Deal will prevent spike in milk prices

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, departs the Strom Thurmond room after a Senate Republican caucus meeting about the fiscal cliff, on Capitol Hill, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, departs the Strom Thurmond room after a Senate Republican caucus meeting about the fiscal cliff, on Capitol Hill, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, walks to a closed-door GOP caucus as Congress meets to negotiate a legislative path to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts that could kick in Jan. 1., at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A potential doubling of milk prices will be averted as part of the compromise that White House and congressional bargainers reached on wide-ranging legislation to avert the "fiscal cliff," a leading senator said late Monday.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told reporters that negotiators had agreed to extend portions of the expired 2008 farm bill through September. She said that includes language keeping milk prices from rising, but excludes other provisions like energy and disaster aid for farmers.

Stabenow said she considers the slimmed-down extension to be "Mitch McConnell's version of a farm bill." She was referring to the Senate Republican leader from Kentucky, who she said forced bargainers to accept the version of the farm bill that appeared in the deal.

McConnell spokesman Michael Brumas responded: "Sen. McConnell put forward a bipartisan, responsible solution that averted the dairy cliff and provided certainty to farmers for the next year without costing taxpayers a dime."

Just a day earlier, Stabenow said leaders from both parties on the House and Senate agriculture committees had agreed to extend the entire farm bill.

Stabenow and House Agriculture Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., announced Sunday that they had agreed on a last-minute move that would extend the entire farm bill and replace dairy programs that expire at midnight Tuesday. Expiration of those dairy programs could mean higher milk prices at the grocery store within just a few weeks.

But the House GOP had not endorsed the committees' extension agreement.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Sunday that extending the entire bill through September, including disaster assistance for farmers affected by drought, could cost more than $1 billion this budget year.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has pushed back on passage of a new five-year farm bill for months, saying there were not enough votes to bring it to the House floor after the House Agriculture Committee approved it in July. The Senate passed its version of a farm bill in June. The bill, generally passed every five years, includes food stamps, farm subsidies and other help for rural areas.

But the prospect of higher milk prices prompted some action. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said Americans face the prospect of paying $7 for a gallon of milk if the current dairy program lapsed and the government returned to a 1948 formula for calculating milk price supports.

Extending the entire agriculture bill would have included an overhaul of dairy programs that was included in both the Senate and House committee bills. The new dairy programs include a voluntary insurance program for dairy producers, and those who choose that new program also would have to participate in a market stabilization program that could dictate production cuts when oversupply drives down prices ? an idea that hasn't gone over well with Boehner.

In July, he called the current dairy program "Soviet-style" and said the new program would make it even worse. Large food companies that process and use dairy products have backed Boehner, saying the program could limit milk supplies and increase their costs.

One of the reasons Boehner has balked at bringing up a farm bill is disagreement among House Republicans over how much money should be cut from food stamps, which make up roughly 80 percent of the half-trillion-dollar bill's cost over five years. Lucas has unsuccessfully pushed his leadership for months to move on the legislation despite the disagreement over food aid.

___

Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-01-US-Fiscal-Cliff-Farm-Bill/id-bc1eeb10e43646b9a04b4ec012d05f17

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JustOneMinute: Leaving Immigration To The Real Estate Developers

The Times describes a new twist on a long-dormant scheme held over from Bush I: foreign investors who put up $500,000 in a jobs-creating venture in the US skip to the head of the line for green cards:

JAY PEAK, Vt. ? At this remote outpost by the Canadian border, Bill Stenger is overseeing what he says is the biggest economic development project that Vermont has ever seen.

He is expanding the Jay Peak ski resort, which he co-owns, but he is also building a biomedical research firm and a window manufacturing plant, extending the runway at the local airport and rehabilitating much of the nearby town of Newport, where he lives. There, he is developing the waterfront, adding the town?s first hotel and a conference center and rebuilding an entire downtown block. He is also creating what he says is the largest indoor mountain bike park in the world and a state-of-the art tennis center.

The price tag for the entire project, which Mr. Stenger says will create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs over several years, is $865 million.

I know what you are thinking. OK, actually, I know what I was thinking - who in their right mind would back this white elephant which is many, many hours from anywhere?

But even more unusual than the size of the undertaking is the method by which Mr. Stenger and his business partner, Ariel Quiros, are financing it. They have tapped into a federal program that gives green cards, or permanent residency, to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in an American business ? the reward for the investment is a chance at United States citizenship.

Mr. Stenger has already attracted 550 foreign investors from 60 countries to put up $275 million for the first phase: a hotel here at the Jay Peak ski complex, an indoor water park the size of a football field, an ice hockey arena, condominiums, restaurants and stores.

The second and third phases, now under way, require 1,000 additional foreign investors to put up $500 million to overhaul Newport and to develop the nearby Burke Mountain ski area.

Mr. Stenger and Mr. Quiros are putting up $90 million themselves. But even at $785 million, this is one of the single biggest projects in the country financed under the investor program.

Congress created the visa program in 1990 to help stimulate the economy. Because of a cumbersome process and complaints of fraud and corruption, it was long underused.

Obviously. with the current problems challenges facing real estate developers this is a slick way to bring in a new pool of investors who are a bit less focused on their investment return and a bit more focused on buying a new life for themselves and thier kids in the US.

I actually like the basic program, which is a plausible way to recycle foreign wealth into the US and bring talented enterpeneurs to our shores. However, the scheme being described makes me worry about the viability of the projects being financed.

If one foreigner (or a small group) bring their capital and their hard-working selves to the US to start a small business, it is their money and their effort. Even if the primary attraction was the residency it seems less likely they will start a business with no legitmate prospects.

But this real estate venture amounts to writing a check and getting a green card while an American entrepeneur builds something for which financing would otherwise be unavailable. I don't see how that ends well. And yes, the American developer has his own money in the project, but I am sure he is also collecting huge management fees, so maybe he wins either way.

So, I suggest a modification of the program - for larger investor pools limit the 'green card' involvement to, say, 50%. If investors and lenders can't be found who will back the project on a stand-alone basis, then the project won't go forward.

Source: http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2012/12/leaving-immigration-to-the-real-estate-developers.html

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Website Traffic Push Button Software - Empower Network

Website Traffic Push Button Software

by Iain Howard | on December 30, 2012

If there is has to be one way to fail in getting website traffic and increasing the amount of website traffic you receive to your website it certainly is not found in some cheap $48 push button software!? I have one word to say about such methods of driving website traffic ? Garbage!

Let me go over a few methods to avoid while trying to drive website traffic.

• Site plugins:? Now some plugins can be useful in determining keyword density, or helping you write more compelling content.? But whenever you see plugin?s that claim to increase your web ranking and you will hoards of website traffic avoid them like the plague.
• Desktop Software(Claims to generate traffic):? Have you ever heard of ad-ware.? Now ad-ware is not illegal in-fact ad-ware can be very useful if you are marketing on the Internet.? But some desktop software will install ad-ware on your computer that automatically allow targeted advertising to you in the shape of either pop-up?s or web banners. Now I am not totally against such marketing methods but when you are sold some crap web traffic software only to have the same marketer sell you some more crap software it becomes a poor cycle for you.
• Website submission sites.? One word ? crap.?? You do not need to submit your website to the search engines and search networks to get noticed!

Website traffic the easy and most cost effective way

If you are trying to get noticed organically on the Internet there can be no faster way to get noticed than blogging.? Blogging offers a unique way to get your content out there with ease and simplicity and the majority of the time it?s free traffic.? And if you syndicate your content with tool?s on the web like hoot-suite or ping.fm.? Tribe Pro is also a very good platform for reciprocating?content syndication.? You can sign-up for free here: TribePro.com

Website traffic paid methods

When it comes to paid traffic methods there can only be one group of good methods that can really bring in a ROI.? And I can only vouch for methods I have tried successfully myself.

Here are just a few:

Solo Adds:? Solo adds are when you send an email to a ezine list promoting whatever you are selling.

PPC( Pay Per Click): Pay per click adds can be from face-book PPC, Search networks or from some of the various PPC add networks available on the Internet.

PPV(Pay Per View): Pay Per View is where some one searches on the Internet for a given product or service and you product happens to be in that target market.? When the user clicks on the search engine result they automatically redirected in the form of a pop-up or pop-under site targeted on their specific search result.

Cool Stuff!

If you are looking for new ways to make money on the Internet without push button gimmicks or software the Empower Network provides and excellent springboard for you to do this and drive quality targetted website traffic.??? Click on the link below or the banner on the right to find out more.

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Related Links:

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This entry was posted in Blogging, Business, Empower Network, Internet Marketing, Software
Tags: buy traffic, buy web traffic, buy website traffic, free website submission, how to increase website traffic, increase website traffic, internet traffic, seo software, traffic exchange, web traffic software, website traffic

About The Author: Iain Howard

My name is Iain Howard I am in the Home Based Business profession assisting any Home business owner like yourself who would like to increase more revenue and leads in your business. Currently in the trenches building an empire with Empower Network. If you don't have your own blog like this one get one now. Click on the link above. Connect with me on Google + To your success Iain Howard HBB Partners

Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/hbbpartners/blog/website-traffic-push-button-software/

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Texas Chainsaw 3D Hi-Res Photo Gallery

Dec 30, 2012 by Brian Gallagher Lionsgate has unveiled a high-resolution photo gallery for Texas Chainsaw 3D, director John Luessenhop's thriller that takes place decades after Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Alexandra Daddario stars as Heather, a young woman who learns that a distant relative has left her a sprawling Texas estate in her will. Take a look at these photos featuring Alexandra Daddario, Bill Moseley, Tania Raymonde, Trey Songz, and Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface.

Texas Chainsaw 3D comes to theaters January 4th, 2013 and stars Alexandra Daddario, Keram Malicki-S?nchez, Tania Raymonde, Scott Eastwood, Bill Moseley, Richard Riehle, Shaun Sipos, Thom Barry. The film is directed by John Luessenhop.

Sources: Lionsgate

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Source: http://www.movieweb.com/news/texas-chainsaw-3d-hi-res-photo-gallery

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Sustainable business innovation adds firms' market value ...

This graph shows that sustainable business practices and business success go hand in hand. Credit: Seppo Junnila Sustainable business innovation is good business; researchers from Aalto University, Finland have proved. The researchers tested how sustainability business innovations and the market value of companies in the construction sector are connected. The...

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Constantine Alexander's Blog was launched to share with you international wildlife news, exciting environmental research activities, political action or inaction, and what each of us can do to ensure that the wisdom of nature endures for the benefit of us all as we are mere caretakers of nature for future generations of all species which have a right to thrive in and contribute to a healthy and beautiful world.

Source: http://sierraactivist.org/2012/12/30/sustainable-business-innovation-adds-firms-market-value/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sustainable-business-innovation-adds-firms-market-value

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Florida State Seminoles roll in second half to top Tulsa

At the outset, it didn?t seem likely that former Miami Columbus standout and Florida State walk-on Rafael Portuondo would see any action in front of his hometown crowd. But by the final whistle of Saturday?s game between Florida State and Tulsa, the 5-11 senior guard was on the floor helping the Seminoles close out the Golden Hurricane 82-63 in front of family and friends.

?It was fun ? I did have a couple turnovers there, but it was fun to get out there on the court,? Portuondo said. ?I had my whole family here. It was a good experience in front of the hometown.?

It took Florida State (8-4) the entire first half to settle down during the opening game of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at the BB&T Center. But midway through the second period there was little doubt as to which team was superior.

?I thought we were extremely impatient in the first part of the game,? FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. ?I thought we took our shots too quick, and we were not able to get any offensive rhythm the first ten or 12 minutes.?

Florida State began the game ice cold, missing its first five, including four from behind the arc. Shot selection continued to be an issue for the Seminoles throughout the first half. FSU ended the opening half shooting just 36.4 percent (12 of 33).

Early on for Tulsa (7-6), Pat Swilling Jr. kept the game tight. The junior guard was lethal from three-point range, making Florida State pay any time they gave him an inch.

?He?s been a good shooter over the years ? that wasn?t a fluke,? Hamilton said. ?That really challenged our perimeter defense, we had stretches in the second half where I thought we did a really good job, but every time we lost him they made us pay.?

Swilling went 5 of 7 from three-point range in the first half and contributed 17 of his 19 points to the Golden Hurricane offense during the opening 20 minutes.

Outside of Swilling, though, Florida State?s defense was overwhelming, smothering the Tulsa offense and forcing 10 turnovers in the first half. Despite shooting at an abysmal rate, the Seminoles never trailed by more than five and went into the half up three on a Devon Bookert buzzer-beater.

In the second half, the Florida State offense finally began to wake up. The Seminoles scored on five of their first six possessions and began working into their offense more efficiently than they had done in the first half.

FSU used a 7-0 run early in the second half to put some distance between themselves and the Golden Hurricane, and they never looked back.

Despite Tulsa continuing to hit from three (Tulsa was 11 of 24 from three and 11 of 32 from everywhere else), the Seminoles defense stifled the Golden Hurricane inside and with better shooting in the second half, Florida State had little trouble pulling away.

FSU also put together an 8-0 run and a 9-0 run, shooting a full 20 percent better in the second half. By the final minutes, the walk-ons were in and the game was no longer in question.

?They?re a good team; Coach Hamilton does a good job,? Tulsa coach Danny Manning said. ?Looking at the stat sheet they got their points in the paint and second-chance points, they really hurt us with that in the second half.?

Terrance Shannon had a career-high 16 points and added 10 rebounds, and Michael Snaer poured in 19 and won MVP honors.

Florida State has three more road games before returning home Jan.?12 to play North Carolina.

?Overall, I see us making progress, but there?s still a long way to go,? Hamilton said. ?We?re not anywhere close to being as sound in all areas as I know we?re going to need to be if we?re going to compete as well as we have in the past in the ACC. But I do see some progress with this team.?

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/30/3160788/florida-state-seminoles-roll-in.html

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Break Out the Shovels and Ice-Melt - The Massachusetts Real ...

The first major winter storm in Massachusetts yesterday brought lots of questions on Massachusetts snow and ice removal law.

I am a homeowner and rental property owner. Am I legally required to clear snow and ice after a storm?

The law now in Massachusetts is that?all Massachusetts property owners and landlords are legally responsible for the removal of snow and ice from their property.?In 2010, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overruled 125 years of legal precedent which protected property owners from ?natural accumulations of ice and snow,? and announced this new rule. My prior post on the case can be read here. The rule applies across the board, to homeowners, landlords, commercial business owners, restaurants, everyone.

I am a landlord. How long do I have to shovel snow and ice on my rental property?

There is no clear cut answer to this question, and juries and courts will ultimately decide what is reasonable. The City of Boston?s policy is to give businesses 3 hours to clean snow, and 6 hours to residents. My advice is to shovel and treat snow and ice early and often. Even a thin coating of black ice can cause someone to slip and fall and seriously hurt themselves. (Admit it if you?ve dumped on your rear end like I have!). If you are an out-of-town landlord, you must hire someone to shovel your snow.

My lease states that the tenant is responsible for snow shoveling. Will that protect me from liability?

Probably not. A person who is injured due to untreated snow or ice will likely sue both the property owner and the tenant. The property owner must ultimately ensure that the property is safe for visitors. The landlord may bring a claim for contribution/indemnification against the tenant.

I live in Boston, and I heard I have to shovel the public sidewalk in front of my house after a storm. Is that true?

Yes. On top of their added responsibilities, property owners in several Massachusetts communities, including Boston, Newton, Lynn, and Worcester, are required by local ordinances to clear municipal sidewalks in front of their residences or businesses. The City of Boston mandates clean sidewalks within 6 hours of a storm; Worcester is 12 hours.

Will my homeowner?s or CGL insurance policy cover any injuries from slip and fall on snow/ice?

Yes, usually. The standard Massachusetts homeowners insurance policy and commercial general liability insurance policy (CGL) will have liability coverage for slip and falls on property. Make sure you have ample liability coverage of at least $500,000 to 1 Million. (You can never have enough insurance!). As with any insurance question, it?s best to contact your personal insurance agent.

If you have additional questions, please ask them in the comment forms below!

___________________________________________

Richard D. Vetstein, Esq. is an experienced Massachusetts real estate attorney who advises property owners and landlords as to liability issues. Please contact him at 508-620-5352 or at info@vetsteinlawgroup.com.

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Tagged as: featured, Massachusetts slip and fall law, Massachusetts snow removal law, Massachusetts snow shovel law

Source: http://www.massrealestatelawblog.com/2012/12/30/break-out-the-shovels-and-ice-melt-new-massachusetts-mandatory-snow-and-ice-removal-law/

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NHL, union spend day on conference calls

NEW YORK (AP) ? Lots of questions, but still no answers in the NHL labor fight.

The league and the players? association spent much of Saturday talking to each other via conference call. The conversations were strictly for the purpose of sharing information regarding the new contract offer the NHL made to the union late Thursday.

The initial thought was that the sides would get together Sunday in New York to hold official negotiations for the first time in weeks, but those weren?t scheduled before discussions ended Saturday.

Staff level calls were expected to resume Sunday, which could include face-to-face talks at some point, but no actual bargaining meetings have been set.

??Some more informational sessions in the morning,?? NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press regarding Sunday. ??Nothing planned beyond that.??

The union pored over the latest NHL proposal aimed at ending the lockout that reached its 105th day Saturday and saving the delayed hockey season. The league would like to reach a deal no later than Jan. 11, which would allow training camps to start the following day, and a 48-game season to begin Jan. 19.

Saturday?s conference calls were scheduled Friday night so the union could ask league officials questions about the nearly 300-page proposal. Whether enough progress will be made to lead to face-to-face talks remains to be seen.

The sides haven?t gotten together since Dec. 13 with federal mediators. Bargaining sessions with only the NHL and union involved haven?t been held since Dec. 6, when talks abruptly ended after the players? association made a counterproposal to the league?s previous offer. The league said that offer was contingent on the union accepting three elements unconditionally and without further bargaining.

The NHL then pulled all existing offers off the table. Two days of sessions with mediators the following week ended without any progress made.

The players? association?s executive board and negotiating committee went over the new proposal during an internal conference call Friday.

A person familiar with key points of the offer told The Associated Press that the league proposed raising the limit of individual free-agent contracts to six years from five ? seven years if a team re-signs its own player; raising the salary variance from one year to another to 10 percent, up from 5 percent; and one compliance buyout for the 2013-14 season that wouldn?t count toward a team?s salary cap but would be included in the overall players? share of income.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the new offer weren?t being discussed publicly.

The NHL maintained the deferred payment amount of $300 million it offered in its previous proposal, an increase from an earlier offer of $211 million. The initial $300 million offer was pulled off the table after negotiations broke off earlier this month.

The latest proposal is for 10 years, running through the 2021-22 season, with both sides having the right to opt out after eight years.

The lockout has reached a critical stage, threatening to shut down a season for the second time in eight years. All games through Jan. 14, plus the Winter Classic and the All-Star game already have been called off. The next round of cuts could claim the entire schedule.

The NHL is the only North American professional sports league to cancel a season because of a labor dispute, losing the 2004-05 campaign to a lockout. A 48-game season was played in 1995 after a lockout stretched into January.

It is still possible this dispute could eventually be settled in the courts if the sides can?t reach a deal on their own.

The NHL filed a class-action suit this month in U.S. District Court in New York in an effort to show its lockout is legal. In a separate move, the league filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, contending bad-faith bargaining by the union.

Those moves were made because the players? association took steps toward potentially filing a ??disclaimer of interest,?? which would dissolve the union and make it a trade association. That would allow players to file antitrust lawsuits against the NHL.

Union members voted overwhelmingly to give their board the power to file the disclaimer by Jan. 2. If that deadline passes, another authorization vote could be held to approve a later filing.

Negotiations between the NHL and the union have been at a standstill since talks ended Dec. 6. One week later, the sides convened again with federal mediators in New Jersey, but still couldn?t make progress.Continued...

? Copyright 2012 Globe Newspaper Company.

Source: http://feeds.boston.com/click.phdo?i=708ae32ea3bb9ebd49aa154274f67522

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Unlocking surplus public land - Real Estate India

??|?? December 30, 2012 ?? 02:35pm ??|Contributed by manoja

Information on how much surplus land the government holds is not readily available in the public domain. These lands, whether belonging to the Centre or the state, are spread across urban areas (where the values are likely to be quite high), peri-urban and suburban areas (where land prices are relatively moderate) and rural areas (where land prices are lowest).

Consequently, putting a number on the total area (and its value) of land belonging to the government is a challenge. The country?s Port Authorities certain hold a substantial chunk of it, with the actual size of their holdings in the range of 2.58 lakh acres, out of which approximately 20 per cent is not in use. The Airports Authority of India owns around 49,000 acres and media reports suggest that the defence services hold approximately 17 lakh acres.

The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is the single-largest owner of land in the country. In fact, it has approximately 1.06 lakh acres of vacant land under its purview ? most of it in locations where there is a shortage of housing. Certainly, these land holdings represent great opportunities to develop mass housing projects with private sector participation.

MONETISING LAND value:

the process TIMELINE

An interesting question arises when one considers the auctioning of these lands as a potential avenue for lightening fiscal deficit: how long would such a process take?

The time required for marketing these lands would depend on a number of factors. At the first level, the government would need to have a structured sale strategy and a phasing plan that would identify which lands need to be sold in the first phase, and so on.

Lands in urban areas, depending on their location, are likely to be sold at a relatively faster pace. This would, inter alia, entail the definition of ?reserve prices? for each of these land parcels. Given the extent, spread, and locational diversity of these lands, such a strategic planning exercise could easily take six months to a year.

Another important fact is that these lands should not be released for sale too quickly. The sudden supply infusion could seriously impact property prices around the areas in question. Further, the market?s appetite for consumption of these lands will play a critical role in how quickly they will be absorbed.

Market appetite is a function of current economic growth, the outlook for various industry sectors, liquidity in the system and the potential demand for end products that will be developed on these lands. Consequently, phased sales of such land holdings could begin in a period of about six to nine months from the date that all internal approvals and sanctions for sale are received by the respective government departments.

However, this period is subject to a lot of externalities ? including global market trends, domestic economic outlook, future outlook of the cities and the areas where these lands are located, and the market?s perception for the future growth potential of these lands and their micro-markets. Overall, given the potential scale, the sale of all or most of the government?s land portfolio, could take a number of years. In such a scenario, it would be best to obtain independent valuations of the land parcels just before they are brought into the market for sale.

Potential Roadblocks

Even then, the sale of such land would not be without challenges:

Redefinition of land use and permitted developments at these surplus lands would be subject to critical scrutiny, as valuations of lands are highly contingent on the scale and type of development permitted at the locations in question.

Valuations of each of these land parcels could become a matter of contention and impact land prices in the vicinity.

Given the potentially massive size of lands, finding buyers with high-ticket size appetites would be tricky. Moreover, such buyers would likely be in a rather good negotiating position and may ask for discounts. Consequently, these land parcels may need to be subdivided to reduce ticket sizes and generate a higher level of competition. This exercise would become time-consuming.

Market appetite is very sensitive to economic growth and outlook. Consequently, buyers might become cautious while making such high-ticket purchases. This means that marketing horizons ? or the time periods for completion of sales ? could get extended even further.

Taking all these factors into account, it is evident that adopting a comprehensive, well-planned strategy along with a phased sale plan would be the best way to go for maximising returns from sales of these surplus lands.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/unlocking-surplus-public-land/1051556/0

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Source: http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/unlocking-surplus-public-land.html

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Finally, A Bottle That Can Store Sound

It's a common trope in cartoons, but in the real world, you just can't get a bottle to hold sound. And what kid hasn't tried? No verbal messages in a bottle for us, thanks to the laws of physics. At least, that used to be the case. The Re: Sound Bottle designed by Jun Fujiwara does exactly that. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/98nC0EC4eW4/finally-a-bottle-that-can-store-sound

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Graham: No debt ceiling increase without entitlement reform

Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said today that he would vote no to raise the debt ceiling, if concessions to reform Social Security and Medicare were not made, despite a previous statement by Graham to suggest that most Republicans were never willing to stomach a U.S. default back in 2011.

"Why would I raise the debt ceiling again unless we address what put us in debt to begin with? I'm not going to raise the debt ceiling unless we get serious about keeping the country from becoming Greece, saving Social Security and Medicare," Graham said today on "Fox News Sunday."

Graham's not alone. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in an interview earlier this month on "Fox News Sunday" that House Republicans will never give up control of the debt ceiling.

"It's the only way to leverage the political process to produce more change than what it would if left alone," Boehner said.

Congress voted in July to avert a U.S. default as part of a larger deficit reduction package, but not before the uncertainty cost the federal government $1.3 billion due to higher borrowing costs, according to the Government Accountability Office.

After Congress reached a deal in 2011, Graham told Politico that, in the end, Republicans weren't willing to let the country default.

"Our problem is we made a big deal about this for three months. How many Republicans have been on TV saying, 'I'm not going to raise the debt limit?' You know, Mitch [McConnell] says, 'I'm not going to raise the debt limit unless we talk about Medicare.' And I've said I'm not going to raise the debt limit until we do something about spending and entitlements.' So we've got nobody to blame but ourselves," Graham said.

"We shouldn't have said that if we didn't mean it."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geither wrote a letter to Congress this week warning that the United States is fast approaching its debt limit and that the country would likely default without action in the next couple of months.

Most economists believe that a U.S. default would throw the worldwide economy into chaos.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/graham-says-no-debt-ceiling-increase-without-entitlement-205709517--abc-news-politics.html

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Capital News ? Woman accused of NYC subway hate crime murder

Posted by AFP on December 30, 2012

A man walks past a subway stop in Manhattan on December 5, 2012/AFP

NEW YORK, Dec 30 ? A 31-year-old New York woman was scheduled to appear before a judge Sunday after being charged with murder as a hate crime for shoving a Hindu man to his death in front of an oncoming subway train.

Erika Menendez of the Bronx borough was motivated by hatred of Muslims and Hindus, according to the Queens District Attorney?s Office.

?I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims. Ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers, I?ve been beating them up,? she told police.

Menendez, who is awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court, faces from 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

The victim, 46-year-old Sunando Sen, was born in India and raised Hindu, a roommate told The New York Times.

The incident took place late Thursday at a station on the number 7 line in Queens.

Menendez ? who was speaking to herself as she paced along the platform, according to witnesses ? pushed the man as the train was pulling into the station. He apparently had his back to Menendez and did not see her.

Police released surveillance camera video footage via Twitter showing a woman running from the scene.

?The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter?s worst nightmare ? being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train,? Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.

?The victim was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself. Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant?s actions can never be tolerated by a civilized society.?

Sen?s death was eerily similar to that of a 58-year-old man killed on December 3 when he was pushed onto the tracks during a fight with a deranged man at a Manhattan subway station. The assailant, later identified as 30-year-old Naeem Davis, has been charged with murder. Davis is homeless.

A New York Post front page picture of the man on the tracks a split second before he was killed by the oncoming train provoked public fury as to why no one helped him ? and why the tabloid newspaper published the photo.

Several million people use the New York City subway system every day, but incidents of this kind are rare.

Before the December 3 death, the last time someone was pushed onto the rails and hit by a train was in 2010. The woman survived.

Thursday night?s incident appeared to have scared many New York subway riders as they kept closer to the walls as trains rolled into the station.

?It?s horrible,? said 46-year-old city resident Elena Rodriguez. ?We?re feeling so insecure now to be in the subway.?

Author: AFP
AFP has written 3651 posts
Agence France-Presse is a global news agency delivering fast, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from wars and conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology.

Source: http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/12/woman-accused-of-nyc-subway-hate-crime-murder/

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AP source: McCoy, Hicks suspended by Texas

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2012, file photo, Texas' Case McCoy looks to pass against New Mexico during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas. Texas has sent home McCoy and injured linebacker Jordan Hicks on the eve of the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio for violating team rules, a person with knowledge of the suspensions told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, because the school wasn't releasing the names of the suspended players. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2012, file photo, Texas' Case McCoy looks to pass against New Mexico during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas. Texas has sent home McCoy and injured linebacker Jordan Hicks on the eve of the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio for violating team rules, a person with knowledge of the suspensions told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, because the school wasn't releasing the names of the suspended players. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2010, file photo, Texas' Jordan Hicks (33) takes the field with teammates to face Wyoming in an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas. Texas has sent home Hicks and backup quarterback Case McCoy on the eve of the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio for violating team rules, a person with knowledge of the suspensions told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, because the school wasn't releasing the names of the suspended players. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Texas has sent home backup quarterback Case McCoy and injured linebacker Jordan Hicks on the eve of the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio for violating team rules, a person with knowledge of the suspensions told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Friday because the school wasn't releasing the names of the suspended players. The person said the players violated curfew.

Coach Mack Brown addressed the situation during a previously schedule news conference Friday and referred to a KENS-TV report (http://tinyurl.com/cw8dcj3) that police were investigating two unidentified Texas players in an alleged sexual assault at a San Antonio hotel.

"This has been reported: We had a couple young men that broke team rules last night. They have been suspended from the team and they will be sent home," Brown said at a previously scheduled news conference in San Antonio. "They will not be available for the game and I will not address any more questions in that matter."

Sgt. Javier Salazar, a San Antonio police spokesman, said only that detectives are in the early stages of investigating a case of alleged sexual assault in the downtown area. Investigators are interviewing witnesses and collecting forensic evidence, he said.

"It's a very meticulous process," Salazar said. "As far as these investigations go, it's very early."

A heavily redacted police report says a 21-year-old woman told police she believed she was assaulted around 2 a.m. Friday after inviting two men to her hotel room. The report shows only that the men are students and that one is 21 and the other is 20. The woman told police that she had had several drinks when she invited the men to her hotel.

The woman said one of the men assaulted her while the other "just stood there and watched," the report said. Police said they observed bruises on the woman's right knee and left bicep.

After talking to police, the woman was taken to a San Antonio hospital, where she was seen by a sexual assault nurse examiner, according to the report. The two suspects also were taken to the hospital and examined by the nurse, the report says.

Ben Turner, acting general manager at the Holiday Inn on San Antonio's Riverwalk, said police were summoned to the hotel between 2 and 3 a.m. Friday to investigate an alleged sexual assault. He said hotel staff was cooperating with police.

McCoy, the brother of former Texas star and current Browns quarterback Colt McCoy, has played eight games this season, including one start. He has thrown for 722 yards and six touchdowns.

Hicks was a starter but hasn't played since the third game of the season because of a hip injury.

Texas (8-4) plays Oregon State (9-3) in Saturday's game at the Alamodome. The Longhorns' walk-through at the stadium Friday afternoon was closed to the media.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-29-Texas-Suspensions/id-51d31d6fdcdf4ba29696cbc2424d0d8c

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NBA standings 2012: Clippers separating themselves

The Clippers are the hottest team in the NBA right now, and have created some distance from the rest of the division.

The Los Angeles Clippers have won 16 in a row, and have pulled out in front of the NBA's Pacific Division by four games over the surprising Golden State Warriors. The Lakers have climbed to .500, but are still nine games behind the Clippers for the division lead.

The Clippers' hot streak has catapulted them to the top of the Western Conference standings with a 24-6 record. They are two games up in the win column over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers are tied with the Blazers and for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, but could start making a move with the return of point guard Steve Nash.

Out East, the Heat are on top of the conference heap. They sit at 20-7, a half-game ahead of the New York Knicks. The Hawks are close behind, two games back of Miami. The Pacers are the fourth division leader, and have won four-straight to get within four games of the leaders.

For complete standings, be sure to check out S.I's NBA Standings page.

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Source: http://losangeles.sbnation.com/los-angeles-clippers/2012/12/29/3815440/2012-nba-standings-

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How To Choose The Correct Internet Hosting Plan | Veritas India

Posted on December 29, 2012 by dufttuey508 in Internet

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Source: http://www.veritasindia.com/how-to-choose-the-correct-internet-hosting-plan

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?On Top of Spaghetti?

Illustration by Robert Neubecker.

The late folk singer Tom Glazer first performed his classic children's ballad "On Top of Spaghetti" in 1963. Sung to the tune of the traditional "On Top of Old Smoky," the song tells the story of a meatball on the run. Swept from table to floor by a thunderous sneeze, the meatball ends up rolling outdoors. It bounces along, gathering dust, dirt, gravel, and bits of trash along its surface. Finally, it tumbles under a shrub, nothing but mush, a shadow of its once-plump self. The following summer, so the song goes, having presumably sunk well into the fertile earth beneath its leafy shroud, the battered wad of meat sprouts up as a moss-covered tree bearing saucy meatball fruit.

While the idea of kids clamoring after a dirty meatball is nauseating, the fantasy?a comestible growing into a tree producing many pieces of food identical to the planted one?appeals to both children and adults. In C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew, the sixth book of his Chronicles of Narnia series, young Digory Kirke plants a toffee in enchanted soil. Overnight, a "little, very dark-wooded tree ? loaded with little brown fruits ... rather like dates" pops up, and Digory and his friend Polly tackle it for a sugary breakfast only an irresponsible parent would permit:? ?The fruit was delicious; not exactly like toffee?softer for one thing, and juicy?but like fruit that reminded one of toffee.?? (If I lived in Narnia, I would plant a bottle of good vinho verde, a cocktail frank, and some fine mustard in that magical dirt.)

I used to teach pre-kindergarten. Toward the end of my tenure, I played "On Top of Spaghetti" for my class of 4- and 5-year olds. The kids knew the song and were singing the first lines before the CD began spinning. When Tom and his gang of under-age back-up vocalists finished up, I posed a few questions to the gathered circle: Did the song make them hungry? Did they like meatballs? Did they like the idea of eating meatballs after hearing the tune describe, in graphic detail, one sorry meatball's unsanitary backyard odyssey?

The class's love for the meatball was robust. Expertly deploying the passive voice to deflect any blame for the meatball?s fall from the table, a child named Riley laid out the position in a nervous little voice:?

"It was dropped on the floor, but it was still yummy ... because it was a meatball."

The rest of the class agreed with Riley?s cast-iron logic. Meatballs, as Anna put it, were "a big treat,? regardless of what they?d rolled through. Piping up from under cropped dark bangs and a plastic tiara, Chelsea alone dissented.?

"I like meatballs very much," she said seriously, "but I think the floor has germs. I would pick it up and throw it in the garbage."

Thank you, Chelsea, I thought. Hearing someone take a principled stand for good hygiene brightened my spirits. Next, I asked: If you could bury anything tasty in the ground and have that something grow into a tree proliferating deliciousness year-round, what would you plant??

"A chocolate yummy!" I recall Jason proclaiming.?

"A taco," said Luke with a Spicoli-esque yawn.?

"Doughnuts!" yelled Chelsea.

"I want a milky tree with candy and ice cream," said Reese.

"A French-fry tree!" barked Jackson.?

"Cookies," whispered Marco.

With the possible exception of Luke?s taco, meat was not mentioned. The class overwhelmingly wanted to plant sweet things: Ice cream, jelly beans, cake, muffins, and various fruits naturally found on trees in the first place. I knew that kids liked sweets, but the fantasies they shared?the orchards dusted with powdered sugar, the branches weighed down with icing?suggested a deep-seated love of glucose that couldn't be attributed to bad parenting and corn subsidies alone.?

From Candy Land to fairy tales like "Hansel and Gretel? to children's book characters like the Gingerbread Man and Willy Wonka, our popular culture invests sweets with magic, delight, and mystery. Television plays a role too?though apparently, in a bow to political correctness, even the Cookie Monster now views his long-time vice as a "sometime food.? Children's songs similarly cater to the sweeter side of the palate with "Who Stole the Cookies?" and "If All the Raindrops Were Lemon Drops and Gumdrops.??

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=59f38ea28a046802538a015abeff234c

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Kat Von D Shows Off Black Diamond & Skulls Engagement Ring (Photos)

Kat Von D Shows Off Black Diamond & Skulls Engagement Ring (Photos)

Tattoo artist Kat Von D may have been engaged for a couple of weeks now, but has finally debuted her striking engagement ring that was custom-designed just for her! Her engagement ring from DJ Deadmau5 features a black diamond center stone flanked by four skulls, which is very different but seems perfect for Kat! Kat ...

Kat Von D Shows Off Black Diamond & Skulls Engagement Ring (Photos) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/12/kat-von-d-shows-off-black-diamond-skulls-engagement-ring-photos/

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Oil prices rise ahead of US fiscal-cliff talks

BANGKOK (AP) ? The price of crude rose Friday, following stock markets in Asia higher hours ahead of a last-ditch effort in Washington for political leaders to strike a budget deal before the year-end deadline.

Benchmark crude for February delivery rose 40 cents midday Bangkok time to $91.27 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract fell Thursday following a reported drop in U.S. consumer confidence and growing pessimism that President Barack Obama and Republican lawmakers will reach a compromise on ways to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff ? hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending cuts and tax increases that take effect automatically in 2013 unless lawmakers act.

Hopes that a compromise might be reached were raised after Obama, who cut his Hawaii vacation short, invited congressional leaders to the White House for talks Friday.

In other energy futures trading:

? Wholesale gasoline rose 1.2 cents to $2.8334 a gallon.

? Brent crude, used to price various kinds of foreign oil, rose 48 cents to $111.28 per barrel in London.

? Heating oil rose 0.3 cent to $3.0522 a gallon.

? Natural gas lost 1.3 cents to $3.399 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oil-prices-rise-ahead-us-fiscal-cliff-talks-065138232--finance.html

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Bilinguism in Belarus: Civil Society v the State | Belarus Digest ...

The Belarusian authorities trade the national identity of Belarusians in exchange for economic subsidies from Russia.

Constitutional guarantees of equal rights of the two official languages actually do not work. The majority of Belarusians react indifferently to that fact, as they do in most situations. But the civil society resists russification and tries to prove that Belarusian people have the right for their own identity and language.?

After the collapse of USSR, Belarus established Belarusian language as the only official language, though most of population still used Russian. Shortly after his election in 1994, Aliaksandr Lukashenka started russification policy. In 1995, he initiated a referendum widely criticised as fraudulent?which made Russian the second official language in Belarus. But in fact Russian has become the only official language despite continuous attempts of the Belarusian civil society to revive it.?

Bilingualism?only on paper

Since then, Belarusian language went through?a major decline. Although the Constitution declares equal status of both languages, de facto Russian completely dominates in all spheres of life nowadays. All public bodies provide their services and do paper work in Russian. Law on Languages does not set clear rules on the use of both languages in state documentation, so public organisations and officials simply use Russian.

The number of schools with Belarusian language of teaching decreased dramatically and today in many towns Belarusian schools do not exist at all. According to the Society of the Belarusian language, in 2011 around 19% of all schoolchildren in 2011 studies in Bearusian. In Minsk the figure is just 1,5-2% and the proportion is declining.?

Universities operate mostly in Russian too, though there are some departments where Belarusian dominates, such as?Belarusian philology or history. There is not even one fully Belarusian-language?university in the country.?

For common Belarusians, the language has never been a serious issue of concern. Since Soviet times, most Belarusians in urban areas use Russian in daily communication and do not bother themselves with problems of revival of the language of their fathers and grandfathers. Private sector orients on mass demand and therefore also uses primarily Russian language in its services.

On the other hand, most topographical signs, like names of the villages, rivers, streets in the cities are written in Belarusian. In public transport, in the capital at least, all announcements are also made in Belarusian. Therefore, there is no genuine bilingualism in Belarus. Russian dominates in most spheres of public communication, and Belarusian has a few very limited domains. The state does nothing to help the language which is struggling to survive.

Yet, civil society of Belarus attempts to change the situation and resists russification from the top. Two stories which happened this December good examples of this struggle.

Belarusians?Must be Russian Patriots?

During a press conference on 19 December, Russian ambassador to Belarus Aleksandr Surikov made a speech that caused hot discussions among Belarus intellectuals. ?In Russia, we are upset that a part of Belarusian intellectuals do not consider the 1812 war with Napoleon a Patriotic War?, he said. A Patriotic War is a term that was established in Russia for ideological reasons to create a narrative of genuinely mass involvement of Russian people in war with the enemy.

Apart from the war with Napoleon, this term is used for World War II in Russia and Belarus since Soviet times. In Belarus, Patriotic War mythology serves an important part of Belarusian official ideology. However, the fathers of the state?Belarusian ideology paid little attention to war with Napoleon and the period of Russian empire as a whole.

Most Belarusian historians, on the contrary, consider the war of 1812 a civil war for Belarus. Belarusians fought on both sides, Russian and French, but the nobility overwhelmingly supported Napoleon. They hoped to restore Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which was divided among European empires in 18th century.

Some Belarusian official ideologists share the point of view of Russians, but most historians, including those affiliated with state institutions, reject this as an obviously ideological claim.

Belarus Society Resists Russification

On 21 December, Belarusian media reported that Minsktrans, Minsk public transport service, decided to change the language in which tickets are printed. The tickets were always printed in Belarusian, but from January 2013 Minsktrans announced turn to the Russian language.

This news travelled fast through social networks and caused a true outrage in Minsk. Immediately, a civil campaign started, that demanded to return Belarusian language on the tickets. People sent letters and called Minsktrans to express their deep concern and urge Minsktrans to cancel the decision.

 the official document was issued in Russian, therefore the tickets must also be in Russian

The behaviour of Minsktrans in this situation seemed rather strange. Initially, they stated that the introduction of Russian language was caused by a regulatory act that sets the tariffs on public transport costs. According to this strange logic, the official document was issued in Russian, therefore the tickets must also be in Russian. ?

After the outbreak of attention to the issue, however, the managers changed their mind and claimed that the change of language occurred due to a mistake. The organisation?that printed them was blamed for the mistake and one of the officials was even punished.

Such fairly different interpretation of the decision uncovers the likely lie of the officials. It seems that there was no mistake in this decision and the authorities simply probed the reaction of citizens to russification initiatives.

Battle for Identity?Continues

All cases mentioned here demonstrate two opposite trends. The?Belarusian state headed by Lukashenka ignores national values and even encourages?russifiction. The current state of affairs in relations with Russia, which has massive leverage on Belarus, presumes no signs of Belarusian nationalism. National values become another item of bargaining for cheap energy, credits, and open markets.

Due to these reasons, the government has never come up with any policy to support the?Belarusian language. Moreover, it hindered a lot of initiatives to support the language even such initiatives involved no politics. As a result, the?Belarusian language practically disappeared from official discourse as well as individual use in recent decade.

Within Belarus governing elite, there are no groups that openly support national values. Meanwhile, common Belarusians do not reflect on cultural matters and focus on more materialist problems. In such situation, the active part of civil society serves as the only defender of Belarusian culture and identity.

As the cases of Napoleonic War and transport tickets show, Belarus civil society is capable of defending its interests and can even influence the state policy which may at first seem impenetrable.

Vadzim?Smok

Source: http://belarusdigest.com/story/bilinguism-belarus-civil-society-v-state-12543

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Overclock Your Raspberry Pi

If you unwrapped a Raspberry Pi for the holidays or grabbed one to tinker with yourself, we already have some great projects you can try. If you wish your Raspberry Pi had a little more juice for that XBMC media center or arcade table, it's not too hard to overclock it.

Over at Jeremy Morgan's .NET blog, he walks you through the process of finding your Raspberry Pi's current clock speed via command line, and then how to overclock the device simply by adding two lines specifying your desired speed for the processor and onboard memory to your Raspberry Pi's config file. In some cases, it's that simple. He notes that your mileage may vary with that technique, but if it works for you, you've successfully overclocked without voiding your warranty.

If that doesn't work, he proposes you update your firmware, install the raspi-config utility, and use that instead, since it has a built-in tool for overclocking. That's the method that worked for Jeremy in the end. For a full walkthrough, complete with step-by-step commands, hit the link below.

How to Overclock your Raspberry Pi | .NET Blog

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/HWxdKN8gjVY/overclock-your-raspberry-pi

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After Jackson, EPA faces decisions on U.S. fracking boom

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The past four years of U.S. environmental regulation was marked by a crackdown on emissions that angered coal miners and power companies. Over the next four, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency will have to decide whether to take on an even larger industry: Big Oil.

Following Lisa Jackson's resignation on Wednesday, her successor will inherit the tricky task of regulating a drilling boom that has revolutionized the energy industry but raised fears over the possible contamination of water supplies.

The controversial technique at the center of the boom, hydraulic fracturing, involves injecting millions of gallons of water laced with chemicals deep into shale rocks to extract oil and gas. It has become a flashpoint issue, putting the EPA -- charged with safeguarding the nation's water -- in the middle of a fight between environmentalists and the energy industry.

Both sides now eagerly await a major EPA research project into fracking's effects on water supplies due in 2014, as well as final rules on issues including the disposal of wastewater and the use of 'diesel' chemicals in the process.

It is unclear who will take the role, but the incoming chief may have a "huge impact" on the oil and gas industry, says Robert McNally, a White House energy adviser during the George W. Bush administration who now heads the Rapidan Group, a consulting firm.

On the one hand, energy industry and big manufacturers are warning the EPA not to impede a drilling boom that offers the promise of decades' worth of cheap energy. Meanwhile, environmentalists are pressing President Barack Obama to ensure the drilling bonanza is not endangering water resources.

"This administration clearly needs contributors to economic growth for its economic legacy as much as it needs to add to its environmental legacy," said Bruce Bullock of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

"This appointment could be key in seeing which of those two legacies is more important."

There are many contenders for the role, but no clear front-runner as yet. Obama may seek an insider to avoid a difficult confirmation process, with possible candidates including Bob Perciasepe, the EPA deputy administrator and interim chief, and Gina McCarthy, who runs the air quality division.

Obama is unlikely to win Congressional approval for a heavy-handed regulator, and there is no suggestion of a stringent crackdown.

Even Jackson, who suffered withering criticism from big industry and Republicans for her efforts to curb pollution and limit greenhouse gas emissions, has cautiously condoned the practice as safe, while acknowledging the need for greater study and, in some cases, oversight.

"(Fracking technology) is perfectly capable of being clean," Jackson said in February. "It requires smart regulation, smart rules of the road."

Jackson's successor may now be charged with refining those rules, and both energy companies and fracking critics are anxious about the outcome.

Industry body Independent Petroleum Association of America said the EPA has "hindered development" of oil and gas for four years, and looks forward to a new chief who will promote energy drilling "hand in hand" with environmental regulation.

Executive director of the Sierra Club environmental group Michael Brune says the EPA has "unfinished business" in addressing things such as the release of methane emissions during fracking.

APPETITE TO REGULATE

Some analysts say Obama will not risk the economic stimulus of cheaper, domestic energy by pushing for tougher regulations. The oil sector is one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy; natural gas prices are near their lowest in a decade, a boon for manufacturers, and U.S. oil output is the highest in 18 years.

"Even before (Jackson's resignation) there didn't seem to be much of an appetite in the White House to regulate shale drilling on a federal level in the next couple of years," says Nitzan Goldberger, U.S. energy policy analyst with Eurasia Group.

But big drillers such as ExxonMobil and Chesapeake who have plowed billions of dollars into shale fields are watching carefully for any sign of new rules or oversight.

Mark P. Fitzsimmons, a former lawyer in the Department of Justice's environmental division, and now a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Wash DC, says there is "a risk of overregulation." Some drilling activity has already slowed sharply this year due to the slump in natural gas prices.

"Regulatory overlays that add to the cost of production will further slow down development" but won't stop it, he said.

While fracking technology has been around for decades, it has only gained widespread use across dozens of states in recent years. The EPA, like many groups, has struggled to keep up with the expansion, according to Government Accountability Office reports released earlier this year.

After years in which states were mostly responsible for regulating onshore drilling, the new EPA administrator will be pressed to take a more central role.

A year ago, in the first U.S. government report of its kind, the EPA drew a potential link between water contamination in rural Pavillion, Wyoming and fracking, based on samples of ground water from the area. That study has been contested, and subsequent research has been inconclusive.

A firmer word on the impact may not emerge until 2014, when the EPA is expected to release the first exhaustive in-depth government study on the long-term effects of fracking on drinking water, commissioned by Congress over two years.

While climate change issues and air pollution may remain larger agency priorities, fracking is moving up the agenda.

"I don't think they would be capable of ignoring something that Matt Damon makes a movie about," said Fitzsimmons.

Damon and John Krasinski star in "Promised Land," a new film that opened on Friday exploring the social impact of fracking. It received mixed reviews from critics, but is being closely watched by an energy industry that fears it could further antagonize public opinion over domestic drilling.

A Gallup poll this year showed drinking water contamination is the leading environmental concern among Americans.

DIESEL, WASTEWATER AND FLARING

The debate rages over a diverse range of issues.

While fracking was exempted from the Federal Clean Water Act in 2005, operations that used diesel fuel, which contains a number of toxic chemical compounds, were not exempted.

However, what exactly constitutes "diesel" has been a bone of contention among oil firms and environmental groups.

"The question is how to define "diesel" - broadly or narrowly," says consultant McNally.

"It's a big issue especially for Bakken producers," he said, referring to the region of North Dakota where crude oil output has more than tripled in two years.

The EPA published a draft definition in May, which met with criticism from the industry and some legislators, but it will fall to the new administrator to set a final definition.

Under Jackson, the EPA also said it would begin to regulate the millions of gallons a day of wastewater that is withdrawn from wells after the fracking process, probably in 2014. This is usually trucked offsite and sometimes re-injected elsewhere, although increasingly it is being reprocessed for further use.

And eventually, the EPA could face pressure to backtrack on previous initiatives. In April, the agency relented to pressure from the industry, giving drillers until January 2015 to end the practice of "flaring" excess natural gas from wells that were not connected to pipelines. It had initially proposed that firms cease almost immediately.

For Jackson's successor, a central question is whether the EPA takes a broader role in the industry, or, as Jackson hinted a year ago, allows state officials to call most the shots when it comes to drilling:

"It's not to say that there isn't a federal role, but you can't start to talk about a federal role without acknowledging the very strong state role."

(Additional reporting by Selam Gebrekidan and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Joseph Radford and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jackson-epa-faces-big-decisions-u-fracking-boom-050126981--finance.html

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