News and Society – Idea Flash

One of the ways to learn what people are thinking about current problems is what things they want. This is by their reactions to their daily life through polls of public opinion. It is often possible to determine how millions of people feel about any matter of common interest by asking a smaller number of people by a much larger group called a sampling. Through the polling of small samples many things can be learned about public opinion in a very short span of time and at little expense.

Earlier this weak whiles candidate Mangudadatu family members and supporters were traveling through rival Amputuan Township to file paperwork in the provincial capital for the elections in May 2010 they were high jacked and massacred. In all 46 people were killed in two separate attacks. The first attacks left a total of 24 people dead bodies riddled with bullets; between the victims were Mangudadatu’s wife and his two sisters. The second attack not that far away claimed 22 more supporters of Mangudadatu’s that were left piled up in hillside grave including a very visual pregnant woman. Out of the 46 victims 20 were journalist just doing their jobs covering the political campaign.

Because of the latest incidents that have taking place in the southern region of the Philippines, president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has placed the region under emergency rule to find those guilty of the heinous crimes described as the worst massacre in recent Philippines history. Under emergency rule army forces will conduct random searches and checkpoints to try to locate the gunmen responsible for the crimes.

Polling is primarily an instrument for finding out about people’s needs, preferences and options. It is also well adapted to the collection of data concerning housing, employment statistics, health, information levels and countless other factual characteristics of the population or sub-group within a population. Polls serve an important function in today’s society where communications and co-operative action extend over wide areas and large numbers of people.

The polls results if they are presumed to be trustworthy, the poll must be carefully and competently planned and carried out. There are six basic steps involved in polling: They are, select the sample, pretest the questions, exactly define the objectives, formulate the questions, interview the sample and tabulate analyzing the results.

One thing is clear whoever is responsible for the attacks planned it out ahead of time gave the fact that the graves that some of the bodies were placed in was carefully dug up ahead of time. As the investigators look farther into the details of the case, they are starting to discover not only do the Ampatuan family who are considered partners with warlords and deadly militia’s control the people in the towns but also many of the police officers around the area.

For participating lenders in the HAMP program the Federal Government has sweetened the pot by giving them an incentive to modify an applicant’s loan. For each of the first 5 years of the modification the Feds will pay your lender a certain amount per month for accepting the modification. In addition, as a homeowner, if you make your new modified payment on time you may be eligible for $1,000 in principle reduction for every year you make your payments on time – up to 5 years

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over one million American veterans were hurt by the herbicide/chemical weapon Agent Orange that has also caused a ton of birth problems in Vietnamese children. Diseases were brought home by the United States troops which were there either because of enlistment or due to the draft. Just a few of these contain Hodgkin’s lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma and even acute peripheral neuropathy. In two months, approximately 270,000 Vietnam War veterans – more than a quarter of the 1 million-plus receiving disability checks, reports the Washington Post – are to be compensated for diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s and certain types of leukemia under a new rule. Within the next a decade, United States taxpayers may have to pay forty two billion dollars for this.

Every little thing from diabetes to erectile dysfunction because of Agent Orange

According to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, diabetes is one of the most common Agent Orange-related medical complication Vietnam veterans face. Erectile dysfunction is a disease that normally age would cause but now is being tied Agent Orange, which means veterans get extra compensation. Alan Simpson, chairman of President Obama’s deficit commission, explained that federal spending gets a smack within the face with all of the extra cash being spent on veterans.

“The irony (is) that the veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess,” he said.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is also critical of what he calls “presumptive conditions” that are being addressed with taxpayer funds. On Sept. 23 or soon thereafter, Akaka will participate in a hearing that will address “what changes Congress and also the VA may need for making to existing law and policy,” he said via an e-mail obtained by the Post.

VA spending is not right

According to the Associated Press, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs may end up overpaying for Vietnam veterans with diabetes. Independent calculations based on VA records show that only $850 million a year is needed to help those with diabetes. Sadly, the VA’s numbers are much higher than that. A forty two billion dollars increase within the next 10 years is a huge leap from the $34 billion a year the VA already spends on disability benefits for American veterans.

‘Credible evidence for association’ is available

A 1991 federal law on Agent Orange, pointed out by Victoria Anne Cassano, the Veterans’ Health Administration Director of Radiation and Physical exposures, saying that there is a link between afflictions and also the chemical agent “if the credible evidence for the association is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence against the association.” It is not hard, says the Post, to fit that proof. Cassano says, “Does it make you take a deep breath? Does it give you pause? Yes. But you still do what you think is the right thing to do.”

Additional reading

U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs

publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/diseases.asp

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/31/AR2010083106819.html

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange

The children of Agent Orange, 2008 (WARNING: Disturbing content)

youtube.com/watch?v=9zay0zcC0K4

Tung Shu, otherwise known as the Chinese Almanac is a book containing interesting dates about good and bad dates. However, there is much more to it than that. The book is a goldmine of information on topics such as symbols, codes and astrology. Ancient Chinese philosophers and wise sages derived this information. One thing that is particularly interesting is the information about face moles meaning.

Believes are moles on the face holds interesting meanings. This will merely apply to a noticeable single mole. Things that will not count will be small moles, freckles, acne and spots. The location of the noticeable mole would be the main key point to the meaning.

Positions one, two and three are located in the center of your forehead. It is believed that children with moles on in those locations are rebellious. They are also creative and have a relaxed attitude about life. As an adult, you may be a successful entrepreneur who would rather be self-employed.

When you find the single mole above your eyebrows in the center of your eyes, it would be symbolic of flamboyant person that will have a bubbly personality. This person can be difficult and argumentative. They will also be very forgiving. When the growth is removed, they will believe the person would have a rather peaceful attitude towards life.

People perceived to be lucky would have a mole right in the middle and above one eyebrow. They have to put in more effort than others to be successful. Others could be jealous and this mole wearer will have to protect what is theirs. Get-rich-quick schemes should be avoided and a tight control kept of personal finances.

The sixth position is right in the hairs of the eyebrow. This is a sign of creativity and intelligence being a probable source of good wealth. Much wealth could be gained from trusting instincts as opposed to making decisions that are more conservative. Successful use of this gift belongs only to the brave.

These growths or spots can occur in as much as twenty-three different places. These can indicate your personality, health, future, wealth and spirituality. Growths found under the nose could hold the meaning of your children and grandchildren having good luck. Also means you will be supported by family.

A mole in spot twenty, right in the middle between your eyes could be either highly lucky or highly unlucky. While you are very intelligent and creative, you may use it to have a positive or a negative impact. You probably do not forgive very easily. According to the book, these are the face moles meaning.

In additional to moles, face shapes can also reveal a lot about the persons character.

The meaning of each name is tied to the Chinese characters that make up the name. Chinese people believe that a name is very powerful in deciding a person’s characteristic or fate. They usually consult with the fortune tellers and the child’s grandparents before they give a name to their children. Here is a simple guide to give your children Chinese names.

Chinese names consist of three characters. Each Chinese character has their own meaning, although some of them sound the same when you read them aloud. Take for example the word “a star” or “new”. Both of these words have similar spelling, “xin”. Consequently, before you find a nice sounding name for your kid, you should find the meaning first.

The first character is the Chinese surname or family name. Since the Chinese culture is patriarchal, the family name is from the father’s side. So, if you want to name your children, you first have to know your Chinese character family name. If you have Chinese ancestry, you might try to look it up on our family tree. If you do not have a Chinese background, you can use the meaning of your family name as the first character for your child’s name.

The last two characters of a Chinese name make up the personal name for Chinese people. They also have an old tradition to give their children of the same generation the same second character. However, this is not a strict rule and people no longer abide by this anymore. If you still want to follow this tradition, you should assign different name for boys and girls name.

The next step is to think of your children, about what you want them to grow up like and what their fates are supposed to be. Chinese society tends to use masculine traits such as loyal, brave, or strong for their boy names. Girl names tend to describe what they consider feminine traits such as love, kindness, or flowers.

Combine the two words that you like to create the last two words of the Chinese name. Consider combining the personal trait with nature. Some examples are Beautiful Rose, Bright Star, or Deep Ocean. Create several combination that you like as alternatives.

You need to consult with people who know Chinese characters and Chinese names. They can help you look up to the proper Chinese characters which have the meaning you wish. These characters will be your child’s Chinese name.

Many researches are being experimented in the use of solar energy and its capabilities for the enhancement of daily living. Plants are created in a way that they can convert energy produced by the suns rays into fuel. Humans have not quite got the hang of this process yet but, we have learned how to generate electricity from the photonic energy of the sun. It is frequently asked exactly “How is electricity generated using solar panels?”

The largest energy giving body in relation to the earth, is the sun. The suns light and energy is actually capable of supplying enough current to power the whole world. However we have not the understanding yet, of how to go about doing this.

Solar cells are what we presently use to generate solar energy. The tiny cells are made up of many little silicone crystals. The sun gives off light rays which in turn can be absorbed in the form of energy within the cells. This energy can be directly converted in electrical power or current. This process is made possible through using solar panels.

Solar panels are made up of many solar cells arrayed across a board. Different types of solar cells are capable of holding varying amounts of energy. For instance, solar cells used top power household appliances are different from those that are used on a satellite.

Solar panels should be fixed onto a weather protected board and should be placed in an area that receives the most sunlight through the day. Every little solar cell on the solar panel will collect small amounts of photoninc energy being produced by the sun. When a number of solar panels are connected to one another, it is possible to generate a decent amount of power. Energy collected inside the cells can be transferred as electrical power through your household power supply. It is now possible to operate various appliances with the use of solar energy.

A battery system and a charge controller can recharge and store your power supply during the day so it is possible to have electrical current generated at night when the sun is no longer able to provide photonic energy.

The world is currently reliant on fossil fuels, but the hope of solar evolution creates hope for a greener future.

In an effort to help the technology giant provide shoppers effective tools to create more focused marketing campaigns, International Business Machines Corp. has announced it will purchase marketing software maker Unica Corp. for $ 480 million. IBM, which purchased Web analytics vendor Coremetrics recently, is offering all Unica holders $ 21 a share. That’s more than twice Thursday’s closing price and the highest level the stock has ever witnessed, according to Wall Street Journal.

IBM and Unica join forces

IBM’s goal is to help customers generate a “consistent and relevant cross-channel brand experience to promote customer loyalty and satisfaction,” as outlined in a statement, says PC World. And shifting to higher-margin software business to maintain profit growth appears to be the company’s main strategic focus. There are about 500 Unica employees, all of whom will be integrated into IBM’s software division, where the company believes an exceptional advantage could be offered to its business-analytics and consulting unit through the power of Unica’s software.

About Unica Corporation

In business for the past two decades, Unica Corporation is a recognized leader in marketing software solutions. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Waltham, Mass., with other office locations in other parts of the nation and worldwide. It is one of the fastest growing technology corporations in England. The company reported total revenue of $ 30.7 million for the 3rd quarter fiscal 2010, which ended June 30, 2010. That’s a 14 percent increase compared to last year’s figures.

A seemingly promising movement

Including major retailers like Best Buy, eBay and ING, Unica has about 1,500 consumers. All its customers will soon become IBM customers once the acquisition is finalized. Yuchun Lee, the Unica CEO, said he believes the new movement will provide the help IBM needs to improve all types of companies, regardless how big or small. IBM officials are preparing to discuss the Unica purchase in further detail during a conference call Friday. The deal will likely be closed within the fourth quarter of this year.

More on this topic here

The Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703960004575427171092347124.html

PC World

pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/203224/ibm_buying_unica_for_480_million.html

The Federal Reserve is hoping to find a way to bring the U.S. back to where it way before the economy collapsed by working with the money supply. The Fed is buying U.S. Treasury notes and bonds and is also getting interest from mortgage backed securities to try and keep all the interest rates down to a near zero rate. This practice, called monetary stimulus, or quantitative easing, injects cash into the public market. The theory is that by expanding the money supply through monetizing debt, interest rates decline. Since saving doesn’t help earn any money, businesses and consumers have no reason to not to borrow and spend more.

Fed concerned with the economic outlook and bringing forth the monetary stimulus

An earlier round of monetary stimulus during the economic downturn has failed to spark a sustainable recovery. Reuters reports the second round of quantitative easing, dubbed QE2, is one of the most essential monetary policy announcement for the Fed since it first revealed its intention to purchase assets in late 2008. The announcement of QE2 has had a short-term effect exactly opposite of its intent. The economy must be in really bad condition if the Fed is willing to admit how bad the economy is with a monetary stimulus. The announcement fueled a sense of doubt in markets. Stocks plunged. Talk swirled of Japanese-style deflation, where no amount of monetary stimulus is enough to jump-start economic growth.

Fed gambling on the QE2

The People’s Voice suggests that the Fed’s move to do a monetary stimulus is a risky one. Mortgage rates went down to record lows following the Fed bought $ 1 trillion in Fannie and Freddie securities as an try to help with the housing crisis. Fed officials wondered publicly how they were possible going to get rid of all these securities. Mortgage rates can be forced to go up because economic recovery is not getting better. The Fed could be collecting principal and interest with this portfolio adding to billions. Using the cash to monetize debt is loaded with risk. There could possibly be foreclosures with a weakened market like this. The Fed will have billion of dollars of credit losses on its portfolio when that happens.

Liquidity trap

The monetary policy would be an excellent move for the Fed if the economy were textbook. The demand, of course, is assumed to meet the supply, as outlined by Daniel Indiviglio. Companies sit on all of their money because they don’t think demand is going to expand in the near future although interest rates are low. Consumers are working on debt since they don’t know what the future holds. This is why economists call it a liquidity trap. When nobody wants to borrow right now, it makes it difficult for the Fed to help by lowering all of the interest rates.

Further reading

Reuters

reuters.com/article/idUSN1123481920100811

The Peoples Voice

thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2010/08/11/monetizing

Atlantic

theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/08/will-the-feds-new-monetary-stimulus-help/61327/

Emmy Award-winning acting professional Rip Torn could be heading down to the jail house. On Wednesday, a judge ruled against his request for a special probation program, stating the charges are too severe to qualify him. Rip torn was arrested in January for breaking into a bank in Connecticut, intoxicated and armed. Source of article – Conn. judge denies Rip Torn probation in bank break-in case by Personal Money Store.

Criminal charges on Rip Torn

Elmore Rual Torn, Jr., better known as Rip Torn, has had various alcohol-related issues within the past. The latest incident took place in Salisbury, Conn., where he was arrested for allegedly breaking into a Litchfield Bancorp branch office during closing hours when carrying a firearm without a permit. Police had responded to the alarm at the bank where a window had been broken. Holding a loaded .22-caliber pistol, the Men in Black actor was found wandering inside the facility. Torn had a blood-alcohol level of 0.203, according to court documents, which is nearly three times the legal limit for Connecticut drivers.

The Associated Press reports that Torn had pleaded not guilty to second-degree criminal trespassing, third-degree criminal mischief, carrying a firearm without a permit and carrying a weapon while intoxicated.

Other drunken incidents of Rip Torn

In January of 2004, Torn was arrested in the Big Apple after his car crashed into a taxi. Aired all over television news was a fuming Rip Torn yelling at police officers and refusing to take a breathalyzer test. He was acquitted from all charges in October of that year. Two years later, in December of 2006, the actor was arrested again for drunk driving in North Salem, New York, after crashing into a tractor trailer. He pleaded guilty, had his driver’s license revoked for 90 days and was ordered to pay a $ 380 fine.

Judge denies Rip Torn’s special request

Sadly for Rip Torn, there is no special treatment for the Hollywood actor. Litchfield Superior Court Judge James Ginocchio has rejected his proposal, saying the charges placed on 79-year-old Torn are too significant to qualify him for the accelerated rehabilitation program. The fact that Torn was still in a court-ordered alcohol education program from a previous DUI charge at the time of the bank break-in certainly doesn’t help his situation. His lawyer has requested a court-ordered evaluation of Torn’s alcohol dependency troubles, and depending on the results, Torn might be ordered to go through a state-monitored treatment for up to two years before any charges could be dropped.

Discover more details on this subject

Yahoo News

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100811/ap_on_en_tv/us_people_rip_torn_12

United Kingdom is divided into twelve Local Distribution Zones to supply gas energy. Eight gas distribution networks plays role in managing these LDZs. Every zone is dominated and controlled by few major Gas Providers . North West, London, West Midlands and East of England are taken care by the National Grid. While, Wales and the West is controlled by Wales and West Utilities. Scotia Gas Networks, operating as Scotland Gas Networks and Southern Gas Networks, dominates the Scotland & South of England respectively. North of England is owned by Northern Gas Networks, having operational activities on the contract basis to United Utilities Operations. In 1996, European Union started deregulating UK gas suppliers. The effect of this development was greater competition resulting in suppliers offering cheaper deals. These lucrative packages are often very complex and confusing. Consumers are faced with troublesome task of finding the most beneficial package.

Why is a vertical turbine better for your home than a sleeping, horizontal one? Easy question. The vertical windmill does not get slapped around by high winds. It faces the same direction regardless of which way the wind blows. This orientation is particularly important if you are in a blustery place with frequent shifts in the wind direction.

The generator in a vertical wind power design is close to the ground. That makes it easier for you to access it when it requires some routine maintenance. You can also set up a vertical windmill faster and more cheaply than a horizontal wind power design.

Paper cost and courier charges are avoided with online transactions. Direct debit monthly payment is paying a fixed amount for the gas every month. The fixed amount is calculated on previous bills of the consumer. Any balance either way is cleared annually at the end of financial year. Over-billing and under-billing are two possibilities that arise with this payment mode. Heavy discounts are attached to this mode of payment. Gas suppliers also charge hidden costs often covered under fine black print behind the contract. Paper billing and non direct payment are two popular examples of such hidden coasts.

The blades of vertical and horizontal design spin at different rates. The vertical wind turbine rotates at a lower velocity compared to the horizontal blades. There is also a much narrower space for the blades to cover in a vertically designed wind turbine. That spells good news for nature lovers because birds do not get caught and sliced in two by the blades of a vertical wind power design. However, horizontal turbine blades are known to be merciless to birds. You will find plenty of feathers around the base of the turbine to prove my point.

While not as accurate as metered billings, RUBS is virtually identical to submetering in intention, except that the billing calculation is accomplished entirely by application of formulas — rather than by metered consumption. RUBS is a reasonable alternative to submetering for properties where submetering is not feasible or cost prohibitive. RUBS creates a fair share method of passing utility costs through to residents

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Global tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world today. As more and more people have access to global travel, the tourism industry is expected to grow even bigger in the years to come. However, although the growth in the tourism industry is pinging in a lot of money and is providing jobs to people in different parts of the world, many environmentalists are alarmed at the rate of destruction that the industry have on the environment. Studies show that more than half of the famous tourist destinations around the world do not meet the sustainable tourism criteria. Most of the famous tourism destinations receive thousands of visitors almost everyday which contributes to the pollution and degradation of the environment.

To make matters worse, many eco-tour operators who are supposed to be advocates of sustainable tourism are not even practicing the principles sustainable tourism. Not that these eco-tour operators do not understand the need for sustainable tourism but sometimes they simply cannot control the human traffic that come their way. During peak seasons, many eco-tourism destinations are filled beyond their carrying capacity that destruction to the environment is inevitable. More often than not, the environmental losses are so great that it would take years for the place to recover.

Working Towards A More Sustainable Future
Although there are many eco-tour operators that are not so keen on practicing sustainable tourism, there are also a lot of operators that are rising to the challenge of protecting the environment and the local culture of their place. Most of these eco-tour operators work closely with the local residents in the area to promote sustainable tourism through education and information campaigns. These eco-tourism operators understand that the community plays a vital role in sustainable tourism and involving them in protection and preservation of the environment is necessary. The local residents, on the other hand, are made to understand the importance of keeping the environment healthy to attract more business to their locality. With the understanding that sustainable tourism will mean more jobs and more income to the locals, people are bound to be more enthusiastic is working closely with the eco-tourism operators.

Aside from involving the local communities, many eco-tourism operators also enlist the help of the visitors to preserve and protect the environment. Visitors are given orientation on the principles of sustainable tourism and environment protection as soon as they arrive. By educating the visitors on the need to protect the environment, the eco-tourism operators can reduce the negative impact that these visitors may have in their area. Recent years have also seen many famous stars advocating the importance of eco-tourism, Miley Cyrus, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to name just a few.