Business Tensions Play Out Between China, Iran

BEIJING?Alibaba.com Ltd.'s trade website was inaccessible Thursday to people in Iran, according to a person familiar with the matter, just one day after the Chinese government publicly complained that Chinese buyers of Iran's iron ore had problems doing business there.

It is unclear what caused the site outage or even whether the incidents are related, but it marks the latest business hiccup between two countries that have long shared a close diplomatic relationship, as the Iranian government comes under mounting international pressure over its alleged nuclear efforts.

On Wednesday, China's Ministry of Commerce published a report saying that Chinese companies ...

BEIJING?Alibaba.com Ltd.'s trade website was inaccessible Thursday to people in Iran, according to a person familiar with the matter, just one day after the Chinese government publicly complained that Chinese buyers of Iran's iron ore had problems doing business there.

It is unclear what caused the site outage or even whether the incidents are related, but it marks the latest business hiccup between two countries that have long shared a close diplomatic relationship, as the Iranian government comes under mounting international pressure over its alleged nuclear efforts.

On Wednesday, China's Ministry of Commerce published a report saying that Chinese companies ...

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203686204577114080532306476.html?mod=rss_about_china

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Cuba says travel restrictions to remain in place (AP)

HAVANA ? President Raul Castro on Friday put on ice highly-anticipated plans to ease travel restrictions on Cubans, telling lawmakers the nation would not be pressured into moving too fast and citing continued aggression from the United States as the reason for his cautious approach.

Cuba has been awash in speculation the much-hated regulations, which prevent most Cubans from leaving the island, might be lifted during Friday's session of the National Assembly. But Castro said the time still wasn't right, despite a year of free-market reforms that has seen the Communist government legalize a real estate market and greatly increase private business ownership.

"Some have been pressuring us to take the step ... as if we were talking about something insignificant, and not the destiny of the revolution," Castro said, adding that those calling for an end to the travel restrictions "are forgetting the exceptional circumstances under which Cuba lives, encircled by the hostile policy ... of the U.S. government."

Castro criticized U.S. President Barack Obama, saying he was the 11th American president since the 1959 revolution led by his brother Fidel, and appeared "not to understand" the sacrifices Cuba had made in its struggle for independence and sovereignty, including the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, as well as Washington's 49-year trade and travel embargo.

"Sometimes, he (Obama) gives the impression he has not even been informed of this reality," Castro said, repeating his willingness to normalize relations with the U.S. under the right conditions.

Castro also announced an amnesty for 2,900 prisoners ahead of next year's visit by Pope Benedict XVI, but a senior official told the Associated Press that jailed American subcontractor Alan Gross would not be among those freed.

The Cuban president told legislators he still hoped to enact the travel reforms, but did not say when. If hopes were high among islanders that Friday would be the big day, Castro had only himself to blame.

At parliament's last session, in August, he announced that the government was committed to ease the travel restrictions. He said the measures were originally adopted because many who left in the years after the revolution were a threat to the nascent government, including people backed by the United States who sought its overthrow.

Castro said in August that most of those who leave now do so for economic reasons and are not enemies. He said removing travel restrictions would help "increase the nation's ties to the community of emigrants, whose makeup has changed radically since the early decades of the revolution."

Cubans had been clamoring for the elimination of the "tarjeta blanca," or exit visa, which the government requires of all seeking to travel abroad, even for vacation. Many people are denied, particularly doctors, scientists and military officials whose departure would be considered a threat to the state.

"The need for permission to leave should never have been invented in the first place," Victor Salgado, a 73-year-old retiree, told the Associated Press ahead of Castro's speech. "They should have eliminated this long ago. Why should I have to ask permission if I want to leave my country?"

Another Havana resident, Yamila Baez, said she was hoping the restrictions would be scrapped as soon as possible.

"It isn't normal that one has to ask the government for its okay," she said. "If you have the money to buy a ticket you should be able to go."

Castro's speech was the highlight of an otherwise humdrum parliament session in which legislators approved a budget for 2012 and heard from senior officials on the state of the economy.

Economy Minister Adel Yzquierdo told lawmakers the government expected economic growth to come in at 3.4 percent in 2012, a bit better than the 2.7 percent expected to be registered this year. Finance Minister Lina Pedraza added that the government expects both revenue and costs to rise in 2012, with the government running a deficit of about 3.8 percent.

Cuban officials also used the session to criticize Washington for its trade and travel embargo, and to call on the U.S. to release four Cuban agents still imprisoned there. A fifth left jail earlier this year, but has been blocked from returning to Cuba until he completes parole.

Cuba is ending the first year of a drive by Castro to reform its state-dominated economy. The government has allowed citizens to get business licenses for nearly 200 approved jobs, and 355,000 have taken them up on the offer. The state has also legalized a real estate market for the first time in nearly half a century, begun extending bank credits to entrepreneurs and those wishing to fix up their homes, and removed restrictions on the sale of used cars.

A parallel effort to trim half a million workers from state payrolls largely foundered.

___

Paul Haven can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_parliament

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Copano Energy, Magellan Midstream form JV to deliver Eagle Ford Shale condensate

EBR Staff Writer Published 23 December 2011

Copano Energy in partnership with Magellan Midstream have formed a joint venture (JV) to deliver Eagle Ford Shale condensate to Corpus Christi located in the US state of Texas.

The 50/50 joint venture, under the name Double Eagle Pipeline will construct and own about 140 miles of new pipeline to connect an existing 50-mile pipeline segment owned by Copano to Karnes, Live Oak, McMullen and LaSalle Counties of Texas.

The pipeline enables delivery of condensate to Magellan's terminal in Corpus Christi.

Initial capacity of the pipeline will be 100,000 barrels per day.

In addition, Double Eagle will construct a new truck unloading facility along the pipeline near Three Rivers, Texas for deliveries of condensate specified for Corpus Christi.

The expected cost of the new joint venture facilities is about $150m and will be shared equally by Copano and Magellan.

Copano will oversee construction of the new pipeline and serve as operator.

The companies expect to provide limited services by the end of 2012, with full service available beginning in the first quarter of 2013.

In connection with the joint venture, Copano will convert its existing 50-mile pipeline from natural gas to condensate service, and Magellan will make enhancements to its Corpus Christi terminal.

The terminal includes the construction of 500,000 barrels of new dedicated condensate storage and a new dedicated dock delivery pipeline.

Source: http://transportationandstorage.energy-business-review.com/news/copano-energy-magellan-midstream-form-jv-to-deliver-eagle-ford-shale-condensate-231211

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New home sales up, but still depressed

Today, the?U.S. Census Department?released its monthly?New Residential Home Sales Report?for November showing a monthly increase with sales climbing 1.6% since October and 9.8% above the level seen in November of 2010 but remaining at an epically low level of 315K SAAR units.

It's important to recognize that the?inventory of new homes?has now fallen to a new series low at 158K units, lowest level seen in in at least 47 years while the?median number of months for sale?going flat at 7.4.

The monthly supply declined to 6.0 months while the median selling price declined 2.5% and the average selling price declined 13.77% from the year ago level.

The chart above shows the extent of sales decline to date.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on paper-money.blogspot.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/vy-q_gTWCF4/New-home-sales-up-but-still-depressed

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IBM: Mind-Reading Machines Will Change Our Lives (Mashable)

In five years, we'll simply be able to think something, and a computer will respond. That's the vision from IBM, which just published its "5 in 5" forecast, which attempts to predict five technologies that have the potential to significantly change our lives in the next five years. One of the more surprising candidates: machines that will read our thoughts. Well, not exactly, IBM Senior Inventor Kevin Brown told Mashable. The idea is a little more down-to-earth -- and less scary -- than the science-fiction scenarios of mind-reading robots that the description evokes. IBM's vision is this: a person wears a headset (shown above, worn by Brown) that can detect general electrical signals from the brain, and sends them to a computer. Sophisticated software interprets those signals and, in turn, tells a machine what to do.

[More from Mashable: IBM Says We?ll Have Mind-Reading Computers Within Five Years]

"One of the common misconceptions is that this headset is reading your thoughts," says Brown. "It's not. It's just reading a level of excitement. It's not understanding."

The technology behind the idea has existed for a while. The headset, which costs just $299 and is made by a company called Emotiv, is able to detect electrical signals in the brain (via electroencephalography, or EEG) as well as muscular movements (electromyography, or EMG), both well known in the medical community.

[More from Mashable: IBM Names Virginia Rometty First Female CEO]

Once you have those signals, Brown says the real magic begins, which is the ability to map signals to different actions. By doing so, the user is effectively teaching the machine how to read a specific mind. In much the same way speech-recognition software gets tailored to an individual's accent, inflections, and pronunciation, the mind-reading software can adapt to a person's unique "thoughts."

The next step is mapping specific thoughts to specific actions, analogous to programming a universal remote control. The key here is that the thought and action don't necessarily have to be the same. For example, if you want to use the headset to, say, turn on a TV, you might program the headset to perform that action when you think about kittens.

"Any device can take that [headset] data and do something with it," says Brown, "So you might have a fan come on or you might have a room light change color based on certain excitement level."

The idea of walking around your house wearing an elaborate headset (you can see it here) has unfortunate echoes of another technology that was supposed to change our lives but flopped: 3D. However, the tech has already come a long way from the hospital-level EEG devices, which needed gels applied to the skin and hard-wire connections. An Emotiv competitor, NeuroSky, has a sleeker (though less capable) headset. Brown is confident progress could make it even more compact.

"At the moment there's a little bit of trade-off between technology looks," Brown admits. "But one of the key things is finding a really use that actually makes people want to wear it."

Brown's alluding to the mind-reading tech finding a "killer app." As far as what that could be, he says it's only limited by what you could connect the headset to, and -- if the tech is cultivated into a full-fledged platform with developers, apps and iterative updates -- that could be a lot. Thinking big, Brown suggests large-scale data about how people are feeling could become a tool for marketers and sociologists.

"If you also think about smarter cities," Brown writes in a blog post. "If everyone is wearing the device and open to sharing their thoughts, city heat maps could be created to see how people are feeling to create a picture of the mental health of a city. Or musicians could create elaborate pieces based on what they are thinking about."

What are your thoughts on reading thoughts? Would you wear a headset to control things with your mind? And what about sharing your real-time feelings in some kind of public network? Let us know in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enterprise/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20111221/tc_mashable/ibm_mindreading_machines_will_change_our_lives

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Sun Spider from South Africa: Possible Case of Unnecessary Carnage

What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination


Posted by December 22nd, 2011 at 12:22 pm

Categories

Solpugids and Camel Spiders

What IS it??
Location: Polokwane, South Africa
December 21, 2011 3:29 pm
This was in our house. Ran quickly. Looks like a huge ant but has 8 legs like a spider.
Signature: DJ

solifugid carnage south africa 300x202 Sun Spider from South Africa:  Possible Case of Unnecessary Carnage

Solifugid appears to be victim of Unnecessary Carnage

Dear DJ,
This is a species of Solifugid, a member of the Arachnid order Solifugae.? Though they are related to both Spiders and Scorpions, Solifugids do not have venom and they are not considered dangerous to humans.? Solifugids are sometimes called Sun Spiders or Wind Scorpions.? Solifugids are generally found in arid climates and species from the Middle East which are known as Camel Spiders can grow quite large.? It appears that your Solifugid might have been smashed as evidenced by what appears to be bodily fluids at the end of the abdomen.? If this is the case, we would like to educate you regarding the benefits of this harmless, nocturnal hunter.?? Though they appear to be frightening, Solifugids are not harmful to human or pets, unless you keep small arthropods as pets.? It is possible that a Solifugid might bite a human if they are carelessly handled, but since there is no venom involved, the bite is harmless.? If they are present in or near your home, Solifugids will help to control the population of Cockroaches and other creatures that you might find undesirable.?

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Source: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2011/12/22/sun-spider-from-south-africa-possible-case-of-unnecessary-carnage/

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Ex-Weil Lawyer Takes Lead in Legal Fight Spawned by One-Man ...

December 21, 2011 5:45 PM

Ex-Weil Lawyer Takes Lead in Legal Fight Spawned by One-Man Sperm Bank

Posted by Tom Huddleston Jr.

Trent Arsenault's Web site?says the Fremont, California, resident studied engineering and computer science at the United States Naval Academy, has a technology job in Silicon Valley, and counts hiking and bird watching among his hobbies. Arsenault's site also lists his blood type, information about his latest physical exam, and the results of his most recent sexually transmitted disease tests.

The reason Arsenault, 36, makes all that information available online is that he provides his sperm to infertile married couples and female domestic partners. Here's the twist: He gives his sperm away for free. He does so, he says, because he wants to spare those trying to conceive the high prices typically charged by traditional sperm banks.

Since undertaking his unconventional mission in 2006, Arsenault?who executes written donor agreements with his recipients and delivers his sperm in what he says are sterile storage cups?claims to have sired 14 children, with four more on the way.

If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gets its way, his one-man sperm bank won't be in business much longer.

Accusing Arsenault of breaking the law by ignoring agency regulations covering those who "manufacture" human cells or tissues, the FDA served him with an "order to cease manufacturing" in November 2010. Specifically, the FDA claims, Arsenault has failed to adequately meet its requirements related to testing donors for communicable diseases.

Arsenault is challenging the order and has filed with the agency seeking a hearing on the matter. He argues that his relationship to those to whom he gives his sperm is that of a "sexually intimate partner" and that his donations are therefore not subject to FDA regulations. He is being represented pro bono in his petition, which the FDA is still considering?by lawyers from Washington, D.C.?based nonprofit public interest group Cause of Action.

Amber Taylor, who joined Cause of Action as a senior attorney in June after three years as an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, authored the group's November 7 brief backing Arsenault's petition seeking a hearing.

Cause of Action's brief also seeks to counter a motion to deny Arsenault's bid for a hearing that FDA staffers filed in February. The agency argues in the order that his sexually intimate partnership claim is merely "an attempt to skirt the law." Taylor says an evidentiary hearing is necessary to determine whether or not Arsenault's claim holds water.

Taylor, who spent two years as an associate at O'Melveny & Myers before joining Weil in 2008, says Cause of Action contacted Arsenault in October to offer its assistance.

"We took up the Arsenault case because we saw it as an instance where the government was improperly applying some regulations, and stepping between two individuals who were trying to have a child," she says.

Taylor says the group's role in the matter extends only to Arsenault's petition. Should he be granted a hearing, she says, he will have to make his own case. A key element of that case, as laid out in the Cause of Action brief, is that by moving to bar Arsenault from making future sperm donations, the FDA is invading both his and his would-be recipients' privacy rights.?

"Mr. Arsenault wants to present testimony at the hearing?from himself and from some of the recipients [who are] willing to testify?that they believe that their agreement that they entered into . . . does constitute a sexually intimate partnership, such that the government doesn't need to be stepping between them," Taylor says.

(The Huffington Post spoke with a woman who is currently pregnant after receiving Arsenault's sperm. She says that their relationship is intimate and should not be subject to federal regulation.)

FDA guidelines, she says, do not actually define sexually intimate partnerships. That, the Cause of Action brief notes, is evidence that such relationships are defined on an individual basis. "We're a little concerned when the government is telling people what kind of relationships they have," she says.

Arsenault is allowed to continue making donations as long as his hearing request is pending.

Contacted by The Am Law Daily, an FDA spokeswoman said the agency does not comment on active investigations. Speaking generally, she said the FDA regulates sperm donations whether they are made freely or for pay, adding that the agency's donor eligibility rules are designed to protect sperm recipients against the transmission of communicable diseases.

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Source: http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2011/12/sperm-donor-fda-lawsuit.html

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Southwest, JetBlue and United in top 10 most followed airlines on Facebook

Southwest, JetBlue and United in top 10 most followed airlines on Facebook

Image via edreams.es


Dec 22, 2011

BARCELONA, Spain - Online travel agency eDreams launched a new page on their travel blog today, a list of the world's 50 most popular airlines on Facebook: http://blog.edreams.es/facebook-airlines

The daily self-updating chart [http://blog.edreams.com/facebook-airlines ] counts the total number of likes on the airlines' Facebook Pages and displays them in decreasing order on the page. The chart links each Airline to their corresponding Facebook Page. By liking or unliking, users can visualise their impact on the ranking of their favourite airlines.

At the time of writing this press release, the top five most "liked" airlines on Facebook were: Southwest Airlines (LUV), with 1.740.155 likes, followed by Air Asia (AIABF) with 1.318.339 likes and KLM (AFRAF) with 631.795 likes. The third and fourth ranking airlines are Air France (AFLYY) and Lufthansa (DLAKF).

See the ranking at: http://blog.edreams.com/facebook-airlines

The country with the most representatives in the chart is USA, with three airlines in the top 10 most popular airlines on Facebook (Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and United) and nine representatives in the top 50.

38% of the airlines that are listed in the above mentioned top 50 are European, followed by Asian (24%) and North American (20%) companies.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Eturbonews-TravelAndTourismIndustryNews/~3/l9uYezvDi-I/southwest-jetblue-and-united-top-10-most-followed-airlines-faceb

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Snooki Sued for $7 Million Over Merchandising Deal (omg!)

Snooki Sued for $7 Million Over Merchandising Deal

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi may soon end up in court -- but not for the usual reasons.

PHOTOS: Snooki's wild summer in Seaside Heights, NJ

The 24-year-old Jersey Shore star has been hit with a $7 million counterclaim in her legal battle with licensing company SRG Ventures.

VIDEO: Snooki on her body: "What the hell happened?"

According to The New York Post, Polizzi initially partnered with the company to launch an array of merchandise including school supplies, watches, shoes and lingerie. The pint-sized party girl filed suit in October to end her contract with SRG Ventures, claiming the company didn't fulfill its obligation to secure enough money and develop sufficient branding partnerships.

VIDEO: Snooki installs a stripper pole in her house

SRG Ventures' counterclaim alleges Polizzi sabotaged their agreement by negotiating with brands behind the company's back -- a claim Polizzi's lawyer strongly denies. "Ms. Polizzi disputes SRG's version of the facts and looks forward to her day in court," her lawyer Robert J. Hantman says.

Tell Us: Does Snooki owe SRG Ventures $7 million?

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_snooki_sued7_million_over_merchandising_deal_210441321/43965729/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/snooki-sued-7-million-over-merchandising-deal-210441321.html

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Robert Greenwald: Help NAACP End Voter Suppression

In 2012, we will work with NAACP to ensure every American has the ability to vote. Across the country, community activists are joining us in this effort. Please take a moment to read the blog below from Benjamin Todd Jealous, President & CEO of NAACP and watch the video.

We're Turning the Tide

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Benjamin Todd Jealous, President & CEO

Last week was a game changer. We issued our call for voting rights in the streets of New York, at the United Nations and across the nation through the media. The far right is now on the defensive about their attack on voting rights.

In collaboration with Brave New Foundation, the NAACP has put together a new video about the impact of the voting right attacks on communities of color. Please take a moment to watch and spread the message to everyone you know, then text STAND to 62227:

Our new video, We Will Stand, shows exactly how difficult obtaining ID can be for many people. In the rural South, many people of a certain age have no birth certificate because they were born to a midwife. For them, the barriers to getting a state issued ID without a birth certificate are tremendous. Others are dependent on the rides to the polls provided by church-organized Sunday voting drives, which have been shut down in some states.

In 2012, we will work tirelessly to ensure every American has the ability to vote. On Martin Luther King Day, we will launch an unprecedented voter registration drive and our first-ever voter identification drive. And throughout next year, we will wage voting rights battles in state houses and courts around the country.

Across the country, community activists are joining us in that effort. As our video shows, South Carolina doctor Brenda Williams has spent countless hours and thousands of dollars helping her patients clear the financial and legal hurdles associated with satisfying the state's new strict voter ID law.

Dr. Williams is a hero in her community - but she cannot do it alone. It is going to take the efforts of people like you to help strengthen our front line and ensure our right to vote in 2012 and beyond.

I urge you to take this opportunity to make this movement your own and stand on the right side of history. Watch our video, share it with your friends, then text the word STAND to 62227 using your mobile phone. We will use this list in the year ahead to make sure that you have the information that you need to fight back against voting rights attacks in your community.

Remember that right to vote empowers us to defend our other rights. Enemies of justice will target your voting rights to take away the rest of your rights, knowing that when they come for your right to vote, the whole house of cards we call democracy starts to fall.

Text STAND to 62227 and help us build a strong foundation.

Follow @RobertGreenwald on Twitter.

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Follow Robert Greenwald on Twitter: www.twitter.com/robertgreenwald

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-greenwald/help-naacp-end-voter-supp_b_1154815.html

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