Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Pre-Marketing: Romney's 'business' cred - The Term Sheet ...

* David Stockman: Mitt Romney wasn't a businessman

* Retro fraud:?Wall St. saviors may wish they weren't

* Earlydoc:?Saving users from Web-enabled hypochondria

* Morning Call: U.S. futures flat,?European shares climb and the Nikkei rebounds.

* Jennifer Liberto:?Facebook 'likes' Republicans

* Kevin Dick: There is still no seed investing bubble

* Tonight's debate rules: No follow-up questions

* New search: What would Paul Graham do?

* David Lee: Starting vs. building a company

* First excerpt: Greg Smith's Why I Left Goldman Sachs

* Chart of the Day: Avg tax rates for highest payers

*?Nancy Stagliano:?Translating Nobel science into novel drugs

* Get Term Sheet: Sign up for daily email on deals & deal-makers

* Everything on the table:?Greece plans second wave of privatizations

* Jordan Weissman: Conservatives don't really want America to run like a business

* Tweet of the Day: @shl?In San Francisco, we make our software incredibly fast and our coffee incredibly slow.

Posted in: Pre-marketing

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/16/romney-business/

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Indebted south helps boost euro zone trade

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's indebted Mediterranean region has begun to show signs of competitiveness by boosting exports, contributing to a strong euro zone trade surplus in the first eight months of this year.

Eurostat released the trade data on Tuesday separately from figures showing euro zone September inflation stayed stubbornly high at 2.6 percent on an annual basis, with clothing, energy and food prices rising despite the bloc's shrinking economy.

Some economists said there may still be room for a European Central Bank interest rate cut in coming months, although it is more intent now on improving the pass-through of low official rates to borrowers throughout the 17-nation currency bloc.

For now, an improving trade balance may offer the euro zone its best route to recovery, as exports gain ground.

The euro zone's trade balance in the first eight months of this year swung to a 46.9 billion euro surplus from a 26.8 billion euro deficit in the same period a year ago, most of which was delivered in the June-to-August period.

"The improvement is gaining steam," said Dominique Barbet, a senior economist at BNP Paribas. "It is vital that recovery continues ... exports are the only source of economic growth available for peripheral Europe," she said.

Countries such as Greece, where the debt crisis erupted three years ago, are highly dependent on oil imports, but in a sign that Europe's contentious austerity policies may be bearing some fruit, exports grew and imports fell in Greece, Italy and Spain in the first seven months of this year.

Italy moved to a trade surplus of 4.4 billion euros in the January-to-July period from a deficit in the same period a year ago, while Greece's exports jumped 12 percent. Spain saw export growth of 2 percent in the period, while imports fell 3 percent.

Wage cuts after a decade of a credit-fuelled boom have been painful for millions of southern Europeans, but by toughing it out, they are becoming more competitive as the cost of labor falls - what policymakers call "internal devaluation".

INFLATION LOWER THAN FORECAST

Consumer prices in the 17 countries sharing the euro rose 2.6 percent in September on an annual basis - the same level as August, Eurostat said, although lower than the 2.7 percent rise economists polled by Reuters had forecast.

Some economists now think inflation has peaked after a spike in August, which would be good news for European households struggling with record unemployment, wage cuts and the euro zone's second recession in just three years.

Economists still expect inflation to remain above the European Central Bank's target of close to 2 percent until the middle of next year, but after cutting out energy prices, core inflation at 1.5 percent in September looks more stable.

"The ECB has very little room to move on rates, but we expect them to go to 0.5 percent by the end of the year," said Francois Cabau, an economist at Barclays in London.

"Headline inflation will remain above the ECB's target, but the core will be below that, and that is what the ECB is probably more looking at when deciding on medium term inflation pressures," he said.

Further cuts to the cost of borrowing seem difficult to justify when inflation has been above the bank's target for almost two years.

A slim majority of economists see the ECB holding rates at 0.75 percent until the end of the year, according to a Reuters poll. But most expected the Frankfurt-based bank will cut rates by the end of the first quarter of 2013.

"Euro zone inflation is probably going to show a very gradual descent," said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING. "We still anticipate a 25 basis point cut in the refinancing rate to 0.5 percent around the turn of the year," he said.

A rate cut was not even discussed at the ECB's last Governing Council meeting and investors' focus is on the bank's new bond-buying programme that allows it to buy short-term bonds on the secondary market after countries ask the euro zone's permanent bailout fund to buy their debt on the primary market.

But with the International Monetary Fund forecasting a 0.4 percent contraction in the euro zone's economy this year and very modest growth in 2013, there is an economic rationale to cutting the cost of borrowing for companies and households.

Very weak domestic demand is at the heart of the euro zone's slump, with consumer spending driving half of the bloc's economic output. ($1 = 0.7730 euros)

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Rex Merrifield and Stephen Nisbet)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indebted-south-helps-boost-euro-zone-trade-113829886--business.html

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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Listen to Football Radio Show Today at 4 p.m.

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Source: http://www.georgiastatesports.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=205625513

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The 7 Habits of Highly Happy People | Meant to be Happy

Happy People

?Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice.? ~ Stephen R. Covey

Happiness is the natural result of habitually living and thinking in certain ways. As a matter of fact, happiness is something that is quite predictable for almost all people (those with chemical imbalances, for instance, may be excluded) as we develop certain habits of thought, belief, action and character.

This post highlights some of the most important habits of happiness (7 of them, in fact) and acts as a tribute to the work of the personal-development icon, Stephen R. Covey, who recently passed away. His most famous work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has impacted a culture.

This is my play on the title of his seminal work ?

Some people are unhappy. Others are mildly or moderately happy. Some are even pretty happy. The following, however, are those principles that produce highly happy people.

Habit #1: Think

Highly happy people are possibility and opportunity thinkers. They see the large picture and focus on the immediate steps that lead to the life they imagine. They refuse to dwell on doom and gloom ?what-if? thinking.

They think imaginatively, picturing in their mind?s eye the life they want to live, the person they want to be, the way they want to serve, the meaning they want to impart, the family they want to raise, the relationships they want to enjoy.

Their lives are extensions of their vision, of both the way they think and of what they think about most of the time.

People who live highly happy lives are people who have mastered their thoughts, who are not buffeted by ugly, critical, whiny, self-defeating ways of thinking. They don?t harbor grudges or replay old wounds or failures over and over again in their minds, except to learn the lessons embedded in them.

They focus their thoughts on the uplifting and inspiring, keeping them largely free of gutter-think and negativity, prejudice and debilitating fear.

Habit #2: Grow

Highly happy people don?t lop-side their lives by focusing exclusively on fun or work or money or sports. They know that pounding a single note in life will create about as much happiness as pounding a single key on the piano will create music.

So they spend time growing in all significant compartments of life, recognizing the exponential growth to their happiness when synergistic growth occurs between each of the major areas of living. Highly happy people are therefore dedicated to personal growth in at least these 6 areas:

Mind: They work to develop their minds by reading good books, challenging their thinking, working at developing insight and wisdom and cultivating intelligence and building a storehouse of knowledge. They have a passion for learning and spend time and resources on its pursuit.

Body: The happiest people are not slaves to a self-limited body. They are not slaves to the appetites of the flesh. They don?t abuse the vehicle of their mind and spirit by filling it with garbage. They respect it as they would a temple. And so they eat good food and exercise regularly and avoid the poison of addictive substances.

Spirit: These people are keenly aware that they are more than mere bodies though. They recognize a higher sphere and look to feed that part of their lives that is in tune with the infinite. They read from scripture and other inspiring works. They fill their minds with uplifting ideas. They serve and bless others. They meditate and pray and connect to spiritual things.

Character: Happy people know their integrity to high values is more important than any earthly reward they could otherwise compromise character to attain. And so they constantly work on the foundation of their lives, the reputation and legacy their characters will create. They know their character is at the core of who they are and that by doing work there, all other parts of their lives will be positively affected.

Relationships: Because relationships are crucial to highly happy people, they prioritize them. In fact, they believe there is nothing more important than the work they do to build trusting relationships with family and friends.

Talents/Skills: Highly happy people know they are capable of great things. They know there is music and poetry and novels and skyscrapers and bridges and healing and improvement waiting inside to be pulled to the outside.

And so they try new things and develop new habits by replacing old bad ones with new good ones. They strengthen weaknesses and share the talents they acquire, not out of boastful showmanship, but as a humble steward of God-given abilities others can benefit from seeing and learning about ? or, frankly, just for the fun of it!

Habit #3: Love

Highly happy people love life. They love others and themselves too. They accept the truism that their love for others is limited by their capacity for self-love.

Highly happy people love truth and nature and beauty. They love their faith and human decency. They live lives of passion because they are passionate about so much that life provides.

They love learning and growing and experiencing all life has to offer. Their passion is an extension of the love and appreciation they have for living a life of meaning and purpose.

Habit #4: Express

Highly happy people express their appreciation for all that fills life. They are grateful for the little things most people take for granted and for the big things as well. They express gratitude for acts of kindness and for the challenges that help build their character muscles.

They believe their thoughts and ideas are important enough to express them. They are not intimidated into silence but are not verbal bullies either. They express their interest in others and express their desire to learn from them.

They freely express earned praise and encouragement and forgiveness. They are not afraid to express their more tender and emotional sides because their insides are securely centered on universal principles of character.

So their expressions are honest, forthright, true, authentic, but respectful, honorable, decent, thoughtful and reflect a soul unencumbered by the fears and anxieties less happy people are bogged down by.

Habit #5: Choose

Highly happy people are not rudderless ships tossed about on the seas of public opinion or knocked about by the waves of circumstance or the winds of history. Rather, they are self-directed and pro-active. They choose their life?s direction. They choose their thoughts and beliefs and hopes and dreams.

They also choose their emotional responses to life by choosing the thoughts, beliefs and attitudes that create them.

They are not victims to outside circumstance and accept responsibility for the lives they live. They don?t blame their pasts or the world or God or life or the government or anyone or anything else for the conditions of their lives today. That?s not to say they blame themselves for every obstacle they encounter, but they do accept responsibility for doing something about the obstacles once they encounter them.

Highly happy people know they are the products of their choices and so make them decisively but carefully and with an attitude that nonetheless allows for flexibility to change plans, direction or timelines as needed.

Habit #6: Do

Highly happy people act. They spend significant amounts of time doing what matters most. They don?t sit around and excessively watch other people live pretended lives on TV. They don?t have the time, even if they had the inclination.

Instead, they take action on plans and goals and ideas and dreams. They play and work and try new things and go to new places. They pick up hobbies and interests and expand their lives and experiences accordingly.

They do those things that add passion and purpose and meaning to their lives. They volunteer and serve and bless and do. They truly live life as the verb it was meant to be.

Habit #7: Accept

Highly happy people are accepting. They accept others as they are while they work to train and inspire them to be more. They accept themselves and their imperfections while they work to make them less pronounced. They accept the conditions of life as they dedicate themselves to the work of changing the conditions they have otherwise accepted.

In other words, they are committed to growth and improvement on all levels, while accepting of their shortcomings as they are right now along the path of growth and improvement. They are works-in-progress seeing the obvious that it?s okay to be broken at the beginning of a project, just not at the end.

And so they live their lives as an on-going self-improvement project, recognizing areas of needed improvement without condemning themselves (or others) for needing improving.

?? there are basic principles of effective living, and ? people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.? ~ Stephen R. Covey

Happiness, then, is the predictable outcome of those principles that create it. We choose to apply those principles or to read them passively, brushing them aside as impractical or simplistic or impossible.

But ultimately, the happiness we live is the happiness we choose as that natural byproduct of the principles we embody. (<? Tweet this!)

So choose today to grow, love, express, choose, do and accept your way to a life of incredible happiness as we pause to tip our hats to a man who dedicated his life to human potential.

?

YOUR TURN!

  • What additional habit would you add that highly happy people demonstrate?
  • What do you think about the habits outlined here?

I?d love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

Photo by Symic

Source: http://meanttobehappy.com/the-7-habits-of-highly-happy-people/

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Making Home Improvements Will Be Easier When Following These ...

You might want to do some home improvements that can change the structure of the home. It can also impact landscaping and other structures that are outside. The following paragraphs are chock full of tips and techniques that you can use to have an amazing home.

If you hate painting and paneling, try wallpaper. Wallpapering can be very easy to do and will give your room more visual interest than a simple paint job. Be careful, though, some wallpaper is hard to remove.

If you want to do some home improvement, it is important to have space for accumulated debris. When you begin to demolish areas, this creates quite a large mess that has to be put somewhere. Be certain that you know in advance where such debris can go, so as to prevent a large pile from building up while you work.

White tile is a great option when redoing your roof. Dark roofing materials absorb sunlight and transfer tons of heat to the attic below. The lighter colors reflect the sunlight and make the attic space cooler. Then, when you need to get something from the attic, you will not feel as if you?re about to succumb to heat prostration.

One fairly easy way to spruce up a basement is to stain the floor. Staining concrete flooring is much more inexpensive than replacing it, and it looks great. Staining adds durability to the floor and keeps it easy to clean. Purchase a stain that provides good texture and shine. This is an easy way to give the appearance of a much more costly floor.

Get someone knowledgeable to give your existing flooring the once over before you pay out for brand new hardwood flooring. You may already have wooden floors that are hidden by old carpet or vinyl flooring that are waiting to be uncovered and refurbished. You will end up having a higher quality floor without spending a lot of money.

If there are elderly people in your home, make sure you plan your home improvements with safety and mobility in mind. A shower stall that can be easily stepped into reduces their risk of falling. Little changes, like grab bars, can help your house to be more safe and comfortable for your parent.

Recycle old shoe boxes and turn them into storage. You can cover the shoe boxes with fabric or wallpaper samples for an interesting decorating touch. This is an excellent way to add storage and drama to any room.

Either tie or cut the ends of blind cords. Pets, and even children, can get caught in the cords, and it can strangle them. Just make sure to keep enough on the end so you can work the blinds properly. Give it a snip or tie it off to avoid accidents.

Place battery-powered LED lighting inside closets. You can find them at many discount stores. For some, all you need to install them are a few screws. Some have adhesive pads. These are great because they turn on once you open the door and turn off when the door is shut.

After reading this article, you know enough to start some home projects, so get your tools ready. If you reach a stagnant point in your project, make sure to carefully read back over these tips, and hopefully, you?ll find the answers you need.

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Source: http://traffic-secrets.org/making-home-improvements-will-be-easier-when-following-these-tips

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How Alaska is Building a Bridge to the Future | EdTech Magazine

Certainly, a chief goal of the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program is to get computers into the hands and homes of middle and high school students across the state. But there's far more to ANSEP than that.

During this past summer, students Aksiin Storer of Anchorage and Evelyn Rochon of Unalakleet helped their groups build balsa wood bridges. The project ? and others like it ? let the ANSEP staff and counselors integrate several science, technology, engineering and math lessons into the tightly packed sessions.

For the two 11-year-old girls, the building and testing of the bridges was the culmination of a 12-day session. Storer, Rochon and their fellow participants used the computers they built during the first two days of their session to research and design the small truss bridges. Then they constructed the bridges using screwdrivers, glue guns and mini-saws. Students also conducted stress tests by placing a U-bolt and a piece of plywood on each bridge.

The students also used animation software to develop presentations about their overall experience.

"It just feels so good to have built a computer. It's something you can put in your room at home," says Storer, who was inspired to attend ANSEP by her mother and hopes to build an amusement park one day.

Adds Rochon, who was encouraged to attend the program by the guidance counselor at her elementary school: "It was fun and interesting, just a great experience." She also has a desire to build in the future: cabins in the Alaskan woods. "I like to be outdoors."

Source: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2012/10/how-alaska-building-bridge-future

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Montana's Gov. Schweitzer creates buzz his own way

MARYSVILLE, Mont. (AP) ? A day spent with Montana's Brian Schweitzer riding four-wheelers and talking politics makes it easy to understand why he's one of the most unusual ? and most effective ? governors in the country.

At his ranch ? and anywhere else ? Schweitzer, a popular Democrat in a conservative state, never misses a chance to leave a lasting, even outlandish, impression. He loves every minute of it, including speculation about his political future once he steps down because of term limits in January.

The former scientist and mint farmer is proud of his off-the-grid getaway: He built its spring-fed fishing ponds, rigged the plumbing system, designed the rudimentary battery-and-solar-powered panel for the log cabin 40 miles from Helena. It has no cellphone service.

"Plus I'm well-armed," adds Schweitzer, who hangs a gun on his office wall despite a gun ban in the Capitol.

Earlier this year, Schweitzer stormed New York's Times Square with a bullhorn like a political P.T. Barnum, handing out Montana-made promotional trinkets from a semi-truck. He appeared on Dave Letterman to promote Montana tourism, and the state this year is on a pace to break visitor records.

It's not often that a governor from a rural state with no major media market within 700 miles is considered potential cabinet level or even presidential material. But Schweitzer, 57, is creating that kind of dark horse buzz with a skillfully employed mastery of current affairs and a unique capacity for shameless and entertaining self-promotion.

At the Democratic National Convention, Schweitzer slammed Mitt Romney during a prime-time speech for a record hostile to gun owners. Schweitzer acknowledged that particular comment didn't go over well with many big-city Democrats. But it wasn't a mistake ? he just had a larger audience in mind.

"I don't necessarily say what pleases the people in the room," Schweitzer said. "I was saying what all the independents out there are thinking, but not hearing."

That style plays well in Montana, a state with a strong libertarian bent where bashing big corporations and government are well received.

For three years, Schweitzer has criticized the federal health care law as an insurance industry giveaway. But he also advocates a single-payer health care system like Canada's.

Schweitzer is a big advocate of coal, and he's not always friendly with environmentalists. But many liberals respect him for his ability to kick Helena Republicans in the shins and come out ahead.

He's adept at getting most of his budget through hostile Republican-controlled Legislatures. Last year, GOP leaders caved in when Schweitzer didn't budge in negotiations. He vetoed a record 130 bills and set many of those bills aflame with a branding iron on the Capitol steps.

Some Democrats hoped he would run for Montana's lone U.S. House seat this cycle, which he spurned. Others worry he could mount a primary challenge in 2014 to Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, with whom he has a prickly relationship.

He says neither fits.

"I am not goofy enough to be in the House, and I'm not senile enough to be in the Senate," sums up Schweitzer, adding he prefers to be in charge than pay homage to congressional seniority rules.

Democratic-leaning pollster Public Policy Polling has included Schweitzer in several early 2016 takes in presidential primary states, where the governor generally finishes toward the back of the pack.

It's clear Schweitzer is considering a run, though he quickly discusses things that could get in the way.

"If Hillary runs, she walks away with the nomination and then beats whichever Republican," Schweitzer said of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "It's lights out."

Montana Republicans beaten many times by Schweitzer don't think his "rural cowboy" formula of appealing to voters on guns and coal will play out of state.

"He has built his career in Montana on sounding like a Republican when he wants to. The Democratic presidential primary electorate in is not interested in that message," said Bowen Greenwood, the state Republican Party executive director.

On the road ? including stops this year in early primary states ? Schweitzer uses his high-energy speaking style to rouse audiences against the Afghan war and to tout energy independence.

Humor columnist Dave Barry called Schweitzer "a wild man" after Schweitzer wowed him with a graphic lesson on cattle castration at the Democratic National Convention. Barry wrote after the bar-side encounter that "if we don't elect this man, at bare minimum, president of the United States, we are even stupider than I think we are."

University of Montana political scientist James Lopach said the governor could be tapped for an Obama administration post if the politics of a second term require a centrist on energy or agriculture issues. The potential for a longshot run at president in 2016 remains.

"He is kind of bigger than life, the media like that, and he might be able to get a lot of early media exposure," Lopach said.

On the tour of his ranch, a reporter had to gun a four-wheeler to keep up with the governor.

The ponds are stocked with trout Schweitzer bought from a former Constitution Party legislator who was rarely a friend to the administration. Schweitzer kicks up Native American arrowheads next to a stream.

He tells the story of how he bought his wife a pistol so she wouldn't be afraid to use the outhouse at night because of wolves and bears. And he loves a laugh, suggesting a reporter urinate on an electric fence to see if it was powered up.

Does that really electrocute? his visitor asked.

"What do you think?" Schweitzer said with a big laugh.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/montanas-gov-schweitzer-creates-buzz-own-way-081321017--election.html

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