Thursday, February 28, 2013

Target's adjusted 4Q profit beats Street view

FILE - In this Nov. 23, 2012 file photo, a Target employee hands bags to a customer at the register at a Target store in Colma, Calif. Target's fiscal fourth-quarter net income dipped 2 percent as it dealt with intense competition during the crucial holiday season. But its adjusted results beat analysts' estimates and it forecast first-quarter earnings above Wall Street's view. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 23, 2012 file photo, a Target employee hands bags to a customer at the register at a Target store in Colma, Calif. Target's fiscal fourth-quarter net income dipped 2 percent as it dealt with intense competition during the crucial holiday season. But its adjusted results beat analysts' estimates and it forecast first-quarter earnings above Wall Street's view. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

(AP) ? Target's fiscal fourth-quarter net income dipped 2 percent as it dealt with intense competition during the crucial holiday season. The retail chain's adjusted results beat analysts' estimates.

But Target's stock slipped 2 percent in premarket trading Wednesday as its gross margin - the amount of each dollar in revenue a company actually keeps - shrank and a key revenue figure posted only a modest increase.

Many had wondered how Target would do now that consumers are being squeezed by a 2 percent payroll tax increase that was rolled out last month. Burger King and Wal-Mart have already noticed a pull-back from the tax hike.

Aside from that, Target also faced the disappointment of its partnership with luxury merchant Neiman Marcus during the quarter. The pair of retailers rolled out a limited selection of products from 24 designers, including Oscar de la Renta and Diane von Furstenberg, on Dec. 1. But just weeks later Target was offering big discounts to clear the shelves of unsold merchandise.

During the critical shopping months of November and December Target embraced a number of different strategies, like matching the price of online competitors such as Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Bestbuy.com and Toysrus.com. It was an attempt to combat "showrooming," in which people use smartphones while they're in stores to look for cheaper prices online.

The holiday shopping period is critical for retailers, as it can make up as much as 40 percent of their annual revenue.

For the three months ended Feb. 2, Target earned $961 million, or $1.47 per share, for the period ended Feb. 2. That's down from $981 million, or $1.45 per share, a year earlier.

Removing certain items, earnings were $1.65 per share. That tops the forecast of analysts polled by FactSet for earnings of $1.47 per share.

Revenue climbed 7 percent to $22.73 billion from $21.29 billion. This met Wall Street's expectations.

"We're pleased with Target's fourth quarter performance, particularly in the face of a highly promotional retail environment and continued consumer uncertainty," Chairman, President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said in a statement.

During the quarter, revenue at stores open at least a year edged up 0.4 percent. This figure is a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

Gross margin fell to 27.8 percent from 28.4 percent partly because of markdowns on seasonal merchandise.

For the full year, the Minneapolis company earned $3 billion, or $4.52 per share. A year earlier it earned $2.93 billion, or $4.28 per share. Adjusted earnings were $4.76 per share.

Annual revenue increased 5 percent to $71.96 billion from $68.47 billion.

Target Corp. foresees first quarter adjusted earnings of $1.10 to $1.20 per share. Analysts predict earnings of $1.05 per share.

The chain's fiscal 2013 outlook is for adjusted earnings between $4.85 and $5.05 per share. Wall Street expects earnings of $4.87 per share.

Target has 1,778 stores across the U.S. Its stock fell $1.30, or 2 percent, to $62.75 before the market open.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-27-Earns-Target/id-b12d614388bd41ac8823ab7784406ad8

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The Judge Who Forced Apple to Publicly Apologise to Samsung Now Works for? Samsung

The judge who came up with the bizarre idea of forcing Apple to apologise on the front page of its web site after a court battle with Samsung went wrong has a new job, working for? Samsung. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ZQG31MGcGHk/the-judge-who-forced-apple-to-publicly-apologise-to-samsung-now-works-for-samsung

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Rapid, point-of-care tests for syphilis: The future of diagnosis

Feb. 27, 2013 ? Syphilis is on the rise worldwide and there is an urgent need for reliable and rapid screening, particularly for people who live in areas where access to healthcare is limited. An international research team, led by scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montreal, has demonstrated that rapid and point-of-care tests (POC) for syphilis are as accurate as conventional laboratory tests. The findings, which were published in PLoS ONE, call for a major change in approach to syphilis testing and recommend replacing first line laboratory tests with POC tests globally, especially in resource-limited settings.

"There is a need to embrace rapid and POC tests for syphilis in global settings," argues Dr. Nitika Pant Pai, the study's senior and corresponding author, clinical researcher at the RI-MUHC and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University. "This meta-analysis generates global evidence across all populations for POC tests for syphilis and is the first to use sophisticated analyses to explore the accuracy of POC tests compared to the best reference standards."

Currently, syphilis is screened using conventional laboratory-based tests that can take up to three weeks to deliver results. These tests require chemical agents, trained staff and a continuous supply of electricity, which are not readily available in some parts of the world. Rapid and POC tests can be performed on a simple finger stick sample one patient at a time, and the results communicated to the patient within 20 minutes, saving time and helping doctors order confirmatory tests and rapidly flagging patients who need treatment.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the rod-like bacterium Treponema pallidum. It is transmitted between sexual partners through direct contact with a Syphilis sore. It may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis. "As well timely screening and treatment in first trimester is extremely important for pregnant women to prevent still births, pre-term births and mother-to-child transmission of syphilis," adds Yalda Jafari, the study's first author and a former master's student of Dr. Pant Pai.

As many as 50 million people worldwide are being treated for syphilis and about 12 million new cases are diagnosed every year. However, approximately 90% of those infected do not know it, and this is the driving force behind the worldwide epidemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) often refers to syphilis as the "great imitator," because many of its symptoms are similar to other diseases.

"Our study has major worldwide implications for populations living in rural areas with limited access to healthcare," says Dr. Pant Pai. "These tests offer the potential to expedite first line screening in settings where people have no access to a primary care physician or where laboratories take more than a week to deliver results."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by McGill University Health Centre, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Yalda Jafari, Rosanna W. Peeling, Sushmita Shivkumar, Christiane Claessens, Lawrence Joseph, Nitika Pant Pai. Are Treponema pallidum Specific Rapid and Point-of-Care Tests for Syphilis Accurate Enough for Screening in Resource Limited Settings? Evidence from a Meta-Analysis. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e54695 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054695

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/most_popular/~3/eI-lJXTBzv8/130227183534.htm

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Why Does My Kid Freak Out?

A child freaking out about the dumbest thing. The toddler life is not actually as cushy as it seems

Photo by Denis Libouton/iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Last month, I discovered (and then nearly peed in my pants as a result of) comedian Jason Good?s blog post 46 Reasons My Three Year Old Might Be Freaking Out. (The first three possibilities: His sock is on wrong. His lip tastes salty. His shirt has a tag on it.) After exchanging a few comments on Facebook about it with a friend, she privately messaged me, frustrated with and concerned about her 18-month-old. ?It's like all of a sudden in the last three weeks, she's turned into this tantrum ball and I never know what's going to set her off,? she wrote. ?I'm living with a baby land mine!?

Me too. What is it with toddlers and losing their shit all the time? Is it normal that my son wails if his shirt sleeve isn?t all the way down, loves the bathtub one day but hates it the next, and manically screams ?MINE!? two seconds after handing our dog a ball?

Yes, thankfully. And it?s not only normal, but reasonable. As five experts on child psychology recently explained to me, toddlers? irrational behaviors are a totally understandable reflection of their inner turmoil and frustrations. In sum, their world is turning upside down and they don?t yet have the skills to handle it. Tantrums don?t mean your kid is a spoiled brat or needs therapy; tantrums mean he is normal.

The toddler life is not actually as cushy as it seems. Sure, I?d like 12 hours of sleep a night and all my meals prepared for me, thanks. But 2-year-olds are also going through a hellish personal crisis: They have just learned how to walk and use tools, so they really want to explore the world; at the same time, they are terrified of what that world contains and constantly fearful that their parents, whom they love and trust to a terrifying degree, will suddenly abandon them. Oh, and those same parents? They?re suddenly barking ?no? all the time, seemingly just for fun. What the hell?

It?s no coincidence that kids start having tantrums around the time that parents start enforcing rules. When you say no, sweetie, you can?t have that butcher knife, your 20-month-old has no idea that you are depriving her of this awesomely shiny contraption for her own safety. ?Since it?s the parent, whom they rely on for everything, who is taking it away, it?s perceived as a withdrawal of love, essentially,? says Alicia Lieberman, a professor of Infant Mental Health at the University of California-San Francisco and author of The Emotional Life of the Toddler. ?They don?t know your reasoning. They just know that something they were getting great pleasure from, all of a sudden, you are taking away.? The pain that this causes, Lieberman says, is similar to what we might feel if our spouse betrays or cheats on us.

As adults, we (usually) don?t (audibly) freak out when we don?t get what we want or when somebody makes us mad because we can talk ourselves down. We can identify and label the emotion we?re feeling, which, research suggests, goes a long way toward quelling and controlling it. Our ability to label feelings stems in part from our excellent language skills, which young toddlers don?t have yet. Also thanks to language, as adults we can confront the people who are upsetting us and suggest solutions. My 22-month-old, though now very adept at informing me of his need for milk, doesn?t manage complex negotiations so well. His first response to frustration is generally to grab the nearest object and throw it across the room, which makes sense considering that his gross motor skills are among his strongest assets. If the only tool you have is an arm, you tend to see every problem as a potential projectile.

Another reality of the toddler brain: The frontal lobe, which is responsible for planning, logic, reasoning, working memory and self-control, is vastly under-developed. Because of this, ?toddlers are really living in the moment, not thinking about consequences,? explains developmental psychologist Nancy McElwain, who runs the Children?s Social Development Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There?s no voice in their head saying, hmm, maybe it?s not a good idea to throw my lovie in the toilet (too bad, because lovie got very wet in our house last week).

A semi-functional frontal lobe also means that toddlers have practically no sense of time and patience and therefore ?experience wanting as needing,? Lieberman says?i.e., when they want a chicken nugget, they really, really need it NOW! They can also have a skewed sense of cause-and-effect, developing a paralyzing fear of the bathtub because what if they go down the drain, too? Finally, let?s not forget the importance of experience when it comes to handling challenges appropriately, says developmental psychologist Claire Kopp, co-author of Socioemotional Development in the Toddler Years. The 2-year-old, she says, simply doesn?t have any experiences to draw from.

If it sounds like I?m characterizing your beautiful, special, way-above-average toddler as animal-like, that?s because I am. Pediatrician Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block, calls toddlers ?little cavemen.? ?That is not meant to be derogatory, but meant to set the frame of reference for parents,? he explained to me. ?It takes years to socialize our little toddlers, so it?s important for parents to cut themselves some slack. Don?t feel you?re a terrible parent because they smeared jam all over the walls.? (This is not to say that toddlers don?t also love organization and routine; they do. My son lines his toy cars up in a row every day, probably because he?s trying to build some order into his chaotic, confusing life. And his sleeve-down requirements may stem from a desire for consistency.)

The caveman analogy helps to explain yet another issue plaguing toddlers, Karp says: They are very under-stimulated. Little cavemen (and here I?m talking about the real ones) spent their days very differently than kids do today. ?It was a sensory-rich environment: smells, the fresh air, shadows, birds, grass under your feet. Today, we put our little kids in houses and apartments with flat floors, flat walls, ceilings, and not too many chickens, and we think that?s normal,? Karp explains. ?It is hard to spend all day with a two-year-old, and they don?t really want to spend all day with you anyway.?

Given all this, is it really that surprising that tantrums happen as frequently as they do? There are certainly good and bad ways for parents to handle poor behavior (an issue for another column), but the existence of tantrums, and the tendency for toddlers to tackle their woes through screaming and hitting and throwing, is perfectly normal because it?s sometimes ?the toddler?s only recourse,? says Tovah Klein, director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development. If your universe were amazing and terrifying and frustrating and unpredictable, and you didn?t have good communication skills or a whole lot of experience or much of a frontal lobe, you?d freak the fuck out every once in a while, too.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=692eb28746cf5e105b0d0024890f889d

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A look at the deadliest hot air balloon accidents

Tuesday's crash of a hot air balloon near Egypt's ancient city of Luxor, killing 19 tourists, surpasses what ballooning experts believed to have been the deadliest accident in the sport's 200-year history, a 1989 crash in Australia that left 13 dead. Here is a look at some of the worst accidents involving recreational hot air balloons.

? Feb 26, 2013: A hot air balloon flying over Luxor, in southern Egypt, caught fire and plunged 300 meters (1,000 feet) to the ground, crashing into a sugar cane field and killing at least 19 foreign tourists.

? Aug. 23, 2012: Six people died and 26 were injured when a hot air balloon carrying 32 people, mostly tourists including some children, caught fire and crashed near the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.

? Jan 07, 2012: A hot air balloon struck power lines near Carterton, New Zealand and exploded, crashing to the ground and killing all 11 people on board.

? Oct. 14, 2009: Four Dutch tourists were killed in Guangxi, China, after pilots lost control and their hot air balloon burst into flames and crashed.

? Aug. 26, 2001: Six people including a child were killed when their hot air balloon touched a power line at Verrens-Arvey, in southwestern France.

? June 17, 1999: Four passengers were killed when their hot air balloon hit a power line near Ibbenburen, Germany.

? Jan. 31, 1996: Five people died in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland when their hot air balloon crashed into a mountainside at a height of 2,400 meters (8,000 feet).

? Aug. 8, 1993: Six people were killed when their balloon hit a power line near Aspen, Colorado, tearing off the basket and sending it plunging 30 meters (100 feet) to the ground.

? Dec. 11, 1990: Four people died near downtown Columbus, Ohio, after their hot air balloon hit a television tower and deflated.

? Oct. 6, 1990: Four people were killed in a balloon crash at Gaenserndorf, near Vienna.

? Aug. 13, 1989: Thirteen people were killed when their hot air balloon collided with another over the Australian outback near the town of Alice Springs. The two balloons were flying at an altitude of 600 meters (2,000 feet) when one plunged to the ground after the collision.

? Oct. 3, 1982: An explosion on board a hot air balloon carrying 9 people at a festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico killed four people and injured five.

? Aug. 6, 1981: Five people were killed and one seriously injured when a hot air balloon caught fire after touching electrical wires and crashed in a suburb of Chicago.

? 1785: Two Frenchmen attempting to cross the English Channel in a hot-air balloon were killed when their balloon caught fire and crashed, in possibly the first fatal aviation accident.

Sources: AP reporting and news reports. Compiled by AP News Researcher Jennifer Farrar.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-26-ML-Balloon-Accidents-Glance/id-7c8fccf9f6be44a4b6697c69fe335c22

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Inside View from Ireland: The Value of Open Data

Tony ClementBernie Goldbach in Cashel | Tony Clement in Canada.

I TRY TO ensure our creative multimedia students understand the importance of sharing data points through simple things like online photos. And I listen to strategic thinkers like Tony Clement explain why our world is better with Open Data in it.

I wish anybody in charge of State money in Ireland had to certify (1) Open Data compliance and (2) API end point access for public data they gather or maintain. In my mind, it's a matter of accessibility. We hear the accessibility standard discussed in every developers' conference. Public servants have to be concerned with accessible internet resources and they're graded accordingly. We need to impose the same kind of public expectation on all the data that's culled and presented online by State agencies.

All the smartphone ecosystems have exceptionally useful?apps available for download that build on top of information created and collected by government sources. My phone has more accurate information about transportation and venues now than ever before. And if governments were more forward-thinking we could boost business, civic engagement and cultural interactions.

This?Friday, on the first of March 1st at 4PM Irish Time, I'm going to listen to a Hangout on Air about Canada's Open Data portal. The Hangout is with the Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board of Canada and Member of Parliament for Parry Sound-Muskoka. Tony is leading the redesign of the Government of Canada?s?Open Data?portal.

I've put the Hangout onto my Google Calendar. If Open Data interests you, here's what you might consider this Friday:

Props to Mark Blevis and Colin McKay

?

Source: http://www.insideview.ie/irisheyes/2013/02/the-value-of-open-data.html

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

What's behind Mexico's silence on immigration debate?

Mexico has a lot at stake, but its government says it does?not want to interfere in the domestic decisions of the US.

By Lauren Villagran,?Correspondent / January 31, 2013

The days when a Mexican president would raise the battle cry for US immigration reform are long past.

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Since a bipartisan group of US senators unveiled their proposal this week to resolve the status of millions of undocumented workers in the United States, and President Obama outlined a set of principles for reform, the Mexican government has stayed quietly out of the fray ??sparking questions here about what, if any, role?Mexico?should play.

Mexico has more at stake than many other nations whose people leave for US shores: Fully 10 percent of the Mexican population resides in the US. Sixty percent of the 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants living and working in the US are Mexican, according to Pew Hispanic Center.

?The current Mexican government of Enrique Pe?a Nieto has been very careful to say that they are not going to interfere in the domestic decisions of the US,? says Jesus Velasco, a political science professor at Tarleton State University in Texas. ?It?s silly. The American political system permits that the interests of foreign countries should be represented here.?

Mr. Velasco cited the effective lobbying by the Mexican government on NAFTA in the 1990s. But immigration has been a stickier issue.

Immigration was once the central theme of the bilateral relationship. A decade ago, former Mexican President Vicente Fox met with President George W. Bush five times in nine months to discuss the issue and in an address to Congress boldly requested action before the end of the year. That was in 2001, just days before the Sept. 11 attacks. The agenda quickly fell apart.

Former President Felipe Calder?n wiped immigration off the slate in 2006 and retrained the focus of the US-Mexico relationship on security. Today, six years later, Mr. Pe?a Nieto appears poised to do the same.

So far the only public comment on the proposals has come from the Mexican ministry of foreign affairs, which said in a brief statement that it ?recognizes the commitment demonstrated by an ever larger number of parties? on the issue but noted that reform is an ?internal matter? for the US federal government.

Work to do at home

Mexico?s real work today ??given that net emigration from Mexico to the US fell to zero in the past year ??lies not in promoting reform in the US but in ensuring economic opportunity for people here, says Antonio de la Cuesta, a senior political analyst with Mexico City-based think tank CIDAC.

?The focus has been wrong,? he says. ?Mexico waits for the US to do everything. It?s about both countries [taking action].?

Roughly half of Mexicans live below the poverty line, according to the United Nations. Last year, Mexico?s social development agency reported the number of Mexicans living in extreme poverty at 13 million.

Mexican immigration to the US may have slowed because of the recession in the US and increased enforcement at the border, but the conditions that have historically driven people north haven?t yet changed. For many Mexicans, a daily wage here amounts to less than the hourly wage in the US.

There are consequences for Mexico, too, in whatever the US decides, says Mr. De la Cuesta. For example, he asks, would Mexicans living in the US bring additional family members north, and stop sending the remittances that rank among the country?s top three income sources?

Mexico needs a ?complementary? proposal, he says: solutions for poverty.

?Mexico has a lot to say in this respect,? he says, ?and no reason to interfere.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/4MKqEFMNdH0/What-s-behind-Mexico-s-silence-on-immigration-debate

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College football: Recruiting proposals trouble Big Ten

By Bill Rabinowitz

The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday February 12, 2013 5:18 AM

Urban Meyer is relentless on the recruiting trail. If there?s an opening to win over a coveted prospect, he?ll take it.

Well, the NCAA has passed measures scheduled to take effect this summer that will greatly reduce restrictions on recruiting.

And Meyer is greatly troubled by them.

?Bad stuff,? he said last Wednesday on national signing day.

He vowed to write a letter to every coach in America explaining his disapproval. Yesterday, the Big Ten athletic directors and football coaches met in suburban Chicago, and Meyer?s opinion was clearly shared by the others present.

Afterward, the Big Ten released a statement saying it was ?very concerned? about three of the 25 proposals scheduled to take effect. The league asked the NCAA to table them for further discussion. The changes would eliminate the limits on the number of coaches allowed to recruit at a given time and allow for unlimited communication, both electronically and through regular mail.

?Could you imagine what?s going to be rolling into kids? driveways ? Fatheads and magnets?? Meyer said. ?It?s nonsense.?

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith agrees. Though a laissez-faire approach would likely benefit programs such as Ohio State that have plenty of resources, Smith is troubled by the new guidelines.

?The gap will get bigger, no question,? he said. ?(But) it?s not good for Ohio State, let alone anybody else. This is not about growing the gap or gaining a competitive edge. This is about what we need to invest these resources in. In my view, it?s certainly not these things. I support deregulation, but not to the point where you have to spend more dollars.?

Smith said schools would feel compelled to hire staffers whose job would be to inundate recruits with electronic messages and mail to keep up with the competition.

?We knew certain places and conferences will do that at the highest level,? Smith said. ?We (in the Big Ten) would probably be more restrained, so then we?d put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage.

?While someone might hire five or six people just to do that, we might hire two. But you shouldn?t be hiring any.?

Coaches also would be under more pressure to be in constant communication with recruits. Recruiting already is a huge time demand. With unlimited contact, it would be even greater.

?We work so hard to try to find ways to help our coaches find a work-life balance and spend time with their families,? Smith said. ?I?m a big believer that we have to continue to find ways not to put more work on our coaches. Recruiting is a never-ending battle, but if you open it up to some of these things, it?s going to be hard for them to take breaks.?

The NCAA said the measures were passed in an attempt to ?streamline and simplify? rules to include only ones that are ?enforceable, consequential or contribute to student-athlete success.? It said its board of directors sought feedback from colleges throughout the process before last month?s vote.

What passed is highly controversial.

?It?s going to be crazy,? said Brent Williams, the father of Division I recruits, including Ohio State freshman linebacker Camren Williams. ?I understand that the NCAA can?t police all communication, but this is somewhat of a cop-out.?

Stacy Elliott, father of incoming OSU freshman Ezekiel Elliott, said the deregulation would be unfair to parents and prospects. Stacy Elliott, who played at Missouri from 1989 to ?92, said the new rules would be similar to those in place ? or not ? when he was recruited.

?I was overwhelmed,? he said, ?and we didn?t have Facebook. We didn?t have cellphones. We didn?t have social media. It?s going to be harder on the student-athlete and families.?

Brent Williams said he believes that ending restrictions probably will result in more serious violations.

?With increased access, I would think that might lend (itself) to moves of desperation,? he said. ?It?s just my opinion, but it?s almost impossible for the NCAA to track and trace who calls and contacts players now. If you allow unlimited contact, (who knows) which number belongs to coaches, staff, the administration or boosters? Instead of tracking and tracing 100 calls a day from a school, they will have to track and trace thousands.?

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

@brdispatch

Source: http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2013/02/12/recruiting-proposals-trouble-big-ten.html

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Friday, February 1, 2013

How to Develop Your Life for the Benefit of Everyone | Healthy ...

Webmaster | January 30, 2013 (8 hours ago) | no comments



How to Develop Your Life for the Benefit of EveryoneLet?s start this short article on self-improvement tips with a summary of how to go about improving (and developing) your self ? possibly the best self-improvement advice I could give you, in fact:

?The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.? ? Chinese proverb

It is true that, no matter where you find yourself, and no matter where you want to go, it is only by continually taking small steps that you can effectively progress further on your journey.

This is deceptively simple self-improvement advice. But powerful, nevertheless. There is always something you can do today to get you where you want to be tomorrow.

And your journey?s progress will always be smoother, always, if you take each step with a heart of gratitude. If you can accept what today offers you, even if it is ?less? than you would want from it, and if you can instead notice what you do get from this day, then your journey will be a happier one.

Practicing gratitude, like most things self-improvement, is easier said than done, but it is possible.

Perhaps the first step to take in being grateful is to stop and take notice of any of your friends, colleagues or family members who already do this. Model yourself on those people, and imagine how they would react to a certain situation.

By the way, it?s much better to surround yourself with the kind of person you want to be rather than the kind of person you don?t like being?

?Do not listen to those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious.? ? Og Mandino

Indeed, Og, indeed.

Okay, some other areas of your life that you would benefit greatly from by improving (as would the people in your life) include:

* Anger Management

This doesn?t mean never being angry, nor does it mean being angry all the time. Instead it means a healthy expression of anger, as and when it occurs. Then forget it, and get on with life.

* Assertiveness

Again, this doesn?t mean always getting your way ? no matter the validity of the other person?s position. Instead, and much better, is to aim towards a mutual win-win situation where both parties have been heard, and both parties feel a fair outcome has been reached. Assertiveness is NOT about winning ? that is known as ?bullying?.

* Fear

There are so many fears in the world ? fear of success, fear of failure, fear of dying, fear of living, fear of commitment, fear of intimacy, fear of heights, fear of spiders? And whilst some of these fears may well be understandable, all of them are irrational, and do not serve any of us that well as we strive to lead full lives.

So overcoming these fears, at a deep level rather than at an intellectual level, WILL improve life?s possibilities for you.

Just got to get started, facing these fears, each and every day.

* Love

I bet you didn?t know that love is the opposite of fear.

Yes, a love for life, and how it flows, will always overcome a fear of life. A love for self ? the ?good bits? and the ?bad? ? will always create a person who can love others (and not fear them). A love of everything will always be more enjoyable than a fear of everything.

Love more, fear less, and BE more?

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So let me finish this short self-improvement tips article, as I started it, with one of those self-improvement inspirational quotes you simply cannot argue with. Ruth Casey?s words are blunt, and to the point, as you?ll see, but never mind?

?It only takes one person to change your life ? you.? ? Ruth Casey

Yes, you are all you need to start improving your life today! And ain?t that a marvellous thing?

www.healthylifestyleplus.com

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Tags: Acrophobia, Anger management, Arachnophobia, Benefit, Develop, Healthy Lifestyle Plus, Improvement, life, Self, Self-Help, tips, www.healthylifestyleplus.com

Category: Healthy Spirit

Source: http://www.healthylifestyleplus.com/spirit/how-to-develop-your-life-for-the-benefit-of-everyone/

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