simply mean building a domain and hoping it will generate traffic on its own. The Internet doesn?t work like that. Not only will you have got to build an internet site, but you will have to get a way to build up a list and capture qualified leads from that list there are numerous techniques of going about that but if you choose the wrong way you are setting yourself up for failing ? you may also require someone who can help you also , possibly in the shape of a mentor.

The way that you earn money by Internet network marketing, is by creating a catalogue of targeted leads each day without leads you have no business.

If you looked for courses and info on the Internet about network marketing you probably either gave up or got deeply confused.

It is only sensible if you?d like to find out more about something that you should learn from people that are successful doing what you need to do, and those people will be earning significant incomes from network marketing.

So where would I find a whole bunch of these folk all in one place who are willing to pool their expertise and data for the benefit of wrestling marketers just like me? It does sound like a good idea though doesn?t it? What would be best would be a system that is up to the minute and repeatedly added to by many successful people in the business, and who bring all the latest techniques and ideas to the table. You may be shocked to know there is a system available, created by such people.

What is it, where can I get more information? Let me tell you this system is one of the most respected systems on the present market, and it has helped uncountable thousands of newbies and struggling Internet marketeers to become successful. You?ll be able to find out more here.

If you want to truly take advantage of an internet network marketing business than Check out this SYSTEM. Act now to get the greatest BENEFIT and most exposure possible!

Source: http://hotarticledepot.com/the-way-to-build-a-meaningful-internet-network-marketing-business-2/

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Christchurch Businesses Warned Of Challenging Times... | Stuff.co.nz

Christchurch businesses are being warned that doing business will be "much more challenging" in six months' time while another prediction tips the construction industry to hit saturation point about then too.

Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce chief executive Peter Townsend is urging local business to think about where they will be in six to nine months, saying many firms were focused on the short-term.

"When you look at the scale of what we've got ahead of us, it doesn't matter whether you are in retail, hospitality, accommodation or construction, if you look six to nine months down the track and we start engaging in the real rebuild of Christchurch, it's going to be a completely different and much more challenging environment," Townsend said.

The problems were going to be the converse of what businesses were experiencing now.

"The problems are going to be: I'm going to run out of cash because I'm going to grow quickly; I'm going to run out of business because the nature of doing business is changing so quickly in this environment unless I'm forward-thinking; and I'm going to run out of scale because I won't be able to cope."

The issues were materials, working capital and labour, and they were increasingly going to confront Christchurch businesses.

"This whole rebuild is just about how we build scale."

Some forward-thinking companies had got their heads around it and it was driving the chamber's "Collaborate Canterbury" initiative where locals partnered with companies outside the region to achieve greater scale.

Part of that collaboration also was companies working with the banks on different financial instruments to help fund the expansion of firms, Townsend said.

International consulting firm MHW Recovery, which project manages commercial and domestic repairs for insurers Vero and AA Insurance, said it was getting through managing commercial building and domestic insurance repairs quicker than first thought.

MWH Recovery programme manager Chris Pile estimated saturation of the construction sector in Christchurch - when there are not enough tradesmen and subcontractors to go round - was six to eight months away.

Market saturation meant labour resources were committed with little available for new work.

At that point market forces would take over and as long as prices rose for labour, it would flow into Christchurch.

The issue then became how to accommodate the incoming workers, Pile said.

At present there was enough capacity in the building sector in Christchurch to meet requirements, he said. Pressure on the Christchurch building industry was sorting itself out, and the main contractors were still able to take on work and get on with it immediately.

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/rebuilding-christchurch/8663592/Christchurch-businesses-warned-of-challenging-times

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North Dakota death rate is highest in nation. Why?

North Dakota death rate: There were 44 worker deaths in North Dakota in 2011, for a rate of 12.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. Half of North Dakota's worker deaths since 2010 have been in oil and gas occupations, according to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

By Associated Press / May 11, 2013

A man works on the rig of an oil drilling pump site in McKenzie County outside of Williston, North Dakota. North Dakota's booming oil business has contributed to the highest worker death rate in the country.

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Enlarge

North Dakota has the highest rate of worker deaths in the nation, due in large part to the oil boom in the western part of the state in recent years, according to a new report from the AFL-CIO.

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There were 44 worker deaths in North Dakota in 2011, for a rate of 12.4 deaths per 100,000 workers. That was well above the national rate of 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers, the report said.

"The oil boom has come with a hefty price tag of a steep increase in deaths on the job," the labor union said in a statement.

Half of North Dakota's worker fatalities since 2010 have been in oil and gas occupations, according to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. North Dakota last year passed Alaska to become the nation's second-leading oil producer.

Tom Ricker, head of the AFL-CIO chapter in North Dakota, told The Bismarck Tribune that North Dakota's worker death?rate is shocking.

"This is not something we want to be No. 1 at," he said.

North Dakota is dominated by the energy, agriculture and heavy manufacturing industries ? all of which can be dangerous occupations, Gov. Jack Dalrymple told The Dickinson Press.

"I think it is mostly a function of the industries that your state (has) and the number of people in your state," he said of the state's high worker death?rate. North Dakota's population is estimated at just fewer than 700,000.

"If we were Connecticut and we all worked in office buildings all day long, we would have a much better rate," Dalrymple said.

A combination of a need for workers and a drove of inexperienced workers from around the country is part of the reason fatalities have gone up in recent years, said Bill Wuolu, training director for the nonprofit North Dakota Safety Council.

"The rest of the United States is in an economic downturn," he said. "We have an economy here and we have a need for workers, and what we're getting is workers that are doing jobs that they're not trained, skilled or maybe qualified ? or some combination of those three ? for."

Barbara Allen lost her son, Terry Metcalf, to an oil field accident nine months ago. She said workers in the oil patch need to protect themselves.

"Instead of depending on the company you work for, you're just going to have to take care of yourself," she told the Press. "Not depend on somebody else to take care of it for you."

Dalrymple said he thinks North Dakota companies "compare well with the average company in the United States" when it comes to a commitment to safety.

"I really think those statistics are more a matter of the businesses that are booming in our state," he said.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/5PbTJkgkwNA/North-Dakota-death-rate-is-highest-in-nation.-Why

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Iran recalls its ambassador in Cyprus

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Iran has withdrawn its ambassador in Cyprus to protest the country's decision to extradite an Iranian to the United States for prosecution, officials said Friday.

The Cyprus Foreign Ministry said Iran objected to last month's extradition of Iranian Saeid Mohabat to the U.S. to face charges of breaching United Nations sanctions against Iran, and that Iran responded by recalling its ambassador on Wednesday "for consultations" in Tehran.

Cyprus acted after one of its courts ruled there was enough evidence to indicate that Mohabat may have "committed serious offenses" and that authorities were therefore obligated to satisfy a U.S. extradition request under international law, the ministry said in a statement.

Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Andreas Mavroyiannis told The Associated Press that Iran was displeased with the extradition but that Mohabat had received due process under the law.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said Cyprus was "absolutely bound" to its international obligations. However, he expressed hope the issue won't harm his country's ties with Iran.

"We believe that our relations with Iran and bilateral cooperation won't be affected as a result of this incident and will remain at their current levels for the mutual benefit of both people," Stylianides said.

Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou said Mohabat, 45, was sought for his alleged role in a bid to transfer "prohibited weapons systems" from the U.S. to Iran in violation of U.N. sanctions imposed regarding Tehran's nuclear program. He said Cypriot authorities arrested Mohabat when he arrived in the country on the strength of an Interpol warrant.

The U.S., Israel and many Western nations fear Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Iran denies this, insisting that the program is designed for peaceful purposes.

In 2009, Cyprus seized about 85 containers of gunpowder and some nitroglycerine from a Cypriot-flagged ship suspected of transporting it from Iran to Palestinian militants in Gaza via Syria. The United Nations ruled that the ship had breached a ban on Iranian arms exports.

The containers were left piled in a field inside a naval base for 2 ? years until July 11, 2011, when they exploded, killing 13 people and nearly destroying the country's largest power station.

A public inquiry concluded that Cyprus' government had allowed the matter to linger as it tried to decide what to do with the shipment without upsetting Syria or Iran. The inquiry said then-President Dimitris Christofias was primarily responsible for "inadequacy, negligence and carelessness" that led to the blast.

Christofias rejected the nonbinding findings.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-recalls-ambassador-cyprus-161329012.html

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Standoff with armed gunman in NJ enters a 3rd day

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ? A standoff with an armed man who police said took multiple hostages extended to a third day early Sunday as authorities worked to negotiate his surrender and his captives' release.

The man, whose identity has not been released, remained holed-up in a two-story red brick house in South Trenton, authorities said. The standoff began Friday afternoon.

Trenton police Lt. Stephen Varn declined to give any details on the number of people being held, their ages or relationship to the armed man.

State police Lt. Stephen Jones called the standoff an "ongoing, tense situation" and said police were working to "bring this to a peaceful end."

But family members of a woman they said was among the hostages grew angry as the standoff continued. Late Saturday afternoon, some of them went under police tape and briefly confronted officers about the situation.

"Do something! Do something!" screamed a man who said he was the woman's nephew. "Make something happen!"

Police were called to the home before 3 p.m. Friday on reports that a man had barricaded himself inside.

Authorities said police entered the home and found the man brandishing a gun. Police retreated safely, and a SWAT team was called in. Police continued to negotiate with the man Saturday morning, Varn said, and police had a robot on scene ready to enter the home.

State Police Sgt. Adam Grossman said an arson bomb unit was also on the scene. Police declined to say whether the man was making any demands.

Homes on the surrounding block have been evacuated as a precaution, and police tape cordoned off the street in front of the house and nearby. An ambulance was parked near the home but left the scene earlier Saturday.

Lt. Mark Kieffer told The Times of Trenton that police had not been called to the home before.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/standoff-armed-gunman-nj-enters-3rd-day-041038129.html

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Gold and Silver Stumble as U.S. Dollar Climbs Higher | Wall St ...

On Friday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for June delivery, the most active contract, dropped $32.00 to close at $1,436.60 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures for July declined 25 cents to finish at $23.66.

Both precious metals closed in the red as the U.S. dollar index, which compares the greenback in a basked against six other flat currencies, climbed to as high as 83.44. After reaching a four-year high on Thursday, the dollar continued to rise against the Japanese yen and hit 102 yen.

Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX, explains, ?Clearly, this is a result of ?Abenomics? or the Bank of Japan?s ultra-easing policy: with yields nonexistent in Japan, investors are forced to search for yield elsewhere, driving down the value of the Yen while boosting currencies with highly-rated sovereigns like the US Dollar. With the new trend developing, the next leg of Japanese Yen weakness has begun ? I expect USDJPY to rally towards 103.00 yen by the end of May.?

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) fell 1.3 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) traded flat. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) dropped 1.9 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) declined 1.8 percent, while Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) edged slightly higher.

Don?t Miss: College Debt Bubble Teaches Regret

If you would like to receive professional analysis on miners and other precious metal investments,?we invite you to try our premium service free for 14 days.

Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS

Source: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/gold-and-silver-stumble-as-u-s-dollar-climbs-higher.html/

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Ice-free Arctic may be in our future

May 9, 2013 ? Analyses of the longest continental sediment core ever collected in the Arctic, recently completed by an international team led by Julie Brigham-Grette of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, provide "absolutely new knowledge" of Arctic climate from 2.2 to 3.6 million years ago.

"While existing geologic records from the Arctic contain important hints about this time period, what we are presenting is the most continuous archive of information about past climate change from the entire Arctic borderlands. As if reading a detective novel, we can go back in time and reconstruct how the Arctic evolved with only a few pages missing here and there," says Brigham-Grette.

Results of analyses that provide "an exceptional window into environmental dynamics" never before possible were published this week in Science and have "major implications for understanding how the Arctic transitioned from a forested landscape without ice sheets to the ice- and snow-covered land we know today," she adds.

Their data come from analyzing sediment cores collected in the winter of 2009 from ice-covered Lake El'gygytgyn, the oldest deep lake in the northeast Russian Arctic, located 100 km north of the Arctic Circle. "Lake E" was formed 3.6 million years ago when a meteorite, perhaps a kilometer in diameter, hit the Earth and blasted out an 11-mile (18 km) wide crater. It has been collecting sediment layers ever since. Luckily for geoscientists, it lies in one of the few Arctic areas not eroded by continental ice sheets during ice ages, so a thick, continuous sediment record was left remarkably undisturbed. Cores from Lake E reach back in geologic time nearly 25 times farther than Greenland ice cores that span only the past 140,000 years.

"One of our major findings is that the Arctic was very warm in the middle Pliocene and Early Pleistocene [~ 3.6 to 2.2 million years ago] when others have suggested atmospheric CO2 was not much higher than levels we see today. This could tell us where we are going in the near future. In other words, the Earth system response to small changes in carbon dioxide is bigger than suggested by earlier climate models," the authors state.

Important to the story are the fossil pollen found in the core, including Douglas fir and hemlock. These allow the reconstruction of vegetation around the lake in the past, which in turn paints a picture of past temperatures and precipitation.

Another significant finding is documentation of sustained warmth in the Middle Pliocene, with summer temperatures of about 59 to 61 degrees F [15 to 16 degrees C], about 14.4 degrees F [8 degrees C] warmer than today, and regional precipitation three times higher. "We show that this exceptional warmth well north of the Arctic Circle occurred throughout both warm and cold orbital cycles and coincides with a long interval of 1.2 million years when other researchers have shown the West Antarctic Ice Sheet did not exist," Brigham-Grette notes. Hence both poles share some common history, but the pace of change differed.

Her co-authors, Martin Melles of the University of Cologne and Pavel Minyuk of Russia's Northeast Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute, Magadan, led research teams on the project. Robert DeConto, also at UMass Amherst, led climate modeling efforts. These data were compared with ecosystem reconstructions performed by collaborators at universities of Berlin and Cologne.

The Lake E cores provide a terrestrial perspective on the stepped pacing of several portions of the climate system through the transition from a warm, forested Arctic to the first occurrence of land ice, Brigham-Grette says, and the eventual onset of major glacial/interglacial cycles. "It is very impressive that summer temperatures during warm intervals even as late as 2.2 million years ago were always warmer than in our pre-Industrial reconstructions."

Minyuk notes that they also observed a major drop in Arctic precipitation at around the same time large Northern Hemispheric ice sheets first expanded and ocean conditions changed in the North Pacific. This has major implications for understanding both what drove the onset of the ice ages

The sediment core also reveals that even during the first major "cold snap" to show up in the record 3.3 Million years ago, temperatures in the western Arctic were similar to recent averages of the past 12,000 years. "Most importantly, conditions were not 'glacial,' raising new questions as to the timing of the first appearance of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere," the authors add.

This week's paper is the second article published in Science by these authors using data from the Lake E project. Their first, in July 2012, covered the period from the present to 2.8 million years ago, while the current work addresses the record from 2.2 to 3.6 million years ago. Melles says, "This latest paper completes our goal of providing an overview of new knowledge of the evolution of Arctic change across the western borderlands back to 3.6 million years and places this record into a global context with comparisons to records in the Pacific, the Atlantic and Antarctica."

The new Lake E paleoclimate reconstructions and climate modeling are consistent with estimates made by other research groups that support the idea that Earth's climate sensitivity to CO2 may well be higher than suggested by the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/BvInyLIBYY0/130509142048.htm

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Windows 8 should be used with touch

Microsoft kept insisting that people will love Windows 8, yet the reception has been lukewarm.? What if Microsoft is actually right? What if we were all using Windows 8...wrong??

I was one of the doubters, pointing out the jarring experience from mixing the Modern UI and "tablet"-style apps with the traditional desktop interface familiar to previous Windows users. Modern seemed like an alien extra feature tacked onto the upgraded desktop experience. A feature meant to be minimized, turned off, set to "do not launch at start". Impossible to do that though; click here, click there, and all of a sudden you're inside a Modern app wondering where to point your mouse to get back to the desktop.

You know why I didn't like it? I was using it wrong.

Recently I got a Surface Pro. After 15 minutes of messing around with it, I was swiping left, right, up, down, and docking Modern apps with desktop apps (yes, even on the 10.6 inch screen). After 30 minutes I was seamlessly utilizing the mouse, keyboard, and touch to engage with the computer, and I wasn't consciously thinking about which tool (or hand) would bring about the next interaction.

Using a touchscreen transformed the Windows 8 experience from an "okay, it's fine" feeling into an sensation that I was really connecting with what's on the screen.

I wonder, what if Microsoft had required a touchscreen for Windows 8? While initial sales would have been slower, would satisfaction have been dramatically higher--possibly spurring a boom in both Windows 8 sales as well as a booster effect for hardware?

Think of how new games help drive hardware sales as people upgrade their video cards, processors, and memory--with Windows 8, this would be at a massive scale.

Since familiarizing myself with the touchscreen, I've discovered a few features that weren't readily apparent when using just a keyboard and mouse. At my desktop with a non-touch monitor configuration, I've been able to enjoy Windows 8 more because of these new features, but I can't wait to get a touchscreen desktop monitor for the much more intuitive gestures rather than clunky mouse movements.

What Microsoft should have told us all is: "If you're not using Windows 8 with a touchscreen, then you're doing it wrong."

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-should-be-used-with-touch-7000015090/

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April surplus of $113B lowers US budget deficit

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. government reported a rare surplus of $113 billion for April ? the largest in five years and a sign of the nation's improving finances.

Steady economic growth and higher tax rates have boosted the tax revenue in recent months, keeping this year's annual budget deficit on pace to be the smallest since 2008. A smaller deficit is also likely to give negotiators more time to work out a deal on raising the nation's borrowing limit.

Through the first seven months of the budget year, the deficit was $488 billion, according to the Treasury. That's lower than last year's deficit of $720 billion over the same period.

Even with the improvement, the deficit for the full year will still be quite large: the Congressional Budget Office expects it will reach $845 billion when the budget year ends on Sept. 30. While that would be the first annual deficit below $1 trillion since 2008, it would still be the fifth-largest deficit in U.S. history.

The federal deficit represents the annual difference between the government's spending and the tax revenues it takes in. Each deficit contributes to the national debt, which recently topped $16 trillion.

A smaller deficit is taking pressure off of negotiations to raise the federal borrowing limit. Lawmakers and the Obama administration agreed in January to suspend the borrowing limit until May 18. But higher revenues and less spending will likely extend the deadline until the fall.

Revenue has risen 16 percent so far this budget year to $1.6 trillion. That's the biggest tax haul for the October-April period on record, a senior Treasury official said.

The government will also benefit next month from a $59.4 billion payment from mortgage giant Fannie Mae and a $7 billion payment from Freddie Mac. The mortgage giants are profitable again and are paying dividends to the government in return for the loans they received during the financial crisis.

In an interview with CNBC Friday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said that in part because of Fannie's payment, the government's borrowing limit won't be reached until "at least after Labor Day" in early September. Many analysts had expected another budget battle this summer. In 2011, a dispute between the Obama Administration and Congress over whether to raise the limit lasted until the final day.

Despite the extra time, Lew urged Congress to "deal with this right away" and avoid another last-minute battle.

There is usually a surplus in April because that is when the government receives an influx of annual tax payments. But tax receipts this April are 28 percent higher than in April 2012. And the surplus is nearly twice as high.

The increases partly reflect higher tax rates that began this year. Social Security taxes rose 2 percentage points after a two-year cut expired. And income tax rates for the highest-earning 1 percent of the population also increased.

Accelerated dividend and bonus payments also boosted tax receipts earlier in the budget year. Many companies made special payments at the end of last year in anticipation that taxes would increase in 2013. As a result, income tax payments that weren't withheld jumped 40 percent in April compared with the same month a year ago.

Modest economic growth has also helped. Corporate income tax receipts have increased 16 percent in the first seven months of the budget year. And Goldman Sachs has estimated that better growth has boosted tax receipts by 7 percent a year since 2009.

Spending has declined 1 percent in the first seven months of the budget year. Defense spending has fallen $18 billion, or 5 percent. Spending on unemployment benefits has dropped $14 billion, or 21 percent. The Treasury Department has also recalculated the cost of its bank bailout program, as more of those funds have been repaid. That's lowered the cost of that program by $50 billion this year.

And across-the-board government spending cuts that began on March 1 will likely lower spending in the coming months.

President Barack Obama's administration has coincided with four straight $1 trillion-plus deficits.

The deficit reached a record $1.41 trillion in budget year 2009, which began four months before Obama was inaugurated. That deficit was largely because of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Tax revenue plummeted, while the government spent more on stimulus programs.

The budget gaps in 2010 and 2011 were slightly lower than the 2009 deficit as a gradually strengthening economy generated more tax revenue.

President George W. Bush also ran annual deficits through most of his two terms in office after he won approval for broad tax cuts and launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The last time the government ran an annual surplus was in 2001.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-10-Budget%20Deficit/id-b8fe5691590e4e08a43f327cdb86dfa2

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11 Online Chat Cliches We Should All Agree to Stop Using

One of the many unbearable things about the internet is how we use certain words and phrases until they are completely void of any meaning at all. And, because it's the internet, the most insufferable trends stick around long after they're welcome.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MmH9Gk67sMY/11-online-chat-cliches-we-should-all-agree-to-stop-usin-500189893

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Medieval hermit pope not murdered after all

Marino Di Prospero

The silver mask with the "hermit pope" Celestine's real face.

By Rossella Lorenzi
Discovery News

Celestine V, the hermit pope who set precedent for Benedict XVI, has been given a new face and fate by researchers who have examined his skeletal remains.

The last pontiff not chosen by a conclave ? and the first to declare that a pope could rightfully resign ? Celestine V is regarded as one of the Catholic Church?s most enigmatic popes.

His remains, kept in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L?Aquila, Italy, did not show his real face, but a wax mask with the likeness of Cardinal Carlo Confalonieri, the Archbishop of L?Aquila from 1941 to 1950.

ANALYSIS: Benedict XVI Not the First Pope to Resign

Beneath the mask, a half-inch hole suggested that Celestine died from a nail driven through his head while he was imprisoned by his successor Boniface VIII.

?For centuries this hole on the skull has fueled speculations and legends,? said Luca Ventura of the San Salvatore Hospital?s Department of Pathology in L?Aquila. ?But our analysis found no trace of the murder engineered by Boniface. On the contrary, we can say beyond doubt that Celestine wasn?t alive when the lesion was made.?

According to the researcher, the morphology of the lesion clearly shows it was produced on a skeletonized skull. Most likely, the hole was made with a pointed, metallic object during one of the many reburials of Celestine?s bones.

Relying on forensic techniques and laser scanner, another team of researchers led by Sergio Tiberti, of the L?Aquila University and Giulio Sacchetti, of Rome?s University Tor Vergata, used the skull to reconstruct Celestine?s face in the form of a silver mask.

?The laser scanner virtual reconstruction produced the face of a 50-year-old man,? Marino Di Prospero, an artist who had already worked on funerary masks of mummified saints, told Discovery News. ?The information was useful to age a model which was made with traditional forensic?techniques,?

?The result is the serene face of a nearly 90-year-old man who can still inspire emotions,? Di Prospero said. ?That was quite an artistic task.?

Born in 1209 as Pietro Angelerio, also known as Pietro da Morrone, Celestine accepted the papacy in 1294 at age 85 after having lived as a hermit monk in a cave in the Abruzzi mountains.

He was chosen to succeed Nicholas IV by desperate cardinals eager to break the stalemate of an electoral conclave that had gone on for more than two years.

Weakened and manipulated by Charles II, King of Sicily and Naples, Celestine soon realized the mistake he had made. Five months after he was elected pope, he stepped down, citing ?deficiencies of physical strength? and ?longing for the tranquility of the former life? among the reasons for his decision.

Cardinal Benedetto Caetani, who had engineered the abdication, was promptly elected his successor with the name Boniface VIII.

ANALYSIS: Two Popes Will Now Reside in the Vatican

Celestine could not enjoy tranquility in his final months. Fearing a schism, Boniface ordered the abdicating pope to be imprisoned.

Celestine went on the run for?nine months but was eventually caught and imprisoned in the castle of Fumone, which belonged to Boniface. He died there in May 1296, 18 months after his abdication.

?We can?t establish the real cause of death,? Ventura said.??A previous research carried test for heavy metal poisoning with negative results.?

However, life at the fortess might have worn out Celestine.

?Contemporary sources cite pneumonia and a possible hemiplegia (paralysis of one side of the body),? Ventura said.

Analysis on the remains revealed that Celestine was 5 foot 5 inches tall and suffered from chronic sinusitis, parodontopathy, vertebral arthritis and Schmorl?s nodes, which are herniations of the intervertebral disc likely caused by weight carried at a young age.

PHOTOS: Pope Benedict?s Final Farewell

Canonized in 1313, following Philip IV of France?s nomination for sainthood, Celestine did not rest in peace.

His sarcophagus was first buried in the Church of St Anthony in Ferentino, a village 45 miles from Rome, reburied in the Church of St Agatha still in Ferentino and then transferred to the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L?Aquila.

There he was placed in a silver coffin and moved inside a marble mausoleum. In 1529, the silver coffin was stolen. A new silver coffin made in 1646 was also stolen in 1799.

Buried in a more modest coffin, Celestine?s remains were again stolen in 1988 and found two days later.

In 2009 the glass casket containing his remains was found intact under the debris and rubble produced by the devastating earthquake that struck the Abruzzo region.

Wearing the silver mask with his new face, his bones hidden under papal vestment which include the pallium donated by Benedict XVI in 2009, Celestine will now remain on display at the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L?Aquila.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2baddb55/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C0A80C181290A750Emedieval0Ehermit0Epope0Enot0Emurdered0Eafter0Eall0Dlite/story01.htm

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HowAboutWe: Dating in the 1920s: Lipstick, Booze ... - Huffington Post

By Ariana Anthony for HowAboutWe

Call it Gatsby Fever if you like, but there's no stopping it these days -- from the lavish theme parties to the art deco weddings to themed dinner soirees, our interest in the Roaring '20s is reaching full-blown-obsession status.

But what was life really like for young people in the '20s, the decade that ushered in years of sustained economic growth (up until the last year, anyway), the women's liberation movement, Amelia Earhart and the birth of dating? How did all those single women, suddenly free to venture out with men they weren't married/engaged to, manage their lives? Here's a look at some of the biggest cultural events that shaped dating in the Gatsby-era.

Drinking Is Prohibited (Thereby Making It Incredibly Cool)

In 1919, Prohibition began with the passage of the 18th Amendment, and lasted until its repeal in 1933. As anyone who's ever watched a '20s movie knows, this in no way stopped young people from drinking. Young couples snuck off to underground speakeasys and both women and men carried concealed flasks, filled to fuel the night's escapades.

Related: Women Are Apparently Most Seductive at the Age Of...

As F. Scott himself put it, "When prohibition came... among those who could afford it, there was more drinking than ever before." -The Beautiful and the Damned

Women Get Their Vote On

The rise of women's suffrage had a -- not surprisingly -- significant impact on women of all ages. By moving into the public arena, women at last found a forum to battle their rigid domestic roles, and paved the way for independence and equality. For young women, the concept of a life focused on individual pursuits (rather than simply "get married and start having babies") meant a whole new culture of freedom to go out and enjoy themselves, just for the sake of it.

This New Thing Called a Car!

Remember your high school American History lesson about Ford's assembly line? One result of his mass production genius was that car ownership exploded. And what better way to foster romance than in a car? Couples finally had a way to head off on unchaperoned dates, plus they had a private space to snuggle up close at the end of the night.

First Miss America Pageant winner Margaret Gorman in a Birmingham Motors automobile in 1921.

Headline from The Miami News in 1922.

Of course, not everyone acted responsibly when it came to cars and dates. In a 1922 article in The Miami News, the police department cited the leading causes of Miami car accidents:

1. Driving with one hand and holding girl with the other.

2. Cutting corners.

3. Too much speed.

4. Driving a car while under the influence of liquor.

The Flapper Rises

As they took off in cars, women also took off heaps of restrictive clothing. Inspired by the newly-popular fashions in Paris (spearheaded by the rising star Coco Chanel), American women shed their corsets and floor-length gowns. Hemlines rose and necklines plunged. Short haircuts, painted lips and silk stockings ruled the day. The new woman of the '20s was totally different from her mother. She worked and voted. She smoked, drank and danced. She dated. She celebrated her new freedoms in style. She was a flapper.

Related: Dating Advice As Told By Cats (Gifs)

February 2, 1922 cover of Life Magazine 1922 photo of a typical flapper in Idaho.

The Flapper by Numbers
In case their readers were confused, the helpful folk at The Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner published 13 qualities one could use to identify a flapper, should she be spotted in the wild.

Photo and description of a flapper in the August 2, 1922 edition of the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner.

1. Hat of soft silk or felt.

2. Bobbed hair.

3. Flapper curl on forehead.

4. Flapper collar.

5. Flapper earrings.

6. Slip-over sweater.

7. Flapper beads.

8. Metallic belt.

9. Bracelet of strung jet.

10. Knee-length fringed skirt.

11. Exposed bare knees.

12. Rolled hose with fancy garter.

13. Flat-heeled, little girl sandals.

Flapper Backlash: The Original Slut-Shamers

Granted, parents didn't just stand idly by while the young people romped about town. Some parents nearly exploded with outrage over whose fault it was that their well-brought-up daughters were leaving home, dressing provocatively and acting so unladylike. There was plenty of public shame heaped on flappers, who were called "the saddest type of all."

In the October 1922 Ladies Home Journal, Barton W. Currie wrote in an editor's letter:

It would be a fine thing for this generation if the word 'flapper' could be abolished. Its prewar definition was, 'a sprightly and knowing miss in her early teens.' Its after-war significance entangled itself with the 'dreadful' side of youth -- with jazz, short skirts, bobbed hair and glistening legs; with the 'immodest' passing of corsets: with cigarette smoking; with petting parties and gasoline-buggy riding... with one-piece bathing suits... with birth control and eugenics...

(Note: "petting parties" were exactly what they sound like -- basically, the parties we all went to in high school.)

Related: 10 Secret Perks of Going Through a Breakup

Headline from The Evening World's February 3, 1922 issue.

Who was to blame for this new, scandalous young woman? In a move that now looks pretty ironic, the first woman in congress, Oklahoma Representative Alice Robertson, slapped all the blame on mothers:

You can blame the flapper's mother every time... While mother is flapping around at an afternoon tea... or bridge game, daughter goes out flapping in an auto. It's only natural. Let the mothers stay at home, then they would find that their daughters would come flapping home, flap into an apron and spend their out-of-school hours in a thoroughly wholesome way.

The Rise of Dancing

Despite all the outrage, young flappers kept on. They flapped to the theater, they flapped to the restaurant and, most often, they flapped to the dance hall and lindy-hopped to the latest jazz numbers.

Dancing was such a craze that marathon dance contests made their debut.

An ad from the November 1922 Ladies Home Journal espousing the "melody method of reducing," -- known today as losing weight by dancing.

November 1922 Ladies Home Journal ad

Even the Crash Couldn't Stop It

After almost a decade of abundance, the U.S. economy took a devastating hit with the stock market crash of 1929, which began the downward spiral into the Great Depression. Despite the brutal hardship of the next few years, couples still found ways to escape the drudgery of the time -- once dating started, it couldn't be stopped.

More like this:

20 WTF Engagement Photos
6 Steps to Becoming a Grown-Up About Love
Here Is Where We Get Honest About Whether He Likes You

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howaboutwe/dating-in-the-1920s_b_3239978.html

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