Russian arms shipment reached Syria Saturday: rights group

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

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What is Nutritional Yeast? | Food Stories

Red Star Nutritional Yeast

What is Nutritional Yeast? Red Star brand is the original formula and here is there definition straight from the label ? Vegetarian Support Formula was first manufactured in 1975. A valuable source of high-quality protein, essential amino acids, vitamins, dietary fiber and minerals, its popularity has grown worldwide as individuals have become more aware of their day-to-day health ? Red Star Nutritional Yeast Vegetarian Support Formula is especially designed to meet the nutritional needs of vegetarians, vegans and anyone desiring a rich source of the B-complex vitamins, including B-12. It makes a tasty and nutritious addition to your favorite meals and drinks. Sprinkle on popcorn for a great-tasting, nutritious snack. Add as a seasoning for salads, soups, casseroles and gravies. Or simply add a tablespoon to your favorite morning juice, cereal or smoothie.

A few years back, I used to be vegan. I have to admit, it was very difficult for me because I love, love, love cheese and it was very challenging and burdensome for me to give it up. This product saved my life, literally. Because vegans don?t consume meat or any type of animal products, it can be quite challenging to get b-12 in your diet. These little yellow flakes are tasty, convenient and loaded with nutrition. Although, I am no longer vegan, I do favor lots of vegan/vegetarian recipes and this product really adds the flavor. Not to mention, it?s low in carbs and high in protein so it works with my low carb, diabetic lifestyle.

Nutritional yeast (basically a powdered yeast with no leavening power) has a robust essence that is described as cheesy, nutty, or creamy, which makes it very popular as an ingredient in?cheese?substitutes. Often used by vegans in place of cheese, it can be used in many recipes to add complexity of flavors. It is naturally high in protein and fiber, while low in fat and sodium, with no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors. This stuff contains an average of 50% protein by weight and just look at this nutrient profile ?

Red Star Nutritional Yeast - Nutrition Facts

In Australia it is sometimes sold as ?savoury yeast flakes.? In New Zealand, it has long been known as Brufax. In the United States it is sometimes referred to as ?nooch?, or ?yeshi,? an Ethiopian name meaning ?for a thousand?. Though ?nutritional yeast? usually refers to commercial products, inadequately fed prisoners of war have used ?home-grown? yeast to prevent vitamin deficiency. (Wikipedia)

The manufacturer, Lesaffre, states the primary benefits as being ?

• A ?super? food, providing nutrition and enhancing flavor in your favorite meals, drinks and snacks
• An excellent source of protein, containing essential and non-essential amino acids
• Rich in B-complex vitamins, which are important for energy production
• A natural source of additional beneficial components, such as beta-1,3 glucan and mannan, trehalose and glutathione
• Naturally low in fat and salt, with no added preservatives, flavors or colors
• Kosher certified (excluding Passover)
• Naturally gluten-free

?

Red Star Nutritional Yeast

Where do you get this stuff? Most natural or health food stores carry this and there are other brands but this is my preferred product. You can purchase online at many retailers. Here is a link to the retailers published by the manufacturer.

Tomorrow, I?ll be posting my favorite recipe made with nutritional yeast ? Hope you?ll stop back by to view it. Do you use nutritional yeast?

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Emcees Speak on High School: Pat Russell '89 aka Illin' P

In March of 2012 a young writer and educator named Joseph Poirier submitted an essay to the Husslington Post. ?Through an email exchange it was uncovered that coincidentally Joseph and Sam Seidel, the Curator-in-Chief of the Husslington Post, had attended the same high school, Cambridge Rindge and Latin. ?Joseph proposed conducting a series of interviews of Rindge graduates who make hip-hop music, with a focus on how their educational experiences at the school influenced them as artists. ?This piece is the first in that series?an exclusive on the Husslington Post.

How long have you been making music? ?How did you start?

Since ?84. ?I stopped breakdancing to start rapping for my breakdance crew. ?I?m old school, believe it or not.

Tell me a bit about your music ? how would you describe your hip-hop and where you?re coming from?

It?s music?life music with feelings, thoughts, inclusions, and fun. ?Well, at least it is now. ?Before, when I was younger, it just used to be fun. ?I?d experiment and play with words just because.? I was into?similes?and?metaphors early on, and I would just find creative ways to play with individual words. ?I used to randomly pick words out of the dictionary just to see how I could use them in the next rhyme. ?I was making kind of a nerdy attempt to expand my vocabulary, I guess. ?That quickly grew to playing with thoughts, different languages,?symbolisms, dialects, double, triple and sometimes quadruple meanings, etc. ?In fact, I believe that it was one of Chuck D?s lines that prompted me to actually ?grow up??from the way I wrote ? when he said: ?I don?t rhyme for the sake of riddling.? ?I was like: ?then what the fuck am I doing??? [laughs] ?Cause that was CHUCK D ? a man, in my opinion, [who] commands maximum respect. ?Now, don?t get me wrong, I haven?t completely abandoned the ?ways? that birthed this craft for me. ?Instead, I simply created a category to kind of justify what I?m doing, when I?m doing it?it?s exercise. ?You know?? ?Lyrical?calisthenics??.yeah, that?s it.

Today, I?m all grown up, though. ?I do a whole lot of ?on purpose? writing now. ?I?m talking with adult themes, ideas and speech. ?It?doesn?t?matter what type of song ? party, battle raps, relationships, ideologies, etc. -?I often say I keep [it] grounded like the third prong. ?That?s because what I write nowadays are simply fathomable experiences conveyed?artistically?with the skills attained from many years of practice. ?As far as where I?m coming from?would you understand me if I just said ?within??

How important do you think a hip-hop artist?s schooling is to their music?

Very. ?But I?m coming from the standpoint that schooling in any life genre is mega-important.? Not just hip-hop. ?Whether it?s?academics?or hard knocks, you?re a product of what you?ve been taught and your output reflects that.

What role did the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) and the Cambridge Public School system play in your development as a writer, an artist, a thinker, and a musician?

An encouraging one. ?But I think that?s just growing up in Cambridge, period. ?You?re exposed to the entire gamut, so to speak. ?So much so that it ultimately becomes a matter of choice as to what direction you want to travel down. ?As a writer, well, English class is English class. ?You learn the technical aspects of the ?word??what?s a noun? ?What?s a preposition? ?The indirect object of a sentence? That?s just the automatics of ?school?, I think. ?The ill shit is recognizing its application and using it to your advantage. ?That?s when the?transition?is made to artistry.? I can?t credit my musical development?solely?on CRLS or the Cambridge school system, though. ?I mean, a lot of that came from the people and environments I surrounded myself with. ?That being said, Cambridge is a scholastic city. ?You kind of have no choice but to be influenced by that.

Why do you think CRLS produces so many rappers and producers? ?Is there something about the school system? ?The people? ?The classes? ?Teachers?

Today, it seems, everybody and their grandmother wants to be an emcee. ?I?m not up on the numbers coming out of Rindge. ?However, if it?s crazy, I think that?s just the result of how commercial this art form has gotten. ?I think it?s like that almost everywhere and rarely has anything to do?specifically with the?school?system, classes or teachers.

Are there are any memorable hip-hop moments from CRLS you could share?

During my days at Rindge, most of those ?hip-hop moments? really?occurred?out of school, unless we?re talking school parties. ?We weren?t really battling or breakdancing in the hallways, or nothing like that. ?If anything hip-hop was happening, though, it was during B Lunch in the Media Cafeteria. ?The Big Beat would be banging on the lunch tables and heads would set off freestyles crackin? on everything from clothes to teachers. ?In fact, those were THE only moments and cats would take that energy back to their respective hoods and keep it pushin??outside of school.

Your music seems like it has some Caribbean influences ? does any of that come from your Cambridge or CRLS background?

Nah. ?Again, those were my influences outside of school. ?I come from a West Indian family and I love West Indian music, but I was born here in the states.

Are there any other CRLS grads that made or are making hip-hop that have influenced you, or you?ve worked with?

As far as influence goes?not really, except for maybe a group called High?Authority? ? my mens DJ D, Crime Master D (turn[ed] Dred Manaflo, now Sickman and DJ Creation) ? but we were peers and pioneers that worked together many times. ?I tend to feed off of the energy of crew. ?That?s what we did. ?You coming with an ill verse made me have to come with one even iller than that. ?It went back and forth.

Do you think hip-hop music can play a role in the classroom? ?How and why?

I?m sure it can, in the sense of teaching technology and innovation ? i.e. the advent of the mixer or fader in relation to the ?potentiometer? -?or relative content to exploit points in subject matter ? i.e. historical outcries of social groups relative to current events or politics.? Or even as examples of different styles of poetry. ?However, NOT in the sense of guiding towards a career path. ?I think the youth can do without a ?teach me how to rap? class. ?Hip-hop to me is just one of those things you just simply get into and live.

Looking back on your public education, how do you wish hip-hop or music could have been incorporated into learning?

I don?t ? talking [about] hip-hop specifically. ?If it came up ? as it has ? it?s only because that?s what I used to express or contribute to an assignment ? creative writing or presentations. ?For me, it was to be used as a tool and was never the focus. ?Now, music in general? ?I say talk about it all day, as long as it [is] in the context of just that ? music ? which is inclusive of every other genre as well. ?Make comparisons, document social change,?stagnancy,?or set backs, etc. ?Let it spark debate.

What makes a Cambridge rapper different from a Boston rapper?

The same shit that makes rapper A different from rapper B. ?I?m not them and they are not me. ?Although, we are who we are and if that is ? God forbid ? absolute trash or straight up nasty with it, it is what it is. ?To me, not everybody should pick up the mic, and Cambridge does have its share of the ?not-so-nice?, as does Boston.? But that BS could never trump the level of artistry found in the best of both environments.

CRLS shout-outs?

No shouts?Rest in power: Erik ?Eddie Bones? Brown, Sion Chambers, Dave Swinton, Leslie Kimbrough.

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Illinois same-sex couples sue for right to marry

AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

Claudia Mercado, left, holds her son Indigo Lopez-Mercado as Angelica Lopez right, holds the couple's other child, Isabel, as they gather for a news conference on the lawsuits in Chicago on May 30, 2012.

By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com

Twenty-five couples are challenging the constitutionality of an Illinois? law that bans same-sex marriage, saying their only legal option of civil unions gives an inferior status to their relationships and denies them equal rights under the law.

The couples, some who have been together for decades and have children, filed separate complaints in Cook County Circuit Court on Wednesday, asking for the law that went into effect last year to be thrown out. Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois are representing them.

---

?Both complaints assert that the marriage ban deprives Illinois same-sex couples of their fundamental right to marry and their right to equality under the law," Camilla Taylor, National Marriage Project Director for Lambda Legal, told msnbc.com.

?Some of our clients approached us ten years ago in connection with their yearning to marry here in Illinois and we?ve been telling them up until now it?s not time, and today it?s time," she said. "I think as a nation we are now at a tipping point, it?s a national moment.?

The ACLU said in a statement that the couples described how it felt to be ?relegated to a legal status that sends the message that the state regards their relationships as inferior? and said the ?freedom to marry will remove the stigma and other problems associated with civil unions.?

?Our relationship is not about some legal benefits and protections, but about love for one another,? said Tanya Lazaro, lead plaintiff in the ACLU case with Elizabeth Matos. The couple recently had a second child and have rejected getting a civil union. ?We love each other; we are committed to one another. Anything short of marriage does not recognize that love and commitment.?

Lamba Legal helped draft the civil union legislation, which Taylor said "was an important first step to provide some measure of legal protections for Illinois families who had nothing up until then."

But today, she said, "these couples have been living their lives in civil unions for a year now and they have experienced confusion and hurt and private bias, and they shouldn?t be forced to wait any longer."

Anti-gay marriage group: We'll be on Maryland ballot

Obama who? Gay marriage foes seek to extend gains
Obama: 'I think same-sex couples should be able to get married'
In North Carolina gay marriage vote, it's Bill Clinton versus Billy Graham

Six states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage, while 31 states have constitutional amendments that effectively ban gay marriage (this tally does not include California, where federal judges have ruled the amendment unconstitutional though further appeals are expected).

In mid-May, President Barack Obama said he supported same-sex marriage, becoming the first American president to do so. A Gallup poll released around the same time?showed 50 percent of Americans saying same-sex marriage should be legal, compared to 48 percent opposed. Support for gay marriage fell slightly in that poll from a record high of 53 percent in?2011, the first time a majority of Americans favored gay marriage. Opposition was 45 percent in that poll.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

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?I'm Bored!? Things to do in Cornwall, England ... - Travel & Leisure

Holidays in Cornwall might take you to some of the most beautiful, historic and breathtaking places you have ever seen, but even the most idyllic beauty spots can be ruined by repeated chants of ?I?m bored?.

So what can you do to keep boredom at bay? The answer is, what can?t you do. Whether you?re after big days out or bargain Cornwall attractions to keep the costs down, this glorious county was simply made for holidays ? so whatever you?re after and however small you budget, there is plenty on offer to keep everyone happy.

One lesser known place to visit is Mousehole Bird Hospital ? a centre for ill or injured birds that was first started in 1928. You?ll find birds of all shapes, sizes and species here and there are plenty of permanent residents. It?s free to enter and there?s a small on-site souvenir shop too.

For group days out in Cornwall ? there is tons of things you can do. Try your hand at water sports such as kayaking, canoeing or paddle boarding. Saddle up and take the kids riding on the beach with a local trekking centre. Or hire some bikes and take off on a tour of the county?s best off-road trails, enjoying the rolling countryside and stopping off for a pub lunch.

A seaside holiday in Cornwall is like fish and chips or donkey rides on the beach: a much-loved English classic. But when you?ve got the kids in tow it?s essential to keep things varied ? and luckily for you, family days out in Cornwall are just about as varied as they come.

For older children or those with a burning desire to try something different, a surfing or body boarding lesson is an absolute must. It?s bound to give you great laughs and burn off all that excess energy too. Newquay is the obvious place but there are many other spots on the coast which offer qualified instructors and great waves ? try Polzeath on the north coast, or Sennen on the far western tip of the county.

A free activity that will get you out in the open air is hunting down Cornwall?s historic monuments. The Iron Age village near Penzance is one perfect example ? a historical treat that was thought to have been occupied around 2,000 years ago. The county is also full of castles, from Pendennis Castle in Falmouth to Tintagel Castle on the beautiful and rugged North Cornwall coast. All of these sites have been carefully preserved and make for a great day out with the kids.

Whatever you fancy, Cornwall is home to a huge and varied range of activities ? which will (almost) certainly keep the ?b? word at bay!

This guest article was written for Travel and Leisure Group, trusted timeshare resellers and registered members of RDO, TATOC and ARDA. Image credit to Dave Hamster.

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Chemists Make Olympic Rings On a Molecular Scale

Don't worry. The IOC and their local corporations that sponsor the games and license the trademarks are nothing if not diligent in defending their trademarks. When the winter olympics were held here in Vancouver in 2010, much to my dismay, they scanned the city and sent out letters to any business that had any word like olympic in it that they were infringing on their trademarks and had to desist. Poor old Olympic Pizza. They'd been in business for over 30 years under that name but now THEY were infringing. The copyright laws even were amended so that sentences with the words or phrases with the following strings in close proximity were copyright protected to the VOC; 2010, olympic, winter, and a number of sports names.

Dog and pony show where the venues are selected not by whether the community really wants/needs/can afford to host the games but by how much swag the selection committee can take away from that town. Our city and the local taxpayers are on the hook for almost $500 million for the real estate blunder that started as the place where the athletes were to be housed. And I don't want to know how much it cost to truck and helicopter in all the snow from the interior to blanket the mountains deep enough for the events to be held. What a waste. It sickens me every time I see a sign still up boasting about how Vancouver hosted the 2010 winter olympics. If it weren't for family concerns, I'd move to Owl's Anus, Alberta. Sorry, that turned into a rant but it felt very good to get it said. If anyone reading this ever gets a chance to speak out against or otherwise block their city from hosting an olympics, do it.

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Seeking Quick Loans to Clear Financial Situations - Genecast.com

When one is desperate for some fast cash, quick loans are preferred. There may be many possibilities for a quick or fast loan which is usually a cash loan. Most established loan providers or banks do not condone quick loans as there is a long litany of bureaucracy to process through the loan. Moreover, these highly established financial institutions would cater only to large loans in the hundreds of thousands or millions. But many average consumers may encounter some financial difficulties in their daily lifestyle to require a small cash loan.

Situations

Many average consumers are living on a tight budget based on their monthly income; if there were an unexpected expense, they may not have enough funds to cover that expense.

It may be that the house renovation cost has gone slightly beyond the budget. It is better to secure a loan quickly to cover the excess amount on payment before one gets embarrased with the lack of funds to settle the payment. It could be the car repairs which require a quick settlement of the bill before the car can be taken out of the workshop.

Insurance renewals for health or car may come at an inappropriate time when one does not have the funds prepared to renew the insurance policy. If the policy is lapsed, all the benefits would be nullified. Hence, it is important to secure quick loans to renew the insurance policies to ensure they stay in effect. Otherwise, past payments would be wasted and the consumer would not enjoy the policy?s benefits.

Sources

There are many sources of quick or fast cash loans. It is always good to resort to authorized and reputable loan lenders when it comes to getting a cash loan. Many consumers consider private lenders or loan sharks out of desperation but these would bring on more trouble later in the loan deal.

The best sources of Quick loans are those that have been appointed by the state to be official or approved loan lenders. These have the valid lending licenses to offer consumers the fast cash loans without the hasle or embarrasment which private lenders or third party lenders may incur.

Families and friends would make good sources of fast cash loans as they are reliable financial sources. The loan amount and processing are very flexible with families and friends; the loan can be obtained very quickly with no questions asked if the consumers have a strong and secure relationship with their family or friends.
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If you are in need of Payday loans. Get a advance Payday loans now. We work around the clock so that when you need Payday loans, you can get it as soon as possible.

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Workers among 16 dead in latest big Italian quake

SAN FELICE SUL PANARO, Italy (AP) ? Workers at the small machinery company had just returned for their first shift following Italy's powerful and deadly quake earlier this month when another one struck Tuesday morning, collapsing the roof.

At least three employees at the factory ? two immigrants and an Italian engineer checking the building's stability ? were among those killed in the second deadly quake in nine days to strike a region of Italy that hadn't considered itself particularly quake prone.

By late Tuesday, the death toll stood at 16, with one person missing : a worker at the machinery factory in the small town of San Felice Sul Panaro. Some 350 people also were injured in the 5.8 magnitude quake north of Bologna in Emilia Romagna, one of Italy's more productive regions, agriculturally and industrially. Originally government officials had put the death toll at 17, and there was no immediately explanation for the lowered toll.

The injured included a 65-year-old woman who was pulled out alive by rescuers after lying for 12 hours in the rubble of her apartment's kitchen in Cavezzo, another town hard hit by the quake. Firefighters told Sky TG24 TV that a piece of furniture, which had toppled over, saved her from being crushed by the wreckage. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The building had been damaged in the first quake, on May 20, and had been vacant since. The woman had just gone back inside it Tuesday morning to retrieve some clothes when the latest temblor knocked down the building, firefighters said.

Factories, barns and churches fell, dealing a second blow to a region where thousands remained homeless from the May 20 temblor, much stronger in intensity, at 6.0 magnitude.

The two quakes struck one of the most productive regions in Italy at a particularly crucial moment, as the country faces enormous pressure to grow its economy to stave off the continent's debt crisis. Italy's economic growth has been stagnant for at least a decade, and the national economy is forecast to contract by 1.2 percent this year.

The area encompassing the cities of Modena, Mantua and Bologna is prized for its super car production, churning out Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis; its world-famous Parmesan cheese, and less well-known but critical to the economy: machinery companies.

Like the May 20 quake, many of the dead in Tuesday's temblor were workers inside huge warehouses, many of them prefabricated, that house factories. Inspectors have been determining which are safe to re-enter, but economic pressure has sped up renewed production ? perhaps prematurely.

Seven people were killed in the May 20 quake. In both, the dead were largely and disproportionately workers killed by collapsing factories and warehouses.

Co-workers of Mohamed Azeris, a Moroccan immigrant and father of two who died in the just-reopened factory, claim he was forced back to work as a shift supervisor or faced losing his job. A local union representative had demanded an investigation.

"Another earthquake ? unfortunately during the day ? that means people were inside working, so I think that an investigation will need to be opened here to check who cleared as safe these companies to understand who's responsible for this," Erminio Veronesi told The Associated Press.

At another factory closer to the epicenter in in the city of Medolla, rescue crews searched for three workers who did not turn up at roll call after the quake and were presumed dead.

Premier Mario Monti, tapped to steer the country from financial ruin in November, pledged that the government would quickly provide help to the area "that is so special, so important and so productive for Italy."

The Coldiretti farm lobby said damage to the agricultural industry, including Parmesan makers whose aging wheels of cheese already suffered in the first quake, had risen to ?500 million ($626 million) with the second hit. The Modena Chamber of Commerce estimated that the first quake alone had cost businesses ?1.5 million, with no fresh estimates immediately available.

Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini, all centered around Modena, reported no damage, and said workers were evacuated and then allowed to go home to check on their homes and families. Lamborghini planned to keep production halted on Wednesday.

The quake was felt from Piedmont in northwestern Italy to Venice in the northeast and as far north as Austria. Dozens of aftershocks hit the area, some registering more than 5.0 in magnitude.

The temblor terrified many of the thousands of people who have been living in tents or cars since the May 20 quake and created a whole new wave of homeless.

"I was shaving and I ran out very fast, half dressed," a resident of Sant'Agostino, one of the towns devastated in the quake earlier this month, told AP Television News.

Tuesday's quake struck just after 9 a.m. with an epicenter 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Bologna, according to the U.S. Geological Survey ? just several kilometers (miles) away from where the 6.0-magnitude quake that killed seven people on May 20 was centered.

In the town of Mirandola, near the epicenter, the church of San Francesco crumbled, leaving only its facade standing. The main cathedral also collapsed. Sant'Agostino's town hall, so damaged in the May 20 quake that it looked as if it had been bombed, virtually fell apart when the latest deadly temblor struck.

Labor Minister Elsa Fornero suggested the destruction to buildings was out of proportion, considering the magnitude of the quake. "It is natural that the earth shakes. But it is not natural that buildings collapse," Fornero said told lawmakers in Parliament's lower Chamber of Deputies.

The May 20 quake was described by Italian emergency officials as the worst to hit the region since the 1300s. In addition to the deaths, it knocked down a clock tower and other centuries-old buildings. Its epicenter was about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Bologna.

Tuesday's earthquake and strong aftershocks from the May 20 temblor are not surprising or unexpected, said Harley Benz, scientist in charge of the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center.

"This is an area that is known to have earthquakes," Benz said. The earthquakes aren't as powerful and not as recent as those that circle the Pacific Ocean in the famed "ring of fire," but they are still active over the years. The region around Bologna has had at least five previous significant earthquakes between 5.3 and 6.8 magnitudes in the past 550 years, most recently in 1929 with a series of quakes, he said.

Residents had just been taking tentative steps toward resuming normal life when Tuesday's quake struck. In Sant'Agostino, a daycare center had just reopened. In the town of Concordia, the mayor had scheduled a town meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the aftermath of the first quake. Instead, Mayor Carlo Marchini confirmed the death of one person struck by falling debris in the town's historic center.

Italy's soccer match against Luxembourg, a warm-up for the Euro 2012 championships, was canceled. The game had been scheduled to be played Tuesday in Parma, just 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of the quake.

___

Barry reported from Milan. Frances D'Emilio contributed from Rome, Malcolm Ritter from New York and Seth Borenstein from Washington.

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Daily Online Alochona: Re: [mukto-mona] Madrasah Education

Of course he will ignore the chronology because it goes against his argument.

?

Here we have two people, Q. Rahman and K. Das, from two opposite poles, talking about something that, probably, others have?no interest at all. Q. Rahman is biased towards his religion, while K. Das is free from all religious obligations. How can you?convince a faith-based person coutering?his/her religious views? You can't. So far I have never seen any agreement between them. In fact, Q. Rahman thinks he is always right, and K. Das is always wrong in spite of all his references. Faith is not based on references. I think they have hit the wall at this point. I say - let's call it a day now. It's better not to prolong a discussion with an ideologue. Let's promote more discussions between two free-thinkers in stead; that's much more interesting. This is pretty boring ?.

Jiten Roy
--- On Mon, 5/28/12, Kamal Das <kamalctgu@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Kamal Das <kamalctgu@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Madrasah Education
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, May 28, 2012, 8:49 PM ? You have ignored the chronology of Hebrew and Arabic languages.? Arabic was developed about three thousand years later than Hebrew mostly from the language of the Nestorians.? A few Hebrew words might have diffused into Arabic and that does not make them sister languages.? Consider the ethnicity of the monk Bahira alias Sergius the Nestorian and you would get the clue of simultaneous development of Islam and Arabic.

To get a proper 'education', you might need to unlearn most of what you learned before.? Arabic and Hebrew scripts , instead of being very similar as your observation is, have no similarity at all.

On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 9:00 PM, qar <qrahman@netscape.net> wrote:

? I have enough education to back up what I said about Arabic and Hebrew as "Sister" language. The scripts are NOT the same (If that was the case, they would not have TWO different script) but very similar to each other. Similar to Bangla and Hindi script. For people who do not have a lot of time to devote to this topic, just read the next para....

However if you have more credible source than "curator", feel free to share.

I am sharing an interesting article, which has few Hebrew alphabet. Since most Muslims do know Arabic alphabets, I need not to explain more to them. ....

The 5th chapter of Songs of Solomon is discussing someone. Jews will say it is discussing Solomon, while Christians will say it is discussing Jesus. Considering this is the Songs of Solomon, it would seem logical that it is discussing Solomon. The verses describing this mystery man have the narators speech conjuagted in the feminine (meaning it is a woman who is describing this man) so it is possible that it is one of Solomon's wives discussing her Husband (Solomon). However, if a Christian tries to assert that Jesus is being discussed, then they are insinuating that this is discussing a future prophet (a man who was not yet alive at that point), a prophesy.... If the 5th chapter of Songs of Solomon is looking into the future, then there is no doubt it is discussing Muhammad.

Throughout the chapter, someone is being discussed. Whomever it is, verse 15 says his "countenance (face) is as Lebanon", so this is an Arabic gentleman (or Arab looking), a Semitic man none the less. Verse 11 says "his head is as the most fine gold, his locks are wavy, and black as a raven". Verse 10 describes this man as being "radiant and ruddy" which means he was slightly light-skinned with a rosy color. This can be confirmed in the Sahih Bukhari Hadiths,?Volume 4, Book 56, Number 747, which says Muhammad was slightly light skinned, with a rosy color (and also has the same hair as is mentioned in verse 11). Also verse 14 describes this man as having a stomach like ivory. I take it this means the parts of his body that were usually covered by his garment from the sun, were very white (like ivory). This also can be atributed to Muhammad who although having a rosy, golden color, had white armpitts (Sahih Bukhari, Volume?2, Book 17, Number 141?says you could see the whites of his armpitt when he raised his hand). WHAT'S THE POINT?!?!

In conclusion, if Songs of Solomon chapter 5 is discussing a man to come after that time, it is without a doubt Muhammad, as it even mentions his name. Any Christian who believes Jesus is the Messiah, and believes that books were sent down by God after the TaNaKh (Jewish Bible), then surely they should take into account what they just read here, and consider the Qur'an before making a decision.

======================================================================================================================================

Shalom!

Sent: Mon, May 28, 2012 8:42 am
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Madrasah Education ? The mother language of Arabic is Assyrian originated in Kufa near Karbala.? Hebrew scripture is very different from Arabic.? In an exhibition of scriptures in a University museum, the curator approached me failing to find any similarity between those two scriptures.? I suggested him to compare between the Arabic and Nestorian scriptures which he did and came back in minutes and said, "How come did you know it but I didn't"? My answer was rude as usual, "I read history on passion, you did it to make a living"? Aramaic language got importance albeit on a wrong basis after Alexander the Great defeated the Persians with the consequent rise of Christianity.

One should not be arrogant if he is not 'smart' and wants to learn anything.

On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 2:18 AM, qar <qrahman@netscape.net> wrote:

? I am not as "Smart" as you. Kindly explain what you? just said. Aramaic is related to Hebrew and Arabic. Just like Bangla and Hindu came from Sanskrit, these two languages have some common grounds. I have given couple of example for easy consumption. Hope it helps...

Shalom/salaam/peace

Sent: Sat, May 26, 2012 9:45 pm
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Madrasah Education ? Mother and sister is not really anonymous. ?Are they? ?Hebrew could be called an aunt of Arabic more properly. On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 8:47 PM, qar <qrahman@netscape.net> wrote:

? And Hebrew is a "Sister" language of Arabic. For Example, Peace in Arabic is "Salaam" and in Hebrew "Shalom". Prophet in Arabic is "Nabi" and in Hebrew "Navi". The combination of arrogance and ignorance is amusing to watch. :-)

Shalom! (Hebrew for peace)....

-----Original Message-----
From: Kamal Das kamalctgu@gmail.com>
To: mukto-mona mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thu, May 24, 2012 6:22 am
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Madrasah Education? As usual, Mr. Q. A. Rahman goes on babbling without a fundamental knowledge on any thing.? Madrassah is derived from the Hebrew word Midrash meaning a place for religious knowledge. On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 8:10 PM, qar <qrahman@netscape.net> wrote:

?

3. Having a primary education in a maktab or a madrasah logically cannot have any positive impact on a student's future academic?career that involves modern education including a degree of Bar-at-Law.?This only testifies to the student's strong determination to embrace modern education.?????

>>>>>>>>> I think we went over this one. Most of us agree the "Current" quality of Madrassa or school system is not acceptable. So my opinion is to improve the madrassa system. Which will combine secular education with enough religious education.

Like it or not religion is part of our culture and reality of our lives. So if we have enough "Educated" people among us with basic education of religious scripture, we can confront fanaticism and politicization of religion. As far as Islam is concern, it has structure to support politics but it does NOT support abusing religion to oppress innocent people. Because of a acute lack of basic understanding of Islam, the mainstream population hesitate to stand up against abusing of religion.

Madrassa is simply arabic word for school (As far as I understand it). You can call it "Patshala" if you please but quality of education should be our "Common concern". We are producing "One liner idiots" in most cases than people with fundamental understanding of religion.

My two cents.....

Shalom!

To: mukto-mona mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, May 22, 2012 5:35 am
Subject: [mukto-mona] Madrasah Education?

1. It is a nice analogy. A book on the theory of probability mentions: If you put a monkey with a typewriter in front of it, by randomly typing, the monkey will one day recreate a sonnet of Shakespeare.

2. There was a time when individual Sanskrit?scholars used to run Sanskrit school as a profession. Curriculum included Indian philosophy including Charvak, grammar, literature, alankar, as well as orthodox scriptures. Traces of it may still exist but they do not produce any enlightened graduates. The recent graduates?even don't know how to write and read Sanskrit (Devnagori) scripts. They create orthodox priests at best. Indian philosophy and Sanskrit literature?are now taught in mainstream education system. The process of transition was obviously painful as it involved earnings of so many Sanskrit scholars who used to run the schools and their graduates. ?

3. Having a primary education in a maktab or a madrasah logically cannot have any positive impact on a student's future academic?career that involves modern education including a degree of Bar-at-Law.?This only testifies to the student's strong determination to embrace modern education.??????

?

As if? a few million monkeys randomly can recreate Shakespeare in some day? I rest my case.
-SD

"All great truths begin as blasphemies." GBS

?

Assalamu Alaikum:

So far I know that Ex Chief justice Syed Mahbub Murshed, ex prime minister Shah Azizur Rahman and probably at least two Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court, Justice Hamoodur Rahman (Burdwani) and chief Justcie?Fazal-e-Akbar? (Murshidabadi) and many others of Pakistanis/Bangladeshis like Justice Abdus Sattar?were also produced by Madrasa, probably by Calcutta Alia Madrasha (in Taltala).

?

?

From: Khondakar Mowla <kgmowla@att.net>
To: khabor@yahoogroups.com; alochona@yahoogroups.com; mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: kgmowla@att.net
Sent: Sun, May 20, 2012 3:51:53 AM
Subject: Re: [KHABOR] RE: [ALOCHONA] RE: [mukto-mona] RE: Child Abuse under Islamic cover : Fire of hell is hotter .......

?

Assalamu Alaikum:

?

So far I? know that Ex Chief justice Syed Mahmud Murshed, Shah Azizur Rahman and

probably at least two Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court, Justice Hamudur Rahaman (Burdwani) and Justcie Fazle Rabbi (Murshidabadi) and many others of Pakistanis/Bangladeshis?were also produced by Madrasa, probably by Calcutta Alia Madrasha (in Taltala).

From: S A Hannan <sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com>
To: alochona@yahoogroups.com; mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thu, May 17, 2012 11:21:06 PM
Subject: [KHABOR] RE: [ALOCHONA] RE: [mukto-mona] RE: Child Abuse under Islamic cover : Fire of hell is hotter .......

?

Shah Deedar you are simplistic. These Madrasah graduates kept the Masjids running, the morals of the nation safe to the extent possible.Madrasas produced many political leaders like Akram Khan, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad., Mufti Mahmud, Moulana Atahar Ali in the past.

?

Many others who graduated from universities had initial education Madrasas.Even now about one third of the students get education in Dakhil Madrasas and then to the universities and they are better in education and conduct on balance in most cases.

The Madrasa stream is not harming national development. It is assisting by producing relatively more disciplined citizens.

Shah Abdul Hannan

?

?

?

I think she is right. Tell me one good thing that was created by Madrassa education except learning something that has no value in modern life. What change did that education brought to Islamic countries? What invention did we make in last five hundred years? It is the modern knowledge cultivated by others serving us with all kinds of products and gizmos. We have become only buyers of manufactured goods and not creators of any damn thing except chanting God is great? And, how long can this go on?

"All great truths begin as blasphemies." GBS

?

?

This is Farida Majid at her best. She wants banning of all Madrasas.What an extreme statement. No comment is needed .

Her Islam which she parades sometimes is a queer thing. She understands Islam more than all Ulama and other Islamic scholars.

From: alochona@yahoogroups.com [mailto: alochona@yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of Farida Majid
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 10:08 PM
To: mukto-mona
Subject: [ALOCHONA] RE: [mukto-mona] RE: Child Abuse under Islamic cover : Fire of hell is hotter ....... ???????? Mr. Q Rahman gives us great wisdom from his 'religious' knowledge almost every time he posts. At some point one would thin that he is striving to be the greatest proselytizer of Islam.? My question is: Did he acquire all this vast knowledge from Madrassah education that he received in the past? Does Mr. Rahman himself,? or his sisters, brothers, cousins, friends and relatives send their children to Madrassahs for "authentic teachings of Islam"?

????? Unless the honest answer to the question is an unqualified YES Mr. Q Rahman is resorting to a false, malicious propaganda.

The fact on the ground level is that for the benefit of future generations of Muslims in the subcontinent

? ? ? ? ?

? Madrassahs should be BANNED from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh .

???????????? The traditional 'moktob' on Fridays that give 'ampara' lessons to little boys and girls at the local mosques in the village have been sufficient religious education for centuries.? In the cities parents can send their children to a weekend 'diniyat' school or something to pick up skills to read the Qur'an.? Parents can provide the needed religious education for their children (just as Mr. Rahman's parents did) without thousands and thousands and thousands of Madrassahs all over the country. The Muslims of Bangladesh are 'naturally' better quality Muslims than their berathars and sisters in the Kingdom of Jahiliya (otherwise known as Saudi Arabia ).

?????????????? There should be proper Religious Seminaries or especial Madrassahs where Imams and Khadems of mosques should receive their education.

??????????????

If you cannot see the politics behind the establishment of these educationally backward,? harmful and useless madrassahs then you ARE part of the propaganda. This has nothing to do with religion.

1. I will use the word "karma" as a religious or philosophical concept. The said word has very deep meanings.

2. Atheists (example, the Stalin era in the USSR ) may have agenda that can prompt them to kill and torture. I hope I have properly understood the meaning of the statement "Without communal agenda, atheists have no reason to abandon good karmas". Killings and torture by many "religious" dictators (example, Saddam) were or are not communally motivated. The holocausts that descended on the Jews (WW II) and Hindus (1971) were mostly communal in nature. In these two cases Hitler and Yahiya Khan were the villains.???

3. Hatred, discrimination, persecution, and killing are rooted in scriptures. It depends on the ruler how he interprets and implements it. AL (I prefer using AL to BAL--it is my problem, Mr. Rahaman, as the sense of sin is in my mind as I am prejudiced with the word BAL) gave us a great constitution although there was hardly any atheists in that party. Nazibullah and Mollah Omar had diametrically opposite agenda---the former one's being far more progressive and humanitarian than that of the latter's. Even a Taliban member who fought against Soviet ocuupation does not want Taliban to come back to power with the same agenda (closing girls' school for example).?

4. In my judgement (following Campbell ), both Islam and Hinduism originally were tribal in nature. Although the rituals have mostly remained triabal in nature (comparatively more dominating in Hinduism), both the religions are getting more and more universal. Given the multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-religious interactive and interdependent pluralistic societies, there is no way out. Isolated and closed societies are suicidal.

5. I do not believe in divine authorities. Every thing we see in scriptures are man made and were captured in the minds and hearts of the sages. Since they are man made and hence are bound to be time- and place-specific, only man?is legitimately entitled to challenge, modify, and update them. I always emphasize on the word "reinterpretation". I find the concept of "reincarnation" or "Avatar" interesting and instructive. If we are afraid to challenge, reinterpret, and update, we are doomed to live a life that is not "modern". The concept of "Avatar" guarantees the progress of the society as you do not get stuck to a particular Avatar and successive Avatrs are supposed to be more and more progressive.?

6. It does not matter when eating beef was forbidden, it is still a fact that to a practicing Hindu, the?cow is sacred and eating beef is against his religion. I have seen many Hindus not following this religious edict thanks to the freedom and rationality that they use to break the barrier to enjoy the cheap resources of the world a little bit more. Christians in general are more open in this matter.

7. I am aware that Mr. Rahman is not advocation for implementing Islamic rule in Bangladeh. But I wnt to emphasize that I am dead against the so called?"Islamic" rule in Bangladesh . I like 1972 constitution which has?already been raped?several times. I believe in the principle of "separation of the church from the state". Even I do not buy the idea that a state ( Bangladesh )?get pro-actively involved with an international organization (OIC) in declaring a city (Dhaka) as the capital (Dhaka)?of?a particular religious (Islamic) culture of a continent ( Asia ) for a particular year (1212). I am not aware of the terms of reference that Bangladesh will have to follow in case of capital of Islamic culture matter. In my opinion it should kept private and not a state affair. It should however be allright for the PM who happens to be the head of the government of a Muslim majority country to become the chief guest in any occasion related to this. But what can we do??Our dependence on the Islamic countries is still unlimited.

8. I fully agree that the improvemnt in quality of Islamic education will minimize the unhappy incidences like the one that has recently happened in?a madrasa. Even?a several decades ago Greek philosophies used to be taught in the madrasas of the subcontinent. I am not sure what?they have now in the curriculum. Our governments have neither?commitments nor resources to improve the system. They do not have the courage either to undertake such a program. ????????

the, ists, without communal agenda, have no reason to abandon good-karmas. Also, in my view, there is another class of people who serve God through good-deeds only, devoid of any religious ideology have no incentive to deviate from their good-karmas.

>>>>>>>>>> I am sure disorder in Bangladesh bothers you enough to write about it. It is the same for me. However some of your assumptions are probably based on observation not based on teachings of religion. Rightly you pointed out that without communal agenda, atheists have no reason to abandon good-karmas.

Guess you "Assumed" that religion dictates us to work against people of other faiths and no faiths. Judging by some so called religious parties I cannot blame you for such assumptions but that is NOT what Islam (As a Muslim I just want to talk about Islam in my post) is all about. Unlike most prominent faiths, Islam does have a Global outlook. The criminal laws are mostly same for people of all faiths. It does not favor Muslims over non-Muslims. In civil cases there are differences (Like laws of inheritance). The main problem is so called religious parties often focus on laws that favors their own ideologies (Frequently it has a magical relationship with going to power and grow influence in politics). Muslims cannot pick and chose laws of Allah (SWT). They should try their level best to practice as much as possible. Which includes respecting "Rights" (Haq) of other people. Islamic "Communal agendas" is mainly talking about one God (Not forcing others to this ideology but TALKING about), establish rights of all people, secure peace for the mass. As I mentioned in a recent post BAL was flexible about it's socialist agenda and it helped our country in a big way. We cannot be slaves of "Processes" only, we have to ensure we are following processes properly. For most Muslims in Bangladesh , we are largely "Tradition bound" not religion bound. Guess you can say the same about Hindus as well. As one Hindu scholar mentioned, there is nothing in scriptures of "Sanatana Dharma" prohibiting it's followers from consuming beef but it was a popular movement to "Respond" to Jainism. So Hindus adopted some of the theologies of Jains and stopped eating beef. I feel if we can improve the "Quality" of Islamic education in Bangladesh , it will make our country a better place to live. fortunately there are some bright people who are working hard in educating people about authentic teachings of Islam and hopefully positively impact our country. Shalom! -----Original Message----- From: Jiten Roy < jnrsr53@yahoo.com > To: mukto-mona < mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Sun, May 6, 2012 7:45 am Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] RE: Child Abuse under Islamic cover : Fire of hell is hotter .......

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Coweta Fayette Real Estate & Newnan Homes for sale blog by ...

The human spirit yearns to wander unfettered through the obstacle course of life. The freedom to determine one?s own destiny is often taken as a given.

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And it is for that reason that it is often necessary to defend human rights with more than mere words. As there are those that would forcibly assault freedom, there must also be a willingness to defend it with force.

Memorial Day is the official recognition of the ultimate sacrifice made by the brave men and women that paid for the liberty that we enjoy. Today we honor them in a formal capacity.

But we should also honor them the other 364 days of the year. It is because of their willingness to face the enemy head-on that we have the quality of life that we enjoy today.

The families of the fallen must live with their loss every day. They need our support and condolences on an ongoing basis.

We must never forget. We must never ignore.

And we must NEVER take our freedom for granted.

All content, including text, original art, photographs and images, is the exclusive property of Coweta Fayette Real Estate, Inc., and may not be used without the expressed written permission of?Coweta Fayette Real Estate Better Homes and Gardens Metro Brokers, Newnan Georgia. All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted, Copyright 2003-2009. Richard Weisser REOS, E-Pro. licensed Auctioneer. 770-827-6225.
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Facebook&#39;s stock debut shows not all investors are equal ...

NEW YORK ? Facebook Inc.?s bungled stock-market debut made it clear that big money still rules Wall Street. But this time, the small money got a look at how Wall Street really works ? and that could spell trouble for the financial industry.

Millions of small investors have trimmed their investments in stocks after seeing their 401(k) accounts pulverized by the market plunge in 2008-09. The May 2010 flash crash ? in which $1 trillion briefly vanished from the stock market ? served as another flashing yellow caution sign.

Facebook, with its worldwide popularity, was seen as a chance to rekindle popular interest in stocks when its shares began trading publicly last week.

Then the stock flopped. Investor enthusiasm was expected to be red-hot, but many backed away amid trading glitches on the Nasdaq, widespread news reports of insider selling and nagging questions about the company?s future prospects.

In the aftermath, it also became clear that big investors and wealthy clients had been warned the company?s financial outlook had weakened. Instead of rekindling interest in stocks, Facebook?s debut fueled long-running concerns about how the stock market works.

?This has proved the game is rigged,? said Charles Geisst, a finance professor and Wall Street historian at Manhattan College. ?There?s just too many questions about the integrity of the stock market, and I think people are starting to realize this ? individuals, at least.?

Prominent investor Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, declared on his blog Wednesday that the investing public?s positive impression of the stock market had been ?torched to the ground.?

Retail investors reportedly got 25 percent of Facebook?s 421 million shares in the initial public offering. The value of that allotment has declined by more than $500 million, based on Facebook?s closing price of $33.03 a share Thursday.

Regulators and congressional investigators have begun probes into what went wrong, looking into questions over information distributed ahead of the IPO. Morgan Stanley and other underwriters warned privileged clients that their analysts had grown sour on Facebook?s revenue growth potential. They failed to telegraph the same information to retail clients and the general public.

Information affords a crucial trading edge on Wall Street. Regulators have tried to level the playing field for years.

A decade ago, regulators led by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer discovered widespread manipulation of Wall Street analysts? reports. He exposed a long practice on Wall Street in which analysts would write favorable research so their banks could win investment banking business.

Regulators settled their cases against 10 major firms for $1.4 billion in 2003 and put in place strict rules dividing banks? research and investment banking divisions.

Although securities law experts say it?s unclear whether Facebook?s underwriters have broken any rules, Spitzer said underwriters? selective disclosures in Facebook?s IPO may have violated laws against financial fraud.

He said underwriters? actions may violate the ?most fundamental principle, which is that an underwriter needs to be forthright, honest to the public.?

?Market theory is very simple,? Spitzer said. ?You can?t give false and misleading material information to people, where you know it?s false and you correct it only to some but not to others.?

Morgan Stanley declined to comment, but it has said its IPO procedures were ?in compliance with all applicable regulations.?

Giving well-connected firms an inside track has been one of the ways that big Wall Street firms attract and keep big clients. These clients are powerful profit drivers, and banks tend to give their best customers the best deals.

?These people give them more money in fees and commissions than others,? said Ernest Badway, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney who is now a white-collar defense lawyer in New York and New Jersey.

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Large institutions and wealthy investors have a symbiotic relationship with Wall Street bankers. ?The retail guy is at the end of the queue,? Geisst said. ?He can?t do anybody any favors.?

In April, the SEC settled a somewhat similar case against Goldman Sachs involving precious tips to favored clients.

To generate more revenue, the giant Wall Street investment bank?s analysts and traders held ?huddles? to share market commentary and trading ideas. During morning conference calls, Goldman passed along inside information to a select group of about 180 hedge fund and investment management clients.

Goldman, which brought in $37 billion in revenue last year, paid a $22 million fine to settle the case.

SEC rules generally require public companies to disclose ?material? information to all investors once they disclose the same information to analysts and other market participants. But the rule governing fair disclosure ? known as Regulation FD ? has an exemption that allows companies to selectively disclose information while they are on ?road shows? pitching IPOs to prospective investors, said John Coffee, a Columbia Law School professor who is an expert in securities regulations.

?There should be a rule that you can?t disclose information at a road show unless you?re willing to simultaneously disclose it to retail investors,? Coffee said.

Government inquiries have only just begun, and no one involved in the process has been accused of any wrongdoing. What rule changes, if any, may result from the Facebook IPO remain to be seen. But Spitzer and others say it?s a reminder that the big boys still rule Wall Street.

?The small guy is not getting a fair shot in the market,? Spitzer said. ?That unfortunately has been true for too many years.?

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No Individuals Allowed: Originality and K-Pop | seoulbeats

Prolific writer and French philosopher Voltaire said it best about originality; that ?[it] is nothing but judicious imitation.? This quote comes to mind whenever a person critiques K-pop, bemoaning that it lacks creativity, substance, and above all, originality.

Historically, the origins of K-pop are heavily rooted within Western music through its godfather, Seo Taji. Seo Taji and his boys were one of the first to step away from trot, which had dominated the Korean music scene at the time, and used rap, techno, and other traditionally Western genres, to create a version of these genres in Korean. This practice of adopting new musical styles from within or outside of one?s country of origin is nothing new. Musical acts ranging from the Beatles to Lady Gaga have been influenced and used styles from other genres and incorporated within their acts, music from black artists and the 1970?s glam rock scene respectively, creating a new genre of music. However, the latter acts managed to create something different and new out of their music genres they were influenced by, while the only difference K-pop currently has made to its Western influence is the fact that it is in Korean. However, Seo Taji took a step further by eliminating the live music factor of? Korean music, by creating pre-recorded music which was much more accessible, a tool commonplace in Western music. Manufactured music soon become the norm and with the inclusion of teen idols, entertainment companies could now make music and sell it as a commodity, through Seo Taji?s method, which can be easily replicated through the use of technology. However, this would be that the Korean music scene would be predominantly void of original material, coming for the minds of an artist or a collaboration of artists.

What is originality, and can anyone be truly original? In the Merriam-Webster?s dictionary, originality is defined as: (1) the quality and state of being original, (2) freshness of aspect, design, or style, or (3) the power of independent thought or constructive imagination. Originality also goes hand-in-hand with individualism and creativity. At face value, K-pop would not fit any of these definitions, being an entity manufactured from the minds of corporate giants. Despite having outliers here and there, K-pop is fundamentally a genre devoid of creativity and independent thought. It is a musical genre who appeals to the collective, not the individual. Similar to any commodity, entertainment companies strive to create the product that is easily consumable, in order to reach as much consumers as possible.

At its most basic, humanity enjoys simplicity and beauty, creating the general formula of K-pop. To be as full of as much fluff as possible in terms of music, which is to be sung by beautiful men and women,who will be referred to as ?idols?, causing the general population to be drawn in various aspects. It is not wrong to enjoy pretty things, completely devoid of substance, but it is best to keep in mind that entertainment companies feed upon this, as the demand for idols continues to steadily rise, only increasing supply tenfold. Quantity does not go hand in hand with quality, especially when a company must be able to churn out several singles every year to prevent from being forgotten within the highly competitive field of manufactured K-pop. Entertainment companies are constantly copying each other whenever one company becomes successful. After the success of SNSD, how many subsequent girl groups debuted with songs that were cheap replicas of ?Gee?? Although this may simply being a part of a society where conformity is encouraged, this constant repetition of the same music only dilutes any of the crumbs of substance found within the world of K-pop.

Another factor behind the lack of originality within K-pop is that it is controlled by the entertainment companies. They are the puppet masters behind every move an idol makes within the music industry. Even if an entertainment company allows an idol to have some creative input, it is always under the control of the entertainment company, in order to guarantee that their material is favourable to the markets. However, it seems like the material that is written or composed by idols seems more of a marketing ploy than giving an idol creative freedom. A song increases in relatability when one?s favourite idol is attached to it. But if it?s such a great marketing tool, why don?t more entertainment companies use it? Perhaps, it is because it?s still a risk to allow for an idol to have creative control over a song, a song that will cost a lot of money to produce. Granted, there have been a lot of songs created by idols that have been a great success, such as ?Lies? and ?Haru Haru? by G-Dragon, but these idols are not professionals; they were not taught to become composers or writers. Their main purpose is to entertain, and the vast majority were hired because they had a palatable talent, from looking good to singing well, which is a lot easier to maintain and nurture than creating the next great composer and writer. In short, it is much more cost-effective to feed idols manufactured songs, made by professionals, than to allow them to create songs on their own.

Returning back to Voltaire?s quote, is there a real thing as originality? If you have enough time on your hands, you could practically link any style of music to another. People gain their inspiration from many places, from different art forms or mediums. I think that the main reason why people accuse K-pop of being unoriginal and lacking in substance is because it is created out of the petri dish that is an entertainment company, and not the blood, sweat, and tears of a single artist. The latter causes a lack of connection between fans and the artists. Behind every idol is an entertainment company, monitoring every move they make. So in reality, we are only getting a false representation, or persona of the idol. Creating original music allows listeners to get a chance to see into the minds of the songwriter and composer, regardless if it?s a good or bad song. You can?t relate to an idol because they are wearing a mask over their true self, so they can appeal to the general public. Even in shows like Healing Camp or shows where idols reveal things about themselves, cannot be taken heart because of the scripted nature of these shows. Everything is carefully planned to the tee in K-pop, and nothing is truly real. No idol can truly be themselves, which is why K-pop is considered lacking of creativity and originality. Being original is being true to oneself and expressing oneself. Even when idols dress up outfits that look individualistic, like G-Dragon for instance, it?s basically a gimmick to intrigue K-pop fans. If the vast majority of K-pop fans disliked T.O.P.?s toothpaste hair, I doubt that YG would let him keep his hair that colour for very long.

Being at its core a product, it?s impossible to believe that K-pop as a whole is a source of creative energy and originality. It?s an industry grounded on selling the shiniest, and palatable product for the mass population. Whenever a single song or concept is considered popular, entertainment companies feed on it and try to replicate their success, by any means necessary. If it means creating a group boasting more numbers than Super Junior, so be it. If it means trumping talent for visual appeal, so be it. For fans, K-pop is a guilty pleasure, not to be completely riveted by a piece of music. It doesn?t need to be original or creative in any way. As long as this mentality stays, entertainment companies to suck the K-pop market dry until something new piques the interest of the majority.

(Korea Pop Wars, Wikipedia, echoandboom, Osen)

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