Air condition and heating experts One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating continue their impressive tradition of winning business awards. The company has just been chosen by Angie's List for their 2012 Super Service Award.
Tarpon Springs, FL (PRWEB) January 24, 2013 -?One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating's award winning streak continues with yet another prestigious business award for the family operated heating & air conditioning New Port Richey service operators. Official sources have just informed that One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating is one of the proud recipients of the 2012 Angie?s List Super Service Award. This award is extremely sought after in the service industry and is awarded every year to approximately 5 percent of all the companies rated on Angie?s List.
It may be recalled that the Florida based company was recently crowned as the 'Business of the Year 2012' by the Tarpon Springs Chamber of Commerce. The NPS system has ranked them third amongst over 160 One Hour franchises throughout the entire United States and Canada, in terms of their customer service. Exemplary customer focus and thriving business practices have made One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating the most preferred heating and air conditioning service provider in Tarpon Springs and adjoining areas.
This top rated family operated business was founded in the year 2009 by Kim O'Kelley, father Ed O'Kelley and brother Corey O'Kelley. Unlike many other air conditioning New Port Richey companies, all the staffs of One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating are background checked and drug tested before hiring. The range of guarantee offered by the company is unmatched in the industry. Their service is available 24/7/365 and no extra charges apply for work done during the night, weekends, or holidays.
About One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating
One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating is an air conditioning and heating services experts serving New Port Richey, Tarpon Springs and adjoining regions. The company has just won the 2012 Super Service Award by Angie's List.
About Angie's List
Angie?s List helps consumers have happy transactions with local service professionals in more than 550 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to health care. More than 1.5 million paid households use Angie?s List to gain unlimited access to local ratings, exclusive discounts, the Angie?s List magazine, and the Angie?s List complaint resolution service.
Contacts:
One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating 1820 S. Pinellas Ave. #108 Tarpon Springs, FL 34689 (727) 916-7910 http://www.onehourairwestpasco.com/
Kim O'Kelley One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating http://www.onehourairwestpasco.com/ (727) 916-7910
Miami's Reggie Johnson (42) and Miami's Rion Brown, left, apply pressure on Duke's Mason Plumlee (5) as he goes to the basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Miami's Reggie Johnson (42) and Miami's Rion Brown, left, apply pressure on Duke's Mason Plumlee (5) as he goes to the basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Duke's Mason Plumlee (5) shoots over Miami's Julian Gamble (45) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Duke's Seth Curry (30) prepares to shoot over Miami's Reggie Johnson (42) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Miami's Shane Larkin (0) celebrates after Durand Scott (1) scored against Duke during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) ? With a steady din coming from the sea of orange behind the visitors' basket, No. 1-ranked Duke had a tough time making a shot.
The Blue Devils went more than 8 minutes without a field goal in the first half Wednesday night, and a sellout became a blowout for No. 25 Miami, which delighted a boisterous crowd with a 90-63 victory.
The defeat was the third-worst ever for a No. 1 team, and Duke's worst in nearly five years.
Durand Scott scored a season-high 25 points for the Hurricanes, and Kenny Kadji added a season-high 22. Shane Larkin had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Durham, N.C. native Julian Gamble had 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Miami (14-3, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat a No. 1 team for the first time, taking control with a stunning 25-1 run midway through the opening half. The Blue Devils missed 13 consecutive shots despite numerous good looks, while four Hurricanes hit 3-pointers during the run that transformed a 14-13 deficit into a 38-15 lead.
Duke (16-2, 3-2) fell to 0-2 when playing on an opponent's court. The Blue Devils' other loss came at North Carolina State, a defeat cost them the No. 1 ranking.
They regained the top spot this week but seemed rattled by the capacity crowd, only the 10th in 10 years at Miami's on-campus arena. Students began lining up for seats outside the arena almost 24 hours before tipoff, a rarity for the attendance-challenged Hurricanes.
But South Florida loves a winner, and the Hurricanes are alone atop the league standings. They won their sixth consecutive game and beat Duke for the second straight time ? but only the fourth time in the 19-game series.
Miami had been 0-6 against No. 1 teams. Coach Jim Larranaga also beat a No. 1 team for the first time.
Seth Curry, Tyler Thornton and Quinn Cook went a combined 1 for 29 for the Blue Devils, who shot a season-low 30 percent. Rasheed Sulaimon led them with 16 points.
Duke went 4 for 23 from 3-point range, while Miami went 9 for 19 and shot 57 percent overall.
Miami senior center Reggie Johnson came off the bench in his first action since being sidelined with a broken left thumb Dec. 18. He had two points and five rebounds in 16 minutes.
Kadji made two 3s during the Hurricanes' first-half spurt, then capped it with a three-point play. Duke shot 22 percent in the first half, including two for 11 on 3-pointers, and trailed 42-19 at halftime.
There was no letup by the Hurricanes to start the second half. They scored the first seven points to lead 49-19.
A Duke mistake early in the second half had coach Mike Krzyzewski red-faced and on the court, screaming at his team. But he couldn't inspire a turnaround.
"Over-rated," the fans chanted with 3 minutes left. When the game ended, they poured onto the court and mobbed their team.
Miami, ranked this week for the first time in three years, improved to 8-0 at home.
Folio Investing announced today that, over the five years since they were brought to market in December 2007, its Target Date Folios have significantly outperformed traditional target-date funds.?The Folios have provided both higher returns and lower volatility than the competing funds during this tumultuous period.
Target Date Folios, like target-date funds, are designed for investors planning and saving for retirement.? A 2025 Target Date Folio, for example, is for investors who expect to retire in 2025.
?The performance of our Target Date Folios over the past five years proves that improved design and better diversification actually do provide tremendous value.? For many though, traditional target-date funds are the only available target-date choice in their retirement plans.? But, investors deserve better.?? That?s why we believe it is important to join with a distribution partner who can bring Target Date Folios to a much broader base of investors,? said Steven Wallman, Founder and CEO of Folio, and a former Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.? ?Target Date Folios can be offered not only as ?Folios?, which are unique to the Folio Investing platform, but broadly as collective investment trusts and mutual funds,? Wallman said.
The Target Date Folios? outperformance is due to a number of design initiatives pioneered and proven valuable by Folio Investing.
A Broader, More Robust Diversification Strategy.? Many target-date funds? returns are, effectively, simply a blend of a U.S. bond index and a U.S. equity index fund, such as the S&P500.? When the stock market is especially volatile though, such a portfolio is also still volatile.? Target Date Folios are far more diversified, including not just U.S. stocks and bonds, but also commodities, REITs, Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) and other asset classes.? Theoretically, the result should be lower volatility and higher returns at any given risk level.? And, that?s what Folio Investing?s Target Date Folios have proven over the last five years.
Greater Choice and Customization.? Target Date Folios come in conservative, moderate and aggressive risk levels for each target year, and uniquely can be further customized by investors or advisors as they see fit.? That allows the Target Date Folios to be a much better match to an investor?s needs than can be provided by any ?one-size-fits-all? fund.
Intelligent Risk Targeting, Not Simple Asset Allocation.? Target Date Folios target specific risk levels over time.? By contrast, target-date funds traditionally target specific asset allocations over time.? But when market conditions change adversely, clinging to defined asset allocations means investors are exposed to far more risk than expected.? Target Date Folios, instead, use a changing asset allocation as the means to achieving targeted risk levels, as opposed to the asset allocation being the end itself.
The Target Date Folios? five-year track record proves the power of these innovations in design. While mitigating risk, the Folios generated higher returns than their target-date fund counterparts.
Some Specifics
Specifically, the Target Date Folios for the years 2010 through 2045 (i.e., the Folios for target retirement dates at five year intervals including and between those dates) provided higher returns and lower volatility from their inception date, December 21, 2007, through December 31, 2012 as compared to the three largest target-date funds, for the same target-date years. The average annual return for Target Date Folios is, on average, 1% per year more than the largest target-date funds, which would have an enormous impact on portfolio returns over an investor?s lifetime.? For example, a range of analyses conclude that an increase in portfolio performance of 1% per year corresponds to a lifetime increase in wealth accumulation of 20%[1].
Even over just the past five years, the realized increase in portfolio value is substantial.
For example ?
An investment of $100,000 in the 2025 Moderate Target Date Folio since its inception on December 21, 2007, would have been worth $116,900 at the end of December 2012, while the same investment in the three largest target-date fund families? 2025 target-date funds would be worth an average of only $110,800.
An investment of $100,000 in the 2045 Moderate Target Date Folio since its inception on December 21, 2007, would have been worth $112,300 at the end of December 2012, while the same investment in the three largest target-date families? 2045 target-date funds of $100,000 would be worth an average of only $106,300.
For a more detailed summary of Target Date Folios? performance, view our quarterly fact sheet on Target Date Folios, as well as our whitepaper, ?Improving Target Date Offerings: Lessons Proven? on our Target Date Performance Page.? In addition, Folio Investing Cumulative Gain/Loss data for Target Date Folios is available on request.
Related Links:
Folio Investing The brokerage with a better way. Securities products and services offered through FOLIOfn Investments, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says he's seen no outward sign that North Korea will follow through soon on its plan to conduct a third nuclear test.
But he says that doesn't mean much because Pyongyang has the ability to test in ways that are difficult to detect.
Panetta says the U.S. is "very concerned" with North Korea's announcement of a planned nuclear test ? which he called "needlessly provocative."
NEW YORK (AP) ? Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o admitted to Katie Couric he answered questions about his "dead," online girlfriend even after he received a call Dec. 6 from a woman posing as the fake person.
Te'o also maintained he played no part in the hoax.
Pressed by Couric to admit that he was in on the deception, the All-American said he was convinced the woman he knew as Lennay Kekua died in September. Te'o claims he never met Kekua in person but developed a serious relationship with her through phone calls and electronic messages.
"Katie, put yourself in my situation. I, my whole world told me that she died on Sept. 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on Sept. 12," Te'o said in an interview to air Thursday on Couric's syndicated talk show. A segment of the interview with Te'o and his parents was broadcast Wednesday on "Good Morning America."
"Now I get a phone call on Dec. 6, saying that she's alive and then I'm going be put on national TV two days later. And to ask me about the same question. You know, what would you do?" Te'o said.
The Heisman Trophy finalists made at least three references to his girlfriend in media interviews after Dec. 6, including during ESPN's Heisman presentation show on Dec. 8.
Te'o's father defended his son when Couric pointed out that many people don't believe the Irish star, suspecting he used the situation for personal gain.
"People can speculate about what they think he is. I've known him 21 years of his life. And he's not a liar. He's a kid," Brian Te'o said with tears in his eyes.
On Tuesday, the woman whose photo was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Te'o's supposed girlfriend says the man allegedly behind the hoax confessed and apologized to her.
Diane O'Meara told NBC's "Today" show that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating a fake woman called Lennay Kekua.
Te'o told ESPN last week that Tuiasosopo had contacted him to apologize for the hoax soon after Deadpsin.com broke the news with a long report. Te'o told ESPN that not until Tuiasosopo confessed did he finally, fully realize Kekua did not exist.
Tuiasosopo has not commented on the scheme.
The top FBI agent in northern Indiana said authorities don't believe a crime was committed, so there is no investigation.
"I don't think there was any financial harm to Mr. Te'o," said Robert Ramsey, FBI supervisory special agent for northern Indiana. "There was no federal violation regarding the Internet hoax perpetrated against Mr. Te'o."
If there had been a crime, it would fall under federal jurisdiction, he said.
As the allegations of sabotage in Super Bowl XXXVII grew, it was only a matter of time before former Raiders coach Bill Callahan addressed them.? And address them he did, via a late-night statement suggesting that he has gotten himself lawyered up.
By uttering the ?D? word (not the one that ends in ?bag?), Callahan and/or whoever wrote the statement is making it clear to Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, and the persons who represent their legal interests that litigation is at least being contemplated.
But while a defamation lawsuit against one or both former players would become great theater, it would entail many challenges ? and cause significant collateral damage for Callahan, and possibly others.
1.? The statute of limitations against Brown possibly has expired.?
When pressed last night by Erik Kuselias of Pro Football Talk on the assertion of sabotage a decade after the game, Brown said that he has been talking about his suspicions on national television and Dallas radio for years.? Which means that, if Brown is sued, his first defense will be that Callahan waited too long to sue.
In most jurisdictions, the statute of limitations is one year.? It has been more than one year since Brown made his statements in a public setting.
I haven?t research the issue completely (which as I learned early in my legal career is standard lawyer code for ?I don?t really know what I?m talking about?), so it?s entirely possible that, in whichever jurisdiction Callahan would sue, each utterance of the false statement sets the clock back to zero.
2.? The difference between fact and opinion.
If a lawsuit is filed (and if it?s determined to be within the statute of limitations), the biggest challenge will be drawing a line between fact and opinion.? False statements of fact can lead to litigation; uninformed or incorrect opinions based on actual facts are protected.
The factual assertion from Brown is that Callahan drastically changed the offensive game plan two days before Super Bowl XXXVII.? Brown?s opinion is that Callahan was trying to sabotage the Raiders.
It?s a fine line, but Brown arguably has stayed on the right side of it.? Even last night, when he was as candid as he?s ever been about his beliefs, Brown said, ?I?m not necessarily saying he [changed the game plan] for that reason, but it happened.?
Rice may not have been as careful.? ?For some reason ? and I don?t know why ? Bill Callahan did not like me,? Rice said Tuesday on ESPN. ?In a way, maybe because he didn?t like the Raiders, he decided, ?Maybe we should sabotage this a little bit and let Jon Gruden go out and win this one.??
3.? Callahan is a public figure.
For ordinary citizens, any untrue statement of fact can provide the basis for a defamation lawsuit.? For public figures, a higher standard applies.
Callahan will have to show that Brown and Rice knew the allegations were false, or that they acted with reckless disregard to the truth or falsity of their comments.? That necessarily makes any case of defamation against a public figure like Callahan harder to prove.
In this case, it means that Brown and Rice would give detailed testimony on what they experienced that caused them to believe what they believed.? They?ll surely say that something different happened before that game than anything they?d experienced in all their years of playing football, which caused them to believe that Callahan was up to something.
Against a private citizen, that may not matter.? Against a public figure, that explanation could result in the case being tossed before it ever would be presented to a jury.
4.? Callahan would expose himself to significant criticism.
If the case goes forward, many former Raiders players and coaches will be questioned under oath.? And while they will have different perceptions and beliefs about the reasons for the decisions made and not made by Callahan, the questioning will rehash everything that happened in preparation for the game, including whether the game plan was changed and why the audibles and other terminology installed by Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden during his time as the Raiders coach wasn?t.
In other words, and as Kuselias framed the issue last night, Callahan was either corrupt or incompetent.? By proving he wasn?t corrupt, Callahan could end up shining a bright light on the notion that he is incompetent.
5.? Plenty of big names will be involved.
If it goes to trial, this lawsuit ultimately could top, from a media standpoint, every lawsuit ever filed or threatened by the late Al Davis.? The parade in and out of the courtroom would be even more impressive than the? Seinfeld finale, with guys like Rich Gannon and Tyrone Wheatley and Lincoln Kennedy and Bill Romanowski and Rod Woodson and Charles Woodson and Charlie Garner and maybe even Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski making the walk to the witness stand, along with members of the 2002 Raiders coaching staff, including current NFL head coaches Marc Trestman and Jim Harbaugh.
Jon Gruden would likely make an appearance at some point, possibly along with members of the Buccaneers defense (which had guys like Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch), who would be able to shed light on whether or not Gruden seemed to know what was going to happen, and possibly why he knew that.
Current and former NFL head coaches like Rod Marinelli, Raheem Morris, and Mike Tomlin ? all members of the 2002 Buccaneers coaching staff ? also could be involved, along with former Bucs (and current Cowboys) defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.
At one point during the game, Lynch told Tomlin, ?Mike, every play they?ve run, we ran in practice.? It?s unreal.?
Said Tomlin in response, ?I know.?
The biggest name of all could be the guy who won?t be able to directly participate.? If the game plan was indeed changed by Callahan, we continue to believe the most plausible explanation is that Callahan was ordered to do so by owner Al Davis.? It would be fitting if the outcome of the lawsuit turns on whether a jury believes that Callahan was simply following the marching orders given to him by one of the most litigious owners in sports history.
6.? What should happen next.
Though it would be fascinating to cover the litigation and any trial that would happen, the smart move in the short term would be for Brown and Rice to issue statements explaining clearly that they are merely stating their opinions, based on the facts that they experienced.
And then they should never discuss the situation publicly again.
While on one hand the issuance of statements would suggest that they fear litigation, on the other hand it would be a prudent way of both putting a bow on a story that has quickly taken on a life of its own and managing potential liability risks.
Either way, the ball is not back in Brown?s and Rice?s court.
Lavender Languages Conference celebrates 20 years at American UniversityPublic release date: 22-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Maggie Barrett barrett@american.edu 202-885-5951 American University
The Lavender Languages Conference, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year at American University in Washington, D.C., has grown to be North America's longest-running academic conference with a queer focus.
As it has blossomed into a three-day affair attracting scholars from as far away as Singapore, South Africa, Russia, Poland, and Japan, the conference also mirrors sea changes in queer studies, says William Leap, a professor in American University's College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Anthropology and founder and organizer of the Lavender Languages Conference.
The conference, which runs this year from February 15?, is expected to draw up to 150 registrants and many other audience members. The event that attracted 18 presentations its first year; this time will have more than 80 papers.
Sessions will cover a wide variety of topics, among them neoliberal homophobia, varieties of speech in the drag speech community, the LGBTQ reclaiming of slurs, pornography, language use of transgendered men, sex and violence, and language and queer online communities.
Visual artist 2Fik will also present a performance, cosponsored by the American University's Arab Studies Program and the university's Center for Diversity and Inclusion, on fighting society's labels.
Secret to Conference's Longevity
So is the conference's founder surprised by the event's longevity?
"It's surprising in this sense," Leap says. "Lesbian-gay studies has evolved into queer studies, sexuality studies. It's diversified in ways we didn't expect when all this work started in the '90s. Many academic conferences, many academic programs, many presses with prestigious publications serieseven in queer studiesno longer exist. "It doesn't surprise me because we continue to get interest from rank-and-file students, from faculty, and from community persons who are interested in what the conference does."
Conferees are attracted to the event's "no-attitude" policy, meaning the conference addresses issues important to queer people in their daily lives, and people come to the conference to be part of that discussion, Leap says.
That openness makes it okay for undergraduates to approach experts in anthropology and linguistics and for graduate students to discuss their dissertations and educational opportunities.
The conference has also thrived because Leap strives to keep the costs down. Registration, for example, is administered by volunteers on the conference site.
Conference Inspires Scholarly Publications
Many edited collections and books important in the field have come out of the conference, and many others have arisen in response to work at the annual event.
So has a new international publication, the Journal of Language and Sexuality, whose editorial office is located in AU's Department of Anthropology. About half the people on the editorial board have been part of the conference in previous years, and several of the articles in the journal's first issues have resulted from recent conferences.
"When we started there was no queer linguistics," Leap says. "Studies of language and sexuality were barely recognized as a mode of inquiry. The conference has not been the only force, but the conference has been very active in creating a presence of interest in sexual sameness in linguistics. I'm very proud of that, and of the numbers of publications that have come out of the conference, the numbers of scholars who cut their teeth in this work in the context of Lavender and have gone on to do big things, some of whom are plenary speakers.
"It's certainly been the focal point in work I've done in lavender language, gay language, queer linguistics, since that time," Leap reflects. "It's a major part of our department's commitment to public anthropology to outreaching to constituencies and involving them in the centerpiece of whatever kind of anthropological work unfolds."
###
For more information on the conference, and to register online, visit the Lavender Languages website.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Lavender Languages Conference celebrates 20 years at American UniversityPublic release date: 22-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Maggie Barrett barrett@american.edu 202-885-5951 American University
The Lavender Languages Conference, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year at American University in Washington, D.C., has grown to be North America's longest-running academic conference with a queer focus.
As it has blossomed into a three-day affair attracting scholars from as far away as Singapore, South Africa, Russia, Poland, and Japan, the conference also mirrors sea changes in queer studies, says William Leap, a professor in American University's College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Anthropology and founder and organizer of the Lavender Languages Conference.
The conference, which runs this year from February 15?, is expected to draw up to 150 registrants and many other audience members. The event that attracted 18 presentations its first year; this time will have more than 80 papers.
Sessions will cover a wide variety of topics, among them neoliberal homophobia, varieties of speech in the drag speech community, the LGBTQ reclaiming of slurs, pornography, language use of transgendered men, sex and violence, and language and queer online communities.
Visual artist 2Fik will also present a performance, cosponsored by the American University's Arab Studies Program and the university's Center for Diversity and Inclusion, on fighting society's labels.
Secret to Conference's Longevity
So is the conference's founder surprised by the event's longevity?
"It's surprising in this sense," Leap says. "Lesbian-gay studies has evolved into queer studies, sexuality studies. It's diversified in ways we didn't expect when all this work started in the '90s. Many academic conferences, many academic programs, many presses with prestigious publications serieseven in queer studiesno longer exist. "It doesn't surprise me because we continue to get interest from rank-and-file students, from faculty, and from community persons who are interested in what the conference does."
Conferees are attracted to the event's "no-attitude" policy, meaning the conference addresses issues important to queer people in their daily lives, and people come to the conference to be part of that discussion, Leap says.
That openness makes it okay for undergraduates to approach experts in anthropology and linguistics and for graduate students to discuss their dissertations and educational opportunities.
The conference has also thrived because Leap strives to keep the costs down. Registration, for example, is administered by volunteers on the conference site.
Conference Inspires Scholarly Publications
Many edited collections and books important in the field have come out of the conference, and many others have arisen in response to work at the annual event.
So has a new international publication, the Journal of Language and Sexuality, whose editorial office is located in AU's Department of Anthropology. About half the people on the editorial board have been part of the conference in previous years, and several of the articles in the journal's first issues have resulted from recent conferences.
"When we started there was no queer linguistics," Leap says. "Studies of language and sexuality were barely recognized as a mode of inquiry. The conference has not been the only force, but the conference has been very active in creating a presence of interest in sexual sameness in linguistics. I'm very proud of that, and of the numbers of publications that have come out of the conference, the numbers of scholars who cut their teeth in this work in the context of Lavender and have gone on to do big things, some of whom are plenary speakers.
"It's certainly been the focal point in work I've done in lavender language, gay language, queer linguistics, since that time," Leap reflects. "It's a major part of our department's commitment to public anthropology to outreaching to constituencies and involving them in the centerpiece of whatever kind of anthropological work unfolds."
###
For more information on the conference, and to register online, visit the Lavender Languages website.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Lamere Carter? GVO Web Hosting? ? Blog Comments:???Click Here? Website:??jstevens1906.hostthenprofit.com? ? Article Tag(s):??GVO, Network Marketing, Interent Marketing, Work from Home? ? What?s the entire buzz about GVO?
GVO (Global Virtual Opportunities) formerly Kiosk is a company owned by Joel Therien who has a 14 year track of experience in the network marketing and internet marketing industries.
GVO has rapidly created a big buzz ?????Continue / Read Entire Blog?
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Latinos are taking a more prominent role in President Barack Obama's second inauguration, from the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice swearing in the vice president to a star-studded concert celebrating Latino culture.
Eva Longoria, a co-chairwoman for Obama's campaign, hosted "Latino Inaugural 2013: In Performance at the Kennedy Center" as a salute to the president Sunday evening ahead of his public swearing-in Monday. Jose Feliciano, Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno and Latin pop star Prince Royce all performed. The lineup also included Mario Lopez and Wilmer Valderrama.
Vice President Joe Biden and his family appeared onstage, drawing big cheers, to help open the show. He said he wanted to thank Latinos for their support in last year's election.
Biden said something profound happened with the enormous Latino support for Obama, and he said the Latino community underestimates its power.
"One thing that happened in this election, you spoke. You spoke in a way that the world, and I mean the world, as well as the United States, could not fail to hear," Biden said, calling the Latino vote decisive. "This is your moment. America owes you."
Feliciano opened the show by singing the national anthem.
Marc Anthony later drew big cheers when he applauded Latinos' growing political influence.
"Our united voice got us all here tonight and got the best man for the job in the White House," Anthony said.
San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who gave the keynote speech at last year's Democratic National Convention, recalled the admiration Latinos held for another president more than 50 years ago. Portraits of President John F. Kennedy still hang in many homes, he said.
"As we said 'Viva Kennedy' 50 years ago, today we say 'Viva Obama,'" Castro said.
A children's choir from San Juan, Puerto Rico, closed out the show, singing "This Land is Your Land." They were joined by a larger Latino choir, including Hispanic members of the U.S. military, in singing "America the Beautiful."
Earlier Sunday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee who is the first Hispanic justice on the highest court, administered the oath of office to Biden. And Richard Blanco, a son of Cuban exiles, is Obama's inauguration poet.
Latinos have a distinct presence at this inauguration after raising funds and turning out the vote for Obama in the 2012 election. Hispanics voted 7 to 1 for Obama over his challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, whose Hispanic support was less than any other presidential candidate in 16 years. Analysts said Romney's hardline stance on immigration was a factor.
San Antonio philanthropist and business leader Henry Munoz III, who coordinated the Latino inauguration event with Longoria and other Obama supporters, said this is a special moment when the Latino community is positioned to take an expanded role in shaping the country's future.
"Without question, the presidential election of 2012 proves that Latinos are perhaps the most important influence from this point forward in the election of the president of the United States," Munoz said. "It's important that the leadership in Washington view us not as a narrow interest group but as a vibrant political force" that carries not just votes, but influence and financial resources.
Organizers planned a series of symposiums, dinners and events ahead of the inauguration to keep people talking about issues that matter to Latinos, from immigration reform to building a Latino history museum on the National Mall. Munoz led a presidential commission that called on Congress in 2011 to authorize such a museum within the Smithsonian Institution, but Congress has not yet passed such a bill.
Munoz said it's important to keep Latinos engaged through the inauguration and beyond.
"Our work is not done. It doesn't end," he said. "We have a tendency to look at this phenomenon as ending on Election Day, when the reality is now it's time to get to work."
Longoria said this is her first inauguration. She has taken on a new role as political advocate since her days on "Desperate Housewives," pushing for a Latino history museum in Washington and raising funds for Obama's re-election.
Even though this is Obama's second inauguration, Longoria said there is still much to celebrate, including Sotomayor's role swearing in the vice president.
"There's something special about seeing a president recommit himself to the people of this great nation," she said before the show.
Longoria said she hopes to help influence policies, including immigration reform, and hopes Obama will make that his top priority as an economic issue. She called the Latino fundraising effort for the president a historic turning point.
"I think we have a permanent seat at the table, and now we're going to be able to have influence on what affects our communities," Longoria said. "I take civic responsibility very seriously, and I want to do what I can to help my country."
___
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? District of Columbia officials have lowered their turnout estimate for Monday's presidential inauguration.
The district's homeland security director, Chris Geldart, said Sunday that officials now expect between 500,000 and 700,000 people to attend. That's fewer than the 600,000 to 800,000 people initially anticipated.
The estimates are based in part on the number of charter buses arriving in the city, as well as the number of hotel and restaurant reservations.
Geldart says the lowered crowd estimate isn't changing any of the security preparations or planning.
For President Barack Obama's first swearing-in in 2009, 1.8 million people packed the National Mall.
This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows damage after a rocket slammed into a building, killing at least 12 people, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. In a spike in civil war violence that Syrian state media blamed on rebel fighters a rocket attack in the northern city of Aleppo occurred during a particularly bloody week nearly two years after an uprising began against Assad's regime. (AP Photo/SANA)
This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows damage after a rocket slammed into a building, killing at least 12 people, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. In a spike in civil war violence that Syrian state media blamed on rebel fighters a rocket attack in the northern city of Aleppo occurred during a particularly bloody week nearly two years after an uprising began against Assad's regime. (AP Photo/SANA)
This photo released by the Syrian official news agency, SANA, shows rescue workers and bystanders at a building damaged by a rocket attack, that killed at least 12 people, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. In a spike in civil war violence that Syrian state media blamed on rebel fighters a rocket attack in the northern city of Aleppo occurred during a particularly bloody week nearly two years after an uprising began against Assad's regime. (AP Photo/SANA)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian troops fought intense battles on Saturday against rebels who are trying to capture two military bases in the northwest and step up their attacks on army compounds elsewhere in the nation torn by civil war, activists said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said the rebels destroyed at least one tank near the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province. The rebels, who have been battling for weeks to take control of bases in Wadi Deif and Hamdiyeh, are working to cut off supply routes to the compounds, the Observatory said.
Attacks on government bases are a recent focus of fighting in Syria's conflict, which according to the U.N. has killed more than 60,000 people since March 2011.
Last week, rebels captured the nearby air base of Taftanaz, dealing a significant blow to President Bashar Assad's forces, which have relied on its airpower in its fight against the opposition.
The rebels also have been trying to capture other air bases in the northern province of Aleppo, and according to activists, were attacking the air base of Mannagh near the Turkish border.
In Turkey, state-run Anadolu news agency said Syria's air force targeted a mosque and a school building that apparently was sheltering displaced Syrians in the town of Salqin, some four miles (six kilometers) from the border with Turkey in Idlib province. Dozens of people were killed and wounded.
At least 30 people wounded in the attack were taken across the border to Turkey for treatment, and two of died in Turkish hospitals, the news agency said.
The displaced Syrians were eating when the school was attacked, according to Anadolu, who interviewed witnesses who has crossed into the Turkish border province of Hatay. The wounded included women and children, the agency said.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, said the government was sending reinforcements to the central city of Homs where rebels have controlled some neighborhoods for more than a year. Residents of Homs, Syria's third largest city, were one of the first to rise up against Assad and many refer to it as "the capital of the revolution."
"It seems they are preparing for a big attack on Homs," Abdul-Rahman said by telephone.
The Observatory and the LCC said troops attacked several suburbs of the capital, Damascus, as well as Homs and the southern rebel-held town of Busra al-Harir. The shelling and air raids targeted the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Daraya and Moadamiyeh where regime forces have been on the offensive for weeks, they said.
Syrian state-run TV said government forces attacked a group a rebels as they met in the town of Boukamal near the Iraqi border, killing some of them.
The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, condemned the violence that killed civilian, including children, this week in the central village of Haswiyeh, the northern city of Aleppo and near Damascus.
Around 200 civilians were killed this week in government-controlled areas. Most of them died in a strike on a university in Aleppo and in a mass killing in the central town of Haswiyeh. Opposition activists say a pro-government militia torched houses and killed more than 100 people in Haswiyeh.
"UNICEF condemns these latest incidents in the strongest terms, and once again calls on all parties to ensure civilians - and children especially - are spared the effects of the conflict," the organization said in a statement.
___
Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.
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FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o chases the action during the second half of an NCAA college football game against BYU in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching story of Te'o's girlfriend dying of leukemia _ a loss he said inspired him to play his best all the way to the BCS championship _ was dismissed by the school Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o chases the action during the second half of an NCAA college football game against BYU in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching story of Te'o's girlfriend dying of leukemia _ a loss he said inspired him to play his best all the way to the BCS championship _ was dismissed by the school Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2012, file photo, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o takes the field during senior day before an NCAA college football game against Wake Forest in South Bend, Ind. The wrenching story of Te'o's girlfriend dying of leukemia _ a loss he said inspired him to play his best all the way to the BCS championship _ was dismissed by the school Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o tried to clear the air about how he fell into an online relationship with a fictitious woman he met online who called herself Lennay Kekua. His grief at her "death" became a major story during the college football season. The problem was Kekua was a hoax ? there was no such person.
Te'o spoke to ESPN for 2? hours on Friday evening at an IMG training facility in Florida where he is training for the NFL draft.
In question-and-answer form, these are some highlights of the way events unfolded, according to Te'o:
____
Q: WHEN DID TE'O'S ONLINE "RELATIONSHIP" WITH THE FAKE WOMAN BEGIN AND HOW DID IT DEVELOP?
A: Te'o says he received a Facebook friend request from Kekua in early 2010, his freshman year at Notre Dame. They were in contact on and off over the next couple of years and, as Te'o describes it, it naturally progressed until they started to get very close last April. At that time, Te'o was told by a person portraying Kekua's brother, that Lennay had been in a serious car accident. In the wake of that twist, Te'o began to talk to the girl much more frequently. He became hugely invested in her and was then told she had leukemia.
Kekua "died" on Sept. 12, the same day Te'o's real grandmother died. Te'o said he was grief-stricken and had a testy conversation with Kekua, then ? hours later ? the pranksters called and said his girlfriend was dead.
____
Q: SO TE'O NEVER SAW LENNAY KEKUA IN THE FLESH?
A: That's right. They had planned to meet up one time in San Diego during a long layover he had on his way home to Hawaii. That never happened because on April 28, Te'o says he was told, she got into a serious car accident. Te'o said he was told the accident put Kekua into a coma, and when she came out her recovery from serious injuries drew them closer. He started talking to a woman portraying Kekua every day.
He said before he returned from Hawaii to South Bend for preseason practice he had planned to meet up with her on California, but he had to cancel this time to attend a family reunion in Utah.
Te'o claims they tried to make video phone calls using Skype and FaceTime, but he said he could never see her face. She would say she could see him and tease him about being able to use the technology correctly.
____
Q: WAS TE'O IN ON THE SCAM?
A: He says no. Skeptics contend that his story is so fantastic it's hard to believe, that he couldn't be so gullible to have been fooled by the scam. Yet no one has come forward with hard evidence that pins down Te'o as being a participant. In the lengthy and detailed story by Deadspin.com that broke the news of the hoax, the strongest accusation that Te'o was one of the perpetrators was an unidentified friend of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the alleged mastermind of the prank, telling Deadspin he was "80 percent sure" that Manti Te'o was "in on it."
___
Q: THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, THOUGH, TE'O SPOKE ABOUT HIS DEAD GIRLFRIEND AS IF SHE WE A LIVING PERSON. HOW DOES HE EXPLAIN THAT?
A: This is where it gets complicated. Te'o says he thought his girlfriend was real, but when she died ? and word got out that he was playing through the deaths of both his grandmother and girlfriend ? he was embarrassed that he had only ever had contact with Kekua online and by phone. Already, he had lied to his father and told him that he had seen Kekua.
So, in Te'o's words, "I knew that ? I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet, and that alone people find out that this girl who died I was so invested in, and I didn't meet her as well. So I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away. So people wouldn't think that I was some crazy dude."
___
Q: HOW DID THE SCHEME UNRAVEL?
A: Te'o received a phone call on Dec. 6 from the Kekua's phone number. On the line was a woman who sounded like Kekua. He says he was confused, and thought it was one of her sisters. The woman was telling him a story about having to fake her death to evade drug dealers but not directly identifying herself. Te'o said "She kept going back and forth. 'It's me.'
"I eventually just gave up and said, 'Who is me?' And she said, 'It's Lennay.' So we carried on that conversation, and I just got mad. I just went on a rampage. How could you do this to me? I ended that conversation by saying, simply, this: 'You know what, Lennay, my Lennay died on Sept. 12. I don't know who you are, but Lennay died on Sept. 12th,' and that conversation ended."
Te'o said he didn't know what to think at that point and her continued to refer to Lennay as his "girlfriend." The woman contacted him again and the tales got even more confusing. He says he didn't think that Lennay wasn't real, he thought she might still be alive but that she was possibly toying with him.
He told his mother on Christmas Eve what was going on and his father on Christmas Day, and on Dec. 26th he told Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco. Within days, Notre Dame ordered an investigation.
Te'o told ESPN that not until the news broke earlier this week, and Tuiasosopo contacted him to apologize, did he finally realize Kekua wasn't real and the whole thing was a hoax.
___
Q: HOW ELABORATE WAS THE SCHEME?
A: Very, according to Te'o. The pranksters used multiple characters, they sent photos of the flowers Te'o sent for Lennay's "funeral" to him to show they arrived. Te'o claims they became agitated when he began to see another girl at Notre Dame in December, and a woman claiming to be Lennay's sister called Te'o's mother to complain about it.
Lennay had a large extended family, Te'o says he was told, including a young relative, a 9-year-old girl named Pookah. Te'o met her face-to-face, along with Tuiasosopo, when Notre Dame was in California in November to play USC.
___
Q: SO, IF IT WASN'T TE'O, WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HOAX?
The Deadspin story pointed to Tuiasosopo as being most involved, and Te'o said that the 22-year-old contacted him on Jan. 16 to apologize.
Te'o said the message went like this: "I have two people that I want to come clean with and that's you and your family. I'm not going to say anything to the press. I just want you to know the truth. And God bless, and blah, blah, blah."
Tuiasosopo has not yet spoken publicly about the situation.
___
Q: WHAT NEXT?
A: It seems no laws were broken, and Te'o has given no indication he wants to pursue a civil suit against the pranksters. Unless someone comes forward to refute Te'o's claims, or new evidence is unearthed contradicting what he has said, the next people he'll need to answer to are NFL coaches and executives.
Te'o will likely attend the combine in February and there he will start doing job interviews with prospective new employers. He has been projected as a potential high first-round pick. The first round is held the night of April 25 in New York City.
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BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? France's foreign minister said Saturday that "our African friends need to take the lead" in a military intervention to oust extremists from power in northern Mali, though he acknowledged it could be weeks before neighbors are able to do so.
Laurent Fabius spoke at a closely-watched summit in Ivory Coast focusing on ways that African forces can better help Mali as France's military intervention there entered its second week.
"Step by step, I think it's a question from what I heard this morning of some days, some weeks, the African troops will take over," Fabius said in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast.
Neighboring countries are expected to contribute around 3,000 troops to the operation, which is aimed at preventing the militants who rule northern Mali from advancing further south toward the capital of Bamako.
While some initial contributions from Togo and Nigeria have arrived to help the French, concerns about the mission have delayed other neighbors from sending their promised troops so far.
Funding for the mission is also an issue. Fabius said that a donor summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Jan. 29 "will be a key event."
"I am calling all partners of African development to come to Addis Ababa and to make generous contributions to this work of solidarity, peace and security both for the region and the continent."
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said Saturday that Mali's neighbors must work together to eradicate terrorism in the region.
"No other nation in the world, no other region in the world will be spared" if large swaths of the Sahel are allowed to become a 'no man's land,'" he said.
At Saturday's meeting, leaders were sorting out a central command for the African force, a French official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive security matters.
Nigerian Gen. Shehu Usman Abdulkadir is expected to be named the force commander.
Speaking Saturday on French 3 television, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Drian said France now has 2,000 troops in Mali and has mobilized 2,900 in the overall operation in places like Senegal, Burkina Faso and Niger.
He said France "could go beyond" the 2,500 troops initially announced for Mali, and said that at full deployment, Operation Serval would involve some 4,000 troops in the region.
Meanwhile, Le Drian insisted "there has been no ground combat in Diabaly" involving French troops,
French forces have moved around Diabaly to cut off supplies to the Islamist extremists who took the town on Monday, said a French official who spoke on condition of anonymity to be able to discuss sensitive security matters.
Mali once enjoyed a reputation as one of West Africa's most stable democracies with the majority of its 15.8 million people practicing a moderate form of Islam.
That changed last March, following a coup in the capital which created the disarray that allowed Islamist extremists to take over the main cities in the distant north.
The U.N. refugee agency said Friday that the fighting in Mali could force as many as 700,000 people to flee their homes in the coming months.
___
Corey-Boulet reported from Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Associated Press writers Krista Larson in Bamako, Mali and Jamey Keaten in Dakar, Senegal contributed to this report.
Netflix Inc.'s latest network dispute shows the extent of Internet providers' growing irritation with bandwidth-hogging video content--and the unanswered question of who's responsible for its growing cost.
The argument spilled into the open this week after the website Multichannel News reported Time Warner Cable Inc.'s refusal to join Open Connect, Netflix's name for the customized network it built to stream video content more quickly.
Time Warner Cable said it took issue with Netflix's decision to withhold its enhanced high-definition video, branded "Super HD," from customers unless it agreed to join Open Connect. That amounts to "unprecedented preferential treatment" for Internet providers that cooperate, the cable company said, and disadvantages to those that don't.
"Time Warner Cable's network is more than capable of delivering this content to Netflix subscribers today," the company said in a statement, adding it's still discussing "acceptable commercial terms" for its participation.
Netflix said it pays to run Open Connect and links the service "at no cost" to Internet service providers to make customers' experiences smoother. The Los Gatos, Calif., company already uses Open Connect to stream video to subscribers abroad but hasn't won over many U.S. Internet companies, which have grown accustomed to a traditional network model.
Netflix, like most data-intensive Web companies, started streaming video content through third-party content delivery networks such as Akamai Technologies Inc. and Limelight Networks Inc. Those companies also use specialized hardware to help data avoid network bottlenecks, charging Web companies for the privilege.
In June, Netflix said it was cutting out the middle man by moving most of its traffic to a company-owned content delivery network, following in the footsteps of other big Web companies like Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. It's a heavy investment that most Web services choose to outsource.
"A lot of companies have been trying to do what Akamai's been doing for a long time, and not too many have been successful," said Timothy Horan, an analyst for research firm Oppenheimer & Co.
Netflix has said it accounts for about 30% of peak Internet traffic in the U.S., making efficient use of bandwidth a top priority.
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