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|This article describes a concept which could impact a variety of companies, countries or industries. To see what companies and articles reference this concept page, click here.
A rapidly expanding middle and upper class in China seeks to enhance its identity and quality of life with luxury goods. Top growth categories for luxury goods in China include liquor, fashion accessories/clothes, automobiles, jewelery, and cosmetics. Counterfeit luxury goods do offer some competition and luxury taxes somewhat dampen demand, but not much.
China is a hot market for luxury goods. For luxury goods manufacturers who can survive counterfeit products, luxury taxes, and consumer education, great rewards await. Investment plays include not only luxury goods houses like LVMH, Prada, and Armani, but also advertisers to the affluent and retailers focused on up-market clientele.
Despite a populace dominated by peasants on a subsistence income, China is now the third largest luxury goods market in the world, accounting for 12 percent of sales worldwide in 2006. Analysts predict that, as China's average per capita income grows, it will become the world's second-largest purchaser of luxury goods by 2015, surpassing Japan's vaunted luxury demand and accounting for the sale of 29 percent of all luxury good sales worldwide. The China Daily reports that the market is forecasted to grow 20 percent annually until 2008 and then 10 percent per year until 2015.
Some Chinese spending is driven by people's desire to enhance their own social status and visibility by an association with famous brand names. Not many years ago, it was not an uncommon sight to see owners of a new suit or that conspicuously "forget" to remove the brand name and price tag that revealed the maker and high price of their new apparel. The China Brand Association recently said about that 13 percent of Chinese, about 170 million people, regularly buy top-tier brands.[1] Meanwhile AC Nielsen believes that, "to succeed, luxury-goods companies must woo the top segment of the Chinese consumer market — the 15 million people who earn 250,000 yuan ($32,000) or more a year."[2]
According to news reports from China Finance Information, a December 2005 report from Goldman Sachs measured China's luxury goods market, excluding private aircraft and yachts, at $6 billion.[3] However over 80% of China's luxury purchases occur outside of China, from Chinese tourists' purchases abroad. The growth in Chinese tourists is likely to further promote the growth of China's luxury market because Chinese traveling abroad will increase their brand name recognition. Also, recently the Chinese government doubled the amount of funds Chinese tourists are allowed to bring abroad. As more countries like France and Italy become favorite destinations of Chinese tourists, they will learn about even more luxury goods.
Right now, China's largest group of luxury goods consumers are between 20 and 30 years old, which means they have many traveling years still ahead of them. A recent survey of young China urbanites showed that over 60% believe that one should "enjoy life now" and thus it is appropriate to spend more on high quality items.[4]
The car industry in China highlights this trend. Despite an average per capita income on less than $4000, Bentley has sold more Mulliner 728 limousines – the most expensive car in the world, retailing at $1.2 million - in Beijing than anywhere else in the world. Likewise, BMW, not exactly a provider of "generic" transportation, sold over 23,600 BMWs in China in 2005. Automobile industry analysts predict that China will soon become the world's largest market for luxury automobiles.
One event where high-end car manufacturers have flocked is the "Millionaire's Fair" in Shanghai, a recurring event at the Shanghai Exhibition Center where attendees are charged 350 yuan ($44) for an entrance ticket. At the 2006 Fair, Porsche launched its Cayenne Turbo 2 in China, retailing for 1.68 million yuan ($210,000), Ford Motor's Range Rover launched its 2006 Super Charger, retailing for 1.75 million yuan ($220,000), and Ford Motor's Jaguar introduced its XK, retailing for 1.4 million yuan ($175,000). At the 2006 "Millionaire's Fair" in Shanghai, organizers expected to sell 500 million yuan ($62.5 million) of products overall, representing a 100% increase from the prior year's sales of 250 million yuan.
Ultra-high end purchases, such as the Bentley limousines, are being consumed by China's rapidly growing, but still tiny, share of millionaires – whom Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini estimate to be about 300,000 people. [5] However many far less wealthy Chinese still have disposable income and are consuming "affordable luxuries."
LVMH, one of the leading luxury goods manufacturers in the world (known for its Veuve Cliquot Champagne, Christian Dior fashions, and Tag Heuer watches), is already branching into less well-known Chinese cities, such as Shenyang, Wenzhou, and Chengdu. It plans to enter two new cities per year in China. Such expansion, however, is not necessarily a loss-leader for some players – LVMH reports that every single store has been profitable every year since it entered China in 1992. LVMH reports that its China and Hong Kong operations, when combined, already exceed its sales in Japan. By contrast, Paul Smith and Moschino have reported losses at the beginning of their China expansion.
Bulgari add two stores in Hong Kong and Beijing in 2005, increasing the jeweler's total number of outlets in the greater China region to 17. Rather than limits itself to the coastal regions, Bulgari's Chief Executive Officer stated that "there are 14 cities that can be of interest" in China. Meanwhile Prada, with 22 outlets, has built a flagship store in Shanghai and plans continued growth.
The Hurun Report, a socialite magazine in Shanghai, interviewed 600 Chinese millionaires to identify their preferred brands.[6] Among their selections were Christie's as the best auction house; Vacheron Constantin as the best watch; Davidoff as the best cigar, Giorgio Armani as the best designer; Hennessy, Chivas Regal, and Dom Perignon as the best liquors; Princess as the best yacht; and Ferrari as the best sports car.
It is not just luxury good manufacturers who are profiting. Luxury retailers are also growing rapidly. Fancy boutiques featuring Italian suits are springing up even in less prestigious cities, like Shenyang and Wuhan. The Cartier jewelry chain, which said its revenues in China nearly doubled in 2005, recently created a massive ice replica of its flagship Paris store at the famous winter festival in northern Harbin city. Ultimately they expect to open thirty stores in China, making it their second largest market after the United States.
Likewise, advertising firms are profiting from the incessant promotion of fashion and luxury goods. While most luxury goods have a high gross margin, the sales and marketing required to sell the goods is often extensive. This translates into hundreds of pages of chic advertisements in all the leading magazines, combined with billboards, television spots, and product placement. According to the China Advertising Industry Development Forum, advertising sales in China in 2006 totaled 157.3 billion yuan ($20.5 billion). [7] Nielsen Media Research offers a higher estimate, claiming that China's advertising expenditure via television, newspapers and magazines reached 386.6 billion yuan - US$ 49.5 billion- in 2006.[8]
All agree that China ranks now the third in the global advertising market, tied with the UK and behind the US and Japan, however China's market is growing at a much faster rate and its growth potential remains huge because advertising spending accounted for only 1.4% of GDP versus 3% in the US. As the 2008 Olympic Games approach, this number is expected to grow further. Three of the five largest industry spenders on advertising are food, cosmetics, and automobiles – all industries where luxury goods abound. In 2006, nearly half of this advertising was focused on Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong, the largest regional economies in China.
Focus Media has developed a novel attempt to benefit from advertising directed at China's most affluent consumers. China's television networks lack long-running dramas and comedy shows like Friends or Cheers. Instead, new shows are filmed and episodes are screened every day for a month or so. Thus, advertisers have no advance knowledge of which shows will be successful or attract a certain viewing demographic. FocusMedia averts this challenge by channeling advertising to its own screens, rather than to unpredictable television. Focus Media has deployed thousands of LCD monitors in office buildings, retail stores, and apartment complexes. While people queue for elevators or wait on appointments they are provided with advertisements on these screens. Focus Media offers targeting to marketers by locating their screen in locations where more affluent Chinese consumers are likely to be located. During the second quarter of 2006, Focus Media earned total revenue of $50.6 million USD and net income reached $16.7 million, a 283.4% increase over the second quarter of the previous year.
Traditional advertising firms like WPP Group (owner of Ogilvy & Mather and others), and Saatchi and Saatchi are also active in China. As of 2005, WPP was the largest buyer of ad space on Chinese television (CCTV) and generated $350 million of revenue.
Luxury rely in large part upon their prestigious brand name. This is a particularly large problem in China, where it is reported that 20% of all consumer goods may be counterfeit. At a recent luxury goods industry conference in Hong Kong, companies said China's lack of a system of intellectual property rights is the biggest problem they face in the country.
In addition to direct counterfeits, luxury goods in China also face "bang mingpai," which literally translates as "relative of a famous brand." Illegal variants of famous Italian brand Valentino, for example, can be found in Chinese street stalls with names like Valentino Vani, Auotis Valentino, Valenteno Guci and Valentian Coupeau. These goods are typically sold for less than the price of the original brand. There are more than 200 different Valentino" brands in China, said Valeria Azario, an executive with V.S. Ltd., which manages the original Italian Valentino brand.
In April 2006, the Chinese government announced an increase in taxes on certain luxury goods, including watches, golf clubs, cars with large engines, and yachts. Further tax increases on high-end luxury items are expected in 2007. This luxury tax hike has not affected lower-price luxuries, such as shampoo and skincare products, as taxes on those items actually decreased in 2006.


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Från vilket område i Spanien är det typiskt?
- Autonom region: Canary Islands
In the Canary Islands this plant, with the scientific name Colocasia Esculenta, whose fruit is a tuber similar to the potato, is known as "ñame".
It is a product of North African origin which arrived in the islands at the hands of travellers. Compared with other crops, the yam does not need intensive care, it just needs a large quantity of water. Yams are rich in carbohydrates. They contain proteins and a considerable amount of vitamin C. Traditionally appreciated for their flavour and for being a rare product, they are usually eaten boiled, roasted or in purée.
Mer information
Information om produkten
- Typ av produkt: Vegetables
- Säsong: All year round.
- Ursprung: The island in the Canary archipelago with the largest area dedicated to growing yams is the island of La eaten, especially in the municipalities of San Andrés, Sauces and Barlovento.
- Rekommenderad dryck: Depends on the other components of the dish. Generally reds, when it forms part of a stew.
Information om näringsvärdet
- Energy: Average
- Cholesterol: 0
- Anmärkningar: Rich in Carbohydrates.

subset: commoncrawl


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Summit League Wrap & Tourney PreviewPosted by Brian Goodman on March 5th, 2011
Eli Linton is the RTC correspondent for the Summit League. Tournament action tips Saturday in Sioux Falls, so get up to speed on all things Summit League and get a leg up on your Big Dance upset research.
Summit League Tournament Predictions
Saturday, March 5:
- Oakland 91, Southern Utah 72— Keith Benson and company will make a statement in the opening game, leaving no doubt who the top dog in the conference is.
- Oral Roberts 77, North Dakota State 70—Michael Tveidt, in his swan song, will do his best to help his Bison rise up one last time. In the end, ORU is just too deep and too much to handle.
Sunday, March 6:
- South Dakota State 82, IPFW 75—the first upset of the conference tournament. Home cooking and a "why not us?" mentality carries South Dakota State to victory.
- IUPUI 80, UMKC 75— Alex Young goes off, IPFW can't find an answer.
Monday, March 7:
- Oakland 88, South Dakota State 85—What a great matchup this would be… Oakland has too much firepower, and outpaces The Jackrabbits in a nail-biter.
- Oral Roberts 81, IUPUI 71—Oral Roberts is playing like a team that wants it just as bad as anyone else. They will get revenge on last year's elimination by the Jags.
Tuesday, March 8:
- Oakland 80, Oral Roberts 79—It will come down to who has the deeper bench, the smarter players, and the more reliable players in crunch time. Oral Roberts has one or two guys like that. Oakland has four or five. The experience will be the difference. We knew it would come down to these two since day one. I think we are in for a classic battle. Winner goes dancing, loser goes home. See you at the Summit.
Power Rankings and Postseason Preview


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California News: Gluten-free Ravioli at Sunnyvale and Mountain View Costco
I don't usually find Costco trips to be especially worthy of blog posts. However, I just have to share news of a recent find at the Sunnyvale and Mountain View Costcos in California. Thanks to a tip from another gluten-free blogger and friend, I found out that these Costcos are currently carrying awesome corn and rice-based gluten-free Four cheese ravioli in their refrigerator section. Yes, Costco! Who would have thought. They retail for $10 for a 2 pound, 2 part pack. The portions are generous and one pack easily fed our family of three. Now granted, since my Mother is now living with us, we are actually a family of four, but since she can't have dairy, it was just the three of us.
The company responsible for these lovely ravioli packs is based in Benecia, California and called Pasta Prima. They have NO INFO about this awesome pasta on their web site, and I couldn't find any articles about it, but it is labeled gluten-free in big print on the front. According to company representatives, "Pasta Prima Gluten Free Five Cheese Ravioli meets all of the requirements of the Gluten Free Certification Organization." Yay! On a personal note, our family and my friend's family tried it and didn't have any reactions. I love that! This pasta was extremely yummy, and an amazingly good price for gluten-free pasta, so if you live in California you might check your local Costco refrigerator case. It was in the middle of all the other refrigerated ravioli and I almost missed it because I am so used to ignoring that section. Luckily my husband has sharp eyes!
I hope you are able to find it and enjoy it as much as we did. They are very easy to make- all you do is boil them in water for four minutes and add a sauce of choice. 18 month old Baby Yum thought it was the tastiest thing ever. And yes, in this photo, she is eating little squares of it with a fork. How she has grown! My husband said it tasted just like gluten ravioli. Unfortunately, and probably of no surprise to any of you, it does contain dairy and egg. I have yet to find any vegan ravioli that is not homemade, alas. This post was an impulsive last-minute thing, so I apologize for the lack of pretty pictures.
Funny story- My friend posted a picture of their baby enjoying this ravioli on Facebook. I thought it would be fun to take a picture of Baby Yum enjoying it for my personal Facebook page as well. Anyway, when she saw this picture on the computer, Baby Yum said "nom nom nom", hopped down, climbed up in her booster seat, grabbed her bib and tried to put it on while saying "more, more." How could I argue with that? The girl got another ravioli.
Other favorite gluten-free finds at my local Costco's:
4 pound bags of TruRoots gluten-free quinoa
Tasty Bite Madras Lentils
Large packs of my favorite Chaokoh Coconut Milk (sans guar gum)
Lovely large containers of McCormick's Turmeric, Coriander, and Sesame Seeds
Yes, our Costco has a certain international flair. I'm just excited that they are offering these gluten-free ravioli, and by publicizing them, I hope that they may decide to keep stocking them. You know you want some!
Breaking news: A Pasta Prima designer (bless her) shared in the comments that this pasta is available in ALL Northern California Costco locations. If you live somewhere else, request it from your local Costco and hopefully they will pick up this great product.
Note: 99.9% of the photos I use on my blog are mine. However, the above photo is a professional photo supplied by Pasta Prima. (The shame of not having a photo was too much for me, so I emailed them asking for it!)
PS I apologize that this post may not apply to my food-sensitive readers. As you may have noticed, we have expanded our diets to include dairy and eggs as Baby Yum has become able to tolerate them. It has been a huge relief that she did not develop allergies despite the severe case of allergic colitis that she had as an infant, and makes me feel very happy that I stuck it out and continued breastfeeding her. However, I promise that you will still find vegan and allergen-sensitive recipes on the Book of Yum in the future, so please bear with me!
Breaking News 6/27/2011:
Some Costco's may not be currently carrying the Gluten-free Pasta Prima ravioli. However, it has been picked up Raley's , Lucky, and Albertson's stores in our area, so check to see if any of those stores are carrying it.
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SCN Research has been a registered business since 1986 and an Oregon corporation since 1997.
Our team includes both full-time and part-time consultants. We are Unix, network, and security specialists. The people at SCN Research live and breathe Unix and the Internet.
We also work with several associates, companies that we partner with in a variety of areas.
at SCN Research include:
We have on-site systems running Solaris 2.7 - 2.10 on both SPARC and Intel platforms; various flavors of Linux; Apple OS X; Windows XP/Vista/Win7/2003/2008; and IRIX.
Connectivity to the internet is via a 100mbit to the Portland Easystreet Colo, and from there, a 30 megabit/sec connection to Easystreet, and a 100 megabit/sec connection to Cogent.
Our 1000 square-foot computer facility includes 20 tons of air conditioning and an auto-start 20KW generator backup.
We offer both a set of products and the following services.
We have had the good fortune to work with some of the best companies in the Pacific Northwest. Some of those companies are listed here.
Consulting can be provided both on and off site, by the hour or on a contract. Engineers can be made available via the internet or telephone 24/7.
View some of our clients, and check out SCNR news.
Billing is done monthly or by terms of a contract. A rate is negotiated based on the type and urgency of work to be performed, typically $150/hour for off-site during regular business hours, and $200/hour for emergency and/or non standard business hours.
There is a charge for travel (time and transportation) outside the Portland/metro area.
This is an information only web site. We do not collect, retrieve or store
any information


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For the best possible display, this portrait should be professionally framed.
A frame is not included with this artwork!
Approximate Measurements
54cm x 39cm ≈ 21¼" x 15¼"
This depicts some "good luck gold fish" swimming though the lotus. The title is a play on words that means "In the lotus year have surplus (in your life)" but is pronounced the same as "Every year, have fish". You can also read it as "Every year, have surplus (more than enough).
Chinese artists often use titles with homophones like these - for fun. In fact, there is a type of Chinese comedy routine and story-telling called "cross talk" that uses such homophones with a humorous effect and many double meanings.
The creator of this artwork,
Pan Xiao-Ling, in her home.
This painting is by a woman named (Pan Xiao Ling).
She is from an area known as "Huxian" in the Shaanxi Province of China. Born in 1958, she began painting in 1974.
Her paintings were the first Chinese folk art ever accepted for a series of postcards officially issued by the state-run "China Post" (Chinese Postal Service).
Exhibitions of her work have been seen in America, Japan, and Singapore.
Pan Xiao-Ling's work is a combination of folk and modern art. Her inspiration comes from growing up in a small farming village in the middle of China. This influence really shows in her paintings which usually depict the simple village life in the countryside of China.
The artist used "shui fen" (paint powder and water - similar to gouache), on thick paper to create this painting.
If you get a piece of mat board cut for you, this Chinese painting will fit nicely in a standard 18" x 24" frame. If you want really wide matting, you could even use a 22" x 28" standard picture frame. You should probably get the matting cut professionally, but you can probably handle the rest yourself. Please see our step by step guide to framing Asian art if you want some tips.
This style of folk art was born in the 1950's just after the Revolution (when Chairman Mao took power). The art developed independently in Huxian (Hu County) in the Shaanxi Province for many years (the same Province where you will find the Terracotta Soldiers).
Things changed drastically when the Cultural Revolution came to pass in China. Within a few years, art was only acceptable if it portrayed some form of socialist propaganda, or showed some form of working together in pursuit of Mao's Communist ideals. This propaganda art seldom provided any pay for the artist who were instead forced into hard labor on communal farms to survive.
As the last of the Cultural Revolution sputtered to a stop with the death of Chairman Mao in 1976, freedom began to slowly ring again when Deng Xiao-Ping took power. Deng Xiao-Ping brought China out of the dark ages, and away from "Maoism" and Communism (one of the greatest leaders in Chinese history in my humble opinion). By the 1980's, freedom to once again practice 3000 years of artistic tradition emerged. Chinese folk art was finally allowed to be what it was meant to be, a way to freely express various scenes of daily life and snapshots of Chinese village culture.
According to Chinese Government statistics, there are now more than 2000 folk artists in Southern China. Sixteen of these artists have been recognized as the "Famous Masters" of Chinese folk art by the Chinese Cultural Arts Bureau. These sixteen artists were recently honored by China Post with the issuing of a set of commemorative postage stamps. Of these sixteen masters, we represent three of them: Pan Xiao-Ling, Cao Quan-Tang, and Zhang Qing-Yi.
A lot has changed in the folk art community of China since I first started selling these paintings about 4 years ago.
Chinese folk artists have become rather famous, and sought after for exhibitions around the world. Recently these artists formed a labor union of sorts, to ensure that they receive a handsome sum for all of their paintings. Most of them have been able to improve their station in life through the sale of their artwork. One of these artists once said, "We've become good little capitalists, just like President Nixon dreamed of".
This item was listed or modified
Mar 7th, 2009
Gary's random little things about China:
If you are from my generation, you may remember the video game called "Frogger". It involved crossing a busy road while narrowly dodging cars and truck, often both in front of and behind you at the same time.
Well you can play real live Frogger every time you cross the street in China. It is perfectly normal to cross a four or six-lane road, one lane at a time. You stand motionless on the white, dashed line between lanes as cars and trucks whiz by you on both sides with only inches to spare. When the next lane is clear, you advance (there is no retreat in this game, that could get you killed, since drivers in China would never expect that).
If you did this in America, drivers would come to a screeching halt and think you were crazy (they might even tell you so, using colorful words and hand gestures). It is simply a different culture, or rather a different way of doing things in modern Chinese culture.
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Robert Stevens
Professor Robert Stevens received a B.S. with distinction in Engineering from Swarthmore College. He was involved with a series of research projects in the field of building science and energy efficiency in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. He received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at North Carolina State University, where he managed the research and solar thermal programs at the NC Solar Center from 1998-2001. In the fall of 2001 he returned to graduate school as an NSF IGERT fellow and completed his doctorate in the summer of 2005 in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Virginia. His doctorate work focused on using the transient thermoreflectance technique to measure thermal boundary resistances at room temperatures. He also developed molecular dynamic experiments to systematically explore interface thermal transport. He joined the Mechanical Department at RIT in the fall of 2005
Dr. Stevens's research lab, Sustainable Energy Lab, has focused on measuring and modeling performance of thermoelectric modules and waste heat recovery systems for power generation applications. Stevens' lab has developed a modeling tool for screening and optimizing thermoelectric waste heat recovery systems, a project funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. His lab is developing high temperature characterization techniques to measure performance of emerging thermoelectric devices currently under development. Stevens has been working with undergraduate and graduate students on an EPA seeded project focused on developing improved charcoal cook stoves using thermoelectrics for use in the developing world to reduce fuel consumption and improve air quality.
For more information about Dr. Stevens, see his personal website.
Selected Recent Publications:
· Sandoz-Rosado, E., Weinstein, S., Stevens R.J. "On the Thomson Effect in Thermoelectric Power Devices" International Journal of Thermal Sciences (forthcoming)
· Sandoz-Rosado, E., Stevens, R. J, "Robust Finite Element Model for the Design of Thermoelectric Modules" Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 39, pp. 1848-1855, 2010.
· Sandoz-Rosado, E., Stevens, R. J, "Experimental Characterization of Thermoelectric Modules and Comparison with Theoretical Models for Power Generation" Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 38, pp. 1239-1244, 2009.


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MAC Jeanius Eyeshadow Swatches, Photos, Reviews
MAC Diva in Distress Eyeshadow
MAC Jeanius: Eyeshadows
MAC Jeanius Eyeshadows ($19.50 for 0.10 oz.) are larger, over-sized eyeshadows (think Tartan Tale or Peacocky-sized, or else the size of Cream Colour Bases) embossed with shading and overspray detailing to mimic the look of jeans. This is an overspray/sheen, which will disappear after the first use or so (all swatches are of the product underneath, after the overspray was wiped away). The four shades include: Diva In Distress (mid-tone gray with silver pearl), Motorhead (mid-tone blue with copper pearl), Stovepipe Black (black with copper pearl), and White Jeanius (white with silver pearl).
- Diva in Distress is a sheer icy blue-tinged white with a frosted finish. This one was both sheer and a little gritty–not gritty as in huge chunks of glitter, but it didn't stick. Lots and lots of fall out and the color itself did not bind well.
- Motorhead is a brightened navy blue with a satin sheen. This shade was more pigmented but not richly pigmented. It's comparable to Deep Truth, which is part of the permanent range.
- Stovepipe Black is a taupe-tinged charcoal gray with a metallic-frost finish. This was the nicest of the four; pigmented and smooth, and the color itself a bit unlike the permanent range. I can't think of a permanent dupe for this shade; Satin Taupe would be the closest but not as black.
- White Jeanius is a bright, frosted white. It has good color pay off. It's comparable to Gesso but with a frosted finish.
my thoughts on the formula: The formula is hit or miss, it seems. It's very consistent across the four within this collection, and they do feel similar to the Tartan Tale eyeshadows from 2010. They have a slightly powdery feel, but for the most part, apply smoothly and don't have a powdery consistency once applied. Diva in Distress suffers from both poor color pay off and fall out, while the other three didn't have fall out issues.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ! 🙂
- Product: 24/30*
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
final thoughts: *There is a reason why I prefer and often do review products individually, even if they are from the same formula, because there can be enough variance in the quality that the grades would differ individually than they would as some kind of group grade. Diva in Distress' quality is 15/20, which gives it an overall D rating. Stovepipe Black, on the other hand, is the best of the four, and the quality is 27/30, which moves it to a B+ rating.
where to buy: MAC Cosmetics, March 3rd, 2011


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David Mark Moderator :
POLITICO reports that over two dozen lawmakers who voted for the 2009 cap and trade bill lost on Nov. 2, ushering in a new class of Republicans who doubt global warming science and want to upend President Barack Obama's environmental and energy policies.
Longtime Rep. Rick Boucher, representing the Southwest Virginia coal region, lost his seat. "I don't think there's any question about it, cap and trade was the issue in the campaign," Andy Wright, a former Boucher chief of staff, told POLITICO. "If Rick had voted no, he wouldn't have had a serious contest."
How much of a factor was cap and trade in Democratic losses? And will its seeming unpopularity lead surviving House Democrats to shun other portions of President Obama's energy agenda?


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The new Storck Long Sleeve Jersey Pro is a really high-quality top with a luxurious feel – although the price will deter many.
Clearly, £149 is a lot of money for a cycling jersey. We know that – we've not lost all sense of proportion just yet. But this is a very good jersey.
The Pro is mostly polyamide (nylon) with polypropylene, elastane and carbon in there. That doesn't tell the whole story, though, because Storck use several different types of fabric here.
The main one – called Notorious – is very stretchy, a lot like a roubaix fabric but with a ribbed inner surface. Then you get some less well-insulated but even stretchier panels on the sides and the underside of the arms, made from a fabric called Dual Evo, and super-stretchy panels right underneath the arms. These are made using what Storck call Seamless Textile Technology (STT). They're multi-density and multi-textured but without any elastic elements in there to attract moisture.
Overall, it's a medium weight jersey providing a medium level of warmth. There are no windproof panels or anything like that, so you'll need something more substantial over the top for really cold days. I wore it a lot over Christmas and New Year with a windproof gilet over the top, for example, and it did a great job.
The front zip is a really good one from YKK with a chunky Storck-branded puller that's easy to grasp even in thick winter gloves. A fabric fold at the bottom stops the zip rubbing on your tights and another at the top stops it scratching your neck – these two things should be required by law.
You get three pockets in the lower back with an extra zipped one for your wallet, phone or whatever. A reinforced hole allows you to thread an earphones lead through and run it internally, and there's a laser cut reflective to help get you seen.
There's a small amount of reflective print on the arms too – it says 'Handcrafted perfection' on each of them – and a small Storck logo on the front. Several washes in and they're all still firmly attached. I couldn't swear to it but they look as if they're there for the long haul.
Overall, the styling is subtle and inoffensive. I guess you could call it 'safe' or 'unadventurous', depending on your perspective, but it seems to be popular with most people.
The waistband from the sides around to the back is highly elasticated, like you get around the bottom of lots of shorts legs these days, and a small amount of silicone printing on the inside helps it stay in place.
The cut is slim but because the fabrics are so stretchy the Pro will fit a whole range of different sizes. I'm pretty skinny and it fitted me fine with tons of room for growth if I ever turn into a bloater.
The one problem I find with really stretchy jerseys is that the back can sink down around your butt when you fill the rear pockets. That happened a little bit here when I loaded them up with a waterproof and all the other usual gubbins, but it wasn't too much of an issue.
Is it worth £149? Well, you can pick up a long sleeve jersey for far less cash than this, obviously. You could have two or even three for the same money if you really want so, if value is your sole objective, you should probably look elsewhere.
This is a really good jersey though, with a great feel to it. I really like the fit and the cool looks too. If you want a touch of luxury in your life and deserve a treat, you won't be disappointed.
High-quality winter jersey offering an excellent level of comfort, although clearly not cheap.
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: Storck Long Sleeve Jersey - Pro
Size tested: Medium
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Storck say:
"COMBITECH long sleeve jersey with ultra ergonomic cut. Highly isolating and equipped with plenty of thermo active features. Safety and smart phone pocket.
AA+ Premium Material.
Our most luxurious materials of choice. Quality and functionality way beyond your expectations with some added technical bling.
88% Nylon / Polyamid
8% Polypropylene hollow fiber
3% Elastane
1% Carbon"
It's well put together with great fabrics.
You'd be hard pressed to argue that the value is high.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
It puts in a really good performance. It's one of the jerseys I've reached for most often over the past few weeks.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The fit and the attention to detail.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The price is a bit of a tough one to swallow.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Too pricey for me.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.
Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?
It's just the steep price that brings the overall mark down.
About the tester
Age: 41 Height: 190cm Weight: 75kg
I usually ride: My best bike is:
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding,
Mat has worked for loads of bike magazines over 20+ years, and been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. He's been road.cc technical editor for eight years, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a past winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer.


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tommaso's FavoritesBack to tommaso's channel.
- God Offers Clemency to the NationsWhat is Clemency? Clemency is Gods conditions for peace. World Peace on Gods terms not on mans terms. The land reflects the condition of the soul: famine, pestilence, nuclear threats, tornados, hurricanes, floods, food poisoning, soaring gas pric...s8w2008-07-16T00:00:005,609 views00:09:53
- Apostolic Voice: Restoring Faith-part 1God is reviving, renewing, and restoring the Church through Apostolic Goverance: www.apostleeric.coms8w2008-07-21T00:00:006,206 views00:28:08
- Restoring Faith Part 2Part 2 of a recent live radio broadcast. Apostle Eric delivers a hallenging message that gives hope to the church: www.apostleeric.coms8w2010-10-01T23:03:395,529 views00:29:09
- Beginning of SorrowsImportant message from Chief Apostle Eric vonAnderseck. There is an increase of sorrow upon the earth. While some call these events of war, famine, disease, and tempest natural disasters, Jesus called them the Beginning of Sorrows.s8w2008-07-25T00:00:006,178 views00:26:49
- Apostolic Voice of ReformationA message from Chief Apostle Dr. Eric vonAnderseck speaking to the church about the importance of understanding stewardship. The Apostolic Seal of Christ is the mark of His excellence, which is the seal of our faith. The sanctification of Christ i...s8w2008-08-13T00:00:004,930 views00:15:06
- Near Conversion ExperiencesEvery Friday Apostle Eric delivers the word of the Lord live as guest on Rev. Tillmons Radio program. In todays broadcast Apostle Eric again lifts the veil of ignorance from the church teaching about Near Conversion Experiences, False Regeneration...s8w2008-08-16T00:00:003,681 views00:26:43
- False RevivalsEvery Friday Apostle Eric delivers the word of the Lord live as guest on Rev. Tillmons Radio program. Todays message is part 2 of Apostle Erics August 15, 2008 broadcast. The Spirit of the Lord ministers to the church about false revivals, speaki...s8w2008-08-15T00:00:003,633 views00:22:14
- The Word of the Lord: My Hand Is In Your Fields.For years the Lord has been speaking through Apostle Eric, calling the church home to Him, returning the church to the Oath of the Lord and true history of God. The Lord recently spoke again saying: My hand is in your fields. This precious word of...s8w2008-08-25T00:00:002,860 views00:20:33
- Back to the Rock of ChristVideo copy of live Radio Broadcast by Apostle Eric delivered 2008-08-29: Picking up his teaching from St John�s first epistle, Apostle Eric addresses these things in part one of this broadcast:...s8w2010-10-01T23:19:231,500 views00:29:44
- Dawning of New DayIn part two of Apostle Erics August 29th radio broadcast he continues on expounding from St Johns first epistle. In this sermon the Lord is ministering to those of hungry hearts about the dawning of the new day for the church. . . For a long time ...s8w2008-08-29T00:00:002,419 views00:29:12
- Returning to the Cross of Christ!In todays broadcast Apostle Eric preaches again from the first epistle of St John challenging today�s popular teachings about discernment. Apostle John, as the gatekeeper of the first century c...s8w2008-09-12T00:00:003,289 views00:26:24
- Cleansing the House of GodPreaching from Nehemiah chapter 13 Apostle Eric brings to the attention of the church that today, as in the days of Nehemiah, God is cleansing His house. Christians are called to again speak one language of truth, embrace one doctrine of Christ, a...s8w2010-10-01T23:24:342,898 views00:20:41
- Global TerrorPart One. . .If you haven�t had time to learn about Gods plan for the end times and Tribulation, Apostle Eric opens up the book of Revelation to you. Expounding from Revelation chapter 14 verse...s8w2008-09-14T00:00:002,467 views00:28:37
- Global Terrror -Part 2Part Two . . .Listeners are invited to join Apostle Eric for part two of his expounding on Revelation chapter 14 verses 1-8. Part Two features these important topics: The echoes of Satan�s king...s8w2010-10-01T23:24:472,125 views00:27:05
- Is Wealth a Deception of the Mind?Welcome friends to another radio broadcast by Chief Apostle Dr. Eric vonAnderseck. As God restores the office of apostle to the church He is also returning the church to His knowledge. Is.5:13 says: Therefore my people are gone into captivity, bec...s8w2010-10-01T23:27:242,881 views00:29:55
- Escaping Satan's AbusesWelcome to Part Two of Apostle Erics September 19th, 2008 live radio message. As God transitions the church back to the covenant of Jesus Christ Christians are being released from Satanâ�&i...s8w2008-09-19T00:00:002,443 views00:29:49
Today's Devotional
A Prayer for Today - Your Daily Prayer - September 19, 2018
Christian News
The latest news and hot topics trending among Christian music, entertainment and faith life.


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By Joe Lucia, Awful Announcing
In an interview with DC area morning show the Sports Junkies, Thunder play by play announcer Matt Pinto was very displeased with the NBA's officials during the Finals.
"You got to remember, this team was number two in the NBA in free throws attempted during the regular season, number one in free throws made. In this series, the gap in foul shots attempted has grown from game to game," Pinto said.
Pinto wasn't done, going off on how there doesn't seem to be many fouls called on Heat stars Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.
"It is I'm sure, an internal ongoing growing frustration, but its one they know they can nothing about. And complaining about it publicly won't change the fact that Wade and Lebron James get benefit of whistles and the game is officiated differently at one end of the floor than it is the other. It's plain and very visible for the nation to see."
Just by looking at the raw numbers, it looks like Pinto might be slightly justified in his complaints. Wade and James have combined for 20 fouls over the four games of the series, while Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have combined for 24. If you include Mario Chalmers and James Harden on each side, the totals jump to 40 fouls for the Thunder and 31 for the Heat, or an average of two more fouls per game... not exactly chump change. There was also a key no-call on James guarding Durant at the end of Game 2 that caused an uproar.
At the same time, complaining about the officials favoring the Heat just seems like a tired talking point at this point in time. Although it's been a big topic this postseason, there are a dozen reasons ahead of the officiating as to why the Thunder trail Miami 3-1. If the Heat do win tonight, at least there will finally be a temporary reprieve from complaining about NBA officials.


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By ROBBIE NEISWANGER
Arkansas News Bureau
FAYETTEVILLE — The product hasn't been pretty, but Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said it's certainly better than the alternative.
Two days after his team escaped with a 31-28 win at Vanderbilt, Petrino didn't apologize for his team's 7-1 record or No. 7 ranking in the Bowl Championship Series standings.
"I don't feel like we're playing as well as I want to play," Petrino said. "But I've had years where you play really well in a game and all of a sudden you look up and you lost the game.
"So, although we haven't played as well as we want to the last two weeks, we have found a way to win. There is a lot to be said for that."
Arkansas, despite its erratic play, went 4-0 in October to remain in contention with Alabama and LSU for the Southeastern Conference Western title and a spot in another BCS game.
It was an impressive, albeit improbable, feat with the Razorbacks surviving three double-digit deficits. And there's a reward for the achievement: a matchup between BCS top-10 teams when the Razorbacks (7-1, 3-1) play No. 9 South Carolina (7-1, 5-1) on Saturday night.
"I'm really excited about it, happy about it," Petrino said of the next step. "Look forward to the game this weekend — top 10 matchup, that's one of the things as a coach, as a player, you know, you want to be in games like this."
Arkansas will host a game between top 10 teams in Razorback Stadium for the second straight season, following Alabama's 24-20 win last September. Arkansas also is looking for its first win in a top 10 matchup since 1979.
The meeting is the undercard to the NCAA's biggest game of the day — No. 1 LSU at No. 2 Alabama — but the stakes are high for both.
"It's homecoming. It's a top-10 team," Arkansas kicker Zach Hocker said. "We're going to come out and definitely give it our best shot. Even though we've been starting out kind of slow, we're going to come out this week with our eyes open and hopefully get a win."
South Carolina is similar to Arkansas, too, improving to 7-1 despite plenty of adversity.
The 2011 season hasn't been exactly what coach Steve Spurrier and his team envisioned after returning several key members of its 2010 SEC East title team. The Gamecocks dismissed veteran quarterback Stephen Garcia last month and lost star running back Marcus Lattimore for the season because of a knee injury on Oct. 16.
But South Carolina ran its win streak to three games with a 14-3 victory at Tennessee last Saturday. The Gamecocks, who also have won six straight on the road, remain locked in a first-place tie with Georgia in the SEC East.
"It's really sort of fun that there's no room for error," Spurrier said, according the Charleston Post and Courier.
Said Petrino: "They're a lot like us. Just battling and staying in there."
Arkansas knows it must play better against South Carolina or its win streak could end.
Slow starts are the biggest problem. The offense has struggled to get going in the first half, failing to move the chains. The defense has given up big chunks of yards, allowing opponents to eat clock and score early points.
The Razorbacks spent much of last week talking about their early-game struggles. Petrino indicated a change in philosophy this week, calling for "silence" on the topic. Linebacker Jerry Franklin agreed, saying Arkansas remains proud of the end result through eight games.
"We're 7-1," Franklin said. "I feel like we're doing a pretty decent job getting the job done."
Arkansas' start is its best under Petrino, topping last season's 6-2 record. It's also just the third time the Razorbacks have been 7-1 since entering the SEC (1998 and 2006).
Both of those seasons ended with some November disappointments, something Arkansas hopes to avoid beginning with Saturday's top 10 game. But Petrino said he likes what his team has accomplished so far, shrugging off some sloppy play and adversity to remain in contention.
"When we looked at our schedule and what we had going on in October, the goal was to get back here 7-1," Petrino said. "We accomplished that."


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Labette Community College grabbed two of Neosho's premier student athletes on Monday as they inked letters of intent with Lady Wildcat standouts Hailey Geller (softball) and Tori Eads (volleyball) on Monday at NHS.
Labette Community College grabbed two of Neosho's premier student athletes on Monday as they inked letters of intent with Lady Wildcat standouts Hailey Geller (softball) and Tori Eads (volleyball) on Monday at NHS.
A standout all over the diamond for coach Melissa Clark, Geller spent most of her time in a Neosho uniform roaming the outfield until splitting time there and on the mound this season. As a Lady Cardinal, Geller figures to see time on the infield where coach Ryan Phillips expects her to make an impact early in her career.
"She can do a lot of good things," Phillips said. "Most importantly, she can hit. I think she can come in and be an immediate impact player for us.
"She can obviously play the outfield, but we're going to look at her (in the infield) in the fall. We'll see if that works out. If not, we know she can play in the outfield. She has a great opportunity to be an impact player in a great program."
Geller said she's looking forward to helping the program win a national championship.
"I've been wanting to go play college ball ever since I started playing softball," Geller said. "I want to help them win a national championship, but first I just want to try to get a starting spot."
During her senior year at Neosho Geller hit .387. Of her 36 hits, 23 were singles with 10 doubles, a triple and two home runs. She drove in 17 runs, scored 20 and swiped 13 bases en route to earning honorable mention all-conference and honorable mention all-district outfield accolades.
"Hailey has been an important part of the program," Clark said. "She always played her hardest, and was focused on improving her skills and doing her part to see success on her high school team, as well as her traveling team.
"Hailey did a great job of stepping up and being a team leader during her senior year. I am proud of her accomplishments, and look forward to seeing her play at the next level."
Geller plans to major in pre-med with aspirations of becoming a pediatrician in the future.
Look for a story on Eads in a future edition of the Daily News.


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Photo Recap: Drake's 'Would You Like A Tour' Show At Barclays
Drake took over Hov's house last night (Oct. 28) at Barclays Center and, as expected, he did right and killed everything. Check out a few shots from the Brooklyn tour stop, which featured opening acts PartyNextDoor, Future and Miguel.
All Photos by Karl Ferguson


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Rice and Ground Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers and Onions
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Author Notes: This is a staple of Mediterranean cuisine and has many versions. This is mine. A rice dish that comes in nice personal packaging. What I really like about this recipe that it is a method more than a recipe. Very versatile. Mix and match what ever you have at home. Stuff other veggies you have in the fridge (tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes) or change the herbs, mix in other nuts and dried fruits. If you don't eat red meat use ground chicken or turkey or take it out completely. It will still be very tasty. Make a lot of sauce. And leftovers are really good for next day lunch. —Cordelia
Serves: 6-8
Rice Stuffing
bell pepper (all color, though I prefer red, i think they are sweeter)
• One very large onion (instead of some of the peppers, or other veggies like zucchinis or tomatoes)
cups of long grain rice
pounds of ground beef (depends on how much meat you want in your mix. I use meat with 15% fat)
grated tomatoes (or a cup of chopped canned tomatoes)
diced big onion (or 2 small ones)
minced cloves of garlic
cup toasted pine nuts (or almonds)
teaspoons Baharat (or mix cinnamon and cumin and if you have just a touch of clove and cardamom)
(optional) 1/2
cups shredded carrot
tablespoons of chopped mix of parsley and dill
teaspoons salt
tablespoons olive oil
diced big onion
sliced cloves of garlic
cup carrot diced to very small cubes
tablespoon sweet paprika
tablespoons tomato paste
can of tomatoes (pureed in the food processor)
tablespoon chopped parsley
cup of water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Prepare the stuffing: Put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan that will fit all the peppers (or other veggies) in one layer. Add the diced onions and sauté for about 10 minutes on medium heat, until translucent and soft. Add the carrots and the garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Add the Baharat (or the mix of the spices) and sauté for 1-2 minutes while mixing, until fragrant. Add the ground beef and sauté for 5 minutes or so until it is not pink anymore. Make sure you break down all the big chunks.
- Add the rice, salt and pepper and a cup of water. Bring to a boil and then cover and lower the heat and simmer until all the rice absorbed all the liquid (it should be half cooked). Take out of the pan and put in a bowl to cool down.
- Make the sauce: add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Add the diced onion and sauté for 10 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the carrot and the garlic and sauté for few more minutes. Add the paprika and the tomato paste and sauté for 3 minutes while mixing, until the paste is caramelized a bit.
- Add the pureed tomatoes, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, pepper and parsley. Mix well and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer.
- Once the stuffing is cooled (does not need to cool completely) add to the mixture pine nuts, herbs and the pureed tomatoes. Mix gently but well.
- Stuff the peppers: cut the top of the peppers. The top needs to be thick enough so you can put it back on the pepper while it cooks. Take out the seeds and the membranes, gently without braking the peppers. Stuff the peppers with the rice mixture without pressing it down too much. Do not completely fill the pepper since the rice need some space to puff-up.
- For the onions: Peel the onion. Make a cut through some of the outer layers of the onion from top to bottom on one side. Put it in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Take it out and let it cool a bit. Once you can touch it, gently peel the outer bigger layers. The idea is to keep them whole. Put in the middle of a onion layer some of the rice mixture (2-3 tablespoons). Wrap the onion layer around the stuffing in a way that the edges will come one over the other to seal it.
- Arrange the veggies in the pan with the sauce (the peppers suppose to stand up and put the tops back). Spoon some of the sauce on top of them. If the sauce too thick or gets to thick while cooking add more water. Bring to a boil and than simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the veggies are soft and the rice is cooked through. Spoon some sauce on top of the veggies from time to time. Serve with some of the sauce.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Savory Rice Dish


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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is facing a new quandary from a pair of assertive allies, France and Britain, that suggest his stated "red line" for more forceful U.S. action in the Syrian civil war has been crossed with solid evidence of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime.
Mindful of America's own checkered intelligence record, U.S. officials insist they still lack incontrovertible proof that Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered the use of chemical weapons. Even after France's declaration that it has "no doubt" about Assad's hand in at least one chemical attack, the Obama administration isn't talking about intervening in Syria's 27-month conflict that has drawn in Hezbollah and al-Qaida-linked militants on opposing sides.
The administration fears plunging the United States into an Iraq-like calamity based on misleading or incomplete evidence — or getting involved militarily at all.
"Make no mistake whatsoever, the president's red line is real, the president said it would be a game changer," Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Guatemala on Wednesday, adding that France was sending its chemical weapons evidence to the U.S. for review. "The president has a whole set of options on the table and all of them are alive."
At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney cautioned that the U.S. still needed to see evidence that "makes a concrete case for the assertion that chemical weapons have been used, that can demonstrate when and by whom they were used and the consequences of that use."
For the United States, the stakes are high. Since Obama declared last summer that Assad's use of chemical weapons or transfer to extremist groups such as Hezbollah would constitute a "red line" that would have "extraordinary consequences," the United States has left open the possibility of all actions short of American military boots on the ground. Even as more than 70,000 people have been killed and Assad's forces have made significant gains against the rebels, the administration has played down threats of any armed action as long as Syria's vast chemical weapons stockpiles remained stowed away.
Swedish chemical weapons expert Ake Sellstrom, who heads the U.N. investigation team appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also has questions about the evidence he received Tuesday from the French government.
"Sellström cautions that the validity of the information is not ensured in the absence of convincing evidence of the chain-of-custody of the data collected," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
Sellstrom and the secretary-general again urged Syria to allow the U.N. team into the country, stressing that "on-site activities are essential if the United Nations is to be able to establish the facts," Nesirky said.
Firming up evidence of such weapons use is thus paramount, especially after the U.S. spent more than $800 billion and lost almost 5,000 soldiers in an Iraq war justified on exaggerated claims about Saddam Hussein's nuclear ambitions and weapons of mass destruction programs. It is also a question of principle for Obama, who became commander-in-chief vowing opposition to "dumb wars" but showed himself willing to join with U.S. allies and partners in a limited mission in 2011 to overthrow Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
"We have a history, of course, on issues like this in the United States, and we all remember what happened around Iraq," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We want to make sure what the facts are certain before we make a conclusion."
Several U.S. officials say the administration is being deliberately ambiguous about what it knows of chemical weapons use in Syria. They cite a variety of reasons: the weak appetite among Americans for another war in the Arab world, a lack of good military options against a Syrian army with far stronger air defenses than Gadhafi's, and lingering hopes a peace process might take hold between the Assad regime and the Syrian opposition.
Developments beyond Washington's control, however, are chipping away at the U.S. position. After the regime and rebels traded accusations of chemical weapons use in Aleppo and Damascus in March, the administration sought to avoid any rash judgment. It took the British and French going public with their initial assessments of regime attacks to prompt a U.S. acknowledgement of similar intelligence.
It's unclear if a similar process might occur now. On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he had confirmation of multiple uses of sarin and at least once definitively by the regime, while the British cited positive tests for the same nerve agent. Both findings, based on samples taken from Syria, came hours after a U.N. team said it had "reasonable grounds" to suspect small-scale use of toxic chemicals in at least four attacks in March and April.
"We had this information. We had to publish it," Fabius told French television on Wednesday.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on BBC radio that the evidence is "very strong."
Both called for a U.N. investigating team to be allowed into Syria to take further samples. Assad is unlikely to grant unfettered access.
U.S. officials say they, too, have evidence of chemical weapons attacks, but they note reservations about the "chain of custody" and questions about who used the agents, how much were used and under what circumstances. No one in the administration believes the opposition either has chemical stockpiles or the know-how to deploy them, but they say more work needs to be done before any case for clear violations can be publicly and compelling defended.
The biggest challenge concerns what to do if and when the U.S. states unequivocally that chemical weapons were used.
At NATO headquarters on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he'd not seen the new French evidence and that in the talks "we didn't get into any additional war plans regarding Syria."
Obama called for Assad to step down almost two years ago to allow for a more democratic Syria to emerge. Since then, the U.S. has given the opposition more than $120 million in nonlethal aid but has taken no significant action to ensure Assad's departure. Others such as Kerry have spoken of increased support to the rebels to convince Assad he can't win the war. Yet as American officials debate the merits of sending weapons, the Assad regime has succeeded in regaining more territory through a military counteroffensive backed by allied Iranian and Hezbollah forces.
If the U.S. announces that chemical weapons were used, and then doesn't offer any immediate consequences, it could suffer a damaging loss of credibility in a part of the world still rife with unstable states and where Obama has presented another "red line" to Iran, concerning its disputed nuclear program.
"For the Obama administration, Syria's chemical weapons usage is an operational policy matter, not just an analytical one," said Robert Danin, senior Mideast fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Having said chemical weapons use by Syria would be a 'game changer,' the administration is now going to have to explain how the game has changed and how the U.S. is going to play in this game."
Patience is wearing thin, however, with the Syrian war showing no signs of abating.
The Syrian opposition, engaged in a contentious reform process at Washington's behest, may see continued U.S. inaction as evidence it will never get American military assistance in its fight against Assad, prompting rebels to abandon their vision of a democratic future and turn to the extremists who can guarantee deliveries of guns and ammunition. Proponents of intervention in Congress, led by lawmakers such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are growing in number. And America's allies in Europe and the Arab world are clamoring for U.S. leadership.
"We have brought forward elements of proof that now require the international community to act," French President Francois Hollande said Wednesday, without spelling out what his own country is willing to do. The United States, as the world's only superpower, may not have that luxury.
A U.S. national security shakeup announced Wednesday could drive Obama into a more forward-leaning posture. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who supported military force in Libya two years ago, is replacing Tom Donilon as national security adviser. Samantha Power, a human rights advocate and former White House adviser who has championed intervention to prevent genocide and other atrocities, is coming in for Rice at the global body.
Still, the question of intervention ultimately rests with the commander-in-chief.
And Obama remains "very reticent to militarily enforce his August red line on chemical weapons," said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He said the president's position calls into question whether he meant to issue a red line at all, given that Assad's forces allegedly used chemical weapons several times — and likely won't quit now.
"With Hezbollah and Iran helping the regime go on the offensive, do we really think Assad is going to stop using the full lethality of his arsenal?" he asked.
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Brussels, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, and Angela Charlton and Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this report.


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Mine existing gold in the hills and strengthen PR value propositions for your partners and clients
Many businesses working to become "social" devote resources in virtual isolation, trying to build their presence and figure out how to garner illusive followers, fans and "positive sentiment" conversations.
Presumably the marketing strategy (if it's actually been explored at the front end) is to augment profile and enhance reputation ("social capital"), with an objective to increase sales of products or services. Or in the case of not-for-profits, raise funds or attract volunteers, etc.
In scenarios where companies have dedicated social media (community) managers, generally I've observed a focus on measuring quantitative, "What can social media do for the company?" (the "ROI"), vis-à-vis interacting with existing, potential or past customers and other stakeholders that search out the properties.
This includes garnering feedback and letting the self-identified "community" know what the organization has to offer, including short-term campaigns and promotions—often highlighting how people have taken advantage of the offers or championed the company's efforts (on Twitter and Facebook or in endorsement blog posts, etc.), resolving one-off customer service concerns and so on. It's not surprising (or bad) as a marketing strategy, but it's somewhat limited, mainly relating to B2C commercial social relationships.
It appears the less-rarely-asked public relations-oriented questions and considerations include:
- "What can we do for the social media profiles of our existing partners or clients?"
- "How can we increase our stakeholders' value proposition through social if we institutionalize practices to recognize them?"
Instituting social media practices and profiles of partners and clients appears to be a "virtually" untapped resource in public relations programs.
There's tremendous value in a "PR strategy" that works to mine online gold in the hills of existing relationships, particularly in the B2B realm. Yet hardly any companies seem to be doing it! I explored some ideas in my earlier Connections Byte column, but now I'm suggesting more formal and ongoing "institutionalization" of the process.
Where's the value?
The quality and breadth of products or services sold to end-user companies (and by extension their employees) is complemented when you highlight—through social media—a contracted or ongoing affiliation of B2B.
It's a newer way of thinking in augmenting relationships, one that both gives and receives more value.
As an example, rather than hand-selecting a few clients or test drivers to write "glowing testimonials" regarding a media monitoring company (traditional or social)—always a bit suspect, as who writes a bad testimonial?—endorsement is implied by an agreed-upon willingness to profile the online accounts of multiple partner affiliations. I was pleased to see my colleague, Bob Geller, highlight a similar concept (from a content marketing perspective) in his recent column; see the section on "Leverage Social and Influencer Equity" (towards the end).
A need to shift practices and widen the focus
Let's examine the prevailing practice of vendors, service suppliers, associations with corporate members, even subscription-based industry publications. Many organizational relationship builders and content providers (or community managers) are intent on developing reputations as curators of online information (e.g., providing or endorsing relevant blog posts) and/or influencers of opinion, which they share on the company's social media properties. Generally, it boils down to a newer mode of broadcasting and gated publishing.
Often one person or a few are given organizational authority to make a subjective judgment as to who/what will be invited to write, be profiled or endorse something. And we're seeing the same handful of people, usually with non-existent or tenuous relationships to organizations (i.e., not regular, paying clients or partners) getting selected for the bulk of the profiles and endorsements, repeatedly.
This results in the sameness to the curation and organizational endorsements in multiple places, often of "Internet famous" social media consultants or principals from boutique agencies. It's the rare time the representative comes from a large corporation. And too often the connections seem to be a matter of personal liking or fandom from the social media or community manager, rather than a true value proposition for the company or its clients regarding content being highlighted.
This is not an indictment of well-known personalities, who usually are in this position because of being early adopters in social media and producing a consistently good body of work. Rather it relates to the suitability of numerous businesses highlighting the same subject experts, especially when the main driver appears to be their all-purpose (or untargeted) ubiquity.
From whence did this value-proposition concept stem?
Recently I completed research for an NGO group (a unique and laudable blend of the arts, communication skills and at-risk-youth outreach) on relevant social media properties (targeted and local) existing in the sector. My recap report included suggestions for creating a social profile and initial steps for:
- sharing information
- relating the organizational narrative; and
- engaging with stakeholders and known and unknown publics
Rather than starting from scratch in building social relationships, I recommended the principals determine if existing stakeholders and champions had established social media accounts, even if they were personal ones (i.e., made no reference to this organization).
That's part of the social capital equation: implied organizational endorsement and public relations because of existing connections.
At this stage I recommended the NGO directly inquire and collect account information to share on its website, etc.
I thought my next-step recommendation was common practice, but when inquiring around to a number of colleagues, it did not seem to be the case.
It was to:
- Redesign any existing application forms for the various roles to include a section that allows stakeholders to supply professional or personal social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Or online photo accounts where they've shared past [X company] photos, etc.
Are you asking your clients and partners to share this information on the initial contract or application form? If not, consider incorporating it, soon.
When registering for the third annual Social Media Week Toronto, I noted the request to provide my Twitter account. I don't remember this being on the application form the first two years, so I'm very interested in seeing how this information will be used.
(Side note: the most consistently popular PR Conversations blog since it was published is our joint-author post, Using Twitter for PR events.)
Also influencing this Social Capital Byte…
Around the same time as writing the NGO report, I read and commented on a post by Valeria Maltoni (one of Neal Schaffer's and a personal thought leader and influencer for me), Does Sharing Mean Endorsing?
Ongoing sharing of existing or past partners' social media accounts seems like an authentic, no-brainer endorsement of the relationships. Just be sure to get opt-in permission, so it's not perceived as unauthorized "scraping" of social capital!
I think often of the response in his PRoust Questionnaire by Italian PR guru and thought leader, Toni Muzi Falconi, to the question, Who do you think has great public relations?
"In most cases successful organizations do not have overt public visibility. Or, when they do have a high profile, they don't betray their anxiousness or obsessive need to be liked."
But if it's the vendor (or other B2B company) that initiates an offer to profile the business, objections aren't likely to be raised. After all, what is being proposed is cultivating apublic relations culture of meritocracy, not mediocrity, by institutionalizing the parity process and offering up some online real estate space to clients.
I believe this would be a tremendous, creative use of social capital for all parties. And the quality of the information (or not) will be reflective of the quality of the partners and client organizations.
Four implementation suggestions for social capital and partner parity
1. For display on your company's website or blog, institute an (agreed-upon) running feed of affiliated (partner and client) Twitter business accounts. Monitor the feed and RT/endorse the most relevant and useful client tweets and links from your own corporate account.
2. Consider hosting regular Twitter chats focused on your core business areas; directly invite clients each time to participate in the chats. Maybe even invite your star partners—i.e., those who have an existing affiliation—to guest moderate. Alternatively, let your client organizations' representatives determine (by consensus—maybe an online poll) whom they want to see moderate and/or topics to cover. Build in a formal, institutionalized process for both, including a way to nominate moderators and topics.
3. Establish a corporate LinkedIn Group and invite your clients and partners to join it. Make it an Open or Public Group, but be proactive in having your existing stakeholders involved at the front end (e.g., I was personally invited by their "owners" into Social Media Strategies for Business, Solo PR Pros and the Art Gallery of Ontario LinkedIn Groups at the launch stage). Also, continuously monitor and remove overtly promotional postings of unrelated content, especially from non-affiliated organizations or consultants.
4. Institute a wiki where partners and clients can voluntarily share best practices (traditional or online), particularly when there is a correlation with the product or service your company provides. So the wiki serves more like a partner intranet and is not spammed by non-affiliated marketers, it's best to share directly the URL, publishing instructions and suitability guidelines. For the most part, wikis appear to fly under the radar of spammers.
I continue to muse on how the primarily personal use and/or B2C social media platforms such as Facebook (Like us!) could best be used to highlight and endorse partner businesses, instead of merely the hosting company. With its highly developed SEO aspect, Google+ does holds promising possibilities for public relations programs, especially as an "anchor" vehicle in cases where client companies do not have their own blogs–but I haven't ascertained all ingredients yet for a creative +1 "secret sauce" for consistent public relations to highlight B2B partners.
Do you know of any case studies or have any ideas for extending this concept of two-way B2B public relations in social media properties? If yes, I would appreciate hearing about them in the comments section.
I'm of the opinion that direct public relations in social media with your business partners and clients comprises a relatively unexplored area of creativity, possibilities and opportunities, meaning the success stories are waiting to be written.
I do know that when working in-house, I gained organizational profile, PR reciprocity and goodwill (not to mention enhancing my personal reputation), by turning the thinking around from "What can our partners and stakeholders (or the media) do for us?" into "What can we do for our affiliated partners that they can't get anywhere else or where they aren't getting the same opportunities or profile?"
Exploring social capital by ensuring parity in your B2B relationships really is an exciting PR2.0 value proposition.


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wow can't wait to see this did they start filiming it all ready??
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Vin Sylvia: Cup Final has 'classic' written all over it
June 16. 2013 11:41PM
IF GAME 1 was an NHL instant classic, Game 2 was simply classic 2013 Bruins.
Saturday night in Chicago, after a first period totally dominated by the Blackhawks, the B's improved with each successive period, tying the game in the second and winning it, 2-1, in OT to send the series to Boston even at a game apiece.
It was a microcosm of this Bruins postseason run, displaying all the traits — good and bad — that make this team so compelling and, ultimately, so endearing. And it made a world of difference in mindsets around New England yesterday and today.
Three days after a potentially disheartening loss in triple-overtime, the first period of Game 2 had the look of a back-breaker for the Bruins, a Cup-clincher for Hawks. But instead of folding with Chicago leading 1-0 and owning a 19-4 advantage in shots on net, the B's regrouped and recovered, thanks in no small part to a key line change by coach Claude Julien.
Now, instead of returning home for Monday's Game 3 to an atmosphere of desperation, Boston carries momentum and renewed confidence into what is certain to be a raucous TD Garden.
Resiliency? Check.
Just as their comeback win over the Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the opening round infused the Bruins with the belief that another Cup was attainable, what transpired Saturday night had to boost their faith in each other. What had been the team's weak link throughout the lockout-shortened season and on into the playoffs, the third line, suddenly became a strength when Julien partnered Tyler Seguin with centerman Chris Kelly and left wing Daniel Paille early in the second period.
Pointless in the postseason to that point, Kelly scored the tying goal off the rebound of a Paille shot at 14:58 of the second. Two periods later, at 13:48 of OT, Paille took a feed from Seguin and wristed a shot over the glove of Chicago goalie Corey Crawford, off the post and into the net to give the B's the win.
Now, instead of being dependent on the first unit of David Krejci, Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic — and, to a lesser extent, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand — for front-line scoring, the Bruins have a new source of production.
Balance? Teamwork? Check and check.
Julien's line-juggling was possible only because of a move he didn't have to make: replacing Horton.
Knocked out of Game 1 with an apparent shoulder injury in the first overtime, Horton returned to action Saturday night, keeping the first line intact. He doesn't do that, Seguin likely skates in his place, and the third-line magic probably never happens.
Horton's return may have lacked the drama of Gregory Campbell staying on the ice with a broken leg to kill a penalty in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against Pittsburgh, but it gave his team an emotional lift, as well as a much-needed physical presence, nonetheless.
Whether that lift was at least partly responsible for Seguin's performance Saturday night is uncertain, but there's no question the previously underachieving young forward played his best game in months, going aggressively to the net, throwing his body into the dirty areas.
He's still stuck on one goal for the postseason, but now, instead of being an endless source of frustration, Seguin truly does look like a player on the brink of a performance recalling his two-goal outbreak against Tampa Bay in Game 2 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Final.
Heart? Toughness? Resolve? Check, check and check.
Of course we probably wouldn't be discussing any of this right now were it not for Tuukka Rask. The Bruins may lack a superstar, but their goalie has given them a superstar-caliber performance, compiling the NHL's best record (13-5) and save percentage (.944) in the postseason.
To a man, the Bruins credited Rask for keeping them in the game Saturday night, and rightly so. With his teammates skating in a fog in front of him, he stopped 18 of those 19 Blackhawks shots in the first period, making everything that came afterward possible.
Were it not for the onslaught he withstood in Saturday night's first period or the 54-save performance in the Game 3 double-overtime win over the Penguins, it might be easy to overlook Rask. Cool and steady — in contrast with the goaltending hero of the 2011 Cup run, the fiery and frenetic Tim Thomas — Rask, along with captain and defensive stopper Zdeno Chara, has been a postseason given.
Stalwart goaltending. One very big check.
Here's another given: With Saturday's Bruins victory ensuring the Final will go at least five games, we are assured of summer hockey Saturday night in Boston.
Vin Sylvia is a New Hampshire Union Leader deputy managing editor. Email him at email@example.com.


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Work underway on I-264 causes detours
Work underway on I-264 causes detours
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —
Work has begun on the Watterson Expressway.
It was delayed because of winter weather last weekend.
The ramp from eastbound I-264 to westbound I-64 will be closed from 8 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Monday while crews make concrete repairs.
Motorists should detour through the Westport Road interchange.
The right lane of I-64 will be closed this weekend at the bridge over the Watterson so crews can replace the pavement at both ends.


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Digia heeft versie 5.0 van Qt uitgebracht. Qt, uitgesproken als cute, is een opensource- en platformonafhankelijke omgeving waarmee applicaties kunnen worden ontwikkeld. Het wordt onder andere gebruikt in Google Earth, KDE, Opera, Skype, VLC Media Player en VirtualBox. Meer informatie over deze release is hier te vinden. Dit zijn de release notes waarmee deze uitgave vergezeld gaat:
Qt 5.0 is a major overhaul over the Qt 4.x series that have been around since 2005. We have invested lots of time and effort to make Qt fit for the future.
Qt 5.0 comes as a full SDK package with binaries for Linux (64 and 32 bit), Mac OS X (10.7 and 10.8) and Windows. This implies that in addition to the Qt 5 frameworks, the packages come with Qt Creator 2.6, examples and full documentation.
For those of you who want to see it in real, running smoothly on your desktop or device, get Qt 5, then download the demo from qt.gitorious.org/qt-labs/qt5-launch-demo, open the project in Qt Creator, build it and enjoy!
The blog posts about the alpha, betas (beta1 and beta2) and release candidates (RC1 and RC2) contain a lot of additional details on the features that got added with Qt 5, and if you're hungry for more details I can recommend reading up on these posts again. The roadmap presentation I gave at the Qt Developer Days this year also contains some more details.
But we haven't forgotten where we're coming from. Qt 5 is the successor to Qt 4, and we have done our utmost to keep Qt 5 as compatible with Qt 4.x as possible.
While we have cleaned up many things in our internal architecture and made Qt more modular, leaner and faster, we have managed to keep application compatibility in a way that most applications will work with very few changes and a simple recompile on Qt 5.
Of course, this also implies that Qt Widgets are fully supported and an essential part of Qt 5.
Qt Creator, being the biggest application we develop inside the Qt Project, is a prime example that shows this. A couple of weeks ago, we released Qt Creator 2.6 for use with Qt 4.8. The Qt 5 packages ship with Qt Creator 2.6.1 (which apart from bug fixes contains the same code base), but compiled against Qt 5.
Known issues, reporting bugs and contributing
As with every release, also this one has a few issues left that we know about. If you encounter a problem, please check the known issues page first, where you can find solutions and workarounds for common problems.
If you find any other bug in Qt 5, please help us to improve the product in future releases by reporting it to bugreports.qt-project.org. Ideas for or contributions of new features are also welcome. Simply check out qt-project.org/contribute for details.
The road ahead
There are a few things we're still working on for the 5.0 series. We have bugs that we want to fix. We currently do not have binary packages for MinGW (as WebKit doesn't yet work with it yet) and MSVC 2012 (you'll need to compile from source), and we'll work on delivering these as soon as possible. The current plan is to have a first patch level release, 5.0.1, some time before the end of January.
We'll then be aiming for a Qt 5.1 release some time in Spring 2013, where we'll mainly focus on stability and bringing modules such as Qt 3D and Qt Sensors into the Qt 5 base distribution. We also hope to be able to show some preview releases of the Qt ports for Android and iOS within the same time frame.
From there on, we will move over to a fully time based release schedule with feature releases twice a year.