Saturday, January 5, 2013

Video: Controversial film Zero Dark Thirty sparks Senate investigation

Fliers likely to see higher fares, fewer airlines, more fees

Just four days into the new year, United Airlines launched the first attempted airfare increase of 2013. The move is in line with travel experts' predictions that fliers, in general, will face a tougher atmosphere this year.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/50367532/

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INSEAD releases 'Measuring Innovation Capabilities of Nations ...

The report 'Measuring Innovation Capabilities of Nations' gives valuable insights into the progress of the UAE in becoming a knowledge-based economy.

Commenting on the need for economies to pursue innovation to create new socio-economic value, Dr. Sami Mahroum, Director of Innovation and Policy Initiatives at INSEAD Abu Dhabi, said, "Our new report adds a new member to the family of innovation and technology indices produced by INSEAD. It emphasizes our commitment as a school to conduct research that is relevant to the world of business and decision-making."

The INSEAD report was launched at the prestigious Global Competitiveness Summit entitled: Advancing Prosperity through Innovation. Hosted by the Emirates Competitiveness Council (ECC) and the Competitiveness Office of the Department of Economic Development of Abu Dhabi (COAD), the summit attended by senior policy makers, leaders of industry and academia, was the 3rd annual gathering of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) -a global network of leaders from Competitiveness Councils around the world. The research added a valuable dimension to one of the network's goals to find better ways to measure innovation as a way to better understand and accelerate global competitiveness and prosperity.

The report underlines the UAE government's commitment to support innovation. Indeed, Abu Dhabi and Dubai also showcased several innovations at the conference.

H.E. Mohammed Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, stated, "As part of the strategic Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 to ensure a sustainable knowledge-based economy, innovation plays a fundamental role. The government is building solid foundations to promote a business enabling environment that fosters innovation and to strengthen our research and development capacity to enable an economy based on human talent that generates higher value added growth and prosperity of the people. Abu Dhabi continues to make major strides in this direction. INSEAD's research is important to us to help us better understand the innovation landscape."

"The UAE's Vision 2021 calls for the UAE to be a nation that is 'united in knowledge', and where growth is driven by knowledge and innovation. We at the Emirates Competitiveness Council constantly strive towards achieving the nation's vision. Our role as a founding member of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils helps us benchmark our innovation performance against other world-leading competitiveness councils. In addition, we work very closely with federal and local governments, private and academic entities to create standards for capturing and measuring innovation," said Najeeb Al Ali, Director of Strategy, Emirates Competitiveness Council.

"Our close collaboration with INSEAD on the Innovation Report is a testament of ECC's commitment to making valuable contributions towards the body of knowledge on competitiveness and innovation globally," he added.

The INSEAD's research established five key capabilities economies should develop to innovate, the abilities to access, anchor, diffuse, create and exploit knowledge.

"Abu Dhabi government has shown great interest in working with INSEAD to develop indicators for innovation performance and capability that are relevant to the economic and industrial structure of the domestic economy," Dr Mahroum commented.

The report findings highlighted the UAE's particular strength in its capability and performance to anchor knowledge it has attracted firmly in its economy, not least thanks to its relatively investment-friendly environment and ease of doing business.

Although industrialized economies, such as Australia, South Korea and the US lead in terms of diffusing knowledge within its economies, the UAE along with Saudi Arabia, lead among the resource-rich countries in this regard. The UAE is especially apt at spreading innovative skills and techniques among its rapidly developing human capital.

In terms of accessing the knowledge, the UAE displayed a significant ability to do so due to its cosmopolitan nature, in regard of both, talent pool and presence of international enterprises, as well as adopting advanced information and communication technologies (ICT). The UAE therefore joins the rank of leaders, alongside Australia, South Korea and the US among the GFCC countries.

However, in comparison to South Korea, although both, the UAE and Australia, have a high capacity to attract knowledge, the INSEAD research exposed that in the case of the latter two countries, performance remains more modest due the high share of natural resource commodities on their international trade books.

INSEAD's research also showed that the other capability indicator the UAE could strengthen would be the creation of knowledge within the country and on commercially exploiting innovations further. In respect of creating and exploiting new knowledge the US still emerges as a clear leader. Australia and South Korea aren't far behind in knowledge creation as such but together with the UAE catching up on exploiting innovation commercially.

Concluding its report, INSEAD, issued a set of general policy guidelines, which could assist countries in determining their weaknesses in terms of innovation indicators and if applied, advance the development of a knowledge - and innovation-rich economy.

The policies firstly call for a strong supportive infrastructure that is capable of accessing the physical, including ICT and financial capital to effectively create, transfer and commercialize knowledge.

The guidelines also advise governments to create vital networks within an economy, such as linking the private sector, training institutions and in-between organisations to produce a positive multiplier effect on government investment in research and development (R&D), as well as on other educational initiatives.

Furthermore, innovation policies should be both, firm-oriented, for example, business support and advice, risk capital, loans and subsidies, as well as innovation system-oriented, for example address network building and brokering through cluster development and other system-enhancing interventions.

The INSEAD research further recognized that policies should be designed to facilitate innovation-based development and pay close attention to country specific conditions that influence the interactions between the various stakeholders in knowledge creation/value-creation activities.

Finally, and probably most importantly, the focus of these policies need to be on the establishment of an environment conducive to new value creation.

Commenting on the policies, Dr Mahroum concluded, "The UAE government understands the nature of the global competition and has been adamant at measuring its performance on every scale."

Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/insead-releases-measuring-innovation-capabilities-nations-324613

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Weekend Payday Loans for Bad Credit ? Instant Solution to Solve ...

To deal with excess expenses with limited income at the weekend is very arduous. Even if you don?t have sufficient funds left in your wallet to cover up additional funds then weekend payday loans for bad credit are the ultimate monetary alternative for making the thriving cash support as little as possible time. These are the fastest and easiest loans since there is no collateral required and also no faxing required. This is because no one is failed to enjoy these loans.

Under the provision of weekend payday loans for bad credit, you can easily make money ranging ?100 to ?1000 without pledging any sort of collateral to the lender. Commit to memory that the finance you derive has to be paid back within a time period of 14 to 30 days. If you think repaying the fund till your next payday then you have an opportunity of extending the settlement date as per your convenient date just paying the certain fees to the lender in the term of extending period.

All the same, keep in mind that weekend payday loans for bad credit are short term finances and they do not involve type of security of the borrower in lieu of the finance offered. For this reason, the rate of interest charged is a bit high in comparison of the standard loans. Other than, the high expensive interest rate can be minimized by comparing various lenders? loan quotes available online. So, you have to make a systematic research for accessing the best loan deal.

Any resident of United Kingdom above 18 years of age and he/she is doing a permanent job for any reputed firm company for the past six months and getting the monthly salary up to ?1000 that is paid into active bank account of the applicant regular. Even though you are maintaining these conditions for all times then you can avail funds through weekend payday loans for bad credit even with having poor credit scores. This is meant that people who have bad credit factors like CCJs, IVA, arrears, foreclosure, skipping of installments, bankruptcy, late payments etc are also allowed to make the most out of these credits.

Finance that you can obtain through weekend payday loans for bad credit can be spent in various small term purposes without any hurdle or obstruction. By taking the aid of these finances you can pay off medical bills, home rentals, purchasing new clothes, buying domestic appliances, celebrating any anniversary and so forth.

Alistair Cook, an author, has proved his master in finance. His articles are very useful and informative to get accurate information about loans. He is currently writing on weekend payday loans for bad credit, weekend payday loans online and weekend payday loans.

Source: http://www.blottr.com/breaking-news/weekend-payday-loans-bad-credit-instant-solution-solve-weekend-fiscal-issues

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Denim Covered Pencil Can | Fun Family Crafts

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Friday, January 4, 2013

Bruce Helander: State Seal of Approval

They say that art is the great international communicator no matter what language you speak. Art also is a symbol of free expression, and has represented the United States in its embassies and consulates around the world by putting our "best foot forward" in the spirit of creativity and cooperation among nations and showcasing some of America's most respected contemporary artists. On the night of November 30, 2012, some of the most recognizable names in the art world traveled to our nation's capital to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the U. S. Department of State's Art in Embassies program, which was held in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The gala was sponsored by the State Department and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who despite having a full plate of international diplomatic obligations and related crises, still found time to attend and appreciate the swirling dances with performers decked out in costumes conceived by Nick Cave, as well as the iconic art designs and collaborations produced by David Stark. Secretary of State Clinton spoke:

For over half a century, Art in Embassies has been working to place American art in our embassies and consulates around the world. And today, there are more than 10,000 works hanging or standing or being exhibited in some way, depending upon the medium, in more than 200 overseas missions. That obviously could not happen without an enormous amount of support. And in fact, over the last fifty years, more than 20,000 individual and institutional partners have contributed to this effort.

David Stark, Rhode Island School of Design whiz kid, sparked guests' imaginations with the integration of colorful artworks inspired by Art in Embassies' mission to promote the "intersection of people through visual arts." An homage to everyday artistic fundamentals and inspiration, the evening featured several art installations, including live musical and dance performances, along with mixed media presentations by the attending award winning artists. Designs by Stark featured a 20-foot tall pyramid created from 1.5 million Crayola crayons, which were donated by sponsors to art organizations for school children directly after the event, and a birthday "cake" formed from 300 cans of Benjamin Moore paint, measuring 16 feet in diameter and replete with giant candles.

Award recipients of the evening included 2012 Department of State Medal of Art honorees Jeff Koons, Jenny Holzer (who installed a massive wall text piece during the event), Jason Moran, Cai Guo-Qiang, Kiki Smith, Shahzia Sikander and Carrie Mae Weems; all were in attendance, along with numerous former recipients. Nancy Pelosi, House minority leader, and a host of congressmen graced the room, along with other diplomats, such as British Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott with wife Lady Susan, Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan with wife Veronica Valencia-Sarukhan, and Congressman-elect John Delaney (D-Md.). Also in attendance were Art in Embassies contributors Beth Dozoretz, director, and Virginia Shore, chief curator, as well as MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews, host of NBC's Meet the Press David Gregory, and Howard Fineman, editorial director for the Huffington Post.

During the evening, the main event circled around the astounding collaboration that was showcased between Nick Cave and Washington's Duke Ellington School of the Arts Radical Elite Showband and the Kankouran West African Dance Company. This sight surely caught the attention of the approximately 500 guests, including Secretary Clinton, who observed the presentations from a private observation post while 10 Kankouran dancers performed in Mr. Cave's sound suits to the music of the Showband, which was comprised of nearly 50 instrumentalists ages 14 to 18.

The slideshow offers a peek into the exciting night that transpired in historic downtown Washington, where artists, designers, gallery curators, socialites, politicians, journalists, art lovers and embassy supporters all came together to celebrate the amazing achievement of placing great works of art in embassies throughout the world.

For more information on the Art in Embassies program, please visit: http://art.state.gov/

  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, AIE director Beth Dozoretz, her husband Ron Dozoretz, and their daughter Melanne Dozoretz. <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

  • Jeff Koons with artist Bruce Helander in a Koons ?bunny? t-shirt. <em>Photo by: Camila Helander.</em>

  • Many guests were told to dress festive for the occasion. Here is a woman sporting a Matisse inspired jacket, <em>The Open Window</em>. <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

  • David Stark?s 20 ft. tall pyramid made of 1.5 million Crayola crayons and 16 ft. diameter cake formed by 300 Benjamin Moore paint cans. <em>Photo by: Camila Helander.</em>

  • Bruce Helander posing with one of Jenny Holzer?s iconic LED signs. <em>Photo by: Camila Helander.</em>

  • Mexican ambassador Arturo Sarukhan with wife Veronica Valencia-Sarukhan and friends. <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

  • British ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott and wife Lady Susan (on left). <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

  • House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Beth Dozoretz, Congressman-elect John Delaney and editorial director of The Huffington Post Media Group, Howard Fineman. <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

  • AIE chief curator Virginia Shore and friends. <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

  • David Gregory, American television journalist and moderator of NBC news. <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

  • Carrie Mae Weems dancing to the rhythm of Nick Cave?s sound show. <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

  • Kankouran West African Dancers. <em>Photo by Tony Powell</em>

  • Two ladies dancing back to back, enjoying the party. <em>Photo by Tony Powell.</em>

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-helander/art-in-embassies_b_2352032.html

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Thursday, January 3, 2013

My Springfield Mommy: 2 Health, Fitness, Nutrition or Sports ...


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Source: http://www.myspringfieldmommy.com/2013/01/2-health-fitness-nutrition-or-sports.html

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