SEAWORLD BORACAY: PADI TEC REC

Technical Diving Is Scuba Diving?s ?Extreme? Sport, Taking Experienced And Qualified Divers Far?Deeper Than In Mainstream Recreational Diving. Technical Diving Is Marked By Significantly More Equipment And Training?Requirements To Manage The Additional Hazard This Type Of Diving Entails. Tec Diving Isn?t For Everyone, But For Those Who Hear Its Challenge Call, The PADI Tec Rec Courses Are The Answer.

What Is Technical Diving?

Technical Scuba Diving Is Defined As Diving Other Than Conventional Commercial Or Research Diving That Takes Divers Beyond Recreational Scuba Diving Limits. It Is Further Defined As And Includes One Or More Of The Following:

• Diving Beyond 40mMetres Deep.
• Required Stage Decompression.
• Diving In An Overhead Environment Beyond 40m Of The Surface.
• Accelerated Decompression And Or The Use Of Variable Gas Mixtures During The Dive.

Because In Technical Diving The Surface Is Effectively Inaccessible In An Emergency, Tec Divers Use Extensive Methodologies And Technologies And Training To Manage The Added Risks. Even With These, However, Tec Diving Admittedly Has More Risk, Potential Hazard And Shorter Critical Error Chains Than Does Recreational Scuba Diving.

How Long Has Technical Diving Been Around?

Most People Would Agree That Cave Diving Is A Form Of Technical Diving. Cave Diving Developed In The Late 1960s And 1970s, Developing Into A Discipline Largely Like It Is Today By The Mid 1980s. In The Early 1990s, Several Groups Of Divers Around The World Began Experimenting With Technologies For Deep Diving (Beyond Recreational Limits) To Explore Both Caves And Wrecks. These Communities United And Emerged As ?Technical Diving? Or ?Tec Diving? With The Publication Of Aquacorps (No Longer In Print), Which Dedicated Itself To This Type Of Diving.

Why Would I Want To Be A Tec Diver?

Tec Diving Not Only Has More Risk, But It Requires Significantly More Effort, Discipline And Equipment. It?s Not For Everyone, And You Can Be An Accomplished, Avid Top-Notch Diver Your Entire Life Without Making A Tec Dive.

That Said, There?s A Cadre Of Individuals Who Want To Visit Places Underwater That Relatively Few People Can. Many Spectacular, Untouched Wrecks Lie At Depths Well Below 40m. Deep Reefs Have Organisms You Don?t Find In The Shallows. Some People Enjoy The Challenge And Focus Tec Diving Requires. Still Others Love Being Involved With Cutting Edge Technologies. These Reasons Make Tec Diving Rewarding.

The PADI Tec Rec Difference

The Tec Rec Program Debuted In 2000. Although Tec Rec Is Not The First Tec Diving Program (Cave Diver Training Has Been Around For Decades), It Repeatedly Receives Accolades For Its Merits.

• Tec Rec Courses Are Integrated Into An Instructionally Valid, Seamless Course Flow That Takes You From Beginning Tec Diver To One Qualified To The Outer Reaches Of Sport Diving Using Different Gas Mixes.
• Each Level Introduces You To New Gear, Planning And Procedures Appropriate To Extend Your Diving Limits.
• The Tec Diver Course Is An Integrated Sequence Of Three Sub courses:?Tec 40,?Tec 45?And?Tec 50.? You Can Complete Them Continuously Or You Can Complete Each Level Separately With A Time Span Between Them.? This Gives You Learning Efficiency, Instructional Integrity And Schedule Flexibility.

The Scuba Gear You'll Use

Prerequisites

Tec Rec Prerequisites Vary (See Individual Course Descriptions), But The Following Applies To Anyone Interested In Technical Diving:

• 18 Years Or Older.
• A Mature, Responsible Person Who Will Follow The Required Procedures And Requirements Strictly And Faithfully.
• Medically Fit For Tec Diving (Physician?s Signature Required).?
• Willing To Accept The Added Risks That Tec Diving Presents.
• An Experienced Diver With At Least 100 Logged Dives.
• Certified As A?PADI Enriched Air Diver And?PADI Deep Diver Or Equivalent (For This Program Equivalency Is Proof Of Training In Recreational Deep Diving 18m To 40m Consisting Of At Least Four Dives And Training In Nitrogen Narcosis Considerations, Contingency/Emergency Decompression, Making Safety Stops And Air Supply Management OR, Have A Minimum Of 20 Logged Dives Deeper Than 30m)

The Fun Part

The Fun Part Of Tec Rec Is Rising To The Challenges As You Dive Deeper And Longer Than Most Divers Ever Do.

Source: http://seaworldboracay.blogspot.com/2013/01/padi-tec-rec.html

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Y-90 beads extend survival of colon cancer patients

	Y-90 beads extend survival of colon cancer patients January 22, 2013 -- Patients who received radioembolization with yttrium-90 (Y-90) beads for metastatic colorectal cancer that had spread to the liver lived almost a year longer than expected, according to data presented at the Symposium on Clinical Interventional Oncology. To view the remainder of this article, and other exclusive content, you must first sign-in or register using the options below. (Helptag:PaywallArticleLoginMessage)
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	Dr. Dmitry Goldin, a radiology resident at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI, and lead author of the study, reported that patients who underwent the Y-90 radioembolization procedure survived about 11 to 12 months longer than historical survival estimates for patients who receive standard care with chemotherapy. The symposium was held in Miami Beach, FL, on January 18 and 19 in collaboration with the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET). The retrospective study included 39 patients who received the radioembolization procedure, which injects Y-90 beads through a catheter into the arteries feeding the liver tumors. Of the 39 patients, 30 received pretreatment with bevacizumab while nine either had not received bevacizumab or received the treatment more than 90 days before undergoing embolization. The mean total hepatic tumor volume and mean total target tumor dose were 202.7 cubic centimeters (cc) and 308 Gy for patients who did not receive bevacizumab. Patients who did receive the treatment had a hepatic tumor volume of 258.3 cc and received a radiation dose of 262.3 Gy. Mean patient survival From metastatic colorectal cancer diagnosis From date of Y-90 treatment No bevacizumab 30.8 months 19.8 months Prior bevacizumab 31.6 months 12.6 months Bevacizumab within 3 months of Y-90 27.6 months 13.3 months Radioembolization was more successful in patients who hadn't been treated with bevacizumab for at least three months, the authors noted.

Source: http://www.auntminnie.com/redirect/redirect.aspx?itemid=102248&wf=1

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EHT's Alder Avenue Middle School to receive Governor's ...

Last Updated on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 04:02 pm Written by Staff Reports Tuesday, January 22, 2013 03:58 pm

EHT schools

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP ? Egg Harbor Township?s Alder Avenue Middle School will be presented with the 2012 Governor?s Environmental Excellence Award (GEEA) in the Environmental Education category on Monday, Jan. 28, at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, for its innovative environmental and energy conservation classroom efforts.

Established in 2000, the New Jersey Governor's Environmental Excellence Awards Program is the State's premier awards program that recognizes individuals, businesses, educators, institutions, communities, youth and others who have made significant contributions to environmental protection in New Jersey through outstanding environmental performance, programs and projects. Other award categories include Clean Air, Healthy Ecosystems, Water Resources, Land Conservation, Healthy and Sustainable Communities/Businesses, Innovative Technology, Environmental Leadership and Environmental Stewardship.

Taking students out of the traditional classroom setting and introducing them to tangible outdoor learning excursions has been a way of life in Egg Harbor Township for the past 12 years ? especially in John Jones? 6th grade classroom at Alder Avenue Middle School, which serves half of the district?s approximate 1,800 sixth, seventh and eighth grade students.

Reducing their carbon footprint by creating a healthy, energy-efficient school environment reinforced with sound environmental and sustainability education practices has been an ongoing initiative spearheaded by Jones. Successful sister programs, headed up by teachers Jim Thoms and Colin McClain, are also in full swing at Fernwood Avenue Middle School and Dr. Joyanne D. Miller Elementary School.?

Jones and his peers work hard to blend their environmental education curriculum activities with the nationally recognized Energy Education program initiatives kicked off by the District in 2011.? Instead of shielding students from the real-world problems brought on by overpopulation, they turn challenging environmental situations into fun hands-on learning opportunities -- with amazing results.

The largest district in Atlantic County, Egg Harbor Township jumped in population from 30,726 in 2000 to 43,323 in 2010 -- an increase of more than 41 percent. As a former rural farming community the growth surge not only caused overcrowding in the schools, it wreaked havoc on the nearby Great Egg Harbor River -- the jewel and namesake of the Township.?

Infused with character-building service-learning initiatives designed to partner students with area businesses, township leaders, environmentalists, parents, and community members to work together to help solve real environmental problems, Jones? easygoingness creates the perfect link between the community and the school district.?

Jones, who jumped on the service-learning bandwagon after receiving a $25,000 grant from NJ Learn & Serve America in 2008, has since co-wrote additional grants that have secured nearly $80,000 in extra funding and revived a program that was chopped from the school budget back in 2010.?

?Jones has a way of capturing the attention of all of his students ? regardless of their learning level. His teaching method is packed with differentiated instruction that incorporates core content standards and appeals to every child by providing multiple assignments tailored for students of different achievement levels.? He allows his students to choose, with his guidance, ways to learn and how to demonstrate what they have learned -- and structures his class assignments so they require high levels of critical thinking but permit a range of responses,? said Alder Avenue Principal Joseph Marinelli. ?He has high expectations of all of his students and creates a learning atmosphere that is geared to different learning styles, readiness and levels of interest,? he added.

Jones also heads up an after-school environmental program that sees up to 50 middle school students staying after school to tend to and expand an outdoor classroom area that students before them created.? The outdoor learning lab features a small tree farm, an organic garden, a pond with a solar-powered pump, native plants, bird houses built by students, and rain barrels to collect surface water runoff from the building roof, which is used to water the organic garden and tree farm.?

Their other labor-of-love project is the 6-acre Community Teaching Garden located on the grounds of the Greate Egg Harbour Township Historical Society in Egg Harbor Township. Partnering with McClain?s third graders from Dr. Joyanne D.Miller School, students are readying the site to be used by community members to till their own gardens and share gardening techniques, and as a workshop host site to educate the public about the importance of protecting and preserving the Great Egg Harbor River from non-point source pollution, overuse and overdevelopment degradation. It will also serve as a place for students to teach community members how to till their own organic gardens and grow their own food using sound environmental practices that don?t pollute the Great Egg Harbor River and other local watersheds.

Catawba Project environmental education programs at Alder Avenue and Fernwood Avenue Middle Schools have received more than $105,000 in grants and has garnered national, state and local awards.

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Source: http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/egg-harbor-twp/eht-general-news/34096-ehts-alder-avenue-middle-school-to-receive-2012-nj-governors-environmental-excellence-award.html

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Israel offering bonuses to teachers who boost student enlistment

Israel is offering new salary bonuses to high school educators based on criteria including their success in motivating pupils to perform their army service, fueling criticism of alleged militarism in its education system.

The decision to give such ''differential rewards'' to school staff was first reported by the Haaretz newspaper late last year, and was confirmed this week to the Monitor by the education ministry. Critics say the move, and other recent steps, could inculcate a hawkish worldview among Israeli youth and thereby make future Middle East peacemaking even more difficult. But defenders of the step say keeping draft rates high is essential for Israel's security in a dangerous regional environment.

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An education ministry circular, dated Oct. 21, 2012, and sent to principals, outlines a new policy of giving bonuses as of the close of the current school year. The extra payments to teachers are to be determined according to "achievements in learning," "social achievements," and "achievements in values" by schools. Schools giving places to special education students and their having a ''high rate of enlistment for military,national or civil service'' are the values achievements for which teachers are to be rewarded, according to the circular, which was obtained by the Monitor

Israeli high schools have always been influenced by the military, for which service is compulsory for Israeli Jewish men and women outside the growing ultra-orthodox population, which enjoys de facto exemptions. But the connection has become more pronounced since 2009, when Gideon Saar, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, took over as education minister.

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Army officials say the percentage of the Israeli population performing the mandatory service has dropped slightly in recent years and that this represents a concern in long-range planning.

'PATH OF VALUES'

The linkage between bonuses and draft rates comes just months after the ministry expanded a program it runs jointly with the army whose official purpose is ''to strengthen the ties between schools and the army.'' Now running in hundreds of schools, the Derech Erech ("Path of Values") program brings army officers to schools to discuss the relationship between the army and society and to strengthen teenagers' desire to make a substantial contribution during their three years of mandatory military service.

The army also runs another long-standing program, Gadna, which gives high schoolers a taste of life in the military. Addressing teachers at a session of the Derech Erech program in Jerusalem, last summer, Mr. Saar told them ''teachers are lifelong draftees,'' according to media reports at the time.

According to the circular, full-time teachers in schools whose achievements are ranked as being in the top 10 percent in their category will receive bonuses of 8,000 shekels ($2,160), while 6,000 shekels ($1,620) will be paid for the next 10 percent, 4,000 shekels ($1,081) for the following, and then 3,000 ($810) shekels for being in the top 40 percent of the schools.

Unabashed assertion of Israeli claims to biblically resonant sites in the occupied West Bank is also part of the ministry's current approach. Two years ago, Saar inaugurated a controversial program to bring high schoolers on trips to the Cave of the Patriarchs holy site and the hard-line Jewish settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron.

EDUCATION OR INDOCTRINATION?

Critics say the stress on the army and territory comes at the expense of humanistic values.

"The ministry of education is taking Israel in a more militaristic, more nationalistic, more xenophobic, and more chauvinistic direction. It's not an education, it's a sort of indoctrination," says former education minister and former leader of the dovish Meretz party Yossi Sarid.

"We are not Sparta, we are not raising people to become soldiers," he says. "Unfortunately, sooner or later they become soldiers, but this should be a necessity, not an idea."

Asked whether the policies would make it harder for Israel to make peace with its Arab neighbors in the long run, Mr. Sarid responds, ''I believe that is the target. It's not an inevitable result, it's the aim of the system at the present moment. The aim is to make people more ultra-nationalist and ultra-rightist.''

Israeli Arab high schools ? whose pupils do not go on to serve in the military ? will pay a high price for heightened army involvement in the schools and the new funding scheme, says Sharaf Hassan, educational director for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

''Educating to prepare for the army and to encourage enlistment comes at the expense of regular education, which is meant to educate for democracy and citizenship,'' he says.

MINISTRY RESPONSE

The education ministry said in a written response to the criticism of the Hebron trips that they ''are part of a program that deals with the topic of heritage and does not have any political aspects.'' The ministry said it was important for pupils to visit the Cave of the Patriarchs ? where according to tradition the bible's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are buried ? because ''this constitutes the cradle of the Jewish nation.''

Asked to respond to criticism of the new bonus system, the ministry said it is ''designed to develop excellence among teachers and pupils. The ministry is aware of the great investment and commitment needed to bring pupils to high achievements in the values, social, and learning fields.''

Raanan Gissin, who served as spokesman for former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, dismissed the criticism of the funding decision, saying ensuring a high draft rate is essential for Israel.

''Israel finds itself in a peculiar situation, surrounded by enemies and threats including from Iran and from terrorism, whether conventional or non-conventional," he says. "So serving for three years is sine qua non of the way society survives in this environment. To survive, everyone has to take part in defense and that means three years of military service.''

Mr. Gissin also said it is a positive that army officers come to the high schools. ''They are not speaking politics there, they are speaking as people with experience carrying the burden. They are saying there is another way to fulfill yourself other than becoming a tycoon, that you can do it by serving your country.''

RECOMMENDED: Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-offering-bonuses-teachers-boost-student-enlistment-150004777.html

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Sharapova, Makarova reach Aussie Open quarters

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Maria Sharapova has lost only five games in four matches on the way to the Australian Open quarterfinals, a record that seems to be immaterial to the 25-year-old Russian.

The No. 2-ranked Sharapova beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday to continue a dominant and unparalleled run.

"Well I'm certainly happy to be playing this well but ... it only gets tougher from here," said Sharapova, who is playing her first tournament of 2013 after withdrawing from an exhibition match in South Korea and a warmup event at Brisbane because of an injured right collarbone.

Steffi Graf conceded only eight games in her opening four matches here in 1989, when she won the second of her three straight Australian Open titles. Monica Seles matched that mark.

Sharapova has been even more dominant. She started with a pair of 6-0, 6-0 wins ? the first time that has happened at a major since 1985 ? and then beat seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams 6-1, 6-3 in the third round.

The reigning French Open champion is showing no signs of trouble with the collarbone in Melbourne, where she last won the title in 2008.

"The year that I won here I don't think there were many games that I lost, but I don't think it was five or six," she said, reflecting on a run to the title where she beat three players who'd been ranked No. 1. "Toughest draw in my career."

It hasn't been as tough this year, but she next plays fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who ousted fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-4. Sharapova beat Makarova in the quarterfinals here last year on her way to the final.

She did struggle at times against Flipkens, needing more than 11 minutes to hold serve in the fourth game, when she served three double-faults and had to fend off three break points.

"No matter what the score is, no matter if you're up. You know, I didn't start the match really great," she said. "I was facing a different type of opponent today and I was making a few more mistakes than I would have liked in the beginning.

"But after I held at 2-1, I really started making her play a little bit ... and I carried that throughout the match."

Sharapova had to beat former No. 1 Justine Henin in the quarterfinals when she won here in 2008. Last year, she beat Makarova at the same stage en route to the final. Makarova, ranked 19th, is better prepared this time.

"I really want to play against Maria," Makarova said. "Now I'm pretty confident and I like my game.

"Last year I was so surprised ... and I had so many thoughts in my mind. This year I'm a little bit used to it, so I think I'll be ready to play a good game."

Makarova took out the highest seed to tumble so far at the season's first major, causing another fourth-round surprise like she did here last year with an upset win over Serena Williams.

Kerber and Makarova were two of only four women in 2012 to beat Williams, who lost only one match in the second half of last season as she collected titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the U.S. Open and the WTA Championships.

"Seems like it was the same this year and last year. Unbelievable feeling," Makarova said. "I really like to play here. The crowd is so perfect."

In a later fourth-round match, 2011 finalist Li Na saved a set point in the tiebreaker before beating Julia Goerges 7-6 (6), 6-1. She'll next play the winner of Sunday's later match between No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 13 Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals.

In men's matches, fourth-seeded David Ferrer had a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 16 Kei Nishikori of Japan to reach the quarterfinals, where he will meet Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Nishikori had won two of his previous three matches with Ferrer and was a quarterfinalist in Australia last year, but struggled with 65 unforced errors in the 2-hour, 10-minute match.

Almagro advanced later Sunday, leading 6-2, 5-1 when No. 8 Janko Tipsaveric retired from their fourth-round match.

It will be the first all-Spanish quarterfinal at the Australian Open since 2011, when Ferrer ended Rafael Nadal's bid for a sequence of four consecutive major titles.

No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic, who has the past two Australian titles, had a night match against No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sharapova-makarova-reach-aussie-open-quarters-081954305--spt.html

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60 SEO Tips For Business Owners - UK Business Forums

I'm just testing the water here. ...UK Business Forums Full Member... ? Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Birmingham Posts: 44 Thanked 18 Times in 10 Posts

60 SEO Tips For Business Owners SEO results aren?t instant. The results of SEO work done today might not become apparent, and might not be credited by search engines, for weeks, or even months. You don?t need to submit your website to search engines. They have evolved beyond the point of needing to be directly notified when a new website, or page on a website, is created. Set-up a Google+ page for your business. Doing so builds trust with Google and improves rankings for localised keywords. Diversify your traffic sources. Google is a great source of traffic but being 100% reliant on them for visitors puts you in a vulnerable position. Low quality equals high risk. Low quality backlinks and/or low quality on-site content can easily result in your site being penalised by search engines. Create content primarily for people, not search engines. There?s no point creating content that ranks well if it doesn?t help people, interest them, or persuade them to buy from you. Remove duplicate content. You can be penalised for having the same, or very similar, content on multiple pages of your site. Remove, merge or add to pages with little content on them. Having lots of content-light pages, with short page view times, can result in search engines downgrading all of your site?s keyword rankings. Claim authorship of your content. Linking your Google+ account to your content improves both rankings and click-through-rate. Ensure your content is good enough to be on the 1st page. If your content isn?t better than the content already on the 1st page for a keyword then your site doesn?t deserve to rank there. Make your content engaging for visitors. The more engaging it is, the longer people will stay on your site, and high viewing times signal to search engines that your site deserves good rankings. Create content to post on other websites and blogs. People are much more likely to link to you if you provide them with content to use on their site. Balance creating content with marketing content. If you create content without marketing it then people will struggle to find it, and if they can?t find it they can?t link to it or share it. Write a unique, descriptive title for every page. Within 65 characters you need to make the topic of a page clear to both humans and search engines. Write a unique, descriptive meta description for every page. Within 160 characters you need to describe the topic of a page in a way that persuades people to click on your site instead of the other sites listed in the search results. Research keywords before optimising for them. If you choose the wrong keywords, regardless of what you do for on-site and off-site SEO, you?ll get very few visitors and/or visitors who don?t convert into sales. Use Google?s Keyword Tool. It provides a good list of words and phrases related to the keyword ideas that you enter into it. Get keyword ideas from other people. They (customers, suppliers, partners, friends, etc.) see your business differently to you and may associate different words and phrases with it. Long-tail keywords are a great source of traffic. It?s quicker and cheaper to rank for longer, specific keyword phrases, and more than 40% of searches are comprised of four or more words. Dedicate 1 page of your website to each keyword that you?re targeting. Doing so makes it simpler for search engines to categorise and rank your pages. Add keywords in the right places. They?re less important than they used to be, but you should still include them in urls, page titles, meta descriptions, header tags and image alt tags. Avoid keyword stuffing. You?re much more likely to be penalised than credited if you use a keyword phrase repeatedly on a page. Backlinks affect rankings more than anything else. The number and quality of links pointing to your site will largely determine in what position your site ranks. Don?t set backlink targets. 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A good relationship, in which you help promote each others? sites, makes SEO simpler and cheaper for you and for them. Write press releases to share news and opinions. This is a good way to get content on, and links from, sites outside of your industry and circle of connections. Phone people to develop online relationships. Emails can easily be ignored or forgotten, but phone calls not so much. Use your website to build trust and relationships. The more relationships you have, and the more people trust you, the more people will talk about you, link to you, and, ultimately, buy from you. Add your address and phone number to every page of your website. This builds trust and improves rankings if you?re targeting keyword phrases that contain your town/city name. Get listed in industry and local directories. Most directories are worthless, however, there should be at least 10 that are relevant to your area or industry. Ask customers to leave reviews on Google+ and local directories. Positive reviews improve your rankings in Google?s local listings and can be accessed directly from the search results. Add social sharing buttons to your website. The easier you make it for people to share your content, the more likely they will be to do so. Social media isn?t a replacement for SEO. Your social strategy should be part of, or should run alongside, your SEO strategy. Search engines ranks webpages, not websites. Whether or not a page ranks for a particular keyword depends largely on the quality of that individual page, and not the quality of your site as a whole. Know where you?re ranking. Within Google Webmaster Tools, go to ?Traffic? and then ?Search Queries? to check where your site is ranking for keywords. Aim to be in the top 3, not just the top 10. If your site isn?t ranked in the top 3 positions for a keyword then you?ll only get a small percentage (less than 10%) of the traffic from searches for that keyword. Rankings can be misleading. The number of 1st page rankings you have is irrelevant if those rankings don?t convert to visitor numbers and, ultimately, sales. Don?t worry about PageRank. Sites with a low PR can, and often do, outrank sites with a high PR. Choose between using www or not using www. Ensure that your site is set to load at either www.domainname.co.uk or domainname.co.uk ? not both. Adopt a flat website architecture. Any page of your site should be accessible within 3 clicks from your homepage. Use a simple, clear URL structure. People should be able to guess the topic of a page by looking only at its URL. Use header tags. Include variations of your target keyword phrases in a page?s H1 and H2 tags. Optimise your images. Include a page?s target keyword phrase, or variations of it, in the file names and img alt tags of the images on that page. Optimise your website for mobile users. Your site needs to be clear and simple to use for people accessing it using smartphones and tablets. Maximise your website?s loading speed. Use Google?s site speed tool and implement the recommendations that they give you. Last edited by Mark Walters; Yesterday at 11:34.

The Following User Says Thank You to Mark Walters For This Useful Post:

There are concerns over my Forum/Life balance. UK Business Forums Free Member ? Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 2,733 Thanked 310 Times in 276 Posts

Quote: or low quality on-site content can easily result in your site being penalised by search engines. Only with minimal content sites, that are putting 10 pages up to game the engines. Quote: People are much more likely to link to you if you provide them with content to use on their site. Common method claimed by the desperate I'm afraid. Its a wonder many bother with it, as you're better off creating content for your own site. Quote: Generally, the more easily you can acquire a link, the less value it will likely have Applies to those who can't be bothered to check out sites in-depth. But usually, translates into the link chaser/seeker doesn't own a site worthy to warrant any link trades. Quote: Don?t pay people to link to your website. Not only is it risky Every site is a lead-generation model that either takes commissions or sells direct advertising. So it can't be that risky if the world is doing exactly that. Quote: there?s a reasonable chance that they?ll link to you I dont think you can count on that these days, with many scrapping their link pages. Its only the resources that get away with link exchanges now, and even now I'd suggest its a v-limited activity, mainly as so many opt for direct advertising. Quote: Most directories are worthless, however, there should be at least 10 that are relevant to your area or industry. How do you know their stats and traffic again? The total amount of portals sites on the web runs in the thousands, BUT, they all want money ???? Forget pipe dreams about free links on those boys - I'd imagine they'd like to see any beggers and spammers eat dirt, and are happy to aid in that process by increasing their fees. Still, I guess it keeps the forums busy with all the talk. Quote: Don?t worry about PageRank. Sites with a low PR can, and often do, outrank sites with a high PR. Very true! __________________ National Finalist for Virtual Business of the Year 2010 Regional Finalist for Online Biz of the Year 2010 Last edited by eventdomain; Yesterday at 14:44.

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San Leandro BART Shooting: One Dead, One Injured

A shooting at the Bay Fair BART station in San Leandro left one man dead and another injured on Saturday.

According to the Patch, the shooting occurred at 12:20 p.m. in the bus stop just outside the station. The first victim was declared dead on the scene and officials closed the station at 12:50 p.m. to collect evidence and search for suspects.

The San Jose Mercury news reported that the second victim was being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said one person was in custody, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/19/san-leandro-bart-shooting_n_2512922.html

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Epigenetics explains rheumatism? Genes and their regulatory 'tags' conspire to promote rheumatoid arthritis

Jan. 20, 2013 ? In one of the first genome-wide studies to hunt for both genes and their regulatory "tags" in patients suffering from a common disease, researchers have found a clear role for the tags in mediating genetic risk for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an immune disorder that afflicts an estimated 1.5 million American adults. By teasing apart the tagging events that result from RA from those that help cause it, the scientists say they were able to spot tagged DNA sequences that may be important for the development of RA. And they suspect their experimental method can be applied to predict similar risk factors for other common, noninfectious diseases, like type II diabetes and heart ailments.

In a report published in Nature Biotechnology Jan. 20, the researchers at Johns Hopkins and the Karolinska Institutet say their study bridges the gap between whole-genome genetic sequencing and diseases that have no single or direct genetic cause. Most genetic changes associated with disease do not occur in protein-coding regions of DNA, but in their regulatory regions, explains Andrew Feinberg, M.D., M.P.H., a Gilman scholar, professor of molecular medicine and director of the Center for Epigenetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. "Our study analyzed both and shows how genetics and epigenetics can work together to cause disease," he says.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a debilitating disease that causes inflammation, stiffness, pain and disfigurement in joints, especially the small joints of the hands and feet. It is thought to be an autoimmune disease, meaning that the body's immune system attacks its own tissues, an assault led primarily by white blood cells. According to Feinberg, several DNA mutations are known to confer risk for RA, but there seem to be additional factors that suppress or enhance that risk. One probable factor involves chemical "tags" that attach to DNA sequences, part of a so-called epigenetic system that helps regulate when and how DNA sequences are "read," how they're used to create proteins and how they affect the onset or progress of disease.

To complicate matters, Feinberg notes, the attachment of the tags to particular DNA sequences can itself be regulated by genes. "The details of what causes a particular sequence to be tagged are unclear, but it seems that some tagging events depend on certain DNA sequences. In other words, those tagging events are under genetic control," he says. Other tagging events, however, seem to depend on cellular processes and environmental changes, some of which could be the result, rather than the cause, of disease.

To tease apart these two types of tagging events, the researchers catalogued DNA sequences and their tagging patterns in the white blood cells of more than 300 people with and without one form of RA.

The team then began filtering out the tags that did not appear to affect RA risk. For example, if tags were seen on the same DNA sequence in those with and without RA, it was assumed that the tags at those sites were irrelevant to the cause or development of the disease. Then, from among the RA-relevant tags, they narrowed in on tags whose placement seemed to be dependent on DNA sequence. Finally, they made sure that the DNA sequences identified were themselves more prevalent in patients with RA. In this way, they created a list of DNA sequences associated with altered DNA tagging patterns, both of which were associated with RA.

Ultimately, the team identified 10 DNA sites that were tagged differently in RA patients and whose tagging seemed to affect risk for RA. Nine of the 10 sites were within a region of the genome known to play an important role in autoimmune diseases, while the 10th was on a gene that had never before been associated with the disease. "Since RA is a disease in which the body's immune system turns on itself, current treatments often involve suppressing the entire immune system, which can have serious side effects," Feinberg says. "The results of this study may allow clinicians to instead directly target the culpable genes and/or their tags."

"Our method allows us to predict which tagging sites are most important in the development of a disease. In this study, we looked for tagging sites under genetic control, but similar tags can be triggered by environmental exposures, like smoking, so there are many applications for this type of work," says Yun Liu, Ph.D., a lead researcher on the project.

The study also may shed light on how evolution works, explains Feinberg. "It seems that natural selection might not simply be selecting for an individual's current fitness level but also for the adaptability of future generations given an unknown future. We think that certain genetic sequences may be biologically beneficial and conserved over time because they increase the amount of variation found in tagging patterns, giving individuals a greater chance of adapting to environmental changes."

Other authors of the report include Martin J. Aryee, M. Daniele Fallin, Arni Runarsson and Margaret Taub of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and Leonid Padyukov, Espen Hesselberg, Lovisa Reinius, Nathalie Acevedo, Marcus Ronninger, Lementy Shchetynsky, Annika Scheynius, Juha Kere, Lars Alfredsson, Lars Klareskog and Tomas J. Ekstr?m of the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health's Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (5P50HG003233), the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish COMBINE project, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, AFA Insurance and the European Research Council.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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. Yun Liu, Martin J Aryee, Leonid Padyukov, M Daniele Fallin, Espen Hesselberg, Arni Runarsson, Lovisa Reinius, Nathalie Acevedo, Margaret Taub, Marcus Ronninger, Klementy Shchetynsky, Annika Scheynius, Juha Kere, Lars Alfredsson, Lars Klareskog, Tomas J Ekstr?m, Andrew P Feinberg. Epigenome-wide association data implicate DNA methylation as an intermediary of genetic risk in rheumatoid arthritis. Nature Biotechnology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2487

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/most_popular/~3/I0jgHEjY7vw/130120145813.htm

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Avatar tirelessly screens for - and catches - liars

20 hrs.

John Roach , NBC News

Long lines at border crossings and airport security checkpoints may be trimmed with the help of a grey metal box about the size of an ATM with an avatar on a computer monitor described by one reporter as a "late-model Max Headroom."

Wired takes an in-depth look at the Embodied Avatar project being developed by researchers at the University of Arizona. The avatar?detects liars by asking people a list of short questions as it monitors their eye movements, body language, and vocal tones during each answer.

Research into what happens when we lie?indicates our pupils dilate, we fidget more and our vocal?pitch changes in slight, tell-tale ways. The avatar is trained to pick up those signs, which it does remarkably well.

For now, the machine is getting a limited workout at a border crossing in Arizona, but its success rates in trials ? 94 percent when tested in Poland ?has caught the attention of the Department of Homeland Security.

?An avatar interrogator has many advantages over its human counterparts. It?s consistent, tireless, and susceptible to neither persuasion nor bribery,? Wired noted.

People flagged by the Embodied Avatar in Arizona are pulled aside for further questioning by humans who, when acting alone, catch only 54 percent of liars.

More information on the Embodied Avatar technology, the history of lie detectors and research into the art of detecting a deceiver is laid out in Wired's feature. Read it.?

???via Verge, Wired?

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/avatar-tirelessly-screens-catches-liars-1B8036738

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This Is Not a Scene From Blade Runner

You probably have seen the extreme smog in Beijing, so bad that you can observe it from space. But this shot blew my mind just because it looks like a frame from Blade Runner. So awesome—if you don't live there. [Twitter] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Rc1VD47Jp5g/this-is-not-a-scene-from-blade-runner

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Realogy Hosts Enrollment for the American ... - Franchising.com

Realogy is the First Company to Hold an Open Public Enrollment for Study Aimed at Finding Cancer Causes and Prevention

PARSIPPANY, N.J., 01-17-2013 -?Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services, is proud to announce that it was the first company to host an open public enrollment for the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3). The enrollment at Realogy's Parsippany headquarters was one of the American Cancer Society?s most successful, with 92 people volunteering to take part in the study.

The American Cancer Society's ultimate goal of CPS-3 is to enroll 300,000 volunteers ? men and women from various racial/ethnic backgrounds from across the U.S. ? to better understand the lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer. The first CPS discovered the link between smoking and cancer, while CPS-2 discovered the link between obesity and cancer.

"Cancer is a word heard too often in our lives. That is why fighting back against this disease with our long-time partner, Realogy, was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Northwest New Jersey residents," said Robin Albers, regional vice president of the American Cancer Society. "Realogy is passionate about this community and committed to fighting cancer. They took on this challenge and stood apart from other corporations, Realogys dedication allowed everyone from all over the Garden State to get involved in this lifesaving cancer research."

In 2012, The CEO Roundtable on Cancer accredited Realogy with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard? recognizing its efforts to reduce the risk of cancer for their employees and covered family members by promoting healthy lifestyle choices, encouraging early detection through cancer screenings and ensuring access to quality treatment.

"Health and wellness is a priority at Realogy, which is evidenced by our employees' positive response to the American Cancer Society's call for volunteers, and we hope other companies will follow our lead," said Dave Weaving, chief administrative officer, Realogy. "Thanks to the American Cancer Society, which has done a tremendous job organizing this study, we will most likely realize new and important discoveries to help us overcome this deadly disease."

For more information about CPS-3, visit cancer.org/cps3, email cps3@cancer.org, or call toll-free 1.888.604.5888.

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; by helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation?s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

About Realogy Holdings Corp.

Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY) is a global leader in residential real estate franchising with company-owned residential real estate brokerage operations doing business under its franchise systems as well as relocation and title services. Realogy's brands and business units include Better Homes and Gardens? Real Estate, CENTURY 21?, Coldwell Banker?, Coldwell Banker Commercial?, The Corcoran Group?, ERA?, Sotheby's International Realty?, NRT LLC, Cartus and Title Resource Group. Collectively, Realogy's franchise system members operate approximately 13,500 offices with 239,500 independent sales associates doing business in 103 countries around the world. Realogy is headquartered in Parsippany, N.J.

SOURCE Realogy

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Pre-caffeine tech: Fake Twitter GFs, Mona Lisa moon!

1 hr.

Helen A.S. Popkin

Our?pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning.

In a world where, on any given day, someone is forwarding that email that says Bill Gates will share his?Microsoft?fortune with you, is it really that hard to believe Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o had no clue that dead "girlfriend" Lennay Kekua ? whom he allegedly knew only from the Internet ? didn't really exist?

She was beautiful, brainy, brave???and really unlucky. Here's a?tantalizing portrait of?that?doomed character at the center of the Te'o hoax.?

Meanwhile, masquerading as online lover not necessarily a crime, according to this expert.

Want to create your own fake online girlfriend? Here's how!

BoingBoing's?Cory Doctorow?debunked?the Department of Justice statement on Aaron Swartz's prosecution.?

Regardless of the DOJ statement, maybe it's time to roll back excessive prison?sentences. Here's why.

December privacy scandal aside, Instagram says it has 90 million active users monthly.

Meanwhile, here's how computer hacking laws make you a criminal.

Oh! Check this out -- a?Google patent that shows a?laser keyboard for Glass!

Just don't ask your smartphone to diagnose skin cancer.

In closing, Mona Lisa rides a laser beam ... to the moon!

Compiled?by?Helen A.S. Popkin,?who invites you to?join her on?Twitter?and/or?Facebook. Also,?Google+.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/pre-caffeine-tech-fake-twitter-gfs-mona-lisa-moon-1B8025027

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Israeli parliament set for record influx of Orthodox lawmakers

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - With Israel's election days away, Orthodox Jews swayed in prayer at a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, delaying his entrance while politicians waited politely.

The image captured a sea change in Israeli politics.

Orthodox Jews have left niche parties to join Likud and other mainstream factions, challenging the dominance of non-observant politicians and infusing Israeli politics with religious fervor and a harder line on the Palestinian conflict.

Opinion polls predict that religious politicians will end up with a record 40 of parliament's 120 seats after Tuesday's vote, compared with 25 in the outgoing assembly elected in 2009. Two decades ago only a score of lawmakers were religiously Orthodox.

While some Israelis rejoice, some in the secular majority fear the trend may alter the identity of a nation which has never marked out the troublesome boundaries between religion and state - and which also has a substantial Arab Muslim minority.

Many foresee renewed disputes over the "Jewishness" and the conversion of immigrants.

Others fret about further attempts by hardcore members of pro-settler parties such as Likud and the even harder line Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) group to rein in Israel's secular-minded high court, restrict civil liberties and step up monitoring of foreign funding for human rights and other groups.

"In the long run I see a weakening of the foundations of the state's democracy," said Israeli sociologist Batia Siebzehner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, citing the track record of Orthodox politicians urging the state to embrace religious law.

That prospect horrifies secular Israelis, who do not relish comparisons with Iran, an avowedly Islamic republic, or Arab states where Islamist factions are gaining ground.

"NO THEOCRACY"

David Stav, a moderate Orthodox rabbi running for chief rabbi in a poll later this year, says such fears are overblown.

"This is not going to be a theocracy," he told Reuters. Most religious politicians are "committed to a Jewish and democratic state and don't want to see themselves as coercive to others".

Nevertheless, centrist as well as right-wing parties are fielding religious candidates. Netanyahu has made a point of having himself photographed with skullcap-wearing voters.

A rabbi has joined ex-television star Yair Lapid's centrist list. Former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has tapped an ex-general who wears a skullcap for her centrist party as well.

In past elections, Orthodox politicians mainly represented smaller parties focused on religious issues. Their integration into larger parties is helping them to gain more seats in parliament, although Orthodox Israelis are still a minority.

A survey by the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute found last year that 22 percent of Israeli Jews were observant, including the ultra-Orthodox and more moderately Orthodox, far outnumbered by the 78 percent who were non-observant.

Yet they may exert a disproportionate influence.

Religious movements seeking to expand Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and deny the Palestinians a state are supplanting once-powerful kibbutzniks as symbols of Israel's self-declared national mission, many experts say.

The kibbutz, the collective farm movement identified with Israel's early settlement of the land, long dominated military and political leadership, despite its relatively small numbers. Pollsters say the kibbutz movement may win no seats next week.

"The ideological tables have turned and religious Zionists are taking over the national discourse," said Tamar El Or, a Hebrew University anthropologist, adding that the trend was not new, but was now translating into influence in parliament.

"RISE IN RACISM"

The rise of religiously fired Jewish settlers has coincided with widespread Israeli disillusion with failed negotiations with the Palestinians, compounded in the last two years by Arab uprisings that have brought Islamists to power, especially in Egypt, making its 1979 peace treaty with Israel look fragile.

A more religiously-tinged parliament could lead to a "rise in racism, separatism (and) less democracy," El Or said.

"It will become more difficult to be a citizen in this country if you're an immigrant, not Jewish and certainly if you're an Arab," she added, referring to Israeli Arabs who hold citizenship and make up a fifth of the population, but who complain of discrimination.

For now, Orthodox lawmakers may focus more on promoting Jewish settlements than on trying to enforce religious law, an enterprise that might swiftly anger the secular majority.

"If they get drunk on their power or try to push a religious agenda, they may find themselves facing a backlash," said Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at the Israel Democracy Institute.

Some in the more liberal Orthodox camp want to heal rifts with non-observant Israelis, especially on the conversion issue - the Orthodox rabbinate does not recognize many immigrants as Jews or the right of more liberal rabbis to convert them.

Stav forecast "catastrophe" for Israel if the row dragged on because it would deter immigrants and handicap Jews in any demographic race with Arabs. "We won't survive here," he said.

Likud lawmaker Tzipi Hotovely, a pro-settler candidate, said her fellow-Orthodox MPs should focus on security issues and on rejecting pressure to relinquish to the Palestinians "Biblical" land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

"Our job is to lead a world view of Jewish identity and to preserve the Land of Israel," she said. "We need to aim for meaningful influence, and not be content with supervising Jewish dietary laws."

At Netanyahu's Likud meeting, the Orthodox worshippers in knitted skullcaps and prayer vests with white fringes dangling below their shirts, rocked and muttered their afternoon prayers, as their non-observant colleagues waited in patient silence.

They were putting a new complexion on the expression party faithful - and perhaps on Israeli politics.

(Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-parliament-set-record-influx-orthodox-lawmakers-133805196.html

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China media train fire on U.S. food giants over chicken scare

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Just weeks after Chinese authorities cleared Yum Brands Inc and McDonald's Corp of charges they had served chicken laced with excessive chemicals, local media are again attacking the iconic American firms, while barely reporting on the chances of Chinese restaurants selling similar meat.

The official Shanghai Daily, citing a report from the central government's news portal china.com.cn, said on Thursday one of China's largest suppliers to McDonald's and Yum's KFC and had bought sick chicken from farms and sold them to the food outlets - a claim a local government in the central province of Henan said was untrue after a preliminary investigation.

Chinese newspapers and websites have also criticized some domestic firms, but industry experts say multinationals are hotter targets given the high profile of their brands.

"KFC and McDonald's get media attention because they're the biggest fast-food chains in China. Everyone knows them and everyone talks about them," said Tan Xiaoxue, a reporter at Sohu.com Inc's news portal.

"There are some local chains such as Country Style Cooking, but they cannot be compared with international brands, which have much bigger brand recognition and consumer impact."

In the latest chicken scare case, china.com.cn quoted an unidentified official at Doyoo Group - which sells chicken to KFC and McDonald's - plus employees at Doyoo's suppliers as saying chicken that fell ill were slaughtered and shipped to fast food restaurants including the two American giants.

However, the government of Doyoo's home city Hebi said on Wednesday that it had found no evidence of this in a preliminary probe, and authorities were looking into the case more closely.

In response to the china.com.cn report, Yum's China unit said it will closely monitor the situation.

"If Doyoo is found to have committed any wrongdoings, it will be subject to severe punishment," it said via its official microblog account.

Officials at McDonald's in China and at Doyoo could not be reached for comment despite repeated calls by Reuters.

SCATHING EDITORIAL

Last week, Yum warned that sales in China - where it earns over half of its worldwide revenue and operating profit - shrank more than expected in the fourth quarter, citing bad publicity from a government review of its chicken supply.

The firm has been embroiled over the past month in a scare triggered by an official China Central Television report which said some chicken supplied to KFC and McDonald's contained excess amounts of antiviral drugs and growth hormones.

On investigation, the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration found the levels of antibiotics and steroids in KFC chicken were safe, though the watchdog found a suspicious level of an antiviral drug in one of the eight samples tested.

Yum apologized last week to customers over the handling of that scare, but state-run Xinhua news agency immediately weighed in with an editorial on Saturday slamming the U.S. firm.

"Yum's understated apology is rooted in its arrogance and propensity for unfairly treating Chinese consumers, who usually regard foreign brands as being safer and of higher quality than domestic brands," Xinhua said.

"Other multinational companies have displayed the same attitude, capitalizing on loopholes in Chinese law and regulations to escape punishment."

Kevin Der Arslanian, a business analyst at China Market Research Group in Shanghai, said the government is taking a firm stance against foreign companies especially in the food sector given high public concerns over safety.

"They are being harsh on them to show that they are aware of these worries when it comes to food safety," he said.

"I don't think it's unfair that they're specifically targeting foreign brands. These foreign brands and KFC in particular have positioned themselves as extremely healthful and extremely high quality, and therefore if there are scandals it is only fair that they be hit the hardest."

Still, not all local news outlets are joining the attack.

Chen Xiaoxiang, a reporter at Hangzhou city newspaper Metropolis Express said his editors chose not to cover the KFC stories because safety violations are a bigger problem for domestic companies.

"We believe that these international companies are already operating in a relatively well regulated way, and compared with many small Chinese workshop-style food chains, they are more trustworthy," he said.

"Their problems are often minor compared with quality problems at many local companies ... Media focus, rather, should be on those ill-regulated Chinese companies."

(Additional reporting by Jane Lee and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-media-train-fire-u-food-giants-over-060948675.html

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A Bear Market for Stocks? Not for These Two Companies

Thursday, January 17th, 2013
By Mitchell Clark, B.Comm. for Profit Confidential

Hindsight is always 20/20 when it comes to the stock market, and it?s impossible to be right with your picks all of the time. Recently, in this column we?ve been looking at a number of large-cap companies that I view as being worthy of consideration when they?re down in value on the stock market.

One of the most successful initial public offerings (IPOs) in recent history is MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE/MA). Among large-cap companies, this one only pays a very small dividend, but it?s been a powerhouse wealth creator on the stock market. The stock just hit an all-time record high, and while it did pull back with the broader market during the financial crisis of 2008/2009, it?s been going virtually straight up since being listed in 2006. I remember when both MasterCard and Visa Inc. (NYSE/V) listed on the stock market, and I thought that they would both make for good investments. What a mistake it was not buying shares in these companies. MasterCard?s stock chart is featured below:

Chart courtesy of www.StockCharts.com

MasterCard is now a $65.0-billion company. The stock doubled over the last year and a half, and it tripled over the last three and a half years. A lot of investors might not think those kind of returns are available from large-cap companies, but obviously, the market proves they?re wrong.

Another powerhouse wealth creator among large-cap companies is Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ/ALXN), which doubled in value on the stock market over the last year and a half. (Alexion has recovered from every major price retreat it experienced over the last 10 years.) Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are great stocks to consider, because these stocks aren?t correlated to the action in the broader stock market. Many large-cap companies trade similarly to the main stock market indices; but in biotechnology, institutional investors go ape for drugs, because as we all know?there?s big money in those pills. Alexion Pharmaceuticals? stock chart is featured below:

Chart courtesy of www.StockCharts.com

For all the penny stocks, turnaround stocks, value plays, and micro-cap miracles, a handful of the right large-cap companies can make just as much or more money on the stock market. And I?m not even talking about dividend paying stocks. Of course, investing in large-cap companies as a strategy isn?t as saleable to the marketplace as others. Very few people can resist the idea of a penny stock going through the roof.

But consider my example of Alexion Pharmaceuticals. This time last year, the stock was trading at $75.00 a share. The year before that it was $43.00; the year before that it was $23.00; and at the beginning of 2007, the stock was $10.00 a share (split-adjusted, of course). That?s a 10-bagger, and it serves to illustrate that large-cap companies can be just as profitable as a penny stock that?s turning around.

In my view, the stock market?s been in a bear market for the last 12 years. But I think we have to attribute less weight to what we think the stock market is and how it?s measured. (See ?It?s Been Twelve Years?It?s Still a Bear Market for Stocks.?) In hindsight, investing in a company like MasterCard was total common sense. Most people use their credit cards every day, collecting points or reward dollars. The only people who don?t like credit cards are business owners, because they have to give credit card companies a piece of the action. That?s why it?s such a great business. Looking back, MasterCard and Visa were probably the two best large-cap companies to hit the stock market in recent history.

When I was a stockbroker 17 years ago, I felt that the cards were stacked against investors. They definitely were before the age of the Internet and discount brokers. All you need to do is own the right basket of large-cap companies, and you?ll probably do better than most investors. Owning the right large-cap companies with dividend reinvestment is a great way to create wealth if you don?t need the income. I don?t know what?s going to happen to the stock market this year, but I?ll be focusing less on the broad market indices and more on individual companies. This year could be a flop, but even if it is, it?s likely that more people will use their MasterCard. Forget the market, and focus on businesses. It?s still a bear market for stocks, but there are a lot of opportunities within it, especially among large-cap companies.

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A Bear Market for Stocks? Not for These Two Companies, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

Source: http://www.profitconfidential.com/stock-market/a-bear-market-for-stocks-not-for-these-two-companies/

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