Lindsay Lohan is troubled and knows it, but reportedly the actress can't get the help she needs, because she's broke.
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Thursday, December 20, 2012
French colonization of Algeria "brutal": Hollande
In the wake of a monstrous crime like a madman's mass murder of defenseless women and children at the Newtown, Conn., elementary school, the nation's attention is riveted on what could have been done to prevent such a massacre.Luckily, some years ago, two famed economists, William Landes at the University of Chicago and John Lott at Yale, conducted a massive study of multiple victim public shootings in the United States between 1977 and 1995 to see how various legal changes affected their frequency and death toll. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/french-colonization-algeria-brutal-hollande-085127415--finance.html
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Digital Product Creation ? Choosing Your First Topic | Justin Popovic
Problem: You have never built a product before because you lack experience worth ?productizing?.
So how do you gain the experience?
It is the classic dilemma all entrepreneurs face in the beginning.
==> How do you sell your WordPress consulting services if you don?t have any testimonials?
==> How do you sell your first peak performance training to a corporate client?
==> How do you land your first speaking gig with no previous speaking experience?
There are dozens of ways to get around these ?roadblocks? such as?
- taking on free clients in exchange for testimonials
- partnering with another expert as an apprentice
- charging a minimal fee drastically lower than the competition in exchange for a chance to prove yourself
- etc..
Whatever method you choose, the bottom line is you CHOOSE a plan and get to work.
In fact, all new endeavors where you go from zero experience to expert status follow basic 4 step formula?
- You set your goal.
- You study your options.
- You CHOOSE your plan.
- You take action.
Most aspiring product creators do a good job with Step 1 and 2.
- They can come up with a decent goal like,? ?To create a product and generate X dollars in revenue?
- They study markets, courses and training programs and evaluate their options.
Then? they get stuck.
They are desperate to pick the EXACT ?right? project or,
They are scared they will choose the ?wrong? one
(or both)
They become locked in INDECISION.
Imagine this scenario?
Step 1 ? Goal: Lose 30 pounds and reduce body fat from 30% to 15%
Step 2 ? Options: Low carb diet, vegan diet, weight training, yoga, join a running club, pilates classes, boxing classes, etc?
Step 3 ? Choose: ???????
As long as no choice is made, no change will be made.
No changes in actions ? No changes in results.
Simple formula.
If you want to start creating your own products (or doing anything new in your life/business) but you have been stuck in a ?holding pattern?, then I want you to burn this quote from Theodore Roosevelt into your brain?
In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.
- Theodore Roosevelt
In the past 5 years as a full time entrepreneur, I have tried hundreds of things to generate revenue and grow my business. MANY of those ideas/projects were quite literally bad ideas.
But NONE of them were bad experiences. I learned more about myself and more about business, sales, marketing, etc? every single time. Each experience became a new ?notch? on my entrepreneurial belt.
Was I afraid of looking foolish or losing money? You better believe it. But I did it anyways because really? I had no choice. My business was my only source of income so my job was quite literally to keep coming up with new ideas, new projects, new strategies until I found something that worked.
The same thing goes for you as a product creator.
SOME TIPS AND A ?STRAT CHAT??
If you have never created a digital product before you are likely in one of two positions:
1. You have existing knowledge that you can teach that will help someone else achieve a result
- make more money
- save time
- automate repeated tasks
- improve their behavior
- feel more confident
- etc?
2. You are involved in a market (as a consumer and producer) and you know there are needs that have not been met. You create a solution using strategies like?
- organized research
- interviews
- case studies
- trial and error with your own examples
- etc?.
You already know there is a simple 4-part system to success.
- You set your goal.
- You study your options.
- You CHOOSE your plan.
- You take action.
You have 1 job right now and that is to CHOOSE a project and get started.
You must CHOOSE your project with boldness and passion. Don?t limp in thinking ?I wonder if this will work or not?.
After you have given your ideas some thought, you must draw a line in the sand and just pick.
Yes? you might choose the wrong topic, wrong format, wrong plan!
But at least you chose something and got into action. Everyone has heard all the different quotes and stories from successful thinkers and leaders. The general message is that they all fail more often than they succeed.
But they NEVER fail to CHOOSE a plan and take action. That is ultimately all you can control.
If you have been sitting on the fence, make today the day you actually DECIDE what you want to do.
YOUR ACTION PLAN?
- Write down all of your skills, talents and interests. As many as you can possibly think of.
- Write down all of the products and topics from your market that interest you. What sells? What are people looking for?
- Find a topic/area that is under served or has some unanswered questions you can investigate and provide answers to. In the internet marketing world this could be anything like tips for finding more leads for marketing consultants, how to build a mobile app, text message marketing strategies, etc? You probably already have some products/areas that you have thought about. Start there.
- Then? pick a topic or idea that stands out. And if nothing stands out? then pick anything.
- Decide what kind of problems/questions you want to address
- Then begin. Don?t worry if you don?t know how you?re going to do every step. Just get started. Start typing, start recording audio/video, start brainstorming topics, start researching questions you can address. DO SOMETHING.
Take the first step in faith. You don?t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ready To Kill It As A Product Creator?? CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT MY PRODUCT CREATION TRAINING
Comments
Source: http://justinpopovic.com/online-marketing/digital-product-creation-choosing-your-first-topic/
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2013 Toyota RAV4 Test Drive
On-Sale Date: January 2013
Price: $24,145 to $29,225
Competitors: Honda CR-V, Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape, Nissan Rogue, Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson, Mazda CX-5
Powertrains: 2.5-liter I-4, 176 hp, 172 lb-ft
EPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 24/31 (FWD), 22/29 (AWD)
What?s New: The RAV4 is the OG of the small crossovers. Well, as OG as a four-cylinder wagon can be. Still, the 1995 RAV4 was the first car-based crossover, and it paved the way for the auto industry?s move from truck-based SUVs to the gentler-riding, lighter-duty, and much more fuel-efficient vehicles of today. But as much respect as the RAV4 deserves, it has been rolling for six full model years without a facelift. Not anymore.
Few bones remain unchanged from the old RAV4, even though the new RAV4?s chassis shares a common lineage based on the current-generation Corolla. Toyota?s goal was to make the RAV4 more fun behind the wheel without affecting the car?s versatility. Dropping the third-row-seat option might seem less versatile, but cargo capacity increases 0.4 cubic feet to 73.4 with the second-row seats folded. That?s with the spare tire housed inside the vehicle and with a smaller overall RAV4.
Ordering a new RAV4 is dramatically simpler. Just pick front- or all-wheel drive and check off the box for XE, XLE or Limited trim. The single engine option, shared with the Camry, carries over from before: a 2.5-liter four-cylinder rated at 176 hp. That big four comes mated to a six-speed automatic, which replaces the ancient four-speed. The V-6 and hybrid powertrains are gone. The strategy makes sense considering that most of the RAV4?s competitors, including the best-selling Honda CR-V, offer a single powertrain and a straightforward trim strategy.
Tech Tidbit: The RAV4 debuts Toyota?s latest all-wheel drive, called Dynamic Torque Control. It?s largely the same as the Active Torque Control system used on the outgoing RAV4, with an electronically controlled coupling mounted ahead of the rear differential to send torque rearward when needed. But the new AWD shifts the focus from saving you from foul weather to better overall handling. The signals that command the rear coupling are sent more frequently and take into account additional information sent by the engine, transaxle, and electronic power steering systems. A new Sport mode sets the Dynamic Torque Control parameters for quicker response and improved handling by sending 10 percent of torque to the rear as you turn into a corner. This mode also sends up to 50 percent of the available torque to the rear axle to help rotate the vehicle through the corner and mitigate understeer. The Sport feeling is further enhanced by reducing steering assist, sharpening the throttle response, and dialing back the stability control system.
Driving Character: It only takes a few minutes behind the wheel of the previous, third-generation RAV4 to understand the improvements made to this new one. The windshield, steering wheel, and driving position of the old car are all more upright. It?s as though you are perched up high, driving a little bus. The steering feel is heavy and the car rolls quite a bit in the corners.
The new RAV4 drives as though Toyota had borrowed a bunch of Mazda engineers and told them to zoom-zoom the entire vehicle. The 2013 is agile; corners fly by with the suspension keeping the little Toyota flat. And yes, pressing that little Sport button on the dash makes the experience even better. This RAV4 is another step in a recent trend of surprisingly fun Toyotas. Yes, the RAV4 has gained a few pounds (up 75 pounds on base front-drive models), but the four-cylinder and six-speed automatic combination is sprightly enough for dicing through the city streets or slogging up a mountain road. And the 6-speed?s top two gears, both overdrive, make for a relaxed (and quiet) engine on the freeway.
The latest model is noticeably better in tedious bouts of freeway traffic as well. The new interior is much improved, with soft-touch materials right where your hands and elbows want them. The steering wheel (finally) tilts and telescopes. You can lower the driver?s seat, replacing the old RAV4?s bus-like driving position with one more suggestive of a sedan. The interior feels roomier than before, although the specs say the headroom is down by an inch or so in both rows, and legroom is now 1 inch less in the back seat. Hip room is also down by a sizable 3.5 inches for rear passengers. All this sounds like a fairly large sacrifice, but we had little trouble finding comfort in the back seat (even with a nearly 6-foot frame).
Favorite Detail: Toyota finally abandoned the dowdy styling that plagued past generations of RAV4. This new one just looks good. The sheet metal has curves, the fenders are bulging, and the nose is angular and sporty. It?s a real departure from many of Toyota?s mainstream vehicles.
Driver?s Grievance: The new RAV4 has lost some ground clearance, dropping from 7.5 inches to 6.3. Yes, we know crossovers rarely, if ever, venture off-road. But an Audi Allroad, which is basically a tall station wagon, has 7.1 inches?more than this new RAV4. A Subaru Forester has 8.9 inches of clearance. We suspect there might be a few Vermont, Colorado, or Montana RAV4 buyers that will miss that 1.2 inches during a serious winter storm.
Bottom Line: Toyota has made transformative changes to the RAV4. In both style and substance, the company?s smallest crossover has gone from stodgy to sporty. The new RAV4 is finally fun to drive and has become one of the best-looking vehicles in the class. We?d opt for the XLE trim, which comes with padded interior bits and a power tailgate, since it seems to be the sweetest spot in terms of price and comfort. The downside? The new RAV4 is expensive. Its base price of $24,145 is more than Hyundai?s Tucson and Honda?s CR-V. Even so, the new Toyota is entertaining and practical.
Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/drives/2013-toyota-rav4-test-drive-14873288?src=rss
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Opaque Instagram ad policy change riles users
NEW YORK (AP) ? Instagram, the popular photo-sharing service that Facebook bought this year, is the target of a storm of outrage on Twitter and other sites after a change in its user agreement hinted that it might use shared photos in ads.
It's not clear that anything substantive has changed in Instagram's new terms of service, which were posted Monday and go into effect Jan. 16. As is the case before, the service reserves the right to use shared photos in any matter it likes, though the photographers keep "ownership" of the photos.
The updated terms of service say users agree that their photos could be used "in connection with paid or sponsored content." The current terms say the service can place ads "on, about or in conjunction with your Content."
The fast-growing site is a popular way to share photos from cellphones. Facebook Inc. bought Instagram in September. The cash-and-stock deal was worth $1 billion when it was announced in April, though that fell to about $740 million by the time it was completed because of Facebook's falling stock price.
The updated terms suggests that Facebook wants to integrate Instagram into its ad-serving system, which can, for instance, promote an item by telling users that their friends "Like" it. The new terms make it clearer that Instagram could use your photos to market to your friends.
Instagram announced the change in a blog post, but didn't explain its intentions. It said a concurrent change to the privacy policy, a separate document, would help Instagram function more easily as part of Facebook.
Twitter users were vowing to cancel their Instagram accounts in response to the policy change, complaining that the new terms would essentially let the service sell people's photos for ads.
___
Online:
Current terms: http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms
New terms: http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms/updated
Instagram blog post:
http://blog.instagram.com/post/38143346554/privacy-and-terms-of-service-changes-on-instagram
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/opaque-instagram-ad-policy-change-riles-users-163622304--finance.html
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English episcopal heavy-hitters defend marriage against Cameron's ...
Archbishop Peter Smith has?criticized Cameron?s plans to legalize same-sex marriage on the BBC and?Bishop Egan has published his letter to the Prime Minister on the issue. Archbishop Smith qualified as a lawyer and Bishop Philip Egan has a doctorate in theology:
Extract from Archbishop Smith?s BBC statement:
Yesterday saw the publication of the Government?s response to the Equal Marriage Consultation. This response has ignored the key concern expressed by many people in this country; that is the proposed change to the meaning of marriage.
We are in danger of forgetting what marriage has always meant: a union of one man and one woman for love and mutual support, open to the procreation of children.
It is more than a way of recognising committed loving relationships. Marriage matters to families, stability, and the common good of society. We risk grave long term social loss by rushing into such ill-considered legislative change.
Religious freedom is not the primary issue in this debate, but it is very important. Any protections, whether or not they are cemented in statute, are open to challenge in the European Court of Human Rights and subject to the will of future Parliaments.
The prime minister is against statutory regulation of the press because he fears that a subsequent Parliament might amend the Act.
If future Parliaments cannot be trusted to respect the freedom of the press, can they truly be trusted to uphold these ?quadruple locks? that supposedly protect religious freedom?
Extract from Bishop Egan?s letter to PM David Cameron:
You have said you are an enthusiastic supporter of marriage and that you do not want ?gay?people to be excluded from a great institution.? Yet I wish respectfully to point out that behind?what you say lurks a basic philosophical misconception about the nature of ?equality.? Equality?can never be an absolute value, only a derivative and relative value. After all, a man cannot be a?mother nor a woman a father, and so men and women can never be absolutely equal, only?relatively equal, since they are biologically different. So too with marriage. Marriage, ever?since the dawn of human history, is a union for life and love between a man and a woman. It is?a complementary relationship between two people of the opposite sex, the man and the woman?not being the same, but different. They are not, in other words, absolutely equal but relatively?equal. This is why gay couples, two men or two women, are not being ?excluded? from?marriage; they simply cannot enter marriage.
More, you are ignoring the huge opposition of Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, as well as?that of a huge number of ordinary people. You are imposing the aspirations of a tiny minority?on the vast majority. Make no mistake, the change you are proposing is of immense?significance. By it, you will be luring the people of England away from their common Christian?values and Christian patrimony, and forcing upon us all a brave new world, artificially?engineered. What you are proposing will smother the traditional Christian ethos of our society?and in time strangle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church in Britain to conduct its?mission. There is no sanction whatsoever in the Bible and the Judaeo-Christian tradition for gay?marriage. I cannot see how anyone who claims to be a Christian can possibly justify what you?are intending to do.?I know you have spoken of the ?quadruple lock? and other legal safeguards. Yet for me many?grave concerns remain about the brave new world you are fashioning in the name of the false?gods of equality and diversity. For example, will I as a Christian have to support your ideology?when preaching? Will you exempt the Church, its resources and premises, from charges of?discrimination if it declines to host same-sex social activities? Will Catholic schools, Catholic?societies, Catholic charities and Catholic institutions be free (and legally protected) to teach the?full truth of Christ and the real meaning of life and love?
Protect the Pope comment: Both Archbishop Smith and Bishop Egan ask David Cameron specific questions that need answering by the Prime Minister and the Coalition government. Cameron?s same-sex marriage plans appear to be as poorly thought out as his ill-fated pastie-tax. That the coalition government would propose to change one of the foundations of our society with the same incompetence that they displayed over a fast food product raises questions about their fitness to govern.
http://www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk/bishop/talks_and_addresses/2012-12-15-Letter-to-PM.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20699917
Source: http://protectthepope.com/?p=6217
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Obama Social Security offer at odds with top Dems
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's offer to slow the growth of Social Security benefits would force fellow Democrats in Congress to abandon promises to shield the massive retirement and disability program from cuts as part of negotiations to avoid the year-end fiscal cliff.
Both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., pledged not to touch Social Security as part of deficit reduction talks. Now that Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have agreed to a new measure of inflation that would reduce annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, for Social Security and other government programs, Democrats are reluctant to call it a deal-breaker.
As Obama and Boehner continued to haggle over how much to raise taxes and cut spending, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney called the new inflation measure a technical adjustment designed to make inflation estimates more accurate, and he emphasized it's Republicans who want it.
"Let's be clear. This is something that the Republicans have asked for, and as part of an effort to find common ground with the Republicans, the president has agreed to put this in his proposal," Carney told reporters Tuesday. "The president has always said, as part of this process when we're talking about the spending cut side of this, that it would require tough choices by both sides."
Boehner proposed the change earlier this month in talks with Obama, and the president included it in a counteroffer this week.
Carney said Obama's plan "would protect vulnerable communities, including the very elderly, when it comes to Social Security recipients."
The White House has not released details on how Obama's plan would do this. But the president's 2010 deficit commission recommended an enhanced minimum benefit for low-wage workers and an automatic increase in benefits once a person has been receiving Social Security for 20 years.
The inflation measure under consideration is called the Chained Consumer Price Index. On average, the measure shows a lower level of inflation than the more widely used Consumer Price Index because it assumes that as prices rise, consumers turn to lower-cost alternatives, reducing the amount of inflation they experience.
If adopted across the government, the change would have far-reaching effects because so many programs are adjusted each year based on year-to-year changes in consumer prices.
On average, annual increases in Social Security payments, government pensions and veterans' benefits would be about 0.3 percentage points smaller each year. Next year's COLA is 1.7 percent. Under the new measure of inflation, it would be about 1.4 percent.
Taxes would slowly increase because annual adjustments to income tax brackets would be smaller, pushing more people into higher tax brackets. Over time, fewer people would be eligible for anti-poverty programs like Medicaid, Head Start, food stamps and school lunches because annual adjustments to the poverty level would be smaller, leaving fewer people under the official poverty line.
If enacted for 2014, the change would reduce government borrowing by $223 billion over the next decade ? $158 billion in spending cuts and $65 billion in tax increases, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The biggest savings ? $102 billion ? would come from Social Security.
"I just don't think that's fair," Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., said. "We've got to get serious about balancing the budget. But asking Donald Trump to pay a dollar more is not the same as taking something away from a lower income community that's just squeaking by."
Advocates for older Americans have been fighting against chained CPI for years, and they have stepped up their efforts since Boehner raised the issue earlier this month.
"Too many Washington politicians clearly hope middle-class Americans simply won't notice billions of dollars in Social Security benefit cuts," said Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. "I promise you. Seniors and their families will notice."
Reid has been adamant that Social Security should not be included in deficit-reduction talks, but he sidestepped a question about it Tuesday.
"This isn't going to be a situation where we're going to vote on a particular provision in the bill," Reid said. "It's going to be a framework to do something about the long-term security of this country."
Other Democratic senators were more direct.
"It doesn't warm my heart, I'll tell you that," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said of the proposal. "The whole understanding has been that we wouldn't do Social Security. That was for later."
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said, "I'm going to fight hard to keep Social Security out of this. I'm going to fight to protect our federal workforce because they've already made sacrifices. There's a lot of priorities I have. But I think we have to wait and see how the negotiations go."
___
Associated Press writers Jim Abrams, Henry C. Jackson, Ken Thomas and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
___
Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-social-security-offer-odds-top-dems-080517715--finance.html
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