It wasn't so long ago that Facebook and Zynga were making beautiful music (and money) together, but it seems that each is now looking for a bit of fresh air in the relationship, according to Reuters. A new agreement will give Zynga more freedom to offer games on its own website, while also allowing Facebook to develop its own -- though for now, the social network said it "was not in the business of building games and we have no plans to do so." For its part, Zynga now has the option of opting out of Facebook's payment mechanism and display ads, according to a recent filing by the Farmville maker. Both companies have seen their share of foibles, lately, but Facebook would perhaps be wise to not let its main dance partner too far out of sight -- Zynga still kicks in more than 15 percent of the now-public company's revenue.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co introduced its redesigned Civic sedan only a year-and-a-half after a major model change of the best-selling compact car in the United States. Even Honda admits that the 2012 Civic, introduced in the spring of 2011, missed the mark. For a company that prides itself on rock-solid reliability, it was a shock last summer when influential Consumer Reports ranked the Civic dead last in a field of 12 compact sedans it tested. Sales of the new Civic, a 2013 model, will start this week and the refreshed car was shown off on Thursday at the LA Auto Show. ...
For all their emotional complications, "friends-with-benefits" relationships may offer one advantage: safer sex.
The results of a new study show that people in friends-with-benefits relationships are more likely to use condoms during oral and vaginal sex compared to those in traditional romantic partnerships.
The findings are based on an online survey of 376 people, most in their mid-20s. About half of the respondents said they were in a friends-with-benefits relationship, and half of said they were in a traditional romantic relationship. Members of both groups said they had known their partners for about four years.
The friends-with-benefits relationships had their drawbacks: people in these relationships were less sexually satisfied, less likely to communicate about sex and less likely to discuss sexual desires and needs than those in traditional relationships.
And the more frequent condom use in friends-with-benefits relationships doesn't necessarily make these liaisons safer, or riskier, the researchers said.
That's because people in friends-with-benefits relationships had more sex partners, were less likely to be monogamous (36 percent versus 93 percent in traditional relationships), and did not use condoms all the time.
"[A] larger numbers of partners, combined with far-from-perfect condom use and limited discussion about sexual health matters suggest that [friends-with-benefits relationships] carry some inherent degree of risk," the researchers write in the Nov. 26 issue of the Journal of Sex Research.
Friends-with-benefits relationships appear to be common, with surveys showing about one-half of college-aged students have some experience with this type of relationship. As a result, sex education "should consider explicitly addressing the unique health implications of involvement in these relationships," the researchers said.
People in traditional romantic relationships may be less likely to use condoms because they are more committed to their partner. As such, they come to trust that their partner will not have sex with other people, thus posing less of a health risk, said study researcher Justin Lehmiller, a social psychologist at Harvard University.
Switching to other methods of birth control, such as oral contraceptives, may be another reasoncondom use declines in traditional relationships. But this switch still has to accompany an increase in trust, as these medications do not protect against sexually transmitted diseases, Lehmiller said.
Pass it on: Friends-with-benefits couples are more likely to use condoms than people in traditional romantic relationships.
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After the Eagles stumbled to yet another bad loss ? this time at home against the lowly Carolina Panthers ? Andy Reid made another walk of shame. He entered the press room at Lincoln Financial Field from stage right and addressed the media. The coach absorbed shot after verbal shot in the form of questions discharged without regret. It might as well have been a firing squad.
Jeffrey Lurie said 8-8 wouldn?t be good enough this season. Does that mean you?re gone?
Has Lurie assured you that you will be the coach for the remainder of the year?
How do you prevent the young players from developing a losing mentality?
Have you ever dealt with anything like this at any point in your career?
Someone should have offered him a cigarette and a blindfold.
While all this went down, Reid stood in front of the usual product placement. Behind him, there was a black sheet stamped with the Eagles logo and ?Ricoh,? one of the team?s corporate sponsors. Ricoh?s tagline ? two simple, appropriate words given the circumstances ? were also printed on the backdrop: ?Imagine. Change.?
Eagles fans everywhere have no doubt imagined change. And they will finally get it. This is it for Reid. This will be his last year as the head coach. It has to be. Everyone from Rittenhouse to Reading knows it.
What an inglorious end to his time in town.
Is there any sympathy for Reid considering his ineffable plight? Or are Philadelphians past that point? Has the overwhelming desire to dismiss the coach numbed the fan base to the pain and embarrassment he must feel?
The Eagles are 3-8. They are tied for last place in the NFC. They have lost seven straight games. The last time they had such a long losing streak was back in 1994. Rich Kotite, who is remembered as a bungler who couldn?t keep his play chart dry, was the head coach. That?s how horrible things have gotten for Reid. His coaching career now parallels, in small part, the disastrous conclusion to Kotite?s time here.
Reid is a far better coach than Kotite ever hoped to be. Whatever you think of Reid, that much is indisputable. The man has done a lot of good things for the organization.
And yet it is impossible to deny to that he is ultimately responsible for the issues that continue to plague this team week after unacceptable week. The underperforming players. The overmatched coaches. The curious, ineffective schemes. They can all be traced back to Reid. So much has gone wrong. It has all deteriorated so quickly. What happened?
?If I had that answer for you, it would have already been done,? Reid said at the NovaCare Complex on Monday.
He sounded deflated ? has for a while now. Like the rest of the area, Reid seems resigned to his fate. He is an obviously prideful man who is enduring a protracted public humiliation. It is hard to watch, even if the situation is a result of his actions and inactions.
Things have completely crumbled for Reid and the Eagles. You look around the league and it?s hard to believe how far the team has fallen. The Eagles? record lumps them with the likes of Carolina and Cleveland, Jacksonville and Kansas City. That is awful company. Call it the Club of the Clueless. The Eagles are members.
?Right now it?s not enough,? Reid said about the team?s effort. ?I can?t stand here and tell you it?s enough.?
Their performance has obviously not been enough. Not even close. It hasn?t been for some time.
At best, if they win all their remaining games ? a laughable fantasy ? they will finish with a .500 record. What an unceremonious and ignominious conclusion to Reid?s tour of duty in Philadelphia.
?I have the upmost respect for Andy,? Brent Celek said after the Panthers game. ?I think he is one of the greatest coaches around. I think we, as players, need to step up and start doing our jobs. I feel bad for him, because he is in a horrible situation in a town that is critical, and rightly so. If I were a fan, I would be mad too.?
There are plenty of people who are angry. They call radio shows and grouse on barstools and shake their fists without end. They have had their pitchforks sharpened for years, and now they get to skewer Reid repeatedly. With each game, the mob grows. There?s no stopping it.
Nothing lasts forever. The end had to come eventually for Reid. But who could have imagined it going down like this? Who could have anticipated that he would not only get kicked while he?s down but also stomped flat?
He makes a healthy salary. He?s a professional. But, at the moment, is there anyone in sports whom you?d rather be less than Andy Reid?
E-mail John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com
Tags: eagles, Brent Celek, Andy Reid, panthers, Philadelphia, Jeffrey Lurie
?The court said the state cannot interrogate families about their immigration status. This is a reaffirmation of that," Bauer said.
MONTGOMERY, Alabama - A federal court today turned down Alabama's request that it rehear a decision that blocked the part of Alabama's immigration law that required public schools to collect immigration status information on new students.
The state had sought a rehearing of the decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision was another blow to state efforts to get parts of the law unblocked by the courts. The court last month refused the state's request to revisit a decision that said Alabama could not establish a ban on contracts with illegal immigrants and could not criminalize harboring and transporting illegal immigrants.
Mary Bauer, legal director of the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which is among the groups representing plaintiffs trying to overturn the law, cheered the decision.
"The court said the state cannot interrogate families about their immigration status. This is a reaffirmation of that, and we think that is a good and important step," Bauer said.
Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, who helped write Alabama's law, said he was "disappointed they won't review and look at it again."
Beason said his goal with the school provision was to get accurate information about the cost of educating illegal immigrants. He said one of the problems in discussing illegal immigration is the lack of accurate data.
"Everybody always wants to guess based on what their beliefs are. ... I think it's unfortunate the federal government said we don't want you to know that information."
A key question is what the state will do next. It could petition for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"I do think the state should fight on to the Supreme Court. ... I think we should exhaust all of our opportunities," Beason said. Beason, who lost a bid to step up to Congress earlier this year, said he stands by efforts to make the state unwelcome to undocumented workers.
Jennifer Ardis, press secretary for Gov. Robert Bentley, did not have a comment on the order. A spokeswoman for Attorney General Luther Strange said the attorney general's office also did not have a comment.
Bauer said she thought it would be a "wildly uphill" fight for the state at the Supreme Court.
"This should be the end of the line. The state should move on and not fight for their right to harass and intimidate kids out of an education," Bauer said.
The Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature passed the sweeping immigration law, which it partly rewrote after complaints that it had become too burdensome on law-abiding citizens and businesses. Lawsuits were filed by the U.S. Justice Department and a group of 36 plaintiffs led by the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama attempting to get the law overturned.
The courts blocked large chunks of the law including the school provision.
But what some Republicans have called the ''teeth'' of the law remain, including a provision allowing police officers to question and detain people they have reason to believe are in the country illegally.
Other provisions that remain include a ban on providing driver's and business licenses to illegal immigrants, and a requirement for employers to use a federal database to verify workers' immigration status.
Bauer said that, while the court upheld the law enforcement provisions on their face, it left the door open to future challenges on how police apply the law.
Beason said he is still proud of Alabama's controversial law, saying it was an attempt to address a problem that the federal government has not.
"We were attacking the problem from every angle. The court has said some of the angles cannot be used. I disagree with them," Beason said.
21 Free or Reduced-cost methods to Market your On-line business
one) In the starting?Produce your website. If you dont know how, there are numerous free templates provided on the Internet. Research on ?totally free website templates? to find 1 that appeals to you.If youd like to learn how to style your personal web site using HTML there are several marc jacobs iphone 4 case tutorials out there:Boogie Jacks Dennis Gaskill has an excellent web site with tutorials to get you began, along with many ?methods of the trade?. An exceptional resource! http://www.boogiejack.com/html_tutorials.htmlAlso, Joe Burns has a very educational and useful web site for all new and seasoned website designers with HTML tutorials, primers and loads of ?goodies? to include to your internet webpages http://www.htmlgoodies.com2) one thousand-Calorie ContentFill your website with keyword-rich content material. Write a description of your item or service and produce your keywords to match up the content in your description. 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You ought to have a deadline, say a thirty day period or moncler 2012 so, and be sure to show the day on your contest web page.Instance ad for contest:** We require you! **Get inventive?Win prizes!Our publication needs a nameIf we use yours, you win!http://www.whimsies-on-line.com/ezineform.htmPublish the winners on your website and in your next ezine ? newly-named, of program!9) All in the FamilySubmit your ezine to ezine lists this kind of as http://www.checklist-a-working day.com. They may even feature your ezine as their every day choose!Other lists are:http://www.cumuli.com/ezines/submit.htmlhttp://ezine-universe.com/research/getlisted.html10) Team TherapyJoin Yahoo groups and other comparable newsgroups/discussion lists. Subscribe ?????? 2012 ?? to comparable ezines and then exchange advertisements with ezine owners. List your contest with group owners. Submit your posts too!http://groups.yahoo.comhttp://www.topica.com11) The Gift of GabParticipate in marc by marc jacobs ??? discussions on numerous online discussion boards and message boards, of program using your signature file! (search On-line Discussion boards) 1 such forum is http://www.ivillage.com/boards12) Bank on this!Write articles and submit them to article banking institutions such as http://www.goarticles.com (research on Totally free Content) and groups (see #ten). You can essentially write about something you know, create brief tales about experiences youve experienced, helpful articles, your view on a topic youre comfy with, for instance. Make certain you include your byline or writers resource box at the finish of your post or story. This can be a brief description of your company, a link to your website and a link to your subscription page.How to write an article: http://www.freesticky.com/stickyweb/articles/write_article_revenue_strategy.aspAnd: http://www.accordmarketing.com/tid/archive/write.html13) Make sure you release me!Create a push release about your company, your contest, an organization youre sponsoring or something you think is newsworthy. Deliver it to your local newspapers, to magazines and on-line push release services (see http://www.whimsies-on-line.com/newsrelease2.htm for an example)Heres an excellent article on how to create a press launch: http://www.lunareclipse.net/pressrelease.htmYou can publish your press release at http://www.prweb.com/14) The Paper chaseIf you get featured in your nearby paper or in a journal, mention the tale in ALL of your promotional supplies. 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They do the production, ?????????????? ??? shipping, gathering the funds, and will deliver you your commission cheque. When you create your online shop with them (they have a free model as well as an improve to a Top quality Store) be certain to consist of a hyperlink to your personal website. Heres an example: http://www.cafeshops.com/animal_home which links to http://www.whimsies-on-line.com/whimsieswear.htmThe Cafe Push website is http://www.cafepress.com19) Happy CampersAlways ask for testimonies. Request your customers and subscribers for a phrase or two about your item. If a customer has emailed you to thank you for the useful widget/thing-a- magig/whatchamacallit you despatched them, request if you can use their comments in your subsequent ezine and your ?testimonies? internet page20) Evaluate this!Send samples of your item to important people for a testimonial or for a little create-up in their publication or web site.21) miumiu???? Advertisement-VantageThere are many ezines and on-line businesses that offer free ad submissions. Check out Bob Osgoodbys website. He offers a totally free ad service (he also has three extremely educational ezines!). You can check out his site at http://www.adv-marketing.com/company/These are just a bunch of inventive methods to market your online existence. Attempt some or all, and when you get the hang of it youll probably dream up some more. Have fun with them and see what functions for you!(c) 2004 DDesign Reprints of this article are totally free of cost as long as you include the author portion of the textual content
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Growing incidents of dissatisfaction among ticket seekers and resultant chaos and damage to property by angry supporters have forced the Gujarat Congress and BJP to install CCTV cameras inside and outside party offices and insure office assets.
Congress workers went on a rampage recently in Ahmedabad. Even the BJP is not immune from such behaviour by unruly workers.
Threat from its own. Reuters
Given the increase of such incidents, the parties have fitted CCTV cameras to keep an eye on every nook and corner of party offices.
?We have installed CCTV cameras in all big party offices to keep the premises safe,? Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manoj Doshi told IBN7.
The state Congress has insured the main party office for a whopping Rs 2.5 crore.
?The infrastructure is put in place for at least 25 years. So the party has insured the costly stuff,? said Congress leader Rohit Patel.
Both the national parties have taken to technology to protect their properties from unhappy leaders and workers who often go on a rampage to vent their ire. Time will tell how much these measures will help them protect their assets.
The state goes into polls on 13 and 17 December.
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SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors are seeking an eight-year prison sentence for a Democratic campaign treasurer accused of draining up to $20 million from the war chests of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and other politicians, court documents showed on Monday.
Kinde Durkee, who controlled the funds of some 400 political candidates and groups, should spend 97 months in federal custody and pay an as-yet undetermined amount of restitution, a sentencing memo by prosecutors said.
Durkee was arrested in September 2011 and charged with criminal mail fraud. She pleaded guilty in March as part of a deal with prosecutors and is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday.
"Over the course of approximately 12 years, the defendant misappropriated millions of dollars from clients, used the money for her personal and business expenses, and prepared false campaign disclosure reports to hide the theft," the memo said.
The arrest of the longtime treasurer for Democratic politicians left the campaigns of a number of elected officials in disarray.
Prosecutors have said in court documents that Durkee used money siphoned from her clients to pay expenses such as the mortgage on her condominium, visits to Disneyland, charges on her credit cards, medical bills and her own firm's business costs.
Feinstein, a Democratic senator from California, has said in documents filed with the Federal Election Commission that she lost at least $4.5 million to Durkee.
Under the terms of her plea agreement, to help make restitution to her former clients, Durkee must sell a property in Burbank, California, that had housed the offices of her now-defunct business, Durkee & Associates.
Prosecutors said they expect to have a final restitution amount by Wednesday's sentencing hearing.
(Reporting by Mary Slosson; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Xavier Briand)
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LONDON (AP) -Rafa Benitez endured a hostile reception and gave the restless Chelsea fans nothing to cheer about as his first match in charge ended in a drab 0-0 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.
An insipid performance extended Chelsea's winless run to five matches with Benitez, four days after replacing Roberto Di Matteo, failing to engineer an immediate uplift in fortunes amid constant jeering.
"My experience in England is that when the fans are singing I don't understand what they say," said Benitez, whose last job here ended at Liverpool in 2010. "I can understand the rivalry in the past (between Chelsea and Liverpool), but I am sure the majority of fans will understand I am a professional and I just want to do my job."
The meeting of the champions of England (City) and Europe (Chelsea) failed to produce any real attacking moments of note.
Fernando Torres was restored to Chelsea's starting lineup but the misfiring striker, who was so prolific under Benitez at Liverpool, squandered his only meaningful chance in the second half.
"You could see he was trying hard - the team has to help Fernando create more chances to score goals," Benitez said.
Chelsea dropped to fourth below West Bromwich Albion, while City remains unbeaten but lost top spot to Manchester United, which leads by one point.
But it is was the intense venom directed by Chelsea fans at Benitez that provided the most memorable moments and revealed their verdict on the ninth managerial change of Roman Abramovich's nine years in charge.
Di Matteo lost his job after a loss to Juventus left Chelsea's hopes of progressing in the Champions League in jeopardy, although Mancini's City went out in the group stage for the second successive season on Wednesday.
And the Italian manager urged the Chelsea fans to give Benitez time.
"I don't think Rafa is a magician," Mancini said. "I don't think in two days he can change everything."
After chanting Di Matteo's name, Benitez's introduction before the match was greeted with persistent jeers from all around Stamford Bridge.
The on-pitch announcer had to plead with the fans to mute their dissent so that tribute could be paid to former manager Dave Sexton, who died on Saturday.
But after a minute's applause, the Chelsea fans turned on Benitez again with chants of, "We don't want you here," while "Rafa Out" banners appeared in the ground.
"How many people do you need to write a banner? One," Benitez said. "And maybe two to hold it."
Perhaps the only thing that can appease the home fans who are angry that their Champions League-winning manager was fired is that Benitez's "interim" position was highlighted in the match program and team sheet.
It took 20 minutes for the first scoring chance - and that fell to City - with David Silva heading over the bar, while Sergio Aguero went close at the end of the first half when he headed straight at goalkeeper Petr Cech.
"I think we are playing very well but are missing a goal," Mancini said. "We had a lot of chances, but were missing the last pass or shot. When you are near the box you should be very strong, if you are soft you cannot score. We dominated the first half, second half Chelsea did better."
As Chelsea imposed itself more after the break, Ramires fired over from 25 yards (meters) and David Luiz was off target with a header.
Torres was starved for service and cut an isolated figure up front, rarely looking like scoring his fifth league goal of the season.
His only opening came after Juan Mata and Eden Hazard combined to set up the Spain striker, who blasted over in the 61st.
"We didn't link with the players in the second line as much as I was expecting," Benitez said. "It's something I want to improve and then we will create more chances."
City goalkeeper Joe Hart only had one key save to make, palming a strike from Ashley Cole over the bar late on, although the home fans were annoyed that a corner wasn't awarded.
For close to the first time in the game, referee Chris Foy was the target of the Chelsea fans' anger rather than their own manager.
"He is here to try to change things to put us in a winning mode ... and he needs to get a chance to prove he's worth (it) to have a chance - we have a new start," Cech said. "Today was about starting from zero again and getting a positive result.
"You need some time when you change the manager to get a positive result, and the mood and 0-0 against the champions is not a bad result."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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??Rafa Benitez endured a hostile reception and gave the restless Chelsea fans nothing to cheer about as his first match in charge ended in a drab 0-0 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.
In the high north of Alaska is a tribe. A tribe of Native Americans who live in harmony. The village is then burned down and all desperate measures are forced to conclude.
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You can call them ?unaffiliated,? as in a recent Pew poll, or ?nones? -- or even just ?not very religious.? A new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute divides this group further (and somewhat counterintuitively) into ?unattached,? ?atheists/agnostics,? and ?seculars.? But whatever you call them, this ever-growing cohort of unchurched Americans makes up, at 23 percent, the single largest segment of Barack Obama?s ?religious coalition? (compared to the 37 percent of white evangelicals who support Mitt Romney).
While we have yet to see a ?Seculars for Obama? bumper sticker, the unaffliated are clearly having a moment. Media analysis, however, has not gone very deep -- there is a story here that goes beyond names and numbers.
Recent sociological work from Courtney Bender, Christian Smith, and others does help us understand who the current crop of unaffiliated are and what they do and believe. Yet we have precious little historical understanding of this critical and growing demographic. What are their roots? What religious, cultural, economic, demographic, and political processes shaped their sensibilities, habits, and makeup?
In order to understand these still-believing ?nones,? we need to understand that much of the religious dynamism in the United States happens outside the church walls, and has for some time now. The ?rise of the nones? is but the latest phase in the long transformation of religion into what we now commonly call ?spirituality.? In my class on ?Spirituality in America? at the University of Virginia, we use Leigh Schmidt?s pathbreaking Restless Souls to trace this phenomenon over two centuries, from Ralph Waldo Emerson?s break with New England Unitarianism in the 1830s to the multibillion dollar spirituality industry of today.
Spirituality can mean many things, of course, and the language of spirituality is used by traditional religious adherents as well as the religiously unaffiliated. But only the ?nones? have made it into a clich?: ?spiritual but not religious.?
The history of American spirituality reveals that our commonplace understanding of spirituality?as the individual, experiential dimension of human encounter with the sacred?arose from the clash of American Protestantism with the forces of modern life in the nineteenth century. While religious conservatives fought to stem the tide, giving rise to fundamentalism, religious liberals adapted their faith to modernity, often by discarding orthodoxies in favor of Darwinism, psychology, and comparative religions.
The majority of today?s religious ?nones? -- those who claim no religion but still embrace spirituality -- are engaged in the same task of renovating their faith for a new historical moment. And typically, they draw from this same liberal religious toolkit. Today?s unaffiliated, like the liberals of previous generations, typically shun dogma and creed in favor of a faith that is practical, psychologically attuned, ecumenical -- even cosmopolitan -- and ethically oriented.
This liberal spirituality, as it has evolved over time, has been deeply entwined with media-oriented consumerism. Of course Americans of all religious varieties have been deeply influenced by consumerism, but media and markets have particularly shaped the religious lives of those without formal institutional or community ties. The religiously unaffiliated might not attend services, but they ?do? their religion in many other ways: they watch religion on TV and listen to it on the radio; find inspiration on the web; attend retreats, seminars, workshops, and classes; buy candles and statues, bumper stickers and yoga pants; take spiritually motivated trips; and, perhaps most significantly, buy and read books.
Since the 1920s, when the major New York trade presses first started offering nonsectarian religious books in significant numbers, books have been the most important conduit for spreading the ?spiritual but not religious? gospel.
This dependency on the consumer marketplace, and especially books, has had significant consequences for the religious lives of all Americans, especially the unaffiliated. First, it has enhanced the tendencies within American religion toward a therapeutic understanding of the spiritual life. The profit-oriented commercial presses that came to dominate religious publishing naturally pursued the largest market possible for their goods, and seized on the non-creedal, nonsectarian, and psychologically modern forms of faith advanced by religious liberals as a common American religious vernacular. These trends have only accelerated from the 1920s to the present, such that now the line between religion and self-help disappears in the spirituality section of Barnes & Noble.
Second, spiritual consumerism has fostered a robust cosmopolitanism. Books allow readers entry into previously unimaginable religious worlds. Since trade presses entered the religion game with vigor, the lines of denomination and tradition have mattered less and less. The political and moral imperatives of World War II provided the greatest stimulus to such interfaith reading, and before long even the Protestant-Catholic-Jew formulation of the era could not contain American readers. What matters to the unaffiliated is not imprimatur but inspiration.
The Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith has observed, ?Liberal Protestantism?s organizational decline has been accompanied by and is in part arguably the consequence of the fact that liberal Protestantism has won a decisive, larger cultural victory.? The ?cultural victory? Smith and others write about happened not because more Americans joined liberal churches, in other words, but because liberal religious values and sensibilities became more and more culturally normative. And no single cultural force has been more significant to this profound religious shift than the unabashed consumerism of the religious book business in the twentieth century.
Even as religious affiliations decline, religious books sales continue to rise, as they have steadily for more than a half century. In this ultimate spiritual marketplace, American religion displays its full shape-shifting vitality.
****
by: Matthew S. Hedstrom is assistant professor of religious studies and American studies at the University of Virginia | alternet |
**The article is reprinted with permission from Religion Dispatches.
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When I first started this blog, one of my ideas was to digitize my "most absurd article" and "most incoherent title" awards for articles in Psychological Science. This was a game I played with office mates back in grad school. For example, I just jumped back to May 2003 and found:?
Most Absurd: Good Pitch Memory is Widespread. They found that people could distinguish the correct pitch for familiar tunes (sometimes), but... surprise!... people could not distinguish the correct pitch of tunes they didn't know. The study seemed systematic and I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt that it distinguishes between hypotheses in some sub-discipline... but I don't know what it was doing a flagship journal.
Most Incoherent Title: Perceiving an Object and its Context in Different Cultures: A Cultural Look at New Look. First of, why do you have to tell us that a study of context across different cultures involves "a cultural look". Second, the title gives no hint of what the study actually did or what was found. Third, they definitely did not do what the title seems to imply, which is to take an object, along with its context, to different cultures and examine how it was perceived. Finally, the reference to Bruner's 1950 "New Look" thesis is unnecessary and confusing. (Despite the crappy title, the effect reported is actually pretty cool, and might be of relevance to many psychologists.)
Why, though, haven't I been keeping up with this? A few reasons. First, my APS membership had lapsed... that has been fixed. Second, I've been pretty busy. Third, the articles in Psychological Science don't seem as annoying as they used to. Don't get me wrong, I still don't understand what qualifies most of them as breathtaking advances, and Andrew has been bashing away at their crappy attempts at embodied cognition articles, but I have seen at least a few articles every issue I really liked. For example, it would be hard to rave enough about Karen Adolph and colleague's article in this months Psych Science. From the abstract:
The current study provides the first corpus of natural infant locomotion derived from spontaneous activity during free play. Locomotor experience was immense: Twelve- to 19-month-olds averaged 2,368 steps and 17 falls per hour.... Immense amounts of time-distributed, variable practice constitute the natural practice regimen for learning to walk.?
Heck, even her title is great, as it tells you exactly what you will be getting from the article:
How do you learn to walk? Thousands of steps and dozens of falls per day.
Given that one of the common criticisms of behaviorist approaches is that there is not enough time and experience for such explanations to work. Karen isn't a radical behaviorist, but she is an ecological psychologists (in the Eleanor Gibson tradition) and a developmental psychobiologist. This means she shares many concerns with other attempts to emphasize the importance of past experience and current environment on behavior.
Also, this article is important in demonstrating the value of descriptive work in our field. Knowledge of the natural conditions under which behavior occurs is key to forming sensible hypotheses. There are also important implications regarding the pervasive use of "age" as a proxy for "having had certain types of experience." For example, Karen tells us:
Researchers need to reconsider the long-held tradition of using walking age to represent walking experience. Walking age signifies only the elapsed time since walking onset. Like test age, walking age is a robust predictor of various developmental outcomes, but it is not an explanatory variable. In other areas of developmental research, descriptions of natural activity have informed understanding about learning mechanisms. For example, in language acquisition, the sheer number of utterances and word tokens in mothers? natural talk to infants when they are 18 months old (estimated from 12 min of mother-infant free play in a laboratory playroom) predicts their rate of vocabulary growth and language processing speed at 24 months of age (Hurtado et al., 2008). In contrast, diversity of language (number of word types) is not predictive....
Although most people would assume that infants walk and fall a lot, few would guess that the average toddler takes 2,368 steps, travels 701 m?the length of 7.7 American football fields?and falls 17 times per hour. Hourly rates provide only a tantalizing window into the amounts of practice that likely accumulate over a day.... Estimates of natural activity are equally enormous for other skills. Middle-class infants hear 2,150 words per hour, more than 30 million words by 3 years (Hart & Risley, 1995). Eleven- to 13-month-olds spend more than 30 min per hour engaged with objects during everyday activity (Karasik, Tamis-LeMonda, & Adolph, 2011). By 2 months of age, infants have executed more than 2.5 million eye movements (Johnson, Amso, & Slemmer, 2003), and by 3.5 months, they have performed 3 to 6 million.
Plenty of people take language learning seriously enough to try to get a handle on the role of such experience (see, for example, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior). That said, I have yet to convince a single infant cognition researchers, who was previously vested in using looking as a dependent variable, that they should take looking seriously as a developed and contextualized behavior.?
------------
So, the old plan is out. The new plan is to mix up criticism and praise. I'm going to try for weekly coverage of a few venues: Psychological Science, Perspectives in Psychological Science, Review of General Psychology (the APA Division 1 journal), History of Psychology, and probably occasional bits from The Chronicle of Higher Education. In the meantime, I will try to do a few posts a week for the next few weeks, catching up on articles that deserve a wider readership... and which I should write about before the new year.
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Japan?s two largest automakers appear to be locked in a race to achieve the dubious distinction of having recalled more vehicles than any other automaker during 2012 for an array of safety-related problems that range from fire hazards to seat belt issues.
The latest problem involves 140,000 Toyota Tacoma pickups which, the maker says, could experience corrosion severe enough that their space tires could fall off while driving.? Toyota has recalled several other models, including its Sienna minivan, for similar problems in the past.
The announcement comes barely a month after Toyota revealed it would have to recall 7.5 million vehicles worldwide due to faulty power window switches that could catch fire, including 2.5 million vehicles sold in the U.S.? It was the largest single recall in the maker?s history.? That followed by days Honda?s announcement of three separate safety callbacks impacting 1.7 million vehicles.
The two automakers have collectively led the list of recalled vehicles for the past three years, Toyota in 2009 and 2010 largely due to its massive problems with so-called unintended acceleration, and Honda in 2011 in the wake of an assortment of problems including defective airbags.
So far this year, sales numbers suggest that despite such problems, neither maker appears to be losing much momentum in the U.S. market. Quite the contrary. Toyota and Honda have experienced some of their biggest sales gains in years ? though at least some of those year-over-year increases were the result of last year?s devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami which left both manufacturers struggling with product shortages. Many potential customers appeared to wait until this year, as supplies came back to normal.
Analyst Rebecca Lindland, of IHS Automotive does not expect Toyota?s recent safety problems to drive away loyal buyers, though she has warned that, ?for those people on the fence about buying a Toyota, this will have an impact.? It could be more difficult getting new buyers into the showroom.?
Working in their favor, however, the two makers have continued scoring well in a variety of recent quality and reliability studies.? The three Toyota brands sold in the U.S., Lexus, Scion and Toyota, topped the chart in the recent Consumer Reports Automotive Reliability Study, for example. But a senior automotive tester for the non-profit magazine also noted that it does not take recalls into consideration when determining the reliability of individual brands.
Who will have the most vehicles recalled this year remains to be seen. Toyota seemed on track to nab that doubtful honor again in 2011 ? until Honda announced a massive service action in the final days of the year.
Honda, in fact, is now facing several safety probes by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration affecting nearly 700,000 of its Odyssey minivans and Pilot SUVs. It is far from certain that those actions will result in recalls, however, and even if they did, whether any announcement would come in 2012.
Meanwhile, the two Japanese makers are by no means the only ones who have had safety-related problems in recent months.
Chrysler?s Jeep brand recalled 919,000 of its Liberty and Grand Cherokee SUVs this month due to an airbag problem.? And Ford faced an airbag problem of its own, last month, with the Fiesta subcompact. The bigger of the two U.S. makers has, meanwhile, experienced a string of recalls involving its popular Escape SUV ? both older versions as well as the new one launched this year.
Analysts say Ford?s bigger problem has been a general stumble in quality charts including the Consumer Reports reliability study and the recent J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey.
The latest Toyota recall impacts Tacoma pickups sold between 2001 and 2004 in 20 cold weather states, as well as the District of Columbia. The spare tire is stored under the cargo bed in those vehicles, where the plate that holds it in place can be corroded by contact with road salt. The maker plans to make repairs at no charge to consumers.
>>action we've seen a lot of touching moments with soldiers coming back from the front lines surprise their kid. this time a military man surprised his wife just in time for the birth of their son. the story from nbc's kristen dahlgren.
>> reporter: for
amanda
earhart it could have been a much different holiday.
>>just do it on my own.
>> reporter: on tuesday she was about to give birth to a
baby boy
alone.
>>he was the only person that i wanted to hand the healthy son to.
>> reporter: her husband matt was on his third
tour of duty
in afghanistan thousands of
miles away
, or so she thought.
>>oh, the my god.
>> reporter: matt had kept this
mission top secret
.
>>she wanted me here. i wanted to be here for her so that's why it's a
big deal
.
>> reporter: he made it home just in the
nick of time
.
15 minutes
later the son they named gunner made his own grand entrance.
>>it's just perfect.
>> reporter: doctors and nurses at tacoma general had deglad aman
amanda
's c-section to try to give time to get there. it wasn't an easy trip for the 25-year-old
combat medic
. for a month he had been begging his superiors to let him come home.
amanda
's doctors even wrote letters, but finally, after more than 25 hours of flying.
>>that was the best surprise ever. it was amazing. you have to mess a lot of first when your spouse is in the military. he missed his daughter's first steps and just really nice he didn't have to miss out on his healthy son being born. that just really means a lot.
>> reporter: a lot to be thankful for, for a
war hero
and his family all together and home for the holiday. for "today," kristen dahlgren, nbc news,
los angeles
.
Outsourcing as an industry is rapidly coming of age. The February 2005 issue of Harvard Business Review noted the following for Outsourcing: ?Outsourcing has become strategic - yet many executives remain unprepared. A new era of capability sourcing will trigger organizational redesign and a new set of managerial skills.? The number of companies providing outsourcing services is increasing rapidly, methodologies and procedures are maturing fast, and more and more people are hopping on to the outsourcing bandwagon.
An important fallout of this maturing of the industry is that one can now consider making a career in outsourcing seriously. While call centre or operational jobs are available aplenty, not many middle level managers or highly qualified people from the more traditional banking, accounting or other industries are willing to take them up. Part of this is because outsourcing is often considered synonymous with call centers, due to early growth and publicity in that area. However, changes in the industry are opening doors for everyone. Consider these significant changes, and how they are throwing up new opportunities.
Expansion of the range of services provided
Outsourcing is not limited to call centers or medical transcription anymore. As the industry matures, the value of services provided is also increasing. Now, there are companies doing equity research, hedge fund accounting, advance scientific research, and many more specialized activities. For example, Intel and GE are doing high end scientific research, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are involved in Equity research, McKinsey is sourcing consulting support - the examples are numerous and increasing every day. Now one can work for the best names and the area of choice, thanks to outsourcing.
Demand for Specialization
As companies expand both in employee strength and range of services provides, they need experts in various fields. Some of the highly specialized career options now available are:
Transition managers - these are experts in Project Management. The role of transition managers is to help migration of the function from overseas locations to the offshore location. This involves understanding the existing process, determining the best migration methodology and overseeing the migration project.
Relationship Managers - This is typically a middle/ senior management role in any outsourcing company. These managers are the single point of contact for the client, and their responsibilities sometimes span across teams and departments.
Six Sigma and Process Re-engineering experts - One of the most significant non-cost benefits of outsourcing is the opportunity to re-engineer the process - thereby improving the process and/ or deriving further cost saves. By undertaking various projects, Six Sigma and Process re-engineering experts play the key role in this.
This entry was posted on Friday, November 23rd, 2012 at 1:15 pm and is filed under BPO News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The government today said 17 central public sector enterprises, including, ONGC, OIL and NTPC, have committed to investing over Rs 1.63 lakh crore during the current financial year.
?The total capital available with Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), at present which could be invested is the cash and bank balance?stand at Rs 2,84,153.22 crore?,? Minister of heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
He further said that in a meeting held in January under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, 17 CPSEs ?committed for investment? totalling Rs 1,63,847 crore during the current financial year.
Reuters
?Capital investment by CPSEs depends upon, their corporate plan, various administrative clearances, market conditions and the best judgement of the management of the CPSE,? he added. Capital with the PSUs in term of reserves and surplus during 2010-11 was Rs 6,65,487.72 crore.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram in an interview to PTI had said the central PSUs have been put on notice to either invest their surplus cash or lose it.
He also said that the performance of CMDs of PSUs will be measured, among other things, on how much their company has invested in terms of the declared intention.
The projected investment during 2012-13 by ONGC was Rs 40,975 crore while that of NTPC and OIL was Rs 20,995 crore and Rs 10,378 crore, respectively.
PTI
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