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Diabetes Facts and Myths
It's important to educate yourself about diabetes so you can help your child manage it. This means arming yourself with the right information. Although the Internet has a wealth of content on diabetes, it's not always accurate. Information that's not interpreted correctly, or is inaccurate or misleading, can actually be harmful for someone with diabetes. Even well-meaning family members and friends can give bad information.
Talk to your diabetes health care team when you see information that doesn't seem quite right, sounds too good to be true, or contradicts what they've told you. Never make changes to your child's diabetes management plan without contacting someone on the health care team first.
Myth: Eating too much sugar causes diabetes.
Fact: Type 1 diabetes is caused by a destruction of the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, which is unrelated to sugar consumption. Type 2 diabetes results from the body's inability to respond to insulin normally. Although the tendency to get type 2 diabetes is genetically inherited in most cases, eating too much sugar (or foods with sugar, like candy or regular soda) can cause weight gain, which can increase the risk for developing the disease.
Myth: Kids with diabetes can never eat sweets.
Fact: Kids with diabetes can eat a certain amount of sugary food as part of a balanced diet, but they need to control the total amount of carbohydrates they eat, which includes sugary treats. Because sweets provide no real nutritional value other than calories, they should be limited — but not necessarily eliminated. All kids (and adults!) should avoid excessive consumption of foods that provide little nutritional value and can crowd out healthier foods.
Myth: Kids can outgrow diabetes.
Fact: Kids do not outgrow diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin are destroyed. Once they're destroyed, they will never make insulin again. Kids with type 1 diabetes will always need to take insulin (until a cure is found). Although kids with type 2 diabetes may see an improvement in their blood sugar levels after puberty or with lifestyle adjustments, they will probably always have a tendency toward having high blood sugar levels, especially if they are physically inactive or gain too much weight.
Myth: Diabetes is contagious.
Fact: Diabetes is not contagious. You can't catch it from another person. Although researchers think that getting type 1 diabetes may be triggered by something in the environment, like a virus, most people who get type 1 diabetes have inherited genes that make them more susceptible to the disease.
Myth: High blood sugar levels are normal for some people and aren't a sign of diabetes.
Fact: Certain conditions (like illness or stress) and certain medications (like steroids) temporarily can cause high blood sugar levels in people without diabetes. But high blood sugar levels are never normal. People who have higher than normal blood sugar levels or sugar in their urine should be checked for diabetes by a doctor.
Myth: People with diabetes can feel whether their blood sugar levels are high or low.
Fact: Although someone with diabetes may feel physical symptoms (such as extreme thirst, weakness, or fatigue) if blood sugar levels are high or low, the only way to know for sure what the levels are is to test them. For example, because blood sugar levels have to be very high to cause symptoms, a person who isn't testing regularly may be having blood sugar levels high enough to damage the body without even realizing it.
Myth: All people with diabetes need to take insulin.
Fact: All people with type 1 diabetes have to take insulin injections because their pancreases don't make insulin anymore. Some, but not all, people with type 2 diabetes have to take insulin with or without pills to manage their blood sugar levels.
Myth: Insulin cures diabetes.
Fact: Taking insulin helps manage diabetes, but doesn't cure it. Insulin helps get glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells, where it can be used for energy. This helps keep blood sugar levels under control, but taking insulin doesn't correct the underlying cause.
Myth: Tablets or pills for diabetes are a form of insulin.
Fact: Diabetes medicines taken by mouth are not a form of insulin. Insulin is a protein that would be broken down or destroyed by the acids and digestive enzymes in the stomach and intestines if swallowed. Currently there is no other practical way to deliver insulin except via injections, although researchers are working on ways to give insulin by mouth, in the nose, or inhaling it into the lungs. Some people with type 2 diabetes take pills or tablets that help the body make more insulin or use the insulin it makes more effectively. But pills for diabetes cannot help kids with type 1 diabetes because they are no longer able to make insulin.
Myth: Having to take more insulin means diabetes is getting worse.
Fact: Insulin doses need to be continuously adjusted to help keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range. Many factors affect blood sugar levels, including diet, exercise, and time of day. In addition, insulin doses may need to be changed over time. At the time of diagnosis, the pancreas may still be able to make some insulin, so less injected insulin may be needed. However, as the pancreas makes less and less insulin, more insulin needs to be given by injection to keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range. How fast kids are growing, whether they're undergoing puberty, how much they eat, and how active they are affect the amount of insulin needed each day.
Myth: Kids with diabetes don't have to take their insulin or pills when they're sick.
Fact: When kids are sick, especially if they are throwing up or not eating much, giving insulin might not seem like the right thing to do. However, it is very important to keep taking insulin during illness. Insulin doses may need to be adjusted during illness (check with your doctor) but they can't be skipped altogether. Kids need energy when they're sick to help the body heal itself, and insulin helps them use that energy properly. Speak with the diabetes health care team to make sure you understand what to do during a sick day.
Myth: Kids with diabetes can't exercise.
Fact: Exercise is important for all kids — with or without diabetes! Exercise offers many benefits to kids with diabetes. It helps them manage their weight and prevents them from gaining excess body fat. It also improves cardiovascular health, boosts mood, relieves stress, and helps blood sugar control. Discuss exercise guidelines and blood sugar management with the diabetes health care team.
Myth: Low-carbohydrate diets are good for kids with diabetes because they should avoid carbs.
Fact: Carbohydrates (carbs) are the body's preferred source of energy, and carbohydrate-containing foods should provide about 50% to 60% of a person's calories each day. Low-carb diets tend to be overloaded with protein and fat. Following a high-fat, high-protein diet over the long term may increase the risks of heart and kidney disease in adulthood (which people with diabetes are already at increased risk for). People with diabetes should follow a healthy, balanced diet. Usually this means adopting a meal plan that helps them balance carbohydrate intake with medication and exercise to achieve good diabetes control.
Myth: There are cures for diabetes, but doctors and the government aren't telling anyone.
Fact: No matter what you may hear or see on the Internet, there is no cure for diabetes. Many scientists and researchers have dedicated their careers to finding a cure for diabetes, and they've made many advances in diabetes research. But the only way to manage diabetes now is to take insulin and medications as prescribed, eat a balanced diet, get plenty of physical activity, and check blood sugar levels regularly. Until there really is a cure for diabetes, do your best to manage your child's diabetes with the tools available now.
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: August 2013


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Blue Jays can't come to terms with first-round pick
BALTIMORE -- The Blue Jays did not come to terms with their first-round pick, Phil Bickford, the 10th overall selection from June's MLB First-Year Player Draft, by Friday's 5 p.m. ET deadline. As compensation, they'll receive the 11th overall selection in next year's Draft.
But the Blue Jays did reach a deal with 11th-round selection Jacob Brentz and 30th-round selection Rowdy Tellez.
Brentz is a left-handed pitcher from Parkway South Senior High (Mo.) and Tellez is a first baseman from Elk Grove High (Calif.).
With the exception of Bickford, the Blue Jays have now signed every one of their top-16 selections. They've signed 18 of their top-20 and 26 of their top-30 as well. Overall, the team agreed to deals with 28 of its 40 selections from the Draft.
It became clear late in the week that Bickford was unlikely to sign. When asked on Thursday why that was the case, general manager Alex Anthopoulos hinted that there are factors at play aside from just money.
The recommended slot value for the 10th selection is more than $2.9 million.
Anthopoulos went out of his way to praise Bickford's character and lamented the fact that he was limited to what he could say publicly about the negotiations.
The only way a team can receive a compensatory pick is if it offers at least 40 percent of the recommended slot value, but Anthopoulos wouldn't disclose the exact amount Toronto was willing to pay.
There has been speculation that there could have been an issue with Bickford's medical records, which teams do not have access to prior to the Draft.
This is the second time in three years the Blue Jays were unable to sign their top pick. The club was also unable to reach an agreement with right-hander Tyler Beede after the 2011 Draft.
Bickford is a 17-year-old right-hander who finished his senior year with a 1.72 ERA, while allowing 44 hits and recording 159 strikeouts in 99 1/3 innings. He will attend Cal State Fullerton.

subset: commoncrawl


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Videos | January 23, 2014
10 Years on Mars: How Spirit & Opportunity Affected Our Lives
Some of the team members from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover project were still in college -- or even high school -- when the rovers landed in 2004. Hear their stories of becoming part of this remarkably long-lived and successful mission.
Transcript:10 Years on Mars: How Spirit & Opportunity Affected Our Lives
(Mike Seibert)
I always said, "There's no way I'll ever move to California; no way I'll ever move to Los Angeles..." Got a job offer: "Do you want to work on the Mars rovers?" "Okay fine, I'll move to California -- I'll move to Los Angeles."
(Julie Townsend)
I was an undergraduate, and I was actually working at Marshall Space Flight Center when Pathfinder landed. Working that summer as an intern, I actually was aware of the Pathfinder landing and I was so surprised -- I had no idea that anybody did anything like that.
"These people sent a probe to Mars, and it had a rover, and they drove it around -- this is the coolest thing I have ever seen." And I was like: "How much fun must their job be?" And at that time I would never have ever dreamed that I could actually be part of the team working on the very next rover that we landed on Mars.
"...and we're gonna set the suspension parameters tighter. So we're gonna leave the differential at 12 degrees, and set the bogie to plus or minus 12. We don't believe that this will trip..."
(Nimisha Mittal)
In reality, it's the rovers that made me come here in the first place -- even before I started college. A lot of people that I've worked with in the past have told me that they got interested in the space program because they saw man land on the moon in '69. And I wasn't around back then, but I was in school when the rovers were launched and when they landed, so the rovers are really important to me in that respect, because they are the reason I'm here. "...and then we do our pre-drive front left hazcam, and then we start our drive..."
(Mike Seibert)
When they were landing, I had actually about three semesters left in my undergraduate career. I didn't think I'd ever be working on them because, well, they were supposed to die before I finished up my junior year. And then they just kept going...and going...and going...
(Julie Townsend)
Being a new student out of college, coming to work on this mission, I was very optimistic. I always believed that it was going to work. Against all odds we were going to make it work. And of course at times it hits me and make me very emotional. You can see me in some of the landing footage: I think I'm hyperventilating on screen when we first saw the images come down from Mars. It was so monumental to see the vastness of what we were doing.
(laughter, applause)
(Mike Seibert)
This has been one heck of an adventure, and it's just like a really good dream. I never thought I'd be doing it, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.


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After so many stop-payments of cheques for Reliance Power IPO and so much speculation going on about the listing price of Reliance Power IPO - expectations generated from Grey market trading prices of Reliance Power IPO shares - it' the turn of other companies to feel the heat in the IPO business.
In my review of Reliance power IPO, I had clearly mentioned the possible dangers of companies overpricing the stocks following the euphoria they see by the investors in the stock market. However, when things start to go from bad to worse, the same companies as well as the investors wake up to the senses, finally falling victims to the stock market timings.
The latest news to add to this IPO business is that two major IPO's - Wockhardt Hospitals& Emaar MGF have slashed down their IPO prices significantly.
Wockhardt Hospitals Limited today said that it has lowered the price band of its initial public offering to Rs 225-260 per equity share.
The revision has been done in the light of current market conditions, the company said in a press release issued on Thursday.
The company had earlier fixed the price band for its IPO at between Rs 280-310 per equity share. The issue opens on Friday and closes on February 5.
Initially, the trade analysts were already of the view that the company has overpriced its IPO.
Other news is about EMAAR MGF:
Emaar MGF Land, which had planned to raise up to $1.8 billion in an initial public share offer in India, has cut its offer price a day before opening, becoming the second company to trim its issue because of market volatility.
The company said on Thursday the IPO price range, initially set at 610 rupees to 690 rupees ($15.50 to $17.50) per share, would be reduced to 540 rupees to 630 rupees ($13.7 to $16), cutting the maximum it can raise to $1.64 billion rupees.
What has gone wrong with these 2 companies? Have they lost their business or values or research or market in just past 1 month? No, it's all dependent upon the market situation. The timing is bad, so is the anxiety of the investors. Everyone falls victim to market timings and the past month has proved to be a typical case of it. Nothing is certain, you apply for an IPO just 10 days back, within these 10 days, things turn from good to bad to worse. You can only observe the so called good company becoming a bad company (in stock market timings) or loosing significant value.
Markets give returns only in the long run. Today is the listing of Future Group Holding IPO. I hope the listing price of Future Group Holdings IPO is good enough to keep the investors faith. Wishing all the subscribers the very best of luck.
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Updated 4:52 pm
The Trump administration is rolling back the Obama-era requirement that employer-provided health insurance policies cover birth control methods at no cost to women.
According to senior officials with the Department of Health and Human Services, the goal of the new rule is to allow any company or nonprofit group to exclude the coverage for contraception if it has a religious or moral objection.
"This provides an exemption, and it's a limited one," said Roger Severino, director of the HHS Office of Civil Rights. "We should have space for organizations to live out their religious identity and not face discrimination."
He said he expects that most companies will continue to provide coverage for birth control and that the changes will only affect a tiny percentage of U.S. women. The new rules are being published Friday in the Federal Register and go into effect immediately.
But some health policy analysts say the new rule creates a huge opening that lets any employer claim an exemption, leaving their female workers to pay the full cost of any birth control out of pocket.
"It is a huge loophole for any employer that does not want to provide birth control coverage to their employees," says Dania Palanker, a professor at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reform.
The change fulfills a promise President Trump made in May to the Catholic religious order The Little Sisters of the Poor in a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. The nuns had sued the Obama administration over the birth control requirement.
It also sets up a fight between advocates of religious freedom and those of equal rights for women. The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump Administration within hours of the rule being published, claiming it violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, which ensures that all people receive equal protection under the law.
"The Trump Administration is forcing women to pay for their boss's religious beliefs," said ACLU senior staff attorney Brigitte Amiri, in a statement.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, requires employer-provided health insurance policies to include coverage for preventive health care. After the law passed, HHS used its regulatory authority to specify what has to be included in those preventive services and birth control, including "all Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity."
But the policy was controversial from the start.
Several companies and religious groups sued, saying the rule infringed on their religious freedom.
The Obama administration created an exemption for churches and allowed other "religious employers" to opt out by notifying the government. When they did so, the administration would arrange with their insurance companies to provide the coverage directly, without the employers' involvement.
But the Little Sisters of the Poor weren't happy with that workaround and sued.
The group's case, and a second one involving private businesses including the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores, which has 32,000 employees, went to the Supreme Court.
The court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby in 2014, saying privately held companies could object on religious grounds. And then, last year, the court issued a split ruling in the Little Sisters case, saying the government shouldn't fine the nuns but ordering the two sides to work out an arrangement that accommodates their religious beliefs.
Before a deal was reached, Trump became president.
At the Rose Garden ceremony in May, he told the Little Sisters of the Poor that he planned to change the rules. "Your long ordeal will soon be over," he promised.
Under the new rule, women who work for Hobby Lobby or the religious group may no longer have access to birth control coverage through the Obama-era workaround. A Hobby Lobby spokesman said the company would have no comment on Friday, and the Little Sisters of the Poor didn't respond to NPR's emails seeking comment.
Hobby Lobby's founder and CEO David Green told reporters in 2013, "Our family is now being forced to choose between following the laws of the land that we love or maintaining the religious beliefs that have made our business successful and have supported our family and thousands of our employees and their families."
HHS officials said they don't expect many companies to seek waivers. They said the group seeking waivers will likely be limited to those about 200 companies and nonprofits that have already sued.
But Palanker says the impact could be a lot bigger. There are a lot of large private companies, she says, whose owners may hold strong religious beliefs but did not want the publicity and expense of suing the federal government.
"A lot of women will retain birth control coverage," Palanker says, "but there will be a lot of women who will lose that coverage."
That means they'll find themselves paying out of pocket. A one-month supply of birth control pills can cost anywhere from $4 to $55 or more, according to GoodRX.com.
Longer-acting contraception, like an intrauterine device, can cost more than $1,000, says Sarah Lipton-Lubet, a vice president at the National Partnership for Women and Families. She says the new rule is a tool for discrimination against women.
"Women shouldn't be denied access to basic health care based on their employers' religious beliefs," she says. "We all have the right to our religious beliefs. But the way that this rule treats religion is really an excuse to discriminate."
HHS officials say they also plan more stringent enforcement of a provision in the Affordable Care Act that prohibits federal subsidies from being used for insurance policies that cover abortion. The agency will issue guidelines for insurers Friday on how they have to charge women who want abortion coverage at least $12 a year more for such a policy, and they have to keep that money in a separate fund to be used only to pay for abortions.
In addition to the ACLU, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, and California Attorney General Javier Becerra announced they too plan to file suit opposing the new rule.
The Trump administration is rolling back an Obama-era health care mandate. It had required employers to pay for birth control through their insurance plans. And the Trump administration is leaving that mandate in place, but under its new rule, nearly any employer can opt out of paying for birth control if they have a religious or moral objection. That has already led to lawsuits. NPR's Alison Kodjak has more.
ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE: The Affordable Care Act included birth control among the services that company health plans are required to cover. But religious groups objected and sued. Two of those suits, one brought by the company Hobby Lobby and one by the religious order the Little Sisters of the Poor, went to the Supreme Court. The justices ruled that the government can't force private companies or nonprofits to pay for birth control against their religious beliefs. Mark Rienzi represents the Little Sisters.
MARK RIENZI: It's downright silly to think that you need nuns to give out contraceptives. You don't.
KODJAK: In response to the court ruling, the Obama administration figured out a way for women to still get their birth control covered without the companies having to pay for it. Today's announcement allows religious groups and companies like the Little Sisters and Hobby Lobby to stop their insurers from offering contraception coverage altogether but, more importantly, expands the exemption to any company, even publicly traded ones. So women who work at a lot more companies could end up having to pay full price for contraceptives. Roger Severino leads the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services.
ROGER SEVERINO: In our country, we believe in tolerance. We believe in diversity. We should have space organizations to live out their religious identity and not face discrimination.
KODJAK: Depending on who you talk to, today's change may amount to a tiny tweak, or it could lead to women across the country losing access to birth control. Severino from the Health and Human Services Department says the change will affect less than 1 percent of all women.
SEVERINO: This provides an exemption. It's a limited one. It provides it only for those with religious or moral convictions that are implicated by the contraceptive mandate.
KODJAK: But Dana Singiser over at Planned Parenthood says the new rules are much more sweeping.
DANA SINGISER: With this rule in place, any employer for any religious or moral reasons would be allowed to refuse birth control for their employees.
KODJAK: Her group says millions of women could lose their insurance coverage for contraceptives. And the truth probably falls somewhere in between. Alison Kodjak, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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The U.S. election season is in full swing as polarized presidential candidates trade barbs, the fiscal cliff looms and the American economy grinds through a slow recovery. It's enough to make some investors look even more closely than they usually do at where to send their dollars abroad.
According to Goldman Sachs Asset Management Chairman Jim O'Neill, there's good reason to invest internationally: the eight economies that GSAM defines as growth economies–Brazil, Russia, India, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey–will contribute around $15 trillion in real terms to the world this decade.
"This contribution will allow for faster, yes, faster, global GDP growth of around 4.2% than for each of the past three decades," O'Neill wrote in a note published Monday. "Of this $15 trillion, one-half will come from China, and another quarter of the total will come from the other Asian growth economies. This $15 trillion total will be more than twice that of Europe and the U.S. combined."
To be sure, along with opportunities in international investments during the U.S. presidential elections, there are challenges to be found. The eurozone's jobless rate rose to a record 11.4% this summer, for example, and China's manufacturing sector has contracted for 11 straight months.
What's an international investor to do? In an effort to sort out the pros and cons of international investing during the U.S. election season, AdvisorOne went straight to the source and found some of the best commentary from thought leaders in the asset management industry. Read on for more views from six top analysts, including more from O'Neill, along with currency guru Axel Merk, Martin Leclerc of Barrack Yard Advisors, Loomis Sayles' David Sowerby, Brandywine Global's Brian Hess and Accuvest's David Garff.
1) Global Economy: Awash in Liquidity
Axel Merk, president and CIO, Merk Investments, and Kieran Osborne, senior analyst, Merk Funds
Currency guru Merk and his colleague Osborne write in a Sept. 26 note that the world's central bankers are willing to step in with more and more liquidity if the global economy shows signs of further weakness. The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has gone even further by saying its accommodative policies will remain appropriate for a considerable time, likely beyond 2014, after the economic recovery strengthens, Merk and Osborne note.
"In other words, financial markets will be awash with liquidity for an extended period, even if we see signs of a sustainable economic recovery. At first glance, this may appear a positive development for investors holding stocks and other risky assets. After all, [Fed Chairman Ben] Bernanke appears willing to underwrite your investments over the foreseeable future," they write.
"Ultimately, the Fed may have reached too far, bringing risks to economic stability and elevated levels of volatility," say Merk and Osborne. "From the Bank of Japan and the People's Bank of China to the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Fed, central bankers are either putting their money where their mouth is (quite literally) or strongly insinuating that continued, ongoing easing policies are needed to prevent another significant downturn in global economic activity. While all the excess printed money may or may not have the desired effect of stimulating the global economy, the money does find its way somewhere; unfortunately, most central bankers appear to fail to realize that they simply cannot control where that money ends up."
2) International Investments: A Billion People to Enter Middle Class
Martin Leclerc, principal, CIO and portfolio manager of Barrack Yard Advisors in Bryn Mawr, Pa.
A 30-year veteran of the investment management business in the U.S., London, Europe and the Middle East, value investor Leclerc manages a global portfolio that's heavily weighted toward nondomestic U.S. companies. He asserts in a Sept. 28 phone interview with AdvisorOne that he has yet to see evidence that a U.S. presidential election has any bearing on international stock prices.
Leclerc notes that 2012 is shaping up to look in the U.S. like a typical election-year pattern. "That's good news because in election years the markets tend to be benevolent, and this year is certainly the case," he says. "If the presidential cycle remains intact this year, we should see a pullback in stock prices in the next weeks in the short term ahead. There's usually a correction in October ahead of the election. Then no matter who gets elected, the market tends to rally after that."
The United States in the past several months has regained its safe haven status and American stock prices have become expensive, which means that investors can find bargains abroad.
"We're very interested in the presidential election cycle theory, and this year is playing according to script, which means that American stocks relative to European and Asian companies have become more expensive," Leclerc says. "We view that as meaning there are fewer American investment opportunities to get excited about than in other parts of the world because of the relative expensiveness of American companies."
What investments does Leclerc like? "Over the next 15 years, it's projected that a billion people will be entering the consuming classes," he says, "so we've positioned our portfolio for this global middle class. We favor companies that cater to middle class amenities in areas like education, personal vanity products, security, and also infrastructure investments, which we define as everything from traditional ports and roads to financial exchange operators" such as NYSE Euronext.
3) Asia: Quality, Not Quantity
Jim O'Neill, chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
After a quick trip through parts of Asia, O'Neill writes in a Sept. 30 note that the people he met on his route were indifferent to the news of a third round of U.S. quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve.
"I found that most people I met in Asia didn't seem to think that QE3/QE Infinity was that important a positive for the real economy, with many thinking that it wasn't the force that would unleash the private sector animal spirits and might only serve to raise inflation expectations," London-based O'Neill writes, adding that in his own view, "while other policy developments are also necessary, especially from Congress post election, I think the Fed's decision is a step on the road to nominal GDP targeting. Giving such an asymmetric bias to policy until unemployment figures fall is a big development and positive for both nominal U.S. GDP growth and U.S. and global asset prices."
As for "the first decade of the Asian Century," as O'Neill terms it, much of the story has been about the quantity of growth rather than the quality and sustainability. Now, he says, investors should expect to see a China in which the leadership has deliberately decided it doesn't want to achieve 10% plus real GDP growth anymore, and one that is happier with 7% to 8%. This is especially true for China but also for India, Indonesia and others (but not Japan), O'Neill asserts.
What exactly is O'Neill's new "quality" China? "I mean a China where we should respect more closely than in the past what the five-year plan outlines in terms of priorities; and in this regard, one in which private consumption becomes a bigger share of GDP at the expense of exports and state-backed investment," he says.
4) U.S. Stocks: A Slow Grind Upward
David Sowerby, portfolio manager, Loomis Sayles
Echoing O'Neill and Leclerc's thoughts, Sowerby anticipates that the U.S. presidential election will have less of "a meaningful impact" on foreign stocks than more direct factors abroad.
These factors include:
- Non-U.S. earnings
- European Central Bank and overall central bank easing
- World growth.
Also echoing his colleagues, Sowerby said during a Sept. 26 Envestnet webcast that "almost independent of who is the victor in November, the numbers are the numbers."
In other words, Sowerby looks for a theme over the next two years of a slow grind here in the United States: "I emphasize grind, for the economy and the outlook for corporate profits, but cash flow looks good. Stocks can still do quite well despite some apprehension on what we're seeing on the fiscal side and the outcome for tax policy."
More numbers from Sowerby: there's a 70% probability that incumbent President Barack Obama will be re-elected. His election view also holds that the Republicans are likely to keep the House, perhaps with a smaller margin, and the Senate is likely to stay close to a 50/50 party split, but with a potential edge for a Republican majority.
Bottom line from Sowerby: the U.S. is looking at good odds of another year of divided government, but stocks will survive. "The market is doing well for two important reasons: Fed easing and S&P 500 ROE of 16%," he says. "Expected return on stocks has the potential to be 8% to 9% for the rest of the decade."
5) Fixed Income: Will U.S. Be the Next Europe?
Brian Hess, portfolio manager, Global Fixed Income, Brandywine Global
Regardless of whether Obama or Mitt Romney triumphs on Nov. 6, the winner's top priority will be addressing the fiscal cliff issues and medium-term fiscal reform in the United States–and that's what the international markets expect, says Hess in a Sept. 28 phone interview with AdvisorOne.
"It's pretty clear to most bond investors that the financial markets have been very forgiving of U.S. fiscal policy this year on the expectation that it's an election year and limited progress is likely to be made on these issues," he says. "But if we get into 2013 and there is not a credible move toward closing this deficit and stabilizing debt-to-GDP, that's when I think there could be greater pressure placed on U.S. Treasury yields, similar to what we've seen happen in Europe."
If Washington lawmakers fail to act in 2013, international investors may respond by selling Treasuries in favor of other markets around the world, which would put downward pressure on the dollar, Hess warns.
"It's very common for a country that's viewed as fiscally profligate to see its currency weaken," he says. "I think that's partly what has happened here in the United States. Since the Great Recession, we have had a Federal Reserve that's been very active and has helped to keep Treasury yields low in order to support growth, and the burden of adjustment has instead taken place via the dollar, which has weakened against many currencies, but particularly against the currencies of countries that are running smaller deficits and have lower debt-to-GDP ratios."
6) Country Investment Rankings: Who's Up, Who's Down, Who's Surprising
David Garff, portfolio manager to two AdvisorShares actively managed ETFs, the Accuvest Global Long Short ETF (AGLS) and the Accuvest Global Opportunities ETF (ACCU)
Garff and the Accuvest investment team have created a ranking model that includes assessing a country's political risk as one of multiple factors before they invest in a country. With 28 countries in its rankings, the Accuvest model looks at four main components: fundamentals, momentum, risk and valuation. All countries are part of Morgan Stanley's MSCI All Country World Index, and the higher a country's political risk score, the less risky that country's markets are, from Accuvest's perspective.
The ranking results may surprise investors, considering the chaotic nature of the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
As of Monday, the United States is the No. 1 most attractive country for the first time in seven years, with the highest overall Accuvest risk score, according to Garff.
"Remember that this is all relative to the opportunity set," Garff said in a Monday phone interview with AdvisorOne. "The U.S. has the highest probability to outperform the rest of the 28 countries in our universe."
In terms of political risk, the U.S. has a score of 83.5, slightly lower than Germany's score of 84, and certainly lower than Switzerland's score of 88. But China's political risk score is 60.5 while Turkey's carries the highest risk of the 28 countries with a score of 56.5.
"The way we think about the world is reasonable for investors to think about the world," Garff concludes. "If you're trying to buy the cheapest countries, you would end up with a portfolio of countries like Russia and Spain, which aren't necessarily bad but have risks associated with them. Those are all very interesting from a valuation perspective, but from a risk perspective, you would want to own countries like Canada, the U.S., Taiwan, Brazil and Israel."
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In Reply to: Re: EYE LID RASH posted by cathy on February 09, 2000 at 22:30:52:
I read last month about all of you out there with eyelid rash and itching. I too suffer from this problem and vasceline does help. I have just found out by coincidence something that has helped me. I am taking a product which contains both an antifungal to help fight yeast overgrowth (candida) and probiotics (acidophilus and bifidis)I am taking this due to allergies which seem to affect my inner ear making me lighheaded or dizzy. Anyway, after a few days on this product my eyelids started to clear up. Maybe this can help some of you. My right eye is always worse than my left. Good luck. : : : : Has anyone else noticed this problem in relation to computer use? This has been happening to me for the past 5 years or so. I always thought it was computer related (better than 50% of my day is in front of a computer). At one time my eyes would get so red and swollen that I couldn't see (moisturizers only irritate it more), then the swelling would go down and the dry itchy patches would appear. I saw 4 or 5 : : : : : : doctors before I found one that could help, but then maybe it was just time for the problem to go away anyway. About the same time, my job changed and I wasn't using the computer so intently in my new position. Now its back (just when I started the intense computer usage again).
: : : : : Sally,: : : : : My son has the condition you are talking about,I can't remember the name I think it begins with : : : : : blasto------. Anyway the eye doctor recomended: : : : : scrubbing the eye lid gently each morning and night with a drop of tearless baby shampoo on a washcloth. She gave him an ointment to use but told me he could just use some antibiotic ointment when that ran out.: : : : : She says it is like having dandruff of the eyelashes and that he would always have it but that it might come and go.: : : : : Good Luck: : : : : Shelle
: : : : You're talking about blepharitis - and no, it's not that, and its not conjunctivitis. There are times when only the eyelid is irritated and not the edge, and I don't see any flaking on the edge. This only seems to appear when I have changed workstations and am working continuously at the computer. It does not always happen at every computer, so I related it to the monitor. It does not happen when I'm not working continuously for long hours. The irritation is mostly on the center of the eyelid, only going to the edge when it becomes worse.
: : : I, too, have eyelid rashes and have tried to find rhyme or reason to what is going on ... sometimes I think it is a mold allery (and, yes I take allergy medications, but none are really that effective for a mold allergy). It seems to happen when I go outside, it's usually a sunny, humid day and probably moldy too. I thought it might be an interaction of sunlight and cosmetics. I have changed concealers many times. When I went to the US Virgins Islands it really got bad! My eyelids looked burnt and bruised and the rash ends where my eyelashes and eyelid touch the skin on the top of my eyelid (i.e.contact irritation). I DO KNOW that Vaseline helps!!!!! I use this almost evernight at bedtime around upper and lower eyelashes....If anyone knows anything else about this condition, please respond...Good Luck to Everyone! Karen
: : angela
: : I have some kind of skin condition on my eyes. I've been to the doctor many times (when I go to my regular physician for other things I ask her to take a look at it). It has gotten to the point that when I go to the doctor because it is so unbearable, the doctors don't even look at it, they just write out a prescription for allegra. I was going to go to an allergist/dermatologist, but I couldn't afford it. Anyway, mint flares up once in a while. When it does it starts out as an itchy area above my eye, and then once it starts going away it ends up looking like I have dry, flaky skin in the corners of my eyes. That's where it is the worst, in the inside and outer corners. While flamed up, it is red and bumpy. Sometimes my eye will become a little swollen before the actual bumps and redness appear. : : If anyone has had a similar case, please respond and tell me what your diagnosis was.
: What you are describing sounds similar to what I have, but I have not had it diagnosed to my satisfaction yet. I use a computer a lot; I also use (minimal) eye makeup, but I have not changed brands or started using a new soap or anything recently, which is what makes this so mysterious. I've been told it must be an allergic reaction to eye makeup but have discontinued use for two weeks now and it is not getting much better. I also think I have some sensitivity to molds etc., as I get really itchy skin all over in the winter months.
: Symptoms are bumps and itching, followed by VERY inflamed, puffy lids and under-eye area in the morning -- looks like I am storing water under the skin. This dissipates during the day but happens for a few days, and then it's just really red and flaking for a week or more. I'm on my second bout in a month right now. If I strain in the slightest to have a bowel movement the whole area breaks out in red broken blood vessels. Very attractive.
: It looks terrible. Hydro-cortisone ("cortate"?) helps somewhat, but not completely. Back to the doctor tomorrow, but if anyone has found the root cause and a solution please share it!
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19 February, 2014 | (01 hr)
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Human capital executives report the number one business challenge in Asia is the extreme competition for talent. A new research effort examines the influencing factors that impact the success of talent retention practices and the proven strategies for retaining talent in Asia.
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Amy Lui Abel, PhD
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Topic: Time Travel: Boba and Jango Meet
Ok, I wrote this a very long time ago. Probably in 2004, I think. I just read through it now, and there are a few things I'd change if I was going to edit it, but I decided to post the unedited version for now. It's not done, yet, though, but I have no idea if I'm going to finish it at all. I think I wrote this when I was having a sorta emotional moment about "poor little Boba losing his father". That's why Boba seems OOC at times, I think. Anyway, hope you enjoy it. (btw, beware of bad spelling, if I edited this that's the first thing I'd change)
Another day, another job, another few thousand credits, Boba Fett thought idely as he walked softly through the forest. He'd landed here a day before, sneaking onto the planet from the other side so as to come upon his prey silently. He was quite confident that the bounty would remain in his hideout. Such was the way of cocky smugglers. They found a hideout and thought it was the most protected place on the face of the galaxy and refused to leave it no matter what. Boba almost smiled at how easy this job was compared to some of the others he'd had to do. Though it was kind of boring to walk through the trees like this. He almost wished he'd grabbed his swoop, but knew it would have been picked up by Baxtro's sensors. But it was ok, the time alone by himself with just nature was a kind of refreshing change to what he was used to.Boba suddenly stopped and stared into a distant spot in the forest of trees, his mind blank. Had he just thought what he'd thought he'd thought? Had he actually just thought it to be refreshing? He shook his head. All the trees were getting to him and he would have laughed had he the motivation and humanity left in him to do so. A sigh caught in his throat as he continued on, silently making his way ever closer to Baxtro's hideout.
Ket Baxtro had been a smuggler for Malda the Hutt, but, being the arrogant and egotistical guy he was, Baxtro had decided to take a load of spice and make a run for it. So, of course Boba had been called in and offered 12,000 to capture Baxtro. Not a whole lot of money, but not too hard a job either. It had been fairly easy to track Baxtro to the planet. However, the hard part was the excersize on his patience. In order to make sure Baxtro didn't jump planet, he'd had to sneak in real quiet, using all sorts of cloaking devices (some considered illegal in certain parts of the galaxy) to make his way to a landing spot on the other side of the planet from Baxtro.
Obviously the planet had been in use years before. The place he'd landed in held ruins of what looked like a fairly decent space port. Boba had been thinking about it off and on since he'd landed there. There had been something vaguely familiar about the place. He knew he'd never seen it before, but something about it told him he'd heard of it before, somewhere, a long time ago... But where? Boba moved aside a branch so he could pass through where it had been, and suddenly stopped. There before him were more ruins. The buildings were old and broken, made of stone and wood alike. Some of the wood looked black, like it'd been burnt. A skeleton or two were laying around in sight, long dead with grass, and even flowers to add to the irony, growing up through holes in the bones. Boba looked about the place in an odd sort of awe. Why did something in the back of his head keep nagging him? The name of the planet, Klaxon, had seemed slightly familiar as well, but from where, he also had no clue. Boba frowned, a growing sense of annoying creeping through his body as he steady got more and more angry with himself for his lack of knowledge. Boba walked over to a peice of stone, and sat on hit, calling up a screen on his helmet's visor, linking him to his ship. Entering a few voice commands, Boba was able to call up information on Klaxon. It was a forest planet in the outer rim territories, long abandonded by anyone who had sought to inhabit it, that much he already knew. He'd read this before he'd come to the planet, but he wanted to make sure, just to check, just to see.... if he could remember where he'd heard of Klaxon before... He closed his eyes, thinking, slipping into memory. A voice talking to him... swimming in his head, saying the name of the planet...
Suddenly Boba jumped up, feeling anxious. He looked above him and saw a stream of birds flying overhead, all escaping from one direction. Boba quickly, and silently, ran in that direction, keeping his blaster ready for use. After a few minutes, a thought passed through Boba's head that perhaps it had been just a wild animal that had scared the birds. This thought was gone fast, however, when Boba found a very slight footprint on the ground. Boba looked ahead, scanning the trees for any sign of sentient life. The ground sloped up straight ahead, so Boba walked up it, trying to remain hidden behind trees. Finally, kneeling on the ground, Boba peeked over the ridge to see an armored figure making his way across the small valley below. A very familiar armored figure.....
Boba's mind went blank and memories shot through his brain. Memories he'd spent years carefully shoving into every dark corner he could find, all rushing back to him now at lightspeed. Angry with himself for being so weak, Boba glared at the man below. Logic and common sense told him to shoot the man and be over with it. But, he also wanted to find out where this guy had gotten his armor, why he was wearing it, who he was, and what he was doing here. Boba fired his wrist cable at the man below. Boba watched as the figure quickly jumped out of the way, spun around, and fired a shot at him. Boba ducked down, pulling the cable back into the wrist housing. So, this guy wasn't wearing the armor just for looks. And the sight of it was like stepping into a nightmare. For the man wore silver Mandalorian armor, much like his father's had been. Boba swallowed and closed his eyes briefly, willing the unwanted memories to crawl back into the caves he'd sent them to.
Boba fired at the figure below as he fired back in return. Boba was almost caught off guard when he saw the man was weilding two Westarr 34s, the same type of blasters Jango had owned. Where in the galaxy had that guy been able to find a working Westarr 34, let alone two of them! A blaster bolt whizzing close to Boba's helmet reminded him he was fighting an enemy, not gazing on an old holo, and Boba quickly whipped back into action, firing a line of deadly bolts at the man. Suddenly, the man's jetpack ignited, and he flew up to get a better shot at Boba. Boba flew up too, to be even with the man. Firing from the air now, they raced around each other, dodging and diving, pulling up and spinning. Bolt after bolt flew around each other until the air was thick with carbon smoke. Finally flying close to each other, the man took a kick at Boba. Boba let go of his blaster, letting it swing around loosly on it's shoulder strap, and grabbed the man's leg, wrenching him around, using the weight of their jetpacks to throw both of them off. The man fired his blaster at Boba, causing his jetpack to sputter and kill out, expecting Boba to let go of his leg. However, Boba wasn't about to do that. Instead he fired a wrist lasor at the man's own jetpack, causing them both to fall straight towards the ground. Boba landed hard, his vision suddenly going black, then slowly back to normal. Way too slowly. Boba jumped dizzily to his feet, firing blindly. He blinked, and his vision cleared enough to see he was firing in the wrong direction. Cursing himself, he spun around in time to see the man inches from him, about to knock him unconcious. Boba suddenly punched, knocking the man back. He fired his own wrist cable, surounding Boba's legs, causing him to stumble and fall. Boba fired dart from his knee pads, but it only imbedded itself in the man's armor. The man raised one of his Westarrs, but Boba was faster. He spun himself around, and suddenly kicked both legs away, tugging the man down to the ground with him. Boba was on him in seconds, shoving his blaster against man's neck, at the same time the Westarr was pressed against his own. Several silent seconds went by this way before Boba, breathing hard, decided to speak.
"Who are you!? How did you get that armor!?"
The man answered back, also breathing slightly hard, "That'd be no concern of yours. I'd be more interested in how and where you got your own armor, wheover you are."
The voice caused ice to flow through Boba's veins. The voice was one he'd not heard in a very long time, it was a voice he'd tried to forget, a voice he never thought of anymore. A voice that caused him to suddenly growl at the other man. "I have no idea how you found out my past, but rest assured, you won't live long enough to haunt me any farther."
"Your past?" the other man sounded slightly confused. "I don't know who you are, but I'd say you're haunting me more than I'm haunting you. You had better have a good excuse for dressing like Jaster."
Boba simply glared at this, "Tell me where you got that armor, and how you found out. Now!"
"No, you have this wrong. You think you're the one issuing orders here, when it is I who am issuing the orders. You're from the Death Watch, aren't you? Come to kill off the last of the Mandalorians? Perhaps you were merely looking for revenge on your dearly departed leader, is that is?" sarcasim and pain rang in the man's words.
More bells went off in Boba's brain. Death Watch...... his father had told him about the Death Watch. But... they'd been destroyed years and years ago, before he'd been born. Confusion rang through Boba. "You know of the Death Watch?"
"Are you stupid? I helped destroy them!! I am Jango Fett!!!"
Now Boba felt slightly lightheaded, and anger flowed through him freshly awakened, "Don't... ever... say that again... or I will... kill you..." It took all his self control to keep his anger in check, for he felt like blowing the head off his man right then and there. How dare he say he's Jango! It was an insult to his name to have this scum so much as wearing the armor!
"Why? You haven't heard of the Death Watch, yet you wear Jaster Mareel's armor. I'd recognize that armor anywhere. So, obviously, you'd have heard of me," the man logically explained.
"Who are you!?"
"Jango Fett, I just said," now he began to sound a bit annoyed. "And, please, you're not exactly light. Can we at least move off each other?"
Boba's eyes widened at this, and he shoved the blaster tighter against the man's throat, "Not until you tell me the truth! How did you find out about da... about Jango? How did you get his armor?"
"I think first you'd better tell me who you are, since I've told you who I am," he said, rubbing at his throat slightly.
"I am Boba Fett," Boba replied, putting as much threat into his voice as he could.
"Fett? All the Fetts are dead except me. Who are you really?"
"Boba Fett, don't you believe me? What, have you been camped out here on this rock for decades? You know, I think you were crash landed here, stuck here for a few decades, and went crazy, and started calling yourself Jango, right?" Boba asked the only reasonable thing he could think of, hoping that he was right. Though the cleaness of his armor, and the working condition of his weapons, made him assume he was wrong.
"I arrived here a day ago," the man said, and Boba detected no lie in his words.
A strange sort of flutter flew through Boba, and he eyed the man curiously, "Do you know a woman named Zam Wesell?" He shuddered just saying the name, as memories of the woman from his past zoomed before his eyes.
"No. Should I?"
"Oh. You don't meet her till the Vosa hunt, that's right," Boba mumbled to himself as he stared into the distance, as stories of that hunt filled his head. Suddenly he shook himself. What was he thinking!? "You never heard of Boba Fett, ever?"
"Never. There is no one named Boba Fett in existance. So, did you take my name to honor or insult me?" Jango asked, cocking his head in the same way Boba had done earlier.
"Neither. It's the name I got from my father. The same name you're insulting right now by pretending to be him!"
A sudden silence filled the small valley, in which the only sound was the sound of the wind through the trees.
"You..." Jango suddenly started, breaking the silence. "You're saying you're my son?"
Boba swallowed, and forced out words he'd hidden for so long, "Jango Fett is my father's name." It was a thing he had never said to anyone else before in his life, words he'd kept inside himself, words he'd hidden, and tried to forget. Suddenly, staring at the man, he didn't see a man sitting in the grass holding his blaster aimed at Boba. Suddenly he saw sand... lasers... lightsabers... a bloody helmet laying in bloodstained sand... a headless body laying dead...
"Impossible. I never even slept with a woman before, how do you expect me to have a son?" Jango asked bewildered, not noticing the sudden overflow of emotions coming from the other man.
"No woman was involved..." Boba started, but suddenly stopped, and eyed the other suspiciously. "You know too much already!"
"Wait, Boba.... take off your helmet."
Boba stared at him incredulesly, "This is my face, and the only face you're seeing from me. However, your face is something I want to see. Your helmet's the one going off."
"Only when yours goes, so, come on."
"Look, I told you my father's name, I think you know enough," Boba told him. "Now, tell me..... are you...... did you...... time travel? Or are you really just some crazy old hermit?" It sounded crazy even to him, but he had to be sure. He sounded like his father.... wore the same armor as his father.... moved like his father.....
"Time travel?" Jango sounded like he'd never even considered it before. "That's impossible."
"Then how do you explain this then?"
"You're a crazy fan who took it a bit too far," Jango said, starting to stand.
Boba tightened his grip on his blaster, "Oh, no you don't, we have more talking to do."
Jango sat back down and leaned against a nearby tree. "So, what do you want to know?"
".....what year is it?"
Jango rolled his eyes under his helmet, "****."
"No it's not. Not right now, anyway. You can check the chrono on Slave I if you wish," Boba offered.
"Slave I's your ship?"
Boba nodded as he stood.
"Why would you name it Slave I?" Jango asked, standing up alongside Boba.
"I didn't. My father did. I asked him why once, but he wouldn't tell me. Said he'd tell me the whole story when I was older. Guess now I'm older. If you're who I think you are, you have a lot to tell me."
Jango laughed lightly as he followed Boba, "You actually think I'm your father, right?"
Boba stiffened, "I don't know who you are. You might be from the past, but if so, how did you get here? If you aren't who you say you are, then who are you? Either way, my ship is our destination."
"And just how far is this ship of yours?"
"We'll be there sometime tomorrow," Boba pushed his way through a branch.
"Why be there tomorrow when we can be there today? My speeder's just over here," Jango led Boba across the clearing to the other side, and behind some trees where an ancient-looking speeder awaited them.
"Where did you find one that still works?" Boba asked, sitting into the speeder.
Jango got in on the other side, and glanced at Boba curiously, "What do you mean? This is the newest model."
Boba shook his head, "This is a very old heap of scrap metal."
Jango suddenly sat very still, "Listen... the only reason I'm being this nice to you is to find out what kind of spice your using so I can maybe turn you in for a few credits. I don't have to turn you in alive if you want to keep insulting my stuff."
Boba raised his eyebrows, "And the only reason I'm being so nice to you is because I'm very foolish. Now drive."
After a few hours of driving, they arrived at Slave I, and Boba led Jango into the ship, and to the lounge where Boba turned on the computer. Jango looked around and around, aweing over the new and advanced technology he saw before him. "You know, I think I might just believe you that this is the future. I've never even heard of this kind of technology before..."
"I'd be surprised if you had. The oldest thing here is the food cooler, that was here since before I can remember," Boba glanced from the old cooler to Jango.
"...so I time traveled," Jango said after a few minutes of silence.
"It would appear so," Boba agreed.
"...and you think I'm your.... father?"
Boba nodded.
"...and... you hate your father... right? When we were fighting you said I'm haunting you or something, and you said something about your father never getting around to telling you some story or another?" Jango asked, trying to peice information together.
Boba was very silent for a long time. Could this just be someone trying to impersonate his father to get secret information from him? Was this a trick played out by Baxtro? A voice chip was easily obtainable, Mandalorian armor could be bought if one had the right connections, and silver paint was easy to come by. But there was only one way to know for sure.... "Take off your helmet so I can see if you really are Jango."
Jango was silent for a moment, but, finally, he slowly took off his helmet and laid it on the table between them. Boba's eyes feasted upon the sight in front of him for a scarce moment before his vision started to blurr. Jango was saying something, but Boba could only hear jumbled words. His world was collapsing and crumbling. The man he'd seen die before his very eyes... the man he'd looked up to and idolized.... the father he'd lived so long without.... His vision went even more blurry and jumbled, and the room was spinning....
Jango Fett watched as Boba started to waver on his seat. "Boba? Are you ok?" he asked, watching as Boba gripped the table and breathed hard. Suddenly Boba was falling to the floor, and Jango jumped up. With a little sigh, Jango pulled Boba onto the medcouch and pulled a spare crate up to the couch, sitting by Boba's head. He frowned. Roz'll have a fit when he got back, he just knew it. In fact he could just see the pink Toydarian yelling at him now, "Jango, what were ya thinkin', hunny! Getting messed up on some sorta scam like that. I keep tellin' ya, Jango, you're getting too soft. Maybe it's a good thing, eh? Now maybe we can get you happily married and maybe even get you a kid!" Jango half smiled at that. Rozanne would do just about anything to make him happy. He knew that. Jango studied Boba's armor. Was he telling the truth? Was Jango actually in the future? Was this really his... son... laying before him? Why was Boba so antsy about it all? Sure, Jango himself felt sorta anxious, it wasn't exactly an easy thing to understand, being in the future. He was in the future, wasn't he? He had to be, there was no other explenation. Although how he managed to end up here would be an interesting thing to find out indeed.
Boba slowly blinked his eyes, and found himself staring at the ceiling. Suddenly he sat up and looked around, finding Jango sitting on a crate watching him. He'd fainted. He'd actually fainted. Boba Fett... the great Boba Fett... had fainted. Oh, great, that was something he'd never be able to live down! His face turning slightly red, Boba spoke, "Sorry about that..."
"It's ok. Ready for some explaining?"
Boba swallowed hard and looked away, "About what?"
"About why you're so panicky about me? What, do I turn into some sorta evil tyrant of a parent?" Jango was seriously concerned about this. Boba was much more panicky and antsy than was in his character, this much he could tell only from observing Boba for a mere few hours.
"Well.... dad...." he noticed Jango bristle slightly at being called dad, but ignored it, ".....it's you... it's really you... isn't it?"
Jango nodded, "Yeah. And don't call me dad."
Boba shrugged, then took a deep breath. He reached up, and pulled his own helmet off. "This is something I never did before ever. You should consider yourself lucky to still be alive, since you're currently the only living person who's seen my real face since I was a child."
Jango's eyes widened, "I made you wear armor from the time you were a kid?"
Boba glared, "You weren't around to tell me what to do, now where you!?"
"Hey don't get mad at me, I didn't even know you existed till a few hours ago," Jango raised his hands up in defense, and saw Boba take a few deep, calming breaths. "Now, why don't you start from the beginning?" But Boba remained silent, his eyes distant and full of pain. "Boba?" Boba suddenly seemed to snap back to reality, and stared at Jango with deep haunting eyes, and Jango suddenly grew cold, "....what happened to me.... where am I now? The future me, where am I?"
"...long dead...." Boba forced the words out of his mouth.
Jango stared at Boba for a long time, then suddenly panicked, "Where? How? Who did it? What happened to you after I died? Where's your mother? Who is your mother?"
Boba buried his face in his hands and squeezed his eyes closed, "Stop... just... stop..."
Jango stopped talking, and silently moved over next to Boba. Boba sat stiffly, hiding his face in his hands. Jango, feeling uncomfortable and unsure, did the only thing he could think of. He lightly laid a hand on Boba's shoulder. But it was apparantly all he needed, for Boba took a deep breath and spoke again.
"I have no mother. I'm an exact replica clone of you," Boba heard a light gasp come from Jango, "I was made as part of the payment you recieved for giving your DNA to cloners so they could make a clone army in your visage. I'm the only true clone, all the others had genetic changes, and all of them are dead by now. I was raised as your son. I'm not just some mindless clone. I'm a person. A real person. I have a mind and feelings and emotions... I can think and feel... just like anyone else. I just chose not to feel cause it hurts too much." Boba took another deep, shuddery breath, wondering at how easily the words seemed to come from him, as though he'd been hiding them inside what was left of his heart for way too long. "The only mother I knew growing up was a woman named Zam Wesell. For a time when I was little, I thought she was my mother, but as I got older I realized she was just a friend. No.... no wait.... more than that...." Boba blinked and looked far away, struggling to remember. "I caught you two kissing... I remember that... I was off at the library and decided to swing by Slave I and admire it's beauty before going home and I saw you two standing by the boarding ramp kissing. I never told you I'd seen that..."
Jango's eyebrows shot up. Not only did he get a son, but it sounds like he'd fallen in love as well! What had happened to him to cause this change in himself? How had he allowed himself to go so soft? "Wait, head back where? You mean we lived somewhere other than the ship?"
"Yeah, we had an apartment given to us by the cloners," Boba said offhandedly.
"Oh. So... how do I... how did I...." Jango shuddered at trying to say the word "die". He didn't really like the idea of himself dying.
"I was ten-years-old," Boba started, but Jango cut in.
"Yeah... I was so young..." Boba looked away, trying not to feel or think.
"I was ten when my family died too," Jango said, staring at his knees.
But this peice of information interested Boba, for he suddenly spun to look at Jango, "What?"
"I didn't tell you?" Jango was confused at this. Surely he'd have told this to a son if he'd had one.
"I thought Jaster Mareel was your father? And he died when you were an adult..."
"No, Jaster adopted me. I'm certain I'd have told you that?"
Boba shook his head, his hand rising to rub at his face, "I don't know... I'm missing so many memories... I've spent so long hiding them and burying them..."
"I'm sorry. I know the feeling, I've tried to do the same with the memories of my own family," Jango told him. He'd have just let the matter drop entirely, but he had to know.... "But, could you... please? Just try?"
Boba closed his eyes, squeezing back a tear he hadn't expected to come, and tried to get the words out, "A Jedi had.... come snooping... we left for a planet... G... Geo... Geonosis... A band of Jedi... and droids... a fight broke out... you were fighting.... I was watching you... then... I couldn't see you anymore.... I ran down to find you... you couldn't have.... I hadn't seen.... could I? I saw something..... it couldn't be real... but it was.... and you... I found your helmet.... that very one you're wearing now.... covered in sand and blood.... and not far away was.... your headless body...." Here Boba broke off, for he just couldn't speak any more. Couldn't go on. Couldn't say anything else.
Jango sat in horrified silence, just staring at Boba as he shakily stared at a wall with unfocused eyes.
[url]http://www.townparkradio.com[/url] - Video Game Remix Music


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It is the beach next to the turtle farm at "Cayenne". Not far from the wave of Saint Leu.
DistanceTake a car
WalkInstant access (< 5min)
Easy to find?Easy to find
Public access?
Special accessDon't know
Wave qualityRegional Classic
ExperienceExperienced surfers
FrequencyVery consistent (150 day/year)
BottomReef (coral, sharp rocks etc..)
PowerHollow, Fast, Powerful
Normal lengthShort (< 50m)
Good day lengthNormal (50 to 150m)
Good swell directionSouthWest, South
Good wind directionSouthEast, East, NorthEast
Swell sizeStarts working at Less than 1m / 3ft and holds up to 2m+ / 6ft+
Best tide positionAll tides
Best tide movement
Week crowdCrowded
Week-end crowdUltra crowded
- Urchins
- Localism
- Sharks
Only for experienced surfers. Dangerous and powerful and tubular left. No winds required. Can pick small swells. Works best with southern swells. An error means a travel on the coral...
Author: Anonymous Contributors (2) They surfed this spot ! (7)
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|No surf trip
By Anonymous , 12-03-2007
Yea, not that expensive. - hostels are everywhere, I have friends there so lodge was never a problem. Plance to paris - 500- to reunion 400... round trip 900 for me, but im gonna try taking a boat next time. I plan on living there it is an amazing island, with amazing surf.
By G , 26-12-2006
you need balls - I really like this spot. The wave is powerful and break in few water so some sections can be very dangerous. But if you wake up early you can appreciate this paradise in a very good atmosphere and take short but powerful barrels. The ambiance is really different compare to the spot of "the left" st leu where some locals are fucking bastards. If you respect people and waiting for your priority, you ll just send a very good session.
By Ta mère en tong , 23-01-2005
Not that much - Firt, u don't need to book a room, there is hostel everywhere... and you can ask surfers to indicate u the places, or sleep rough on the beach left to boucan, it is a public place (free), with always some local campin',Then, to answer honnestly, it is not THE place for surfers, seldom very good waves, but usually, regular and mid-hollow sweels... then the flight ticket could ruin your hopes to ever get here, but try to land in Mauritius, and to surf out there too.
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Even so, his words and illustrations of travels through Western North Carolina and the Southeast remain one of the most compelling early scientific studies of America that would go on to inspire the likes of André Michaux, John James Audubon, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and generations of nature writers, scientists and outdoor enthusiasts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Today, this Quaker botanist from Philadelphia is very much a celebrity among hikers, scholars and writers — including a good many visiting and living in Western North Carolina. In addition to Bartram's botanical discoveries and explorations, he fostered a new kind of naturalist writing with a first-person perspective, scientifically astute and yet lyrical and rhapsodic at times with its classical allusions and sensual observations of nature in all its glory and diversity.
The life and times of this naturalist, writer, illustrator and philosopher has spawned Bartram trails, Bartram gardens, a litany of books on his life and travels, and the nationally recognized Bartram Trail Conference. Here in Western North Carolina, the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society promotes and maintains a 117-mile path that loosely follows Bartram's route through the region. Western Carolina University's Heritage Center has a Bartram exhibit this summer and the Highlands Biological Station offers a 30-species Bartram Trail along with its own Bartram exhibit.
Former WCU biology professor Dan Pittillo, who helped start the N.C. Bartram Trail Society, recently joined with others leading Bartram fans for a three-day symposium celebrating all things Bartram at the High Hampton Inn & Country Club. The event, held May 31 through June 2 and organized by the Cashiers Historical Society, brought together scientists, authors, hikers, historians and nature lovers eager to learn more about the man Native Americans dubbed "Puc Puggy" or "the flower hunter."
Participants of the symposium were taken on a full-day tour of Macon County sites where Bartram passed through in May 1775. The second day, the Highlands Biological Station hosted a morning of guided tours along its extensive garden trail. That was followed by a series of lectures by Brad Sanders, author of the Guide to William Bartram's Travels; local historian Jane Nardy; Dan Pittillo; Cherokee Historic Preservation Officer Russell Townsend; and WCU anthropology professor Anne Rogers. The final day of the symposium concluded with a hike and additional lectures from Kathryn Braund, president of the Bartram Trail Conference; Joel Fry, curator of Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia; and Burt Kornegay, a veteran wilderness guide and head of Slickrock Expeditions.
Seeds and Science
Though William Bartram is viewed by many as the first great American-born naturalist, his father, John, was no slouch himself. The elder Bartram also had an acute interest in plants and their medicinal value. By the early 18th century, John was writing and sending seed samples to wealthy European collectors — a lucrative business at the time. He corresponded with royalty as well as early American figures such as Benjamin Franklin and leading scientists such as Carl Linnaeus, who developed the modern classification system for species. John would eventually serve as the Royal Botanist of the Colonies for the King George III of England.
So it's no wonder that young William, growing up with copies of Mark Catesby's plant and animal illustrations and having connections to some of the greatest minds in the world, took to traveling on expeditions with his father — first to the Catskills as a 14-year-old in 1753 and later on to Georgia and Florida from July 1765 to April 1766.
William didn't fare so well as a businessman — he turned down an offer to apprentice as a printer under Ben Franklin — and other jobs failed including operating a plantation store on the Cape Fear River in eastern North Carolina and farming rice and indigo in Florida. To William's credit, most early American businesses failed, according to Joel Fry, curator of Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia and a scholar on Bartram's life. William showed much more promise in botany, and his father steered him in that direction. William's studies at the Philadelphia Academy may have been where he developed his keen gift of illustrating plants and animals, Fry added.
When Bartram came to the South in his 30s, he was already well connected and funded by patrons. Though a Quaker by faith, his gentle nature did not mean giving up on adventure. After dining with dignitaries, he ventured into America's interior, fending off alligators in Florida (though some say he embellished such stories) and then hiking up rugged Appalachian mountains and enduring violent rainstorms — all with the kind of wonder and earnest spirit that still intrigues his readers. Nature, to Bartram was a magnificent garden of God's work, and he championed it all — snakes, insects, birds, magnolias, locust trees, buckeyes, river cane, evening primrose, honeysuckle, and more.
"This world," he wrote in his Travels, "is furnished with an infinite variety of animated scenes, inexpressibly beautiful and pleasing, equally free to the inspection and enjoyment of all his creatures."
Later advertisements luring European settlers would portray this strange, new world of the South as a paradise of beauty, a "promised Canaan," abounding with rivers, meadows and majestic peaks.
Bartram's diary continually remarks at the large and small wonders, the enormous cane breaks, the flowering fire of azaleas in bloom, curious pitcher plants that trap insects, and medicinal plants such as St. John's wort and Goldenseal. Perhaps one of Bartram's most famous discoveries came when he and his father found a rare kind of flowering tree growing in Georgia along the Alatamaha River — the Franklinia alatamaha (named after Ben Franklin and the river).
In some cases Bartram was the first to catalog such plants or trees. In other cases, he misidentified them. Still, his descriptions bear an honesty and fascination that joins scientist with poet. In a passage describing an encounter with the large-flowering evening primrose, he writes, "Early one morning, passing along by some old uncultivated fields ... I was struck with surprise at the appearance of a blooming plant, gilded with the richest golden yellow .... [T]he flowers begin to open in the evening, are fully expanded during the night, and are in their beauty next morning, but close and wither before noon. There is a daily profuse succession for many weeks, and one single plant at the same instant presents to view many hundred flowers."
In perhaps one of the most lyrical sections of his journal through Cherokee country in May 1775, he writes an unforgettable scene of tranquil beauty:
"Proceeding on our return to town, continued through part of this high forest skirting on the meadows ... and having gained its summit, enjoyed a most enchanting view; a vast expanse of green meadows and strawberry fields; a meandering river gliding through, saluting in its various turnings the swelling, green, turfy knolls, embellished with parterres of flowers and fruitful strawberry beds ... companies of young, innocent Cherokee virgins, some busy gathering the rich fragrant fruit, others having already filled their baskets ... disclosing their beauties to the fluttering breeze, and bathing their limbs in the cool fleeting streams ...."
No doubt, William Bartram took up his father's mantle as botanist and explorer, but he eventually surpassed his father's exploits with many more extensive travels through the Southeast, where his drawings and detailed descriptions of the landscape and Native American culture gave a rare glimpse of what few Europeans and early Americans had never seen.
But with the huge expense of publishing and the lack of presses available in America, it was almost unheard of for Americans at that time to publish, according to Bartram scholar Joel Fry, who is working on a book of Bartram's letters.
So Bartram's travels would have to wait even though he had them in manuscript form by 1783. Meanwhile, he suffered a fall from a cypress tree while collecting seeds at his home in Philadelphia. He sprained or broke his ankle, and its subsequent infection took about a year to heal.
When his Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida finally did come out in 1791, it was mildly received in America, but it found critical acclaim in Europe. By that time, other botanists – some even close friends and relatives — had received credit for discovering plants that Bartram had already catalogued. Illustrations, documents, letters and reports were not so easily copied as they are today, so Bartram's detailed notes, plant specimens and other information gathered over his career might not have even been in his possession.
Kathryn Braund, a history professor at Auburn University and president of the Bartram Trail Conference, jokingly imagines what Bartram might have accomplished if he had all the amenities of today's modern technology, being armed with L.L. Bean gear, GPS, a digital camera, laptop, FAX machine and wireless Internet connection to send findings overseas to his patron, John Fothergill, the English physician who bankrolled some of Bartram's travels.
In addition to mailing written reports to scientists and patrons in Europe, Bartram also sent off plants, seeds and various specimens. Single plants might have fetched as much as one British pound — a handsome fee in those days — so it was a tricky business sending "live" cargo that was valued as a small fortune. Seeds were carefully packaged while plants in their dormant stage would be placed inside boxes — tightly encased so as to avoid ship rats — before being hauled away on ships to England, France and other European destinations.
An Uneasy Time
Bartram's trip through Georgia and the Carolinas in the spring of 1775 may have been for scientific purposes — collecting seeds and identifying plants and animals — but political tensions certainly made any voyage through the colonies dangerous at that time. After all, that same month in April 1775 when Bartram set off from Charleston into what was known as Cherokee country, British forces had already clashed with Colonials at Lexington and Concord, and that May, Patriots in Charlotte would sign the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
According to Braund, Bartram would be carrying papers belonging to John Stuart, a family benefactor and British agent for Indian Affairs in the Southern colonies (and later viewed as a spy trying to enlist Creeks against the Colonials). The botanist would also meet up with George Galphin, who would end up becoming Stuart's Colonial counterpart making connections and trying to win influence among the tribes in the Southeast.
"So he's traveling this fine line," Braund said. "Sides are being taken."
And within a year's time, the colonies would declare independence and all-out war against the British. In the summer of 1776, Colonial forces from Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Virginia would march on dozens of Cherokee towns burning and destroying their homes, slaughtering livestock, trampling and burning crops, and killing or taking Cherokee prisoners in an effort to keep the tribe from joining the British during the Revolutionary War. So Bartram was wading through this territory with tribes uneasy about dealing with Colonists as Britain its rebellious subjects.
"It's like a bubble about to burst," Braund said.
While Bartram's commentary lets readers know he was certainly aware of the political dangers he was traveling into, his journal often reads like a man enraptured with his surroundings, coming upon hillsides of fiery azalea in one locale or trying to describe a lovely mountain ridge. His travels have often been romanticized — and echoed in the verses of Romantic poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge. But Bartram was by no means trailblazing paths through unexplored territory, Braund explained.
"Most of the time, he traveled in the company of others," she said.
Bartram made his way along a network of highways and trading trails that crisscrossed the Southeast. Because of his reputation and eagerness to document the rich flora of the region, he would often meet men eager to point him in the direction of plants, trees and geological highlights in the local habitats, whether they were mysterious mounds made of shells or exotic plants that Europeans had never laid eyes on before.
Indeed, Europeans still had much to learn about these lands, but it was obviously not a "New World" to the indigenous peoples living here. When Bartram visited Cherokee and Creek towns, it was not, as Braund argues, the kind of existence that patronizes Indians as children living a meager existence in the wild. It was merely wilderness to Europeans unfamiliar to the region.
In Cherokee towns of 500 to 600 residents, visitors like Bartram would come upon savvy Native Americans who had been trading with Europeans for two centuries. They were armed with British guns, wore silks from India, had war paint from China, and carried glass beads from Italy and Holland.
"They [were] world-class consumers of these goods," Braund said.
What is more, the Cherokees learned to cultivate plants introduced from Europe. Crops like peaches, watermelons, and even oranges would be grown and traded throughout the Southeast.
Despite massive European-borne diseases that wiped out huge numbers of indigenous peoples in the Southeast and despite military incursions that left villages and crops decimated before Bartram's arrival to Cherokee country, the tribe showed an amazing resilience. Cowee, for example, had about 100 dwellings just 14 years after a brutal attack by the British in 1761.
In all, Bartram names some 43 Indian towns during his travels.
Bartram's 1775 journey into Cherokee country starts in Charleston. He then traveled along the Savannah River, past Augusta, Ga., up to Seneca and Keowee in upstate South Carolina and on to Cowee and present-day Franklin into the Nantahala Gorge. Along the way, he noticed abandoned villages that could have been left vacant as a result of disease or attacks. Originally, Bartram's plan was to travel into the Overhill Towns (in what is today northeastern Tennessee), but increasing political tensions halted such plans. Instead, later on that summer, he would head south through Georgia and the Gulf Coast region as far west as modern-day Mississippi and Louisiana.
"He knew he had to be out of the Cherokee towns because they were preparing for war," Braund said.
However, as Cherokee Historic Preservation Officer Russell Townsend pointed out during the Bartram Symposium, the British and American mentality about Cherokees had some key misunderstandings.
For example, the idea that Cherokees were all somehow unified under a monarch or chief was simply not true. In reality, Cherokee towns were autonomous and ruled themselves through a matrilineal clan system of self-governance. Cherokees married into the wife's clan and justice was served within that clan. Chiefs weren't so much elected by the people like a democracy; you became a leader by consensus among the townspeople who agreed on an eloquent person speaking for that town, Townsend explained. So when visitors said, "Take me to your leader," that leader was not some royal prince or king or emperor as historians and explorers have erroneously noted. And there was no Cherokee kingdom or empire.
This different form of government proved to be a source of frustration among the British and later the Americans. For example, when Cherokees from Overhill Towns attacked encroaching settlers, the British retaliated by attacking and burning villages in the Lower Towns in upper South Carolina even though those Cherokees may well have been neutral or totally ignorant of the actions in another Cherokee region. The Cherokee town of Keowee (in South Carolina) could no more speak for Cowee (in North Carolina) than the British could speak for the French, Townsend explained.
Though Bartram only stayed in Cherokee country several days, he was one of the last white men to document the older style of Cherokee housing (the rounded winter houses). Of the few towns he did see — such as Cowee and Nikwasi (present-day Franklin and its surrounding area) — these villages and their log structures, town council houses and rich fields would be decimated just before harvest along with dozens more Lower, Middle, Valley, Overhill and Out towns in the Colonial attacks of 1776.
Bartram's Legacy
After extensive travels through eight Southern states, Bartram lived out the final years of his life in Philadelphia, where he was visited by leading figures of the day such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, John James Audubon, French naturalist André Michaux, and Alexander Wilson, author of the first significant book of American ornithology.
There is some speculation that Thomas Jefferson urged Bartram to go on the Lewis and Clark expedition, but it was more likely that Bartram was asked to go on the Red River Survey of 1804, which he declined. By then, Bartram was into his 60s and had lost most of his eyesight in one eye after a trip to West Florida. (There was also that bum leg from his tree fall years earlier.)
Nevertheless, Bartram's work would inspire new generations of scientists. Sir Charles Lyell, a 19th century British geologist, read Bartram's work became an admirer, even retracing some of Bartram's journeys. He went on to mentor a young Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of evolution and natural selection. Bartram admirers included physicians, sociologists, ornithologists and entomologists.
Bartram is still inspiring novelists and poets today. In Charles Frazier's international bestseller Cold Mountain, the main character Inman carries a treasured copy of Bartram's Travels. Ron Rash, Western Carolina University's Appalachian studies professor and an award-winning novelist and poet, penned his first novel, One Foot in Eden, with a main character who reads Bartram's Travels.
At the Highlands Biological Station, a William Bartram exhibit is currently on display, showcasing plants and trees that he found on his treks through the South more than 230 years ago. Some of the 200 plants he and his father discovered and documented have been cultivated along the Highlands research center's biodiverse garden trail. A sinuous path takes you past Frasers magnolia, oakleaf hydrangea, marshy wonders such as pitcher plants, and delicate beauties such as Dutchman's pipe and the rare mountain camellia. While most of the species are native to the region, some like the Franklinia are newly planted and carefully watched since they don't tend to thrive outside their normal habitats.
Anne Rogers, a WCU anthropology professor who specializes in Native American studies and archeology, still marvels at Bartram's writings ever since learning about him as a graduate student at the University of Georgia in the 1970s. She has researched his work and followed his trail through academia and the outdoors.
"I just have a better understanding of the countryside itself," she said. "You read that and you really are transported back in time. And you get a vision of the world as it was then."


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The ultra-low-cost PC destkop and laptop markets saw significant growth in 2007, thanks to the arrival of the OLPC XO laptop, the Everex $199 gPC, Intel's Classmate PC, and new low-cost desktop and laptop systems from the new start-up Zonbu. Now SFF manufacturer Shuttle has decided to jump on the bandwagon with its own low-cost system, dubbed the kPC.
At $199 ($99 barebone) the goal of the kPC is to deliver the basics of an SFF box while keeping the price as low as possible. The system ships with a Celeron 420 (1.6GHz, Conroe, single-core, 512K L2), and the motherboard is a mini-ITX design based on Intel's 945GC chipset. The $199 version of the system will also ship with 512MB of RAM and either a 60GB or an 80GB drive as well as Ubuntu Linux pre-installed.
Other features are still under consideration. Shuttle hasn't decided whether or not the final version of the kPC will offer a 5.25" drive bay, and the prototype shown at CES currently lacks a PCI-Express slot for expansion. Again, this may change before the unit hits stores. The Celeron 420 processor will be cooled using a default Intel heatsink+fan combination, but the Shuttle ICE cooler will be available for anyone who prefers it.
Unit availability is expected by the end of the first quarter.


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By Dawn Papandrea
Dawn Papandrea is a freelance writer, blogger, and editor specializing in personal finance, parenting, women's lifestyle & more. Dawn blogs via Contently.com.
Having an active presence on Facebook is almost as vital as having a website of your own these days. With over 750 million active users, it's no wonder why.
The question is, how can you get people to "like" your page? Here are four ways to increase your Facebook likeability…
1. Use your personal and professional network to build up your community.
As a small business, you likely have a few trusted employees, and work closely with other vendors in your industry.
And on a personal level, there are probably lots of family members and
friends who'd love to help you out. It may sound simple, but by simply asking them to "like" your page (and if they're willing to take it a
step further and share your page with their networks), you'll be on your way to a healthy start.
2. Start spreading the word.
Whether you're a mom-and-pop shop or an online business, your customers won't know you have a Facebook page unless you tell them about it. Be sure to link to it from your homepage and email signature, add the URL onto business cards and other printed materials, and post it up somewhere prominently in your store. If you use email marketing, consider sending a blast to your subscribers letting them know about your Facebook page as well. Consider it as vital a piece of contact information as you would your 800 number or web address.
3. Incentivize.
Why do you think people are going on Facebook and "liking" everything from their favorite yogurt to their local library branch? They want something for free, of course, whether it be information, discounts, or to be entertained. Likewise, you should design (or purchase software/hire someone to design) your Facebook welcome page so that it entices surfers to take the next step and click "like." Your offer can range from providing a 15% off coupon, to downloading a piece of content such as a printable how-to guide, to entering new members into a random drawing for an Amazon gift card. Be creative!
4. Enlist your new friends.
Your Facebook friends, that is. Keep your group engaged and entertained, and they'll start inviting more people to your Facebook party. Some ways to do this include offering contests, posting fun questions and polls that inspire comments, and being accessible from a customer service standpoint. One tactic that some businesses use is a challenge in which they ask members to work together toward a goal to reap a reward that benefits all in some way. For example, if the page reaches a certain number of "likes" or comments on a particular post, everyone will get free shipping, or the company will donate $1 to a charitable cause (something related to your local community or industry) for every new "like."
There's no better time than now to embrace Facebook, and start leveraging its reach. These tactics will give your numbers a boost, and your company will gain a competitive edge that you're sure to "like"!


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When you think about it, there's always been a rhythm to stealth video games. The start-stop-start of hiding, moving and hiding again. Darting in and out enemies' fields of vision. If you move out of time, then the whole sequence gets messed up, just like playing a song. Or a music game.
The smart lads at Simogo probably realized this, and have melded the stealth and rhythm genres together for their next iOS game, Beat Sneak Bandit. I really enjoyed their last iDevice title Bumpy Road for its jazzy, heartfelt cuteness. Beat Sneak Bandit looks like it's trading in cute for mischievous and that sounds like a swap I can live with. You'll be able to tap your way into thievery early next year.
Beat Sneak Bandit [Simogo]
You can contact Evan Narcisse, the author of this post, at email@example.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.


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Hi. I am very dissapointed because my use of the Raspberry is as a normal PC, for surfing, facebook and music. And all that was a very good experience with the Raspbian Jesse, but I am having a lot of problems with the Strecht version when its time to web surf.
I tried to change the CHROMIUM for the VIVALDI browser, but when I have aa lot of pages open at the same time I have to unplug the Raspberry. Maybe you can say I am expecting too much effort from the raspberry, but with jesse I had no problem.
Now, after two days of several times the same freeze, I am going to start to not open more than 5-6 web at the same time and I will tell to you the results, but there is someone who is experiencing the sme problems than me?


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High Quality at Low Cost Manufacturing of Locks, Case Hardware & Firearm Security Cases and Locks.
Founded in 1838, now with engineering, sales and production facilities in USA, Germany, Czech Republic, and Asia, Franzen International offers high quality at low cost pricing. Please browse through our catalog of standard products. We can customize any of these to meet your needs or develop prototypes and manufacture hardware solutions for your specific requirements.