Bark in the Park: Walk Your Dog to Help All Dogs (Cats too!) | Steve ...

By Steve Dale, Monday at 7:55 am

Bark in the Park, benefiting the Anti Cruelty Society,?is a Chicago tradition, this 19th annual event kicks off May 4 in Lincoln Park near Montrose Beach. Thousands of dogs will take a leisurely walk the 5K course, though some more serious folks (without a dog) can run the course. The run begins at 9 a.m., and the walk kicks off at 9:15.

Among the many vendors, there will be samples of pheromone products (Adaptil and Feliway) for helping anxious pets, with expert advice. Also, there will be samples of various pet treats. You can "test" your pup in agility....and there are even snacks for people!

By raising funds for Bark in the Park, you are supporting Ant Curelty's open doors for any animal in need 365 days a year. Emcees for the event include myself, Bart Shore of WBBM radio and WLS-TV Roz Varron and Hosea Sanders.

Though the mission is serious, this event puts the fun in fundraising! ?Here are some images from recent Bark in the Park's.

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Filed under: animal shelters, cats, dogs, pets

Tags: Anti Cruelty Society, Bark in the Park, Bart Shore, chicago animal shelter, Dr Lester Fisher, Dr Robyn Barbiers, homeless pets, Hosea Sanders, Roz Varron, Steve Dale, Steve Dale archives, WGN Radio

Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/steve-dales-pet-world/2013/04/bark-in-the-park-walk-your-dog-to-help-all-dogs-cats-too/

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Google Now available on iOS devices starting today

When it comes to major news, we didn't expect to hear much from Google in the run-up to I/O, but clearly, the company just couldn't wait that long. Google Now, a service that Android users have enjoyed for a year, just became available on iOS devices in the form of an update to the Google Search app, confirming those leaked videos we saw a few weeks ago. It won't have integration with notifications or alerts at launch -- it may come in a future update, but the company wasn't willing to divulge its future plans -- so you'll need to enter the app and swipe up to refresh your list of cards. The iOS version won't have every type of card that you'll find on Android, either: boarding passes, activity summary, events, concerts, Fandango and Zillow aren't included this go-round. Improvements and additional features will likely trickle in over time, but it's certainly better than nothing for iOS fans who've looked at Jelly Bean users with a slightly jealous eye. We've included Google's blog post in its entirety below, and you can jump to More Coverage to download the app.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple, Google

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/29/google-now-ios/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Antidepressants linked with increased risks after surgery

Apr. 29, 2013 ? Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) -- among the most widely prescribed antidepressant medications -- are associated with increased risk of bleeding, transfusion, hospital readmission and death when taken around the time of surgery, according to an analysis led by researchers at UC San Francisco and Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass.

The scientists looked at the medical records of more than 530,000 patients who underwent surgery at 375 U.S. hospitals between 2006 and 2008. Their results will be published on April 29 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

"There have been small studies that suggested there was a problem, but it has never been well-proven," said lead author Andrew D. Auerbach, MD, MPH, a UCSF professor of medicine. "With this huge data set, we feel confident in saying that SSRIs are associated with about a 10 percent increased risk for these adverse outcomes."

The study authors noted that patients on SSRIs are more likely to have conditions that in themselves increase surgical risk, such as obesity, chronic pulmonary disease and depression.

To address the question of whether these factors might have accounted for the differences in outcomes, they retrospectively matched patients who had taken SSRIs with patients who were not taking the drugs. After matching and controlling for variables such as age, gender, medical condition and depression, they found that patients on SSRIs still were at increased risk.

The scientists also looked at whether the increased risk could be accounted for by patients receiving SSRIs for the first time before surgery. "This was not the case," said Auerbach. "These drugs are almost never used acutely. They are prescribed for chronic conditions such as depression, almost always for long-term use."

The study was not designed to look at possible causes for the increased risk. However, noted Auerbach, SSRIs are known to interfere with the functioning of platelets -- blood cells that play a crucial role in blood clotting. In turn, platelet dysfunction can lead to excess bleeding.

Auerbach cautioned that since the study was retrospective, "a prospective observational study, in which patients are randomly assigned to take SSRIs around the time of surgery, is still needed."

He said that while it would be premature to advise patients not to take SSRIs before surgery, "it's definitely worth discussing with your surgeon or primary care physician."

Co-authors of the paper are Eric Vittinghoff, PhD and Judith Maselli, MSPH, of UCSF; Penelope S. Pekow, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Baystate Medical Center; John Q. Young, MD, of UCSF; and senior author Peter K. Lindenauer, MD, MSc of Baystate Medical Center and Tufts University.

The study was supported by funds from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (K24HL098372).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The original article was written by Juliana Bunim.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Andrew D. Auerbach et al. Perioperative Use of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Risks for Adverse Outcomes of Surgery. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2013 DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.714

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/depression/~3/rjJbW4TOUlo/130429164638.htm

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Analysis: Tax strategy may be key to Verizon Wireless deal

By Kevin Drawbaugh and Nanette Byrnes

(Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc's chances of buying the 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless owned by the UK's Vodafone Group Plc will hinge, at least in part, on the quality of tax advice it is getting.

Verizon, the No. 2 U.S. telecommunications company, may have found a way to structure a purchase of the stake so that Vodafone can avoid a multi-billion dollar U.S. capital gains tax bill, sources familiar with Verizon's plans said. The possibility of a huge tax bill has previously been regarded by analysts as a big hurdle to any such deal.

Reuters reported last Wednesday that Verizon was preparing a bid worth about $100 billion to take full control of Verizon Wireless - it already owns the other 55 percent - by buying the stake, according to people familiar with the matter. There are no guarantees that Vodafone will want to sell its stake or that Verizon will pursue the plan.

Vodafone declined to comment on the possibility of a Verizon bid for its stake or on the tax question.

One person familiar with the situation said Vodafone cannot consider the size of any tax payout in a possible transaction until the company has received an offer, which it has not.

A Verizon spokesman declined to comment.

Verizon hopes that if it structures a transaction to eliminate much of the tax bill, it can encourage Vodafone to come to the table for talks. Some analysts and investors say Verizon may have to pay as much as $130 billion to clinch the deal.

The tax bill on $100-billion deal, based on a simple acquisition of the stake, would be about $38 billion, according to UBS Investment Research. It could be much higher if the deal's price-tag rises above that figure, UBS noted.

That tax bill is based on the massive growth Verizon Wireless has experienced since it was established 13 years ago. The 45-percent stake that Verizon Communications wants to buy is owned by Vodafone Americas, a U.S. holding company. Given it is a U.S. entity, if Vodafone Americas were to sell that stake outright it would have to pay the full capital gains tax on the stake.

But the sources said Verizon Communications is contemplating a two-part deal that could avoid this. Instead of buying the stake outright, the sources said, Verizon Communications would buy the Delaware-based Vodafone Americas. Analysts said the seller of Vodafone Americas would not be a U.S.-based entity, so no U.S. capital gains tax would be due.

Vodafone's international structure is complicated, involving many holding companies, and the precise ownership of some assets is unclear. Vodafone Americas also owns some of Vodafone's non-US assets, the sources said, probably including some in Germany and Spain. These would be sold back to Vodafone by Verizon Communications, which would keep the Verizon Wireless stake, they said.

The two transactions could be done simultaneously or one after the other.

While the sale of the Verizon Wireless stake would not incur capital gains tax, the sale of the international assets back to Vodafone would. This is because it would involve the sale of assets by Verizon Communications, a U.S. entity.

Compared to Verizon Wireless, the smaller international assets are thought to have gained little in value. Analysts estimated their sale could hit Verizon Communications with a U.S. tax bill of about $5 billion or less.

The sources said that Verizon would seek to pass any tax hit onto Vodafone in the two-part transaction.

LONG COURTSHIP

Verizon has long coveted its partner Vodafone's stake in the Verizon Wireless joint venture, which started operations in 2000.

The last time the two came close to a deal was in 2004, when Vodafone bid for AT&T Wireless. The British company, the world's second-largest mobile operator, however, lost that bid to Cingular and has since held on to the Verizon Wireless stake for its exposure to the U.S. wireless market.

Wall Street analysts had previously seen it as unlikely that Verizon would want to do a deal involving Vodafone Americas' international assets. But those assets have underperformed in recent years when compared with the growth of Verizon Wireless, and are now a smaller part of the holding company, reducing the potential tax hit.

However, the timing of Verizon's interest in doing the deal has more to do with the gains in its stock price and low interest rates, the sources stressed.

Verizon is considering paying about half of the purchase price in cash and half in stock, Reuters reported on Wednesday. That means it may look to raise around $50 billion in debt.

UK TAX QUESTION

The kind of deal structure envisaged would still leave Vodafone with another tax question, said UK academics and analysts: Should it leave the proceeds from any sale offshore or bring them home to the UK?

Leaving the money offshore might invite scrutiny from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which sometimes questions transactions if they seem designed solely to avoid tax and are not based in an underlying economic logic, said Prems Sikka, professor of accounting at the University of Essex in the UK.

If the transaction were shaped the way the sources have described it, Vodafone would probably repatriate the proceeds into Britain, said Charles Merriman, managing director at Merriman Capital Transactions, a consultancy in London.

Once that was done, he said, the company might be able to reduce its tax bill by taking advantage of the UK's substantial shareholdings exemption. Under certain conditions, this exempts from UK corporation taxation any gains realized when one company disposes of shares in another company.

More broadly, though, Vodafone could face a political backlash in the UK from any deal that was clearly structured to avoid taxation, said Robin Bienenstock, senior analyst at Bernstein Research.

U.S. companies such as Starbucks, Amazon and Google have come under fire from British lawmakers for using legal maneuvers to cut their tax bills in the UK.

"The problem with tax is not just the technical ability to avoid it, but the scorched earth that trying to avoid it could leave with the UK government afterwards," said Bienenstock. "Recent tax cases in the UK ... suggest that an attempt to avoid tax on such a large and high profile deal would be very badly received."

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh in Washington, D.C. and Nanette Byrnes in Chapel Hill, N.C.; Additional reporting by Kate Holton and Tom Bergin in London; So Young Kim and Paritosh Bansal in New York; Editing by Martin Howell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-tax-strategy-may-key-verizon-wireless-deal-050341644.html

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Facebook and nonsensical chatters | Morocco World News

By Amine Bendriss

Morocco World News

Azilal, Morocco, April 27, 2013

Strange has become life, especially the virtual life, if it really deserves to be called a life of course. If one were to take a quick glance over some facebookers walls, they would find no difficulty in realizing how absurd and dull the lives of some facebookers have become. That look, be it innocent or sly, makes you realize how some facebookers try to substitute their miserable reality with a boring virtual life which merely consists of clicking on the like button if they like something, on the block button if they?re being disturbed by someone, and typing in the comment section if they have something to say.

One of the aspects of this lifelessness, which I personally find incomprehensible, is the tendency of some people to post some very personal stuff. Here, I curiously wonder about the reasons that make people share these personal posts. Do people feel loneliness and hollowness to the extent that they feel the urge to expose their privacy to anyone on facebook? Or are we really heading towards a life of isolation wherein we communicate only through the internet?

In fact, many people choose to live a prison-like life in front of their computers. A life where with a single click they can communicate with thousands of virtual friends, whereas in their real life they don?t have a single true friend with whom they can share their life hardships.

Another category of facebookers do not only expose their privacy but also trespass your freedom. It happens to me many times, and quite surely it has happened to you at least once. While I scroll up and down my Facebook newsfeed, I often come across some posts that really ignite me. ?If you don?t like this picture you are not a Muslim? or ?Say thank you Allah in a comment or you aren?t thankful to Allah and you will not enter paradise?. These posts suggest either an utterly gross ignorance or crass stupidity. How can a single click lead me to paradise or hell? Religion is something personal and none has the right to dictate to me what to do and not to do with regards to it.

This doesn?t mean that we, facebookers, should not exchange our thoughts and ideas with other. Facebook is a social utility after all. It can be a blessing, but it can also be a curse depending on the level of maturity and awareness of the users. People with a high degree of self-esteem use Facebook to share their thoughts on non-personal matters, to make new friends from different countries and cultures, and to keep in touch with old friends, But if one finds nothing to say, it is better to keep quiet.

? Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/04/88720/facebook-and-nonsensical-chatters/

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Chevron resumes operations in unit closed by fire

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) -- Chevron has resumed operations in a unit at its Bay Area refinery that was shut down after a massive fire last year.

Company officials said during a conference call with analysts Friday that crews had begun feeding crude oil through the unit knocked out by the Aug. 6 fire.

Chevron's chief financial officer, Patricia Yarrington, says the unit at Richmond is expected to be fully operational during the second quarter.

Both Chevron and government investigations have determined that corrosion in a pipe caused a leak that sparked the fire, sending a plume of black smoke over nearby areas.

Since the fire, the refinery had been operating at about 60 percent capacity until very recently. The factory wasn't processing crude oil and instead was being used to blend gasoline.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chevron-resumes-operations-unit-closed-212000370.html

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Stephen Wolfram says he almost had a deal with Google, but it 'blew up'

As you may recall, Wolfram Research signed a deal with Microsoft a few years back that saw some Wolfram Alpha functionality integrated into Bing. As it turns out, it very nearly found its way into a certain other search engine as well. In an interview at The Next Web conference in Amsterdam today, Stephen Wolfram revealed that his company had tried to work with Google and "almost had a deal," but it "blew up." Unfortunately, he didn't provide any further details about when those talks took place or exactly what the potential deal entailed, and it doesn't sound like we can expect that deal to be revived anytime soon -- especially considering Google's own efforts that are increasingly overlapping with Wolfram Alpha. As Wolfram himself notes, though, the two companies do have something of a longstanding connection: Google co-founder Sergey Brin was actually an intern at Wolfram way back in 1993.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: The Next Web

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/27/wolfram-alpha-google-deal-blew-up/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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New study: debt limit deadline likely extended

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The likely deadline for Congress to prevent the government's first default will be later than earlier thought, a Washington think tank has found.

The Bipartisan Policy Center said Friday that the government probably won't reach the brink of default until early September or early October. It had previously said default would come in July or August.

Congress acted to suspend the government's borrowing cap in February, and it will be reset next month. The Treasury Department then can resort to accounting steps to prevent the government from defaulting on bondholders or other obligations such as Social Security.

A 2011 battle between President Barack Obama and Republicans controlling the House over raising the so-called debt ceiling brought the nation close to default and resulted in a hard-fought budget deal. Obama says he won't be bullied on the debt limit again, but many in Washington believe the need to increase the borrowing cap later this year will prompt some kind of budget bargain.

The think tank said higher tax revenues and lower spending ? in part because of across-the-board spending cuts that kicked in after Congress couldn't agree on a follow-up budget pact ? are responsible for the additional leeway. It added that if the government can get through a cash crunch in early September, it will be able to make it until early October before default.

Treasury is declining to reveal its estimate of when the default date would come, saying there's too much uncertainty.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-26-US-Debt-Limit-Deadline/id-452cd67f214045e0abad9cf58382b108

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How To Reach Millions of People with Your Product or Services ...

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Source: http://haminarahman258.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-reach-millions-of-people-with.html

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NBC gives full-season renewals to 5 of its dramas

NEW YORK (AP) ? Television producer Dick Wolf will be busy next season.

NBC said Friday that it has renewed five of its dramas for next season. Two of them ? the long-running "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Chicago Fire" ? are made by Wolf and his team.

"Revolution," ''Parenthood" and "Grimm" were also given the guarantee that they will go on for another year. Each was given a full-season order of 22 new episodes.

It's less than a month before broadcast networks reveal next season's schedule to advertisers. NBC's announcement gives makers of these series some extra time to map out the stories going forward and to write scripts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nbc-gives-full-season-renewals-5-dramas-194101192.html

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Froman, Pritzker in line for U.S. trade and commerce posts: sources

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is close to choosing White House deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs Mike Froman to be the next U.S. trade representative, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

After a long vetting process, Chicago businesswoman and Obama fundraiser Penny Pritzker is still in line to be nominated as Commerce secretary, the sources said.

The two trade jobs are among the final positions Obama has to fill in his second term cabinet.

Froman was an early frontrunner for USTR but sources told Reuters earlier this year he preferred to stay in his current White House job, which includes the trade portfolio along with energy, development, and international economic issues.

Jeff Zients, the long-time acting White House budget director, then became a top contender for the post, but Obama asked him to stay at the budget office.

Pritzker, the 271st richest American according to Forbes magazine, was Obama's national finance chair in 2008 and his campaign co-chair in 2012. Her personal fortune is worth an estimated $1.85 billion, putting her at the pinnacle of the top 1 percent of American households.

The Stanford University-trained lawyer and business woman is on the board of the Hyatt Hotel Corp, which her uncle Jay Pritzker founded in 1957, two years before she was born.

(Additional reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/froman-pritzker-line-u-trade-commerce-posts-sources-132337716.html

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Wall Street gains on earnings, data, but S&P record a hurdle

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Thursday, lifted by stronger-than-expected earnings and a large drop in weekly jobless claims.

The S&P 500, up for five straight sessions, traded within a point of its record closing high before shedding about half of the day's gains. The high was near the 1,593 level that is expected to be technical resistance.

Telecommunications companies' shares led the S&P 500's advance, with the sector's index <.splrcl> up 1.7 percent. Verizon Communications hit a 13-year high with a 2.7 percent jump to $53.22 after sources told Reuters it has hired advisers to prepare a possible bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless.

Dow Chemical posted a 33 percent jump in quarterly profit as farmers in the Americas bought more of its seeds and pesticides, sending its shares up 5.6 percent to $33.97.

Investors expected the first quarter to be difficult for corporate America after cuts in government spending and the increase in the payroll tax earlier in the year.

"But consumers are holding on pretty well," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer of OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

"There's optimism out there that conditions will improve," he said. "There's potential for an uptick in the economy."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 24.50 points or 0.17 percent, to close at 14,700.80. The S&P 500 <.spx> gained 6.37 points or 0.40 percent, to finish at 1,585.16. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> added 20.33 points or 0.62 percent, to close at 3,289.99.

The S&P 500 climbed intraday to a high of 1,592.64 - just a tad below its record closing high of 1,593.37 - set two weeks ago - on April 11.

Expectations were lowered sharply before the start of the current reporting season, and 68 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far have beaten earnings forecasts. However, less than 42 percent have beaten revenue forecasts - below the average beat rate of 52 percent over the last four quarters.

After the closing bell, online retailer Amazon reported solid first-quarter profits as it controlled shipping expenses and other costs, but international revenue growth slowed. Its shares fell 3.9 percent to $264 in after-hours trading, more than offsetting the 2.2 percent gain in the regular session when the stock closed at $274.70.

Thursday's U.S. data gave a less worrisome view of the economy than other data of late. Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the latest week dropped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000 compared with expectations for 351,000.

Cliffs Natural Resources jumped 15 percent to $20.95 after it posted earnings late on Wednesday that were much better than analysts had estimated.

On Nasdaq, Alexion Pharma shares jumped nearly 11 percent after the company reported earnings and revenue above expectations. Akamai Tech soared almost 18 percent after a surge in earnings and a rosy outlook for this quarter. Alexion shares rose 10.7 percent to end at $98.82 and Akamai spiked 17.7 percent to close at $42.48.

UPS Inc , the world's largest package-delivery company, advanced 2.3 percent to $85.42 after it reported a quarterly profit above analysts' estimates.

But Exxon Mobil Corp and 3M Co bucked the trend as their shares fell.

Shares of Exxon Mobil , the world's largest publicly traded oil company, slid 1.5 percent to $88.07 after it said quarterly profit edged up, helped by its chemicals business, but oil and gas production fell.

Fellow Dow component 3M Co lost 2.8 percent to $104.88 after the diversified U.S. manufacturer posted first-quarter earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street's expectations and cut its 2013 profit forecast.

Shares of retailer J.C. Penney rose more than 7 percent to $16.39 in extended-hours trading after billionaire investor George Soros reported a 7.9 percent passive stake in the struggling department store chain. In the regular session, J.C. Penney shares rose 0.3 percent to close at $15.24.

About 7.0 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, more than the daily average so far this year of about 6.38 billion shares.

On the NYSE, advancers outnumbered decliners by a ratio about 2 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, roughly five stocks rose for every three that fell.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-signal-slightly-higher-open-081750934--finance.html

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Leave Her Alone! Stars Defend Kim Kardashian?s Pregnancy Style

Celebs including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Molly Sims react to critics of Kim Kardashian's maternity style and changing pregnant body.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/1KPZGqgjQoE/

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Jim Hoft's Breaking Bombshell of the Day: Victim of Terrorism Visited by Michelle Obama! (Little green footballs)

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EU's Rehn: fiscal adjustment slowing down in Europe

MUNICH, April 23 (Reuters) - Barcelona centre half Gerard Pique acknowledged his team were thoroughly second best as Bayern Munich romped to a 4-0 win in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. "They gave us a thrashing," he said. "We will try to turn it around in the return leg (on May 1) and put in a good performance for the fans. "They were better and faster than us. There is no point talking about the referee, there is no excuse." Arjen Robben, who sparkled on the wing for Bayern and scored one of the goals, hailed his team's spectacular performance. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eus-rehn-fiscal-adjustment-slowing-down-europe-081518681--business.html

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Feds spend at least $890,000 on fees for empty accounts (Washington Post)

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FlipSide Blog | Kids and teens invited to regional &#39;Wicked&#39; workshop ...

A Class Act NY, a Manhattan acting studio for kids and teens, will bring its programs to the area June 2. In conjunction with the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg, Class Act will offer a Wicked Workshop 1 to 5 p.m. with Broadway actor Ben Cameron and a music director. The JCC is at 3301 N. Front St., Harrisburg.

Budding thespians of all skill levels, ages 7 to 16, will learn a song and dance combination and work on a scene. Participants will be divided by age group and can perform an audition song for Cameron and the music director. During a snack break, Cameron will answer kids questions and sign autographs.

Cost is $150 to $175. Space is limited. For details and to register, call 717-236-9555 or visit www.jewishharrisburg.org. For details about ?Wicked,? visit www.wickedthemusical.com.

YSO to host My Opus Magnum summer music camp:
The York Symphony Orchestra will hold its annual Summer Music Camp, My Opus Magnum, 9 a.m. to noon July 22 to 26 at Logos Academy, 250 W. King St., York. The camp will offer youth musicians in grades 3 through 12 the opportunity to learn the steps of creating a song, preparing sheet music and filling out the necessary forms to copyright the material. The camp includes individual coaching using computer software and keyboards. The new head instructor, Chris Whittaker, is a conductor, composer and pianist from York, who now lives in New York City. Cost is $95 per student. A downloadable application can be found at www.yorksymphony.org or by calling 717-812-0717.

I'm a FlipSide reporter covering all things entertainment in the White Rose City and beyond. Contact me at emccracken@ydr.com or leave a comment.

Source: http://www.yorkblog.com/flipside/2013/04/24/kids-and-teens-invited-to-regional-wicked-workshop-june-2-in-harrisburg/

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Dems, GOP press Obama administration on drone use

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate Democrats and Republicans on Tuesday challenged the Obama administration to explicitly spell out its justification for using drones for targeted killings amid growing concerns about unchecked powers of the presidency and Americans' civil liberties.

"Even as President Obama commands a military with the most sophisticated weapons known to man, including the weaponized drones used in targeted killing operations, his authority is still grounded in words written more than 200 years ago," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said at the start of a Senate hearing on the use of drones.

The Obama administration has successfully used drones in the war on terror and argued that the president's authority stems from his constitutional power to protect the United States from imminent attack. The administration also has cited the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which says the commander in chief has the authority for strikes against al-Qaida and its affiliates.

Obama has used the law's authority to target terrorists with fatal drone strikes, including Americans overseas.

The president has promised to explain his policy, but members of Congress argue that he has been less than forthcoming. The issue has created unique alliances on Capitol Hill with liberals joining forces libertarian-leaning Republicans.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told the Senate hearing that drones are technology, but the "real scope of this hearing and of the concern is on the scope of federal power."

Both Durbin and Cruz expressed frustration with the administration, which declined to send a witness to appear before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

The hearing with retired military officers and outside experts comes a month after Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul waged a nearly 13-hour filibuster of CIA Director John Brennan's nomination over whether the president has the authority to use a drone to kill a U.S. citizen on American soil if the citizen is not engaged in combat.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the president does not have that authority.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-23-Congress-Drones/id-3c3e9cc5dac04b30a75d42dac3c919ac

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Why soft corals have unique pulsating motion

Apr. 23, 2013 ? Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have discovered why Heteroxenia corals pulsate. Their work, which resolves an old scientific mystery, appears in the current issue of PNAS.

One of the most fascinating and spectacular sights in the coral reef of Eilat is the perpetual motion of the tentacles of a coral called Heteroxenia (Heteroxenia fuscescens). Heteroxenia is a soft coral from the family Xeniidae, which looks like a small bunch of flowers, settled in the reef walls and on rocky areas on the bottom of the reef. Each "flower" is actually a living polyp, the basic unit which comprises a coral colony. Apparently, the motion of these polyps, resembling flowers that are elegantly spreading out and closing up their petals, is unique in the animal kingdom.

?Except for the familiar swimming motion of jellyfish, no other bottom-attached aquatic animal is known to perform such motions. Pulsation is energetically costly, and hence there must be a reasonable benefit to justify this motion.

The perpetual motions of jellyfish serve them for swimming, predation and feeding. The natural explanation would be that that the Heteroxenia's spectacular motions are used for predation and feeding, however several studies indicate that these corals do not predate on other animals at all. If predation is not the reason for pulsating, there must be another explanation to justify the substantial energetic expense by the Heteroxenia.????

Maya Kremien found the answers to these questions, while working on her master's research at the Interuniversity institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat under the supervision of Prof. Amatzia Genin from the Hebrew University and Prof. Uri Shavit from the Technion in a joint research funded by the National Science Foundation.

After watching several coral colonies with an underwater infrared-sensitive camera night and day, the researchers found their first surprising discovery: Heteroxenia corals cease to pulsate and take a half-hour break every single day in the afternoon hours. At this stage, the afternoon "siestas" remained unexplained.

The labs of Prof. Genin and Prof. Shavit conduct work on the interaction between biological processes of aquatic creatures and the water motions which surround them. Apparently aquatic animals affect the flow and at the same time are absolutely dependent on that flow. In order to solve the mystery of the Heteroxenia coral, the research team developed (as part of Ph.D. work by Tali Mass) an underwater measuring device called PIV (particle imaging velocimetry), which allows measurement of the flow field just around the coral very accurately. The system consists of two powerful lasers, an image capturing system and computation ability. A special set of lenses releases a sheet of light in short, powerful pulses so that the imaging system can capture pairs of snapshots of natural particles moving with the flow. The computational system then performs a mathematical analysis of the pairs of photos, producing a huge database of flow field maps, from which the flow speed, characteristics of solutes transport, and turbulent mixing intensity are calculated.??

The measurements were performed at night with the support of divers who volunteered to assist the research team. It was found that if a diver lightly touched the coral, the polyps "close" and remain motionless for a few minutes, after which the coral returns to its normal pulsation activity. The researchers used this behavior in order to repeatedly measure the flow field around the Heteroxenia during pulsation and rest.

These measurements led to the research group's next discovery. Analysis of the direction of water flow indicated that the motion of the polyps effectively sweeps water up and away from the coral tissues into the ambient water. Corals need carbon-dioxide during daytime and oxygen during nighttime, as well as nutrients (such as phosphate and nitrogen) during day and night. One of the challenges for coral colonies is to render their surrounding waters rich in essential commodities by efficiently mixing the water around them.

By using the sophisticated measuring system, the researchers calculated the mixing intensity of the water as a result of the coral's pulsation. The unexpected discovery was that even though the polyps' motions are uncoordinated (i.e. each polyp starts its period of motion at a different time), the accumulated effect of the polyps? activity is a significant enhancement of the flow around the colony, particularly in the upward direction which sweeps water away from the coral, hence reducing the probability of re-filtration of the same water.

However, these findings still did not yet answer the question of why a coral would invest so much energy to move its tentacles. After receiving a permit from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the research team collected a few Heteroxenia colonies from the sea in order to run a series of laboratory experiments. All corals were returned back to their original location after the experiment terminated. The Hypothesis was that the pulsation motions enhance the coral's photosynthesis rate.

Corals are among the most ancient creatures surviving on our planet. One of the "secrets" of their amazing survival abilities is that they "host" photosynthetic algae in their tissues. The symbiotic algae provides the coral with essential nutrients and lives off the waste of the coral.

In a previous study of the same research team (which the results of were also published in PNAS) it was found that the motion of water around corals is essential in order to enhance the efflux of oxygen from the coral tissues. Without water motion, the oxygen concentration in the coral tissues would rise and the photosynthesis rate would drop.

The answer to the question as to why the Heteroxenia pulsates was finally revealed through the lab experiments. First, the photosynthesis rate of a pulsating Heteroxenia was measured, and it was found to be on an order of magnitude higher than that of a non-pulsating colony. Next, in order to prove that the mechanism of pulsation is intended to sweep away oxygen, the researchers artificially increased the oxygen concentration in the measurement chamber so that even when the coral managed to mix water via pulsation, it was replacing oxygen-rich water with new water, which, unfortunately for the coral , was also rich in oxygen. And indeed it was found that the photosynthesis rate was low in this case, and even when the coral was constantly pulsating, the oxygen concentration remained high and photosynthesis remained low, as if the coral was at rest (i.e. not pulsating).?

The elegant motion of Heteroxenia has been fascinating the scientific society and capturing the attention of researchers for nearly 200 years (Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, 1744-1829), yet it has not been explained. Now, in the study of Kremien, Genin and Shavit, it was found that the pulsation motions augment a significant enhancement in the binding of carbon dioxide to the photosynthetic enzyme RuBisCo, also leading to a decrease in photorespiration. This explanation justifies the investment of energy in pulsation -- the benefit overcomes the cost. In fact, thanks to pulsation, the ratio between photosynthesis to respiration in Heteroxenia is the highest ever measured in stony and non-pulsating soft corals.

The findings of this study indicate that pulsation motions are a highly efficient means for sweeping away water from the pulsating body, and for an increased mixing of dissolved matter between the body and the surrounding medium. These two processes (expulsion of medium and mixing of solutes) may lead to future applications in engineering and medicine. Currently the research group is focusing on attempts to broaden the results of this study and on developing mathematical models which could serve various applicative purposes.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. M. Kremien, U. Shavit, T. Mass, A. Genin. Benefit of pulsation in soft corals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1301826110

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/CQqT9BpWGj4/130423091042.htm

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LG's NYC press event aims to 'share the genius' of the Optimus G Pro

LG's just shed some much-needed light on its May 1st New York event. Turns out the "genius" the company will be celebrating stands for Atlas Genius -- as in the band -- and the star of this fete: the Optimus G Pro. We've already seen and very favorably reviewed the global model of LG's performance flagship (for the G's successor, you'll have to wait until Q3) and now it looks like the US is in store for a potential carrier-branded version of its own. If it arrives internally unmolested, we're looking at a 5.5-inch 1080p True HD IPS+ display, Snapdragon 600 and a 2.1-megapixel / 13-megapixel camera setup capable of dual video recording. We'll be on-site for this stateside debut, so stay tuned for the full monty.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, LG

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/vW5tYZbcn9E/

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AP Source: College Football Playoff to replace BCS

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ? The Bowl Championship Series will be replaced by the College Football Playoff.

A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press the new four-team playoff starting after the 2014 regular season will be called the College Football Playoff, and the conference commissioners will make it official with an announcement later Tuesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the name was not to be released before then.

The major college football conference commissioners are holding three days of meetings in the Rose Bowl's backyard. They also will choose the remaining three sites for the six-bowl semifinal rotation in the new system, along with the site of the first championship game to be held Jan. 12, 2015.

ESPN.com first reported the new name.

The new postseason format will create two national semifinals to be played New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, with the winners advancing. The six bowls in the playoff rotation will host marquee, BCS-type games on New Year's Eve or New Year's day during the seasons they do not host a semifinal.

Three semifinal spots have already been decided: the Rose, Orange and Sugar bowls.

Four other bowls have bid for the other three spots. The clear front-runners are the Cotton, Chick-fil-A and Fiesta. The Holiday Bowl in San Diego also put in a bid, but even its organizers have acknowledged they are a long shot at best to land the game.

Those decisions will be announced Wednesday.

The coaches on the Big 12's spring teleconference were already talking about it the Cotton Bowl having a spot in the rotation as if it was a done deal.

"I think it's really exciting for this region, for everybody, and I think all of the schools in this region, to have Dallas as one of those sites is great for everybody in this region, and exciting for everybody," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "Obviously everybody knows what a great and quality, what an awesome stadium it is, then the location for us is an advantage, or should be.

The first semifinals will be played at the Rose and Sugar bowls.

The site of the first national championship game in the new system will also be determined at these meetings and the finalists are Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the billion dollar home of the NFL team and the Cotton Bowl, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., home of the Buccaneers.

Arlington is the favorite to land that first championship game.

Also on the agenda this week for the commissioners will be the composition of the selection committee that will set the field for the playoff. They have said they would like the committee to be similar to the one that picks the teams for the NCAA basketball tournament, made up of both current and former conference commissioners and athletic directors.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-college-football-playoff-replace-bcs-203209354--spt.html

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Boston to Observe Moment of Silence for Bombing Victims (Voice Of America)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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One of the best buys Ive at any time made | Business Presentation ...

?

I am a media studies pupil and an ardent blogger. Certainly one of my pet hates when viewing other individual?s weblogs will be the over use of stock stills, or pictures discovered by way of a net lookup. So when referring to my personal blog, anywhere possible I really prefer to take my personal photos.

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I never established out to have any sort of profession in pictures, but more than time because I?ve been running a blog I have caught a good quantity of information. And for real reasons, I take advantage of the Canon 7D with a ?battery pack LP-E6. Since it will be the best camera for me.

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It will take superb pictures for the compact.

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It?s cheap on a student?s limited earnings.

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So I need a digital camera that slips merely right into a pocket that?s subtle, that I?ll take out when the perfect second appears.

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This presented 1 problem however ; I forever seemed to be from battery charge lifespan, or operating out of battery life-span. My digital digital camera was occasionally, if at any time in a totally billed state.

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Then I purchased a back again up around the Amazon ; the LP-E6 . That is a 3rd party edition of Canon?s own LP-E6 camera battery. I went with this battery primarily simply because I understood the transport might be fast, and in component because the cost was correct.

It also arrived with a 1 year guarantee, so bearing that in your mind I used to be prepared to consider a big gamble on the third party battery. Occasionally I?d only purchase the official parts for any electric merchandise.

It arrived as speedily as I had predicted. But its overall performance massively surpassed any expectations I?d.

The one year ensures was reassuring, but I didn?t presume it to outwit my Panasonic DMW-BCK7. And also it most likely did, in spades.

I now discover that in the day?s end, once i arrive back again house, my battery power nonetheless has lots of charge remaining. No matter whether or not it?s noticed normal use throughout the course of the working day.

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It is been going robust for nearly four months now, and exhibits no evidence of fading, although it has been used each day. It retains a charge as well as the day I received it.

On looking online, I noticed the specs say this can be a 1600mAh battery, and the Canon edition is just 1200mAh. This could go a way to describing the extra performance. To possess some thing nearly two times as good, cheaper compared to the official edition is significant great value. I would recommend this battery to any person which has a Canon which will consider it.

Source: http://thomasmul.fav.cc/one-of-the-best-buys-ive-at-any-time-made/

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Franchises Types And How To Find Them | Business Blog

What Types of Franchises Are There, And How Much Do They Cost?

There are 3,000 various franchises available in the US, and they fall under five general categories.? Cost-wise, they range from $50,000 to over $1,000,000.
Food Service
This category includes everything from:

• ice cream shops like?DairyQueen.com, ($382,000-$1,828,000 total investment);
• to fast food franchises like Buffalo Wild Wings, ($1,389,200 ? $3,148,200 total investment);
• to sandwich shops like?Subway ($84,300 ? $258,300)

Since food-related franchises are the most visible of all franchise types, (as well as being the highest percentage of franchises) it?s a common starting point for would-be franchise owners, who like the idea of associating with a popular type of business.
Retail
This category of franchising is a highly visible one. Retail franchises are for people that want customers to come to them, as opposed to having to go out to find them. For instance, TheUPSStore.com ($150,984 ? $337,946) has thousands of locations. Other retail franchise businesses include:

• BatteriesPlus.com, ($159,300 ? $313,900)
• EmbroidMe.com, ($85,460 ? $232,465)
• Supercuts.com, ($112,550 ? $243,200)

It?s common for retail franchise owners to own more than one store; they?re called multi-unit franchisees.
Personal Services
This sector of franchising tends to cater to busy families, and more recently, seniors. ServiceBrands.com? is a great example of a franchisor that focuses solely on this busy segment. Their brands include:

• MrHandyman.com, ($91,500 ? $132,600)
• MollyMaid.com, ($71,525 ? $116,200)
• 1-800-DryClean.com, ($59,800 ? $78,950)
• ProtectPainters.com ($78,850 ? $97,950)

Franchisors like USLawns.com, ($48,500, $56,000) and 1800GotJunk.com, ($107,400 ? $140,400) also provide much-needed services.
When it comes to keeping our senior citizens in their homes, (as opposed to a nursing home):
Those are just three of the over 30 different senior care-related franchises being offered. Read about the senior care franchise numbers.
Business to Business
This category of franchising attracts sales and marketing minded folks. These types of franchises are outbound franchises; franchisees go out to find their clients and customers:

• Servepro ($127,300 ? $174,700) is a company that specializes in water and fire damage clean-up and restoration.
• Jani-King ($13,150 ? $93,150) is in the commercial cleaning business, servicing office buildings, restaurants, and stadiums/arenas.
• TeamLogic IT ($91,850 ? $148,850) is a franchise that provides IT consulting services to small businesses.

Several types of home-based franchises fall into the B2B category, too. OneCoach.com ($40,100 ? $318,800) franchisees offer consulting/coaching services to small businesses. Cost-cutting is an important part of running a business, so franchisees of Expense Reduction Analysts Inc., ($66,100 ? $81,750) consult with business owners and executives on how to do just that.

Children?s Services
When it comes to children, consumers generally spend their money, freely. Opportunities in this sector abound, and for people that love children, this is a popular sector. In January of 2002, President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind bill, which increased funding for school systems. Since then, the school systems have reached out to the franchisees of Sylvan Learning, ($179,069 ? $305,090) and Huntington Learning Centers, ($197,450 ? $382,450) to help them with students who may be struggling in school.
Parents that need a place to hold their children?s birthday parties can go to PumpItUp.com, which offers an indoor arena featuring giant inflatables. Child safety is an important topic these days, and the 250 locations of Ident-A-Kid.com,($34,005 ? $44,205) work with schools and community centers to provide identification cards for children.

How Do You Find And Research Franchises?

The internet has made information about specific franchises readily available. There?s no shortage of franchise opportunity websites in which one can see what?s available in the franchise world.

Here?s a few franchise websites that are worth a look:

• FranchiseDirect.com
• Franchise.com
• FranchiseOpportunities.com
• GreenFranchiseDirectory.com
• FranchiseGator.com
• Bison.com

Using franchise websites like the ones mentioned, are a great way to explore opportunities in franchise ownership. But, there are a couple of other ways, too.
Searching for franchise business press releases can be quite fruitful. New franchise opportunities are always being announced, as well as useful and informative announcements from franchises that are expanding, or are offering new products and services.
Here are a few places to find current franchise business press releases:

• FranchiseWire.com
• Franchise-Chat.com
• PRNewsWire.com
• BusinessWire.com
• PRWeb.com

If you?d like a more personalized approach to finding appropriate franchises, using a franchise broker may be something for you to look into.
Franchise brokers try to match folks with franchises in their portfolio, and they get paid a commission when they make a successful match. It?s important to remember that brokers only represent a relatively small number of franchises (typically 100-200), out of the 3,000+ different choices available. Brokers tend to shy away from high-investment opportunities like the ones you?d find in the multi-unit food franchise sector.
If you?re going to use a franchise broker, it?s important to remember that they?re only going to present franchises that they work with.
When it comes to researching franchises, The Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is where the majority of the data about the franchise will be found. During the franchise discovery process, the franchisor will eventually send the FDD (via mail, or electronically). It?s a clearinghouse of important information about the franchise that you?re interested in.
Here are the 23 items that are included in the FDD:

• The franchisor, its predecessors, and its affiliates
• Business experience
• Litigation
• Bankruptcy
• Initial Franchise Fee
• Other fees
• Initial investment
• Restrictions on sources of products and services
• Franchisee?s obligations
• Financing
• Franchisor?s obligations
• Territory
• Trademarks
• Patents, copyrights and proprietary information
• Obligation to participate in the actual operation of the franchise business
• Restrictions on what the franchisee may sell
• Renewal, termination, transfer and dispute resolution
• Public figures
• Earnings claims
• List of outlets
• Financial statements
• Contracts
• Receipt

It?s important to go through this document step by step. A lot of the items are filled with legal jargon, so it?s wise to engage an attorney that?s familiar with franchising, who will help you decipher it.
For research purposes, the most meaningful areas to concentrate on are:
Litigation:??If there are a lot of lawsuits relative to the number of franchises in the system, buyer beware. Example; 20 lawsuits against the franchisor, in a system that has 200-300 franchisees is a little excessive. All types of businesses get sued. If a franchisor gets sued a lot, find out why. Sitting down with as franchise attorney will prove to be really helpful, when it comes to finding out about franchise lawsuits. It will open up the door for questions that you may have about being sued, yourself.
Franchisee and franchisor?s obligations:??It?s good to know ahead of time what obligations both parties have in a franchise relationship. For example, franchisees may be obliged to submit monthly sales reports, achieve minimum sales revenue amounts, submit all proper state and local licensure documents, and to only use pre-approved marketing materials.
The franchisor may be obliged to make available suitable training programs, continuing business advisory assistance, a copy of the Confidential Operating Manual, and make available all marketing and advertising materials as needed.
Earnings Claims:? Approximately 20% of franchisors actually includes earnings claims. (Earnings claims are now called Financial Performance Representations.) Earnings claims can be disclosed in a few different ways.
99 percent of all systems making earnings claims provide sales/revenue data, only 49 percent give some type of expense data and only a few provide what is essentially a complete franchise unit income (From The Profile of Franchising, Series VI, January 2007.)
If the franchise concept that you?re interested in happens to be in the 20% of franchisors that do disclose some type of earnings claims, it?s a nice head start on the research phase of investing in a franchise. But to really get the answers, look no further than ?the list of outlets? in the FDD.
List of outlets:??This really important list contains the name of all the franchisees currently in business, their business addresses and their phone numbers. This is where the rubber really hits the road. At this point in the research process, it?s time to shut out all that non-essential noise that?s going on in your head. It doesn?t matter what you feel or think about this opportunity, right now.
It doesn?t matter what the franchise salesperson has shared. What matters now is what the franchisees that have invested their own money in the system have to say.
Here are a few questions to ask:

• If you had to make this decision again, would this be the franchise business that you?d choose? Why?
• Is the franchisor providing the level of support that you expected?
• Is the stated ?total investment? amount correct?
• How do you rate the marketing and advertising?
• How is their technology?
• Is there more or less competition than you expected?
• What?s your favorite part of the business?
• What?s your least favorite part of the business?
• Do you plan on growing your business by adding employees, space, or more locations?
• Do you know of any really unhappy franchisees? (Why are they unhappy?)

Those are just a few of the many questions that you?ll need to ask, when you?re reaching out to current franchise owners.? (More franchise selection information and franchise research techniques and suggestions can be found at the FranchiseOnlineUniversity.com.)
Conclusion
Investing in a franchise can truly be a life-altering event. There is obviously a level of risk involved, but that risk can be mitigated by getting all the facts needed to make an informed decision. We hope that the Small Business Trends Franchise Business Guide has provided more than a few. Good luck!
Additional Resources

• SBA.gov ? This comprehensive US Government website provides just about everything one needs to start a business, including small business loan information.
• Business.gov?- This US Government resource provides small business information, with the addition of a Community area. This area provides plenty of opportunity for prospective small business owners to read up to date articles, ask questions and engage with top small business experts from all over the US.
• Small Business Trends ? Numerous franchise business articles can be found in the franchise category, including the top franchise trends, which come out at the end of every year. You?ll also find timely small business articles, advice, and news which affect the small business community.
• Score.org ? This website features resources and information for the would-be small business/franchise owner. Score counselors are retired small business owners and executives who provide free and confidential small business advice.

Src: http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/12/types-of-franchises-how-to-find-them.html

Source: http://ibusinessidea.blogspot.com/2013/04/franchises-types-and-how-to-find-them.html

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