The end of summer usually means the end of grilling and scorched steaks for dinner. But T-fal has come up with a solution to both those problems. Its new OptiGrill can not only be used indoors, all year round, it's also smart enough to let you know when a steak is perfectly done?whether rare, medium, or charred.
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Blake Bortles showed the world (well, ESPN3 viewers at least) his Johnny Football-against-Alabama impression during Central Florida?s 38-7, season-opening win against Akron on Thursday. Bortles dropped back and tossed the ball up in the air as he attempted a pass. Bortles then caught the ball, broke a tackle, scrambled right and threw a 39-yard strike to?J.J. Worton for the touchdown. You may recall hearing about Bortles and his girlfriend a year ago after another season-opening win over Akron. If you don?t recall that, we have included a gallery below as a refresher.
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By Mark Hosenball and Oliver Holmes
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The British parliament on Thursday rejected a motion supporting military action in Syria, reflecting deep divisions about using force to punish President Bashar al-Assad for what Western governments believe was his use of chemical weapons against civilians.
U.S. officials conceded on Thursday they lacked conclusive evidence that Assad personally ordered last week's poison gas attack, and some allies have warned that military action without U.N. Security Council authorization risks making the situation worse.
President Barack Obama's top national security officials were due to brief Congress on Syria later on Thursday, but any intervention looked set to be delayed at least until U.N. investigators report back after leaving Syria on Saturday.
The British parliament's rejection of the largely symbolic motion proposed by Prime Minister David Cameron, which would have given authorization in principle for action subject to a second vote, was a setback for Obama's efforts to build a coalition for action.
Cameron said afterward he would not override the will of parliament and approve such action, saying it was clear that parliament did not want to see a military strike on Syria to punish it for chemical weapons use and that he would act accordingly.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested before the British vote that the United States might be willing to act on its own.
"When the president reaches a determination about the appropriate response ... and a legal justification is required to substantiate or to back up that decision, we'll produce one on our own," Earnest said.
Syrian opposition sources said Assad's forces had removed several Scud missiles and dozens of launchers from a base north of Damascus, possibly to protect them from a Western attack, and Russia was reported to be moving ships into the region.
But expectations of imminent turmoil eased as the diplomatic process was seen playing out into next week, and the White House emphasized that any action would be "very discrete and limited," and in no way comparable to the Iraq war.
The United States and its allies have "no smoking gun" proving Assad personally ordered the attack on a rebel-held Damascus neighbourhood in which hundreds of people were killed, U.S. national security officials said.
In secret intelligence assessments and a still-unreleased report summarizing U.S. intelligence on the alleged gas attack on August 21, U.S. agencies expressed high confidence that Syrian government forces carried out the attack, and that Assad's government therefore bears responsibility, U.S. national security officials said.
Syria denies blame for the gas attacks and says they were perpetrated by rebels. Washington and its allies say the denial is not credible.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel were among senior U.S. officials expected to brief congressional leaders later on Thursday. Some lawmakers complained they had not been properly consulted.
While U.N. chemical weapons inspectors spent a third day combing the rebel-held area where the attack took place, traffic moved normally elsewhere in Damascus, with some extra army presence but little indication of any high alert.
An extended parliamentary debate in London revealed deep misgivings stemming from the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After pressure from lawmakers, the British government - a key player in any proposed air assault on Syria - had promised parliament that even if it voted in favour, there would be a second decisive vote once the U.N. weapons inspectors report their findings.
Even that motion was defeated by 285 to 272 votes.
'MONSTROUS CRIME'
The United Nations said its team of inspectors would leave Syria on Saturday and report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
France and Germany urged the world body to pass its report on to the decision-making Security Council as soon as possible "so that it can fulfil its responsibility with regards to this monstrous crime."
The United States, Britain and France say they can act with or without a U.N. Security Council resolution, which would likely be vetoed by Russia, a close ally of Assad. But some countries are more cautious: Italy said it would not join any military operation without Security Council authorization.
Western diplomats say they are seeking a vote in the 15-member Council to isolate Moscow and demonstrate that other countries are behind air strikes.
A report from Moscow that Russia is sending two warships to the eastern Mediterranean underscored the complications surrounding even a limited military strike, although Russia has said it will not be drawn into military conflict.
The ambassadors of the five veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council members appeared to have made no progress at a meeting on Thursday, a council diplomat said. The five - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - had held an inconclusive meeting on Wednesday to discuss a draft Security Council resolution that would authorize "all necessary force" in response to the alleged gas attack.
Cameron told Britain's parliament it would be "unthinkable" to proceed if there was overwhelming opposition in the Security Council. But he published legal advice given to the government under which military action would be lawful for humanitarian reasons even if a Security Council resolution were blocked by a veto.
The International Committee of the Red Cross joined a chorus of international voices urging caution.
"Further escalation will likely trigger more displacement and add to humanitarian needs, which are already immense," said Magne Barth, head of the ICRC delegation in Syria.
Increasing expectations that any action will be delayed ended a three-day selloff on world share markets on Thursday, although investors were still on edge over fears of future turmoil in the Middle East.
'SHOT ACROSS THE BOW'
Obama sought to win over a war-weary American public on Wednesday evening by saying intervention in Syria, where more than 100,000 people have been killed in 2 1/2 years of civil war, would serve U.S. national security interests.
"If we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow saying, 'Stop doing this,' this can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term," he told "PBS Newshour" in a televised interview.
According to the U.S. national security officials, evidence that forces loyal to Assad were responsible goes beyond the circumstantial to include electronic intercepts and some tentative scientific samples from the site.
"This was not a rogue operation," one U.S. official said.
Western leaders are expected in Russia next Thursday for a meeting of the Group of 20 big economies, an event that could influence the timing of any strikes. The hosts have made clear their view that Western leaders are using human rights as a pretext to impose their will on other sovereign states.
A spokesman for the main Syrian opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Coalition, said the opposition was confident Western leaders were prepared to act.
SNC leader Ahmed Jarba met French President Francois Hollande. An SNC spokesman said they discussed a two-wave intervention to first target installations used to launch chemical weapons and then hit other government bases in Syria.
"We are very happy. France and its partners are quite decided to punish the Syrian regime," SNC envoy Monzer Makhous told Reuters after the talks. "Then there will be military aid to help the opposition to change the balance of power."
Hollande urged Jarba to create a credible military force, highlighting Western concern that the mainstream opposition is unable to control al Qaeda-linked militias on the ground in Syria. Syrian officials say the West is playing into the hands of its al Qaeda enemies.
In Damascus, residents and opposition forces said Assad's forces appeared to have evacuated most personnel from army and security command headquarters in the centre in preparation for Western military action.
People unable to decide whether to leave for neighboring Lebanon said the border was already jammed.
"We're hearing people are spending hours - like 12 or 14 hours - waiting in line at the border," said Nabil, who was considering leaving town for Beirut with his wife and young daughter, "just until the strike is over."
Diplomats based in the Middle East told Reuters the removal of some of Assad's Scud missiles and launchers from the foothills of the Qalamoun mountains, one of Syria's most heavily militarized districts, appeared to be part of a precautionary but limited redeployment of armaments.
Despite opinion polls showing most Americans oppose deeper involvement in the Syrian conflict, Obama has been under pressure to enforce a "red line" against chemical weapons use, which he declared just over a year ago.
"I have no interest in any open-ended conflict in Syria, but we do have to make sure that when countries break international norms on weapons like chemical weapons that could threaten us, that they are held accountable," Obama said.
The likeliest option, U.S. officials say, would be to launch cruise missiles from U.S. ships in the Mediterranean in a campaign that would last days.
A fifth U.S. destroyer, the USS Stout, was headed toward the coast off Syria, according to one Defence official. That would bring the total of U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean to five, although the Stout is likely to relieve the USS Mahan, which had been due to return to its U.S. base but stayed in the region due to the situation in Syria.
Still the decision to replace the Mahan with another destroyer means the United States will be maintaining an expanded presence in the region.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetlanick, Andrea Shalal-Esa, Patricia Zengerle and Jeff Mason in Washington, Erika Solomon in Beirut, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Catherine Bremer in Paris, Sarah Marsh in Berlin, Timothy Heritage in Moscow, Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Andrew Osborn, Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Peter Apps in London; Writing by Philippa Fletcher and Claudia Parsons; Editing by Peter Graff, David Storey and Peter Cooney) Interactive timeline: http://link.reuters.com/rut37s
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-makes-case-punishing-syria-delay-looks-likely-130623064.html
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Much of the buzz for Labor Day weekend has centered on the 29th Gloucester Schooner Festival, with its nearly two dozen schooners, the Mayor?s Race and a myriad of other events.
But there is another Gloucester tradition that shouldn?t be swamped by the wake of the majestic schooners. The tradition of the Boat Parade of Lights may not be as long as that of the Schooner Festival, but that?s not to say it isn?t as proud.
?This is a Gloucester tradition that?s worth keeping,? said Tobin Dominick, owner and operator of Cape Ann?s Marina Resort on the Annisquam River and the organizer of Saturday?s parade. ?It really signals the end of the summer season and takes in so much of the city.?
Dominick should know. It was her late father who started the parade in the early 1990s as an event celebrating the end of the boating season.
The parade features a winding flotilla of decorated boats ? and crews ? steaming with their running lights on in the growing darkness.
As the years have gone on, the parade has drawn fewer and fewer boats. Last year?s parade featured only about 20 boats and that is a trend Dominick hopes to reverse, starting with Saturday night?s edition of the parade.
The parade forms just before sunset at Jones Creek on the northern end of the Annisquam River, where those who haven?t pre-registered their boat ? and Dominick strongly urges boat owners to pre-register at http://bit.ly/1dUMFQu for free.
?They?ll check in, get a number for the side of the boat and then we have to get everybody in line,? she said. ?That can take some time. We usually get underway about 7:30.?
The parade route takes the flotilla down the Annisquam, usually with an escort from the Coast Guard and Gloucester Harbormaster, through the Cut Bridge and into Gloucester Harbor where the judge?s boat, donated by Cape Ann Whale Watch, will sit near the Man at the Wheel statue.
The boats then motor into the Inner Harbor, offering the patrons of many of the city?s waterside restaurants a free twilight nautical floor show before heading into Smith Cove and back into the harbor.
?We usually get back into the harbor just before the fireworks start,? Dominick said. ?And that?s where it ends.?
Saturday?s parade will be a fitting end to a wholly nautical day around America?s oldest seaport, with the Schooner Festival events that include the Working Waterfront Walking Tour starting at 10 a.m. at the Fisherman?s Memorial; the day-long Maritime Gloucester Heritage Day; an open house at the Coast Guard Station on the Harbor Loop from noon until 4 p.m.; the premier rollout of the Public Lobster Bake from 4 to 7 p.m.; the Concert on the Boulevard at 7 p.m. featuring ?Full Circle?; and the fireworks display over Gloucester Harbor beginning around 9:15 p.m.
And of course, there will be the ever-present natural spectacle of the almost two dozen schooners as they serve as a backdrop to all the day?s events.
Sean Horgan may be contacted at 978-283-7000 x3464, or shorgan@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SeanGDT
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Source: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x312417659/Parade-of-Lights-offers-twilight-show-Saturday
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Source: http://blog.bumbershoot.org/post/59805952638
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Finally! Multiple studies are proving that the voluptuous figures of countless Black women possess more benefits than just aesthetic perks ? those curves may actually help them live longer. But why is this?
Celebrate great health! LIKE BlackDoctor.org on Facebook!
According to experts, the type of fat found in the thighs and backside may actually help reduce disease, as opposed to the dangerous and life-threatening effects of abdominal fat.
?The fact that body fat?s distribution is quite important for your health has been known for some time now,? said lead researcher Konstantinos Manolopoulos of the University of Oxford in England.
The review also suggests a mechanism for conveying those benefits. According to the experts, the next step is to figure out how our bodies decide where to store fat, say, in the stomach versus the butt.
?Once this is understood then one could think about therapeutic approaches to make use of that,? Manolopoulos said. ?Maybe to make use (of it) in a preventive way by redistributing the fat.?
Don?t take this news the wrong way though. This is only true to a certain degree as obesity increases your chances of developing chronic health conditions. This is because, per studies, researchers found that not all fat is created equal.
Butt Fat vs. Stomach Fat
Source: http://blackdoctor.org/261451/is-junk-in-the-trunk-healthy/
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By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have grown the first mini human brains in a laboratory and say their success could lead to new levels of understanding about the way brains develop and what goes wrong in disorders like schizophrenia and autism.
Researchers based in Austria started with human stem cells and created a culture in the lab that allowed them to grow into so-called "cerebral organoids" - or mini brains - that consisted of several distinct brain regions.
It is the first time that scientists have managed to replicate the development of brain tissue in three dimensions.
Using the organoids, the scientists were then able to produce a biological model of how a rare brain condition called microcephaly develops - suggesting the same technique could in future be used to model disorders like autism or schizophrenia that affect millions of people around the world.
"This study offers the promise of a major new tool for understanding the causes of major developmental disorders of the brain ... as well as testing possible treatments," said Paul Matthews, a professor of clinical neuroscience at Imperial College London, who was not involved in the research but was impressed with its results.
Zameel Cader, a consultant neurologist at Britain's John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, described the work as "fascinating and exciting". He said it extended the possibility of stem cell technologies for understanding brain development and disease mechanisms - and for discovering new drugs.
Although it starts as relatively simple tissue, the human brain swiftly develops into the most complex known natural structure, and scientists are largely in the dark about how that happens.
This makes it extremely difficult for researchers to gain an understanding of what might be going wrong in - and therefore how to treat - many common disorders of the brain such as depression, schizophrenia and autism.
GROWING STEM CELLS
To create their brain tissue, Juergen Knoblich and Madeline Lancaster at Austria's Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and fellow researchers at Britain's Edinburgh University Human Genetics Unit began with human stem cells and grew them with a special combination of nutrients designed to capitalize on the cells' innate ability to organize into complex organ structures.
They grew tissue called neuroectoderm - the layer of cells in the embryo from which all components of the brain and nervous system develop.
Fragments of this tissue were then embedded in a scaffold and put into a spinning bioreactor - a system that circulates oxygen and nutrients to allow them to grow into cerebral organoids.
After a month, the fragments had organized themselves into primitive structures that could be recognized as developing brain regions such as retina, choroid plexus and cerebral cortex, the researchers explained in a telephone briefing.
At two months, the organoids reached a maximum size of around 4 millimeters (0.16 inches), they said in a report of their study published in the journal Nature.
Although they were very small and still a long way from resembling anything like the detailed structure of a fully developed human brain, they did contain firing neurons and distinct types of neural tissue.
"This is one of the cases where size doesn't really matter," Knoblich told reporters.
"Our system is not optimized for generation of an entire brain and that was not at all our goal. Our major goal was to analyze the development of human brain (tissue) and generate a model system we can use to transfer knowledge from animal models to a human setting."
In an early sign of how such mini brains may be useful for studying disease in the future, Knoblich's team were able to use their organoids to model the development of microcephaly, a rare neurological condition in which patients develop an abnormally small head, and identify what causes it.
Both the research team and other experts acknowledged, however, that the work was a very long way from growing a fully-functioning human brain in a laboratory.
"The human brain is the most complex thing in the known universe and has a frighteningly elaborate number of connections and interactions, both between its numerous subdivisions and the body in general," said Dean Burnett, lecturer in psychiatry at Cardiff University.
"Saying you can replicate the workings of the brain with some tissue in a dish in the lab is like inventing the first abacus and saying you can use it to run the latest version of Microsoft Windows - there is a connection there, but we're a long way from that sort of application yet."
(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-grow-mini-human-brains-stem-cells-130936086.html
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Photo courtesy of 9Round.
Key information on some of the most popular fitness franchises.
9Round Fitness
9Round Fitness is a boxing and kickboxing franchise founded in 2008 in Greenville, S.C. by founder and CEO Shannon Hudson. Hudson earned the knowledge to run a boxing franchise as a professional boxer. During his time in the ring, he fought in the U.S., Europe and Canada, and won the International Kickboxing Federation?s Light Middleweight World Champion Title in 2011.
Despite his passion for boxing, Hudson explained that he?d, ?always been a business guy.? Using his knowledge of the industry he earned while boxing, opening a franchise concept seemed like a natural fit. ?I wanted to bring the training that professional boxers and kick boxers do to the average person,? he explained.
9Round Fitness is known for its fast-paced, 30-minute, full-body workouts that sculpt its members? experiences. The concept began franchising in 2009, and exploded in 2012 and 2013, going from 23 franchises to 64.
Hudson hopes the franchise will reach 100 locations by the end of 2013, and believes the company is well equipped to reach its goal. ?The growth lately has been fast and furious,? he said. ?We?re working on new franchising plans and increased support for franchisees. We?re constantly tweaking the experience for both members and franchisees to make it better.?
Estimated growth per year: 30 plus
Total clubs open: 64
Start-up costs: $50,000-$60,000
Franchisee fees: $18,000, $449 royalty
Total members: 15,000
Anytime Fitness
Founded in 2002, Anytime Fitness has set a high standard for what defines ?fast growth.? With more than 2,200 clubs serving close to 2 million members, the franchise has grown by at least 250-300 clubs each year for the past six years. Anytime Fitness clubs can be found in all 50 states in the U.S., and multiple countries including Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, England and more.
Dave Mortenson, the president and co-founder of Anytime Fitness, explained that the company has been well equipped for its precedent-setting, rapid growth. ?We?re very pleased by our rate of growth,? he said. ?We?re well aware of the dangers associated with growing too fast. That?s why we place such a big emphasis on making sure that we have a sufficient corporate staff and resources to properly support our franchisees. Anyone can open a fitness club. The real skill is anticipating new consumer demands and delivering on those demands while helping club owners and staff operate as efficiently and effectively as possible.?
According to Chuck Runyon, the CEO and co-founder of Anytime Fitness, that growth is expected to become more increasingly focused on international soil. ?Currently, about 80 percent of our clubs are located in North America,? he said. ?Now that we have clubs open on five continents, we expect that within a few years, only 50 percent of the new clubs we open each year will be in North America. In addition to Australia, where we have nearly 300 clubs open, Anytime Fitness clubs have been opening at a rapid rate in Japan and the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The business model really does work nearly everywhere.?
Estimated growth per year: 300 clubs
Total clubs open: 2,233
Start-up costs: $78,599-$345,499
Franchisee fees: Up to $29,999
Total members: Nearly 2 million
International clubs: 433
Ben Midgley. Photo courtesy of Crunch Fitness.
Crunch Fitness
Doug Levine founded Crunch Fitness? concept in New York City in 1989. Now, co-owned by New Evolution Ventures (NeV) and private-equity firm Angelo Gordon, it wasn?t until 2010 that the concept became a national franchise. In three years, Crunch Fitness? franchise model has seen great success, growing from a handful of franchises to 40 open and over 200 sold.
The first Crunch Fitness franchise opened in April 2010 in Portland, Ore. Ben Midgley, the Crunch Franchise president, explained that Crunch Fitness? franchise clubs differ from its corporate clubs in both size and amenities. ?The franchise clubs offer slightly less amenities, but are very well priced,? he said.
Named ?A Hottest Franchise to Own? by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2012 and 2013, Midgley said he?s optimistic about the franchise?s future. ?We?re in a great position,? he said. ?Sales have been growing substantially. I feel very strongly we?re the most competitive model in the industry ? we can go into almost any market.?
Estimated growth per year: 100 %
Total clubs open: 41
Start-up costs: $1.2-$1.5 million
Franchisee fees: $25,000, 3% royalty
Total members: Over 220,000
Number of international clubs: 5
CKO Kickboxing
In 1997, Joseph Andreula established CKO Kickboxing in Hoboken, N.J. A franchise mainly found on the East Coast, CKO Kickboxing has been making its way across the U.S., with facilities now located in both California and Washington, in addition to New Jersey, New York and South Carolina.
?In the last two years, we?ve tripled our number of CKO Kickboxing locations,? said Andreula. ?In the upcoming year, our goal is to open a CKO Kickboxing franchise in every state. Our focus will always be to improve the health and lives of our members.?
That focus is evident in the franchise?s programming, which revolves around a kickboxing class likened to be ?the number one fat burner.? For beginners and advanced members, participants in the class punch and kick heavy bags, at their own pace.
Estimated growth per year: Undisclosed
Total clubs open: 40
Start-up costs: $115,737-$303,597
Franchisee fees: $30,000, 7% gross revenue
Total members: 43,627
Gold?s Gym
Gold?s Gym, founded in Venice Beach, Calif. in 1965, has recently been in the spotlight. In June 2013, Gold?s Gym International (GGI) acquired 17 Fitness First Health Club locations in the Washington, D.C. metro area. A month later, in July 2013, the company unexpectedly announced that Jim Snow, the CEO and president of Gold?s Gym International and Todd Scartozzi, the COO, were no longer with GGI. As of this issue?s publishing date, Gold?s Gym?s CFO, Aaron Watkins, had been serving as acting president of GGI.
Tim Hicks, the senior vice president of franchising and licensing for Gold?s Gym, is optimistic about Gold?s Gym?s growth internationally and throughout the U.S. ?We have an iconic brand with state-of-the-art systems, training and marketing,? he said. ?We are experiencing aggressive growth and expect it to continue at a rate of 10-20 percent, both domestically and internationally, over the next five years. I expect that growth will come from both existing franchisees as well as new partnerships in the pipeline. As always, we aim to be the preeminent solution to the world?s total health and fitness needs.?
According to Hicks, Gold?s Gym plans on focusing its international efforts in Latin America, Canada and Mexico. ?We currently have domestic target markets identified that we believe are ideal for new growth,? he explained. ?Internationally, we are continuing our growth through master franchise agreements with a focus on Latin America, Canada and Mexico. With more than 48 years of experience, Gold?s Gym is the strongest name in fitness with the highest brand awareness in the industry, which gives Gold?s Gym franchisees an instant competitive advantage.?
Estimated growth per year: 6-8%
Total clubs open: Approximately 665
Start-up costs: $1 million-$4 million
Franchisee fees: 3-5% of gross revenue
Total members: Over 3 million
International clubs: 230
Kosama
In 2012, Snap Fitness acquired Kosama, a unique group fitness franchise co-founded by Kory Pohlman, Sarah Pohlman and Matt Braet. Since the acquisition, there have been three Kosama/Snap Fitness combination clubs opened in Shakopee, Minn., Maple Grove, Minn. and Peach Tree City, Ga.
Peter Taunton, the founder of Snap Fitness, explained that a year later, he is confident in his company?s decision to purchase the group fitness concept. ?The beauty of Kosama is that it?s unlike anything else in the industry today,? he said. ?Having the ability to work out in that group setting, having people all around you motivating you to keep pushing, but also having the ability to exercise at your own level, helps our members feel comfortable, motivated and empowered. Our franchise owners have that same sense of motivation in helping members to reach their goals, which makes Kosama such a strong brand.?
Taunton explained that opening international clubs is the company?s new focus for the group fitness franchise. ?We?re beginning to open our first Kosama locations overseas, and the concept is already gaining tremendous success in Australia,? he said. ?This year, we?ll continue our U.S. and Australian expansion efforts, while also branching out to other corners of the world.?
In addition, the company is preparing a new concept that will allow Snap Fitness franchisees to license the Kosama program and offer it inside of their existing locations.
Estimated growth per year: 20%
Total clubs open: 30
Start-up costs: Between $69,000-$79,000
Franchisee fees: $27,500
Total members: 62,000
International clubs: 2
Photo courtesy of Orangetheory Fitness.
Orangetheory Fitness
In 2010, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. gave birth to a new franchise with an interesting moniker. Orangetheory Fitness, a heart-rate based interval-training franchise co-founded by partners Ellen Latham, David Long, Jerome Kern and Doug Payne, has made its way out of Florida and into 16 U.S. states and Canada.
?As a franchise, we offer a valuable product and strong, consistent brand,? said David Long, the CEO and partner of Orangetheory Fitness. ?Our expertise as franchisors with a track record of success gives franchisees an invaluable road map for running their business and marketing their studio. Another key with our model is convenience. We are different from big-box gyms. Orangetheory?s small studio footprint allows us to open in high-traffic areas frequented by our target market. This is a huge competitive advantage.?
Long expects that competitive advantage to continually grow across the U.S. and internationally. ?Our expectation for the future is to have 500 successful studios internationally in five years and be the most notable, rising wellness brand in the world,? he said. ?Orangetheory Fitness will be associated with results and an amazing customer experience.?
Estimated growth per year: 100% in 2013
Total clubs open: 40 plus
Start-up costs: $167,075-$352,475
Franchisee fees: $29,500 to join
Total members: Over 40,000
International clubs: 5
Planet Fitness
Founded in 1992 in Dover, N.H., Planet Fitness has founded a unique club environment based around ?No Judgements.? Since its founding, the franchise has grown to more than 650 locations nationwide serving more than 4.5 million members.
The company recently hired Dorvin Lively as its new chief financial officer. According to Planet Fitness, Lively will lead the company?s finance, treasury, financial planning and supply chain functions, as well as strategic and long-term planning.
A multitude of new locations are expected to open soon across the U.S., including Albuquerque, N.M., Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Ky., Miami, Fla., Prescott, Ariz. and more.
Estimated growth per year: 20-25%
Total clubs open: 665
Start-up costs: $500,000 ? $3.305 million
Current Franchisee fees: 5% on monthly and annual fees
Total members: 4.5 million
International clubs: 2
Photo courtesy of Powerhouse Gym.
Powerhouse Gym
Powerhouse Gym was founded in Detroit Michigan in 1975, by brothers William and Norm Dabish. A well-respected and seasoned brand, Powerhouse Gym gives owners a licensing agreement, versus a traditional franchising agreement. As of August 2013, 300 owners have signed that licensing agreement to open Powerhouse Gyms of their own.
?We?re the only health club chain out there that?s run by gym owners ? not CEOs,? said William Dabish, the co-founder of Powerhouse Gym. ?So we?re very in touch with our members.?
This year, Powerhouse International will be launching a new fitness concept at Joe Weider?s Olympia Fitness and Performance Weekend 2013. Called ?Powerhouse Fx,? the concept is a functional training franchise that will be available for purchase in October 2013. Capitalizing on the trend of functional training, the concept will be a complete functional training facility specializing in speed training, agility and strength. The first Powerhouse Fx will open in Novi, Mich. in September 2013.
Estimated growth per year: 16%
Total clubs open: 300
Start-up costs: $800,000+
Franchisee fees: Initial fee of $25,000, $850 royalty
Total members serviced nationwide: 4 million
International clubs: 110
Snap Fitness
Snap Fitness was founded in 2003, in Chanhassen, Minn., and has continued to experience rapid growth. In December of 2012, the franchise signed master agreements that will bring Snap Fitness to Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and Mexico. Currently, Snap Fitness boasts 1,350 clubs, 186 of which are overseas.
Peter Taunton, the founder of Snap Fitness, explained that international growth is one of the company?s main focuses. ?The continued growth and success of Snap Fitness is based on our ability to consistently evaluate the needs of our members, and to incorporate the best technology and value-added services to help them achieve results,? he said. ?In addition to our continued domestic growth, we?re in the process of an aggressive global expansion, having found that our business model and value proposition translates to all corners of the globe.?
In 2012, domestic growth was catapulted by Snap Fitness? partnership with Rolling Strong (which provides wellness solutions to the nation?s professional truck drivers), bringing Snap Fitness to Pilot Flying J Travel Centers or travel plazas in multiple states, including Texas, Illinois, Tennessee and Georgia.
Estimated growth per year: 30%
Total clubs open: 1,350
Start-up costs: $64,000-$185,000
Franchisee fees: $19,500
Total members: 900,000
International clubs: 186
By Rachel Zabonick
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Western powers are preparing for possible strikes against Syria over the purported use of chemical weapons last week that activists and an aid group say killed more than 300 people.
The Syrian opposition blames President Bashar Assad's regime for the attack. The government denies the charges and instead accuses the rebels of staging the assault to try to implicate the regime.
As a team of United Nations experts investigates in the country, here's a look at some of the chemical weapons that experts believe are in the Syrian government's arsenal:
? NERVE AGENTS
The most toxic of the chemical weapons, nerve agents affect the nervous system and are hazardous in their liquid and gas states. They can be delivered in missiles, bombs, rockets, artillery shells and other large munitions.
The Syrian regime is believed to possess tabun, sarin and VX. Absorbed through the skin or inhaled, these agents can ? within seconds or minutes depending on the dose ? cause extreme runny nose and salivation, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and convulsions. Death is generally caused by paralysis of the respiratory system, which causes the victim to suffocate.
Germany developed the first nerve agents before and during World War II, although the Nazis did not use them during the war. The only time nerve agents are believed to have been used on the battlefield was in the 1980s Iraq-Iran war.
? MUSTARD GAS
One of the best-known chemical weapons, mustard gas is a blister agent that attacks the eyes and skin, causing severe blisters. If inhaled, it can also damage the lungs and other organs. The gas does not cause immediate symptoms, which means those exposed to it can unknowingly take high dosages. While not usually lethal, exposure to mustard gas is generally debilitating.
Mustard gas was first used by the German army in World War I against British forces. Saddam Hussein was accused of using the gas in Iraq's war with Iran, as well as in his 1987-1988 crackdown on the country's Kurdish minority. The most notorious case was on the village of Halabja, which killed some 5,000 people in the deadliest chemical weapons attack ever against civilians.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/look-chemical-weapons-syria-may-possess-144002096.html
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By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2013 ? With wildfires continuing to rage around Yosemite National Park, the California National Guard has deployed a remotely piloted aircraft that improves the incident commander?s ability to monitor conditions on the ground.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel approved the use of an MQ-1 Predator to support firefighters battling the Rim Fire that has expanded to more than 160,000 acres, Air Force Lt. Col. Thomas Keegan, California National Guard public affairs officer, reported.The California Air National Guard?s 163rd Reconnaissance Wing deployed the Predator yesterday, and it is being flown in direct support of the incident commander under the command and control of Army Maj. Gen. David S. Baldwin, California?s adjutant general, Keegan said.
The aircraft, flying from the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville for up to 22 hours without landing, will capture and deliver real-time 24/7 information on remote portions of the wildfire.
?The impact of this will be significant,? Keegan said. ?It will identify where fire activity is located and how it is moving, as well as where it has been controlled.?
The aircraft also will identify safe routes of retreat for firefighters on the scene and verify new fire created by lightning strikes or floating embers. This, Keegan explained, will help the incident commander stay on top of the changing situation on the ground and make the best use of available resources.
Keegan emphasized that the images will be used only to support firefighting operations.
The aircraft?s pilots, located at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., will remain in constant contact with Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers from takeoff to landing and fly over unpopulated areas whenever possible, he said. The flight path generally will be limited to 30 nautical miles of the Rim Fire area, and whenever it flies outside the restricted airspace for the fire, a manned plane will escort it.
Meanwhile, nearly a dozen aircraft and crews from the California Air and Army National Guard are battling wildfires across Northern California.
California Army Guard helicopter crews and California Air Guard air tanker crews are working in coordination with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and U.S. Forest Service firefighting crews to battle the American, Swedes and Rim fires, Keegan reported.
In addition to two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters supporting operations at the Rim Fire, three Black Hawks are battling the American Fire and two Black Hawks and one CH-47 Chinook helicopter are flying in support of the Swedes Fire, Keegan said.
Another Black Hawk -- with a specialized crew and a hoist for extracting injured personnel from rugged terrain -- is staged in Redding, Calif., on call for medical evacuation support throughout Northern California.
At the Rim Fire alone, the helicopter crews have completed 905 drops, releasing more than 450,000 gallons of water and fire retardant since the crews were activated Aug. 17, Keegan said.
In addition, Air National Guard crews are using two C-130J Hercules air tankers to fight the Rim Fire. Both aircraft are equipped with the Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems II and are capable of discharging 3,000 gallons of water or retardant in less than five seconds. Since their activation Aug. 13, the air tankers have completed 122 drops, releasing more than 333,000 gallons of retardant, Keegan said.
?In times of crisis, it is imperative we pull together as a united front against the threat of wildfires in our state,? Baldwin said, noting that the California Guard regularly trains for the mission.
?Working together in a climate of cooperation with [state officials], our soldiers and airmen are committed to preserving the lives and property of our neighbors who are threatened by this emergency,? he said.
The Rim Fire is not the first in which California has used remotely piloted aircraft technology to support firefighting. In 2007, NASA piloted a similar unmanned aircraft in response to a request from the California Office of Emergency Services and the National Interagency Fire Center.
Those flights were conducted during daytime hours, complemented by nighttime imaging flights from NIFC?s Cessna Citation and an Air Force Global Hawk, both equipped with an earlier-generation infrared camera. Pilots in a ground control station at NASA Dryden controlled the flights via satellite links.
NASA conducted additional remotely piloted aircraft missions in 2008, to monitor wildfires in Southern California, and in 2009, to assess fire damage in Angeles National Forest.
The current mission, officials said, is the longest sustained mission by an unmanned aircraft in California in support of firefighters.
?
Source: http://www.defense.gov//news/newsarticle.aspx?id=120691
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HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. government investigations into the hiring practices of JPMorgan
The Justice Department has joined the Securities and Exchange Commission in looking into whether JPMorgan hired people in China because their family members would in turn offer business to the bank, the report said, citing one of the people.
The probe, which had initially centered on the bank's Hong Kong office, has also widened to include countries across Asia and more than 200 interns and full-time staff, according to the Bloomberg report.
The investigation could see the U.S. bank charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices act, which prevents companies from paying cash or providing anything of value to government employees in order to win business.
While banks have always sought to hire staff with influential connections to government and clients, a practice which is not illegal, the probe centers on so-called sham roles in which the employee is taken on purely for those connections and does little or no other work for the bank.
Marie Cheung, a JPMorgan spokeswoman based in Hong Kong, referred Reuters to a previous comment saying the bank is cooperating fully with regulators and declined to comment further.
Press officers for the SEC and Justice department did not immediately respond to messages left when contacted outside U.S. business hours.
(Reporting by Lawrence White in HONG KONG; Additional reporting by Douwe Miedema in WASHINGTON; Editing by Ryan Woo)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-probe-jpmorgan-hiring-practices-widens-bloomberg-030211681.html
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Twitter and The New York Times have been hit with cyber attacks, with credit quickly claimed by a group backing embattled Syrian strongman Bashar Al-Assad.
The Times site remained out of service early Wednesday following the attacks that began Tuesday.
The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), ironically, used Twitter to tout its efforts to take down the globally popular one-to-many messaging service and the Times news website.
"Media is going down," a message at the SEA Twitter account proclaimed. "Twitter, are you ready?"
The cyber attack was evidently aimed at the Domain Name System that that acts as a directory of sorts for routing online traffic to website addresses.
Hackers can hijack web traffic by altering DNS address information to send site visitors to websites of their choosing.
An Australian domain registration service appeared to have been hit in the attack.
"Our DNS provider experienced an issue in which it appears DNS records for various organizations were modified, including one of Twitter's domains used for image serving, twimg.com," Twitter said in a post at its status blog.
"Viewing of images and photos was sporadically impacted," the San Francisco-based company's message explained.
"No Twitter user information was affected by this incident."
The trouble was resolved within two hours, according to Twitter.
The New York Times said that its website went down Tuesday due to a "malicious external attack."
Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy also made the announcement on Twitter, two weeks after the site went offline due to what the daily said was an internal server problem.
Her full tweet said: "re: http://nytimes.com - initial assessment - issue is most likely result of malicious external attack. working to fix."
The newspaper's main Twitter account said shortly after 2000 GMT that the website "is experiencing technical difficulties" but that news was still being published via Twitter and other links.
Matt Johansen of WhiteHat Security said in a tweet that the technical aspects of the website during the outage were "pointing to Syrian Electronic Army."
The SEA has claimed responsibility in the past for cyber attacks on other major news outlets.
The Washington Post website was hacked this month in an attack blamed on the SEA.
The Times said in January that hackers stole its corporate passwords and accessed the personal computers of 53 employees after the newspaper published a report on the family fortune of China's Premier Wen Jiabao.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/york-times-says-outage-may-malicious-attack-212446204.html
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Print version
To celebrate Undergraduate Studies Week at Texas A&M, the University Writing Center is hosting its first ever 
Aggie undergrads can win one of 2 grand prize ?Write Swag? bags, stuffed with gift cards from Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, Spoons, and Domino?s Pizza, as well as study snacks, a t-shirt, school supplies, and more.
Another 8 lucky undergrads will win a ?Whip Out & Write? ice bucket with all the school supplies and snacks they?ll need to write their first paper or presentation.
How can you win? It?s easy!
Look for members of the UWC?s Mobile Team, who will be roaming campus with raffle tickets on September 11. We?ll also be speaking to a number of classes and will have a table in the MSC. Undergrads can also enter the raffle online.
Only undergraduates are eligible, and entries will be accepted only from midnight to midnight on September 11th.
Let the UWC help you begin your year with the ?Write? Stuff!
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Firefox OS has an uphill battle to impress consumers, and Mozilla is hoping that the social app store it's developing will be the thing that sets it apart. Marketplace designer Liu Liu took to Mozilla's blog to discuss the team's decision to focus on "the feed," which appears to share content much like a social media site. In this brave new Marketplace, users would be able to customize their homepages, receive personalized suggestions, like specific apps and view download statistics. To create a friendlier environment, Mozilla has also included profile photos so you can put a face to the name behind the apps. Liu was careful to point out that the Marketplace prototype is, for the time being, a concept, not a product, and it'll certainly undergo several rounds of revisions before it's ready to unleash upon the world. To learn more, read Liu's blog post at the source or check out the video after the break.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? The maker of Tylenol will begin adding a bold new warning to bottle caps of its best-selling pain reliever this fall to warn consumers about the risks of taking too much. Overdose from acetaminophen, the drug found in Tylenol, has been the leading cause of sudden liver failure in the U.S. for over a decade. Johnson & Johnson, which makes Tylenol, has periodically repackaged and relabeled Tylenol products in the past to try to reduce accidental liver damage. Here is a look at some changes the company has made over the last 20 years:
1994 ? Added warning about risk of liver damage when combining Tylenol and alcohol
? Added warning "do not use with any other product containing acetaminophen"
1998 ? Added "do not exceed recommended dose"
2004 ? Added specific warning about liver damage if not used as directed
2011 ? Eliminated Tylenol infant drops ? a highly concentrated formula blamed for accidental overdoses by parents ? switching to a single formula for all children Tylenol products
? Lowered the maximum daily adult dose of Extra Strength Tylenol to 3,000 milligrams a day, or six pills, unless directed to take more by a doctor. The maximum daily dose was previously 4,000 milligrams a day, or eight pills. Also lowered maximum adult dose of regular strength Tylenol
? Changed directions from "take 2 caplets every 4-6 hours while symptoms last" to "take 2 caplets every 6 hours while symptoms last" for Extra Strength Tylenol. Also changed instructions on regular strength Tylenol
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/20-years-tylenol-warning-labels-175126923--finance.html
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App Annie released its latest app ecosystem report on Google Play and the app store today. Apparently Google Play is all about communication, as a massive six out of ten most-downloaded apps on Google Play are messaging apps.
In contrast, only two of the top ten iOS apps in July were messaging apps.
Given the numbers, it makes sense that the highest-grossing apps on Google Play include Japanese-headquartered Line and Gree, in first and second place respectively, Korea?s KakaoTalk in third place, and WhatsApp Messenger in eighth. Interestingly, only four of the top-ten most profitable non-game apps are from U.S. publishers, and the top U.S. app, Pandora, is only fourth.
Here?s the key data:
While Google Play?s most-downloaded apps ? besides games ? are almost exclusively social and communication apps from publishers such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Tencent, and Twitter, the most-downloaded apps on Apple?s iOS app store are a diverse assortment of navigation, education, photo and video, and utility apps. In a surprisingly quick move, the third-most downloaded app on the app store is a Chinese educational app, Chengyu Quiz Madness, which jumped all the way up from number 441.
?The images shown in the app are clues for children in China to test their knowledge of chengyu, which are Chinese idioms derived from ancient literature that are usually four characters long,? App Annie said.
Google continues to hold the top spots on the iOS app store, with Google Maps and YouTube taking the first and second most-downloaded spots, respectively. And Google Earth jumped up from #31 to the ninth most-downloaded app on iOS in July.
Only three publishers held top-ten gross revenue spots in both the iOS app store and Google Play, according to App Annie?s numbers. Those were the music app Pandora and two navigation apps: TomTom and Garmin. That?s interesting, given that Apple Maps and Google Maps are free turn-by-turn navigation apps.
Clearly TomTom and Garmin are doing something right to still get people to pay for directions.
Source: http://venturebeat.com/?p=804015
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By the sheer number of Android devices available in the market today, there are more devices using that operating system than any other mobile family in the world. However, that popularity also makes it attractive to hackers and malware. A recent report published by Public Intelligence says that 79 percent of all mobile threats in 2012 targeted Android.
According to the report, published by the Cyber Intelligence Analysis Division of the Department of Homeland Security, 44 percent of Android users still use Gingerbread, an older version of the operating system with known security flaws. "The growing use of mobile devices by federal, state, and local authorities makes it more important than ever to keep mobile OS patched and up-to-date," said the report.
But Jeff Forristal, chief technology officer of Bluebox Security and a presenter at the Black Hat 2013 conference, said that there is much more to mobile security threats than this one pie chart. "This report doesn't represent the U.S. marketplace very well," he told ABC News. He also said that the data bears a strong resemblance to the F-Secure 2012 mobile security report. "I would not use this chart to indicate what [a user's security] risk is."
In addition, Forristal said that the lack of threats to iOS should not be simply interpreted as Apple having a near flawless security system. "If you go to the CVE database, you'll find 238 security problems specific to iOS devices," he said. "Everything has security risks."
ABC News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security. However, because the document is marked For Official Use Only, no one was able to comment further on the matter.
So if these security risks exist, what can users do to protect themselves? Alicia diVittorio, the consumer safety advocate for the mobile security company Lookout, said there isn't a universal solution. "A big threat to U.S. users is adware, but in countries like Germany or France, one of the biggest threats is SMS fraud," she said. "The type of threat depends on where you are in the world."
However, there are some good safety measures that all users can benefit from.
"It's a little self-serving, but download a security app," said diVittorio. She also adds that there are other types of threats than just malware, including regular old theft.
"One in ten people are a victim of phone theft," she said, putting both personal data and corporate data (if it's a phone for work) at risk. "A lot of apps today have remote locking and wiping. If you feel like you can't get your phone back, use your computer to access the app and lock it."
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PACE programs make it possible for homeowners to finance energy efficiency retrofits and pay for them gradually through property assessments.
To avoid putting homeowners at risk, some programs are attempting to work within the guidelines of the FHFA by making PACE liens lower-priority than mortgages, providing insurance for them, providing homeowners with disclaimers, and/or exploring other legal options.
These limitations don?t apply to commercial PACE programs, which are growing and thriving in many states.
A FHFA Statement Stalled the Growth of PACE Programs
In July 2010, the new residential PACE movement nearly stalled. The FHFA, newly created to protect the damaged housing market, issued a statement saying PACE financing would pose substantial risks to lenders and the loans ?do not have the traditional community benefits associated with taxing initiatives.? The FHFA also expressed skepticism about the performance of the retrofits and the resulting energy savings. The agency advised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to avoid buying mortgages for properties with PACE assessments.
The FHFA has said that if communities go ahead with PACE programs that take precedence over mortgages and do not meet the FHFA criteria, it will direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to tighten local loan-to-value ratios and make local income criteria stringent. Thus far, FHFA has not taken such measures with any communities.
?It took us by surprise,? said Cliff Staton, executive vice president of Renewable Funding, a company that provides financing and technology to advance clean energy. ?We knew they had concerns about it, but there were many players in the administration who were actively supporting PACE ? and trying to, in fact, spend hundreds of millions of dollars in DOE funding around the country.?
Lawsuits and Proposed Legislation Have Not Altered the Picture
A large network of concerned organizations has challenged the FHFA?s statement through both lawsuits and legislation. But the FHFA?s position remains unchanged.
?The timing of the rollout of PACE programs was difficult for FHFA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,? Staton said. ?They were suffering the worst of the housing meltdown. From their standpoint, I could see how it might seem like a potential problem.?
?The FHFA was created by Congress in response to the market meltdown,? said David Gabrielson, Executive Director of the advocacy organization PACENow.
Staton said the legislative challenge to the FHFA?s position came from a congressional bill that was introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., in 2010. Despite widespread bipartisan support, the bill became mired in gridlock and did not pass.
?We got over 50 co-sponsors for that bill in the House ranging the political spectrum from very liberal to very conservative,? Staton said. The supporters included hundreds of organizations from Fortune 500 companies to environmental organizations and chambers of commerce.
The broad bipartisan appeal of PACE programs is due to their job creation potential, minimal cost to governments, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, Staton said. Local government rights are also an important issue. He said conservatives thought the FHFA, as a federal organization, should not dictate to states and localities that they should steer clear of creating PACE programs.
A few lawsuits were filed in response to the FHFA statement, but all of them have now run out of steam without successfully pressuring the FHFA to change its position. The first two lawsuits, from communities in New York and Florida, were dismissed. Another lawsuit in California made progress until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit stated the FHFA was acting as a conservator of the public good and could not be pressured legally into changing its opinion.
Residential PACE Programs Are Moving Forward
Many states and municipalities have legislation that enables residential PACE. Some even have residential PACE programs. These programs are continuing to advance and find innovative ways to address the stringent requirements of the FHFA.
According to Gabrielson, state and local governments have taken a number of different approaches to residential PACE as a result of the FHFA?s positions. There are several approaches municipal and county programs can take if they want to pursue residential PACE.
Some have chosen to make PACE a junior lien with lower priority than mortgage payments. Staton said four states have taken this approach ? Vermont, Oklahoma, Maine and Rhode Island. However, this approach is less attractive to investors than senior-lien PACE is, Staton said.
Gabrielson said Vermont Energy Investment Corporation has taken this approach to attract investors to its subordinate lien program and has used funds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to insure PACE loans. The organization also collects an insurance premium from each participating homeowner.
Some municipal and county programs keep PACE as a senior lien, providing disclaimers for homeowners enrolling in the programs. Western Riverside Council of Governments has taken this approach in California with the HERO Program. According to Staton, homeowners have been responsive to the program.
Laura Franke, a senior managing consultant at Public Financial Management, a government and nonprofit financial advisory firm, said the HERO program?s developers have met with the FHFA?s general counsel. The program addressed the FHFA?s requirements by giving homeowners two cautionary messages. The first message tells homeowners they should review their mortgages for any provisions that may be triggered by the assessment. The second message says they may have to pay off their assessments when they sell or refinance their homes.
HERO Programs are expanding their reach throughout California. Franke said 31 cities in five counties have passed resolutions authorizing participation in a statewide program. She also said another HERO Program is being launched in San Bernardino County. This program will include 23 cities.
Existing PACE Programs Are Performing Well
The FHFA?s concerns about risk have not been borne out by existing PACE programs thus far. Gabrielson co-signed a lengthy statement addressed to the FHFA that cited the successes of residential PACE to date.
The statement provides evidence that PACE retrofits increase the value of homes. It also says PACE does not affect the decisions of home appraisers. Some evidence shows PACE retrofits may reduce the risk of defaults on mortgages by making energy more affordable.
?They think homeowners might go into default,? Staton said. ?That?s not been happening. People are not going into default.?
Gabrielson said research from California shows that in three PACE programs with a total of around 3,000 homes, the default rate for mortgages has been less than one percent.
?Energy-efficient homes sell for a premium,? Gabrielson said.
The statement came from over 29 organizations ranging from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy to the Vote Solar Initiative. According to the statement, over 3,000 comment letters were submitted to the FHFA in support of residential PACE programs.
Article by Kat Friedrich. This story was originally published in the Clean Energy Finance Center?s newsletter, the Clean Energy Finance Source.
Article appearing courtesy PaceNow.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? House Speaker John Boehner called on President Barack Obama on Wednesday to deliver a specific rationale for using U.S. military force against Syria as a growing number of congressional Republicans and Democrats expressed concerns about war with a Mideast nation roiled by civil conflict.
In a letter to the president, the Ohio Republican underscored that he has been supportive of administration policy to date as Obama has called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign and insisted that the use of deadly chemical weapons would be a gross violation of international norms.
Boehner wrote that in light of the administration's contention that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against its people, Obama should provide "a clear, unambiguous explanation of how military action ? which is a means, not a policy ? will secure U.S. objectives."
The administration signaled Wednesday that it would act against the Syrian government even without the backing of allies or the United Nations in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack outside the Syrian capital last week. The United States has not presented proof publicly, but Obama said his administration has concluded that the Assad government carried out the large-scale attack on civilians.
Obama said he had not made a decision about how the United States would respond.
The administration was planning a teleconference briefing Thursday on Syria for leaders of the House and Senate and national security committees, U.S. officials and congressional aides said.
Boehner asked Obama to "personally make the case to the American people and Congress for how potential military action will secure American national security interests, preserve American credibility, deter the future use of chemical weapons, and, critically, be a part of our broader policy and strategy."
The speaker also pressed the president to provide a legal justification for any U.S. military action. There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Boehner's request.
In the House, 98 Republicans and 18 Democrats have signed a letter to Obama demanding that he seek congressional authorization for any military action against Syria. The letter written by Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Va., argues that intervention without a direct threat to the United States and without Congress' approval would be unconstitutional.
Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, cautioned that an attack might be ineffective and draw the United States into the Syrian civil war, now in its third year.
"Simply lashing out with military force under the banner of 'doing something' will not secure our interests in Syria," Smith said in a statement.
Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he informed the administration that he could not support any military strike against Syria unless Obama presents a detailed strategy to Congress and provides a defense budget to support any action.
An increasing number of Republicans and Democrats insist that Congress should have a vote on whether to authorize any military steps against Syria, dismissing the notion that the commander in chief can act unilaterally and ignoring Congress' constitutional power to declare war.
"The war in Syria has no clear national security connection to the United States and victory by either side will not necessarily bring in to power people friendly to the United States," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said.
In his letter, Boehner raised 14 questions that he asked Obama to answer, including what the administration would do if Syria retaliates against U.S. allies in the region, whether the administration would launch additional military strikes if the initial ones proved ineffective and what was the intended effect of such a step.
Boehner alluded to the 10-plus years of fighting in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the need for the administration to have strong public and congressional support for U.S. involvement in a Mideast war.
"Our military, as well as their families, deserve to have the confidence that we collectively have their backs ? and a thorough strategy in place," the speaker wrote.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/house-speaker-presses-obama-answers-syria-211416528.html
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EA Sports has already revealed they?ll be announcing additional information on how they plan to ease the transition to the next generation at Gamescom during their press briefing on August 20 at 10AM ET/7AM PT. Now they?ve let it be known that the first entry in their UFC franchise, scheduled to release next spring on the Xbox One and PS4, will be making an appearance.
The first look at pre-alpha gameplay will be on display at the event. Though a fairly significant amount of info about the game has already been dispersed including the foundation of eight gameplay features the only footage to date has come from the pre-rendered trailer.
With no current-gen release to compete with EA has the flexibility to promote the game early and often. That same opportunity is present for NBA Live 14 which makes its own presence at Gamescom logical but as of yet remains unconfirmed for the show.
Source: http://www.pastapadre.com/2013/08/14/first-ea-sports-ufc-footage-coming-next-week
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By BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer on Aug 13, 2013, at 6:14 AM??Updated on 8/13/13 at 6:20 AM
Union?s football team stretches during Monday?s practice at Union High School. TOM GILBERT / Tulsa World
Union defensive lineman JoJo Ogundare had some special viewing ready for the night before fall practice started Monday morning."I always watch a movie with (linebacker) Coleby (Evans) before the first day or big games," Ogundare said between Monday's practice sessions. "I always watch "King of the Mountain."
Ogundare estimates he has seen the 2007 documentary on the Union-Jenks rivalry more than 20 times.
"Watching all the Jenks and Union stuff, and all the older people that came through and built this tradition, it gets me pumped to go," Ogundare said.Offensive tackle Ben Kramer prepared in another way.
"I went to bed early and got a good dinner," Kramer said. "I had a pork steak, broccoli and mashed potatoes. It's my mom's cooking. She's a good cook."
Kramer's emotions going into his senior year are much different than in previous seasons.
"This being my last year, I know in my heart and my mind I have to go full tilt and be ready to go because it's my last chance," Kramer said.
Union's players enjoyed the cooler than normal conditions for the start of fall practice.
"When there was a little bit of rain, it was like, keep on coming," receiver Kaylor Pearson said. "Keep the rain coming."
Union coach Kirk Fridrich also liked the conditions.
"It's awesome when it's 76 degrees in August; it's pretty neat," Fridrich said.
Fridrich also liked what he saw from his team. The Redskins are trying to reclaim the Class 6A state title after Jenks ended a run of four straight championships last year.
"I was impressed where we picked up from, there doesn't seem to be much lapse since spring football camp and practice," Fridrich said. "Our kids are very attentive and focused on what we're trying to do although obviously we're a long ways from where we need to be."
at Southlake Carroll, Texas
Sept. 13: vs. Jenks ...........7:05 p.m.
at TU?s Chapman Stadium
Sept. 20: at Broken Arrow .....................7 p.m.
Sept. 27: at Owasso ..........................7:30 p.m.
Oct. 4: Stillwater ......................................7 p.m.
Oct. 11: at Enid ..........................................7 p.m.
Oct. 17: Sand Springs ..............................7 p.m.
Oct. 25: at Bartlesville ............................7 p.m.
Nov. 1: B.T. Washington ..........................7 p.m.
Nov. 8: at Ponca City ...............................7 p.m.
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