This Week in the Business: When a Game Ships, the Axe Falls

What's happened in the business of video games this past week ...

QUOTE | "The hire-and-fire cycle is simply an aspect of our industry. When a game ships, sometimes the guillotine has to drop."?David Valjalo, game consultant, talking about an unfortunate reality of making AAA games today.

QUOTE | "It's not the decline of consoles, it's the decline of a generation."?Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's Worldwide development studios, talking about his fundamental belief in consoles and why people are tired of current-gen.

QUOTE | "It's clear that the vast majority of the people ... don't want to buy [games] online right now."?Guy Longworth, Sony's SVP of brand marketing, talking about why retail game sales will continue to dominate.

QUOTE | "We will continue to support the Wii U this Christmas, and we're expecting it to take off in terms of sales."?Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, talking about the company's position on the Wii U.

QUOTE | "We're in the business of blowing minds and providing huge experiences."?Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg, talking about what Activision needs to do to stay on top in the console business.

QUOTE | "A big company can become very dumb, very quickly."?Hilmar Petursson, CEO of CCP, talking about the difficulties involved with the company's growth over time.

QUOTE | "We're working hard as a team to build this and to break a couple of rules inside Microsoft."?Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming, talking about the new version of the World of Tanks free-to-play game for Xbox 360.

QUOTE | "We think of Origin, in this new world, as the gracious host of the party."?EA's EVP Andrew Wilson, talking about his vision for the future of EA's digital distribution service and how it must improve.

QUOTE | "The ultimate target for us is that of raising $1 billion for charity over the next three years."?Jude Ower, CEO of PlayMob, talking about their plans to integrate philanthropy into gaming.

QUOTE | "I think we're able to show something new here that's separate from Ninja Gaiden but still familiar."?Comcept founder Keiji Inafune, talking about his upcoming game Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z containing humor and zombies.

STAT | 11 million?Number of copies of Minecraft sold for PC, Mac and Linux combined; the Pocket Edition for Android and iOS hit 10 million sales last month.

QUOTE | "If you look at what drives innovation, it's the investment and research in those high-end products."?Travis Williams, AMD's global communications head, talking about AMD's commitment to console and PC gaming.

This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International

Image by Shutterstock

Source: http://kotaku.com/this-week-in-the-business-when-a-game-ships-the-axe-f-617862668

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Danica Patrick 'not a race car driver,' according to Kyle Petty

Danica Patrick: Kyle Petty, the son of NASCAR legend Richard Petty, says he doesn't think Danica Patrick is a qualified NASCAR driver.

By Gary Graves,?Associated Press / June 28, 2013

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Danica Patrick talks to the media outside her hauler, May 31, 2013, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del.

Nick Wass/AP

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Kyle Petty continues to doubt Danica?Patrick's future as a NASCAR driver.

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During a Thursday night appearance on SPEED's "Race Hub" program, the former driver and current TV analyst said Patrick is more of a marketing machine than a race car driver and doubts the 30-year-old will ever be one "because I think it's too late."

Patrick is a Sprint Cup Series rookie with Stewart Haas Racing following an open wheel career in the IZOD IndyCar Series highlighted by an historic 2008 victory at Motegi, Japan. She won the pole and finished eighth in the season-opening Daytona 500 but her average starting and finishing positions are 32nd and 25.8 respectively.

Former boss Dale Earnhardt Jr. disagreed with Petty's assessment, saying Friday that Patrick "is outrunning several guys on the circuit."

That likely won't stop Petty, 53, son of seven-time Cup champion Richard "The King" Petty and an eight-time race winner, from criticizing Patrick. An analyst for TNT and Fox/SPEED, he understands the widespread interest in Patrick, who has been featured in racy TV ads for sponsor Go Daddy and was IndyCar's most popular driver for several years.

Patrick's driving skills, in Petty's opinion, don't justify the hype.

"That's where I have a problem," he said. "Where fans have bought into the hype of the marketing, to think she's a race car driver. She can go fast, and I've seen her go fast. She drives the wheels off it when she goes fast."

Asked if she has learned to race, Petty continued, "she's not a race car driver. There's a difference. The King always had that stupid saying, but it's true, 'Lots of drivers can drive fast, but very few drivers can race.' Danica has been the perfect example of somebody who can qualify better than what she runs. She can go fast, but she can't race."

As someone who gave Patrick a chance to transition to stock cars over three years in the Nationwide Series at JR Motorsports, Earnhardt calls Patrick a tough competitor who works hard and said she wouldn't have a ride if she couldn't stay with the pack or finished last every week.

"If she was not able to compete," Earnhardt said at Kentucky Speedway, "I think you might be able to say Kyle has an argument. But she's out there running competitively and running strong on several accounts. I think that she has got a good opportunity and a rightful position in the sport to keep competing and she just might surprise even Kyle Petty."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/LfUlyJCnbsk/Danica-Patrick-not-a-race-car-driver-according-to-Kyle-Petty

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Naverrette: On immigration, GOP offers fear, not ideas (CNN)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315841920?client_source=feed&format=rss

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On a percentage basis, carriers pay more to subsidize a Samsung model than a Apple iPhone

Phone Arena writes, The Apple iPhone has a lot of fans and as comScore's data pointed out, the device has the largest market share of any smartphone in the U.S.; but if you were to ask the stateside carriers about the popularity of the iPhone in the executive suites, the responses would not match the data from comScore's statistics...

Continue reading On a percentage basis, carriers pay more to subsidize a Samsung model than a Apple iPhone at Phone Arena

Source: http://mobilitybeat.com/phone-arena/118532/on-a-percentage-basis-carriers-pay-more-to-subsidize-a-samsung-model-than-a-apple-iphone/

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The '50 Shades of Grey' Film Is Coming to Theaters In...

You've read the book -- or at the very least, you've watched a bunch of inappropriate celebrities reading it. Now the long-awaited 50 Shades of Grey movie finally has a release date and a director! Pretty soon, it may even have an Anastasia Steel and a Christian Grey. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/50-shades-grey-movie-has-release-date-and-director/1-a-540270?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3A50-shades-grey-movie-has-release-date-and-director-540270

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Breakthrough in Internet bandwidth: New fiber optic technology could ease Internet congestion, video streaming

June 27, 2013 ? As rapidly increasing demand for bandwidth strains the Internet's capacity, a team of engineers has devised a new fiber optic technology that promises to increase bandwidth dramatically. The new technology could enable Internet providers to offer much greater connectivity -- from decreased network congestion to on-demand video streaming.

Described in the June 28 issue of the journal Science, the technology centers on donut-shaped laser light beams called optical vortices, in which the light twists like a tornado as it moves along the beam path, rather than in a straight line.

Widely studied in molecular biology, atomic physics and quantum optics, optical vortices (also known as orbital angular momentum, or OAM, beams) were thought to be unstable in fiber, until BU Engineering Professor Siddharth Ramachandran recently designed an optical fiber that can propagate them. In the paper, he and Alan Willner of USC demonstrate not only the stability of the beams in optical fiber but also their potential to boost Internet bandwidth.

"For several decades since optical fibers were deployed, the conventional assumption has been that OAM-carrying beams are inherently unstable in fibers," said Ramachandran. "Our discovery, of design classes in which they are stable, has profound implications for a variety of scientific and technological fields that have exploited the unique properties of OAM-carrying light, including the use of such beams for enhancing data capacity in fibers."

The reported research represents a close collaboration between optical fiber experts at BU and optical communication systems experts at USC. "Siddharth's fiber represents a very unique and valuable innovation. It was great to work together to demonstrate a terabit-per-second capacity transmission link," said Willner, electrical engineering professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Ramachandran and Willner collaborated with OFS-Fitel, a fiber optics company in Denmark, and Tel Aviv University.

Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the technology could not come at a better time, as one of the main strategies to boost Internet bandwidth is running into roadblocks just as mobile devices fuel rapidly growing demands on the Internet. Traditionally, bandwidth has been enhanced by increasing the number of colors, or wavelengths of data-carrying laser signals -- essentially streams of 1s and 0s -- sent down an optical fiber, where the signals are processed according to color. Increasing the number of colors has worked well since the 1990s when the method was introduced, but now that number is reaching physical limits.

An emerging strategy to boost bandwidth is to send the light through a fiber along distinctive paths, or modes, each carrying a cache of data from one end of the fiber to the other. Unlike the colors, however, data streams of 1s and 0s from different modes mix together; determining which data stream came from which source requires computationally intensive and energy-hungry digital signal processing algorithms.

Ramachandran's and Willner's approach combines both strategies, packing several colors into each mode, and using multiple modes. Unlike in conventional fibers, OAM modes in these specially designed fibers can carry data streams across an optical fiber while remaining separate at the receiving end. In experiments appearing in the Science paper, Ramachandran created an OAM fiber with four modes (an optical fiber typically has two), and he and Willner showed that for each OAM mode, they could send data through a one-kilometer fiber in 10 different colors, resulting in a transmission capacity of 1.6 terabits per second, the equivalent of transmitting eight Blu-RayTM DVDs every second.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/zoBY3cb6fMU/130627142406.htm

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Samsung Galay S4 Mini and Mega now in stock at Clove

Both phones available in black and white, earliest shipments arrive June 30

Both the biggest and smallest siblings in the new Galaxy family, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and Galaxy Mega (6.3) are becoming available to order in the United Kingdom.

Clove announced today they're accepting orders for both the Galaxy S4 Mini and the Galaxy Mega, priced at £376.80 and £454.80 respectively, including VAT. Both devices can be ordered in either black or white. While orders can be placed today, none will be dispatched until Friday, June 29, with shipments arriving no earlier than Saturday, June 30. That's to keep everything in line with the official Samsung launch date.

Full specifications are available for both the Galaxy S4 Mini and Galaxy Mega — also be sure to check out our first hands-on with the S4 Mini from last week's Samsung Premiere showcase event.

Source: Clove

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/gwbblmRISTI/story01.htm

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Senators: Student loan interest rates to double

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, discusses a graph and legislation to try and prevent the increase in the interest rates on some student loans, Thursday, June 27, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, discusses a graph and legislation to try and prevent the increase in the interest rates on some student loans, Thursday, June 27, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, left, standing with Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., discusses a graph and legislation to try and prevent the increase in the interest rates on some student loans, Thursday, June 27, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, center, accompanied by, from left, Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., talks about legislation to try and prevent the increase in the interest rates on some student loans, Thursday, June 27, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Student loan rates will double Monday ? at least for a while ? after a compromise to keep student loan interest rates low proved unwinnable before the July 1 deadline, senators said Thursday.

Sen. Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate education panel, said none of the proposals being circulating among lawmakers could win passage, and he urged lawmakers to extend the current rates for another year when they return from the July 4 recess. Harkin said his colleagues could retroactively restore the current rates after the holiday.

"Let's put this off for a year," Harkin, D-Iowa, told reporters.

Interest rates on new subsidized Stafford loans are set to go from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on Monday unless lawmakers take action. Congress' Joint Economic Committee estimates the increase will cost the average student $2,600.

"Neither party wants to see rates rise next week," said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.

But a one-year rate extension isn't an acceptable option, either, he said.

"Last year we kicked the can down the road and passed a one-year extension for only a small group of students. ... Why would we make the same mistake again and just kick the can down the road another year?" said Burr, who was among a group of senators who worked on a competing proposal with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

The Manchin-led proposal would link interest rates to the financial markets. It borrowed heavily from a version House Republicans passed earlier and from principles included in President Barack Obama's budget proposal.

Critics called it a bait-and-switch move that would provide students lower interest rates at first before they climb upward as the economy improves.

"Students across this country would rather have no deal than a bad deal," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. "We're at the point where we have to do our best to extend the 3.4 percent interest rate while we work on a good deal, not just any deal."

Republicans blamed Democrats and said they would be responsible for the expected rate hike.

"As a result of their obstruction, the Democrat-led Senate will leave town and allow interest rates on some new student loans to increase on Monday," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. "Senate Democrats continue to block reform and insist on kicking the can down the road."

Republicans also noted the Manchin-led proposal had many similarities with Obama's, including a link between 10-year Treasury notes and student rates.

"This agreement is very much like the proposal in the president's budget, it is very much like the proposal passed by the Republican House of Representatives and it will save billions of dollars in interest for all 11 million students taking out loans this year by dropping rates on all student loans," said Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Alexander, a former education secretary, called Harkin's proposal "a short-term, political fix."

"That's no fix at all when we have a plan to help all students that we can pass quickly," he added.

Nothing was happening ? quickly or not ? before July 1, meaning students who take loans would face higher rates. Senators were heading out of town without a deal, and Harkin said his colleagues would consider a retroactive fix on July 10.

"I think we are nowhere between now and July 1," said Rep. George Miller of California, the top Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. "It sounds to me like the Senate is going to leave town without dealing with this."

But Democrats promised to turn back to them when they get back to Washington, first with a short-term fix and then a longer-range measure.

The law that governs college and universities expires this fall and lawmakers planned to rewrite it starting in September. Democrats said they prefer to include a comprehensive student loan measure in it, rather than as a stand-alone bill.

"We need a one-year patch to keep interest rates from doubling on student loans," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. "That buys us the time."

___

Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/philip_elliott

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-27-US-Student-Loans/id-95ef73b506b64152be79c0d71b69a7d8

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LeClair is Georgia Academy of Family Physicians Educator of the Year

Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
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Contact: Toni Baker
tbaker@gru.edu
706-721-4421
Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University

AUGUSTA, Ga. Dr. Bruce M. LeClair, Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, has received the 2013 Educator of the Year Award from the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians.

LeClair is a former President of the academy currently serving on its House of Delegates and as Co- Chairman of the Legislative Committee. The academy also honored LeClair in 2009 as Georgia's Family Medicine Physician of the Year.

He is a delegate for the American Academy of Family Physicians House of Delegates and recently served as Sergeant-At-Arms.

LeClair, an MCG faculty member for nearly 20 years, is Residency Rotation Director for Community Medicine for Family Medicine and a Core Educator for MCG, lecturing in the Essentials of Clinical Medicine course about public health, health services, epidemiology, and biostatistics as well as tutoring in small groups and teaching physical diagnosis.

He is Director of the Department of Family Medicine Homeless Health Care Service and Course Director of the Homeless Clinic Elective. He serves as a board member for St. Vincent de Paul Health Center/Coordinated Health Services and as a preceptor for the Women's Health Free Clinic, which he founded in 2001 with students from the MCG student chapter of the American Medical Women's Association. He has been the Medical Director for the student-run Health Care Clinic for the Homeless since its inception. He also helped found the La Clinica Latina and the Asian Free Clinics, all student-run clinics collectively known as the Eight Street Free Clinics of Augusta and coordinated with St. Vincent de Paul Health Center.

LeClair also is Director of the MCG Family Medicine Inpatient Service and the department's Quality Coordinator.

###

Media Contact:

Toni Baker
Communications Director
Medical College of Georgia
Georgia Regents University
706-721-4421 Office
706-825-6473 Cell
tbaker@gru.edu

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 27-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Toni Baker
tbaker@gru.edu
706-721-4421
Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University

AUGUSTA, Ga. Dr. Bruce M. LeClair, Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, has received the 2013 Educator of the Year Award from the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians.

LeClair is a former President of the academy currently serving on its House of Delegates and as Co- Chairman of the Legislative Committee. The academy also honored LeClair in 2009 as Georgia's Family Medicine Physician of the Year.

He is a delegate for the American Academy of Family Physicians House of Delegates and recently served as Sergeant-At-Arms.

LeClair, an MCG faculty member for nearly 20 years, is Residency Rotation Director for Community Medicine for Family Medicine and a Core Educator for MCG, lecturing in the Essentials of Clinical Medicine course about public health, health services, epidemiology, and biostatistics as well as tutoring in small groups and teaching physical diagnosis.

He is Director of the Department of Family Medicine Homeless Health Care Service and Course Director of the Homeless Clinic Elective. He serves as a board member for St. Vincent de Paul Health Center/Coordinated Health Services and as a preceptor for the Women's Health Free Clinic, which he founded in 2001 with students from the MCG student chapter of the American Medical Women's Association. He has been the Medical Director for the student-run Health Care Clinic for the Homeless since its inception. He also helped found the La Clinica Latina and the Asian Free Clinics, all student-run clinics collectively known as the Eight Street Free Clinics of Augusta and coordinated with St. Vincent de Paul Health Center.

LeClair also is Director of the MCG Family Medicine Inpatient Service and the department's Quality Coordinator.

###

Media Contact:

Toni Baker
Communications Director
Medical College of Georgia
Georgia Regents University
706-721-4421 Office
706-825-6473 Cell
tbaker@gru.edu

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/mcog-lig062713.php

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Planet Labs Raises $13M From DFJ, OATV, Founders Fund To Build The World's Largest Fleet Of Earth-Imaging Satellites

Planet Labs, a space and analytics company formerly known as Cosmogia, is announcing $13 million in funding from DFJ, Capricorn, OATV, Founders Fund Angel, Innovation Endeavors, Data Collective and First Round Capital.

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

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John Bolton is Almost Considering a Presidential Run (Again)

By Nadia Damouni and Siddharth Cavale (Reuters) - Tensions started rising at Men's Wearhouse Inc over the past six months, as founder and executive chairman George Zimmer increasingly butted heads with his handpicked CEO over the clothing retailer's strategy. CEO Doug Ewert wanted to sell the company's K&G Fashion Superstore business, while Zimmer wanted to keep it, two sources familiar with the situation said. Zimmer also objected to rising compensation for top executives, including Ewert, while the board thought it was appropriate, the sources said. Zimmer, who is known to U.S. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/john-bolton-almost-considering-presidential-run-again-022940476.html

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UN sounds alarm on widespread designer drug use

FILE - This Feb. 15, 2010, file photo shows a package of K2, a concoction of dried herbs sprayed with chemicals. The U.N. drug control agency on Wednesday June 26, 2013, sounded the alarm on the spread of designer drugs, which are sold openly and legally and sometimes result in deadly highs, while reporting that global drug use generally remains stable. (AP Photo/Kelley McCall, File)

FILE - This Feb. 15, 2010, file photo shows a package of K2, a concoction of dried herbs sprayed with chemicals. The U.N. drug control agency on Wednesday June 26, 2013, sounded the alarm on the spread of designer drugs, which are sold openly and legally and sometimes result in deadly highs, while reporting that global drug use generally remains stable. (AP Photo/Kelley McCall, File)

FILE - In this photo released by the Guatemalan Presidential Press Office, Director of the US Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske speaks during a press conference in Guatemala City, Thursday June 21, 2012. Kerlikowske said Wednesday, June 26, 2013 the United States faces ?continuing challenges with prescription drug abuse and new synthetic drugs. But he also noted successes, telling participants meeting in Vienna, Austria on occasion of the report's launch that U.S. cocaine use had decreased by 50 percent since 2006. (AP Photo/Presidential Press Office, Edwin Bercian, File)

VIENNA (AP) ? ? The U.N. drug control agency on Wednesday sounded the alarm on the spread of designer drugs, which are sold openly and produce legal but sometimes deadly highs, while reporting that global drug use generally remains stable.

Such substances "can be far more dangerous than traditional drugs," the agency said in a statement accompanying its annual report. "Street names, such as 'spice,' 'meow-meow' and 'bath salts' mislead young people into believing that they are indulging in low-risk fun."

A six-page summary of the report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime warned that "the international drug control system is foundering, for the first time, under the speed and creativity" of their proliferation.

It said countries worldwide reported 251 such substances by mid-2012, compared with 166 at the end of 2009. The problem, said the report, is "hydra-headed" in that as fast as governments ban the drugs, manufacturers produce new variants.

Nearly 5 percent of European Union residents aged between 15 and 24 have already experimented with such drugs, said the report.

In the United States, 158 kinds of synthetic drugs were circulating during 2012, more than twice as many as in the EU, and use was growing in East and Southeast Asia, including China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the United States faces "continuing challenges with prescription drug abuse and new synthetic drugs." But he also noted successes, saying on the sidelines of a meeting in Vienna for the report's launch that U.S. cocaine use has decreased by 50 percent since 2006, due in part to better drug education and increased amounts seized.

In a statement accompanying the organization's 151-page report, UNODC head Yury Fedotov said that while drug use and production overall appears to be stable in recent years, illicit drug consumption still kills around 200,000 people each year.

However, the office lowered its estimate of the number of people injecting drugs and those living with the HIV virus worldwide because of such injections.

It said 14 million people between the ages of 16 and 65 inject drugs and of those, 1.6 million have the virus as a result of such injections ? 12 percent and 46 percent less respectively than last estimated five years ago.

In other findings, the agency reported:

? heroin and opium use remains steady at around 16.4 million people, or 0.4 percent of the world's adult population.

?heroin use appears to be declining in Europe, with users aging and because of more efficient drug seizures.

?cocaine use, although still rare, appears to be growing in China and Hong Kong as shown by seizures of the drug, apparently reflecting the growth of a more affluent society.

?U.S. cocaine use fell by 40 percent between 2006 and 2011, due in part to less production in Colombia, more efficient law enforcement and disruptive turf wars among drug cartels.

?seizures of "amphetamine-type" drugs rose by 66 percent in 2011 compared with the year before, to 123 tons.

?the use of "ecstasy," one such drug, is declining globally but appears to be growing in Europe.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-26-UN-World-Drugs/id-c4839806e8d7460eb085db80484f27e9

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Officials: Attacks in Iraq kill at least 33

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Attacks on Monday across Iraq, including night car bomb blasts near markets in and around Baghdad, killed at least 33 people and wounded dozens of others, officials said.

The attacks were the latest in a wave of violence that has claimed more than 2,000 lives since the beginning of April. Militants, building on Sunni discontent with the Shiite-led government, appear to have grown stronger in central and northern Iraq.

The deadliest attack came at night when two car bombs exploded within minutes on a commercial street in the mixed neighborhood of Jihad in western Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding 21 others, police said.

Also, four people were killed and nine others were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a line of shops in the Shiite-dominated area of al-Shurta al-Rabeaa.

Police said car bomb exploded near a supermarket on a main commercial street in the Shiite Karrada neighborhood, killing five people and wounding 16.

Just after sunset, police said a car bomb went off near an outdoor market in the Shiite suburb of Nahrawan, killing four civilians and wounding 15 others.

Minutes later, a car bomb went off near a market in the Shiite-majority neighborhood of New Baghdad. Police said that three people were killed and 10 others were wounded. Minutes later, a second car bomb hit a bus stop in the same neighborhood, killing two people and wounding eight others.

Also, two people were killed in a car explosion in the Christian-Shiite neighborhood of Garage al-Amana in southeastern Baghdad.

In the morning, a provincial police officer in Ninevah said a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden car into an army patrol in the city of Mosul, killing a soldier and a police officer. He said that seven people, including two civilians, were wounded. Mosul is 360 kilometers (220 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Another officer said a second bomber blew set off his explosive-rigged belt inside a university campus in the city of Tikrit, killing a police officer. The city is 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad.

Two medical officials confirmed casualty figures. All spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to release information to reporters.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but security forces and Shiite residents are frequently targeted by al-Qaida's Iraq branch.

The violence came as tens of thousands of Shiites poured into the holy city of Karbala, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, for the annual festival of Shabaniyah, marking the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam. Tight security measures were in force to try to prevent insurgent attacks on the worshippers.

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Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officials-attacks-iraq-kill-least-33-175347102.html

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Heat celebrate with parade through downtown Miami

NBA champion Miami Heat small forward LeBron James reacts as he is introduced, Monday, June 24, 2013 during a celebration at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

NBA champion Miami Heat small forward LeBron James reacts as he is introduced, Monday, June 24, 2013 during a celebration at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

NBA champion Miami Heat's Chris Andersen gestures to fans during a parade honoring the team in Miami, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

NBA champion Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra touches the the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship trophy, Monday, June 24, 2013 during a celebration at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

NBA champion Miami Heat small forward LeBron James, center, touches the the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy as shooting guard Dwyane Wade, left, and center Chris Bosh, right, look on, Monday, June 24, 2013 during a celebration at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

NBA champion Miami Heat's LeBron James, left, motions to the fans during a parade honoring the team as Juwan Howard, right, looks on in Miami, Monday, June 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

MIAMI (AP) ? The last piece of confetti had landed, the Miami Heat championship celebration was officially over and many in the crowd of revelers were starting to make their way to the exits.

Players and coaches remained on the stage.

They were in no hurry to leave. Every member of the NBA champions stood and watched a giant video board play highlights of Miami's march through the playoffs, from LeBron James' MVP-caliber plays on both ends to Ray Allen's season-saving 3-pointer in Game 6 of the NBA Finals and countless moments in between.

"It's a special group," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You know what? This season started over nine months ago with that trip to China and we were able to experience so many cool things together in the regular season. But at times, it just seems to be going by so fast."

So maybe that's why the Heat aren't ready to stop celebrating this title just yet.

With an estimated 400,000 people lining the downtown Miami streets, the Heat held their parade and an in-arena rally afterward Monday. James stood atop a double-decker bus with a cigar in his mouth for the parade. Shane Battier blew kisses to the crowd, Dwyane Wade raised three fingers aloft and Chris Andersen flapped his arms in a nod to his "Birdman" moniker.

"It's the ultimate," James told Sun Sports, the Heat broadcast partner. "It's the ultimate. This is what I came down here, to be able to have a parade at the end of the year. I'm extremely blessed, man. It doesn't get any better than this."

Several players held super-soaker squirt guns and sprayed water on fans, confetti dotted the streets, and horns honked from all directions. Heat managing general partner Micky Arison and team president Pat Riley stood in the front of one bus, while Spoelstra ? his championship cap turned backward ? waved and clapped at fans.

"Miami parties better than any city in the world," Spoelstra said. "But it took nine months, nine months of incredible sacrifice, not only by these men right here but everybody in our organization, grinding it out every single day, ups and downs, highs and lows. And to have a culmination like Game 7 in front of all of you here is incredible."

Wade said that without the fans, Miami wouldn't have found a way to win the title.

"It's humbling. It's very humbling to be here," Wade said, gazing out at the enormous crowd. "I envision a lot of things. I can't say I envisioned this. This parade down Biscayne Boulevard was once a vision by Coach Riley and now we've taken this ride three times. It's special."

When Riley got hired by the Heat, he talked at his introductory news conference about his vision of a parade down Biscayne Boulevard. It took Riley until 2006 to deliver on that hope, but now with three parades in eight seasons, the Heat are getting used to these celebrations.

"Their names are going to be respected and honored," Riley said. "And that's all we have. All we have is the name on the front of the shirt, which is the Heat, and the name on the back of the shirt. And that's why we play."

Miami became the sixth franchise in NBA history to win consecutive championships, after topping the San Antonio Spurs in this year's finals for the third title overall for the Heat franchise, needing a Game 7 to get it done. Wade and Udonis Haslem ? a Miami native who said "this is what it's all about" ? are the only players to be part of all three titles, and Wade insisted Monday that the city is going to be his home now for good.

"This is my home. They've treated me well since Day One," Wade said. "I'll be here for probably the rest of my life in this amazing city. I thank the Miamians for accepting me as one of their own."

Miami needed to win Games 6 and 7 of the finals to capture the title, and needed a huge late comeback in Game 6 just to force the ultimate game. Down by five with less than a half-minute left in regulation, James and Ray Allen made 3-pointers ? Allen's coming with 5.2 seconds left ? to force overtime, and the Heat ultimately prevailed to get into Game 7.

"I have to say that is the biggest shot I ever hit in my career," Allen said.

Along the parade route, one vehicle carried a number of uniformed military personnel. The Heat have honored military members before every home game in Miami for the past several seasons.

Police reported no major problems, and bomb- and drug-sniffing dogs were spotted working their way through the crowd. City officials banned fans from carrying backpacks, though several were spotted along the route and some people were searched randomly for security reasons. The huge crowds and parking difficulty did not seem to take away from the fans' celebratory mood.

"It's the excitement of something that doesn't come around too often, even though we've been lucky to experience it two years in a row," said Heat fan Blake Thames, who made the trip down from Palm Beach County.

Some fans began arriving before sunrise Monday, and traffic into downtown was extremely heavy as people hoped to get close enough for a glimpse of the celebration.

"It hasn't hit me yet," James said. "This is unbelievable to be a part of such a great franchise and to be able to go back-to-back."

Players spent the weekend celebrating. Some are planning to start vacations later this week, while others will remain in South Florida for at least a few more days.

"All the fans that we're seeing here is who supported us throughout the whole season, man," James said. "This is the least we could do is ride through the city and show our appreciation."

___

Associated Press Writers Jennifer Kay and Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-24-BKN-Heat-Parade/id-fae23d75f1ce4213800574c7b3c8a42d

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Benefits of VoIP for travelers | Voicebuy VoIP Provider

Benefits of VoIP for travelers

With the summer holiday season in full swing, many of us think about having a rest and relax after a hard working year. One of the issues while on the road is how to stay in touch with family, friends and business contacts. Fortunately, in the era of intense technological advancements, there are various methods of communication that are cost-effective and easy-to-use. And here VoIP may become one of the cheapest and flexible ways of keeping you connected with your acquaintances while traveling.

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The following advantages turn VoIP into a truly effective way of making cheap international calls from abroad.

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One of the most significant advantages of VoIP is that it enhances flexibility and portability of communications. If you have Wi-Fi network you can enjoy free international calls, or else use available internet networks to connect your contacts directly from your home or mobile phone number with cheaper calls. VoIP makes it possible to use the service anytime and anywhere regardless of time and location.

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Another feature which makes VoIP communication worth using throughout your travel is the call forwarding option which may be especially useful for business people. Due to this feature calls may automatically be transferred to another number in case the main line is busy, or else they can be redirected to additional number after answering the call.

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VoIP is also a great option due to its IP faxing services. The latter allows business travelers to send and receive documents on-the go in real time over an IP-based network. In this case fax data are being transmitted over the Internet which means that costs are significantly less as compared with conventional faxing services when fax data are sent over long-distance telephone lines.

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While on the road, VoIP may be the best solution for money-saving international calls to your friends and close ones. Avail of the wide range of VoIP services provided by Voicebuy since our calling rates will save you money even when traveling overseas.

Source: http://www.voicebuy.com/2013/06/25/benefits-of-voip-for-travelers

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Start A Weight Training Exercise Program Today

Although there are many sites that claim that they will show you weight training exercises online, in reality this is not the way to go.

If you want to start a weight training exercise program, you really need to be working with someone else. There are many options available. You can go to the gym, use free weights at home with a buddy, or get one of those machines, but if you do not do your weight training exercise with proper safety precautions, it is quite possible for you to get seriously injured.

I recommend doing your weight training exercise at the gym. There are several good reasons for this, and I will go ahead and tell you some of the very best ones. First of all, you can get a spot at the gym. Of all of the weight training exercise injuries, most of them could have been avoided with a proper spotter.

This is especially true with free weights which can injure or even kill you if you are forced to drop them based on muscle fatigue. This is the most important reason to go to the gym, but it is really far from the only one.

The fact is that it is easier to psyche yourself up for your weight training exercise when you do go to the gym. With all of those people around you dedicating their time to getting in shape, there is just no way you will feel like slacking off in your weight training program while you are at the gym. Many gyms even have personal trainers available, who will help you to meet your personal best, by working you harder than you will yourself, and helping to chart your goals. They can even suggest which weight training exercises you should use and how many, to strengthen the muscle groups which interest you.

Before you start doing weight training exercise, however, you should do some cardiovascular stuff. While you can get by quite well without weight training exercise, cardio is absolutely essential to your health. You will live longer, be healthier, and happier, and even have more energy if you do some aerobic activities every day to keep you active. We do not stay young forever, but those of us who get adequate aerobic exercises do stay young for longer than those who do not. Once you start doing that, then you can add your weight training exercise program.

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Source: http://www.weight-loss-forums.buddyslim.com/fitness-exercise/8815-start-weight-training-exercise-program-today.html

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Ecuador says Snowden seeking asylum there

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) ? Ecuador is analyzing an asylum request from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, wanted for revealed classified U.S. secrets, an Ecuadorian minister said Monday.

"We are analyzing it with a lot of responsibility," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters through a translator at a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam.

He says the asylum request "has to do with freedom of expression and with the security of citizens around the world."

Patino spoke briefly to reporters on his way to a meeting with Vietnam's foreign minister. He did not say how long it would take Ecuador to decide.

Snowden was on a flight from Hong Kong that arrived in Moscow Sunday and was booked on a flight to Cuba Monday, the Russian news agencies ITAR-Tass and Interfax reported, citing unnamed airline officials.

Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said Snowden was bound for Ecuador "via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from WikiLeaks." The organization's founder Julian Assange, was granted asylum by Ecuador last year and has been staying at the country's embassy in the United Kingdom.

The Russian reports said a plane carrying him arrived in Moscow on Sunday and he was booked on a flight to Cuba on Monday. The reports cited unnamed airline officials and said he intended to travel from Cuba to Caracas, Venezuela. There was also speculation that he might try to reach Ecuador.

"There are some governments that act more upon their own interests, but we do not," Patino said when asked if he was concerned about potentially damaging Ecuador's relationship with the United States. "We act upon our principles."

"We take care of human rights of the people," he added.

Patino will hold a news conference Monday evening in Hanoi.

Snowden had been in hiding in Hong Kong for several weeks after he revealed information on the highly classified spy programs. WikiLeaks said it was providing legal help to Snowden at his request and that he was being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from the group.

Assange has spent a year inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning about sex crime allegations. He told the Sydney Morning Herald that his organization is in a position to help because it has expertise in international asylum and extradition law.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ecuador-says-snowden-seeking-asylum-170413690.html

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Dutch inmates to get computers in their cells - Tech2

The Netherlands' justice minister has proposed putting a personal computer in every prison cell in the country, in one of the more unusual measures under consideration by the Dutch government to reduce the national deficit.

"It's not quite as exciting as it sounds at first," ministry spokesman Jaap Oosterveer said Friday. He says the computers would be stripped-down machines with no email and little or no Internet access.

PCs for inmates (Image credit: Getty Images)

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The main reason for installing them would be to reduce the amount of time worked by guards. Oosterveersays prisoners would use computers to fill in their food, visiting and exercise schedules.

But there is also an educational element in Minister Fred Teeven's plan, as prisoners eligible for release may be allowed to use the computers for approved study programs.

Associated Press

Source: http://tech2.in.com/news/general/dutch-inmates-to-get-computers-in-their-cells/897124

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PFT: NFL rookies get harsh truth at symposium

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The Dolphins gritted their teeth and celebrated the success of the local NBA franchise that makes the local NFL franchise even less relevant locally.? And nationally.

There will be more cops at Bills games this year.? (Fans would prefer more points.)

The University of Florida connection isn?t working out for the Patriots.

Get to know Jets S Josh Bush.

Browns S T.J. Ward likes Ray Horton?s aggressive style; ?It?s an attack style, all downhill. We?re really getting after the guys. That?s what I?m most excited about,? Ward said, proving that the point can be conveyed without using terms like ?kill? or ?hurt? or ?inflict mild bruising.?

The Ravens last 2013 draft pick, CB Marc Anthony, hopes to win a job with ?physicality and versatility.?

Former Steelers K Jeff Reed did a little bragging recently about his ownership of two Super Bowl rings.

Bengals single-game tickets go on sale June 29; pre-registration was required for visits from the Steelers and the Packers.

Texans WR Andre Johnson and S Ed Reed made it to the teens on NFL Network?s Top 100 countdown.

Colts DL Ricky Jean Francois still gets advice from Donald Heaven, who played OT at Florida State when Jean Francois arrived in 2002.

Titans G Chance Warmack is trying to stay positive as he makes the transition from college to the NFL.

The enhancements to the Jaguars stadium will start after the 2013 season and are expected to be ready by the start of the 2014 season.

Chargers FB Le?Ron McClain is holding a free football camp for kids in Alabama on Saturday.

Ditto for Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles, who started his fourth annual free camp for 175 kids on Friday in Texas.

Whatever Broncos WR Wes Welker got paid this week to talk repeatedly about his hair plugs, it wasn?t nearly enough.

When news broke that actor James Gandolfini has passed, some fans thought Raiders assistant Tony Sparano had died.

Cowboys QB Tony Romo didn?t earn a spot on NFLN?s Top 100 list, after coming in at No. 91 in 2012 and No. 72 in 2011.

The Associated Press style book would seem to suggest that any publication adhering to it should not use the term Redskins.

A New Jersey accountant who allegedly scammed the state out of nearly $700,000 in false unemployment claims used the money to buy, among other things, Giants season tickets.

Kyle Shurmur, the son of Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, is 6-4 and slated to play quarterback for La Salle High School.

The Packers have reduced from nine night training-camp practices in 2012 to zero in 2013.

Retired Bears LB Brian Urlacher is playing a lot of golf; ?The first thing on my mind when I wake up isn?t working out anymore,? Urlacher said.? ?So that?s a good thing.?

Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes arrived at Florida State as a receiver, and when he was moved to defense he initially wanted to transfer.

LB Jon Morgan is trying to win a spot on the Lions roster as an undrafted free agent.

Saints WE Marques Colston is hosting a receivers camp on Saturday for kids 10 to 18 years old.

50 sacks may be a bit unrealistic, but Panthers LB Greg Hardy could be in for a big year.

A 150-year-old church in Atlanta wants $24.5 million to move from the footprint of the Change Purse; the city has offered $15.5 million.

The Buccaneers? ?Rookie Club? spent time this week with local kids in Tampa.

So how can players like 49ers WR Michael Crabtree recover so quickly from a torn Achilles tendon?

Cardinals running backs coach Stump Mitchell is helping rookie RB Stepfan Taylor catch up after missing the offseason program due to the ridiculous, outdated, and unfair rule that prevents first-year players from working until the students at the college the players no longer attend have taken their final exams.

Seahawks DE Michael Bennett told the Real Rob Report that he?s never seen a pace like the one at Seahawks practices.

35 first-year Rams stuck around for ?Rookie Week,? an up-close introduction to St. Louis.? (Which for most of them will be completely irrelevant by September.)

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/22/rookie-symposium-message-most-of-you-will-be-gone-in-three-years/related/

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Health And Fitness During Your Maternity PeriodBaby Blue Laces

Pregnancy is an amazing time in life, but it is not without difficulties. How those difficulties impact your experience depends a lot on how you manage them. If you have an idea of what you will experience during your pregnancy, you can be prepared to make the best out of every experience. This article contains advice that can help to improve your pregnancy and make it into the experience of a lifetime.

Are you with child? Do you want to breastfeed? Is it important to you to be able to breastfeed in a public place without drawing a lot of attention? Nursing clothing can help you achieve your goals. There are stores and companies that specialize in discreet, comfortable and fashionable nursing wear. This helps to keep your necessary breastfeeding obligations private. If you have any doubts, try breastfeeding in a mirror and think about how others may view this activity ? not everyone is going to see the process as a beautiful thing like you do.

Staying relaxed and as stress-free as possible during pregnancy is essential. Stress can cause a lot of problems in pregnancy, including for the baby. Premature birth is a possible result of excessive stress in a mother.

Track cycles if you plan on conceiving. Learning your cycles will help you find out the optimum times for trying to become pregnant. You can also make a better guess as to the conception date if you track your cycle. This helps you determine when you?re most likely to go into labor.

Make sure you take good care of your teeth and regularly visit your dentist. There are many dental problems that can be caused by pregnancy, so stay on top of them! Continue to brush two times a day. Use mouthwash and dental floss regularly, as well. If you encounter any issues, check in with your dentist.

It is especially important to protect your skin from the sun while pregnant. Pregnancy causes skin to become sensitive and easily burned, and that can complicate the pregnancy and even compromise health.

It is especially important to protect your skin from the sun while pregnant. When a woman is pregnant, her skin becomes more sensitive to the sun, which makes her more prone to sunburn and increases her risk of skin cancer.

Get a doula. This is a trained birth coach with the sole purpose of helping and guiding moms through pregnancy. She can give you support and ideas during your labor and delivery. Not only will they help you, but they can advise your partner on the best ways to provide you with comfort and support. Having an experienced helper with you as you go through labor will be a huge comfort.

To stave off constipation during pregnancy, consume high-fiber foods like whole wheat bread, veggies and fruits. The hormones involved in pregnancy can cause constipation. Constipation can create gastrointestinal issues during pregnancy, and it is also very uncomfortable.

Start taking pregnancy classes as soon as you can. Learning in a classroom setting will help to ease your mind. You will also be able to ask any questions that you may have regarding the future.

If you plan to use a labor coach, you should enroll yourself and your partner in a birthing class as soon as possible. This ensures that both of you will be able to attend. Schedule this in advance so that you are assured of a seat well before your due date.

Keep in mind that it can take up to a year for a woman to get pregnant. After a year of trying, talk to your doctor. Your doctor can inform you of any potential medical problems you may have that are preventing you from getting pregnant.

If you experience an increased volume of vaginal discharge during pregnancy, you are advised to consult with your doctor. These discharges are a potential symptom of vaginal infections, which do happen in the months of pregnancy. However, if left unchecked, these infections can blossom into severe health issues for your baby and even yourself.

Approaching your 3rd trimester, go ahead and get your overnight hospital bag packed. Putting off this step is simply tempting fate. You will want to include your birth plan, camera with extra batteries, and insurance cards.

As the pregnancy progresses, make sure you have a birthing facility tour booked in. Your labor goes much more easily when you are comfortable with the place. Check out multiple locations to find the best for you. Ensure that the facility you choose is one that provides you and your companion with everything you need.

Ask you friends who have had children what tips and tricks can help you during your pregnancy. First-hand knowledge is always best, as it is based on true life experiences that you can really learn from.

Take a home pregnancy test as soon as you think you might be pregnant. Often, women wait way too long to find out they are in fact pregnant, and that causes complications in pregnancy sometimes. It can also stop you from getting adequate care.

It is important that your prenatal vitamin supplement has the necessary amount of the B vitamin, folic acid. Folic acid prevents neural tube problems and helps your fetus develop.

Create a birth plan. This plan should include tasks for other people to do on your behalf while you are at the hospital. Make sure you take a overnight bag with you that has important things such as insurance cards, forms, camera, birth plans, and clothing for the baby.

While pregnant, eat bland foods such as crackers during the day. Foods with a bland flavor will most likely be easier for your stomach and sense of smell to tolerate. You should also stay away from foods rich in grease or acid because they can give you a bad case of heartburn and worsen your nausea.

As your body changes during pregnancy, be sure to wear properly fitting clothes. Oftentimes, women are self-conscious about purchasing actual maternity clothes. However, these clothes are specially designed to expand along with your body, so you will feel vastly more relaxed and content when wearing them.

There may be some swelling that is a normal part of pregnancy. Reduce your sodium intake to also reduce such swelling.

When you are pregnant, it?s recommended that you be checked for any sexually transmitted diseases. If you have a STD, it could cause serious health problems for both your baby and you. There are a lot of tests for diseases that are transmitted sexually. They can be done via blood, urine or a pap smear. If you find out that you have an STD, you might have to have a C-section delivery.

It is best to avoid the use of salicylic acid for acne during your pregnancy. It?s proven to exfoliate skin and clean it deeply, but it?s also known to harm unborn children in the womb. It is safe to use a daily cleanser for getting rid of and preventing acne.

Never smoke while pregnant. Smoking poses many health risks. These issues can affect both the mother and the baby. Ectopic pregnancy is a particular risk. There is also a higher chance of miscarriage and stillbirths. Premature delivery and birth defects are also more common.

When pregnant, you should never expose yourself to your cat?s soiled litter. Toxoplasmosis is dangerous to pregnant women who change cat litter. Felines can carry the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. If a pregnant woman becomes infected and passes the infection to the fetus, a range of serious consequences can result, including birth defects, miscarriage, or even infant death.

As mentioned before, pregnancy is sometimes hard, and sometimes quite easy. Being aware of your body?s changes will help you embrace them. Use the information from this article to make your pregnancy a less stressful one.

Related posts:

1. Health And Fitness During Your Maternity Period
2. Health And Fitness During Your Maternity Period
3. Health And Fitness During Your Maternity Period
4. How To Choose Properly Fitting Maternity Clothes
5. Maternity Tips And Hints And What You Should Know

Source: http://www.babybluelaces.org/health-and-fitness-during-your-maternity-period-4/

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PFT: Police search strip club in Hernandez probe

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Police continue to investigate the murder of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, and Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez continues to get legal advice from a large, international, corporate firm with more than 1,000 lawyers.? If Hernandez ever ends up facing murder charges there?s one thing he needs more than anything else:? A lawyer who has tried many murder cases.

For now, Hernandez is represented by Michael Fee of Ropes & Gray.? Fee is the obvious choice from the firm?s broad corporate practice.? Basically, he?s the guy who represents the corporate muckety-mucks who get charged with ?white collar? crimes.

Fee?s online bio, the carefully-crafted practice summary prepared for every lawyer at every large firm, makes it clear that Fee has plenty of experience in criminal cases, but says nothing about murder cases.

Plenty of white-collar criminal defense lawyers at major firms started as prosecutors.? So did Fee.? But his online bio indicates he enforced laws regarding corruption from public officials, not laws against murder or related crimes.

At some point, Hernandez will need to realize that he may need something other than a white-collar criminal defense lawyer.? If he?s charged with murder, Hernandez will need someone who has tried murder cases.? Preferably as both the prosecutor and as the defense attorney.? It?s critically important to have a lawyer who knows from experience how these cases get put together, and how they can be taken apart.

Also, Hernandez arguably would be far better off with a lone Vincent LaGuardia Gambini-style wolf than a prominent partner in a prominent firm.? Lawyers in large firms can be almost as worried about the questions they?ll face from their colleagues as they are about getting a successful result for the client.? Cases can easily be overlawyered by folks who dread the ?Did you argue this?? Did you argue that?? Did you do this?? Did you do that?? inquiries they?ll face from jerk-store colleagues who like to point out in passive-aggressive fashion that they would have done a better job.

If Hernandez ever is charged with murder and if Fee ends up sitting at counsel table as the lead lawyer, he?ll possibly be out of his element ? but he?ll never be able to admit it.? The best (or perhaps worst) example of this comes from the defense fashioned by the late Vincent Fuller on behalf of Mike Tyson in 1992.? Fuller, a powerful lawyer at a big D.C. firm who represented Don King on tax evasion charges and proved John Hinckley was insane when he shot Ronald Reagan, had no experience handling rape cases in Indiana.? And it showed.? Fuller, as explained by Sports Illustrated at the time, painted Tyson as sex-crazed animal in order to show that Tyson?s victim had to know what was going to happen when she went to his hotel room.

The picture painted by Tyson?s own lawyer likely made it easier for the jury to send him to jail.

If Hernandez faces murder charges in Bristol County, Massachusetts, he needs someone who has prosecuted murder cases in Bristol County, Massachusetts (preferably with the person who?ll be prosecuting Hernandez), who has defended murder cases in Bristol County, Massachusetts (preferably against the person who?ll be prosecuting Hernandez), and who has practiced before the Bristol County judge who?ll preside over the case.? Even if Fee has none of those qualities, it will be tempting for Fee to explain to Hernandez that Fee can do the job, since Hernandez has one thing most murder defendants don?t ? a lot of money to pay the bill.

In the end, that money will be best spent on someone who knows the prosecutor well, knows the judge well, knows the courtroom well, and knows the ins and outs of crafting reasonable doubt in a Bristol County, Massachusetts murder case.

Actually, the smartest move could be to assume charges are coming and to hire that lawyer now.? It?s obvious that Hernandez being targeted for potential prosecution, at a minimum for obstruction of justice.? The sooner he?s getting advice from a uniquely-qualified person who?d handle a murder trial, the better.

For all anyone knows, Hernandez already is.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/22/police-search-providence-strip-club-as-part-of-odin-lloyd-murder-investigation/related/

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