Gay Liberal Senator opposes same-sex marriage | McBlog

Fascinating reading ? Same-sex Marriage debate last week in Australian Senate

Senator SMITH (Western Australia) (11:27):? I rise to add my views to the debate on the Marriage Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2012 and its desire to extend the definition of ?marriage? to include couples in same-sex relationships. My views are my own and have been formed after years of discussion, observation and careful consideration. I accept that to some the idea of an openly gay man rejecting a proposition to extend the definition of ?marriage? to same-sex relationships seems unusual or counterintuitive. In response, I say that it speaks to the often overlooked fact that opinion on the issue of extending the definition of ?marriage? is heavily divided even among gay and lesbian Australians. I do not doubt that there are many gay and lesbian Australians and their families and friends that support the legislation, but there are also others who do not?.

The debate on same-sex marriage has been a complex and controversial one. .. It has been controversial also because many have confused the religious institution of marriage with marriage as a civil institution. It is marriage as a civil institution that should demand the primary concentration and deliberations of parliamentarians. I believe any future deliberation by the parliament on matters regarding the legal treatment of same-sex couples should make as its focus the task of creating a starker distinction between marriage as a civil institution and its role for some as a religious institution.

My primary opposition to this proposal is born from my strong regard and faith in the cautionary, conservative and traditional approach to these matters. As I have said previously, I distrust sentiments and actions that seek to dismiss, modify or reject as relics our institutions and customs?institutions and customs that have evolved to serve our community well. I believe that cautious and considered change is critical if we are to bring about stability and continuity for our community.

I reject the suggestion of marriage equality. Marriage equality has been a slogan; it has been a campaign. The claim to equality ignores the widely accepted fact that marriage is an institution that has a long and well-accepted definition?a definition that is heavily laden with cultural meaning and values crafted by custom and by law over the years. It is an institution that has a common and well-understood meaning in Australia. I dispute the commentary in this place and others suggesting that the majority of Australians are ready to extend the meaning of marriage to same-sex relationships. I also dispute the view that the inability to utilise the Marriage Act restricts in any fundamental manner the quality of life experiences of gay and lesbian Australians.

The case for equality for gay and lesbian Australians was a battle too-long fought. It must be acknowledged that on the substantive matters of equality in Australia, gay and lesbian Australians can live at law without discrimination?.

Let me share with you the view of at least one other gay Australian who has challenged the current marriage equality movement. This comment was recorded in April this year in OUTinPerth, a community newspaper based in Perth, my home town. It said: The other thing that?s irritating I suppose about it is that it has become this orthodoxy within the community. Dissenting voices are not allowed, it?s just assumed that if you?re gay you?re for it, as it?s clearly a human right ? which it?s not. The article goes on to what I regard as the most important, but all too often forgotten, critical element in the debate when it says: The right is to have our relationship recognised equally by the State; the right is not to marriage.

?.By not agreeing to same-sex marriage, I am not choosing to endorse discrimination against my fellow gay and lesbians Australians or to be disrespectful to their domestic relationships, or to lessen the value of their commitments, companionship, love and unions. Instead, for me, it is an honest acknowledgement, of the special and unique characteristics of the union described as ?marriage?. http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansards%2F2e9571fe-03fd-411b-9e11-6c9629474f79%2F0066;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2F2e9571fe-03fd-411b-9e11-6c9629474f79%2F0000%22

Source: http://bobmccoskrie.com/?p=5534

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Botched Jesus fresco becomes tourist destination

Botched Jesus fresco: A 20th century fresco of Jesus that an?amateur?artists took upon herself to 'restore' is has now become a major tourist attraction.?

By Alan Clendenning,?Associated Press / September 21, 2012

At left, a photo of the 20th century 'Ecce Homo' style fresco of Jesus Christ at the church of Santuario de Misericordia in Borja, Italy, before its 'restoration'; at right, the work after amateur artist Celia Gimenez, who took it upon herself to attempt to restore it.

Staff/HO-Centro de Estudios Borjanos/Reuters

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The image appears on T-shirts and cellphone covers, coffee mugs and wine labels. And the 80-year-old pensioner who just weeks ago was mortified by the global stir she created with her botched restoration of a?fresco?of Christ is now looking to get a piece of the action.

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The church painting in the town of Borja was for decades a little-known piece of religious art by a minor Spanish artist. Now that Cecilia Gimenez has disfigured it, it has found a new fate as an international icon ? used to sell products around the world.

Gimenez' lawyers have begun investigating whether all the notoriety may be turned to profit, albeit with an aim to help charity.

The?fresco?depicts Christ with a crown of thorns before crucifixion, in a style style known as "Ecce Homo" (Behold the Man). It stood in peaceful obscurity in the Misericordia Sanctuary since it was painted in 1930 ? until Gimenez, a longtime devotee of the work, decided it needed to be rescued from flaking caused by the damp church air.

Word of the artistic travesty spread across the world, and the solemn Ecce Homo quickly took on a less dignified identity: "Ecce Mono." Behold the Monkey.

Then something unexpected happened.

The town morphed into a tourism destination for people who want to see the restoration. The crush has been so big that the Santi Spiritus foundation that owns the Misercordia church and sanctuary recently started charging admission: one euro per visitor. Meanwhile, Internet entrepreneurs have quickly moved in to cash in on the phenomenon, printing "Ecce Mono" on a seemingly endless range of products to sell online.

Gimenez' lawyers say she has no interest in a cut of what the foundation is charging people to see the?fresco. But they are investigating possible copyright infringements of what she created. If she has rights, said lawyer Antonio Val Carreras Rivera, Gimenez could pursue payments from those using the image to sell products, although whatever she earns would go to charity.

She's most interested in funding groups that help people with congenital muscular dystrophy, because she has a son with the disorder.

The Sancti Spiritus foundation is stuck in its own legal bind about what to do with the?fresco. Should it restore the painting to its original state? Or leave Gimenez' image on the church walls? Or try, as experts say is possible, to separate the two?

Gimenez herself is thankful for the many messages of support she's received from around the world, her lawyers said in a statement. And she "regrets and deplores that commercial brands are financially exploiting a situation that began in total good faith, and which should be restricted to the human level beyond business or commercial interests," the statement said.

The nonprofit Sancti Spiritus foundation plans to seek a second opinion from art experts on what to do about the painting, before getting the view of lawyers, said foundation president Francisco Miguel Arilla, who is also the mayor of Borja, population about 5,000.

"Everyone wants to solve this, but no one knows the solution," Arilla said.

While Gimenez could end up with ownership of what she painted on top of the?fresco, the foundation isn't sure who owns the original. It's either the foundation or the 16 grandchildren of the painter. And Martinez' heirs live all across Spain, Arilla said. "This seems like it's going to be a long process," Arilla said.

Meanwhile, Borja is trying to cope with its newfound fame. While known for its wine, this is the first time it's ever been a big tourism draw.

The influx of visitors hasn't shown any sign of letting up since news of the?fresco?rocketed around the world, Arrilla said. About 1,000 people paid admission last weekend, and the number of visitors has averaged 100 daily this week. The charge was put in place to cover the cost of additional workers needed at the sanctuary to manage the crowds.

"I thought this would slow down by now, but we still have a steady flow of people," Arilla said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/YZ9DRzktCd0/Botched-Jesus-fresco-becomes-tourist-destination

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The original Twitter? Tiny electronic tags monitor birds' social networks

Friday, September 21, 2012

If two birds meet deep in the forest, does anybody hear? Until now, nobody did, unless an intrepid biologist was hiding underneath a bush and watching their behavior, or the birds happened to meet near a research monitoring station. But an electronic tag designed at the University of Washington can for the first time see when birds meet in the wild.

A new study led by a biologist at Scotland's University of St. Andrews used the UW tags to see whether crows might learn to use tools from one another. The findings, published last week in Current Biology, supported the theory by showing an unexpected amount of social mobility, with the crows often spending time near birds outside their immediate family.

The study looked at crows in New Caledonia, an archipelago of islands in the South Pacific. The crows are famous for using different tools to extract prey from deadwood and vegetation. Biologists wondered whether the birds might learn by watching each other.

The results, as reported by St. Andrews, revealed "a surprising number of contacts" between non-related crows. During one week, the technology recorded more than 28,000 interactions among 34 crows. While core family units of New Caledonian crows contain only three members, the study found all the birds were connected to the larger social network.

The new paper is the first published study using the UW tags to record animal social interactions.

"This is a new type of animal-tracking technology," said co-author Brian Otis, a UW associate professor of electrical engineering whose lab developed the tags. "Ecology is just one of the many fields that will be transformed with miniaturized, low-power wireless sensors."

Biologists normally tag animals with radio transmitters that broadcast at a particular frequency, and field researchers use a receiver to listen for that frequency and detect when the animal is present. An encounter between small animals would only be recorded if the researcher was nearby.

The UW system, called Encounternet, uses programmable digital tags that can send and receive pulses.

"Encounternet tags can monitor each other, so you can use them to study interactions among animals," said co-author John Burt, a UW affiliate professor of electrical engineering. "You can't even start to do that with other radio-tracking technology."

Other research groups are using the UW tags around the world. Researchers at the University of Windsor in Canada are using them to study mating behavior in Costa Rican long-tailed manikins; a researcher at Drexel University is using them to study the interaction between birds and army ants in Costa Rica; German researchers are putting the tags on sea lions in the Galapagos Islands to study their behavior as they pull up on beaches; and researchers in the Netherlands are studying the social behavior of great tits, a small woodland bird.

"It's a big topic right now, the idea that animals have social networks," Burt said. He has been working with field biologists for the last three years to deploy the tags.

"There are other tags that can do proximity logging, but they're all very big and for larger animals. None is as small as Encounternet ? or even near to it."

The smallest of the UW tags weighs less than 1 gram (0.035 ounces) and can be used on animals as light as 20 grams (less than an ounce), about the weight of a sparrow. Researchers attach the tags to birds with straps that degrade and harmlessly fall off after the battery dies. The tag records nearby pulses, and the signal strength gives an estimate of the other animal's distance.

A typical study using the system includes a few dozen tags and between 10 and 100 fixed base stations. When tagged animals pass a base station the data is transmitted wirelessly from the tag to the base station, and from there to the Internet. Researchers can also reprogram the tags remotely ? for example, they can look at initial results to see when there are few encounters happening, and turn the battery off during those times to conserve power.

Burt completed his doctorate at the UW in 2000, with a dissertation on birdsong communication and learning. He wished that there was a way to automatically monitor bird interactions in the wild, and in 2005 joined forces with Otis, an expert in small, lightweight, low-power electronics. Burt managed the project to develop the tags, with funding from the National Science Foundation, as a research scientist in Otis' group.

This fall they founded Encounternet LLC in Portland, Ore., where Burt now lives. He is working to add a GPS component to record the location of encounters, and to add an accelerometer and other sensors that could detect an animal's behavior.

"People are excited about this because for the first time, it allows them to study smaller animal interactions and social networks on an incredibly fine scale," Burt said. "Social networks are turning out to be key to understanding many animal behaviors. People say Encounternet is the only thing they can find that can collect that information."

###

University of Washington: http://www.uwnews.org

Thanks to University of Washington for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123726/The_original_Twitter__Tiny_electronic_tags_monitor_birds__social_networks

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Egypt's mufti urges Muslims to endure insults peacefully

CAIRO (Reuters) - Muslims angered by cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad should follow his example of enduring insults without retaliating, Egypt's highest Islamic legal official said on Thursday.

Western embassies tightened security in Sanaa, fearing the cartoons published in a French magazine on Wednesday could lead to more unrest in the Yemeni capital where crowds attacked the U.S. mission last week over an anti-Islam film made in America.

In the latest of a wave of protests against that video in the Islamic world, several thousand Shi'ite Muslims demonstrated in the northern Nigerian town of Zaria, burning an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama and crying "Death to America".

The cartoons in France's Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly have provoked relatively little street anger so far, although about 100 Iranians demonstrated outside the French embassy in Tehran.

In Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolts, the Islamist-led government decreed a ban on protests planned on Friday against the cartoons. Four people died and almost 30 others were wounded last week when protesters incensed by the movie about Prophet Mohammad stormed the U.S. embassy.

An Islamist activist called for attacks in France to avenge the perceived insult to Islam by the "slaves of the cross".

Mu'awiyya al-Qahtani said on a website used by Islamist militants and monitored by the U.S.-based SITE intelligence group: "Is there someone who will roll up his sleeves and bring back to us the glory of the hero Mohammed Merah?"

He was referring to an al Qaeda-inspired gunman who killed seven people, including three Jewish children, in the southern French city of Toulouse in March.

Condemning the publication of the cartoons in France as an act verging on incitement, Egypt's Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said it showed how polarised the West and the Muslim world had become.

Gomaa said Mohammad and his companions had endured "the worst insults from the non-believers of his time. Not only was his message routinely rejected, but he was often chased out of town, cursed and physically assaulted on numerous occasions.

"But his example was always to endure all personal insults and attacks without retaliation of any sort. There is no doubt that, since the Prophet is our greatest example in this life, this should also be the reaction of all Muslims."

His statement echoed one by Al Azhar, Egypt's prestigious seat of Sunni learning, which condemned the caricatures showing the Prophet naked but said any protest should be peaceful.

An official at the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, whose population of 83 million people is 10 percent Christian, also condemned the cartoons as insults to Islam.

Last week some Egyptian protesters scaled the U.S. Embassy walls and tore down the flag. They clashed with police for four days, although most of the thousands of Egyptians who took to the streets did so peacefully.

MUSLIM GRIEVANCES

Gomaa said insults to Islam and the response, including the killing of the U.S. ambassador in Libya and attacks on other Western embassies in the region, could not be dissociated from other points of conflict between the West and the Muslim world.

He cited the treatment of Muslims at the U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo, the U.S.-led war in Iraq, drone attacks in Yemen and Pakistan, and the demonisation of Muslims by far-right European parties as "underlying factors" for the tensions.

"To then insist on igniting these simmering tensions by publishing hurtful and insulting material in a foolhardy attempt at bravado - asserting the superiority of Western freedoms over alleged Muslim closed-mindedness - verges on incitement," he said in his statement published on the Reuters blog FaithWorld.

After Friday's invasion of the U.S. embassy in Tunis, the Tunisian Interior Ministry has banned protests against the cartoon planned for Friday "to prevent human and material losses". It warned that a state of emergency was still in force and that law "will be rigorously applied".

The European Union issued a joint appeal, through its foreign policy chief, with the Arab League, African Union and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for "peace and tolerance".

"We condemn any advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to hostility and violence," the statement said.

"While fully recognizing freedom of expression, we believe in the importance of respecting all prophets, regardless of which religion they belong to."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast condemned the cartoons as "a systematic plot" against Islam.

"The coordinated and continued silence of Western countries towards these hateful anti-Islamic actions, is the primary reason for the repetition of such insulting actions," he said.

He was speaking a day after French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called the publication of the cartoons a provocation.

The Danish cartoonist who outraged Muslims with a drawing of the Prophet seven years ago said the West could not let itself be muzzled by fear of offending Islamic sensibilities.

Kurt Westergaard, whose lampoon of Mohammad in the Jyllands-Posten paper nearly got him killed by an axe-wielding assassin in 2010, told Austrian magazine News he had no regrets about his work and said freedom of speech was too precious to relinquish.

"Should we in future let ourselves be censored by Islamic authorities in deeply undemocratic countries?" he asked.

For many Muslims, any depiction of Mohammad is blasphemous.

The furore over the anti-Islam film and the cartoons has presented a tough challenge to new authorities in Arab countries where popular uprisings have overthrown entrenched autocrats.

In Libya, where militias that helped overthrow Muammar Gaddafi still wield much power, the foreign minister offered a further apology for U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens' death to visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns on Thursday.

Stevens and three other Americans died in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi by gunmen among a crowd protesting against the film that denigrated the Prophet.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-mufti-urges-muslims-endure-insults-peacefully-061425430.html

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Israeli soldier, 3 gunmen killed near Egyptian border

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Three armed militants crossed into Israel from Egypt on Friday, killing an Israeli soldier before themselves coming under fire and dying, the army said.

It was at least the fourth cross-border attack in just over a year, underscoring deep Israeli concerns about the security situation in the Sinai peninsula since the ousting of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

"A big terror attack was thwarted," Israeli army spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibovich said.

"Three terrorists infiltrated from Sinai into Israel and opened fire towards IDF soldiers guarding the border. The terrorists were well armed and carried explosive belts upon their bodies," she added.

Leibovich said she did not have any information on the identity or affiliation of the gunmen. Previous attacks were blamed on Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip and their supporters, who have allegedly established bases in the Sinai.

An Egyptian security source said one of the gunmen died when a bomb he was carrying detonated and the other two were killed in a gun battle with Israeli forces. He added that the nationalities of the gunmen were not immediately clear.

In August, Islamist militants killed 16 Egyptian border guards and commandeered an armored vehicle which they smashed across the border before being killed by the Israeli military.

In June, militants crossed the border area and fired on Israelis building a barrier along the desert frontier, killing a worker, before soldiers shot dead two of the attackers.

Israel is putting up the border fence to curb an influx of African migrants and improve security, hoping to complete it by the end of the year. It will run along most of the 266-km (165 miles) frontier from Eilat, on the Red Sea, to the Gaza Strip.

Leibovich said Friday's attack took place about halfway down the desolate border near an area known as Mount Harif, where the barrier is still under construction.

Egypt launched a crackdown on lawlessness in the Sinai following the August 6 massacre and has sent additional forces into the area.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry in Cairo; Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Crispian Balmer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/least-2-militants-killed-israel-egypt-border-israeli-112049668.html

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Labor strife threatens American Airlines schedule

DALLAS (AP) ? With American Airlines canceling dozens of flights every day, passengers with fall travel plans are confronting an inconvenient question: Should they avoid the nation's third-largest carrier because labor strife might cause delays and cancelations?

Several prominent travel gurus say it's too early to "book away" from American. They say the number of canceled flights is still small and that American can find room on other planes for displaced passengers.

The airline expects to cancel up to 2 percent of its total flights through the end of October because of a dispute with pilots. Even if passengers find other flights, it's a setback for American, which is struggling to reverse years of heavy losses.

American executives believe pilots are calling in sick and crews are slowing operations by filing huge numbers of maintenance reports to punish the company for imposing tough cost-cutting measures as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

The union insists pilots are reporting to work as usual, and it blames the cancelations on company mismanagement and problems with old planes.

American has already canceled 300 flights this week, or 1.25 percent of its schedule. That number is sure to rise. On Sunday and Monday, American scrapped more than 5 percent of its flights.

The percentage of American flights arriving late has ballooned. On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, fewer than half its flights arrived on time, according to flight-tracking service FlightStats.com.

At midday Thursday, 62 percent of American flights were on time, compared with at least 90 percent at United, Delta and US Airways, FlightStats' figures showed.

Bruce Hicks, a spokesman for parent company AMR Corp. blamed pilot sick leave, which he said is running 20 percent higher than a year ago. There has also been a "significant" increase in pilots calling in maintenance requests, often right before scheduled departure, he added.

Hicks said American has enough pilots and until recently had been posting its best on-time numbers in years. He said the airline was contacting passengers and giving them options such as letting them fly standby on earlier flights at no extra charge.

Former AMR CEO Robert Crandall said passengers will jump to other airlines.

"You can be sure it is happening already," said Crandall, who ran American for 13 years when the airline was known for innovations such as its frequent-flier program and for strikes by union employees. "Every time the pilots pulled a job action, the public books away."

American has a long history of poor labor relations. It endured strikes by flight attendants and pilots in the 1990s. Workers accepted pay cuts in 2003 to keep the company out of bankruptcy, then were enraged when hundreds of management employees received bonuses that for a few topped $1 million.

The tension has increased since AMR filed for bankruptcy protection in November. In April, American's three unions threw their support behind a potential takeover bid from US Airways Group Inc.

While unions for flight attendants and ground workers accepted new cost-cutting measures this year, the 8,000 members of the Allied Pilots Association rejected the company's last contract offer. AMR answered by getting a federal bankruptcy judge's permission to impose new pay and work terms on the pilots that include cuts in benefits and more outsourcing of flying to other airlines.

Union leaders say pilots are angry but aren't sabotaging the company.

"There is no organized sickout that APA is involved in, absolutely not," union spokesman Gregg Overman said.

Statistics provided to the union by American show that 564 pilots, or 7.5 percent, called in sick Tuesday. That's the second-highest rate for the 18th day of each month over the past year, but the sick rate was at least 6 percent in nine other months. It peaked at 9.5 percent in October 2011.

The union blamed this week's cancelations on mechanical delays tied to American's aging fleet ? about 15 years on average, and even higher for the MD-80 planes that make up the backbone of its domestic fleet. Hicks countered that pilots didn't file nearly as many complaints earlier this year, even though the average age of American's planes was about the same.

The union also said that American should have rehired more furloughed pilots.

Other airline unions have expressed their displeasure with management by calling in sick or slowing operations, and some have gotten in trouble.

Last September, a federal judge ordered the union for US Airways pilots to stop disrupting the airline by making sure flights were late. In 2008, a judge determined that United Airlines pilots carried out illegal sickouts and slowdowns and ordered them to stop.

American's pilot union was fined $45 million after a 1999 sickout over bringing in pilots from a low-cost airline that AMR bought. AMR and the union reached a settlement that reduced the union's loss.

In each instance, the airline went to court to force pilots to speed things up. Crandall said American might be forced to do the same thing this time.

"It is perfectly obvious that this is a job action by the pilots," Crandall said. "I think it's childish, it's self-defeating and it's harmful to the company and to other employees."

American is particularly vulnerable to long-term damage if passengers choose other carriers because it is already in bankruptcy and weak compared with bigger rivals United and Delta, he said.

As the week has unfolded, and American posted slightly better on-time arrivals, travel experts advised passengers to wait before they decide to avoid American.

"When people ask, 'Should I book away from American?' I think about whether I'd want my mom getting stranded at (the Dallas-Fort airport) because American canceled her flight home," said Tim Winship, who runs travel website FrequentFlier.com. "I'd tell her to go ahead and book the trip."

Winship's advice is colored by his reluctance to pile on a beleaguered airline.

"They need the business more than ever," he said. "I'd hate to be one of the nails in their coffin."

George Hobica, founder of airfarewatchdog.com and a frequent flier, predicted that American will soon fix the delays and cancelations. He said he's seen company employees trying extra hard to be nice and to help passengers who are bumped or otherwise inconvenienced.

American's predicament comes during one of the slowest travel periods of the year. That will help the airline find new flights for stranded passengers, Hobica said.

"I'm flying on American on Friday," Hobica said, "and I'm not going to change my plans."

___

Follow David Koenig at http://www.twitter.com/airlinewriter

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/labor-strife-threatens-american-airlines-schedule-221528516.html

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Roberts thanks viewers on day of marrow transplant

FILE - This Aug. 20, 2012 file photo released by ABC shows co-host Robin Roberts during a broadcast of "Good Morning America," in New York. Roberts has thanked her viewers for their support as she faces a bone marrow transplant. The "Good Morning America" co-anchor sent a video message taped from her New York hospital bed for airing on the program Thursday, Sept. 20, which is the day she's set to have the transplant. (AP Photo/ABC, Donna Svennevik, file)

FILE - This Aug. 20, 2012 file photo released by ABC shows co-host Robin Roberts during a broadcast of "Good Morning America," in New York. Roberts has thanked her viewers for their support as she faces a bone marrow transplant. The "Good Morning America" co-anchor sent a video message taped from her New York hospital bed for airing on the program Thursday, Sept. 20, which is the day she's set to have the transplant. (AP Photo/ABC, Donna Svennevik, file)

FILE - This Aug. 20, 2012 file photo released by ABC shows co-host Robin Roberts during a broadcast of "Good Morning America," in New York. Roberts has thanked her viewers for their support as she faces a bone marrow transplant. The "Good Morning America" co-anchor sent a video message taped from her New York hospital bed for airing on the program Thursday, Sept. 20, which is the day she's set to have the transplant. (AP Photo/ABC, Donna Svennevik, file)

(AP) ? Robin Roberts has thanked her viewers for their support as she faces a bone marrow transplant.

The "Good Morning America" co-anchor sent a video message taped from her New York hospital bed for airing on the program Thursday, which is the day she's set to have the transplant.

Declaring that "thoughts are so powerful," Roberts told her audience: "I feel the love and I thank you for it."

Roberts' transplant comes after 11 days spent in the hospital and eight days of chemotherapy to prepare her for the procedure. The donor is her older sister, Sally-Ann Roberts.

In June, the 51-year-old Roberts disclosed that she has MDS, a rare blood disorder.

Her last day on "GMA" was Aug. 30 before she began extended medical leave from the ABC morning show.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-09-20-People-Robin%20Roberts/id-123ed75df6c045c8aaf4b444bd1e452d

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IT Consulting Services - How Can They Help Your Business?

Posted on by GetCloudServices

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The sole aim of any business is to make a profit and in order to do so ? businesses need to devote all their time and energy towards profit making. In this pursuit, they inarguably need technical support in the form of Information Technology services from experts who know what they are doing. Taking advantage of IT consulting services therefore makes a lot of sense as organizations offering such services are not only IT experts, but also offer a host of other benefits.

What exactly is IT consulting? IT consulting is a term which refers to a broad set of services offered by IT firms in order to facilitate small to large sized businesses. These IT consulting firms are hired in order to gain insight into a business? IT requirements and current performance. IT consulting firms therefore provide services that work to stabilize a business? IT infrastructure so that the business can operate more efficiently.

IT Consulting Services 300x199

Most IT consulting services are offered on a project-basis where a business hires the IT consultants in order to support a specific IT project and develop this project from beginning to end. The IT consultant?s job is to meet customer demands in the time and cost specified by the business.

As far as payments go, IT consulting is done on a project basis and thus requires a fixed fee. This is true in the case of projects that are clearly defined with an end and start date. However, most companies offering IT consulting services charge by the day. Thus, fee is measured on per hour or per day basis.

IT consulting companies provide a business with critical, third-party advice that is geared towards projects, which are very well-defined. Businesses hire IT consultants for specific purposes and rely on their expertise. The term ?consulting? implies bringing in external personnel, which means the business in question, need not hire new employees permanently.

There are a multitude of companies offering IT consulting services worldwide. These range from very large organizations that are expensive but also very professional to the smaller sized consultants who offer information security services only. Between these two are medium sized staffing firms that provide staffing solutions for businesses, which require these on a temporary basis. Additionally, there can be independent consultants who can be hired as employees of a business for ongoing expertise.

If you are looking for IT consulting service provider for your business, do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Source: http://www.getcloudservices.com/blog/it-consulting-services-how-can-they-help-your-business?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=it-consulting-services-how-can-they-help-your-business

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Squatters' sites: Domain disputes hamper businesses | City Journal

Squatters are taking over domain names on the internet. Photo: Shakakahnevan

While online business usage has increased dramatically in the past decade, so has the practice of ?squatting?.

Squatting, also known as ?parking?, refers to people who purchase domain names but leave them unattended until the domain name is in demand by businesses.

When the demand is high enough, the squatter will sell it to the highest bidder for a handsome profit.

Internet entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity when domain names first became readily accessible in the late 1990s are able to sit on a valuable name for as long as they choose, provided they pay their annual fee to the host who is keeping the website running.

Melbourne IT domain salesman Alex Oxford said not being able to secure a desired domain name is an inconvenience for companies moving online.

?Terabytes of data are going unused, but due to the age of big data and protectionism we are seeing websites with no traffic still in existence,? Mr Oxford said.

?That?s why we?ve seen the introduction of domain names such as the ?.co.asia?, amongst others, being put in place by the global regulator, because some people are hogging the good domain names and won?t let go.?

The global regulator, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is responsible for managing domain names.

Mr Oxford said businesses aren?t getting enough protection from parking, and squatters can charge thousands of dollars for a desired domain name.

The domain name ?www.sex.com? was sold in 2010 for $US13 million ($AUD 12.4 million) according to businessinsider.com.

But Mr Oxford was most concerned about businesses losing brand value.

?In terms of the amount of unused domains and squatters there needs to be legislation protecting brands,? he said.

?Domain names are basically a marketing tool used by organisations to protect a brand. As internet and online fraud continues to grow it is becoming imperative for organisations to ensure their brand isn?t being tarnished.?

Website host Garvin Wu said some hosts had multiple domain names, and leaving a domain name unused was very cheap to do.

?If people don?t pay then some hosts will kill the domain completely, but other hosts will just leave it unused,? Mr Wu said.

?A host can really leave hundreds of domain names unused and let them sit there because it doesn?t cost them much.?

Some websites are devoted to listing domain names which have been ?parked?.

Domaininformer.com has?a list of the top 75 domain names being squatted, including names like ?technology.com?, ?marry.com? and ?wireless.com?.

?It means that if people come along later trying to use that domain name, someone who owns it can ask for more money,? Mr Wu said.

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Produced by Kieran Jones

Source: http://thecityjournal.net/news/squatters-sites-domain-disputes-hamper-businesses/

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