Thursday, February 28, 2013

Deal of the Day ? Dell Inspiron 15z Core i5 Ultrabook

LogicBUY’s Deal for Thursday is the configurable?15.6″ Dell Inspiron 15z (5523) Ultrabook for $649.99 after LogicBUY’s coupon code. ?Shipping is free. ?Features: Core i3 6GB memory 500GB hard drive, 32GB mSSD, DVD burner Skullcandy audio with WaveMaxx 4.0 Windows 8 1-year in-home service plus 90-day Premium Phone support Other models are available at similar savings, [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/02/28/deal-of-the-day-dell-inspiron-15z-core-i5-ultrabook/

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Taliban infiltrate outpost, poison guards

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? An Afghan official says Taliban insurgents poisoned and killed 17 people in an overnight attack on a post manned by a government-backed militia in eastern Afghanistan.

Ghazni deputy provincial council head Abdul Jamhe Jamhe says the militants somehow infiltrated the outpost and poisoned those inside the compound before launching the Tuesday night assault. He says the assailants then shot the incapacitated men.

Provincial Gov. Musa Khan Akbarzada says 10 of those killed in Andar district were members of the government-backed Afghan Local Police group and the remaining seven killed were civilians who were friends of the local police. He says there was a conspiracy of some sort but declined to confirm if there was poison involved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-poison-kill-17-afghans-attack-east-110229450.html

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Waze Proves the Power of Social Media With Real-Time Map Updates

Waze Proves the Power of Social Media With Real-Time Map Updates
Waze, the crowd-sourced traffic mapping app, is one of Gadget Lab's favorite apps for successfully navigating around the morass of Bay Area traffic. Today the app one-ups itself with the ability for trusted community members to update maps in real ...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/_0P5PuDCWuY/

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3 Tips To Avoid Internet Marketing Scams - The SMB NOW Blog

Avoid Online ScamsThe online world is full of scams. While this does not sound very promising for someone who is starting up their own business, it is important to be aware of the risks and dangers that are out there. Finding unbiased information is a lot more difficult these days, especially considering the amount of marketing that takes place on the Internet. There will always be people out there who are looking to make a quick buck. The first thing business leaders need to understand is what they have to do in order to avoid getting tricked or scammed. This is especially important for businesses like Pittsburgh Internet Marketing Exact and individuals who are just started to sell their services online.

Avoiding the Scams: Look for Reviews

Internet marketing scams can take a number of different shapes. This is often what can make it difficult to determine what is the truth and what is a scam. Some scammers are very clever and very good at hiding their true motivations from readers. If you receive an offer, it is a good idea to see if others have received it as well. What you can do is simply search online to see if others have had the same experience. By reading through the reviews of a specific company or website, you will begin to get an idea of what the company is like. It is important to remember that some customers may have it out for the company, and may falsely state that it is a scam. The trick here is to look at how many reviews state the company is a scam. Another possibility is that the scammer paid ?customers? to write good reviews of their website. Although this is not a completely accurate way of determining a scam, it is a good indicator that something is not right.

Contact Details

This may seem like a very simple thing to do, but it is vital that every business has contact details available. Normally when you go onto a website, there will be an icon that clearly marks out the company?s contact information. These will normally include a telephone number, an address, an e-mail and sometimes even a fax number. A lot of the time, there will also be a help desk available for customers who have questions. Steer clear of websites that have none of this. If you want to make doubly sure, you can always ask a question. See how long it takes for the company to get back to you. Companies that take themselves seriously and care about their customers needs will always respond to you promptly, even if it is two or three days later.

Look at Their Product Patterns

Scammers generally do not have sustainable products. Since these products generally do not last, they are going to constantly need ?new ones in order to replace them. Take a look at the product history of the company and, again, make sure to look at reviews. Patterns of new products being released only months apart is going to indicate a true scam here.

Keeping safe on the Internet is important, and it is also important to scrutinize anyone that you come across. There is a lot of opportunity out there for unscrupulous people to take advantage of others. By knowing some of the telltale signs, you will be able to avoid the worst companies.

Grow your web presence with Pittsburgh Internet Marketing.?Exact Match Domains are still a good idea. Visit the site ?for further information.

Source: http://blog.smbnow.com/2013/02/26/3-tips-to-avoid-internet-marketing-scams/

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KKK Rally Permit Approved In Memphis

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  • Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/kkk-rally_n_2768035.html

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    Keep your Feet Healthy and Happy | Best Self Magazine | Atlanta GA

    By Sarah E. King

    These days, we all lead demanding and active lives. In a single outing, we can run to the store, pick up the dry cleaning, spend a few hours at the office, throw in a workout, stand in line at the bank and take the dog for a walk. We are constantly on the go, and always on our feet, ready to tackle the next errand or take on the next "to-do."

    But have you ever stopped to think about the intricate and biological wonder that has taken you to all those places? Your feet. Made up of 52 bones and more than 100 ligaments, tendons and muscles all working together, this crucial part of your body works hard to keep you on the move. When was the last time you took into account how much your feet affect your lifestyle, and for that matter, how much your lifestyle affects your feet?

    "The foot is the most complicated part of the body, but the most neglected by most people," says Raymond Margiano, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Foot Solutions, Inc., which focuses on providing a line of shoes, arch supports and foot care accessories. "A lot of people don't understand it, but the feet are the foundation of your body, similar to the foundation of a building. Over time, you start seeing stress cracks in the foundation, and the building starts to lean. The foundation of your body is critical to your alignment; everything above your feet needs that solid support."

    Margiano, who has been in the footwear and pedorthic industry for more than 20 years, is not alone in his opinion. Dr. Carl Kihm, podiatric physician and surgeon with Village Podiatry Centers, says we oftentimes take our feet for granted until we experience an ongoing problem that is painful or debilitating.

    "Our feet are our foundation and they allow us to be mobile and live," Dr. Kihm says. "If the bones and joints of your foot and/or ankle are in poor condition, this can affect your posture, pace, the pressure distribution and time spent on each foot while walking, which can ultimately lead to knee, hip and back pains."

    Dr. Kihm, who sees patients at Village Podiatry Center's Marietta-Kennestone and Douglasville offices, says early assessment and treatment is the optimal way to keep your feet healthy. "Do not ignore your feet. If they hurt, you should listen to your body and you should not try to deal with the pain," he says. "Consider which factors make them feel worse and avoid these."

    Clearly, paying attention to your feet and what your body is telling you are the first steps in obtaining happy and healthy feet. But what are we dealing with here? And what do we do to tackle common foot problems?

    The Usual Suspects

    Dr. David Scott of Resurgens Orthopaedics, who specializes in foot and ankle issues as well as trauma and knee surgeries, puts foot health into simple terms. "When you don't take care of your feet, they hurt, and you don't get to do what you like to do," he says. "Take care of your feet, and you get a lifetime of foot health and wellness." However, despite the straightforward advice, 10 to 20 percent of people have some kind of recurring or chronic foot problem. Here are a few of the more common ailments:

    Bunions:

    A bunion is a condition where the big toe gradually dislocates, and can get more severe and painful over time. This condition is caused by the bone structure of your feet, which is hereditary. Dr. Kihm says some shoes can make the condition more painful, but shoes are not the cause of bunions.

    Treatment: "Wide-toed shoes and padding may be helpful to reduce this kind of pain," Dr. Kihm says. "However, because bunions are a bone condition, sometimes, surgery is required to address and correct the bony etiology and painful deformity."

    Hammertoe:

    A hammertoe is a deformity of the second, third or fourth toes, in which the toe is bent at the middle joint. If left untreated, a hammertoe may become fixed and require surgery.

    Treatment: "Everything in your body has some kind of balance, such as the bicep and the tricep in your arm," Dr. Scott says. "The hammertoe is a sort of imbalance in the toe where the first knuckle is bent up and the second knuckle gets bent down." Dr. Scott says a hammertoe can be surgically straightened by removing the knuckle and lengthening the tendons. The knuckle is then fused straight. "You have to balance all of the joints to correct the hammertoe," he says. Dr. Scott also says forefoot problems in the ball of your foot may be the result of tight calf muscles. "When your calf muscle is tight, it puts more pressure on the ball of your foot when you walk," he says. "People who experience bunions and hammertoes should have their calf muscles checked, and if tight and causing more pressure on the ball of your foot, they should be lengthened during surgery."

    Corns:

    Corns are pressure-induced callus formations on the toes. Dr. Kihm says each patient is assessed individually to determine why these are occurring.

    Treatment: "Your podiatrist can usually trim your corn and this can allow for an immediate relief of pain," he says. "If your shoes are too tight or if you have hammertoes associated with these corns, these can be causative factors that need to be addressed to prevent the corns from returning." Padding around the toes can also reduce the pressures that create corns. However, Dr. Kihm says he cautions people with poor sensation, especially diabetic patients, not to use medicated corn pads. "These contain salicylic acid that dissolves away the corn, but can also dissolve away healthy skin and create wounds and more severe problems."

    Plantar fasciitis:

    Plantar fasciitis occurs when the strong band of tissue that supports the arch of your foot becomes irritated and inflamed. The bottom of the heel becomes tender and sore. Dr. Scott says there are many factors that cause plantar fasciitis. "The aging of the tendon and the stress we put on it in day-to-day life is one factor," he says. "We are also heavier than we should be, and not as athletic as we should be." Dr. Scott says while sometimes there is an event where you may injure your heel, very frequently, there is not one factor to put your finger on.

    Treatment: "Given enough time, plantar fasciitis will actually go away, but you can do things to speed it up," Dr. Scott says. Maintaining a healthy body weight, stretching the upper calf muscle, wearing good footwear or anti-inflammatory medications are all possible forms of treatment. "Ninety-five percent of heel pain, however, gets better with stretching," he says.

    Ingrown Nails:

    An ingrown nail occurs when the side of the nail grows into the skin. When left untreated, the irritated nail can create infection. Causes include footwear that crowds the toes, not properly cutting the nail or toenail injury.

    Treatment: Dr. Kihm says to prevent ingrown nails, avoid cutting your nails too short and do not cut them on a sharp curvature. If you develop an ingrown nail, see your podiatrist for treatment; an in-office procedure is oftentimes performed, which can remove the ingrown nail and prevent it from returning.

    If the Shoe Fits...

    Certain aches and pains can be avoided by simply paying attention to the shoes you put on your feet. Margiano says most foot problems are caused or aggravated by wearing ill-fitted shoes. "Ninety percent of people are not wearing properly fitted shoes... you want to wear shoes like the shape of your foot, with room and support for walking or running," he says. "Your foot takes the impact if you're not supporting it properly."

    For women, the daily use of high-heels is a major culprit in foot pain. "Women will have five times more issues with their feet than men, and the main reason is the female tendency to wear shoes more for appearance than for comfort," Margiano says.

    For a woman to avoid issues due to high-heels, Margiano suggests not wearing heels higher than 1.5 to 2 inches, as well as wearing high-heels in moderation. "You don't want to force your feet into this awkward position," he says. "Heels slam those toes into a narrow wedge, and are the leading cause for bunions and hammertoes."

    But men aren't free from shoe discomfort either. According to Dr. Kihm, men are five times more likely to have a traumatic fracture of their heel bone than women. "These kinds of injuries are usually experienced when jumping or falling from a height, and since men, for example, work more frequently on roofs, this makes sense."

    Dr. Scott says men also are more prone to overuse and sports-related injuries, and injuries among his male and female patients are equal. However, women still take the brunt of footwear-related pain. "I see two or three women patients for every male," he says. "Women are in for more shoe-related issues due to restrictive footwear, and I see more foot and ankle issues with women."

    Flip-flops and ballet flats, which offer little arch support, are also a concern for health care professionals. Margiano says there are many foot injuries that result from the foot not being supported, like fallen arches. "Your foot, overtime, will collapse, and being flat footed puts more pressure on your ankle and knees," Margiano says. "You can purchase custom inserts for flats or heels to support the arch... a lot of things can be done for fashionable footwear. When you put in an insert, your foot feels better and feels more supported."

    Dr. Kihm says there are many different reasons for fallen arches, and some may have more to do with heredity. "If this problem is noted in children, or since childhood, this typically reflects the patient's inherited bone structure of the arch of his or her feet," he says. "When this problem arises in adulthood, the cause can be the result of tendon damage and dysfunction. We commonly see this in older and overweight females, and it commonly only involves one foot at a time."

    For an inherited or developed issue, Dr. Kihm suggests wearing supportive sneakers with rigid arch supports to help prevent or treat these conditions. However, when pain, fatigue or weakness is associated with fallen arches, Dr. Kihm warns that you should report for a physical exam, as these conditions may get worse with time.

    Put Your Best Foot Forward

    Understanding the steps to take in addressing foot problems will help put you on the right track for a healthier lifestyle. And taking care of your feet can be a simple process. Dr. Scott offers this final advice:

    "Keep your weight near your ideal range, pick your activities carefully. When you change activities, you should change it in a gradual way so your feet don't fracture or break. Wear comfortable shoes," he says. "Also, calf stretching and a flexibility routine are important. Those who have stayed flexible as they age tend to do better. Flexibility should be a long-term part of everyone's fitness goals."

    Having the right footwear is crucial to maintaining healthy feet. But we don't think about it as much as we should. According to Dr. Kihm, the pressure on your feet exceeds your bodyweight when walking, and can reach four times your body weight when running. "We don't think about this a lot and maybe we 'put up' with our feet being sore or painful," he says. "It should not be this way and it does not need to be. Proper footwear is very important so you can support and protect your feet as they function."

    The Right Support

    Hiking Boots

    Bubba Sloan, co-founder of High Country Outfitters, knows his way around a hiking boot. Sloan says, when it comes to footwear, making sure you have the proper fit is important. "If there was one shoe on the market that I think would fit everyone, I'd sell one shoe," he says. To find the right boot keep these tips in mind:

    • The sole: You need sturdiness in the sole of the boot so the foot stays in a stable position. Boots which cover the ankle are not meant to prevent rolling your ankle, but to protect from rocks or other abuses on the trail.
    • Socks: Merino wool lets the foot breath and doesn't cause temperatures to rise in the boot like synthetic socks.
    • Boots: A light weight, waterproof boot is a good starting point for new hikers.

    Heels

    For those who wear heels on a daily basis, it's no surprise to hear that high heels cause a range of foot problems.

    • Dr. Kihm: "High heels change the forces on the foot as they shift the pressure to the front of the foot. They also have a narrow toe box, which crams the toes together, and can cause corns and calluses, or make bunions more painful."
    • Dr. Scott: "It's common sense and we all know it, but we like fashion. You'd rather look good than feel good sometimes. Shoes that are wide enough for your feet, with good thick bottoms, and don't constrict the bone are ideal. Fashion footwear is tight, and doesn't fit how the human foot was made... very few people can wear high heels when they're older."

    ?

    Editorial Resources:
    Raymond Margiano, CEO - Foot Solutions, Inc., www.footsolutions.com
    Dr. Carl Kihm - Village Podiatry Centers, www.villagepodiatrycenters.com
    Dr. David Scott - Resurgens Orthopaedics, www.resurgens.com
    Bubba Sloan - High Country Outfitters, www.highcountryoutfitters.com

    Source: http://www.bestselfatlanta.com/track/73/L0Jlc3QtU2VsZi1BcnRpY2xlcy9IZWFsdGgtV2VsbG5lc3MvS2VlcC15b3VyLUZlZXQtSGVhbHRoeS1hbmQtSGFwcHkuaHRtbA==.html

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    Wednesday, February 27, 2013

    Zumba trial: How much porn should jurors watch?

    By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A Maine judge decided Tuesday not to dismiss charges against Zumba prostitution defendant Mark Strong. Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills is also expected to decide whether to allow in court 577 "extremely sexual" Skype screenshots that the defense has argued would unfairly prejudice the jury.

    The defense attorney for Strong, 57, warned of the graphic nature of the images and said Monday they would "drown" his client, according to the Bangor Daily News.

    "I think some of this stuff is going to horrify some of these people to the point where he won't possibly get a fair trial," defense attorney Daniel Lilley said.

    But prosecutors allege that the images are crucial evidence showing that Strong was involved in running a prostitution ring out of Alexis Wright's Pura Vida Zumba studio in Kennebunk. Wright is due to stand trial separately.

    "The state has to prove that Mark Strong was actively involved in the prostitution [business]," Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan told Justice Mills on Monday. "Part of that active involvement was that he was monitoring the prostitution from his Thomaston location through Skype."

    Also discussed on Tuesday was a motion filed by the defense to dismiss the remaining charges against Strong. Defense attorney Lilley has accused the prosecution of missing deadlines to turn over documents related to the case.

    "Enough is enough," defense counsel Tina Nadeau said Tuesday. Dismissing the charges against Strong would be a fitting rebuttal to prosecutors, she said.

    The judge will instead issue a special instruction to jurors. Mills also decided on Tuesday to order prosecutors to give the defense a file on a Kennebunk police officer.

    The trial is to continue with witness testimony on Tuesday, the Portland Press Herald reported, and Mills has yet to come to a decision on how many pornographic images the jury will see.

    Strong is on trial for 13 charges related to promotion of prostitution. Forty-six charges related to alleged violations of privacy were dismissed by the judge in a decision affirmed by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Feb. 15. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    This story was originally published on

    Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17101633-zumba-trial-how-much-porn-should-jurors-watch?lite

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    Downsizing an empty nest may not always pay off

    When approaching retirement age in an empty nest, is it better to age in place, or is it more economical to move to a smaller nest? Author and retired lawyer Boyd Lemon, who now lives in a rented one bedroom apartment in St. Marys, Ga., estimates his monthly living expenses are about $1,000 lower than when he lived in a three-bedroom condo he owned in California.

    It seems a reasonable conclusion: Living on a smaller scale may mean fewer expenses, such as lower mortgage or rent, lower maintenance costs and lower utility bills. However, a move to a smaller home does not necessarily guarantee savings.

    Those considering scaling down need to consider the drop in value of their current home, fees and commissions on selling that property, and mortgage costs and refinancing fees, according to SmartAboutMoney.org, which draws from surveys conducted by the National Endowment for Financial Education. "If you can't cut your expenses by at least 25 percent, downsizing may not be a suitable option for many Americans," according to the organization.

    There are also human factors that can work against well-intentioned retirees. "Many clients want to downsize, but their egos tend to get in the way," Caroline Delaney, executive vice president of Hillis Financial Services. "They may move into a smaller home, but many have difficulty actually cutting back money-wise. The initial purpose of downsizing is to have a smaller monthly outlay, yet the money they may save in mortgage payments ends up going to remodeling the new home or a new car payment." She recommends that retirees make sure they are actually reaping the benefits of scaling down.

    Read More: America's Top Places for Boomers to Retire

    "Taxes are also a crucial consideration when downsizing," Delaney said. "This varies by state and some research needs to be done if deciding to rent or buy during retirement."

    Another cost to consider is lifestyle costs for those who move away from costly cities ? and their entertainment and friends ? and now will have to travel to get to them.

    Meanwhile, retiree Lemon has found that divesting most of his material goods in his move to a smaller place has been a liberating step, though not one that is easy to quantify.

    Read More: Hitting 65, Boomers Seek Out 'Retirement Coaches'

    "Unless you're a compulsive shopper, there's an incentive to stop buying stuff, and I have. It's a significant savings," he said. "I think, though, more important it's not just a matter of saving money, it's a matter of what you do with your time. If you don't have a lot of stuff, you save a lot of time not having to maintain it or repair it or go shopping for more stuff."

    Since his retirement in 2007, he's written six books, most recently "Retirement: A Memoir and Guide."

    Services have risen to help seniors downsize their lives, from the nationwide company Caring Transitions to retirement communities such as the AF Village West in Riverside, Calif.

    "You need to establish current value of your existing home, calculate your share of any closing costs, what the financing costs are of the new home, and then calculate all the additional costs of moving, what your heating and cooling bills will be in the new home, and what if any repairs or improvements are needed in the new home," said Chris Seman, president of Caring Transitions. "If you don't have enough equity in the home the savings of moving could be quite minor. The decision then becomes, where would you be happier? If you save a very small amount to leave a home you love for one you do not, it isn't worth moving."

    Read More: Why Seniors Face Retirement 'Perfect Storm' in 2013

    Looking only at the numbers, it doesn't always pay to move, said Joel Danick, co-founder of TAD Relocation. "But if you take more than only the financials into consideration, the emotional piece, the social piece, the physical piece, then downsizing becomes less about the dollar figure and more about measuring the quality of life."

    The timing of a downsizing is also a critical consideration, he said. "It is an almost inevitable event that you cannot physically and possibly even financially keep the house in which you raised your children," Danick said, "and the older one gets, the more difficult ? physically and emotionally ? a move gets. The longer you stay in a home, the more overwhelming it becomes to move. If you move when you can enjoy the move, then moving isn't traumatic."

    Whether or not one decides to sell, "Cashing in on your home's value and downsizing should not be the only strategic card you are prepared to play in terms of funding your retirement," said Elle Kaplan, CEO and founding partner of Lexion Capital Management. "Ideally, retirement planning begins decades before you plan to retire."

    Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/downsizing-empty-nest-does-not-always-pay-1C8539396

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    How A Teacher Turned To Technology To Solve A Thorny Problem And Raised $100K

    Screen Shot 2013-02-26 at 11.32.03 AMThe clincher, the thing that made Quick Key go viral, was a poorly-lit video of an excitable guy holding his iPhone up to a Scantron page, one of those test pages you used to fill out in school. He thumbs through page after page, making comments on students' performance as the app scans the page and instantly reports a grade. The video was amazingly compelling. The creator, Walter O. Duncan IV, can barely contain his excitement. His app looked great, it worked seamlessly, and the video struck a nerve with students and teachers, pocketing 260,000 views on YouTube and popping up on the front page of Reddit.

    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QvwDY5L8wJM/

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    Geeksphone Keon hands-on: a small Firefox OS phone that has big dreams (video)

    Geeksphone Keon hands-on

    Geeksphone may be an online phone seller based in Spain, but the name of its lower-end Firefox OS reference phone, Keon, appears to be Dutch. Regardless of the title's origin, the part of the phone that's most intriguing is the fact that it's one of the first to bear Mozilla's mobile platform. It isn't much in the way of specs, and that's easy enough to tell from just glancing at it, thanks to a 3.5-inch HVGA display. Still, the Keon's set of specs is actually on par with the Firefox protocol. This means that for roughly around 100 euros, we can expect to see a device with a 3MP camera, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, a 1,580mAh battery and a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon S17225A CPU. Don't expect an earth-shattering experience on this kind of phone, as it's meant to reside strictly on the low end. The Keon will be making its way onto the official company store in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we've made a lovely video and photo gallery below, so check them out.

    Filed under: , ,

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    Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/geeksphone-keon-hands-on/

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    Doubts Emerge on the Value of Very Low Cholesterol Levels

    Image: frentusha /iStockphoto

    From Nature magazine.

    Soon after Joseph Francis learned that his levels of ?bad? LDL cholesterol sat at twice the norm, he discovered the short?comings of cholesterol-lowering drugs ? and of the clinical advice guiding their use. Francis, the director of clinical analysis and reporting at the Veterans Health Administration (VA) in Washington DC, started taking Lipitor (atorvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering statin and the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history. His LDL plummeted, but still hovered just above a target mandated by clinical guidelines. Adding other medications had no effect, and upping the dose of Lipitor made his muscles hurt ? a rare side effect of statins, which can cause muscle breakdown.

    So Francis pulled back to moderate Lipitor doses and decided that he could live with his high cholesterol. Later, he learned that other patients were being aggressively treated by doctors chasing stringent LDL targets. But Francis found the science behind the target guidelines to be surprisingly ambiguous. ?You couldn?t necessarily say lowering LDL further was going to benefit the patient,? he says.

    The standard advice may soon change. For the first time in more than a decade, the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is revising the clinical guidelines that shaped Francis?s treatment (see ?How low can you go??). Expected to be released later this year, the fourth set of guidelines, called ATP IV, has been drawn up by an expert panel of 15 cardiologists appointed by the institute. The guidelines will set the tone for clinical practice in the United States and beyond, and will profoundly influence pharmaceutical markets. They will also reflect the growing debate over cholesterol targets, which have never been directly tested in clinical trials.

    Since 2002, when ATP III called on doctors to push LDL levels below set targets, the concept of low cholesterol has become synonymous with heart health. Patients brag about their cholesterol scores, physicians joke about adding statins to drinking water, and some hospitals reward doctors when patients hit cholesterol targets.

    In 2011, US doctors wrote nearly 250 million prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering drugs, creating a US$18.5-billion market, according to IMS Health, a health-care technology and information company based in Danbury, Connecticut. ?The drug industry in particular is very much in favour of target-based measures,? says Joseph Drozda, a cardiologist and director of outcomes research at Mercy Health in Chesterfield, Missouri. ?It drives the use of products.?

    ATP III reflected a growing consensus among physicians that sharply lowering cholesterol would lessen the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes, says Richard Cooper, an epidemiologist at the Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Illinois, who served on the committee that compiled the guidelines. The committee drew heavily on clinical data, but also took extrapolations from basic research and post hoc analyses of clinical trials. LDL targets were set to be ?less than? specific values to send a message, Cooper says. ?We didn?t want to explicitly say ?the lower the better? because there wasn?t evidence for that,? he says. ?But everybody had the strong feeling that was the correct answer.?

    By contrast, the ATP IV committee has pledged to hew strictly to the science and to focus on data from randomized clinical trials, says committee chairman Neil Stone, a cardiologist at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago. If so, Krumholz argues, LDL targets will be cast aside because they have never been explicitly tested. Clinical trials have shown repeatedly that statins reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, but lowering LDL with other medications does not work as well. The benefits of statins may reflect their other effects on the body, including fighting inflammation, another risk factor for heart disease.

    Krumholz?s scepticism is rooted in experience. In 2008 and 2010, the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial challenged dogma when it reported that lowering blood pressure or blood sugar to prespecified targets did not reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. In the case of blood sugar, the risks were worsened. The trial demonstrated the folly of assuming that risk factors must have a causal role in disease, says Robert Vogel, a cardiologist at the University of Colorado, Denver. ?Short people have a higher risk of heart disease,? he says. ?But wearing high heels does not lower your risk.?

    Jay Cohn, a cardiologist at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, also worries that the focus on LDL levels offers up the wrong patients for statin therapy. Most of those who have a heart attack do not have high LDL, he notes. Cohn advocates treating patients with statins based on the state of health of their arteries, as revealed by noninvasive tests such as ultrasound. ?If your arteries and heart are healthy, I don?t care what your LDL or blood pressure is,? he says.

    ?We can?t just assume that modifying the risk factor is modifying risk.?
    Not all cardiologists want to abolish LDL targets. Indeed, Seth Martin, a fellow in cardiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, believes that ATP IV should reduce LDL targets further. The simplicity of targets has helped to deliver an important public-health message, he says, and motivated many patients to get the statin therapy that he believes they need. ?Just to throw that out the window doesn?t seem like the ideal scenario.?

    Whatever the decision, the pharmaceutical industry will be watching closely, says Donny Wong, an analyst at Decision Resources, a market-research company based in Watertown, Massachusetts. Although most statins are off patent, the big pharmaceutical companies are racing to bring the next LDL-lowering drug to market. In particular, millions of dollars have been poured into drugs that inhibit a protein called PCSK9, an enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis. This approach lowers LDL but has not yet been shown to reduce heart attacks or strokes.

    Francis expects the new guidelines to relax the targets. He and his colleagues decided last autumn to change the VA?s own clinical standards, so that they no longer rely solely on an LDL target but instead encourage doctors to prescribe a moderate dose of statin when otherwise healthy patients have high LDL cholesterol. The ATP IV guidelines will take a similar approach, he speculates, noting that the VA consulted several outside experts who are also serving on the ATP committee.

    Despite an increasingly vegetarian diet, Francis?s cholesterol has not budged. ?Sometimes I want to call my physician and say, ?Don?t worry about that target,?? he says. ?It?s going to be changing very soon.?
    ?

    This story is reprinted with permission from Nature. It was first published on February 26, 2013.

    Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2c469272062847be164c9192fe12d2d8

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    Recording Industry Manages a Sliver of Growth for the First Time Since 1999

    Global recorded music revenues grew .3-percent to $16.5 billion last year, marking the first increase since 1999. That's the year, you'll remember, that Napster and file sharing brought the industry to its knees. More »


    Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/P8zSMdO67yI/recording-industry-manages-a-sliver-of-growth-for-the-first-time-since-1999

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    A Wise Woman Builds Her Home: Motherhood Patience--Only One ...

    Dear mothers, do you ever get caught up in your "to-do" list and endless responsibilities? Do you get upset with the children slow you down or children get in the way? Do you want to have a clean house at any cost?

    Here is a wonderful reminder of seeing the importance treating our children with love and not letting the precious moments of childhood slip by us for the temporal:

    Only One Childhood

    I stopped to watch my little girl

    Busy playing in her room.?

    In one hand was a plastic phone

    In the other a toy broom.

    I listened as she was speaking

    To her make-believe little friend

    And I'll never forget the words she said

    ?Even though it was pretend.

    She said, "Suzies in the corner

    'Cause she's not been very good.?

    She didn't listen to a word I said

    Or do the things she should."

    In the corner I saw her baby doll

    All dressed in lace and pink

    It was obvious she'd been put there

    To sit alone and think.

    My daughter continued her "conversation."

    As I sat down on the floor

    She said, "I'm all fed up, I just don't know

    What to do with her anymore.

    "She whines whenever I have to work

    And want to play games, too;

    And never lets me do the things

    That I just have to do.

    She tries to help me with the dishes

    But her arms just cannot reach.?

    And she doesn't know how to fold the towels

    And I don't have time to teach.

    "I have alot of work to do

    And a big house to keep clean.

    I don't have time to sit and play---

    Don't you know what I mean?"

    And that day I though a lot about

    Making some changes in my life.

    As I listened ot her innocent words

    That cut me like a knife.

    I hadn't been paying enough attention

    To what I hold most dear

    I'd been caught up in responsibilities

    That increased throughout the year.

    But now my attitude has changed.

    Because in my heart, I realize

    I've seen the world in a different light.

    Through my little darling's eyes.

    So, let the cobweb have the corners

    And the dust bunnies rule the floor.

    I'm not going to worry about

    Trying so hard to keep up with them anymore.

    I'm going to fill the house with memories

    Of a child and her mother

    For God grants us only ONE childhood

    And we will never get another.?

    by L. Ellis

    ?Are you encouraged here?


    Source: http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2013/02/motherhood-patience-only-one-childhood.html

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    Tuesday, February 26, 2013

    March of the pathogens: Parasite metabolism can foretell disease ranges under climate change

    March of the pathogens: Parasite metabolism can foretell disease ranges under climate change

    Monday, February 25, 2013

    Knowing the temperatures that viruses, bacteria, worms and all other parasites need to grow and survive could help determine the future range of infectious diseases under climate change, according to new research.

    Princeton University researchers developed a model that can identify the prospects for nearly any disease-causing parasite as the Earth grows warmer, even if little is known about the organism. Their method calculates how the projected temperature change for an area would alter the creature's metabolism and life cycle, the researchers report in the journal Ecology Letters.

    Lead author P?ter Moln?r, a Princeton postdoctoral researcher of ecology and evolutionary biology, explained that the technique is an all-inclusive complement to current methods of predicting how climate change will affect disease, which call for a detailed knowledge of the environmental factors a specific parasite needs to thrive. But for many parasites, that information doesn't exist.

    The more general Princeton model is based on the metabolic theory of ecology. Under this premise, all biological organisms need a balance between body size and body temperature to maintain the metabolism that keeps their organs functioning. Like any cold-blooded creature, disease-causing parasites rely on external temperatures for this balance. Scientists with knowledge of a parasite's body size and life cycle could use the Princeton metabolic model to predict how the organism would fare in altered climates.

    "Our framework is applicable to pretty much any parasite, and utilizes established metabolic patterns shown to hold across a wide variety of species," Moln?r said.

    "It would be impossible to ever gather enough data to develop a separate climate-change model for each existing and emerging disease in humans, wildlife and livestock," Moln?r said. "With our physiological approach, many of the parameters for a specific pathogen can be predicted based on what is known about metabolic processes in all parasites, so that the model remains applicable to new and less-studied species as well."

    The Princeton model estimates the "fundamental thermal niche" of a parasite, the area between the lowest and highest temperature in which a specific parasite prospers. The researchers show that an organism already kicking around the high end of that range could die out when things heat up, while a parasite lingering at the low end could lead to novel epidemics in host populations and extend to new areas.

    Because global temperatures will still differ by elevation and distance from the equator, some parasites also might "migrate" from their previous territory ? rendered inhospitable by higher temperatures ? to one more inviting. That could expose human and animal populations to new diseases to which they may have little natural resistance. Thus, having an idea of which areas a parasite might transition to is important, Moln?r said.

    "As metabolism varies with temperature, parasite life-cycle components such as mortality, development, reproduction or infectivity may also vary with temperature," Moln?r said. "If, for a specific parasite, we know the temperature dependence of its metabolism, or the temperature dependence of its life-cycle components, our model allows using these temperature effects to evaluate the impact of climate change on parasite fitness, and thus the regions in which the parasite may occur in the future."

    Ryan Hechinger, a biologist at the University of California-Santa Barbara, said the framework adds to recent research tempering the fear that infectious diseases will uniformly flourish as global temperatures rise. Hechinger, who focuses his research on parasite ecology and evolution, is familiar with the work but had no role in it.

    "There has been quite a bit of a 'the sky is falling' attitude from people claiming that infectious diseases are only going to get worse," Hechinger said. "We can't forget that most infectious diseases are caused by living agents. Like most living things, these agents may be negatively or positively affected by climate change. The modeling in this paper clarifies that infectious diseases may increase or decrease under climate change, specifically under global warming."

    In addition, Hechinger said, the Princeton technique applies to any parasites that venture outside of a warm-blooded host, including organisms that plague humans, such as Plasmodium, the microorganism that causes malaria.

    "If the parasites have stages when they are loose in the environment, they will be impacted by temperature. This goes for parasites with developmental stages in cold-blooded hosts because those hosts are affected by environmental temperatures," Hechinger said.

    "So, the modeling framework can work for human malarias because there are parasite stages in cold-blooded mosquitos, or human schistosomiasis [most common in children in developing countries], where the parasite has stages in cold-blooded snails and free-living stages in the open environment," he said.

    The Princeton model could potentially appertain to those disease carriers as well, Moln?r said. The framework could predict the future ranges of cold-blooded animals for use in combating invasive species, or even in the conservation of such animals as reptiles and amphibians, he said.

    Moln?r worked with senior researcher Andrew Dobson, Princeton professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, as well as with second author Susan Kutz, an associate professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary, and Bryanne Hoar, a graduate student in the Kutz lab.

    The researchers tested their model on Ostertagia gruehneri, a species of nematode, or roundworm, that lives in the Arctic. Among the world's most widespread parasites, the larval stages of parasitic roundworms are free-living in the environment or utilize a cold-blooded intermediate host, while the adult stages live within their final hosts, and may cause conditions such as trichinosis.

    Hoar and Kutz had reared O. gruehneri larvae in various temperatures, and recorded their development and survival. Moln?r and Dobson found that these observations correlated extremely well with how their metabolic model predicted the species would respond to increased Arctic temperatures. Under future conditions, the parasite's infectious season could split from what is now a continuous spring-to-fall transmission season into two longer fall and spring seasons separated by a hot, unlivable summer.

    While the seasonal life of a nematode might seem trivial, what affects the parasite affects the host, Moln?r said. The researchers are broadening their model to gauge how O. gruehneri's new active seasons would alter the relationship with its primary host, the caribou. They also are investigating the recent range expansion of a nematode with a penchant for the lungs of muskoxen, a wooly bovine native to the Arctic.

    Moln?r and his colleagues want to know what further population growth could be expected from these parasites as the Arctic climate continues to warm, and the eventual toll that would have on caribou and muskoxen herds.

    ###

    Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu

    Thanks to Princeton University for this article.

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

    This press release has been viewed 33 time(s).

    Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127004/March_of_the_pathogens__Parasite_metabolism_can_foretell_disease_ranges_under_climate_change_

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    Hands-on with the ASUS Fonepad

    ASUS Fonepad.

    Android has a long history of playing host to ridiculously large smartphones. First there was the Dell Streak. Next came the original Samsung Galaxy Note. And now in 2013 we have the ASUS Fonepad, a 7-inch tablet that's also a 7-inch phone. On first inspection the Fonepad looks a little bit like a another 7-inch ASUS tablet, the Nexus 7. But unlike that device it's also a full 3G/HSPA phone, complete with earpiece and microphone. That's right, you can hold this seven-inch slab of electronics to your head and make telephone calls.

    Android Central at Mobile World CongressWhere other large smartphones -- including Huawei's gigantic Ascend Mate -- trim down their bezels to make them more pocket and hand-friendly, ASUS has chosen to incorporate a tablet-sized screen trim on the Fonepad. As a result, using the device as a telephone in the usual way is the binary opposite of ergonomic. If you felt awkward making phone calls on a Galaxy Note, that's nothing by comparison. Assuming you posses digits large enough to palm the Fonepad to your ear, you're going to feel like an idiot walking around with it pressed to your face.

    read more



    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/tdbpC9u7A6A/story01.htm

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    Net providers begin warning of illegal downloads

    WASHINGTON (AP) ? Internet users who are illegally sharing music, movies or television shows are going to start to receive warning notices from the nation's five major Internet service providers.

    The Copyright Alert System, organized by the recording and film industry, is being activated this week to target consumers who may be engaging in piracy using peer-to-peer software.

    Under the new system, complaints will prompt an Internet service provider ? such as Verizon or AT&T ? to notify a customer whose Internet address has been detected sharing files illegally. A person will be given up to six opportunities to stop before the Internet provider will take more drastic steps, such as temporarily slowing their connection. Proponents say the focus is on educating consumers. They acknowledge it's unlikely to deter chronic violators.

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-25-US-Internet-Piracy/id-4a439fbeca7f47649fc30d0a4bedfa4b

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    ZTE announces Grand Memo: first Android smartphone with 1.5GHz Snapdragon 800 processor

    Image

    Today marks the third time we've come across ZTE's Grand Memo. Except now, the Chinese OEM's unveiling it as the first to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processor. The Grand Memo's 5.7-inch display size has remained the same, but the screen on this new 8.5mm thick LTE variant will now pack a 1080p resolution -- a handy spec given its usability as a multimedia point of consumption. The audio experience on this tabletphone will also get a suitable premium bump with the inclusion of Dolby Digital Surround. Apart from all that, there's still a 13-megapixel camera module on back and healthy 3,200mAh battery inside its plastic shell. No specifics regarding pricing and regional availability were given, but we can expect to see it launch sometime "this year."

    Update: ZTE's confirmed that the Grand Memo will initially launch in China and then Europe soon after. As for its US destiny, all we were told is that the company's exploring its options.

    Filed under: , ,

    Comments

    Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/z4_EZc-YmwE/

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    Moments of spirituality can induce liberal attitudes, researchers find

    Feb. 25, 2013 ? People become more politically liberal immediately after practising a spiritual exercise such as meditation, researchers at the University of Toronto have found.

    "There's great overlap between religious beliefs and political orientations," says one of the study authors, Jordan Peterson of U of T's Department of Psychology. "We found that religious individuals tend to be more conservative and spiritual people tend to be more liberal. Inducing a spiritual experience through a guided meditation exercise led both liberals and conservatives to endorse more liberal political attitudes."

    "While religiousness is characterized by devotion to a specific tradition, set of principles, or code of conduct, spirituality is associated with the direct experience of self-transcendence and the feeling that we're all connected," says lead author Jacob Hirsh of U of T's Rotman School of Management.

    In three studies, the researchers -- Hirsh, Peterson and Megan Walberg, examined their participants' political views in relation to their religiousness and spirituality. In the first study, they asked 590 American participants whether they identified as Democrat or Republican. In the second study, they measured 703 participants' political orientations and support for the major American and Canadian political parties. The researchers confirmed that religiousness was associated with political conservatism, while spirituality was associated with political liberalism. These associations were in turn due to the common values underlying these orientations: conservatism and religiousness both emphasize the importance of tradition, while liberalism and spirituality both emphasize the importance of equality and social harmony.

    In the third study, the researchers recruited 317 participants from the U.S. and asked half to complete a spiritual exercise consisting of a guided meditation video. Those who watched the video were asked to close their eyes and breathe deeply, imagining themselves in a natural setting and feeling connected to the environment. They were then asked about their political orientation and to rate how spiritual they felt. The researchers reported that, compared to those in the control group, participants who meditated felt significantly higher levels of spirituality and expressed more liberal political attitudes, including a reduced support for "tough on crime" policies and a preference for liberal political candidates.

    "Spiritual experiences seem to make people feel more of a connection with others," says Hirsh. "The boundaries we normally maintain between ourselves and the world tend to dissolve during spiritual experiences. These feelings of self-transcendence make it easier to recognize that we are all part of the same system, promoting an inclusive and egalitarian mindset."

    The researchers hope that these findings can not only advance our understanding of spirituality, but also help future political dialogue.

    "The conservative part of religious belief has played an important role in holding cultures together and establishing common rules. The spiritual part, on the other hand, helps cultures renew themselves by adapting to changing circumstances," says Peterson. "Both right and left are necessary; it's not that either is correct, it's that the dialogue between them produces the best chance we have at getting the balance right. If people could understand that both sides have an important role to play in society, some of the unnecessary tension might be eliminated."

    Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

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    Story Source:

    The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Toronto, via Newswise.

    Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


    Journal Reference:

    1. J. B. Hirsh, M. D. Walberg, J. B. Peterson. Spiritual Liberals and Religious Conservatives. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2012; 4 (1): 14 DOI: 10.1177/1948550612444138

    Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

    Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

    Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/SRV_F2HHYyE/130225131532.htm

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    Eager Israelis send invites to Obama ahead of tour

    In this photo taken on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, a general view of the Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim is seen on the outskirts of Jerusalem. President Barack Obama is coming to town, and it seems like everyone in Israel wants to be a part of the historic visit. One invitation has come from Benny Kashriel, the mayor of the West Bank Jewish settlement Maaleh Adumim. Kashriel wants to host Obama in a contested area known as E-1, where Israel envisages construction of more than 3,000 apartments. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

    In this photo taken on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, a general view of the Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim is seen on the outskirts of Jerusalem. President Barack Obama is coming to town, and it seems like everyone in Israel wants to be a part of the historic visit. One invitation has come from Benny Kashriel, the mayor of the West Bank Jewish settlement Maaleh Adumim. Kashriel wants to host Obama in a contested area known as E-1, where Israel envisages construction of more than 3,000 apartments. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

    (AP) ? President Barack Obama is coming to town, and it seems like everyone in Israel wants to be a part of the historic visit.

    From West Bank settlers to peace activists, universities to municipalities, Israelis of all stripes are sending out invites to lure Obama their way in bids to bend his ear on the issues that could decide the fate of the region.

    Obama's visit, his first to Israel as president, comes during rising tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, years of deadlocked peace efforts and a tense relationship between the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Just beneath the surface is the feeling of many Israelis that up to now, Obama's administration has been unsympathetic to Israel, frequently criticizing its policies toward the Palestinians. The U.S. considers its policies balanced, noting that it has opposed resolutions critical of Israel at the U.N.

    Despite the differences, the U.S. remains Israel's main world ally.

    While Obama's schedule has not been made public, officials and ordinary Israelis alike appear eager to exploit the upcoming tour, also expected to take him to the West Bank and Jordan next month. The Israeli government has released a logo and slogan for the trip, naming it "Unshakable Alliance," and is scouting places for Obama to visit.

    Mixed feelings are coloring the invitations.

    One has come from Benny Kashriel, mayor of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim, near Jerusalem. Kashriel wants to host Obama in a contested area known as E-1, where Israel envisages construction of more than 3,000 apartments.

    Building in the area is contentious because the Palestinians say it would hinder movement between east Jerusalem, their hoped-for capital, and the West Bank. Kashriel said he would take Obama to a hilltop overlooking the area and rebut the Palestinian argument.

    "I have no doubt I will convince him to see the truth," said Kashriel, who delivered an invitation through the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

    Israel revived the E-1 plans late last year in response to the Palestinians' successful bid for U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The announced plans, on the back burner for years, drew unusually sharp criticism from some of Israel's staunchest allies ? including the U.S.

    The issue of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank in general has drawn much criticism from the U.S. and stands at the heart of a four-year impasse in Mideast peace efforts. The Palestinians have refused to negotiate while Israel continues to build in settlements on the lands they seek for their state. Netanyahu says talks should resume without any preconditions.

    Obama has rejected settlements as illegitimate but has done little to force Israel to halt construction.

    Appealing to Obama to restart the peace talks, Israelis on the dovish end of the political spectrum have put out a plea on Facebook for Obama to deliver a grand "Speech for Peace" in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, where then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who signed the first interim accords with the Palestinians, was assassinated by an ultranationalist Israeli opposed to his peace moves.

    Yaniv Shacham, a manager of the page, which has attracted more than 21,000 "likes," said Obama's ability to reach out to the people, both in his public appearances in the U.S. and on visits abroad, could resonate with Israelis.

    "If he knew that he could fill the square with hundreds of thousands of Israelis ... he would see there are many Israelis who support the ideas and ideals he represents and certainly the renewal of peace talks," Shacham said.

    Academic institutions have been vying to host the prestigious guest. One is Bar-Ilan University, the site of a landmark 2009 speech by Netanyahu in which he declared his support for a two-state solution with the Palestinians. That speech ended years of Netanyahu's opposition to Palestinian independence, but his policy offers less than earlier Israeli proposals that did not result in a peace accord.

    The mayor of Haifa, a mixed Israeli-Arab port city in northern Israel, has invited Obama to see "the only city in the world where Jews and Arabs have had peaceful relations for more than 100 years," setting an example for Israelis and Palestinians.

    At least 20 Facebook groups ? each called "Obama come to..." ? have sprouted up, inviting Obama to different locations. Some are cheekier than others, like a sports stadium that hosts a team known for its anti-Arab fans, or a Palestinian town in the West Bank that holds weekly protests against Israel's separation barrier.

    Neither the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv nor the White House responded to questions about Obama's schedule and whether he might accept any of the invitations pouring in.

    One likely venue could be the Knesset, Israel's parliament, where high-profile visitors including Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Anwar Sadat, the late Egyptian leader who reached a historic peace accord with the Jewish state, all delivered addresses. Israeli media have said officials are undecided because of the possibility of hard-line lawmakers heckling the president, but the acting speaker has asked that Netanyahu invite Obama anyway.

    The visit appears to be generating less excitement in the West Bank. Palestinians believe peace efforts are doomed unless the U.S., as Israel's closest ally, pressures Israel to make concessions. The White House has said Obama is not planning any major peace initiative on this trip. The Palestinian Authority refused to comment on the trip on Monday.

    Eytan Gilboa, an expert on Israel-U.S. relations at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, said Obama is unlikely to accept the invitation of the settlement mayor. A speech aimed at the Israeli public is more likely, but it probably won't happen in the open-air Rabin Square because of security concerns, he said.

    "Everything has its connotations and constellations and contexts, so the choice of locations is made very cautiously," said Gilboa, noting that every place Obama visits will be watched carefully and interpreted endlessly. "The purpose of the places he visits will be to leave with an improved image."

    ___

    Follow Tia Goldenberg on www.twitter.com/tgoldenberg

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-25-Israel-Obama%20Invites/id-d30abcdd21214228b2c277389beb31f1

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