DirecTV says targets on track despite economy (Reuters)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters - Satellite TV provider DirecTV said it was on track to meet its growth targets for 2012 and 2013 even as programming costs continued to rise and U.S. consumers are keeping a tight grip on their wallets.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120216/media_nm/us_directv

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Podio Plugs Google Docs Into Its Collaboration Tools

Startup Podio says it just addressed one of the top feature requests from the 40,000 companies that use its collaboration tools ? it now integrates with Google Docs. When TechCrunch's Alexia Tsotsis wrote about Podio a year ago, she called it "Yammer with its own app store and app builder." Judging from the demo I saw earlier this week, many aspects of the basic interface will indeed feel natural to Yammer users (or really anyone who can handle a threaded conversation), but as Alexia's description suggests, Podio's real selling point is extensibility ? if Podio doesn't have a feature you want, you can build a simple app for it, and the company also integrates with other online services through its APIs.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ArkZ0T_7fTk/

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Al Gore Compares Investing in Oil and Gas and Subprime Mortgage ...

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore ? a continuous warrior for the environment ? said yesterday in an interview that current investment in the oil and gas industry is not that dissimilar to the subprime mortgage crisis.?Moreover, he believes that the industry could collapse within the decade. Gore?s statement came in conjunction with a five point plan from Generation Investment Management LLP (the investment group Gore helped found with a former Goldman Sachs Group executive) entitled ?A Manifesto for Sustainable Capitalism?. The plan outlines a long road forward for the investing world that if adopted could fundamentally change the current environment. Aside from moving investors away from carbon intensive stocks, the five point plan lays out a world where investors are rewarded for sticking with companies for the long haul. This plan will not only reduce the stress of achieving gains in the short term, but will allow companies to focus their plans on more sustainable gains over the long term.

?The value of the subprime mortgages was based on a false assumption,? Gore said yesterday in an interview. ?In almost exactly the same way, the value of all of these carbon fuel reserves is based on a similarly absurd assumption.?

Gore?s statement comes on the heels of a letter written to the Bank of England from a group of influential investors and officials in the United Kingdom asking the bank to reduce its dependency on carbon heavy investments for the long term good of the country and the world markets.

?These subprime carbon assets have an asserted value based on the assumption that it?s perfectly OK to put 90 million tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere every 24 hours,? he said. ?Actually it?s not.?

Generation Investment Managers has set out to prove that their style of investing ? thinking about investments holistically not just financially ? is superior. They know their sustainable mindset helps choose companies that have their sites set on the future and therefore future growth, rather than companies stuck in todays market that have no backup plan for when the wells run dry ? and as we know, they certainly will run dry.

Gore and his co-founder David Blood start their manifesto by quoting General Omar Bradley on his thoughts for how America should reshape democracy abroad in the wake of WWII, ?It is time to steer by the stars, and not by the lights of each passing ship.? The manifesto is as much for the investor as it is for the companies being invested in and the broader market. Gore and Blood say companies should create sustainable products to prepare for the future market, cut waste to save costs, and better manage risk to avoid penalties.They also urge the market to move toward ?integrated reporting? that would allow companies to integrate their communications organically into their buisness and end the issuing of quarterly earnings reports that cause companies to work in quarterly sprints instead of a long stride. They also urge companies to incentivize workers toward long-term goals instead of rewarding short-term gains, and also to promote long-term investing instead of short-term trading.

The pair close their manifesto with a plea much like General Omar Bradley?s, ?Today we have an opportunity to steer by the stars and once again rebuild for the long-term. Sustainable capitalism will create opportunities and rewards, but it will also mean challenging the pernicious orthodoxy of short-termism. As we face an inflection point in the global economy and the global environment, the imperative for change has never been greater.?

+ Generation Investments Management LLC

Via Bloomberg News

Second photo by Silveiraneto on Flickr

Third photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/epicharmus/1613548865/sizes/l/in/photostream/?>Epicharmus on Flickr

Source: http://inhabitat.com/al-gore-compares-investing-in-oil-and-gas-to-subprime-mortgage-crises-and-lays-out-a-manifesto-for-sustainable-capitalism/

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'Teen Mom' Amber ordered to halfway house

By Natalie Finn, E! Online

Madison County Sheriff Departmen / AP

Amber Portwood is taking a step in the right direction -- even if it's not the direction she wanted.

A drug court in Madison County, Ind., signed off on a deal that will allow the "Teen Mom" star to avoid prison provided she completes a drug-treatment program and stays out of trouble.

But Portwood, who's been locked up since before Christmas, is not heading to her grandparents' house, as she hoped.

Instead, Judge David Happe determined that she should dry out at Sister 2 Sister Ministries halfway house in Anderson, a transitional residence for women getting out of jail.

E! gallery: Guilty gallery

"I understand you've been in jail for a while, and you're frustrated," Happe said, according to the local Herald Bulletin. "But the last thing we want to do is release you and have you commit another offense."

But Portwood doesn't even get to go to the halfway house just yet -- she will remain behind bars until the Sister 2 Sister staff is able to evaluate her, probably on Monday or Tuesday.

More from E!: Is Jessica Simpsons going on 'Biggest Loser'?

The mother of 2-year-old Leah pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and violating her probation by being caught with an unauthorized prescription medication

She faces five years in prison if she can't clean up her act in the drug court program. While staying at the halfway house, she'll undergo counseling and daily screenings, and be required to appear in drug court once a week.

What do you think it will take for Amber to get back on the right track? Tell us on our Facebook page.

Related content:

Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/16/10429656-teen-mom-amber-portwood-ordered-to-go-to-halfway-house

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How to unearth cost-effective Ecommerce Web page Pattern and ...

How to identify easily affordable Ecommerce Webpage Structure and Enhancement Providers

Any exercise that includes trade of items and providers by using world wide web as a medium is identified as E-commerce. In other phrases we can say that E-Commerce is also regarded as Electronic Commerce, e-commerce, e-comm, eCommerce, ECommerce refers to the offering and obtaining of goods and providers in excess of electronic systems this type of as the web-based and other personal computer networks. E-Commerce time period could refer to promoting and acquiring items over the internet. Procuring and offering of products and products and services as a result of home pc and other online world units is recognised as digital commerce and E-commerce. E-commerce recognized as the digital commerce is linked to the procurement and sale of products and products and services above the world wide web. E-commerce web Progress Business and Ecommerce world wide web Layout Supplier in India give Expenses valuable and time protecting support for world-wide-web improvement, customized word wide web style, internet marketing and advertising and email merchandising for ecommerce websites. Helpful hints to construct E-commerce online websites Your Ecommerce site have got to focus on the must have of the prospects. E-commerce internet site pattern need to be crisp and crystal clear to the clients. Reputed E-Commerce web site focuses on the client?s prerequisites and solves all the customers issues by making use of most effective potential solution. Ecommerce is about holding the go through of your consumers easy and easy. A style and design need to not be tricky to have an understanding of and far too flashy. It should certainly be proficient adequate to manage the difficulty at at the time. To make client?s trust, branding of your webpage is especially vital. There are several distributors providing identical merchandise, branding differentiates you from the crowd and provides your web site that X-aspect. Because of this, even when establishing ecommerce website pages value of branding have got to be kept in head by any professional web designer. Ecommerce is continually highly recommended to hire a competent internet structure organisation for the creating and forming an ecommerce online site. Variations of E-Commerce internet sites: Company to buyer type (B2C). Corporation to business style (B2B). Customer to internet business kind (C2B). Client to purchaser sort (C2C). Peer to Peer (P2P). M- Commerce. How is E-commerce so necessary? Ecommerce solutions (Shopping cart solutions) have served protect cash for the home business. Ecommerce is the new trend in searching, ecommerce saves a lot time for the people as they can just sit at residence, decide upon significantly better items from the their computer system and gat them sent at their doorstep. Ecommerce (buying cart offers) saves a lot of time and other transportation charge. The previous decade wherever desktop computer and the use of world wide web has grown to be so preferred in the human getting and have opened up via the internet retail shops so that they can provide their solutions anyplace in the world. Consistently identify reasonable E-commerce Web pages Style and design and Advancement Businesses? You will have to decide on the inexpensive Ecommerce webpage Design and style and Development Supplier with the combination of the unique approaches. You need to test the terms and conditions, Disorders, strengths, weak spot, portfolios, outlined timeline and circumstance tests of firms. You can also verify if a picked Professional Ecommerce Website Structure has encounter in planning very similar variety of enterprise or not. You must verify Ecommerce online site style and design business that provide you with top quality Ecommerce site alternatives and enhancement deals. You ought to examine Ecommerce web pages style and design firm that give Purchasing Cart Methods and Ecommerce Packages.Reliable companies for small business seo are hard to find but find a good one and you will be high in the rankings.

Source: http://bengelonlinestore.com/?p=1942

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L'Oreal generation game poses ownership question (Reuters)

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Standard pertaining to Buy Ranch Property-- Crafters Anonymous Blog

[unable to retrieve full-text content]It's far more when compared with getting a ranch broker to help you to find out a great residence. You must contract numerous ... The area from the rnch really should be ideal for pets if you are buy ranch pertaining to beef mating. Speak to the region planning along with zoning section to assemble good info. Three or more. Owners of the ranches also have some sort of lot map which usually databases easements with the farm property or home. Examining this plot of ...

Source: http://craftersanonymous.net/blog/2012/02/14/standard-pertaining-to-buy-ranch-property/

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What is Real Estate Cartel?

Real estate cartel, real estate investing, real estate, home buying

One of the most open industries around the world today is the real estate. In this business, you can start your own company despite of having just a small capital. However, there are still many people think that there is an existing secret society in the industry composed of millions of real estate agents that dictates prices in the market. In this article I will explain to you the real meaning of real estate cartel and the things you need to know about it.

What is Real Estate Cartel?

A real estate cartel refers to a group of real estate agents or companies who agree to regulate supply of properties in the market in an effort to control or manipulate prices. Bigger cities have hundreds of real estate companies and thousands of real estate agents. If you are to think that there is a cartel happening in this industry, how possible it is for them to organize such a big population and have them follow the price that is good for the industry? Manipulation of prices won?t be happen in real estate because it only happens in closed industries such as telecommunications, mining, oil and other industries wherein an average person can?t easily get into.

In real estate, no one can dictate the price of properties except for the market itself. If the demand for homes is high, a huge possibility that prices will go up, since every property is receiving multiple offers. On the other hand, if the inventory of homes in the market is high, you can expect that prices will move down because homes are seldom to receive offers. This is the usual factor that affects the prices to go up or down.

One great advise I can give future buyers is that they should buy a home because they really want to have it, and pay without any hesitation on their mind the particular amount in exchange of the property. Do not believe in rumors, myths and perceptions when buying a property, because following these things may put you in worst situation that could even end you up in a real bad deal.

Start investing in Roy Utah Real Estate market today!? And enjoy the perks of seeing your investment grow.? There are thousands of people in this area that we already helped in making their investments, and it?s time for you to join these successful investors. Visit our websites: Homes for Sale in Roy Utah and Real Estate Weber County to learn more about investing in this area.

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?

Source: http://www.chickengang.com/current-business-news/what-is-real-estate-cartel/

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Judge orders misconduct report in Sen. Stevens case released (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? A U.S. judge on Wednesday ordered that a 500-page special report detailing federal prosecutors' misconduct in the 2008 corruption trial of the late Senator Ted Stevens be released next month, despite objections by some of the subjects of the report.

The report found "significant, widespread and at times intentional misconduct" by Justice Department prosecutors, according to a brief summary released in November by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan.

But the report did not recommend any criminal prosecution.

Sullivan said releasing the report, scheduled for March 15, would help the public understand what went wrong with the prosecution and why no criminal contempt proceedings were being pursued against the prosecutors.

Weeks before the 2008 congressional elections, Alaska Senator Stevens was convicted by a jury of lying on his Senate disclosure form to conceal $250,000 in gifts from an oil executive and other friends. He lost his re-election bid and died in a plane crash in 2010 in his home state.

Sullivan in 2009 overturned the conviction of Stevens, who was the longest-serving Republican senator in history, because prosecutors failed to turn over to the defense information helpful to Stevens.

The judge appointed a veteran lawyer, Henry Schuelke, to investigate and possibly prosecute the six Justice Department attorneys who handled the Stevens case. One of those lawyers, Nicholas Marsh, committed suicide in September 2010.

Some of the attorneys who were the target of the investigation urged Sullivan to keep the report under seal in part because it was much like a secret grand jury proceeding, an argument the judge rejected.

"Withholding the report from the public and leaving the public with only the information from the trial and immediate post-trial proceedings would be the equivalent of giving a reader only every other chapter of a complicated book, distorting the story and making it impossible for the reader to put in context the information provided," Sullivan said in a 55-page opinion.

The judge offered the subjects of the report an opportunity to submit comments or objections which he said would be included when the report is released.

(Reporting By Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120208/ts_nm/us_usa_crime_stevens

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Guinea Pigs Were Widespread as Elizabethan Pets

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Fitness centers, personal trainers big business ... - Men Health ...

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Fitness centers, personal trainers big business in Central Texas

By Rebecca Rose

Killeen Daily Herald

Before dawn breaks in Killeen, the sound of pulsating music rises from a small storefront business on Elms Road.

Inside, a group of 20 men and women are dancing in unison, moving back and forth, as instructions reverberate from a loudspeaker: ?And left, and left and left ? and hold ? and two, three, four ? and right. Take it back!?

The rhythmic cheerleading comes from Jazzercise Killeen owner Michelle Fry as she leaps and glides on the riser in front of her regular 8 a.m. Thursday class.

Fry?s class isn?t the only one where clients are kicking up their heels to get fit. Physical fitness is a thriving business in the surrounding area, with large gyms and small-business owners competing for a share of the market.

Starting a gym or personal training business can be lucrative, but challenging, say top area fitness entrepreneurs. While options range from traditional group fitness classes to an array of new fads, ultimately for businesses to stay on top, it boils down to one factor ? getting results for clients.

It all starts with training the trainer.

Trainer certification

Simone Tucker is an adjunct professor at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor who teaches classes in kinesiology. She also runs a coaching business for runners and offers personal training and yoga to a select group of clients. Tucker said a spurt of weight loss after pregnancy helped introduce her to the world of physical fitness as an occupation.

?I joined a gym (to lose weight) and ended up teaching some step aerobics classes,? she said. ?It just snowballed from there.?

Tucker, who now holds a master?s degree in exercise and sports science, said one of the most important parts of the process of starting a business is education, and ultimately, accreditation.

Since the state of Texas does not require personal trainers to be licensed, it?s up to the individual trainer to seek out certification and other training.

?You can call yourself a personal trainer today and market yourself as one,? said Tucker. ?However, you do want to be certified, so you don?t end up causing injury to a client, or worse.?

The National Association for Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise are among the top organizations offering accreditation in fitness. Certification programs guide trainers through a wide range of topics, including anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and other exercise and wellness related topics.

?They make sure trainers understand how the human body works, to learn about proper exercise executions, and proper form,? said Tucker.

Certification from national organizations can cost $300 to $600, depending on the type of course, an investment that could pay off big for trainers in the long run.

Personal sessions

Nancy Machado, a former professional body builder and owner of Muscles Machado in Killeen, offers one-on-one personal training sessions, as well as a comprehensive boot camp for clients. Machado, who is ACE certified, said she spent a long time researching which organization would be best for accreditation.

?We?re a military family, we move all over the place,? she said. ?I wanted something that I can take with me wherever I go.?

Through ACE, Machado is a certified personal trainer.

In addition, she holds a second certification as a health and fitness specialist, trained to work with clients with special conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and others.

Her initial study course lasted more than six months.

?It was very challenging,? she said. ?It?s an intensive study of kinesiology, physiology, body mechanics ? everything involved in being a personal trainer.?

For Machado, the idea of marrying her love of physical fitness with a business came from a desire to help people, an important aspect of maintaining a successful business.

?I enjoy the opportunity to help people better themselves,? she explained. ?I started this because I wanted to help others achieve their goals.?

Fitness craze

And entrepreneurs are finding success with partnerships and franchisers of other national programs.

Richard Vincent has been a co-owner of CrossFit CenTex in Belton since its opening in December 2008. CrossFit CenTex is part of a partnership with the national fitness brand, which combines weightlifting, sprinting and gymnastics.

What started as an Internet phenomenon featuring extreme weightlifting videos on YouTube, CrossFit is now a bonafide national fitness craze.

Vincent said workout arenas like CrossFit CenTex are dubbed ?boxes? due to their lack of mirrors and machines. Workout philosophies focus on physical ability, not physical appearance.

?What we care about is not what you look like, but what you can do with that body,? he said. ?If we train you like an athlete ? you will look like an athlete.?

From a business standpoint, Vincent said boxes market to customers looking for more than a place for a quick workout.

?We don?t compete on price that way,? he explained. ?We?re personal training in a group setting.?

Vincent said the desire for workout enthusiasts to get the most out of their dollar is driving a switch to more community-based, intimate arenas.

At locally-owned Heritage Park Fitness in Harker Heights, trainer Sasha Brainerd agreed.

?The biggest advantage here is the intimacy,? said Brainerd.

?Most chains are bigger. They?re membership-driven, not so much person-driven,? she said. ?That?s what we can offer from being a small facility. We can tell people we?re never over-crowded.?

Word of mouth

Fry started Jazzercise Killeen in 2000, teaching classes out of a room at the Killeen Community Center. The aerobics dance studio now operates out of a studio on Elms Road, after what Fry called a long period of growth and expansion for the business.

As a franchisee of the national fitness chain, Fry and other instructors are certified through Jazzercise?s training programs. Additionally, the corporate wing offers marketing and advertising support, a valuable benefit to a growing business.

To grow her client base, Fry said she opts for a layered approach to marketing, with newspaper, radio and television advertising, which makes up the majority of her investment outlay for the business.

?But by far, for us the best method is word of mouth,? said Fry, who pointed to other clients? success inspiring friends and family to join as well.

Machado and other trainers echoed her sentiment. Machado said she is routinely approached by new customers, intrigued by her success with others.

?You just start by working with someone in the gym,? said Machado. ?People see you, if you?re there consistently. They watch you. They see the client changing.?

But word of mouth ultimately still relies on results, trainers say.

?If you get results, you?re going to continue to see people,? said Brainerd.

Contact Rebecca Rose at rebeccar@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7548.

Tips to pick a fitness program

For consumers, selecting the right type of program depends on individual tastes and goals. Programs are tailored to different personality types, and may not work for every person across the board.

Personal trainer Simone Tucker said consumers should be cautious when selecting a trainer or a particular program.

?If you are looking for a trainer, make sure they are certified with a reputable organization,? she said.

Most importantly, a trainer or fitness coach should be flexible, and understand the needs of his or her client. ?Make sure that the person is really listening to you, goals and needs,? she advised. ?Make sure they can work around your needs with your family and kids. We all have different challenges.?

Consumers should all start with setting a reasonable goal for themselves, whether its weight loss, completing a marathon, or gaining body strength, said Tucker.

?Set goals for yourself, making sure they are reasonable and achievable,? she said.

Tucker said the best advice is to avoid committing to a program that?s too ambitious, or out of one?s budget range.

?If you feel like you are being pushed into something you can?t afford, then you probably should just say no,? she said.

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Article source: http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=64065

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Source: http://www.menhealthwizard.com/fitness-centers-personal-trainers-big-business-in-central-texas/

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Home Improvement Products, Kitchen Appliances, home decor ...

Usually, fireplace equipment draw closer to the ornamental tool stand you may place that it on the fireplace. These fireplace equipments are draw on to remain a fire going and to dirt free the waste from a fire once it is fully breezy. They are typically a poker, tongs, shovel, brush and broom. The poker and tongs are used to shift the logs to get the majority heat from the combustion as the fire is very strong. Quite a few hours once the fire is out or after that morning, clean the ashes outside the fireplace with the hearth broom. Move forward them into the fireplace shovel, and dispose of them. Fireplace equipment will comprise some other fixations such as the door, screen, andirons, interleaves, etc. These are the primary equipments used for upholding and doll up the modern fireplaces.The stands are big and charily intended parts of knack that take a rectangular or circular bottom support and have a smooth end. They are essentially used to stock up all the fireplace equipment in a well-dressed and orderly way. These fireplace stands are so aesthetically intended that they are well thought-out further an ornamental item than simply efficacy equipment. These stands are generally prepared from stainless steel, brass, or bronze.

Doesn?t matter what fireplace equipment you exploit to help out build and keep up the fire, make out that there is a vast history in the wake of each one of that fireplace equipment and centuries of exploit has moved out into perfecting the equipment in the hands. And keep in mind that in current society fire has developed from providing essential warm up and cooking to a sign of warmth and care for shared by that entire get together are the fireplace hearth.

A lot of different fireplace equipments are used while it comes to house and keep up fires in home fireplaces and each one of this equipment has a special fairy-tale how they came to emerge on the fireplace hearth. This will mainly with the primary equipment. Also included with fireplace equipment but it is quite hard to decide how and what time these finicky equipments began to be utilized.

Source: http://home-improvements-guide.blogspot.com/2012/02/fireplace-equipment.html

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2 accused in contract killings on trial in Memphis (AP)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. ? Jury selection has begun in the trial of two men charged with serving as contract killers in a violent drug ring accused of moving cocaine from Mexico into Tennessee and other Southern states.

Clinton Lewis and Martin Lewis are charged with committing murders as members of a drug gang led by Craig Petties, who fled to Mexico after being indicted by a federal grand jury in 2002.

Petties was captured in 2008 and pleaded guilty last year to racketeering, money laundering and ordering four murders as part of his role as leader of the wide-ranging drug organization.

U.S. Attorney Edward Stanton has described the trial as one of the largest of its kind in West Tennessee. Petties is expected to testify in the trial. Jury selection began Monday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120206/ap_on_re_us/us_drug_trafficking_memphis

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Police nab Mexican drug boat north of Los Angeles (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Police seized a motorboat packed with more than a ton of marijuana north of Los Angeles and arrested three Mexican men, the latest seizure as traffickers try to beat tougher border security by taking to the waves, authorities said on Tuesday.

U.S. Border Patrol agents intercepted the open-topped "panga" style vessel packed with plastic-wrapped bundles of marijuana at Point Dume State Beach in Los Angeles County on Saturday, the U.S. Border Patrol said in a news release.

The three men on board the boat had entered the United States illegally and were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

As security has tightened in recent years along the United States' porous border with Mexico, trafficking organizations have increasingly taken to smuggling drugs and illegal immigrants by sea to the Los Angeles area.

In the 12 months to the end of September 2011, authorities recorded 26 maritime smuggling incidents in the greater Los Angeles area, including seven in Ventura County. Since then, there have been 14 incidents including three in Ventura County and one in Santa Barbara County.

U.S. authorities have in recent months ramped up efforts to target sea-borne smugglers taking the longer route to the Los Angeles area, expanding the use of marine patrols, land-based surveillance, and cooperation with their Mexican counterparts.

The seizure on Saturday followed a tip from the California National Guard.

(Reporting By Tim Gaynor; Editing by Greg McCune)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120201/us_nm/us_usa_mexico_drugs

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Saudi Arabia cautious on possible Afghan talks (Reuters)

RIYADH (Reuters) ? Saudi Arabia is reluctant to host talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban without concessions from the Islamist movement including renouncing its ties to al Qaeda, sources in Riyadh and Kabul said on Tuesday.

An Afghan official said on Monday that talks would be held in the Islamic kingdom this year, but on Tuesday the Afghan ambassador to Riyadh, Saeed Ahmed Omarkhail, said no formal approach had yet been made to the Saudi authorities.

"The kingdom has a role and has been involved in these issues in the past ... The Afghan president has asked Saudi Arabia to hold talks in the past but there is nothing new," Omarkhail said.

A Saudi source with strong government connections and a senior Afghan government source said Saudi Arabia was taking a cautious approach to talks.

Al Qaeda has in the past carried out high profile bombings in Saudi Arabia and has vowed to overthrow the U.S.-backed royal family.

Saudi Arabia's objections to the Taliban's links to al Qaeda were cited by U.S. diplomats as the reason proposed talks failed to move forwards in early 2010, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

It said Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin turned down a request from Afghan President Hamid Karzai to host talks because the Saudis "would not support such talks until the Taliban renounced al Qaeda."

"The major problem that Saudi has in mind is that the Taliban are heavily linked to al Qaeda, and secondly it's next to impossible for the Taliban to formally cut ties with al Qaeda," said an Afghan official.

Other potential sticking points include the Taliban's use of the title "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," which Saudi officials believe precludes the movement from recognizing other legitimate power structures in the country, said the Saudi source.

FACE-TO-FACE

A senior Afghan government source said negotiations would not be possible without a Taliban ceasefire and face-to-face meetings between the two sides.

Ambassador Omarkhail in Riyadh said any move to hold talks in the Gulf Arab kingdom would not be possible until after the Taliban had established a representative office in Qatar.

"After that there will be agendas set for talks," he said.

The Taliban announced this month they would open a political office in the Qatari capital Doha to support possible peace talks with the United States.

The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Frank Ruggiero, visited Riyadh this month but Washington is expected to leave any new moves on talks in the kingdom to the Saudis.

Saudi Arabia has had some influence in Afghanistan since it supported mujahedeen fighters against Soviet occupation forces in the 1980s. It has maintained a close relationship with Pakistan and supports both countries with large aid donations.

Private Saudi institutions have also set up religious schools in the two countries that teach the kingdom's strict Wahhabi brand of Islam.

"What matters to Saudi Arabia is Pakistan. Bringing peace to Afghanistan will help very much in bringing peace back to Pakistan," said Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi commentator.

Saudi Arabia has taken a more assertive role in foreign policy in recent months after last year's Arab uprisings, which transformed its immediate neighborhood and threatened to alter the power balance with regional rival Iran.

Riyadh orchestrated a Gulf Arab plan to ease a power transition in Yemen, and led Arab League efforts to isolate Syria over its crackdown on mass protests.

However, it has been frustrated before by the complex process of mediating between warring Afghan factions.

Two decades ago a Saudi prince took Afghan warlords inside the black cube of the Kaaba in Mecca, which all Muslims must face in prayer, and had them solemnly swear to end the fighting that was destroying their country.

That peace was broken before the warlords left the building as a Saudi official who was present received a phone call from Kabul saying that one side had just started shelling the other.

(Reporting By Angus McDowall, Asma Alsharif, Hamid Shalizi and Rob Taylor; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_saudi_talks

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Fossil DNA has clues to surviving rapid climate change

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Surviving the last ice age was more than just a matter of growing a woolly coat. Rapid global temperature swings had to be matched by equally rapid adaptation. Now a remarkable find from Canada's permafrost could help explain how the trick was done, through a process that might offer organisms a way to cope with the dramatic climate change the world is facing.

DNA extracted from the bones of an extinct bison shows that the environment influenced the way the animal's genes worked without altering the genetic code. It is the best evidence yet that such epigenetic changes can be fossilised.

Inheritance doesn't begin and end with genetic mutations. Environmental factors can modify DNA and lead to heritable changes in the way that genes are expressed ? even though the genetic code itself is unchanged.

Brief encounter?

The big unanswered question is whether these epigenetic changes influence the long-term evolution and survival of a species, or whether they disappear too quickly to have any lasting impact.

Some evolutionary biologists favour the first option. They say that exposure to an environmental stress could trigger a useful epigenetic change in many members of a population simultaneously. The trait could then be passed down to most of the next generation.

A beneficial genetic mutation, in contrast ? the kind we're more familiar with ? spreads only through breeding and so takes much longer to become established in the population.

"Epigenetic modification strikes me as an ideal way for animals to respond to environmental change," says Alan Cooper, a palaeobiologist at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.

Frozen perfection

Before that idea can be tested, though, Cooper needed to show that epigenetics is preserved in the fossil record ? the best place to study evolutionary processes over a large number of generations.

A prime spot to go looking for ancient epigenetic signals is in permafrost that formed during the last ice age. The frozen soils are already recognised as the best environment on Earth for preserving the ancient DNA in which epigenetic signals might be found.

Cooper and his team extracted DNA from the bones of a 26,000-year-old extinct bison (Bison priscus) preserved in permafrost in the Canadian Arctic. They later analysed the DNA using a technique called bisulfite sequencing to look for evidence of a particular kind of epigenetic change ? DNA methylation. Bisulfite sequencing destroys unmethylated cytosine bases in the DNA, so all cytosines that remain must therefore have been methylated.

Convincing stuff

Sure enough, the team found methylated DNA in the ancient sample. Then they went one step further: most of the methylations they found were in exactly the same spots as methylations in the same genes of modern cattle. That is strong evidence that the ancient methylations were not the product of chemical damage occurring after the bison's death (PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030226).

"I'm convinced, and I'm pretty tough that way," says Hendrik Poinar, a palaeogeneticist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, who was not a member of Cooper's team.

The next step will be to gather more ancient samples from before and after a major environmental change ? the end of a glaciation, for example, or the arrival of humans in the New World ? to see whether any epigenetic changes correlate with the environmental transition. If they do, evolutionary biologists will move a step closer to proving that epigenetic changes help species adapt to rapid change.

Neanderthal action

And that applies to more than just extinct bison. Methylation has been found in ancient DNA once before. In 2009, a team led by Svante P??bo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, uncovered evidence of the process in Neanderthal and mammoth DNA (Nucleic Acids Research, DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkp1163).

P??bo says he may soon start gathering data on methylation of Neanderthal DNA as part of his work on Neanderthal genomics. Epigenetics is already thought to occur in humans ? it has been cited as an explanation for the high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among those whose parents survived the holocaust. Epigenetic data spanning a much longer interval in human prehistory could reveal that the process was key to adapting quickly to a wide range of environmental conditions during the Pleistocene.

Tracking ancient epigenetic changes will inevitably be a tough task. For example, although Cooper's team successfully read methylation from a fossil bison specimen, they could not find a signal in five other bison fossils they examined, which suggests that reading ancient epigenetic signatures requires exceptional preservation.

Tall order

Moreover, individual animals ? and even particular tissues within an individual ? differ in their style of methylation, so researchers may need many samples to tease evolutionarily meaningful differences from all the variability, says Catherine Suter at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, who co-led the bison research with Cooper.

Even if researchers can pick the signals from the noise, they will then have to work out what the epigenetic changes do, and whether they are in fact adaptive ? a tall order given how little we know about interpreting epigenetic signals even in modern DNA.

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