Thursday, December 27, 2012

@julianrobertson Twitter Account - Business Insider

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Divorce-Proof Marriage: 10 Reasons I'm Sure We'll Never Split

By Amber Doty for YourTango.com

By now, you've probably heard the widely-touted statistic that the divorce rate in the U.S. is 50 percent. According to the Pew Research Center, though, the rate of divorce is on the decline (along with the rate of marriage). This success is likely due, in large part, to the fact that people are waiting longer than ever to walk down the aisle.

While I agree that stability is certainly important, I don't buy into the idea that age is a deciding factor in whether a marriage ends in divorce. It's not the case at all with my marriage.

My husband and I met and began dating when I was a teenager and were married in our early twenties. More than eight years later, I am as confident as I was on our wedding day that our marriage will last a lifetime. In fact, I would go so far to say our union is divorce-proof. Here are 10 reasons why.

1. We wanted a marriage, not a wedding. Recently, I had coffee with a friend going through a divorce after only two years of marriage. When I asked what happened, she replied without pause, "I wanted a wedding, not a marriage." She went on to explain that, after years of dating, getting married seemed like the next logical step in their relationship and the timing was right for them to fund the wedding of her dreams. From seating arrangements to color schemes and everything in between, there are many decisions to be made while planning a walk down the aisle. It can be easy to lose sight of the ultimate goal: to begin a lifelong relationship with the person you love. But the hard part isn't in saying "I do," it's in choosing to say it again and again for the rest of your life. For my husband and me, the focus was always on the morning after (and every other morning after that) instead of the "big day."

2. We didn't wait until after the wedding to tackle important issues. It can be awkward when you're dating to discuss things like the number and timing of children, personal approaches to finances, where you see yourself living down the road, or what religion your family will practice, but knowing the answers to these questions before you marry can mean the difference between a rocky start and a smooth transition into your new lives together. Everyone has their dealbreakers, but identifying ours before we gathered 100 of our closest friends and family members to pledge our lives together for all eternity cut down on surprises after they had all gone home. I am always shocked by the number of marriages that end in divorce because a couple never bothered to discuss their ideas for the future.

3. We put each other and our marriage first. Our children come second. I?ve written about it before here on YourTango. I love my children, but I am in love with my husband and prioritizing our relationship is good for our family as a whole.

4. When it comes to our relationship, our in-laws are outlawed. Mother-in-laws are at the center of many a sitcom and romantic comedy shenanigan -- and for good reason. They're notorious for causing marital strife both on-screen and off. That's why my husband and I have made it clear that while I can't control his mother's opinion on my cooking and he will never escape my mom's incessant nagging on the upkeep of our yard, their thoughts on our relationship are unwelcome. When we need advice or just to vent, we seek out the listening ear of a friend, not a family member.

5. Our bedroom is a child-free zone. Nothing kills the mood faster than reaching under the sheets mid-romp to dislodge an uncomfortable object that turns out to be a half-empty sippy cup.

6. We use our past to our advantage, not our detriment. My husband and I both come from divorced families, a fact that many studies agree puts couples at greater risk for divorce themselves. But history doesn't have to repeat itself. We talk openly, both together and with therapists, about what went wrong in our parents' marriages and how it affected our lives and our perception of matrimony.

7. We maintain common interests. One of the very first conversations my husband and I shared was a discussion of a book we had both recently read. It's dorky, but we're suckers for a good horror novel. While the differences in our personalities and our day-to-day are vast (he works long hours in law enforcement; I work from home as a freelance writer), we share reading material and talk about it regularly. A book club for two may not be the foundation on which our marriage is built, but it is a reminder of why we got together in the first place beyond the roles we have assumed since our relationship began.

8. We practice emotional self-regulation. In an article highlighting the skills every person should master before getting married, YourTango expert, Dr. Susan Heitler, emphasizes the importance of learning to control your emotions. You can remove nails driven into a board, but you can't undo the holes they create. The same is true for words said in the heat of the moment. Taking time to cool down instead of entering into a shouting match has been the difference between a marital spat and a major blow-up.

9. We give each other space. When I step out for a much needed day away from the house, I am confident my phone will not ring unless there is an emergency. Likewise, when he arrives home from work, I give him time to relax before handing off the childcare responsibilities. A little independence and time to ourselves is as vital to the health of our marriage as fostering a common bond.

10. We split the parenting duties equally. Nothing breeds resentment faster in a marriage than feeling like you are solely responsible for the diaper changing and late-night feedings. Since the day our first child was born my husband and I have adopted a 50/50 approach to parenting. "You get this one. I got the last one," is a frequently uttered phrase in our home. We also share the burden that being a parent can place on a career. There is no expectation that, as the woman, I will shoulder the responsibility of taking a day off when our children are ill. Nothing makes me feel more supported and secure in our relationship than knowing my husband and I are partners in parenthood.

Are you confident your marriage is divorce-proof? How do you maintain a healthy relationship with your spouse?

More Stories On YourTango:

Having So-So Sex? 6 Ways To Make It Mind-Blowing

Old News, New Research: Men Really Do Want To Marry Their Moms

Jessica Biel's Sexy Reason She Loves Life With Justin Timberlake

The Best Love Advice On YourTango

Affection: Does He Care?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/26/divorce-proof-marriage_n_2281150.html

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scrofulous chow: Arts And Entertainment: Humor Article Category ...

Because the bass player is too slow, for the winger it's too little money and the drummer didn't get the assignment. Blog readers often have the opportunity to comment on the jokes they find most funny and original.

Things are looking a lot more inspiring in this second part of the year. In this new season of fall and winter movies there should be something for everyone. There are action movies, family movies, Oscar worthy dramas, and some spicy comedies coming up in the next third of the year.

But it does. bancuri can help you to heal from depression and stress. It can even do more: if you make a habit of looking for laughter, it can even promote your long-term good health. It might even help you to find new kindred spirits with whom you can share your sense of humor. Anyone who can help you to again experience the whimsy, amusing ironies, joyfulness and chortles or even guffaws that spring out of living a positive life is worth keeping around.

Johnny Depp is the star of this movie. Intrigue, danger, and romance will become his nemesis in The Tourist, after he has a playful romance with a stranger. Frank (Depp), takes a trip to Europe to forget a bad love affair and meets Elise, with whom he involves himself in an encounter that has been engineered by Elise. A terrible game of cat and mouse ensues through Paris and Vienna as their romance evolves.

The pianists we see play appear to be the most formal and respectable stars on the stage. They hold the power and the breath of the audiences. They could look intimidating in their formal suits not to mention the authority and the air of arrogance they exude while on stage. They can be captivating.

humor

There is an exercise I call the Pink Tu Tu tactic. Learn to use it on someone you fear, are angry at, or someone you feel has power over you. Simply visualize that person dancing in a bright neon pink Tu Tu. Guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and completely strip them of any power you thought they had over you.

There are benefits beyond the fun to this kind of silliness. Have you noticed that "going green" and saving money often involve the same behaviors? "Use it up. Wear it out. Recycle it." is good for both the environment and the pocketbook. And if you can find fun ways to do it, it's also good for your sense of well-being.

With the world going at a really crazy pace, people forget to stop and smile a bit. Most of these mistakes can be frustrating and depressing.

Source: http://luvcave.com/blog/21735/arts-and-entertainment-humor-article-category/

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Source: http://scrofulous-chow.blogspot.com/2012/12/arts-and-entertainment-humor-article.html

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

6 Ways IT Management Services Increase Business Productivity

6 Ways IT Management Services Increase Business Productivity

When you first seek out IT management services, you might be tempted to think that outsourcing these kinds of operations will only complicate your company and lower your productivity. After all, consultations on your information technology may seem to be the kind of business where you will end up paying for knowledge but will still have to do the work. Fortunately, this is not the case, and when it comes to information technology, NYC is a great place to seek out excellence. When you need support, outsourced consultation gives you a ton of flexibility in selecting a service provider that can suit your needs perfectly.

increase productivity

The following are six of the great ways your business can and will become more productive when you outsource your IT management.

Also Read:?4 Reasons Outsourcing IT Services are Becoming More Popular

One of the best reasons why outsourcing your IT operations is great is because it allows you to save personnel versus doing everything in house. While it might initially seem like having your own IT staff on the premises would make your operation more efficient overall, in most cases this does not happen. IT consulting can give you a lot of insights on how you might run the technological component of your business more effectively. For one thing, there is a good chance that a significant number of your employees are operating "in the field," so it doesn't really matter if your IT staff is physically close or not. Server access is accomplished off-site so often that most people can't even tell the difference.

Another great reason to outsource your IT operations is because it will save management time. Your management team, yourself included, have a lot of extremely valuable work to do. This work involves planning where your company is going over the next few years. Dealing with the headaches of IT operations will only distract you and other valuable members of your team from the most important work while you chase shadows and deal with putting out more fires than you should have to deal with. Overall, outsourcing will help your business work more efficiently because it will allow you to think with more clarity.

Another reason why outsourcing IT tends to have a positive impact on your company's efficiency is because it allows you to have better rules in place. In the world of IT services NYC lets you explore your company's maximum efficiency in a more controlled setting. While there is definitely something to be said for customization, in most businesses where there are more than ten people there have to be the boring, "corporate" rules that keep people from doing truly foolish things. These rules comes very easily from businesses where this is already their core operation. They know what works, what doesn't and how to implement rules through the use of methods that won't get in your way.

Another great reason why your company will operate more effectively with outsourced IT operations is that you will have less downtime to be concerned about. Downtime is a potentially devastating problem that can happen if your IT department is not up to snuff, or if you do not have adequate servers to handle your traffic during maintenance or when migrating everything to a new server. In most cases, you won't have this kind of backup infrastructure in place, and this can cost you dearly when your online operations need to pause for hours at a time. However, when you outsource IT support NYC is a great place to ease the burden of this downtime. The entire process will be transparent and highly efficient when it is handled by a company that does this exclusively.

A great reason why your business will be more efficient when you outsource IT functions is because it will allow you to focus on your core business operations instead of trying to manage your IT and costing your business valuable energy that your employees could be spending on their actual jobs. When your IT operations work well, your entire business works better because everyone can simply focus on their jobs instead of trying to work around ghetto-inspired "solutions" that barely work at all and that can stop working at a moment's notice.

Also Read:?Managed IT Services: Making IT Simpler

Finally, the last but not least reason we are going to discuss here why your business will run more efficiently when you outsource your IT operations is because it will allow you to reduce the level of? miscellaneous costs that would otherwise be associated with trying to run your own IT operations. Every part that a server may need, every additional thermal unit of air conditioning that those servers will need to function properly and every other small but necessary expense is an incidental that can drive up your costs. And every time your costs go up, your IT staff will be spending more of their time essentially doing busy work instead of doing more important tasks.

There are so many reasons why your business will work better when you start to outsource your IT related operations. The above are just the largest of these reasons, and every individual one of them will easily justify the decision to switch over.

Source: http://blog.etech7.com/blog/bid/251134/6-Ways-IT-Management-Services-Increase-Business-Productivity

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Newtown celebrates Christmas amid signs of mourning

NEWTOWN, Conn. - Newtown celebrated Christmas amid piles of snow-covered teddy bears and heaps of flowers as volunteers manned a 24-hour candlelight vigil in memory of the 20 children and six adults shot to death in the second-largest school shooting in U.S. history.

Well-wishers from around the country showed up Tuesday morning to hang ornaments on memorial Christmas trees, while police officers from around Connecticut took extra shifts to give local police a day off.

"It's a nice thing that they can use us this way," Ted Latiak, a police detective from Greenwich, Connecticut, said as he and a fellow detective came out of a store with bagels and coffee for other officers.

A steady stream of residents, some in pyjamas, relit candles that had been extinguished in an overnight snowstorm. Others dropped off toys and fought back tears at a huge sidewalk memorial filled with stuffed animals, poems, flowers, posters and cards.

In the morning, resident Joanne Brunetti watched over 26 candles that had been lit at midnight in honour of those slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She and her husband, Bill, signed up for a three-hour shift and erected a tent to ensure that the flames never went out throughout the day.

"You have to do something and you don't know what to do, you know? You really feel very helpless in this situation," she said. "My thought is if we were all this nice to each other all the time maybe things like this wouldn't happen."

Julian Revie played "Silent Night" on a piano on the sidewalk at the downtown memorial. Revie, from Ottawa, Canada, was visiting the area at the time of the shootings. He found a piano online and chose to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day playing for the people of Newtown.

"It was such a mood of respectful silence," said Revie. "But yesterday being Christmas Eve and today being Christmas Day, I thought now it's time for some Christmas carols for the children."

At a town hall memorial, Faith Leonard waved to people driving by and handed out Christmas cookies and children's gifts. She had driven from Arizona, at almost the other end of the country, to volunteer on Christmas morning alone.

"I guess my thought was if I could be here helping out, maybe one person would be able to spend more time with their family or grieve in the way they needed to," Leonard said.

Many residents attended Christmas Eve services and spent Tuesday morning at home with their families. Others attended church services in search of a new beginning.

At St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which eight of the child victims of the massacre attended, the pastor told parishioners that "today is the day we begin everything all over again."

Recalling the events of Dec. 14, the Rev. Robert Weiss said: "The moment the first responder broke through the doors, we knew good always overcomes evil."

"We know Christmas in a way we never ever thought we would know it," Weiss said. "We need a little Christmas and we've been given it."

Police have yet to offer a theory about a possible motive for gunman Adam Lanza's rampage. The 20-year-old resident killed his mother in her bed before carrying out the massacre and killing himself.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/newtown-celebrates-christmas-amid-signs-mourning-sermons-good-223011341.html

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HMSTCK, An OC Story

HMSTCK, An OC Story

This is an RP based on the webcomic Homestuck with OC's inserted.

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?HMSTCK, An OC Story?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

Gimme a day or two, I still need to write in the rules. Again. After the first GIANT F$^KING paragraph was deleted for NO REASON. I'm really rather miffed about that.

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Daxion
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Monday, December 24, 2012

A New Teach-Yourself Afan Oromo Book by Dr. Mohammed ...

Editor?s Note: This book is listed at the Gadaa.com Store (which is an Amazon.com-powered store). We?d like to take this opportunity to clarify that Gadaa.com does not sell any item or handle any transaction. All transactions of books and other items at the Gadaa.com Store are handled by Amazon.com, one of the most trusted online stores in the world.

Similar to other Oromo related books, the following book is also linked at the Gadaa.com Store. Note that, though the book is listed in the Gadaa.com Store, it?s currently unavailable; if and when it becomes available through Amazon.com, Gadaa.com will notify its readers.

Title: Learn to Read, Write and Speak the Oromo Language (Afaan Oromoo Dubbisuu, Barreessuu! Dubbachuu Baradhu)
Author: Mohammed O. Badasso (Dr.)
Pages: 240
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Afran Qalloo University Press (AQUP) (2012)
Where to Buy: For further information on where to buy the book, please contact the author at mbaddaso@yahoo.com

Future Locations to Buy the Book: Gadaa.com Store (Powered by Amazon.com)
(Or, local Oromo shops in most major cities in the US, and most countries in Europe)

Future Location to Buy the Book:

Gadaa.com

Short Description:
This book is designed for people, both within and outside Oromo Diaspora, who desire to speak, write and read the Oromo language (Afan Oromo.) It is a practical handbook for anyone who speaks and writes the English language. The book covers the basic rules of writing and reading the Oromo alphabet (Qubee), essential grammar, personal introductions, descriptions, dialogues, exercises and so much more. The numerous exercises are formulated to help you see your progress in reaching your ultimate goal of reading, writing and speaking the language. This book is also essential for those Oromo and others who work as professional Afan Oromo interpreters in various settings, and a practical guide for Afan Oromo instructors teaching students at various levels.

About The Author
Mohammed O. Badasso, Ph.D., is a professional scientist from the University of London, England. He has later worked at the School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota, and was the Academic and Research Vice-President at Adama University, Oromia. He has published numerous publications in several scientific journals and in textbooks. Mohammed is an educator and leader by profession. He lives in Minnesota with his family and is conducting independent research in Oromo studies. Learn To Read, Write And Speak The Oromo Language is one of a series of books that will be written in collaboration with others both in Oromia and the Oromo Diaspora.

Why This Book?

Future Location to Buy the Book:

?I Challenge you to read it. This is a gift to all of you,? the author.

This is the first of its kind book written for Oromo Diaspora, both for those who do not read and write their language, and the expatriates who want to learn the Oromo language (Afan Oromo). This is an AFAN OROMO-ENGLISH teach-yourself handbook, not only made available for the Diaspora, but soon will be published in Oromia, where it is needed the most. As you all are aware, there is no single book of this sort that you can buy, or an expatriate buys, from a bookstore to learn Afan Oromo completely. For the first time, English-speaking Oromo Diaspora and those Oromo at home who speak English can now benefit from it. The Oromo in Diaspora can now learn to read, write and speak their own language, be at their own home comfort, at their work places, at their community centers, and elsewhere. This has been a problem that I have seen exist while I was at home that you could not buy a single complete handbook to learn Afan Oromo unless you go to school to learn, and this has been true for the Diaspora as well. Now, this gap has been fulfilled, the next major tasks are to produce Afan Oromo books in other major world languages, such as Afan Oromo?German, Afan Oromo?Arabic, Afan Oromo?French, etc. I hope this work will give some guidance for those who will embark upon these timely tasks.

I say, this is a must have book. It has all the ingredients required to learn Afan Oromo. It consists of ? the alphabet, essential grammar to learn the system of the language, personal introductions and descriptions, numerous dialogues, questions and answers, positives and negatives, imperative forms and commands, knowing Oromo family, what is the homes, foods and related words, Oromo time reckoning, counting in Oromo, money matters, health matters, important phrases and vocabularies, and miscellaneous exercises for each chapter. The book is written exactly the way the Oromo speak to one another based on their culture. Every sentence in this book is written carefully to reflect the culture of the people. So, it is a living book, and when you talk to the book, you can feel one another and engage in real communication, thus you will learn proper usage of words and speak the language properly.

For the first time, in this book, the rules of writing Afan Oromo are precisely described and presented with appropriate examples. All unwanted complications that make harder to learn the alphabet, such as the so-called ?combined letters,? ?hudhaa? and ?irra-butaa? are either eliminated from the alphabet or described exactly what it is, to make as simple as possible to learn the alphabet in a very short time. Various examples and adequate exercises are provide to enable you master the alphabet in no time. Furthermore, the grammar of the language has been described in such a way to make the learning very interesting by providing examples and numerous exercises to navigate through the language easily. The book is also written in chapters to be read consecutively, so, at the end, you can challenge yourself with miscellaneous exercises based on the entire book.

Some Praises for the Book

This book is an excellent companion for those interested in learning the Oromo language. It is a book you will refer to again and again to read, write and speak the Oromo language. The book consists of all fundamental elements required to learn the language properly ? starting with the alphabet followed by essential grammar, dialogues, vocabularies and numerous examples and exercises to help you with. In short, the book surpasses all Oromo language books to date. It is, therefore, a must have reference book that you should have by you all the time, and if you want to learn the language in an entirely new way or approach read this book now.

Furthermore, this beautifully written book is a gift to all Oromo and others, who want to learn the language without many unnecessary or unwanted complications ? avoiding such things as ?combined letters? (digraphs), ?irra-butaa,? confusion with ?hudhaa? and many more making the roadmap much more easier to learn the Oromo language. I call it a ?one-stop? shopping where everything you need to learn this language is in one package.

Having read the book, I am also compelled to tell you that, those who can read, write and speak the Oromo language, can learn more, with so much obvious further additions added to this book, such as the use of ?fi,? ?dha,? ?the definite article? and the emphasis put to write what is said in Oromo to mention a few. Above all, I admire the clarity, and how it is made simply to learn the language. The book speaks to me and I speak to it. I felt the interconnections of the entire sections of the book. Finally, this is a single book that one can rely on to learn Afan Oromo. The time to buy many different and confusing books to learn how to read, write and speak the Oromo language has gone by. I definitely say, well done, and this is a worthwhile contribution to the ongoing development of the Oromo language.

Ibrahim Hajii Ali Boru
Editor-in-chief of Radio Fana
Afan Oromo Program, Finfinne

This book is a great guide for people who want to learn, revisit or refresh their knowledge of the Oromo language. Written by an educator whose love for the language and the culture of the Oromo people, it incites readers to research and explore their own journey into the communication and history of this fascinating Cushitic language.

Antu Yacob
Actor, Teacher
New Jersey

A wonderful resource for people to learn the Oromo language. Whether you are a beginner or fluent, this book will help deepen your understanding of the language and enable you to strengthen you conversation skills. It also serves as a great lifelong reference book.

Sara, Graduate Student
New York

A great resource for people who want to learn the Oromo language

Dr. Abdulsamad Mohammed
Minneapolis, Minnesota

An excellent resource and reference book for learning the Oromo language

Mahdi Hamid Muudee
Atlanta, Georgia

Source: http://gadaa.com/oduu/17397/2012/12/23/a-new-teach-yourself-afan-oromo-book-by-dr-mohammed-badasso/

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Is air marshal program a model for schools? (The Arizona Republic)

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Two toddlers die in Chicago apartment fire

By Michelle Relerford and Alexandra Clark, NBC Chicago

Two toddlers who died in a fire early Saturday morning were left alone with two other young boys when the blaze broke out inside their Chicago apartment on the city's southside, police said.

Family and friends gathered Saturday evening for a vigil to honor 2-year-old Jariah and 3-year-old Jarvis. The boys were alone with a 7-year-old and a 4-year-old when the fire ignited.

Neighbor Tiffany Williams recounted what the boys who escaped told her: "They said they heard the baby crying, beating on the door but they couldn't go back to get her cause they were choking on the smoke."

Read more at NBC Chicago

Authorities believe a hot plate used for heat sparked the flames, but the cause remains under investigation. When the fire started, a relative helped the two older boys to safety, but Jariah and Jarvis stayed trapped inside the apartment.


A resident who called 911 just before 3:30 a.m. told authorities that young children were trapped inside the burning home in the 6400 block of South Paulina Street in the West Englewood area, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said. When firefighters arrived, the fire had blown out a window, with the open air feeding the flames.

?Everybody concentrated and made a frantic search to find them,? Langford said.

But ?extensive? fire made it difficult for firefighters to reach the rear bedroom where the fire started, and where the children were located.

Witnesses said the children's mother was frantic.

"She was going crazy, no one could control her," Williams said.

Firefighters used a saw to cut the bars off a basement window in an attempt to reach the children, but they were unable to rescue the toddlers in time. They later found the children's bodies in the three-bedroom apartment on the first floor of the two-story gray stone building.

Fire investigators continue to sort out what caused the fire. They are also talking with the mother, who police said left the four children home alone.

"They said their mother was getting dressed told them to go in their room and go to sleep," said Williams. "They said they were left there alone and they'd been there by themselves for a long time."

The two surviving children were taken into the custody of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Crews have not found any working smoke detectors in the home, Langford said. The Chicago Fire Department canvassed the neighborhood on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m., to pass out smoke alarms and share fire safety information.

?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/22/16095857-two-toddlers-die-in-chicago-apartment-fire-no-adults-were-home?lite

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Sunday, December 23, 2012

The 10 Leading Sports Gear Stores In The Usa - watchstraps blog

Academy Sports & Outdoors, The Sports Authority, Inc. and Dick Sporting Goods are amongst the leading Sports Equipment Stores in the USA.

The 10 top activities gear stores in america are discussed here.

Academia Sports & Outdoors

That specialty firm is well known to be among Americas largest and hottest sporting goods suppliers. With higher than a hundred stores handled all over the southeastern area of the nation, Academy Sports + Outdoors shops supply the activities addicts with a collection of gears, clothing, in addition to components at fairly affordable prices.

The Sports Authority, Inc.

This string offers sets from course sports footwear, apparels and sports extras, at competitive prices. The business also provides an all-encompassing range of sports paraphernalia from marine sports equipment, hiking and camping gears, soccer items, cycling material to basketball games system. In 1987, Sports Authority, Inc. opened its first store in Florida. Now, the business works more than 400 retailers spread in the united kingdom.

Dick?s Sporting Goods

Is IWC replica watches among the most advanced sporting products string in america that gift ideas a sizeable choice of quality sports gear, sports apparel, and sports extras. The company sprang from the simple wish of a new person Dick Stack to sell fishing gears in the late 1940s. Today, Dick Sporting Goods has more than three hundred merchants spread throughout forty states across the United States.

Activity Chalet

Sport Chalet began fifty years ago Mont Blanc Star Gold Jewelleryreplica watches as a shop attempting to sell only scuba and ski equipment. Currently, it has rocketed to be among USAs top activities seller that provides high-end sporting product such as for instance conditioning, bowling, fishing, hockey, airsoft, tennis, snowboarding gadgets, and a lot more. Game Chalet also gives solutions such as for instance fixes, sports expert advice and leases. Stores are observed throughout Arizona, Nevada, and Southern California.

Modell?s Sporting Goods

The organization is among the primary supplier of an extensive line of sporting equipments such as paintball, soccer, skateboarding, working equipments plus therefore a lot more. In addition it provides athletic footwear, and costumes. Brand names for football tops just Like The Champion and Schutt DNA football boots are sold in Modells retailers. Modell?s Sporting Goods is the earliest family possessed niche company of sporting product in the United States. A hundred shops are run almost by the company all over New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia.

Hibbett Sporting Goods, Inc.

It is founded in 1945 and is currently based in Birmingham, Alabama. The organization equips sports lovers using its vast multiplicity of affordable attire and gear for sports such as hockey, boxing, basketball, and strength training. It also offers renowned brands of sporting goods like Dickies, Nautilus, NBA, Nike, Oakley, and Ecko. Close to 500 Hibbert Sporting Goods, Inc. Outlets are located in significantly more than twenty American claims.

Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI)

REI is as a way to obtain an easy line of camp and outdoor sports things and clothing one of many United Sates biggest consumer cooperatives that acts. REI has 77 stores and a comprehensive site, as well. car shelves, pet things, tents, backpacks, sleeping bags and watches are a number of the products that REI offers in its different shops nationwide.

Soccer America

Maryland-based Football America has been providing the United States with the handpicked baseball equipment and supplies for nearly three years now. It provides a complete selection of hard-wearing, powerful baseball outfits, lids, cleats, neck shields, and even more.

ATS Sports

ATS Sports is USAs and the globes largest reference of tennis linked fights such as stringing devices, grips, court gear racquet strings, umpire seats, benches, as well as tennis components. The business is headquartered at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sports & Recreation, Inc.

Could be the eleventh greatest sporting goods team in the usa and is based in Tampa, Florida. It?s a provider of well-liked business name sports gear along with footwear. As Recreation & Sports, Inc expanded its stores and places, in addition, it developed numerous different labels for its stores. The shops were decorated with banners that were directed to Fake Planet Ocean Watch build up the home personality of the business. Local area brands the place where a Sports & Recreation, Inc store is found were taken on while the title of the shop, itself. Thus, the merchants run under labels like Tampa Sports and Jacksonville Sports Unlimited.

Source: http://blogs.rediff.com/watchstraps/2012/12/23/the-10-leading-sports-gear-stores-in-the-usa/

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Guilt-free iPad apps for kids give parents a holiday break

39 min.

I love playing with?my kids, but you know?that week when everybody's stuck in the house, when the?weather's at its worst? Or when you're en route to Grandma's, but stuck?on the tarmac with a 4-hour delay??Well, let's say the iPad comes in handy quite a lot. Trouble is, you don't want your kids just sitting there dulling their minds, and?hunting for good stuff in Apple's App Store is a pain. Here are apps we've tested, that have already met with the?approval of?me ? and my youngins.

Disney Deluxe?Storybooks?-?$6.99 -?I gotta say, these started out pretty?well and have come a long way. When you turn the pages, the faux painted scenes move and zoom, almost like they're?coming to life. Every so often there are diversions ? coloring pages, puzzles and story-specific games. In "Brave," there's an archery challenge; in the brand?new "Monsters, Inc." book, there's a?scarer training module. Some of the Disney books are on sale for $2.99?now: "Tangled,""Brave,""Cars 2" and "Finding Nemo."iTunes link

Super Why ABC Adventures: Alphabet for iPad - The PBS Kids sensation has a few iOS titles out.?This latest focuses on letters and basic spelling. What's good about it is that, with five activities tied to the five main characters, a kid can keep playing without risk of getting bored or stuck in a track he or she doesn't like. iTunes link

Scholastic?First Discovery -?The Forest?for iPad?- $1.99 -?Scholastic's simple but aesthetically pleasing walk through the woods is a good example of tricking kids into learning by getting their hands moving. Budding flowers, blowing leaves,?precocious?bunnies and?falling snow ? these?interactive elements combine to teach kids about seasons, plant and animal varieties and environmental concerns.?iTunes link

Little Fox Music Box?- Kids songs?- $2.99 -?Aimed at a toddler audience, this sing-a-long app from Germany?is totally?zany. It features much of the herky-jerky papercraft animation featured in the beloved "Nighty Night" (now in a "Winter Special" edition), and creates three very distinct worlds to accompany "London Bridge," "Old MacDonald" and "Evening Song." There's also a free play mode ? "Fox Studio" ??for making chaotically joyful noises of your own. iTunes link

Toca Band - $0.99 - Underneath its interface, Toca Band is a primitive audio?sequencer, with loops and beats that let you create unique jams. But on its surface, it's a goofy cartoon stage that kids can immerse themselves in before they realize they're making music. My only wish was that there was a record mode to preserve the best tracks. But hey, it's 99 cents ? actually, FREE right now, possibly as a limited-time offer ? so?I am not really complaining. iTunes link

The Great?Cookie Thief - A Sesame Street App - $2.99 - This classic Cookie Monster story comes to life with animated backgrounds and opportunities for drawing and other interaction. Made by Callaway Digital Arts, which also does the "Thomas the Tank Engine" and "Miss Spider" apps, it's a great marriage of a classic franchise with a creative developer.?iTunes link

Where Do?Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery - $1.99 -?A fun animated storybook by everyone's favorite kids' app developer ... Jamie Lee Curtis? What? No, it's really great.?The?drawings have the anarchical scribbling style you see in New Yorker cartoons, and there are lots of unique activities. While my daughter and I still need to master the balloon animal maker, the Balloon Theatre movie?recorder is enough to keep us coming back again and again. iTunes link

Kindergarten Reading HD - $1.99 -?Phonics, reading and spelling are the fundamentals that kids focus on in this fun interactive workbook from one of my all-time favorite kid-app makers, Duck Duck Moose.?Kindergarten Reading stars a new character, Milo the Meerkat, and rewards kids with virtual?stickers so that they can create fun?scenes while taking a break from learning.?(Other slightly less educational?titles I'd also recommend are?Superhero Comic Book Maker?HD, or its girly counterpart,?Princess Fairy Tale Maker.)?iTunes link

Rounds: Parker Penguin - $4.99 -?The latest pre-school learning app from Nosy Crow, this adventure follows Parker Penguin as he slides across the snow, dives into the water, finds a mate, guards an egg and raises a chick. When you get to the end, the circle of life continues with Parker's next of kin. (Don't worry, Parker doesn't die or anything.) Parker Penguin follows a previous?Rounds title featuring a frog named Franklin. iTunes link

Wilson Rothman is the Technology & Science?editor at NBC News Digital. Catch up with him on Twitter at @wjrothman, and join our conversation on Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/guilt-free-ipad-apps-kids-give-parents-holiday-break-1C7662772

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Saturday, December 22, 2012

2012 Evolution of SEO & SEM | Internet & Online Marking Ottawa

SEO and SEM in 2012

Google Carved Out the SEO & SEM Search-Scape with a Laser Focus on Quality

As 2012 winds down and the mercury drops in our nation?s capital, Ottawa, the world of SEO and internet marketing continues to evolve across the far reaches of cyberspace. This year, the major search engines continued to tighten up on quality control, and social media platforms figured out how to make money through online marketing and advertising.

We Canadians love our Tim Horton?s coffee, our NHL hockey, except when Gary Bettman locks out the best players on the planet and goes on vacation, and of course, our Internet; in fact, 88% of us here in Ottawa, 16 years or older use the Internet for personal use 2010 Internet Use Survey (StatsCan).

Like our coffee and our hockey, we want the good stuff on the net that will keep us going through the long winter months? not the mindless fluff. So it?s generally good news to most of Canada paying attention to the policies and trends of the evolving web, that in 2012, Google has continued to refine it?s affectionate sounding Panda and Penguin algorithm updates, which seek to reward websites with quality content, while penalizing sites with tons of sketchy links, farmed in dark corners of the globe by black hatters with flashy promises of quick number one search engine rankings (warning: check the expiry date on these).

Google Gets Vocal

Google has taken other steps to increase the quality of the web by communicating more effectively with webmasters. The search giant is now generally revealing what its algorithm is looking for to determine a website?s quality score, while alerting site owners when they are going astray. In the first two months of 2012, Google sent more messages to webmasters warning them of possible violations that could hurt their site?s ranking through its Webmaster Tools than it did in all of 2011, and almost more than it has in all previous years combined, since it?s inception in 1996 SEO Year in Review (Search Engine Land).

These kinds of alerts are invaluable to help keep your site on a course for greater rankings and traffic. Webmaster Tools can also help to ensure that new content for your site is indexed quickly and accurately, and can now link to Google Analytics to provide SEO performance metrics, such as average position (ranking), clicks, and impressions.

Bing on the Rise

Bing was also fighting to get a grip on the quality of the sites that it served up in 2012 in an effort to gain a greater share of the core search market. In August, Bing?s search share rose to nearly 16% (WebProNews) and it?s Search Alliance with Yahoo accounted for over 25% of the search market.

Bing has its own version of Webmaster Tools to assist with indexing and measuring SEO performance on the Bing and Yahoo Search Engines (which replaced Yahoo Site Explorer in 2012). Bing actually introduced an important element of its toolset to disavow links earlier than Google?s Link Disavow Tool which came out in October 2012.

The tier one search engines, Google, Bing and Yahoo account for over 95% of the search market. They want to clean up the web, and empower webmasters to do their part. Previous to 2012, sites could artificially bolster their search engine rankings by building and amassing scores of links leading back to their site, regardless of their site?s actually quality, or even relevance to a search query. This led to all kinds of link farming and exchange schemes across the net, commonly known as black hat SEO, which is all about gaming the system to artificially and temporarily boost rankings, rather than by working hard to provide good quality content on a site that people actually find valuable.

Disavow Links

Now that Google?s Penguin has some teeth, sites that previously ranked well using black hat principles are tanking, often to the surprise and chagrin of the site owners, who may have hired an SEO to build links and improve rankings, without paying too much attention to how they were doing so. Google and Bing recognize that many site owners may not have been directly involved, or are at fault for the link profile associated with their site, and therefore may need some help to clean things up and give their site a fair shake in the search engines; hence, the disavow tools that came on the scene in 2012, which allow site owners to indicate that particular links, or links from certain domains should no longer be considered by a search engine.

Caution must be exercised with these powerful tools? you wouldn?t want to disavow links that are legitimately contributing to your site?s rankings. Google recommends that you do everything possible to remove an offending link yourself, such as contacting the site?s webmaster, or tracking down fake social media profiles that may be associated with your site. Regularly monitoring your site?s performance and link profile will also help alert you to the ominous signs of negative SEO.

Negative SEO (Search Engine Watch) generally refers to one site buying or building low quality links and pointing them at competitor to diminish their rankings.? Just dropping a few spots in the SERPs can have a seriously negative impact on the ability of a business (especially a small business) to garner quality web traffic.

Internet & Online Marketing Developments in 2012

LinkedIn Stock Way UP

LinkedIn is a rising star on the social media marketing and PPC scene. 2012 saw its membership rise to 190 million plus members in over 200 countries with the majority of its members consisting of business professionals and decision makers, powering the site to act as a recruitment engine. 2012 saw LinkIn stock (LNKD) increase an astounding 80% in share price over the course of the year.

Pinterest and Instagram

These two social media applications gained a lot of interest and momentum in 2012 and are certainly worth paying attention to in 2013. Pinterest, which lets users collect and ?pin? images, saw it?s North American user base grow from 1.27 million in 2011 to 29 million in 2012. Instagram, a photo sharing social app with creative filters, was acquired for what amounted to $747 million by Facebook (initially $1 billion, but a good chunk was in Facebook stock), saw a twenty-fold increase in traffic over last year. Where there is traffic, there is usually money, both of which are predicated to increase for Pinterest and Instagram in 2013, provided they can avoid potential pitfalls around privacy and content ownership.

This past week Instagram announced new terms of service in which it states that it now has the right to sell your photos. Early rumblings on Google Plus and other social networks indicate strong potential for a significant backlash over this issue. Even if the Facebook mothership can quell this storm (they just announced a retraction back the original TOS), the Instagram brand has already taken a hit.

Twitter Promoted Tweets Generating Revenue

2012 saw Twitter?s user base grow to 500 million, making it the second most popular social media platform on the planet and the number one app for real time transmission of unfolding events, such as the U.S. Presidential Election. Not only is Twitter popular and timely, it knows how to make money! Twitter is expected to make $260 million in 2012, compared to $140 million in 2011 from its ?Promoted Tweets? and the forecast trend for revenue in 2013 is up, up, up.

Facebook Mobile Ads Now Making Money

In October of 2012, Facebook hit 1 Billion users, making it the most popular social media platform on the planet. But with half of its user base on mobile, the looming question has been, will Facebook be able to make money on its mobile ads? Looks like Mark Zukerberg and his crew are figuring out how to bring in the dough. At the end of the third quarter, Facebook ad revenues grew 36% (Mashable) year over year to $1.08 billion, with $139 million (14% coming from mobile). Facebook is now making about $3 million per day from mobile advertising; however, the full impact of having ads increasingly pumped into our personal news feeds has yet to be measured. Watch for more Facebook controversy around personal privacy vs. generating ad revenue in 2013.

Google Adwords Dominates PPC Market

Google still rules the search engine marketing world with its flagship PPC advertising application Adwords, which generated about $14 billion in revenue in the third quarter of this year (that?s almost 24 times the historic powerball jackpot of $587.5 million that was drawn this past November). The Adwords platform itself saw a several enrichments to product listings, location targeting, offer extensions, mobile app extensions, video integration, and enhanced sitelinks, aimed at increasing the ROI potential of the PPC industry leader.

SEO & SEM in 2013

Most of this is actually good news for those SEO & SEM professionals out there who understand that methodology is as important as business results when it comes to internet and online marketing. The search-scape for 2013 looks increasingly competitive, as the major search engines tighten up quality control, and popular social media platforms seek to increase revenue, forcing businesses to fight harder for their web traffic.

Winning with honour is not only satisfying, but also sustaining? which is perhaps why the Samurai class was so dominant for many centuries in feudal Japan, and why Samurai Marketing in Ottawa is a good ally to help you fight for sustainable web traffic to drive your business. Contact for a FREE consult!

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Source: http://samuraimarketing.ca/2012-evolution-of-seo-sem-internet-online-marketing-ottawa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2012-evolution-of-seo-sem-internet-online-marketing-ottawa

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A somber moment for 26 victims of Sandy Hook school massacre

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? The chiming of bells reverberated throughout Newtown on Friday, commemorating one week since the crackle of gunfire in a schoolhouse killed 20 children and six adults in a massacre that has shaken the community ? and the nation ? to its core.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gathered with other officials on the steps of the town hall as the bell rang 26 times in memory of each life lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman also killed his mother before the massacre, and himself afterward.

Officials didn't plan any formal remarks Friday morning, when similar commemorations were planned throughout the country.

Though the massacre does not rank as the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history ? that happened at Virginia Tech ? the tender age of the victims and the absence of any apparent motive has struck at Americans' hearts and minds. The gunman used a military-style assault rifle loaded with ammunition intended to inflict maximum damage, officials have said.

The White House said President Barack Obama planned to privately observe the moment of silence.

Just a week after the attack, gun control has taken a front burner in Congress, where previous mass shootings produced only minimal legislative reaction. Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that the Obama administration would push to tighten gun laws.

The National Rifle Association plans a Friday morning news conference, its first public event since the shootings. The nation's largest gun-rights lobby with 4.3 million members has said it will offer "meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again."

When the bells tolled mournfully to honor the victims of last week's shooting rampage, they did so 26 times, for each child and staff member killed.

Rarely do residents mention the first person police said Adam Lanza killed that morning: his mother, Nancy, who was shot in the head four times while she lay in bed.

That makes 27.

A private funeral was held Thursday in New Hampshire for Nancy Lanza, according to Donald Briggs, the police chief in Kingston, N.H., where her funeral was held. About 25 family members attended the ceremony.

In Newtown, where makeshift memorials of stuffed animals, angels, candles, flowers and balloons have blossomed on patches of grass throughout town, there is only one noticeable tribute to Nancy Lanza. It's a letter written by a friend on yellow paper affixed, screwed and shellacked onto a red piece of wood.

"Others now share pain for choices you faced alone; May the blameless among us throw the first stone," it reads in part.

No one outwardly blames Nancy Lanza for the rampage. But authorities have said the gunman, her 20-year-old son Adam, used the guns she kept at their home to carry out a massacre that became the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history and has stirred lawmakers to call for gun control laws.

Nationwide, churches were to ring their bells Friday morning. Two gold balloons, one a 2, the other a 6, are tied to a bridge. Handwritten tributes mention 26 snowflakes. "26 angels will guide us," reads one.

The dearth of tributes to Nancy Lanza underscores the complicated mix of emotions surrounding her after the shooting.

In a small town where multiple funerals are taking place each day, where black-clad mourners stand in lines waiting to say goodbye to another child, many are incredibly angry at Nancy Lanza for not keeping her guns away from her son.

Some view her as a victim, but one whose guns were used to kill first-graders. And others think Nancy Lanza was an innocent victim, one who should be counted and included at memorials.

"It's a loss of life and, yes, her life mattered," said Christine Lombardi. "Yes, I do believe she should be included."

Others in Newtown are weary of the crush of media and have become reluctant to answer questions after a difficult week. But the subject of marking Nancy Lanza's death, along with those of the children and teachers killed by her son, seemed mainly to surprise two moms who stopped to place flowers at the memorial at Main and Sugar streets with their two grammar-school aged girls.

They paused, appeared bewildered, and looked at each other for a moment. Then one quietly said, "No, no," and they each took a girl's hand and led them away.

Newtown and environs weathered a fourth day of funerals Thursday as mourners laid to rest Catherine Hubbard, Benjamin Wheeler, Jesse Lewis and Allison Wyatt, all 6 years old; and Grace McDonnell, 7.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was one of the people to visit Newtown on Thursday, stopping by a firehouse.

Biden, who is overseeing the administration's response to last week's shooting, said he and Obama are "absolutely committed" to curbing gun violence in the United States.

"Even if we can only save one life, we have to take action," he said.

Gun-control measures have faced fierce resistance in Congress for years, but that may be changing because of the events in Connecticut, which shocked the nation.

After the shooting, Obama signaled for the first time that he's willing to spend significant political capital on the issue. Some prominent gun-rights advocates on Capitol Hill ? Democrats and Republicans alike ? have expressed willingness to consider new measures.

Investigators have said that Nancy Lanza, a gun enthusiast, visited shooting ranges several times and that her son also visited an area range.

Authorities say Adam Lanza shot his mother at their home and then took her car and some of her guns to the school, where he broke in and opened fire. A Connecticut official said Nancy Lanza was shot four times in the head with a .22-caliber rifle.

Adam Lanza was wearing all black, with an olive-drab utility vest, during the school attack. Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the rampage.

Friends and acquaintances have described him as intelligent, but odd and quiet.

Friends said he would stare down at the floor and not speak when she brought him into a local pizzeria. They knew that he'd switched schools more than once and that she'd tried home schooling him. But while she occasionally expressed concern about his future during evenings at the bar, she never complained.

"I heard her as a parent. I always said that I wouldn't want to be in her shoes. But I thought, 'Wow. She holds it well,'" said Jon Tambascio, son of the pizzeria operator.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Michael Melia, John Christoffersen and David Klepper in Newtown; Jim Fitzgerald in Katonah, N.Y.; and Frederic J. Frommer in Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bells-toll-victims-one-week-shooting-143254939.html

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Friday, December 21, 2012

Olivia Black, Pawn Stars Cast Member, Fired Over Porn Past!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/olivia-black-pawn-stars-cast-member-fired-over-porn-past/

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Rimes defends her shaky 'X Factor' performance

By Kristin Dos Santos, E! Online

LeAnn Rimes completely stole the show on "X Factor" Wednesday night...and not in the way we're thinking she'd hoped!

The iconic songstress took to the stage with 13-year-old finalist Carly Rose Sonenclar for a duet to "How Do I Live," and stumbled right out of the gate, appearing to forget the words to her own hit song -- and falling off-key -- as she walked down the steps to the stage. It didn't get better from there, adding up to a live performance that was ... not her best, to put it lightly.?

More from E!: Is L.A. Reid regretting his decision to leave 'X Factor'?

So, of course we had to laugh when mentor Britney Spears called the duet "shockingly amazing." And Sonenclar, who looked horrified at one point during the song, thanked Rimes for making her feel "really comfortable."?

So what went wrong? A Fox rep for the series has no comment, and Rimes' rep has yet to respond to our request for comment.?

Rimes took to her Twitter today to comment on the performance: "In my 18 years of performing, I have never been anything but professional onstage. It is a shame that gossip and lies are overshadowing the performance of Carly, a very talented young girl. And while I have not given any media outlet a quote, if you want one, here it is 'It was an amazing opportunity to share this experience with Carly and I know I'll be watching for her to win tonight.' "?

Hmm.?

Thursday night, "X Factor's" big winner will be revealed ($5 million is at stake!) and we'll see if the Rimes duet has any impact on Sonenclar's fate.?

What did you think of the performance? Tell us on our Facebook page!

Related content:

More in The Clicker:

Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/12/20/16048765-leann-rimes-calls-her-shaky-x-factor-performance-professional?lite

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Dana White praises openly gay Liz Carmouche: ?It takes a brave person?

When Liz Carmouche steps into the octagon to fight Ronda Rousey for the UFC women's bantamweight belt, it will be a historic moment. Not only will UFC 157 feature the first UFC women's fight, it will also be the first time an openly gay fighter will fight in the UFC.

UFC president Dana White praised Carmouche, an ex-Marine, for coming out.

"There's a lot of gay athletes out there and athletes and actresses. It takes a brave person to come out and admit it because they're always afraid of what its going to do to their career or how people are going to treat them afterwards. I love what she did."

White came under fire in 2010 when he used a gay slur on one of his video blogs. He later apologized. When talking about Carmouche, he addressed his own reputation and shared his thoughts on same-sex marriage.

"I know I have the big ?homophobe' persona and people think I'm some homophobe. I'm the furthest thing from it. I think it's ridiculous it's 2013 and the government tells two people they can't marry each other. Who is the government to tell two people who say they love each other they can't be married? It's ridiculous."

Though it's not quite 2013, it's encouraging to hear White say not only that he supports Carmouche and same-sex marriage but that he hopes other fighters find the courage to come out, too.

Among the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA, there are no active and openly gay players. Retired athletes, like basketball player John Amaechi and football player Wade Davis, have come out after they stopped playing.

However, athletes like Carmouche show that the tide is turning and athletes are more comfortable with not hiding their sexuality. Openly gay athletes like diver Matthew Mitcham and Natasha Kai have competed in the Olympics. More and more athletes are speaking out in favor of LGBTQ rights.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dana-white-praises-openly-gay-liz-carmouche-takes-154220757--mma.html

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