Skype CEO Tony Bates confirms 250m monthly users, talks Microsoft partnership and future plans

Skype CEO Tony Bates just took the stage here on the final day of D10, and he got right into the news delivery mindset: as of now, there are 250 million monthly connected users. Said Bates, "When we closed [the Microsoft deal], we had 170 million monthly users, so haven't skipped a beat in terms of momentum." Continuing on when asked from Kara Swisher about integration with Microsoft, Bates said: "I'm not going to talk about future products, but I'll steal a line from Tim Cook. We're going to double-down on integration with Windows 8, and we're doing to double-down on secrecy." Specifically, he mentioned that there'd be some "great integration points" with Windows 8, noting that Skype is viewed as an "experience, with most folks viewing it as a Swiss army knife, regardless of where and how it's used." Kara followed up with a question on Kinect, and Bates did his best to dodge the question by re-referencing intent on Windows 8 and Windows Phone -- there wasn't a peep mentioned in either direction on if it'd end up there.

Kara asked what his most important smartphone platform was, and Bates said: "I wouldn't classify it as one most important. As far as download numbers, it's absolutely iPhone, but Android is gaining momentum. Our top priority is mobile; we made two acquisitions in that space. The Android marketplace -- as many know -- is quite fragmented, and this was a big challenge for us from an engineering standpoint. This team in the Qik acquisition really helped us there. I'm very hopeful -- Windows Phone is very exciting for me because of that people-centric nature." Kara pushed to see if Windows Phone would get a "special" version of Skype, and Bates simply said that he "hopes they can add value." Given that both Windows Phone and Skype now live under the same roof, though, we're guessing that he's underselling things in the effort of "doubling-down on secrecy."

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China's Economy: Seizure or Cancer? | The Diplomat

The sharp slowdown in China?s economy has policy makers around the world watching carefully. Will the government have the courage to change course?

The unexpectedly sharp slowdown of the Chinese economy has fanned anxieties around the world. Based on the latest figures released by the Chinese government, the economy slowed more than expected in the first quarter of this year compared with the fourth quarter of last year. Is the once unstoppable Chinese economic growth engine grinding to a halt?

For the West, deteriorating growth in China is obviously bad news. With Europe sinking into recession and the United States mired in an anemic recovery, growth in emerging markets, China in particular, has been a bright spot in an otherwise bleak economic landscape. As the world?s second-largest economy, annual growth at high single digit (8 percent to 9 percent) makes China the largest contributor to global GDP growth. Now that China is faltering, many worry not only about the effects of China?s stagnant growth on the rest of the world, but also about its impact on China itself.

On the surface, the recent precipitous drop in growth in China is the result of two factors. The first is the tightening of monetary policy adopted last year to cool the real estate market and fight inflation. The second is the rapid decline of export orders for Chinese goods, a development closely associated with the escalating debt crisis in Europe.

Had the Chinese economy been more balanced between domestic demand and exports and between household consumption and investment, monetary tightening and falling exports would not have had such dampening effects on growth. But the Chinese economy is highly unbalanced (although compared with a few years ago, China?s internal-external imbalances have moderated significantly), thus making the country less able to cope with the knock-on effects of credit-tightening and disappearing external demands.

In the short-term, most analysts are worried about a possible ?heart attack? for the Chinese economy. Under this nightmarish scenario, plunging growth will expose China?s highly leveraged local governments, real estate developers and state-owned enterprises to the risks of insolvency and default while China?s export sector, dominated by foreign companies and domestic small and medium-sized private firms, contracts and lays off workers. The nasty feed-back loop looks like this: falling growth will greatly reduce the financial viability of the projects in which China has overinvested in the last three years. Such projects include real estate developments, heavy industries, and infrastructure (the most infamous example being the scandal-ridden high-speed rail system). Falling growth means lower demand. These projects won?t be able to charge higher enough prices to make a profit. Because they were financed with bank debt, it?s almost certain many of these projects will default.

In most other countries, such a crash would lead to a banking crisis, hence the ?heart attack? scenario.

But China is different. Because the banking system is effectively owned and controlled by the state, a banking crisis won?t materialize unless the state itself is insolvent and Chinese depositors have completely lost confidence in the state?s sovereign guarantee of its banks. This unique character of the China?s state-owned financial system is the cause of the country?s inability to allocate capital efficiently. However, in the short term, this structural flaw may turn out to be an asset in averting a seizure of the financial system.

The Chinese government has already taken measures to prevent such a seizure. Last year, Beijing ordered a one-year moratorium on repayment of loans made to local governments and their highly leveraged financing platforms, thus delaying the day of reckoning. As the economy continues to struggle, one should expect the Chinese government to extend this moratorium to give local governments more time.

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First prehistoric twins discovered in Iberian Peninsula

ScienceDaily (May 30, 2012) ? Researchers at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) have discovered the remains of newborn twin girls in the archaeological site of Ol?rdola in Barcelona. They date back to between the middle of the 4th century B.C. to the beginning of the 2nd century B.C. The findings are the first bone remains of twins to be recorded in the Iberian Peninsula.

"This is the first documented case in the Iberian Peninsula. There has been much talk of possible twins but never has sufficient data been gathered in the field to determine whether findings belong to the same chronological moment in time, nor has data ever been found on the same stratigraphic level to guarantee with such certainty like in this instance," as explained by Eulalia Subira, researcher at the UAB and coauthor of the study published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.

The remains were found in the archaeological site of Sant Miquel d'Ol?rdola in Catalonia and it is expected that they belong to two girls between 38 and 40 weeks of gestation who were buried at the same time in the same grave with their legs entwined.

According to the study, "none of the bone remains show pathological evidence of the cause of death but it could have been a consequence of difficult pregnancy or childbirth. Lack of sufficient hygiene could have lead to infant and maternal mortality in Prehistoric times."

In order to test this finding, scientists used forensic anthropology methods, first determining the age and sex. "The specialist carrying out such assessment was 'blind'. In other words, she was not told at any time that both individuals were found next to each other or that they could be twins."

The age of the twins was estimated by taking the tooth germs, the length of the bones and the state of ossification. In addition, experts used photographs of the site to see whether they had been buried at the same time or not, they spoke with archaeologists, who indicated that the two remains had been found in the same grave, and they studied the planimetries.

Subir? points out that "they also carried out DNA analysis but it was not possible to obtain DNA data on one of the individuals despite repeating sampling taking and analysis."

Children buried near to their mothers

This discovery offers new information to the numerous documented cases of child burials during the Iberian Age, when perinatal children were not buried in cemeteries.

"The Ol?rdola archaeological site is itself very interesting. It has always been said that throughout the Iberian Age newly born children were not buried in cemeteries. In this case, they were found in a skin tanning and dying area: in other words, a space dedicated to work," points out Subir?.

For the researcher, finding newly born children buried in a work area could indicate that it was where the mothers used to work. This provides information on society and the attachment relationship that parents had with deceased newly born children.

"Recognition of this type of burial will be of great assistance in the future when it comes to interpreting the socio-cultural impact of the arrival of twins in a pre or proto-historic population, their treatment and their life expectancy. We are currently working in the same archaeological site but on more recent remains," as the researcher concludes.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Plataforma SINC, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. L. Crespo, M. E. Subir?, J. Ruiz. Twins in prehistory: The case from Ol?rdola (Barcelona, Spain; s. IV II BC). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2011; 21 (6): 751 DOI: 10.1002/oa.1169

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Which States Love and Hate Small Business? | US Daily Review

By US Daily Review Staff.

Recently Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, released new data showing that?Idaho,?Texas,?Oklahoma?and?Utah?all earned A+?s for their friendliness towards small businesses. ?In contrast, small business owners gave?California,?Hawaii,?Vermont, and?Rhode Island?an F, while?New York?narrowly avoided this lowest category with a D grade. ?Top performing cities included?Oklahoma City,?Dallas-Ft. Worth?andSan Antonio. ?

There are a lot of ?business climate rankings,? but there aren?t any that draw upon considerable data from small business owners themselves. The Thumbtack.com Small Business Survey is the only survey to draw data from an extensive, nationwide universe of job creators and entrepreneurs themselves in order to investigate the best places in the country to do business.

?Six thousand small business owners have told an unusually nuanced story about what they value in their local government,? said?Sander Daniels, co-founder of Thumbtack.com. ?Although?Texas?and?Idaho?clearly come out on top as the nation?s friendliest states towards small business, entrepreneurs value a lot more than just low tax rates. Easy-to-understand licensing regulations and well-publicized training programs are critical tools necessary to support small business.?

Some of the survey?s key findings include:

• Texas?had three of the top five cities (Dallas-Fort Worth,?San Antonio?and?Austin), while?California?was home to the bottom three (Los Angeles,?San Diego?and?Sacramento).
• Small businesses said licensing requirements were nearly twice as important as tax rates in determining overall business-friendliness.
• An important predictor of small business friendliness was whether small business owners are aware of the state or local government offering training programs for small businesses.

?Asking entrepreneurs to rank state friendliness to their businesses is a powerful resource for helping policymakers understand the needs of business owners and for helping aspiring founders understand the full dimensions of their business environment,? said?Dane Stangler, director of research at the Kauffman Foundation.

According to a company statement, ?Thumbtack.com surveyed 6,022 small businesses across?the United States. The survey asked questions about the friendliness of states towards small business and about small business finances in order to measure states and cities along 21 metrics.?Thumbtack.com is a place where you can hire help locally. Need a?DJ,?carpenter,?boot camp instructor, or?hot dog truck caterer? ?Tell us what you need, and we?ll bring you 3-5 bids on that job to your email inbox within 24 hours. More than 275,000 small businesses have listed their services on Thumbtack nationwide.?

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Exercise your personal relationships! | trulymadlyfit

Hello Tuesday TMF blog readers! It?s an overcast day here in the Bay Area, although sunny skies are in the forecast, and I?m looking forward to a little sunshine on my face.

May has flown by and I can hardly believe it! Last week was a busy one for myself and for TMF. I had a Chamber Networking Mixer at an Oakland A?s game, and then a Business Expo booth alongside my fellow friend and mentor trainer Harold Hatcher of H2 Fitness. We had a great time meeting new folks at the expo hall and talked about fitting in exercise into busy schedules. New classes, clients, and events are popping up weekly, and I?m so excited to do as much/train as much as I can possibly squeeze into my days.

Fitting in my own fitness has been another challenge! Scheduling in my own workouts (trying to take my own advice) has helped and fitting in quick 20 minute cardio blasts in between clients has been fun and effective as well! June is just days away, and I have many? new goals for my own fitness and health this summer. I?ve been setting goals with clients for the new month, and re-visiting where I want to be in the 30 days as well. What are some goals that you might want to address? It may not have anything to do with weight loss or minutes of exercise. Maybe you want to sleep 7 hours a night, or tackle your allergies without taking a slew of prescription medicine? Maybe you?ve let friendships slip to the wayside and want to re-connect with friends, family, and loved ones. If your schedule gets packed quickly with work, responsibilities, and lacks the social and human factor of fun; then make it a point to give a friend or two a call and check in with how they are doing. Maybe you can only manage a coffee catch up for a half hour, but don?t underestimate how important it is to your health and happiness to nurture those friendships and relationships. Those relationships and moments are the ones we will remember, and by keeping ourselves healthy and strong; we will have many more memories to share.

It may be odd that I?m writing this Fitness blog about friendships and relationships, but it?s only because of how important it has been in my own life. My friends, family, and fiancee build me up on a daily basis, support me in tough times, and make me believe that I can be successful and the best version of myself, even on those days when I?m having a harder time believing in myself. We celebrate each others triumphs, and lows, but the most important part is that we do it together.

Juggling the hectic pace of our lives is a fun adventure some days, and an anxiety producing struggle on others. I will never stop extolling the benefits of daily activity and exercise in our lives, but finding a balance between all the different facets of our lives is crucial. Exercise for energy, to keep stress at bay, to sleep better, to keep age related weight from creeping up. Celebrate the little moments with a hug, smile, compliment, or write a nice note. Happy hour get-to-gethers don?t always have to involve pub food and cocktails. Maybe this week you can do one happy hour walking outdoors and sipping a low calorie drink with a friend. Maybe you can meet up for a hike/picnic and pack a light lunch or snacks. I?m headed out the door this moment to meet up with an old friend at the gym! We chat as we jog side by side, and I can?t wait. Enjoy these last few days of May, and start fantasizing about where you want to be in June. The days go quickly, the summer sun will soon turn to Autumn dusk, and so enjoy every last bit of the longer days.

Eat well, Get those workouts it, and I?ll see you at the gym!

Cheers,

Jessica

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Pictures of cystic acne - Health and Fitness

Coping With The After Effects Of Acne Scarring It may not be instantaneous, but the good news is that you can choose from a number of different methods for getting rid of the scars. Now, apply it on the acne with the cotton ball, let it sit for a few minutes, before washing it off. Acne leaves no spot unharmed and can really take a toll on your self esteem as well as your mental health if it gets to be too big a problem. The final risk factor is based on genetics. Stress elevates testosterone levels, and thus can trigger breakouts or worsen existing acne. Get More Out Of Exposed Acne Using treatment These Three Techniques Exposed Acne treatment is usually a of better choice for acne remedy out in the market today, nevertheless you can pictures of cystic acne obtain more advantages from it by trying other ways. An acne cream can be effective and valuable for moderate to severe cases of pimples and normally, these acne treatments are either put together with another acne skin care product or- the one at present use is high- strength. The amount of information out there for those of us with acne prone skin is overwhelming. These practitioners believe that diets high in beta- carotene help to reduce the factors that contribute to severe acne. The steam also removes blackheads and whiteheads cosmedicine as well as relaxes facial muscles. This is SLE or systemic lupus erythematosus, a rare condition that can be brought about by certain prescription drugs in some cases: Beta blockers hydralazine, isoniazid, lithium, methyldopa, phenytoin and penicillamine. By the adolescence, androgen hormone level begins to rise which in turn increases skin oil production. The medication is normally used along with birth speedy control pills, and in some cases the pills are recommended a week or a month before prescribing spironolactone. And ultimately, research exhibit that silicone patches are the most powerful way of scar elimination. Research have exposed that stress not only worsens acne cystic flare- up, it also worsens the overall reviews skin condition. Simply squeeze some fresh lemon juice into a glass. To get rid of acne scars fast, use vitamin E and a crushed baby aspirin. Be careful not to miss vitamin B12! Essential oil of tea- tree ( manuka) dabbed on with a cotton bud works a treat, but a cheaper and easier method is to rub a slice of raw garlic over the pimple. Who wants to get picked on because of all these red bumps all over the face? 4. They can of course make recommendations as well pictures of cystic acne if they think a patients skin will respond better to cosmedicine speedy recovery acne treatment reviews a particular treatment. Whenever you don? t maintain your routine to help keep your skin healthful, you? d most likely get the acne breakouts that you? re afraid to get. Drink 8- 10 glasses of water everyday. It is recommended to use medical professional grade silicone sheets due to the fact these are designed of higher good quality silicone. Avoid popping it ? This will only give you temporary satisfaction, but the scar will last longer than expected. Here are some of them:

- Wash your face at least twice a day with an antibacterial facial wash. Today, we have two major categories of lasers that are used to manage acne scar. recovery International Journal of Cosmetic Science, June 2007; acne vol 29, no 3, pp 181- 190. They are bigger visually and are the most acne unpleasant thing you can pictures have since they are large, red and painful to touch.

Related Post Pictures of cystic acne

But when the acne formations get too painful, see a doctor to ensure that you are not experiencing any underlying diseases or health threats. Most serious scarring is caused by the more severe forms of acne, with nodules more likely to leave permanent scars than other treatment types It has acne been seen that initially adult acne starts off as a minor pimple. Try Acne Skin Care Treatment Products for recommended Acne Home scar Acne Treatment # 6 Another effective remedy cheap acne scar treatment for acne is a paste of sandalwood made with rose water It? s your choice? It gets clogged by sebum, and then gets contaminated acne treatment without benzoyl peroxide by dust, benzoyl dirt, pollution and

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EU to sue Netherlands, Portugal, 3 others on telecom rules

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Neato XV-21 Pet & Allergy Automatic Vacuum Cleaner

I have allergies. I also have pets. And right now, it's shedding season. All of that shedding leads to a lot more sneezing than usual, which leads to a lot more vacuuming. But even an obsessive neat freak like me doesn't vacuum often enough to avoid the occasional tumbleweed of pet hair that mysteriously blows through the room when I turn on the ceiling fan.

That's where the $429.99 (direct) Neato XV-21 Pet & Allergy Automatic Vacuum Cleaner comes in. The XV-21 is an update to the XV-11, with upgraded filters and the use of a bristled brush designed to better collect pet hair. And it works. The XV-21 picked up a surprising amount of hair and dust I didn't even notice was on the floor. And it can be programmed to automatically clean as often as you like, even when you're not around. But its allergy-fighting powers are questionable, and it doesn't work well on tight corners. The XV-21 will keep your home free of pet hair tumbleweeds, but you'll still need to keep a traditional vacuum on hand if you like things squeaky clean.

Design and Setup
The XV-21 looks a heck of a lot like the XV-11 we saw in 2009. Unfortunately, both bots share a similar design aesthetic with the Super Nintendo video game system released back in 1990. The device is the same exact shade of Nintendo gray, with purple, orange, and black accents. And despite that fact that the back end is curved, it has a very blocky look. I realize it's a vacuum, but for something you'll watch zipping around your home, a slightly more attractive design would've been appreciated. Or at least a different shade of gray.

The XV-21 measures 13 by 12.5 by 4 inches (HWD) and weighs 8.2 pounds, which is right on par with other cleaning robots, like the Scooba 390?($499.99, 3 stars). There are five buttons used to control the vacuum: a start switch, two menu navigation buttons, a select button, and a back button. There's an easy-to-read 2.5-inch black and white display on top that allows you to control various options for the XV-21. You can set it to spot clean one particular area, for instance, or schedule it to turn on automatically and clean as often as you'd like.

Before using the XV-21, you first must plug in the charging station, which shares a similar look and feel to the vacuum itself. The station uses inductive charging, so the front of the XV-21 just needs to be pressed up against the charging block for it to work. It takes just under three hours to get a full charge. The device finished vacuuming my 550-square foot apartment in about 45 minutes, and had nearly half its battery life left. If the battery dies before the job is finished, the XV-21 will make its way back to the charger, charge back up, then go back out and finish the job.

Performance and Conclusions
Once you're fully charged, simply press the Start button and watch the XV-21 get to work. You'll be sure to know it's working, because the XV-21 is loud. The sound it makes upon starting is not dissimilar to that of a plane taking off, albeit at a slightly lower volume. It isn't as loud as a traditional vacuum, but the XV-21 takes a lot longer to clean the same amount of space as a traditional vacuum, and you tend to notice the noise a lot more when you're not the one doing the work.

The robot uses a laser-based room positioning technology to create a 360-degree view of the room, which allows it analyze furniture, doorways, and other obstacles within 13 feet in order to create the most efficient cleaning path. This worked surprisingly well in practice, as the XV-21 managed to systematically hit every part of my living room (even under the couch), with nary an accidental bump.

From the living room, it navigated out into the bedroom, then back through the living room and into the bathroom, but for some reason it never made its way into my kitchen. I had to place it there myself, and while the XV-21 did a fine job, I can't figure out why it wouldn't go in.

The big purple lid on top of the vacuum is the dirt bin. It fits in securely, but was easy to pop up when the XV-21 was finished. Now, I'm a pretty tidy guy, and I keep what I consider to be a pretty clean apartment. So I was shocked when I opened the XV-21's dirt bin to find it filled with dust and pet hair. I dust and vacuum regularly, so I wasn't expecting the XV-21 to pick up much more than the occasional crumb or stray dog hair. I was at once disconcerted to see all that I had missed, but pleased that the XV-21 managed to pick it up.

Additionally, the XV-21 handled the different surfaces in my apartment?hardwood floors, throw rugs, and tiles?with aplomb. I was especially impressed with the job it did on the large throw rug in my living room, which looked noticeably perkier after a visit from the XV-21.

Mysterious kitchen snub aside, the only major issue I had with the XV-21 is that it can't quite suck all of the pet hair out of a tight corner, which, of course, is where pet hair tends to accumulate. To be fair, even the main attachment on my Dyson vacuum has a hard time getting all the way into a corner?that's where the vacuum tube comes in. But that means you'll still need to keep a traditional vacuum cleaner on hand to pick up where the XV-21 can't.

Additionally, I'm dubious to the claims that this is an "Allergy" vacuum. Sure, cleaning up dirt, dust, and pet hair is sure to help remove plenty of allergens, but it's not like the XV-21 is releasing an antihistamine mist into the air as it cleans. This is no more an allergy-combatant than the handheld mini vacuum I had in my old college dorm room was. But the XV-21 will definitely do a better job of cleaning your floors.

Clean up is simple, too. Just remove the dirt bin, open its door, and empty the contents into the garbage. Pop it back into the XV-21, and you're ready to vacuum again.

If you already own an XV-11, there's no need to buy the XV-21. You can upgrade your model with the new bristle brush and updated filter for $60, then upgrade your device to the latest firmware. While the Neato XV-21 Pet & Allergy Automatic Vacuum Cleaner doesn't spray and scrub your floor like the Scooba 390, it works on a wider variety of surfaces, is programmable, and lasts longer. The iRobot?Roomba 770?($499.99, 4 stars), meanwhile, has a sleeker design and uses dirt sensors that allows it to pay closer attention to a particularly dirty spot on your floor. But if what you want is an extra hand to remove all that pesky pet hair, the XV-21 is a good, albeit pricey, tool. Just don't get rid of rid of your old push vacuum just yet.

More Robot Reviews:
??? Neato XV-21 Pet & Allergy Automatic Vacuum Cleaner
??? iRobot Scooba 390
??? iRobot Roomba 770 Vacuum Cleaning Robot
??? iRobot Scooba 230
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?? more

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Police: Boxer was driving too fast for conditions

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America's Memorial Day Tribute to The Troops Still Sounds Like "My Little Man" from Country Music's 'BadHorse'

Global Maximus Records 'BadHorse' Salutes the Troops with Country Music Video

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) May 26, 2012

Global Maximus Records along with Country Music's 'BadHorse' pay tribute to the troops stationed around the world today by releasing the annual "My Little Man" music video.

The single released to radio in 2011 made it to #1 on New Music Weekly charts, one of three, and into the twenties on Music Row charts. The single is a favored Military tribute song the band plans to re-release every year in honor of the troops.

The artists send their sincere thank you to all the troops that make peace here at home possible. It is never a good time to be at war, this video is for those serving away from loved ones to remind us all of everyone's sacrifice. Especially those little ones who may not understand mom or dad's plight in serving us all.

The group is gearing up for their next single release, "Then Again" a heart felt ballad that maximizes Adam Grants talents as a vocalist. That is making all 'BadHorse' fans excited about the next radio release. The group is also planning a tour this summer to support the single "Then Again".

For more information about 'BadHorse' go to http://www.badhorsemusic.com or http://www.musicatgmr.com

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012MilitaryTribute/05MyLittleManBadHorse/prweb9548629.htm

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Australia Says Plain Cigarette Packaging is Anti-Cancer and Not Anti-Trade

Australia has put on a defiant stand against complaints by Ukraine and Honduras made to the World Trade Organization over its decision to enforce plain cigarette packaging and said that it will vigorously defend itself.

The action was launched by Ukraine at the WTO in March and Honduras joined the following month, according to the global trade arbiter.

"We'll be vigorously defending any WTO actions -- our steps aren't anti-trade, they're anti-cancer," a spokeswoman for Attorney-General Nicola Roxon told AFP.

While Honduras is a tobacco producer, the motives for opposition by Ukraine -- a nation of heavy smokers with a large tobacco industry but no direct trade with Australia -- were unclear.

If the dispute cannot be resolved through consultation Ukraine and Honduras can request formal adjudication through a WTO panel, which could force Canberra to scrap the legislation.

The cigarettes packaging plan is also currently subject to a challenge by several tobacco giants in Australia's High Court. Hearings concluded last month but a ruling is yet to be delivered.

The government has said it is confident it will see off the challenge to the law, which will see all cigarettes sold in the same drab olive-green packets with graphic health warnings from December 1.

Australia is the first country to mandate plain packaging, but the ground-breaking move is being closely watched by other countries considering similar approaches, including Britain and Canada.

Neighbouring New Zealand last month announced it had agreed "in principle" to go ahead with laws mandating similar plain packaging, as part of a wider strategy to stamp out smoking in the country by 2025.

Australia estimates it has 15,000 deaths each year from tobacco-related illnesses.

Source-AFP

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Spiritual Friendship ? Walks with Yogi

26 May 2012

by anda in metta Tags: spirituality, buddhism, relationships, love, attachment, awareness, Heart, Mind, Meaning of life, freindship, Buddha-nature

?What if the leading energy in our lives were to be our heart and our heart?s cry? What if living a ?spiritual life? was actually synonymous with living a ?heart-centered life?? These are some of the questions I have been asking myself?and the answers have pushed me more and more into prioritizing what I am calling ?spiritual friendship.? What is spiritual friendship to me? It is the genuine meeting of two people who are vulnerable and open and truth-telling and available for actual contact and communion at the feeling level.

What this means is that interpersonal challenges can?t be healed on the meditation cushion or in solitary retreat. Wounds from relationship require the context of relationship for healing. This seems pretty obvious, huh? But as someone who has been a meditator now for almost three decades, this was not something that was obvious to me in the early stages of my journey. Somehow I thought I was going to open completely to the universe and all of its mystery without ever needing to relate closely and vulnerably with others.

What I am actually finding is that connecting with other people in a heart-centered way is not just about healing. It is actually the most rewarding and fulfilling part of my life. Period. There is something about being fully received by another person and fully receiving another person, without the need for any part to be edited or left out, that feels to me like the giving and receiving of the greatest soul nourishment that there is.?

-?Tami Simon, Founder and Publisher of Sounds True

Post 87

What Tami Simon describes is the healing relationships I have experienced in spiritual communities like my sangha, in Alanon and CODA, recently? in a wonderful? ?meet up? group called ?egonots?.? I know from my friends in AA they have those spiritual relationships as well.? Unconditional love and focus on who you are other than this? false, grasping, frightened ?self?. ? The openess and vulnerablity is greater in those relationships than most marriages and all romances.? Yet?

I still hear young women worrying about not finding ?love.? I too remember pacing the earth on constant look-out for ?love? that would make life worth living.? Maybe young women now? no longer plan their entire future based on marriage and family, but the pressure is still there.? Witness the flourishing wedding planning businesses.? Much of this has to do with wanting to have children.? I remember being told by a friend that ?having children is what gives life meaning; it is the purpose of life.?? I did not have a child then and never ended up having children.? Is my life meaningless then?

?As soon as there is ?self?, there is selfishness.These two are very different, nonetheless, they are inseparable. The ?self arises, then selfishness comes?. Selfishness gives rise to love, greed, anger, hatred, fear, worry, frustration, envy, jealousy, possessiveness. All of these are aspects of selfishness. Love through fear and worry, are just different aspects of selfishness.?? ?Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, from Buddhism Now online magazine

What does the self need?? Everything. From whom?? Another self. ? And when that changes or lessens, as it always does, the self needs More. From another self, and yet another?.Or one other who must fulfill its demands.

What does your buddhanture need? To be love.

Enough said.

So, here I am going to offer an unpopular conclusion, a radical conclusion, one that I?m sure will raise many objections, but here it goes:? If we assume the self, the body and all the physical forms our mind creates constitute reality, then the purpose of life is to procreate an extension of yourself.? However, if the purpose of life is to awaken from the illusion of self and see the unity of all that is, then it is not necessary to marry and procreate at all.

So you might say, that the love between husband and wife and children is the deepest love a human being can achieve.? And that is why women, especially, long for that from young ages.? Even gay people long for the same.? And the divorce rate is 50%.? We can only imagine the percentage of marriages mired in the selfishness of ?self? but unable or unwilling to change or grow.

What if, as Tami Simon, says in her quote, that our societies had as a value to aim for love that is not aimed at the self? And I am not talking about the neurotic selflessness of all those who adopt the mother/wife as? martyr role. What if our dream was not of our wedding, our cake, our dress, our honeymoon, our children, our house, our cars?.?? The needs and desires and attachments of the self underlie the entire ?dream.?

I have watched the pain and loneliness of my single women friends as search and do not find love. We fear we won?t find?? romance, passion,? our soul mates (definition:? someone who is what I want him or her to be).? We eventaully lose romance, passion or we divorce our ?soul mates.?

?Love through fear and worry, are just different aspects of selfishness.?

Love based on craving and desperation is no love at all?it is need; the need of wounded, frightened children.? This is the longing for parents, not partners.? Yet it is celebrated as the key to happiness and fulfillment.? How can children not follow that dream?? Why do we burden them with is illusion for the rest of their lives?

So am I proposing a hermit?s life?? Am I suggesting we all sit on the mat and meditate all alone for the rest of our lives.? Punish our ?selves? and try to be rid of them so we are not selfish? No.

I am suggesting what Tami Simon talks about:? The source of true love is a unique type of friendship, not a romantic or sexual bonanza.? What is a spiritual friendship??? It is aptly described by a quote from a Facebook friend in India:? When two minds with same interests come together they develop understanding, when two hearts with same feelings come together they create love. And when both mind and heart with common understandings and feelings come together, they create a beautiful relationship?Friendship!?

In the spiritual friendship I believe I am experiencing, I am not craving another to approve of my ?self,?? to have the other do what my ?self? wants, to fill the needs my ?self? thinks must be filled.? In a spiritual friendship we love what is beyond the ?self? and what is common to everyone, buddhanature.? We strive to see buddhanature in each other and all others.? Our Minds open to the mystery of who we are beyond these two seemingly separate selves.? Far from fear, we are free to be apart, to aim for non-attachment that is grounded in universal love, agape. Only what does not change is true.? But hat does not change is what is allowed to change, is not threatened by change.? The solid ground, the secure source of our buddhanature.? Buddha friend, I see your nature, I salute your nature, I feel comforted and loved by that changeless nature.? Buddha friend you appear in this body, with this face and in all bodies, all faces.

No reason to seek another.? No reason to fear. ? But when your friend appears you will be looking into the mirror of your own complete, unchanging nature.? Ah, true self, your nature is to be love, not seek it.

English: Two candles in love. The flame is inverted heart shape. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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'Small' IT Market Attracts Big Companies | bryanpalmernovogen.com

By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN

The small-business help desk is going corporate, with initiatives from companies like Apple Inc.

bringing new competition to independent consultants who typically handle the IT needs of U.S. start-ups and small companies.

The move comes as the use of external IT support among small businesses is exploding. Information-technology services can include setting up new computers, upgrading software, protecting against malware and troubleshooting.

U.S. businesses with less than 500 employees spent roughly $23.5 billion on IT services last year, and are projected to spend $27.2 billion on IT services by 2015, according to estimates by research firm IDC.

Best Buy Co.

sees ?significant, untapped potential? in small business IT, a company spokeswoman said. The national retail chain in December bought Mindshift Technologies Inc., a Waltham, Mass., provider of IT services to more than 5,400 small and midsize businesses nationwide.

Channing Johnson for The Wall Street Journal

Software engineers Guto DaSilva, left, and Srini Vasan at OnForce?s headquarters in Lexington, Mass. OnForce teamed up with Apple in June.

Apple in June formed a partnership with OnForce Services Inc., an eight-year-old IT services network based in Lexington, Mass., to provide small businesses with IT help on their own premises.

?Everyone?s talking small business right now. There?s a huge opportunity,? says Peter Cannone, chief executive of OnForce.

Apple stores already feature a ?Genius Bar,? where customers have their products serviced. A year ago Apple introduced ?JointVenture,? a program providing small businesses with limited tech support offered by Apple employees in Apple stores and over the phone. That program starts at $499 a year for those who buy a new Mac.

But in-store support isn?t ideal for many business owners who may need to carry multiple computers or devices from their office into an Apple store.

While many small businesses and start-ups are still reluctant to hire new employees, spending on technology and IT services is seen generally as smart if it can help a company operate more efficiently, or make it possible for an owner who travels to manage his or her business from a remote location.

?I don?t have an IT department,? says Kevin Kay, owner of an Easley, S.C., health-care company with just 53 employees. ?It?s not a luxury I can afford.?

Mr. Kay, who says he has been cautious in his overall spending in recent years due to the economy, sought Apple?s help in updating and transferring accounting software to three new iMac computers from older personal computers earlier this month.

Apple referred him to OnForce, which then dispatched a technician from its roster of more than 100,000 partners?independent IT-service providers nationwide who pay OnForce a referral fee of 10% of sales?to Mr. Kay?s business. Mr. Kay paid the technician $1,050, or $150 an hour, for seven hours of labor, an amount he describes as ?costly but necessary.? That?s on top of the $5,600 he shelled out for computers, iPads, software and data backup.

Thanks to the advent of cloud computing, the options now available to small businesses go well beyond what was typical for a help desk just a few years ago. They include analytics, software customization, disaster recovery and video conferencing, for instance. Such options and others only recently became feasible to dispense on a widespread scale?and at prices the average small business can afford.

Spending on IT services by U.S. companies of all sizes has been growing at a rate of about 3.2% annually over the past five years, and reached $304 billion last year. That total is about 55% more than their spending on computer hardware and software sales combined, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

About 71% of small and midsize U.S. companies said they planned to increase their IT budgets by an average of 5.2% over the next 12 months, according to a July survey of 602 companies with less than 500 employees by the Computing Technology Industry Association, a trade group.

The small-business IT market is alluring to many in part because no single player dominates it, even though some large corporations have been in the space for longer than Apple and Best Buy, including International Business Machines Corp., Staples Inc.

and AT&T Inc.

PlumChoice Inc., a midsize IT-services firm in Billerica, Mass., has signed partnerships with five large corporations in recent years to provide help-desk support to those outfits? small-business customers. ?When things don?t work, you can?t even run your business in many cases,? says Ted Werth, its founder.

There are roughly 300,000 independent IT consultants, and another 114,000 small IT companies, according to the trade group. Some independent consultants believe they can thrive despite potentially increased competition for mom-and-pop shops and other small-business clients.

?A college kid offers better pricing than I do but I?m able to give my clients the answers they need in ways they can understand,? says Allan Sabo, an IT consultant in Flushing, N.Y., who charges $100 an hour, or $500 a month, for service for clients who have one server and as many as five workstations.

Small-business owners ?want to work with local people,? says Jason Comstock, an independent consultant in Marysville, Ohio, who says he visits his clients on site at least once a month even though he can assist them remotely with many IT issues. ?They want to know who you are, where you go to church, are you a member of the local chamber of commerce, all those things. They?re really about the relationship.?

Best Buy so far isn?t planning to carve out dedicated space in its stores for Mindshift, as it currently does for Geek Squad, its tech-support service for consumers.

Rather, Mindshift will serve the businesses in most cases via remote access to a customer?s computer or over the phone.

?We can do 99% of the work remotely,? says Paul Chisholm, Mindshift CEO. ?More and more customers want to go to the cloud, and the independents and small regional providers don?t have the financial capital and expertise to develop scalable cloud offerings.?

Keeping a team of IT professionals can be too costly for a start-up.

?The minute you bring them in, unless you spend a tremendous amount on training and keeping them up to date, their skills deteriorate,? says Rick Rodgers, co-founder of Tesaro Inc.

The two-year-old biopharmaceutical company, based in Waltham, Mass., paid Mindshift about $40,000 for all of its 2011 IT needs.

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

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Irritable bowel syndrome linked to bacteria in gut

Friday, May 25, 2012

An overgrowth of bacteria in the gut has been linked to Irritable Bowel Syndrome in the results of a new Cedars-Sinai study which used cultures from the small intestine. This is the first study to use this "gold standard" method of connecting bacteria to the cause of the disease that affects an estimated 30 million people in the United States.

Previous studies have indicated that bacteria play a role in the disease, including breath tests detecting methane ? a byproduct of bacterial fermentation in the gut. This study was the first to make the link using bacterial cultures.

The study, in the current issue of Digestive Diseases and Sciences, examined samples of patients' small bowel cultures to confirm the presence of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth ? or SIBO ? in more than 320 subjects. In patients with IBS, more than a third also were diagnosed with small intestine bacterial overgrowth, compared to fewer than 10 percent of those without the disorder. Of those with diarrhea-predominant IBS, 60 percent also had bacterial overgrowth.

"While we found compelling evidence in the past that bacterial overgrowth is a contributing cause of IBS, making this link through bacterial cultures is the gold standard of diagnosis," said Mark Pimentel, MD, director of the Cedars-Sinai GI Motility Program and an author of the study. "This clear evidence of the role bacteria play in the disease underscores our clinical trial findings, which show that antibiotics are a successful treatment for IBS."

IBS is the most common gastrointestinal disorder in the U.S., affecting an estimated 30 million people. Patients with this condition suffer symptoms that can include painful bloating, constipation, diarrhea or an alternating pattern of both. Many patients try to avoid social interactions because they are embarrassed by their symptoms. Pimentel has led clinical trials that have shown rifaximin, a targeted antibiotic absorbed only in the gut, is an effective treatment for patients with IBS.

"In the past, treatments for IBS have always focused on trying to alleviate the symptoms," said Pimentel, who first bucked standard medical thought more than a decade ago when he suggested bacteria played a significant role in the disease. "Patients who take rifaximin experience relief of their symptoms even after they stop taking the medication. This new study confirms what our findings with the antibiotic and our previous studies always led us to believe: Bacteria are key contributors to the cause of IBS."

###

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center: http://www.csmc.edu

Thanks to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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James, Bryant lead All-NBA team

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Business Management Daily wins web design award at 36th Annual ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Elizabeth Hall, Senior Web Editor
(800) 543-2055??(703) 905-4608
ehall@BusinessManagementDaily.com

May 24, 2012

Business Management Daily Wins Web Design Award at 36th Annual International SIPA Conference

Falls Church, Va. ? The Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) has named BusinessManagementDaily.com the third-place winner in the international 2012 SIPAwards competition for Best New or Relaunched Website. Business Management Daily?s Senior Web Editor Elizabeth Hall and Web Developer Chad Barbee won the award for their work on a complete redesign of the website in 2011.

The award was presented during SIPA?s 36th Annual International Conference May 20-22 in Washington, D.C., a training and networking event for professionals in the publishing industry. The association named 44 winners for excellence in editorial, marketing and online categories.

?The range of subjects reflects the incredible range of topics covered by SIPA members,? said SIPA?s Executive Director Matt Salt. ?Winning a 2012 SIPAward is an especially impressive achievement given that there were a record 217 entries and the judging was conducted by a specially chosen group of industry peers.?

?I?m honored by SIPA?s nod to Business Management Daily and humbled by our fellow winners,? Hall said. ?I look forward to competing again in future years.?

Falls Church, Va.-based Business Management Daily first launched BusinessManagementDaily.com in late 2008. The website offers articles, free special reports, blogs and other resources for business professionals on a range of topics, including human resources, office technology and workplace communication. In 2011, Hall was tasked with a redesign of the entire website to reflect current industry trends and best practices.

?After about a year of looking at the traffic trends and seeing how people were really using the website, I went back to the drawing board and revamped Business Management Daily?s taxonomy, navigation and layout,? Hall said. ?I?m pleased to see that our readers are better able to navigate the website and find the content they want.?

Elliott Gue of Investing Daily received the first place award in this category for the successful launch of MLPProfits.com. Business Management Daily and Investing Daily are both divisions of Capitol Information Group, Inc.

SIPA is the international trade association devoted to enhancing the interests of commercial information providers that serve niche communities. SIPA?s mission is to serve its worldwide membership through education, networking and training to promote advancement, profitability and professional excellence.?

Business Management Daily?provides plain-English, actionable news, information and tips to busy professionals in the areas of human resources,?leadership, management, administrative skills, office technology, employment law, tax and more. Subscribe to our free e-newsletters and download our free reports. ?Like? us on Facebook and follow us on Google+ and Twitter at @BizDaily. For a full listing of all our books, training CDs, webinars, special reports and videos, visit www.BusinessManagementDaily.com/store.

-END-

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Hidden letter helps solve 13-year South Africa murder

By Reuters

A letter found buried beneath a carpet that begins with the words "By the time you read this, I will probably be dead" has helped unlock a 13-year-old murder mystery in South Africa, police said on Thursday.

The letter, apparently a confession from one of the people who killed a woman in 1999, led police to arrest five people this week.

---

Tandiwe Betty Ketani was shot in the head 13 years ago in Johannesburg and left for dead - but she survived and was taken to a hospital.

The 37-year-old mother was kidnapped from hospital and for the past 13 years has been classed as a missing person - until the letter shed light on her fate.

The letter said the suspected killers had abducted her from the hospital using a forged medical note when they realized she had survived, and then shot her dead. It is not known if the author is alive or if they are one of the suspects arrested.

Read more Africa news.

The note was found about two months ago when the owners of a Johannesburg-area house were renovating. It was then turned over to police, who used it to break the case.

The man who discovered the letter, who asked not be named, said that when his family read its contents, it felt like they were playing parts in a Hollywood movie.

Africa's Rainbow Nation troubled by racist time warp

"We were sweating, you know, and I said don't drip sweat on the papers because you are going to damage them," he told national radio broadcaster Eyewitness News.

Police spokesman Tshisikhawe Ndou told Reuters the five, who are charged with kidnapping and murder, will appear in court in Johannesburg on Friday for a bail application. Two police officers are among the five, local media reported.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

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Man arrested in 1979 disappearance of NYC boy Patz

This undated file image provided Friday, May 28, 2010 by Stanley K. Patz shows a flyer distributed by the New York Police Department of Patz's son Etan who vanished in New York on May 25, 1979. New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday May 24, 2010, that a person who's in custody has implicated himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz, (AP Photo/Courtesy NYPD/file) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES, FOR USE ONLY IN ILLUSTRATING EDITORIAL STORIES REGARDING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ETAN PATZ OR OTHER MISSING CHILDREN

This undated file image provided Friday, May 28, 2010 by Stanley K. Patz shows a flyer distributed by the New York Police Department of Patz's son Etan who vanished in New York on May 25, 1979. New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday May 24, 2010, that a person who's in custody has implicated himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz, (AP Photo/Courtesy NYPD/file) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES, FOR USE ONLY IN ILLUSTRATING EDITORIAL STORIES REGARDING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ETAN PATZ OR OTHER MISSING CHILDREN

New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly speaks during a news conference Thursday, May 24, 2012, in New York. Pedro Hernandez has implicated himself in the death of 6-year-old Etan?Patz, whose disappearance 33 years ago on his way to school helped launch a missing children's movement that put kids' faces on milk cartons, Kelly said. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly speaks during a news conference Thursday, May 24, 2012, in New York. Pedro Hernandez has implicated himself in the death of 6-year-old Etan Patz, whose disappearance 33 years ago on his way to school helped launch a missing children's movement that put kids' faces on milk cartons. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly speaks during a news conference Thursday, May 24, 2012, in New York. Pedro Hernandez has implicated himself in the death of 6-year-old Etan?Patz, whose disappearance 33 years ago on his way to school helped launch a missing children's movement that put kids' faces on milk cartons, Kelly said. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

A house, left, at 116 E. Linwood Ave., is seen in Maple Shade, N.J., Thursday, May 24, 2012. A woman who would not identify herself, answered the door at Apt. B, door left, back of house, and said that it is the home of Pedro Hernandez, who is in custody in the disappearence of Etan Patz in 1979. Hernandez has implicated himself in the death of Patz, police said Thursday. (AP Photo/Mel?Evans)

NEW YORK (AP) ? A former convenience store worker confessed to luring 6-year-old Etan Patz from his school bus stop in 1979 and choking him to death in a basement, police said Thursday, ending a three-decades long investigation into one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases.

Pedro Hernandez, 51, of Maple Shade, N.J., was arrested on a murder charge after he told police he promised the boy a soda, took him to his store ? just blocks from Etan's lower Manhattan home ? and killed him there, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Hernandez told police he put Etan's body in some trash about a block from the store, Kelly said, where it's possible it was picked up by sanitation crews.

No body has been recovered, and Kelly said it's possible the remains would never be found.

Hernandez was questioned by police for more than three hours after he was picked up in New Jersey Wednesday, and gave police a signed confession, Kelly said. His motive was not yet clear.

It's not clear if he had an attorney; an arraignment was expected sometime Friday. No one answered the door at Hernandez' New Jersey home Thursday night.

"He was remorseful, and I think the detectives thought that it was a feeling of relief on his part" to confess, Kelly said. "We believe that this is the individual responsible for the crime."

The arrest is the first ever in the decades-old case that gave rise to the missing-children's movement and ushered in an era of anxiety about leaving children unsupervised. Etan's photo was one of the first of a missing child to appear on a milk carton. The anniversary of Etan's disappearance, which is Friday, was named National Missing Children's Day by presidential proclamation in 1983.

Detectives are often barraged with hoaxes, false leads and possible sightings around the anniversary of the boy's disappearance. But Kelly said they believed Hernandez's story because of specific details he gave to police.

Hernandez, then 19, had worked as a stock clerk at the store for about a month and wasn't questioned at the outset, Kelly said. But he later told relatives, as far back as 1981, that he had "done something bad" and killed an unnamed child in New York City, he said.

After a search of a basement near Patz' lower Manhattan home last month hurtled the case back into the news, a tipster pointed police to Hernandez. Kelly said the person wasn't a relative, but knew that Hernandez had said he had done a bad thing, he said.

Hernandez was known to police as being a worker at the convenience store ? a popular fixture in the neighborhood ? but was never questioned, though other people in the shop were.

He left his job days after Etan disappeared and moved to New Jersey, where he had relatives, Kelly said. Hernandez later worked in construction but has been collecting disability payments since a 1993 back injury, police said. He is married with a teenage daughter, he said.

The focus on Hernandez came after other leads arose and stalled, at one point taking investigators as far as Israel tracking reported sightings of the boy.

For most of the past decade, the investigation focused on Jose Ramos, a convicted child molester now in prison in Pennsylvania. He had been dating Etan's baby sitter. In 2000, authorities dug up Ramos' former basement in lower Manhattan, but nothing turned up.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced in 2010 that his office was renewing the investigation into the case. A few weeks ago, investigators excavated another basement, down the street from the Patz apartment. The search found no human remains.

Investigators questioned a 75-year-old handyman who had a workspace in the cellar in 1979. But he was not named as a suspect and denied any involvement in the boy's disappearance.

Neighbors in Maple Shade, N.J., said Hernandez lived with his wife and a daughter who attends college. They expressed surprise Thursday night at the arrest.

"I knew the guy. He was not a problem. His family was great people," said Dan Wollick, 71, who rents an apartment in Hernandez' home ."He didn't bother anybody."

Sandy-haired Etan vanished while walking alone to his bus stop for the first time, two blocks from his home in New York's busy SoHo neighborhood, which was a working-class part of the city back then but is now a chic area of boutiques and galleries.

Etan's parents, Stan and Julie Patz, were reluctant to move or even change their phone number in case their son tried to reach out. They still live in the same apartment.

They did not return a call for comment Thursday.

Lt. Christopher Zimmerman of the Missing Persons Squad said he'd spoken to Patz' parents.

"Mr. Patz was taken aback, a little surprised, and I would say overwhelmed to a degree," he said. "He had a few specific questions. He was a little surprised, but I think after everything Mr. Patz has gone through, he handled it very well."

___

Associated Press Writers Jennifer Peltz and Karen Matthews in New York and Geoff Mulvihill in Maple Shade, N.J., in contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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