Lawmakers Differ on Congressional Investigation Into Libya

As Congress continues its investigation into the terrorist attack that left four Americans dead in Libya, Democratic lawmakers are accusing the Republican majority in the House of playing politics.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said the congressional investigation that aims to find out how much the Obama administration knew following the attack is ?turning into a witch hunt.?

?We will search the killers down and bring them to justice. The one thing we must not do, though, is ? treat it like political football,? he said on CBS?s Face the Nation on Sunday. ?We have a situation where we rushed to a hearing. We don't have substantial evidence yet.?

Cummings also accused Republicans on the Hill of scheduling the hearing to benefit their nominee for president, Mitt Romney.

?The way we're doing it, I think, is basically based on a campaign schedule, trying to give Romney some talking points,? he said. ?But I don't think that our men who were killed deserve this. I don't think our diplomatic corps deserves this. We can do better.?

But Republicans argued that the administration's reaction following the attack in Libya is worthy of inquiry. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the administration is either ?misleading or they?re incredibly incompetent,? adding that Libya has become President Obama?s ?Mission Accomplished? moment, a reference to President George W. Bush's handling of Iraq.

?This whole region is about to explode. Al-Qaida is on the march,? he said on the same show. ?The Middle East is falling apart, and they're trying to spin what happened in Libya, because the truth of the matter is, al-Qaida is alive and well and counter-attacking.?

During the vice presidential debate, one of the attacks that Vice President Joe Biden used against Rep. Paul Ryan was an item in the Republican?s budget proposal that Biden claimed would cut money for embassy security. ?The congressman here cut embassy security in his budget by $300 million below what we asked for,? Biden said on Thursday.

However, in defending Ryan, House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said what happened in Libya was not an issue of money, but of security. He claimed that there is plenty of money in a discretionary fund for security. The State Department, he said, ?didn't want the appearance of needing the security.?

?They are making a decision not to put security in because they don't want the presence of security,? he said on CBS, later adding, ?The money was there, they chose not to have those security personnel on the ground in Libya.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-differ-congressional-investigation-libya-120556381--politics.html

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AP PHOTOS: Endeavour makes terrestrial journey

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? It's a surreal sight residents won't soon forget: A hulking space shuttle strutting down city streets, pausing every so often to get its bearings as it creeps toward retirement.

The Endeavour's terrestrial journey began before dawn Friday when it departed from the Los Angeles International Airport, rolling on a 160-wheeled carrier past diamond-shaped "Shuttle Xing" signs.

Hundreds of camera-toting spectators gaped as the 170,000-pound Endeavour inched by with its tail towering over streetlights and its wings spanning the roadway.

Over two days, it will trundle 12 miles at a top speed of 2 mph to its final destination ? the California Science Center where it will be the centerpiece of a new exhibit.

Janet Dion, a family therapist from nearby Manhattan Beach, marveled at the shuttle, its exterior weathered by millions of miles in space and two dozen re-entries.

"You can sense the magnitude of where it's been," Dion says.

The baby of the shuttle fleet, Endeavour replaced Challenger, which exploded during liftoff in 1986, killing seven astronauts. It thundered off the launch pad 25 times, orbited Earth nearly 4,700 times and racked up 123 million miles.

Here are some images of the shuttle's journey:

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-endeavour-makes-terrestrial-journey-051213295.html

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Djokovic reaches Shanghai Masters final

Novak Djokovic of Serbia stretches his neck in the men's singles semifinal match against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Saturday Oct. 13, 2012. Djokovic won 6-3, 6-4. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia stretches his neck in the men's singles semifinal match against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Saturday Oct. 13, 2012. Djokovic won 6-3, 6-4. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts after winning the first set against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the men's singles semifinal match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Saturday Oct. 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

(AP) ? Novak Djokovic moved into his 10th final of the season Saturday after beating fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters.

Djokovic is looking for his fifth title of the year and second straight after winning in Beijing last week. He will play the winner of the match between top-ranked Roger Federer and No. 3 Andy Murray.

Djokovic hit 25 winners and converted all three of his break points to improve his head-to-head record against the Czech player to 10-1.

It was Djokovic's tour-leading 69th victory of the year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-10-13-TEN-Shanghai-Masters/id-2badf3ef1f51442eb7cc23ec64a0893a

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You've Come To The Right Place For Excellent Email Marketing ...

You?ve Come To The Right Place For Excellent Email Marketing Advice

TIP! The best way to avoid sending emails that are spammy is by studying spam emails firsthand. Get a free account and sign up on a few websites.

A lot of people who want to use email promoting to increase their business do not know how to get started. Internet marketing offers many ways to advance your business while staying in touch with your customers. This article offers advice to help you create an marketing via email program and reach your goals.

TIP! Ensure that you?re utilizing a strategy that is very persistent. Persistence is a good thing in general, but it is best when it is exercised on a receptive audience.

Make sure your emails will grab your customers attention. Finding the right approach may take some experimentation. Be sure that you alter any part of the campaign that doesn?t bring you good results. Even if something works great, there are still other things you can learn that may work even better so be on the lookout at all times.

TIP! Call to action wording is essential to a successful email campaign. Tell your audience what you expect from them.

Before sending any emails, be sure to proofread them thoroughly. It?s important to make sure that your email communication is grammatically and stylistically correct. Before sending out your email, test the layout in a few different email clients to be sure it can be read the way you would like it to be read. Additionally, test all hyperlinks in your email and double-check that they point to the right place.

TIP! When creating an email list, create it organically. Do not buy or rent a list.

Always include your companies colors and branding materials. Your subscribers are already familiar with your website and they are used to associating those colors, designs and logo with you. Customers find this consistency pleasing.

TIP! Prior to contacting any of your customers through email, you should always get their permission to do so. Emails that are not wanted are likely to be regarded as spam, and people will tend to delete them or ignore them without caring about the content.

Always proofread every email before sending it out. While this seems obvious, it is easy to overlook professionalism when sending an email is so fast and so simple. An email is a causal mode of communication, right? You might want to reconsider. The strategy you choose for your marketing with email campaigns should be a vital part of your overall marketing strategy and absolutely must be done the right way.

TIP! Adding someone to your mailing list, without their permission, is downright wrong. Padding your list with subscribers who have not directly opted into receiving your email marketing can build ill will towards you by both the email owner and your potential clients.

You want to figure out a way to provide as many opportunities for people to subscribe for updates from your webpage without feeling pressured at the same time. Let your customers know that you?ll keep their email information to yourself. Also, tell them the benefits of signing up. Customer information is the lifeblood of any successful email promoting campaign, after all.

TIP! Get your audience to help you expand. After you have accumulated some readers, try to get them to pass the good news about you on to others.

Getting the visitors who come to your website to sign up for your mailing lists is an excellent way to build up your subscription list. You may choose to include a subscription form on your site, but ensure that it is easy to find and simple to use.

TIP! Take advantage of preheaders and make email previews work to your advantage. A preheader displays the initial line of the email body, with the text highlighted.

Always obtain a customer?s permission before you start sending them emails. When you email your customers without asking them, they may think you are a spammer and not read them. This can cause backlash against your profitability in the form of customers opting out of your email lists, and can even result in problems with your web-hosts and internet service providers.

Contain Lots

TIP! Be sure to focus email marketing campaigns to correspond with holidays and special events. You should have the whole year planned out.

Keep the graphics to a minimum in your emails. Because so many popular email clients block graphics, including ads and logos, your audience probably will not be able to view emails that contain lots of pictures or other graphics. Besides that, spam filters are more apt to sort your emails as junk mail if they contain lots of graphics.

TIP! Try to secure at least the first name of individuals during the process. By doing this, you can include their name in each email so the message feels more personal.

Keep subject lines to a minimum of 60 characters. Most email platforms will cut subject lines to that length. Other clients simply can?t display that many characters. Regardless, your subscriber may likely only need that many letters to make the snap judgement of reading versus deleting of your message.

TIP! Make sure your content appeals to real people and isn?t crafted to evade spam filters. If you focus less on selling and more on building rapport, you shouldn?t have too much of a problem with spam filters.

An organic list can be a powerful tool for e-mail marketing business strategy. Avoid purchasing email lists of people who did not ask to receive your messages. Rather, collect information organically and grow your email recipients over time.

TIP! A follow-up email including an endorsement is a great idea. Something pointing out the immediate impact would be beneficial.

Try out more than one email format. Keeping your most vital information near the top is important in any layout you try. Try to use different formats to find out which ones will work and which ones won?t. Then, when you figure out what works for you, you want to use it to your advantage. This helps your customers form expectations about future emails and lets them easily find the information they?re looking for.

TIP! The appearance of your email marketing messages is an important consideration. You may be tempted to use graphics, but these days spam filters usually block all of them so they?re not as effective anymore.

Your company?s e-mail marketing campaign should have an option to unsubscribe for people who no longer wish to receive messages from you. Unwanted emails take storing space and time to delete. Also, the ill will caused by a perception that you are a spammer will hurt your business and potentially prompt online blacklisting of your enterprise.

TIP! Do not ever send emails with headlines such as ?Buy now?! It will eventually backfire. This is not a good way to go about doing this and you may be considered a spammer.

Create succinct subjects. If a subject line has less than 60 characters, it has a better chance of attracting attention. This means it will have a higher open rate than a subject that goes on for too long. If you?re having trouble keeping your subject line concise, start it off with the most significant words to ensure that they don?t get cut off when the email reaches a customer?s inbox.

TIP! Make emails as personal as you can. Consumers feel like they can relate to a business that treats them in a personal nature, this makes them more inclined to purchase items.

Utilize special promotions and discounts as a way to make customers feel excited about getting emails from you. This method of e-mail marketing gives readers a good value for participating and motivates them to spread the word. You can promote this even further by creating a referral rewards plan, which will not only increase the number of subscribers to your newsletter, but also your pool of potential buyers.

Subject Lines

TIP! Send out birthday emails to your customers. Include a field for customers to opt in so they can receive a birthday wish.

Use A/B testing to see which emails are successful and which ones aren?t. Split your email list in half and send emails to the two groups of addresses using different subject lines. This will let you see which types of subject lines increase your open rates and, conversely, which types of subject lines get ignored in the inbox.

TIP! To make sure you communicate all of your information, consider using multi-part emails. These are emails that include both HTML and plain text content, so that they will display appropriately no matter which option the recipient favors.

Keep in mind that you need to build up your reputation for your e-mail marketing campaign. Put in the effort necessary to ensure that you target the customer base you want to reach. Never forget that every action you take effects your company?s reputation.

TIP! Prior to adding any person on your email listing, always ask for their permission. People may just consider you as a spammer if you do not do this, and that will make them ignore and delete your emails.

Many business owners are intrigued when it comes to the idea of marketing with email, but they just don?t know how to get started. An important key to the success of your business is Internet marketing. The article you just went over contains all the things you need to get started in an marketing via email campaign

Tags: contain lots, email clients, mail marketing campaign, marketing via email, subject lines

Source: http://make-money-blog.com/youve-come-to-the-right-place-for-excellent-email-marketing-advice-2/

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Security Council paves way for possible ... - Morocco World News

New York, October 13, 2012

Citing the threat to regional peace from terrorists and Islamic militants in rebel-held northern Mali, the United Nations Security Council on Friday held out the possibility of endorsing, within the next 45 days, an international military force to restore the unity of the West African country.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member body called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to provide, at once, military and security planners to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and other partners to help frame a response to a request by Mali?s transitional authorities for such a force, and to report back within 45 days.

Upon receipt of the report, and acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Council said it was ready ?to respond to the request of the Transitional authorities of Mali regarding an international military force assisting the Malian Armed Forces in recovering the occupied regions in the north of Mali.?

Chapter VII of the Charter allows the Council to use force in the face of a threat to peace or aggression, taking ?such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security,? including blockades and other operations by the forces of Member States.

In August, the Council urged ECOWAS, in cooperation with the transitional authorities, the AU Commission and regional countries, to prepare detailed proposals for a stabilization force to restore the territorial integrity of the country.

Fighting between Malian Government forces and Tuareg rebels broke out in the country?s north in January. The instability and insecurity resulting from the renewed clashes, as well as the proliferation of armed groups in the region, drought and political instability in the wake of a military coup d??tat in March, have driven 500,000 Malians from their homes, 270,000 of them to neighbouring countries.

In addition, Islamist militants currently control the country?s north and have imposed strict Sharia law, including amputation of limbs as punishment.

The Council called on Malian rebel groups to cut off all ties to terrorist organizations, notably Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and affiliated groups, and expressed its readiness to adopt targeted sanctions against those groups which do not do so.

It also urged the Transitional authorities, rebels and other legitimate representatives of the local population in the northern Mali to engage, as soon as possible, in credible negotiations to seek a sustainable political solution in conformity with the country?s unity, and demanded that all groups in the north cease all human rights violations such as attacks against civilians, sexual violence, recruitments of child soldiers and forced displacements.

Today?s Council resolution reiterated ?grave concern? at the continuing deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the north of Mali, the increasing entrenchment of terrorist elements including AQIM, affiliated groups and other extremist groups, and its consequences for the countries of the Sahel and beyond.

In addition, it strongly condemned the abuses of human rights committed ?by armed rebels, terrorist and other extremist groups, including violence against its civilians, notably women and children, killings, hostage-taking, pillaging, theft, destruction of cultural and religious sites and recruitment of child soldiers,? and stressed that some of these acts might amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Source: UN News Center

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/10/60833/security-council-paves-way-for-possible-intervention-force-in-northern-mali/

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How the First Laptop Was Held Back by Its Humongous Price... And Sexism [Progress]

History remembers technology progressing at the speed of Moore's Law, galloping between semiconductors and clock speeds. But the real challenge has always been getting people to accept it into their lives. And as Alexis Madrigal at the Atlantic reminds us, that has, from time to time, meant overcoming ingrained prejudices. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/GlggjGieSfs/how-the-first-laptop-was-held-back-by-its-humongous-price-and-sexism

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Review: Turtle Beach Mobile Game XP400 gaming headphones ...

XP400

Quality headphones make it much easier for you to immerse yourself in a game. Provided you don?t start shouting at your opponent at 3AM when everyone is asleep, you can also blast your audio with no fear of people complaining. It?s a pretty great experience? right until your phone rings. Chances are, in the unlikely event that you even noticed the phone ringing, you are far too occupied to pick the phone up and answer it. Turtle Beach has come up with a solution to this problem with the Mobile+Game XP400 headphones.

Like most of the headphones made by Turtle Beach, the XP400s are big. The headphones have nearly an inch of padding all the way around and the top band has a cushion half as thick. The headphones are not entirely noise isolating, but putting them on mutes the outside world pretty well, even before the audio starts. The buttons across the headphones are big, making it easy for you to run your hand across the panel and make sure you are hitting the right button. The microphone can be removed entirely if it is not being used, and rotated or flexed out of the way whenever needed.

XP400

The XP400 headphones are easy to setup, and come with everything you would need for several configurations. During my testing, I had the headphones connected to an Xbox 360, a PS3, and a PC using the same optical cable. The receiver box sits on the entertainment center, tethered to your console with the audio cable and power. Once you have powered on the headphones you need only pair them to the receiver once and they are good to go. The headphones and receiver have individual controls for audio presets and surround sound. Once you find the setting that fits you best, you are ready to connect your phone.

The XP400 pairs to your mobile phone just like any other Bluetooth headset. Once you have paired it, the phone stays connected as long as you are in range. When a call comes in the headphones will automatically lower the sound coming from the console, and answering the phone is as simple as a button push on the side of the headphones.

The call quality from the XP400s is great, and the same microphone you use to communicate in-game is used during the phone call. Turtle Beach did a fine job integrating the call experience into the headphones, and being paired to a device didn?t have any significant additional drain on the battery-powered headphones.

XP400

The audio quality is very good on the XP400 headphones. You could easily use these to enjoy a surround sound movie, as well as casually listening to music. Control of the surround sound settings makes it easy to adjust to whatever environment suits you, and some basic audio presets can help enhance any music you may be listening to. The headphones are not bass heavy, but instead rely on a clearly defined middle range to produce most of its sounds. Neither high pitched instrumentals nor deep bassy tones ever took over.

While the headphones aren?t noise cancelling, they do a terrific job of making sure whatever you are listening to stayed inside the headphones. Even during huge explosions or during a particularly loud song, the headphones did a much better job than most at minimizing audio leak. Only with the volume completely maxed out on the headphones was someone else able to clearly hear what I was doing when the headphones were securely on my head. Especially for late night gaming, this is a fantastic feature to have.

XP400

I found that the battery on the XP400 headphones would last through about 25 hours of continuous use before needing to be recharged. The headphones take about two hours to fully charge from dead, and Turtle Beach has made sure that the headphones can still be used while charging. Having a phone paired to the headphones the entire time shaves about an hour off of the total time you can use the headphones, and paired to just the phone the headphones lasted for days without needing power.

Turtle Beach has made a great pair of headphones that are able to suit a wide variety of users. While the packaging says that PC use is not supported, anything with an optical out will deliver audio to the headphones. The microphone will not work on the PC, but as a pair of headphones they work great. For $189, there are very few alternatives that offer as many features as these headphones at the same quality.

Source: http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/review-turtle-beach-mobilegame-xp400-gaming-headphones-20121012/

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Study: Stroke becoming more common in young people

Thursday, October 11, 2012

New research reveals that stroke may be affecting people at a younger age. The study is published in the October 10, 2012, online issue of Neurology?, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"The reasons for this trend could be a rise in risk factors such as diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol," said study author Brett Kissela, MD, MS, with the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. "Other factors, such as improved diagnosis through the increased use of MRI imaging may also be contributing. Regardless, the rising trend found in our study is of great concern for public health because strokes in younger people translate to greater lifetime disability."

For the study, researchers looked at occurrences of strokes in people between the ages 20 and 54 in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area during three separate, one year-long periods between July of 1993 and June of 1994, and the calendar years of 1999 and 2005. Only first ever strokes were included in the analysis.

The study found that the average age of people who experienced stroke fell from 71 years in 1993 and 1994 to 69 years in 2005. In addition, the study found that strokes among people under 55 made up a greater percentage of all strokes over time, growing from about 13 percent in 1993-94 to 19 percent in 2005. The stroke rate in young people increased in both African-Americans and Caucasians, from 83 strokes per 100,000 people in 1993-94 in African-Americans to 128 per 100,000 in 2005 and in Caucasians from 26 strokes per 100,000 people in 1993-94 to 48 per 100,000 in 2005.

"The good news is that some of the possible contributing factors to these strokes can be modified with lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise," said Kissela. "However, given the increase in stroke among those younger than 55, younger adults should see a doctor regularly to monitor their overall health and risk for stroke and heart disease."

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American Academy of Neurology: http://www.aan.com/go/pressroom

Thanks to American Academy of Neurology for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 47 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/124405/Study__Stroke_becoming_more_common_in_young_people

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You are feeling sleepy...

You are feeling sleepy...

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The speed and degree to which the pupil of the eye responds is a standard test for alertness. It has also been used to assess how sleepy or exhausted a person is. Now, research to be published in the International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications suggests that measuring pupil response alone is not enough and that a person's rate of blinking should also be incorporated to obtain a more precise measure of alertness. The work could be important in the care of people with multiple sclerosis and other conditions. It might also be automated and ultimately used to automatically monitor patients, drivers, pilots, machine operators or others.

Minoru Nakayama of the Tokyo Institute of Technology and colleagues at Aichi Medical University point out that how the pupil of the eye dilates and contracts can be a useful way to measure alertness, but tests have demonstrated that the precise response of the pupil does not correlate well with the actual degree of sleepiness before any other signs become apparent. They point out that blinking subtly affects pupil response and have now developed a new approach that combines pupillography with blinking assessment.

The approach could side-step subjective assessment by healthcare workers in clinical situations. Moreover, it could be developed into an early-warning system to reduce workplace, road and other accidents by alerting operators and drivers to their level of alertness before sleepiness impinges on their behavior.

The team has successfully tested their approach with two groups of volunteers - sleepy and not sleepy as assessed by conventional sleepiness tests, including the Stanford Sleepiness Score and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. The results allowed the team to produce a formula that links blink, pupillary indices and subjective sleepiness.

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"Estimation of sleepiness using pupillary response and its frequency components" in Int. J. Bioinformatics Research and Applications, 2012, 8, 342-365

http://www.inderscience.com/ijbra

Inderscience Publishers: http://www.inderscience.com

Thanks to Inderscience Publishers for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 10 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/124360/You_are_feeling_sleepy___

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ExactTarget Buys Pardot For $95.5M And iGoDigital For $21M As Marketing Solutions Consolidate

ExactTarget PictureExactTarget, the marketing software giant that went public in March, has picked up a pair of smaller companies to build out its portfolio: marketing automation company Pardot for $95.5 million?($85.5 million?in cash and?$10.0 million?in?ExactTarget?common stock) and analytics company iGoDigital for $21 million?($14.7 million?in cash and?$6.3 million?in?ExactTarget?common stock).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dr3VHcr4omE/

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