Although moving to an exotic locale without income taxes may sound like paradise, some of the associated taxes and political costs may give you pause.
You have probably heard news coverage about wealthy Americans renouncing their U.S. citizenship not because of philosophical issues with the country or a desire to make a political statement, but instead simply to save money on their taxes. One of the most recent and widely-covered examples of this is Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who renounced his citizenship immediately before the social network went public, reportedly saving himself millions and millions of dollars in taxes. Saverin paid an ?exit tax? that included ?approximately 15 percent of the pre-IPO value of his shares,? but will not pay capital gains now that he lives in Singapore[1].
Think that no income taxes sound like a good idea? Here are 5 countries with no income taxes that might be calling your name[2]:
United Arab Emirates Instead of relying on income taxes for revenue, this country relies on taxes from oil companies. The UAE is the third-biggest exporter of crude in the world. UAE citizens also must contribute five percent of their total earnings for social security.
Oman This country also derives most of its revenue from crude oil but requires contributions of 6.5 percent for social security. Property purchases are also taxed at three percent. Of course, you might not really want to live in Oman right now, thanks to 24.4 percent unemployment and turmoil created by the Arab Spring.
Cayman Islands Although this country has no income taxes, value added taxes, or government sales taxes, import duties can be as high as 25 percent and the cost of living is extremely high. Average home prices are more than three-quarters of a million dollars.
Bermuda Although there are no income taxes in Bermuda, there are a variety of ?contributions? that could eat into your paycheck if you work there. Workers may be required to contribute 5.75 percent on a payroll tax and must pay a little over $30 each week toward social security insurance. There are also a variety of stamp duties and other transactional taxes, and the cost of living is right up there with the highest in the world.
Bahamas The Bahamas may have no income tax, but it also has 15 percent unemployment. 70 percent of government revenue stems from import duties in this country, and self-employed individuals must pay a hefty 8.8 percent of their salary to ?National Insurance,? a form of social security.
Would you renounce your citizenship to avoid paying income taxes? If so, where would you move?
Thank you for reading the Bryan Ellis Investing Letter!
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A genetic study of Native Americans from Greenland to Peru has found that the Western Hemisphere was populated by at least three distinct migrations from Asia.?
By Eryn Brown,?Los Angeles Times/MCT / July 12, 2012
A member of the Aztec nation waits for the beginning of the Native Nations Procession during the opening festivities for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC in 2004. A new study of Native American DNA from Greenland to Peru has discovered that ancient people traveled from Asia to the Americas in at least three separate migrations.
Andy Nelson/The Christian Science Monitor
Enlarge
Supporting a controversial view of how humans might have populated the Western Hemisphere, geneticists have found that groups from Asia traveled over the Bering Strait into North America in at least three separate migrations beginning more than 15,000 years ago ? not in a single wave, as has been widely thought.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
?We have various lines of evidence that there was more than one migration,? said Dr.?Andres?Ruiz-Linares, a professor of human genetics at University College London and senior author of a report on the findings that was published Wednesday by the journal Nature.
The discovery was made possible by the sheer volume of genetic material the team was able to assemble and analyze, he said.
Ruiz-Linares?and colleagues around the world analyzed DNA samples, primarily from blood, taken from hundreds of modern-day Native Americans and other indigenous people representing 52 distinct populations. These included Inuits of east and west Greenland, Canadian groups including the Algonquin and the Ojibwa, and a larger variety of people spanning the southern regions of the Americas from Mexico to Peru.
Investigating patterns in more than 350,000 gene variants, the scientists determined that most of the groups they studied did indeed descend from an original ?First American? population.
However, they also saw that Eskimo-Aleut populations of the Arctic inherited almost half of their DNA from a second ancestral group, and the Na-Dene-speaking Chipewyans, from Canada, got about 10 percent of theirs from yet another group.
The results lined up nicely with a controversial model for the colonization of the Americas that was proposed in 1986 by Stanford University anthropological linguist Joseph Greenberg,?Ruiz-Linares?said.
By examining similarities between many native languages, Greenberg argued that the Americas were populated through three distinct migrations. But his hypothesis was widely rejected by researchers who didn?t agree with his classification of languages.
First lady Michelle Obama smiles as she honors the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award winners, Friday, July 13, 2012, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. A District of Columbia police officer who worked as a motorcycle escort for the White House and other officials has been moved to administrative duty after he allegedly made threatening comments about Michelle Obama. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
First lady Michelle Obama smiles as she honors the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award winners, Friday, July 13, 2012, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. A District of Columbia police officer who worked as a motorcycle escort for the White House and other officials has been moved to administrative duty after he allegedly made threatening comments about Michelle Obama. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
First lady Michelle Obama hosts the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award luncheon in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, July 13, 2012. A District of Columbia police officer who worked as a motorcycle escort for the White House and other officials has been moved to administrative duty after he allegedly made threatening comments about Michelle Obama. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Michelle Obama said the nation's top designers in fashion, architecture, landscapes and technology were making life better through their everyday work and honored them at the White House on Friday.
The first lady joined the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in hosting a luncheon in the East Room for winners of the National Design Awards. The New York City-based museum presents the awards, along with a design fair for Washington teens to meet some of the nation's top creative minds.
Richard Saul Wurman, who created the popular TED conferences for discussing technology, entertainment and design ideas, won the Lifetime Achievement Award. The first lady added that he was "quite dashing and sassy" after meeting him Friday.
Thom Browne, who designs the Black Fleece line for men and women by Brooks Brothers, was honored for his fashion design that evokes the late 1950s and early 1960s. Winners were also named interior design, product design and other sectors.
Obama told a crowd of designers from companies like Facebook, Nike and New York's fashion scene that the design winners help improve daily life through their work.
"Every day, these visionary designers are pushing boundaries, creating and revealing beauty where we least expect it and helping us all lead healthier, more sustainable lives," Obama said. "From the clothes we wear to the technologies we use to the public spaces we enjoy, their work affects just about every aspect of our lives."
The first lady hailed the nonprofit design firm Design that Matters in Cambridge, Mass., which partners with social entrepreneurs to address needs in developing countries, including a neonatal incubator made of spare car parts and a projector for nighttime adult literacy classes in Africa. The company won the design award for corporate and institutional achievement.
She also saluted Wurman, who is an architect and author known for his travel guidebooks. He began TED conferences in 1984 and they would introduce such innovations as the first Mac computer, the Segway and the first announcement of Google, among other creations.
Obama said Wurman has spent his career transforming information into knowledge to help people better understand the world.
"But in the end, as he put it," Obama said, "he does this work 'not for fame, fortune or money,' but 'just really to do something good.'"
After the ceremony, Wurman said he treasured the award and cried when he heard he was receiving the honor.
Atlanta-based architects Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam, a husband-and-wife team, won the top award for architecture. Scogin said it was a unique honor to receive at the White House but that design has historically been part of the U.S. presidency.
"Thomas Jefferson is still one of the great ? he was not an architect ? but he was one of the great architects in American culture," Scogin said. "His interest in the visual and making spaces is always to this day still original thinking."
The architects joined a teen design fair at the Smithsonian earlier in the day to share their careers with teens from Washington and New York City. Elam said there's great design around the world now, so the nation needs to cultivate its next generation of innovators.
"There's no reason that American design shouldn't be the most inventive," she said. "We have the most freedom of any place on the face of the earth, and our design work should just reflect that on and on and on."
Other winners included:
? Design Mind Award: Janine Benyus, a biologist and innovation consultant working to use biomimicry, looking to nature to create sustainable designs.
? Design Patron: Red Burns, an arts professor and chief collaborations officer for the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University for her innovations in communications technology.
? Communication Design: Rebeca Mendes, a professor in media arts at the University of California, Los Angeles.
? Interaction Design: Evan Roth, an artist who visualizes and records often unseen moments in public spaces and collaborated with Jay-Z on the first open-source rap video.
? Interior Design: Clive Wilkinson Architects, a Los Angeles-based firm whose clients have included Google, Disney and 20th Century Fox.
? Landscape Architecture: Stoss Landscape Urbanism, a Boston studio that works in both landscape design and urban planning.
? Product Design: Scott Wilson, founder of the Chicago-based studio Minimal that collaborated with Microsoft to design Kinect for Xbox 360 and who created TikTok watches for the iPod Nano.
___
Online:
Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum: http://www.cooperhewitt.org/
___
Follow Brett Zongker on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat
Sony Mobile'?n yeni modeli Xperia SL'e ait oldu?u ?ne s?r?len ilk g?rsel bug?n internette payla??ld?. Xperia S ile ayn? tasar?m? payla?an Xperia SL, menek?e ve pembe renk se?enekleriyle dikkat ?ekiyor.
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Xperia Blog'un g?vendi?i bir kayna??na dayand?rd??? bilgilere g?re Xperia SL, Xperia S'in farkl? renk se?enekleri eklenmi? ve i?lemcisi g?ncellenmi? versiyonu olacak. Xperia SL'in 1.7 GHz saat h?z?nda ?al??an ?ift ?ekirdekli Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon S3 platformuyla gelmesi beklenmekte. Xperia SL'in ne zamandan itibaren resmiyet kazanaca?? ise hala belirsiz.
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Sony'nin daha ?nce benzer bir stratejiyi Xperia Arc ve Xperia Arc S'te izledi?ini hat?rlatal?m. Xperia Arc'?n i?lemcisi 1 GHz h?z?nda, Xperia Arc S'in i?lemcisi ise 1.4 GHz h?z?nda ?al???yordu.
Have you thought about sprucing up the look of your home? If so, careful planning is important to realize completion of a successful project. You can minimize the hassle involved in your home improvement project by checking out these handy tips.
Don?t forget to check the condition of the caulk in your bathroom from time to time. Remember to check the state of the caulking around the sink and tub in your bathroom from time to time. Many times small holes will start to show, and if moisture gets into the walls in the home, mold can grow and may cause respiratory troubles for some people. Water that seeps through any holes and cracks in the caulking can flow through to the floor, and that can cause it to rot. Make sure to get rid of all the old caulk and clean the surface before reapplying the new caulking. Doing so ensures that the new caulking can hold up to wear and water.
When planning any home improvement project, it is important to consider how any unwanted debris will be disposed of. If the project includes demolition, you need a way to get rid of the rubble quickly and effectively. The easiest way to handle this is to mark off a space for debris.
Be sure to get an estimate from each contractor you contact. Also be sure that the estimates are apples-to-apples comparisons. You need to present each potential contractor with the same detailed list of jobs that make up your overall project. If you are constantly changing your plans, your estimates will not be comparable, and it will be harder to figure out which contractor actually has the best deal.
When thinking about projects that can improve your home, do not overlook the landscaping. Believe it or not, when people see your home, initially they notice the front lawn. An attractive one can give quite the impression. With neat and tidy grass and landscaping, your home will be a showplace.
Search the Internet for ?How To? videos related to your project. Be specific in your search, even consider searching by product model number. You may be surprised to find that many do-it-yourselfers have had similar problems and have found solutions that can help you. By watching the video, you will be able to stand on the shoulders of people that came before you.
Before you begin a home improvement venture, get rid of junk you no longer use. You?ll have more space to move items such as furniture around your home and eliminate extra waste as well. Of course, cutting down on unnecessary junk also tends to make your life simpler and generally more organized.
To liven up or modernize a dull and dated home, add a fresh coat of paint to the walls. A coat of paint will dramatically change the look and feel of almost any room. While it does not cost a lot to paint, your home?s value can greatly increase. Often, lighter colors will offer a nice complement to other areas of your home.
It is important to shut off the water supply to your home before starting any plumbing project. Knowing how and where to shut off your home water is important, especially before doing any kind of plumbing projects.
Buying Thomas Kinkaid paintings isn?t your only art option. Three-dimension tiles can look really nice, as well. Use three dimensional tiles in two colors such as green and white and arrange them on the wall (rotating colors) behind your couch for an original kind of art.
Any home improvement project can be completed, but it takes some careful planning. You can make use of the suggestions you?ve just read to do all of the proper advanced planning before you start your next home improvement job. This careful planning pretty much guarantees your project will come out great
Does a tree in front of your house look unkempt? Why not give your home a nice breath of fresh air by getting this tree shaped properly. If you do this, your front yard will change forever. There is no comparison between a trimmed tree and an unkempt one.
After you have finished the painting part of your home improvements, it is important to clean up properly. If you used latex paint, all you need to clean up is soap and water. If your surfaces were painted with alkyd paints, you will need paint thinner to clean the brushes and gear that you used to do the job. Remember to not pour paint thinner or excess paint down the drain since it can lead to ground-water pollution. Both paint thinner and excess paint needs to be disposed at a toxic waste collection facility.
Do you need to fix a hole in your wall made by a nail or screw. Create a divot in the wall with the rounded end of a screwdriver by pressing it into the screw hole. Next, use spackle or drywall compound to fill the divot. This will give you a nice smooth wall surface.
You now have some conceptual tools for your home improvement projects. They have also clued you in about the tools like wrenches and saws which you will need in order to do a professional job yourself and have addressed the question of when it makes sense to hire a professional. You may want to create a new ?to do? list now!
Learn more on man and van hire london or van with a man london.
The biggest cost saving you are likely to get when buying travel insurance depends on your deductible. Don?t be timid: go for the biggest you can afford. A $500, or $1000, or even $5000 deductible can save you a lot of money, especially if you think of it as an amortization over time.
If you shop around, you can find many policies that will give you up to 20 or even 30 percent premium reductions for? substantial deductibles.? If you take such deductibles four or five years without generating a claim, you will have earned enough savings to get one year free.? And according to all of the statistics available, if you are in reasonably good health, your chances of going that long without a claim are better than even. The great majority of travellers do not encounter claims, even for long trips.
Consider the basics: a deductible is that share of any medical claim you are obligated to pay to the hospital or doctor before your insurer?s share kicks in. If you have a zero deductible, you pay nothing: but your premium offers no discount?it?s full price. If you have a $100 deductible,? your discount is minimal, but it?s worth it to the insurer because the manpower required to handle a small $100 claim costs a lot more.
If you are prepared to pay a $1000 deductible, your premium may be discounted by perhaps 10 percent, and depending on how long you are travelling and how much your premium is, that savings might be quite considerable.
You have to pay that first $1000, but if your hospital bill is $100,000, your share is going to look pretty small and you?ll be happy enough to pay it.? After all, the hospital staff may have saved your life, and what price would you put on that?
A key element to consider in deciding on deductibles is your own economic comfort level.? And here you need to be honest with yourself.? If you are going for a six month vacation to a foreign country (and Florida and Arizona are in foreign countries), and you honestly believe you can?t afford $500 or $1000 in the event you encounter a life-saving emergency, are you wise in taking that vacation in the first place?
Certainly, travel insurance is designed to protect you against economic calamity should you become seriously ill far? from home, but that doesn?t mean you have to pay more for it than you should.
If, as a experienced traveller,? you can look back on a five-year period during which you saved 15-20-or 30 percent on your premiums by taking modest deductibles each year, without having paid out anything for medical bills, you may be very pleasantly surprised at what you have earned.? And if you?re just starting out your snowbird ?career?, this is the time to put that foundation in place.
Good snowbirding takes planning.? Travel insurance is fundamental to that plan.
All travel insurers advertising on this sitemeet TravelinsuranceFile?s acceptability criteria for out-of-country health benefits for Canadian residents. All offer savings for deductibles on annual and single trip plans. Some will also be offering early bird rates. It?s not too early to start your shopping.?
Challenge is a word we hear all the time and holds different definitions for people. ?My suggestion for today is?Set a challenge for yourself with a specific date for it to be accomplished. ?For instance, sign up for a 5k run, a 5k walk, a triathlon, a half marathon, a bike-a-thon or a Spartan race.
Tell all of your friends and family that you have done this and ask them to help keep you accountable. ?Challenges appear in all areas of our lives, find things out of your comfort zone and watch yourself grow.
Possible Challenges:
Sign up for some non-matriculating college classes to learn something new
Sign up for a new fitness class
Go Gluten Free for at least a month
Take cooking lessons and challenge yourself to cook 3 new meals a week at home with fresh, local ingredients
Experiment with new foods, especially vegetables and fruits in season
Puzzles and Challenging games
Make a fitness challenge that you will have to train for to accomplish
Challenge yourself to get up earlier and set intentions and a tone for your day
Challenge your beliefs and expand your world
Once you have your first challenge do something that won?t allow you to back out. ?For instance, register at a local college for a class you want to know more about. ?Sign up for your cooking class and buy the foods you?ll have to cook. ?Invest in a bicycle and set a date for a specific ride.
Here are the benefits of Challenging yourself:
The benefit of taking a new fitness class is that your brain will have to process the new movements. ?This process helps to stimulate ?a higher calorie burn and keep your brain younger.
By eating new foods, you may introduce new nutrients to your body that may actually make you stronger, more mentally clear and/ or have a stronger sex drive. ?These are all great results. ?You can add a shake a day of Rockin??Wellness to your day.
Different routines challenge your body and mind, usually yielding different results, that change your experiences and your life. ?Your challenge can be something as simple as attempting the New York Times Sunday Crossword puzzle or downloading some brain games on your phone.
I recently did this when I decided I would train for a long bike ride. ?I just bought a new Hybrid bike with the intention of riding 20 miles by September with a friend of mine. ?The ride is on the East End of the Long Island. ?Just to be clear, I have zero sense when it comes to distance and directions. ?On our first day out, my friends said we will start with a short ride, and when we returned, I learned that I rode for 12 miles. ?I was floored. ?By day 3, I rode for 18 miles and if they had asked me before we left if I could bike that distance, I would have probably said No. ?In my mind, this challenge was out of my scope and ability. ?I share this story because looking back, it was a challenge but it was much easier than I ever expected. ?I don?t think I would have set out to ride that far on my own. ?I actually loved it. ?There is something about the outdoors, sunshine, scenery and ride that brings you to another place. ?Now, I have set 2 challenges for myself with set dates. ?1. To ride my bike from Greenport to Montauk in September and 2. To run the Spartan race with a team of friends. ? ?
Challenges take you out of your comfort zone and out of your regular routines. ?Think of a challenge as a way to stop the insanity in your life. ?Insanity may be the repetitiveness, the plateaus and the ho-hum. ?Challenges also bring you to another level, by giving you new abilities, skills and accomplishments. ?Remember that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different result. ?Set challenges for yourself at a rate you know you will be able to reach them or at least be able to tackle them. ?You will get new results, a new-found energy and motivation and possibly more brain activity, keeping you younger.
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Stocks were lower Wednesday, ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's June meeting.
Economic data show the U.S. trade deficit shrank by 3.8 percent in May.
The bankrupt parent of American Airlines, AMR, plans to formally sound out potential partners about a merger or other investment deal in coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal said, setting the stage for a showdown over the airline's path out of bankruptcy.
Matthew "The Oatmeal" Inman withdrew over $200,000 of his own money in order to fulfill a strange promise he made.
By Rosa Golijan
Charles Carreon, an attorney now infamous for his role in a legal battle against cartoonist?Matthew "The Oatmeal" Inman, has been characterized as an evildoer in many reports. But when I asked what he thought about how the fight between him and Inman ended, he was a surprisingly good sport and focused on the good that came of it all.
"While it's not the largest sum of money I have ever had a substantial role in raising," he wrote to me, referencing the $211,223.04 collected by Inman's fundraiser,?"it is the first time I've seen it go to charity, and I think it's great." ?
"I had no idea being a cartoon villain could be this rewarding," he added. "I think Matt and I should team up for a mud-wrestling match and see if we can top a million. Being the Mexican, I get to wear a mask."
When I asked Inman how he feels about this strange suggestion, he hesitated, wondering if Carreon is serious or not. In the end, he decided to assume that the attorney indeed wanted to wrestle for charity.?
"The idea of getting in my underwear and publicly wresting with a 56-year-old man may sound funny on paper," Inman mused, "but actually doing it might qualify as the most horrible, awkward, uncomfortable moment in my career ? or life."
How it all began In case you've been away from the Internet for the last month or so and managed to avoid hearing about the spat between Carreon and Inman, let's have a quick review.
Matthew "The Oatmeal" Inman is a 29-year-old cartoonist.?You've probably seen plenty of his work?? such as "10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling,"??"What It's Like To Own An Apple Product," or "Cat vs Internet"?? at some point.
About a year ago, Inman got fed up with a website ??called FunnyJunk ??which had become particularly prone to?re-hosting and monetizing his work. He?wrote a blog post?declaring that FunnyJunk had "practically stolen [his] entire website."?FunnyJunk's owner responded?by claiming that Inman was threatening to sue him and removing any content which referenced "The Oatmeal."
That was the last Inman had heard from FunnyJunk, until June 2012, when he was served with papers explaining that the site's owner was threatening to file a federal lawsuit unless the cartoonist paid $20,000 in damages. Inman consulted a lawyer before posting the letter online, along?with his rebuttal and an explanation of what he'll do.?
The Oatmeal
This cheeky response to a legal threat began a successful charity fundraiser, but it also led to convoluted drama.
"I've got a better idea," Inman wrote. "I'm going to try and raise $20,000 in donations. I'm going to take a photo of the raised?money. I'm going to mail you that photo, along with this drawing of your mom seducing a Kodiak bear. I'm going to take the?money?and donate one half to the National Wildlife Federation and the other half to the American Cancer Society."
Inman's fundraiser ??which was dubbed "BearLove Good. Cancer Bad" ??was incredibly successful. He collected over $200,000 via a crowd-sourcing website called Indiegogo.
Where it all went wrong While Inman was raising money for charity though,?Charles Carreon, who at the beginning of this tale had simply been FunnyJunk's legal representation, was seething.?
"I really did not expect that he would marshal an army of people who would besiege?my website and send me a string of obscene?emails," he told me in early June, after?he'd removed the contact information from his site due to the large number of people who'd contacted him after Inman's blog post was published.?
Carreon filed a lawsuit ??on his own behalf???against Inman, the charities he was raising?funds?for and more. He wanted to freeze the funds and to silence the criticism of his actions. But a short?while after filing that lawsuit, Carreon decided to stop pursuing the matter.?
?"We're very pleased that Carreon has seen that his lawsuit had no merit, and hope that this is the end of his abuse of the legal system," Corynne McSherry, intellectual property director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that defends digital rights ? remarked in a blog post on the organization's website.
How it all ended Inman wanted to keep his promise to the many people who'd donated to his charity fundraiser once everything calmed down. He needed to photograph the donations, in cash, along with a?drawing of someone's mother "seducing a Kodiak bear."?So he went to his bank, with an intimidating friend who could act as a bodyguard.
"So there's this bear ... and he's having sex with a lady who's really overweight ... and I make comics ... $200,000 in?cash," he started to describe the exchange at the financial institution before seemingly giving up. "I had to fill out a bunch of tax forms."
The money in Inman's photos isn't the money he raised for charity, mind you. In fact, Indiegogo already transferred the grand total to the?National Wildlife Federation and?American Cancer Society, split right down the middle.
The Oatmeal
Matthew "The Oatmeal" Inman poses with the $211,223.04 he helped raise for charity.
In order to avoid further aggravating the situation with Carreon, Inman withdrew an amount equivalent to the fundraiser's total from his own account. The money was only out of his account for a couple of hours, for the photo shoot, before Inman redeposited it. He posted the photos on Monday night?and promised to?ship a gift ? a photo of the money along with a framed drawing of a woman seducing a bear ? to Carreon the next day.
"The lawsuit is over. The money was donated. Oatmeal vs FunnyJunk is over. Back to comics," Inman concluded Tuesday afternoon.
Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.
WASHINGTON?? A Canadian amateur astronomer has named an asteroid he discovered after U.S. gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, who died last year in Washington.
Kameny, who earned a doctorate in astronomy at Harvard University, was an astronomer with the U.S. Army Map Service in the 1950s but was fired from his job for being gay. He contested the firing all the way to the Supreme Court and later organized the first gay rights protests outside the White House, the Pentagon and in Philadelphia in the 1960s.
Kameny died last year at age 86.
When astronomer Gary Billings read Kameny's obituary, he consulted with others in the astronomy world. They decided to submit a citation to the Paris-based International Astronomical Union and the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., seeking to designate Minor Planet 40463 as Frankkameny.
It's located in the asteroid belt, orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. The Kameny asteroid is visible through a telescope and was first discovered in 1999 using long-exposure photography.
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"Frank would show up as a little dot that moves between two points," Richard "Doc" Kinne, an astronomical technologist at the American Association of Variable Star Observers in Cambridge, Mass., said in an interview. He helped write the citation that would lead to the naming.
While comets are often named for their discoverers, those who discover asteroids have 10 years to suggest a name once the discovery is verified. The submission is subject to review by a 15-member international panel, said astronomy historian David DeVorkin at the National Air and Space Museum. Astronomers often use the names as an acknowledgement of someone's contributions to science or culture.
A published citation officially naming the asteroid on July 3 notes Kameny's history as a gay rights pioneer.
"Frank E. Kameny (1925-2011) trained as a variable star astronomer in the 1950s, but joined the Civil Rights struggle. His contributions included removing homosexuality from being termed a mental disorder in 1973 and shepherding passage of the District of Columbia marriage equality law in 2009," the citation reads in the Minor Planet Circular.
Kinne said he and Billings wanted to honor Kameny for his legacy, even though he was pushed out of the astronomy field.
After Billings read Kameny's obituary, he wrote to Kinne.
"Hey, I have a few asteroids I discovered that I haven't named yet," he said. "What do you say we name one after Frank?"
"I was utterly floored," Kinne said. "To me, this is a big deal."
Billings told Kinne he was moved by hearing the story of how he had met Kameny about three years ago in Washington and many passers-by stopped to thank him for his advocacy.
"I concluded he was a man I would have admired," Billings wrote to Kinne. "Add that to the fact that I have many friends and acquaintances who are members of the LGBT community, and I felt it was something I wanted to do to honor Dr. Kameny ? and my friends!"
Before Kameny died, Kinne and others had been working to present him with a certificate of recognition from the American Astronomical Society and perhaps create and fund an award in his honor. Kameny also received an official apology from President Barack Obama's administration for his firing years ago.
"He was an astronomer," Kinne said. "The culture of the time took that away from him, and now he's getting it back. He would have liked that."
Kinne and Billings submitted the citation for the asteroid late last year. By July, they hadn't heard whether it was approved and feared it had been rejected. On July 6, though, they got word that Kameny is an asteroid.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The war in Afghanistan has faced mountainous hurdles, many of which, a new book reveals, originated not in the desert mountains of Kandahar or Helmand Province, but at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where Washington infighting reached a fevered pitch.
"We squandered the troop surge," says Rajiv Chandrasekaran, author of Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan, "because of this nasty bickering in Washington."
Much of the tension centered around Richard Holbrooke, the veteran diplomat appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in early 2009 to be the point man for Afghanistan policy. Holbrooke was brought in to try to forge a path toward peace talks with the Taliban, essentially ending a decade-long war. But he was undermined, says Chandrasekaran, by the White House and even members of his own team.
"They just didn't like him," says Chandrasekaran. "Senior members of President Obama's National Security Team just thought he had too big of an ego ... And instead of harnessing what was good about him they focused on his shortcomings and on what was bad about him."
When push came to shove, and Obama's National Security Adviser started making moves to fire Holbrooke, it was Clinton who came to his defense, butting heads directly with the new president.
Clinton, says Chandrasekaran, marched into the Oval Office and said, " 'Mr. President, you can fire Richard Holbrooke, over the objections of your Secretary of State.' "
In Afghanistan, the military surge, argues Chandrasekaran, was a mistake.
"What we fail to understand was that the Afghan people largely wanted to be left alone and they hate their government, in many cases, as much as they hate the insurgents. And when we went to them and said, 'Ah, we're coming here to help bring your government to you.' They said, 'Whoa we don't want out government!' "
All the Afghans wanted, says Chandrasekaran, was to be left alone, "and we didn't get that."
Horse vitamins may make your horse stronger and healthier. Best if you?re planning on riding it. Apart from vitamins, you also must use the appropriate saddle for your personal comfort and that of the horse. If you are a new rider who has uncovered your passion for equestrian sports to be more than simply a passing phase, you may be all set to purchase your own saddle ? even though you don?t have your own horse. Lesson horses at the local barn do come totally outfitted, but those saddles need to cater to beginning to more professional riders, kids from the barn?s summer camp program to the people in healing riding.
Consequently barn saddles might not be in the greatest condition and may be too little or too large, depending on your body type. Your very own saddle, nevertheless, will be bought with you as well as your personal preferences in mind, but only if you know what to consider. Saddles tend to be like shoes ? they all function exactly the same way, but the selection is endless, starting from new to used, uncomplicated to ornate, inexpensive to expensive. The first thing in purchasing a saddle is to concentrate on what type of saddle most closely fits your preferences. If you are an amateur rider taking lessons which are a variety of equitation and also small jumps, you most definitely should stay with an ?all-purpose? saddle.
The all-purpose saddle permits students to pop fences in a lesson, but additionally features a big enough seat for a comfortable hack over the countryside. Even if you?re thinking about competitive jumping for future years, don?t think the advanced jumping saddle should be able to double as your everyday saddle. On the contrary, the smaller sized, more forward design could make you really feel much less secure when galloping throughout an open field. Dressage, jumping, and polo saddles are specifically intended for a certain aspect of the equestrian sport, while the all-purpose saddle for beginner riders may cross all disciplines.
You are pleased the saddle effectively fits the horse. But does it fit you? Your horse might feel great but without fitting your saddle to yourself you may be set for an unpleasant ride! Some people try sitting in a few saddles around the tack shop just before fitting the horse. Some prefer fitting the horse first. It is up to individual preference.
Horse vitamins are sure to help make your horse strong and stable. If you plan on riding it, you might be certain that you are sitting on something sturdy and very much reliable. A few key things to remember when installing a saddle for your own needs are: Make sure the seat is definitely the suitable width and depth for the seat. This can be achieved easily at any saddle shop. They will have charts with various heights and weights. Locate your weight and height on the chart and it will let you know the saddle measurements which will probably meet your needs. Now you?re ready to saddle up and ride!
Coat Supplement professionals have different advice and professional thoughts on how you take proper care of your favorite equines using the best Joint Supplement inside their day-to-day diet plan.
The Spike TypeSmart keyboard case for iPhone looks to address the age-old argument of the hardware keyboard being a better way to input text than a software keyboard, and it looks to do so by offering you the best of both worlds. The Spike gives iPhone users a hardware keyboard which is part of a hard case. Depending on the model, the Spike keyboard can either be switched simply flipped around to use, and then switched or flipped back to discreetly store the keyboard at the rear of the case when not required. The project is now up for backing on Kickstarter.
We?re not saying that the virtual keyboard that Steve gave us isn?t great, but typing more than a few words on glass isn?t great, accurate, or natural. That?s where our Spike TypeSmart keyboards come in. Unlike any other keyboards available today, we wanted to create a suite of products that complemented the iPhone?s impeccable quality and elegant form factor, and at the same time let you type and text easier, faster, and with fewer mistakes, under virtually all conditions ? even if you?re wearing gloves!
We have carefully engineered Spike, so in a flash, you can transition from typing to making or receiving a call, launching any of your apps, or playing Angry Birds, and then back to typing, all without missing a beat! Because we believe you should always have a choice, our initial suite consists of two versions, Spike? and Spike?. Both versions incorporate our proprietary TypeSmart keyboard that has been carefully integrated into handsome iPhone protective cases. Of course, we will manufacture them using only premium materials that are suitable for an Apple accessory product. We call our keyboards TypeSmart, because they are the natural and smart way to type on your iPhone! Best of all, with Spike, you have a keyboard when you need it and it disappears when you don?t want it.
The Spike TypeSmart keyboard has been in development for more than two years and enables a user to have a full hardware QWERTY keyboard available in an instant without the need for Bluetooth connections or the need to keep it charged. It does this by sitting on top of your iPhone's virtual keyboard in portrait mode and simply triggering a capacitive contact on the screen when the key is pressed.
If you have long fingernails, or wear gloves in colder weather, this could be the solution to your problems.
If you like the look of the Spike TypeSmarrt keyboard case you can become an earlier adopter from as little as $20. This of course is subject to the Spike reaching its Kickstarter funding target of $75,000. As things stand today, it has reached over $37,000 and still has 33 days to go.
As we are fast developing in terms of technology as well as other fields of science, our language too is getting more and more specific. You must have now noticed new terminology such as 'health science'. Do you know what this means? Well this is not a new field of science but one that has been there for long.
The term health sciences can refer to many things. Man's health has several aspects including emotional, psychological as well as physical. Each of these has separate science streams which again comprise of sub streams and divisions when it comes to specific aspect of the human health. Health means well being. The overall wellbeing of an individual is the sum total of his physical, emotional and psychological health together with the attitude.
Take the word science. What does it mean to you? Science denotes a scientific approach to the study of the particular subject where in the principles elucidated can be tested and verified. So when we talk of health sciences, we are referring to the systematic pursuit of laws relating as well as scientific enquiry into the health of man.
Health sciences refers to the general field encompassing several and overall health of the body including its nutritional as well as fitness and functional aspects. This of course is very useful to have a holistic approach to the functioning of the body with the specialist's opinion coming in as and when required.
Health science has innumerable branches if you start referring to it. Some of them can be dietics, physiotherapy, occupational health, audiology, speech therapy and many more.
It is not only the medical community that is concentrating on the body health and issues. Several other branches have come up and are being practiced as a part of holistic health clinics. Even corporates are seen embracing health and safety issues and employing professionals from health sciences too.
If you work up and get a PhD in Health Sciences, you can be very successful in the career be it in the hospital segment or in the private clinics and centers. You can even join a corporate and be a part of the global initiatives.
Once you have picked up and have a grasp over the subject, you can keep doing more and more research to understand the ground realities of people in different environments and come out with solutions to address health issues.
Posted by Tom Holland on Saturday, July 7, 2012 ? Leave a Comment?
A number of beneficial functions are carried out by whey protein drinks for lean muscle growth. Main attributes consist of amino metabolism, body fat metabolism, and restoring of muscle tissue. As it?s well known, amino acids are the footings of proteins. Amino acid metabolic process is a means of producing amino acids to improve body protein. Whey protein supplement incorporates key aminos such as glutamine and special compounds for lean muscle enhancement. On top of that, it stimulates the metabolism in food to increase the development of amino acids. Whey health supplements such as Viridex provide support as a driver in the whole approach. As a byproduct protein quantities are increased in the blood stream. This increase grows the muscle mass and develops mass.
Whey is a fitness supplement which is produced with highly effective aminos formulated for bodybuilders. It is actually a product for lifters in addition to bodybuilders who would like to enhance their workout routines. Women and men who?re enhancing their muscle tissue may benefit from this beverage in reaching the demands of the system for a great deal more defined muscular tissue. Another outcome of the aid is likewise characterized by its high protein which assists the entire body get buff as well as obtains volume. In summary, this health supplement could well be the way to acquire muscles by losing weight from body fat.
The compounds of this dietary supplement are considered favorable to the body, and they also improve the ATP formation in the body. But it also helps the entire body avoid cholesterol from expanding in the body and also enhances the size of the cells. To assist and notice substantial changes within 8 weeks, drink around one to three times each day. To be sure that the physique is kept revived all throughout the day it also provides regular amino acids to the system.
Research studies have revealed that this supplement is efficient in the improvement of muscular mass and sturdiness. It can efficiently reduce your unwanted weight if you drink it throughout your physical exercise. Just before and after working out, this health supplement can be consumed. This supplement can also be utilized even if one is not training for a particular day. A level scoop per 8-10 oz of water is the ideal amount for a daily drink of this dietary supplement. Ensure that you stir it well so the product will not be stuck under the mixer which can cause product waste. For doubters, do not feel concerned considering this nutritional supplement is a straightforward healthy and potent formula. From its blending, manufacture and product packaging, it is observable that this supplement remains safe and secure and has no damaging components.
People who are drinking Whey protein have reportedly gained considerable muscle tissues and endurance after taking it regularly. To experience a total difference in your weight and muscular size, 2 months is the ideal time period. Provided in a selection of buying choices, Whey can be obtained on stores and in web stores. To quench your motivation for a yummy, healthy and efficient health supplement mix, Whey protein, like in Viridext-XT reviews, is a method to keep in mind.
Interested in reading some more about Viridex-XT? Then go to http://www.viridex-xt.org.
Spaceflight may extend the lifespan of microscopic wormPublic release date: 6-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lindsay Brooke lindsay.brooke@nottingham.ac.uk 44-115-951-5751 University of Nottingham
The effect of spaceflight on a microscopic worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) could help it to live longer.
The discovery was made by an international group of scientists studying the loss of bone and muscle mass experienced by astronauts after extended flights in space. The results of this research have been published today, July 5 2012, in the online journal Scientific Reports.
Dr Nathaniel Szewczyk, from The University of Nottingham, was part of the ICE-FIRST project which involved scientists from Japan, France, the US, and Canada. They discovered that spaceflight suppressed accumulation of toxic proteins that normally accumulate within aging muscle. They also discovered a group of genes that are expressed at lower levels during spaceflight. When the expression of these same genes were lowered in worms back on Earth the worms lived longer.
Dr Szewczyk, an expert in muscle metabolism, said: "We identified seven genes, which were down-regulated in space and whose inactivation extended lifespan under laboratory conditions."
How do these genes play a role in longevity control?
"We are not entirely certain, but it would appear that these genes are involved in how the worm senses the environment and signals changes in metabolism in order to adapt to the environment. For example, one of the genes we have identified encodes insulin which, because of diabetes, is well known to be associated with metabolic control. In worms, flies, and mice insulin is also associated with modulation of lifespan."
What could this mean for space travellers?
"Well, most of us know that muscle tends to shrink in space. These latest results suggest that this is almost certainly an adaptive response rather than a pathological one. Counter-intuitively, muscle in space may age better than on Earth. It may also be that spaceflight slows the process of aging."
Dr Szewczyk's role was to provide expertise in the culturing of worms in CeMM a special liquid food for worms. Dr Szewczyk transported the samples to and from the Russian launch site and ran a series of 'health' checks to ensure that the tiny astronauts were fit for flying. On their return he helped with the analysis of the data.
Nottingham's space biology lab
Dr Szewczyk studies the signals that control muscle protein degradation in the human body. C. elegans is the perfect substitute for studying long-term changes in human physiology because they suffer from muscle atrophy muscle loss under many of the same conditions that people do.
C. elegans was the first multi-cellular organism to have its genetic structure completely mapped and many of its 20,000 genes perform the same functions as those in humans. Two thousand of these genes have a role in promoting muscle function and 50 to 60 per cent of these have very obvious human counterparts.
When the research began Dr Szewczyk was working at NASA. He is now based at The University of Nottingham's MRC and Arthritis Research UK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research. He is one of the leading scientists studying 'worms in space' and his lab is currently the most productive 'space biology' lab in the UK.
The experiment in 2004 involved a consignment of live worms being despatched to the International Space Station (ISS) onboard the Dutch DELTA mission.
He uses worms which originate from a rubbish dump in Bristol. C. elegans often feed on decaying fruit and vegetable matter.
They have since taken part in five spaceflights to the ISS with the aim of learning more about the effect of microgravity on the physiology of the human body.
Notably, in 2003 Dr Szewczyk's C. elegans made the news when they survived the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Living in petri dishes and enclosed in aluminium canisters the worms survived re-entry and impact on the ground and were recovered weeks after the disaster.
This spaceflight work teaches us things about the body that we couldn't learn on Earth. They have led to the publication of research into how to block muscle degradation using a form of gene therapy in PLoS ONE and publication of a muscle repair mechanism in PLoS Genetics. The work on C. elegans has also established that worms can live and reproduce for at least six months in space. This makes it an ideal and cost-effective experimental system to investigate the effects of long duration and distance space exploration as recently reported in Interface, a journal of The Royal Society. Together these missions have established that the team is not only better able to understand how muscle works on Earth but they are also in a position to send worms to other planets and experiment on them along the way.
Astronaut now being studied
Another member of the Centre's team is currently examining the effects of spaceflight upon the muscles of the current European record holder for time spent in space.
Andre Kuipers, the Dutch astronaut who flew the mission in 2004, has just returned from ISS with yet another worm experiment from space for the team at Nottingham and is also, himself, being studied.
That experiment, led by Professor Marco Narici, is to study the effects of long-duration spaceflight on human muscle.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Spaceflight may extend the lifespan of microscopic wormPublic release date: 6-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lindsay Brooke lindsay.brooke@nottingham.ac.uk 44-115-951-5751 University of Nottingham
The effect of spaceflight on a microscopic worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) could help it to live longer.
The discovery was made by an international group of scientists studying the loss of bone and muscle mass experienced by astronauts after extended flights in space. The results of this research have been published today, July 5 2012, in the online journal Scientific Reports.
Dr Nathaniel Szewczyk, from The University of Nottingham, was part of the ICE-FIRST project which involved scientists from Japan, France, the US, and Canada. They discovered that spaceflight suppressed accumulation of toxic proteins that normally accumulate within aging muscle. They also discovered a group of genes that are expressed at lower levels during spaceflight. When the expression of these same genes were lowered in worms back on Earth the worms lived longer.
Dr Szewczyk, an expert in muscle metabolism, said: "We identified seven genes, which were down-regulated in space and whose inactivation extended lifespan under laboratory conditions."
How do these genes play a role in longevity control?
"We are not entirely certain, but it would appear that these genes are involved in how the worm senses the environment and signals changes in metabolism in order to adapt to the environment. For example, one of the genes we have identified encodes insulin which, because of diabetes, is well known to be associated with metabolic control. In worms, flies, and mice insulin is also associated with modulation of lifespan."
What could this mean for space travellers?
"Well, most of us know that muscle tends to shrink in space. These latest results suggest that this is almost certainly an adaptive response rather than a pathological one. Counter-intuitively, muscle in space may age better than on Earth. It may also be that spaceflight slows the process of aging."
Dr Szewczyk's role was to provide expertise in the culturing of worms in CeMM a special liquid food for worms. Dr Szewczyk transported the samples to and from the Russian launch site and ran a series of 'health' checks to ensure that the tiny astronauts were fit for flying. On their return he helped with the analysis of the data.
Nottingham's space biology lab
Dr Szewczyk studies the signals that control muscle protein degradation in the human body. C. elegans is the perfect substitute for studying long-term changes in human physiology because they suffer from muscle atrophy muscle loss under many of the same conditions that people do.
C. elegans was the first multi-cellular organism to have its genetic structure completely mapped and many of its 20,000 genes perform the same functions as those in humans. Two thousand of these genes have a role in promoting muscle function and 50 to 60 per cent of these have very obvious human counterparts.
When the research began Dr Szewczyk was working at NASA. He is now based at The University of Nottingham's MRC and Arthritis Research UK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research. He is one of the leading scientists studying 'worms in space' and his lab is currently the most productive 'space biology' lab in the UK.
The experiment in 2004 involved a consignment of live worms being despatched to the International Space Station (ISS) onboard the Dutch DELTA mission.
He uses worms which originate from a rubbish dump in Bristol. C. elegans often feed on decaying fruit and vegetable matter.
They have since taken part in five spaceflights to the ISS with the aim of learning more about the effect of microgravity on the physiology of the human body.
Notably, in 2003 Dr Szewczyk's C. elegans made the news when they survived the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Living in petri dishes and enclosed in aluminium canisters the worms survived re-entry and impact on the ground and were recovered weeks after the disaster.
This spaceflight work teaches us things about the body that we couldn't learn on Earth. They have led to the publication of research into how to block muscle degradation using a form of gene therapy in PLoS ONE and publication of a muscle repair mechanism in PLoS Genetics. The work on C. elegans has also established that worms can live and reproduce for at least six months in space. This makes it an ideal and cost-effective experimental system to investigate the effects of long duration and distance space exploration as recently reported in Interface, a journal of The Royal Society. Together these missions have established that the team is not only better able to understand how muscle works on Earth but they are also in a position to send worms to other planets and experiment on them along the way.
Astronaut now being studied
Another member of the Centre's team is currently examining the effects of spaceflight upon the muscles of the current European record holder for time spent in space.
Andre Kuipers, the Dutch astronaut who flew the mission in 2004, has just returned from ISS with yet another worm experiment from space for the team at Nottingham and is also, himself, being studied.
That experiment, led by Professor Marco Narici, is to study the effects of long-duration spaceflight on human muscle.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The biggest cost saving you are likely to get when buying travel insurance depends on your deductible. Don?t be timid: go for the biggest you can afford. A $500, or $1000, or even $5000 deductible can save you a lot of money, especially if you think of it as an amortization over time.
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Public release date: 6-Jul-2012
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