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Turkmen president bans recorded music in public

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has banned the playing of recorded music on television, at public events, and both public and private wedding ceremonies. Turkmenistan’s official daily newspaper, Neitralny Turkmenistan, quotes President Niyazov as stating that the ban is intended to “protect true culture, including the musical and singing traditions of the Turkmen people.” The office of the president said recorded music and lip synching has “a negative effect on the development of singing and musical art.” In a cabinet meeting broadcast on national television, Niyazov said “Unfortunately, one can see on television old voiceless singers lip-synching their old songs. Don’t kill talents by using lip synching… Create our new culture.”

President Niyazov has a history of regulating cultural influences in Turkmenistan. He has outlawed long hair or beards and capped teeth, required video monitors in all public places, and banned car radios and certain performing arts like opera and ballet, deeming them “unnecessary.”

Ontario Votes 2007: Interview with Progressive Conservative candidate Penny Lucas, Kenora—Rainy River

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Penny Lucas is running for the Progressive Conservative in the Ontario provincial election, in the Kenora-Rainy River riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Food

10 Quick And Easy Ways To Save Money For Your Debt Settlement Program}

Submitted by: Gregory DeVictor

Debt settlement, also known as debt negotiation, allows you to make one monthly payment, and to get out of debt much faster than by making the minimum monthly payments or by using debt consolidation. With a debt settlement program, negotiators communicate with creditor(s) on your behalf to settle your balances to reduced and “agreed-to” amounts.

Here is how it works: Your debt negotiation team opens a trust account for you. You must deposit a portion of your outstanding debt (usually 50%) into the account over a specified time period (generally 2 – 4 years). Once the required amount has been deposited, your debt negotiators communicate with your creditors to settle your balances to reduced and “agreed-to” amounts.

If your creditor(s) agree to the reduced amount, you must pay what you owe on the scheduled date. After the debt is paid, your creditors will update your account as “paid in full” or “paid as settled.”

While credit card debt can be expensive and stressful, getting out of debt doesn’t have to be. How would you like to save $100 for your next debt settlement payment? How about several hundred dollars or a few thousand dollars? This article lists 10 quick and easy ways to save money for your debt settlement program.

1. This money-saving tip has been suggested before: Get a cheaper cell phone plan, and use the money that you save toward your debt settlement program. You might even consider a prepaid cell phone. With prepaid cell phones, you only pay for the minutes that you need, as opposed to paying too much for services that you do not use.

2. Shop at grocery stores that offer gas points. Suppose that your supermarket’s gas points program entitles you to save 10 cents on a gallon of gas for every $50 you spend. You spend an average of $500 a month and therefore save $1.00 off a gallon of gas. If you purchase 50 gallons of gas a month, you will save $50. That adds up to $600 in savings over the course of a year.

3. Change your eating habits. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and more “lean” protein products. You can get apples for as low as $1.00 a pound when they are in season. Compare that to $4.49 for a pound of 92% lean ground beef.

4. If you are receiving a tax refund, you have obviously paid too much during the year to the IRS. So, make it a priority to adjust your withholding tax with your employer.

5. Did you know that the average family of four spends over $700 a month on groceries? And this does not include eating out. So, if you’re eating out more than twice a week, consider eating out less. Why not eat out every two weeks, or even once a month. You will appreciate eating out more, and you will also be surprised at how much money you save. Which is more important? Making that next debt settlement payment with ease, or spending $150 a week on take out pizza and chicken wings?

6. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average American family spends 6% – 12% of their net monthly income on utilities. To save money, do your laundry in cold water, and set your thermostat one or two degrees higher in the summer, and one or two degrees lower in the winter. Which do you want more? To become debt free, or to make the utility companies richer?

7. If you have a free checking account, make sure that your balance is never below $100. If you don’t have overdraft protection, the charge for insufficient funds now averages $35 per transaction. And according to SmartMoney.com, “Some banks even charge a fee each day an account sits in arrears.”

But that’s not all. According to Forbes.com, “The CFPB [President Obama’s Consumer Finance Protection Bureau] is concerned that overdraft practices employed by some financial institutions increase consumer costs. One such practice is commingling of all checks, bill payments, debit card transactions, and ATM withdrawals each day and processing the largest transactions first. This maximizes the number of transactions that will trigger an overdraft fee. The CFPB will examine how prevalent this practice is and how it impacts consumers.

Essentially the CFPB has a hunch that banks are manipulating the order of your daily transactions to maximize the chances youll be charged an overdraft fee. Heres an example: Say youre a student with $50 in your account. You make 3 consecutive purchases for $10 each. That leaves you with $20, but you still need to buy a $40 book for class that evening. You decide to swipe your debit card anyway under the assumption youll be charged a $35 overdraft fee just once.”

With the average overdraft fee of $35, one overdraft fee every month adds up to $420 annually. Use the money more constructively, such as for your debt settlement program.

8. Use coupons as much as possible when you shop. If you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to add Coupons.com to your list of favorite web sites. Coupons.com is the leader in online printable coupons for the nation’s top brands and retailers. According to Coupons.com, “For decades, the Sunday newspaper has been the dominant distribution method for coupons, but as the reach of the newspaper declines and a growing number of consumers are online, more and more consumers and brands alike are looking to digital.”

9. Try to combine manufacturer’s coupons with sales. Plus, if your supermarket doubles coupons up to 99, you will be amazed at how much you can save each week toward your debt settlement program.

10. Finally here is a money-saving tip that we just couldn’t resist: “Want to double your money? Fold it in two and put it back in your wallet.”

So there you have it, 10 quick and easy ways to save money for your debt settlement program. While credit card debt can be expensive and stressful, getting out of debt doesn’t have to be. Make saving money a top priority, and you will attract more situations into your life to save even more.

About the Author: Gregory DeVictor is a professional writer who has been developing and marketing websites since 1999. As a debt settlement consultant, he has a knowledge of the inner workings of the debt negotiation process. Learn how to

become debt free

in 2012 with the help of a trusted and FTC-compliant debt settlement company.

Source:

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=1393369&ca=Finances
}

Existing US home sales fall 9.6% in February

Monday, March 21, 2011

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell 9.6% in February, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said today, in a sign that the U.S. housing market is still depressed. The figure was worse than the 3.9% decline anticipated by the economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and questions whether the U.S. housing market is beginning to recover or will continue to fall.

We have an uneven, choppy recovery. Hopefully it is a recovery …

A combination of foreclosures and short sales, where the mortgage holder sells the house for less than owed on the mortgage, accounted for almost 40% of the sales.

Millions of foreclosures have forced down home prices and the number of foreclosures are predicted to rise this year. The inventory of existing homes listed for sale rose 3.5% at the end of February, a 8.6-month supply at the current sales rate. As more homes are listed in the spring, the inventory of houses for sale will probably increase. A five or six month inventory is usually considered a healthy balance between supply and demand.

According to Moody’s Analytics, another 3.6 million bank-owned homes and possible foreclosures will be added to the inventory by 2013, adding to the 6.7 million home foreclosures since 2006. Thus housing inventories will probably continue to remain high, delaying the point when prices stabilize. The median sales price in February fell 5.2%, down to a price level not seen since April 2002.

“We have an uneven, choppy recovery,” said NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Hopefully it is a recovery that is taking place.”

Robber holds retired NYC police officer at gunpoint during convention

Sunday, March 29, 2009

John Comparetto, a retired New York City Police Department lieutenant, was held at gunpoint on Friday morning by an armed nineteen year old in a hotel bathroom who demanded Comparetto’s money and cellphone.

Comparetto handed over both to the thief. When the criminal took off with the money, Comparetto drew his gun from an ankle holster and immediately chased after the robber. Comparetto asked the hotel desk clerk which way the suspect went, and told the clerk to alert officers at a police convention that a fellow policeman was “in need of assistance”.

A police officer’s convention was being held at the Holiday Inn near Harrisburg Friday for 300 narcotics police officers in attendance from Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The teen departed the scene in a taxi cab outside the hotel.

Comparetto said, “I stopped the cab at gunpoint. Ten other cops came running out and we arrested probably the dumbest criminal in Pennsylvania.”

Jerome Marquis Blanchett is being held at Dauphin County Prison following his arrest.

5-year old American girl dies after visiting the dentist

Friday, September 29, 2006

Diamond Brownridge, a 5-year old girl from Chicago, Illinois, has died after a visit to the dentist. Children’s Memorial Hospital officials say that the girl was rushed to the hospital when she never woke up after being sedated for a dental procedure. She had been in a coma, on life support, since being admitted to the hospital early in the weekend.

“She passed very peacefully and beautifully,” said the hospital in a statement that the family issued.

Ommettress Travis, the mother of the girl, was asked not to remain inside the room while dentists were operating on the girl to repair two cavities and to have at least two caps replaced. Travis says after thirty minutes she was asked to come back in and found Brownridge not breathing, in the dentist chair.

Hicham Riba, a specialist and professional in anesthesia, who was also licensed, was the dentist in charge of the procedure.

“My family and I are so sad. May God bless Diamond and her family. Every time you have a tragedy like this, you pray more. I don’t think I will ever go back to a normal life after an experience like this,” Riba said in a statement on Wednesday, September 28.

According to the family, the girl had been given at least a triple dose of medicine that sedated her. Those drugs include: nitrous oxide gas, a single dose of an “oral agent” and an IV.

A judge has ordered that all equipment and materials used during the operation be protected and examined. The girl’s medical records have also been ordered to be examined.

There is no word on whether or not any charges will be filed against Riba or any of the dentist’s staff.

Medical Center

Maintain Your Weight With These Easy Tricks}

Maintain Your Weight With These Easy Tricks

by

John Tartol

As is rightly said, losing weight is much tougher than to gain it. The reason behind this fact that you don’t have to work hard to gain weight but may have to bring a dramatic change in your lifestyle to get back to your desired body shape. You may have spent countless number of hours in the gym, followed a healthy diet plan, or hired a personal fitness trainer to shed extra flab from your body, but the truth is that you can very easily gain few pounds again if you fail to maintain and sustain your Weight Loss Encino.

You can maintain your weight if you choose to follow the instructions of your personal trainer in your daily routine. This article is composed with intention of providing useful information to readers about how they can maintain their weight loss by following simple instructions.

1. Build Lean Muscle. You can continue to build lean muscle for maintaining or even improving your metabolism. Muscle has been reported to have a higher metabolism as compared to body fat. You can add weight training to your weight management program, and add to the amount of weight you’re working with to make your training more challenging.

2. Reduce Your Food Cravings. You should learn to effectively deal with your hunger quotient. Focus on consuming more filling foods which can make you feel fulfilled for a longer period of time, which will reduce your food cravings considerably. At the same time, your body will not be deprived of essential nutrients that it requires to keep functioning normally. Protein shakes are healthy and delicious meal replacements which nourish your body as well as keep it filled for a longer duration of time. Food with high content of fiber can keep you filled for longer durations. Water also is a natural source which you should drink regularly to satiate your hunger quotient in between the meals. It will keep your Weight Loss Encino in check.

3. Don’t Give In To Temptation. It’s very easy to give in to temptation even when you’re on weight loss management program. A study has revealed that how people with normal weight are more successful in resisting temptation against forbidden treats. That is not to say that you shouldn’t enjoy a gooey desert again, but you have to be very selective and restrictive about the moments that you will be having this type of food.

4. Keep A Calorie Count. Don’t assume anything; rather keep an account of your calorie intake regularly. Regular calorie count can keep you updated about your daily calorie intake. You should know very well if you are consuming more calories than your body requires or you are well within the limits. When you have a clear picture with you, your life will be much more easier.

5. Add Minutes To Your Exercise Plan. You should avoid relaxing during your exercise plan just because you have achieved desired weight. Add minutes to your exercise plan to challenge yourself after every few days.

Over weight is killing you? Read the above article about how you can maintain your weight with easy tricks and achieving successful results in

Weight Loss in Encino

and a healthy body.

Article Source:

eArticlesOnline.com }

US free speech lawyer defends satire of Glenn Beck

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Massachusetts-based First Amendment rights lawyer Marc Randazza is defending a controversial parody website which satirizes American political commentator Glenn Beck. The website was created in September by a man from Florida named Isaac Eiland-Hall, and it asserts Beck uses questionable tactics “to spread lies and misinformation”.

The website created by Eiland-Hall is located at the domain name “www.GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com”. Its premise is derived from a joke statement made by Gilbert Gottfried about fellow comedian Bob Saget. The joke was first applied to Beck on the Internet discussion community Fark. It then became popular on Internet social media sites including Reddit and Digg, and was the subject of a Google bomb, a technique where individuals link phrases in order to artificially change Google search results.

Eiland-Hall saw the discussion on Fark, and created a website about it. The website asserts it does not believe the rumors to be true, and states: “But we think Glenn Beck definitely uses tactics like this to spread lies and misinformation.” In an interview with Ars Technica, he said the website was “using Beck’s tactics against him”. The website was created on September 1, and by September 3 attorneys for Beck’s company Mercury Radio Arts took action. Beck’s lawyers sent letters to the domain name registrar where they referred to the domain name itself as “defamatory”, but they failed to get the site removed.

Even an imbecile would look at this Web site and know that it’s a parody.

Beck filed a formal complaint with the Switzerland-based agency of the United Nations, the World Intellectual Property Organization. Beck alleged that the website’s usage is libelous, bad faith, and could befuddle potential consumers. Beck’s complaint was filed under the process called the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. The policy allows trademark owners to begin an administrative action by complaining that a certain domain registration is in “bad faith”. A lawyer for Beck declined to provide a comment to the Boston Herald, however a source told the newspaper that Beck’s complaint with the site is primarily a “trademark issue”.

Randazza established an attorney-client relationship with Eiland-Hall after his client received threatening letters from attorneys representing Beck. He then sent an email to Beck’s attorneys, and pointed out inconsistencies between their client’s recent actions and his prior public statements in support of the First Amendment. Randazza wrote a reply to the World Intellectual Property Organization, and contends that the website is “protected political speech”, because it is “satirical political humor”. Randazza stated that “Even an imbecile would look at this Web site and know that it’s a parody.” In his legal brief, Randazza compared the website to other Internet memes, such as “All your base are belong to us” and video parodies of the German film Downfall.

It’s not often that I would recommend reading a World Intellectual Property Organization legal brief for its entertainment value, but today is going to be an exception.

“We are here because Mr. Beck wants Respondent’s website shut down. He wants it shut down because Respondent’s website makes a poignant and accurate satirical critique of Mr. Beck by parodying Beck’s very rhetorical style,” wrote Randazza in the brief. The brief also commented on Beck’s style of reporting, and pointed out a controversial statement made by Beck when he interviewed a Muslim member of the United States Congress. Beck said to Representative Keith Ellison: “I like Muslims, I’ve been to mosques. … And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview because what I feel like saying is, sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.” According to the Citizen Media Law Project, the website’s joke premise takes advantage of “a perceived similarity between Beck’s rhetorical style and the Gottfried routine”.

Public interest attorney Paul Levy told Ars Technica that if a statement in a website’s domain name were both false and “stated with actual malice”, it is possible it could be considered defamatory. The First Post reported that Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Corynne McSherry gave an analysis asserting that though the domain name of the website is “pretty dramatic”, it constituted “pure political criticism and there’s nothing wrong with that”. McSherry and Levy both agreed that the action of Beck to take the matter to the World Intellectual Property Organization was probably a tactic to determine the identity of the website’s owner.

Andy Carvin of National Public Radio wrote that Randazza’s legal brief was amusing, commenting: “It’s not often that I would recommend reading a World Intellectual Property Organization legal brief for its entertainment value, but today is going to be an exception.” Nate Anderson of Ars Technica commented “In any event, the WIPO battle promises to be entertaining, and there’s even a bit of serious purpose mixed in with the frivolity. Just how far can WIPO go in using its domain dispute system to address Internet spats?”. Domain Name Wire wrote that “…when someone who has created a bitingly satirical web site works with his lawyer to put pen to the paper, the end result can be quite amusing.”

Writing for Adweek, Eriq Gardner pointed out the comparison made by Randazza’s legal brief between the website’s parody nature itself and the statement made by Beck to Congressman Ellison, noting: “this case also makes a political point”. Jack Bremer wrote in The First Post that the attempts by Beck’s lawyers to argue that the website’s domain name is itself defamatory “looks like a first in cyber law”. Rick Sawyer of Bostonist characterized Randazza’s legal brief as “Hillarious!”, and called the attorney “among the North Shore’s most hilarious legal writers”.

[Glenn Beck] did the one thing guaranteed to garner the greatest amount of publicity for the site…

The FOX News-critical site FoxNewsBoycott.com likened the legal conflict between Beck and the site to the Streisand effect, a phenomenon where an individual’s attempt to censor material on the Internet in turn proves to make the material itself more public. “Glenn Beck is experiencing the Streisand Effect first hand,” wrote FoxNewsBoycott.com. John Cook of Gawker.com also compared Beck’s actions to the Streisand effect: “Now Glenn Beck’s trying to shut down their web site, ensuring that people will write about it.” Jeffrey Weiss of Politics Daily wrote that by taking legal action, Beck “did the one thing guaranteed to garner the greatest amount of publicity for the site”. Techdirt described Beck’s legal action as “not particularly smart”, and noted: “Beck would have been better off just ignoring it. Instead, in legitimizing it by trying to take it down, many more people become aware of the meme — and may start calling attention to situations where Beck (and others) make use of such tactics.” The blog Hot Air noted the issue could gain attention if it becomes a test case for the First Amendment: “If this becomes a First Amendment test case, the smear’s going to be covered far and wide…”

Thermoelectric plants in Arad, Romania to be modernised

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

The Romanian government has allocated 16.6 million euros for the modernisation of two thermoelectric power plants that serve a residential area in the city of Arad, western Romania. The funds come in response to a request sent at the beginning of this year by the Arad municipal government.

The mayor of Arad, Gheorge Falc?, said that the modernisation was necessary because, up until now, apartments in the area could not be properly heated due to a significant loss of hot water caused by problems in the pipe network. According to the mayor, the installations will be fully modernised by this winter (December 2005). Falc? also added that, in years to come, he would request more funds from the national government in order to modernise all out-of-date power plants in the city, and therefore reduce the costs for consumers.

At the same time, the Romanian government has pledged to reduce pollution levels, especially in industrial cities like Arad, in order to comply with European Union environmental standards. Romania is set to join the EU in 2007. The government’s target is that, by 2015, all plants or facilities using large combustion installations will have to align to EU environmental standards or will be forced to shut down. One of such plants is the Arad District Heating Plant, CET Arad, which is going to be modernised in the future. The modernisation is expected to take 100 million euros to complete.

Wikinews interviews Steve Burke, U.S. Democratic Party presidential candidate

Sunday, December 13, 2015

 This article is a featured article. It is considered one of the best works of the Wikinews community. See Wikinews:Featured articles for more information.

Macomb, New York Councilman Steve Burke took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the U.S. Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

Burke, an insurance adjuster and farmer, was elected councilman in Brookhaven, New York in 1979. He left the town after being accused and found not guilty of bribery in the 1980s. Since 1987 he has served as Macomb councilman off-and-on and currently holds the post. From 1993 to 1996 and 1999 to 2002 he worked as chairman of the Democratic Party of St. Lawrence County, New York. Among his many political campaigns, Burke unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1992 and recently attempted to run for U.S. Congress in 2014 but too many of his ballot petition signatures were found invalid. Burke filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in the 2016 election on September 18, 2015 and has qualified for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire Primary.

With Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn?, Burke discusses his political background, his 2016 presidential campaign, and his policy proposals.