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20.05.2012

Cubs RHP Kerry Wood retires after 13-plus seasons

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Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Kerry Wood tips his hat to the crowd after being taken out during the eight inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, May 18, 2012 in Chicago. The White Sox won 3-2. Wood faced one batter, striking out the White Sox’s Dayan Viciedo, in what was likely his final appearance before retiring from baseball. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Kerry Wood tips his hat to the crowd after being taken out during the eight inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, May 18, 2012 in Chicago. The White Sox won 3-2. Wood faced one batter, striking out the White Sox’s Dayan Viciedo, in what was likely his final appearance before retiring from baseball. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

FILE – In this Aug. 13, 2008 file photo, Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood throws against the Atlanta Braves in the eighth inning of a baseball game in Atlanta. Wood, who electrified baseball with a 20-strikeout game as a rookie in 1998 and then became a reliever after his career was slowed by numerous injuries, is expected to retire after pitching one more game for the Chicago Cubs. The 34-year-old Wood was in uniform Friday, May 18, 2012, against the White Sox in the opener of their first interleague series of the season. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

FILE – This Oct. 5, 2003 file photo shows Chicago Cubs pitchers Kerry Wood, left, and Mike Remlinger spraying fans with champagne after winning Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, at Turner Field in Atlanta. Wood, who electrified baseball with a 20-strikeout game as a rookie in 1998 and then became a reliever after his career was slowed by numerous injuries, is expected to retire after pitching one more game for the Chicago Cubs. The 34-year-old Wood was in uniform Friday, May 18, 2012, against the White Sox in the opener of their first interleague series of the season. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Kerry Wood, right, stands in the outfield with his son Justin during batting practice before a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, May 18, 2012, in Chicago. Wood, who electrified baseball with a 20-strikeout game as a rookie in 1998 and then became a reliever after his career was slowed by numerous injuries, is expected to retire after pitching one more game for the Cubs. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey)

FILE – This Sept. 20, 2008 file photo shows Chicago Cubs closer Kerry Wood, left, celebrating with relief pitcher Carlos Marmol, center, starting pitcher Ted Lilly, right, and Daryle Ward after the Cubs clinched the NL Central title when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 in a baseball game in Chicago. Wood, who electrified baseball with a 20-strikeout game as a rookie in 1998 and then became a reliever after his career was slowed by numerous injuries, is expected to retire after pitching one more game for the Chicago Cubs. The 34-year-old Wood was in uniform Friday, May 18, 2012, against the White Sox in the opener of their first interleague series of the season. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Kerry Wood arrived in the majors 14 years ago, a fresh-faced kid with No. 34 on his back, slinging fastballs at 100 mph, delivering breaking pitches that were often unhittable and striking out 20 batters in just his fifth start.

On Friday, he left the game after one final, emotional appearance with the Chicago Cubs.

Fittingly, “Kid K” struck out the last batter he’ll ever face and retired at the age of 34, ending a career that was eye-popping at times but hampered by injuries.

“I had a blast. I wouldn’t trade it in. I learned from the injuries, I learned about my body and what it takes to compete and go out and play every day,” Wood said after his final game, a 3-2 loss to the White Sox.

“Mentally and physically we get to this point,” Wood said. “Every player gets to this point where we don’t all get to choose when, we don’t all get to have a say in it. But I was fortunate enough to play this game a long time in a great city in front of the best fans in baseball. … It was time.”

Wood struck out Dayan Viciedo on three pitches, the last one a swing and a miss, in the eighth inning before he was replaced by bench coach Jamie Quirk ? manager Dale Sveum had been ejected earlier. His teammates joined Wood on the mound to congratulate him and he left to a rousing ovation. Even White Sox slugger Adam Dunn doffed his batting helmet and clapped for Wood as he stood at first base.

Wood hugged his son as he reached the dugout, then lifted the boy into his arms. Moments later, he came out for a curtain call and waved his cap to the fans.

“I felt like I was getting ready to pitch my first inning. The adrenaline was the same, the nerves were the same. I can’t give enough credit to the fans, just a tremendous feeling,” Wood said.

Wood went on the disabled list this season with shoulder fatigue ? he was on the DL more than a dozen times during his career ? and had struggled all year. His frustrations were evident when, after a bad outing against the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field, he tossed his cap and glove into the stands.

“My body wasn’t bouncing back this year. I felt like I was putting guys in the ‘pen in situations they didn’t need to be in. I definitely didn’t want to go out with my last inning being me throwing my glove in the seats,” Wood said. “I wanted to put up a zero or at least get one guy out.”

One of his best friends, starter Ryan Dempster, said he would really miss Wood’s presence in the clubhouse

“It will be tough not seeing him out there pitching,” Dempster said as Wood was shagging fly balls with his son before the game. “He’s been a great friend and a great teammate and a great Chicago Cub.”

Coming into the year, Wood was 86-73 with a 3.64 ERA and 63 saves. He left the Cubs as a free agent in December 2008, signing with the Cleveland Indians for two years and $20.5 million. He was traded to the Yankees in July 2010, becoming Mariano Rivera’s setup man, but he remained loyal to Chicago.

“Most every day he went out there, especially before he had the arm surgery, he had no-hit stuff,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who was Wood’s teammate from 2000-02 with the Cubs and then managed him in New York. “Loved playing with him. He loved to play the game. He really did.”

Wood returned to the Cubs in 2011, when he went 3-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 55 relief appearances before shutting it down because of a tear in his left knee that required arthroscopic surgery. In January, Wood agreed to play for the Cubs again for $3 million ? double his 2011 pay ? with a $3 million club option for 2013.

It was no secret that Wood wanted to remain a Cub. He lives in Chicago year-round, and the team’s new regime had made it clear the feelings were mutual. New president of baseball operations Theo Epstein called it a “no-brainer” move to bring back the popular reliever.

Wood, after all, came of age as an athlete in Chicago and his games have provided some welcome bright spots for a franchise that infamously hasn’t won a World Series in more than a century.

The Cubs’ No. 1 selection in the 1995 amateur draft was a 20-year-old rookie when he delivered one of the greatest pitching performances of all time. On May 6, 1998, he allowed only one hit, a third-inning single by Ricky Gutierrez, in a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros. It was his fifth major league start.

As the game progressed and with rain falling, Wood’s stuff was never better. Throwing fastballs at 100 mph and with his slider dipping around the Houston bats, Wood didn’t walk a batter, hit one with a pitch and gave up that lone infield single on a ball Cubs third baseman Kevin Orie couldn’t come up with.

When he fanned Bill Spiers in the ninth for his 19th strikeout, Wood tied the National League record. He struck out Derek Bell to end the game and tie Roger Clemens’ major league mark (the two still remain the only major league pitchers to do it in a nine-inning game).

“I didn’t know how many strikeouts I had. I knew I had already given up a hit in the third inning,” Wood later recalled. “I was just trying to get my first complete game.”

He added: “I’ll never forget it. It’s a great moment in my life and my career.”

Wood said his slider was his main weapon that day as he struck out the side in the first, fifth, seventh and eighth innings, fanned two each in the second, fourth and ninth, and one each in the third and the sixth. Wood threw 122 pitches, 84 for strikes, and got a congratulatory phone call from Clemens afterward.

“The age, as hard as he threw, the command and the poise that he had on the mound, nothing bothered him that day,” Gutierrez recalled. “After the game, we just took our hats off to him. He did a great job. There’s nothing you can take away from him.”

Wood struck out 13 in seven innings his next outing, setting a big league record for strikeouts in back-to-back games. Clemens and Nolan Ryan, whose No. 34 Wood wore on his back, are fellow Texans and the pitchers who most inspired the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Wood, who is from Irving, Texas.

Wood finished the 1998 season ranked third in the NL in strikeouts and won the league’s Rookie of the Year award. He missed the final month with a sore right elbow, then had reconstructive elbow surgery the next April, starting a run of arm and shoulder problems that undercut his career. He missed the entire 1999 season.

He had three double-figure victory seasons from 2001-03, and in 2003 he helped the Cubs reach Game 7 of the NL championship series, where he was the losing pitcher despite hitting a home run against the Florida Marlins.

Shoulder problems nearly ended his career, but he made a stirring comeback and a successful transition to the bullpen, emerging as the Cubs’ closer in 2008 and converting 34 of 40 save opportunities.

“The shoulder was a lot tougher in the end there, in ’05 and ’06, was the toughest thing to come back from,” Wood recalled. “But you come back from it because you love the game of baseball and you love competing. You love being in that clubhouse with 24 other guys.”

Steve Stone, the Cy Young Award winner who has been a broadcaster for both the Cubs and White Sox, said Wood threw across his body and that put undue stress on his arm.

“He came up with as good of stuff as anyone who ever came into this league. You talk about (Stephen) Strasburg and the impact (Doc) Gooden had, the reality is Kerry’s stuff was better than both of those guys,” Stone said.

“Kerry had the 100 mph fastball. He had an unhittable curveball. He had an unhittable slider. And that day in his fifth major league start he got them all over the plate. He didn’t walk anybody. It was absolutely phenomenal,” Stone said. “I think the hopes and prayers of the Cubs fans, seeing that, said this is a guy that’s going to rival Ferguson Jenkins. … But it was a fatal flaw in his delivery that was his undoing.”

Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija said Wood’s influence was heavy on him as he grew up in Indiana.

“I remember being a kid and my dad reading an article about Kerry working out in the pool and that’s why he threw 98 (mph). So my dad, the next day, has me in the pool kicking floaties around,” Samardzija said. “For a kid growing up in the Midwest, that’s what Kerry was to us kids.

“When we were coming up, that’s the dude you wanted to be. That’s how you wanted to throw.”

___

AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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20.05.2012

Avengers Origins, US Weekly, and More [Ipad Apps Of The Week]

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20.05.2012

Facebook and smartphones: New tools for psychological science research

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ScienceDaily (May 18, 2012) ? Whether you’re an iPerson who can’t live without a Mac, a Facebook addict, or a gamer, you know that social media and technology say things about your personality and thought processes. And psychological scientists know it too — they’ve started researching how new media and devices both reveal and change our mental states.

Two recent articles in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, a publication of the Association for Psychological Science, explored how trends in technology are changing the questions psychological scientists are asking and the ways they ask them.

A Review of Facebook Research in the Social Sciences

With Facebook preparing to sell shares on Wall Street for the first time next week, investors aren’t the only ones who want a piece of this social media giant. Social scientists have recognized Facebook and its 800-million-plus users as a gold mine for data about people’s social relationships, and many researchers have incorporated it into their research programs. Psychological scientists Robert E. Wilson, Samuel T. Gosling and Lindsay T. Graham compiled all social-science studies involving Facebook and took a look at the types of questions researchers are asking.

Overall trends in the research indicate that people are drawn to Facebook because they can maintain connections both with close friends and distant friends in an informal manner. Researchers have also shown that Facebook users tend to portray themselves accurately in their profiles, making Facebook profiles an excellent source for employers to evaluate job candidates and for businesses to find new consumers for their products. Companies who decide to use Facebook to collect information should be wary, though, because studies have demonstrated that Facebook users are becoming increasingly concerned about their privacy over time. Scientists also have to assess privacy issues when they design their Facebook studies, but Wilson and his colleagues believe that the value of the data collected from Facebook outweighs the challenges scientists have to overcome to obtain it.

The Smartphone Psychology Manifesto

Smartphones may be getting cheaper, but their value to psychological scientists is priceless. Because people are constantly on the go, one of the biggest challenges researchers face is collecting data in real time in people’s everyday environments. Sure, scenarios can be recreated in the laboratory, but psychological scientist Geoffrey Miller asks why should scientists rely on simulations when they could tap the power of smartphones instead?

One advantage of smartphones is that people tend to carry them almost everywhere they go. The sensors on smartphones can also provide a wealth of information beyond a user’s location, including whether a person is moving, how they are moving, and whether an individual is in close proximity to other smartphone users. By using “psych apps” that users download to their phones, Miller suggests that scientists would be able to obtain a more accurate representation of how environments influence behavior. One app already in use is “Mappiness,” which combines your location, ambient noise level, and your mood to find out how your environment influences your mood. Miller also predicts that smartphones could eventually be equipped to detect other things, such as temperature, radiation levels, and pollution.

There are downsides to smartphone research, including the limited battery life of smartphones, having to account for different phone models, and the fact that focusing on smartphones would only allow researchers to study individuals who could afford them (i.e., young, well-to-do people). Yet Miller believes that it is not a question of whether there will be a smartphone revolution in psychological science research, it is a question of when the revolution will happen.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal References:

  1. G. Miller. The Smartphone Psychology Manifesto. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2012; 7 (3): 221 DOI: 10.1177/1745691612441215
  2. R. E. Wilson, S. D. Gosling, L. T. Graham. A Review of Facebook Research in the Social Sciences. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2012; 7 (3): 203 DOI: 10.1177/1745691612442904

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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19.05.2012

Arizona towns at risk as wildfires hit U.S. Southwest

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PHOENIX (Reuters) – An Arizona wildfire threatened two more towns on Friday, with high winds on the way, even as firefighters made progress against the largest of a string of blazes spreading across the U.S. Southwest.

More than 1,000 firefighters in Arizona and Colorado were battling five major blazes that have consumed more than 55 square miles (142 square km) of ponderosa forest, brush and grass, and a new blaze erupted in Utah on Thursday.

The blazes were the first major wildfires in Arizona this year, after a record 2011 fire season in which nearly 2,000 blazes together swallowed more than 1,500 square miles (3,900 square km), according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The Gladiator Fire in central Arizona, which has already destroyed four structures and forced the evacuation of about 350 residents of the old mining town of Crown King earlier in the week, was threatening two more tiny communities.

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Debbie Maneely said residents of Battle Flat and Pine Flat, which have fewer than 50 homes combined, have been alerted to evacuate within 24 hours.

Maneely said the situation was “really critical,” with predictions of winds blowing 40 to 50 miles per hour (64 to 80 km per hour), and that more crews and equipment were being called in to fight the blaze, which has burned about 15 square miles in the Prescott National Forest since Sunday.

“We’re praying for the firefighters’ safety,” said Lynn Ray, the manager of an emergency shelter for evacuees at a school in Mayer, Arizona, where billowing gray-black smoke from the Gladiator Fire was clearly visible.

“People who have homes are anxious to get back but have no idea right now as to when they’ll be able to get back … It’s a wait-and-see situation,” she added.

PROGRESS AGAINST LARGEST FIRE

Meanwhile, crews made slow progress against the biggest of the Arizona fires, which has scorched 22.6 square miles in the Tonto National Forest, about 40 miles north of Phoenix, since it started on May 12.

The Sunflower Fire was 15 percent contained on Friday, up from 10 percent a day earlier, Fire information officer Rick Hartigan of the Arizona Central West Zone Incident Management team said.

In Colorado, authorities cited a 56-year-old camper who admitted to accidentally starting the Hewlett Fire, which has burned for five days and charred more than 12 square miles in the Roosevelt National Forest.

James Weber told authorities his alcohol-fueled camp stove ignited the blaze, which some 300 firefighters are struggling to contain in low humidity, hot temperatures and rugged terrain. He tried unsuccessfully to douse the flames before fleeing the scene.

Weber later contacted authorities, admitting he started the fire, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver said. He faces a $300 fine for starting a fire on federal land without a permit, although prosecutors said they also would pursue him for restitution costs.

More than a dozen homes were placed on a mandatory evacuation order, although none have been lost.

Governor John Hickenlooper declared the fire a disaster emergency on Friday, activating the Colorado National Guard and freeing up $3 million to assist in fire suppression efforts.

In Utah about 100 firefighters were battling the 500-acre (202-hectare) 73 Fire, which began on a state road about 60 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

By midday, the blaze was about 50 percent contained, with light rain and cool temperatures aiding firefighters, although expected high winds for the afternoon could pose a threat. No homes or structures have been threatened.

(Additional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver and Jennifer Dobner in Salt Lake City; Writing by Mike Saucier and Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Xavier Briand and Lisa Shumaker)

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19.05.2012

Spain may have to revise its 2011 budget deficit

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MADRID (AP) ? Concern grew for the stability of Spain‘s place in the fragile eurozone economy after reports of a rise in the level of bad loans on the books of its banks and word from the government Friday that it may have to revise its 2011 budget deficit upwards for a second time.

The Bank of Spain reported that lenders’ and savings banks’ bad loan ratio had risen in March to an 18-year high of 8.36 percent from 8.15 percent the previous month.

The Finance Ministry then said in a statement late Friday the deficit could reach 8.9 percent of GDP after four of its 17 regions overshot their expected budgets. The regions mentioned were Madrid, Valencia, Andalusia and Castilla-Leon.

News of the increase in bad loans followed a downgrading by credit ratings agency Moody’s late Thursday of the country’s banking industry.

Spain’s budget deficit is higher than the 3 percent threshold that was supposedly part of the euro’s economic framework. The incoming government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy earlier had to revise the figure upwards to 8.5 percent of GDP from the 6 percent forecast by the previous, Socialist government.

The ministry said it still expected to hit its target of 5.3 percent for this year’s budget deficit.

Moody’s acted late Thursday, citing Spanish banks’ heavy load of non-performing loans amid a recession-plagued economy, their trouble raising financing on capital markets and the government’s sovereign debt problems, which might make it hard for the government to come to the aid of banks.

Spain is in the eye of the storm of the eurozone debt crisis amid worries that its banks are overexposed to an imploded real estate bubble and the government, fighting recession and a nearly 25 percent jobless rate, could not afford to bail them out if it needed to.

Nuria Alvarez, a banking analyst with Madrid brokerage Renta4, warned that the rise in the bad loan ratio could mean that Spain’s banks will get hit harder as the country’s recession bites deep and unemployment worsens.

Shares in Bankia , SA, a recently nationalized bank that is heavily laden with toxic assets, shot back up 24 percent after losing 14 percent Thursday in a session in which they had plummeted as much as 27 percent on a media report that depositors had withdrawn ?1 billion ($1.27 billion) in the week since the state took over.

Alvarez added that investors had factored in the downgrade in Spain because Moody’s warned a few months ago that many European banks were up for review and could take a ratings downgrade.

Bankia customer Francisco Hidalgo, a 53-year-old tailor, said he had no plans to pull out his money, saying it would make no sense.

He spoke at a branch with just a few people doing transactions and no atmosphere of panic or jitters. Hidalgo said he wondered whether the government thought that replacing Rodrigo Rato, a former IMF managing director, with prominent career banker Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri to run Bankia as part of the nationalization would calm things down.

“But now we see things have remained the same,” Hidalgo said.

Alvaro Gonzalez, a retired business teacher, said Bankia must be really bad off.

“All I know is they must be up to here” ? he put his hand above his head ? “in loans for property that is not worth what they thought,” Gonzalez said.

The nervousness about Spain’s banks comes as the eurozone financial crisis intensifies. Political turmoil in Greece has increased the likelihood that it could leave the 17-country monetary union, a move that could have ripple effects throughout Europe and the world’s financial markets.

Depositors have been pulling their funds out of Greek banks. People fear the country’s financial sector might collapse if Greece left the eurozone and that their savings would become worthless if the country started using a substantially devalued new currency, such as the drachma.

Earlier this week, Moody’s also downgraded the debt ratings of 26 Italian lenders as they struggled with the effect of the country’s weak economy and government austerity measures.

At the close of trading Friday, Spain’s IBEX35 stock index closed up 0.4 percent after having dipped by more than 2 percent shortly after trading began.

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19.05.2012

Yorkville Community School District Protects 1500 Computers with …

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Medina, OH (PRWEB) May 19, 2011

Central Command Inc., a leading provider of malware, spyware and virus protection solutions for enterprises, businesses and schools, announced today that Yorkville Community School District 115 in Illinois has selected Vexira Antivirus to protect its 1500 computers in 9 schools from malware, spyware and virus infections.

Yorkville Community School District 115 located in Yorkville, Illinois has a highly professional staff dedicated to its long tradition of developing successful students. The school district decided to standardize on Vexira Antivirus to protect over 1500 computer systems across their network from malware, spyware and virus infections.

Vexira Antivirus is an award winning next generation malware, spyware and virus protection solution specifically designed to protect desktops, laptops, netbooks and servers contained within a network with both proactive and reactive malware, spyware and virus defenses.

?I would say Vexira Antivirus is the best virus, spyware and malware protection for large schools. We are always looking to improve the quality of the software we use and lower our licensing and operational costs. Vexira Antivirus has significantly improved our antivirus protection and I would estimate saved our school district over $ 250,000 in licensing and operational costs. We have over 1500 computers in 9 schools and being able to maintain its safe and reliable operation is imperative for the success of our students. Vexira Antivirus has exceeded all of our expectations,? said Marc Rial, Network Administrator, Yorkville Community Unit School District 115.

Vexira Antivirus is specifically designed for large scale malware, spyware and virus protection in high threat environments typically found in schools. With its easy to learn yet powerful central management system Network Administrators can completely control all aspects of the malware, spyware and virus protection across their network. Vexira Antivirus has many specific features and options designed to optimize the protection and aggressively defend each computer from infection. Helping educational institutions of all sizes defend themselves from malware, spyware and viruses has been a cornerstone of our organization since 1990. We have special programs and discount opportunities for accredited non-profit educational institutions, said Keith Peer, CEO, Central Command, Inc.

All Central Commands Vexira product family shares the same underlying technology that protect against malware, spyware and viruses. This ensures consistent protection against malware threats regardless of the operating system being used.

About Central Command: Central Command, Inc., founded in 1990 is a privately held corporation that serves enterprises, businesses, schools, universities, and colleges with malware, spyware and virus protection solutions. Visit Central Command at http://www.centralcommand.com or call 1 888-583-9472 for more information.

Central Command and Vexira are trademarks of Central Command, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names, and products referenced herein are property of their respective owners.

###

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18.05.2012

World News Brief, Thursday May 17 | Pundit

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Ratko Mladic on trial at The Hague for war crimes during Bosnian war of 90s; Chen Guangcheng tells US congressional hearing his family is being harassed; Burmese president pledges to stop buying weapons from North Korea; Pakistani president will attend NATO summit; anti-Putin ‘Occupy’ protesters in Moscow moved on; and more

Top of the Agenda: Former Bosnian Serb Leader on Trial for War Crimes

Former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic went on trial at the The Hague today for allegedly committing war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity (NYT) during the Bosnian war of the 1990s. The prosecutor’s indictment accused Mladic of orchestrating with Serbian politicians a policy of “ethnic cleansing” by forcing out tens of thousands of Muslim and Croat families from their villages in Bosnia to give the land to ethnic Serbs. Mladic, who was captured in May 2011, is also charged with devising the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, which left eight thousand unarmed men and boys dead.

Analysis

“The fact that he was not on the spot does not of course mean that he was not giving orders from afar, through his established chain of command. Even if we give Mladic the benefit of the doubt about his physical presence at the mass execution sites, there remains a mountain of evidence suggesting that he was the primary initiator and organizer of Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II,” Foreign Policy‘s Michael Dobbs wrote earlier this year.

“For the thousands of women who were held in ‘rape camps’ in eastern Bosnia, for the families of the countless people who were ‘ethnically cleansed,’ it was imperative to find Mladic. He had to stand trial if there was ever to be even a semblance of justice. The Balkan wars inflicted trauma not just on the people of Bosnia, on the Serbs, the Croats, and the Muslims, but on Europe as a whole, shamed by its own impotence in the face of slaughter,” Janine di Giovanni wrote for Newsweek last year.

“Serb nationalist pride in Mladic is one thing. The failure to apprehend him, however, had become an immense foreign policy problem for Belgrade. It was the biggest roadblock to Serbia’s candidacy for membership in the European Union. For Boris Tadic, Serbia’s pro-Western President, the horns of the dilemma were: find and deliver Mladic and risk popular anger or fail to do so and almost certainly lose the next election because of his inability to get the E.U. candidacy,” TIME‘s Dejan Anastasijevic wrote last year.

?

PACIFIC RIM

Chinese Dissident Calls Into U.S. Congressional Hearing

Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng–who escaped house arrest and fled to the U.S. embassy last month before being transferred to a Beijing hospital–called into a U.S. congressional hearing yesterday to voice concern over the alleged harassment of his extended family (WaPo) by Chinese authorities.

BURMA: President Thein Sein assured South Korean President Lee Myung-bak yesterday that Burma would end its practice of buying traditional weapons from North Korea (NYT) and would not assist the North’s nuclear and long-range missile programs, according to South Korean officials.

?

ELSEWHERE:

Pakistani president will attend NATO summit

Anti-Putin protesters camped in Moscow park moved on by police

This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org.

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18.05.2012

Boehner, Obama clash over debt limit increase (reuters)

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18.05.2012

S.Africa’s De Klerk backtracks on homelands comment

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[ [ [['A picture is worth a thousand words', 5]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/why-facebook-bought-instagram-4-theories-160400376.html’, ‘[Related: Why Facebook bought Instagram: 4 theories]‘, ‘ ‘, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘ ‘, ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 9]], ‘http://contributor.yahoo.com/join/yahoonews_virginiabeach’, ‘[Did you witness the jet crash? Share your story with Yahoo! News]‘, ‘ ‘, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘ ‘, ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], ‘http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj’, ‘[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]‘, ‘ ‘, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘ ‘, ], [ [['Dick Clark', 11]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/dick-clark-dies-at-82-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/c/21/c217c61aa2d5872244c08caa13c16ec5.jpeg’, ’500′, ‘ ‘, ‘Reuters’, ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg’, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘AP’, ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/’, ‘ ‘, ‘http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg’, ’550′, ‘ ‘, ‘ ‘, ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg’, ’630′, ‘ ‘, ‘AP’, ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], ‘http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/’, ‘Click image to see more photos’, ‘http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg’, ’500′, ‘ ‘, ‘AP’, ] ]

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17.05.2012

How can Greenhabbing help you reach your Financial Goals faster …

posted by pedter

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How can Greenhabbing help you reach your Financial Goals Faster?

hint: it has to do with your increased profits on every deal you do…

Hey there Green Real Estate Investors and welcome back to the Greenhabbing 101 blog.? How can Greenhabbing help you reach your Financial Goals Faster?

Here are 3 ways that you can start reaching your financial goals faster through our Green Real Estate Investing Strategies:

  • Greenhabbers average an increase in profits of 10% on fix and flip projects.? How?? By achieving a decrease in energy costs during the green rehab phase, the home is now considered to be high performance.? Appraisers are now trained to assign a higher value to a home that costs less to operate thus helping to increase your profits when you sell.? Since you will be able to increase your profits on every green fix and flip from now on, this will assist you with reaching your financial goals even faster.
  • Green Real Estate Investors that buy and hold greenhabbed properties can also reach their financial goals faster by increasing their cashflow and ROI (Return on Investment).? We accomplish this by increasing the rents on our high performance rental properties.? Since we decreased the energy costs dramatically for the tenant, they do not mind paying a little extra for rent because at the end of the day, they are still saving money each and every month by living in our green rental.
  • Greenhabbed properties sell faster and also tenant faster due to the increased demand from consumers.? Since you will be able to sell/tenant your homes even faster, this means less vacancy and more cash coming into your pockets which will definitely assist you with reaching your financial goals even faster.

As you can see, Greenhabbing is a great tool that you can start using today to start increasing your profits on every deal that you do from now on which will help you reach your goals quicker.? No matter if you are a buy and hold investor or a fix and flipper, you can see that Greenhabbing will help you achieve higher profits (so what?s stopping you from incorporating this great strategy into your real estate investing business)??

If you are interested in learning more about Greenhabbing and how you can start reaching your financial goals even faster, email: Ryan@InTheNowInvestments.com and request a 30 minute strategy call regarding which Green Real Estate Investing strategy would work best for you and start reaching your financial goals faster.

Ryan and In The Now Investments has been able to assist over 100 investors/homeowners with decreasing their utility bills and increasing the value of their home/rehab project.

**I hope we have provided value for you through this post. Please click the ?Like? button on the sidebar here to share it with others and stay tuned for our next value-packed blog!

I’m 26 yrs old and living life on overdrive! I love investing in real estate and also love playing guitar. I look forward to meeting you and sharing the incredible wealth that’s out there in the real estate investing world. Let’s do this together!

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