Kuwait Finance House organizes global economic real estate forum ...

International Real Estate Department Manager Ali Al-Ghannam said that this step serves to underline KFH's leading role in the real estate investment field worldwide; especially in the United States and Canada, where its investments reached USD 1 billion. In addition, KFH represents the Middle East in its partnership with AFIRE.

Al-Ghannam asserted that the forum will allow the participants to meet and discuss global developments in the real estate field worldwide, which can positively impact KFH's performance.
It is worth noting that Brown, who holds a PhD in History, used to work as a lecturer at the beginning of his career, and was one of the first experts who called for global action to face global economic crisis. In addition to Brown, Robert Kagan, who is one of the most famous 100 intellectuals worldwide, will take part in the discussions.

Furthermore, Al-Ghannam revealed that other experts will take part in the event, such as Raymond Torto, Andrew Yendal, Tim O'Neil, Richard Price, and Eyan Reed.

Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/288226.html

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AZZA Fusion 4000

Calling the AZZA Fusion 4000 a gaming case is like calling the Empire State Building an office complex: technically correct, but woefully inadequate. So big is this case, in fact, that it can hold not only an ATX motherboard and all the trimmings, but also a separate Mini ITX motherboard and all of its trimmings?in both instances, including the power supply. Die-hard DIYers will undoubtedly love all the options the case gives them, and at $259.99 (list) the price is even sensible. But the Fusion 4000 is, unsurprisingly, difficult to carry and bulky enough to defeat some typical work habits, so unless you have a specific need for its unusual offerings, you're better off setting your sights elsewhere.

Assuming, that is, you can even see over the top of the Fusion 4000. Measuring a dizzying 30.7 by 10.2 by 24 inches (HWD), this is, by quite a margin, the tallest case we've ever seen. It dwarfs the Thermaltake Level 10, and even hulking full-system behemoths we?ve seen from boutique desktop manufacturers, like the Maingear Shift or the BFG Phobos (which also housed a smaller computer), tremble under its mighty shadow. And with a weight of 42 pounds empty, it's also one of the heaviest. Though these qualities are imposing, neither would present much of a problem were it easy to transport. But no: There's no handle, whether a detachable one or even an indentation on the exterior bottom panel. That makes carrying it around both a figurative and literal pain; we recommend placing the shipping box where you'll want the case to stay forever before unpacking it. (And, remember, chances are that this monster will fit only under the most Brobdingnagian of desks.)

At least the Fusion 4000 is decent on the equipment front. Its dual PC-nality, for one thing, is well addressed. The components for the Mini ITX system are installed in the uppermost of the case's two chambers, which opens (on either side) when you push two locking switches and lower a hinged door. Inside you'll find two internal 3.5-inch drive bays (which, thanks to two preinstalled SATA backplanes, are hot-swappable), two external 5.25-inch bays, and a single expansion slot. There isn't room up here for a full-size power supply, but you won't need one for most Mini ITX builds anyway. If you decide you don't want to install another computer in this area, you can use included replacement rear-panel plates to instead add a vent (for another fan) or a second full-size power supply (a special Y-cable, for linking both power supplies' output to the motherboard's 24-pin input, is included for this purpose).

The lower chamber is accessed in the traditional manner: by removing two thumbscrews and pulling off the side panel. In addition to the four 5.25-inch and six 3.5-inch drive bays down here, you'll also find two bays designed specifically for 2.5-inch drives (most likely of the solid-state variety); all of these are externally accessible from behind a front-panel door containing two 140mm intake fans. Because this is a truly hard-core case, there are ten expansion slots, so you can install one of the few XL-ATX gaming motherboards on the market, such as the Gigabyte G1.Assassin or the EVGA X79 Classified (though, of course, E-ATX and standard ATX form factors are fine as well). Grommeted openings allow for easy routing of wires and cables throughout the case, and there?s plenty of room beneath the motherboard for running cables; and a large rectangular hole facilitates adding mounting plates for aftermarket CPU coolers.

There's decent front-panel connectivity, too, from two adjacent collections of ports on the front of the top panel?ostensibly one set for each of the two computers you may want to install. In total there are three USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports (which connect to a header on your compatible motherboard), two headphone and two microphone jacks, and two power and reset buttons. It can be intuited (correctly) that the upper set is for the Mini ITX system and the lower set for the ATX system, but there's no direct indication of this anywhere near the controls themselves.

There are a few other examples of a lack of polish as well. In addition to the potentially confusing controls and the lack of a carrying handle, the front-panel drive door scrapes along the floor if you try to open it; you can alleviate this problem by using the included stand (which will add another 1.5 inches to the case?s height), but preinstalled feet don?t seem to be a lot to ask on a case that?s this skyscrapingly unwieldy. We were also disappointed in how relatively few fans were included. In addition to the aforementioned intake fans, there's a single 140mm exhaust fan in the ATX chamber?and that's it. There's room for two more fans (either 120mm or 140mm, or one measuring 230mm) in both the filtered side panel and up to four more fans (120mm, or three 140mm, or two 230mm) in the top panel, but none of these is included. Perhaps AZZA assumed that anyone choosing a case this extravagant would default to liquid cooling (there are plenty of grommeted rear-panel openings for routing piping into and out of the case, and the company boasts it can fit three such coolers at once), but this is too big of a case to be cooled so casually out of the box.

Worse is that there's no convenient way to work in the Fusion 4000. We normally advise laying cases horizontally on a flat surface, but doing so with this case could easily eat up more real estate on most workbenches or dinner tables than you may have to spend. If ever a case in modern times cried out for a removable motherboard tray, this is the one?but such a feature is sadly absent. You could remove the Mini ITX "case," but that's a relatively involved and cumbersome procedure that shouldn?t be necessary. We also found both the top panel, which consists mostly of louvered vents, and the Mini ITX chamber's side door flimsy; we frequently had difficulty snapping them back into place when we were done, and more than once inadvertently opened the side panels just by touching them the wrong way.

The good news is that once you solve (or look past) these shortcomings, installing components is not much of a chore. The Mini ITX chamber is a bit cramped, true, but if you install as much as you can on the motherboard before putting it in, the process isn't too bad. (We recommend doing that anyway.) Tool-free construction on almost all of the drive bays and expansion slots means you won't need your Phillips screwdriver for much beyond attaching the motherboard. (The one curious exception? The Mini ITX chamber?s single expansion slot.) And you certainly don?t have to worry about having enough space for, well, everything, even extra-long video cards like the AMD Radeon HD 6990.

Attractive as the AZZA Fusion 4000 may be, with its stylish matte black and red accenting inside and out, for all regular intents and purposes the case simply isn't practical. Other extra-tall cases, like the Corsair Obsidian Series 800D are more manageable; and more still, whether the original Level 10 or its Level 10 GT offshoot (both of which are Editors' Choices and, we feel obliged to mention, have handles), are more "fun" and more engagingly designed. The Fusion 4000 is novel only for its two-systems-in-one gimmick, which will appeal to only a small minority of even the most adventurous DIYers. If you know you need this case's unique features, you won't be too disappointed in what you get; but for everyone else the Fusion 4000 is neither compelling nor reasonable enough.

More PC Case Reviews:
??? AZZA Fusion 4000
??? AZZA Toledo 301
??? NZXT Tempest 410 Elite
??? Thermaltake Chaser MK-I
??? Sentey Burton GS-6500
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/01WdklOayIs/0,2817,2399439,00.asp

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Mayor Thomas represents Princeton at RDOS meeting

Princeton mayor Fred Thomas represented the town at a Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen meeting Jan. 26, despite council's previous decision to appoint a councillor to the board instead.

In December, town council voted for Coun. Frank Armitage to sit on the RDOS board -? a position usually given to a community's mayor.

But a decision was made to appoint the mayor to the board during a meeting on Jan. 11, Thomas said.

Armitage had originally proposed that he himself should be appointed to the RDOS board for a year, but Thomas had the decision postponed to Jan. 11, when council members reviewed how they would make appointments, he said.

Armitage will now be Thomas' alternate for the board and will remain appointed to the?Similkameen Valley Planning Society.

Council will officially vote on who should be Princeton's RDOS director during the next council meeting on Monday, but Thomas said he expects members to vote for him because they agreed to it on Jan. 11.

A motion was brought forward at the RDOS meeting to have the Regional District send a letter to all communities recommending mayors be appointed as director representatives to the RDOS board.

Thomas thinks the motion is?beneficial.

"The mayor is the spokesman for the town. It's a special role that he carries. It's a role that is needed frequently in RDOS meetings," he said.

But he does recognize that the motion may need some work.

"It's in complete conflict with the [Community] Charter, which says that it is a council responsibility to make the appointments."

?

?

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Source: http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/138177724.html

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Insurer WellPoint's 4Q profit drops 39 percent (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? WellPoint Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income sank 39 percent as medical claims increased, mostly because of a $50 million hit from the health insurer's Medicare Advantage business. But the company forecast earnings growth in 2012.

The performance led to a rare miss of Wall Street expectations, and WellPoint's full-year earnings outlook also fell short of analyst forecasts. The Indianapolis company's stock, which had mostly climbed so far in 2012, fell Wednesday.

Investors are used to managed-care companies beating expectations handily, so WellPoint's performance will not sit well, Jefferies analyst David Windley said in a research note.

WellPoint, which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states, said medical claims climbed nearly 10 percent in the quarter to $12.43 billion. In contrast, that expense fell 5 percent in the 2010 quarter. Medical claims are the insurer's largest expense.

WellPoint said the change was driven largely by expenses tied to its Medicare Advantage coverage.

Medicare Advantage plans are privately run, government-subsidized versions of the government's Medicare program for the elderly. WellPoint said it lost $50 million in the quarter and $150 million in 2011 due to a Northern California plan that attracted more customers with a higher risk profile than the insurer expected, because a competitor left the market. Those customers generated more in claims than they provided in premiums.

WellPoint discontinued that plan as of Jan. 1.

"This actually should not repeat at all in 2012," Chief Financial Officer Wayne DeVeydt said.

Overall, WellPoint earned $335.3 million, or 96 cents per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That's down from $548.8 million, or $1.40 per share, in the final quarter of 2010. Adjusted net income, which excludes investment gains, was 99 cents per share.

Operating revenue, which also excludes investment gains, climbed 5.5 percent to $15.18 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected, on average, earnings of $1.12 per share on $15.46 billion in revenue.

WellPoint spokeswoman Kristin Binns also said the insurer faced a tough comparison with its performance in the final quarter of 2010. In that quarter, it recorded a benefit of $315 million because claims left over from previous quarters came in lower than expected. It had no gain like that in the 2011 quarter.

Managed care companies have been buoyed the past few quarters by health care use that has grown at lower-than-expected rates. This trend, which many say is driven by a pullback in consumer spending, has helped companies consistently beat analyst expectations. Analysts have said they expect this trend to continue into 2012.

DeVeydt said health care use did rise in the fourth quarter, but it remained lower than normal, and trends were affected more by the cost of care than the number of people receiving it. In other words, the insurer saw bigger hospital bills rather than more people heading to the hospital.

WellPoint competitor UnitedHealth Group Inc. said last week it expects health care use to increase steadily throughout the new year. UnitedHealth reported a 21 percent increase in fourth-quarter earnings, to $1.26 billion, or $1.17 per share.

For 2012, WellPoint expects to earn at least $7.60 per share on about $62.1 billion in operating revenue. Analysts expect earnings of $7.76 per share on $63 billion in revenue. Windley said he expects WellPoint's initial outlook to increase during the year.

WellPoint also said Wednesday that its board approved an increase in its quarterly dividend from 25 cents per share to 28.7 cents. The dividend will be paid in March.

WellPoint shares fell $3.30, or 4.8 percent, to close at $66.10 Wednesday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_wellpoint

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Wikipedia founder hails halting of US piracy bills

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia gestures during an interview with the Associated Press at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Wales is fighting to stop a recent US plan to tighten anti-piracy laws and his vision for the open-source online encyclopedia. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia gestures during an interview with the Associated Press at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Wales is fighting to stop a recent US plan to tighten anti-piracy laws and his vision for the open-source online encyclopedia. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia gestures during an interview with the Associated Press at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Wales is fighting to stop a recent US plan to tighten anti-piracy laws and his vision for the open-source online encyclopedia. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? The founder of Wikipedia has hailed the online encyclopedia's role in helping halt U.S. legislation aimed at cracking down on Internet piracy.

Jimmy Wales told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that the idea to black out Wikipedia's English pages for 24 hours came from the site's volunteer editors, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move.

Wales says the two bills that Congress postponed indefinitely last week were "very badly designed, technologically incompetent, and just something that we felt needed to be stopped."

Wikipedia was among a number of sites that argued the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act would hurt technological innovation and infringe on free-speech rights.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-26-EU-Davos-Forum-Wikipedia/id-4f160e17c519428db52cc1bfb662bc92

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Nokia posts $1.38 billion loss in fourth quarter (AP)

HELSINKI ? Mobile phone maker Nokia Corp. on Thursday posted a fourth-quarter net loss of euro1.07 billion ($1.38 billion) as sales slumped 21 percent even as the company's first Windows smartphones hit markets in Europe and Asia.

The loss compares with a profit of euro745 million in the same period a year earlier.

Nokia said net revenue ? including both its mobile phones and its network divisions ? fell from euro12.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010 to euro10 billion, with smartphone sales plunging 23 percent.

Nokia has lost its once-dominant position in the global cell phone market, with Android phones and iPhones overtaking it in the growing smartphone segment.

The Finnish company is attempting a comeback with phones using Microsoft's Windows software, a struggle that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop characterized as a "war of ecosystems."

He said Nokia has sold "well over" 1 million such devices since the launch of the Lumia line in the fourth quarter, in line with company expectations.

Including other models, Nokia sold 19 million smartphones in the quarter. By comparison, Apple sold 37 million iPhones in the same period.

The Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 hit stores in Europe and Asia in November while T-Mobile started offering the 710 in the U.S. in January.

"From this beachhead of more than 1 million Lumia devices, you will see us push forward with the sales, marketing and successive product introductions necessary to be successful," Elop said. "We also plan to bring the Lumia series to additional markets including China and Latin America in the first half of 2012."

Nokia shares rose more than 5 percent to euro4.28 ($5.54) in afternoon trading in Helsinki.

Michael Schroeder, analyst at FIM bank in Helsinki, said markets had welcomed Elop's comments on sales of Lumia.

"It definitely alleviated concerns about a horror scenario, expected by some. Although a million is not a lot in the market, it was better than expected," Schroeder said.

The company said it would not provide annual targets for 2012 as it was in a "year of transition" but added that it expects operating margins in the first quarter of this year to be "about break-even, ranging either above or below by approximately 2 percentage points."

It repeated the target of cutting costs by more than euro1 billion by 2013.

Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics in London said Nokia "was not out of the woods yet," but its quarterly result was in line with expectations.

"Nokia is not necessarily dead in the water. Profit margins were a bit higher than expected and Nokia has not lost its third position in smartphones although it is suffering in North America and western Europe," Mawston said.

Nokia proposed a dividend of euro0.20 per share for 2011 and said that chairman and former CEO Jorma Ollila will step down at the annual meeting in May. A nomination committee proposed board member Risto Siilasmaa as the new chairman.

___

Ritter reported from Stockholm.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_finland_earns_nokia

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What Can You Do In 1,000 Days? (Powerlineblog)

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China leader-in-waiting Xi to visit White House next month (Reuters)

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama will host China's likely next leader, Vice President Xi Jinping, at the White House on February 14, in a visit set to boost Xi's credentials as the man who will steer Beijing's close but quarrelsome ties with Washington.

Obama and Xi will discuss "a broad range of bilateral, regional, and global issues," the White House said in a statement on Monday announcing the visit, when Xi will be hosted by Vice President Joe Biden.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not confirmed the date of the visit; it had no comment on Tuesday. This week is the Lunar New Year holiday in China.

The two sides will have plenty of strains to talk about, especially over trade, human rights, North Korea and Iran. Above all, the Obama administration is keen for clues about Xi's worldview and how he intends to handle these thorny issues.

"The man Biden's hosting, barring something no one forsees at this point, will become the head of China, head of the Communist Party, head of the government and head of the military," said China expert Kenneth Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"This is really a chance for the Obama administration to look forward to the succession and post-succession period in China and begin to establish critical personal relationships and a personal comfort level back and forth."

For Xi, the visit will be a valuable trophy that advertises his readiness for the top job. His growing prominence indicates he is virtually certain to replace Hu Jintao as Communist Party chief in late 2012 and then as state president in early 2013.

The two powers have delicate issues to work through, ranging from currency policy to differences over how to halt the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, to China's recent crackdown on critics and activists that has drawn U.S. criticism.

Beijing has voiced misgivings about Obama's plans to beef up the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region and remains unhappy about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China calls an illegitimate breakaway province.

China, Iran's biggest oil customer, also bristles at U.S. efforts to tighten sanctions on that country in order to halt Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Beijing recently rebuffed a U.S. official's call to cut back oil purchases from Iran.

The United States is in an election year that has seen Republican candidates fire harsh rhetoric at China. Obama, facing a tough re-election in November, is expected to use his State of the Union address on Tuesday to renew his call for China to allow its yuan currency to appreciate.

"I think he's a very personable individual," the U.S. Ambassador to Beijing, Gary Locke, said of Xi in an interview on PBS television last week.

"We don't know how he would respond to some of these economic issues, which is why it's so important that we establish that relationship as quickly as possible.

"It's going to take a while to really understand how he might move forward."

XI SETS UPBEAT TONE

Xi, 58, is the son of the late, reformist vice premier Xi Zhongxun, making him a "princeling": one of the privileged offspring of China's leaders who rose to power under Mao Zedong. He rose through the party ranks in coastal provinces.

Xi's "red" family background and coming of age in the turmoil of Mao's Cultural Revolution (1966-76) have prompted some observers to suggest he could take a harder line against Washington, which would also reflect growing nationalist sentiment in China.

But in a speech last week, Xi stressed Beijing's desire for steady relations and tried to set an upbeat tone for his visit.

"In dealing with major and sensitive issues that concern each side's core interests, we must certainly abide by a spirit of mutual respect and handle them prudently, and by no means can we let relations again suffer major interference and ructions," he told a meeting in Beijing.

Xi will probably be looking to set a "pragmatic but frank" tone for ties with Washington, said Zhang Musheng, a former Chinese central government official who has met Xi and other rising officials and written widely about their challenges.

"I don't feel that they're hardline in their views," Zhang told Reuters of China's emerging leaders, including Xi.

"It will still be the same basic approach of seeking steady, predictable relations (with the U.S.)," added Zhang.

"But as China develops economically, it's attracting more criticism and suspicion, and there's a sense that we need to get used to putting our own views without creating alarm or conflict. That's not hardline; it's practical and realistic."

In August, Xi hosted Biden on a visit that gave Washington policymakers a chance to size up China's president-in-waiting.

Xi is also set to travel to Iowa and California, states keen to boost already fast-growing trade and to court investment. Dates have not formally been announced for those stops.

Xi's first known visit to the United States was to Iowa in 1985 as a junior official in the northern province of Hebei, which has a sister state/province relationship with Iowa.

(Additional reporting by Sabrina Mao in Beijing; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/pl_nm/us_usa_china_xi

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[OOC] The Neverland

Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.

Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?The Neverland?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "The Neverland"

You may edit this first post as you see fit.

M'ange

Member for 0 years

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I wouldn't mind playing one of the lost children. ^^
Do you want anime or real pictures?

MirrorMirror1498

Member for 1 years

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Okay, she's up! Tell me if I need to change anything! ^^

MirrorMirror1498

Member for 1 years

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May I reserve Tinkerbell? Pretty please with sprinkles on top. :)

Walking-travesty

Member for 0 years

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I'm making a set of twins, would you rather make two different character sheet or put them both on one.

snipergirl24

Member for 1 years

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Whatever is easiest for you. It might be better if they were on two character sheets though. c:

M'ange

Member for 0 years

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Oks I am interested but have a few questions. First off, do you mind if there is two sets of twins? I had an idea then checked here and saw there already is going to be a set of twins. As for my idea, i was wanting one twin to be a pirate, and the other to be a lost boy, though they do not completely hate each other. In fact, they are a bit neutral and actually serves as spies once in a while if it is to save the other siblings life.
Also, I was looking at the rules and you said everyone should make a male and female character. Is that still the rule?

~Living-Dead Doll~

Member for 2 years

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I don't mind if there is two sets of twins. Your idea is fine about having one be a pirate and the other be a lost boy. I just added the rule about one male and one female character because we have a lot more girl characters than boys, and it kind of ruins some fun in the role play if there is a lot more of one gender. Unless you're making a twin set of boys, then that's okay. But, if not, then there has to be one girl and one boy.

M'ange

Member for 0 years

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oks, that works perfectly. I planned on making one male and the other female. Thanks and I should have the character profiles submitted soon.

~Living-Dead Doll~

Member for 2 years

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Romney preparing for the long haul in 2012 race (AP)

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Preparing for the long haul, Mitt Romney said Saturday's South Carolina presidential contest "could be real close" and he agreed to two more debates with his rivals ahead of the Florida primary.

In the face of questions about releasing his tax returns and struggling with a renewed threat from Newt Gingrich, Romney lashed out at the former speaker, calling on the former House speaker to better explain his contractual ties to Freddie Mac, the quasi-government mortgage company. Gingrich served as a consultant to Freddie Mac over a period of eight years.

Romney said he would attend a debate Monday in Tampa, Fla., and his campaign confirmed he would be at one Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla., ahead of the state's primary Jan. 31. His planned appearances are an acknowledgment that the former Massachusetts governor will have to continue the battle with Gingrich longer than expected or hoped.

But Romney avoided confronting Gingrich, his chief rival in South Carolina's first-in-the South vote, at a stop at Tommy's Country Ham House.

Both men had scheduled campaign events for the same time on primary day. Romney stopped by the breakfast restaurant 45 minutes ahead of schedule. When Gingrich arrived at the restaurant ? just minutes after Romney's bus left the parking lot ? he said: "Where's Mitt?"

About an hour earlier, Romney was outside of his Greenville headquarters, launching a new attack on the speaker. He called on Gingrich to further explain his contracts with Freddie and release any advice he had provided. "I'd like to see what he actually told Freddie Mac. Don't you think we ought to see it?" Romney said.

It was another response to pressure on Romney to release his tax returns before Republican voters finish choosing a nominee. A day earlier, Romney had called on Gingrich to release information related to an ethics investigation of Gingrich in the 1990s.

Romney says he will release several years' worth of tax returns in April. Gingrich has called on him to release them much sooner. On Saturday, Romney refused to answer questions from reporters about the returns and whether his refusal to release them had hurt him with South Carolina voters.

Romney still has significant advantages over his three remaining Republican rivals, including an enormous financial edge and a well-organized campaign. But with his Iowa victory now rescinded, losing in South Carolina would be a setback that could draw the primary contest out much longer. Just 10 days ago, Romney's campaign was looking ahead to the general election as they anticipated a quick sweep in early primaries.

"This could be real close," said Romney as he chatted on the phone with a voter he called Saturday morning. He urged the man to go vote.

And as he stood on a chair inside Tommy's, where it was impossible to tell who in the tightly packed crowd was there to see him and who was there to see Gingrich, a woman shouted her thanks for buying breakfast.

"I'm happy to pay for breakfast," Romney responded, "but there's no free lunch."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney

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Video: Gingrich slams media at GOP debate

David Goldman?/?AP

At Thursday?s Republican presidential debate in South Carolina, Newt Gingrich slammed the news media for focusing on accusations by his ex-wife that he requested an ?open marriage.? NBC?s Peter Alexander reports.

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/46069573/

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Rap group 2 Live Crew to reunite, tour this summer (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? The rap group that inspired controversy in the early 1990s with songs like "Me So Horny" is reuniting and hitting the road.

Luther Campbell says 2 Live Crew is back together and will tour this summer.

The rapper and producer made the announcement Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival, where he is promoting his appearance in the short film "The Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke."

Campbell describes the film as "an art piece" that he did to help young filmmakers who were inspired by his hip-hop work.

Campbell says he "just can't wait to just start practicing" with his old crew. But don't expect them to be "As Nasty As They Wanna Be."

Campbell says the group will "perform the songs and everybody's going to be excited."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_en_ot/us_film_sundance2_live_crew

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Futurity.org ? Breast cancer survivors benefit from mindfulness

Breast cancer survivors who learned meditation techniques lowered their blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate, research shows. (Credit: iStockphoto)

U. MISSOURI (US) ? Mindfulness-based stress reduction may ease recovery for breast cancer survivors, researchers say.

Women recently diagnosed with breast cancer have higher survival rates than those diagnosed in previous decades, according to the American Cancer Society.

However, survivors continue to face health challenges after their treatments end. Previous research reports that as many as 50 percent of breast cancer survivors are depressed.

Now, University of Missouri researchers in the Sinclair School of Nursing say a meditation technique can help breast cancer survivors improve their emotional and physical well-being.

The researchers found that breast cancer survivors? health improved after they learned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a type of mindfulness training that incorporates meditation, yoga, and physical awareness.

?MBSR is another tool to enhance the lives of breast cancer survivors,? says Jane Armer, professor of nursing. ?Patients often are given a variety of options to reduce stress, but they should choose what works for them according to their lifestyles and belief systems.?

The MBSR program consists of group sessions throughout a period of eight to ten weeks. During the sessions, participants practice meditation skills, discuss how bodies respond to stress, and learn coping techniques.

As reported in Western Journal of Nursing Research, the researchers found survivors who learned MBSR lowered their blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate.

In addition, participants? mood improved, and their level of mindfulness increased after taking the class. For best results, Armer says, participants should continue MBSR after the class ends to maintain the positive effects.

?Mindfulness-based meditation, ideally, should be practiced every day or at least on a routine schedule,? Armer says. ?MBSR teaches patients new ways of thinking that will give them short- and long-term benefits.?

The non-pharmaceutical approach works best as a complement to other treatment options such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

?Post diagnosis, breast cancer patients often feel like they have no control over their lives,? Armer says. ?Knowing that they can control something?such as meditation?and that it will improve their health, gives them hope that life will be normal again.?

More news from the University of Missouri: http://munews.missouri.edu/

Source: http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/breast-cancer-survivors-benefit-from-mindfulness/

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Gingrich seeks help among Florida evangelicals (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. ? Newt Gingrich's presidential hopes may rest among the pews of Florida's ministries and megachurches.

The former House speaker is looking to Florida's religious conservatives to counter rival Mitt Romney's organizational and financial might in a state where so-called "values voters" could constitute more than a third of the Republican electorate in the Jan. 31 primary.

"There's no question Gov. Romney will always have more money," Gingrich says when asked about his Florida campaign. But he's quick to add that his team has between 5,000 and 6,000 volunteers. Aides say many of them are evangelicals.

Thrice-married, Gingrich may not be the obvious pick for church-goers here. But the network of religious activists he's assembling has far greater concerns about Romney's inconsistent history on abortion and gay rights than they seemingly do about Gingrich's two divorces and acknowledged marital infidelity.

And that gives Gingrich an opening as he challenges Romney in the aftermath of Saturday's primary in South Carolina, where the polls suggest Gingrich may end up winning.

Seeking to capitalize on Gingrich's burst of momentum, one of his top evangelical backers in Florida planned to lead a conference call in the coming days with 1,000 pastors. Others are spreading Gingrich's message in the state's many churches and Baptist publications. And Gingrich has already lined up appearances with the religious community for next week.

"The evangelicals are not going to wrap their arms around Romney in this primary or the general election," says John Grant, a Baptist leader and one of Gingrich's Florida evangelical chairmen. "Gingrich is pulling these people together quite nicely."

The power of Florida's evangelicals depends on their ability to unite. And while they're nearly united against Romney, they're not wholly united behind Gingrich. Some prominent religious conservatives are rallying around Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator long known for passionate social conservatism, but generally considered a longshot in the race to challenge President Barack Obama in the fall.

Santorum is showing no signs of bowing out, especially after the final tally suggested he edged Romney in the Iowa caucuses even though there is no officially declared winner.

The continued division leaves the political power of Florida's evangelicals fractured, just as anti-Romney conservatives have been in other early voting states all year.

"We have to figure out how we're going to come together," said John Stemberger, a Santorum supporter who led the 2008 push to amend Florida's constitution to ban gay marriage.

Stemberger hoped a recent meeting of national evangelical leaders in Texas would do just that. The group held a nonbinding vote that showed overwhelming support for Santorum. But in Florida, there are serious questions about the viability of Santorum, who hired a Florida staff just last week.

Gingrich's organization pales when compared to Romney's, which has been years in the making. But Gingrich's team is working to capitalize on doubts about Santorum, as well as on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's recent exit.

Gingrich's Florida operation is led by Jose Mallea, who managed Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's 2010 race.

Even before Perry's exit, Gingrich's team had been quietly courting key staff and supporters from both the Perry and Santorum camps to boost an organization that was stood up in December.

Underscoring the challenge Gingrich faces, he has yet to run any television ads in Florida, where Romney and his allies have had the airwaves to themselves since mid-December. Mallea said Gingrich will advertise in Spanish and English soon.

Gingrich also faces renewed attention on flaws in his personal life that could turn off evangelicals here.

In an ABC News interview broadcast Thursday, Gingrich's second wife said he sought an "open marriage" arrangement so he could have a mistress and a wife. Asked about his ex-wife's assertions during a debate that night, Gingrich said it was false and lashed out at the media.

"I wish he didn't have that background, but I honestly believe he's had a real renaissance experience," said Grant, the Gingrich supporter.

In recent years, Gingrich has publicly acknowledged mistakes, converted to Catholicism and says prayer is an important part of his life.

Gingrich's team estimates evangelicals will represent between 25 percent and 40 percent of the Florida GOP primary electorate.

Exit polling from the 2008 GOP primary shows that approximately 39 percent of voters identified themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians. They were almost evenly split that year, with 30 percent for Sen. John McCain, 29 percent for Romney, 29 percent for Mike Huckabee and 7 percent for Rudy Giuliani.

Romney would be happy with a repeat performance. His team has organized weekly conference calls with a group of social conservative leaders it hopes will produce at least some of the evangelical vote.

But Romney is not going out of his way to appease this group. He recently declined to respond to the Florida Family Policy Council voter guide, which Stemberger organized. The guide highlights Romney's non-answers on key social issues prominently and was emailed to 100,000 Florida evangelicals this week. It also is expected to be faxed and emailed to about 8,000 churches.

While Stemberger and Grant don't agree on a Romney alternative, they share deep concerns about him.

"I hear that if it's Obama and Romney, evangelicals have no place to go. But there's a third choice: It's called home," Grant said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich_florida

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January finance reports: Harris County ? Off the Kuff

January is a very busy month for campaign finance reports, since they are due for all levels of government. I?ve been busy updating the 2012 Primary Election pages for Harris County and elsewhere in Texas with reports as I can find them. Here?s an overview of some races of interest in Harris County. I?ll have similar reports for State Rep and Congressional races next week.

Let me preface this post by saying that I loathe the County Clerks? Campaign Finance Reports page. You can?t search for an individual by name, you can only search for all candidates whose last name starts with a given letter. All of the reports are scanned PDFs, which means that most of them are handwritten, though even the ones that are electronically generated are then apparently printed and scanned. This has the effect of creating much larger files, which are then harder to navigate, and Adobe being what it is they managed to crash Chrome on my PC and IE9 on my laptop. They do open in the browser with a direct link, unlike the city?s reporting system which opens each report as an Acrobat file for download, which I then have to upload and share to make available on my page, so as long as your browser continues to function that?s nice. All I know is that when I am named Supreme Commander of the world, my first official action will be to outlaw paper filing of campaign finance reports. It?s 2012, for Pete?s sake.

OK, rant off. Here are the highlights:

District Attorney

Incumbent Pat Lykos starts the year in good shape, having raised $194K with $320K on hand; she spent $40K during the cycle. Primary opponent Mike Anderson reported no money raised or spent. He was a late entrant and likely hasn?t had any fundraisers yet. I?m sure he?ll have sufficient resources to wage a campaign. On the Democratic side, Zack Fertitta had an impressive haul, taking in $170K, with $141K on hand. I don?t know exactly when he named a treasurer, but I?m pretty sure he didn?t start raising money until a couple of months into the cycle. His primary opponent Lloyd Oliver, who is listed for some bizarre reason in the county financial reporting system as ?Oliver Lloyd? ? I only found his report by accident, looking for other L-named candidates ? reported no money raised or spent.

Sheriff

Sheriff Adrian Garcia will have a tough race in November, and he starts the year well armed for it, having collected $187K and maintaining $302K. He has two primary opponents ? Delores Jones has $1,038 on hand, while perennial contender Charles Massey El had no report visible; yes, I checked under M and under E. There are eight Republican hopefuls, but only four filed reports. Ruben Monzon raised $33K; Carl Pittman raised $13K and reported $24K in loans; Brian Steinacher claimed the princely total of $750 raised. The most interesting report belonged to Louis Guthrie, who claimed to raise $96K with $30K in loans. That caught my eye at first, but he only listed $21K on hand, which made me suspicious enough to read the whole report. The individual contributions he detailed added up to only $6450 in cash plus about $18K in kind for things like printing and food, which are usually considered expenses. Something is definitely off there, but even if you took him at his word, the four of them together raised less than Garcia did.

County Attorney

Not really on anyone?s radar since it?s a lower profile office and there are no contested primaries, but Democratic incumbent Vince Ryan raised $29K and has $126K on hand. Republican challenger and former State Rep. Robert Talton raised $14,650 and had $10,500 in loans, but spent $14,978 and was left with $10,367 on hand.

Tax Assessor

In the battle of Guys Whose Surnames Both Start With The Letter S And Are Thus Convenient To Find In The Otherwise Wack Harris County Finance Reporting System, incumbent Don Sumners reported no cash raised and $3,911 on hand, while current Council Member Mike Sullivan made good use of his remaining Council campaign fund, which allowed him to report $53K on hand. He actually raised $8200 for this cycle, and had $15K in loans outstanding. Democratic challenger Ann Harris Bennett, who was listed under the Bs, raised no money and had $1,856 on hand, presumably left over from her 2010 race for County Clerk. Remind me to ask Clerk candidates in 2014 about how they propose to overhaul the finance reporting system.

Constable

I didn?t bother looking at a lot of these reports, as there are just so many Constable candidates. Among those I did look at were ones for the open Precinct 1 seat. Alan Rosen did the most, raising $43K with $37K on hand. Cindy Vara-Leija raised $22K and had $15K on hand; Grady Castleberry, who also had a July report, raised $2K but had $19K in loans and $23K on hand. Quincy Whitaker?s January report was not visible as of this publication; his July report claimed $5K raised and $18K spent but did not list any loans or cash on hand.

That?s your Harris County finance report. I?ll have state and federal candidates next week. The one other county race I?m watching is the Democratic primary for Travis County DA, featuring incumbent Rosemary Lehmberg and former judge Charlie Baird. The Statesman noted their totals, and I have their reports linked on the non-Harris page ? here?s Lehmberg, and here?s Baird. Check that page and the Harris page for more reports as they come in. Greg has more.

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Source: http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=42597

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Groups file signatures to recall Wis. Gov. Walker

Julie Wells of United Wisconsin celebrates in the back of a moving van Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Madison, Wis., that contains about 1 million signatures to recall Gov. Scott Walker. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Julie Wells of United Wisconsin celebrates in the back of a moving van Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Madison, Wis., that contains about 1 million signatures to recall Gov. Scott Walker. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Volunteers from United Wisconsin stack boxes filled with petitions Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, in Madison, Wis., to recall Gov. Scott Walker. About 1 million signatures in 128 boxes were delivered Tuesday to the Wisconsin General Accounting Board. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, center left, and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, center right, participate in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration on Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, in Madison, Wis. Organizers of efforts to recall both Walker and Kleefisch from office plan to turn in petitions with more than 540,000 signatures Tuesday to force a recall election. Also pictured, from left, is Madison Police Chief Noble Wray, state Superintendent Tony Evers and University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor David Ward. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) ? Opponents of Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker submitted nearly twice as many signatures Tuesday as required to force a recall election, but still face the challenge of transforming public outrage over his moves against unions into actual votes to oust him from office.

If Walker is worried, he's not showing it: As the petitions were delivered to election officials, Walker was out of state raising money to defend himself and the agenda that has made him a national conservative hero.

The 1 million signatures that United Wisconsin, the coalition that spearheaded the effort along with the Democratic Party, said were collected far exceeds the 540,208 needed and amounts to 23 percent of the state's eligible voters.

Walker was elected in 2010 as part of a national Republican tide, and quickly angered unions and others with aggressive moves that included effectively ending collective bargaining rights for nearly all public workers.

Recall circulators in neon vests who were turning in the petitions Tuesday surrounded a U-Haul truck filled with boxes of documents. The group held hands and formed a line leading toward the office of the Government Accountability Board, as some protesters yelled anti-Walker chants. The boxes inside the office full of petitions targeting Walker were stacked five high and 11 rows deep.

Petitioners said they were submitting about 305,000 more signatures than were needed to trigger a recall election against Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and said they also exceeded the number needed to force recall elections of four Republican state senators, including Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.

Walker's supporters would have to successfully challenge about 46 percent of the signatures to stop a recall election, in which the governor would likely run against a yet-to-be-decided Democratic challenger.

"I don't know if it's insurmountable, but it would be extremely difficult," said Joshua Spivak, a recall expert and senior fellow at Wagner College in New York.

During the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, petitioners also turned in almost double what was needed and only about 18 percent were tossed, Spivak said.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said given the number of signatures collected, Walker shouldn't seek delays and instead let the vote proceed.

"Does anyone really honestly believe we're not going to have an election?" Tate said.

Spivak said he would expect strong voter turnout for a recall election against Walker, noting that in California turnout rose from 36 percent in the general election to 61 percent for the Davis recall.

"There's going to be so much focus on this, it is not going to be like a special election where turnout is suppressed," Spivak said.

Walker expressed confidence Tuesday that he will survive a recall and that voters will reward him for balancing a $3.6 billion budget shortfall without laying off state employees or raising taxes.

"I look forward to talking to the people of Wisconsin about my continued promises to control government spending, balance the budget, and hold the line on taxes," he said in a statement.

"Instead of going back to the days of billion-dollar budget deficits, double-digit tax increases and record job loss, I expect Wisconsin voters will stand with me and keep moving Wisconsin forward."

Republican Party Chairman Brad Courtney issued a statement denouncing what he called a baseless and expensive recall. An election is expected to cost at least $9 million.

The governor's supporters have been training volunteers how to vet signatures and they plan to create a database where names will be entered and verified. Walker has already successfully sued the state elections board to require it to do a more extensive review of the signatures than originally planned in order to catch duplicates and obviously fake names like Mickey Mouse.

The Government Accountability Board has said its review will take 60 days or more and it will go to court as soon as this week to seek more than the 31 days allowed under the law. Board director Kevin Kennedy said it was too early to know how long would be needed or if officials would stop the review once they determined enough were valid to certify an election.

Tate said he didn't expect a Walker recall election would happen before May. Walker has said he thinks it will be in June.

Recalls have become common in Wisconsin since the political tumult of 2011 that saw Walker and Republicans pass the collective bargaining changes, one of the country's most restrictive laws requiring photo identification at the polls, and a budget that included an $800 million cut to public schools.

The opposition started with massive protests and then grew into organized campaigns ? first to recall state senators, then Walker himself. Last summer, six Republican state senators and three Democrats faced recall elections. Two Republicans lost, leaving the party with a one-vote majority in the Senate.

A recall against Walker couldn't officially be filed until after he had served a year in office, an anniversary reached earlier this month.

But Walker hasn't been waiting around to see what happens. He has been on the air nonstop, saying that while some of his decisions to balance the budget were difficult, the state is in a better financial position and will prosper in the long run.

The governor has been raising money at a furious clip. He was hosting a $2,500 per-person fundraiser in New York City on Tuesday and recently attended fundraisers in Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee. He is taking full advantage of both the conservative star persona he built as he put Wisconsin at the center of the national labor rights debate and a quirk in state law allowing those targeted for recall to ignore normal contribution limits until an election date is set.

As of mid-December, he had raised $5.1 million, with about half coming from out-of-state donors.

Democrats, who have no candidate raising money to challenge Walker, concede they will not be able to match him dollar for dollar. Instead, they are counting on the same type of energy that drove the protests and the petition drive to translate into the campaign.

Two prominent Democrats, former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold and retiring U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, have repeatedly said they aren't interested. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who lost to Walker by 6 percentage points, issued a statement praising recall circulators but did not indicate whether he would enter the race.

Besides Davis, the only other successful recall of a governor in the nation's history was North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier in 1921.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-17-Wisconsin%20Governor-Recall/id-e0ed59d0309d469fa6b410beb9080e6a

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Oil & Gas - Venezuela - Carabobo's Morichal district exceeds Dec production target

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA reported the Morichal district of the Carabobo division produced 169,000b/d in December versus the 164,100b/d targ...

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Source: http://www.bnamericas.com/news/oilandgas/carabobos-morichal-district-exceeds-dec-production-target

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How to Boost Your Reading Comprehension by Reading Smarter and More Conscientiously [Video]

With all of the things out there to read on the internet?all of the blogs we want to keep up with and all of the news funneled to us every day?how can you make sure you read each item in a way that really enriches your life? The short answer: You can't, not without help, anyway. Here's how you can stop, refocus, and change the way you read so you'll take more away from it.

Photo by Kevin Dooley.

Step 1: Reconsider What Reading Really Means to You

The video at the top of this post is from the comedy Portlandia, and like any great comedy, it speaks volumes about the world we live in. If you spend any time reading the web, you're probably at least somewhat aware of the dysfunctional relationship many of us (and possibly yourself included) have with reading. Many of us are so quick to have our say on a topic that we fail to read the articles we're commenting on, or you've made the mistake of launching into a dissertation yourself when the issue you have has already been addressed. Conflicting articles, research that points in different directions, people being fooled by scams and websites that have their own bias, magazine subscriptions piling up on our coffee tables?it seems like even though there's more information available to us, we're absorbing less and less of it.

In fact, it's really our relationship with reading and our ability to absorb information on a given topic that's at issue. Do you read the magazines and blogs you do because you really love their content and appreciate what they have to say? Or do you have a love/hate relationship with what you read, where you find yourself more irritated than thrilled when you open your most visited sites, or commenting only to say how much you dislike something instead of offering your own perspective or opinions? If reading seems like a chore to you, something you feel like you have to do to keep up, then your relationship with your media needs help. We're going to tackle that relationship one step at a time, and hopefully help you build a more positive, proactive approach to reading what you do on the internet, form your own informed ideas and opinions, and come out the other side committed to truly comprehending the things you take the time to read and enjoy.

Photo by Jayel Aheram.

Step 2: Stop, Refocus, and Build a Healthy Relationship with Reading

Stop and take stock of how you get your information. I asked Clay Johnson, author of The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption, about where this plague of poor reading comprehension came from, and he pointed out that the issue isn't the amount of information available, or even the technology we have to bring it to our eyes, it's that our relationship with reading needs re-evaluation. Here are three ways to stop and take stock of that relationship, and see whether what you read is really helping you think critically:

• How much do you consume? Are you trying to read every popular tech blog on the web? How many do you really engage on, comment at, or share stories from? Perhaps you're casting your net wide because you don't want to miss anything, or because you feel like you have to read someone to stay informed. Let go of that perception, and consider trimming your feeds to the sites you really enjoy, communities you're actively involved in, and voices that inform and challenge your perceptions.
• Who do you read? Are your feeds full of voices that all sound the same? When was the last time you read an article you disliked, not because of a typo or because you didn't like the topic, but because the subject matter made you uncomfortable and forced you to think about your opinion? Using politics as an example, Clay notes "If you're wondering why Washington can't get anything done, this model of information consumption is why: because one half of the country can choose to only hear what it wants to believe, they find the other side increasingly hard to get along with. This isn't just political though?politics is just an obvious example. The breadth of information available, skimming or long-form, hurts our ability to dive deep into the answers to our questions if we don't challenge ourselves to focus." Instead, include different voices in your media consumption, and use those perspectives to inform your own.
• Is reading really the best way for you to learn? Are you spending a lot of time reading things that you feel like you should be up to date on, but just aren't absorbing? For example, for years I subscribed to a number of SecurityFocus mailing lists because I worked in IT, was interested in security, and felt like I should be up to speed on security news and part of a community of security-minded professionals. Unfortunately, I never read the messages, eventually switched to digests to cut down on the volume, and never read the digests either. I learned everything I needed to know about security from some of my favorite security blogs and my colleagues instead. If you're spending time skimming or reading a site, mailing list, book, or journal because you feel like you should get something from it, when there's a more effective option for your learning style available, put down the reading material now and don't look back.

To that last point, reading the written word isn't the only viable way to absorb information, and as long as we assume it is, the longer we do ourselves a disservice and make it more difficult to learn new things and expose ourselves to new ideas. Clay explains, "I think we have to let go of our dogmatic relationship with "reading." In the face of new technologies, being attached to the written word is a bit like being attached to vinyl records. Now I'm sure I've irritated both avid readers and avid audiophiles with this statement, but I think what we're really after here isn't reading comprehension but subject matter understanding and critical thinking."

"Reading is but one thing that helps us acquire and build those skills, and one one thing that requires those skills. But it isn't the only thing that requires those skills - it's just one way we consume information. We tend to attach some nostalgia to "reading" as the ultimate form of information intake, superior in some kind of intellectual way to all others, but can we really say that a kid can learn more out of a textbook than from the Khan Academy? I'm not so sure."

Step 3: Choose the Things You Spend Your Time Reading Wisely, and Include Multiple Voices

Next, reconsider the sources of information you expose yourself to. Clay pointed out that while it's easy to assume technology has a major role in how and where we absorb information, it doesn't define what and how we read, it's just a means to get the information in front of us. Instead, he notes, we have the ability to be much more selective about what we read, which can lead to difficulty really understanding a topic. "Beneath the surface though, I think something else is changing our comprehension, and that's choice." He continues, "what's different now than what used to be is selection and diversity, and I think that our ability to select only the information we want to hear has a really strong affect on our reading comprehension - it allows us to seek out information that confirms us more than information that informs us, making the synthesis of ideas very difficult."

When you look through your feeds, check to see if you're getting news from multiple trusted sources with differing viewpoints. Regardless of the topic you're passionate about, whether it's technology, politics, world news, economics, science, or medicine, focus on the topics you want to read about, discard the others that you skim or read because you feel like you have to (or that you get nothing out of), and then select a few trusted sources with differing viewpoints to help you stay on top of your preferred topics.

You'll find that as you read and expose yourself to differing viewpoints, you'll begin to build your own thoughts and opinions, form your own ideas, and even see the logic behind perspectives that differ from your own, even if you disagree. Plus, by eliminating the topics and feeds that cause you so much stress, you begin to transform your relationship with what you do read into something more positive, instead of an exercise in cleaning out an inbox.

The key here however is to make sure you pick trusted sources with different voices, and rein in your information fire hose to the topics you're really interested in and communities you're passionate about. Your goal at this stage is to go a mile deep and an inch wide?as in, stop trying to read every tech blog on the web and stick to the ones you really enjoy reading and challenge your opinions about the technology you love (and the technology you hate).

Step 4: Read Conscientiously, and Take Time to Absorb and Reflect on What You Read

Once you've whittled down the amount of information you absorb to the things you're really passionate about and the things you really want to read and engage with, it's time to actually read those things. Clay has some suggestions: "the number one piece of advice I have is to consume consciously and deliberately. Transform your relationship with information consumption into something that you do proactively, rather than something that happens to you. Once you do that, you can start applying frameworks - like the one I wrote about how to focus, and using tools like limiting your bandwidth."

Trimming the amount of data coming through your feeds and bookmarks doesn't mean that you should just spend less time reading, unless you plan to read less and learn more through other methods. Instead, the goal is to give you the freedom to really appreciate the things you do read about. For example, instead of reading an article and hammering out a knee-jerk reaction in the comments section so you can hurry up and move to the next unread item in your feed reader, this kind of conscious consumption allows you to stop, think over what you just read, seek out more information about topics mentioned that you don't understand very well, think about the author's viewpoint, and come to your own informed conclusion. Then you can engage in the discussion if you see fit, or even start your own conversation by writing an opposing or corroborating piece elsewhere, perhaps even on your own blog.

Conscientiously reading the topics you're passionate about from a variety of voices gives you the room to think critically about what you just read. When you free yourself from feeling like opening your feed reader, inbox, or bookmarks folder is a chore to plow through, you'll be in a better position to really appreciate what you read.

Photo by artotem.

Step 5: Build a Flow Around Thoughtful Reading

Changing your relationship with the things you read isn't a one-time process. It doesn't require a ton of maintenance, but it does require some vigilance. After all, most of us didn't consciously try to get to the point where we read more than we can absorb or think critically about, so it's easy to slip back into old habits.

Before you add a new site to your feed reader, make sure you ask yourself whether you're reading the site because you really think it's useful and you really want to engage with the author(s) or the community. If you can't honestly say yes, you're probably adding it because you think it's a site you should be reading, which is a no-no. Also, if you do add new sites and feeds to your newsreader or aggregator and find you haven't clicked on them once, haven't read their articles in ages, or don't get anything valuable from them, don't be shy with the axe. Cut them off before they start to nip at the corners of your attention span. Don't lose sight of your goal: to stay free enough to really comprehend and analyze the things you spend your time reading, and to spend your time reading things that enrich your life.

If you start to get overwhelmed, Clay has a number of suggestions on how you can manage the flow of information you consume that are easy to apply and will save you time in the long run.

Photo by aprilzosia.

Extra Credit: Share Your Thoughts, Add Your Own Ideas

All of these steps can help you cut back on the volume of information you consume, target your reading to your interests as opposed to your responsibilities, and use the time you saved to think critically and come up with your own new ideas about the things you've read. The next step is to take those ideas and share them with others, if you see fit. Personally, one of the biggest benefits I derive from managing the flow of information in my life as strictly as I do is that in addition to being exposed to different ideas and having the time to really think them over, I also have the time to come up with my own viewpoints and perspectives and share them with others.

Sharing those ideas with other people does something transformative for your reading comprehension. Instead of simply being a content consumer, absorbing information where you can get it, you become a content creator, offering up your own unique opinions and ideas on a topic for others to read on their own. You're suddenly in the same position as the people you read, wanting people to afford you the same courtesy of reading, thinking, absorbing, and then sharing their own ideas and alternatives (as opposed to rapid-fire reactions) and you're dependant on those people for the same constructive reasoning and passionate engagement as you're now involved in.

Even if you don't decide to add writing to your reading and critical thinking flow, sharing your ideas and thoughts about what you've read with others is a great way to enrich your conversations, learn more about the people in your life, and grow based on their ideas and opinions as well.

Footnote: Don't Hate the Internet, Hate the Game

It would be easy to blame the internet for what appears to be a trend in people with little information and a lot to say, and in fact, some people have tried to claim that it's access to overwhelming amounts of information at our fingertips that's making us less interested in reading and absorbing that information and applying it to our world view. We don't agree, and we don't even think that the volume of information available to us is the problem, either. A lot of people spend time and money to disconnect, retreat to resorts with no internet access and out of cellular range, and escape from their personal fire hoses of information without realizing that they have complete control over the flow of water from that hose at all times.

When I asked Clay Johnson about whether the internet has a role to play here, he pointed to a 2009 study by the University of California San Diego that says we're actually reading three times more every day than we did in 1980, and actually argued that the internet saved reading as we know it. "I think we have to think carefully about this concept that somehow our reading comprehension is actually suffering because of the Internet, because it's fairly clear that we're reading a lot more," he noted. One going theory is that we're trying to do too much at once and it's multi-tasking that's killing our attention spans and ability to absorb what we read. Clay noted that there may be something to that theory, but if it holds water, it's not the internet's fault for presenting us with a lot of data to pay attention to?in reality, it's the way we apply and prioritize that information that needs adjustment, not the source of the information.

If anything, the wealth of information on the internet and the discussion available in all corners on all topics simply brings us face-to-face with something that's been happening for a long time: a lot of people have a lot to say on topics they may not know very much about. The internet just makes us aware of it because it's everywhere and we're engaged in more discussions on more topics than ever before. In a time where there's more information at our fingertips than there ever has been, it's not the internet's fault that most of us have an unhealthy relationship with reading and interacting with the things that we read.

Photo by J Brew.

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One of the best things you can do for your reading comprehensions and for your own ability to think critically about the world around you is to recognize how valuable you time really is, and spend it reading the things that enrich your life. Take those lessons and topics, and learn to focus on them by looking for more information, building your own ideas off of them, and sharing those ideas with others.

These suggestions will help you get started, and once you start, you'll find that your relationship with reading, both online and offline, is a much more positive, enjoyable one, as opposed to just another thing you have to check off your to-do list.

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Clay Johnson is the author of the upcoming book The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption. He graciously offered his help for this story, and we thank him.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/-0ofoKphmVk/how-to-boost-your-reading-comprehension-by-reading-smarter-and-more-conscientiously

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