Swiss defense minister defends Swedish jet deal (AP)

GENEVA ? Switzerland's defense minister has defended a decision to buy Swedish fighter jets, saying it is the best long-term financial choice despite the Swiss Air Force's recommendation to buy other planes.

Ueli Maurer says the Swiss Cabinet's decision in November to order 22 Gripen fighters from Sweden's Saab AB to replace the air force's Northrop F-5 Tigers is "the optimal solution for the Swiss army" based on several years of study.

He said in a statement and press conference Tuesday the decision was based on a cost summary and assessment that the Gripen, the Rafale made by Dassault Aviation of France, and the Eurofighter made by a European consortium, were all adequate.

A 2009 Air Force report made public Sunday put the Rafale and Eurofighter ahead of in tests.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120214/ap_on_re_eu/eu_switzerland_fighter_jets

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TECHNOLOGY RED ALERT: SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY H V AN IPHONE [Twitter]

It's not easy being Chuck Grassley. First, some jerk makes fun of your inability to spell on Twitter. Then, you continue to use Twitter without learning how to use a keyboard. Then you're hacked. But will an iPhone change everything? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/VVDwbbwGrhg/technology-red-alert-sen-chuck-grassley-h-v-an-iphone

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Videogames: Hostile Environmental Conditions

Gamers are an angry bunch. Quick to anger, loving unprovoked personal attacks it seems. The gaming community at large appears to be a huge cesspit of juvenile?and mostly male?people, who pride themselves on humiliating others. For their opinions, for their gender, race, ability to play games. The gaming community overall is a very hostile, very unfriendly place.

The comment sections of any bigger gaming site are frequently the battlefields of raging flame wars.

The comment sections of any bigger gaming site are frequently the battlefields of raging flame wars. Be it among the commenters or commenters trolling away at the writer of whatever article those comments are placed under. It gets worse, oftentimes completely out of hand, when the topic is somewhat ?controversial?, especially when it?s about women and games.

But why is that so? There are several contributing factors at work here. One is, obviously, the internet. The gaming community is borne from the web, unlike other groups of people who share a hobby and who convene online for the sake of convenience. Gamer meetups?at least where I come from?are rather rare. Gaming is a mostly solitary hobby, even when taking multiplayer games into account. Of course there are LAN parties, which may soften up this account a bit, but eventually The Gamer as a person in this particular hobby pursues his hobby alone.

Therefor, the Internet is the place where gaming communities form. And that leads to another factor, the anonymity of the net. There?s only handles and avatars, no immediate interpersonal communication. There has been a lot of controversy about Blizzards no longer so recent attempt to curb trolling by introducing the Real ID whereby people had to post on the forums using their real names. But even that doesn?t really help the problem of the overall hostile environment much. The communication is still not immediate. Still impersonal.

The next factor is quite simple. Gaming?and especially online gaming?is a highly competetive hobby. With the introduction of gamerscores and achievements, a certain layer of competetiveness has even invaded single player experiences. Due to the lack of interpersonal communication and immediacy, the tone of competitive online multiplayer gaming can be harsh, juvenile, idiotic and hostile as a school of rabid piranhas smelling blood. Racial, misogynist slurs seem to make up regular gamer language, sexually degrading acts belong to the normal reportoire of ?social gestures? in online multiplayer.

This behavior breeds a monoculture.

And while it may all only be a game and while none of the many instances of homophobic, racist and misogynist slurs might not be really meant that way (and here we can again open the can of worms whether that matters or not, my humble opinion is: yes god damn it, it matters, there are things you just don?t do), they still contribute to a seedy violently hostile atmosphere in many niches of the broader gaming community.

This behavior breeds a monoculture. This loud crowd of people drowns out well mannered folks by ensuring they won?t be heard, or won?t even dare to raise their voice, or just won?t care to contribute to this cesspool of insanity to begin with. And therein lies the real tragedy. Unless gamers at large can stop behaving like 13 year olds on crack online, the gaming community won?t be inviting?or not inviting enough?for anyone unable to withstand that kind of socio-Darwinistic survival pressure where it?s survival of either the one with the thickest hide or the meanest, most degrading comeback.

That is not to say that there are not gaming communities that are open, friendly and inclusive. The problem is that those are rare and usually hard to find. Also, those usually don?t make it to the mainstream. The mainstream is all about ?teabagging a faggot in the face after he gets raped.? That just won?t do.

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Source: http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/5016/article/videogames-hostile-environmental-conditions/

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Geothermal Energy in Salt Lake City - Society - EzineMark

Geothermal Energy in Salt Lake City
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Considering the energy shortages facing us these days, the people of Salt Lake City are making a special effort to find renewable energy sources. One of the most effective renewable energy sources is Salt Lake City geothermal energy. By harnessing this natural force instead of using up limited fossil fuels, we can maintain a greener community.

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To put it simply, geothermal energy is heat energy from the earth. Just below the earth?s crust is a multitude of hot magma (the material that becomes lava when it erupts from volcanoes), which continually produces heat as it naturally decays radioactive materials like uranium and potassium.

As far as 33,000 feet straight into the earth exists roughly 50,000 times more energy than all of the natural oil and gas in the world.

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Salt Lake City geothermal energy is an abundant and powerful resource, and it can be used in simple pumping forms or in more complex power stations. According to the Geothermal Energy Association, geothermal energy systems are currently being used all around the world, providing over 8,900 megawatts of geothermal capacity?enough to power 12 million U.S. households.

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Geothermal heat pumps throughout the country provide balanced heating and cooling systems to thousands of buildings in clean and inexpensive ways. While it is easily accessible in regions with active or geologically young volcanoes, geothermal energy can be harnessed in flat areas far away from tectonic plate lines, as well.

Between 10 and 100 feet, there is enough heat to control the climate within your home, business, school or virtually any other building. You, too, can jump on the Salt Lake City geothermal energy bandwagon and make a positive impact on our environment.

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Getting started with geothermal

Using Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) emerging technology, more and more companies and citizens are able to harvest the earth?s energy for their own use. Individuals can most easily tap into this source with ground-source heat pumps.

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Homes in rural areas without access to natural gas lines that use propane or electricity for heating and cooling purposes can add an underground loop to include a geothermal energy pump. This can be done during construction or renovation of the building, so it is not simply added whenever a homeowner learns what geothermal energy is. However, with increased study of Salt Lake City geothermal energy?s properties as well as the public?s education and preparation for this resource, more and more homeowners can benefit from the earth?s natural energy source.

Source: http://society.ezinemark.com/geothermal-energy-in-salt-lake-city-7d339bf68853.html

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getting InTouch ? relationships | sleepsweetsleeps

THINK, SPEAK & CONNECT WITH COMPASSION,

?LANGUAGE OF EMPATHY

Basic skills for personal development that includes empathetic listening & expressing honestly.

Inspired by Nonviolent Communication, a language of ?life by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg

??I believe that the most joyful and intrinsic motivation human beings have for taking any action is the desire to meet our needs and the needs of others.? ? ? ? ? ?Dr. Marshall Rosenberg

?Nonviolent Communication is the most useful process you will?ever learn.?- William Ury, author of Getting To Yes

Integrating the wisdom of the somatic education method developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, Awareness through Movement?

?Each one of us speaks, moves, thinks and feels in a different way, each according to the image of himself that he has built up over the years. In order to change our mode of action, we must change the image of ourselves that we carry within us.? ? ?Moshe Feldenkrais

_______________________________________________________

Mondays, ?Feb 20-March 26, 2012

• 07:00 pm to 09:00 pm ? ?six consecutive Monday nights

Introduction

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a powerful process to increase goodwill in your relationship replacing?habitual?patterns of defensiveness. ??Understand and learn skills ?that nurtures connection and?actions ?to create healthy relationships and the causes of ?disconnect, therefore strain and feelings of loneliness even in our most intimate relationships. ?Some benefits of NVC are; learning empathy to heal?the pain that prevents you from hearing each other in conversation, to break patterns of thinking that leads to anger,?guilt, shame and depression, and to express in a way to resolve conflicts. ?Experience relationships based upon mutual respect,?compassion and cooperation. ?Workshop has been inspired by well-known author of Nonviolent?Communication, Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, who has adapted these basic skills for understanding how to feel heard and to express in a manner more likely to get your needs met. ?It is a well-known ?system for?getting ?past the pain in your relationships to experience more loving kindness.

90.00, for 6 sessions or Register in advance by February 22, 2012 ? $78.00
more info ??renee@insideawareness.com?or?250-361-7508
Location ? Inside Awareness for Health Living

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Source: http://sleepsweetsleeps.com/2012/02/11/getting-intouch-relationships/

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Treasure Coast Real Estate | Jupiter Farms Homes For Sale ...

by starfish on February 11, 2012

Find Jupiter Farms Homes For Sale and Jupiter Farms Home Values. We also have information on mortgages, insurance, movers and other Treasure Coast Real Estate Services for anyone looking to sell or buy a home in beautiful Palm Beach COUNTY Florida.

Paul Kitchen and Starfish Team provide clients, family and close friends with professional, honest and dependable service. A resident of Treasure Coast, Paul is extremely familiar with the local neighborhoods including Jupiter Farms, school districts and the Treasure Coast Real Estate market in this beautiful Florida town.

Paul Kitchen
Broker-Owner
Starfish Real Estate
8985 SE Bridge Road Hobe Sound, Florida 33455
(561) 935-9412
(800) 793-7304 toll free
Treasure Coast Real Estate
Treasure Coast Real Estate Blog

Tagged as: jupiter farms, Treasure Coast Real Estate

Source: http://www.treasure-coast-living.com/2012/02/11/treasure-coast-real-estate-jupiter-farms-homes-for-sale-february-2012-2/

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France's Total gets oil price profit boost

PARIS (AP) ? French oil company Total SA forecast higher production this year while revealing Friday that higher oil prices helped it post a 12.8 percent rise in fourth quarter profits despite a drop in output.

France's largest company by market value reported fourth quarter profit of euro2.29 billion ($3.0 billion) from euro2.03 billion the year before.That took the full-year profit up to euro12.3 billion, 16 percent higher from euro10.5 billion in 2010.

CEO Christophe de Margerie said high oil prices helped profits on production activities in the quarter but hurt downstream operations such as refining. Upstream revenue was up 21 percent in the fourth quarter to euro2.8 billion while downstream revenue fell 7 percent, losing euro222 million.

De Margerie said the company plans euro20 billion in investments this year and that the startup of the new deep offshore Pazflor field in Angola and others "will ensure a return to production growth in 2012 and the years to come."

Total's output was down 1.3 percent over the year at 2.35 million barrels a day. It was 2.38 million barrels a day in the fourth quarter, roughly unchanged from the same quarter a year earlier.

The company announced a dividend of euro2.28, the same as the year before.

Europe's biggest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, reported weaker than expected fourth quarter earnings last week and also said it would embark on a new program to boost production. Shell reported a 4.3 percent annual fall in fourth quarter earnings to $6.5 billion because of a sharp downturn in industry refining margins and in natural gas prices.

Britain's BP PLC posted double-digit gains in profit and revenue in the last three months of 2011 despite further big payments to compensate for the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP reported a profit of $7.69 billion.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-02-10-EU-France-Earns-Total/id-44fc00c40dd74dad8c5c20d3ebced658

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