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Monday, December 31, 2012
Dubai malls resort to lease buybacks | GulfNews.com
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?Essentially, the mall owners will pay existing retailers to leave the spaces vacant to enable the new brands to set up business,? said David Macadam, regional director ? head of retail at the property firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). ?This buy-out is a good solution for both the departing retailer ? seeking to recoup the losses incurred in the poor performing shops ? and the developer, who gains new brands for the centre.?
Such innovative leasing practices come in the wake of the robust performance by Dubai?s retail sector, where growth rates for key categories are averaging 20 per cent year-on-year. In such an environment, Dubai?s leading malls can demand ? and get ? a premium on their new leases.
* username: rupertbu
Source: http://rupertbumfrey.blogspot.com/2012/12/dubai-malls-resort-to-lease-buybacks.html
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WATCH: Kanye West Rants About Grammy Snubs
When Kanye West decides to speak his mind, it's usually controversial -- but it's always entertaining. Right before he spilled the beans that he and Kim Kardashian were expecting a baby, the rapper broke into a philosophical rant during his Saturday night show in Atlantic City, talking about fashion, Lady Gaga, Twitter death threats, and more. Watch it below (warning: strong language), or scroll down for the highlights!
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Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (6th Edition ...
? Get now Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (6th Edition) [Paperback] with Secure Transaction Amazon now!?
Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (6th Edition) [Paperback] Description :
M.D. Roblyer
M.D. Roblyer has been a technology-using teacher, professor, and contributor to the field of educational technology for nearly 40 years and has authored or co-authored hundreds of books, monographs, articles, columns, and papers on educational technology research and practice. Her other books for Pearson Education include Starting Out on the Internet: A Learning Journey for Teachers; Technology Tools for Teachers: A Microsoft Office Tutorial (with Steven C. Mills); and Educational Technology in Action: Problem-based Exercises for Technology Integration.
She began her exploration of technology?s benefits for teaching in 1971 as a graduate student at one of the country?s first successful instructional computer training sites, Pennsylvania State University, where she helped write tutorial literacy lessons in the Coursewriter II authoring language on an IBM 1500 dedicated instructional mainframe computer. While obtaining a Ph.D. in instructional systems at Florida State University, she worked on several major courseware development and training projects with Control Data Corporation?s PLATO system. In 1981?1982, she designed one of the early microcomputer software series Grammar Problems for Practice, in conjunction with the Milliken Publishing Company.
Currently, Dr. Roblyer is Adjunct Professor of Instructional Technology and Distance Education (ITDE) at Nova Southeastern University, chairing dissertations for ITDE doctoral students. She serves on editorial boards of various technology and research journals and is past-president of two AERA Special Interest Groups. Her current research focus is promoting student success in virtual school environments and exploring ways to increase interactive qualities in virtual courses. She is married to fellow FSU Ph.D., William R. Wiencke and is the mother of a daughter, Paige.
?
Aaron H. Doering
Aaron Doering is an associate professor in the Learning Technologies program at the University of Minnesota. He holds the Bonnie Westby Huebner Endowed Chair in Education and Technology, is a co-director of the Learning Technologies Media Lab, is a Laureate of the prestigious humanitarian Tech Awards, and is a fellow for the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment. Doering received his Ph.D. in instructional systems and technology and a masters in geography.
Doering serves on numerous editorial boards and gives hundreds of talks a year on adventure learning, engagement, and motivation and his academic writing is focused on how to design and develop adventure learning (AL) environments, the impact of AL inside and outside the classroom, designing and developing online distance learning environments, and K-12 technology integration. He is also the PI of numerous projects such as Earthducation, an investigation of education and sustainability on every continent; Explore15, a user-driven adventure learning environment where students and teachers create their own AL environments; North of Sixty, where students throughout the world are collecting, analyzing, and sharing climate change data; and GeoThentic, a learning environment where teachers teach and students learn geography using geospatial technologies.
Doering has always had a passion for the environment and education from his childhood days of growing up on a farm in southern Minnesota. He always realized that our personal actions have a huge impact on our environment and that we need to be cognizant of how we are all interconnected. From his experiences teaching middle and high school social studies, to working at the National Geographic Society, to the thousands of miles he has spent crossing the circumpolar Arctic, Doering?s mission in life is to make a difference in the world through education.
More features from Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (6th Edition) [Paperback] :
- About the Author
- M.D. Roblyer
- M.D. Roblyer has been a technology-using teacher, professor, and contributor to the field of educational technology for nearly 40 years and has authored or co-authored hundreds of books, monographs, articles, columns, and papers on educational technology research and practice. Her other books for Pearson Education include Starting Out on the Internet: A Learning Journey for Teachers; Technology Tools for Teachers: A Microsoft Office Tutorial (with Steven C. Mills); and Educational Technology in Action: Problem-based Exercises for Technology Integration.
- She began her exploration of technology?s benefits for teaching in 1971 as a graduate student at one of the country?s first successful instructional computer training sites, Pennsylvania State University, where she helped write tutorial literacy lessons in the Coursewriter II authoring language on an IBM 1500 dedicated instructional mainframe computer. While obtaining a Ph.D. in instructional systems at Florida State University, she worked on several major courseware development and training projects with Control Data Corporation?s PLATO system. In 1981?1982, she designed one of the early microcomputer software series Grammar Problems for Practice, in conjunction with the Milliken Publishing Company.
- Currently, Dr. Roblyer is Adjunct Professor of Instructional Technology and Distance Education (ITDE) at Nova Southeastern University, chairing dissertations for ITDE doctoral students. She serves on editorial boards of various technology and research journals and is past-president of two AERA Special Interest Groups. Her current research focus is promoting student success in virtual school environments and exploring ways to increase interactive qualities in virtual courses. She is married to fellow FSU Ph.D., William R. Wiencke and is the mother of a daughter, Paige.
- ?
- Aaron H. Doering
- Aaron Doering is an associate professor in the Learning Technologies program at the University of Minnesota. He holds the Bonnie Westby Huebner Endowed Chair in Education and Technology, is a co-director of the Learning Technologies Media Lab, is a Laureate of the prestigious humanitarian Tech Awards, and is a fellow for the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment. Doering received his Ph.D. in instructional systems and technology and a masters in geography.
- Doering serves on numerous editorial boards and gives hundreds of talks a year on adventure learning, engagement, and motivation and his academic writing is focused on how to design and develop adventure learning (AL) environments, the impact of AL inside and outside the classroom, designing and developing online distance learning environments, and K-12 technology integration. He is also the PI of numerous projects such as Earthducation, an investigation of education and sustainability on every continent; Explore15, a user-driven adventure learning environment where students and teachers create their own AL environments; North of Sixty, where students throughout the world are collecting, analyzing, and sharing climate change data; and GeoThentic, a learning environment where teachers teach and students learn geography using geospatial technologies.
- Doering has always had a passion for the environment and education from his childhood days of growing up on a farm in southern Minnesota. He always realized that our personal actions have a huge impact on our environment and that we need to be cognizant of how we are all interconnected. From his experiences teaching middle and high school social studies, to working at the National Geographic Society, to the thousands of miles he has spent crossing the circumpolar Arctic, Doering?s mission in life is to make a difference in the world through education.
Costumers reviews for Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (6th Edition) [Paperback]
If your intent is to confuse this book is successful!
The Authors are long-winded and have tossed in every factoid they can muster into the book.
They really providing a reference encyclopedia about the topics. A kind of 1 book Wikipedia.
The question remains:
Are these 2 professors ?flipping the bird? at their competitors? (A very competitive environment)
Did they intend the book as a reference but it got picked as a regular textbook?
Why so many editions? Software, etc listed in the book are already obsolete.
That?s the computer/software industry. Anything 6 months old is obsolete.
from your own site.
Source: http://alrevisacademy.com/integrating-educational-technology-into-teaching-6th-edition-paperback/
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Trotter cites legal trouble in ending US House run (The Arizona Republic)
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Forget fiscal cliff: Debt ceiling is much scarier
19 hrs.
Investors fearing a stock market plunge if the U.S. tumbles off the "fiscal cliff" next week may want to relax.
But they should be scared if a few weeks later Washington fails to reach a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling as that threatens a default, another credit downgrade and a financial markets panic.
Market strategists say that falling off the cliff for any lengthy period -- which would lead to automatic tax hikes and stiff cuts in government spending?--?would badly dent both consumer and business confidence, but?it would take some time for the U.S. economy to slide into recession. In the meantime, there would be plenty of chances for lawmakers to make amends by reversing some of the effects.
That has been reflected in a U.S. stock market that has still not shown signs of melting down. Instead, it has drifted lower and gotten more volatile.
In some ways, that has let Washington off the hook. In the past, a plunge in stock prices forced the hand of Congress, such as in the middle of the financial crisis in 2008.
"If this thing continues for a bit longer and the result is you get a U.S. debt downgrade ... the risk is not that you lose two and half percent, the risk is that you lose ten and a half," said Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at UBS Equity Research in New York.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said earlier?this??week that the United States will technically reach its debt limit at the end of the year.
'Tremendous fight'
The White House has said it will not negotiate the debt ceiling as in 2011, when the fight over what was once a procedural matter preceded the first-ever downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, but it may be forced into such a battle again. A repeat of that war is most worrisome for markets.
Markets posted several days of sharp losses in the period surrounding the debt ceiling fight in 2011. Even after a bill to increase the ceiling passed, stocks plunged in what was seen as a vote of no confidence in Washington's ability to function, given how close lawmakers came to a default.
Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered the U.S. sovereign rating to double-A-plus, citing Washington's legislative problems as one reason for the downgrade. The benchmark S&P 500 dropped 16 percent in a four-week period ending Aug. 21, 2011.
"I think there will be a tremendous fight between Democrats and Republicans about the debt ceiling," said Jon Najarian, a co-founder of online brokerage TradeMonster.com in Chicago.
"I think that is the biggest risk to the downside in January for the market and the U.S. economy."
There are some signs in the options market that investors are starting to eye the January period with more wariness. The CBOE Volatility Index, or the VIX, the market's favored anxiety indicator, has remained at relatively low levels throughout this process, though on Thursday it edged above 20 for the first time since July.
More notable is the action in VIX futures markets, which shows a sharper increase in expected volatility in January than in later-dated contracts. January VIX futures are up nearly 23 percent in the last seven trading days, compared with a 13 percent increase in March futures and an 8 percent increase in May futures. That's a sign of increasing near-term worry among market participants.
Consumers don't appear at all traumatized by the fiscal cliff talks, as yet. Helping to bolster consumer confidence has been a continued recovery in the housing market and growth in the labor market, albeit slow.
The latest employment take will be out Friday, and the Labor Department is expected to show jobs growth of 145,000 for December, in line with recent growth.
Consumers will see their paychecks affected if lawmakers cannot broker a deal and tax rates rise, but the effect on spending is likely to be gradual.
Negotiations ongoing
President Barack Obama met with?congressional leaders from both parties Friday?for discussions about the fiscal cliff, and the House of Representatives is set to convene Sunday and continue working through the New Year. Obama has proposed maintaining current tax rates for all but the highest earners.
Options strategists have noted an increase in positions to guard against weakness in defense stocks such as General Dynamics, as those stocks would be affected by spending cuts set for that sector. Notably, though, the PHLX Defense Index is less than 1 percent away from an all-time high reached Dec. 20.
This underscores the view taken by most investors and strategists: One way or another, Washington will come to an agreement to offset some effects of the cliff. The result will not be entirely satisfying, but it will be enough to satisfy investors.
"Expectations are pretty low at this point and yet the equity market hasn't reacted," said Carmine Grigoli, chief U.S. investment strategist at Mizuho Securities USA. "You're not going to see the markets react to anything with more than a 5 to 7 percent correction."
Markets, for the most part, have not shown the same kind of volatility as in 2008 or 2011.
A gradual decline remains possible, Golub said, if business and consumer confidence continues to take a hit on the back of fiscal cliff worries. The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell sharply in December, a drop blamed in part on the fiscal issues.
"If Congress came out and said that everything is off the table, yeah, that would be a short-term shock to the market, but that's not likely," said Richard Weiss, a Mountain View, Calif.-based senior money manager at American Century Investments.
"Things will be resolved, just maybe not on a good time table. All else being equal, we see any further decline as a buying opportunity."?
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/forget-fiscal-cliff-debt-ceiling-much-scarier-1C7753061
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
The Trends In Single Parent Dating Online (and Other Niches Too ...
Online dating is a very competitive and usually time consuming activity. You simply do not signup to any random dating sites and expect to find right away someone decent enough to be your date. Just like everything else, there is a process to follow and fortunately if you get a sensible dating guide, that process will be a lot easier and is guaranteed to produce positive results. There are lots of methods and proven tips about how to successfully find a date online and for single parents who are looking for a serious relationship; it cannot get any tougher than that.
Building Relationships Online
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Building Relationships Online: Casual relationships are easy to find if you meet the right people!
The Advantage Of Online Dating For Single Parents
Online dating gives single parents the opportunity to meet someone and get to know them more personally as their relationship progresses. Often with some good advice from a reliable online dating guide, it will be a lot easier for a single parent to find a good website where they can create their own dating profile. Some would involve themselves in a serious relationship immediately and would later find out that his or her chosen partner is not really exactly who they are looking for. Serious commitments can hurt feelings when you try to break away from it and you get emotionally blackmailed afterwards that you just can?t find an easy way out. For single parents who want to have an intimate experience with younger men, online personals and internet based dating service is the best place to go as long as the site has a positive reputation due to its reliable dating service.
Great Advice For Having Flings
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Is It A Trend or Lifestyle?
The trend of dating single parents is fast becoming popular among other people not only for single parents along but also for those who really want to have a relationship with single moms and dads. With the advent of the internet and sites like cougar-dating-guide.com, this practice has been reinforced and majority of single parents are no longer limited to clubs and other events when looking for a man or woman to date. You can find more information here http://cougar-dating-guide.com/ about single parent dating and other things you need to know about online dating advice.
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Source: http://pr-priority.com/relationships/the-trends-in-single-parent-dating-online.html
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Russia pushes Syria to hold talks with opposition
NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP-Getty Images
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, speaks with his visiting Egypt counterpart Mohamed Amr as they meet on the Syrian crisis in Moscow on Dec. 28.
By Reuters
Russia urged the Syrian government on Friday to act on its stated readiness for dialogue with its opponents, throwing its weight behind a diplomatic push to end a 21-month-old conflict in Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had urged Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Makdad to emphasize his government's openness to dialogue with the opposition during talks in Moscow on Thursday.
"We actively encouraged ... the Syrian leadership to make as concrete as possible its declared readiness for dialogue with the opposition," Lavrov told reporters after talks with his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Kamel Amr in Moscow.
He said the Syrian government should stress its readiness for talks on the widest possible range of matters, in line with an international agreement in Geneva last June calling for a transitional government.
"I think a realistic and detailed assessment of the situation inside Syria will prompt reasonable opposition members to seek ways to start a political dialogue," added Lavrov, who last week said that neither side would win by force.
Putin says fate of Assad unimportant to him
Russia expects to meet a senior U.S. diplomat on Syria next month to discuss with international Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi his plans to end the civil war there, the Kremlin's envoy to the region said earlier on Friday.
Brahimi will visit Moscow on Saturday for talks on the results of his negotiations with Syrian President Bashar Assad and his opponents during a five-day trip to Damascus in which he called for political change to end the bloodshed.
"We will listen to what Lakhdar Brahimi has to say about the situation in Syria, and after that, probably, there will be a decision to hold a new meeting of the 'three Bs'," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the RIA news agency -- in a word play on the first letter of the diplomats' last names.
Bogdanov, U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns and Brahimi, the joint special representative of the United Nations and the Arab League, agreed that a political solution to the crisis was necessary and possible in talks earlier this month.
Bogdanov, the Kremlin's special envoy for Middle East Affairs, said the three would meet again in January after the holidays.
Russia has also invited the head of the internationally-recognized, opposition Syrian National Council, Moaz al-Khatib, to talks, he said, in comments that appeared underline Moscow's commitment to helping Brahimi seek a way out of the crisis.
Brahimi, who has called for a transitional government to rule until elections, is trying to broker a peaceful transfer of power in Syria, where more than 44,000 people have been killed in a revolt against four decades of Assad family rule.
Past peace efforts have floundered as what began as peaceful protests in March 2011 turned into civil war. The conflict has become an increasingly sectarian struggle between mostly Sunni Muslim rebels and Assad's security forces, drawn primarily from his Shiite-rooted Alawite minority.
Assad forces accused of using 'poisonous gases'
World powers think Russia, which has given Assad military and diplomatic aid during the uprising, has the ear of Syria's government and must be a central player in any peace talks.
Moscow has tried to distance itself from Assad in recent months and has denied it is propping him up. But it maintains Assad's exit cannot be a precondition for talks and has repeatedly said Western powers should not impose solutions on Syria.
Lavrov warned on Thursday that time was running out to find a peaceful solution to the conflict and halt a descent into "bloody chaos".
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White House meeting a last stab at a fiscal deal
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama was preparing to present a limited fiscal proposal to congressional leaders at a White House meeting Friday, a make-or-break moment for negotiations to avoid across-the-board tax increases and deep spending cuts at the first of the year.
Lawmakers and White House officials held out a slim hope for a deal before the new year, but it remained unclear whether congressional passage of legislation palatable to both sides was even possible.
The Friday afternoon meeting among congressional leaders and the president ? their first since Nov. 16 ? was likely to center on which income thresholds would face higher tax rates, extending unemployment insurance, and preventing a cut in Medicare payments to doctors, among other issues.
For Obama, the eleventh-hour scramble represented a test of how he would balance strength derived from his re-election against an avowed commitment to compromise in the face of divided government. Despite early talk of a grand bargain between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner that would reduce deficits by more than $2 trillion, the expectations were now far less ambitious.
Although there were no guarantees of a deal, Republicans and Democrats said privately that any agreement would likely include an extension of middle-class tax cuts with increased rates at upper incomes, an Obama priority that was central to his re-election campaign.
A key question was whether Obama would agree to abandon his insistence during the campaign on raising taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year and instead accept a $400,000 threshold like the one he offered in negotiations with Boehner. Another was whether Republicans would seek a higher income threshold.
The deal would also likely put off the scheduled spending cuts. Such a year-end bill could also include an extension of expiring unemployment benefits, a reprieve for doctors who face a cut in Medicare payments and possibly a short-term measure to prevent dairy prices from soaring, officials said.
If a deal was not possible, it would become evident at Friday's White House meeting, and Obama and the leaders would leave a resolution for the next Congress to address in January.
Such a delay could unnerve the stock market, which edged lower for a fifth day Friday amid worries that lawmakers would fail to reach a budget deal. Economists say that if the tax increases are allowed to hit most Americans and if the spending cuts aren't scaled back, the recovering but fragile economy could sustain a traumatizing shock.
Obama called for the meeting as top lawmakers on Thursday alternately cast blame on each other while portraying themselves as open to a reasonable last-minute bargain.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid all but conceded that any effort at this late date was a long shot. "I don't know timewise how it can happen now," he said.
The No. 2 Senate GOP leader, Jon Kyl of Arizona, said it is "pretty unlikely" that Senate Republicans would agree to legislation averting the fiscal cliff if it wouldn't pass muster in the House.
"If you know the House isn't going to do something, why go through the charade?" he told reporters. "That becomes political gamesmanship."
Obama and Reid, D-Nev., would have to propose a package that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell would agree not to block with procedural steps that require 60 votes to overcome.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said he still thinks a deal could be struck.
The Democrat told NBC's "Today" show Friday that he believes the "odds are better than people think."
Schumer said he based his optimism on indications that McConnell has gotten "actively engaged" in the talks.
Appearing on the same show, Republican Sen. John Thune noted the meeting scheduled later Friday at the White House, saying "it's encouraging that people are talking."
But Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., predicted that "the worst-case scenario" could emerge from Friday's talks.
"We will kick the can down the road," he said on "CBS This Morning."
"We'll do some small deal and we'll create another fiscal cliff to deal with the fiscal cliff," he said. Corker complained that there has been "a total lack of courage, lack of leadership," in Washington.
If a deal were to pass the Senate, Boehner would have to agree to take it to the floor in the Republican-controlled House.
Boehner discussed the fiscal cliff with Republican members in a conference call Thursday and advised them that the House would convene Sunday evening. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an ally of the speaker, said Boehner told the lawmakers that "he didn't really intend to put on the floor something that would pass with all the Democratic votes and few of the Republican votes."
But Cole did not rule out Republican support for some increase in tax rates, noting that Boehner had amassed about 200 Republican votes for a plan last week to raise rates on Americans earning $1 million or more. Boehner ultimately did not put the plan to a House floor vote in the face of opposition from Republican conservatives and a unified Democratic caucus.
"The ultimate question is whether the Republican leaders in the House and Senate are going to push us over the cliff by blocking plans to extend tax cuts for the middle class," White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said. "Ironically, in order to protect tax breaks for millionaires, they will be responsible for the largest tax increase in history."
Boehner, McConnell, Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi are all scheduled to attend Friday's White House meeting with Obama. Vice President Joe Biden will also participate in the meeting, the White House said.
___
Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Charles Babington and David Espo contributed to this report.
___
Follow Jim Kuhnhenn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-meeting-last-stab-fiscal-deal-085552437--politics.html
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Friday, December 28, 2012
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Russia's Putin suggests he will sign U.S. adoption ban
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he saw no reason not to sign a bill into law that would ban Americans adopting Russian children and promised measures to improve care of his country's orphaned youngsters.
Although Putin said he would need to study the final text of the bill, the comments were the strongest indication yet that he will approve the adoption ban legislation, which has strained U.S.-Russia relations.
Parliament gave its final approval on Wednesday to the bill that would also bring in other measures in retaliation for new U.S. legislation designed to punish Russians accused of human rights violations.
"So far I see no reason not to sign it, although I have to review the final text and weigh everything," Putin said in televised remarks at a meeting of senior federal and regional officials.
"I am ready to sign not only the law ... but also a presidential decree that will modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children ... especially those who are in a difficult situation, by that I mean in poor health," Putin said.
Critics of the bill say Russia is playing politics with the lives of children. Child rights advocates say children in Russia's crowded and troubled orphanage system will have less of a chance of finding homes if the bill becomes law.
(Reporting By Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Steve Guttermann and Andrew Osborn)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russias-putin-suggests-sign-ban-u-adoptions-121936243.html
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$1 billion deal major step in Toyota legal trouble
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? With a proposed payout of more than $1 billion, one major chapter of a nearly four-year legal saga that left Toyota Motor Corp. fighting hundreds of lawsuits and struggling with a tarnished image has ended, though another remains.
The settlement ? unprecedented in its size according to a plaintiff's attorney ? brings an end to claims from owners who said the value of their vehicles plunged after recalls over sudden and unintended acceleration.
Lawsuits claiming that the defects caused injury or death remain, with the first trial beginning in February unless another major deal comes first.
Steve Berman, a lawyer representing Toyota owners, said the settlement is the largest in U.S. history involving automobile defects.
"We kept fighting and fighting and we secured what we think was a good settlement given the risks of this litigation," Berman told The Associated Press.
The courtroom claims began with a highway tragedy. A California Highway Patrol officer and three of his family members were killed in suburban San Diego in 2009 after their car, a Toyota-built Lexus, reached speeds of more than 120 mph, hit an SUV, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames.
Investigators determined that a wrong-size floor mat trapped the accelerator and caused the crash.
That discovery, and the accident's grisliness, spurred a series of recalls involving more than 14 million vehicles and a flood of lawsuits soon followed, with numerous complaints of accelerations in several models, and brake defects with the Prius hybrid.
The Japanese automaker has blamed driver error, faulty floor mats and stuck accelerator pedals for the problems.
The runaway Lexus case was settled separately for $10 million in 2010, before the cases were consolidated by U.S. District Judge James Selna.
Selna divided them into two categories: economic loss and wrongful death. He needs to approve Wednesday's settlement, which only applies to the first group of lawsuits. The deal was filed Wednesday and Selna is expected to review it on Friday.
Toyota said it will take a one-time, $1.1 billion pre-tax charge against earnings to cover the estimated costs of the settlement. Berman said the total value of the deal is between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion.
As part of the economic loss settlement, Toyota will offer cash payments from a pool of about $250 million to eligible customers who sold vehicles or turned in leased vehicles between September 2009 and December 2010.
The company also will launch a $250 million program for 16 million current owners to provide supplemental warranty coverage for certain vehicle components, and it will retrofit about 3.2 million vehicles with a brake override system. An override system is designed to ensure a car will stop when the brakes are applied, even if the accelerator pedal is depressed.
The settlement would also establish additional driver education programs and fund new research into advanced safety technologies.
"In keeping with our core principles, we have structured this agreement in ways that work to put our customers first and demonstrate that they can count on Toyota to stand behind our vehicles," said Christopher Reynolds, Toyota vice president and general counsel.
Current and former Toyota owners are expected to receive more information about the settlement in the coming months.
Plaintiffs' attorneys have spent the past two years deposing Toyota employees, poring over thousands of documents and reviewing software code, but the company maintains those lawyers have been unable to prove that a design defect ? namely Toyota's electronic throttle control system ? was responsible for vehicles surging unexpectedly.
Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA were unable to find any defects in Toyota's source code that could cause problems.
The company has been dogged by fines for not reporting problems in a timely manner.
Earlier this month, NHTSA doled out a record $17.4 million fine to Toyota for failing to quickly report floor mat problems with some of its Lexus models. Toyota paid a total of $48.8 million in fines for three violations in 2010.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda appeared before Congress last year and pledged to strengthen quality control. Recent sales figures show the company appears to have rebounded following its safety issues.
___
Online:
Settlement website: http://www.ToyotaELsettlement.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/1-billion-deal-major-step-toyota-legal-trouble-093805959--finance.html
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
Social Media Trends from the Nielsen Social Media Report 2012
Last updated 1 hour 14 minutes ago
Nielsen?s State of the Media: The Social Media Report 2012 reflects on various social media trends of 2012, as well as the potential impact they will have on the coming year. There is no denying that social media is more popular than ever with consumers, and that having a social media presence is critical for SMBs? online marketing strategies in 2013.? Here are a few highlights from the report.
Mobile Usage Is Not Slowing Down
As you might have guessed, the amount of time consumers spent on PCs and Smartphones increased between July 2011 and July 2012.? Time spent on these devices grew by 21%, while time on apps rose 120% in that same period.? While PCs still remain our primary source of Internet access, the usage of mobile Web and apps are increasing at a significant rate. Small businesses can?t afford to ignore mobile any longer, and should invest in mobile-friendly advertising and sites to reach this growing audience.?
Time Spent on Social Networks Grew 37%.
From July 2011 to July 2012, the time consumers spent on social media sites grew from 88.4B minutes to a whopping 121.1B minutes. Nielsen attributes this substantial growth in part to the rise of mobile apps, which enable us to stay connected to our favorite sites while on the go. In fact, we spent seven times more minutes on apps than on the mobile Web. Time spent on these sites means social media access is not only on the rise, but also that we are more engaged when we do visit them. For small businesses, this means being active on social media is more important than ever in order to reach consumers spending a large portion of their time there.?
Consumers Value Social Customer Service
For more and more consumers, social care, also known as social customer service, is becoming an increasingly important, and valuable social media trend for SMBs to leverage. Nielsen reports that one in three social media users prefer social care to contacting a company by phone. That means that more consumers are using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and the company blog to reach out to businesses and brands in the hope of resolving a customer service issue. SMBs are not immune to this trend, and many will see an influx of customer complaints through these channels, which can impact their online reputation. As a result, it?s vital for businesses to monitor their social media pages regularly and respond to customer questions, complaints, and more as soon as possible.?
As we?ve seen throughout the year, mobile and social media continue to top consumers? online behavior. And as 2012 winds down, it?s important for small businesses to think about whether they have successfully taken advantage of some of these social media trends, and how they can incorporate them in the future. You can read the entire Nielsen social media report here.?
How do mobile and social media fit into your online marketing strategy? Let us know in the comments!
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About the Author
Tamara?Weintraub?helps equip small business owners with information about local online advertising, social media, and content marketing as a writer for?the?ReachLocal?blog.
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Schatz to be sworn in as US senator for Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) ? Incoming U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz was scheduled to be sworn into office Thursday afternoon, a day after being appointed by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie and flying to Washington with President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One.
Schatz, who served as Hawaii's lieutenant governor under Abercrombie, was expected to take the oath of office on Capitol Hill.
His selection went against the dying wishes of revered longtime Sen. Daniel Inouye, whom Schatz replaces. Inouye wanted U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa to succeed him.
The 40-year-old Schatz is a former state representative and onetime chairman of the state Democratic Party who ran Obama's 2008 campaign in Hawaii.
He said Wednesday that his top priorities would be addressing global climate change, preserving federal funds used in Hawaii for things like defense spending and transportation, and getting federal recognition for Native Hawaiians for forming their own government, similar to many Indian tribes.
Schatz beat out Hanabusa and Esther Kiaaina, a deputy director in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The three candidates were selected by state Democrats Wednesday morning from a field of 14. The candidates briefly made their cases before the state party's central committee.
Schatz flew to Washington Wednesday night with Obama aboard Air Force One, who was returning from his Hawaii Christmas vacation early as Congress considers what to do about the so-called fiscal cliff.
Schatz will become Hawaii's senior senator. The state's other senator, Daniel Akaka, is retiring at the end of this Congress after 22 years and Democratic Rep. Mazie Hirono was elected in November to succeed him.
Inouye, by far Hawaii's most influential politician and one of the most respected lawmakers in Washington after serving five decades in the Senate, died last week of respiratory complications at the age of 88. He sent Abercrombie a hand-signed letter dated the day he died, saying he would like Hanabusa to succeed him, calling it his "last wish."
Four days after eulogizing Inouye in the courtyard of the Hawaii Capitol, Abercrombie said he had to consider more than just Inouye's wishes in filling his seat.
"Of course Sen. Inouye's views and his wishes were taken into account fully, but the charge of the central committee, and by extension then myself as governor, was to act in the best interests of the party ... the state and the nation," Abercrombie said.
Under state law, the successor had to come from the same party as the prior incumbent. An Abercrombie spokeswoman said the governor did not feel any political pressure from within his party to make the choice he made.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/schatz-sworn-us-senator-hawaii-190810889--politics.html
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Should We Expect Other Earth-like Planets At All?
Earth-like? Or not.... (Image:PHL @ UPR Arecibo, ESA/Hubble, NASA)
This year has been a spectacular one for exoplanets. New discoveries and new insights have truly pushed the gateway to other worlds even further open.
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In the past 12 months we?ve gained increasingly good statistics on the incredible abundance of planets around other stars and their multiplicity. We also finally seem to have evidence that our neighboring star Alpha Centauri B does indeed harbor at least one world. It is by any set of standards, a great haul.
But I continue to be a bugged by the claims of ?habitable? worlds and ?Earth-like planets? that seem to beset many scientific announcements (including I?m ashamed to say my own). In the spirit of closing out the passage of our 4,500,000,000 th or so orbit around the Sun I thought I?d try to set the record straight, because I think we have so much more to look forward to than simply finding ?another Earth?.
First, when press releases state that a ?habitable? world may have been found, the truth is far more complex. Astronomers and astrobiologists tend to use the term habitable as a shorthand for the presence of liquid water on a planetary surface, implying a range of temperatures between the freezing and boiling point of water. But this also requires a surface atmospheric pressure high enough for water to exist as a liquid without boiling off to vapor, and an atmosphere will alter the transfer of radiation to and from the surface ? often by way of a greenhouse effect.
And this is just the beginning. By this simple criterion even the Earth is only partially habitable ? about 85% of its area remains amenable to liquid water over a year? (a fact that my colleagues Dave Spiegel, Kristen Menou and I reiterated a few years ago). So strictly speaking ?habitable? includes a range of environments that we would find appallingly hostile, including high-pressure, high-temperature climates and those in a sub-arctic category with thin atmospheres.
Sorry, but you're total conjecture (Credit: ESO)
The problem with the newly proclaimed habitable, or even potentially habitable exoplanets of 2012, is that not only do we at present have absolutely no information on the presence or absence of water or an atmosphere, we also have absolutely no idea (beyond informed guesses) about their geophysical history or present state. Geophysics is the dirty little secret here. On Earth the long-term (read millions of years) stability of the Earth?s surface environment close to the ?habitable? state is a direct consequence of geophysical re-cycling, the so-called Carbon-Silicate Cycle. Or to put this more crudely, no volcanism or tectonics, and you get no temperate climate.
This does not mean that some of them don?t hit the sweet spot, but it?s horrendously premature to say so.
Which gets us to the other point, the cavalier use of the phrase ?Earth-like?. Utterance of this can evoke all sorts of images. It may make us think of oceans, beaches, mountains, deserts, forests, fluffy clouds, fluffy bunnies, warm summers, snowy winters, the local pub, or the fabulous hubbub of the local souk.
But this is typically far from the meaning attached by scientists. It can simply indicate a planet with a rocky surface, rather than a world with a thick gaseous envelope. It can mean a world that is roughly the same mass and density as Earth. It can mean a planet orbiting a star like the Sun. Or it can just mean that we got bored of saying things like ?a two-Earth mass object in a close to circular orbit around a roughly 4 billion year old main-sequence star that is similar in mass to the Sun.?
Although at some level this is purely to do with semantics I think it?s important to consider. What I believe we really mean when we say ?Earth-like? is that a planet is Earth equivalent. That is to say that while the planet might feel completely alien to human senses it nonetheless matches many of the same physical and chemical characteristics of Earth. It?s a bit like renting a car at an airport where you?ve reserved the open top red sports-car, only to be told that they?ve run out but you can have ?an equivalent? vehicle. It?ll have four wheels, an engine, and yes you can wind the windows all the way down if you?d like.
And this is critical because one thing we have learned about exoplanets in 2012 is that they are remarkably diverse, and that the configuration and contents of our solar system are somewhat (only somewhat) unusual. For example, none of our planetary sisters belong to what may be the most numerous category of worlds ? objects with masses between that of the Earth and that of Neptune. There?s an absolute load of those out there, but none here.
Our system is also relatively spread out, it is increasingly apparent that the universe likes to build compact orbital architectures of numerous planets with orbital periods of days to weeks. It is also apparent that a majority of planetary systems have likely gone through a far more dramatic period of dynamical rearrangement or dynamical ?cooling? than ours has ? leaving a tell-tale signature in the highly elliptical orbits of major planets.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Although we don?t yet know much about the elemental and chemical composition of exoplanets, we do see a diversity in the contents and conditions of proto-planetary environments. We also suspect that the pathway to any individual world includes an enormous variety of essentially random events ? the process of building a planet is highly stochastic.
On the face of it this might seem a little depressing. After all, finding an ?Earth-like? planet is often described as the holy grail of exoplanetary science, the location of another place that could harbor life in the cosmos. But if all worlds are unique it might be that there are no other places quite like Earth, and if a delicate set of conditions are critical for life this would put a damper on these prospects.
Meet the parents. Carbon chemistry abounds. (Credit:NASA/HST)
However, the chemistry of the universe does seem to be the very same chemistry from which we?ve sprung. Molecules made with carbon are ubiquitous, whether in the sparse interstellar medium or the thickening clouds of forming proto-stellar systems, organic chemistry dominates.
It also permeates the ancient material of our solar system that we see preserved in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites and cometary contents. And life on Earth not only got going fast some 3.5 to 4 billion years ago, it seems to have rapidly evolved into an interlinked world-wide chemical network that robustly preserves the vital genetic blueprints for metabolism and survival ? the core planetary gene set.
While it is true that we do not yet know the actual answer, my personal take on all of this is the following. There may be no ?Earth-like? planet out there, but there are almost certainly Earth-equivalent worlds ? alien but nonetheless amenable to life.
Only the most contrived and strained interpretation of what we see by way of the elemental and chemical composition of the cosmos and of terrestrial biochemistry would suggest there?s something ?special? about what happened here on Earth. Carbon-chemistry rules, and Earth 4 billion years ago was about as alien from Earth today as one can imagine, yet life started up fast. It?s going to happen in other places too.
So, we should not necessarily hold our breath for other Earth-like planets, but we should expect an astonishing diversity of equivalent places. I for one can?t wait to find out how the complex rough and tumble of molecular evolution played out on those other worlds.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9e0723c3554e5cfd12f8d66e3d1b1dd6
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Tigers roar back: Great news for big cats in key areas
Dec. 26, 2012 ? The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has announced significant progress for tigers in three key landscapes across the big cat's range due to better law enforcement, protection of additional habitat, and strong government partnerships.
The successes are much-needed good news as tiger numbers worldwide continue to hover at all-time lows due to the combined threat of poaching, loss of prey, and habitat destruction. WCS estimates that only 3,200 tigers exist in the wild.
The news begins in southwestern India where WCS research and conservation efforts that began 25 years ago now show a major rebound of tigers in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka State. Over 600 individuals have been identified to date from camera trap photos during the last decade in this mountainous landscape. In Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks, tigers have actually reached saturation levels, with surplus young tigers spilling out into forest-reserves and dispersing using secured forest corridors through a landscape that holds over a million human beings. The combination of strict government-led anti-poaching patrols, voluntary relocation of villages away from tiger habitats, and the vigilant local presence of WCS conservation partners watching over tigers has led to the rebound of big-cat populations and their prey. In newer tiger reserves including Bhadra and Kudremukh, numbers have increased by as much as 50 percent after years of neglect and chronic poaching were tackled.
In Thailand, WCS conservationists report a tiger comeback in Huai Kha Khaeng (HKK) Wildlife Sanctuary -- a 2,700 square kilometer (1,042 square mile) protected area in the vast Western Forest Complex. WCS has worked closely with Thai authorities to beef up enforcement and anti-poaching patrols in the region. Last year, a notorious poaching ring was busted, and this year the gang leaders were given prison sentences of up to five years -- the most severe punishments for wildlife poaching in Thailand's history. Since their capture, there have been no known tiger or elephant poaching incidents in the park. Tiger numbers have been rising steadily in the park since 2007, with a record 50-plus tigers counted last year.
Meanwhile in Russia, government officials are drafting a new law that will make transport, sales, and possession of endangered animals a criminal offense rather than just a civil crime. This will close a loophole that currently allows poachers to claim they found endangered species like tigers already dead and thus avoid stiffer criminal penalties for poaching.
Russia is making progress in creating additional protected areas for tigers, too, declaring a new corridor called Central Ussuri Wildlife Refuge on October 18. The new refuge acts as a linkage between the Sikhote-Alin tiger population in Russia, which is the main population of Amur tigers, and some of the best tiger habitat in China's Heilongjiang Province in the Wandashan Mountains. The creation of the new refuge ensures that tigers have the capacity to move across the international border between Russian and China in this region. WCS first identified this key corridor in 1999 after conducting joint wildlife surveys with Chinese and Russian scientists there. WCS President and CEO Cristi?n Samper said: "Tigers are clearly fighting for their very existence, but it's important to know that there is hope. Victories like these give us the resolve to continue to battle for these magnificent big cats. While the news about tigers has been bleak, these recent developments clearly show how smart strategies and strong partnerships are ensuring tigers are saved for centuries to come."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wildlife Conservation Society.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/R4fMvR8-z6Q/121226153034.htm
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News Analysis: Getting Polio Campaigns Back on Track
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Recent violence targeting vaccination campaigns threatens the effort to eradicate polio in the three countries where it remains endemic.
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4 Reasons to Integrate Marketing Now | Geoff Livingston's Blog
Image by Chiri_dr
Marketers need to harness media convergence and integrate to maximize the impact of their various communications, on and offline.
Convergence has been brought about by the arrival of mobile and social media. The combination has empowered customers to access the Internet anywhere and discuss it.
The resulting anytime anywhere access to the Internet breaks the isolation of any one type of media form, including radio ads in the car and newspapers in a local subway.
Convergence creates the need to integrate, the process in which all communications from a company or organization ? regardless of form ? work together to present a unified brand experience for a customer. Integration yields more leads, creating better ROI for marketers. It includes cross promotion of ideas, themes, and calls to action, including participation in social media.
A recent CMO Council study showed that only 9% of respondents believe their interactive marketing efforts are highly evolved and integrated. This online integration issue doesn?t even consider integrating marketers? efforts in the traditional advertising, public relations and direct marketing disciplines.
Gini Dietrich and I addressed why and how marketers must integrate in our recent book Marketing in the Round. These four reasons show why business owners and lead marketers should address marketing integration today:
1) 3000 Messages
Image by Arvind
The most important reason of all, customers passively receive an average of 3000 branded messages a day through a wide variety of diverse media.
This astounding statistic should tell every business owner and marketer one thing: A siloed communication targeted toward an unexpecting or unwilling customer will likely ?bounce? off their consciousness.
What makes your status update, print ad, press release, Tumblr post, trade story mention, or other outreach stand out from the other 3000 messages?
You can rely on breakthrough creative, but most marketers don?t shoot silver bullets with every communication.
Through integration, impressions develop a branded thread that with repetition begins to stand out from other messages. When a need makes a brand relevant, your integrated marketing effort stands a much greater chance of coming to mind.
2) Convergence of Content, Search and Social
Image by Melisande
Experienced online marketers know there is no avoiding integrating content, search and social for a complete Internet strategy. They are irrevocably tied together, and increasingly so with Google, Bing and other search engines focused on adding social context to search.
Inbound marketing and lead nurturing demands seamless intertwining of the three disciplines.
Social is how customers hear about you, search is how they find you, and content is how they qualify you. None of them alone are strong enough to succeed, but together organizations can deploy knock-out online marketing strategies.
Alone, unoptimized content ? while it may be good ? is not found. Search optimization may drive traffic but without great content people will bounce and leave. Similarly, social may drive attention and traffic, but if your content is not relevant (a la inbound marketing principles) or searchable, it loses opportunities.
That?s why it?s so important to build every aspect of an online presence with a combined view of customer interests and relevant topics, search optimization via balanced keyword methodologies, and social optimization. It?s how leads are built.
3) Online Conversations Start with Traditional Media
Studies have shown that the most shared stories within social networks come from tradition media.
That means traditional public relations tactics media relations and events have a direct impact on driving traffic to your online content and social media strategies. Further, search algorithms index news stories as critical sources of content.
A customer will see the media as a credible proof point for your product/service category, and social, search and content can then create bridges to your web site.
Make sure content and social reflect the general trends media covers in relation to your company. Then whether through social or search, you can generate new inbound leads by integrating across public relations.
The same could be said for a successful advertising campaign. Consider how many broadcast ads live extended lives on YouTube. Does your content and social reinforce the messages of your advertising?
4) Direct Brings Home the Bacon
More marketing dollars are being invested in direct tactics like email marketing, direct mail, search, and more first. That?s because the direct marketing approach yields the most ROI at a 10:1 ratio, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).
Break that direct expenditure further into the online spend. More than half of expenditures (54 percent) in Internet marketing go to online pay-per-click search in 2011, says the DMA.
Inbound marketing closes with customized dynamic online calls-to-action and emails. But even a letter or an old fashioned mailer can achieve the same result.
To maximize impact, that final close needs to feel, sound and act like the general messages that brought your customer to the door. Integrating creative and topical themes only helps direct close the deal.
A version of this post ran originally on Social Fresh.
Source: http://geofflivingston.com/2012/12/26/4-reasons-to-integrate-marketing/
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012
NY surfer who survived Sandy drowns in Puerto Rico
NEW YORK (AP) ? A lifeguard widely praised as a hero after Superstorm Sandy for rescuing neighbors endangered by rolling floodwaters and a fire that destroyed several homes in a small community where grief has been a frequent visitor has died in a surfing accident in Puerto Rico.
The death of 23-year-old Dylan Smith on Sunday brought sadness again to residents of the Belle Harbor section of the Rockaways, which lost several police officers and firefighters in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and was the site of a deadly plane crash just months later.
As word spread that Smith, who used his surfboard to ferry so many people to safety during the late October superstorm, had lost his life, a Heroes of Rockaway Facebook page said: "R.I.P. to Dylan Smith, our Rockaway Hero, tragically died this morning surfing in Puerto Rico. He will never be forgotten."
Troy Bradwisch, who lives on the same street as the Smith family, said the presumed drowning death was "crushing" for the neighborhood.
"It was more shocking than anything," he said. "You can go through the storm and all that, and he goes on vacation to get a sense of normalcy and something like that happens."
Marguerite Wetzel, a Montauk resident who knows the Smith family from trips to Puerto Rico, could barely talk about the death.
"I have two sons, and he exemplified everything you would want your sons to be. I'm going to start tearing up," she said, her voice cracking.
Smith had lived with his parents and a 19-year-old brother when he was not at college. Fire Department of New York Chief Michael Light, a longtime friend of Smith's recently retired firefighter father, said someone who was with Smith in waters off Maria's Beach in the Puerto Rican community of Rincon notified him of the death.
"We know he died in the water while he was surfing. It's under investigation as to the cause," Light said. "I believe he was with some friends."
Smith's body was found floating near his surfboard, police said. Authorities said a resident of the Puerto Rican town, whose beaches attract surfers from across the world, spotted Smith in the water and took him to shore. They said a doctor tried to resuscitate him.
Light said Smith rescued as many as a dozen people during the superstorm by paddling from porch to porch with his surfboard, moving the helpless, including children and the elderly, from imperiled perches amid swirling floodwaters and a sky filled with flames from a gas line explosion as more than a dozen homes around him burned to the ground.
"It was totally brave and selfless," Light said.
People magazine, which named Smith one of its Heroes of the Year, credited Smith and neighbor Michael McDonnell with rescuing six people trapped by the flood and fire by connecting electric cords and twine into a makeshift rope that could be gripped as they walked the surfboard with people on it to safety at the storm's height.
The flood and fire occurred in a Queens neighborhood with an unusually high population of police officers and firefighters, which might explain why a higher proportion of residents lost their lives on Sept. 11 than just about anywhere else. Two months later, American Airlines Flight 587 smashed into a home, killing 265 people and setting off fires that destroyed the homes of those living around Smith and his family.
The Smith family home was spared again during Superstorm Sandy when fires destroyed neighbors' homes and the Harbor Light Restaurant, where Smith sometimes worked as a bartender.
Smith, who helped neighbors clean up and rebuild after the storm, had gone recently to Puerto Rico, where his family had a home in the popular beach town. Light said he could understand if Smith wanted some relief from the destruction in Belle Harbor.
"It's tough to look at," he said. "He figured rather than look out the window at the destruction here, post Sandy, all the rebuilding, he was going to take a little break and do a little surfing in Puerto Rico and get away for a while."
___
Associated Press writer Ben Fox in Puerto Rico contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-surfer-survived-sandy-drowns-puerto-rico-174711583.html
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Man who killed 2 firemen left note on killing plan
WEBSTER, N.Y. (AP) ? The ex-con who lured two firefighters to their deaths in a blaze of gunfire left a rambling typewritten note saying he wanted to burn down the neighborhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said Tuesday as they recovered burned human remains believed to be the gunman's missing sister.
Police Chief Gerald Pickering said 62-year-old William Spengler, who served 17 years in prison for the 1980 hammer slaying of his grandmother, armed himself with a revolver, a shotgun and a military-style rifle before he set his house afire to lure first responders into a death trap before dawn on Christmas Eve.
"He was equipped to go to war, kill innocent people," Pickering said.
The rifle he had was a military-style .223-caliber semiautomatic Bushmaster rifle with flash suppression, the same make and caliber weapon used in the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., Pickering said.
The chief said police believe the firefighters were hit with shots from the rifle given the distance but the investigation was incomplete.
Pickering declined to divulge the full content of the two- to three-page note left by Spengler or say where it was found, but read one line from it: "I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down, and do what I like doing best, killing people."
The human remains were found in the charred house that Spengler shared with his 67-year-old sister, Cheryl. A medical examiner will need to determine the identity and cause of death because the body is badly burned.
Spengler killed himself as seven houses burned around him Monday on a narrow spit of land along Lake Ontario in this suburb of Rochester. A friend said Spengler hated his sister but the chief said the note left by him did not give a motive.
No other bodies were found, and police late Tuesday said the on-scene investigation had been completed.
Two firefighters were shot dead in the ambush and two others are hospitalized in stable condition.
Spengler fired at the four firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. Monday to put out the fire, Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots.
Authorities said Spengler hadn't done anything to bring himself to their attention since his parole. As a convicted felon, he wasn't allowed to possess weapons. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley said Spengler led a very quiet life after he got out of prison.
A friend, Roger Vercruysse, lived next door to Spengler and recalled a man who doted on his mother, whose obituary suggested contributions to the West Webster Fire Department.
"He loved his mama to death," said Vercruysse, who last saw his friend about six months ago.
Vercruysse also said Spengler "couldn't stand his sister" and "stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other."
The West Webster Fire District learned of the fire after a report of a car and house on fire on Lake Road, on a narrow peninsula where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said.
Emergency radio communications capture someone saying he "could see the muzzle flash coming at me" as Spengler carried out his ambush. The audio posted on the website RadioReference.com has someone reporting "firefighters are down" and saying "got to be rifle or shotgun - high powered ... semi or fully auto."
Two of the firefighters arrived on a fire engine and two in their own vehicles, Pickering said. After Spengler fired, one of the wounded men fled, but the other three couldn't because of flying gunfire.
The police officer who exchanged gunfire with Spengler "in all likelihood saved many lives," Pickering said.
The dead men were identified as police Lt. Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster Police Department's public information officer; and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka, also a 911 dispatcher.
Pickering described Chiapperini as a "lifetime firefighter" with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a "tremendous young man."
The two wounded firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were in stable condition Tuesday at Strong Memorial Hospital, the chief said. Both were awake and alert and are expected to recover.
Hofstetter, also a full-timer with the Rochester Fire Department, was hit once in the pelvis, and the bullet lodged in his spine, authorities said. Scardino was hit in the chest and knee.
The shooting and fires were in a neighborhood of seasonal and year-round homes set close together across the road from the lakeshore. The area is popular with recreational boaters but is normally quiet this time of year.
___
Associated Press writer Mary Esch in Albany contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-killed-2-firemen-left-note-killing-plan-165807219.html
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