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Prenatal Parenting
Parents Ask About Life in the Womb
Q. When will our baby start moving in the womb? When should I feel it?
The little kicks you will probably begin to feel after 16 to 20 weeks of pregnancy, referred to as "quickening," are not the first movements, just the first ones you can feel. The uterus, like most internal organs, is insensitive to touch, but when your baby's movements are strong enough to stretch the wall of the uterus, the feeling is picked up by the abdominal wall. By ten weeks, ultrasound reveals a world of smooth (not reflexive), voluntary activity including hand and face contacts, stretches and yawns, jaw opening and tongue movements. By fifteen weeks, the entire repertoire of movement may be complete. Exercise continues for minutes at a time, followed by rest periods. A baby's activity is very individualistic and may continue whether a mother is awake or asleep.
Q. How soon will our baby start hearing our voices or sounds in the room?
A study in Ireland, using ultrasound observation and measured pulses of sound revealed that babies with normal hearing start moving in reaction to sound around 16 weeks gestational age. This was earlier than previous estimates and occurs about two months before completion of the ear, suggesting that there is more to hearing than the ear alone. Babies seem especially interested in parental voices and begin learning the mother's native language (the mother tongue) while in the womb.
Q. Will the baby care about loud noises and music in our home?
Babies show that they can be shocked by big, unexpected sounds, although they tend to adapt to constant sounds in the environment. Studies show that music enters the womb with little distortion: A few indicate that babies prefer quiet, harmonious music. Loud music may produce strong kicks of protest. An earthquake sound in Italy left a group of unborn babies in a hyperactive state for several hours. Lullabies are always appropriate.
Q. When does a baby's brain develop, and do we have to wait for this development before trying to communicate with our baby?
Around the third week after conception, a folding maneuver creates the neural tube from which the brain and spinal cord develop. If all goes well, a rapid, richly choreographed set of movements will put all the basic parts of the brain in place by eight weeks. These will not be replaced. From this foundation, brain parts will send out branches and establish billions of connections necessary for the perfect coordination of the entire nervous system. This process will continue for years after birth. Amazingly, the brain, like the heart, remains active during its own construction. Various experiences the brain has during this period including encounters with food, drink, medicine, games, accidents, and nicotine--will actually determine its final size and organization. Therefore, it is best to assume the brain is already working and to love your baby and communicate with it without any waiting period.
Q. Can our baby feel pain or become emotionally upset in the womb?
Medical specialists and psychologists never thought this would be possible even for a newborn baby, but research now confirms that even babies born very prematurely express a gamut of emotions, and, without doubt, can experience excruciating pain. Ultrasound observations of behavior in utero, especially among twins, reveal a spectrum of emotions including anger, fear, and affection. Babies appear to react to needles that intrude into the womb with a mixture of shock, withdrawal, and aggression. Studies of pregnant mothers watching upsetting videos suggest that babies can become upset along with their mothers. Several studies have revealed that babies tend to become depressed when their pregnant mothers are depressed, an effect which begins in the womb and has been measured after birth.
Q. Is it okay to continue love-making during pregnancy? Will it affect the baby?
The few studies that have actually measured the reaction of prenates to parental intercourse during the third trimester show that babies are intensely involved. Babies react to maternal and paternal orgasms with wildly erratic and plunging heart rates: the fetus experiences bradycardia, tachycardia, accelerations and decelerations greater than 30 beats per minute, and, in some cases, loss of beat-to-beat variability. Ultrasound specialists see male erections before 16 weeks of age, an indicator of sexual feelings long before birth. In late pregnancy, when space is tight and baby senses are keen, intercourse may not be the best way to make love.
Q. We are planning to give up our baby for adoption. Is there a way to reduce the trauma for us and for our baby?
Adoption is a primal wound surrounding a profound fracture of expectations and attachments for both baby and parents. The key to reducing trauma is to adopt the unconventional attitude that the baby knows and feels everything: Use that attitude to communicate honestly your feelings and decisions, allowing no lapses of affection and always affirming the goodness of the child within. Give top priority to locating and engaging the same loving attention from the new parents before the time of birth so that the child has the seamless love of both parties. This is good for everyone involved.
Q. Does it do any good (or harm) to stimulate our baby with talking, singing, and other "games" before birth?
Every baby is stimulated by the natural environment of the womb while being carried about by a normally active, expressive mother. This means exposure to music, singing, voices, rhythmic dancing, exercise, bathing, touching, and all other activities. Harm is not likely unless experiences are taxing, jolting, or violent. Formal programs of prenatal enrichment which have been thoroughly tested in experimental and control groups confirm that prenates are alert, aware, socially oriented, and are learning from experience. Furthermore, test results seem to demonstrate that the extra stimulation has a positive influence on brain development.
Q. Will the baby know if we are not getting along as a couple?
Although it is a new point of view among experts, studies of prenatal sensation, perception, and attachment suggest that babies know and feel more than we ever thought possible. Communication, rather than being simply verbal, is a holistic experience including the ebb and flow of love hormones and stress-reactions. Prenates have their own emotional life and are capable of disappointment, depression, anger, and fear. It is probably naïve for parents to think they could keep their relationship a secret from a baby in the womb.
Q. How can I avoid having a low-weight, premature baby?
To avoid being part of the growing epidemic of low-weight, premature babies may call for both physical and psychological action. Pregnancy does mean eating for you and for a growing baby who needs proper supplies. Set aside whatever concerns you may have about staying skinny through pregnancy and follow the recommended diet of wholesome food, being sure to increase consumption of sea fish high in omega-3 fatty acids. Studies also find a correlation of maternal stress with premature birth. Premature labor can also be halted by judicious use of hypnosis. Obstetrician David Cheek, after a lifetime of experience with birth, concluded that the baby triggers premature labor when it is afraid. He found that if mothers would reassure the babies verbally that they were safe and should remain inside, the premature labor would stop.
Q. Can I safely continue a vigorous program of exercise during pregnancy? Is there a danger of harming the baby?
Guidelines of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggest that exercise of moderate intensity is safe during uncomplicated pregnancy and when the maternal heart rate does not exceed 140 beats per minute for longer than 15 minutes. Your own changing weight and shape will probably lead you to more moderate forms of exercise as pregnancy progresses. The baby will be bouncing up and down along with you, and might not appreciate certain bumpy exercises. Walking, stretching (as in yoga), and swimming are often recommended.
Q. Is there any harm in modern obstetrical procedures like ultrasound, electronic fetal heart monitoring, and tests like amniocentesis?
Technology, which can often be put to good use, is not risk-free, and can definitely be overused. Ultrasound has been examined by various official bodies and pronounced safe when not used routinely. In a large study, women who had five ultrasounds during pregnancy produced lower weight babies than women who had only one ultrasound. In animal experiments, ultrasound has produced ominous effects, leading to caution in exposing humans. Fetal heart monitoring is a technology discredited by a series of large studies, but it continues to be used in obstetrics, probably for medico-legal reasons. The high risk of false positive readings has led to an inflated rate of cesarean deliveries. Amniocentesis carries an abortion rate of 1 to 3%, depending on when it is done, but is used to diagnose hereditary birth defects when there is some reason to expect them.
David B Chamberlain
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In a typical day, we find countless options of what to eat and what to drink. What is healthy…what tastes great or what we crave…? Going into a supermarket and contemplating different types of 'whole-wheat' breads and protein bars can leave us confused and leery, scared to bite into anything lest we derail our diet <... >
If you saw a red ribbon pinned on someone's bag, coat or lapel, you'd probably recognize that it represents that person is supporting the fight against AIDS. Did you know that there are over 100,000 New Yorkers living with HIV? According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NYC has the <... >
This May marks the 17th Annual Bike Month NYC. In honor of the month, we asked licensed US Cycling Coach and Fitness Instructor, Avery Washington, for some handy tips on how to get back in the saddle. To start, you need a bike! If you have an older bike at home, take it to a <... >
When we think of Mexican food, visions of diet-busting Margaritas and cheese-laden entrees come to mind. But believe it or not, there is such a thing as nutritious and low-fat Mexican fare! In honor of Cinco de Mayo, this May 5th, when all things Mexican are 'caliente" , I've created the menu below, which gives <... >
Maybe your mom is a die-hard yogini, maybe she can run a mile in 10 minutes (even faster than you can!), or maybe she's a thrill-seeker trapped in the body of a soccer mom. Whatever her fitness profile, show how much you care for her health and well being by giving her one of these <... >
As temperatures outside heat up, it's definitely time to get out of the gym and onto the running paths at the park. (check out BN's 20-minute sample Outdoor workout for some inspiration). But it also means lazy days by the beach and pool are near. What better way to get your body ready for swimsuit <... >
Compare how your skin looks during the week filled with grueling deadlines to how it looks on vacation. Chances are your complexion reflects late nights and stressful days. We enlisted Erica Mather and Jena la Flamme of Jena Wellness, a nutrition and holistic health group, to create a daily health plan that sends your skin <... >
As the sweet smell of spring approaches, it's hard to resist the desire to skip the gym for a breath of fresh air in Central Park or along the Hudson. While you might have to wait a little bit longer for the perfect workout weather, now is the time to start thinking about how to <... >
Skinny Bitch in the Kitch:
A True Literary Example Of Not
Judging A Book By Its Cover…Or Title
By Jasmin Guleria
Skinny Bitch In the Kitch, the sequel to the New York Times bestseller controversially titled Skinny Bitch, is essentially a cookbook advocating the Vegan lifestyle. In less than 200 pages, authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin take you thru various meals, snacks, and desserts ranging from everyday cooking such as steamed tofu and vegetables, to <... >
Now that the annoying people with New Years resolutions to lose weight have stopped going to the gym, you can finally get your workout on in peace. Here's a roundup of items to get your heart rate up in a flash. A good pair of running shoes is hard to find – unless you've got <... >

subset: commoncrawl


text: Defeating Mora in the first round of section play, the Rush City girls basketball team's season was ended by Braham in the Section 7AA quarterfinals. After hosting Mora only a week before, the No. 4 seeded Tigers hosted and tamed the No. 5 section seed Mustangs to earn a 63-60 win. "After coming...Read More


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A few days ago I sent a message to softpedia.com – complementing them about the ease of use of their site and asking them if they intend to expand their drivers database. This message was prompted by my frustration at searching for but having little success at finding drivers for an Advent laptop which I had recently bought. I was lucky, they responded within three days and gave me a link to drivers for my laptop. I suspect they posted that driver page on the same day they sent me a response, the update date on the page, was the same as the day I received softpedia's response.
If you are looking for old driver but struggling – you might consider doing the same thing. The more people softpedia sees asking for drivers, the more likely they are to make a real effort to expand their drivers database.


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BETHEL, Conn., April 9, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 46 million people -- one in five adults -- in the United States report having a form of doctor-diagnosed arthritis.(1) Many of these adults also suffer from hearing loss and face dexterity challenges when changing their hearing aid battery. Duracell(R) today announced that the Arthritis Foundation(R), a non-profit organization committed to the health and well being of those with arthritis, has recognized the Duracell EasyTab(R) hearing aid battery with the Foundation's first-ever hearing aid battery commendation for ease-of-use. The official commendation seal, which identifies products that make living with arthritis simpler, will now appear on Duracell EasyTab packaging.
According to hearing instrument specialist Camille Catalano, hearing health and dexterity issues often go hand in hand, whether a function of arthritis or age. "Handling very small hearing aid batteries can be difficult for patients with dexterity challenges," said Catalano. "The design of the Duracell EasyTab takes the worry out of changing batteries so patients can focus on other issues that are affecting them on a day-to-day basis."
The Duracell EasyTab hearing aid battery features the longest tab of any hearing aid battery on the market today, making it easy to remove from the packaging, hold and insert. Additional design benefits include compact, but simple-to-open packaging and color-coded batteries to make distinguishing size effortless on-shelf and at home. The unique EasyTab design has earned several industry awards including the Pharmacy Times "Master's Circle" Award and the 2007 Pharmacist Recommended OTC Achievement Award.
"For people with arthritis, seemingly simple daily tasks can sometimes
mean severe pain and increased frustration," said Scott Walters, group vice
president, Corporate Relations, Arthritis Foundation. "Through our
ease-of-use commendation, we hope to help people with arthritis find
|SOURCE Procter & Gamble
Copyright©2008 PR Newswire.
All rights reserved


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- AG's, comptroller's offices to meet in court Tuesday
- Comptroller: state payroll system antiquated
- Remember, fireworks are dangerous
- Wallace asks citizens to fight cuts
- Dispute over state payroll rolls on
- Why fight over free trade confounds partisan divide
- Still no state budget
- Crime control is not the responsibility of landlords
- Fly over to the Poplar Grove Wings and Wheels Museum benefit
- Local leaders warn of budget deadlock's impact
Local award-winning director releases documentary exploring ax murders
• Film explores 1911-1912 Villisca (Iowa) ax murders
Staff Report
Rockford filmmaker Stuart Wahlin has premiered a new documentary about a series of 100-year-old unsolved murders.
The Ax Man Enigma: The real-life inspiration behind "Slay Utterly" debuted on Facebook June 10, which marked the 101st anniversary of the unsolved Villisca (Iowa) ax murders.
"Villisca is the most well-known in this series of crimes, largely attributable to the popularity of paranormal TV shows that have featured the house where the murders occurred ," Wahlin explained. "But what few people realize is that the Villisca crime scene was not unique."
During a two-year period (1911-1912), a rash of eerily-similar ax murders swept across the Midwest. Leaving unique crime scene signatures in his wake, it is believed the "Ax Man" may have been responsible for at least two-dozen murders. No one was ever brought to justice.
"The documentary is really aimed at educating people about the case, while also generating interest in our upcoming feature film," Wahlin added, noting The Ax Man Enigma's release coincides with a Kickstarter fund-raising campaign for Slay Utterly, which is a modern crime thriller inspired by the case. That film is slated for a 2014 release.
Wahlin, a former Rockford journalist, was awarded Best Director at the Prairie State Film Festival in Chicago last year for his film, Hand of Glory.
The documentary premiered online at https://www.facebook.com/AxManEnigma. View a trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBHGEk3QgoA.
From the June 12-18, 2013, issue


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AfriHealth ConferenceRSVP
- Venue: Kenya International Conference Centre
- Date: Wednesday 30th November 2011
- Starts: 9:00am
- Ends: 5:30pm
Background Information
AfriHealth was first held in 2007 to bring together researchers, medical practitioners and ICT personnel to share information on the developments in the use of ICT to improve healthcare in Africa. We have in the past addressed the use of ICT to improve patient safety and enhance healthcare delivery in Africa.
AfriHealth 2011 will focus on current research, development and implementation of ICT technology and resources in the African Healthcare arena. A key objective of the conference, now in its fourth year, will be to share knowledge and experience from practical mobilization of ICT-based healthcare systems and projects, to showcase best practice through practical case studies and highlight potential for scaling up success stories at national and regional levels.
It will again be the meeting point for all healthcare managers and professionals engaged in the African healthcare sector to share ideas, showcase developments, and develop action plans to speed up improvements in the industry.
The Theme of the Conference
The theme for AfriHealth 2011 questions the extent of current research and development using ICT technology and the amount of effort being made to progress ICT developments in the African Healthcare arena. We believe that we can do much more than is presently being done for Healthcare.
The Conference, in its fourth year, will be the meeting point for all healthcare participants to share ideas, showcase developments, and develop action plans to speed up improvements in the industry.
Objective of the conference:
The objective is to use IT to establish health care information systems cutting across primary, secondary and tertiary health care systems. AfriHealth also calls for the deployment of IT for the development of drug information and records, for the study and control of epidemics, for research and dissemination of information, for distance learning in the medical profession, and to reduce costs and improve productivity.
The use of Cellular Telephone technology has remarkable potential in the development of the Healthcare Industry in Africa. The conference is the ideal opportunity to share developments and to explore opportunities.
Who should attend:-
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Events Board
- The Cheetah Fund Crowdfunding Bootcamp... Thursday 9th October 2014 9:00am
- PHP USER GROUP MEETUP... Tuesday 7th October 2014 5:30pm
- Wireless Wednesday... Wednesday 1st October 2014 12:00pm
- Entrepreneurship Forum #5... Saturday 27th September 2014 1:00pm


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Originally written on Waiting For Next Year | Last updated 11/4/12
Might we be able to go streaking? A win against the Ravens today would give the Browns an honest-to-God win streak AND they'll have won two-in-a-row within the division. While I'm not super duper confident heading into this game, there is some reason for optimism. The Browns played the Ravens fairly well in Baltimore (without Joe Haden), Phil Taylor is making his season debut and the Ravens have been hurt by injuries. Over their last three games, Baltimore's Ray Lewis-less defense has given up an astonishing 622 yards on the ground. Things seems primed for Trent Richardson to have a monster game. Some additional reading: Browns vs Ravens Reader Survey. Talking talking talking (and talking some more) about the Ravens. A note to the Browns regarding the Ravens. Star Wars, Disney, the Cleveland Browns and Jimmy Haslam. This is your Browns-Ravens open thread.
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Learn more about ZyXEL IPC3605N 802.11n 720P Fixed CloudEnabled IP Camera with Night Vision:
Never lose sight of what's important.
The IPC-3605N is a revolutionary network camera designed to take the expense and confusion out of watching over the important things in your life. While traditional network camera setups are expensive and difficult to maintain, the IPC-3605N utilizes state-of-the-art cloud-based architecture to make installation and playback simple, with no complicated network setup required.
With the IPC-3605N, you and everyone you care about can always stay connected to the important things – no matter the distance.
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The IPC-3605N harnesses the power of the cloud to free you from the constraints of a traditional IP camera. There's no complicated maintenance or expensive equipment required, and setup is simple – just a few clicks in the included eaZy setup wizard and you'll be ready to use your camera within minutes.
CloudEnabled™ by iSecurity+
The IPC-3605N is compatible with the iSecurity+ suite of mobile apps to provide fast, easy access to video feeds and camera management tools directly from any iOS or Android-based device, or from any computer with a Flash compatible web browser.
In addition, CloudEnabled™ technology makes it easy to view and manage multiple cameras from a single interface, with no network setup required.
Easy Camera Sharing
iSecurity+ makes sharing your video feeds with friends and family easy. Just have them set up an iSecurity+ account and add them to your shared cameras list. Simple as that, your camera feed will show up on their Friends list. No complicated configuration required.
Crystal-Clear Video Day or Night
With the IPC-3605N, everything's illuminated. To ensure you're able to check in on your video feeds 24/7, the IPC-3605N comes equipped with an array of IR LEDs that automatically light up to 10 meters to provide perfect vision even in total darkness.
802.11n Wi-Fi
The IPC-3605N utilizes 802.11n wireless technology to make it easy to install your camera anywhere a WiFi signal is available. Now it's no problem to monitor parking lots, outdoor areas, or rooms that simply don't have an available Ethernet connection, and there's no need to worry about the cost or difficulty of running new wire.
State of the Art technology
The IPC-4605N features state of the art technology to make sure you've always got an eye in the sky. Pan-Tilt-Zoom functionality lets you remotely control your camera in real-time; allowing you to quickly and easily pan your camera up to 340 degrees, tilt up to 100 degrees, or zoom up to 10x – all from any internet-connected PC, or from Android and iOS devices with the free iSecurity+ app. In addition, CloudEnabled™ technology makes it easy to view and manage multiple cameras from a single interface, with no network setup required.
Customer Reviews of ZyXEL IPC3605N 802.11n 720P Fixed CloudEnabled IP Camera with Night Vision
Good quality4/3/2012
Very good quality picture.It just needs a good bandwidth to run at at it's full 720P capacity (for HD picture quality). if you have slower interent connection i'd recommend setting the resolution on something less than that so you don't experience a lagging picture. overall a great product.1 Helpful | 0 Not Helpful
Buyer beware - product very unreliable3/20/2012
Setup actually was quite simple. The hard part is getting the app to connect (both web and mobile device). I was very frustrated in the first hour but decided to give it a try for 4 days. Out of those four days it would actually connect and display video/audio 50% of the time. The other 50% it would time out if you were on a computer (just a spinning wheel) and when you would get a connection it would timeout and require refresh after 5 minutes. On a mobile device it routinely say: "Cannot connect, try over wifi instead of 3g" - and I was using wifi.
Not great... but would do in some situations3/16/2012
Set up of the device was relatively painless - 10-15 minutes. My biggest complaint is the reliability. Half the time I try to connect with my iphone it fails, and most of the rest of the time it takes about 15 seconds to display any video, and then you have to enable audio if you want it, another 5-10 seconds. Computer 80% of the time displays properly but no audio. Says it has a speaker, could not find out how to use it. Overall, I would not recommend.


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War in 2020: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals
Pocket Books, Jan 1, 1992 - Fiction - 624 pages
In Soviet Central Asia, 2020, a decaying Soviet Union is on the brink of disaster. Their only hope is America's Seventh Cavalry, who plunge into the horrors of war in the new millennium. "The military counterpart of Orwell's 1984. . . . is not for the fainthearted. . . ".--New York Times Book Review.
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Review: The War in 2020User Review - Goodreads
Great book. Read full review
Review: The War in 2020User Review - Goodreads
Several lessons are present in this fictional account of a ultra-technological war. Peter's hits the lesson that war is about people and the decisions they make no matter how smart computers become ... Read full review
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aircraft Akiro Americans Army asked Babryshkin Baku battlefield began Bouquette briefly called Colonel Taylor combat command copilot dark electronic enemy everything eyes face feel felt field fight fighting figure filled finally find fine fingers finished fire fired first flash flight floor flying forces fucking going hand hard head Heifetz hell Iranians Ivanov Japanese Kinshasa Kloete knew Kozlov Krebs laughed lieutenant looked Lucky Dave machine man's Manny Manny Martinez Martinez Meredith Merry military mission monitor Naritsky never Noburu officer oflicer Omsk Orsk President Ralph Peters Reno rifle Russian Ryder Savitsky Scramblers seemed shit smiled soldier South African Soviet Soviet Union Squadron stared Takahara Tanjani tank target tell there's They're thing thought told trying tumed U.S. Army Valya Vargas vehicles voice waiting Waters We're weapons What's woman words You're Yuri Zaire


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Simple sketchy multipurpose hand written business card. Vector smart objects for personal information icons, you can easily change colors. Sketchy background pattern. Print ready 300 DPI . Simple and cool for your business or your freelance career.
Get it here
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BackgroundThe award-winning game play of Ricochet Lost Worlds is back! From the talented minds of designers all over the world comes the most dynamic brick-busting experience ever! This wild and warped game has you smashing your way through over 350 beautiful and exhilarating rounds that are truly the best of the best. With its gorgeous artwork and innovative "Ring Game", you need to download it today. Rejuvenated, Reloaded...RECHARGED!
vicrabbadded 4 new screenshots
Jul 31, 07 1:34pm
- Genre: Arcade (PC)
- Developer: Reflexive Entertainment
- Publisher: Reflexive Entertainment
Released North America Oct 27, 2004


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Amy's is a Food company specializing in Asian style sausages. Amy's came to me with a vision to introduce the company to a wider audience—keeping their Asian consumers while appealing to the American customers. The solution was to design a custom typeface for Amy's with soft and welcoming characteristics to attract the wider audience. The custom crest designed locks in Amy's with Homestyle Foods while indicating the traditional homemade look.
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the press mentioned an artificial lake is being considered?
Any chance for PotC?
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the press mentioned an artificial lake is being considered?
Any chance for PotC?
The artificial lake will be for the "entertainment and shopping district"
Star Tours will be a great addition to Hong Kong Disneyland's Tomorrowland because of it's space themed which is well suited in this land. :D
If that happens,
There will be a total of 6 attractions:
-Space Mountain
-Buzz Lightyear Atroblastes
-Stitch Encounter
-Star Tours
What if they try to add INNOVATION??? hehehe. just thinking randomly. , :)
HKDL resort already has an artificial lake. It´s huge. They should use all the left space to build a big DisneySEA and forget ll about wasting expensive space for once.
ORWEN: I wonder how many artificial lakes they think they need?
According to latest local news, HK Government is giving the green light for HKOP's (Hong Kong Ocean Park) newest expansion (2nd phase). Official announcement might be made as early as this Wednesday. It is estimated that it might roughly cost HK$4 billion to add 2 new themed areas (plus some retail and or entertainment venues). They plan to add a year- round water park and a skating rink, construction would begin this year or sometime next year. Parts of the expansion might open to public as early as 2015.
By the way, the construction of the new MTR south island line (with a new station at HKOP) is supposed to be completed in 2015.
I believe HKDL is next to get similar treatment from HK Government.
Another news regarding next phase of expansion...
Source : intergameonline
Hong Kong Disney expansion plans | News | Coin-op | InterGame
Source: Standard HK
"The commissioner also said the government hopes Hong Kong Disneyland will have new attractions from time to time to draw more tourists."
"Hong Kong will have another 49 hotels - or 9,000 additional rooms - in four years. "
"there will be 238 hotels in the city by 2016 - 49 more than at present, with 16 of them coming on line this year."
************ ** **
latest news from HK:
In today's budget speech by the financial secretary of HK, it has been confirmed that there would be a new phase of expansion for HK Ocean Park including the Development of new hotels.
" 而樂園正籌劃在現有園區內進行新一輪擴建,政府收到有關具體建議後,會積極加以研究。"
And Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is planning further expansion.
Source: ET hk
Hi all, I got the reply from Commerce and Economic Development today. They confirmed to me that Star Tours 2 is not coming to HKDL.
"Thank you for your email dated 16 January 2012 to Mr Gregory So, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development. I am authorised to reply on his behalf.
You may wish to note that the ride Star Tours The Adventure Continues is not under the consideration of the Hong Kong Disneyland for its further expansion. The concept for the new attraction to be introduced by the Hong Kong Disneyland in its further expansion is still at the exploratory stage, and there is no decision as to the theme and design to be adopted.
We would like to thank you for your comments. We will work closely with The Walt Disney Company to make sure the new attraction will make a compelling experience for the visitors to the Hong Kong Disneyland.
Steve Wong
Administrative Officer (Tourism)
Tourism Commission
Commerce and Economic Development Bureau"
^ Interesting.
On similar Govt Inquiry note but for a different park, I saw this news for the Shanghai park:
"A 10-day online notice closed on Monday for the preliminary layout of Shanghai Disneyland Theme Park and associated parking lot, which are the core areas in the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone (SITRZ). According to the layout, the theme park and the parking lot will cover 91.1 and 21.6 hectares, respectively, in SITRZ.
A transportation hub related to the Disneyland theme park is under construction, with a subway station and related track lines. When the project is completed, two rail transit lines could link Shanghai's downtown section with the theme park.
It is known that the subway station is situated by the main entrance to the Disneyland theme park and the visitors' parking area is located at its southwest.
Despite of the fact that Disneyland's layout online notice is finished, the SITRZ management will continue to solicit public opinions and feedback on the subject till next Monday."
I don't know much about development in China, but what is a "10-day online notice"? Are the plans reviewable by the Chinese public via this online notice?
ORDDU: Thank you for sharing your news, Asa, duckling. I have a feeling that the little blurb we had read about a new attraction for HKDL that would involve a Star Wars theme will turn out to be the Jedi Training Academy instead of an actual attraction. If so, it's another reason for a witch to shake her head in consternation.
I guess two possibilities here.
First is that it's really not coming to HKDL. And that as the Ladies of Morva suggested, it's probably Jedi Training, or another.
Second is that it might be or will be coming, but since it's not yet official, then it's more sensible to deny it. Besides, what company would confirm a project exists even before it's officially announced?
It is interesting that the email said "further expansion is still at the exploratory stage, and there is no decision as to the theme and design to be adopted." but at the same time denies categorically that "Star Tours: The Adventure Continues" is being considered.
I think either WDC tabled more than one proposals to HK govt, but ST2 is not among them, or HK govt has already turned ST2 down.
I believe it is something else, not Star Tours 2.
Something related to Star Wars, and it is definitely not Jedi Academy, something more original....we will see when more details will be released later
According to Al Lutz's latest entry, "WDI has now been focusing on the eastern edge of Tomorrowland, including Innoventions and Autopia, as likely their next target for expansion and new attractions."
Maybe HKDL will share the new attraction ideas with DL regarding Tomorrow Land?


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Bizzy Crook
Artist: Earlly Mac
Featuring: Bizzy Crook | Trae The Truth
Song: Big Bank
"It's always Big Bank take little bank," begins the latest ode to the almighty dollar from Earlly Mac. The Detroit buzzmaker follows up his recent episode of our DJBoothTV Inside The... More
Posted 3 months ago
Artist: Connor Evans
Featuring: Bizzy Crook
Song: I Be Hittin' That
Fresh off Monday's release of his sophomore street album, Connor Evans returns to our pages with a freshly-released single off the DJBooth-hosted set. Surprisingly enough, I Be Hittin'... More
Posted about 2 years ago
Featuring: King Los
Song: Lord
For an artist, perhaps the most stressful time is when an important project's release is on the horizon. I'm sure Bizzy Crook knows what I'm talking about, as his forthcoming mixtape, 84—named... More
Posted 2 years ago
Song: Top Of The World
Bizzy Crook has been feeling good lately—damn good, in fact. And why wouldn't he be? With a growing, fervently loyal fanbase (See: the love-in that greeted his last feature, the exclusive... More
Posted 2 years ago
Song: Steal Your Heart
Personally, when I hear the phrase Steal Your Heart I think of that scene from Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom, but that's just because I'm a child of the '80s. Luckily, Bizzy... More
Posted 2 years ago
Song: Vegas
They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless of course Vegas is also the title of your new single, in which case you pretty much want everyone alive to hear it. A world premiere follow-up to... More
Posted 3 years ago
Song: Rich Some Day
If you tuned in for Bizzy Crook's previous features, you know that one of the primary motivators behind his hustle is the burning desire to discredit the teachers and peers who said he'd... More
Posted 3 years ago
Song: Heart Breaker
Spending one's high-school years as a relative outcast may be no walk in the park, but it certainly seems to increase the odds of achieving one's dreams later in life. Just ask Panhandle... More
Posted 3 years ago
Song: This is Me
Bizzy Crook's Booth debut, Over Now, found the Miami repper too wrapped up in a recent breakup to properly introduce himself. On follow-up leak This Is Me Crook rectifies that oversight, filling... More
Posted 4 years ago
Song: Over Now
As the cliché goes, every ending can also be viewed as a new beginning. Case in point: though Miami emcee Bizzy Crook's latest single, Over Now finds him reeling in the wake of a breakup, the... More
Posted 4 years ago
Sample Text - Sample Link


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Jul 13, 2014
06:00 AMSummer Fun
Enter to Win Day 25 Prize
Enjoy the fresh air and a view of the Atlantic City skyline atop New Jersey's tallest lighthouse. Enter to win admission for 4 to climb Absecon Lighthouse ($28.00 value) and take the 228-step journey up the third tallest lighthouse in the country. While there, you can also visit a replica of the Lightkeeper's dwelling, an educational museum, gift shop and the original Fresnel Lens, first lit in 1857.
Whether you stop by on your family trip to Atlantic City or come for the kid-friendly "Wacky Wednesdays" complete with crafts, activities and movies (think themes like Christmas in July, Superheroes & Villains and Dinosaurs) through August, Absecon Lighthouse is a great spot to relish the summer.
Enter to Win >>
Check MetroKids.com/SummerFun every day through August 29 to see daily prizes you can enter to win, including great summertime-fun products and tickets to family-favorite venues and events. Prizes change daily! You never know what day will bring a perfect fit for your family.Edit ModuleShow Tags


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Browse Jewelry Categories:
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Cultured Pearls are one of the most intriguing, stunning and beloved gems in the world. Imperial cultured pearls are fashioned into jewelry using a wide variety of pearl types. With Akoya pearls, Tahitian pearls, South Sea pearls, freshwater pearls, and Keshi pearls, you can clearly see what makes this collection Imperial.View the Imperial collection
Lafonn offers extravagant handcrafted designs in sterling silver, handset with the world�s finest simulated diamonds. Unsurpassed quality and dazzling perfection are the foundation of Lafonn's brilliance and fire. As a design house and manufacturer with over 30 years of experience in the art of fine jewelry, Lafonn is proud to offer our collection of couture sterling silver jewelry. The moment you touch and handle our jewelry, you will experience the difference. Lafonn products give the opportunity to own a beautiful, well made piece of jewelry at a price that is within reach.View the Lafonn collection
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Learn more about Deluxe Storybook Cinderella Costume Medium 7-8:
Manufacturer: Disguise Costumes
Mfg Part#: 50484-M
Sku: 251912778
See more in Costumes
|These authentic licensed Disney Storybook Cinderella prestige quality costumes from Disguise are a great way to get your loved ones into the spirit this Halloween! This great quality costume includes the signature blue and white princess dress with attached petticoat, glittered character art, character cameo, matching headpiece and choker. Great on their own, and even better with the other Disney costumes and accessories in our store for the entire family!


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LONDON, March 04, 2014 (AFP) - Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he is looking for someone to succeed him at the head of the sport, as he prepares to face bribery charges in Germany.
The 83-year-old British businessman is due to go on trial in Munich on April 24 to face allegations that he bribed a German banker during discussions over the sale of F1 championship rights in 2006.
Until now, the F1 chief executive has been resolute in the face of the bribery affair, insisting the sport's owners CVC support him unless he is found criminally guilty in a forthcoming trial.
"We don't have any changes planned at the moment," a CVC source told F1 business journalist Christian Sylt, writing in the Guardian.
"The board constantly reviews facts and circumstances and the current position is that no changes are planned."
Nevertheless, the 'supremo' made comments that suggests a different course of action in the near future.
"I've been spending time on this case, and to spend time on Munich I am not able to give what I normally would do, 24/7, to the business," he told Tuesday's edition of British newspaper the Financial Times.
"I've been looking, over the last few years, for somebody who can join me to assist with what I have to do. I will eventually be in a position, if I decide to retire -- or unfortunately become dead -- to have someone to step into my shoes."
Ecclestone was charged last July in relation to a $44 million (32 million euros) payment he made to former German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky, which was linked to the sale of F1 championship rights in 2006.
Gribkowsky was jailed in 2012 for eight and a half years for taking an illegal payment when the rights were sold.
Ecclestone has denied wrongdoing and claimed he was blackmailed by Gribkowsky, who had allegedly threatened to report the F1 commercial boss to the British tax authorities.
Ecclestone stood down from several directorial positions on companies related to F1 in January, but announced that he would continue to run the business on a day-to-day basis.


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The people didn't just speak at the polls on Tuesday. They yelled at the top of their lungs.
The headline in November 2008 when Barack Obama ascended to the presidency was "Change has come."
Two years later the headline could easily have been "Sea change has come."
Ahh, democracy. What a concept.
This time out, it was the Republicans who were like Sherman going through Atlanta. But the Democrats will just walk it off —- this is the political party famous for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
The political tsunami the pundits and the polls had projected indeed created the perfect storm that dragged some of the more veteran Democrats down under.
If there was a famous pop tune that could've been played to the Democrats getting pummled in the midterm elections it would be The Ventures' surfing instrumental hit from the 1960s, "Wipeout."
OK, enough with the cliched weather analogies. Time to get down to the nitty gritty.
A Republican won the Senate seat in Illinois formerly held by President Obama.
How bad of a night was it for Democrats? The Republican winner for Senate in Idaho has the last name of Crapo.
While we're on the subject, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada won re-election. Only because the GOP blew it by nominating a lunatic like Tea Party darling Sharron Angle.
On the ballot in Nevada there was also a choice to select "None of the above."
Every state should have that on the ballot. Let's see…. Brown? Boxer? Whitman? Fiorina? None of the above? Now there's a public option for you.
Speaking of California, as if Fox Fabricated News and Rush to Judgment needed more reasons to demonize the Golden State, the fact that the two liberal Senators are now joined by former governor and now Governor-elect Moonbeam will make conservatrons go berserko grande.
They've already got to be P.O.'d that the World Series champs are from satanic San Francisco, and the defending NBA champions are the Lakers.
President Obama needs to move the White House to California. It's the only state that really likes him. Except for maybe Hawaii, the (supposed) place of his birth.
The prez will have to deal with a new Speaker of the House, since Salome Palin was successful delivering the head of Nancy Pelosi on a platter to Herod Murdoch.
The GOP's take no prisoners recapturing of the House of Representatives puts Ohio Congressman John "Bad Orange Tan" Boehner in line as the new Speaker.
Boehner got all teary-eyed and emotional with his victory speech and the Republican surge last night. Now that he's won, The Great Pumpkin can pull of his mask and show everybody he's really Glenn Beck.
There's no crying in politics. One was waiting for Bad Tan to say: "Excuse me. I'm feeling a little verklempt. Talk among yourselves. I'll give you a topic: Fox News — it's not an animal and it's not real news."
Man up, Bad Tan. Relax. Have some tea. It's going to be forced fed to you one way or the other in the next two years anyway.
Speaking of everybody's cup of tea, Mama Grizzly will be taking all the credit for the GOP regaining control of the House.
But hold on a minute, no one will dare question her (especially the Foxholes) about three out of her four major endorsements failing to win Senate seats:
1. Angle in Nevada. In the primaries, she bested the woman who suggested bartering for health care with chickens. Maybe this one was a lock for Reid all along.
This is the race the Republicans wanted the most — the coup de gras — the solo home run that decides the 7th game of the World Series.
But thanks to Palin and her oversized ego, the GOP lost the really big one. In Palin's defense, sort of, quote the Rolling Stones: "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you get what you need."
2. Ken Buck in Colorado lost the Senate seat to Michael Bennett. Palin was prominent in pulling the puppet strings of this candidate, and the GOP poured a lot of money into this race.
3. Meanwhile in Alaska, the den of Mama Grizzly, the little fuzzy wuzzy bear of a candidate, crazy Joe Miller, whom Palin hand-picked, is running second to the write-in candidate —- Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Miller beat Murkowski in the GOP primary. He came out of nowhere thanks to Palin —- and if he's embarrassed by losing to a write-in candidate, he'll go back to nowhere. Maybe a Bridge to Nowhere.
4. And last, but certainly not least, there's poor Christine "I'm not a witch. I'm you" O'Donnell, who lost badly to Chris Cooms for Joe Biden's old Senate seat in Delaware.
O'Donnell —- as well as Angle —– could not have been taken seriously. They were jokes. Although it still would've been fun having a witch in the Senate. And O'Donnell's 15-minutes of fame should last a little longer because she's so kooky.
She may even get her own show on Fox. No, too sane.
Not all the whackaloon tea baggers won. Score one for the voting public. Besides, Angle, Carl "I'll take you out" Paladino got thumped running for governor of New York. And Rich Iott, who was running for Congress in Ohio, went down to defeat. He was the guy who used to like to dress up like a Nazi for those World War II "re-enactments." Iott didn't concede defeat right away. Word has it he was waiting for those last-minute write-in votes to come in from Munich.
But Rand "Mess with me and one of my goons will step on your head, lady" Paul did win big to be Kentucky's next Senator. Since Kentucky's a militia state, so there's no surprise there.
Had Palin not thought so highly of herself as a queenmaker, O'Donnell and Angle would've lost in the primaries to more established GOP candidates, who likely would've beaten the Democrats and in the process the party of Lincoln and God would've got the Senate as well.
Palin will never shut her massive cake hole. Or get her just desserts —- unless she runs for president in 2012.
Meanwhile, the rumor mill has it that the good ole boys in the GOP are planning to groom one of their own to stop Mama Grizzly from bearing down on the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
You know, kind of like what the Democrats did in 2008 to Hillary Clinton by grooming Barack Obama to knock her off her pedestal, thus preventing those cracks in the glass ceiling from shattering.
How's that working out for you, Democrats?


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Thayers Witch Hazel Rose Petal with Aloe Vera Formula -- 12 fl oz
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Alcohol-Free Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner
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Over 120 years ago, Rose Thayer, niece of Henry Thayer M.D., developed an all-natural recipe for extra-soft, youthful-looking skin. As she aged, many would comment on how she always looked 10 years younger than she was. Now, for the first time, her secret formula of Rose Petal water blended with Witch Hazel extract, Certified Organic Aloe Vera and Vitamin E, is being made available. Witch Hazel helps to tighten pores, and to smooth and beautify skin without drying. THAYERS® proprietary Certified Organic Witch Hazel (derived from the bark) is not distilled, thereby maintaining all the beneficial natural tannins. Assay of hamamelitannin shows that Witch Hazel bark extract is 31 times richer in hamamelitannin than the leaf extract and 87 times richer than the stem extract (Resource: Vennat, B., "Tannins from Hamamelis virginana" Plant Medica 54(1988):454-457).
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Un-Distilled Witch Hazel (with all the beneficial natural tannins) • Moisturizes • Cleanses
Vitacost price: $9.60


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Thursday, July 29, 2010
© Copyright 2015 Clayton News Daily
By Derrick Mahone
Ed Clark's long wait is over.
The president of Atlanta Motor Speedway pulled into victory lane Thursday evening for his first Thursday Thunder win in the Masters' division during the first of two races.
"It's been a long time coming," said Clark, who has raced in the Masters division since 2002.
As he sat in the garage near his car, several people stopped by to give him a congratulatory handshake.
"I enjoy being out here for the fellowship with the other drivers and fans in the stands," Clark said. "It certainly feels great to win."
Clark came into Thursday's double feature races in second place behind Albany-native Skip Nichols in the points standing. Nichols, who is the all-time victory leader in the Thursday Thunder racing series, had 674 points while Clark was second with 643.
The second happiest man in the garage on Thursday was Winston-native Taylor Hull, who has done the mechanical work on Clark's car this season.
"It is really special to see Ed win out here," Hull said. "Having Ed win is a real big deal. I'm so happy for him."
When he is not working on Clark's car, Hull races in both the Legend's Pro division and in the Roadsters. The 21-year-old Hull is second in the Pro standings behind Donald McIntosh entering Thursday's double features. He is fourth, just one spot ahead of Clark, in the Roadsters division.
Despite being 34 years Clark's junior, Hull said that the two have formed a good working relationship. He said Clark is open to his ideals and the two have gotten to know each other throughout the season.
"Ed is a very down-to-earth person," Hull said. "I've always looked up to him. You have to get over the fact that he is the president of AMS, and do the work he needs on the car. He is very open to my suggestions.
"I've learned what he likes. The type of feel he wants from the car is completely different than mine, and I've learned that this season."
The two went through a practice run on Monday, and made some adjustments to the car.
And it seemed to work as Clark was able to pull into victory lane.
"Taylor has done a good job with the car," Clark said.
Racing in Thursday Thunder is Clark's stress releaser. With about a month to go before the Labor Day weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Clark and his staff have been busy putting the finishing touches on the weekend events.
He said they have lined up a special weekend for race fans at AMS.
"We have been working hard," Clark said. "I do the racing for relaxation and fellowship. I'm also a very competitive person. If I don't win, I'm disappointed. This was as big of a win as I've had."
More like this story
- Hull holds off Rayhall for division win ( June 16, 2011 )
- Tight races make for intense competition ( August 3, 2011 )
- Thursday Thunder ( June 14, 2011 )
- Nichols tries to add to all-time Thursday Thunder record ( June 22, 2011 )
- AMS boss wins Masters race ( June 9, 2011 )


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One of the better Halo spinoffs, a solid FPS with memorable missions, characters, and tone. ...
This was my roommate's favorite game back in college. Personally I just mashed buttons, but it...
The best 2D Mario game. There is not another one even close. If you have an snes then you...
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The world record for number of button mashes per second, set by Toshuyuki Takahashi.
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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
No Higher Premiums for Women: Health Insurers
American health insurers say they'll stop charging women higher premiums, a move seen as part of the industry's attempts to prevent creation of a government insurance plan that would compete against them.
Currently, many American women are charged more than men in the individual market, but that shouldn't be done any more if all Americans are required to get health coverage, say officials from America's Health Insurance Plans, the Associated Press reported.
The insurance industry's latest concession offer was announced as Congress convened a round-table discussion on covering the uninsured as part of its efforts to overhaul the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system.
Previously, the insurance industry offered to stop charging sick people higher premiums, the AP reported.
Patient Stable After First U.S. Double Hand Transplant
A 57-year-old Georgia man is recovering after undergoing the United States' first double hand transplant.
Jeff Kepner was stable after a day of surgery that ended Monday night, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center spokeswoman told the Associated Press.
Kepner lost his hands and feet to a bacterial infection. He's a native of Lancaster, Pa., who now lives in Augusta, Ga.
Eight double hand transplants have been performed in other countries, the AP reported. Last month, French surgeons performed the world's first simultaneous partial face and double hand transplant.
Once-Weekly Diabetes Drug Submitted for FDA Approval
The once-weekly injectable diabetes drug exenatide LAR has been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval, Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Tuesday.
The drug is an extended version of the twice-daily injectable drug Byetta, the Associated Press reported.
Another new diabetes drug, Novo Nordisk's once-daily injection liraglutide, is currently under FDA review.
Both exenatide LAR and liraglutide are in a class of treatments called GLP-1 analogues, which help increase insulin production.
Last year, the FDA issued new safety guidelines for diabetes treatments after concerns were raised about heightened heart attack risk associated with GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia, the AP reported.
Zinc/Copper Supplements May Not Curb Diarrhea: Study
Even thought they're widely used, zinc and copper supplements may not be an effective way to treat diarrhea, suggest Indian researchers who studied 808 children.
The zinc and copper supplements were no more effective at treating diarrhea in the children than a placebo pill, found the team from the Lata Medical Research Foundation, BBC News reported.
"The expected beneficial effects of zinc supplementation for acute diarrhea were not observed," said lead researcher Dr. Archana Patel. "Therapeutic zinc or zinc and copper supplementation may not have a universal beneficial impact on the duration of acute diarrhea in children."


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Get to the Point - Preview Day
Date:Friday, January 20, 2012, 7:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location:PLNU Main Campus
These one-day events are open to all interested juniors, seniors, transfer students, and their families. They will be full days complete with admissions and financial aid information.
More information will be available on the Preview Day website closer to the event.
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Estimated ArrivalArrives by 12/23
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Picnic at Ascot
Barbecue anywhere, anytime, with this portable charcoal grill. Simple to set up, it folds flat and comes with a handled tote for easy carrying. The grill top is 18.5" wide x 11" deep, and the grate is 18.5" wide x 5.5" deep.


text:
Follow the latest with the liveblog of The interpreter, a website covering Russian media and the war in Ukraine.
And this one, which The interpreter was able to geolocate, shows another column in Novoshakhtinsk, a mining city in Rostov.
He then shouted to his interpreter: "Tell him to get up right now, and get the cuffs on him."
"one who translates spoken languages; a translator of written texts," late 14c., from Old French interpreteor, from Late Latin interpretatorem, agent noun from interpretari (see interpret).


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Faculty Fellow at Kadir Has University, Istanbul
Dr. Ünver is a faculty fellow at Kadir Has University's international relations department. Previously, he was the Ertegun fellow at Princeton University's Near Eastern Studies department, being the only academic to retain this prestigious fellowship for two consecutive years. Ünver has also won the Middle East Studies Association's Malcolm H. Kerr social sciences award in 2010.Click here to view more Wikistrat Experts
Dr. Ünver is the Ertegün Lecturer of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, Near Eastern Studies department. Previously he was a joint post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan's Center for European Studies and the Center for the Middle East and North African Studies, where he authored several articles on Turkish politics, most notable of which is "Turkey's deep-state and the Ergenekon conundrum", published by the Middle East Institute. Born and raised in Ankara, Turkey, he graduated from T.E.D. Ankara College in 1999 and earned his B.A. in International Relations from Bilkent University (2003) and MSc in European Studies from the Middle East Technical University (2005).
He received his PhD from the Department of Government, University of Essex, where his dissertation, 'A comparative analysis of the discourses on the Kurdish question in the European Parliament, US Congress and Turkish National Assembly' has won the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) 2010 Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Award in Social Sciences. Akın also assumed entry-level policy positions at the European Union Secretariat-General, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eurasian Center for Strategic Studies (ASAM) and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (D.C.), as well as teaching positions at the University of Essex (Theories of International Relations) and Sabancı University (Turkey and the Middle East).
Academic Qualifications:
PhD in International Relations, University of Essex
MSc in European Studies, Middle East Technical University
BA in International Relations, Bilkent University
Areas of Expertise:
Middle East
European Union
Turkish domestic-foreign-energy politics
Terrorism Secularism and nationalism
Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT)
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A system and method for predicting price fluctuations in financial markets. Our approach utilizes both market history and public news articles, published before the beginning of trading each day, to produce a set of recommended investment actions. We empirically show that these markets are surprisingly predictable, even by purely market-historical techniques. Furthermore, analyzing relevant news articles captures information features independent of the markets history, and combining the two methods significantly improves results. Capturing usable features from news articles requires some linguistic sophistication the standard naďve bag-f-words approach does not yield predictive features. Instead, we use part-of-speech tagging, dependency parsing and semantic role labeling to generate features that improve system accuracy. We evaluate our system on eight political prediction markets from 2004 and show that we can make effective investment decisions based on our systems predictions, whose profits greatly exceed those generated by a baseline system.
1. A method of predicting the future performance of one or more predefined securities, the method including:
receiving raw data representing language including sentences relating to one or more predefined securities whose future performance is to be predicted;
scanning the raw data for references to one or more of the predefined securities and providing the reference as a standard representation thereof;
preprocessing the sentences containing references to at least one of said one or more predefined securities to provide a relationship structure of one or more words in the preprocessed sentences; and
providing a training model for one or more of the relationship structures to predict future performance of one or more of the predefined securities.
2. The method of
3. The method of
4. The method of
receiving data representing price movement of certain past trading days; and
using said data representing price movement of certain past trading days to modify said prediction of future performance of one or more of said predefined securities
This application claims the benefit of our provisional application Ser. No. 60/927,250 filed on May 2, 2007, entitled "Forecasting Prediction Markets by News Content Analysis," the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to methods for predicting financial market performance. In particular, this invention relates to providing training models for predicting performance of predefined securities.
The mass media can affect world events by swaying public opinion, officials and decision makers. Financial investors who evaluate the economic performance of a company can be swayed by positive and negative perceptions about the company in the media, directly impacting its economic position. The same is true of politics, where a candidate's performance is impacted by media influence public perception, and many other related fields.
Computational linguistics can extract such information in the news. For example, Devitt and Ahmad (2007) gave a computable metric of polarity in financial news text consistent with human judgments. Koppel and Shtrimberg (2004) used a daily news analysis to predict financial market performance, though predictions could not be used for future investment decisions. Recently, a study conducted of the 2007 French presidential election showed a correlation between the frequency of a candidate's name in the news and electoral success (Veronis, 2007).
We present a computational system that uses both external linguistic information and internal market indicators to forecast public opinion as measured by prediction markets, or other financial markets. We use features from syntactic dependency parses of the news and a user-defined set of market entities. Successive news days are compared to determine the novel component of each day's news resulting in features for a machine learning system. A combination system uses this information as well as predictions from internal market forces to model prediction markets better than several baselines. Results on several political prediction markets from 2004 show that news articles can be mined to predict changes in public opinion.
Opinion forecasting differs from that of opinion analysis, such as extracting opinions, evaluating sentiment, and extracting predictions (Kim and Hovy, 2007). Contrary to these tasks, our system receives objective news, not subjective opinions, and learns what events will impact public opinion. For example, "oil prices rose" is a fact but will likely shape opinions. This work analyzes news (cause) to predict future opinions (effect). This affects the structure of our task: we consider a time-series setting since we must use past data to predict future opinions, rather than analyzing opinions in batch across the whole dataset.
Aspects, features and advantages of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the described embodiments of the present invention provided herein are illustrative only and not limiting, having been presented by way of example only. All features disclosed herein, including dimensions, materials, etc may be replaced by alternative features serving the same or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Therefore, numerous other embodiments of the modifications thereof are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention as defined herein and equivalents thereto.
Security—Whatever is being traded, whose price movements we want to predict. This could be shares of some company's stock, or shares of a certain proposition in a prediction market.
Feature—A <label, number> pair that represents a piece of information about some day in a market. The data is contained in the number; the label simply indicates what the number represents (e.g. "Yesterday's price" or "Number of times the word 'economy' was mentioned today")
Prediction Market—A market for securities whose value depends on the outcome of a particular proposition, e.g. "George Bush will win the 2004 US Presidential election". See the "Prediction Markets" section for a full explanation. A prediction market is one kind of financial market
Our goal is to predict daily fluctuations in the price of securities. We do this by reading the day's news and examining some simple financial indicators. We train two machine learning models on all previously observed days: one using news data and one using financial indicators. We then use these models to generate two predictions for the current day's price movement, and then decide how to invest (buy or short-sell) according to a combination heuristic that considers each type of prediction's performance over the past few days.
Prior to using the system with a new security, a set of relevant entities must be defined. These are generally nouns related to the security (the candidate/company/product's name, those of major competitors). Aliases must be established so that different terms referring to the same entity (e.g. "Bush", "Mr. President") can be coidentified. This can be done either with a manually created list of equivalent terms, or by using automatic co-reference resolution: the former has the advantage of precision, while the latter has the advantage of recall (primarily from its treatment of pronouns). These lists are short—roughly 5 terms per market is all that's needed.
We present an overall system diagram in
Load Raw Article Data (1)
The current day's news must be gathered. This can be done with a standard crawler, or by using news aggregation services such as Google News or Factiva. Care must be taken to ensure that all news gathered is less than one day old, as the system attempts to find topic shifts between days. This is generally trivial, as news articles are marked with their date of publication.
Linguistic Preprocessing (2)
We employ several natural language analysis techniques in order to be able to learn relevant features from the news data. We scan each sentence of all observed news for a mention of one of the predefined entities (either by simple string matching or by use of an automatic named entity recognition system—several of these are also listed at the above URL), canonizing any we find to a standard representation of the entity they represent. If none is found, the sentence is discarded and not considered in any future steps. Otherwise, we preprocess that sentence by part-of-speech tagging it (identifying the words in the sentence as "noun", "adjective", "verb", etc), and parsing it into a role-labeled dependency parse tree (Nivre and Scholz, 2004). These are standard NLP tasks with well-understood algorithms. See http://www-nlp.stanford.edu/links/statnlp.html for a list of several tools for each task.
Raw Feature Extraction (3)
Typically, representations of text in vector space for machine-learning purposes use a bag-of-words model, wherein each unique word is treated as a feature, and a document is represented as the set of mention counts for each word (e.g. "said" is mentioned 3 times, "meeting" is mentioned 15 times, etc). The counts are then typically normalized such that they sum to 1. However, as shown by Wiebe et al. (2005), it is important to know not only what is being said but about whom it is said. The term "victorious" by itself is meaningless when discussing an election—meaning comes from the subject. Similarly, the word "scandal" is bad for a candidate but good for the opponent. While oftentimes the subject being discussed may be inferred by simply looking for entities that occur in the same sentence as the word in question, there are many subtle cases in language where this approach may fail, particularly when more than one entity from the list constructed appears in the sentence:
Bush defeated Kerry in the debate.
Kerry defeated Bush in the debate.
Bush, the president of the USA, was defeated by Senator Kerry in last night's debate.
One might factor in proximity to help determine the subject, and possibly direction. However, a much more rigorous approach is to use the parse-tree information we determined earlier, and extract features directly from the parse trees. Here the feature labels will correspond to parse tree "fragments" (to be explained shortly), and each label's value will be the number of times we observe that label's fragment in the entire day's news (that is, across all parse trees observed for that day). After examining all available parse trees for the day, we prune any features whose value is below a certain threshold, and normalize the rest such that they sum to 1.
To find parse-tree fragments to make labels out of, we look at each parse tree generated from the day's news (one for each sentence that had a predefined entity in it), and iterate through the occurrences of the named entities that were identified back in step 2. Along the way, we keep track of the set of features we have extracted for this day so far. Because we are working with a dependency parse tree, each word of the sentence corresponds to a single node of the parse tree, and we can speak of a word's parent, sibling, child, etc. in the tree. For each of these, we generate a feature label indicating the word, part of speech, and semantic role label of:
An example sentence that has been linguistically preprocessed is shown in
These feature labels are highly specific, and one might not reasonably expect to observe an instance of the associated parse tree fragment enough to be able to learn anything from it (in the "Machine Learning" phase). Therefore, we also generate "backoff" feature labels and increment these as well. These feature labels are generated by starting with one of our observed feature labels corresponding to a parse tree fragment, and removing some of the specificity of the label.
For example, while we might extract a feature label containing the words, parts of speech, and semantic role labels of the entity, its parent, and its grandparent, we would in addition extract another containing only the information about the entity and its grandparent—because this feature label in essence generalizes over the parent, it is something we might observe more frequently in the news. We also extract feature labels using all of the same words (e.g. entity, parent, grandparent), but leave out the value of the parent or grandparent's actual word, indicating only its part of speech and/or semantic role label. This feature label also is less specific: the parse-tree fragment it describes can contain any of hundreds or thousands of words in the parent or grandparent position, so long as their part of speech and/or semantic role label match.
Note that besides extracting more precise information from the news text, this handles sentences with multiple entities elegantly, since it associates parts of a sentence with different entities. Thus, our features are parse-tree relations instead of simple words, and as with the bag-of-words model, their values are mention counts. We found this approach dramatically more effective than a bag-of-words based feature representation. We record mention counts across all news observed on a given day, though one could break it down by tagging each feature with the news source it comes from (e.g. some text may mean one thing when the New York Times reports it, versus something else when a small local paper reports it). We then prune the feature vector, discarding any features for which the total number of observations is below a certain threshold.
At this point, we record the feature vector constructed, for use in the "Feature delta" processing step for future days.
Feature Delta (4)
Public opinion is influenced by new events—a change in focus. If an oil company reports it has discovered a large, new source of oil, we would naturally expect demand for shares of that company's stock to increase, resulting in a price increase. However, while the find may be discussed for several days after the event, demand for the company's stock will probably not continue to rise on old news—that information has already been incorporated into the public's valuation of the company's stock. Changes in price should reflect changes in daily news coverage. Instead of having feature values reflect observations from the news for a single day, they can represent differences between two days of news coverage, i.e. the novelty of the coverage. Given the value of feature i on day t as fi t, the news focus change (Δ) for feature i on day t is defined as,
where the numerator represents the prevalence of feature i's parse-tree fragment today and the denominator is the average prevalence over the previous three days. The resulting value captures the change in focus on day t, where a value greater than 0 means increased focus and a value less than 0 decreased focus. In practice, we add a small constant to both the numerator and denominator, primarily to avoid division-by-zero errors.
At the end of the day, after we have made our decision, invested, and learned the actual price fluctuation, we will annotate this feature vector with its price movement and store it for use as training data for future iterations.
Machine Learning (6,7)
All previously observed days for this security are taken—each is a feature vector (that has already been processed as above), annotated with a price movement. All price movements, both in training and prediction, are converted into a simple binary up/down. We then train a maximum entropy model (Berger et al, 1996) on all previous days, trying to learn a function that classifies the days based on their features into two groups: the group consisting of days where the security's price rose, and the group consisting of days where the security's price fell. We bias the model to correctly classify days with large price movements accurately, at the expense of days with smaller price movements, by including a given day in the training set multiple times, in proportion to the magnitude of the day's price movement. This causes the learning algorithm to attach a higher importance to classifying the days with large price movements correctly, as the accuracy boost from doing so is greater than that for a day with a smaller price movement (that is, the model sees that it predicts another, say, five days correctly by correctly classifying a large-movement day, rather than just one for a small-movement day.). The resultant model is then applied to the new data—that representing the current day—and we observe which of the two groups the model classifies it into. This is our news-based prediction.
We use a similar technique in stages 10 and 11 of the flowchart as well: this is described in the next section.
Market-History Track (8-11)
The previous sections describe a prediction system based on related news.
However, news cannot explain all market trends. Momentum in the market, market inefficiencies, and slow news days can affect share price. A candidate who does well will likely continue to do well unless new events occur. Learning general market behavior can help explain these price movements.
For each day t, we create an instance using features for the price and volume at day t−1 and the price and volume change between days t−1 and t−2. We train using a ridge regression (which outperformed more sophisticated algorithms) on all previous days (labeled with their actual price movements) to forecast the movement for day t, which we convert into a binary value: up or down. This system works in parallel with the news system, generating two predictions for each day: one based on news, and another based on market history.
Combination Heuristic (12)
Since both news and internal market information are important for modeling market behavior, one cannot be used in isolation. For example, a successful news system may learn to spot important events for a candidate, but cannot explain the price movements of a slow news day. A combination of the market history system and news features is needed to model the markets.
Expert algorithms for combining prediction systems have been well studied. However, experiments with the popular weighted majority algorithm (Littlestone and Warmuth, 1989) yielded poor performance since it attempts to learn the optimal balance between systems while our setting has rapidly shifting quality between few experts with little data for learning. Instead, a simple heuristic was used to select the best performing predictor on each day. We compare the 3-day prediction accuracy (measured in total earnings) for each system (news and market history) to determine the current best system. The use of a small window allows rapid change in systems. When neither system has a better 3-day accuracy the combined system will only predict if the two systems agree and abstain otherwise. This strategy measures how accurately a news system can account for price movements when non-news movements are accounted for by market history. The combined system improved overall system performance dramatically above the results from using either system in isolation.
Investment Strategies (13)
Many investment strategies exist to maximize expected returns or to minimize risk given information about what the market is likely to do. We utilize a very simple investment strategy, chosen to facilitate evaluation rather than to maximize returns. Based on the prediction from the combination heuristic, we either buy or short-sell a single share of the security in question (or do neither if the heuristic has abstained from making a prediction). At the end of the day, we sell the share or cover the short-sale. In this way, all of our trades are short-term and impact our overall performance in proportion to the magnitude of the price shift over a single day. However, more sophisticated schemes can easily be specified in place of this one.
Prediction Markets
Prediction markets, such as TradeSports and the Iowa Electronic Markets (www.tradesports.com, www.biz.uiowa.edu/iem/), provide a setting similar to financial markets wherein shares represent not companies or commodities, but an outcome of a sporting, financial or political event. For example, during the 2004 US Presidential election, one could purchase a share of "George W. Bush to win the 2004 US Presidential election" or "John Kerry to win the 2004 US Presidential election." A pay-out of $1 is awarded to winning shareholders once this can be determined, e.g. Bush wins (or loses) the election. In the interim, price fluctuations driven by supply and demand indicate the perception of the event's likelihood, which indicates public opinion of the likelihood of an event. Several studies show the accuracy of prediction markets in predicting future events (Wolfers and Zitzewitz, 2004; Servan-Schreiber et al., 2004; Pennock et al., 2000), such as the success of upcoming movies (Jank and Foutz, 2007), political stock markets (Forsythe et al., 1999) and sports betting markets (Williams, 1999).
Market investors rely on daily news reports to dictate investment actions. If something positive happens for Bush (e.g. Saddam Hussein is captured), Bush will appear more likely to win, so demand increases for "Bush to win" shares, and the price rises. Likewise, if something negative for Bush occurs (e.g. casualties in Iraq increase), people will think he is less likely to win, sell their shares, and the price drops.
Daily pricing information was obtained from the Iowa Electronic Markets for the 2004 US Presidential election for three Democratic primary contenders (Clark, Dean, and Kerry) and two general election candidates (Bush and Kerry). Market length varied as some candidates entered the race later than others: the DNC market for Kerry was 332 days long, while Dean's was 130 days and Clark's 106. The general election market for Bush was 153 days long, while Kerry's was 142—the first 11 days of the Kerry general election market were removed due to strange price fluctuations in the data. The price delta for each day was taken as the difference between the average price between the previous and current day. Market data also included the daily volume that was used as a market history feature. Entities selected for each market were the names of all candidates involved in the election and "Iraq."
Experiment Setup
Our news corpus contained approximately 50 articles per day over a span of 3 months to almost a year, depending on the market. While 50 articles may not seem like much, humans read far less text before making investment decisions.
While most classification systems are evaluated by measuring their accuracy on cross-validation experiments, both the method and the metric are unsuitable to our task. A decision for a given day must be made with knowledge of only the previous days, ruling out cross-validation. In fact, we observed improved results when the system was allowed access to future articles through cross-validation. Further, raw prediction accuracy is not a suitable metric for evaluation because it ignores the magnitude in price shifts each day. A system should be rewarded in proportion to the significance of the day's market change.
To address these issues we used a chronological evaluation where systems were rewarded for correct predictions in proportion to the magnitude of that day's shift, i.e. the ability to profit from the market. Essentially, we ran an investing simulation. On each day, the system is provided with all available morning news and market history, from which two instances are created (one for news, one for market history). We then predict, using the news and market history systems as well as the combination heuristic, whether the market price will rise or fall and invest accordingly, either buying or short-selling a single share. At the end of the day we "undo" the trade, selling the share we bought or covering the short sale. The net effect of this trading scheme is that the system either earns or loses an amount of money equal to the price change for that day if it was right or wrong respectively. The system then learns the correct price movement and the process is repeated for the next day. Scores were normalized for comparison across markets using the maximum profit obtainable by an omniscient system that always predicts correctly—that is, the maximum amount of money possible to be earned under the given investment strategy of only buying/selling one share per day.
Baseline systems for both news and market history are included. The news baseline follows the spirit of a study of the French presidential election (Veronis, 2007), which showed that candidate mentions correlate to electoral success. Attempts to follow this method directly—predicting price movement based on raw candidate mentions—did very poorly. Instead, we trained our learning system with features representing daily mention counts of each entity. For a market history baseline, we make a simple assumption about market behavior: the current market trend will continue, predict today's behavior for tomorrow.
Results for news based prediction systems are shown in
The combined system proved an effective way of modeling the market with both information sources.
Veronis (2007) observed a connection between electoral success and candidate mentions in news media. The average daily mentions in the general election was 520 for Bush (election winner) and 485 for Kerry. However, for the three major DNC candidates, Dean had 183, Clark 56 and Kerry (election winner) had the least at 43. Most Kerry articles occurred towards the end of the race when it was clear he would win, while early articles focused on the early leader Dean. Also, news activity did not indicate market movement direction; median candidate mentions for a positive market day was 210 and 192 for a negative day.
Dependency news system accuracy was correlated with news activity. On days when the news component was correct—although not always chosen—there were 226 median candidate mentions compared to 156 for incorrect days. Additionally, the system was more successful at predicting negative days. While days for which it was incorrect the market moved up or down equally, when it was correct and selected it predicted buy 42% of the time and sell 58%, indicating that the system better tracked negative news impacts.
Related Work
Many studies have examined the effects of news on financial markets. Koppel and Shtrimberg (2004) found a low correlation between news and the stock market, likely because of the extreme efficiency of the stock market (Gidófalvi, 2001). Two studies reported success but worked with a very small time granularity (10 minutes) (Lavrenko et al., 2000; Mittermayer and Knolmayer, 2006). It appears that neither system accounts for the time-series nature of news during learning, instead using cross-validation experiments which is unsuitable for evaluation of time-series data. Our own preliminary cross-validation experiments yielded much better results than chronological evaluation since the system trains using future information, and with much more training data than is actually available for most days. Recent work has examined prediction market behavior and underlying principles (Serrano-Padial, 2007). For a sample of the literature on prediction markets, see the proceedings of the recent Prediction Market workshops (http://betforgood.com/events/pm2007/index.html). Pennock et al. (2000) found that prediction markets are somewhat efficient and some have theorized that news could predict these markets, which we have confirmed (Debnath et al., 2003; Pennock et al., 2001; Servan-Schreiber et al., 2004).
Others have explored the concurrent modeling of text corpora and time series, such as using stock market data and language modeling to identify influential news stories (Lavrenko et al., 2000). Hurst and Nigam (2004) combined syntactic and semantic information for text polarity extraction.
Our task is related to but distinct from sentiment analysis, which focuses on judgments in opinions and, recently, predictions given by opinions. Specifically, Kim and Hovy (2007) identify which political candidate is predicted to win by an opinion posted on a message board and aggregate opinions to correctly predict an election result. While the domain and some techniques are similar to our own, we deal with fundamentally different problems. We do not consider opinions but instead analyze objective news to learn events that will impact opinions. Opinions express subjective statements about elections whereas news reports events. We use public opinion as a measure of an events impact. Additionally, they use generalized features similar to our own identification of entities by replacing (a larger set of) known entities with generalized terms. In contrast, we use syntactic structures to create generalized n-gram features. Note that our features (table 1) do not indicate opinions in contrast to the Kim and Hovy features. Finally, Kim and Hovy had a batch setting to predict election winners while we have a time-series setting that tracked daily public opinion of candidates.
In conclusion, we have presented a system capable of predicting fluctuations in security prices well enough to trade profitably. We utilize a small, one-time bit of hand-crafted information (the set of relevant entities), the raw text of naturally-occurring news, and a very simple analysis of financial indicators. All parts of the system are modular, in that more sophisticated financial analyses, combination algorithms, investment schemes, or news analysis techniques may be substituted easily to create increasingly sophisticated systems. The two subsystems (news and technical analysis) perform well under different conditions, reflecting the fact that they are capturing different, non-redundant information, underscoring the importance of using the two jointly.
Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention
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Mentioning the prayer garden. I received the following links for the taped meeting for the prayer garden that was conducted in Welcome a bit ago. Because of the time and utube limitations it is in 5 segments.
Please go on and see what the controversy is about.
#1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgnDAxyXaBo
#2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stIBDC1C4a4&feature=related
#3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkGNNq3jrsQ&feature=related
#4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-QaFjTgKkk&feature=related
#5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irQObomL_qs&feature=related