Anne Margaret Daniel: The Rhymers' Club, Part One: Bob Dylan and Edgar Allan Poe

Before you begin reading, please listen to this link of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, Episode 35, "Women's Names." It's Dylan reading Edgar Allan Poe's last poem, "Annabel Lee," to the appropriate accompaniment of seagulls and the sound of waves in the background.

Would you like to understand Bob Dylan? Get in line -- folks have been wanting this for the past half century and good luck. You can, however, understand, and appreciate more through his view of them, some of the writers who've had an influence on Dylan as an artist. Edgar Allan Poe, the fender-bender poet -- whether or not you're capitalizing the F of fender, it works -- is a writer who matters to Dylan, and has for a long time.

I'm not the first person to have seen Dylan's links to Poe. As is often the case with Dylan, he noted it himself first. In the first volume, so far, of his autobiography, Chronicles: Volume 1, Dylan remembers a song he wrote (but hasn't released, yet) sometime in the early 1960s, as a young man in New York. "I memorized Poe's "The Bells" and strummed it to a melody on my guitar." Dylan has said that two sounds comfort him: trains and bells. His songs ring with bells -- "Ring them Bells," "Chimes of Freedom," Methodist bells, the undertaker's bell, mission bells, pointed shoes and bells. Once upon a time, Dylan considered following in some of Poe's footsteps less trodden -- " I had even wanted to go to West Point."

Working on his first novel -- so far -- in the mid-1960s, now famous and grappling painfully with that fame, Dylan turned to Poe for inspiration, and perhaps for comfort: the last section of Tarantula is called "Al Aaraaf and The Forcing Committee." It might be a gold-bug of fortune and fame, it might be a tarantula, whatever bites you. It's worth mentioning that Captain Kidd appears in Tarantula too, as well as in "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" and in Chronicles, where he recalls hunting for Kidd's treasure in the Hamptons with his children. Of his crazy, maddening fame by the time he was writing Tarantula, in 1966, Dylan said simply, years later, "It was like being in an Edgar Allan Poe story."

When he turned to moviemaking, Dylan thought of Poe. Ron Rosenbaum wrote about, among other things, the filming of Dylan's Renaldo and Clara in 1978. An intense scene from the movie shaped itself like this: "Onscreen, Renaldo, played by Bob Dylan, and Clara, played by Sara Dylan (the movie was shot before the divorce -- though not long before), are interrupted in the midst of connubial foolery by a knock at the door. In walks Joan Baez [Dylan's former girlfriend], dressed in white from head to toe, carrying a red rose. She says she's come for Renaldo. When Dylan, as Renaldo, sees who it is, his jaw drops. At the dubbing console, one of the sound men stopped the film at the jaw-drop frame and asked, 'You want me to get rid of that footstep noise in the background, Bob?' 'What footstep noise?' Dylan asked. 'When Joan comes in and we go to Renaldo, there's some hind of footstep noise in the background, maybe from outside the door.' 'Those aren't footsteps,' said Dylan. 'That's the beating of Renaldo's heart.' 'What makes you so sure?' the sound man asked teasingly. 'I know him pretty well,' Dylan said, 'I know him by heart.' 'You want it kept there, then?' 'I want it louder,' Dylan said. He turned to me. 'You ever read that thing by Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart"?"

Poe is in Dylan's song lyrics, too, and of all the writers Dylan's used in his work, all the influences lurking there, Poe (along with Williams Shakespeare and Blake) is one of the most long-lived and consistent. The references Dylan makes to Poe don't take an eagle eye to find -- they're in very plain view. "My love she's like some raven /At my window with a broken wing," ("Love Minus Zero/No Limit," 1965); "Don't put on any airs when you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue" ("Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," also 1965). And much more recently, Poe remains: on "Tempest," Dylan's 35th and most recent studio album, released last year, you can hear him sing about a train whistle "blowing like she's at my chamber door" -- an oncoming train, scarier than a raven? Maybe. Maybe not. But Jerome McGann's reading of "The Bells" inspired me to notice that Dylan's song, "Duquesne Whistle," scans in near-perfect trochaic pentameter.

In "Tempest's" title track, a ballad about the sinking of the RMS Titanic, a poem Poe labored over, "The City in the Sea," offers up some most appropriate lines: "Lo! Death has reared himself a throne / In a strange city lying alone, / Far down within the dim West, / Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best / Have gone to their eternal rest." Dylan sings, rather more gently: "When the Reaper's task had ended / Sixteen hundred of the best / The good, the bad, the rich, the poor / The loveliest and the best."

Dylan's not unique among musicians in his admiration for Poe. Those popularly regarded as the bardic poets among singer/ songwriters are drawn to Poe, with quite varying degrees of aptitude and success. Witness Lou Reed's "The Raven" concept album of 2003. Anne Decatur Danielewski renamed herself Poe in the mid-90s and her one hit record, so far, is called Haunted. Antony & the Johnsons have a spoken-word recording of "The Lake" set largely to an unrelenting, lake-water-lapping piano. Beautiful, tragic Jeff Buckley has a fabulous reading, to twangy guitar, of "Ulalume."

People close to Dylan, and musicians and performers whose style he's said he admires, have recorded Poe. Joan Baez sang "Annabel Lee" in 1967, on her album Joan. It starts with a rather flatulent inappropriate instrumental line, thanks to Peter Shickele, and then drifts away into Joan's ethereal soprano which is rather spoiled by a tinkly background. Her delivery of the lyric is beautiful, though, in that voice which, as Dylan once said, "drove out bad spirits." Dylan's friend Phil Ochs recorded a version of "The Bells." And Lord Buckley released his beat version of "the swinging Edgar Allan Poe's" magnificent poem "The Raven" in 1969. At midnight, "I was goofing (beat) and weary, when suddenly there came a tapping, as if some cat were gently riffing, knocking rhythm at my pad's door. 'Ah, tis the landlady,' I muttered, 'on her broom she flies...." Buckley's is a singular and spectacular tribute to "that sweet square but swinging maiden whom the fly chicks tag Lenore, nameless here forevermore."

Christopher Rollaston, Michael Gray, Harold Lepidus, Scott Warmuth, and other writers on Dylan have picked up on some of these moments, and written about Dylan's mentions of Poe. Scholars and Dylanologists have also written about Shakespeare, Ovid, William Blake, James Joyce, and a slew of 19th-century Americans: Poe, John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Timrod, Walt Whitman. They're all in Dylan, too. Whittier he uses frequently on "Tempest," which would surely annoy Poe, no Whittier fan. Writing of the poet, Poe used his autograph for a sly entre into critique: "J. GREENLEAF WHITTIER is placed by his particular admirers in the very front rank of American poets. We are not disposed, however, to agree with their decision in every respect. Mr. Whittier is a fine versifier, so far as strength is regarded independently of modulation. His subjects, too, are usually chosen with the view of affording scope to a certain vivida vis of expression which seems to be his forte; but in taste, and especially in imagination, which Coleridge has justly styled the soul of all poetry, he is ever remarkably deficient. His themes are never to our liking. His chirography is an ordinary clerk's hand, affording little indication of character."

Now when it comes to Poe, I can't go nearly as far as does Rollaston, who finds that Dylan's mentions "impl[y] Poe as an alter ego for Dylan" -- or, as Rollaston puts it more intensely, there is "much Poe blood on Dylan's tracks." If Dylan has such a thing as a literary alter ego, and I don't believe he does, it's Shakespeare. Or Blake, perhaps a better choice, since Dylan is a painter, too. That Poe and Dylan are both American, and globally popular, is hardly enough. After all, Dylan gets his blood, his macabre -- as I'd say Poe did, too -- from two places: from Shakespeare, and from his own imagination.

[To be continued in a second part.]

?

Follow Anne Margaret Daniel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@venetianblonde

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Syrian troops launch wide offensive on Homs

BEIRUT (AP) ? Government troops launched a series of attacks in central Syria Saturday, striking with artillery, tanks and warplanes in a drive to capture rebel-held neighborhoods in the country's third largest city of Homs, with activists said.

The army of President Bashar Assad has been on the offensive in Homs province in recent weeks, reclaiming some of the territory it has lost to the rebels since Syria's crisis began 27 months ago.

The military, building on its capture of the strategic town of Qusair between the Lebanese border and Homs at the beginning of this month, has overrun a number of nearby villages. It also has hammered the center of the city, a rebel stronghold since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011.

Homs, a city of about 1 million, has shown great sympathy for the opposition since the early days of the uprising. A month after it started, protesters carried mattresses, food and water to the main Clock Square, hoping to emulate Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt's revolt that overthrew Hosni Mubarak.

Security forces quickly raided the encampment, shooting at protesters and chasing them through the streets. The onslaught only boosted the intensity of the protests, fueling a revolt that has posed the most serious challenge to date to the Assad family dynasty that has ruled Syria since 1970.

Homs is the capital of Syria's largest province, which carries the same name and stretches from the Lebanese border to the frontier with Jordan and Iraq.

Activists in the city said all cellular lines were cut early Saturday before warplanes pounded rebel-held areas. The air raids were followed by intense shelling with artillery, mortars and tanks, before troops tried to advance.

Several activists in the city said the regime began bringing in reinforcements since last week, apparently in preparation for the attack.

Two activists said about 400 shells struck rebel-held areas such as Qusour, Jouret el-Shayah, Old Homs and Khaldiyeh.

"This is the worst campaign against the city since the revolution began," said an activist in the rebel-held old quarter of the city via Skype. "They are using all types of weapons," said the man on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes hit two districts in the center of the city. It said the army also fired mortar shells into the neighborhoods.

An activist from the neighborhood of Khaldiyeh said tanks were also involved in the bombardment, and that the military was trying to push into the area from all sides.

Shelling has been continuous since 10 a.m. in that area and in nearby Old Homs, activist Tariq Bardakhan told The Associated Press via Skype.

"Today is one of the most violent days that Homs has witnessed since the beginning of the revolution," he said.

In an activists' video of the bombardment, several large explosions can be heard as plumes of grey smoke rise from buildings in a densely built-up area of the city.

The narrator of the video says: "These are heavy explosions that hit Homs, God is great." Another shell lands and smoke can be seen rising from behind a mosque. Two minarets are seen in the distance and the narrator says they belong to the historic Khalid Ibn al-Walid mosque in Khaldiyeh.

The video was posted on the Internet on Saturday and appears consistent with AP's reporting from the area.

The Observatory confirmed clashes around the mosque, and said that part of the building, which dates back to the 13th century and has been damaged in previous fighting, was engulfed in flames. It added that troops tried to storm the mosque with no success.

The Observatory said both sides have sustained casualties, but did not have numbers.

Syrian state TV said the army has had "great success" in the battle for Homs after "killing many terrorists in the Khaldiyeh district."

Syrian state media refers to rebels fighting to oust Assad from power as "terrorists" and say they are mercenaries of the West and their Gulf Arab allies who are conspiring against Damascus.

Before the fighting moved to the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo in July last year, Homs was the center of the uprising and became known as "the capital of the Syrian revolution."

Rebels received a major blow in March last year when troops captured the Baba Amr neighborhood after weeks of fighting that left scores dead. Among those killed in Baba Amr last year were French photographer Remi Ochlik and Britain's Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin.

After the army captured the neighborhood, Assad paid a visit to the area in a show of how important Homs is for the government. The city lies along a land corridor linking two of Assad's strongholds, the capital of Damascus and an area along the Mediterranean coast that is the heartland of his minority Alawite sect.

The Observatory says more than 100,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since it began as peaceful protests against the Assad regime more than two years ago. It became an armed rebellion after the opposition supporters took up arms to fight a government crackdown.

The United Nations puts the number of casualties at 93,000.

Also Saturday, the Observatory and the Aleppo Media Center said a missile hit Aleppo's Katourji neighborhood, killing and wounding several people. The Observatory said at least three people were killed while the AMC said the death toll could be as high as 15.

An amateur video showed two buildings that had several top stories knocked out. Panicked residents ran to help evacuate wounded people, including children. A boy, his head covered with a bloodied white cloth was being rushed away as people chanted "God is great."

Another man carried a wounded child and ran in a street filled with debris. At least one dead person was seen carried away.

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting on the events depicted.

The military has gained momentum after capturing Qusair earlier this month with the help of fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah group, capturing villages on the roads linking the capital to the border area with Jordan and Lebanon.

The rebels have also claimed some victories, marking a successful end to a two-week battle in the south Friday by capturing an army checkpoint in the city of Daraa, the provincial capital of the region that carries the same name.

Daraa is the birthplace of the uprising against Assad and rebels hope to one day launch an offensive from there to take the capital.

The Observatory reported heavy fighting around the province on Saturday with clashes between the rebels and army troops concentrated in the town of Jassem after the army brought in reinforcements.

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Yasmin Saker in Beirut contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-troops-launch-wide-offensive-homs-181141355.html

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Taiwan's TSMC gets orders from Apple

Apple has struck a deal with the world's biggest contract microchip maker in what analysts see as an attempt to reduce its reliance on arch-rival Samsung, a report said.

The US tech giant forged the agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) earlier this month, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited unidentified TSMC executives.

It said manufacturing of the chips, to be used in Apple mobile devices, would start early next year.

The Journal said the move is the latest in a series of efforts by Apple to lessen its reliance on parts produced by South Korea's Samsung.

But despite the deal with TSMC, Samsung will remain Apple's main supplier of high-resolution screens, memory chips and processors used in mobile devices through next year, the Journal said.

TSMC spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun declined to comment when approached by AFP.

"In line with the company's established policy, we will not comment on individual clients," she said.

Analysts see the deal as part of Apple's bid to diversify its supply chains and distance itself from Samsung, its main competitor in the mobile phone market.

"It is inevitable that Apple must move to reduce its reliance on Samsung while their legal lawsuits over patents flare," an analyst at a foreign firm in Taipei told AFP, declining to be named.

Samsung won a round in its long-running patents battle with Apple in early June when a US trade panel banned the import and sale of some older models of the iPhone and iPad.

In a separate patent fight in US federal court, Samsung was ordered last August to pay more than $1 billion for patent infringement. A judge later slashed the award to $598.9 million.

By diversifying its supply chains, Apple could also cut its costs, Kuo Ming-chi, analyst at the Taipei-based KGI Securities Investment Advisory Co, told AFP.

"This is crucial as Apple's profit margin fell to around 37 percent in the first quarter, down from a peak of around 45 percent."

Kuo said the diversification policy was also reflected in Apple's movement of some of its assembly orders away from Taiwanese manufacturing conglomerate Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn.

Hon Hai employs about one million workers in China, roughly half of them based in its main facility in Shenzhen bordering Hong Kong.

Apple and TSMC started discussing working together to build chips as early as 2010, according to the Journal report.

Apple asked either to invest in TSMC, or to have TSMC set aside factory space dedicated to Apple chips, it said.

But both requests were rejected as the Taiwanese company wanted to maintain its independence and manufacturing flexibility, the Journal said.

Explore further: Chipmaker TSMC gets tablet, smartphone boost in 1Q

? 2013 AFP

Source: http://phys.org/news291826665.html

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What are your views on keeping native birds as pets? - Talk Budgies ...

General Budgie Talk Chat about general budgie stuff here.

I'm placing this thread in this category because this has to do wit the Normal Light Green Budgies that are native to Australia. Before that, I'd like to state that it's illegal in my country to have wild animals and birds as pets that are native to the country - mainly because we believe that wild animals are meant to survive in the wild. domesticating will cause extinction. Does USA, UK and Australia have similar laws regarding caging of wild birds and animals? For example, Indian ringnecks, the Green wild type is native to our country. If the Forest force finds them in possession of any human, even in the market, they will be fined and jailed. However its mutations are permissible to be kept as pets, as mutations that occur naturally die out because they're cast out from the flock and fall prey to predators faster. Which brings me to the question, is it all right in Australia to house Normal Light Green budgies in human aviaries? It would not have been permitted in my country for the reasons stated above. don;t necessarily agree 100% with our laws because I believe birds that have been bred and raised by humans would face difficulty adapting to the wild if set free after they've become heavily dependant on humans. I'd like some thoughts on this matter.

Uk you can keep native species but they must be close rung with the correct ring for the species. You must keep paperwork on their heritage and if you see them you have to give the new owners a copy of this to price they are captive bred. Any endangered species on the cites articles must also have the relevant paperwork and be close rung. It is illegal to take birds. Chicks. And eggs from the wild. If you have to rear a bird you have found it must be returned to the wild if that isn't possible due to disability etc you have to get a license for it. I have no problem with native birds being kept providing they are captive bred. Most of ours do not make good pets though they are kept in aviaries. If we ban the keeping of native species we have no captive population to fall back on should they become endangered.

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Unless you are a Native American, which my boyfriend loves to rub in my face constantly (he is Navajo), because they have rituals where they need them or something. Anyways, in the US most of the laws are to protect raptors, since many like the Peregrine are endangered. I personally wouldn't really want to keep any of the native birds in my area - they are all finches and sparrows and the like and they probably would not adapt well to captivity. Give me my personable parrots any day! On a side note, the only native parrot to the US would be the Carolina Parakeet, which is sadly extinct. Maybe they can clone it and I can become a rehabilitator hahaha

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Source: http://talkbudgies.com/showthread.php?t=119425

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These Great Lego Game of Thrones Minifigs Are Now for Sale

Game of Thrones' and Lego fans rejoice: the Warden of the North, Arya, the Mother of Dragons?sadly with only one baby dragon?John Snow and Tyrion Lannister can be all yours in precious minifig form for $70, a price that will feel something between the Red Wedding and Theon Greyjoy's torture to your credit card.

According to the manufacturer on Etsy, "they are being made in very limited numbers and won't be available long!" They say that all these minifigs have been designed by their house artist and custom pad printed?which means they are high quality. Pad printing is the same printing method Lego uses.

These are not Lego?GoT is so bloody it would never be an official line?or Game of Thrones' official products.

They are not the first Game of Thrones' minifigs either?Lego expert Sam Beattie made his own characters last year. Sam's minifigs are not as faithful to the originals as the ones for sale, but they are are really good, as you can see here:

The Starks

The Lannisters

The Baratheon Brothers

The Small Council

The Clegane Brothers

Jorah, Daenerys and Drogo

Sansa, Bran, Hodor (Hodor!) and Rickon Stark

If you have Game of Thrones' withdrawal syndrome you can go to this Lego site fully dedicated to Game of Thrones. Or just do like me and read the Wikipedia entries to know everything that's going to happen because you are too impatient to wait or read the books.

Source: http://lego.gizmodo.com/these-great-lego-game-of-thrones-minifigs-are-now-for-s-605042215

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Whoops! Real phone sex numbers pop up in video game

Video games

Yannick LeJacq NBC News contributor

11 hours ago

The Last of Us / Sony

In what the developers are claiming is an "honest mistake," a number included in Naughty Dog and Sony's acclaimed zombie game "The Last of Us" lead players to a phone sex hotline.

Despite releasing one of the highest-rated video games ever made, developer Naughty Dog can't seem to catch a break for "The Last of Us." Already accused by actress Ellen Page and a Boston transit cartographer for borrowing some of their respective work without permission, this week the video game developer found itself in hot water once again for another hiccup in "The Last of Us": apparently, a phone number that players saw in the game advertising for pest control actually dialed up a real-world phone sex service.

I tested out the "quality pest control" number from "The Last of Us" on Friday and was met with a sultry female voice promising me that "we're smooth, wet, and ready for you right now!"

Naughty Dog didn't respond to a request for comment, but Sony provided NBC News with a statement explaining that the connection with a phone sex service was a mistake that will be rectified with a patch to be released Saturday:

We included some random phone numbers in the game starting with 555, which is a common practice in North American television shows, films and video games, as they are fictitious numbers. It has come to light that for certain 555 phone numbers that begin with an 800 area code, the same does not apply, so we are now creating a patch to address this issue, which we plan on deploying today.

Neil Druckmann, the game's creative director, told the video game site Kotaku that including the sex line in the game "was an artist's mistake" and was not intended as any sort of prank or Easter egg for players.

"What happened was, they put some phone numbers in the game and then they thought they could just change the area code to 555, then it's invalid because it's what they do in movies," Druckmann told Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton. "But I guess that doesn't work when you have a 1-800 in front of it.

"We're now working to take it out," Druckmann said. "It was just an honest mistake."

Earlier this week, Druckmann took to Twitter to stand behind the work of Ashley Johnson, who did the voice-over and motion-capture work for Ellie in the game, after Ellen Page suggested that Naughty Dog had unfairly "ripped off" her likeness for the zombie story.

This story was updated at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday.

Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered technology and games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at: ylejacq@gmail.com.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663301/s/2df12bbe/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cwhoops0Ereal0Ephone0Esex0Enumbers0Epop0Evideo0Egame0E6C10A486274/story01.htm

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Pets Cost Billions in Damaged Electronics | Care2 Healthy Living

We love them like children. But our pets can be costly, in more ways than one. Besides the expense of feeding them and giving them proper health care, according to a recent survey, pets damage about eight million electronic devices every year in the U.S.

The survey, sponsored by the San Francisco insurance company SquareTrade Inc., involved 1,200 people and their pets. SquareTrade estimates that we lose $3 billion every year repairing or replacing electronic devices damaged by pets. Among the most gobbled gadgets were cell phones.

Surprisingly, dogs are only twice as likely as cats to damage electronics, according to the study, and male pets are 50 percent more likely than females. I say surprisingly, because I guess I can?t imagine cats chewing or even clawing at my cellphone (share your story below if you?ve had a different experience).

Almost 20 percent of Americans have seen one of their electronic devices mangled by a pet. Maybe the most interesting bit from the survey: People who allow their pets to sleep in their beds or ride on their laps while driving are up to three times more likely to have a electronics damaged by their animals. No word on a theory for the correlation.

?After seeing so many claims come in that involved pets, we decided to look into the data and see just how big a problem this was. And the results were pretty astounding,? Ty Shay, CMO at SquareTrade, told ZDNet. ?Using an $800 smartphone as a chew toy is a pricey slip-up, not to mention it?s the device most of us can?t live without.?

SquareTrade sells protection plans for electronic devices, such as iPhones, computers, and iPads so they obviously have a little biased interest in the results, though they are tough to deny. As more and more of us take part in additional electronic devices, such as tablets, we obviously become more vulnerable. Your best bet is to simply be vigilant about keeping them out of reach.

Also read:

Extreme Dog Grooming: Have We Gone Too Far?

6 Common Cat Behavior Myths Decoded

7 Common Dog Behavior Myths Decoded

Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/pets-cost-billions-in-damaged-electronics.html

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Wall Street Fundamentals Releases New In-Depth Stock Reports on CL, CSX, NSC and WMT

On Monday, the 10-year Treasury yield spiked to 2.644 percent, the highest in nearly two years. The treasury yield has surged over 1 percent from its intraday low of 1.614 percent on May 1st. There are currently 165 companies (roughly 33 percent) in the S&P 500 Index with dividend yields higher than the 10-year Treasury yield, compared to 257 companies at the end of March. The recent surge in yields has triggered a selloff in dividend paying stocks among investors who flocked to the riskier equities in a low interest-rate environment.

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - News) shares traded in the range of $56.42 to $57.20 Wednesday before settling to close at $57.00, an increase of 1.39 percent. The stock appears to be facing resistance at the $58.10 and $59.09 levels. The company currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.34 a share, $1.36 annually, for a dividend yield of roughly 2.4 percent. Shares of Colgate-Palmolive have fallen approximately 6.8 percent in the past month.

More information on Colgate-Palmolive and access to the free equity report can be found at:
www.WallStreetFundamentals.com/CL

CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX - News) shares traded in the range of $22.98 to $23.56 Wednesday before settling to close at $23.23, an increase of 0.39 percent. The stock appears to be facing resistance at the $23.39 and $23.71 levels. The company currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.15 a share, $0.60 annually, for a dividend yield of roughly 2.6 percent. Shares of CSX have fallen approximately 9.0 percent in the past month.

More information on CSX and access to the free equity report can be found at:
www.WallStreetFundamentals.com/CSX

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC - News) shares traded in the range of $72.70 to $74.24 Wednesday before settling to close at $73.35 an increase of 1.17 percent. The stock appears to be facing resistance at the $73.71 and $74.47 levels. The company currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.50 a share, $2.0 annually, for a dividend yield of roughly 2.7 percent. Shares of Norfolk Southern have fallen approximately 5.5 percent in the past month.

More information on Norfolk Southern and access to the free equity report can be found at:
www.WallStreetFundamentals.com/NSC

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT - News) shares traded in the range of $74.54 to $75.18 Wednesday before settling to close at $75.01. The stock appears to be facing resistance at the $75.24 and $76.40 levels. The company currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.47 a share, $1.88 annually, for a dividend yield of roughly 2.5 percent. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores have fallen approximately 3.0 percent in the past month.

More information on Wal-Mart Stores and access to the free equity report can be found at:
www.WallStreetFundamentals.com/WMT

Wall Street Fundamentals offers our members a full range of investor services including in-depth equity reports on your favorite companies and timely market updates featuring the hottest stocks trending in the marketplace.

Activate your always free membership by signing up at www.WallStreetFundamentals.com today.

Disclaimer: Information, opinions and analysis contained herein are based on sources believed to be reliable, but no representation, expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, completeness or correctness. The opinions contained herein reflect our current judgment and are subject to change without notice. We accept no liability for any losses arising from an investor's reliance on or use of this report. This report is for information purposes only, and is neither a solicitation to buy nor an offer to sell securities. Certain information included herein is forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements concerning manufacturing, marketing, growth, and expansion. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could affect actual results and cause them to differ materially from expectations expressed herein. Wall Street Fundamentals has no financial relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this release.

Contact:
Wall Street Fundamentals
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Email: editor@wallstreetfundamentals.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-fundamentals-releases-depth-stock-reports-cl-123000508.html

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Understanding Gender and Sex etymology | Morocco World News

By?Mouhcine El-hajjami

Morocco World News

Fez, June 26, 2013

From a grammatical perspective, gender refers to the nouns that are classified as masculine, feminine or neuter. This definition was first introduced by the two pioneers of Greek philosophy named Aristotle, and Protagoras, since words in classical languages were laden with masculine and feminine qualities. In fact, the term gender is not confined etymologically to this definition, yet the word comes to define itself within a variety of other linguistic contexts. For instance, in Middle English, gender comes from the Latin ?genus? to signify a kind, sort, or type as it was also used in Greek language to imply ?gen? which is used as an equivalent to the word to produce.[1]

The concept of gender in cultural studies approach is defined in association with the socially-constructed functions whereby men and women are characterized. According to the international organization of food and agriculture (FAO), it is argued that gender is not determined biologically as it is the case with sex; however it is socially reshaped and molded through the process of socialization. More significantly, gender?s subjective is not aimed at considering or prioritizing one sex over the other, its main concern is devoted to the study of the relationship existing between female and male in society.[2]

In his book entitled Sociology, the British professor and contemporary sociologist named Anthony Giddens defines gender within a sociological parameter. For him, gender is attributed to the individual?s cultural attitudes together with the interpretations about the behavioral qualities seen appropriate to each sex. Giddens also emphasizes that the study of gender relations has gained a broad interest along with the area of sociology for refuting the argument that this concept should reconsider the physical attributes of men and women. Thus, to back up his argument, Giddens goes on saying: ?the distinction between sex and gender is fundamental, since many differences between males and females are not biological in origin?. So, apparently the quote makes it clear by locating the dividing line between gender and sex.[3]

It has been found obvious to differentiate between sex and gender as two separate concepts. To begin with, the word sex is derived from Middle English to mean ?section? and in Latin, the term means number ?six?.[4] Scientifically, sex refers mainly to the biological and physical characteristics that identify men as males and women as females. For this reason, the sexual identity of each sex in lone includes a set of visible distinctions; some of them are so important, such as: the physical anatomy, ?genitals?, facial features hair, body structure and composition.? Based on this evidence, sex seems to exclude the influence of culture and society in constructing its nature. Hence, one can understand that sex, as opposed to gender is originally a biological-construct and has nothing to do with the social variables.[5]

To clarify it more, G. Anthony tries to explain in a quote taken from his book Sociology, the scientific origins of sex differences by stating:

Our sex, and much of our biological makeup, is a result of genes contributed by our father?s sperm cell and our mother?s eggs cell at conception that is at the formation of a new cell. All this genetic material is contained in twenty three pairs of chromosomes which reside in that new cell. The sperm and egg each contribute genetic information to one member of each pair.[6]

In the light of this quote, it can be deduced that it is made clear to realize sex differences. As Giddens has shown, the very differences that control and constitute the sexual identity of both sexes are of biological origins. As a matter of fact, the sociologist tends to consider the intervention of human genes and their role in forming which sex one is going to take before birth.

Aspects of sex in comparison to those associated with gender do not differ among individuals in world societies. This is due to the fact that human physical structure is a shared property and quality; whereas, it?s agreed that gender roles differ considerably from one community to another. As an instance, women in United States of America are less paid than their male counterparts even if they have the same job, and in most parts of the world women undertake domestic tasks much more than the men who are mostly supposed to work outdoor.[7]

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[3] Anthony Giddens. Sociology, 1989, p?: 161

[4] Medicalnewstoday.com.The difference between sex and gender. Retrieved on January 8^th 2012

[5] Nichola-morine.suite 101.com. What-is-the-difference between sex and gender. Retrieved on January 8^th 2012

[6] Anthony Giddens. Sociology, 1989, p?:162

[7] Www.WHO.com/ what is gender?. (Retrieved on January 8^th 2011).

El-hajjami Mouhcine is a Moroccan-born cultural studies master student and a B.A holder from Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah Unviversity: School of Arts and Humanities Fez Morocco 2012. El-hajjami is the author of ?Man between Health and Sickness? book 2011, and ? Signs of Gender Clash Representation in Folktales? book 2012; El-hajjami works also as a tutor of English,a social activist, a translator, and a founding member at the Moroccan Center of Social Enterpreneurship, and the Yamanda Center for Cultural Innovation.

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/06/95646/understanding-gender-and-sex-etymology/

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Border Security Deal Gets Through the Senate, but Will It Save Immigration Reform?

Late last night, a group of Republicans Senators teamed up with Democrats to pass an important amendment to the immigration reform bill, but that still might not be enough to save the larger package of laws. The "border surge," which passed by a 67-27 vote will double the number of border agents along the Southern border of the U.S. and nearly 700 miles of fencing. It also requires all the new security measures to be in place before any currently undocumented immigrants are granted resident status, but opponents say those provisions may never be completed and would be unlikely to actually improve security.

RELATED: So, The Senate's Bipartisan Immigration Bill Is Back on Track

The 67-vote victory was enough to get the amendement past a filibuster, but it will still need a full debate and another majority vote to pass before the Senate can move on to considering the full bill. The agreement should be enough to get the larger bill through the Senate, but none of that will matter if the House of?Representatives doesn't take up the bill, something that still is uncertain at this point.

RELATED: The Numbers on More Border Patrol Agents Just Don't Add Up

Most Republicans were reluctant to consider any immigration package without some guarantee that border security would be strengthened. The most strident even wanted proof that new security measure were actually working before going any further. Democrat Charles Schumer, who helped author the main bill, accepted a compromise that will spend $46 billion on security initiatives along the Mexican border, though one opponent of the measure called it a "a Christmas wish list for?Halliburton" and other defense contractors. Others, like Ted Cruz of Texas, called it a "fig leaf" that won't do much at all.

RELATED: Obama Lays Out Immigration Plan: Is It Any Good?

Still, the bill's backers managed to get 67 votes despite the fact that several Senators missed the vote after being stranded out of town by bad weather. The hope was that getting at least 70 "yes" votes would make the bill appear so bipartisan and popular that it would force the House to bring it to a vote. However, Speaker John Boehner is still saying he won't bring it to a floor without a majority of Republicans already supporting it. If he holds to that stipulation, the reform that both sides are calling for may never come to be. The Senate hopes to send the House a bill before July 4, so that they will have all of next month to consider it.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/border-security-deal-gets-senate-save-immigration-reform-115742723.html

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Take a Ride on the Roller Coaster With the World's Tallest Loop

Full Throttle is a brand new roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. But it's not just any new thrill ride?it features the tallest vertical loop in the world. And this gravity-defying first-person perspective footage of the new loop de loop will twist your stomach into a Gordian Knot.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/zXUH0LsmC0A/take-a-ride-on-the-roller-coaster-with-the-worlds-tall-572502145

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'Titanfall' developer explains why the game won't be on PS4, and the ...

The next-gen mech shooter Titanfall would not be possible without Microsoft?s Xbox One cloud services, according to Respawn Entertainment engineer Jon Shiring. The cloud is tied into Microsoft?s controversial online policies for the new console, and it?s been the subject of confusion and ire from gamers. Shiring took to?Respawn?s blog?to explain the benefits from a developer?s perspective.

According to Shiring, Microsoft?s dedicated servers are the perfect solution to a long-standing problem. Console games with online multiplayer aspects typically use player-hosted servers because dedicated servers are expensive and tough to implement, but dedicated servers offer a superior experience. Microsoft?s dedicated cloud servers allow Respawn to implement more and better AI, physics, and environments, eliminate the ?host advantage? that plagues many online games, thwart some forms of cheating, boost matchmaking speeds, eliminate the need to pause the game when the host player quits, and improve visuals and audio by taking full advantage of the console hardware and leaving other tasks to the cloud processors.

The cloud services aren?t limited to Xbox One games either, and Respawn uses them for the Windows PC and Xbox 360 versions of?Titanfall as well. Respawn approached both Sony and Microsoft about this problem, and Microsoft was the one to implement a solution, Shiring writes.

?Microsoft realized that player-hosted servers are actually holding back online gaming and that this is something that they could help solve, and ran full-speed with this idea,? he writes. ?So they built this powerful system to let us create all sorts of tasks that they will run for us, and it can scale up and down automatically as players come and go.?

?We?want to focus on making awesome games, not on becoming giant worldwide server hosting providers,? he continues. ?The more time I can spend on making our actual game better, the more our players benefit.?

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Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/titanfall-developers-spell-out-benefits-of-xbox-one-cloud/

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The Board Game Family Castle Panic The Wizard's Tower ...

Small expansion with a lot more Panic stuffed inside!

Castle Panic is one of our favorite cooperative board games. The first time we played it, we knew we were hooked. Right from the start of the game, you can see why it?s named ?Panic? because monsters are very quickly closing in on your castle walls and you can sense the doom.

Everyone we?ve played it with has enjoyed it as well. Working together to fight off the marauding monsters is a lot of fun. And it does take a lot of teamwork to win the game.

So when the expansion Castle Panic The Wizard?s Tower came out, we were anxious to get a copy to add to the fun.

Love the Monster Draw Bag!

What the draw of The Wizard?s Tower?
The Wizard?s Tower expansion adds a ton of stuff. There are 10 new cards to add to the Castle card deck. There?s a whole new deck of cards ? the Wizard deck ? with 22 cards that all add special abilities. There are Flame tokens that can both damage monsters as well as weaken your castle walls and towers. There?s a Wizard?s Tower (how appropriate) that replaces one of the castle towers. And there are a ton of new monsters and new monster types that increase the Panic a ton.

And let?s not forget the Draw Bag!
Using a draw bag for the monster tokens is a whole lot nicer than having all the monster tokens face down on the table to draw from. And a black bag with beady eyes is the perfect addition to the game.

Does The Wizard?s Tower add to the fun?
If you like facing almost insurmountable odds, then yes, The Wizard?s Tower expansion adds a lot of fun to the game. The additional monsters and elements added to the game sure do increase the tension. It also increases the amount of things you need to keep track of.

Burning castle walls and the Wizard?s Tower.

When playing with The Wizard?s Tower expansion, we make sure to keep the added reference cards and rulebook handy because there are so many things that are added.

First the simple additions?

The Actual Wizard?s Tower
This is an easy addition to the game. Just replace one of the regular towers with the special Wizard?s Tower. As long as that tower is still standing, players can use the Wizard Deck to draw from. Once that tower is destroyed however, that deck of cards can?t be used (players can still use any wizard cards still in their hand).

The Wizard Deck and New Castle Cards
The cards in the Wizards Deck add some cool abilities like damaging a monster anywhere on the board, catching monsters on fire, all players drawing up to full hand, or even getting monsters to attack each other.

Plenty of cards to help in the battle ahead.

During the Discard and Draw phase, players can discard a card to draw a card from the Wizard deck. It?s tempting to get a lot of wizard cards because of their abilities, but to fight a balanced fight, players will need to keep a good stock of regular castle cards as well. A tricky balance.

Of course the 10 new castle cards are pretty cool to have at your disposal as well. Some of the new abilities include changing the color of a hit card, changing the range, adding a double strike, knocking monsters back, having another player play a hit card, and a appropriately named card ?Never Lose Hope? where you immediately discard as many cards as you want and draw that many castle cards.

Now on to the tough additions?

So many new types of monsters to be wary of.

The Dastardly Monsters
If you?ve thought the original game was too easy, then this will be what you?re looking for. Now there are a ton of new monster types to battle ? including monsters that can fly!

There are also 6 new Mega Boss Monsters that are very tough to take down. Mega Boss Monsters have abilities that are in effect as long as the monster is in play. And some have special movement and damage rules. Which would you like to go up against ? Basilisk, Chimera, Dragon, Hydra, Necromancer, or the Warlock? Oh, and you should know that the Dragon and Chimera breath fire ? watch out for ranged fireballs! (The only saving grace here is that only 3 are randomly selected at the start to be in the game.)

Mega Boss Monsters and their Harbinger tokens.

Because they?re so powerful, up to 5 hits to destroy, their monster token has more points on it. So instead of placing the monster token itself in the monster token draw bag, there are Harbinger tokens that have the standard 3-point shape. Each of the Harbinger tokens has the name of the Mega Boss that it represents printed on it. That way, when a player reaches in the bag, they don?t know if they?re drawing a regular monster token or a special monster. When they draw a Harbinger token, the Mega Boss monster token that is named on the Harbinger token is placed on the board to start its onslaught.

But the Mega Bosses aren?t all. There are 13 other new types of monsters in the game!
Now there are Centaurs, Cyclops, Gargoyles, Imps, Ogres, and more! And they all love to wreck havoc in new ways.

For example, one of the added monster tokens is the Doppelganger. It isn?t moved, hit, or slayed. It just sits there until another monster is destroyed. When the next monster is destroyed, the Doppelganger token is replaced with the token of the recently destroyed monster as if that monster were just drawn from the bag and placed. So with a Doppelganger on the board be careful what you kill next because it will come back to haunt you.

See why it?s important to keep the reference cards and rulebook handy to know what you?re up against.

The downside of having so many new monster types and special abilities is that the game slows down. Sure they?re cool to add, but because they?re all so unique it takes a long while to get familiar with everything going on.

But they sure all add a lot of Panic!

Sorting it all out
Another thing we love about The Wizard?s Tower expansion is that all the new items have a cool Wizard Hat Icon on them. This makes it so helpful for sorting all the items at the end of a game. That way if we?re tired of getting destroyed so much, we can pull those out and just play with a ?regular? level of panic for a while.

Final Thoughts
Castle Panic The Wizard?s Tower expansion adds a ton of new elements to the game. While it?s played the same as the original, all the new monsters and cards add a lot more to think about. You?ll definitely be glad that you?re working together as a team to fight your way through all this new panic.

We?d also recommend not introducing The Wizard?s Tower to new players. The base game is just great for new players. Adding in the expansion elements in a game with new players is just way too much to take in.

We like having the expansion and being able to challenge ourselves as much as we?d like. If we want more panic, we?ll add it all in. If we?d like not so much panic, but do want some more variety we?ll simply choose to play with a portion of the expansion elements.

One thing we all agree on ? Castle Panic is a great cooperative board game and we highly recommend it.

Summary of Added Components

• 1 Wizard?s Tower
• 10 Castle Cards
• 22 Wizard Cards
• 49 Monster Tokens
• 12 Flame Tokens
• 6 Reference Cards
• Monster Draw Bag

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Source: http://www.theboardgamefamily.com/2013/06/castle-panic-wizards-tower-expansion-review/

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Science-fiction author Richard Matheson dies

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Richard Matheson in 2000.

Richard Matheson, whose science-fiction stories enthralled many and were often turned into movies and television scripts, has died at his home in Calabasas, Calif., his family announced in a private Facebook post Monday.

The post was quoted by science fiction and fantasy publisher Tor Books. According to Tor, Matheson's daughter Ali Marie Matheson wrote, "My beloved father passed away yesterday at home surrounded by the people and things he loved?he was funny, brilliant, loving, generous, kind, creative, and the most wonderful father ever?I miss you and love you forever Pop and I know you are now happy and healthy in a beautiful place full of love and joy you always knew was there."

Matheson's 1954 novel, "I Am Legend," told the story of Robert Neville, the last survivor of a plague that turns humans into vampiric killers, and inspired numerous zombie and apocalyptic tales. It was made into three films -- 1964's "The Last Man on Earth," 1971's "The Omega Man," and 2007's "I Am Legend."

Director George A. Romero said on the DVD commentary for his 1968 zombie classic "Night of the Living Dead" that he "ripped off" Matheson's work to create his own film. In 2007, Matheson told Entertainment Weekly he didn't "harbor any animosity" towards Romero for the theft.

His stories may have had horrific plots and creatures, but they never veered too far from reality.

''I could never write Harry Potter,'' Matheson told the magazine at the time of the "I Am Legend" movie. ''I never did fantasies about trolls. I had to write about realistic circumstances.''

Matheson's short story, "Duel," based on a true incident where he was tailgated by a trucker, was published in Playboy magazine and became a critically acclaimed 1971 television movie. Matheson wrote the screenplay and Steven Spielberg directed the film.

Matheson also wrote numerous television episodes, including 16 "Twilight Zone" installments. His most famous was 1963's "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," in which William Shatner can't convince an airplane crew that a gremlin is destroying the plane from the outside.

Matheson's books were endlessly appealing to moviemakers. His 1971 novel "Hell House" became a British horror film, "The Legend of Hell House," in 1973. His 1956 novel, "The Shrinking Man," was adapted into the 1957 film "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and its 1981 take-off "The Incredible Shrinking Woman." The 1999 Kevin Bacon film "Stir of Echoes" was loosely based on Matheson's 1958 novel of the same name.

And not everything he wrote was pure horror -- his 1978 novel "What Dreams May Come," about a man who dies, goes to heaven, and then rescues his wife from hell after she commits suicide, became a 1998 Robin Williams film that won an Oscar for visual effects. And his 1975 novel, "Bid Time Return," became the 1980 romance, "Somewhere in Time."

Matheson, who was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2010, inspired many of the major names in science fiction, fantasy and horror writing. The 1995 reprint of "I Am Legend" featured praise from Ray Bradbury, "Psycho" author Robert Bloch, and Stephen King, who called Matheson "the author who influenced me the most as a writer." King's 2006 novel, "Cell," is dedicated to Matheson.

"Everything Richard Matheson wrote was brilliant, scary and fun," wrote NPR host Peter Sagal on Twitter. "And he essentially invented the zombie apocalypse."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/richard-matheson-author-sci-fi-books-movies-dies-87-6C10435398

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Pope 'snub' of concert stuns cardinals, sends signal

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A last-minute no-show by Pope Francis at a concert where he was to have been the guest of honor has sent another clear signal that he is going to do things his way and does not like the Vatican high life.

The gala classical concert on Saturday was scheduled before his election in March. But the white papal armchair set up in the presumption that he would be there remained empty.

Minutes before the concert was due to start, an archbishop told the crowd of cardinals and Italian dignitaries that an "urgent commitment that cannot be postponed" would prevent Francis from attending.

The prelates, assured that health was not the reason for the no-show, looked disoriented, realizing that the message he wanted to send was that, with the Church in crisis, he - and perhaps they - had too much pastoral work to do to attend social events.

"It took us by surprise," said one Vatican source on Monday. "We are still in a period of growing pains. He is still learning how to be pope and we are still learning how he wants to do it."

"In Argentina, they probably knew not to arrange social events like concerts for him because he probably wouldn't go," said the source, who spoke anonymously because he is not authorized to discuss the issue.

The picture of the empty chair was used in many Italian papers, with Monday's Corriere della Sera newspaper calling his decision "a show of force" to illustrate the simple style he wants Church officials to embrace.

Since his election on March 13, Francis, the former cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, has not spent a single night in the opulent and spacious papal apartments.

He has preferred to live in a small suite in a busy Vatican guest house, where he takes most meals in a communal dining room and says Mass every morning in the house chapel rather than the private papal chapel in the Apostolic Palace.

The day before the concert, Francis said bishops should be "close to the people" and not have "the mentality of a prince".

On Saturday, while the concert was in progress in an auditorium just meters (yards) away, Francis was believed to be working on new appointments for the Curia, the Vatican's troubled central administration.

The administration was held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of Pope Benedict before he resigned in February.

Francis inherited a Church struggling to deal with priests' sexual abuse of children, the alleged corruption and infighting in the Curia, and conflict over the running of the Vatican's scandal-ridden bank.

Benedict left a secret report for Francis on the problems in the administration, which came to light when sensitive documents were stolen from the pope's desk and leaked by his butler in what became known as the "Vatileaks" scandal.

The Vatican source said he expected Francis to make major changes to Curia personnel by the end of the summer.

Anger at the mostly Italian prelates who run the Curia was one of the reasons why cardinals chose the first non-European pope for 1,300 years.

The key appointment will be the next secretary of state, sometimes referred to as the Vatican's prime minister, to succeed the Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has been widely blamed for the failings of the Curia.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-snub-concert-stuns-cardinals-sends-signal-143358270.html

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WikiLeaks' Assange says Snowden is healthy and safe

LONDON (Reuters) - Julian Assange, the founder of anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks, said on Monday that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was safe and healthy after fleeing to Moscow on his globe-crossing escape from U.S. prosecution.

"The current status of Mr. Snowden and Harrison is that both are healthy and safe and they are in contact with their legal teams," Assange said, referring to Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks representative accompanying Snowden.

"Edward Snowden left Hong Kong on June 23 bound for Ecuador via a safe pass through Russia and other states," Assange told reporters on a conference call from inside Ecuador's embassy in London, where he has been himself hiding from arrest and extradition.

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien and Costas Pitas Writing by Maria Golovnina)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wikileaks-assange-says-snowden-healthy-safe-142946759.html

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Saudi Arabia moves to Friday start for weekend

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) ? Saudi Arabia is switching its weekend to begin on Friday to align its banking and business days with most other nations in the region.

The official Saudi Press Agency said late Sunday that a royal decree takes effect this week after an advisory body in April recommended changing from the current system, in which the two-day weekend begins Thursday.

A similar proposal in 2007 failed, but the Saudi business community has been lobbying for the switch for years to match the schedule in main regional commercial hubs, such as Dubai.

Oman switched to Friday-Saturday weekends last month. Most other countries in the Gulf start their weekends Friday, the Muslim day of communal prayer.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-moves-friday-start-weekend-081736896.html

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Writers Welcome Blog!: Digitally Speaking: Why Writers Should Self ...

Simply stated, when a publisher digitally publishes a book vs. hardcover publishing, his profit margin per book actually goes up; but, guess what? The author's royalty per book goes down :(

This begs the question: should authors get a higher?eBook royalty rate?

Check out the table below for a detailed financial analysis revealing publishing profit margin?between the two book formats:

Note: The third column reflects the e-book agency pricing mode.


"This chart illustrates very clearly something that agents have been arguing for several years now, and that publishers have been saying just isn?t true: that their savings on printing, binding and distribution make up for the lower revenue from lower e-book prices? and that increased profitability is coming entirely off the backs of authors."?Brian DeFiore

One interesting point to note is that if an e-book author self-publishes his take is the entire 70% of the unit book price ($10.49 in above sample).?

Writers just can't seem to trust publishers - even when publishers go to e-books, they are still trying to screw with the writers.

Over at the AARdvark blog, DeFiore and Company founder?Brian DeFiore?shared the most important stats?(chart embedded above):?a ?$27.99 hardcover generates $5.67 profit to publisher and $4.20 royalty to author? and a ?$14.99 agency priced e-book generates $7.87 profit to publisher and $2.62 royalty to author.?

We have all heard the additional argument: that for a very large percentage of authors this is irrelevant since their advances don?t earn out? effectively raising their per unit royalty. That may be true, but it logically leads to what seems to me the most unfair aspect of all: That, therefore, the only authors that are financially punished by this system are the ones whose books perform very well. The ones whose books earn out. The big name authors and the celebrities whose books don?t perform to expectation are untouched; the author who gets a reasonable advance and whose book sells much better than expected are the ones who suffer the greatest loss.

Source Site?

Source: http://johnaustinblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/digitally-speaking-why-writers-should.html

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