Our Year In Dating As Told In GIFs

Winona, Julie and Rachel spent much or all of the year in serious relationships, but Ami, Jessica and I were on the prowl. Here?s what the 2012 dating scene was like for us single Frisky ladies?

When a guy on OKCupid wanted to exchange numbers and I suggested email addresses instead and he was like, ?I don?t do email.?

When he told me I embarrassed him in front of his friends when I kissed him on the cheek and held his hand.

When he sent me a text message saying, ?I just can?t do this.?

When the best compliment he could come up with was ?Your eyes are ominous.?

When he made fun of my bike on our second date.

When he kissed me for the first time in the subway station.

When he told me he was taking me to trapeze school for our second date.

When he said he wanted to stay in bed longer to sniff my pillow.

When he messaged me with his phone number and said, ?Text me sometime if you want to hang out.?

When he asked if I wanted to come back to his place after he acted like a dick on our second date.

When I found out that the hot British guy who writes me dirty emails lives in Paris AND does not want a relationship right now.

When he squeezed my butt while walking up a flight of stairs and I yelled at him for doing that in public, but secretly was kind of turned on.

When we had an amazing conversation on the first date and then I never heard from him again.

When I?m at Toys In Babeland and I find myself a BOB (battery operated boyfriend)?

When the guy I was sleeping with told me he didn?t want to have sex with me anymore because he liked me too much as a person.

When I excused myself to go to the bathroom and my date, who I just met 30 minutes prior, followed me, thinking I wanted to make out.

Whenever the guy I was banging suggested we break out the full-length mirror.

What I was really thinking when my mom asked what I was looking for in a man.

Every time I sat at a bar, waiting for a date to arrive, annoyed that he was late.

When I Get The OKCupid Alert, ?Someone Chose You!?

When a guy is?32, but according to his online dating profile, is looking for a woman who isn?t older than 29.

Source: http://www.thefrisky.com/2012-12-28/our-year-in-dating-as-told-in-gifs/

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Desert Storm commander Norman Schwarzkopf dies

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 1990 file photo, U.S. Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, answers questions during an interview in Riyadh. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 1990 file photo, U.S. Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, answers questions during an interview in Riyadh. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 1991 file photo, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. troops in the Gulf, gazes from the window of his small jet on his way out to visit U.S. troops in the desert in Saudi Arabia. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 1997 file photo, retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on the Persian Gulf War illness. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette, File)

FILE - In this June 8, 1991 file photo, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and President George Bush watch the National Victory Parade from the viewing stand in Washington. Schwarzkopf led his troops in the parade, and then joined Bush in the reviewing stand. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

FILE - In this April 23, 1991 file photo, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, left, looks on as President George Bush speaks to reporters in the White House Rose Garden as in Washington. Bush praised the general for leading a "fantastic" effort to fulfill U.S. obligations in the gulf, and for helping to build "unbelievable" morale on the home front. Schwarzkopf died Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. He was 78. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Truth is, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf didn't care much for his popular "Stormin' Norman" nickname.

The seemingly no-nonsense Desert Storm commander's reputed temper with aides and subordinates supposedly earned him that rough-and-ready moniker. But others around the general, who died Thursday in Tampa, Fla., at age 78 of complications from pneumonia, knew him as a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who preferred the somewhat milder sobriquet given by his troops: "The Bear."

That one perhaps suited him better later in his life, when he supported various national causes and children's charities while eschewing the spotlight and resisting efforts to draft him to run for political office.

He lived out a quiet retirement in Tampa, where he'd served his last military assignment and where an elementary school bearing his name is testament to his standing in the community.

Schwarzkopf capped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991 ? but he'd managed to keep a low profile in the public debate over the second Gulf War against Iraq, saying at one point that he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and the Pentagon predicted.

Schwarzkopf was named commander in chief of U.S. Central Command at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base in 1988, overseeing the headquarters for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly two dozen countries stretching across the Middle East to Afghanistan and the rest of central Asia, plus Pakistan.

When Saddam invaded Kuwait two years later to punish it for allegedly stealing Iraqi oil reserves, Schwarzkopf commanded Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of some 30 countries organized by President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.

At the peak of his postwar national celebrity, Schwarzkopf ? a self-proclaimed political independent ? rejected suggestions that he run for office, and remained far more private than other generals, although he did serve briefly as a military commentator for NBC.

While focused primarily on charitable enterprises in his later years, he campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2000, but was ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In early 2003 he told The Washington Post that the outcome was an unknown: "What is postwar Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That's a huge question, to my mind. It really should be part of the overall campaign plan."

Initially Schwarzkopf had endorsed the invasion, saying he was convinced that Secretary of State Colin Powell had given the United Nations powerful evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After that proved false, he said decisions to go to war should depend on what U.N. weapons inspectors found.

He seldom spoke up during the conflict, but in late 2004 he sharply criticized Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon for mistakes that included erroneous judgments about Iraq and inadequate training for Army reservists sent there.

"In the final analysis I think we are behind schedule. ... I don't think we counted on it turning into jihad (holy war)," he said in an NBC interview.

Schwarzkopf was born Aug. 24, 1934, in Trenton, N.J., where his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police, was then leading the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnap case. That investigation ended with the arrest and 1936 execution of German-born carpenter Richard Hauptmann for murdering famed aviator Charles Lindbergh's infant son.

The elder Schwarzkopf was named Herbert, but when the son was asked what his "H'' stood for, he would reply, "H."

As a teenager Norman accompanied his father to Iran, where the elder Schwarzkopf trained the Iran's national police force and was an adviser to Reza Pahlavi, the young Shah of Iran.

Young Norman studied there and in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, then followed in his father's footsteps to West Point, graduating in 1956 with an engineering degree. After stints in the U.S. and abroad, he earned a master's degree in engineering at the University of Southern California and later taught missile engineering at West Point.

In 1966 he volunteered for Vietnam and served two tours, first as a U.S. adviser to South Vietnamese paratroops and later as a battalion commander in the U.S. Army's Americal Division. He earned three Silver Stars for valor ? including one for saving troops from a minefield ? plus a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and three Distinguished Service Medals.

While many career officers left military service embittered by Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was among those who opted to stay and help rebuild the tattered Army into a potent, modernized all-volunteer force.

After Saddam invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Schwarzkopf played a key diplomatic role by helping persuade Saudi Arabia's King Fahd to allow U.S. and other foreign troops to deploy on Saudi territory as a staging area for the war to come.

On Jan. 17, 1991, a five-month buildup called Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm as allied aircraft attacked Iraqi bases and Baghdad government facilities. The six-week aerial campaign climaxed with a massive ground offensive on Feb. 24-28, routing the Iraqis from Kuwait in 100 hours before U.S. officials called a halt.

Schwarzkopf said afterward he agreed with Bush's decision to stop the war rather than drive to Baghdad to capture Saddam, as his mission had been only to oust the Iraqis from Kuwait.

But in a desert tent meeting with vanquished Iraqi generals, he allowed a key concession on Iraq's use of helicopters, which later backfired by enabling Saddam to crack down more easily on rebellious Shiites and Kurds.

While he later avoided the public second-guessing by academics and think tank experts over the ambiguous outcome of the first Gulf War and its impact on the second Gulf War, he told The Washington Post in 2003, "You can't help but ... with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say, 'Look, had we done something different, we probably wouldn't be facing what we are facing today.'"

After retiring from the Army in 1992, Schwarzkopf wrote a best-selling autobiography, "It Doesn't Take A Hero." Of his Gulf War role, he said: "I like to say I'm not a hero. I was lucky enough to lead a very successful war." He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and honored with decorations from France, Britain, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

Schwarzkopf was a national spokesman for prostate cancer awareness and for Recovery of the Grizzly Bear, served on the Nature Conservancy board of governors and was active in various charities for chronically ill children.

"I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army and I'm very proud of that," he once told The Associated Press. "But I've always felt that I was more than one-dimensional. I'd like to think I'm a caring human being. ... It's nice to feel that you have a purpose."

Schwarzkopf and his wife, Brenda, had three children: Cynthia, Jessica and Christian.

___

Stacy was the AP's Tampa, Fla., correspondent when he prepared this report on Schwarzkopf's life; he now reports from the AP bureau in Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press writers Richard Pyle in New York and Jay Lindsay in Boston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-28-Obit-Schwarzkopf/id-7b37ee550f044ac583f7af5549329350

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Video: How to keep your days merry and bright post-Christmas

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50296650/

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Simple Abundance Exercises Can Change Your Mindset ? kaokely& ...

Article title: Simple Abundance Exercises Can Change Your Mindset
Article Category: Self-Improvement

When you feel more prosperous, you will lead life of improved health, happiness and prosperity. However, when most of us think about our finances, most of the time we don?t have thoughts of prosperity.
Continue reading this article?

Source: http://www.medicalguide.pro/3210/simple-abundance-exercises-can-change-your-mindset-4.html

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Source: http://kaokely.posterous.com/simple-abundance-exercises-can-change-your-mi

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Source: http://logaker.posterous.com/simple-abundance-exercises-can-change-your-mi

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The editors review 2012: Finance: The year of the fine | The Economist

About Newsbook

In this blog, our correspondents respond to breaking news stories and provide comment and analysis. The blog takes its name from newsbooks, the 16th- and 17th-century precursors to newspapers, which covered battles, disasters, debates and sensational trials

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2012/12/editors-review-2012-finance

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Rodney L. Taylor, Ph.D.: Winter Solstice: A Confucian View

Here in Colorado its that time of the year again: shorter days, longer nights. It may not be so obvious in its physical appearance in a world dominated by technology to address our every need and convenience -- after all, we are able to keep much of the darkness and cold at arm's length in the comfort of the world we have built. Yet the progression of Nature this time of year is steadily toward less and less light.

I am reminded of this progression by adjusting my solar panels on our mountain retreat to their near vertical position -- to capture as much of the diminishing light as possible with the now lower horizon line and fewer hours per day of sunlight. Writing from an off-grid setting miles up a dirt road at 9,000 feet in the Central Rockies of Colorado, I fill more hours of each day with "chopping wood and carrying water," as the Ch'an/Zen phrase would have it. And what a joy it is, kerosene lamps bringing light into steadily increasing hours of darkness each eve.

And then the nadir of light is reached -- that point at which light is closest to extinction and darkness pervades: Winter Solstice.

Religions worldwide, ancient and modern, have sought to address this point of greatest darknness be it by great bonfires burning through the longest night, decoration with greens or the burning of candles as reminders of the persistence of light, even "in the darkest hour."

Light will prevail, our traditions tell us, darkness will recede and even in the stony stillness of winter, life will flourish again. So we have the foundational metaphor of light and the particular meaning in this moment of the nadir of light, followed as it always is by its gradual increase.

The question before us is how Winter Solstice is viewed and interpreted in an even larger setting. Where world religions are often seen to incorporate the metaphor of darkness and light, little has been considered of a Confucian view of darkness and light or the nadir of light at Winter Solstice.

And, as the proverbial question would have it, what would Confucius say?

The answer, as one might expect, is that Confucius himself, like many religious founders, has little to say about a great variety of subjects. And Winter Solstice is certainly one of those! That does not exclude the topic from discussion in the later Confucian tradition, however, and one finds profound reflections upon the metaphors of light and dark as foundational to much of East Asian thought.

The most basic structure of such thought is found is the well-known symbol of Yin/Yang, a symbol ubiquitous to East Asian history and cultures. The Chinese characters contain the essential meaning of light and dark as ever changing phases of the coursing of all things, Nature and humanity alike. The totality of this changing and transforming universe is what generally is referred to as the Tao, the Way.

The motion of yin/yang is a circular one -- more a spiraling one -- ever changing between one phase and the other. As yin fulfills itself, inherent within it are the seeds of yang, and visa versa. All changes occur within the goodness of the nature of Nature, for there is no evil in the cosmology, most certainly not in darkness any more than light.

The major source for the philosophy of yin/yang is the Chinese Classic the I-Ching, "Book of Changes." Within the "Book of Changes" much of the philosophical speculations concerning yin/yang is found in the commentary hsi-tz'u chuan, "Great Treatise." It was often to this source that Confucians -- Chinese, Koreans and Japanese -- turned to understand the cosmology of yin/yang theory.

So, how does yin/yang theory connect to Winter Solstice?

To answer this question I turn to the writings of Okada Takehiko, a contemporary Japanese Confucian; and one of his books I translated a number of years ago, "Zazen to Seiza" (Buddhist and Confucian Meditation) (See R. L. Taylor, The Confucian Way of Contemplation, 1988).

This teaching focuses upon the "storing of wisdom," chih-ts'ang, a phrase the Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi (1130-1200) found in the "Great Treatise" of the "Book of Changes." The source of this teaching for Chu Hsi begins with the fundamental Confucian teaching of the Four Beginnings, ssu-tuan, of the moral nature of each person -- goodness, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. Chu Hsi and a lineage of teachers direct to Okada himself extend such "beginnings" to the nature of the universe and interpret wisdom, chih, as the endpoint and fulfillment of such teachings.

And here is the connection to Winter Solstice. When those same Four Beginnings are placed in the context of the four seasons, wisdom, chih, corresponds to winter.

The metaphor is profound: Wisdom for these Confucians is the endpoint of the Four Beginnings and it is best understood within the context of winter.

In Okada's own words:

"Stored wisdom is boundless and empty, but in it there is included all existence. It is the totality of principle with no distinguishing characteristics, and within it there is a vigorous activity. Therefore it is the unity of existence and activity. In terms of the four seasons it is the moment of midnight of the winter solstice, and it corresponds to the point of time when quietude is completely exhausted and subtle function is about to begin moving." (Okada, Zazen to seiza in Taylor, Confucian Way of Contemplation, p.148)

There are many technical points of later Confucian metaphysics in this passage, but what should be very clear is the degree to which Winter Solstice holds meaning as a profound metaphor for the acquisition of wisdom within the Confucian tradition.

And so, as we come once again to that shortest day and deepest night, consider the ways in which humankind has sought to find meaning, profound meaning, in the cycling of light and dark, the yin and yang of cosmic process, with the Confucian recognition of wisdom as that which is more often than not seen as "through a glass, darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rodney-l-taylor-phd/winter-solstice-a-confucian-view_b_2272349.html

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Colorado Springs Business Journal ? Blog Archive ? Retailers ...

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As retailers are enter the final stretch of the holiday shopping season, they?re hoping shoppers will open wide their pocketbooks, despite lackluster spending predictions.

Overall holiday sales are expected to increase though shopper sentiment is still on a downward trend.

Consumer confidence fell in December to?a five-month low, according to a Dec. 21 report from Reuters/University of Michigan, which rated confidence at 72.9, the weakest since July when it came in at 82.7.

Weak online sales also indicate a conservative shopping mood.

Online sales increased 8.4 percent this holiday season, compared with last year?s almost 16 percent gain, according to analysts at SpendingPulse.

The National Retail Federation has has predicted that overall holiday sales will rise 4.1 percent to about $586.1 billion this year, compared with a 5.6 percent gain in 2011.

Sales for November and December account for 20 percent to 40 percent of U.S. retailers? annual revenue, the NRF said.

The International Council of Shopping Centers ?forecasts retailers will report a 4 percent to 4.5 percent ?sales increase for December.

Source: http://csbj.com/2012/12/24/retailers-hopeful-despite-tight-spending-forecast/

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Source: http://forums.ferra.ru/index.php?showtopic=53667

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Hate it? An insider's guide to returning gifts

TODAY

The refund policies at most major retailers are the same as last year, with a few notable exceptions. But that doesn't mean it will always be easy to take back that unwanted item.

By By Herb Weisbaum, TODAY contributor

It happens. You get a gift and you want to return it. Maybe you don?t need another electric can opener or you're not fond of that bright pink necktie.

Good news: According to the annual survey by ConsumerWorld.org, the refund policies at most major retailers are the same as last year, with a few notable exceptions. But that doesn?t mean it will always be easy to take back that unwanted item.

?Many stores are still slicing and dicing their return policies, creating different rules for different categories of items,? noted Consumer World founder Edgar Dworsky. ?For example, electronics typically have a shorter return period than clothing.?

If you get something you don?t want, you?d better find out how long you have to take it back.

?We get so wrapped up in the holidays that by the time you think about returning something in mid-January, it may be too late,? noted Carey Rossi, editor-in-chief at ConsumerSearch.com. ?So there is a timeline as to when you need to return those unwanted gifts.?

Here are a few of the noteworthy return-policy changes from the Consumer World survey:

• Target tightened its return policy for the second time in two years. The return period for digital items, such as computers (tablet, netbook, notebook or eReader), video game consoles, GPS units and digital cameras is now 30 days instead of 45 days.

• Sears shortened its ?extended holiday return period? from 120 days across the board. Items that qualify for a 30-day and 60-day return can now be brought back until Jan. 24, and in some cases, later. Toys ?R" Us will now let you return an electronic product after the package has been opened.? In the past, they would not.

• Buy.com expanded its holiday return period from Jan. 31 to Feb. 15. ?

Remember: Some retailers won?t accept the return of an electronic item if the box has been opened, the product has been used, parts are missing or the original packaging is gone.

Or you may have to pay a restocking fee. Sears charges a 15 percent restocking fee if they determine the item is ?used? or has missing parts. At Overstock.com, you could pay as much as 60 percent of the purchase price to return something that?s been opened or used.

Know the rules
Retailers want to handle your return in a friendly and courteous manner. That?s why they have extended holiday return policies.

?Many however, keep it a secret,? Dworsky noted. ?Most don?t post big signs in the store, and managers may not even be aware of it.?

Whether they post it in plain sight or not, there are rules to follow.

?Receipts are the key to easy returns,? noted Judy Rohlena, senior editor at ShopSmart magazine. ?If you don?t have a receipt, you could be out of luck.?

Most stores won?t accept a return without a receipt. And with all the return fraud taking place, you can?t blame them.

If they do take back an item without a receipt, you may only get the lowest price that item sold for in the past 90 days.

While it?s important for gift-givers to include a ?gift receipt,? most stores won?t let you use that to get a refund, only an equal exchange, merchandise credit or gift card.

?If you want your money back, you?ll have to get the gift-giver to go back with the original receipt,? Dworsky said.

Note: The return policies for online purchases may be different. Don?t assume you can take an Internet purchase back to a company?s physical store.

• Sports Authority won?t take back any online purchases at its stores.

• Some items sold by OldNavy.com, Gap.com and BananaRepublic.com must be returned by mail.

• You will only get a merchandise credit it you take back something purchased at ToysRUs.com to a Toys ?R? Us store.

Remember: Some online retailers will cover the cost of that return. Others make you pay to send it back.

The bottom line
Be careful how you handle your gifts, especially those you think you might not want. Don?t wear clothing. Keep all the packaging. Don?t even open the box ? especially for electronic items ? if you know it?s going back.

Keep in mind: Many stores track returns to spot potential fraud.

?For honest consumers, this can cause problems, as some stores limit the amount of return activity to a certain number or value of annual merchandise,? noted Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League. ?So be prepared for the worst.?

If you follow the rules, you shouldn?t have many problems. Just remember, those rules vary from store to store. You need to understand that company?s policy before you head to the store or try to ship it back.

?If you?re asking for something that?s outside the rules, that means you?re asking for an accommodation,? Dworsky said. ?But if you?re asking for something that?s in the policy and they turn you down, then you can be more assertive.?

Have a problem with a return? Ask to speak to the store manager or contact the customer service department. If that doesn?t work file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, your state Attorney General?s office or local consumer protection agency.

More information:

Consumer World Survey: 2012 Return Policies

Consumer Reports: Hassle-Free Gift Returns

National Consumers League: Stress-Free Gift Returns

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on?Facebookand?Twitter?or visit?The ConsumerMan?website.

Source: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2012/12/24/16070672-hate-it-an-insiders-guide-to-returning-gifts?lite

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Young scientist helps identify cause of widespread eye disease

Dec. 21, 2012 ? Branch retinal vein occlusion -- blockage of the blood vessels that channel blood from the retina -- is a common eye disease. A type of blood clot in the eye, the disease causes reduced vision, and people with the disease also typically have an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes and other serious conditions. A young scientist from the University of Copenhagen has made a significant contribution to finding the cause of the disease.

A team of researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Glostrup Hospital and several other ophthalmology departments at Danish hospitals have now shown that it is highly probable that thickening of the arterial walls is behind the common eye disease known as branch retinal vein occlusion -- a type of blood clot in the eye that blocks the vessels that transport blood from the retina. The disease leads to reduced vision and affects more than 14 million people worldwide.

"Our new results indicate that branch retinal vein occlusion is caused by thickening of the arterial wall. This makes it crucial for doctors to treat patients diagnosed with the disease with medicine to lower blood pressure in order to prevent blood clots from forming in the heart and brain. Branch retinal vein occlusion is often a sign of increased risk of blood clots in other parts of the body," explains Mette Bertelsen, PhD student at the University of Copenhagen.

Targeted treatment

Mette Bertelsen, head of the research project, and her colleagues photographically verified the diagnosis of branch retinal vein occlusion in 1168 people. They identified the patients' other diseases with the help of Danish national registries and compared the data to that of 116.800 healthy people.

By looking at the illness and mortality statistics of Danes diagnosed with a blood clot in the retina's main blood vessels, both before and after the occurrence of the retinal blood clot, Mette Bertelsen and her colleges has now shown that while these patients show a higher frequency of arterial disease in the heart and brain, they do not display a higher frequency of venous disease. This new knowledge, which has been published in the British Medical Journal, means that disease prevention and treatment of these patients should be targeted at hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis, while doctors can save patients from unnecessary treatment with anticoagulants.

Thickened arteries the villains

Doctors have long debated the three most likely theories about what causes branch retinal vein occlusion. Discussion centres on whether the disease is due to a) conditions in the veins that cause blood clots, b) a change in the composition of the blood, or c) blockage of the vein due to compression from an adjacent artery that has thickened and thus compresses the vein and hinders blood flow.

"To understand what is actually happening, it can be helpful to picture a garden hose that has been squeezed by a larger hose, cutting off the water supply. That is essentially what happens when a vein is compressed by a thickened artery. Clearly, the consequences can be serious," explains Mette Bertelsen. She adds that no one knows exactly how many Danes suffer from branch retinal vein occlusion, but that more than 14 million people have the disease worldwide.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Copenhagen.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. M. Bertelsen, A. Linneberg, T. Rosenberg, N. Christoffersen, H. Vorum, E. Gade, M. Larsen. Comorbidity in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion: case-control study. BMJ, 2012; 345 (nov30 1): e7885 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e7885

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/OeG09iQUDnI/121221081709.htm

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CSN: 49ers will have Justin Smith Sunday night

Coach Jim Harbaugh said Tuesday morning on his KNBR radio show that he expects to see All-Pro defensive tackle Justin Smith back on the field shortly.

Smith exited the game Sunday night against the New England Patriots with an undisclosed left arm or elbow injury in the third quarter of the 49ers' 41-34 victory in Foxboro, Mass.

Harbaugh was vague Monday at his weekly press conference when asked about the severity of Smith's injury. On "The Murph & Mac Show," Harbaugh intimate that Smith's injury is not going to keep him out of the 49ers' lineup on a long-term basis. Smith underwent an MRI examination on Monday.

"I expect we'll see 'The Cowboy,' " Harbaugh said, using Smith's nickname. "Knowing what I know of Justin Smith and the situation, yeah, I think the Cowboy will be around. The Cowboy will be saddled up. . . Ropin' and ridin' . . .

"If it's humanly possible, the Cowboy will be out there ropin' and ridin'."

The 49ers (10-3-1) have a big game Sunday night against the second-place Seattle Seahawks (9-5). The 49ers would wrap up the NFC West title with one victory in their final two games of the season. But the 49ers might have to win both games (at Seattle and at home against the Arizona Cardinals) to assure the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs and a first-round bye.

Smith appeared to sustain the injury while trying to push the pocket backward on a pass play against a Patriots double team on the first defensive series of the third quarter. He remained on the field for two more plays before going to the locker room for further observation.

He returned to the 49ers sideline a short time later and had his left elbow wrapped. However, he could not finish the game. After sitting out the first game of his NFL career in a contract dispute, Smith has not missed a game in his 12-year career He has appeared in 189 consecutive games with 185 straight starts, the top active streak among all NFL defensive linemen.

On Sunday night, Smith said, "I'll do anything I can to play."

General manager Trent Baalke, speaking on his show late Monday afternoon on 95.7 The Game's "Bucher & Towny", was asked it would mean to the 49ers if Smith were out of action for any period of time.

"We'd be kidding ourselves to say we wouldn't be missing anything," Baalke said. "But our mentality here has been and always will be, next man up. They were able to rise to the occasion (Sunday), Ricky Jean (Francois) stepping in, Will Tukuafu stepping in, Clark Haggans in a limited role stepping in. The guys that got a chance to step in, stepped up.

"You saw Ray McDonald come up big, and raise his level in a big game. So we're very confident in the rest of the guys in the locker room. But, certainly, Justin is a big part of this football team and has been for a long time, and he would be missed."

Source: http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/matt-maiocco/harbaugh-expects-see-justin-smith

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U.S. budget hopes lift shares, other risk assets

LONDON (Reuters) - Global shares and other risk assets rose on Tuesday, encouraged by signs of a U.S. budget compromise aimed at stopping a package of tax hikes and spending cuts hurting the economy next year.

The differences over how to resolve the "fiscal cliff" narrowed significantly on Monday night when the White House proposed leaving lower tax rates in place for everyone earning under $400,000.

That was a change of position for President Barack Obama who has been pushing for a $250,000 threshold although it is still far from Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's preference of $1 million.

"Overnight news on the fiscal cliff has been taken positively by the markets here in Europe after underperforming the U.S. recently," Securequity sales trader Jawaid Afsar said.

European shares <.stoxx50e> mirrored an upward push by Asian equities, opening up 0.5 percent as London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> climbed between 0.4 and 0.5 percent.

It left the MSCI index of global stocks <.miwd00000pus> 0.2 percent higher, on the cusp of a three-month high and with a more significant 1-1/2 year high also in its sights.

Futures suggested a higher Wall Street opening too<.n> and oil, copper and gold also firmed. Expectations of more monetary easing in Japan kept the yen soft, however.

As European trading gather pace, the dollar inched up 0.1 percent to 83.96 yen, off a 20-month high of 84.48 yen hit on Monday but well above its late New York levels on Friday. The euro hovered at $1.3158.

Concerns that fiscal stimulus could seriously increase the country's debt burden pushed the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield to a one-month high of 0.750 percent.

In European bond markets, trading remained subdued ahead of the year-end. German Bund futures slipped to 144.62 as increasing signs of progress in the U.S. budget talks eased demand for low-risk assets.

"We're lower on the fiscal cliff progress. The markets are very thin out there and so price moves could get overdone today," said one bond trader.

(Additional reporting by David Brett; William James; editing by Anna Willard)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-inch-higher-fiscal-cliff-hopes-034320670--finance.html

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Children's meetings offline with people met online examined in new study

Dec. 18, 2012 ? Few parents feel entirely comfortable with their children meeting their online acquaintances in real life. But a new study published in the pioneering Journal of Children and Media sets out to put the risks and benefits of such meetings in perspective.

Monica Barbovschi's study uses data collected as part of the cross-national EU Kids Online II project investigating children's experiences of (and parental concerns about) the Internet. As part of the project, children completed a questionnaire about making contact with new people online. Thirty per cent reported having made such contacts, while only 9% reported face-to-face meetings. Fifty-seven per cent of those children who did pursue their online friendships offline (or 5% of all children in the survey) did so in connection with a friend or family member while 48% of those (or just 4% of all children) met someone who had no connection with their 'real' lives -- in other words, a 'complete stranger'.

One of the aims of Barbovschi's analysis of the data was to learn more about the children themselves, based on the meetings they had: with 'complete strangers', 'friends of friends' or 'mixed groups' of the two. Her 'control' group was children who had no offline meetings. Into the mix Barbovschi added their reported time spent on the Internet, preferred activities while online, and any 'risky' behaviour, whether online or offline. She also looked at whether the children had high levels of 'self-efficacy' (a measure of personal agency), were 'sensation seeking' (which might result in gaining more opportunities as well taking more risks) or had other psychological issues.

Her results indicate that children who met 'strangers' or 'mixed' contacts had longer and broader Internet use as well as higher 'self-efficacy'. She concludes that children who meet 'complete strangers' or 'mixed' contacts are more prone to attention-seeking behaviours; older children are also more likely to meet 'complete strangers' than younger ones.

Reassuringly, of the 9% of all children who pursued a friendship started online, only 11% of those declared having been bothered by the encounter; and despite online grooming being one of parents' greatest concerns, offline meetings don't appear to happen nearly as frequently as media reports would suggest.

She also notes that children who reported 'harm' (even just feeling upset) tended to be younger, had lower self-efficacy and experienced some psychological difficulties, pointing towards a generalised vulnerability pattern. Since there was no connection between 'harm' and the type of meetings (whether with a 'complete stranger' or 'friend of friend'), the results reconfirm earlier findings: attention should be given to children who are already vulnerable. As Barbovschi notes bluntly: 'All children who went to offline meetings showed more psychological problems than the ones who didn't.' In other words, children who are most vulnerable in general may seek emotional and social compensation in risky online-to-offline encounters.

To keep her findings in perspective, Barbovschi reminds readers that most children have positive experiences with new online acquaintances, and that many new relationships started in this way can turn into good friendships, expand their social circle or help them overcome social anxieties. As in many other areas of children's lives, protection from one kind of harm might introduce another: a certain exposure to risk is needed for building resilience and effective coping strategies. This article is an important step in helping anyone concerned about a child's online safety to balance that risk.

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Journal Reference:

1. Monica Barbovschi. Children's Meetings Offline with People Met Online:. Journal of Children and Media, 2012; : 1 DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2012.739760

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/PQgoTg8cREI/121218111603.htm

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Nokia CEO teases flagship smartphone coming to Verizon

Nokia

The exclusive partnership between Nokia (NOK) and AT&T (T) surrounding flagship phones is coming to an end. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop revealed in an interview with CNET that the company is pleased to have restarted its ?relationship with Verizon? and is ?planning a lot of exciting things? for the future. The company recently teamed up with the nation?s largest wireless provider to offer the low-end Lumia 822, however it has continued to rely on AT&T for a number of its flagship devices such as the Lumia 910?and Lumia 920. HTC (2498) has taken a different route for its flagship handset and has offered the Windows Phone 8X across three of the top carriers in the United States. Elop?s comments have us speculating, however, that Verizon (VZ) will soon offer a high-end Windows Phone 8 device from the Finnish company.

[More from BGR: A guide to all the insane predictions made by Google?s new engineering director]

This article was originally published by BGR

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nokia-ceo-teases-flagship-smartphone-coming-verizon-213242997.html

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THE BEAUTY JUNKEE: Sumptuous Sundays: Wine Appreciation ...

I just had a lecture on Class last Thursday at Enderun Colleges in Nuffnang's Country Manager's dinner. Abe Olandres, Country Manager for Nuffnang Philippines and blogger at Yugatech, and the awesome gang of Nuffnang had invited their talents to a night overflowing with fun and of course, wine.

This is a nice informational post and I hope you'll enjoy learning as much as I did. :)

?Our appetizer for the night wasn't the usual salad, bread, or croquettes but instead, we had Wine and Cheese which to me, was great. Mom and I would always indulge in wine and cheese every weekend as a treat simply because we love this food and drink.?

?The rule of thumb in wine and cheese combination is: Light Cheese is to Light Wine, and Strong Cheese is to Strong Wine. It will help you appreciate both the flavors of the wine and cheese, and you won't go wondering what the other tastes like.

I went for the Light Wine and Light Cheese combination: I had Gruyere, a semi- hard cheese with a light, milky flavor and Terra Vega, a mellow Merlot. FYI, Merlot is a medium- bodied wine in terms of acidity and flavor. Terra Vega Merlot also happened to be my most favorite wine of the night!

?Our menu for the night. The buffet of wine was provided by Ralph's Wine and Spirit. Click READ MORE and learn more about wine and food combinations!

?Right at our tables are goblets placed atop a paper with the kinds of wine to be served written all over it. I have never tasted some of these wines before, and it just made the experience all the more exciting.

?First off, we had Tanigue Tartare paired with Bolla Soave Classico '11 and Mont Gras Sauvignon Blanc '12. Fish goes great with White Wine, by the way. However, I'm not really into White Wines but I had no choice because after all, it was Wine Appreciation Night! Between the two wines, I prefer Bolla Soave Classico more because it has a refreshing citrusy taste and the right touch of alcohol, whereas Mont Gras Sauvignon Blanc is a full- bodied wine with a strong Passionfruit-Grape smell and taste. Not a fan of Passionfruit though. :p

Here's an interesting fact: The recipe of Bolla Soave is the same as the wines during Jesus Christ's time!

?Next on our table was Potato Soup with Mushroom Foam and Bacon Bits paired with Terra Vega Merlot '11 and Bolla Soave Classico '11. Both wines were repeatedly served, as I already had them in the Wine and Cheese and Tanigue Tartare portions. The soup was light and what better way to eat it than with light wines. As I said, Terra Vega Merlot was my favorite and you know now which of the two wines I liked best. :)

The Bacon Bits were served separately, and we were asked to drink white wine with the soup first, then red wine with the soup plus bacon bits after. I like the second combination best because the saltiness of the Bacon Bits and Terra Vega Merlot have balanced each other out, and gave the soup a smoky flavor.

?For our main course, we had Salmon with Leek and Citrus Butter paired with Mont Gras Sauvignon Blanc '12 and Terra Vega Sauvignon Blanc '09. If you may recall, I said at the top part of this post that I didn't like the Passionfruit-y taste of Mont Gras Sauvignon Blanc. Terra Vega won my heart once again with its ultra light, watery taste with a hint of citrus.

?To cap off our meal, we had this decadent Flourless Chocolate Cake paired with Mont Gras Cabernet Sauvignon '10/''11 and Bolla Valpolicella Soave- Classico '10/'11. Ah, chocolate and red wine--a match made in heaven! Mont Gras Cabernet Sauvignon was a little too strong and alcoholic for my liking, and Bolla Valpolicella Soave-Classico's smoky taste and aroma went so well with this cake. Every time I'd eat the cake and sip the Bolla wine, I was having a beautiful explosion of flavors?on my tongue!

There you have it! I hope you've learned a thing or two about pairing wine with food, and the types of wines. If you're interested with my favorites, Terra Vega and Bolla Soave or any of the wines I've listed above, please visit a Ralph's Wine and Spirit branch near you.

Remember, expensive wines don't necessarily taste good in the same way as cheap wines don't necessarily taste bad! Proof? My favorite, Terra Vega Merlot, is only P285.00!

The best part of the night? I got drunk! I don't drink alcoholic beverages on a weekly basis--not even monthly, and it was just so nice to experience that feeling of being drunk again. What's even better is that I got drunk with a good company, made so much new friends, (thank you alcohol, for making me sociable) finally talked with a couple of bloggers whom I know but didn't really have a chance to talk with, and I was finally drafted into Nuffnang's Talent Program!

Photo credits: Arjohn Yabut

Thank you so much Nuffnang for this wonderful night and for the opportunity! I am so happy to be with this group of achievers in the world of blogging!

Source: http://thebeautyjunkee.blogspot.com/2012/12/sumptuous-sundays-wine-appreciation.html

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Israel pushes on with east Jerusalem building plan

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel on Monday said it was pushing forward with plans to build hundreds of homes in a Jewish settlement of east Jerusalem, risking renewed tensions with the Palestinians and its Western allies over the contentious project.

The announcement was part of a new Israeli settlement push announced earlier this month as retaliation for the Palestinians' success in winning U.N. recognition for a state at the United Nations. Israel was widely criticized internationally for the settlement plans, though actual construction would be far in the future.

An Interior Ministry committee on Monday approved an intermediate stage of planning for the construction of 1,500 apartments in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, a part of the city Palestinians claim for a future capital. The plan had been in the pipeline since it was first announced in 2010 during a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden, causing a major diplomatic rift with Washington that took months to mend.

Ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach said the project still must go through several additional planning stages, and it could be years before final approval and construction.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the move, calling it a "stark challenge to the entire international community."

There was no immediate American reaction.

Israel announced plans early this month to build thousands of settlement homes, including in Ramat Shlomo, in response to the U.N. General Assembly's recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. The U.S., Israel's closest ally, condemned the construction plans, and several European allies summoned Israeli ambassadors to lodge formal protests.

Israel strongly objected to the Palestinian's U.N. bid, saying it was an attempt to bypass negotiations. Israel rejects a return to its 1967 lines.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem following the 1967 war and claims the area, home to sensitive Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites, as an inseparable part of its capital. The Palestinians also claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state. About 200,000 Jews and roughly 250,000 Palestinians live in east Jerusalem.

While Israelis consider its east Jerusalem enclaves to be neighborhoods like others in the city, the international does not recognize Israel's annexation of the area and rejects the sections as illegal or illegitimate settlements.

Abbas has refused to negotiate with Israel so long as settlement construction continues, leading to a four-year lull in talks. Abbas has said that a stalemate in talks urged him to turn to the U.N.

Support is growing for his political opponents, Gaza's militant Islamic Hamas rulers, following eight days of fighting with Israel last month. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh might defeat Abbas if an election were held today for the presidency, according to a poll published Monday by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

The survey said Haniyeh would receive 48 percent of the Palestinian vote and 46 percent for Abbas, a virtual tie. Just three months ago, Abbas received the support of 51 percent and Haniyeh 40 percent.

The poll surveyed 1,270 Palestinians and had a margin of error of three percentage points.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-pushes-east-jerusalem-building-plan-161754847.html

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Depardieu wants to surrender French passport

PARIS (AP) ? Gerard Depardieu, one of France's best-known actors, has chastised his country's Socialist prime minister for insulting remarks over his decision to move to tax-friendly Belgium and said in an open letter published Sunday that he's turning in his passport.

The letter, which the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche said was penned by Depardieu, quickly propelled him into the spotlight, not for his acclaimed acting skills but for raising the sensitive issue of tax exiles as France looks to fill state coffers with a stiff tax on the rich.

"We no longer have the same country. I'm a true European, a citizen of the world," Depardieu wrote in the letter. He said his 2012 tax bill ? 85 percent of his revenue ? is fully paid.

Depardieu, who turns 64 this month, said he has worked since the age of 14, first as a printer, and that in last 45 years he has paid ?145 million ($190 million) in taxes.

"I hand over my passport to you and my social security card, which I have never used," the letter said, referring to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Last week, Ayrault called Depardieu "pathetic" and "unpatriotic" for the actor's decision to move to Nechin, a Belgian village barely a mile (1.6 kilometers) across the border from Lille in northern France. Nechin has drawn other high-earning French residents.

The letter drew quick reaction but little sympathy.

Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said she was "scandalized" by Depardieu's decision to turn in his passport. "French citizenship, it's an honor," she said on BFM-TV. "It is rights and duties, too, among them to be able to pay taxes."

President Francois Hollande plans to levy a 75 percent tax on revenue over ?1 million to reduce France's budget deficit and debt, and Filippetti said, "Gerard Depardieu is deserting the battle in the war against the crisis."

David Assouline, a spokesman for the governing Socialist Party, said of the actor: "He's playing his worst role."

But Depardieu said in the letter that he is leaving his country because the government "considers that success, creation, talent ... should be sanctioned."

Others have crossed the border before Depardieu, notably the man billed as France's richest, Bernard Arnault, chief of the luxury goods and fashion giant LVMH and worth an estimated $41 billion. He is seeking Belgian citizenship.

It's unclear whether Depardieu realizes his proclamation may in the end just be a symbolic gesture because it's hard to stop being a French citizen. The Civil Code says one must have another nationality in order to give up French citizenship because it is forbidden to be stateless.

Depardieu's burly presence is well-known in France.

He has made more than 150 films and is internationally acclaimed, including an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac in the 1990 film by the same name.

In an upcoming movie to be directed by Abel Ferrara, Depardieu will portray former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who fell from power on claims by a New York hotel maid of sexual assault. Charges were dropped and a civil settlement was reached.

A French case that Strauss-Kahn seeks to dismiss is pending.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/depardieu-wants-surrender-french-passport-182629416.html

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Hezbollah says rebels will not win in Syria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who canceled an overseas trip last weekend because of illness, suffered a concussion after fainting due to dehydration, prompting the postponement of her scheduled congressional testimony on the attack on a U.S. mission in Libya, officials said on Saturday. "While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion," State Department spokesman Philippe Reines said in a statement. "She has been recovering at home and will continue to be monitored regularly by her doctors. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hezbollah-says-rebels-not-win-syria-144452484.html

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The ?Spirit of Amity?: The Constitution&#39;s cover letter and civic friendship

Posted 12 hours, 4 minutes ago.

For a while, it looked like things were simply not going to work out. On the evening of July 2, 1787, three prominent members of the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, George Washington, Gouverneur Morris, and Robert Morris, gathered together to commiserate about what they believed to be the ?deplorable state of the Convention.?

Painting by Junius Brutus Stearns (1856). Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

In their judgment, ?Debates had run high, conflicting opinions were obstinately adhered to, animosities were kindling, some of the members were threatening to go home, and, at this alarming crisis, a dissolution of the Convention was hourly to be apprehended.?

Within the previous week alone, the delegates had clashed so fiercely and intemperately that it prompted many to agree with Roger Sherman of Connecticut that ?we are now at a full stop.?

The delegates argued with one another interminably over big ideas and first principles. Compromise was resisted at every turn. Ad hominem charges and accusations were hurled with increasing frequency. Drunken, rambling tirades from Luther Martin of Maryland (delivered, as Madison wrote, ?with much diffuseness and considerable vehemence?) and a hint from Gunning Bedford of Delaware that the smaller states might even ally themselves with foreign nations if they did not get their way did not help matters.

All this, compounded by the sweltering heat, poor public sanitation, and stuffy confines of the Assembly Room in Philadelphia made things look grim. As Benjamin Franklin observed, the events of the past week were ?melancholy proof of the imperfection of Human Understanding.? The delegates, he said, were doing little more than ?groping as it were in the dark to find political truth.?

So how exactly did the delegates get from ?groping as it were in the dark? on July 2 to the ?Miracle at Philadelphia? by September 17, 1787? While several key factors were involved, (some of which I will explore in a future post) perhaps the most important was the substructure of ?civic friendship? that gelled early on among many of the delegates and that helped them work through even severe cases of deadlock and incivility.

In a recent New York Times op-ed, Jon Meacham recommended that President Obama imitate Thomas Jefferson, about whom Meacham has written a marvelous new biography, to ?use the White House and the president?s personal company to attempt to weave attachments and increase a sense of common purpose in the capital.? Jefferson, according to Meacham, believed that ?sociability was essential to republicanism? and accordingly spent considerable time simply socializing with those with whom he did business in Washington.

The delegates in Philadelphia did much the same thing. As Richard Beeman has shown, they were, firstly, all housed together in the same small city for four months, making informal social interaction considerably more likely. Not parachuting in by private jet or Acela train to speak, vote, and then leave, the delegates were around each other a great deal. Walking from the boardinghouses, private homes, and taverns in which they stayed, they reported to the Pennsylvania State House each day, six days a week, from 10 a.m. to approximately 3 or 4 p.m., where their attendance was required under the rules of the convention.

Afterwards, they would eat dinner together at various taverns, sprinkled liberally throughout the city. Eventually they formed dinner ?clubs? in which eight or more delegates would regularly dine together. Departing from the ?silo? or ?hot house? culture often seen today in which ideologically oriented groups tend to flock together, these clubs were open to delegates from all the states and their informal membership typically cut across regional and ideological lines. After these dinners, delegates would have an evening tea around 8 or 9 pm. And at several critical moments during the convention, such as just before the convention began and soon after the breakdown in early July, Benjamin Franklin threw open his doors to the delegates for roaring dinner parties with lavish food and his special casks of porter.

In a sense, all of this socializing created something like an Olympic Village for this particular ?Assembly of Demigods.? And it turns out that it made a difference.

As George Mason put it in a letter to his son, the dinner parties at Franklin?s house allowed these mostly perfect strangers with glowing political resumes from various states to ?grow into some acquaintance with each other? and to ?form a proper correspondence of sentiments? that would help grease the wheels of the entire operation.

By the conclusion of the convention, attitudes had changed and regional prejudices softened as a consequence. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, for example, observed that he had undergone a change of heart at the Convention since ?He had himself prejudices against the Eastern States before he came here, but would acknowledge that he had found them as liberal and candid as any men whatever.?

And it seemed to lay the groundwork for changes in ideas among the delegates as well. Recalling in 1830 the events of the Philadelphia Convention, James Madison observed that ?the minds of the members were changing? throughout the convention, in part due to a ?yielding and accommodating spirit? that prevailed among the delegates.

All of this explains why, on September 20, 1787, when Congress received the parchment of the proposed new Constitution, accompanying it was a transmittal letter, or what we might call a ?cover letter,? signed by George Washington.

In that letter the Convention explained that ?the Constitution, which we now present, is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable.?

When we consider our founding charters, we rarely consider this document, now somewhat lost to history. Rather, we consider those even more august documents under glass in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. We look to the Declaration of Independence as a statement of our guiding principles. And we look to the Constitution as the intricately enacted legal infrastructure designed to advance those principles. But the Constitution?s cover letter deserves to be ranked at least somewhere among those bedrock texts, for it provides a statement of the guiding spirit in which our constitutional architecture was originally assembled.

Abraham Lincoln once famously observed that the relationship between the philosophical ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the institutional rules of the Constitution was like the relationship between a picture of an Apple of Gold and a frame of silver.

Also On Consource

• This story is part of an ongoing series from Consource and Constitution Daily, and it also available at Consource.org, as part of a free online library of constitutional history.

The constitutional frame existed, he suggested, in order to better present and promote the Declaration?s ideals. Supplementing Lincoln?s metaphor a bit, we might say in addition that the Constitution?s cover letter statement about the indispensability of ?amity, mutual deference, and concession? at the Convention provided the ?carpenter?s glue? needed to put the ends of the constitutional frame together and successfully encase the picture. Without this underlying social glue, all the principles and institutional design in the world would have been for naught.

We are, at our best, a republic of reasons, principles, and the rule of law ? and the year long debate over the Constitution?s ratification that was kicked off 225 years ago in Philadelphia set the stage for much of our subsequent politics. We are, as Lincoln said, a ?propositional country,? a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

But in addition to our principles, propositions, and arguments, we are also a nation born in a spirit of amity, mutual deference, and concession. We are a nation born over cross-sectional dinner parties and roaring evenings at Benjamin Franklin?s home. As we reflect upon our own current hour of partisan division and incivility, in which we too ?grope as it were in the dark? alongside various precarious cliffs, it may be useful to consider this too often overlooked, yet indispensable, dimension of our constitutional legacy.

Derek A. Webb is a fellow in the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School. He recently won the American Inns of Court?s 2012 Warren E. Burger Prize for his essay, ?The Original Meaning of Civility: Democratic Deliberation at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention.?

Source: http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2012/12/the-%E2%80%9Cspirit-of-amity%E2%80%9D-the-constitution%E2%80%99s-cover-letter-and-civic-friendship/

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Weekly US jobless aid applications drop to 343K

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply for a fourth straight week, a sign that the job market may be improving.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 343,000, the lowest in two months. It is the second-lowest total this year.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so the drop indicates that companies are cutting fewer jobs. But employers also need to step up hiring to rapidly push down the unemployment rate.

The drop suggests that companies aren't laying off workers in advance of the "fiscal cliff," the package of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect early next year.

"Worries about the fiscal cliff are not translating into any significant weakening in the labor market yet," said Jim O'Sullivan, an economist at High Frequency Economics. "Today's reading suggests net improvement, although it is just one week."

Applications spiked five weeks ago because of Superstorm Sandy. The storm's impact has now faded. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 27,000 to 381,500.

Before the storm, applications had fluctuated between 360,000 and 390,000 this year.

The storm had little effect on overall hiring in November. Employers added 146,000 jobs last month, the government said last week. That's about the same as the average monthly gain of 150,000 in the past year.

The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent ? a four-year low ? from 7.9 percent in October. But the decline occurred mostly because more people without jobs gave up looking for work. The government counts people without jobs as unemployed only if they're actively seeking one.

The department also said Tuesday that employers posted the most open jobs in four months in October. That suggests that hiring could pick up a bit in the coming months.

But some companies may postpone hiring this month because of concerns over the fiscal cliff. If all the changes in the cliff take effect for a full year, economists forecast it would push the economy into recession.

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are negotiating a potential deficit-reduction deal that would avert the cliff. The goal is to complete an agreement by the end of the year, though talks could continue into January.

Most economists say that if the tax increases and spending cuts are in effect only temporarily while a budget agreement is in sight, the damage to the economy would be minor.

The total number of people receiving benefits rose to 5.6 million in the week that ended Nov. 24, the latest period for which data are available. That's nearly 700,000 more than in the previous week. The figure isn't seasonally adjusted, so it can be volatile from week to week.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/weekly-us-jobless-aid-applications-133529404.html

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Tech titans, "cliff" hopes push indexes up

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rising shares in technology companies helped push major stock indexes up around 1 percent on Tuesday, as the S&P 500 reached its best levels since mid-October, recouping its post-election selloff.

A 3.1 percent gain in Apple Inc's stock lifted the Nasdaq, as the largest U.S. company by market value rebounded from a week in which investors took profits before a possible tax rise next year. Prior to Tuesday's trading, Apple shares had lost 25 percent from an all-time intraday high hit in September.

Other major tech stocks also rose. Texas Instruments gained 3.8 percent to $30.97 after bumping up its profit target late Monday. That helped other chipmakers rally, with the PHLX Semiconductor index <.sox> up 2 percent. Microsoft rose 1.8 percent to $27.44.

"I see a lot of buying in tech, and that's taking the whole market up with it," said Tom Donino, co-head of trading at First New York Securities in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 112.57 points, or 0.85 percent, at 13,282.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 13.23 points, or 0.93 percent, at 1,431.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> rose 40.95 points, or 1.37 percent, at 3,027.91.

Retailers like luggage maker Tumi Holding Inc and Michael Kors Holding gained on Tuesday after a positive report from Goldman Sachs Equity Research. Tumi was up 4.1 percent to $21.80, and Michael Kors gained 2.6 percent, reaching $51.08.

Traders voiced cautious optimism as the pace of negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" quickened. However, representatives from both parties cautioned that an agreement remains uncertain.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner called on President Barack Obama to propose a counter-offer on Tuesday.

"I guess in our own dysfunctional way, there is progress," said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities in New York.

"Since conversations are occurring, it clarifies at least they are taking some action. My personal gut is they'll jostle this into the holiday week and try to do a last minute push."

Lawmakers worked toward a deal to avoid a series of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that would hurt U.S. economic growth next year.

The lack of demonstrable progress has kept investors from making aggressive bets in recent weeks.

Still, stocks have steadily marched higher on thin volume. The S&P 500 hovered around 1433.38 on Tuesday, retracing losses incurred in the first seven sessions after Obama's re-election. Gains were broad, with more than two shares rising for every one falling on the New York Stock Exchange and winners outpacing losers on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange by nearly three-to-one.

The U.S. Treasury is selling its remaining stake in insurer American International Group Inc . AIG's shares were up 4.7 percent at $34.94.

The Fed began a two-day policy-setting meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to announce a new round of Treasury bond purchases when the meeting ends on Wednesday to replace its "Operation Twist" stimulus which expires at the end of the year.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry and Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-signal-early-gains-105043319--finance.html

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