Small Business Owner: The IRS Says You Are Tax Cheat

Small business does a lot for America, accounting for roughly half of private sector GDP and employment.

Their economic contributions probably account for part of the reason that small business is our country?s most trusted group. A recent Pew Foundation survey revealed that 71 percent of Americans held a positive view of small business, 8 percentage points higher than churches and religious organizations and 10 percentage points higher than colleges and universities.

But small business owners aren?t saints. They are also America?s top tax cheats, according to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) taxpayer advocate Nina Olson. Not all of them, of course, but, on average, small business owners are much more likely than other Americans to underpay their taxes.

Their cheating is substantial. The IRS reported that the United States Treasury faced a tax gap ? the amount it was owed less what it was paid ? of $385 billion in 2006, the most recent year data are available. The largest chunk of this gap ? $122 billion ? is unreported business income on individual income tax returns.

But just as we shouldn?t look at the Pew Foundation survey and think that more trustworthy people become small business owners than politicians, bankers, ministers or college professors, we shouldn?t look at the IRS figures and conclude that dishonest types start companies. Small business owners aren?t less honest than the rest of us. They are just better able to get away with cheating on their taxes.

People don?t under report their wages because their employers report their earnings to the IRS. Knowing that, the IRS knows what?s in your paycheck keeps most people from lying about the amount they are paid. Therefore, only 1 percent of wages go unreported.

By contrast, the IRS has no idea how much cash sole proprietors are taking in. That?s why the IRS estimates that a whopping 56 percent of sole proprietors? cash receipts are not disclosed to the tax authorities.

The IRS doesn?t think checking up on most small businesses is worth their time. While they regularly audit giant corporations like Apple or General Motors, coming through the records of a bunch of tiny companies doesn?t yield enough unpaid taxes to justify the costs.

A small business owner earning $155,000 per year faces an average tax rate of 20.5 percent, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation tells us. If the IRS catches the business owner under reporting income by 25 percent, that yields only $7,800 in lost income. Therefore, it?s not surprising that the IRS audits only 1 percent of taxpayers earning less than $200,000 per year, but 12 percent of those earning more than $1 million.

Moreover, the IRS knows that a chunk of small business under reporting isn?t deliberate. It comes from the difficulty of figuring out what one actually owes. Fear of punishment might motivate small business owners not to purposefully misstate their income, but it does little to help them calculate the right numbers under a maddeningly complex tax code.

Finally, our elected officials inadvertently preserve small business tax cheating when they try to avoid burdening small business owners with costly tax reporting requirements. The IRS and many tax experts explain that small business owners would reduce under reporting if third parties provided the IRS with more information. But Congress has repeatedly voted down third party reporting requirements for small businesses as too burdensome.

Whatever the combination of causes, a recent New York Times article summed up the outcome succinctly. The best way to cheat on your taxes is to ?run your own company. More specifically? be the sole proprietor of a Schedule C business.?

Hiding Money Photo via Shutterstock

Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/01/small-business-tax-cheats.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=small-business-tax-cheats

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Video: Senate passes $50 billion Sandy aid package

>>> it has been exactly three months since hurricane sandy tore up the east coast , and finally tonight, after a four-week delay, the senate gave final approval to a $50 billion aid package to help the region rebuild. this bill was delayed when the clock ran out. you'll recall at the new year on the legislative session before a vote could be scheduled, which sparked outrage on both sides of the political aisle. tens of thousands of people in new york and new jersey, for starters, are still out of their wrecked homes, or living without adequate heat in the dead of winter.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50620916/

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Toward 2-D devices: Single-atom-thick patterns combine conductor and insulator

Jan. 27, 2013 ? Rice University scientists have taken an important step toward the creation of two-dimensional electronics with a process to make patterns in atom-thick layers that combine a conductor and an insulator.

The materials at play -- graphene and hexagonal boron nitride -- have been merged into sheets and built into a variety of patterns at nanoscale dimensions.

Rice introduced a technique to stitch the identically structured materials together nearly three years ago. Since then, the idea has received a lot of attention from researchers interested in the prospect of building 2-D, atomic-layer circuits, said Rice materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan. He is one of the authors of the new work that appears this week in Nature Nanotechnology. In particular, Ajayan noted that Cornell University scientists reported an advance late last year on the art of making atomic-layer heterostructures through sequential growth schemes.

This week's contribution by Rice offers manufacturers the possibility of shrinking electronic devices into even smaller packages. While Rice's technical capabilities limited features to a resolution of about 100 nanometers, the only real limits are those defined by modern lithographic techniques, according to the researchers. (A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.)

"It should be possible to make fully functional devices with circuits 30, even 20 nanometers wide, all in two dimensions," said Rice researcher Jun Lou, a co-author of the new paper. That would make circuits on about the same scale as in current semiconductor fabrication, he said.

Graphene has been touted as a wonder material since its discovery in the last decade. Even at one atom thick, the hexagonal array of carbon atoms has proven its potential as a fascinating electronic material. But to build a working device, conductors alone will not do. Graphene-based electronics require similar, compatible 2-D materials for other components, and researchers have found hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) works nicely as an insulator.

H-BN looks like graphene, with the same chicken-wire atomic array. The earlier work at Rice showed that merging graphene and h-BN via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) created sheets with pools of the two that afforded some control of the material's electronic properties. Ajayan said at the time that the creation offered "a great playground for materials scientists."

He has since concluded that the area of two-dimensional materials beyond graphene "has grown significantly and will play out as one of the key exciting materials in the near future."

His prediction bears fruit in the new work, in which finely detailed patterns of graphene are laced into gaps created in sheets of h-BN. Combs, bars, concentric rings and even microscopic Rice Owls were laid down through a lithographic process. The interface between elements, seen clearly in scanning transmission electron microscope images taken at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, shows a razor-sharp transition from graphene to h-BN along a subnanometer line.

"This is not a simple quilt," Lou said. "It's very precisely engineered. We can control the domain sizes and the domain shapes, both of which are necessary to make electronic devices."

The new technique also began with CVD. Lead author Zheng Liu, a Rice research scientist, and his colleagues first laid down a sheet of h-BN. Laser-cut photoresistant masks were placed over the h-BN, and exposed material was etched away with argon gas. (A focused ion beam system was later used to create even finer patterns, down to 100-nanometer resolution, without masks.) After the masks were washed away, graphene was grown via CVD in the open spaces, where it bonded edge-to-edge with the h-BN. The hybrid layer could then be picked up and placed on any substrate.

While there's much work ahead to characterize the atomic bonds where graphene and h-BN domains meet and to analyze potential defects along the boundaries, Liu's electrical measurements proved the components' qualities remain intact.

"One important thing Zheng showed is that even by doing all kinds of growth, then etching, then regrowth, the intrinsic properties of these two materials are not affected," Lou said. "Insulators stay insulators; they're not doped by the carbon. And the graphene still looks very good. That's important, because we want to be sure what we're growing is exactly what we want."

Liu said the next step is to place a third element, a semiconductor, into the 2-D fabric. "We're trying very hard to integrate this into the platform," he said. "If we can do that, we can build truly integrated in-plane devices." That would give new options to manufacturers toying with the idea of flexible electronics, he said.

"The contribution of this paper is to demonstrate the general process," Lou added. "It's robust, it's repeatable and it creates materials with very nice properties and with dimensions that are at the limit of what is possible."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Rice University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. C. Drexler, S. A. Tarasenko, P. Olbrich, J. Karch, M. Hirmer, F. M?ller, M. Gmitra, J. Fabian, R. Yakimova, S. Lara-Avila, S. Kubatkin, M. Wang, R. Vajtai, P. M. Ajayan, J. Kono, S. D. Ganichev. Magnetic quantum ratchet effect in graphene. Nature Nanotechnology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2012.231

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/Z5aTSo83LOQ/130127134208.htm

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Actor Burt Reynolds reportedly in intensive care with flu

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - American actor Burt Reynolds is battling the flu in the intensive care unit of a Florida hospital, CNN reported on Friday.

The "Smokey and the Bandit" actor arrived at the unnamed hospital with dehydration and was later transferred to intensive care, Reynolds' manager, Erik Kritzer, told CNN.

"He is doing better at this time," Kritzer was quoted as saying on Friday afternoon. "We expect, as soon as he gets more fluids, he will be back in a regular room."

Reynolds, 76, is famous for roles in 1970s movies including "Deliverance" and "The Longest Yard." More recently, he won a Golden Globe award for his role as a porn king in 1997 film "Boogie Nights."

Reynolds had heart bypass surgery in 2010.

(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://omg.yahoo.com/news/actor-burt-reynolds-reportedly-intensive-care-flu-003903559.html

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Chameleon pulsar baffles astronomers

Jan. 24, 2013 ? Using a satellite X-ray telescope combined with terrestrial radio telescopes the pulsar was found to flip on a roughly half-hour timescale between two extreme states; one dominated by X-ray pulses, the other by a highly-organised pattern of radio pulses.

The research was led by Professor Wim Hermsen from The Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the University of Amsterdam and will appear in the journal Science on the 25th January 2013.

Researchers from Jodrell Bank Observatory, as well as institutions around the world, used simultaneous observations with the X-ray satellite XMM-Newton and two radio telescopes; the LOw Frequency Array (LOFAR) in the Netherlands and the Giant Meter Wave Telescope (GMRT) in India to reveal this so far unique behaviour.

Pulsars are small spinning stars that are about the size of a city, around 20 km in diameter. They emit oppositely directed beams of radiation from their magnetic poles. Just like a lighthouse, as the star spins and the beam sweeps repeatedly past Earth we see a brief flash.

Some pulsars produce radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including at X-ray and radio wavelengths. Despite being discovered more than 45 years ago the exact mechanism by which pulsars shine is still unknown.

It has been known for some time that some radio-emitting pulsars flip their behaviour between two (or even more) states, changing the pattern and intensity of their radio pulses. The moment of flip is both unpredictable and sudden. It is also known from satellite-borne telescopes that a handful of radio pulsars can also be detected at X-ray frequencies. However, the X-ray signal is so weak that nothing is known of its variability.

To find out if the X-rays could also flip the scientists studied a particular pulsar called PSR B0943+10, one of the first to be discovered. It has radio pulses which change in form and brightness every few hours with some of the changes happening within about a second.

Dr Ben Stappers from The University of Manchester's School of Physics and Astronomy said: "The behaviour of this pulsar is quite startling, it's as if it has two distinct personalities. As PSR B0943+10 is one of the few pulsars also known to emit X-rays, finding out how this higher energy radiation behaves as the radio changes could provide new insight into the nature of the emission process."

Since the source is a weak X-ray emitter, the team used the most sensitive X-ray telescope in existence, the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton on board a spacecraft orbiting Earth. The observations took place over six separate sessions of about six hours in duration. To identify the exact moment of flip in the pulsar's radio behaviour the X-ray observations were tracked simultaneously with two of the largest radio telescopes in the world, LOFAR and the GMRT.

What the scientists found was that whilst the X-rays did indeed change their behaviour at the same time as the radio emission, as might have been expected, in the state where the radio signal is strong and organised the X-rays were weak, and when the radio emission switched to weak the X-rays got brighter.

Commenting on the study's findings the project leader Wim Hermsen says: "To our surprise we found that when the brightness of the radio emission halved, the X-ray emission brightened by a factor of two! Furthermore the intense X-rays have a very different character from those in the radio-bright state, since they seem to be thermal in origin and to pulse with the neutron star's rotation period."

Dr Stappers says this is an exciting discovery: "As well as brightening in the X-rays we discovered that the X-ray emission also shows pulses, something not seen when the radio emission is bright. This was the opposite of what we had expected. I've likened the changes in the pulsar to a chameleon. Like the animal the star changes in reaction to its environment, such as a change in temperature."

Geoff Wright from the University of Sussex adds: "Our observations strongly suggest that a temporary "hotspot" appears close to the pulsar's magnetic pole which switches on and off with the change of state. But why a pulsar should undergo such dramatic and unpredictable changes is completely unknown."

The next step for the researchers is to look at other objects which have similar behaviour to investigate what happens to the X-ray emission. Later this year there will be another round of simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of a second pulsar. These observations will include the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Manchester, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. W. Hermsen et al. Synchronous X-ray and Radio Mode Switches: A Rapid Global Transformation of the Pulsar Magnetosphere. Science, 2013; 339 (6118): 436 DOI: 10.1126/science.1230960

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/sCTrLOkQodw/130124150802.htm

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Olympic Torch lights up Sligo's Peace Mini Olympics : Sligo Sport ...

An Olympic torch was the highlight of Sligo?s Mini Olympics last week (4th ?Dec) when 100 primary school pupils took part in non-competitive games organized by Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership. The Sligo Mini Olympics are designed to increase awareness and understanding of cultural diversity and encourage inclusive celebration among young people.

The Sligo Mini Olympics are funded by the PEACE III Programme through the European Union?s European Regional Development Fund managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by Sligo County Council on behalf of Sligo Peace and Reconciliation Partnership Committee. They were organized by Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership, which is part of the Urban Peace Collective, a project of the PEACE III programme.

The Olympic torch was brought to Sligo by the Irish Sports Council Sports Partnership Officer Michelle Harte, who was a special guest at the event.

Five primary schools, Our Lady of Mercy P.S, St Edward?s N.S, St Brendan?s N.S, St John?s School and Sligo School Project took part in the Mini Olympics. Children at each school received coaching sessions in preparation for the event. Each school represented a country at the Mini Olympics and developed its own flags and banners for the event.

The young athletes took part in hurdles, speed bounce, javelin, hammer, long jump and rebounder relays in mixed teams with pupils from other schools, without the focus of competition.

?Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership were delighted to have Michelle Harte from the Irish Sports Council as our special guest. The Olympic Games are the world?s greatest multi-cultural sporting spectacle and are a means to inspire, stimulate and promote positive messages and good practice through sport,? said Diane Middleton of Sligo Sports and Recreation Partnership.For further information on this initiative please contact Diane Middleton, Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership on 071-9161511 or email diane@sligosportandrecreation.ie.

Source: http://www.sligosportandrecreation.ie/2013/01/olympic-torch-lights-up-sligos-peace-mini-olympics/

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Cameron promises Britons contentious vote on EU future

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday promised Britons a vote on whether the country should stay in the European Union or leave, rattling London's biggest allies and some investors by raising the prospect of uncertainty and upheaval.

Cameron announced the referendum would be held by the end of 2017, provided he wins the next election, and said that while Britain did not want to retreat from the world, public disillusionment with the EU was at "an all-time high".

"It is time for the British people to have their say. It is time for us to settle this question about Britain and Europe," Cameron said in a speech, adding that his Conservative party would campaign for the 2015 election on a promise to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership.

"When we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice to stay in the European Union on these new terms; or come out altogether. It will be an in-out referendum."

A referendum would mark the second time Britons have voted on the issue. In 1975, they decided by a wide margin to stay in the EU's predecessor, two years after the country had joined.

Domestically, Cameron stands on relatively firm ground. Most recent opinion polls have shown a slim majority would vote to leave the EU amid often bitter disenchantment about its influence on the British way of life. However, a poll this week showed a majority wanted to stay.

Cameron's position is fraught with uncertainty. He must come from behind to win the next election, secure support from the EU's 26 other states for a new British role, and hope those countries can persuade their voters to back the changes.

Critics say that in the long run-up to a vote, Britain would slip into a dangerous and damaging limbo that could leave the country adrift or pushed out of the EU.

The United States, a close ally, is also uneasy about the plan, believing it will dilute Britain's international clout. President Barack Obama told Cameron by phone last week that Washington valued "a strong UK in a strong European Union".

Some of Britain's European partners were also anxious and told Cameron on Wednesday his strategy reflected a selfish and ignorant attitude. However, Angela Merkel, the leader of EU paymaster Germany, was quick to say she was ready to discuss Cameron's ideas.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was less diplomatic, quipping: "If Britain wants to leave Europe we will roll out the red carpet for you," echoing Cameron, who once used the same words to invite rich Frenchmen alienated by high taxes to move to Britain.

Billed by commentators as the most important speech of Cameron's career, his referendum promise ties him firmly to an issue that has bedeviled a generation of Conservative leaders.

In the past, he has been careful to avoid bruising partisan fights over Europe, an issue that undid the last two Conservative prime ministers, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.

His speech appeared to pacify a powerful Eurosceptic wing inside his own party, but deepen rifts with the Liberal Democrats, the junior partners in his coalition. Their leader, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, said the plan would undermine a fragile economic recovery.

Sterling fell to its lowest in nearly five months against the dollar on Wednesday as Cameron was speaking.

"BREXIT"?

Cameron said he would seek to claw back powers from Brussels, saying later in parliament that when it came to employment, social and environmental legislation "Europe has gone far too far".

But such a claw back - the subject of an internal audit to identify which powers he should target for repatriation - is likely to be easier said than done.

If Cameron wins the election but then fails to renegotiate Britain's membership of the EU, a 'Brexit' could loom.

Business leaders have warned that years of doubt over Britain's EU membership would damage the $2.5 trillion economy and cool the investment climate.

"Having a referendum creates more uncertainty and we don't need that," Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising giant WPP, told the World Economic Forum in Davos. "This is a political decision. This is not an economic decision. This isn't good news. You added another reason why people will postpone investment decisions."

Cameron has been pushed into taking such a strong position partly by the rise of the UK Independence Party, which favors complete withdrawal from the EU and has climbed to third in the opinion polls, mainly at the expense of the Conservatives.

"All he's trying to do is to kick the can down the road and to try and get UKIP off his back," said UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Eurosceptics in Cameron's party, who have threatened to stir up trouble for the premier, were thrilled by the speech.

Conservative lawmaker Peter Bone called it "a terrific victory" that would unify 98 percent of the party. "He's the first prime minister to say he wants to bring back powers from Brussels," Bone told Reuters. "It's pretty powerful stuff".

Whether Cameron holds the referendum remains as uncertain as the Conservatives' chances of winning the election. They trail the opposition Labour party in opinion polls, and the coalition is grappling with a stagnating economy as it pushes through unpopular public spending cuts to reduce a large budget deficit.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said on Wednesday his party did not want an in/out referendum.

EU REFORM

Cameron said he would campaign for Britain to stay in the EU "with all my heart and soul", provided he secured the reforms he wants. He made clear the EU must become less bureaucratic and focus more on trade deals. It was riskier to maintain the status quo than to change, he said.

"The biggest danger to the European Union comes not from those who advocate change, but from those who denounce new thinking as heresy," he said.

Cameron said the euro zone debt crisis was forcing the bloc to change and that Britain would fight to make sure new rules were fair to the 10 countries that don't use the common currency, of which Britain is the largest.

Democratic consent for the EU in Britain was now "wafer thin", he said. "Some people say that to point this out is irresponsible, creates uncertainty for business and puts a question mark over Britain's place in the European Union," said Cameron. "But the question mark is already there: ignoring it won't make it go away."

A YouGov opinion poll on Monday showed that more people wanted to stay in the EU than leave it, the first such result in many months. But it was unclear whether that result was a blip.

Paul Chipperfield, a 53-year-old management consultant, said he liked the strategy. "Cameron's making the right move because I don't think we've had enough debate in this country," he told Reuters. "We should be part of the EU but the EU needs to recognize that not everybody's going to jump on the same bandwagon."

Asked after the speech whether other EU countries would agree to renegotiate Britain's membership, Cameron said he was an optimist and that there was "every chance of success".

"I don't want Britain to leave the EU," he told parliament later. "I want Britain to reform the EU."

In the 1975 referendum, just over 67 percent voted to stay inside with nearly 33 percent against.

(Additional reporting by Paul Taylor in Davos, Alexandra Hudson in Berlin and Brenda Goh in London; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and David Stamp)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cameron-promise-britons-straight-choice-eu-exit-075348579--business.html

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Pebble Is Shipping, But Slowly, And Without iOS App Approval

The Pebble Smart Watch, a clever little watch that connects to your phone via Bluetooth (and tells time), has officially started to ship in limited quantities. After the product's Kickstarter campaign blew up, receiving over $10 million in funding after only asking for $100K, the company faced issues with manufacturing and distributing such a high volume of orders.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/c0mgTfljcjo/

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Love & Lust in the Animal Kingdom presented by the NY Academy of Sciences

I?m coming to the east coast in 3 weeks. I?m honored (and excited) to participate in the New York Academy of Sciences Science & the City event on Lust and Love in the Animal Kingdom! It will be a conversational panel discussion (not individual presentations) about the science sex and love.

Science & the City, a program of the New York Academy of Sciences, is hosting a special event:

Lust and Love in the Animal Kingdom

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 | 6:30 PM ? 8:00 PM

From monogamous birds to polygamous primates, we love to point to the animal kingdom to explain our sexual patterns and behaviors. Can swans teach us about monogamy? Is bonobo promiscuity a precursor to our own? Are ferocious creatures like Tyrannosaurus Rex ferocious ?in bed? too? And which animals, in turn, just want to cuddle?

The Wildlife Conservation Society?s Josh Ginsberg will moderate a panel composed of dinosaur sex expert Brian Switek; Danielle Lee, who studies the sex lives and bomb sniffing abilities of giant pouched rats, Marina Cords who studies non-human primates, and Stephanie Cacioppo who studies human primates.

Just in time for Valentine?s Day, join the Academy as we explore lust and love in the animal kingdom!

Reception and Book Signing of Brian?s book ? Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature to follow.

Registration Pricing

Member	$15
Nonmember Student	$20
Nonmember	$25

BUT WAIT! If you act now, you can get tickets, not for $25! or $20! But for $15! Yes, that?s right. Act now and purchase your tickets online and you could experience this amazing fun discussion of boom-chicka-wow-wow in the animal kingdom for $15 dollars! At the checkout use the discount code LUSTSPKR and get a $10 discount. Just enter it below their address in the promotion code field on the first page of registration.

Okay, I am super excited. While I am there I am tentatively scheduled to connect with other science organizations and outreach people. I?m looking forward to taking a bite out of the big apple. I hope to connect with as many of friends as I can. I hope you (and yours) are able to make it. They record these events for podcasts and C-SPAN. Welp!

Since, this is a conservation and not individual talks, I?m not exactly sure what I will say yet. But I will do my absolute best to squeeze in some Hip Hop Sexual Selection. In fact, the illustration on the publicity materials inspires me. This song comes to mind.

Until I see you in NYC, please follow us on Twitter, too.
New York Academy of Sciences @NYASK12
Science & the City @SciandtheCity
Brian Switek @Laelaps
Danielle N. Lee @DNLee5

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d439804e0a282b623edc3f6144925fb4

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Family Tree Tuesday ? William E. Dodge, Sr.

William E. Dodge, Sr.

William E. Dodge, Sr. was a founding member of the Young Men?s Christian Association (YMCA) and represented New York?s 8th congressional district in the United States Congress for a portion of the 39th United States Congress in 1866-1867. He was?a noted abolitionist?and Native American rights activist, and served as the president of the National Temperance Society from 1865-1883.

He was born on September 4, 1805 in Hartford, Connecticut to David Low Dodge and Sarah Cleveland. David Dodge helped establish the New York Peace Society, he managed the first cotton factory built in Connecticut.?Dodge, Sr. married Melissa Phelps who was the daughter of Anson Greene Phelps and Olivia Eggleston. Dodge and his father-in-law Anson founded the mining firm Phelps, Dodge and Company, one of America?s largest mining companies.?

He built the Macon and Brunswick Railroad along with his associates, connecting Macon to what was then a remote area of the state.?He was also a founding member of the Board of Trustees for the Syrian Protestant College which was later renamed the American University of Beirut.

His eldest son William Earl Dodge, Jr.?was one of two controlling partners in the Phelps, Dodge and Company for many years. Dodge, Jr. married Sarah Hoadley, daughter of David Hoadley?who was president of the Panama Railroad Company. Dodge, Jr. and his cousin, Daniel Willis James, transformed the Phelps, Dodge and Company from a placid and profitable import business into one of the world?s largest and wealthiest mining corporations.

Dodge, Jr.?s daughter Grace Hoadley Dodge donated about $1.5 million and many years of service to philanthropic work. She was the main source of funds for the New York College for the Training of Teachers, which became Teachers College, and subsequently a school of Columbia University.

Elizabeth Clementine Stedman, sister of William E. Dodge, Sr., was first married to Edmund B. Stedman and later to U.S. diplomat and?politician, William Burnet Kinney. Elizabeth was an American writer, she published Felicita, a Metrical Romance?(1855), Poems?(1867), and Bianco Capello, A Tragedy, written during her time abroad in Europe. Her son by her first marriage, Edmund Clarence Stedman was an American poet, critic, essayist, banker and scientist. He was one of the first seven chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1904.

Did you know that Dodge County, Georgia is named after William E. Dodge, Sr.?

Check out William E. Dodge, Sr.?s family tree and see how you maybe related!

Source: http://www.geni.com/blog/family-tree-tuesday-william-e-dodge-sr-379062.html

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No boys' club here: New Hampshire's all-women delegation (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/278884665?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Circadian rhythms can be modified for potential treatment of disorders

Jan. 22, 2013 ? UC Irvine-led studies have revealed the cellular mechanism by which circadian rhythms -- also known as the body clock -- modify energy metabolism and also have identified novel compounds that control this action. The findings point to potential treatments for disorders triggered by circadian rhythm dysfunction, ranging from insomnia and obesity to diabetes and cancer.

UC Irvine's Paolo Sassone-Corsi, one of the world's leading researchers on the genetics of circadian rhythms, led the studies and worked with international groups of scientists. Their results are detailed in two companion pieces appearing this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Circadian rhythms of 24 hours govern fundamental physiological functions in almost all organisms," said Sassone-Corsi, the Donald Bren Professor of Biological Chemistry. "The circadian clocks are intrinsic time-tracking systems in our bodies that anticipate environmental changes and adapt themselves to the appropriate time of day. Disruption of these rhythms can profoundly influence human health."

He added that up to 15 percent of people's genes are regulated by the day-night pattern of circadian rhythms.

In one study, Sassone-Corsi and colleagues found that the biological clock controls enzymes localized in the mitochondrion, a cellular structure devoted to energy metabolism. This government occurs through acetylation of proteins, a process that operates as a switch to turn genes on and off in cells based upon the cells' energy usage.

Some of the most important acetylation events in cells are dictated by an enzyme protein called SIRT1, which senses energy levels in the cell. Its activity is modulated by how many nutrients a cell is consuming. It also helps cells resist oxidative and radiation-induced stress. SIRT1 has been linked to the inflammatory response, diabetes and aging.

Sassone-Corsi first showed the circadian rhythm-metabolism link in 2008 and 2009, and in this study, he and his colleagues reveal the metabolic pathways through which SIRT1 works.

"When the balance between clock proteins is upset, normal cellular function can be disrupted," said Sassone-Corsi, who also directs the Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism at UC Irvine.

In exploring how to regulate SIRT1 activity, Sassone-Corsi teamed with scientists from two research-and-development groups at GlaxoSmithKline -- one in the United Kingdom and the other (called Sirtris) in the U.S. -- to test proprietary small-molecule compounds that stimulate SIRT1.

In mouse studies, they were able to modulate the scale of circadian-driven gene function with the SIRT1-activating compounds, effectively governing the circadian cycle in a host of genes involved with the metabolic rate in cells. This research proves that small molecules can be used as a pharmacological strategy to control circadian disturbances and is a step toward the development of drugs that could target many conditions, including metabolic disorders, diabetes, cancer and aging.

Postdoctoral researchers Selma Masri and Kristin Eckel-Mahan, graduate student Vishal Patel and Chancellor's Professor Pierre Baldi of UC Irvine, along with Shahaf Peleg, Ignasi Forne, Andreas Ladurner and Axel Imhof of Germany's University of Munich, as well as Sassone-Corsi, contributed to the study. The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, INSERM and Sirtris provided support.

In addition to Sassone-Corsi, postdoctoral researcher Marina Bellet and laboratory assistant Marlene Cervantes of UC Irvine; Mohamed Boudjelal, Emma Watts, Danuta Mossakowska and Kenneth Edwards of GlaxoSmithKline; Giuseppe Astarita of Georgetown University; and Christine Loh, James Ellis and George Vlasuk of Sirtris contributed to the study titled "Pharmacological modulation of circadian rhythms by high-affinity SIRT1 activators." The National Institutes of Health and INSERM provided support.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Irvine.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal References:

1. Selma Masri, Vishal R. Patel, Kristin L. Eckel-Mahan, Shahaf Peleg, Ignasi Forne, Andreas G. Ladurner, Pierre Baldi, Axel Imhof, and Paolo Sassone-Corsi. Circadian acetylome reveals regulation of mitochondrial metabolic pathways. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 22, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1217632110
2. Marina M. Bellet, Yasukazu Nakahata, Mohamed Boudjelal, Emma Watts, Danuta E. Mossakowska, Kenneth A. Edwards, Marlene Cervantes, Giuseppe Astarita, Christine Loh, James L. Ellis, George P. Vlasuk, and Paolo Sassone-Corsi. Pharmacological modulation of circadian rhythms by synthetic activators of the deacetylase SIRT1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 22, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1214266110

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/eRF4P-dTyXs/130122162329.htm

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Feud over budget for diplomatic security escalates

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A long-running feud over whether Congress provides enough money for protecting U.S. diplomats is heating up.

The chairman of a Senate subcommittee charged Tuesday that House Republicans sank embassy security funds in stripping a $1 billion measure sought by the State Department from a hurricane relief bill.

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont made the accusation on the eve of departing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's overdue appearance before congressional committees.

Clinton is set to testify on Wednesday about the Obama administration's handling of the September terrorist assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Democrats have blamed Republicans for cutting diplomatic security spending. The GOP has argued that management failures were the reasons U.S. officials failed to see the threat.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-22-US-Diplomatic-Security/id-80539f72594d491d964ee4a57f0858a9

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What Your Web Design Says About Your Business | SEOCIALISE

Monday, 21 January 2013 16:59 Last Updated on Monday, 21 January 2013 16:59 admin

Your web design is important if you want to reach some of the 79 percent of search engine users that will almost always click on normal, organic web links instead of those that are sponsored. In fact, 80 percent of users say they will actively avoid sponsored ads and links in favor of natural results. That means that your web design is going to matter, and that you are going to need the right search engine optimization to be incorporated into that design if you want to get the right results. Fortunately, it is possible for businesses to outsource SEO whenever they need to be sure that they have the competitive edge, but for those that provide it, Seo reseller plans are also available to make sure that clients are connected with the content that they need.

Seo reseller programs can help businesses to focus on social media and web design so that they can get the best results. 75 percent of those who perform a search on the internet find what they are looking for on the very first page, and will not go any further than that. A majority of users will also determine whether or not they are going to stay on a web page within the first six seconds of loading it. That means that you do not have a lot of time or opportunity to impress, but with the right online marketing and web design it may be possible to make that impression as soon as possible. If you want your company to be able to target the 93 percent of internet users who begin their day on the net by performing a search, then your search marketing is going to play a role in that.

With over $200 billion in sales in 2011, eCommerce is becoming a force to reckon with, and web design is helping businesses to achieve their sales figures and totals along the way. Your choice of social media resellers and hosting could play a large role as well, so be sure that your business is working with the right people for the job. Companies will respond to roughly 30 percent of their social media fans and their feedback, so focus counts. Choosing to focus on great web design and social media solutions could be the right call if you want your business to truly shine and stand up against the competition online.

Source: http://www.seocialise.com/2013/01/what-your-web-design-says-about-your-business/

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Additional Child Tax Credit Information 2012, 2013 ... - Finance

Other options for saving money with kids

Having a child is no joke, and on top of that the financial burden that comes along with it can really slow down the progress of a family.

Here are some extra ways to lower your tax burden by taking advantage of the entire list of child tax credits made available to the public by the government. After taking the child tax credit you may end up with an excess of your tax liability. This amount can potentially be refunded.

This is called the Additional Child Tax Credit. The excess money left over has two different methods of calculation depending on how many children you are claiming.

One of the most prominent examples, that is sort of a passive change and savings, is the fact that savings account for children?s college accounts will be allowed to increase overtime with the ever-changing tuition fees of colleges, without incurring additional fees or taxes on the income.

529 and College Plans

Another deduction that is called the 529 plan, or just a state college-savings plan, includes the ability for parents to save money completely tax-free, with the one restriction being that you have to use the money to pay for your child?s college.

Other similar tax deductions that were made to help low-income families cover this same subject and many more, where they allow huge tax deductions to make the everyday life of families that much more bearable and affordable. For instance, the adoption credit allows up to $12,650 depending on the exact end-result of your adoption, with the credit getting lowered if you income exceeds $229,710 per year.

Another odd example of a tax deduction that can save you money, but might make you scratch your head wondering who came up with the specific laws and restrictions, includes the student loan interest tax deduction that allows students to deduct the interest of a student loan that was paid by a parent. Keep in mind that this is a parent who is not legally obligated to pay the debt, but chooses to on his or her own accord.

Tax software scans your tax return to make sure you claim every tax deduction you deserve.

Visit http://www.claimthechildtaxcredit.com/ to file your tax return with the guarantee of the biggest tax refund possible.

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Tags: child tax, tax credit

Category: Tax

Source: http://www.financecategory.com/additional-child-tax-credit-information-2012-2013.html

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Monitoring of immune function in critically ill children with influenza reveals severe immune suppression in non-survivors

Jan. 21, 2013 ? Investigators from 15 children's medical centers, including Nationwide Children's Hospital, observed and evaluated critically ill children with influenza to evaluate the relationships between levels of systemic inflammation, immune function and likelihood to die from the illness. The study appears in the January issue of Critical Care Medicine.

The innate immune system is the cellular arm of the immune system that serves as a first-responder to new threats, and is thought to drive the inflammatory response in many forms of critical illness. Recent evidence indicates that suppression of innate immune system function can occur in critically ill patients.

This immune suppression can be quantified in the laboratory through measurement of the capacity of the patient's blood to produce a specific cytokine, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-? , when stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a substance which should induce a robust TNF ? response. Patients with innate immune suppression produce reduced amounts of TNF? when their blood is stimulated. In its most severe form, this condition is known as immunoparalysis. Severe reductions in TNF? production capacity have been associated with the development of secondary bacterial infections and death in critically ill adults and children.

Immune function is not routinely measured in patients with influenza, though some therapies used in this population, such as corticosteroids, can be potently immunosuppressive.

"Both pro- and anti-inflammatory therapies have been proposed as additional treatment options for influenza infection," explains lead study author Mark Hall, MD, Critical Care specialist and principal investigator in the Center for Clinical and Translational Research of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. "However, a lack of immune monitoring data in the pediatric population has made therapeutic decision-making difficult in children."

In this first-of-its-kind, multicenter observational study, blood samples from critically ill children with influenza were tested using highly standardized techniques to determine the capacity of the participants' innate immune system to produce TNF? when stimulated with LPS. Healthy control subjects also had their blood tested for the same properties.

Results indicated that despite high levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, critically ill children with influenza demonstrated lower TNF? production capacity compared with healthy control subjects. Further, children who died from influenza had markedly lower TNF? production capacity compared with survivors. Patients who were co-infected with influenza and the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus showed the greatest degree of immune suppression.

While the reduced capacity to produce TNF? among the critically ill children compared to healthy subjects was expected, the degree of reduction in capacity was severe enough to be highly predictive of death from the illness.

"The study demonstrates a strong relationship between mortality and reduced innate immune responsiveness in critically ill patients," said Dr. Hall, also a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "It also demonstrates the feasibility of large-scale immune monitoring of the kind necessary to develop and test therapies for these critically ill children. The identification of potential treatment thresholds is important because strong evidence suggests that innate immune suppression associated with critical illness may be reversible."

Advocating for additional studies, investigators suggest that patient-specific immune monitoring could aid in determining the most effective treatment for these critically ill patients. Therapies that stimulate the immune system may have a significant role in the treatment of high-risk children with severe immune suppression associated with influenza infection.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/XFmDsrTYKUI/130121122930.htm

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Katy Perry and Usher rock for military kids

By Jordan Zakarin, The Hollywood Reporter

As dignitaries, donors and deal makers flooded into Washington, D.C. for the second inauguration of President?Barack Obama, his wife headlined an event that boasted its own considerable star power, while transcending the partisan warfare that has engulfed the city.

In the main, cavernous room of the Washington Convention Center, First Lady?Michelle Obama?and the Second Lady, Dr.?Jill Biden, hosted the Kids' Inaugural Concert, thrown for and in honor of the children of military families nationwide.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

The event was officially emceed by "America's Got Talent"?host?Nick Cannon, who stood in front of four massive screens stretching the horizontal length of the ballroom, drenched with projection-illuminated stars and set with light blue columns that suggest the capital is a friendly place worthy of the grandeur described in the kids' textbooks.

---

More from THR: Lady Gaga to headline inaugural ball for Obama staffers

Usher?led off the concert with a string of his biggest hits. Perhaps because he has earned universal awareness among elementary school students through his mentorship of?Justin Bieber, the Grammy-winner was greeted by dancing children of all ages; there were four-year-olds standing on their chairs, humming along and bending their knees, often holding hands with their mothers.

Like many that followed, Usher gave a pep talk about the importance of youth activism, and the value of the sacrifices that military children make; it was a seemingly sincere tribute, and was repeated through video messages from stars such as those from Disney Channel's?"Shake It Up"; Nickelodeon's "Big Time Rush"; the hit boy band The Wanted;?Jimmy Fallon?(who deadpanned and called himself One Direction's?Harry Styles);?Ellen DeGeneres?(who drew massive cheers); and?David Letterman, whose smiling words were met with absolute confused silence, an ironic highlight for any adult in the room.

Photos from THR: 10 presidents and their Hollywood pals

Several cast members from "Glee"?--?Darren Criss,?Naya Rivera?and?Amber Riley?-- earned their own raucous cheers, as they performed an acoustic song each. Riley's rendition of?Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" was a particular hit.

Among the more notable details: the concession stand in the back -- more like just a few food carts -- carried both fresh fruit and ice cream. For a first lady that has promoted healthy eating among children, it was a compromise in a special celebratory occasion.

Obama and Biden took the stage near the end, calling in groups of military kids on video chats broadcast on the big screens. The first lady in particular was earnest in her words, appealing to all ages.

More from THR: Hollywood gets invited to Obama's inauguration

"You see, when we said we wanted to host a concert to honor our military kids, let me tell you, everyone wanted to be here. Usher wanted to be here," she said. "Katy Perry wanted to be here. Nick Cannon, the folks from 'Glee,'?and all the other amazing performers -- they wanted to be here, too. And let me tell you, they?re not here for me. They?re not here for Dr. Biden. They are here for all of you. Because they know the kind of sacrifices that you all make every single day."

Soon after, Perry took the stage, in her trademark Uncle Sam-style corset, with a full band and backup singers behind her. She sang for songs -- "Teenage Dream," "Part of Me," "Wide Awake" and "Firework," the last of which was played in front of a photo montage of President Obama with children -- gave the one semi-political moment of the night, celebrating "four more years" of Obama and Vice President?Joe Biden.

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Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/01/20/16612142-katy-perry-and-usher-rock-for-military-kids-at-inaugural-concert?lite

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RIMtailing: Fish for Broader Pet Market Profits

There?s gold from them thar dogs. And cats. And rabbits, reptiles, birds, gerbils, fish, and more, according to a Marketing Daily article based on a report from market research firm Packaged Facts.
?????Retailers offering items for pets often verify an Eastern Washington University research finding: People are more willing to buy premium items for their pets than for themselves. About 80% of dog owners said they were serious about selecting healthy food for their dogs, but only 65% of the same people said they were serious about their own food selection. A few years ago, sales of designer-label pet clothing and accessories began a growth spurt.
?????University of Utah research attributes these trends to us considering our pets to be defenseless. It?s the same dynamic which helps explain why, during the economic downturn, consumers cut back more on expenses for themselves than on expenses for their offspring.
?????Adults might not have as much splurge-spirit love for Henrietta the hamster as for Hank the family dog. But the Marketing Daily article says that, compared to owners of a cat or a dog, adults having fish or reptiles are more likely to also have kids around. Nearly 90% of households with a hamster include children. And for those children, there?s no question that Henrietta is worth a splurge. Just be sure you merchandise those indulgent items for pets at the children?s eye level.
?????At the same time, there?s a growth in households without children. As this percentage of families with children decreases, the drive to own a pet increases. Some of the decrease comes from people staying single longer, some comes from empty nesters living longer, and some from other sources. Researchers at American Demographic reported that 92% of owners of dogs and cats consider them to be members of the family.
?????Whatever your retailing line, it would benefit you to carry some products of special interest to pet owners. Almost any retailer can have at least a limited line for pets. Harley-Davidson, Ralph Lauren, IKEA, and Lands? End have all done it. Services retailers, too, would benefit by thinking about ways to sell to pet owner markets. People board their birds as well as their dogs.
?????And if it won?t work for you to allow the pet to join the shoppers in your store, develop a warm spot in your shoppers? hearts by featuring photos of pets with their people.

Click below for more:?
Honor Those Who Love Those Pets?
Have Products & Services to Pamper Pets?
Dog Each Track for Pet Food Profits

Source: http://rimtailing.blogspot.com/2013/01/fish-for-broader-pet-market-profits.html

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Jobs for Bloggers - ProBlogger Job Board - Federal Criminal Law ...

is looking for a

Federal Criminal Law/Prison Education Blogger

Description

Seeking blogger with experience in the legal field. Topics to include federal criminal law, law as it pertains to prisoners' rights, and news about the Federal Bureau of Prisons and/or other prison systems. Blogs to be targeted toward families of inmates, those who are going to prison, attorneys, and others in the criminal justice field.

Content to be pro-criminal defendant. Experience with SEO would be beneficial. A huge plus if blogger can also handle Twitter and Facebook.

How to apply

To apply: Email doctorradic@gmail.com with links to previous blogs, writing sample, CV, cover letter and desired compensation.

Posted on: 01/19

Source: http://jobs.problogger.net/view/6892

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Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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Vision Of Career & Technical Education - Phd Dissertation Writing ...

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Source: http://botadorilao.blogspot.com/2013/01/vision-of-career-technical-education.html

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Local woman shares how teen faked cancer, fooled many online ...

A local woman says before you judge Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te?o, you should know it?s a lot easier than you might think to get sucked into one of these fake online relationships.

Christina Stokes thought she developed a friendship with a teenager diagnosed with cancer. Turns out, the girl wasn?t who she thought it was.

She has battled leukemia four times in the last three years. Throughout that time, she?s made life-long relationships with cancer survivors on support boards on Facebook. She never imagined one of those friends from Kentucky was a hoax.

?When you?re recovering from the treatments with leukemia, there?s a lot of isolation,? said Stokes. ?Anybody that comes to see you, they can?t touch you, they have mask and gloves. You spend a lot of time alone so you really bond with the people online.?

After Stokes? cancer relapsed for the first time, she decided to go online to look for some support and some inspiration.

?All day long, that?s what I do,? she said. ?I talk to them and encourage them and they encourage me.?

Christina found a source of strength among the hundreds posting on leukemia support boards. She even met her donor in a page for bone marrow transplant patients. It was around that time when she met a 17-year-old teenager from Kentucky, who claimed she was battling the same cancer, acute myelogenous leukemia.

?She had all of us friend her boyfriend so her boyfriend could stay in touch with us because she was put on life support, kidney failure, heart failure, it was really massive stuff.?

However, after a year of chatting online and on the phone, Stokes began to see red flags. She showed us photos of the teenager?s tubes that were pasted on instead of in her chest, to ones of the teenager getting her head shaved, none of them showing her face.

?All of them, you can?t tell if it?s her or not, no matter what she did,? said Stokes.

Then, Christina saw one picture of the girl with a photoshopped shaved head. Stokes knew it was all a lie.

?We knew that it wasn?t real because of the shadow. I?ve lost my hair and grown it out four times now,? she said. ?At first, I just cried because I was just so hurt. More than anything, it was just hurt and disappointment. Then it kind of made you wonder, are all these other people I?m building relationship real??

Christina finally confronted the girl?s mother, who said it was not the first time her daughter has posed as a cancer patient.

?I mean I believed her. I was trying to get to Kentucky when they put her on life support,? said Stokes.

Since then, Christina has blocked the teenager on Facebook and is only on two support boards now. Christina is also in remission for the fourth time, which is why she plans to keep logging-on to lift spirits up ? but not without keeping her guard up.

?I don?t think that?s why people who fake it realize what they do to the heart and soul of people out there fighting this.?

Christina recommends if you do plan on talking to anyone online, make sure to do a little bit more research. Here are things you should do:

• Friend and talk to that person?s friends.
• Skype or video chat with them ? that way you know where they?re at in real time and you can have that face-to-face connection
• Don?t send any money if you plan on sending any gifts

Source: http://fox59.com/2013/01/17/local-woman-shares-how-teen-faked-cancer-fooled-many-online/

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Algerian assault ends crisis, 19 hostages dead

CAPTION CORRECTION, CORRECTS TO THE CITY OF AMENAS, ALGERIA, NOT THE AMENAS GAS FIELD, WHICH IS 45 KM FROM THE CITY AND NOT VISIBLE IN THIS IMAGE - This Oct. 8, 2012 satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows the city of Amenas, Algeria. At the Amenas Gas Field, 45 km from the city and not shown in this image, Algerian special forces launched a rescue operation Thursday and freed foreign hostages held by al-Qaida-linked militants, but estimates for the number of dead varied wildly from four to dozens. (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe)

CAPTION CORRECTION, CORRECTS TO THE CITY OF AMENAS, ALGERIA, NOT THE AMENAS GAS FIELD, WHICH IS 45 KM FROM THE CITY AND NOT VISIBLE IN THIS IMAGE - This Oct. 8, 2012 satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows the city of Amenas, Algeria. At the Amenas Gas Field, 45 km from the city and not shown in this image, Algerian special forces launched a rescue operation Thursday and freed foreign hostages held by al-Qaida-linked militants, but estimates for the number of dead varied wildly from four to dozens. (AP Photo/DigitalGlobe)

Map locates Ain Amenas, Algeria where hostages were taken

Unidentified rescued hostages pose for the media in Ain Amenas, Algeria, in this image taken from television Friday Jan. 18, 2013. Algeria?s state news service says nearly 100 out of 132 foreign hostages have been freed from a gas plant where Islamist militants had held them captive for three days. The APS news agency report was an unexpected indication of both more hostages than had previously been reported and a potentially breakthrough development in what has been a bloody siege. (AP Photo/Canal Algerie via Associated Press TV)

An unidentified rescued hostage receives treatment in a hospital in Ain Amenas, Algeria, in this image taken from television Friday Jan. 18, 2013. Algeria?s state news service says nearly 100 out of 132 foreign hostages have been freed from a gas plant where Islamist militants had held them captive for three days. The APS news agency report was an unexpected indication of both more hostages than had previously been reported and a potentially breakthrough development in what has been a bloody siege. (AP Photo/Canal Algerie via Associated Press TV)

Roadblocks prevent the access of the Tigentourine gas plant where hostages have been kidnapped by islamic militants, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. The hostage crisis in the remote desert of Algeria is not over, Britain said Friday, after an Algerian raid on the gas plant to wipe out Islamist militants and free their captives from at least 10 countries unleashed bloody chaos. (AP Photo/Anis Belghoul)

AIN AMENAS, Algeria (AP) ? Algerian special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the middle of the Sahara desert on Saturday in a "final assault" that ended a four-day-old hostage crisis, according to the state news agency and two foreign governments. At least 19 hostages and 29 Islamist militants have been killed.

The report, quoting a security source, didn't say whether any hostages or militants remained alive, and it didn't give the nationalities of the dead.

It said the army was forced to intervene after a fire broke out in the plant and said the militants killed the hostages. It wasn't immediately possible to verify who killed the captives.

Seven hostages and 11 militants were killed in Saturday's operation, adding to the previous tally of 12 captives and 18 kidnappers.

The Ain Amenas plant is jointly run by BP, Norway's Statoil and Algeria's state-owned oil company. The governments of Norway and Britain said they received confirmation the siege was over.

The entire refinery was mined with explosives and set to blow up, the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach said in a statement, adding that the process of clearing the explosives had begun. The Algerian media reported that the militants had planned to blow up the complex.

The siege transfixed the world after radical Islamists linked to al-Qaida stormed the complex, which contained hundreds of plant workers from all over the world.

Algeria's response to the crisis was typical of the country's history in confronting terrorists ? military action over negotiation ? and caused an international outcry from countries worried about their citizens. Algerian military forces twice assaulted the areas where the hostages were being held with minimal apparent negotiation ? first on Thursday and then on Saturday.

The latest deaths bring the official Algerian tally of dead to 19 hostages and 29 militants, although reports on the number of dead, injured and freed have been contradictory throughout the crisis. Militants originally said they had seized 41 foreign hostages.

The al-Qaida-linked militants attacked the plant Wednesday morning. They crept across the border from Libya, 60 miles (100 kilometers) away, and fell on a pair of buses taking foreign workers to the airport. The buses' military escort drove off the attackers in a blaze of gunfire that sent bullets zinging over the heads of crouching workers. A Briton and an Algerian ? probably a security guard ? were killed.

Frustrated, the militants turned to the vast gas complex, divided between the workers' living quarters and the refinery itself, and seized hostages, the Algerian government said. The gas flowing to the site was cut off.

On Thursday, Algerian helicopters opened fire on a convoy carrying both kidnappers and their hostages, resulting in many deaths, according to witnesses.

In their final communications, the militants said they were holding seven hostages: three Belgian, two Americans, a Japanese and a Briton. They had threatened to kill them if the Algerian army attacked.

Algerian authorities estimated that about 30 militants occupied the Ain Amenas site Wednesday and with 18 already reported dead, it appeared Saturday that the hostage crisis was finally over.

The standoff has put the spotlight on al-Qaida-linked groups that roam remote areas of the Sahara, threatening vital infrastructure and energy interests. The militants initially said their operation was intended to stop a French attack on Islamist militants in neighboring Mali ? though they later said it was two months in the planning, long before the French intervention.

The accounts of hostages who escaped the complex highlight the cavalier attitude toward their lives taken by both kidnappers and the military.

Ruben Andrada, 49, a Filipino civil engineer who works as one of the project management staff for the Japanese company JGC Corp., described how Algerian helicopter gunships had earlier opened fire on vehicles carrying hostages and the gunmen who used them as shields.

On Thursday, about 35 hostages guarded by 15 militants were loaded into seven SUVs in a convoy to move them from the housing complex to the refinery, Andrada said. The militants placed "an explosive cord" around their necks and were told it would detonate if they tried to run away, he said.

"When we left the compound, there was shooting all around," Andrada said, describing the helicopters' attack. "I closed my eyes. We were going around in the desert. To me, I left it all to fate."

Andrada said when the vehicle he was in overturned, some of the passengers were able to escape. He sustained cuts and bruises and was grazed by a bullet on his right elbow. He later saw the blasted remains of other vehicles, and the severed leg of one of the gunmen.

The site of the gas plant spreads out over several hectares (acres) and includes a housing complex and the processing site, about a mile apart, making it especially complicated for the Algerians to secure the site and likely contributed to the lengthy standoff.

"It's a big and complex site. It's a huge place with a lot of people there and a lot of hiding places for hostages and terrorists," said Col. Richard Kemp, a retired commander of British forces who had dealt with hostage rescues in Iraq and Afghanistan. "These are experienced terrorists holding the hostages."

Casualty figures varied widely. The Algerian government now says 19 hostages and 29 militants have died since Thursday. Before the final assault, the militants claimed through the Mauritanian website ANI that the helicopter attack alone killed 35 hostages and 15 militants.

One American, from Texas, is among the dead, and the militants offered to trade two other American hostages for two terrorists behind bars in the U.S., an offer firmly rejected by Washington. At least one Briton, a Frenchman and Algerians have also died in the standoff. Escaped Algerian workers describe seeing people of many nationalities, including Japanese, shot down.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday that there are believed to be no more French hostages in the gas complex. He said the Frenchman killed, Yann Desjeux, was a former member of the French Special Forces and part of the security team. The remaining three French nationals who were at the plant are now free, the Foreign Ministry said.

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed that as of Saturday, there were "fewer than 10" British nationals still at risk or unaccounted for and "the majority of" Britons at the plant were now safe, he said.

Statoil CEO Helge Lund said Saturday that there were only six Norwegians unaccounted for, from the 17 at the plant at the time of the attack.

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Saturday one Romanian hostage was killed in the course of the siege, while four escaped unharmed.

The attack by the Mali-based Masked Brigade had been in the works for two months, a member of the brigade told the online Mauritanian news outlet. He said militants targeted Algeria because they expected the country to support the international effort to root out extremists in neighboring Mali and it was carried out by a special commando unit, "Those Who Signed in Blood," tasked with attacking nations supporting intervention in Mali.

The kidnappers focused on the foreign workers, largely leaving alone the hundreds of Algerian workers who were briefly held hostage before being released or escaping.

Several of them arrived haggard-looking on a late-night flight into Algiers on Friday and described how the militants stormed the living quarters and immediately separated out the foreigners.

Mohamed, a 37-year-old nurse who like the others wouldn't allow his last names to be used for fear of trouble for himself or his family, said at least five people were shot to death, their bodies still in front of the infirmary when he left Thursday night.

Chabane, who worked in food services, said he bolted out the window and was hiding when he heard the militants speaking among themselves with Libyan, Egyptian and Tunisian accents. At one point, he said, they caught a Briton.

"They threatened him until he called out in English to his friends, telling them, 'Come out, come out. They're not going to kill you. They're looking for the Americans,'" Chabane said.

"A few minutes later, they blew him away."

_____

Paul Schemm reported from Rabat, Morocco. Associated Press writers Aomar Ouali and Karim Kebir in Algiers; Oliver Teves in Manila, Philippines; Elaine Ganley in Paris; Sylvia Hui in London, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-19-Algeria-Kidnapping/id-600b00f013514dd0b9274998481bef90

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