Top Business Process Outsourcing Trends of 2012 | Custom ...

With time, outsourcing is becoming more and more mainstream phenomenon and now considered as a business essential. According to the trends of the year 2011 and 2012, IT outsourcing has seen some change in the popularity of different services. Latest hot technologies are taking over older ones, while different businesses jumping on these new technological bandwagons to exploit the booming market. Here in this article, we will discuss some top business process outsourcing trends of 2012.

Rise of Smartphone apps

One of the most booming technologies of the day is Smartphones. Almost all kinds of people are switching over Smartphones to get access on latest technological developments. While different business executives and managers have started hating the concept of they being chained to desk and seat with their computers or laptops. They have explored the power of Smartphones and tablets; now want their whole business processes to be transformed into applications. Besides, the clients of businesses also prefer to do any kind of dealing on their Smartphones, which have further increased the demand of Smartphone apps. To exploit the ever-growing Smartphones? apps market, businesses have started outsourcing their mobile apps needs. Developing apps by in-house employees is very costly; however, outsourcing firms can offer more high-end apps on affordable costs.

Rise of social media

Social networking portals are becoming more and more active in today?s world. Now the contact with customers is no longer limited to phone calls or email missives. Outsourcing social contact center to IT outsourcing companies will help businesses to have happy customers while getting each and every feedback of clients from the staff of outsourcing firms. Now businesses all around the world dealing in different niches have realized this factor and turning towards IT outsourcing companies to handle their social customer relationship management debacle.

Gamification in BPO

The word gamification has been recently coined and getting quite attention from last year. The concept of gamification has been applied on businesses from quite long. With this concept, the dull side of BPO has become a fun thing to do. Through gamification, the game concepts are applied in businesses like leveling-up a consumer or employee for his exceptional performance. From quite some time, businesses were realizing that business process outsourcing is quite a dull task to do but with this new concept, businesses offer various incentives, promotions and rewards to staffers based on merit rather then to whom you know or how long he has been with you.

Economic uncertainty will boost BPO demand

According to a survey, the organizations have made up their mind to turn towards business IT outsourcing companies in time of recession to save costs. This is due to the fact that many analysts? fears of double dip recession, which will make totally impossible for businesses to keep on going with their current expenses and overheads. In these times to save costs, business will outsource their back office operations to save costs. Even many organizations have already outsourced many of their operations to outsourcing companies to bring standardization and technological innovations.

Shortage of skills in domestic employees

Although cost saving is one of the main reason that force organizations to turn towards outsourcing firms but it is not all. According to a survey conducted, it was concluded that executives and managers do not find the skills they want in their in-house employees that has forced them to move jobs to outsourcing firms. Outsourcing companies are offering specialized skills to businesses of all kinds. To allow business to progress, one needs employees with perfect skills who can perform work with innovation and creativity.

Businesses need to seize new opportunities

The business world of today have become too much competitive, in order to earn big money and make the company?s name prevailing on the top, businesses need to seize new opportunities before the competitors do. It is impossible to seize a new opportunity with current in-house employees, for this reason, businesses hire IT outsourcing companies for IT Outsourcing services, which can easily perform the given tasks in time. Many multi-national businesses have outsourced their operations from manufacturing to sales and all other back office operations. This has become a popular trend among businesses to make large-scale investments in outsourcing firms.

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Criminalizing Black Mothers and The Privilege of Parental Choice ...

Criminalizing Black Mothers and The Privilege of Parental Choice

Posted by michelle mccrary on 11:36

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Over on Clutch, Stacia L. Brown chronicles the unimaginable story of Lacy who blogs over on The Simple Boxcar:??

Extended family has a penchant for sticking its nose into parents? choices. Whether it?s their decision to raise a vegan or vegetarian child, a resistance to perm, a neighborhood the family finds questionable, or language the child?s allowed to use, we?re used to aunts, grandmothers, and cousins chiming in. But sometimes, ?chiming in? crosses a line.

It certainly has for Lacy, whose latest blog entries and tweets have chronicled a series of police and social service visits prompted by her extended family?s complaints about her parenting. The complaints followed their discovery of her intent to roadschool. The situation escalated until her son was forcibly removed from the home for seven days, while an investigation into her mothering ensues. Despite a lack of evidence, save the dangerous accusations of three family members? who haven?t seen Lacy or her son in a year (and thus have not witnessed any of the misconduct alleged, during that time), Lacy?s custody was rather easily stripped.

Lacy is a single parent and work-at-home mom who home schools a son who is on the autism spectrum. She recently lost custody of her son and is currently praying that he will be returned to her home soon. Brown's piece in Clutch places Lacy's current plight within the context of all these intersecting realities and brings up a discussion about the many levels on which "unconventional black motherhood" is being policed. Pushing Brown's assertion further, it can also be aruged that black motherhood is under a particular kind of surveillance full stop. Black mothers are stereotyped and often criminalized in our country in a way that white mothers are not. Renee Martin of Womanist Musings, in response to a May 2009 Washington Post piece about the increase in single mothers said this of black motherhood:

One of the least valuable people on the planet is a black mother. Her gender and her race make her invisible unless an opportunity exists to exploit or marginalize her for gain. She is perceived as little more than a brood mare and often constructed as reproducing for the sake of either profiting from the system or trapping a man into subservience to her. Each generation she passes this legacy from her womb to her offspring and no matter her love or investment in her children, she is forever understood as lacking the wherewithal to raise responsible and successful citizens.

The societal forces at play in Renee's piece are dangerous because those stereotypical assumptions about black mothers which she outlines (especially single black mothers) become translated into policy. Policies that criminalize black mothers in unthinkable ways. Consider the case of Raquel Nelson whose son was killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver. According to Colorlines:

Nelson?s 4-year-old son A.J. was killed in front of her eyes last April. Nelson and her two kids had just gotten off at a bus stop across the street from their apartment in Marietta and the nearest crosswalk was more than a quarter mile away. So they, like other passengers that evening, jaywalked across the four-lane street. At the street?s divider, A.J. slipped out of Nelson?s hand and ran into the street. Nelson was chasing after him with her 2-year-old daughter in her arms when the family was hit by a driver with two prior drunk driving and hit-and-run convictions on his record. He was again drunk that night, and later served six months in jail for his crime.?

For her loss, the Cobb County solicitor general charged Nelson, who didn?t even own a car, with vehicular manslaughter. When an all-white jury found her guilty in July, news of Nelson?s conviction and the possible three-year prison sentence she faced led to a national outcry and an online campaign for leniency. At her sentencing a judge gave her community service instead of jail time, and in a rare move, offered Nelson a new trial. Last week, Nelson accepted.

You can add Kelley Williams-Bolar, Tanya McDowell, Jerri Gray and Marissa Alexander to the growing list of black mothers who have been criminalized for a variety of decisions they made as parents looking out for both the best interests of their children and by extension themselves. The perception of black mothers is not just about a frivolous optic, it is life-threatening. Families are being harmed every day by institutions across the country who believe that black women are not to be trusted as parents. Parental choice is clearly a privilege in the U.S. accorded to mothers down lines of?race, economics, sexuality, and class.

Contrast the stories of all the mothers listed above with that of Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby. ?Nesselroad-Slaby forgot that her two-year old daughter was alseep in the back of the family's SUV and the child subsequently died of heat-stoke after eight hours in the car which could have reached a maximum temperature of 140 degrees. The story was covered by Good Morning America in 2007:

Nesselroad-Slaby, an assistant principal at an Ohio middle school, was on her way to work last week when she said she realized it was too early to drop off her toddler, so she stopped to buy doughnuts for colleagues at school. Distracted by the change in her routine, she says she completely forgot her little girl was sleeping in the back of the car.
"She never wakes up. I just put her in the car seat and she never wakes up," Nesselroad-Slaby said in tears.?

Cecilia was in the back seat of the car when her mother backed up to the school entrance. It was all recorded by the school's surveillance camera. She unloaded the doughnuts and walked past Cecilia in the back seat on the driver's side a half dozen times.
She parked her car and went into the school around 7 a.m. Eight hours later, the toddler was discovered by someone in the parking lot. Teachers frantically called 911 and attempted CPR.?

The temperature outside hovered around 100 degrees all day. Police say it could have reached 140 degrees inside the car.
"I don't know how you go on having done this to one of your kids and ever forgive yourself," Nesselroad-Slaby said, her voice breaking as she slumped against the wall and answered questions.?

Police reports showed that Nesselroad-Slaby had left her little girl in the car before, while picking up and dropping off her older daughter at preschool ? one incident occurred a week before Cecilia died.

Nesselroad-Slaby was never charged with a criminal offense. ?She eventually went on to tell her story on Oprah. One year later, Jodie Edwards' daughter Jenna died under similar circumstances. ?Edwards was also not charged with a criminal offense. ?Both incidents were characterized as "tragic mistakes." Black mothers and other mothers of color, do not get the privilege of making such "tragic mistakes." Our struggles as parents and our human foibles are rarely viewed with compassion or understanding. ?The most basic decisions about how we choose to educate, feed and nurture our child are up for not only public debate as a mother of color, but also for persecution by the state. Lacy and far too many mothers of color are living proof of that fact.

*Hat tip to The Root.

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Obama win could cost Romney $5M in personal taxes

WASHINGTON (AP) ? To see where the presidential candidates stand on taxing the rich, just look at how they'd tax themselves. Under his own proposal, Mitt Romney would pay half what he would under President Barack Obama's tax plan. For a man of Romney's means, that could save almost $5 million a year.

For Obama, not so loaded as Romney but still well-off, losing re-election could provide a tax windfall. He'd save as much as $90,000 a year if Romney's plan were enacted rather than his own tax-the-rich vision.

Two nonprofit research groups, the liberal-leaning Citizens for Tax Justice and conservative-leaning Tax Foundation, did the calculations, based on the most recent completed tax returns released by the candidates. Compared with what they owed in April, both men would be dinged in 2013 under Obama's proposal, along with other wealthy taxpayers. They could expect savings under Romney, depending on which tax breaks the former Massachusetts governor decides to oppose.

Whether they go up or down, the candidates' personal tax bills won't make a dent in the nation's trillion-dollar annual deficits, of course. But they illustrate a sticking point in the struggle to fix the nation's finances: Just how much should affluent Americans pony up?

Democrats generally say the rich aren't paying their fair share; most Republicans argue that raising taxes on the wealthy would slow investment that creates jobs. The dispute makes it tougher to tackle urgent budget issues, such as whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts again before they expire Jan 1.

Support for continuing the tax cuts for the middle class is wide, but a fight is under way over what to do about the wealthy.

"There's quite a difference at higher incomes between the Obama and Romney plans," said Gil Charney, principal tax researcher for the Tax Institute at H&R Block. "Obama is looking at the rich ? millionaires and billionaires ? as a source of additional revenue to the government, where Romney is looking at them as a potential spark for economic growth."

Obama's plan would hit couples making more than $250,000 per year from several directions, raising their tax rate, dunning them more for investment income, and limiting their tax deductions. People like Romney with earnings from private equity management would lose a big tax break. And Obama would establish a rule, named after billionaire Warren Buffett, to ensure that households taking in more than $1 million a year pay at least 30 percent in taxes.

Obama's health care law, already in place, also raises Medicare taxes on the wealthy, especially big investors, starting in 2013. That could cost Romney more than $800,000.

None of this would come close to balancing the budget, but it could add billions of dollars per year to help reduce the deficit.

Romney wants to lower current tax rates for everyone by 20 percent. This benefits the wealthy most: Dropping the highest bracket from 35 percent to 28 percent, for example, yields a much bigger savings for those at the top than lowering the 15 percent bracket to 12 percent brings for taxpayers in that group.

Romney also would eliminate the much-despised alternative minimum tax, which hits the rich and some middle-class taxpayers, too. He wants to repeal Obama's health care law and its taxes. Romney would pair his tax cuts with huge spending reductions eventually reaching $500 billion per year.

To help offset the government's losses from lower rates, Romney says he would end some tax breaks. But he hasn't said which ones, so it's impossible to calculate the effect.

At the extreme, if Romney persuaded Congress to eliminate all itemized deductions ? hard to imagine politically ? that could add another $1.3 million to what he owes under his own plan, according to Tax Foundation analyst Nick Kasprak.

Under that scenario, Romney's bill would still be $3.5 million less than under Obama's plan.

Kasprak expressed skepticism that Romney would target enough tax breaks to offset the tax cuts he proposes.

"You'd have to get rid of the vast majority of deductions and credits in the tax code to make it work, including some sacred cows like the mortgage interest deduction, child tax credit, etcetera," Kasprak said.

Spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Romney envisions changes to create a "fairer and simpler tax system," but did not give details.

Here's how the plans the two candidates have described so far would play out in 2013. The numbers are from calculations by Citizens for Tax Justice, corroborated by the Tax Foundation (although it would use slightly lower figures for Obama that exclude employer-paid Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes):

ROMNEY

Assuming inflation-adjusted earnings of $23 million, he'd pay an effective rate of 34 percent under the Obama plan. That drops to 13 percent under Romney's own tax proposal ? even lower than the 15 percent he estimated for 2011, which irritated critics who felt a multi-millionaire investor should shoulder a higher rate than middle-class working families.

The difference between the two candidates' plans: paying the taxman $7.8 million vs. $3 million.

OBAMA

Like others who are taxed at earned income instead of investment rates, Obama's bill wouldn't swing as dramatically under the differing plans. He reported paying an effective tax rate of almost 21 percent on about $790,000 in income in 2011. Under his own plan, that would climb to 28 percent. Under Romney's plan, it drops to 18 percent.

The difference: $248,000 vs. $158,000.

The figures were based on Obama's 2011 tax return and Romney's 2010 return. Romney has filed for an extension and released only preliminary 2011 numbers.

Bob McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, said Romney's savings for the wealthy come at the expense of everyone else.

"If we have more tax cuts for the rich, or even keep the ones we have now, then somebody's got to pay for it," McIntyre said, either in higher taxes or by losing government services.

At the Tax Foundation, Kasprak called Romney's plan a step in the right direction because it would lower tax rates overall and thin the tangle of deductions and credits. He called Obama's proposal "complex and arbitrary."

Odds of either candidate getting his full plan through Congress after the Nov. 6 election are slim. Efforts to reform the tax code have been mired in partisan bickering for years. But pressure is building to do something.

"Just because Romney wins or Obama wins doesn't mean that what they're proposing becomes law," said Charney of H&R Block. "What may be more likely is bits and pieces happening."

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Tips For Making The Right Real Estate Purchase ? Yapperz - Speak ...

In the current economy, many people are hesitant to invest in real estate. From legal complications, to market dynamics, there are so many things to be worried about when purchasing real estate. Here are some suggestions to help navigate the unsettled sea of buying real estate today.

Once you have made up your mind to buy a new home, you must locate a real estate agent who is qualified. You can do some online research, but it's better to find a trustworthy agent through personal referrals. Choosing a real estate agent that has many years of experience and popularity can help you achieve your goals. Remember to research properly so your best interests are always at the agent's heart.

If you are uncertain about your financial future, you should be careful when considering purchasing a house. By signing a mortgage, you need to pay the monthly payment on your house, without question. If you do not have a steady job or income, you must be certain that you have enough money to cover the payments for a few months until you find another source of income.

Prioritize what you want before negotiating a final price for real estate. Identify the issues at hand, and lay out your expectations. The issues that hold the greatest importance to you should be your top priority. However, it is likely that you will not get every one of your expectations fulfilled. Remember this and stay flexible on the less important issues.

Find a good, experienced broker or real estate agent to work with you while you look for potential investment properties. Professional real estate brokers and agents have access to tools and resources that you may not have, and know their industry well. These include software that will allow you to efficiently search through MLS listings. This specialized software makes your search for a new home more efficient and ensures that you don't miss any listings.

Be moderate in your approach when considering a purchase of real estate property. Some people feel as though they should be aggressive in order to get the best price; this can backfire on them. Be clear and firm about what you want but let your lawyer or realtor do the negotiation for you.

A lack of flexibility can be a death sentence when it comes to buying a home. Sometimes you must choose between two major features if the price of having both falls outside of your price range. If you can't find a home in the perfect neighborhood with all your amenities, find one with the amenities in a different neighborhood.

When looking for investment property, do not overlook pre-foreclosures. Pre-foreclosure properties are definitely a real estate option to be considered, especially if you have the time to search for the right investment property. Pre-foreclosure properties are ones where the owners of them have risk of losing their home because of delinquency. You can contact local lenders to see if they have a list of per-foreclosure properties or you can run an ad which states that you are in the market to buy properties for cash. No matter how you find the property, speak with the owners to understand the amount they owe, and be prepared to pay them at least a few thousand over that amount. Since most home-owners significantly less than market value on their houses, it may be that you will get quite a steal.

The information found in this article should be of some benefit to you when you make a decision to buy real estate. Many people believe that there is karma in real estate, so a good deed for a friend could someday come back to reward you.

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Restasis helps Increase Tear Production in Patients with Chronic ...

The eye is an intricate organ with many parts. The conjunctiva covers the sclera, the white part of the eye. The conjunctiva contains tiny secretory glands that produce tears that keep the eye lubricated. It also protects the eye when it moves in the eye socket. Certain conditions may cause the lack of tears or excessive tear evaporation in the eyes resulting in dry eyes. This can cause inflammation in the eyes. Dry eye syndrome is a common condition and is almost always not a serious problem. Although slightly painful, this condition should not affect vision. Discomfort caused by eye inflammation due to dry eye can be treated with?Restasis.?This ophthalmic solution is available at Big Mountain Drugs and other reputed Canadian online pharmacies.

Causes of Dry Eye Syndrome

There are various causes that contribute to dry eye syndrome. Understanding of some of these causes may enable early diagnosis of the condition.

• Sjogren?s syndrome?? This is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the body. Sjogren?s syndrome causes inflammation of the glands responsible for tear production in the body. This results in decreased moisture production for tears and saliva. Hence, the result is, dry mouth and dry eyes.
• Rheumatoid Arthritis??This too is an autoimmune disease that affects the joints in the body and, sometimes, other tissues. Lungs and eyes are the most commonly affected parts of the body through inflammation.
• Medications?? Various medications may also be the cause of dry eye syndrome. Antidepressants, antihistamines, oral contraceptives and beta-blockers may decrease tear production.
• Abnormal Mucin Production?? Mucin is a protein-based lubricant. Sometimes, the conjunctiva produces abnormal mucin causing burns to the eyes. This too results in poor tear production in the eye, resulting in dry eyes.
• Environmental Factors?? Eyes may dry due to environmental factors such as sun, wind, dry climate, cold air or hot air and high altitudes. Constant exposure to these environmental factors may also cause dry eyes.
• Surgery?? Eye surgery may also cause dry eyes. However, this condition is not permanent and may disappear a few months post-surgery.

Complications of Dry Eye Syndrome

Complications may arise with any medical condition without proper treatment. The same is applicable for dry eye syndrome. Severe cases of untreated dry eye syndrome may result in damage and scarring to the surface of the cornea, medically known as keratitis. Damage and scarring of the cornea may result in vision impairment. It may also lead to corneal perforation which is extremely dangerous. Prompt treatment may prevent permanent damage to the eye. Conjunctivitis (pink eye) is inflammation of the conjunctiva. This too can cause corneal inflammation and, left untreated, can affect vision.

Treating Dry Eye Syndrome

Recurring episodes may be common after the first appearance of dry eye syndrome. Although there is no cure for this syndrome, there are various treatment options available to help control symptoms of dry eyes. The treatment of dry eye syndrome depends on identifying the underlying cause. Identification of the underlying cause enables a doctor to treat the condition.?Restasis?is a prescription medication for treating dry eyes associated with reduced tear production and chronic dry eyes. The medication decreases immune system activity and helps increase tear production reduced by inflammation. Side effects may occur with the application of this medication. Common side effects include redness, itching, stinging sensation, eye pain, blurred vision and eye discharge. Severe side effects of the medication include unbearable eye irritation, vision changes and allergic reactions. These require prompt medical intervention.

Dry eye syndrome, although not dangerous, requires medical attention. Untreated dry eyes may result in damage to the eyes. Proper application of medication such as Restasis, may increase tear production and prevent complications. The medication can be purchased at discounted prices from Bigmountaindrugs.com and other online Canada pharmacies.

Chani M The buwana Author Chani M Thebuwana contributes articles related to drugs and illnesses courtesy of BigMountainDrugs.Com, one of the top rung Canada Pharmacy. You can buy various Canada drugs to treat any ailment or diseases, via our online pharmacy, saving money and travel time to pharmacies. You can buy Restasis in branded form or generic Restasis and other drugs that are available at deeply discounted Canadian government regulated prices. BMD is a CIPA approved pharmacy operating from British Colombia, Canada and the customers are served by licensed pharmacists.

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Injured England defender Cahill out of Euro 2012

AAA??Jun. 3, 2012?11:03 AM ET
Injured England defender Cahill out of Euro 2012
AP

England's Gary Cahill, center, collides with goalkeeper Joe Hart, right, after being pushed by Belgium's Dries Mertens during the international friendly soccer match between England and Belgium at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, June 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Gary Cahill, center, collides with goalkeeper Joe Hart, right, after being pushed by Belgium's Dries Mertens during the international friendly soccer match between England and Belgium at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, June 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Gary Cahill, center, is pushed into goalkeeper Joe Hart, right, by Belgium's Dries Mertens, left, during the international friendly soccer match between England and Belgium at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, June 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Gary Cahill lies on the field injured after being pushed into goalkeeper Joe Hart, not pictured, by Belgium's Dries Mertens, not pictured, during the international friendly soccer match between England and Belgium at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, June 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

England's Gary Cahill, right, is pushed into goalkeeper Joe Hart, not pictured, by Belgium's Dries Mertens, left, during the international friendly soccer match between England and Belgium at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, June 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

LONDON (AP) ? England defender Gary Cahill has been ruled out of the European Championship after fracturing his jaw in Saturday's final warmup match against Belgium.

The central defender is the third England player in the last week to be ruled out of Euro 2012, following injuries to midfielders Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry.

Cahill was injured in the first half of England's 1-0 victory over Belgium at Wembley after being shoved into goalkeeper Joe Hart by Dries Mertens.

The Football Association says Cahill has two fractures of his jaw, one either side. Liverpool defender Martin Kelly will be called up in his place.

Meanwhile, John Terry has been given the all clear following fears of a hamstring injury after coming off Saturday.

England's Euro 2012 opener is against France on June 11.

Associated Press

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Warren Buffett: New Orleans Times-Picayune's New Publication Schedule Is 'Simply Unsustainable'

OMAHA, Neb. -- Billionaire Warren Buffett is questioning the wisdom of changes the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper plans to make this fall.

Last week the Times-Picayune and three major Alabama dailies owned by the Newhouse family's Advance Publications announced plans to cut back to three printed issues a week. The newspapers will shift their focus to online news.

Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway just bought 63 newspapers from Media General for $142 million, said he was surprised by the New Orleans announcement.

"It seems to me that three days a week is simply unsustainable over the longer term. Either a publication is a newspaper or a periodical and I think three days a week crosses the line," Buffett said in his letter.

Buffett said he's puzzled about why the economics of publishing the Times-Picayune seven days a week don't make sense, because he thought the newspaper had a high penetration rate in New Orleans ? a strongly defined community.

New Orleans musician Evan Christopher says Buffett's reaction is in response to an open letter he wrote to Buffett about the changes at the Times-Picayune. Advance Publications plans to make similar changes at The Birmingham News, the Press-Register in Mobile and The Huntsville Times.

In recent years newspapers have struggled to make up for sharp declines in print advertising revenue with online advertising at a time when printing costs have been rising.

Buffett has recommended that newspapers charge for access to their stories online, so they won't be giving away their product. Advance plans to continue offering free access to its papers' news.

Buffett told Berkshire's newspaper editors last week that he believes newspapers will do well if they remain the primary source of information about their community and charge for online news.

"It's your job to make your paper indispensable to anyone who cares about what is going on in your city or town," he said.

Buffett didn't say whether Berkshire would have any interest in buying the Times-Picayune, but he noted that the newspaper's owners don't have a history of selling papers. Buffett said someone in the New Orleans community should explore whether Newhouse would sell to a local group.

Buffett has said that Berkshire may buy additional newspapers, and he favors small to mid-sized newspapers in cities with a strong sense of community. He turned down the opportunity to buy the Tampa Tribune as part of the Media General deal.

Berkshire's other newspapers include the Omaha World-Herald Co. and the Buffalo News.

Besides newspapers, the company Buffett leads owns more than 80 subsidiaries including insurance, furniture, clothing, jewelry and candy companies, restaurants and natural gas and corporate jet firms. Berkshire also has major investments in companies like Coca-Cola Co., IBM, Washington Post Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.

___

Online:

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Record NM blaze will test forest management

Firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The crew is part of an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

Firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The crew is part of an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

Firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The crew is part of an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

Firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The crew is part of an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

Crew members from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., cut a fire line along a mountain ridge outside Mogollon, N.M., Saturday, June 2, 2012, in an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. Unlike last year's megafires in New Mexico and Arizona, this blaze is burning in territory that has been frequently blackened under the watchful eye of the Gila's fire managers. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

A firefighter from the Granite Mountain Hotshots of Prescott, Ariz., clears brush along a ridge line outside Mogollon, New Mexico, Saturday, June 2, 2012, in an effort to manage and contain the Whitewater-Baldy fire which has burned more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. Unlike last year's megafires in New Mexico and Arizona, this blaze is burning in territory that has been frequently blackened under the watchful eye of the Gila's fire managers. (AP Photo/U.S. Forest Service, Tara Ross)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? A wall of smoke advances across a vast swath of rugged country in southwestern New Mexico where the nation's wilderness movement was born nearly a century ago.

From the air, the smoke stretches as far as the eye can see. On the ground, firefighters talk about the steep canyons that keep them from directly attacking what has become the largest wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history and the largest currently burning in the country.

Sure, things might look bad. But to land managers and scientists, the record-setting blaze represents a true test of decades of work aimed at returning fire to its natural role on the landscape ? a test that comes as many Western states grapple with overgrown forests, worsening drought and a growing prospect for more megafires.

The Whitewater-Baldy fire has destroyed a dozen cabins while marching across more than 354 square miles of the Gila National Forest. A pair of lightning-sparked fires grew together to form the massive blaze.

Unlike last year's megafires in New Mexico and Arizona, this blaze is burning in territory that has been frequently blackened under the watchful eye of the Gila's fire managers.

Starting in the early 1970s, the Gila has been leading the way when it comes to implementing such an active fire management strategy. Instead of immediately dousing flames in the wilderness, forest managers have let them burn as long as conditions are favorable.

The question that the Whitewater-Baldy fire is expected to answer is whether that strategy will pay off with more natural, less intense fires.

"There's a great opportunity here to study a fire like this," said Matthew Rollins, the wildland fire science coordinator with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Center in Virginia.

"The opportunity exists to look at how this fire has behaved differently in terms of vegetation mortality, effects on wildlife and fish habitat and water quality," Rollins said. "We can study how it burned in the wilderness relative to areas with other types of fire management strategies and other types of ignition patterns."

So far, the word from the fire lines is that the majority of the 227,000-acre blaze has burned with low to moderate intensity, not the kind of near-nuclear strength that was exhibited last year with the Las Conchas blaze in northern New Mexico. In that case, entire mountainsides were vaporized, leaving nothing behind but the white ashy skeletons of what used to be trees.

And as for those unburned pockets within the fire's boundaries, Rollins said he believes many of those spots have experienced low-intensity fire numerous times over the last century to make them more resilient.

Previously burned areas have also helped slow the flames on the fire's eastern flank.

"The fact that this is wilderness and the wilderness of the Gila has seen a lot of fires, we are comfortable with allowing it to burn. What we do is monitor it and help steer it around to keep some of the impacts lower than they would otherwise be on their own," said Danny Montoya, an operations section chief with the Southwest Incident Management Team.

Montoya said the rugged terrain has forced firefighters to attack the flames indirectly by starving the fire of fuels along its perimeter.

The smoke also has prevented direct attack from the air. Several helicopters and small planes are helping ground crews with backburn operations.

While a burn severity map has yet to be released, members of the incident management team are estimating that only 20 percent of the fire has burned at high intensity.

Last week, the fire made a 60,000-acre run in one day, scorching mixed conifer at high elevations as the flames were pushed by gusts of up to 60 mph.

That kind of fire can be devastating, experts said.

With fire behavior ranging from active to extreme, it will be some time before the scientists can get on the ground to see how the Gila has fared. Until then, they are working on gathering the decades of research done on the Gila, which is home to the world's first designated wilderness. It was the father of the wilderness movement, forester and conservationist Aldo Leopold, who pushed for the formation of the Gila Wilderness in 1924.

Tree ring data that dates back to the 1500s tells of the forest's fire history and the age of its trees. The perimeters of the Gila's fires along with information about their severity and vegetation mortality for the last century have also been compiled by the U.S. Forest Service.

There's also more ecological data from the federal Joint Fire Science program that can be used for comparisons.

"I think it's going to be a success story for the use of fire for managing forests," Rollins said. "It might not look like it on TV right now, but we haven't had any fatalities or dramatic housing loss like we see in Southern California or it burning so dramatically close to communities like last year's Las Conchas fire."

Experts agree that the Gila will see changes regardless of the severity of the fire. In the worst spots, aspens and other shrubs are expected to take over.

"When we're punching multi-thousand-acre holes in areas of ponderosa pine and drier mixed conifer types with no seed sources surviving, it's very difficult for those conifers to be re-established," said Craig Allen, a USGS ecologist based at Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico.

Fire managers are also expecting flooding. As the Las Conchas fire showed, steep denuded areas resulted in walls of water washing down canyons during the rainy season.

Residents in Glenwood are already worried about the prospect of flooding, and federal wildlife managers are concerned about what sediment and ash in the waterways could mean for the native Gila trout.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also monitoring two packs of endangered Mexican gray wolves that are situated to the north and east of the fire. Last year, wolves in Arizona were able to escape the massive Wallow fire with their pups, but it's unclear how mobile the packs in New Mexico are since their pups are much younger.

The fire is about 15 percent contained, which much of that being on the fire's northern and northwestern flanks.

On Saturday, the more than 1,200 firefighters who are battling the fire continued to build lines to corral the flames before more threatening winds and dry conditions developed.

"We're going to continue fighting this fire aggressively without putting our firefighters in danger," fire information officer Lee Bentley said. "We're getting as much of a black line as we can around this fire."

___

Follow Susan Montoya Bryan on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susanmbryanNM

Associated Press

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The Most Important Edamame Health Benefits | Health & Fitness Tools

1st June, 2012 - Posted by health news -

Edamame Health Data

Edamame is a healthy and delightful fruit which may be loved in various ways. It is possible to incorporate it in various ways in your diet to create its numerous health benefits. This fruit may be boiled, grilled, grilled or additional to soups and is a rich source of carbohydrates, proteins, dietary carbon filament, omega fatty acids and various vitamins and minerals. Due to the high complete protein content, it is an excellent, popular snack especially amongst athletes.

Edamame including dry roasted edamame is quite popular as a snack and is especially beneficial for the vegetarians. This is because; it is one of the few plant foods, which contain all the essential amino acids. So, edamame is considered as a source of complete proteins helping to maintain muscle mass. In addition to protein, edamame is a rich source of many other nutrients, and so, have a number of health benefits.

The fat observed in edamame are basically mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. All these fatty acids are known to be advantageous for heart health and so, they can lessen the possibility of heart disease. Edamame incorporates significant overall amount of dietary carbon filament, which helps to reduce the value of cholesterol in the body type. This too, can show effective to keep with my promise of staying unbiased you should take into consideration the health of the cardiovascular pc and the heart. Protein and carbon filament additionally helps to control hunger by offering a feeling of fullness.

Edamame beans contain limescale which is critical for sustaining bone density and the progress of strong, healthy and balanced bones and teeth. It incorporates isoflavones and saponins, which are anti-oxidants. These anti-oxidants can help to protect the body type from the effects of detrimental no cost radicals. ?Isoflavones? observed in edamame possess been observed to reduce the value of cholesterol.

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Video: Obama administration steps up cyber attacks

Week in celebs: Bieber's accident, more

??TODAY.com?s Courtney Hazlett and comedian Chuck Nice run down the week?s celebrity news, including Justin Bieber?s wild week, Jessica Simpson?s Weight Watcher?s deal and Madonna's return to the concert stage.

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Belgium Attractions | Belgiques.com

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Belgium Attractions ?

Article by Tammy J. Garrett

• How to Find Cheap Daytime Activities in Las Vegas

  You probably know Las Vegas primarily for its active nightlife. But when you're planing a trip to sin city, you'll undoubtedly want to fill your ...

• All Types of Beer pt.2

  image by Jeff Alworth All Types of Beer pt.2 - Article by Aliaksandr

• Brussels ? The Capital of Belgium

  image by Canadian Veggie Brussels - The Capital of Belgium - Article by sreedhar

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• Dog Profile ? The Brussels Griffon

  image by antilo0p Dog Profile - The Brussels Griffon - Article by Paul Murphy

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Syria blames rebels for Houla massacre

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria on Thursday blamed up to 800 rebel fighters for the massacre in central Syria last week that killed more than 100 people, nearly half of them children, in its most comprehensive explanation to date of the bloodshed.

The narrative starkly contradicted accounts of witnesses who blamed "shabiha" or the shadowy gunmen who operate on behalf of President Bashar Assad's regime. The U.N. also said it had strong suspicions those pro-regime gunmen were responsible for much of the carnage on Friday in a cluster of villages known as Houla.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., dismissed the Syrian investigation's conclusion as "another blatant lie," telling reporters in New York "there is no factual evidence ... that would substantiate that rendition of events."

Facing international outrage over the killings, Damascus launched its own investigation into the deaths and announced that special prayers for the victims would be held at mosques across the country on Friday. The U.N. chief warned of civil war and pleaded with the regime to stop its attacks.

At a news conference Thursday, Qassem Jamal Suleiman, who headed the government's investigation into the massacre, categorically denied any regime role. He said hundreds of rebel gunmen carried out the slaughter after launching a coordinated attack on five security checkpoints.

The aim, he said, was to frame the government and to ignite sectarian strife in Syria.

"Government forces did not enter the area where the massacre occurred, not before the massacre and not after it," he said, adding that the victims were families who refused to oppose the government or carry arms.

A Houla-based opposition activist said it was clear that there had been no government investigation.

"The regime is looking for ways to justify the massacre to the world," said Saria al-Houlany. "It's clear that there wasn't any professional probe. ... If we had 800 fighters in Houla, this massacre would not have happened," he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the aim was to create sedition in Syria.

"There are people in dark rooms working night and day to target Syria ... and the way to do it is to ignite civil strife," he told reporters at the same news conference. "They will not succeed."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called for "a transparent, independent and impartial international investigation" so those responsible for the massacre can be held accountable.

Rice, the U.S. ambassador, said the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council is discussing a resolution that would establish an independent investigation to ensure that facts are established so the perpetrators can be prosecuted.

The Houla massacre was one of the deadliest incidents since the uprising against Assad's hardline regime started in March last year. Activists say about 13,000 have been killed in 15 months.

The area is still under attack. The government focused its shelling Thursday on the Houla village of al-Tibeh. The activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that some residents fled to nearby towns and villages "fearing a new massacre" as the area again came under fire.

Persistent bloodshed despite a cease-fire agreement has raised pressure on the international community to act.

But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton laid out the clearest case yet for why the Obama administration is reluctant to intervene militarily in Syria even as the U.S. expressed revulsion over the Houla killings.

Clinton said Russia and China would have to agree before the U.S. and other nations engage in what could become a protracted conflict in support of a disorganized rebel force.

"We're nowhere near putting together any type of coalition other than to alleviate the suffering," Clinton told reporters Thursday after meeting with top officials in Denmark, a key contributor to last year's NATO-led mission against Moammar Gadhafi in Libya.

Russia's continued support for Assad "is going to help contribute to a civil war," Clinton warned.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Syria to stop the bloodshed and also warned of a protracted conflict.

Nearly 300 U.N. observers have been deployed around Syria to monitor a cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect on April 12 as part of a peace plan negotiated by international envoy Kofi Annan. But the plan has unraveled amid daily visit and the images from the Houla massacre caused outrage to spike.

"The massacre of civilians of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into a catastrophic civil war ? a civil war from which the country would never recover," Ban said in Istanbul. He added that the international community was united in demands that the Syrian government act on its responsibilities to its people.

"We are there to record violations and to speak out so that the perpetrators of crimes may be held to account," Ban told a summit of the Alliance of Civilizations, a forum promoting understanding between the Western and Islamic worlds.

"Let me state plainly, however: The U.N. did not deploy in Syria just to bear witness to the slaughter of innocents," he added. "We are not there to play the role of passive observer to unspeakable atrocities."

Annan, meanwhile, arrived in Lebanon, where 10 people were killed in clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian groups earlier this month, raising fears the conflict could spill over to neighboring countries.

In the wake of last week's massacre, the United States, Western and Asian nations expelled Syrian diplomats in protest.

Also Thursday, Syria's state-run TV said 500 people who had gotten involved in recent events in Syria were released from detention. It gave no further details.

In Damascus, the Syria International Islamic Bank, or SIIB, criticized the latest sanctions imposed Wednesday by the Obama administration as "irrational and unjustified."

The Treasury Department said Wednesday that SIIB has been acting as a front for other Syrian financial institutions seeking to circumvent sanctions. The new penalties will prohibit the bank from engaging in financial transactions in the U.S. and will freeze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction.

SIIB said it would undertake all necessary measures toward the U.S. decision, saying it has no assets or accounts in the United States. It added that the bank, like other Syrian banks, halted all banking operations with the dollar since U.S. sanctions were first imposed on Syria.

With Washington unwilling at this point to pursue military options in Syria, the U.S. has relied heavily on economic sanctions as a means for pressing Assad to leave power. The United States will host other nations in Washington next week to look at ways to tighten international sanctions further.

___

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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Feds: Woman says pipe bombs just a hobby

Hall County Jail

By Miguel Llanos, msnbc.com

A north Georgia college student was in jail Friday after federal officials accused her of possessing explosives and illegal drugs.

Celia Alchemy Savage admitted that she had made five to seven pipe bombs, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent said in a document submitted to a federal court Thursday.

She "claimed she has a passion for it" and that?"detonating them for recreation was her 'hobby,'" the document stated.

---

A judge later denied her bond and a preliminary hearing initially set for Friday was postponed until some time next week.

Savage's father acknowledged she liked to shoot weapons, but he insisted she'd never resort to violence.

"She's a real good person," Tommy Savage told wsbtv.com. "She likes to hunt and fish. She loves shooting. She goes sky diving. All kinds of stuff like that that you wouldn't really typically think of a young lady doing."

Savage's?online posts aren't likely to help her cause: She's seen in a YouTube video blowing up a toilet, and on her Facebook page says this about herself:?"I despise all law enforcement and any governing authority. I am not one for selective targeting but mass destruction."

Her Facebook page?also says she attends Gainesville State College and is studying mechanical engineering. Under?"political views" she posted: "Anarchist."

Savage was arrested Wednesday during a raid by federal agents on her rural home near Cornelia. Ga.?

Court documents included allegations that Savage had used pot the previous day and meth two months ago, wsbtv.com said.

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Day of stunts, stagecraft on presidential campaign

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a news conference outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility, Thursday, May 31, 2012, in Fremont, Calif. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a news conference outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility, Thursday, May 31, 2012, in Fremont, Calif. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

David Axelrod, a strategist for President Obama, addresses a crowd in front of the Statehouse, in Boston Thursday, May 31, 2012. Axelrod criticized former Mass. Gov. and Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's record as governor of the state during his remarks. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

David Axelrod, a strategist for President Obama, addresses a crowd in front of the Statehouse, in Boston Thursday, May 31, 2012. Axelrod criticized former Mass. Gov. and Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's record as governor of the state during his remarks. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a news conference outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility, Thursday, May 31, 2012, in Fremont, Calif. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush take part in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 31, 2012, to unveil the Bush portrait. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) ? Stunts, stagecraft, scripts ? and a touch of the surreal ? shaped the presidential campaign Thursday as Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama sought an edge on voters' No. 1 issue, the economy.

On one coast, Romney made a surprise trip to the former California headquarters of solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra to accuse Obama of currying favor with campaign supporters by giving a federal loan to the green energy company that later went bankrupt.

"This half-a-billion-dollar taxpayer investment represents a serious conflict of interest on the part of the president and his team," the Republican presidential candidate said as he stood outside the shuttered company and held it up as Exhibit A of presidential missteps on the economy.

He offered no proof of his claim during a visit that was shrouded in a highly unusual amount of secrecy because, aides said, the campaign feared Obama would interfere with his Republican rival's plans to appear there.

At roughly the same time across the country in Boston, Obama's campaign staged its own event outside Massachusetts' Statehouse to argue that Romney's record as governor from 2003 to 2007 proves he is ill-prepared to manage the nation's economy.

"Romney economics didn't work then and it won't work now," Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said at a news conference, pointing to a poor record of job creation, increased fees and the addition of $2.6 billion to the state's debt on Romney's watch.

Axelrod's appearance attracted several dozen Romney supporters, including many who protested loudly by chanting "Where are the jobs?" and holding signs that said "Obama isn't working."

The competing events, complete with rival Web videos and frenzied backers, made for an oddball day on the campaign trail and showed the degree to which Obama and Romney's teams are trying to undercut each other's economic credentials during the nation's slow-moving recovery, easily the top issue for voters.

The jockeying also came one day before Friday's May employment report, which will offer the latest window into the nation's economy.

Economists were expecting the report to say that employers added 158,000 jobs, which would be better than the past two months but well below the winter's pace of 252,000 jobs per month. They also expect no change in the unemployment rate, which was 8.1 percent in April.

Obama, himself, stayed above the fray of the day, embracing an opportunity to appear presidential as his Republican rival struggled to draw attention to his campaign.

The Democratic incumbent was at the White House on Thursday. He appeared with former President George W. Bush, the man he repeatedly blames for the nation's economic turmoil, for the unveiling of Bush's official portrait during a rare, nonpolitical event in an election year.

But on this day, Obama had little to say about the campaign and kept a bipartisan tone during the unveiling.

"We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those differences. We all love this country," Obama said as the last two Republican presidents, George W. Bush, and his father, George H.W. Bush, looked on.

Romney was far more direct.

He staged what amounted to almost a taunt to the president by traveling to the shuttered Solyndra plant here. His campaign didn't announce the event location or subject in advance and barred reporters from disclosing the venue until arrival. A senior Romney aide said the campaign was concerned the Obama administration would work with local officials to prevent Romney from holding an event there.

Yet, for all the preparation, and underscoring the challenge of being the challenger, Romney's event was pre-empted by live cable TV coverage of the Bush portrait unveiling.

Solyndra has emerged as a vulnerability for Obama because the company received $535 million in loan guarantees from Obama's Energy Department in 2009 only to go bankrupt two years later, sparking an ongoing investigation. The loan guarantee program, designed to spur alternative energy projects, was created during the Bush administration.

Republicans have been assailing Obama on Solyndra for months, partly by pointing to the connection between Obama fundraisers and the company while arguing that the president used government policies to benefit campaign supporters.

Steve Spinner, a former Energy Department official, raised at least $500,000 for Obama's campaign. Emails released earlier by congressional investigators show that Spinner was actively involved in the Solyndra loan despite pledging to step aside because his wife's law firm represented the company. One of Solyndra's investors was the foundation of George Kaiser, an Oklahoma billionaire who has supported Obama.

Kaiser has said he was not active in helping Solyndra receive the loan. White House records show that Kaiser was a frequent visitor to the White House. He has said he did not discuss Solyndra on those visits, although the company's name did come up at least once during one of those visits.

The administration says the loan was awarded on the merits and that extensive GOP efforts have failed to turn up a "smoking gun." The Energy Department's inspector general so far has only criticized the Energy Department for general problems with the loan program. It has not addressed charges of political cronyism.

But Romney suggested a political payoff, saying: "Free enterprise to the president means taking money from the taxpayers and giving it freely to his friends."

At the Obama campaign's Boston event, Romney backers heckled Axelrod by shouting, "Solyndra, Solyndra."

"You can shout down speakers my friends, but it's hard to Etch A Sketch the truth away," Axelrod responded, referring to a comment by a top Romney aide, Eric Fehrnstrom, about Romney shifting gears for the general election campaign.

Romney used his trip to Southern California to gain another type of political capital ? the endorsement of former first lady Nancy Reagan. After hosting Romney and his wife, Ann, at her Los Angeles home on Thursday, the widow of President Ronald Reagan issued a statement saying that "Ronnie" would have joined her in liking Romney's "business background and his strong principles."

___

Thomas reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington and Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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