Sunday, June 30, 2013

BP Statistical Review Reveals Biggest Annual Increase in US Oil Production, as W

GENERAL NEWS

BP?The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2013 - the 62nd annual report - is launched today, revealing that 2012 had the largest single-year increase in US oil production ever recorded, and new evidence of the flexibility of the world?s energy system in meeting rapid global change.

?The US recorded the world?s highest growth in production of both oil and natural gas in 2012, on the back of increasing production of unconventional hydrocarbons such as tight oil, an example of the increasing diversity of energy sources as the global market continues to adapt, innovate and evolve. With rising natural gas output driving prices lower in the US, natural gas displaced coal in power generation, causing the US to experience the largest decline of coal consumption in the world.

Elsewhere, 2012 saw the largest annual decline in world nuclear output. In Japan, where nuclear power generation all but disappeared after 2011?s Fukushima accident, higher imports of fossil fuels including liquefied natural gas (LNG) ?kept the lights on?. In Europe, where gas prices were higher than in the US, power generators took the opposite course from the US, and substituted coal for gas.
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?For those of us in the energy industry, the challenges are about how we respond to the big shifts we are seeing ? a shift in demand towards emerging economies and a shift in supply towards a greater diversity of energy sources, including unconventionals,? said Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive.

?The data show there is ample energy available. Our challenge as an industry is to make the best choices about where to invest. We want to provide energy in ways that enable us to be both safe and competitive ? deploying our strengths while reducing our risks, and managing our costs.?

The Review also revealed a drop in the growth of overall global energy consumption to 1.8% in 2012, down from 2.4% the previous year. This was partly as a result of the economic slowdown, but also because individuals and businesses responded to high prices by becoming more efficient in their use of energy. The emerging economies - the non-OECD countries - firmly established themselves as the source of what demand growth was seen, with China and India alone accounting for nearly 90% of the increase. Just twenty years ago, the emerging economies accounted for only 42% of global consumption; now that figure is 56%.

For a second consecutive year, oil supply disruptions in Africa and the Middle East were offset by growth among other Middle East producers, with record oil production in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. Despite these supply increases, average nominal oil prices reached another record high.

Coal remained the fastest-growing fossil fuel, with China now consuming the majority of the world?s coal for the first time?but it was also the fossil fuel that saw the weakest growth relative to its historical average.

Hydroelectric and renewable energy (along with cheap natural gas in North America) competed against coal in power generation. Global biofuels output fell for the first time since 2000 due to weakness in the US, but renewables in power generation grew by 15.2% and accounted for a record 4.7% of global power output.

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy use continued to grow in 2012, but at a slower rate than in 2011. Lower coal use helped the US reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide to 1994 levels, and EU emissions declined despite coal gaining market share from natural gas in power generation.

?2012 was yet another year of adaptation to a changing energy landscape,? said Christof R?hl, BP?s Chief Economist. ?As the non-OECD economies industrialize, they unlock ever more resources. The data tell us that the industrializing part of the world not only outpaces the OECD in terms of proved reserves growth, it also contributes its fair share to energy production.?

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Review highlights ? energy developments

  • World primary energy consumption grew by 1.8% in 2012, well below the 10-year average of 2.6%.
  • Consumption in OECD countries fell by 1.2%, led by a decline of 2.8% in the US (the world?s largest decline in volumetric terms).
  • Non-OECD consumption grew by 4.2%, below the 10-year average of 5.3%.
  • Global consumption growth was below average for all fossil fuels and nuclear power; regionally growth was below average everywhere except Africa.
  • Oil remains the world?s leading fuel, at 33.1% of global energy consumption, but oil continued to lose market share for the 13th consecutive year and its current market share is the lowest in BP?s data set, which begins in 1965.

Oil

  • Dated Brent averaged $111.67 per barrel in 2012, an increase of $0.4 per barrel from the 2011 level.
  • Global oil consumption grew by 890,000 barrels per day (b/d), or 0.9%, below the historical average.
  • Oil had the weakest global growth rate among fossil fuels for the third consecutive year. OECD consumption declined by 1.3% (530,000 b/d), the sixth decrease in the past seven years; the OECD now accounts for just 50.2% of global consumption, the smallest share on record. Outside the OECD, consumption grew by 1.4 million b/d, or 3.3%.
  • China again recorded the largest increment to global consumption growth (+470,000 b/d, +5%) although the growth rate was below the 10-year average. Japanese consumption grew by 250,000 b/d (+6.3%), the strongest growth increment since 1994.
  • Global oil production increased by 1.9 million b/d, or 2.2%. OPEC accounted for about three-quarters of the global increase despite a decline in Iranian output (-680,000 b/d) due to international sanctions. Libyan output (+1 million b/d) nearly regained all of the ground lost in 2011.
  • For a second consecutive year, output reached record levels in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Iraq and Kuwait also registered significant increases.
  • Non-OPEC output grew by 490,000 b/d, with increases in the US (+1 million b/d), Canada, Russia and China offsetting unexpected outages in Sudan/South Sudan (down 340,000 b/d) and Syria (-160,000 b/d), as well as declines in mature provinces such as the United Kingdom and Norway.
  • US net oil imports fell by 930,000 b/d and are now 36% below their 2005 peak. Conversely, China?s net oil imports grew by 610,000 b/d.

Natural gas

  • World natural gas consumption grew by 2.2%, below the historical average of 2.7%.
  • Consumption growth was above the 10-year average in South & Central America, Africa and North America, where the US (+4.1%) recorded the largest increment in the world. In Asia, China (+9.9%) and Japan (+10.3%) were responsible for the next-largest growth increments. Globally, natural gas accounted for 23.9% of primary energy consumption.
  • Global natural gas production grew by 1.9%. The US (+4.7%) once again recorded the largest volumetric increase and remained the world?s largest producer. Norway (+12.6%), Qatar (+7.8%), and Saudi Arabia (+11.1%) also saw significant production increases, while Russia (-2.7%) had the world?s largest decline in volumetric terms.
  • Global liquefied natural gas trade declined for the first time on record (-0.9%), while pipeline trade grew weakly (+0.5%). ?

Other fuels

  • Coal consumption grew by 2.5% in 2012, well below the 10-year average of 4.4% but still the fastest-growing fossil fuel.
  • Global coal production grew by 2%, with growth in China (+3.5%) and Indonesia (+9%) offsetting a decline in the US (-7.5%). Coal reached the highest share of global primary energy consumption (29.9%) since 1970.
  • Global nuclear output fell by 6.9%, the largest decline on record for a second consecutive year; Japanese output fell by 89%, accounting for 82% of the global decline. Nuclear output accounted for 4.5% of global energy consumption, the smallest share since 1984. Hydroelectric output rose by an above-average 4.3%, with China accounting for all of the net increase.
  • Renewable energy sources saw mixed results in 2012. Global biofuels production recorded the first decline since 2000 (-0.4%), due to a decline in the US (-4.3%). In contrast, renewable energy used in power generation grew by 15.2%, slightly above the historical average.
  • Renewable forms of energy accounted for 2.4% of global energy consumption, up from 0.8% in 2002; renewables in power generation accounted for a record 4.7% of global power generation.

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?Further enquiries:

Name: BP Press Office
Location: London
Phone: +44 (0)207 496 4076
Email:?bppress@bp.com


Source: http://www.rovworld.com/article6598.html

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Ecuador president: Snowden can't leave Moscow

PORTOVIEJO, Ecuador (AP) ? Edward Snowden is "under the care of the Russian authorities" and can't leave Moscow's international airport without their consent, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa told The Associated Press Sunday in an interview telegraphing the slim and diminishing possibility that the National Security Agency leaker will end up in Ecuador.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has distanced himself from the case since Snowden arrived in Russia last week. But Correa portrayed Russia as entirely the masters of Snowden's fate while speaking in this Pacific coast city.

Putin insists the 30-year-old former NSA contractor remains in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport and that as long as he has not legally entered Russia, he is out of the Kremlin's control.

However, the Kremlin also said Sunday that it will take public opinion and the views of human rights activists into account when considering Snowden's case, a move that could lay the groundwork for him to seek asylum in Russia.

"This is the decision of Russian authorities," Correa told the AP. "He doesn't have a passport. I don't know the Russian laws, I don't know if he can leave the airport, but I understand that he can't. At this moment he's under the care of the Russian authorities. If he arrives at an Ecuadorean Embassy we'll analyze his request for asylum."

Last week, several members of Russia's Presidential Council for Human Rights spoke out in support of Snowden, saying he deserved to receive political asylum in the country of his choice and should not be handed over to the United States. And a handful of protesters picketed outside the Moscow airport in what appeared to be an orchestrated demonstration on Friday, holding signs reading "Edward, Russia is your second motherland" and "Russia is behind Snowden."

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Ekho Moskvy radio that while Snowden is not Russia's concern, the Kremlin is aware of the viewpoints of Russian experts and representatives of human rights organizations.

"Public opinion on the subject is very rich," Peskov said in the radio interview. "We are aware of this and are taking it into account."

Correa said he had no idea Snowden's intended destination was Ecuador when he fled Hong Kong for Russia last week. He said the Ecuadorean consul in London committed "a serious error" by not consulting officials in Ecuador's capital when the consul issued a letter of safe passage for Snowden. He said the consul would be punished, although he didn't specify how.

Correa said Snowden must assume responsibility if he broke U.S. laws, but added the broader legitimacy of Snowden's action must be taken into consideration. He said Ecuador would still consider an asylum request but only if Snowden is able to make it to Ecuador or an Ecuadorean Embassy to apply.

The U.S. is seeking the former NSA contractor's extradition for leaking secret documents that, among other things, detail U.S. surveillance of international online activity. On Sunday, German magazine Der Spiegel reported that classified documents taken by Snowden also revealed U.S. spies had allegedly bugged European Union offices.

Without entirely closing the door to Snowden, whom Ecuadorean authorities strongly praised earlier in the week, Correa appeared to be sending the message that it is unlikely Snowden will ever end up in Ecuador. He repeatedly emphasized the importance of the U.S. legal process and praised Vice President Joe Biden for what he described as a courteous and appreciated half-hour call about the Snowden case on Friday.

He similarly declined to reject an important set of U.S. trade benefits for Ecuadorean exports, again a contrast with his government's unilateral renunciation of a separate set of tariff benefits earlier in the week.

"If he really could have broken North American laws, I am very respectful of other countries and their laws and I believe that someone who breaks the law must assume his responsibilities," Correa said. "But we also believe in human rights and due process."

He said Biden had asked him to send Snowden back to the United States immediately because he faces criminal charges, is a fugitive from justice and has had his passport revoked.

"I told him that we would analyze his opinion, which is very important to us," Correa said, adding that he had demanded the return of several Ecuadoreans who are in the United States but face criminal charges at home.

"I greatly appreciated the call," he said, contrasting it with threats made by a small group of U.S. senators to revoke Ecuadorean trade privileges. "When I received the call from Vice President Biden, which was with great cordiality and a different vision, we really welcomed it a lot."

Ecuadorean officials believe Russian authorities stymied the country's efforts to approve a political asylum application from the former NSA systems analyst, according to government officials with direct knowledge of the case.

Those officials said Ecuador had been making detailed plans to receive and host Snowden. One of the officials said Russia's refusal to let Snowden leave or be picked up by Ecuadorean officials had thwarted the plans. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the case by name.

One of the officials said Snowden had intended to travel from Moscow to the Ecuadorean capital of Quito. The official said Ecuador had also asked Russia to let Snowden take a commercial flight to meet Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino in Vietnam or Singapore, where Patino was on an official trip.

The Russians rejected all of Ecuador's requests to let Snowden leave Moscow, or to let an Ecuadorean government plane pick him up there, the official said.

Asked Sunday about those accounts, Correa responded, without elaborating, "We don't have long-range aircraft. It's a joke."

Snowden's path to Ecuador would have gone through Cuba, which said little about the case all week, including whether it would have allowed him to use its territory to transit.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro praised Correa's rejection of U.S. trade pressure, expressing his "sympathies" for the Ecuadorean leader in a Sunday editorial in the state press.

_______ Lynn Berry in Moscow and Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ecuador-president-snowden-cant-leave-moscow-145434970.html

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

TV binge-watching is a harmless addiction

TV

18 hours ago

IMAGE: House of Cards

Melinda Sue Gordon / AP

Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey star in "House of Cards," a favorite for binge-watching since all the episodes were put up on Netflix on the same day.

Ever sat down with a stack of DVDs or a queue of online TV episodes and watched till your eyes glazed over? If so, you've indulged in "binge-watching," a mostly harmless, and definitely enjoyable, addiction.

"Experts say TV binging is a lot like other pleasure activities like eating or drinking or sex," NBC's Kate Snow said on TODAY. "As you devour the next episode of your favorite show, your mind releases dopamine, the neurotransmitter that causes the feeling of pleasure ... while the forebrain provides checks and balances to guard against overindulgence."

Nearly 80 percent of U.S. adults with Internet access watch TV through subscription services like Netflix or Hulu or other on-demand sources, and 62 percent watch multiple episodes back-to-back.

"Content providers like Netflix are building business models around it, offering original series like 'House of Cards' only available on their service all at once," Snow notes.

Like anything, binge-watching can be abused. "Anything that causes pleasure is potentially abusable when matched up against the ability of your forebrain to regulate it," said Dr. Richard Rosenthal of St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York. But unlike truly addictive substances, binge-watching doesn't carry with it the negative consequences of other habits.

And if you invest in the right companies, it can be profitable as well. Stock for both Netflix and Dreamworks recently jumped following the announcement of a new partnership between the two for 300 hours of original programming, which guarantees to be ripe for binge watching, Snow said.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/tv-binge-watching-mostly-harmless-addiction-6C10476290

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US futures head higher for fourth consecutive day

Shoppers view shoes on sale at a department store in Tokyo Friday, June 28, 2013. Japan got a dose of upbeat economic news Friday when the government said industrial production rose 2 percent in May from April, the fourth straight monthly increase, while the most-watched consumer price index stopped falling for the first time in seven months. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Shoppers view shoes on sale at a department store in Tokyo Friday, June 28, 2013. Japan got a dose of upbeat economic news Friday when the government said industrial production rose 2 percent in May from April, the fourth straight monthly increase, while the most-watched consumer price index stopped falling for the first time in seven months. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

(AP) ? U.S. stock futures are rising for a fourth consecutive day, capping the biggest rally for S&P 500 index since January, thanks to a healthy dose of favorable economic news.

The S&P is now up 13 percent for the year, which makes it the best first half for the index since 2008.

Dow Jones industrial futures are up 23 points to 14,959. S&P futures have added 2.6 points to 1,609.20. Nasdaq futures are up 3.5 points to 2,903.

U.S. futures followed Asian markets higher Friday after a closely watched consumer price index in Japan, which has battled deflation for years, stopped falling for the first time in seven months.

Also on Friday, the Institute for Supply Management posts its gauge of business activity for June from Chicago.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-28-US-Wall-Street-Premarket/id-225bc6dd6b4546d994ec58fc6068e5d9

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Pisa ? Rome, Italy

Flag of Italy? Rome, Lazio, Italy
Friday, June 28, 2013

Millions from all over the world have tried before us and now we all also had to give it a go, but no matter how hard we tried we also could not straighten the tower, but we all gave it our best trying from every angle. The end result is that the tower is still leaning after we left. Another great day was had yesterday and after our visit to Pisa we made our way to Rome- as they say all roads lead to Rome. Our hotel is good and we spent a quiet night in before another walking tour of Rome today.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Recent-Travel-Blogs-RSS/~3/FBHsQaJHKaU/tpod.html

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Friday, June 28, 2013

Staas Brewing opening soon in Delaware | Drink Up Columbus

Just outside of Columbus, Central Ohio?s latest brewery, Staas, is set to open in July in downtown Delaware.

Staas Brewing Company was started by husband and wife Donald and Liz Staas. Liz?s father has been homebrewing since the 70s, which sparked her passion for consuming and brewing beer. She and Donald have been homebrewing themselves for a while, under the guidance of Liz?s dad and using many of his 30-year-old beer recipes.

?[Opening a brewery] has been a pipe dream for a really long time,? said Donald. ?And then one day you say ?Fuck it, let?s just do it.? We did tons of reading and research and stared filing all the paperwork and finding a space.?

They had originally planned to open the brewery in Columbus, but after finding a home in Delaware and discovering some of the thriving craft beer-centric businesses like Barley Hopsters and 1808 American Bistro, they began looking for a suitable space there, which they found downtown within steps of both businesses.

The space is cozy, outfitted with a beautiful wooden bar and an eclectic mix of older furniture. Donald insists there will be shuffle board in the small room off of the main taproom.

The bar will have 12 taps, serving all Staas selections including their German Weizen Ale (which won a 2013 homebrew competition), Belgian Golden Strong Ale, Belgian Quadrupel Alem Kolsch Blonde Ale, Double IPA, American IPA, English ESB Ale, Oatmeal Stout and Saison Farmhouse Ale, along with a monthly rotation selection of seasonal beer and cider. Liz and Donald will act as owners and brewmasters (under dad?s guidance, of course), though they discussed hiring another brewer down the line.

Staas currently has a small half barrel brewing system, though they have the capacity in their space to upgrade to a two barrel system down the line if they choose.

?There?s a lot of advantages to small batches that I really like,? said Liz. ?We plan to have a rotating tap and each month we plan to put new stuff out. We can get pretty experimental with it.?

Most of their beers will be served only in the taproom, but they have plans to distribute a few kegs to select Delaware businesses as well.

?We?re not trying to make it big off of this,? said Donald. ?Just to live comfortably and do something that you really enjoy, as long as you can make enough money to sustain yourself, that?s all we?re really after.?

The brewery will not serve food, but they plan to have a rotating selection of food trucks, including Mashita Noodle Bar. Patrons are also encouraged to bring in take-out and create their own pairings.

Staas Brewing is located at 31 W. Winter Street in Delaware. Check their Facebook page for more information about their opening date.

Source: http://drinkupcolumbus.com/2013/06/27/staas-brewing-delaware/

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Huhne, hubris and home improvement: the failure of the 'green deal'

All politicians want some kind of legacy. They seek a footnote in the annuls, just to prove that all those compromises and disappointments were not in vain. Chris Huhne?s legacy is that his name is synonymous with the criminal act of passing off your speeding points to someone else. It?s a legacy of a sort.

Huhne wanted his legacy to be, not an entry into the dictionary of urban slang, but as a great reforming energy secretary. At the heart of his programme was the ?green deal?, a scheme to insulate homes and businesses, thus cutting their heating bills and more importantly, their carbon emissions. It was broadly similar to a scheme Labour had been piloting, and to one which appeared in Labour?s 2010 manifesto as ?Pay as You Save?.

Here?s what Chris Huhne told the Liberal Democrat conference in 2010, in the first flush of coalition amour:

?The Green Deal will be a revolution. The first scheme of its kind in the developed world. The most ambitious energy-saving plan ever put forward. A once-and-for-all refit that will make every home in Britain ready for a low-carbon future. No more half-measures going off at half-cock.?

Most ambitious ever. Every home. No more half-measures. When the Greeks invented hyperbole, they meant it to be used for emphasis, not literally. Huhne was not being hyperbolic; he meant it. His audience of Liberal Democrat activists clapped like seals as the man most them had voted for in the leadership contest declared the End of Global Warming

A few weeks later he told an audience at the London School of Economics: ?Over the next two years we expect to insulate 3.5 million homes?. He went on: ?The number of people employed in insulation alone could soar from 27,000 to 100,000 by 2015. That could eventually rise to a peak of 250,000.?

It couldn?t be clearer: 3.5 million homes insulated by 2012, and 100,000 jobs by 2015. And lest you think this was merely Chris Huhne?s vaunting ambition and loose grip of reality getting the better of him, the rhetorical baton was picked up by his fellow ministers. Energy Minister Greg Barker has declared the Green Deal will be ?transformational?. In March this year, Barker told BBC Radio 4: ?I wouldn?t be sleeping if we didn?t have 10,000 at the end of the year.?

Yesterday, we had the first proper analysis of how the Green Deal is doing. I?ve sat in a few meetings where ministers are given bad news by their officials. I imagine the conversation went something like this:

Official: ????????? ?Minister, there?s good news and there?s bad news on the Green Deal. The good news is that people are taking up our offer of finance schemes to insulate their homes. The Green Deal is up and running. Congratulations, Minister.?

Minister: ??????? ?And the bad news??

Official: ????????? ?ah yes, the bad news is that he haven?t quite hit our targets. Still, it?s early days. Rome wasn?t built in a day. Nil desperandum.?

Minister: ??????? ?How many??

Official: ????????? ?Four?

Minister: ??????? ?Just four? That?s terrible. I promised millions. Four thousand is a dreadful start.?

Official: ????????? ?not 4,000, minister, just four. We have their names and addresses here on this post-it note.?

Four households have had insulation under the Green Deal. Not one single household has fully completed work under the Green Deal. Most of the money allocated ? ?250,000 out of a potential pot of millions ? has been for boiler upgrades, mostly for people who could have afforded it anyway.

Greg Barker told the Guardian that ?Eight million solid wall homes have had no affordable solution to insulate. The green deal will change that.? How many solid walls have had insulation under the Green Deal? One. Strictly speaking, going from zero to one does count as ?change?, but it?s not quite eight million.

It?s a catastrophic cock-up on a grand scale. A failure of Titanic proportions. It is the R101 of public policy. It also suggests that even ministers, their advisers and officials have failed to take up the Green Deal. Making Lib Dem MPs do it would have boosted the numbers. Even they consider it a waste of time.

It may look like farce, but the tragedy is that it needn?t have been like this. Labour?s front-bench energy team have consistently and loudly warned that the policy was badly-conceived and likely to fail. At Labour?s 2011 conference, shadow energy secretary Meg Hillier warned of a ?green deal that promises the earth, but few have even heard of.? Her successor as shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint has consistently warned that the scheme would fail. Shadow energy minister Luciana Berger has harried ministers over the details of the scheme: the failure to secure business backers, the high interest rates on repayments, and the failure to adequately restrict con artists and cowboys.

So three years on from Huhne?s ridiculous speeches about the ?step change? in home insulation, we are left with fewer homes and businesses than ever with adequate insulation, no new job opportunities and Britain even further away from meetings its international obligations on climate change.

A serious piece of work needs to be done on what went wrong, perhaps by the Institute for Government, or some such independent body. It?s a case study in public policy failure. But the real job now is for Labour to outline an alternative programme. We will inherit a mess, but we will need to clear it up quick. A new, fair, affordable finance regime, less reliance on private suppliers, more use of local authorities, a bigger marketing budget: whatever the answers are, we need to articulate them quickly. Shadenfreude doesn?t win any votes; a practical scheme to insulate peoples? homes and save them cash, delivered without any Huhne-esque hubris, will.

Source: http://labourlist.org/2013/06/huhne-hubris-and-home-improvement-the-failure-of-the-green-deal/

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French Property ? Buyers Guide to buying property in France | Home ...

French Property - Buyers Guide to buying property in FranceCompromisThis document is a document signed an agreement to buy the property at an agreed price. The letter was signed by the seller and the buyer and set all the details of the purchase price and signed the first 7 days fees.Once cold season, in which the consumer can withdraw from the sale without penalty. After a quiet period of the contract is valid for both vendors and customers, and can pay a deposit. The average down payment of 10% of the purchase price.

The compromis is a legal and binding contract to withdraw may result in your deposit of 10% is lost. But there is a kind of compromis prepared to allow the removal, in certain circumstances, such as the French refused compromis drawn mortgage.To need a passport, marriage / divorce, the relevant details of the document if you take out a loan to buy property.You should seek advice as soon as you receive the compromis and if it needs to be translated by experts before you sign.Surveys and heritage adviceOnce compromis is signed and payment begins after seeing a notary deposit, checking boundaries, public roads termite inspection test, in addition to removing lead and asbestos. Notaries are responsible for ensuring that this is done and the seller is responsible for the French costs.Unlike not always have a survey done on the property when sold. You may find inspectors in France to offer this service, or registered builders often called to give his opinion. These things must be overcome before signing.French inheritance law is complex and you should consult with matter.The Notaires office late attorney signingThis fact, if you can not afford to France for final signature can see the power and have someone to sign on your behalf . See matterIdeally legal representative must see property upon signing a clause that says ?sold as seen on the day of signature.?

You will need to ensure that the transfer payments account balance came Notaires final time signature, the date agreed for the original supplier is clearly important that this can be achieved if not, you could lose your deposit and most importantly home sales. Money from the sale is not complete unless it is clearly notary bank account.

This entry was posted in Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://redevelopks.org/2013/06/french-property-buyers-guide-to-buying-property-in-france.html

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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Big global increase in 'legal highs'

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Big global increase in 'legal highs'
Governments everywhere are struggling to cope with an increase in new substances known as "legal highs", the UN's latest World Drug Report says.

Source: BBC News
Posted on: Wednesday, Jun 26, 2013, 8:19am
Views: 23

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128798/Big_global_increase_in__legal_highs_

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Hedge fund alternative investors love ? Bankrate, Inc.

Institutional investors are increasingly turning to mutual funds over hedge funds for strategy diversification. Just over a quarter, 26 percent, of institutions use hedge funds for exposure to long-short strategies this year, compared to 61 percent in 2010, according to a survey released this week by Morningstar and Barron's.

Long-short mutual funds take mostly long positions, buying investments they believe will go up, while hedging their bets with a smaller amount of short positions, or investments they think will go down. There are other types of alternative strategies --?for instance, market neutral strategies that take long and short positions but avoid stocks to lessen volatility. In general, alternative investment strategy funds "provide a smoother ride over time," says Nadia Papagiannis, CFA, director of alternative fund research at Morningstar.

During the events of 2008, institutional investors found themselves stuck in illiquid, highly leveraged hedge funds that only a year or two before had returned outsized returns.

"In 2008, hedge funds delivered high losses. Investors were stuck with illiquid investments they had to pay management fees on but couldn't get out of," says Papagiannis.

Mutual funds offer liquidity and transparency, plus lower fees for similar strategies. "When you are getting double-digit returns, it's?OK to pay 2 percent management fees and a 20 percent performance fee. But with mediocre returns, that eats away at benefits. Plus, if you can find something with lower costs, that is something that as a fiduciary, you have look at," she says.

The average expense ratio of the long/short equity fund category on the Morningstar website is 1.96 percent.

Advisers to small investors are also interested in the risk-management benefits of alternative strategies. For investors, allocating a portion of their portfolio to an alternative strategy fund helps cushion the downside when big stock market drops happen. That downside cushion means less return on the upside as well.

"In order to build wealth over time, you need to have a little bit of a smaller upside and a lot smaller downside. That way, you can build wealth more effectively over time rather than having a couple good up years and then big down years," says Papagiannis.

Investors scared of living through another stock market drop like the one in 2008 and 2009 may want to consider incorporating some strategies that behave differently than the rest of their investments.

Follow me on Twitter: @SheynaSteiner.

***
Senior investing reporter Sheyna Steiner is a co-author of "Future Millionaires' Guidebook," an e-book written by Bankrate editors and reporters. It's available at all the major e-book retailers.

Source: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/investing/hedge-fund-alternative-investors-love/

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Mapping out how to save species

June 27, 2013 ? In stunning color, new biodiversity research from North Carolina State University maps out priority areas worldwide that hold the key to protecting vulnerable species and focusing conservation efforts.

The research, published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pinpoints the highest global concentrations of mammals, amphibians and birds on a scale that's 100 times finer than previous assessments. The findings can be used to make the most of available conservation resources, said Dr. Clinton Jenkins, lead author and research scholar at NC State University.

"We must know where individual species live, which ones are vulnerable, and where human actions threaten them," Jenkins said. "We have better data than in the past -- and better analytical methods. Now we have married them for conservation purposes."

To assess how well the bright-red priority areas are being protected, researchers calculated the percentage of priority areas that fell within existing protected zones. They produced colorful maps that offer a snapshot of worldwide efforts to protect vertebrate species and preserve biodiversity. More maps are available in high resolution on the Saving Species blog.

"The most important biodiversity areas do have a higher rate of protection than the global average. Unfortunately, it is still insufficient given how important these areas are," said co-author Dr. Lucas Joppa with Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England. "There is a growing worry that we are running out of time to expand the global network of protected areas."

Researchers hope their work can guide expansion of protected areas before it's too late.

"The choice of which areas in the world receive protection will ultimately decide which species survive and which go extinct," says co-author Dr. Stuart Pimm of Duke University. "We need the best available science to guide these decisions."

Jenkins' work was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Blue Moon Foundation and a National Aeronautics and Space Agency Biodiversity Grant.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/ZRUnmtmr1A8/130627130951.htm

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Danish Company Creates Software That Will Stop You From Printing A Gun

Screen Shot 2013-06-26 at 1.44.34 PMA Danish company called Create It Real has built a software package that recognizes digital gun part models and prevents them from being printed. The software compares each piece you are attempting to print with a database of potential firearm parts and, the company notes, "for safety reasons, there are no models of firearms stored on the user's computer but rather a list of characteristics."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/fIAaUOFkxgI/

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US economy grows at slower 1.8 pct. rate in Q1

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the first three months of the year, significantly slower than first thought. The steep revision occurred mostly because consumers spent less than previously estimated, a sign that higher taxes could be dampening growth.

The Commerce Department revised its estimate of economic growth for the January-March quarter down from a 2.4 percent annual rate. The revised rate was still faster than the 0.4 percent rate in the October-December quarter.

Economists had thought growth in the April-June quarter would be 2 percent or less. Analysts had also expected growth to strengthen in the second half of this year. The downgrade for the January-March quarter will likely change those estimates.

It might also affect the timing of the Federal Reserve's plan to scale back its bond-buying program. Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week that the Fed would likely start to slow its bond purchases later this year and end them next year if the economy continues to strengthen. The Fed's bond purchases have helped keep long-term interest rates low.

Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, noted that the economy barely grew in the final quarter of last year. If the April-June quarter proves as weak as some analysts expect, the Fed will be looking at three quarters of subpar growth.

"The Fed won't taper under these conditions," Lee said. "They need convincing signs of a pickup."

Most of the revision to last quarter's growth was due to a drop in consumer spending to an annual rate of 2.6 percent. That's sharply lower than the 3.4 percent rate estimated last month. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

Much of the change reflected a lower estimate for spending on services such travel, legal services, health care and utilities.

Export growth was also trimmed, reflecting slower global growth. And business investment spending was much weaker than initially estimated. That was largely due to an even larger drop in spending on buildings than previously thought, a particularly volatile category.

An increase in Social Security taxes on Jan. 1 has reduced take-home pay for most Americans. A person earning $50,000 a year has roughly $1,000 less to spend, while a high-earning couple has $4,500 less.

Many economists had thought that the tax increase, along with steep government spending cuts, would start to affect consumers in the second quarter, which ends next week. But the revision suggests the tax increase may have hampered consumer spending a little earlier than thought.

The economy continued to be slowed by weakness in government spending. It fell during the first quarter at an annual rate of 4.8 percent. That shaved 0.9 percentage points from growth ? the biggest negative factor. And it followed an even steeper decline in government spending during the fourth quarter.

Economists had predicted that economic growth would rebound to a rate of around 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter and to more than a 3 percent rate in the final three months of the year.

The Fed's latest economic projections are for growth of 2.3 percent to 2.6 percent this year. And it predicts that growth will accelerate next year to as much as 3.5 percent.

The latest reports have been encouraging. U.S. factories are fielding more orders. Home sales and prices are rising, signaling a stronger housing recovery. Spending at retail businesses rose in May. And employers added 175,000 jobs last month, which almost exactly matched the average increase of the previous 12 months.

Steady job growth has gradually reduced the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent from a peak of 10 percent in 2009. And it has lifted Americans' confidence in the economy to its highest point in 5? years.

Consumers' confidence in the economy is watched closely because their spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-economy-grows-slower-1-8-pct-rate-123936162.html

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Google Play Edition Samsung Galaxy S4 And HTC One Now Available, Will Start Shipping By July 9

google-editionsDespite plenty of rumors that attested to the contrary, Google didn't show off any new Nexus phones at its I/O developer conference -- instead it trotted out a version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 that ran an untouched version of Android 4.2, and Google SVP Sundar Pichai followed up with a similar announcement about an unfettered HTC One. The announcements left Android fans slobbering in anticipation, the wait is over -- the so-called Google Play edition S4 and One are available in the Google Play Store for $649 and $599 respectively, and Google says they'll start shipping on July 9.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/AeDCrT18qwU/

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Can you live in America just buying 'made in the USA'?

Top Line

After a manufacturing plant closed down in his hometown of Ravenswood, W.Va., resulting in 650 people losing their jobs, Josh Miller began to wonder what was really made in America anymore.

He decided to set out on a 30-day road trip across the United States in search of answers for how to revive American manufacturing - all the while trying to survive on only goods and products stamped with ?Made in USA.?

?I really thought that I could take this opportunity to give the Made in America movement and these folks a voice,? said Miller, who documented his trip in a film, ?Made in the USA: The 30 Day Journey.?

Miller told Top Line that the Made in America movement isn?t so much about trying to get people to buy only American-made products that might be more expensive than foreign-made ones, but it?s about finding solutions to lower the prices of American-made products.

?I think there are a lot of policies that we can push to help allow our businesses here in America to help reduce costs and lower the prices,? Miller said. ?We need to put policies in place that allow us to outcompete the world, and that's what this film was about.?

While Miller hopes that Congress and the president will act to help American businesses become more competitive, his producer, Ron Newcomb, added that they also want to see less government regulation.

?They need to also get out of the way, if you will, and let Americans to do what they do best, thrive in a business environment,? Newcomb said, referring to the federal government.

But perhaps the most effective and immediate solution to create more manufacturing jobs in the United States, Miller and Newcomb said, is for the American consumer to demand it.

??It's a business aspect too,? Miller said. ?If the consumers create that demand, the businesses will meet that demand. Request it, demand it, and it will come back and jobs will come back.?

For more of the interview with Miller and Newcomb, and to hear how they say you can live by the principles of the Made in America movement without being a purist, check out this episode of Top Line.

ABC's Eric Wray, Freda Kahen Kashi, Chris Carlson, Tom D?Annibale, and Bob Bramson contributed to this episode.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/made-usa-journey-behind-label-112854639.html

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High court sends back Texas race-based plan

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, Abigail Fisher, right, who sued the University of Texas, walks outside the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court has sent a Texas case on race-based college admissions back to a lower court for another look. The court's 7-1 decision Monday leaves unsettled many of the basic questions about the continued use of race as a factor in college admissions. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, Abigail Fisher, right, who sued the University of Texas, walks outside the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court has sent a Texas case on race-based college admissions back to a lower court for another look. The court's 7-1 decision Monday leaves unsettled many of the basic questions about the continued use of race as a factor in college admissions. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

People wait outside the Supreme Court in Washington as key decisions are expected to be announced Monday, June 24, 2013. At the end of the court's term, several major cases are still outstanding that could have widespread political impact on same-sex marriage, voting rights, and affirmative action. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

People wait outside the Supreme Court in Washington as key decisions are expected to be announced Monday, June 24, 2013. At the end of the court's term, several major cases are still outstanding that could have widespread political impact on same-sex marriage, voting rights, and affirmative action. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

People line up in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Monday, June 24, 2013, before it opened for its last scheduled session. The Supreme Court has 11 cases, including the term's highest profile matters, to resolve before the justices take off for summer vacations, teaching assignments and international travel. The court is meeting Monday for its last scheduled session, but will add days until all the cases are disposed of. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

(AP) ? Affirmative action in college admissions survived Supreme Court review Monday in a consensus decision that avoided the difficult constitutional issues surrounding a challenge to the University of Texas admission plan.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the court's 7-1 ruling that said a court should approve the use of race as a factor in admissions only after it concludes "that no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity."

But the decision did not question the underpinnings of affirmative action, which the high court last reaffirmed in 2003.

The justices said the federal appeals court in New Orleans did not apply the highest level of judicial scrutiny when it upheld the Texas plan, which uses race as one among many factors in admitting about a quarter of the university's incoming freshmen. The school gives the bulk of the slots to Texans who are admitted based on their high school class rank, without regard to race.

The high court ordered the appeals court to take another look at the case of Abigail Fisher, a white Texan who was not offered a spot at the university's flagship Austin campus in 2008. Fisher has since received her undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the lone dissenter. "In my view, the courts below adhered to this court's pathmarking decisions and there is no need for a second look," Ginsburg said in a dissent she read aloud.

Justice Clarence Thomas, alone on the court, said he would have overturned the high court's 2003 ruling, though he went along with Monday's outcome.

Justice Elena Kagan stayed out of the case, presumably because she had some contact with it at an earlier stage when she worked in the Justice Department.

Kennedy said that courts must determine that the use of race is necessary to achieve the educational benefits of diversity, the Supreme Court's standard for affirmative action in education since 1978. The high court most recently reaffirmed the constitutionality of affirmative action in Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003, a case involving the University of Michigan.

"As the Court said in Grutter, it remains at all times the university's obligation to demonstrate, and the judiciary's obligation to determine, that admissions processes 'ensure that each applicant is evaluated as an individual and not in a way that makes an applicant's race or ethnicity the defining feature of his or her application,'" Kennedy said.

University of Texas president Bill Powers said the university plans no immediate changes in its admissions policies as a result of Monday's ruling and will continue to defend them in the courts.

"We remain committed to assembling a student body at the University of Texas at Austin that provides the educational benefits of diversity on campus while respecting the rights of all students and acting within the constitutional framework established by the court," Powers said.

But Edward Blum, who helped engineer Fisher's challenge, said it is unlikely that the Texas plan and many other college plans can long survive. "The Supreme Court has established exceptionally high hurdles for the University of Texas and other universities and colleges to overcome if they intend to continue using race preferences in their admissions policies, said Blum, director of The Project on Fair Representation in Alexandria, Va.

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton said the court "ducked" the big issues in the case. While he would have preferred that the justices affirm the use of race in college admissions, "a duck is better than a no, but not as good as a yes," Sharpton said. Sharpton, along with Martin Luther King III, was leading a National Press Club news conference announcing initial plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington.

Retired Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and John Paul Stevens, both members of the majority in the Grutter case, were in the courtroom Monday for the Texas decision.

The challenge to the Texas plan gained traction in part because the makeup of the court has changed since the last time the justices ruled on affirmative action in higher education in 2003. Then, O'Connor wrote the majority opinion that held that colleges and universities can use race in their quest for diverse student bodies.

O'Connor retired in 2006, and her replacement, Justice Samuel Alito, has shown himself to be more skeptical of considerations of race in education.

Texas automatically offers about three-quarters of its spots to high school graduates based on their class rank as part of what was called the "top 10 percent" plan under a 1990s state law signed by then-Gov. George W. Bush. Since then the admissions program has been changed so that now only the top 8 percent gain automatic admission.

Race is a factor in filling out the rest of the incoming class. More than 8 in 10 African-American and Latino students who enrolled at the flagship campus in Austin in 2011 were automatically admitted, according to university statistics.

In all, black and Hispanic students made up more than a quarter of the incoming freshmen class. White students constituted less than half the entering class when students with Asian backgrounds and other minorities were added in.

The university said the extra measure of diversity it gets from the slots outside automatic admission is crucial because too many of its classrooms have only token minority representation, at best. At the same time, Texas argued that race is one of many factors considered and that whether race played the key role in any applicant's case was impossible to tell.

The Obama administration, roughly half of the Fortune 100 companies and large numbers of public and private colleges that feared a broad ruling against affirmative action backed the Texas program. Among the benefits of affirmative action, the administration said, is that it creates a pipeline for a diverse officer corps that it called "essential to the military's operational readiness." In 2003, the court cited the importance of a similar message from military leaders.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-24-Supreme%20Court-Affirmative%20Action/id-7d3818e843964ee0888ff6afa512ffda

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'World of Warcraft' Hackers Steal Millions in Gold

Adventurers in the online game "World of Warcraft" generally have to worry about bandits and dragons, but their most dangerous threat this week comes in the form of gold-hungry hackers. By exploiting the Web and mobile applications for the game's Auction House (which allows players to buy and sell items), malefactors have stolen millions of gold pieces, but players who use two-step authentication are relatively safe.

For those who have somehow avoided almost every form of pop culture for the last decade, "World of Warcraft" is a massively popular online game from developer Blizzard that casts players as heroes in an intricate high fantasy world. As players complete quests and triumph over mythical beasts, they gather in-game gold pieces, which they can use to buy supplies and equipment.

The issue came to light on June 22, when a user named "Abidah" realized that almost 200,000 gold pieces had disappeared from his account for three unauthorized purchases in the game's Auction House,. He posted his plight on the Blizzard forums, where other users shared similar experiences.

Blizzard investigated, and discovered that while "World of Warcraft" itself had not been compromised, its Web and mobile Auction House apps had. On June 23, Blizzard acknowledged the hack.

?"We have taken the Web and Mobile Auction House offline to perform an emergency maintenance," wrote a customer service representative on the forums. "Unfortunately we can't provide an ETA as to when they will be brought back online."

Blizzard is still not sure how hackers compromised the Auction House apps, but a number of users tell similar stories: After using the Auction House apps, they logged in a few days later to find tons of gold missing from their accounts, often exchanged for absolute junk.

In order to steal gold, the hackers put common, almost worthless items on display at the Auction House. Using players' compromised accounts, they then bought the item for exponentially more than its in-game worth (a block of wood, for example, is not really worth 50,000 gold pieces).

In all likelihood, the hackers do not want in-game gold for its own sake, but rather want to sell it online in exchange for real money. The only problem with this plan is that Blizzard will usually restore players' gold if they lost it to a hack. In a large-scale hack, this will essentially duplicate the server's gold supply, causing massive deflation. Selling gold for real money becomes a profitless endeavor. [See also: 13 Security and Privacy Tips for the Truly Paranoid]

The Auction House Web app is now up and running again, but the mobile app remains offline. "At this time we have no reason to believe that accounts currently using an authenticator are at risk," wrote Blizzard in its latest forum update.

An authenticator is a piece of mobile software that users can install to give their Blizzard accounts two-step verification. Each time a user attempts to log into a Blizzard game, he or she must fill out a secondary code that gets sent to a mobile device.

Even this measure may not protect the Auction House hack victims, though. Abidah was quick to point out that he did use an authenticator, and still lost hundreds of thousands of gold pieces. However, his settings required secondary authentication only once a week instead of for every login.

The mobile Auction House should be back up within a few days, users lost no real money and Blizzard will probably restore players' lost gold. As hacks go, this was on the fairly harmless end of the spectrum, but if hackers have figured out a way around two-step verification, "World of Warcraft" may be in for bigger problems in the future.

This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow Marshall Honorof?@marshallhonorof. Follow us?@TechNewsDaily, on?Facebook?or on?Google+.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-warcraft-hackers-steal-millions-gold-191250818.html

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Monday, June 24, 2013

AOL Reader: Simple, Fast, But Hardly Groundbreaking

AOL Reader: Simple, Fast, But Hardly Groundbreaking

With Google Reader ready to tap out, it seems like everyone is keen to throw their hat into the feed reader ring. The latest offering is from AOL and it's simple, fast and lacking any unique features?though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lbGtaUx2wow/aol-reader-simple-fast-but-hardly-groundbreaking-554993248

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Ken Duke wins Travelers Championship in playoff

Ken Duke watches his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Ken Duke watches his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Ken Duke celebrates, right, with his caddie after winning the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Duke won the second playoff hole against Chris Stroud. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Ken Duke celebrates after sinking a birdie putt on the second playoff hole at the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Duke won a playoff against Chris Stroud with the birdie. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Ken Duke holds the trophy after winning the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Duke won the tournament with a birdie on the second playoff hole. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

(AP) ? Ken Duke needed 187 starts on the PGA Tour to get his first win, securing it at a tournament that is building a reputation for such breakthroughs.

The 44-year-old journeyman made a 2? foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole Sunday to beat Chris Stroud at the Travelers Championship.

Stroud, who also was looking for his first title, had chipped in from 51 feet on the 18th hole, to get to 12-under par and force the playoff.

But Duke made the better approach shot on the second extra hole, bouncing his ball in front of the flag and rolling it close.

"Yeah, it's been a long time," said Duke, who turned pro in 1994." I've been on the Canadian tour, the mini tours, Asian Tour, South American Tour, all of them; Web.com, and it's just great to be a part of this big family on the PGA Tour."

Duke, who came in ranked 144th in the world, is the sixth golfer in eight years to get his first PGA Tour win here, joining J.J. Henry (2006), Hunter Mahan (2007), Bubba Watson (2010), Fredrik Jacobsen (2011) and Marc Leishman last year.

Canadian Graham DeLaet finished a stroke back in third place with a 269. Watson finished fourth, two shots behind, after making a six on the par-3 16th hole.

"You gotta believe in yourself in everything you do," Duke said. "That's why those guys at the top are winning week in, week out because they believe they can do it. It's kind of one of those things once you finally do it it might come easier the next time. That's kind of the way I feel."

Duke wouldn't have been in position to win at all had luck not intervened on the 10th hole, when his ball ricocheted off a tree and onto the green to about 5 feet from the pin, allowing him to make birdie.

After a 17-foot birdie putt on the next hole, he made a 45-footer on the 13th hole, a shot that looked as though it might go past the hole to the right, before falling in.

He battled Watson for the lead down the back nine, until the former Masters champion found trouble on the 16th.

Watson put his drive into the water and put his next shot over the green.

He finished two strokes back in fourth place.

"The wind affected the first shot, and the wind didn't affect the next shot," Watson said. "I flew it three feet past the hole, which you can't do right now because the greens are so firm."

Duke looked as though he had the tournament sewn up after saving par on 18, despite a tee shot that went well right and onto a hill, and a second shot that went just over the green. He used a putter to put the ball within 2 feet, then sank the putt as the crowd roared for what they thought was a winning shot.

It looked even more secure when Stroud's second shot hit near the stick, but then rolled well off the green. That just set up the dramatic chip shot.

Stroud hit his tee shot over the cart path and 94 yards from the hole on the first playoff hole, while Duke's first shot jumped out of a fairway bunker and into the rough.

Duke bounced his second shot onto the green. Stroud's went into a greenside bunker.

Stroud chipped to 8 feet but had to watch as Green almost sank a long putt that would have ended it.

The two both struck the ball well on the second playoff hole, but Stroud missed a 25-foot birdie putt, and Duke made his short putt.

"I had three shots from 94 yards on 18, the exact same yardage, and I could not figure out a way to stop that ball," Stroud said. "Regulation, luckily, I chipped it in."

Watson, Charley Hoffman and DeLaet began the day tied for the lead, but 21 other players were within five strokes.

Webb Simpson shot a 65 to finish at 271, then headed home immediately after his round despite being just a stroke behind the leaders at the time. He said he knew the score wouldn't be good enough to win.

"I'm itching to get to my family, so I'm going to head to the airport," he said.

Justin Rose followed his U.S. Open win by shooting 6-under par for this tournament. He was in contention, with two birdies on his first seven holes, but didn't get another until the final hole and made three bogeys. He said fatigue was a factor.

"I'm still able to put one foot in front of the other," he said. "I still feel OK, but my guess is there's just a little bit of sharpness that I might be lacking."

No player has gone back-to-back after capturing the U.S. Open since 1997, when Ernie Els won the Buick Classic at the Westchester Country Club in New York.

Rose plans to play next week at Congressional before taking two weeks off to prepare for the British Open.

DeLaet a native of, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, said his thoughts this week have been with the people of Alberta, where widespread flooding is blamed for at least three deaths and forced thousands to evacuate.

He had the words "For Alberta" written on his cap Sunday.

The 2009 Canadian Tour player of the year pledged to donate $1,000 for every birdie he made to help the relief efforts.

PGA Tour Canada, a bank and a Canadian businessman all agreed to match the donation. He finished with three birdies on Sunday and nine for the weekend.

"Hopefully it puts a small dent in what they need," he said. "But our hearts are still with them."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-23-Travelers%20Championship/id-d7eaefe474cc488291a8742a23d3ff71

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SMU researcher receives Hogg Foundation grant to study childhood depression

SMU researcher receives Hogg Foundation grant to study childhood depression [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 24-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Christina Voss
cvoss@smu.edu
214-768-7641
Southern Methodist University

Dr. Chrystyna Kouros, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Southern Methodist University, received a $19,250 grant from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to examine ethnic differences in the identification of and attributions about children's depression symptoms.

The research project by Kouros was one of 10 selected from a pool of 38 applicants from 17 universities across Texas. The foundation awarded the two-year grants, totaling $192,130, to tenure-track assistant professors exploring different aspects of mental health in Texas.

The study by Kouros, who will be collaborating with Dr. Naomi Ekas, Texas Christian University Department of Psychology, will examine ethnic differences in the way that parents and children identify depressive symptoms, and their attributions about depression, as predictors of whether children receive treatment. The overarching goal of the research is to understand barriers to seeking treatment for depression in Hispanic youth.

"Depression in childhood is prevalent and poses a significant public health problem," said Kouros. "Hispanic youth, in particular, report higher levels of depression and are at greater risk for suicide than non-Hispanic whites and other ethnic groups, yet they are less likely to seek treatment from a mental health practitioner and often receive poorer quality of care."

"Rates of untreated childhood depression are staggering," Ekas adds. "I believe our study will fill an important void in understanding why Hispanic and non-Hispanic children with mental health challenges do not seek treatment even when community resources are available."

The goals of the Hogg grants are to increase the pool of junior faculty doing quality mental health research and to encourage the disbursement of research findings through presentations at state and national conferences and meetings.

"Fifty to 80 percent of children in need of services never receive treatment or utilize community mental health resources," said Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation. "This research fills an important gap in the literature. Previous research on attributions of child symptoms has typically focused on children's behavioral challenges or physical health, but has not looked at ethnicity as a moderating factor."

###

The Hogg Foundation advances recovery and wellness in Texas by funding mental health services, policy analysis, research and public education. The foundation was created in 1940 by the children of former Texas Gov. James S. Hogg and is part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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SMU researcher receives Hogg Foundation grant to study childhood depression [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 24-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Christina Voss
cvoss@smu.edu
214-768-7641
Southern Methodist University

Dr. Chrystyna Kouros, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Southern Methodist University, received a $19,250 grant from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to examine ethnic differences in the identification of and attributions about children's depression symptoms.

The research project by Kouros was one of 10 selected from a pool of 38 applicants from 17 universities across Texas. The foundation awarded the two-year grants, totaling $192,130, to tenure-track assistant professors exploring different aspects of mental health in Texas.

The study by Kouros, who will be collaborating with Dr. Naomi Ekas, Texas Christian University Department of Psychology, will examine ethnic differences in the way that parents and children identify depressive symptoms, and their attributions about depression, as predictors of whether children receive treatment. The overarching goal of the research is to understand barriers to seeking treatment for depression in Hispanic youth.

"Depression in childhood is prevalent and poses a significant public health problem," said Kouros. "Hispanic youth, in particular, report higher levels of depression and are at greater risk for suicide than non-Hispanic whites and other ethnic groups, yet they are less likely to seek treatment from a mental health practitioner and often receive poorer quality of care."

"Rates of untreated childhood depression are staggering," Ekas adds. "I believe our study will fill an important void in understanding why Hispanic and non-Hispanic children with mental health challenges do not seek treatment even when community resources are available."

The goals of the Hogg grants are to increase the pool of junior faculty doing quality mental health research and to encourage the disbursement of research findings through presentations at state and national conferences and meetings.

"Fifty to 80 percent of children in need of services never receive treatment or utilize community mental health resources," said Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation. "This research fills an important gap in the literature. Previous research on attributions of child symptoms has typically focused on children's behavioral challenges or physical health, but has not looked at ethnicity as a moderating factor."

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The Hogg Foundation advances recovery and wellness in Texas by funding mental health services, policy analysis, research and public education. The foundation was created in 1940 by the children of former Texas Gov. James S. Hogg and is part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin.

SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today SMU enrolls nearly 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.


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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/smu-srr062113.php

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