Blended Family Birthdays - Her View From Home

28 Dec, 2012

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This time of year is tough for many families, but can be especially tough for blended families. My youngest daughter turned ten on December 18th. Her birthday is always a challenge, because most of her friends are busy with family/Christmas preparations. We have had family parties for her, since the divorce, with extended family from both sides. Jeff and Molly (my ex-husband and his wife) each have divorced parents, and step-parents. My parents are divorced, but neither are remarried. My husband, Bob also has divorced parents who have significant others. This year, Cami wanted a family party, but we have all had a tough few months, and just did not feel up to the drama this year.

The four of us get along, and try not to?cause unnecessary drama. This is not always the case with all four sides of extended family. We have a diverse set of personalities in each family. Some are religious, some are not. Some work weekends, and some are unable to eat in the evening. Some are very uncomfortable having a group party, some are not. Some would prefer we were the traditional divorced family, who does everything separately, not happy about sharing Cami?with everyone. Cami decided on a family dinner, with Bob, myself, her father, her step-mother, and all of her siblings together. She will have a slumber party in January. On the evening of her birthday we all went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (her favorite) to celebrate.

Yes, the four of us took all four children out for Cami?s?birthday, and yes, we all sat at the same table together. I think Jeff and Bob were probably a little nervous anticipating awkward feelings, but it went very well! Bob, Cami, Ayden, and I sat on one side, while Ali, Molly Jeff, and Peyton sat on the other side. Ayden had us all entertained for most of the night. He danced and clapped in his high chair while the wait-staff danced, laughed when Bob picked up a slobber-covered cup, and pulled his sister?s hair. I noticed while we had dinner that caring for two babies at once is like juggling, with several balls constantly in the air. It made me appreciate Molly, the girl?s step-mom all the more. She takes care of two babies, AND puts up with my teenager!

I brought a homemade birthday cake, and we left the restaurant full and happy. The girls both enjoyed the night very much, and commented after we left that we are the best parents EVER. There were a couple of memories brought up from when Jeff and I were married, which I always worry will make Bob or Molly uncomfortable. Other than that, it went very smooth. I think we have put our children, all of them first, in every way. We all sat at the same table celebrating our daughter turning ten, and we made her feel special and cherished, which is the best gift we could have given her. How do you celebrate birthdays? with your children and extended family? Would you be comfortable having dinner with your ex for your child?s birthday?

I know our situation is not for everyone. We have had practice in getting along with one another, and work very hard to co-parent our children. I truly believe if more families would try this approach, our situation could be considered normal one day.

The information below is from Help Guide

What makes a successful blended family?

Trying to make a blended family a replica of your first family, or the ideal nuclear family, can often set family members up for confusion, frustration, and disappointment. Instead, embrace the differences and consider the basic elements that make a successful blended family:

• Solid marriage. Without the marriage, there is no family. It?s harder to take care of the marriage in a blended family because you don?t have couple time like most first marriages do. You?ll have to grow and mature into the marriage while parenting.
• Being civil. If family members can be civil with one another on a regular basis rather than ignoring, purposely trying to hurt, or completely withdrawing from each other, you?re on track.
• All relationships are respectful. This is not just referring to the kids? behavior toward the adults. Respect should be given not just based on age, but based on the fact that you are all family members now.
• Compassion for everyone?s development. Members of your blended family may be at various life stages and have different needs (teens versus toddlers, for example). They may also be at different stages in accepting this new family. Family members need to understand and honor those differences.
• Room for growth. After a few years of being blended, hopefully the family will grow and members will choose to spend more time together and feel closer to one another.

Adapted from: RemarriageSuccess.com

Create clear, safe boundaries in blended families

An important part of building trust in a family has to do with discipline. Couples should discuss the role each step-parent will play in raising their respective children, as well as changes in household rules.

The following tips can help make this difficult transition a bit smoother:

• Establish the step-parent as more of a friend or counselor rather than a disciplinarian.
• Let the biological parent remain primarily responsible for discipline until the step-parent has developed solid bonds with the kids.
• Create a list of family rules. Discuss the rules with the children and post them in a prominent place. Try to understand what the rules and boundaries are for the kids in their other residence, and, if possible, be consistent.

Keep ALL parents involved

Children will adjust better to the blended family if they have access to both biological parents. It is important if all parents are involved and work toward a parenting partnership.

• Let the kids know that you and your ex-spouse will continue to love them and be there for them throughout their lives.
• Tell the kids that your new spouse will not be a ?replacement? mom or dad, but another person to love and support them.

The way a blended family communicates says a lot about the level of trust between family members. When communication is clear, open, and frequent, there are fewer opportunities for misunderstanding and more possibilities for connection, whether it is between parent and child, step-parent and stepchild, or between stepsiblings.

Uncertainty and worry about family issues often comes from poor communication. It might be helpful to set up some ?house rules? for communication within a blended family, such as:

• Listen respectfully to one another.
• Address conflict positively.
• Establish an open and nonjudgmental atmosphere.
• Do things together ? games, sports, activities.
• Show affection to one another comfortably.

Tips for a healthy blended family

• All brothers and sisters ?fall out?,so don?t assume all family arguments are the result of living in a blended family.
• Beware of favoritism.Be fair. Don?t overcompensate by favoring your stepchildren. This is a common mistake, made with best intentions, in an attempt to avoid indulging your biological children.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate.Be sure to discuss everything. Never keep emotions bottled up or hold grudges.
• Make special arrangements.If some of the kids ?just visit,? make sure they have a locked cupboard for their personal things. Bringing toothbrushes and other ?standard fare? each time they come to your home makes them feel like a visitor, not a member of the blended family.
• Find support.Locate a step-parenting support organization in your community. You can learn how other blended families address some of the challenges of blended families.
• Spend time every day with your child. Try to spend at least one ?quiet time? period with your child (or children) daily. Even in the best of blended families, children still need to enjoy some ?alone time? with each parent.

More on our Blended Family.

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Trish Eklund

Author's Website: Link

Trish Eklund was born in Texas, lived in New Mexico and has been a Nebraska transplant for the last 15 years. She gives insight to raising a blended family and talks about her divorce.
Taking a nontraditional approach to raising children after divorce and remarriage, all four adults co-parent their daughters. Trish has been writing since the third grade, and is presently revising her fourth young adult novel. Her other interests include: astrology, reading, the paranormal, helping others, and animals. Learn more about Trish at: www.trishwriter11.blogspot.com

Source: http://herviewfromhome.com/blended-family-birthdays/

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Apple iWatch rumors surface again, this time with Intel attached

The Apple iWatch smartwatch is the subject of renewed rumor and speculation this morning, with Intel of all companies now being attached to the project. Low power Bluetooth 4.0 is along for the ride as well, of course, so it can instantly pair with an iPhone or iPad, as well as a 1.5-inch display, and a supposed release window pegged at the first half of 2013. In other words, soon. All this according to TGBUS (Google Translated):

Supply chain, said Intel is designed for Apple Bluetooth smart watches, this product is RiTdisplay 1.5-inch OLED screen, other aspects of the supply chain, with a rhenium ocean of OGS encore indium tin oxide transparent conductive (ITO) glass.

The Intel angle here is interesting. While Apple's Mac computer lines currently all still have Intel inside, Apple hasn't done anything significant with Intel on their iOS device line. Likewise, the OLED display rumor, as Apple has thus far eschewed that technology for LED.

Rumors of an iWatch, while not as persistent as iTV television rumors, began picking up speed when Apple announced the square, more iOS-looking 2010 iPod nano and Steve Jobs quipped that board members wanted to wear them as watches. Speculation immediately leapt to a future filled with light, wearable iOS devices, piggy-backing off the more powerful devices in our pockets and bags, passing on Siri instructions and getting back our notifications and other data.

Many watchband accessories and flights of fancy later, the iPod nano finally gained a Bluetooth radio in 2012... just as Apple changed its shape back to a far less watch-friendly rectangle. That could be a sign of Apple moving away from wearable iOS devices, or just shifting the nano away from wearability to leave room for something else. (Also, head fake.)

Apple is increasingly seen by financial markets, and the media, as a hit-driven business, and the moment they announce one new product, questions immediately spring up about "what's next?!". The iPad mini has shipped, so TVs, watches, and all manner of other products are ripe for the research notes and rumor mills alike.

Given the popularity of the nano-as-watch, and of other connected watch-style devices, like the television, it's hard to imagine that Apple doesn't have a project or prototype or several in the labs. Also like the television, that's a far cry from going to market with an final, polished product.

But it does raise the question -- do you want an iWatch from Apple?

Source: TGBUS via Tech.163, The Next Web.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/cxRgWv_h28c/story01.htm

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US shuts embassy in Central African Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The State Department has closed its embassy in the Central African Republic and ordered the ambassador and his diplomatic team to leave the country as rebels there continue to advance and violence escalates, U.S. officials said Thursday.

A Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, said that at the State Department's request, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had directed U.S. Africa Command to evacuate U.S. citizens and designated foreign nationals from the U.S. Embassy in Bangui "to safe havens in the region."

State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the U.S. Embassy had temporarily suspended operations, but not diplomatic relations with the country.

"This decision is solely due to concerns about the security of our personnel and has no relation to our continuing and long-standing diplomatic relations" with the Central African Republic, Ventrell said in a statement.

Shortly after announcing the evacuation Thursday, the State Department warned U.S. citizens against travel to the Central African Republic, saying it could not "provide protection or routine consular services to U.S. citizens" and urging Americans who have decided to stay to "review their personal security situation and seriously consider departing" on commercial flights. Four days earlier, the State Department had issued a warning recommending against travel to the country and authorizing its non-emergency personnel in Bangui to leave.

U.S. officials said about 40 people were evacuated on an U.S. Air Force plane bound for Kenya. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the details of the operation.

The departure of Ambassador Laurence Wohlers and his staff comes as the president of the Central African Republic on Thursday urgently called on France and other foreign powers to help his government fend off rebels who are quickly seizing territory and approaching this capital city, but French officials declined to offer any military assistance.

Rebels have seized at least 10 towns across the sparsely populated north, and residents in the capital of 600,000 people fear insurgents could attack at any time.

The developments suggest the Central African Republic could be on the brink of another violent change in government, something not new to the impoverished country. The current president, Francois Bozize, himself came to power nearly a decade ago in the wake of a rebellion.

Speaking to crowds in Bangui, Bozize pleaded with foreign powers to do what they could. He pointed in particular to France, Central African Republic's former colonial ruler.

About 200 French soldiers are already in the country, providing technical support and helping to train the local army, according to the French defense ministry.

French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that France wants to protect its interests in Central African Republic and not Bozize's government. Paris is encouraging peace talks between the government and the rebels.

President Barack Obama late last year sent about 100 U.S. special operations forces to the region ? including Central African Republic ? to assist in the hunt for Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of the notorious Lord's Resistance Army. Forces have been hunting the elusive warlord in Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo.

___

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://bangui.usembassy.gov/service.html

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-27-US-Central%20African%20Republic/id-fac5a6a92c8f468eaeb14084b2e06ba5

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Picture of the day: Junior dos Santos shows why holding pads for him is no fun

UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will put his title on the line at UFC 155 this weekend. He got in some training outside his hotel on Christmas, and his partner showed why holding pads for such a hard hitter is not an easy job. He is wearing padding all over, and do you blame him?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/picture-day-junior-dos-santos-shows-why-holding-232450809--mma.html

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Source: http://www.mustreads.info/quality-health-care-establishments-provide-a-number-of-treatment-options/

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Wal-Mart affiliate used bribes to open 19 new stores in Mexico: Report

NEW YORK: Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Mexican affiliate routinely used bribes to open stores in desirable locations, according to a New York Times investigation published Monday, which cites 19 instances of the retail giant paying off local officials.

The Times first reported in April that Wal-Mart had intentionally stifled an internal probe into bribery at its Mexican affiliate Walmex. Late last month, Mexico's anti-corruption body said it found no irregularities in the permits Wal-Mart received in the country, but that two audits remain underway.

In the new report published on its web site, the Times detailed specific instances in which Walmex allegedly paid off officials to expand in Mexico. The alleged payoffs often related to zoning laws and environmental permits that would have otherwise prevented Walmex's opening of new stores.

Much of the report focused on a store built near ancient ruins in Teotihuacan, north of Mexico City. Walmex was hit by protests in 2004 after announcing plans to build a warehouse less than a mile from the city.

In a statement Monday night, Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said the company was already looking into the allegations in the Times article regarding the permitting and licensing process for the Teotihuacan store, as part of a broader internal probe that Wal-Mart began over a year ago into potential violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

"At this point, the investigation is still ongoing and we have not yet reached final conclusions," he said, adding that the company has taken steps to improve its compliance programs.

Wal-Mart is also cooperating with the Department of Justice and the securities and exchange commission (SEC) on the matter, Tovar said.

The US Justice department, the SEC, US lawmakers and authorities in Mexico have all been conducting their own probes.

An official at Mexico's federal attorney general's office told Reuters that an initial probe had been opened following the Times' April story, but that prosecutors did not uncover sufficient evidence to file any charges.

The probe closed "a couple months ago," the official said.

In a "Leading with Integrity" letter sent to Wal-Mart employees after Monday's Times report, chief executive Mike Duke - who oversaw international operations from 2005 to 2009 - said integrity is the foundation of the company's culture.

"As leaders, we are measured by our weakest moment, so we can't have a weak moment in the area of integrity," Duke wrote. "We can have a bad sales day and a good sales day and hope they average out, but we can't average integrity."

Shares of Wal-Mart rose 0.65% to close at $69.20 in New York trading on Monday, before the Times story was posted.

The Times report did not give a figure for how much Wal-Mart spent on all of the alleged bribes. But it cites instances in which the company allegedly paid $221,000 in bribes to build a store near the ruins in Teotihuacan, as well as $341,000 in alleged bribes to establish a store near the Basilica de Guadalupe without appropriate permits, and another $765,000 in alleged bribes to set up a refrigerated distribution center in an environmentally fragile area near Mexico City.

According to Monday's report, Wal-Mart's international real estate committee approved Walmex's plan to spend about $8 million on the Teotihuacan store. The committee consisted of 20 or so top executives including Chairman S. Robson Walton, according to the report. Walton is a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.

The earlier Times report said a 2005 Wal-Mart inquiry had found some $24 million in suspect payments in Mexico, but the world's largest retailer essentially shut down the probe and didn't notify law enforcement officials until December 2011, after the New York Times informed Wal-Mart it was looking at the issue.

That report said Walmex had taken active steps to conceal the bribery from headquarters when it was happening, but alleged that senior Bentonville executives were involved in decisions about the internal investigation.

Wal-Mart lost $10 billion of its market value immediately following the report, and has since disclosed it has spent $30 million to update its global anti-corruption program and undertaken a massive investigation into the allegations.

Wal-Mart has incurred some $100 million in various costs related to the matter.

Also, in November, Wal-Mart disclosed it expanded its internal inquiry to cover bribery allegations in Brazil, China and India, and its joint venture in India suspended its finance chief and other employees as part of its inquiry.

Bribery and corruption are pervasive in Mexico, where the justice system is weak and lower-level public sector workers earn relatively low salaries. A study last year by Transparency International showed Mexican companies were perceived to be the third-most likely behind those in China and Russia to pay bribes abroad.

Source: http://timesofindia.feedsportal.com/fy/8at2EuK0hwrlX3jE/story01.htm

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The quiet battle: gender and laughter at the South Sudan Film Festival

(TW: discussion of domestic violence to follow after the cut.)

I always get nervous when presenters at Nyakouron theatre ask for audience participation. ?You?re never quite sure how many beers the audience has had; I?ve seen audience members climb onto the stage to shove money down women?s tops, set fire to aerosols, and more prosaically attack performers. ?So when the representative of Rhino Star got up on stage last night and asked the audience who the ? biggest enemy? was for South Sudan at the moment, I was a little bit nervous. ?But of course it was tribalism ? followed closely by poverty, with corruption coming a close third.

What wasn?t mentioned by any of the six enthusiastic volunteers, or any of the shouts from the audience, was the topic that actually formed a theme throughout the evening?s films and theatre: gender relations.

I personally think that, despite the current hot topics of tribalism, cattle raiding, Juba crime rates and the freedom of the press, that the huge battle over gender roles, women?s rights in society, and masculinity in South Sudan is one of the most important and most pervasive issues here. ?Domestic violence and maternal mortality, as UN speaking points, are talked about, but in relative isolation; however, they are really only parts of a broader fight, going on for years now, about the changing relationships (at least in relatively urban areas) between men and women.

The shows and films at the festival last night all centred around relationships and gender; most of them involved portrayals of domestic violence. ?Although the performances were clearly denouncing domestic violence, their methods ? and the response of the audience ? highlighted some of the current issues with discussions of gender in Juba. ?There was no resolution in any of the cases of domestic violence shown; other men interceded for the women, but only to persuade the man to stop: and the abusive character in the last performance of the night got howls of laughter from the crowd when he turned, at the end, to his wife and said: ?I?ll stop, I?ll stop! ??but just you wait until I get you home.?

The most surreal element of one play, though, was the deus ex machina that ended domestic violence against one poor pregnant character on stage: the ?UN?, turning up in suits bearing what appeared to be a scroll of the human rights act ? now published in scroll form, for emphasis of importance? ? and berating the protagonist about his wife?s human rights.

Other, more subtle discussions of masculinity and gender relations played out in all the offerings: the men discussing women in terms of marriage only (nothing last night passed the Bechdel test, obviously); the men ordering women around, to the amusement of the audience; the ?sluts? tempting innocent businessmen. ?The UN failed to intercede as heavenly (and impotent) hosts in these instances.

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Source: http://internallydisplaced.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/the-quiet-battle-gender-and-laughter-at-the-south-sudan-film-festival/

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Libya closes borders, declares south military zone - ????? ???

  TRIPOLI, Dec 16, 2012 (AFP) -

Libya ordered the closure of its borders with four of its neighbours on Sunday, as it declared the desert south of its territory a closed military zone in the face of mounting unrest, state media reported.

The National Assembly ordered the ?temporary closure of the land borders with Chad, Niger, Sudan and Algeria pending new regulations? on the circulation of people and goods, said a decree carried by the official LANA news agency.

?The provinces of Ghadames, Ghat, Obari, Al-Shati, Sebha, Murzuq and Kufra are considered as closed military zones to be ruled under emergency law,? the decree stipulated.

An assembly member who represents the city of Sebha, much the largest in the south, said the border closure was a ?temporary measure? that would last only ?until security has been restored.?

She said there had been an ?increase in the flow of illegal immigrants in the expectation of eventual international military action in Mali? against Al-Qaeda-linked rebels, who have seized much of the north of the country.

She said the move was also in response to an ?upsurge in violence and drug trafficking, and the presence of armed groups that act with complete impunity.?

http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/12/70363/libya-closes-borders-declares-south-military-zone/

Source: http://www.marocpress.com/en/moroccoworldnews/article-3355.html

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Venezuela government sweeps vote, but Capriles holds seat

CARACAS (Reuters) - Allies of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez swept nearly all of Venezuela's 23 states in Sunday's regional vote, but Henrique Capriles consolidated his position as top opposition leader by winning re-election as governor.

The 40-year-old governor of Miranda beat Chavez's former vice president Elias Jaua to retain his job at the head of Venezuela's second-most populous state Miranda, leaving him as candidate-in-waiting if Chavez's ill health forces him to step aside.

The ruling Socialist Party, however, extended its control over the South American OPEC nation, snatching four states from the opposition to win 19 of 23. It staged several upsets including a victory in the most populous state of Zulia.

The youthful Capriles' re-election will help maintain unity among the historically fractured opposition in a potential election against Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's anointed successor.

"The people have spoken and decided! Long live Miranda!" Capriles tweeted.

His supporters whooped for joy at his headquarters in Caracas, where there had been scenes of despondency just two months ago when he lost the presidential fight.

Another prominent opposition leader, Henri Falcon, a former government ally who broke with Chavez in 2010, also won re-election. His broad popularity and appeal to working class voters have left many considering him a potential challenger to the socialist government.

"Venezuela's new leadership is still alive," Falcon said.

"RED IN ALL CORNERS"

But overall, the results were a major disappointment for the opposition and signaled the continued dominance of Chavez's socialist leadership despite his ill health.

Capriles won by only four percentage points in the state he says he has made into a model for Venezuela.

At the same time, Chavez's brother Adan comfortably held their agricultural home state of Barinas, while the president's former military comrade Francisco Arias unseated a prominent opposition leader, Pablo Perez, in oil-rich Zulia state.

"It's been an immense victory. The map is red in all corners," said Socialist Party campaign coordinator Jorge Rodriguez.

Turnout was a poor 54 percent, reflecting weariness with politics after the recent presidential campaign and the closeness of the Christmas holiday season.

Opposition sympathizers have grumbled that the date was intentionally chosen to heighten voter abstention to the benefit of Chavez allies.

CHAVEZ'S ILLNESS

The nation remains focused on Chavez's recovery in Cuba from Tuesday's six-hour operation - his fourth since he was diagnosed with cancer in the pelvic region in mid-2011.

Chavez's struggle with a third bout of cancer has raised the possibility of a return to the polls just months after the October presidential ballot in which he beat Capriles to win a third term.

Officials say Chavez has regained full consciousness, is giving instructions from his bed, and was following Sunday's vote closely.

"The commander-president continues to stabilize. The tendency remains positive," his son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, who serves as science and technology minister, said from Havana.

The official updates of his health are shy on details, however, so speculation is rife that Chavez may be in a life-threatening situation in Havana's Cimeq hospital with both a difficult post-operative recovery and a possible spreading of the cancer.

Chavez, 58, is due to start a new term on January 10, but has named Maduro as his preferred successor should he be incapacitated. That would trigger a new presidential poll within 30 days.

(Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/absent-chavez-dominates-venezuelan-state-elections-012232801.html

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Google+ app for Android updated with new photo-sharing features, emoticons, GIFs and more

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An entire classroom of students is unaccounted for following a shooting at an elementary school in suburban Connecticut on Friday, a local newspaper reported. The Hartford Courant, citing unnamed sources, said at least 20 people were shot and that many of the shootings took place in a kindergarten classroom at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. CBS News, citing unnamed officials, reported at least 27 people, including possibly 18 children, were killed when at least one shooter opened fire at the school in Newtown, Connecticut. (Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-app-android-updated-photo-sharing-features-emoticons-010217472.html

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Official Google Maps app for iPhone now available

The rumors are true! Google Maps for iPhone is now available in the App Store. One of the biggest things it offers that Apple Maps doesn't (other than not getting you lost in Australia), is public transit information.

Navigate your world with Google Maps, now available for iPhone. Get comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps with built-in Google local search, voice guided turn-by-turn navigation, public transit directions, Street View and more. Use Google Maps to discover great places to eat, drink, shop and play, with ratings and reviews from people you trust. Sign in to save your favorite places and quickly access all your past searches and directions from your computer, right on your phone.

Personally, I'm having issues installing it and keep getting a "this item is no longer available" error, but others are able to download it fine. We've heard installing through iTunes on your computer might be a good work around as well.

When you get it installed, let us know what you think!

• Free - Download now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/QT8Ou7PpB54/story01.htm

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Canadian bank stocks already reflect challenging environment ...

Since valuations of Canadian banks already reflect the challenging operating environment, their shares stand to make healthy gains in 2013 barring bouts of risk aversion or markets anticipating a recession.

That?s the view of Andre-Philippe Hardy, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, who believes the banks could generate total returns between 10% and 20% next year.

Mr. Hardy thinks returns will likely be at the low end of that range if the operating environment remains unchanged, and at the higher end with even modest improvement.

?We believe that a weaker housing market could negatively impact sentiment toward Canadian bank shares but a modestly weaker housing market (prices down 5-15%) on its own would not have a meaningful impact on bank profitability, in our view, beyond what is already expected (i.e., weaker loan growth and low but no longer improving credit costs),? the analyst said in a note to clients.

?We believe that Canadian employment growth is much more important to Canadian banks? domestic growth and profitability outlook than the housing market on its own,? he added.

Despite the group not having meaningful direct exposure to Europe?s most troubled countries, Mr. Hardy wouldn?t be surprised to see broader market volatility stemming from issues in Europe impacting the banks for some time.

?Signs of stress for European countries and banks have improved in recent months, but remain elevated,? he said.

The analyst?s favourite bank stocks are Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and Canadian Western Bank.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/12/13/canadian-bank-stocks-already-reflect-challenging-environment-analyst/

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US hesitant in condemning North Korean launch

A screen at the General Satellite Control and Command Center shows the moment North Korea's Unha-3 rocket is launched in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket on Wednesday, defying international warnings as the regime of Kim Jong Un took a big step forward in its quest to develop a nuclear missile. (AP Photo)

A screen at the General Satellite Control and Command Center shows the moment North Korea's Unha-3 rocket is launched in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket on Wednesday, defying international warnings as the regime of Kim Jong Un took a big step forward in its quest to develop a nuclear missile. (AP Photo)

In this monitor screen image taken by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed in Tokyo by the Korea News Service, the Unha-3 rocket lifts off from a launch site on the west coast, in the village of Tongchang-ri, about 56 kilometers (35 miles) from the Chinese border city of Dandong, North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Korea Central News Agency via Korea News Service) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration is drawing no "red line" for North Korea after a successful long-range rocket test, tempering the public condemnation to avoid raising tensions or possibly rewarding the reclusive communist nation with too much time in the global spotlight.

The U.S. has told the world that it won't tolerate Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons or Syria's use of chemical stockpiles on rebels. North Korea, in some ways, is a trickier case.

The U.S. wants to forcefully condemn what it believes is a "highly provocative act," and that was the first public reaction from the White House late Tuesday. But it also is mindful of the turmoil on the Korean peninsula and treading carefully, offering no threat of military action or unspecified "consequences" associated with other hot spots.

Just two years ago, the North allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship and shelled a South Korean island. Some 50 South Koreans died in the attacks that brought the peninsula to the brink of war.

North Korea already has the deterrent of a nuclear weapons arsenal. The U.S. is bound to protect next-door South Korea from any attack, but has no desire now for a military conflict.

Raising the rhetoric can even serve as a reward for seeking attention to a government that starves its own citizens while seeking to leverage any military advance it makes into much-needed aid.

"No doubt Pyongyang is pleased. It again has unsettled its leading adversaries. And it is in the news around the world," said Doug Bandow, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. "The allies should have responded with a collective yawn. After all, the plan is nothing new. The DPRK has been testing rockets and missiles for years."

The United States remains technically at war with the notoriously unpredictable North Koreans, whose opaque leadership has confounded successive American administrations. With no peace agreement, only the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War keeps the U.S. and the North from hostilities. Some 28,500 U.S. troops remain in South Korea to deter potential aggression.

Wednesday's surprising, successful launch raises the stakes, taking North Korea one step closer to being capable of lobbing nuclear bombs over the Pacific. As the North refines its technology, its next step may be conducting another nuclear test, experts warn.

The three-stage rocket is similar in design to a model capable of carrying a nuclear-tipped warhead as far as California. The rocket launched a satellite into space. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. would study the launch.

"I think we still have to assess just exactly what happened here," Panetta told CNN in an interview Wednesday. He said part of the assessment would examine the final stage that launched the satellite "to determine, really, whether or not that did work effectively or whether it tumbled into space. I mean, that's the issue that we need to assess."

Despite its technological advances and military bluster, it's doubtful that the North intends to strike first against the U.S.

Even so, Panetta said the U.S. has the capability to prevent such a strike.

"I'm very confident that American defense capabilities are able, no problem, to block a rocket like this one," he told CNN when asked about the capability of U.S. missile defense systems.

North Korea has spent decades threatening but avoiding a direct confrontation with the tens of thousands of American forces in South Korea and Japan. The government has remained firmly in power despite a drought-plagued agricultural sector that leaves many North Koreans in search of food and a crumbling economy that affords few any chance of social betterment.

"It is regrettable that the leadership in Pyongyang chose to take this course in flagrant violation of its international obligations," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. He said the U.S. would try to further isolate North Korea in response.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called the launch "highly provocative and a threat to regional security." It will only further impoverish North Koreans, she said.

Neither Carney nor Nuland elaborated on possible consequences. The White House's initial statement referred only to potential action at the U.N. Security Council, which condemned North Korea on Wednesday and said it would urgently consider "an appropriate response." The threat of sanctions is unclear; China, North Korea's benefactor, holds veto power.

Analysts were mixed on whether a tougher reaction was appropriate.

"There has been an unspoken tendency in the United States to discount these tests as yet another foolish attempt by the technologically backward and bizarre country," said Victor Cha, a Korea expert at Georgetown University and former White House policy director for Asia. "This is no longer acceptable. The apparent success of this test makes North Korea one of the only nonallied countries outside of China and the Soviet Union to develop long-range missile technology that could potentially reach the United States."

The administration's restrained response contrasts with the warnings of military action against Iran and Syria for actions far less imminently threatening to the United States, but directly threatening Israel, an important ally.

Obama has said he won't allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and insists that he won't get involved in a policy of containment similar to the one the U.S. is stuck with in North Korea. He promises that he isn't bluffing.

The U.S. and Israel have held talks over what benchmarks in uranium enrichment and weapons work the Iranians would have to reach for possible military action to be triggered.

What's clear from his words is that Obama wouldn't wait for Iran to have a bomb, meaning the threshold for a U.S. attack against Tehran is far lower than against North Korea, which tested its first nuclear weapon more than six years ago.

As for Syria, the president has issued a "red line" to President Bashar Assad's government concerning chemical weapons that have never been used and are accompanied by no weapon capable of delivering them anywhere near the United States.

U.S. officials fear the increasingly desperate Assad could deploy the weapons in a bid to win a civil war that has left more than 40,000 people dead since March 2011. Or, he could transfer some weapons to anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli militant groups such as Hezbollah.

Judged on capacity and not intent, either of those scenarios would pale in comparison to the North being able to fire a nuclear warhead at the continental United States. But with U.S. officials convinced that Assad's exit may be nearing, the sterner American cautions in Syria may be less likely to be tested. If they are, the United States wouldn't have to worry about nuclear weapons as a counter-threat.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-12-US-North%20Korea/id-5fc07028c1ae4007baa29d9595ca14e8

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95% Argo

All Critics (242) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (231) | Rotten (11)

'Argo' is one of the best movies of the year.

Argo has that solid, kick-the-tires feel of those studio films from the 70s that were about something but also entertained. Only it's as laugh outright amusing as it is sobering.

The movieland satire is laid on thick, but it's also deadly accurate. Schlock has never seemed so patriotic, and Arkin and Goodman have rarely been so good.

Argo is a rollicking yarn, easily the most cohesive and technically accomplished of Affleck's three films so far, but a part of me wishes the director hadn't cast himself in the lead role.

If nothing else, it proves that every so often, the CIA can pull something off - and that yes, Canadians are just about the nicest people on the planet.

The film is a whopper of a tale, one designed for Oscar nominations, Best Picture and Best Director among them.

When Tony (Ben Affleck) lands in Tehran and trains the frightened Americans to play their parts as a Canadian film crew, Argo compares the ruses run by governments and movie studios.

The whole thing is paced like a whip, and the third act may literally be the most suspenseful piece of film I've ever seen - and yes, I have seen Rear Window. Recommended without any reservation for every and any cinemagoer.

A terrific supporting cast, especially the non A-list actors, make the dramatic license taken justified and redeem Affleck for miscasting himself in the hero's role.

A brilliant thriller that's based on a historical incident, 'Argo' is one of the best films of 2012.

A wonderfully lively and engrossing movie ...

An enthralling and deliciously entertaining movie -- and a deserved triumph for its star and director.

The details make for a rip-roaring story, which Affleck invests with old-school directorial ?lan.

Ben Affleck leaps on to the A-list of directors with this relentlessly entertaining thriller, combining comedy and nerve-jangling suspense to maximum effect.

If you're a nailbiter, bring gloves, because the suspense will see you reach your knuckles.

Surprisingly enjoyable, given that you may have little prior commitment to this story and only mildly fancy Affleck.

Affleck skilfully turns the screw of suspense, gaining added traction from an extremely convincing recreation of the setting and period.

Ben Affleck's movie tells an amazing but true story set against the context of the Iranian hostage crisis.

Talent borrows and genius steals, but Affleck does something in between: he mimics.

It's impossible to be bored by a story this good, especially with that cast.

Part of what makes this headspinning story believable is the fact that it pans out in an oddly uncomplicated way.

The shaggy and bearded Ben Affleck, barely recognisable from his former self, gives a great lead performance. Understated, intense and steely-eyed, Affleck has the screen presence of legendary actor/director Clint Eastwood.

Affleck the director is utterly sure-footed with an instinctive feel for characterization, tension and pacing as he builds the action towards a nail-biting climax.

A dum-tight thriller demonstrating that Affleck is one of the most accomplished directors working in Hollywood today.

[A] gripping, beautifully performed and often very funny but dramatic thriller.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/argo_2012/

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Health And Fitness Journal Why Taking Antibiotics During ...

By Dr. Mercola

According to recent research¹ from Denmark, children whose mothers took antibiotics during their pregnancy were more likely to develop asthma, compared to those whose mother did not take antibiotics. Taking other risk factors into account, the researchers estimated that children exposed to antibiotics were 17 percent more likely to be hospitalized for asthma before the age of five.

Furthermore, children who were predisposed to asthma due to their mother having the condition were twice as likely to develop asthma if their mother used antibiotics during the third trimester, compared to those whose mother did not use antibiotics.

While the study doesn?t prove causation (they cannot tell whether the asthma was the result of the antibiotic or the infection itself), the increased asthma risk found does support the theory that probiotics ? beneficial bacteria residing in your gut, which are decimated by antibiotics ? play a role in the development of asthma. Co-author Dr. Hans Bisgaard told Reuters Health²:

?We speculate that mothers? use of antibiotics changes the balance of natural bacteria, which is transmitted to the newborn, and that such unbalanced bacteria in early life impact on the immune maturation in the newborn.?

Indeed, one of the most important prerequisites for your newborn is establishing a healthy gastrointestinal tract. Regardless of age, your gut is your first line of defense in terms of immunity. Without a well-functioning GI tract, your child will not get the proper nourishment to grow, or defend himself against pathogens of all types.

The baby gets his or her first ?inoculation? of gut flora from the mother?s birth canal during childbirth, which is why a mother?s use of antibiotics during pregnancy can predispose the child to asthma and a variety of other ailments.?It?s important to understand that if a mother?s?flora is abnormal,?her baby?s flora will also be abnormal, as whatever organisms live in her vagina end up coating?her baby?s body and lining his or her intestinal tract.

The Importance of Gut Health During Pregnancy

Unfortunately, studies show that a growing number of women have unknown vaginal infections at childbirth, which can result in the passage of abnormal microflora onto their babies. This introduction of unfriendly flora, combined with antibiotic use, can predispose a baby to GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome, and also Gut and Physiology Syndrome). GAPS can have very damaging long-term effects on a child?s health, both neurologically and physiologically, predisposing him or her to:

Autism, ADHD/ADD and learning disabilities, such as dyslexia	Arthritis	Asthma and allergies
Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder	Skin problems	Kidney problems
Schizophrenia	Digestive ailments	Autoimmune disorders

?

GAPS may have profound implications for the autism epidemic. Rates of childhood autism are staggering, now 50 times higher in some areas than three decades ago. Not surprisingly, there is a matching epidemic of GAPS. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is a neurologist and neurosurgeon who has devoted years of her career to studying this phenomenon, and how to treat and prevent it. To learn more, please listen to the interview featured in my previous article How a Physician Cured Her Son?s Autism.

In this follow-up interview, she discusses the physiological aspect of GAPS, and its impact on autoimmune disease and allergies.

Download Interview Transcript

Antibiotic Resistance Major Public Health Problem

The frivolous use of antibiotics, not just in medicine, but also in food production, is the root cause of skyrocketing antibiotic resistance. Data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control³ (ECDC) shows a significant rise of resistance to multiple antibiotics in Klebsiella pneumoniae and E. coli in just the last four years alone, affecting more than one-third of the EU. According to a recent report by Medical News Today⁴:

?In several of the member states, between 25 and over 60 percent of K pneumoniae from bloodstream infections show combined resistance to multiple antibiotics?. The ECDC data shows that consumption of carbapenems, a major class of last-line antibiotics, went up significantly in EU/EEA countries between 2007 and 2010. The report suggests this is most likely due to increasing multidrug resistance in Gram-negative infections, such as pneumonia or bloodstream infections, which are often treated with carbapenems.?

November 18 was European Antibiotic Awareness Day⁵. The UK issued an informational leaflet⁶ to raise awareness about the need for judicious use of antibiotics, urging patients to not ask their doctors for an antibiotic to treat symptoms of cold and flu, as antibiotics do not work on infections caused by viruses. Americans also need to heed this advice, as a recent poll shows many Americans are still a bit clueless about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance.

As reported by MedicineNet.com⁷:

?[A]lthough almost 90 percent of Americans know that antibiotics are effective for treating bacterial infections, more than a third also erroneously believed the drugs can fight viral infections such as the common cold or the flu?

?It?s a common misperception that antibiotics can cure the common cold, and unnecessary overuse of antibiotics for illnesses like colds is dumping fuel on a wildfire of resistance,? said Dr. Lauri Hicks, medical director of the ?Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work? program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.? Many participants wrongly believed that individuals build up tolerance to antibiotics, when it is the bacteria themselves that become resistant.?

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This is a Flash-based video and may not be viewable on mobile devices.

Rise in Antibiotic Resistance is Alarming

Between the years of 1993 and 2005, the number of Americans hospitalized due to the antibiotic-resistant ?superbug? MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) skyrocketed from about 2,000 to 370,000. Currently, MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant infections kill about 60,000 Americans annually, and account for billions of dollars in health care costs⁸. According to many health experts, antibiotic-resistance is one of our greatest health threats, and it?s really all our own doing.

When used properly, in the correct contexts and with responsibility, antibiotics can and do save lives that are threatened by bacterial infections. But there is one important variable that wasn?t considered when the widespread use of these ?miracle medicines? began, and that is that bacteria are highly adaptable. They are clearly capable of outsmarting antibiotics, and they are doing so with a vengeance. According to the CDC?s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System⁹:

?Antibiotics kill or inhibit the growth of susceptible bacteria. Sometimes one of the bacteria survives because it has the ability to neutralize or evade the effect of the antibiotic; that one bacteria can then multiply and replace all the bacteria that were killed off.

Exposure to antibiotics therefore provides selective pressure, which makes the surviving bacteria more likely to be resistant. In addition, bacteria that were at one time susceptible to an antibiotic can acquire resistance through mutation of their genetic material or by acquiring pieces of DNA that code for the resistance properties from other bacteria.?The DNA that codes for resistance can be grouped in a single easily transferable package. This means that bacteria can become resistant to many antimicrobial agents because of the transfer of one piece of DNA.?

The Rise of ?Superbugs??

Bacteria are, in essence, hard-wired to adapt to threats such as antibiotics and, as such, there has been talk that the ?end of antibiotics? is near. At that point, infections that were once easily treated will undoubtedly return with renewed force. Casualties are to be expected? Numerous bacteria are already resistant to many commonly prescribed antibiotics¹⁰, including:

Acinetobacter: A bacteria found in soil and water that often causes infections in seriously ill hospital patients.	Anthrax: Spread by infected animals or potentially bioterrorist weapons.	Group B streptococcus: A common bacteria in newborns, the elderly and adults with other illnesses.
Klebsiella pneumonia: A bacteria that can lead to pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound and surgical site infections and meningitis.	Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): A superbug that can be so difficult to treat, it can easily progress from a superficial skin infection to a life-threatening infection in your bones, joints, bloodstream, heart valves, lungs, or surgical wounds.	Neisseria meningitides: One of the leading causes of bacterial meningitis in children and young adults.
Shigella: An infectious disease caused by Shigella bacteria.	Streptococcus pneumoniae: A leading cause of pneumonia, bacteremia, sinusitis, and acute otitis media (AOM).	Tuberculosis (TB): Both ?multi-drug resistant? and ?extensively drug-resistant? forms of TB are now being seen.
Typhoid fever: A life-threatening illness caused by the Salmonella Typhi bacteria.	Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE): Infection with the enteroccocci bacteria that often occurs in hospitals and is resistant to vancomycin, an antibiotic.	Vancomycin-Intermediate/Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA/VRSA): Various strains of staph bacteria that are resistant to vancomycin.

?

Two of the latest drug-resistant infections are gonorrhea and tuberculosis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the first reports of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis began surfacing in 2006¹¹. WHO now also recognizes drug-resistant gonorrhea as ?an emergency.? Earlier this summer, Wired Magazine¹² reported on the issue:

?Millions of people with gonorrhoea may be at risk of running out of treatment options unless urgent action is taken, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Already several countries, including Australia, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom are reporting cases of resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics ? the last treatment option against gonorrhoea. Every year an estimated 106 million people are infected.?

Your Dietary Choices Also Contribute to Rising Antibiotic Resistance

Compounding the problem is the fact that antibiotics are also widely over-used in agriculture. In fact, agricultural uses account for about 70 percent of all antibiotic use in the US, so it?s a MAJOR source of human antibiotic consumption. Animals are often fed antibiotics at low doses for disease prevention and growth promotion, and those antibiotics are transferred to you via meat, and even via the manure used as crop fertilizer.

Reducing the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is yet another reason for making sure you?re only eating grass-fed, organically-raised meats.

What You Can Do to Help Stop the Spread of Antibiotic-Resistant Disease

You can help yourself and your community by using antibiotics only when absolutely necessary and by purchasing organic, antibiotic-free meats and other foods. We?re all in this fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria together, and the more people who get involved on a personal level to stop unnecessary antibiotic use the better.

Avoiding all unnecessary antibiotics is an important step that I urge everyone to take, even though ultimately the problem of antibiotic-resistance needs to be stemmed through public policy on a nationwide level. If you live in the United States and want to get involved on a national level, Food Democracy Now! has created a petition against the overuse of antibiotics in livestock production¹³. If you care about this issue, I suggest you use this petition to make your voice heard.

Also, to bring us back to the first featured story, please make sure to avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics during pregnancy. Not every bacterial infection needs to be treated with a drug. First, as an all-around preventive measure, you?ll want to make sure your vitamin D level is optimized year-round, especially during pregnancy, along with vitamin K2. But there are also a number of natural compounds that act as broad-based antibiotics/anti-virals that you can try first, such as:

• Oregano
• Garlic
• Echinacea
• Manuka honey (for topical application)

Other Related Health Posts:

Source: http://www.health.junkieyard.com/2012/12/06/why-taking-antibiotics-during-pregnancy-is-a-bad-idea/

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