VIC:Man admitted slitting throat, court told

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-2011
VIC:Man admitted slitting throat, court told

Eds: Attention to language in fourth par.



MELBOURNE, Aug 23 AAP - A Victorian man accused of slitting another man's throat during
a neighbourhood brawl confessed his crimes to friends, a jury has heard.

Rowan Biram, 39, was fatally stabbed after venturing outside his Heidelberg West home
to quell a large fight in November 2009, the Victorian Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.

Tjay Tunja, 26, of Rosebud West is accused of slashing Mr Biram's throat during the
altercation on November 21.

Prosecutor Brendan Kissane said the fight began as a domestic dispute and spilled outside,
prompting Mr Biram to come outside and yell at the group to "shut up" and "f**k off".

The group was screaming and had broken off nearby fence palings to use as weapons,
Mr Kissane said.

Tunja had been visiting the family where the argument originally broke out in Alamein Road.

Mr Kissane told the jury that although no one saw Tunja stab Mr Biram, several witnesses
were visited by Tunja later that night and he told them he had slit someone's throat.

Tunja went back to one of the homes the following day to deny he had stabbed anyone,
in a bid to cover his tracks, Mr Kissane alleged.

An autopsy found Mr Biram's jugular and carotid artery were severed in the attack,
Mr Kissane said.

Tunja has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Mr Kissane's opening address to the jury before Justice David Beach is continuing.

AAP md/gfr/dep/hn

KEYWORD: TUNJA

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Feb 20

AAP General News (Australia)
02-20-2008
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Feb 20
Evening Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630


Afghan Aust (CANBERRA)

Australia's defence chief says our troops in Afghanistan face higher risks as they
move further into Taliban-contested territory .. and may even accompany Afghan troops
into battle.

Australia has more than a thousand personnel in Afghanistan .. a special forces task
group .. engineers for reconstruction work .. helicopter crews .. a radar unit and support
troops.

Air Chief Marshal ANGUS HOUSTON says the reconstruction task force initially …

Travel ban (HL)

R. Sittamparam
New Straits Times
04-28-2011
Travel ban (HL)
Byline: R. Sittamparam
Edition: Main/Lifestyle
Section: Main Section

KUALA LUMPUR: Tens of thousands of income-tax defaulters have been barred from travelling overseas annually.

Last year, 60,216 defaulters were barred from travelling by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), its public relations officer, Masrun Maslim, told the New Straits Times yesterday.
Under Section 104 and Section 22 of the Income Tax Act 1967, Malaysians and even foreigners would be barred from leaving the country if they failed to settle their taxes.

In 2009, 48,557 tax defaulters faced the IRB's travel restrictions, a dip from the 2008 figure of 53,917.

The amount owed was not available, but it is learnt that a large number of defaulters were businessmen and those who had obtained permanent residence in foreign countries.

Foreign artistes, sportsmen and expatriates must also pay their dues before they can leave.

Masrun said 147,601 taxpayers out of the 207,005 (about 70 per cent) who submitted their 2010 income tax returns via the IRB's e- filing between March 1 and 31 had overpaid the board.

It had refunded promptly the excess and as of Tuesday, 135,777 taxpayers had received their refunds.

Masrun said the remaining taxpayers would receive their dues within the stipulated period in accordance with its client charter.

"Taxpayers who filed their returns via e-filing will receive their refunds within 30 days compared with 90 days for those using the manual system.

"We, therefore, urge taxpayers to use the online system as their refunds will be processed faster."

Masrun said the IRB had to date received 1.36 million tax returns via e-filing and 800,000 forms.

"It is encouraging to see more taxpayers using e-filing now compared with last year when 1.11 million filed their taxes online in the same period (March 1to April 27)."

This represents an increase of 23.07 per cent.

Asked why some taxpayers were still reluctant to use e-filing, Masrun said: "They are still not confident with the security system. They have the perception that e-filing is not secure and difficult, especially those who have dividend income.

"They prefer to fill in manually the 'Helaian Kerja 3' (HK-3) form rather than key in the amount in the electronic form.

"Others simply have no access to the Internet."

For information, visit www.hasil.gov.my or call 1-300-88-3010.

(Copyright 2011)

NSW:Man secretly filmed up women's skirts

AAP General News (Australia)
02-11-2011
NSW:Man secretly filmed up women's skirts

Court documents in Sydney show a man who captured images of women's genitals by secretly
filming up their skirts told police he didn't understand his compulsion.

Architect SABAPATHY CHANDRAHASAN .. who works at a Sydney university .. allegedly shot
more than 11-hundred videos on his digital camera of mostly young women using escalators
and stairs.

The 56-year-old has appeared in Sydney's Central Local court today .. charged with
three counts of filming a person's private parts without consent.

He'd been arrested at Central Station a day earlier .. with police alleging he'd held
a digital camera next to his briefcase and pointed it up a woman's skirt.

They say they found similar clips on the camera and a USB stick he was carrying ..

with hundreds more allegedly on a computer at his Eastwood home.

He's told police the behaviour began in 2010.

CHANDRAHASAN's been granted bail with the matter adjourned to March 11.



(EDS: Changing keyword from Skirts



AAP RTV bzs/tr/tm

KEYWORD: CHANDRAHASAN (SYDNEY)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

QLD:Gang of females assault group

08-28-2010
QLD:Gang of females assault group

Four people have been robbed and assaulted by a female gang .. east of Ipswich.

Police say the two men and two women .. aged between 18 and 23 .. were walking along
Agnes Street in Bundamba just before 11.30 last night when six females asked them for
directions and cigarettes.

When the request was refused they were assaulted.

The attackers then jumped into a white Tarago and speed off.

The four victims suffered minor injuries .. one was transported to hospital to be treated
for facial injuries.

The female offenders are described as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in appearance.

AAP RTV djb/sw/

KEYWORD: ASSAULT (BRISBANE)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Charge against Dianne Brimble's accused killer withdrawn

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2010
NSW: Charge against Dianne Brimble's accused killer withdrawn

SYDNEY, April 21 AAP - A manslaughter charge has been withdrawn against Mark Wilhelm
- the man accused over the cruise ship death of Brisbane mother-of-two Dianne Brimble.

MORE kc/klm/ash

KEYWORD: WILHELM

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Plane crash brothers were close: partner

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2009
Vic: Plane crash brothers were close: partner

The two brothers who died in an ultralight plane crash in northern Victoria were close
.. according to one of their partners.

ALAN BERRYMAN'S partner of 15 years .. CAROL RAMSEY .. says she believes ALAN was helping
his brother TED with a building project when the pair were killed in an ultralight plane
crash in northern Victoria.

The bodies of 60 year old ALAN BERRYMAN .. from Lightning Ridge and his 58 year old
brother TED .. from Manildra .. both in NSW .. were found this morning in wreckage at
Burramine .. near Yarrawonga in northern Victoria.

Lightning Ridge Bowling Club manager RAY BROWN says he doesn't think ALAN had a pilot's
licence or knew how to fly planes.

AAP RTV kn/pmu/af

KEYWORD: ULTRALIGHT BROTHERS (MELBOURNE)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Prisoner on the run after hospital escape

AAP General News (Australia)
04-29-2009
NSW: Prisoner on the run after hospital escape

SYDNEY, April 29 AAP - A prisoner taken to a Sydney hospital for treatment of a heart
condition has escaped in a taxi, police say.

Emil Mattar, a 64-year-old drug offender, was taken from Long Bay jail to Randwick's
Prince of Wales Hospital on April 23.

He was admitted under the guard of a corrective services officer, but gave him the
slip about 9.50pm (AEST) on Tuesday, police said.

A hospital gown was found in a lift, and a witness told police a man dressed in a green
tracksuit got into a taxi, where a second person appeared to be waiting.

The taxi driver has told police he dropped off the two passengers in the Ultimo area.

Mattar was serving a custodial sentence of four years and six months for supplying
prohibited drugs, with an earliest release of May 2011.

He is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, approximately
170cm tall, of medium build, with a bald head, grey moustache and hazel/green eyes.

Police are urging anyone who spots Mattar not to approach him, but to contact Crime
Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

AAP hn/jpm

KEYWORD: ESCAPE (PIX AVAILABLE)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Events Diary for Sunday, December 28, 2008

AAP General News (Australia)
12-26-2008
Events Diary for Sunday, December 28, 2008
EVENTS LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER AND LOCAL TIME UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED:

ADELAIDE
No items listed.

BRISBANE
No items listed.

CANBERRA
No items listed.

MELBOURNE
No items listed.

PERTH
No items listed.

SYDNEY
No items listed.

SPORT
CRICKET - International Test series - to December 30
Day 3 - 2nd test
1100 - Australia v Sth Africa, MCG
CRICKET - Twenty/20 matches - to January 24
TAS v VIC, Bellerive Oval
SA v WA, Adelaide Oval
SOCCER - A-League 08/09 season - to January 25
Round 17 - to December 28
1900 (AEDT) - Qld Roar FC v Wellington Phoenix FC, Suncorp Std, Brisbane
SOCCER (Women's) - W-League 08/09 season - to January 17
Round 10 - to December 28
1800 (AEDT) - Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets, Members Equity Std
GALLOPS -
Scone
Kilmore
Sunshine Coast
Naracoorte
Warrnambool
Canberra
Geraldton
Hobart
New Zealand
Japan
Hong Kong
TROTS -
Cobram
Launceston
GREYHOUNDS -
Geelong
Port Pirie

AAP pbc/apm

KEYWORD: DIARY EVENTS SUNDAY DECEMBER 28, 2008

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Swm: Schipper didn't know coach had sold secrets

AAP General News (Australia)
08-18-2008
Swm: Schipper didn't know coach had sold secrets

By Nicky Park

SYDNEY, Aug 18 AAP - Jess Schipper's parents say it's a blessing she didn't know her
coach had sold his racing secrets to her Chinese competitor until after she swam her final
race at the Beijing Olympics.

It turns out Ken Wood had trained 19-year-old Liu Zige, the swimmer who took gold -
and the world record - in the 200m butterfly in which Schipper won bronze.

Wood runs a high performance swim school north of Brisbane, which Liu attended three
times before buying his coaching program.

Schipper's parents, Jenny and Wolfgang, said their daughter found out about Wood's
actions after winning gold as part of the 4x100m medley women's relay.

"We didn't know anything about it, I don't think Jess knew anything about it either,
so that was a little upsetting," Mrs Schipper told the Nine Network.

She said her daughter wanted to see her after yesterday's relay.

"She said: `Have you heard what's going on at home?' and I said: `Yeah, I have' and
she said: `I just heard just now'," Mrs Schipper said.

"So she'd only heard after the race, (which is good) cause I think that would have
made her a little bit upset."

Mr Schipper said he was eager to speak to Wood about the reports, but he still held
his daughter's long-term coach in high esteem.

"Ken and Jess have been an absolutely tremendous and awesome combination for quite
a number of years," he said.

He said it was up to his daughter to decide what happened next.

"She's 21, she's old enough to make those decisions now," he said.

Australian Olympic head John Coates said Australia had no right to point the finger
at coaches who passed on their knowledge to international athletes.

Coates agreed with Dolphins head coach Alan Thompson who said Australian coaches had
to make a living - and Australia had poached international coaches in the past.

AAP nap/jmt

KEYWORD: OLY08 SECRETS SCHIPPER

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED: Union backs Qantas baggage handlers over bag weights fear

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2008
FED: Union backs Qantas baggage handlers over bag weights fear

By Katelyn John

SYDNEY, April 10 AAP - Qantas says it will not bow to union threats of industrial action,
despite claims from the Transport Workers' Union (TWU) the national carrier's baggage
handlers are "breaking their backs" lugging bags weighing up to 32kg.

Qantas baggage handlers yesterday voted in support of a 20kg weight limit for all baggage
and called on management to support such a move.

However, Qantas management today said its current regulations complied with all industry
standards of baggage handling.

"Qantas meets all national and international standards relating to the handling of
heavy bags," it said in a statement.

"We have clear policies and procedures, including heavy bag identification, appropriate
manual handling techniques and weight limitations.

"We have implemented mechanical solutions that alleviate heavy lifting, staff rotation
solutions and manual handling training.

"We will continue to work constructively with our staff on this issue (but) we do not
anticipate any impact on our flight schedule or change to check-in allowances."

When asked if this meant Qantas would not reduce individual bag allowances, a spokesman
told AAP: "Not at this stage".

The travel plans of thousands of airline passengers could be disrupted if Qantas does
not adopt the 12kg reduction in bag weight, the TWU said.

TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon said management's stance left Qantas workers no
choice but to take industrial action.

"I'm sure the general public would understand with Qantas' failure to act, he told
reporters in Melbourne

"With Qantas literally breaking the backs of their own employees and crippling family
members, that they've left no alternative but for the workforce to start taking those
matters directly into their own hands and literally for them to stop their backs from
being broken.

"The workforce has little option but to say, 'Am I going to sit by and watch my friends
have their back broken or my own, or sit by when the next person gets dragged out of a
baggage hold and having to be syringed with morphine to be able to drag them out?'."

The TWU said it was waiting for an official response rather than just a statement from
Qantas, and would meet with management and delegates before deciding if any industrial
action should be taken.

Mr Sheldon said a recent union survey found one in seven Qantas baggage handlers had
to have time off work as a result of injury last year, with 28 cases of serious back,
neck and shoulder injuries.

He said Qantas' sister airline, British Airways, had a 20kg baggage limit, and the
national handling proposals from the national health bodies said the maximum baggage weight
should be 16-20kg.

"Quite clearly the risks that are in this industry (are) as a result of Qantas' lack
of proper equipment, lack of proper training and certainly lack of accountability in the
systems they've got in place," he said.

Qantas said time lost because of injuries in the airport had decreased every year for
the past four years.

AAP kaj/hn/imc/de

KEYWORD: BAGGAGE NIGHTLEAD

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Midday, Dec 7

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2007
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Midday, Dec 7
Midday Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1130


Plane (SYDNEY)

The pilot of a light plane is feared dead after the aircraft crashed into a lake in
the NSW Hunter region.

Police say the pilot .. in his seventies .. is missing after the plane went down at
Lake Liddell north-west of Singleton at 9.40am (AEDT).

A NSW Ambulance Service spokeswoman says two passengers survived the crash and managed
to escape from the plane.

She says they're being treated at the scene .. but aren't badly injured.

Police divers have been called in.

Air Services Australia says the converted fire-bomber was being used for aerial photography
when it crashed.



Gay McClelland (CANBERRA)

Federal Attorney-General ROBERT McCLELLAND has raised the possibility of more discussions
with states and territories on same-sex civil unions.

Mr McCLELLAND is meeting ACT Attorney-General SIMON CORBELL today to thrash out proposed
laws allowing same-sex civil unions in the territory.

The meeting comes after former Attorney-General PHILIP RUDDOCK used his power to block
ACT laws .. saying they contradicted the federal Marriage Act.

Mr McCLELLAND says he'll be looking to the Tasmanian civil union register as a model
that could be used in the ACT and possibly other states and the Northern Territory.

Prime Minister KEVIN RUDD has already promised not to block the ACT's next attempt
at civil union legislation.




Cocaine (MELBOURNE)

Federal police say it was difficult to track down an alleged king pin of an international
drug ring importing cocaine into Australia.

The 40-year-old Melbourne man has been arrested in Amsterdam .. after the AFP tipped
off Dutch authorities.

He's alleged to be the head of a drug ring operating in Australia .. Canada .. and
the Netherlands.



Vitkovic (MELBOURNE)

As America tries to come to terms with another mass shooting in which eight people
were killed in Omaha .. Melbourne will quietly mark the 20th anniversary of the Queen
St massacre tomorrow.

Failed law student FRANK VITKOVIC murdered eight people and then plunged 11 floors
to his death at the Australia Post building in Queen St in Melbourne's CBD on December
8 .. 1987.

It was Australia's biggest mass killing at the time .. coming four months after JULIAN
KNIGHT shot seven people in Hoddle Street .. only five kilometres away in inner city Clifton
Hill.

Survivors and the families of those killed have chosen against a public memorial ..

instead a private wreath laying ceremony will be held tomorrow at the Memorial Window
to mark the anniversary.

Queen St hero FRANK CARMODY .. a clerk in the finance department who wrestled the gun
from VITKOVIC .. says he rarely relives the day.

But he says events like the shootings in Omaha bring the memories back.



Stallions Qld (BRISBANE)

Restrictions on horse movements in south-east Queensland's red zone will be significantly
eased today .. the most important development since the outbreak of equine influenza.

Areas in the existing red zone including Maroochy Shire .. Dalby and Stanthorpe ..

will be reclassified amber .. allowing free movement within the zones.

But a permit is still required to move horses out of the amber zone.

Red zone restrictions have also been lifted in Gympie .. Goondiwindi and Nanango.



Rail Graham (SYDNEY)

RailCorp chief VINCE GRAHAM denies only aging trains will be used on Sydney's newest
rail link .. because the gradient is too steep for newer trains.

News Limited reports the Epping Chatswood rail line will be serviced by 30-year-old
trains .. which the NSW government has promised to phase out .. because engineers have
bungled construction of a tunnel .. now too steep for modern trains.

But Mr GRAHAM says all of RailCorp's trains could run on the line .. although the Tangara
isn't suited to the gradient and the story's simply wrong.



US Grammys (LOS ANGELES)

Australian KEITH URBAN has been nominated for another grammy award.

He's up for best male country vocal performance for his song .. Stupid Boy .. off his
Love Pain and The Whole Crazy Thing album.

Rapper KANYE WEST has won the most nominations .. with eight .. including best album of the year.

AMY WINEHOUSE has six nominations .. and the Foo Fighters .. VINCE GILL and HERBIE
HANCOCK will also contest best album at the 50th annual awards in February.



Briefly in other news ..




Two teenage boys .. who bashed to death another teen in the NSW Riverina town of Griffith
on New Year's Day .. have been jailed for a maximum six years.




Salvage crews in Queensland have successfully refloated a bulk carrier that's been
stuck in mud in Gladstone harbour for more than five days.




Police say a 22-year-old Kangaroo Island man died as he fled a raging bushfire on the
island's southern coast .. he was found dead in his burnt out truck near Vivonne Bay yesterday.




NASA has postponed today's planned launch of space shuttle Atlantis just hours before
it was due to blast off .. because of problems on the external fuel tanks.




A new study shows nearly one in three young adults in New Zealand has a drinking problem.




The Vatican's discovered a lost drawing by Renaissance master MICHELANGELO of a design
for the dome of St Peter's Basilica.

The small drawing .. done in the spring of 1563 when MICHELANGELO was 88 .. is believed
to be his last known sketch before he died the next year.



in Finance ..



US Subprime Aust (CANBERRA)

Treasurer WAYNE SWAN says Australia remains well-placed to deal with the global economic
fallout from the US sub-prime housing market crisis.

US President GEORGE W BUSH has unveiled a wide-ranging mortgage relief package to help
1.2 million distressed homeowners.

The plan has been unveiled amid fears a rising tide of home-loan defaults would lead
to a surge in re-possessing .. and have a cascading effect on the economy.

Mr SWAN's told ABC radio .. the woes in the US remain a concern for Australia .. but
because of our first-class financial regulators we're well placed to cope with the fallout.

He says the second and third round effects on growth internationally will have some
impact on the Australian economy .. but the outlook is far better than some have predicted.





in Sport ..



AFL Kangaroos (MELBOURNE)

The AFL intends starting work on a 17th club to be based on the Gold Coast as soon
as today after the Kangaroos' final rejection of a move north.

The Kangaroos board last night voted to remain in Melbourne rather than relocate to
Queensland, spurning a multi-million proposal from the AFL.

AFL chief executive ANDREW DEMETRIOU has told Southern Cross radio work will begin
"as of today" on establishing a new team.

DEMETRIOU says the 17th club will be up and running post 2010, the same time frame
the AFL had given the Kangaroos to relocate.



ENDS MIDDAY ROUND-UP

Broadcast Desk inquiries 24 hours: 02 9322 8714

AAP RTV/bart

KEYWORD: MIDDAY ROUND-UP

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: PM to fund Qld water pipeline=2

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2007
Fed: PM to fund Qld water pipeline=2

The $1.7 billion recycled water pipeline is the largest scheme of its kind in the southern
hemisphere.

It involves building a pipeline between six wastewater treatment plants in Brisbane
and Ipswich to three advanced water treatment plants for treatment before being transferred
to end users.

The water will be used by two major power stations, industry and farmers, as well as
supplementing the drinking water supply after being purified to world's best standards.

Premier Peter Beattie welcomed the funding announcement.

"That's great news for two million Australians who are battling the worst drought in
their history - it's a big win for Queensland," Mr Beattie said.

"This is an iconic project. It is of lasting national significance and, as such, deserved
to be rewarded."

Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Anna Bligh said the state government would
have no problem meeting the 30-day deadline for disclosure of the project's full financial
position.

Queensland Liberal leader Bruce Flegg said the federal funding would reduce the impact
of water price hikes, which were expected to double.

"Costs have alarmingly escalated as the Beattie government scrambles to catch up its
years of neglect," Dr Flegg said.

"The commonwealth government assistance will help alleviate this burden on local families
and secure jobs."

AAP pjo/ks/mn

KEYWORD: WATER HOWARD 2 BRISBANE (REOPENS)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Govt should have pressed for a ban on JI: Opposition

AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-2006
NSW: Govt should have pressed for a ban on JI: Opposition

The Federal Opposition says outspoken Muslim cleric ABU BAKAR BASHIR would still be
behind bars if the Australian government had pressured Indonesia to ban terrorist groups
Jemaah Islamiyah.

BASHIR .. widely known as the spiritual leader of JI .. this week had his Bali bombing
conviction overturned by the Indonesian Supreme Court.

The decision sparked outrage among the families of victims.

Opposition defence spokesman ROBERT MCCLELLAND says Australia's taking a limp wristed
approach to JI .. and is undermining the effectiveness of its regional counter terrorism
push.

Mr MCCLELLAND says the government hasn't put enough pressure on the Indonesian government
to outlaw JI.

AAP RTV ajc/go/cp

KEYWORD: INDON BASHIR LABOR (SYDNEY)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Greens target health minister on home turf

AAP General News (Australia)
08-16-2006
Vic: Greens target health minister on home turf

MELBOURNE, Aug 16 AAP - A doctor with a plan to slash hospital waiting lists is challenging
Victoria's besieged Health Minister Bronwyn Pike for the seat she holds by less than two
per cent.

Greens candidate Richard Di Natale, a public health expert, also ran against Ms Pike
for the marginal seat of Melbourne in the 2002 election and came within 550 votes after
preferences of winning.

As Ms Pike faces increasing pressure over hospital waiting lists, Dr Di Natale today
released the Greens health policy which he said would cut waiting lists numbers before
they begin accumulating.

Under the Greens' four-year policy, $100 million would be earmarked for new community
health centres and another $100 million for home and community care, such as district
nurses.

General practitioners would be encouraged to work from community centres and the Greens
would spent $10 million on health promotion.

These "upstream" investments were the most practical way of tackling hospital waiting
lists, Dr Di Natale said.

"If we can just move away from the narrow focus on hospital waiting lists and focus
on these upstream factors - on health promotion, on providing services for people in the
community and on community health - then there will be a measurable and significant impact
on the public hospital system," he said.

"A dollar spent in health promotion is 10 times more cost-effective than money spent
on the acute tertiary system (in hospitals)."

Nevertheless, Dr Di Natale acknowledged many waiting list cases required unavoidable
surgery and said the Greens supported current government spending on public hospitals.

"What we're saying is, let's shift the debate to those things that we know are cost-effective
and will save lives in the longer term."

He rejected suggestions the Greens' policy would take years to filter through in addressing
lengthening waiting lists.

"If you walk into any emergency department you'll see a number of users of an emergency
facility that are there because they don't have the services at home.

"So providing services in that way has an immediate impact."

Dr Di Natale's chance of defeating a senior Bracks government minister at the November
25 election may rest on an influx of residents into the new and ritzy Docklands precinct
of the electorate since the last election.

If he won, he would become the first Greens MP in a lower house seat in Australia.

An increase of young people moving into the electorate since 2002 had given the Greens
confidence, he said.

"(Ms Pike) has got a very difficult job being a health minister and being an effective
local member.

"I'll make sure the people of Melbourne get effective local representation."

Dr Di Natale is a former GP who now works as a public health specialist and consults
on issues including HIV in under-developed regions, such as India.

AAP nl/gfr/jt/nf

KEYWORD: GREENS

) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Former UN official to give evidence to AWB inquiry

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2006
Fed: Former UN official to give evidence to AWB inquiry

A former United Nations official has been asked to tell the Cole inquiry what she knew
about AWB's illicit payments to Iraq.

Senior counsel assisting the inquiry JOHN AGIUS .. says former UN Customs chief FELICITY
JOHNSTON has been asked to provide a sworn statement to commissioner TERENCE COLE.

The request comes after Ms JOHNSTON broke her silence on the AWB kickbacks scandal
.. on the ABC's Four Corners program to be aired tonight.

Ms JOHNSTON's told the program .. the Australian government failed six years ago to
act on key warnings about AWB paying kickbacks to SADDAM HUSSEIN's regime.





Ms JOHNSTON says she passed on complaints by a third party country .. now known to
be Canada .. to Department of Foreign Affairs officials in early 2000.

Canada had complained to the UN that AWB was making illicit payments to Iraq in the
form of trucking fees.

DFAT officials have told the inquiry .. Ms JOHNSTON never mentioned trucking fees when
she raised the concerns about AWB.

AAP RTV bt/smb/jmt

KEYWORD: AWB JOHNSTON (SYDNEY)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: Frederick wants his job back

AAP General News (Australia)
12-12-2005
SA: Frederick wants his job back

A former Adelaide magistrate wants his job back .. after the court overturned his convictions
on sex offences.

MICHAEL FREDERICK's expected to tell the South Australian Supreme Court .. the letter
of resignation he signed immediately after his conviction was only meant as an intention
to resign .. and he quickly withdrew it.

FREDERICK says he was in a state of distress after being given an ultimatum to resign
or be sacked.

The sex charges dated back to 1983 when FREDERICK was 37 .. and working as a solicitor.







The trial in the Supreme Court is continuing.

AAP RTV tjd/rj/rt

KEYWORD: FREDERICK (ADELAIDE)

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

standard production cost

standard production cost The production costs of products and operations calculated from predetermined levels of performance and cost in order to provide a yardstick against which actual production costs can be compared for the purposes of cost ascertainment and control.

SPYGLASS, MITSUI ENTER RESELLER AGREEMENT FOR PRISM CONTENT.

(Full text of a statement. Contact details below.)

NAPERVILLE, Ill. and TOKYO, Feb 24 PRNewswire-AsiaNet - Internet pioneer Spyglass Inc. (Nasdaq: SPYG) and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. announced today they have signed a reseller agreement under which Mitsui will sell the Spyglass Prism content delivery and transformation platform in the Japanese market.

As the market for information appliances continues to emerge, delivering and managing Web content for these devices is becoming an increasing challenge. Because information appliances vary in terms of display capabilities, processing power, and communications speed, richly formatted content designed for PCs may be awkward to display and slow to download. Spyglass Prism is a server-based solution designed to meet this challenge.

Spyglass Prism automatically converts, optimizes and transmits Web-based content, created for PCs in the standard HTML format, to devices such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs) and content providers can use Spyglass Prism to provide Web content at high-speed and low-cost to any device, including cellular phones equipped for i-mode or cdmaOne, without having to separately convert the content for each type of device.

Spyglass Japan Country Manager Noriyuki Nihira, explains, "Spyglass Prism is a server application that supports readily available Web browsers in the market. Combined with the Inktomi TrafficServer, Spyglass Prism can be used to offer new Internet access service solutions for all kinds of information devices. At the same time, sales through our new distributor, Mitsui, a pioneer of Japan's Internet field, will create opportunities for us to provide localization and other customer-support services, thereby significantly expanding our Japanese market."

Mitsui will provide Spyglass Prism as application software via the Inktomi TrafficServer, a cache server product, and sell it to affiliated sales companies, carriers, ISPs, and content providers.

"By using the technology developed by Spyglass, our customers will be able to provide content optimized for a variety of devices, thereby enabling them to offer a wider variety of content to their customers," said Mr. Sosuke Tsuchiya, general manager of Mitsui & Co.'s Solution Business Division. "Our partnership with Spyglass will enable us to more actively market Internet access solutions for many different devices."

Mitsui, Japan's largest service provider and biggest investor in the information technology field (IT), has holdings in leading IT companies such as Nihon Unisys, Adam Net and AOL Japan. It recently announced its participation in a new venture, dubbed 7dream.com, which will create one of Japan's largest markets for e-commerce. Other partners in the venture include major players such as NEC, Sony, JTB and Seven-Eleven Japan.

About Mitsui & Co. Ltd.

Mitsui & Co. Ltd. is one of Japan's oldest and largest international trading companies, with over 300 years of experience and sales of US$131.7 billion in fiscal 1998. The company is spearheading the rapid development of Japan's Internet, IT and communications systems fields, including as a partner in AOL Japan.

About Spyglass Inc.

Spyglass (Nasdaq: SPYG) is a leading provider of strategic Internet consulting, software and professional services that enable content providers, service operators and device manufacturers to capitalize on the potential of the Internet. Market-leading companies using Spyglass solutions include GTE, Microsoft, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Thomson Consumer Electronics, WorldGate and Xerox. Spyglass is headquartered in Naperville, Ill. and has regional offices in Lexington, Mass., Silicon Valley, Calif., London and Tokyo. Visit http://www.spyglass.com for more information.

(February 2000)

Spyglass and the Spyglass logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Spyglass, Inc., in the United States and other countries. Mosaic is a trademark of the University of Illinois. (Other technologies and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.) This release contains information about management's future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward- looking statements as a result of various important factors that are discussed in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 1999 and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.

For more information contact: Mr. Noriyuki Nihira, Director, Sales Asia Pacific of Spyglass International, Inc. Japan Branch, 03-3538-0170, fax, 03-3538-0172; or Mr. Munehito Koga, Network System Sales Department, Solution Business Division of Mitsui Corporation, 03-3285-7850, fax, 03-3285-8626

SOURCE Spyglass, Inc.

CONTACT: Amanda Ingalls of Spyglass Inc., 630-245-6512,

      aingallsspyglass.com      Photo: 

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990203/CGW005 or

PR Newswire Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467 Web site: http://www.spyglass.com

Egyptian Diaspora get involved in Tahrir Square Foundation.

CAIRO: As foreign aid becomes an increasingly sensitive issue post-revolution, one philanthropic foundation looks to muster the resources of the Egyptian Diaspora.

Fittingly named the Tahrir Square Foundation, the organization was launched in the aftermath of the January revolution. With an Egyptian-American and Egyptian-Canadian board, it seeks to use the funding and resources of the overseas Egyptians to assist in problems at home.

"Egypt, for all of its well-deserved pride in what it has done for itself, can't live in isolation," said Ahmed Fattouh, chairman of the foundation and CEO of Globalist Capital Management. "No country can today."

The Egyptian Diaspora, he added, could offer capital and experience while acting as a conduit with the rest of the world.

"[It's about] mobilizing resources from Egyptians for Egyptians," he said, "You want people to be comfortable taking money."

Starting this coming month, the foundation will go on a campaign to publicize its mission and attract more resources. Active in the US and Canada, the foundation offers the overseas Egyptian community an easy way to efficiently fund their home country.

"Most Egyptians overseas rely on donating to people they know in some way, but that's not very high impact philanthropy," Fattouh said. "If you want to have a high impact, you have to have some organization."

With funding and other resources coming from the Diaspora, the foundation gives to vetted, local organizations that it finds most impactful.

"[The goal] is helping people help themselves," he explained, "There are a lot of worthy causes here. Our role is to mobilize resources to channel to these causes, and to do the due diligence that individuals cannot always do themselves."

One of the foundation's causes is the Osiris project, an unlikely marriage of participative democracy and an American Idol-style game show.

"The concept of the Osiris Project is to use technology to turn the National Dialogue into a more participatory process," Fattouh explained, "Representatives are selected by the people, topics are selected by the people, the issues are debated live on TV, and viewers can vote by internet, text message or phone call."

The project, far more than an entertainment program, hopes to create a less destructive way for the government to hear the true wishes of the people.

"Right now people observe that the only way they can be listened to is by flooding the streets," he said.

And in flooding the streets, accurate representation is difficult to achieve. Although the government met with a number of delegates last week, many felt that they were not really represented.

"Under the right circumstances, you will see people able to evolve from protest to participation," he said. "You can get an idea of what's legitimate and what's just loud."

The project has already launched a website, www.ihnamisr.com, that allows voting and discussion on political issues. But Osiris hopes to reach beyond those with internet access.

"If a technology-enabled interactive national dialogue was created, you might be able to step down the tension," Fattouh said, "And by technology we mean TV and mobile phones which most people have, not just Facebook."

Projects like Osiris are particularly seasonable, but the Tahrir Square Foundation seeks to manage aid to Egypt even after the revolutionary atmosphere subsides.

"The reality is that Egypt will need it," Fattouh said. "Our mandate may shift, from philanthropy to education or from education to entrepreneurship. But Egypt will need contributions from its overseas citizens for a long time to come."

And in return for their generosity, he hopes Egyptian citizens overseas will be more accepted.

"Egyptians overseas want to help Egypt but they want Egyptians to recognize them as well," he explained. "They need to feel that they are citizens. They happen to live abroad but they are part of the community."

"This hopefully includes the right to vote," he added.

Daily NewsEgypt 2011

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company

Ike may add to US woes.

Provided by 7DAYS.ae

US: Hurricane Ike, which has already shut down over a fifth of US oil production, could cause flooding along the Gulf of Mexico and cripple Houston, Texas, the fourth-largest US city. Storm disruption fears took US crude oil futures up 31 cents on Friday to $101.18 a barrel, after dropping below $100 for the first time since early April on concerns over economic weakness in the US.

2007 Al Sidra Media LLC

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company

Learning community: a 21st-century teaching and reform model.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

As the federal and state governments continue to push for education reform, educators are introducing new instructional practices across grade levels, school departments, building sites, and entire districts. In order for those new practices to be sustainable, leaders find that enabling educators, students, parents, and even members of the larger community to work together to set goals, develop plans, discuss strategies, share resources and information, monitor each others progress, and provide remediation is a powerful organizational response to reform. That's why practically all reform models use some form of learning community.

The two most common forms of community are small learning communities (SLCs) and professional learning communities (PLCs). Each learning community has its drawbacks, as well as benefits, but when combined, they cancel out each other's weaknesses and reinforce their strengths. The difficulty in using both PLCs and SLCs is that each community requires different scheduling practices to allow for collaborative time among the right people, and there are few examples of schools that have realized the benefits of both. It's possible, though, to use technology to create a hybrid model virtually that compensates for real-world problems.

BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF LEARNING COMMUNITY FORMATS

In both forms of learning communities there are teacher teams that coordinate action, as well as share information and feedback in a supportive environment. In the SLC model, educator teams work with a defined subgroup of students. The SLC teams consider nonacademic factors (such as attendance) that might be affecting academic performance and provide advocates if needed. The teams also express the expectation that students will be accountable and believe that their own success matters.

I worked in an SLC during my days as a social studies teacher at Evergreen Valley High School in San Jose, Calif. The high school had no digital system for managing the communities, but I used my subject matter as a platform for social networking, understanding the power of media, and teaching students how to function in a world where technology is the channel through which one works and succeeds.

Through Yahoo! Groups, I put together an online community of 30 students across five classes. Although they never met in person and attended social studies classes at different periods in the school week, the students collaborated online for a culminating project on using technology to analyze information and using markets to understand what is going on in the media. The other social studies teachers and I posted homework assignments in the online group, and each teacher could see what students were working on in the different classes. The project was so successful that we won a $10,000 prize for internet technology innovation. Despite our success, unfortunately, the school eventually had to add 1,000 students and so adopted a more traditional configuration.

However, many of the teachers had bought deeply into the SLC model and with good reason. Robert Balfanz, Ph.D., a researcher at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Social Organization of Schools and the co-director of the Everyone Graduates Center, has found that in the SLC model, students believe that their teachers know and care about them, resulting in greater student engagement, attendance, and effort. That, in turn, produces substantial improvements in grades earned, as well as increases in the number of students passing courses and graduating.

Seeing the positive effect that the online SLC had on my social studies colleagues and students led me to the notion that entire schools would benefit from that type of collaboration. Using my preteaching experience in publishing and the internet, I created the School Loop online system in 2004 with the purpose of helping student-centric teams have the information and means to collaborate quickly and efficiently.

While SLCs are widely adopted in many large, urban districts, of the two models, PLCs have been widely adopted nationally in all types of districts. PLCs are aligned around content areas--teachers of a common course, subject, or grade level work together on a team. While in elementary schools, the PLC and the SLC share many attributes, but in secondary schools these two models require different scheduling. The PLC fits more with traditional school design, is easier for teachers to understand as it is focused on instructional practice, and does not have as limiting an effect on the range of offered courses as the SLC.

Team members usually meet in person but often take advantage of an array of online resources, including online discussions and training, to improve or evaluate instructional practices. While this particular learning community focuses on instruction, its special benefit is that critiques and advice are provided by peers rather than by supervisors. That, plus the fact that members often take turns being the community leader, effectively subverts much of the resistance that traditionally independent teachers may feel about letting others evaluate their work.

The downside of the PLC in secondary schools is that it does not place as much focus on the whole child as the SLC model does. Consequently, members may overlook nonacademic factors that are affecting students, and responsibility for problems such as dropouts remain diffused.

What is needed today is a hybrid learning community that allows teams of interested individuals to easily collaborate with students, while connecting those teams to tools and data to make systemic change easier.

HYBRID LEARNING COMMUNITY BENEFITS

In a hybrid learning community, teams would form to focus on systemwide problems, while others would be created to address effective instruction or intensive intervention. The need for this model is particularly great in secondary schools with systems-level problems--for example, highly impacted schools where the response-to-intervention model is virtually upside down. Educators need to attack those systems-level problems with systems-level interventions, developing programs to attack those problems at their root. After the systemwide change, they can attend to the students who still need help.

Tactics for countering a system-level problem are not necessarily complex or expensive. A school with widespread truancy, for example, might directly explain to parents and students that education matters and provide positive reinforcement via certificates and awards ceremonies. The difficulty usually lies in seeing the actual problem. The idea that a student who does not show up to classes will not do well on tests may seem obvious, but in my experience, schools often struggle to correlate nonacademic problems with academic challenges.

When establishing a plan, one has to analyze the problems so resources are applied effectively and efficiently. Principals and other educators need help in looking for patterns, such as the one just cited, so that they can make the right choices when planning programs. Additionally, educators need to consider the strategies and activities teams will use and how results will be tracked at the system, class, group, or individual student level.

This is what the hybrid learning community does, and it would provide a huge breakthrough for schools.

SUPPORTING A NEW REFORM MODEL

In secondary schools, instruction has traditionally been centered on content, not students. Asking teachers to do their jobs differently by adding new practices or taking on social problems is requiring that they do more work in the same amount of time.

The ultimate question is "How can a school system work more effectively without increasing funds and staff?" The time may be ripe for the hybrid learning community model--part virtual, part real-world. To do so, schools need a new technological framework.

Many companies have been using 21st-century technology to break down barriers to collaboration and personalized learning. Microsoft's SharePoint creates websites so users can share information, manage documents, and publish reports. In the educational arena, in addition to School Loop's team management system, Blackboard's course management system offers customized material while Schoolnet and Pearson's PowerSchool deliver student information systems that facilitate individualized learning.

However, integrating PLCs and SLCs into a hybrid learning community requires a new approach to technology. Districts will need to rethink their information systems and create technology strategies that are truly rooted in collaboration and systemic intervention, connecting the cycle of improvement to the tools necessary to act together.

Schools have special constraints that have no business-world analog, particularly secondary schools. Class size limitations, scheduling complexities, graduation requirements, competitive power centers and yet a lack of true centralized power, and the expectations of staff make for challenges to sustaining true reform, much less tackling the myriad social and academic problems they face.

A hybrid learning community can't cure all of these problems, but if schools thought of digital infrastructures as complements to real-world organizations, they could allow members of any kind of team-based structure to function more readily within the school and district. The good news is, with the advent of social networking, content management systems and teacher websites, the development of a technological platform for hybrid learning communities might be right around the corner.

References

What Does It Cost to Operate a High School Organized Into Small Learning Communities? When Are Additional Resources Needed? How Can Efficiencies Be Achieved? By Robert Balfanz, Ph.D., Everyone Graduates Center, 2010.

Mark Gross is chief executive officer and founder of School Loop (www.school loop.com). Email him at mark@schoolloop.com.

BillShrink Sharpens Pitch Ads with Location Data.(Technology)

Byline: Jeremy Quittner

BillShrink Inc., the discount-hunting service, has come up with a new spin on the Billy Mays-style hard sell in which consumers are cautioned to spend now or forever miss out on a host of extra goodies.

BillShrink made its name with the statement rewards program whose discounts it distributes online and with paper credit and debit card bills. In May it began adding "geo-enhanced" rewards that offer even larger discounts based on consumers' physical location. The new pitches are made possible when merchants locate nearby consumers through mobile phones and offer them additional incentives.

Industry experts said the geo-enhanced rewards improve upon the scattershot approach that many geo-location services use when targeting consumers.

Using Toys "R" Us Inc. as an example, Schwark Satyavolu, BillShrink's chief executive and co-founder, said the merchant would know that a nearby consumer had already been offered $10 off a particular product and might then offer an additional $5 off on immediate purchases.

"Location is not the end of the story," he said. "But coupled with my transaction history, it becomes most valuable to the merchant and the consumer."

In offering geo-enhanced discounts, BillShrink is treading a path that rivals have taken in the past. However, those services have typically blasted out offers to anyone near a retail outlet, rather than targeting those who have previously shown in interest in a product.

BillShrink's "geo-enhanced rewards are intelligent," said Jacob Jegher, a senior analyst at the research firm Celent. "This allows things to become personalized by geographic location," rather than "just a generic offer."

Banks also benefit from its targeted service, Satyavolu said. "They are really looking for ways to be more relevant to their customers, and driving engagement with mobile and online applications is a key priority."

The effectiveness of the offers will depend on BillShrink having a large enough pool of merchants to target consumers with offers that actually appeal to them, analysts said.

BillShrink, which is based in Redwood City, Calif., is working with 93 of the top 100 national merchants and several thousand local and regional merchants, Satyavolu said.

Advertising models based on consumer requests, called "pulled" ads, are likely to be more successful than those that merchants push to consumers, industry experts said. An ad that appears in Internet search results is an example of a pulled ad.

"We're saturated when things are pushed at us, and we start to ignore them," said Alan Mattei, a partner at Novantas LLC of New York. "When I am looking for something, the effectiveness of the ads is much higher, because I have asked for advice on it."

Intelligent reading of transactional data could also be interpreted as a form of consumer pull, said Ron Shevlin, a senior analyst at Aite Group LLC of Boston.

"The key to future marketing success is about sense and responsiveness," Shevlin said.

What's different about BillShrink's approach, however, is the degree to which it can potentially target consumers.

"The offers are coming from analysis of spending patterns and matching that to a merchant who wants to give you a discount based on your demonstrated spend," Shevlin said.

Experts pointed out that a large amount of money was being thrown at location-based advertising for mobile devices by companies likeGoogle Inc., Yelp Inc., Foursquare Labs Inc., and eBay Inc., which purchased the geo-location application provider Where Inc. in April.

In contrast to BillShrink, Foursquare, which said it works with more than 300,000 merchants nationally, requires consumers to check in at or near a merchant's location before they receive special offers, which can be tailored more generally to consumer behavior.

Typical rewards might be discounts for first-time customers, incentives for loyal customers and freebies for frequent shoppers, a Foursquare representative said by email. A representative of a financial services company said that while location-based merchant-funded rewards could be potentially important, it was not ready to implement them.

"We are not seeing an overwhelming interest in our customers for" geo-enhanced rewards, said Michael Reiff, director of consumer product management for the prepaid card marketer NetSpend Holdings Inc. of Austin, Texas.

NetSpend currently uses Cardlytics Inc. of Atlanta as its merchant-funded rewards provider for online banking. Within the next year it will start testing mobile offers from merchants using SMS texts and emails delivered to handsets.

Reiff said NetSpend has to be careful about how it delivers messages to its customers through mobile devices, because many also have prepaid cell phone plans with strict limits on the number of messages they can receive.

"In the future," location-based rewards "may help them find a quick-service restaurant offering them something, but when it comes to a 'geo offer' that pings them when they drive by, our customers have major privacy concerns," Reiff said. "And they are concerned about getting spammed with messages, as they drive around town, and paying for them."

Satyavolu said BillShrink will be able to offer merchants very specific campaign information, using anonymous aggregated data, about how their offers to consumers fared compared to those of competitors.

The service could also let banks steer customers to specific payment types, potentially adding more discounts if they use the bank's card to redeem an offer at a particular merchant.

"It makes the bank more of a helper in customers' daily lives," Satyavolu said. "And the bank card becomes a more indispensable part of their daily lives."

MoveThatBlock.com "The New Craigslist Killer", Launches Residential Real Estate Category with over 4.3 Billion Square Feet and 768,000 Properties Across the United States.(Company overview)

Loudonville, NY (PRWEB) May 23, 2011

MoveThatBlock.com (Private), an Internet start-up company, today announced that visitors to the website will be able to search over 768,000 residential listings with a total of 4.3 billion square feet, including over 200 multiple listing services' properties. The Residential category on MoveThatBlock.com allows users to search for properties in all states, and also the ability to post their listings completely free. With no scraped content, MoveThatBlock.com offers fresh content updated daily. The company, founded in September 2010, offers users functionality that rivals competitors like Trulia.com and Zillow.com.

"The success of MoveThatBlock.com is a perfect example of individuals with a good idea putting together the team and private capital to make their vision successful. It is particularly gratifying for me to see this company be started by two of my fellow Siena College alumni, and provide current Siena students with the opportunity to experience and contribute to different aspects of a business while still in college. I am a firm believer that the potential of our own Tech Valley here in Upstate New York is unlimited. By removing the impediments to growing the economy at a federal and state level, we will continue to see private companies like this thrive, including in our own backyard," said New York Congressman Chris Gibson, 20th District.

MoveThatBlock.com is an innovative, cutting-edge website that offers professional quality, one-stop shopping for jobs, dating, commercial real estate, residential real estate, apartments & home rentals, vacation rentals only before found on pay-to-post sites. They offer more features, better functionality, and dynamic cross traffic that no single pay-for-use competitor offers. Their custom features are easy to use and allow simple searching and posting in an uncluttered environment.

MoveThatBlock.com is the world's first premium quality site to offer full access free of charge across multiple categories in the Essential Life segment of the Internet. They also offer personal, step by step guidance through life's most difficult decisions, providing experts in each step of the process. From buying a home to landing that dream job or date, we've got you covered. You never have to go at it alone.

Two former Siena College roommates teamed up to change the internet. They immediately added a third partner, then quickly a fourth and fifth. They helped create the first company to launch their alma mater's Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship in New York's Tech Valley. Students help run the day to day operations of the company in an open environment where everyone contributes.

MoveThatBlock.com is the world's first 100% free to post and search premium classifieds website that is free both for people who want to list and for those who want to browse through the featured listings. MoveThatBlock.com is there for life's biggest decisions. Welcome to the block!

Contact:

Patrick Gray, Co-Founder & CEO; pgray(at)movethatblock(dot)com

Todd Drowlette, Co-Founder & Chairman; tdrowlette(at)movethatblock(dot)com

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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/5/prweb8458814.htm

Osamas killing and our government.

BY: MUHAMMAD AZHAR KHWAJA - Lahore May 5 (THE NATION): American President Barack Hussain Obama in a hastily arranged late Sunday night TV address from the White House gave a good news to his nation and the world at large that an elite US team killed countrys No.1 nemesis, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in Abbotabad, Pakistan, bringing to a close the worlds highestprofile man hunt after a decade long hectic search. There were however, no comments from the government of Pakistan either from ministry of foreign affairs or ISPR or from the Presidents House on this blitzkrieg type of action by 35 US Marines which took only 40 minutes to kill, arrest and take off with the dead body of Osama to an unknown destination. They followed the Bushs strategy of Shock and Awe done in Iraq. The nation and the government came to know about this American operation only through American broadcasts. Later we also learnt that they dropped the dead body of their most wanted man in the Indian Ocean. On Monday morning, our government was busy in deciding the power sharing formula with PML(Q) which was perhaps more important than the US attack well inside Pakistan which violated the countrys sovereignty. By evening one could see, our President administering the oath to 14 newly selected ministers from PML(Q) instead of pending this event and calling emergency session of Parliament or Defence Security Council to discuss Americans armed attack inside Pakistan. There are many questions which come to the mind on this operation. Firstly, was it a total failure of Pakistan Intelligence to know about OBL if he was in Pakistan? We have more authentic informers than USA in our country. I think our ISI and MI are the most feared and powerful agencies of the world. If the CIA suspected his location months ago, why did they not share it with its coalition partner i.e Pakistan? Now coming to the actual action which Barack Obama and his team were monitoring live sitting in White House, where is the footage of this video and the image of OBL? In fact there was no need to kill him as he could have been arrested alive by laying a siege of the compound and asking him to surrender along with his comrades. Such a high profile person would have divulged his complete network all over the world during interrogation. Finally what was the hurry to dispose off his dead body? The US government should have shown the complete video of the operation and the killing of OBL to the entire world thus avoiding the suspicion that the intelligentsia is having over this operation. The bullet ridden dead body released by the CIA is an old image of 2009 which was seen on the internet and perhaps it is not that of OBL. Everyone relates this incident to the credible evidence that USA had about the WMD in Iraq which came out to be a false report of CIA as they could not find any thing in Iraq. Finally, what Pakistan government is going to do next? Only Imran Khan and the Jamaat-i-Islami Amir has asked the USA government to leave this region as they have achieved their goal by killing OBL. We can definitely fight our own war on terror effectively which we are already doing. The Pakistanis feel that once US and NATO troops leave this region, there would not be any terrorism and we shall have all peace. LETTER

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)

Minister of Health starts reform with state-sponsored treatment.

CAIRO: A dedicated department for state-sponsored medical treatment will be installed in every governorate, the health ministry said.

New Minister of Health Ashraf Hatem has undertaken a series of reforms in the troubled health sector, with the state-sponsored program on top of the list.

Under the program, patients will refer to this department when they face difficulties issuing the decree for medical treatment paid by the state from the hospital. The minister explained in a press statement that the administrative work is not the patient's responsibility, whether they are receiving treatment for free or through health insurance.

Hatem has ordered a maximum amount of LE 2 million to be paid for each Health Affairs Authority in every governorate, which will go into funding for emergency rooms.

Hatem has earlier expanded the state medical treatment program to include 300 hospitals, in comparison to 130 hospitals before.

New reforms to the program also includes nearly doubling the number of diseases, such as orthopedic, ophthalmology, cardiac surgery, chest and a number of tumors, that are now be treated under the state program.

There will also be a number of regulations on the program to ensure that every citizen gets an equal opportunity, as well as supervising all hospitals, whether public or university hospitals, in which the program is available in order to review the amount spent on each case.

More than 300 public and university hospitals are expected to be connected to the Special Medical Councils in Cairo through the internet. This would help in eliminating nepotism in the issuing treatment decrees and provide an alternative to citizens having to commute to Cairo for paper work.

Hatem also announced that a nationwide network is under construction, which will include all hospitals, universities, public and others, in which there are Intensive Care Units and incubators for babies.

The hotline 133 will be available to direct those in need of an ICU bed or incubator to the nearest hospital.

Regarding internal reform within the ministry, the minster said there will be a committee to receive all the complaints by the employees. The ministry will also undergo a restructuring process so that employees doing the same job get equal benefits.

Daily NewsEgypt 2011

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company

Attend Search Engine Strategies (SES) - Chicago, Bid on Two Platinum Passports on VisibilityMagazine.com.

Search Engine Strategies is auctioning off two Platinum Passports to their Chicago event on Visibility Magazine's Internet Marketing Auctions. Platinum Passports get you access to all aspects of SES Chicago. Bid today and name your price to go to SES Chicago.

Plymouth, IN (PRWEB) September 10, 2009 -- Two Platinum Passports for Search Engine Strategies Chicago are up for auction at Visibility Magazine's Internet Marketing Auction. The Platinum Passports get the ticket holders access to all conference sessions, keynotes, orion panels and entrance to the expo hall every day of the event. These passports are all access passes to experience the full value of the Search Engine Strategies event. Learn the roots of what makes a successful online campaign. From social media to search engine optimization to viral marketing, Search Engine Strategies Chicago gathers the thinkers and pioneers in one place to educate and inspire marketers. Search Engine Strategies (SES) is the leading global conference & expo series that educates delegates on search engine marketing (SEM), including optimization (SEO) and advertising strategies, tactics and best practices. SES Search Marketing Events provide instruction from the industry's top Search experts, including representatives from the Search Engines themselves. They hold conferences in Berlin, Chicago, London, New York, Toronto, San Jose, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.

Visibility Magazine, an internet marketing magazine, has been around since 2007 providing the leading information on internet marketing trends. The magazine provides quality content from contributors like Facebook, Compete.com, Bruce Clay, Clash-Media, and PRWeb. The magazine recently launched the Internet Marketing Auctions, venturing into a promising opportunity for end users and internet marketing agencies alike. The auctions allow end users to bid on services, and allow them to find the real value of internet marketing services and products available.

If you would like more information on the SES Chicago event, visit Search Engine Strategies Chicago

If you would like to see all auctions available, visit the Visibility Magazine Internet Marketing Auction.

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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/search_engine_strategies/chicago_auction/prweb2624574.htm.

Online Resources Raps Adviser.(Technology)(Brief article)

Byline: Daniel Wolfe

Online Resources Corp., a vendor of online banking and payment processing services, criticized an investor advisory service Monday for recommending the election of some board candidates backed by a dissident shareholder group.

The proxy advisory service RiskMetrics Group Inc. of New York published a report in March recommending that its subscribers vote for two nominees put forward by the hedge fund Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, which owns more than a fifth of Online Resources' common stock.

"Though not surprising given its well known tendency to support minority dissident shareholders, it is disappointing to see RMG be so inconsistent and incomplete in their analysis," Michael H. Heath, the lead independent director of the of Chantilly, Va., vendor and the chairman of its governance committee, said in a press release.

RiskMetrics recommended that shareholders not vote for the three management nominees, including Heath, and to vote for John Dorman, a former president and chief executive of Digital Insight Corp. (now a unit of Intuit Inc.) and Edward D. Horowitz, a former e-banking executive at Citigroup Inc. The company recommended shareholders withhold votes from the third Tennenbaum nominee, Bruce A. Jaffe, a former executive at Microsoft Corp.

Shareholders are scheduled to meet May 6.

In a presentation to analysts last month, Online Resources said Tennenbaum's key asset is a preferred seven-year security for financing the vendor's 2006 purchase of the Internet payment processor Princeton eCom. Tennenbaum would profit most by an immediate sale of Online Resources and common shareholders would profit most by allowing the company to continue on its course, Online Resources said.

MVD DRIVER'S LICENSE VISION TESTS GO ONLINE.(Main)

Byline: MARK HUMMELS, photo by Victor Jose Cobo

Need your eyes checked? Go online.

New Mexico has become the first state in the nation to offer online vision tests for its driver's license exams.

So far, the tests are only offered at a handful of state Motor Vehicle Division field offices -- including the Alameda Street MVD office in Santa Fe. But officials say it probably won't be long before the eye tests are available at shopping malls and eventually in the comfort of your own home.

``We like to have a person have to physically come into the office the least amount of times,'' said Keith Perry, deputy director of the state MVD.

``Not that we don't like to see them,'' he added. ``But we want to transition as much as possible to allow people to do transactions with us on the phone or on the Web.''

Already, motorists can renew their vehicle registrations online. And a new system expected to be ready by this summer will allow people to send proof of vehicle-emissions tests by telephone or the Internet.

At present, Perry said, only Bernalillo County residents are required to have smog tests for their vehicles.

Under its existing contract, the state pays VisionRx -- an Elmsford, N.Y.-based software company that developed the vision tests -- 50 cents for each online test administered.

These exams test only a person's ability to see clearly in the center of his or her vision field. But other tests expected to be added will check peripheral vision, color vision and the ability to distinguish contrasts -- a key to nighttime vision.

Perry said the state has not adopted minimum standards for those additional vision tests.

The vision-acuity test now being used online in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Las Cruces is based on a ``tumbling E'' format. Test subjects are asked to identify the direction the prongs of an E-shaped figure are facing.

Because the figures are displayed at random, the test is less subject to cheating than are similar tests using charts that can be memorized, said James Laux, vice president of marketing for VisionRx.

Of course, the online tests open new avenues for cheating -- which is why they can't be taken from your home at the moment or without supervision.

At least not until technology is widely enough available to test a person's online identity through such measures as facial recognition, eye scans or fingerprints.

``We have to come up to a level that we can be assured that the person who logs on is the person that should be taking the test,'' Perry said.

Expansion of the computer tests is dependent on the governor signing a bill to increase annual vehicle-registration fees by $2.

About 75 percent of the extra money would be earmarked for a database to crack down on motorists who drop their auto insurance. The rest, Perry said, would fund the online vision tests and driver's license exams.

The automated driver's license tests would be available in a variety of languages. They would cost the state from 75 cents to $2 per test, depending on which test and language are chosen, Perry said.

``We're sitting on pins and needles,'' he said, while waiting to see whether Johnson will sign Senate Bill 438 to fund the programs.

Laux said New Mexico was the first state to begin using the online vision test, which first appeared in Santa Fe in late January. He said as many as five other states could be using the online vision tests by the end of this year.

A sample eye test can be conducted online (www.visionrx.com), but for now, you'll have to visit the MVD for the real thing.

CAPTION(S):

1. State Motor Vehicle Department employee Kristi Padilla sets up a computer for the next person taking an online eye test Wednesday afternoon. Since January, people applying for driver's licenses have been able to take the vision exam online. New Mexico is the first state in the nation to try the online test

Schenectady county calendar.(Capital Region)(Calendar)

TODAY

BENEFITS & GALAS

The Junior League of Schenectady's Diamond Anniversary Gala

Where: Glen Sanders Mansion, 1 Glen Ave., Scotia When: 6 p.m. Cost: $75 Contact: 370-1902 Notes: The celebration, which honors former Daily Gazette Social Notes editor Helen George, includes a cocktail reception, past presidents receiving line, dinner, awards ceremony, auction and dancing.

Rose Garden Restoration Committee's 12th annual fundraiser

Where: River Stone Manor, 1437 Amsterdam Road, Scotia When: 6-10 p.m. Cost: $50 Contact: 355-5798; e-mail: dgade@nycap.rr.com Notes: All proceeds will benefit the care and upkeep of the Central Park Rose Garden in Schenectady.

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

Free computer

classes

Where: Schenectady County Public Library, 99 Clinton St., Schenectady Cost: Free Contact: 388-4500 Notes: The library offers the following free computer classes in May: Computers for Novices, Internet Basics and Internet Searching; call the library for times and to register.

COMMUNITY

Invention Convention 2007

Where: Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium, 15 Nott Terrace Heights, Schenectady When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Cost: Adults, $5; children 4-12, $3; younger than 4, free Contact: 382-7890 Notes: The convention is a statewide invention competition open to Capital Region students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The top 100 entries will be on display at the museum until June 7, when 25 finalists move on to the state finals.

HEALTH

American Red Cross blood drive

Where: Niskayuna Fire House, 2772 Troy Road, Niskayuna When: 1-6 p.m. Contact: Ruth H. Kachidurian, 785-8493 Notes: Donors must be at least 17 years old and weigh a minimum of 110 pounds.

SIGN-UPS

Delack Guild Room Art Opening

Where: Proctor's Theatre, 432 State St., Schenectady Contact: 382-3884 Ext. 111 Notes: The exhibit features photos by Nancy Noble Gardner, and Ralph and Susan Rosenthal. Open by appointment only.

GED classes

Where: Bethesda House, 418 Liberty St., Schenectady When: 1-3 p.m. Contact: Tom Morley, 374-7873 Notes: Courses are taught by staff from Washington Irving Adult Education Center and students don't need to attend on a fixed schedule.

Heartsmart nutrition and cooking class

Where: Ellis Hospital, 1101 Nott St., Schenectady Cost: $5 Contact: 243-4017 Notes: Registered dietitians who specialize in cardiac health will teach class participants how to lower cardiac risk from 1-2 p.m. May 9. Registration is required.

Youth swimming lessons

Where: YWCA of Schenectady, 44 Washington Ave., Schenectady Contact: Nick Lecce, 374-3394 Ext. 141; e-mail: nlecce@ywca-

schenectady.org Notes: The YWCA offers seven levels of swimming lessons to children ages 4 and up.

WORDS & IDEAS

Perspectives on Education lecture series

Where: Brown School, 150 Corlaer Ave., Schenectady When: 4 p.m. Cost: Free Contact: 370-0366 Notes: Karen Balliett of Bank Street School and Columbia University will present a lecture titled "Young Scholars in Every Classroom." The program is open to students who are accompanied by an adult.

Gallery talk

Where: Schaffer Library, Union College, Schenectady When: 3:30 p.m. Contact: 388-6000 Notes: Guest speaker David Ogawa, Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at Union, will speak about the university's ongoing "Infinite Images - Technologies of Printmaking and Beyond" exhibit.

SATURDAY

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

Building Our World One Block at a Time

Where: Brown School, 150 Corlaer Ave., Schenectady When: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Cost: $30 Contact: 370-0366 Notes: Karen Balliett, a founding faculty member and designer of the integrated curriculum at Columbia University, will lead a workshop for nursery through second grade teachers. Registration is required.

Blacksmith workshop

Where: Mabee Farm Historic Site, 1080 Main St., Route 5S., Rotterdam Junction Contact: 887-5073 Notes: Blacksmith John Ackner will lead the introductory weekend-long workshop, which will cover coal forge and ironwork skills. Call the farm for more details.

COMMUNITY

Spring open house

Where: The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, 897 St. Davids Lane, Niskayuna When: 1:30 p.m. Contact: 377-1452 Ext. 303 Notes: The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks and the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club will host an open house, featuring tours of the facility, hikes and a book signing/lecture by local author Phil Brown.

COMMUNITY SALES

Indoor flea market and bake sale

Where: Rotterdam District 2 Fire Department, 1400 Curry Road, Rotterdam When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Cost: Free Notes: Sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary of District 2.

Used book sale

Where: Schenectady County Public Library, 99 Clinton St., Schenectady When: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Cost: Free admission Contact: 388-4500 Notes: More than 100 volunteers are involved in the sale, which includes hard-cover books, paperbacks, records and CDs.

ENTERTAINMENT

Youth talent auditions

Where: Hamilton Hill Arts Center, 409 Schenectady St., Schenectady When: 2-4 p.m. Cost: Free Contact: 346-1262 Notes: Youth ages 6 to 17 can audition with a solo or group act in music, dance or spoken word. Winners will perform as opening acts for two upcoming summer Culturefest concerts.

FAIRS & FESTIVALS

Fun Fair

Where: Mayfair Nursery School, 51 Glenridge Road, Glenville When: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Contact: 399-0353 Notes: Food, games and prizes for all ages.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

TIMES UNION ARCHIVE A BLACKSMITH WORKSHOP with John Ackner will be held this weekend at the Mabee Farm Historic Site, in Rotterdam Junction.