Poll Shows Voters Placing Energy Policy Over Environment

According to the results of a recent Harris Poll, Americans are placing a higher priority on energy policy than environmental policy in deciding which candidate to vote for. Here are the details.

* Harris Interactive surveyed 2,562 adults online between Sept. 17 and 24, 2012.

* Overall, 77 percent of respondents to the poll rated energy policy as either very important or important when asked which policies contribute most to their support of one candidate over another.

* 67 percent of respondents found environmental policy to be important or very important. Environmental policy was the least influential in Americans' presidential choice, Harris found.

* The gap in importance between energy and environmental policy grows according to age, Harris Interactive reported, with energy policy holding only a 3 percent advantage over environmental policy, 66 to 63 percent, for Americans between the ages of 18-35.

* Among 36-47 year olds, the gap in the importance of energy policy as compared to environmental policy increased to 10 percentage points, 74-64 percent. The gap grew 13 points among 48-66 year olds and 90 percent of those 67 and older found energy policy important in choosing a president, compared to 74 percent who placed importance on a candidate's environmental policy.

* Harris Interactive found that 48 percent of Americans most often identify nuclear power as an energy source that is harmful or very harmful to the environment, with clean coal being considered harmful or very harmful.

* Fewer than a fourth of Americans believe that natural gas is either harmful or very harmful. Another 40 percent rate it as "not that harmful" while nearly 20 percent believe it is not at all harmful to the environment.

* Thirty-one percent of the respondents to the Harris poll stated that the potential benefits of natural gas hydraulic fracturing -- known as "fracking" -- outweigh the risks. Thirty-two percent believe the risks outweigh the benefits. Thirty-eight percent stated that they are unsure and that more education is needed on the fracking process and its implications.

* While both energy and environmental policies were regarded as less influential in deciding on a candidate than the economy, tax, jobs, healthcare and foreign policies, Harris Interactive Vice President and Senior Consultant Sarah Simmons stated that energy remains an important policy to Americans.

* "Even after the election is over," Simmons said, "energy will remain an important subject for Americans because it is also central to so many other policies, especially economic, jobs and environmental policies."

* Energy pricing has a significant impact on families, Simmons added, as it involves the price paid at the pump, the ability of businesses to increase the workforce, its influence on the nation's economic health and way of life.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/poll-shows-voters-placing-energy-policy-over-environment-192100026.html

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Environmental Health Science Faculty Positions - Public Health ...

Environmental Health Science Faculty Positions Job Code: IN-PBHL12103 POSTED: Oct 24 Salary: Open Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Employer: Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health Type: Full Time - Experienced Sector: Public Health Discipline: Academic / Research Required Education: Doctorate ? ?

About Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health Join the faculty of the new Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). The IUPUI Campus is the focal point of health professions education at Indiana University. The School of Public Health has strong linkages with the School of Medicine and other academic and research units on campus that contribute to successful collaboration in research and service activities. The IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Publi....more info View all our jobs

The IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health is recruiting two highly motivated environmental health scientists to teach public health courses, advise students, conduct research and engage in professional service. The faculty rank for these positions is open and will be determined based on the qualifications and experience of the successful candidates. Applicants should have a research track record and interests in one or more of the core fields of Environmental Health Science or a related discipline. NOTES: 2 openings. Additional Salary Information: Salary will be commensurate with rank and experience.

The successful candidates will have: A doctorate in environmental health science or public health with an emphasis in environmental health, industrial hygiene, toxicology, environmental engineering, or related field. A developing or active program of funded research in environmental health science or related fields. Teaching experience or strong interest in teaching courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels in areas such as environmental health, air pollution and control, food safety and sanitation, environmental toxicology, environmental risk assessment, environmental health policy, and occupational health and safety. Clear evidence of academic scholarship in environmental health sciences or a closely related field. Applicants should submit a curriculum vita, cover letter, and names and contact information for six references in the relevant areas described above. Electronic submissions should be addressed to Eric R. Wright, PhD, Professor, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and sent to Amanda Baldwin, Financial Services Coordinator for Administration and Finance fsphsrch@iupui.edu. Inquiries about these positions should be sent to Steven Lacey, PhD, Environmental Health Concentration Director at selacey@iupui.edu. IUPUI is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution M/F/D.

Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health

Indianapolis IN

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Source: http://careers.apha.org/jobs/4965272/environmental-health-science-faculty-positions

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Grandmas made humans live longer: Chimp lifespan evolves into human longevity, computer simulation shows

ScienceDaily (Oct. 23, 2012) ? Computer simulations provide new mathematical support for the "grandmother hypothesis" -- a famous theory that humans evolved longer adult lifespans than apes because grandmothers helped feed their grandchildren.

"Grandmothering was the initial step toward making us who we are," says Kristen Hawkes, a distinguished professor of anthropology at the University of Utah and senior author of the new study published Oct. 24 by the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The simulations indicate that with only a little bit of grandmothering -- and without any assumptions about human brain size -- animals with chimpanzee lifespans evolve in less than 60,000 years so they have a human lifespan. Female chimps rarely live past child-bearing years, usually into their 30s and sometimes their 40s. Human females often live decades past their child-bearing years.

The findings showed that from the time adulthood is reached, the simulated creatures lived another 25 years like chimps, yet after 24,000 to 60,000 years of grandmothers caring for grandchildren, the creatures who reached adulthood lived another 49 years -- as do human hunter-gatherers.

The grandmother hypothesis says that when grandmothers help feed their grandchildren after weaning, their daughters can produce more children at shorter intervals; the children become younger at weaning but older when they first can feed themselves and when they reach adulthood; and women end up with postmenopausal lifespans just like ours.

By allowing their daughters to have more children, a few ancestral females who lived long enough to become grandmothers passed their longevity genes to more descendants, who had longer adult lifespans as a result.

Hawkes conducted the new study with first author and mathematical biologist Peter Kim, a former University of Utah postdoctoral researcher now on the University of Sydney faculty, and James Coxworth, a University of Utah doctoral student in anthropology. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Australian Research Council.

How Grandmothering Came to Be

Hawkes, University of Utah anthropologist James O'Connell and UCLA anthropologist Nicholas Blurton Jones formally proposed the grandmother hypothesis in 1997, and it has been debated ever since. Once major criticism was that it lacked a mathematical underpinning -- something the new study sought to provide.

The hypothesis stemmed from observations by Hawkes and O'Connell in the 1980s when they lived with Tanzania's Hazda hunter-gatherer people and watched older women spend their days collecting tubers and other foods for their grandchildren. Except for humans, all other primates and mammals collect their own food after weaning.

But as human ancestors evolved in Africa during the past 2 million years, the environment changed, growing drier with more open grasslands and fewer forests -- forests where newly weaned infants could collect and eat fleshy fruits on their own.

"So moms had two choices," Hawkes says. "They could either follow the retreating forests, where foods were available that weaned infants could collect, or continue to feed the kids after the kids are weaned. That is a problem for mothers because it means you can't have the next kid while you are occupied with this one."

That opened a window for the few females whose childbearing years were ending -- grandmothers -- to step in and help, digging up potato-like tubers and cracking hard-shelled nuts in the increasingly arid environment. Those are tasks newly weaned apes and human ancestors couldn't handle as infants.

The primates who stayed near food sources that newly weaned offspring could collect "are our great ape cousins," says Hawkes. "The ones that began to exploit resources little kids couldn't handle, opened this window for grandmothering and eventually evolved into humans."

Evidence that grandmothering increases grandchildren's survival is seen in 19th and 20th century Europeans and Canadians, and in Hazda and some other African people.

But it is possible that the benefits grandmothers provide to their grandchildren might be the result of long postmenopausal lifespans that evolved for other reasons, so the new study set out to determine if grandmothering alone could result in the evolution of ape-like life histories into long postmenopausal lifespans seen in humans.

Simulating the Evolution of Adult Lifespan

The new study isn't the first to attempt to model or simulate the grandmother effect. A 1998 study by Hawkes and colleagues took a simpler approach, showing that grandmothering accounts for differences between humans and modern apes in life-history events such as age at weaning, age at adulthood and longevity.

A recent simulation by other researchers said there were too few females living past their fertile years for grandmothering to affect lifespan in human ancestors. The new study grew from Hawkes' skepticism about that finding.

Unlike Hawkes' 1998 study, the new study simulated evolution over time, asking, "If you start with a life history like the one we see in great apes -- and then you add grandmothering, what happens?" Hawkes says.

The simulations measured the change in adult longevity -- the average lifespan from the time adulthood begins. Chimps that reach adulthood (age 13) live an average of another 15 or 16 years. People in developed nations who reach adulthood (at about age 19) live an average of another 60 years or so -- to the late 70s or low 80s.

The extension of adult lifespan in the new study involves evolution in prehistoric time; increasing lifespans in recent centuries have been attributed largely to clean water, sewer systems and other public health measures.

The researchers were conservative, making the grandmother effect "weak" by assuming that a woman couldn't be a grandmother until age 45 or after age 75, that she couldn't care for a child until age 2, and that she could care only for one child and that it could be any child, not just her daughter's child.

Based on earlier research, the simulation assumed that any newborn had a 5 percent chance of a gene mutation that could lead to either a shorter or a longer lifespan.

The simulation begins with only 1 percent of women living to grandmother age and able to care for grandchildren, but by the end of the 24,000 to 60,000 simulated years, the results are similar to those seen in human hunter-gatherer populations: about 43 percent of adult women are grandmothers.

The new study found that from adulthood, additional years of life doubled from 25 years to 49 years over the simulated 24,000 to 60,000 years.

The difference in how fast the doubling occurred depends on different assumptions about how much a longer lifespan costs males: Living longer means males must put more energy and metabolism into maintaining their bodies longer, so they put less vigor into competing with other males over females during young adulthood. The simulation tested three different degrees to which males are competitive in reproducing.

What Came First: Bigger Brains or Grandmothering?

The competing "hunting hypothesis" holds that as resources dried up for human ancestors in Africa, hunting became better than foraging for finding food, and that led to natural selection for bigger brains capable of learning better hunting methods and clever use of hunting weapons. Women formed "pair bonds" with men who brought home meat.

Many anthropologists argue that increasing brain size in our ape-like ancestors was the major factor in humans developing lifespans different from apes. But the new computer simulation ignored brain size, hunting and pair bonding, and showed that even a weak grandmother effect can make the simulated creatures evolve from chimp-like longevity to human longevity.

So Hawkes believes the shift to longer adult lifespan caused by grandmothering "is what underlies subsequent important changes in human evolution, including increasing brain size."

"If you are a chimpanzee, gorilla or orangutan baby, your mom is thinking about nothing but you," she says. "But if you are a human baby, your mom has other kids she is worrying about, and that means now there is selection on you -- which was not on any other apes -- to much more actively engage her: 'Mom! Pay attention to me!'"

"Grandmothering gave us the kind of upbringing that made us more dependent on each other socially and prone to engage each other's attention," she adds.

That, says Hawkes, gave rise to "a whole array of social capacities that are then the foundation for the evolution of other distinctly human traits, including pair bonding, bigger brains, learning new skills and our tendency for cooperation."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/M3hl1W-j8Ac/121023204142.htm

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Hunted No More

A heart breaking story. A corrupt government. And a guild of assassins. This can only lead to violence and betrayal.

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Hey could I have the second in command? This looks awesome!

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Symantec beats Street, new CEO begins to make his mark

BOSTON, Oct 24 - Symantec Corp reported results ahead of Wall Street expectations as its new chief executive took direct control of the company's sales force as part of an effort to turn around the maker of security software.

Shares in the company, which had fired its previous CEO, Enrique Salem, in July after its stock had languished for years, rallied 9 percent in extended trade.

"The company is performing pretty well in a tough environment. You have a new CEO who is off to a good start," said Daniel Ives, analyst with FBR Capital Markets.

The new CEO, Steve Bennett, said in a conference call that the company is continuing with a previously announced strategic and operational review and plans to announce the results of that evaluation in late January.

"We continue to evaluate all strategic alternatives to create shareholder value," Bennett said. He added that he was starting with "a clean piece of paper."

The company issued a profit outlook for fiscal third-quarter, which ends in December, that was below Wall Street expectations as Bennett said he plans to boost spending in some areas.

Symantec said it expects to post third-quarter profit, excluding items, of 36 cents to 38 cents per share, below the average forecast of 42 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It forecast third-quarter revenue of $1.72 billion TO $1.75 billion, compared with the average forecast of $1.72 billion.

Bennett said that the profit shortfall was partly due to plans to boost investment in some areas, including providing technical support for its products, where the company had wrongly cut back to keep expenses down.

"We were reducing costs in areas that were hurting our position with customers," he said in the conference call.

The company also disclosed that its global sales chief, William Robbins, had stepped down from that post and will be leaving the company.

Bennett, who honed his management chops during a 23-year career at General Electric Co, will directly supervise the company's regional sales executives.

"At this point, you want Mr. Bennett more involved, rather than less," said Ives.

Symantec reported profit, excluding items, of 45 cents per share, during its fiscal second-quarter ended Sept 28, handily beating the average analyst forecast of 38 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Quarterly revenue rose 1 percent from a year earlier to $1.7 billion, beating the Street view of $1.66 billion.

Symantec shares were quoted at $18.94 in extended trade, up 9 percent from their Nasdaq close of $17.37.

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/symantec-profit-falls-ceo-conducts-strategic-review-201923823--sector.html

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7 Reasons for Your Business to Use Social Network - 4pm blog

Social networking is now a crucial element for most Irish businesses as they offer a more interactive platform to engage with your consumers.
Cost efficiency ? Social networks can generate greater exposure for your products and services in a cost efficient manner which allows smaller companies to compete on a more level playing field against their larger counterparts.

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Authority ? As well as being cost efficient social networks, can allow to to display and position yourself as an authority in your industry which gives your existing and potential customers the impression that they are dealing with a reputable business.

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Viral potential ? Social networks allow your message to reach a large audience, creating new fans and followers as well as sales prospects. To utilise this you need to ensure your content is relevant to the particular audience you are trying to engage. For example, real estate agents could post information and tips for first time buyers.

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A more engaging communications platform ? Social networks can add value to the company/consumer relationship, as they enable consumers to express themselves. This is beneficial to your company as you can quickly discover who is interested in your products or services. Additionally, customers can write about their positive experiences with your company (electronic word-of-mouth), which has been proven to positively influence other customers.

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Commercial potential ? Being able to subtly push your products/services through social networks raises awareness of your brand.

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Reputation management ? You have the ability to be part of the conversation to resolve any issues customers may have as well as having the ability to steer the conversation away from negatively into more positive directions.

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Consumers who use Facebook and Google+ at least once a day, by age. (ROI, July, 2012)

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(Source: Mintel)

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As the table above suggests a significant proportion of the population use social networking sites daily.It is vital that your company is present on at least one, but preferably all of the largest eg. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube as well as maintaining a blog if possible.
To find out more about how your company can utilise social networks get in touch with us today!

?

Email: charlotte@4pm.ie
Phone: +35315252177

Source: http://blog.4pm.ie/2012/10/7-reasons-for-your-business-to-use-social-network/

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Syria opposition chief doubts truce can take hold

FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 file photo, a Free Syrian Army fighter shoots his machine gun towards Syrian Army positions in the Amriya district of Aleppo, Syria. Piece by piece, Syria's rebels are slowly starting to expand their arsenal and get their hands on more advanced weapons, something that has been their constant aim in the 19-month-old uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The process still appears to be haphazard and improvised: Far from a reliable, organized pipeline, it often remains a scramble by individual units in the highly fragmented rebel forces to obtain what they can. Most units still rely on their staple arsenal of automatic weapons, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades. (AP Photo/ Manu Brabo, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 file photo, a Free Syrian Army fighter shoots his machine gun towards Syrian Army positions in the Amriya district of Aleppo, Syria. Piece by piece, Syria's rebels are slowly starting to expand their arsenal and get their hands on more advanced weapons, something that has been their constant aim in the 19-month-old uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The process still appears to be haphazard and improvised: Far from a reliable, organized pipeline, it often remains a scramble by individual units in the highly fragmented rebel forces to obtain what they can. Most units still rely on their staple arsenal of automatic weapons, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades. (AP Photo/ Manu Brabo, File)

BEIRUT (AP) ? The leader of the main Syrian opposition group says chances are slim that a U.N.-proposed truce for a Muslim holiday this week can take hold in Syria, partly because the plan is too vague.

The U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, has proposed that both sides lay down their arms during Eid al-Adha, a four day holiday that begins Friday.

However, neither Syrian President Bashar Assad nor rebels fighting to topple him have committed to a truce.

Abdelbaset Sieda, head the opposition Syrian National Council, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that rebel fighters are willing to halt fighting during the holiday, but will respond if attacked.

Sieda says he doubts the regime will honor the cease-fire and that Brahimi doesn't have "any mechanism to observe the situation."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-23-Syria/id-663515bdc4d746e7b8c22bdb5b6dae22

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Alabama bluesman loves the sounds of Canada

It all came down to finding the right piano when David Vest set out to record his latest blues CD.

The Alabama native, who?s played traditional blues with Big Joe Turner and was co-leader of the Paul deLay Band, doesn?t think electronic keyboards are any substitute for the resonance of a really great, traditionally built piano.

When Vest heard of sound engineer Jeremy Darby?s The Canterbury Studio in Toronto, he was impressed by its client list of Tony Bennett, k.d. lang, Van Morrison and the Cowboy Junkies.

But he was equally thrilled to be tickling Darby?s well-tuned ivories.

The studio?s hand-built, Japanese-made Shigeru Kawai piano had all the tonal richness Vest was looking for ? and he believes the proof is in the recording.

The first music critic who reviewed the album East Meets Vest made reference to the lush keyboards. ?The first thing he noticed was how gorgeous the piano was,? added the Victoria-based musician, with a chuckle.

The CD also contains virtuoso playing from Fathead guitarist Teddy Leonard, and bassist Gary Kendall and drummer Mike Fitzpatrick from the seminal Canadian Downchild Blues Band.

There?s a special guest appearance, as well, from guitarist Paul James, who joins in for his own Boogie Woogie Baby track.

Vest will bring the whole band (except for James) with him when he performs on Friday, Oct. 26, at the Central Music Festival Society?s Halloween Dance and Costume Ball at Red Deer?s Elk Lodge.

The 68-year-old urges local blues fans to get out their dancing shoes because he predicts the joint is going to be jumpin?.

Vest will play selections from the album, which was supposed to be a live-off-the-floor CD of all-original songs, but it became more weighted towards blues standards as the recording process went on.

The band?s sound was so tight that Vest suddenly had the urge to record some of the tunes he?s been playing since his youth. ?I?m from Alabama and they?re (the rest of the musicians) from Southern Ontario, but musically we come from the same place,? said Vest, who laid down recordings of Big Joe Turner?s Low Down Dog, Avery Parish?s After Hours and Memphis Slim?s Wish Me Well, among others.

He also recorded three of his own songs, including Shake What You Got, which is getting radio play on blues stations all over Canada and some in the U.S.

East Meets Vest is at No. 9 on the Canadian Roots Music Chart ? which isn?t bad, considering No. 8 is Leonard Cohen and No. 11 is Ian Tyson, said Vest, with a laugh.

The musician, who moved north of the border a few years ago after marrying a choir singer from Victoria, said he?s been focusing his career in this country now. ?I have this ambition of wanting to play everywhere in Canada.?

Vest has already performed in Whitehorse and Montreal, but still needs to get to Yellowknife, Halifax and St. John?s, Nfld.

He confessed that he loves playing deep, traditional blues for people who rarely hear it played live, because the awed audience response ?really lifts you up. . . .

?I?ve played the blues since 1957 and it?s gone in and out of style so many times since then. There were times in my career when you could hardly give it away,? admitted Vest, who noted synthesized music had become all the rage.

But the authenticity of the blues keeps it coming back, he added, ?and I?m pleased to be part of the scene.?

Tickets to the 8 p.m. dance are $20 at the door, or in advance from www.centralmusicfest.com (festival volunteers from 2007 to 2012 get in for half price).

lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com

Source: http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/entertainment/Alabama_bluesman_loves_the_sounds_of_Canada_174885071.html

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Whistleblowers Beware: Big Risks In Leaking Information... | Stuff.co.nz

EMPLOYMENT MATTERS - PETER CULLEN

OPINION: Few readers will recognise the name Paolo Gabriele, but they might know him as the Pope's ex-butler. Gabriele copied the Pope's private papers and provided them to a journalist who in due course published them.

He claimed he was motivated by a desire to root out "corruption and evil" which he alleged was at the heart of the Catholic Church, but ultimately Gabriele's actions led to his dismissal.

He has since been convicted of the theft of the documents and sentenced to a modest term in jail.

Gabriele is certainly not the first employee to be guilty of leaking his employer's confidential information. Nowadays, not only do employees often know a lot more about their employers than was the case previously but the speed at which information can spread has increased significantly.

Prince Harry's recent naked antics are a good example of just how quickly information can flash around the world. In the old days, perhaps only the prince's closest advisers would know and who would they tell? If they went to tell the editor of The Times, they would end up in the Tower and certainly nothing would be published. But how the world has changed.

Today, leaking information is in vogue. Overseas we have seen Wikileaks, while in New Zealand Nicky Hager's books relied in large part on leaked information. Hager's book Other People's Wars in particular is riddled with leaks which seem to have been largely ignored. Separate alleged incidents involving MFAT, the GCSB and ACC have also been featured heavily in the news.

Sympathy for those who leak information seems to be growing. However, employees found to be responsible face serious consequences.

Some years ago, Mrs X, an employee of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, leaked documents that suggested there were irregularities in the Stock Exchange's financial processes. These documents were tabled in Parliament by an MP.

The Stock Exchange hired a private investigator and alleged that Mrs X was responsible for the leak. Despite the MP saying that to the best of his knowledge Mrs X was not involved, the investigation by the Stock Exchange concluded that she probably was responsible. Mrs X was dismissed.

The law does recognise that there are certain situations where confidential information can be leaked. The key piece of legislation in this area is the Protected Disclosures Act which protects employees, both in the public and private sector, who "blow the whistle" on serious wrongdoing by their employer.

The act, however, requires an employee to first raise their concerns with their employer before they can go to an appropriate authority such as police, the Serious Fraud Office, the Ombudsman or in some instances, a minister of the Crown. The act does not protect employees who leak confidential information to the press.

Where the Protected Disclosures Act does not apply, courts may still find a way to protect employees who have leaked information.

In a case involving Air New Zealand, pilots were sued after they questioned the airworthiness of a certain aircraft leased by their employer in an article published by The Listener magazine.

Sir Robin Cooke, president of the Court of Appeal at the time, suggested it could be arguable in an extreme case, and as a last resort, that senior employees had an overriding duty to disclose serious doubts about the safety of an aircraft.

Similarly, the famous English jurist Lord Denning has suggested that an exception to the duty not to disclose confidential information exists.

In a case involving the exposure of an illegal price ring between laundries, Lord Denning held that the leaking of confidential information can be acceptable where there is "any misconduct of such nature that it ought in the public interest to be disclosed".

If the serious wrongdoing test under the whistleblower legislation is not satisfied, it would be a rare case indeed that follows Sir Robin Cooke's guidance.

However, it is clear that the public's view on this matter is changing. We now live in a new age where the rule of popes, monarchs and employers is no longer inviolate.

The speed with which information flows is only going to accelerate and employees will continue to be trusted with the confidential information of their employers.

Today a leaker may not lose their head, but if caught, they will almost certainly lose their job. So leakers beware!

Peter Cullen is a partner at Cullen - the Employment Law Firm, and can be contacted at peter@cullenlaw.co.nz

- ? Fairfax NZ News

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/7848335/Whistleblowers-beware-Risks-in-leaking-info

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Wiz Khalifa & Amber Rose Reveal Gender Of Unborn Baby!

Wiz Khalifa & Amber Rose Reveal Gender Of Unborn Baby!

Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose are having a baby boy. The model, who is expecting her first child with the rapper, accidentally spilled the beans [...]

Wiz Khalifa & Amber Rose Reveal Gender Of Unborn Baby! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/10/wiz-khalifa-amber-rose-reveal-gender-of-unborn-baby/

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Switched On: Sell the hardware, attract the apps

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Microsoft has finally revealed details on the pricing for the all-singing, all-dancing Surface RT. True to Steve Ballmer's word, the Windows RT device is priced competitively with the iPad. It is, in fact, the same price as the entry-level, now not-so "new iPad" and with double the flash memory, an advantage that may change by the time the Surface ships.

The commercial shows off the device's signature hardware features -- the kickstand and touch keyboard cover -- and plays up the "click" they make when they attach to the Surface, which is of course similar to the "click" made when an Apple Smart Cover connects to an iPad. And in a bit of irony for a product that is more focused on tapping than the mouse clicks of the desktop mouse, its campaign slogan is "click in." (It also raises the question as to why people would be constantly attaching the sold-separately touch keyboard when it doubles as a cover, but it is a commercial after all.) While expensive relative to the price of the device, Microsoft's keyboard covers represent an extension of one of Apple's best-conceived iPad accessories (the Smart Cover) that far exceeds one of their worst (the original iPad keyboard dock).

Continue reading Switched On: Sell the hardware, attract the apps

Filed under: Tablets, Software, Microsoft

Switched On: Sell the hardware, attract the apps originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Oct 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/e3jyat_tP2E/

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Gostkowski FG in OT gives Pats 29-26 win over Jets

	Essential News from The Associated Press

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Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-10-21-Jets-Patriots/id-00f52d6994d6426abecedc0781ab839e

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Pakistani army strategy in question after attacks

MINGORA, Pakistan (AP) ? The Taliban's horrific attack on a female teenage activist in this scenic corner of Pakistan's northwest was the latest in a series of assassination attempts by militant sleeper cells in the area over the last year, each carried out with targeted shots to the head.

The insurgents activated their networks in the Swat Valley to take advantage of the army's decision to reduce its presence and accelerate the transition of security and governance to civilian authorities in the wake of a big offensive in 2009 to push out the Taliban.

The valley is in little danger of falling under the militants' control again anytime soon. But the resurgent threat raises questions about the army's ability to hand over control to civilians in Swat and other areas of the northwest where soldiers are fighting the Taliban, a fundamental part of the military's counterterror strategy.

Building effective civilian government and law enforcement is not only critical so the military can withdraw, but also to address local grievances related to development and justice that can fuel support for the insurgents.

The Taliban shot and wounded 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai as she was heading home from school in Swat's main town of Mingora on Oct. 9. The militants targeted the girl because she was an outspoken opponent of the group and promoted "Western thinking," such as girls' education.

The militants have carried out at least half a dozen other assassination attempts against their opponents in Swat since the end of last year, killing four people and wounding several others, said security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Haji Zahid Khan, a member of a major tribal council in Swat, was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in August but managed to survive. Khan criticized the army and police for not taking his case seriously enough, which he believes emboldened the militants.

"Had they arrested the culprits in my case, the network that was working could have been traced," said Khan. "The Malala incident could not have happened."

Investigations into the shootings indicated the attackers came from Afghanistan, where many militants fled following the army offensive in 2009, said Kamran Rehman Khan, the top government official in Swat. The militants worked with networks of sympathizers in Swat who provided weapons, ammunition, cell phones and other logistical support, he said.

The insurgents activated their networks to take advantage of the army's decision to reduce its presence in Swat. The military has decreased the 40 checkpoints it had in the area by almost half in the last year, although the number of troops in the valley has stayed the same, said Khan, the senior government official.

The army launched its offensive in Swat in the spring of 2009 with about 25,000 troops and originally planned to hand over control to civilian authorities and pull out over a period of about two years. That hasn't happened because the civilians haven't proven capable of handling security, say military officials.

The number of police in Swat has more than doubled to about 3,700, said Khan, but police in the country routinely lack sufficient resources and would likely have trouble keeping the militants at bay.

For this reason, the army still has about 12,500 soldiers in Swat and has plans to build permanent bases for some of them. The military hopes to reduce the number of troops by 50 percent next year, but experts are doubtful.

"The civilians don't feel confident enough to manage the area in the absence of the military, so the military will stay," said Pakistani defense analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.

The inability to pass the baton to civilians in Swat raises questions about what the military plans to do in the adjacent tribal region, which serves as the main sanctuary for the Taliban in the country and is even less developed than Swat. The army has over 100,000 troops fighting in the semiautonomous region, and the experience in Swat indicates the generals will have difficulty pulling them out.

"I don't think they will be able to withdraw easily from the tribal areas because they have not been able to control them successfully and there is hardly any civilian structure to hand off to in these areas," said Rizvi.

The military may be more effective at handling security, but there are concerns its long-term presence could fuel resentment that could be exploited by the militants. Human rights organizations have accused the army of rounding up scores of suspected militants in Swat since the 2009 offensive and never producing them in court ? allegations denied by the military. The practice "can create hatred against the army," said Khan, the tribal council member.

But that doesn't necessarily mean residents want the military to leave. Even with the recent attacks, security in Swat is far better than it was a few years ago when the Taliban routinely beheaded people and left them in the streets as a warning.

"If the army goes," said Dolat Khan, a drugstore owner in Swat, "there could be a civil war."

____

Abbot reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Zarar Khan contributed to this report from Islamabad.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pakistani-army-strategy-attacks-162110448.html

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Must Get A Property? Try This Advice | Travel

There are lots of points which should be taken into account when choosing a house of any sort. Generating a single wrong decision could actually outcome the result of your respective buying decision. This article was written that will help you find the tips that can help you make your right choices in relation to acquiring real estate property.

Dealing with your real estate agent to get ready the real estate obtain commitment is a very important task. You need to be certain that things are all clearly spelled out regarding what things have to be still left in the house and what sell house fast steps the vendor is responsible for. The better plainly the contract is composed, the better it will likely be for yourself when you go to shutting down you don?t want any unexpected unexpected situations.

Are you interested in getting real estate property? Try to keep to hold in touch with other real estate property buyers. Other real estate property buyers can have beneficial wisdom or advice for you personally. Join a community forum, go to the talk room, or meet with some of these like-minded people in the real world. It can certainly help you feel more lucrative.

Buying real-estate in this particular marketplace can continue to get you to dollars. With prices well below the cost to replace your building it provides moved to a purchase & hold strategy rather than the fast flipping of prior several years. But there are a few great bargains now available from the peak price ranges of 2006.

The proper time and energy to purchase a house is constantly now, presented you will be ready. Interest levels go up and down so does the marketplace. Property transactions should occur when you find yourself completely ready, not as soon as the stars are in-line. Some time to purchase is when you have accomplished your research and discovered the home which enables you content.

You ought to seriously think about choosing a 30-calendar year set-amount house loan if at all possible. Getting a 15 or 20-12 months house loan might appear to be it is better because you will certainly be completed with your instalments faster, nevertheless these home mortgages have a much bigger monthly instalment and this is something that may end up very stress filled after some time. You can expect to pay out much more for any fixed interest rate home loan, however it is much easier when you are aware the things you payments will not likely modify. If you choose to not select a set rate, you need to know that an increase in the interest rate of the quarter of a single percentage level can increase your repayments considerably.

Possess a sizable downpayment. It is probable currently to get down just a little bit of funds when you buy a residence, but think about this: the better money you pay beforehand, you will pay significantly less over the cost of the financing. Recall that there are rates included, so pay far more these days so that you don?t spend more later on.

Before you decide to establish the price collection of the house that it is advisable to purchase, you require to take a look at what amount of cash you have saved up in your bank account. This will explain how much you can manage to set downward when your deposit and also ensuring that you would have sufficient for shutting down charges and transferring bills.

Privately job interview several real estate professionals prior to making a decision in one. You will be having faith in a realtor with a huge expenditure. It is important to find one meticulously. Our recommendation is that you job interview a minimum of 3 or higher. Should you be unsatisfied, always keep looking around for the right one particular.

When choosing a property, put down no less than 20 or so percent from the house?s selling price as the advance payment. In the event you put lower less than this volume, you will usually be must buy personal house loan insurance policy (PMI). This payment is just about 1 / 2 of a percentage, which would talk about $1000 each year on a $200,000 home.

Despite the fact that buying a home might be a neurological wracking process, the final result of having the property you have dreamed about helps make the method worth it. Learn all you are able about the procedure of buying property before you head out on your look for. The greater you realize, the easier it will

Source: http://nicoleevaemery.com/real-estate/must-get-a-property-try-this-advice/

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Voice software helps study of rare Yosemite owls

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) ? In the bird world, they make endangered condors seem almost commonplace.

The unique Great Gray Owls of Yosemite, left to evolve after glacial ice separated them from their plentiful Canadian brethren 30 millennia ago, are both a mystery and concern to the scientists charged with protecting them.

With fewer than 200 in existence in this small pocket of the Sierra Nevada, the slightest disturbances by humans can drive the extremely shy birds from their nests, disrupting sporadic mating cycles that ebb and flow annually depending upon food availability.

So this summer, researchers found a way to abandon their traditional heavy-handed trapping, banding and the blasting of owl calls in favor of the kind of discrete, sophisticated technology used by spies and forensic scientists.

They hope to lessen human influence on this subspecies of owls prized for the potential insights their survival offers into habitat-specific evolution.

"Even if it takes only 15 minutes to trap a bird, it's traumatic for them in the long term," said Joe Medley, a PhD candidate in ecology at UC Davis who perfected computer voice recognition software to track the largest of North America's owls. "With a population this small, we want to err on the side of caution in terms of the methods we use to get data."

Medley placed 40 data-compression digital audio recorders around the mid-elevation meadows typically favored by the owl known as Strix nebulosa Yosemitensis, hoping to identify them by their mating, feeding and territorial calls.

He ended up with 50 terabytes of owl calls mixed with airplanes flying overhead, frogs croaking, coyotes yipping, bears growling and even the occasional crunch of fangs on pricy microphones ? so much data it would have taken seven years to play back.

He then designed algorithms for an existing computer program that would search for the specific frequency and time intervals of the Great Gray Owls' low-pitched hoot "whooo-ooo-ooo-ooo." The program could discern males and females from juveniles, and even identify nesting females calling for food to help determine reproduction success. The results are still being analyzed.

"It's capable of searching a week's worth of data in an hour. What I was left with was owls and a host of other things that fell in the same bandwidth," Medley said.

Most of the world's Great Gray Owls make their homes in northern hemisphere boreal forests, though a few live as far south as Oregon and Idaho. The giants with piercing yellow eyes and 5-foot wingspans have adapted so well to snow that they can dive face-first through up to a foot of it to catch the voles they hear creeping underneath. Their dish-shaped faces work to amplify sound.

During the last ice age 30,000 years ago, a small population in and around what would become the glacially carved landscape of Yosemite was cut off from the others to evolve on their own in a warmer, less snowy climate.

Those owls, now numbering just a couple of hundred, are on California's endangered species list. The giant condors, once nearly extinct, number around 400 in California and the Southwest, and are on the federal endangered list.

"These (owls) exist nowhere else in the world, and where they do occur is a pretty amazing location," said Joshua Hull, a researcher with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis. "These are going in a different evolutionary direction than the others, and we don't know where that is right now."

Scientists from Yosemite, the U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife, with funding from the Yosemite Conservancy, are working to gain a greater understanding of what those differences mean. So far, DNA studies have noted distinct genetic variations between the separated groups in addition to the different food sources and nesting patterns the southern birds have adapted. The birds have very subtle differences in color.

"That's important to know because if it's genetically different, we should try to keep it that way," Hull said. "You wouldn't want to bring in individuals from Oregon to supplement a unique population."

The major threats to their continued survival are the mosquito-borne West Nile Virus ? and humans. A female believed to be the cohort's most reliable breeder was struck and killed by a car in the park in August, prompting slower speed limit warnings to protect the low-flying raptors that rarely lift more than 20 feet above ground.

Because of their rarity, they are highly sought out by birdwatchers whose presence in meadows can deter mating and food foraging, the researchers say. That's why no one will reveal exactly where in the park they are.

"They will abandon their nests if disturbed," said Steve Thompson, Yosemite's branch chief of wildlife management. "It's an extremely low population very vulnerable to natural- and human-caused events. They don't have the ability to rebound the way more abundant species do. We're very protective of them."

So protective that the owls will no longer be trapped to draw blood for studies. Instead researchers are collecting molted feathers to extract and amplify DNA to track lineage, mating patterns, population size, survival rates and even genetic mutations that might occur as the climate changes yet again.

"Genetic mutations occur randomly. It's just chance whether those mutations are advantageous or deleterious to the population," Thompson said. "And all of this is happening over tens of thousands of years, so to me as a biologist it's really exciting to have this demonstration of how evolution occurs."

____

Reach Tracie Cone on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TConeAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/voice-software-helps-study-rare-yosemite-owls-205526943.html

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From Up On Poppy Hill ? Japanese Anime Film Review | Japan ...

A feel good story of young love that was meant to be, then wasn?t, but then was again, is Japan?s animated film of the year ? or so the Japan Academy Prize panel would say.

This is JapanTravelMate.com?s first movie review. I?ve been wanting to watch this Studio Ghibli production for a while, after seeing it promoted by Madman Entertainment as part of the Reel Anime 2012 road show of screenings.

The film?s screenplay was created by Hayao Miyazaki, the anime legend who directed four of Studio Ghibli?s most famous animated movies: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl?s Moving Castle and Ponyo. Hayao takes a step back from the role of director, which is taken on by his son Goro Miyazaki in only his second film.

It?s 1963 in Yokohama (just south of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay) and the busy port city is growing and re-building along with the rest of Japan. The Tokaido line of the bullet train (from Tokyo to Osaka) would open a year later to coincide with the Tokyo 1964 Olympics. Families are re-adjusting after the devastation of World War II and the neighbouring conflict of the Korean War, many without fathers and grandfathers.

All of Japan, not just Tokyo, underwent a huge transition into a new era of infrastructure leading up to the Tokyo 1964 Olympics.

On top of a hill ? let?s call it Poppy Hill ? overlooking the port lives a young girl, a junior high school student named Umi. Umi?s parents aren?t around much and she lives in a boarding house that her grandmother owns, along with her sister. As the oldest of the younglings, Umi has a lot of responsibility and takes on duties like cooking and cleaning in the boarding house, while dealing with school and a potential love interest.

The boarding house where Umi lives with her sister and grandmother is at the very top of Poppy Hill.

Enter ? Shun.

Shun is a strong willed student who goes to high school with Umi. The romance starts when Shun performs a dare-devil trick ? jumping from the student?s club house as a protest to save it from demolition. The young love story with its twists and turns, and the students campaign to save their beloved, but aging club house, comprise the two main plots of the film.

Traditional over-the-top anime emotions in a Japanese junior high school.

This is where I thought the movie was getting into stereotypical love-drama territory, as gaping crowds cooed in awe at the touch of a helping hand as the girl?s cheeks lit up with red blushes. So as not to be a spoiler, I?m not going to say anymore except that it doesn?t continue in the stereotyped fashion ? which makes for an interesting story.

All the teasers on this film talking about the most cutting edge and vibrant animation are all doing their bit to over-hype this award winning Japanese animated film from Miyazaki and son.

Trams were to disappear from Yokohama to make way for cars on street level. Underground railway and subway systems replaced the electric trams.

Although not ?cutting edge?, the animation definitely lives up to its description, that it ?captures the entrancing beauty of Yokomaha?s harbour and lush surrounding hillsides?. The streets of the port city are bustling with traditional vendors and rickshaws alongside speeding Toyopets. At night, red lanterns light up narrow alleyways filled with standup bars and fish sellers. Every scene is filled with hurrying people and flashes of new technology.

In the hillsides, the soundtrack changes to a lazily paced song that could slow your heart to 60 beats per minute. Neighbourhoods are filled with greenery and life seems to go by slowly.

Then, it?s back to school.

The campaign to save the club house is underway with a renovation makeover by the students.

The students are keen on defying the rule of the board that governs the school, and the once boys only club house is filled with students of both sexes all pitching in to pretty the place up. This is where the familiar feeling of junior high school drama comes in ? camaraderie, teamwork and cheeky antics. But will the club house be saved?

Will their efforts to save the precious clubhouse pay off?

Studio Ghibli is basically the Walt Disney of Japan and produces films for families and kids that have appeal to just about anyone.

But being based on the girl?s manga of the same name, this movie seems targeted a bit more towards the ladies. This is definitely a movie for:

• girls to watch,
• to watch with girls,
• or to practice your Japanese listening skills ? which is 50% of the reason I watched the movie.

I definitely enjoyed the film and can see why it won the 2012 Animation of the Year award from the Japan Academy Prize.

Put this one on your ?to watch? list ? but go see Spirited Away first if you haven?t already.

An easter egg from Ghibli Studios. I wonder if they do this in many other movies?

Source: http://japantravelmate.com/from-up-on-poppy-hill-japanese-anime-film-review/

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