IMF fails to agree on new formula for vote reforms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund failed to meet a self-imposed Thursday deadline for agreeing on a new formula to determine member countries' voting power that would give emerging economies greater say in the global financial institution.

IMF member countries have wrangled for two years over specifics of the formula intended to reflect the rise of China, Brazil and other large emerging market economies.

The IMF said it planned to finalize a formula by January 2014, when it next reviews the voting shares of member countries.

An IMF statement on Thursday said there had been "important progress in identifying key elements that could form the basis for a final agreement on a new quota formula."

"The board has had an enlightening series of discussions during the past year, and the membership is now in a good position to agree on an improved quota formula in the context of the upcoming 15th general review of quotas," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in the statement.

Emerging economies blamed Europe for resisting change that would weaken its traditional domination in the fund.

Paulo Nogueira Batista, executive director for Brazil and 10 other countries, decried the lack of a deal after two years of negotiations and warned that the IMF would lose credibility unless it changed.

He said governance reforms had practically ground to a halt since 2011 when the fund failed to enforce voting changes agreed in 2010. "Now we have an attempt to paper over the fact the review of the quota formula has not been completed either," Nogueira Batista said in a statement. "The IMF is approaching what we could call a 'credibility cliff'".

IMF member countries have squabbled for months over specifics of the formula that calculates each members' voting power in the IMF, with emerging market economies pushing for changes that would give more weight to purchasing power GDP - which measures the buying power of an economy instead of just the dollar value.

European countries have sought more emphasis on openness, the most hotly debated of all the measurements, because it captures among many things the vast trade flows between euro zone countries. Removing, or scaling back, the openness measure would sharply reduce Europe's influence in the IMF and shift power to China, India and Brazil.

Member countries set a January 2013 target for a reconfigured formula but many expected the deadline would be missed because of a continued inability to narrow differences.

"A new quota formula remains key to the indispensable rebalancing of decision-making power in the IMF," Nogueira Batista said. "Without this rebalancing the institution will not be able to retain its centrality in the world economy in the years to come."

Under the current formula, he said the Netherlands' quota share was close to that of Brazil, which is a much larger economy. Meanwhile, the quota share of tiny Luxemburg is larger than Argentina or South Africa and three times bigger than Morocco, he argued.

(Editing by Eric Meijer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/imf-fails-agree-formula-vote-reforms-054848702.html

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Samsung fined $1,000 over fatal gas leak, according to Yonhap News

Korea's Yonhap News Agency is reporting that Samsung will be fined a nominal 1 million won (roughly $1,000) for not reporting its recent gas leak quickly enough. The incident led to the death of a maintenance contractor who was brought in to fix a pipe leaking hydrofluoric acid gas at one of Samsung's semiconductor plants. Police are said to be imposing the fine on both Samsung and its subcontractor for violating a law stipulating that such chemical leaks must be "promptly" reported to the authorities. It appears no official alert was given until the contractor died in hospital. Police say they're continuing to investigate how the fatal accident happened and that it's clear "someone died due to poor administration," so this isn't the end of the matter -- a fuller report is expected within two weeks.

Filed under: Samsung

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Source: Yonhap News

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FzFmE-rd8tM/

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Don?t Repay the National Debt

Prime Minister Sir Henry Pelham

Painting by William Hoare/National Portrait Gallery, London/Wikimedia Commons.

Britain and France were the superpowers of the 18^th century, clashing repeatedly over the succession to the Spanish and Austrian thrones, overseas colonies, and eventually American independence. Britain?s most famous advantage in these struggles was its naval strength, but another important edge was its more sophisticated financial system. Advanced finance allowed the country to maximize the quantity of resources it was able to bring to bear during the acute crisis of war without crushing the underlying sources of economic growth through excessive taxation. Modern-day finance, of course, is generally much more sophisticated than even the cutting edge of the 18^th century. But our former colonial masters did have one good idea that?s since been abandoned and deserves revival: perpetual bonds.

In 1752, Prime Minister Henry Pelham converted the entire outstanding stock of British debt into consolidated annuities that would become known as consols. The consols paid interest on an annual basis just like regular bonds, but with no requirement that the government ever redeem them by repaying the face value. Pelham created the bonds in order to reduce the government?s annual debt service costs. That isn?t our problem today. Instead, a modern-day consol would target another problem: political reluctance to take advantage of record-low interest rates.

As of Friday, the inflation-adjusted yield on 10-year Treasury bonds was negative 0.56 percent. Savers, in other words, want to pay the American government for the privilege of safeguarding their money. For the longest-dated bonds we sell, the 30-year Treasury bond, rates were 0.51 percent. That?s higher than zero, but far below the long-term average economic growth level. A sensible country would be taking advantage of that fact to finance some valuable public undertakings. Alternatively, if we think there?s nothing worth spending money on we could enact a big temporary tax cut aimed at reducing the unemployment rate and boosting the population?s skill level. Prolonged long-term unemployment, after all, has lasting effects that reduce the efficiency of the labor market and make it much harder to grow in the long term.

Another way of looking at it is that global financial markets are sending a clear signal to the United States. At a time when demand for goods and services is depressed, demand for American government debt is sky-high. The responsible choice is to let the supply meet the demand and borrow more.

But excessive worry about deficits is hard to purge from the system. One common objection, raised recently by Damon Linker is that ?the principal on a loan (even one taken at zero or negative interest) eventually has to be repaid.??

Except it doesn?t. Right now, the Treasury Department floats loans of a variety of durations, ranging from 28 days to 30 years. Lenders generally demand higher interest rates for longer-duration loans. But right now the rates on even the 30-year loans are extremely low. We could?and should?imitate Pelham and see what the market would demand for a loan that never has to be repaid. How high an interest rate would people demand for a loan like that? Well there?s no way to know without offering one on the marketplace. But right now 30-year bond rates are at never-before-seen lows, so paying a higher rate wouldn?t involve any unprecedented borrowing costs.

In exchange we?d gain some valuable information and confidence. Questions about how many perpetual bonds it?s prudent to issue would no longer be dominated by nonsense about the ?cleanest dirty shirt? and vague worries about hypothetical possible future refinancing crises. Instead we?d have a straightforward value question: Are the social and economic merits of additional borrowing worth the market interest rate or not? Well-targeted tax cuts and reasonably designed infrastructure stimulus should easily meet the test, while pork wouldn?t. But the outcome will depend on the actual state of market demand for government debt versus other investment vehicles. As demand for debt declines and growth prospects improve, interest rates will rise, meaning less borrowing will pass cost-benefit scrutiny.

Meanwhile, higher-but-low-by-historical-standards interest rates will in some ways be helpful to savers. Right now if you want to save money you face a fierce tradeoff between accepting low yields and taking on big risks. Consols offer a third way, a safe high-yield investment for those willing to lock their money up forever.

Most of all, perpetual bonds would help us move beyond the destructive politics of the grand bargain. The government could borrow money without adding to the national debt. Instead of obsessing over the debt-to-GDP ratio, we could tackle the present-day problem of unemployment and the medium-term barriers to growth. The current structure of American debt served us well for a long time, but times change. Successful countries manage their debt not just by borrowing prudent amounts, but by being smart about how they borrow. Today we face unusual fiscal circumstances?large projected future borrowing needs plus very low interest rates?and that calls for a little innovative thinking. Governments have rarely issued perpetual bonds, but our ability to offer them credibly is a strength of our very stable system of government. It?s time to take advantage of that to lock in today?s low borrowing costs. Forever.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=444935ba2b4cd74a03d63f88b3b73650

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Bruised Fruit Isn't Bad For You, But It May Mold Quicker

Eating bruised fruit isn't very appealing, but that doesn't make it bad for you. Slate's Brian Palmer explains why there's no reason you shouldn't make use of it.

When fruit is bruised, its skin is compromised, allowing oxygen into the fruit itself. Oxidized fruit results in cellular damage and the flesh turning brown and mushy. As gross as it may look, it isn't bad for you at all?but do be on the lookout for mold, as bruised fruit is more susceptible to infection:

If your bruised fruit has visible microbial growth, is it still safe to eat the nondamaged portion? It depends on the fruit. The question is whether the roots of the mold have penetrated the food. It's difficult for mold to grow deep into firm fruits. So feel free to cut away the moldy portion of a bell pepper-yes, bell peppers are a fruit-and eat the remainder. Bananas, on the other hand, are too soft to repel a mold invasion, so a banana with a bruised, moldy spot should be tossed.

And for those fruits that are just a bit bruised here and there and may be too unsightly to eat whole? Feel free to do what The Kitchn commenters recommend and use them to make other things: banana bread, fruit salad, and smoothies are all great ideas.

Is It Safe to Eat Damaged Fruit? | Slate via The Kitchn

Photo by scott ogilvie .

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/QpGr-tTVL40/bruised-fruit-isnt-bad-for-you-but-it-may-mold-quicker

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The Fifth International Conference on Wireless & Mobile Networks ...

The Fifth International Conference on Wireless & Mobile Networks (WiMoN ? 2013)

June 1 ~ 2, 2013, Istanbul, Turkey
http://netcom2012.org/wimon13/index.html

The conference looks for significant contributions to the Wireless and Mobile networks in theoretical and practical aspects. WiMoN-2013 addresses topics regarding integration of latest technologies to realize wireless, mobile and ubiquitous service environments for advanced applications and services. Original papers are invited on Wireless and Mobile communications, Network protocols and security. The goal of this conference is to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on advanced Wireless, Mobile networking concepts and establishing new collaborations in these areas. Authors are solicited to contribute to the conference by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the following areas, but are not limited to

Topics of Interest:

• Mobile and Wireless Communications
• Network Protocols & Wireless Networks
• Wireless & Mobile Network Architectures
• Wireless & Mobile Network Operations & management
• Wireless, Mobile Internet and Web applications
• Wireless Multimedia systems
• Wireless Sensor Networks
• Spectrum Allocation and Management
• Wireless LANs and Wireless PANs
• Heterogeneous wireless networks
• Measurement & Performance Analysis
• Mobile Computing
• Next Generation Mobile Networks
• Mobile Adhoc Network Routing and sensor networks
• Measurement & Performance Analysis
• Wireless & Mobile Network Security
• Routing, switching and addressing techniques & algorithms
• Internet access and broadband technologies
• Traffic and congestion control, QoS, Resource Management
• Ubiquitous networks
• Recent trends in wireless & Mobile Networks

Paper Submission

Authors are invited to submit papers through the conference Submission system by February 11, 2013. Submissions must be original and should not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication while being evaluated for this conference.

The proceedings of the conference will be published by Springer (LNCS) in Communications in Computer and Information Science(CCIS) Series (Confirmed).Hard copy of the Springer Proceedings will be distributed during the Conference. The softcopy will be available on SpringerLink

Selected papers from WiMoN 2013, after further revisions, will be published in the special issue of the following journal.

Important Dates:

Submission Deadline : February 11, 2013

Authors Notification : March 11, 2013

Final Manuscript Due : March 15, 2013

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Source: http://cfptech.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/the-fifth-international-conference-on-wireless-mobile-networks-wimon-2013-4/

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U.S. probed media's handling of economic data - source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement authorities conducted an investigation into whether media companies facilitated insider trading by prematurely releasing market-sensitive government data, but decided not to bring charges, a source familiar with the probe said.

The investigation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier on Monday, looked into whether news organizations used high-speed transmission systems to give some investors access to economic data a fraction of a second before the official release time, the source confirmed late on Monday.

Among the media companies investigated were Bloomberg LP, Thomson Reuters Corp and Dow Jones & Co., a unit of News Corp , according to the source.

Investigators launched the probe after spotting trading patterns suggesting some traders received data slightly before the release time; the investigators decided against filing charges because they could not link the pattern to specific actions by media companies, the source confirmed.

Although the probe ended without criminal charges, investigators still have concerns about the handling of federal economic data, according to the source. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents focused much of their attention on activities at the U.S. Commerce, Labor, and Treasury departments, the source confirmed.

The source said the government agencies were briefed on the results of the investigation about a month ago.

The Commerce and Labor departments have adopted systems in which a master switch controls all news agency communications lines in data "lockups" where reporters are given access to the information ahead of public release times.

The Labor Department recently tightened its procedures by requiring companies to use only communications equipment ordered through the department and restricting the material reporters can bring into the "lockup" facility.

The FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission looked into operations at all major government departments that release economic data, including the Federal Reserve and the departments of Energy and Agriculture, the source confirmed.

As part of the probe, investigators last summer asked for Bloomberg to turn over one of their computers at the Commerce Department, the source confirmed.

"We discovered a flaw in the Department of Commerce's lockup system during a testing period sponsored by the Department," a Bloomberg spokesman said. "We alerted Commerce to this flaw ... (and) we suggested solutions to secure their system and they thanked us for alerting them to the issue."

A spokeswoman for Dow Jones said the company was not aware of violating an embargo on any major piece of economic data during the past several years. "The government did not contact Dow Jones regarding its criminal investigation or request any equipment, and we had no knowledge of the status of the investigation," she said.

A spokeswoman for Reuters News, the news agency arm of Thomson Reuters, said: "We are unaware of any criminal investigation or request for any of our equipment to be turned over for examination."

(Reporting by Timothy Ahmann; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-probed-medias-handling-economic-data-source-151704218--finance.html

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Maybe we should all shut up about 2016

By Jeff Greenfield

I?ve tried, really I have.

But I just can?t.

Every time I start to write about why Clinton, Biden, Rubio, Christie, Ryan, Cuomo, O?Malley, Paul, Walker, Warren will or won?t run or will win or lose, reminders of the past begin to play in my mind. And I?m reminded of how often and how quickly rock-solid political certainties have crumbled.

Suppose, for example, you were looking at the political landscape in 1989, just after the Republicans won the White House for the third consecutive time. You would note that the GOP won every Southern state, all eight states in the interior West, four of the six New England states, and New Jersey, Illinois and California?each of them for the sixth consecutive presidential election. You?d observe that since 1964, the Republicans had won five of six presidential elections, losing only the post-Watergate contest of 1976. You?d echo the dominant piece of political wisdom: that the Republican Party had an ?electoral lock? on the White House.

If someone had suggested back then that New Jersey, Illinois and California would each record Democratic landslides or near-landslides for the next six presidential elections, you?d have shaken your head at such obvious political ignorance.

Or suppose it was the morning after the 2004 election, when George W. Bush won the pivotal state of Ohio in part because social conservatives turned out to approve a ban on gay marriage?as did voters in all 13 states where the issue was on the ballot. Would you have dared assume that eight years later, voters in four states either sanctioned gay marriage or refused to prohibit it? Or that when President Barack Obama belatedly endorsed the idea, he was accused of changing his mind for political advantage?

Of course not. You?d have been asked, ?What have you been smoking?? (That?s the same question you?d have been asked a few elections back if you?d predicted that voters would approve the use of recreational marijuana, which voters in two states did in November.)

Not so long ago, every election cycle would feature a hundred voices intoning, ?No one has ever won the White House without first winning the New Hampshire primary.? Now a footnote is required: ?except the last three presidents.?

Until last year, it was a political rule of near-scientific certainty: ?No Republican has won the nomination without winning the South Carolina primary.? Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney laid that one to rest.
Until the 2000 election, religiosity told us almost nothing about political preferences. Since that election, it?s been one of the more reliable indicators: Regular churchgoers lean heavily Republican; less observant or secular voters lean heavily Democratic.

So just how confident can a prognosticator be in assuming that the demographics of the 2012 election are reliable guides to the future? If congressional Republicans really embrace immigration reform and if a Hispanic winds up on the GOP national ticket in 2016, can Democrats continue to rely on winning the Latino vote by a near 3-to-1 margin, as they did last November? For its part, can the Republican Party embrace a version of immigration reform that alienates a significant part of its base without risking defections, possibly in the form of a third party?

These questions pale in the face of those ?unknown unknowns? that so often upend core political assumptions. After the LBJ-Goldwater campaign of 1964, last rites were being administered to the Republican Party. Within a year, the escalation of the Vietnam War, along with racial and generational conflict at home, had pulled the Democratic Party apart.

After the Republican capture of the Senate in 2002, and George W. Bush?s re-election as president two years later, Karl Rove argued that his party had been ?rebranded? and was well on its way to becoming a more or less permanent majority, much as William McKinley had led Republicans to dominance a century earlier. Iraq, Katrina and a global financial meltdown took care of that prophecy.

So, much as I?d love to join my colleagues in confidently charting the future, history tells me this is a fool?s errand.

Besides, if you had co-authored a book in 1971 that predicted that the next president of the United States would be New York Mayor John Lindsay, you?d be a bit gun-shy, too.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/maybe-we-should-all-shut-up-about-2016-193451754.html

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Girl who performed at Obama inauguration shot dead

dnainfo.com

Hadiya Pendleton, 15, a student at King College Prep, was killed Tuesday at a Chicago park.

By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

A 15-year-old girl who performed at President Obama's inauguration last week was shot dead Tuesday while hanging out with friends in bullet-scarred Chicago.

Hadiya Pendleton -- described by a relative as a ?walking angel? -- was standing under a canopy in?Vivian Gordon Harsh Park when a gunman ran down an alley, opened fire at the group and fled in a white car, police said.

Pendleton was shot in the back but managed to run about a block before she collapsed, officer Laura Kubiak said. She died at the hospital.

A 16-year-old boy was wounded in the 2:20 p.m. incident. Police said Pendleton, who had no criminal record, was probably not the intended target.

?As usual, the bad guy aims, but he never hits the other bad guy . . . He hits the one that hurts the most to lose,? the victim?s godfather, Damon Stewart, 36, who is a police officer, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

?I changed her diapers, I played with her growing up. My heart is broken.?

A sophomore at selective King College Prep High School, Pendleton had traveled to Washington to perform with the school?marching band at inaugural events.

?It was the highlight of her young 15-year-old life,? Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Wednesday at a Senate hearing on gun violence.

?Just a matter of days after the happiest day of her life, she?s gone.?

Cousin Shatira Wilks said the upcoming inauguration trip was the talk of a family gathering around New Year?s, but the young majorette was even more excited about something else: plans to spend the summer studying in Paris.

?She was an honor student all her life,? Wilks said. ?Honestly, she was a walking angel. She never once gave her mom any problems ever.?

Wilks said the teen doted on her 10-year-old brother, Junior, who is devastated.

?At Christmas this year, she was designated the elf and she handed out all the gifts,? she recalled.

?She loved rock music. She was always listening and playing to music,? Wilks said,. ?What you would usually catching her doing is texting on her phone, like all the teenagers.?

Pendleton last tweeted just before 1 a.m. on Tuesday. ?I?m tired,? she wrote.

Many of her classmates changed their Twitter handles to honor her and decried the violence that had claimed an innocent life.

?You are more than loved and missed,? one wrote. ?Your laugh smile and silly happy personality has made my day more times than I can remember. Nobody deserves this, especially not you.?

Friends of the young majorette described her as a bubbly, well-liked student.

?She was always smiling and laughing,? said Tyler Genovesi, 14. ?She was just a really nice person. ? There?s a lot of people crying in school today. It?s very sad. The band is playing for her right now.?

The shooting happened in an upscale neighborhood where residents were shocked.

"I was torn apart," said Robin Hollis, who lives across the street from the park. "I cried when I heard about it."

Pendleton's murder was one of three shooting deaths in the city on Tuesday. More than 40 people have been shot dead in Chicago since the beginning of the year. There were 506 homicides in the city last year, a 16 percent increase even as other large cities, like New York, saw murders drop.

?We are awash in guns,? Durbin said, noting that six times as many guns as confiscated in Chicago as in New York each year. We have guns everywhere and some believe the solution to this is more guns. I disagree.?

Related:

Tale of two cities: Homicides leap in Chicago, plummet in New York

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/30/16771949-girl-who-performed-at-obamas-inauguration-shot-dead-in-chicago?lite

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Why Your Boss Might Be the Only Thing Between You and the Flu

All over the media, we hear public health experts explain ways to limit the flu outbreak. Get a flu shot, they advise, wash your hands?and if you get the flu, stay home until 24 hours after your fever?s gone. ?

It makes sense. During the H1N1 flu, more than seven million people caught the bug from coworkers who came to the job sick.

The Most Vulnerable Pay a High Price for Flu Infection?

But the recommendation to take a sick day is more complicated for 44 million people in this country who don?t earn any of these days. In fact, for many, including workers like my friend Denise, a cashier in Milwaukee, it?s a choice between a health crisis and a financial crisis. ?Since I?d been sick twice this year?one day each time?I was told I?d be suspended for three days if I stayed home,? Denise said. ?That amounted to about $240 before taxes. So even though I had the flu, it was go in or [stay home and] not make the rent. I sat as a cashier all day touching customers? groceries. People kept asking me why I was working. All I could say was that my boss made me.?

Some management consultants acknowledge that sick workers may spread the flu to coworkers out of fear that they?ll be fired if they stay home to recover. ?The economy is still on shaky ground and many workers continue to be worried about losing their jobs,??said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., an outplacement consulting firm. ?Of course, this has significant negative consequences for the workplace.?

Post Your Symptoms at Flu Near You

The fear is real.?University of Chicago researchers?found nearly one in four workers reported that he/she or a family member had been fired, suspended, punished, or threatened with being fired for taking time off due to personal illness or to care for a sick child or other relative. And job loss isn?t the only fear. In this economy, who can afford to lose even one day?s pay? Ask the people who serve our food, clean our offices, and care for our young or elderly. They?re among those?half the workforce and three quarters of low-wage workers?who lack paid sick days.

As a Miami cook put it, ?Every penny goes somewhere. I have no choice but to suck it up if I?m sick.?

More than one-third of flu cases are transmitted in schools and workplaces. Those same Chicago researchers asked respondents, ?Have you ever had to go to work when you were sick with a contagious illness like the flu?? Nearly 70 percent of those lacking paid sick days answered, ?Yes.?

Flu Is Packing a Punch Across the Nation

Studies show that when sick workers stay home, the number of people affected by pandemic flu can be reduced by 15 to 34 percent, according to Jonathan Heller, director of Human Impact Partners.

Public school teachers and nurses will tell you how often children come to school sick, or can?t get picked up if they fall ill during class because their parents have no paid sick time. They?ll describe the heartbreak of having a child say, ?Please don?t call my mom. She?ll get in trouble if you do.? They?ll give you examples of kids?sometimes as young as eight years old?who miss school to care for a younger sibling.

To avoid the spread of germs, we have to ensure that no one will lose income or a job for staying home sick.?

How to Avoid the Flu: 8 Easy Ways Not to Get Sick

Corporate lobbyists want to rig the system so it works only for them. But from coast to coast, working people have created large and diverse coalitions ?restaurant workers and restaurant owners, those who fight asthma and those who fight poverty, faith leaders and advocates for marriage equality and many more?who know that together we can change the rules so they work for everyone.

And from coast to coast we?re winning. In 2006, San Francisco established a paid sick leave policy that now gets?favorable reviews?from most employers. In 2007, Washington, D.C. followed suit. Milwaukee voted overwhelmingly for paid sick days in 2008 (Scott Walker and crew later axed it). In 2011, Connecticut became the first state to pass paid sick days, as did the city of Seattle; Philadelphia extended it to workers covered by the municipal living wage ordinance. Soon Philly?s City Council will vote again to cover everyone. Across the country, Portland?s City Council is moving a sick days bill right now. New York City and several states, including Massachusetts, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington, are all considering bills as well.

You can make a difference by telling elected officials what this policy means to you:

Take part for your kids:?Make sure your child doesn?t have to sit next to a classmate with the flu whose mom or dad couldn?t risk staying home.

Take part for yourself: Even if you have paid sick days, you don?t want to be served flu with your fries.?

In an economy where more and more families are living paycheck-to-paycheck, we need paid sick days to make sure that a public health crisis doesn?t become an economic crisis.?

Have you had to go to work when you were ill because you had no paid sick leave? Did you fear losing your job? Do you know someone who's had to work when sick??

?

Related Stories on TakePart:

? Would You Get a Flu Shot Made from Insects?

? Researchers Are Closing In On a Method to Predict Flu Outbreaks

? Flu Vaccines in Grade Schools Significantly Curb Illness

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Ellen Bravo is the executive director of the?Family Values @ Work Consortium.

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Watch Family Values at Work's video about the Participant Media film "Contagion."

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These are solely the author's opinions and do not represent those of TakePart, LLC or its affiliates.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-boss-might-only-thing-between-flu-195622971.html

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Wounded soldier gets double-arm transplant in Md.

BALTIMORE (AP) ? A soldier who lost all four limbs in a roadside bomb attack in 2009 in Iraq has received a double-arm transplant in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Hospital officials said Monday.

Surgeons who treated the unidentified infantryman plan to discuss the transplant Tuesday at a news conference with the soldier. The soldier is one of seven in the U.S. who have undergone successful double-arm transplants, the hospital said.

The transplant last month is the first for the hospital and involved an innovative treatment to prevent rejection of the new limbs. The treatment used the dead donor's bone marrow cells and so far has prevented rejection and reduced the need for anti-rejection drugs. Those drugs can cause complications, including infection and organ damage, hospital officials said.

The novel treatment to help prevent rejection was pioneered by Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, plastic surgery chief at Johns Hopkins, when he previously worked at the University of Pittsburgh.

In his previous job, Lee led five single-hand transplant operations on five patients, giving them new hands plus marrow from their donors. In an interview last fall, Lee said that all five recipients had done well and that four were taking only one anti-rejection drug instead of combination treatments most transplant patients receive.

Minimizing anti-rejection drugs is important because they have side effects and raise the risk of cancer over the long term. Those risks have limited the willingness of surgeons and patients to do more hand, arm and even face transplants. Unlike a life-saving heart or liver transplant, limb transplants are aimed at improving quality of life, not extending it.

Quality of life is a key concern for people missing arms and hands ? prosthetics for those limbs are not as advanced as those for feet and legs.

Lee has received funding for his work from AFIRM, the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, a cooperative research network of top hospitals and universities around the country that the government formed about five years ago. With government money, he and several other plastic surgeons around the country are preparing to do more face transplants, possibly using the new minimal immune suppression approach.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wounded-soldier-gets-double-arm-transplant-md-153705997.html

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Public Debt Management for the Third Quarter of 2012-13 (Oct-Dec ...

?

?The report on Public Debt Management for the third quarter of 2012-13 (Oct-Dec 2012) has been released by the Ministry of Finance and will be placed on the Ministry?s website i.e. www.finmin.nic.in today. The said report is attached here with as well.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

???? The present report pertains to the third quarter of the fiscal year 2012-13, viz., October-December 2012. It gives an account of the debt management and cash management operations during the quarter, and attempts a rationale for major activities. The report also tries to provide detailed information on various aspects of debt management. While all attempts have been made to provide authentic and accurate information, it is possible that some errors might have crept in inadvertently. Readers may inform us of such errors, as indeed their valuable suggestions, at mo-dea@nic.in.

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? The Middle Office was set-up in September 2008 in Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. With the objective of enhancing transparency of debt management operations, the Middle Office began publishing on its website a quarterly report titled ?Public Debt Management - Quarterly Report? from the first quarter of the fiscal year 2010-11. The previous reports are available on the website of Ministry of Finance (http://finmin.nic.in/reports/Public_Debt_Management.asp).

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Click here to See Report

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DSM/RS/rs

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(Release ID :91803)

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=91803

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Book Review: The Digital Dollar: Sustainable Strategies for Online ...

Are you trying to set up an online internet business? If you are, The Digital Dollar: Sustainable Strategies for Online Success is a must read! Joe Wozny lays out a step-by-step strategy to make this possible and to be successful!

Joe Wozny?s book is for our turbulent financial times. He shows the reader how to set up a successful website business, one which will yield consistent customers who are happy and will keep coming back for more products, services, and information. It seems easy to set up an online business nowadays. But to set up a successful online business is anything but easy. It is extremely difficult to create such a business because the consumer is more informed than ever, and makes more professional demands.

Wozny argues that there are many low-cost and no-cost internet marketing opportunities out there. Anyone can set up a website for a niche market. However, in order to be most successful, Wozny believes that we must create an identity which accurately and clearly represents the content of the website, is visible to potential customers, engages the visitor by incentives and information, and engages these people to the extent that they become long-term customers. Only if we ensure that our website meets these core elements can we be successful. This takes a lot of planning and hard work to achieve. By following Joe?s steps, we can successfully set up a website that is lucrative for ourselves.

I found The Digital Dollar to be very important and informative. I will be including information about it on my own writing website as well. Since I am also trying to set up my own online business, the strategies outlined in this book will become my prescription for success.

Joe Wozny is a digital and online media leader, strategist, author, blogger, and international presenter on sustainable online success. He is CEO of Concentric with three decades of experience in digital technologies.

Source: http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-the-digital-dollar-sustainable1/

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5 Ways to Enhance Your Relationship Every Day | World of ...

The everyday ? filled with its supposedly inconsequential interactions and circumstances ? is actually quite consequential when it comes to romantic relationships.

That?s because relationships are cumulative, said Nikki Massey-Hastings, Psy.D, a psychotherapist who specializes in couples. ?Each seemingly insignificant daily interaction with one?s partner builds upon the interactions from yesterday, last week, and last year? for better or worse.?

A couple with a history of loving interactions and success solving daily problems is more likely to have a securely attached relationship, Massey-Hastings said.

And that?s a great thing. Couples with a secure attachment are able to rely on each other, turn to each other for comfort and traverse potentially tough times, she noted.

In other words, positive daily interactions create buffers against future challenges.

Take parenting, for instance. One of Massey-Hastings?s clients told her: ?We finally had dinner and watched a movie last night for the first time since we brought the baby home. At the end of our night, we smiled at each other and said ?see you in 3 months! Miss you.??

This couple was able to joke about their situation because they had years of wonderful interactions and success dealing with mundane problems like decorating their bedroom and deeply emotional ones like figuring out treatments for their autistic son, she said.

Silvina Irwin, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist who also works with couples, described relationships as ?living bonds.? According to Irwin, ?without regular tending and attention, [the relationship] will wither and suffer.?

But you might be worried that working on your relationship is another time-consuming task to heap on an already overflowing pile of responsibilities. However, as Irwin said, ?tending to your relationship can be woven into the fabric of your everyday life with a little extra thought and intention.?

Below, she and Massey-Hastings share five suggestions for enhancing your relationship every day.

1. Create connection-boosting rituals.

?Create a meaningful way to connect that meets both partners? needs for connection that you can count on each day,? Massey-Hastings said. For instance, when she was just beginning her career, she and her husband would eat dinner together almost every night.

But then her schedule changed, and that was no longer possible. ?One week of this shift and we were both in tears ? we didn?t realize how much that ritual structured our time to connect,? she said. So they revised their routine. Today, they have a snack when she gets home.

?Eating together and talking about the day, for couples and for families, is a very powerful ritual of connection,? she said.

Rituals don?t need to be elaborate, either. It could be something as simple as rubbing each other?s feet every night, which Massey-Hastings and her husband also do. It?s a minute but meaningful ritual they look forward to, she said.

If you have kids, you can create rituals after they?re in bed. For instance, Massey-Hastings works with a couple who cuddles in bed for 30 minutes after putting their child to bed.

2. Be affectionate when you say hello or goodbye.

?A time that lends itself naturally to acknowledging your bond is around moments of separation and reunions,? said Irwin, who also leads workshops for couples. She suggested asking yourself: ?Do I hug and kiss my partner when we greet each other or say goodbye??How about in the evening when we say goodnight??

If you?ve been together for a long time, you might not. But this can contribute to ?couples feeling more like roommates than lovers,? she said. Whether it?s a hug, kiss or touch, daily physical attention can greatly enhance your relationship.

3. Let your partner know they?re on your mind.

Send your partner a text, leave a loving note or give them a quick call during the day, Irwin said. As she noted, these seemingly small gestures communicate an important message: ?You matter to me.? ?This can be especially meaningful when folks work long hours or experience prolonged periods of separation,? she said.

4. Acknowledge how much your partner means to you.

Let your partner know the things they do or say that are meaningful to you, Irwin said. Maybe your partner gives you a massage every night or cracks a joke after you?ve had a tough day at work. Maybe they make you coffee every morning or always wash the dishes after you cook dinner.

?[This] shows that you aren?t taking your partner for granted, and lets them know that they make a difference in your life,? she said. ?A wonderful positive spiral that can ensue when we take a moment to point out the way we appreciate our partner,? she added.

5. Check in with each other.

?Make it an intention to slow down, make eye contact, sit near each other, touch one another and check in,? Irwin said. Even just asking your partner ?How are you?? is a beautiful way to bond.

?These conversations bring a significant point of connection in couples? sometimes-busy, seemingly parallel lives.?It?s saying to each other ?In our crazy lives, the person I want to talk with at the end of the day is you!?? she said.

Relationships certainly take work. But nourishing your partnership every day isn?t painstaking. Instead, it gives you the opportunity to build your bond. Plus, helping your relationship blossom on a daily basis helps you cope better as a couple with the inevitable challenges of life.

Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. is an Associate Editor at Psych Central and blogs regularly about eating and self-image issues on her own blog, Weightless.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. (or subscribe to their feed).

????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 28 Jan 2013
????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Tartakovsky, M. (2013). 5 Ways to Enhance Your Relationship Every Day. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 29, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/28/5-ways-to-enhance-your-relationship-every-day/

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/28/5-ways-to-enhance-your-relationship-every-day/

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Become Informed On Hosting By Reading through On | Liberty

If you?ve ever considered about transferring your site into the industry of online business, there are some stuff to consider. You hosting citrix have to location a shopping cart to your web site. This function, as well as other relevant features, may be available via only specific hosts. Can you be sure which suits you? This short article will detail many of the factors you have to take into consideration before choosing a web-based hold.

You are able to increase the revenue you will make away your blog through a competent hosting providers. Charges can differ with some other number providers, and even though one may will cost more compared to other, it does not always mean they can be far more trustworthy. Although some expensive hosts may offer more bandwidth, they might have equally as much?or even more?down time than cheaper hosts.

Some webhosts will charge you in line with the amount of traffic you pull in. Browse the web hosting service terms and conditions to view how you will are charged. Some internet sites have divisions of service, and some straight expenses you for the level of information you shift every month.

Choose a web hosting support with as little downtime as you can, for upkeep reasons and others. Any time a site is straight down indicates no website traffic or revenue are developing. Furthermore you will struggle to be able to your bank account as soon as the host is straight down.

A free of charge hosting services are a great way to reduce costs. Should you do so, you may have ads turn up on your site, and you will not have access to the maximum amount of room for your records. When it is crucial that your site is extremely specialist seeking, this type of internet hosting will not be a choice.

You ought to carefully examine the downtime of a web host. You should think about once they execute maintenance, just what the maintenance entails, just how long they?re lower. Should you uncover they are down more often than once monthly and through the most busy time, move on while keeping searching for a diverse internet hosting business.

Read through web hosting web directories. Databases offer you more information about alternative ideas, and allows you to swiftly sort and assess companies in accordance with the most essential qualifications. After you have located a couple of which have the functions you want, you can examine pricing to check out on-line evaluations to help make your decision.

Know about your online host?s promise policy and if they offer you money-back if you?re not satisfied. A reputable organization will provide you with a return in the event you aren?t satisfied with your services within the initially 30 days. Some web hosting service services might exaggerate their quality with their ads.

Searching for a hosting company is actually the same as searching all around for anything else. You need to identify what professional services you require and what value within your budget. After reading this post, you now should have the ability to do what you ought to do.

Source: http://dwiminneapolis.com/business/become-informed-on-hosting-by-reading-through-on/

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Iran sends monkey into space, showing missile progress

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it had launched a live monkey into space, seeking to show off missile delivery systems that are alarming the West which fears the technology could be used to deliver a nuclear warhead.

The Defense Ministry announced the launch as world powers sought to agree a date and venue with Iran for resuming talks to resolve a standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear program before it degenerates into a new Middle East war.

Efforts to nail down a new meeting have failed repeatedly and the powers fear Iran is exploiting the diplomatic vacuum to hone the means to produce nuclear weapons.

The Islamic Republic denies seeking weapons capability and says it seeks only electricity from its uranium enrichment so it can export more of its considerable oil wealth.

The powers have proposed new talks in February, a spokesman for the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Monday, hours after Russia urged all concerned to "stop behaving like children" and commit to a meeting.

Iran earlier in the day denied media reports of a major explosion at one of its most sensitive, underground enrichment plants, describing them as Western propaganda designed to influence the nuclear talks.

The Defense Ministry said the space launch of the monkey coincided "with the days of" the Prophet Mohammad's birthday, which was last week, but gave no date, according to a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

The launch was "another giant step" in space technology and biological research "which is the monopoly of a few countries", the statement said.

The small grey monkey was pictured strapped into a padded seat and being loaded into the Kavoshgar rocket dubbed "Pishgam" (Pioneer) which on state media said reached a height of more than 120 km (75 miles), IRNA said.

"This shipment returned safely to Earth with the anticipated speed along with the live organism," Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi told the semi-official Fars news agency. "The launch of Kavoshgar and its retrieval is the first step towards sending humans into space in the next phase."

There was no independent confirmation of the launch.

SIGNIFICANT

The West worries that long-range ballistic technology used to propel Iranian satellites into orbit could be put to use delivering nuclear warheads.

Bruno Gruselle of France's Foundation for Strategic Research said that if the monkey launch report were true it would suggest a "quite significant" engineering feat by Iran.

"If you can show that you are able to protect a vehicle of this sort from re-entry, then you can probably protect a military warhead and make it survive the high temperatures and high pressures of re-entering," Gruselle said.

The monkey launch would be similar to sending up a satellite weighing some 2,000 kg (4,400 pounds), he said. Success would suggest a capacity to deploy a surface-to-surface missile with a range of a few thousand kilometers (miles).

But Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank, said Iran had demonstrated "no new military or strategic capability" with the launch.

"Nonetheless, Iran has an ambitious space exploration program that includes the goal of placing a human in space in the next five or so years and a human-inhabited orbital capsule by the end of the decade," Elleman said. "Today's achievement is one step toward the goal, albeit a small one."

The Islamic Republic announced plans in 2011 to send a monkey into space, but that attempt was reported to have failed.

Nuclear-weapons capability requires three components - enough fissile material such as highly enriched uranium, a reliable weapons device miniaturized to fit into a missile cone, and an effective delivery system, such as a ballistic missile that can grow out of a space launch program.

Iran's efforts to develop and test ballistic missiles and build a space launch capability have contributed to Israeli calls for pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and billions of dollars of U.S. ballistic missile defense spending.

MANOEUVRING OVER NEXT TALKS

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the powers had offered a February meeting to Iran, after a proposal to meet at the end of January was refused.

"Iran did not accept our offer to go to Istanbul on January 28 and 29 and so we have offered new dates in February. We have continued to offer dates since December. We are disappointed the Iranians have not yet agreed," Michael Mann reporters.

He said Iranian negotiators had imposed new conditions for resuming talks and that EU powers were concerned this might be a stalling tactic. The last in a sporadic series of fruitless talks was held last June.

Iranian officials deny blame for the delays and say Western countries squandered opportunities for meetings by waiting until after the U.S. presidential election in November.

"We have always said that we are ready to negotiate until a result is reached and we have never broken off discussions," IRNA quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying.

Salehi has suggested holding the next round in Cairo but said the powers wanted another venue. He also said that Sweden, Kazakhstan and Switzerland had offered to host the talks.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference: "We are ready to meet at any location as soon as possible. We believe the essence of our talks is far more important (than the site), and we hope that common sense will prevail and we will stop behaving like little children."

Ashton is overseeing diplomatic contacts on behalf of the powers hoping to persuade Tehran to stop higher-grade uranium enrichment and accept stricter U.N. inspections in return for civilian nuclear cooperation and relief from U.N. sanctions.

IRAN DENIES FORDOW BLAST

Reuters has been unable to verify reports since Friday of an explosion early last week at the underground Fordow bunker that some Israeli and Western media said wrought heavy damage.

"The false news of an explosion at Fordow is Western propaganda ahead of nuclear negotiations to influence their process and outcome," IRNA quoted deputy Iranian nuclear energy agency chief Saeed Shamseddin Bar Broudi as saying.

In late 2011 the plant at Fordow began producing uranium enriched to 20 percent fissile purity, well above the 3.5 percent level normally needed for nuclear power stations.

Western governments say the higher-grade enrichment marks a notable step towards weapons-grade uranium, even though it is below the 90 percent level suitable for nuclear bombs.

Iran says its enhanced enrichment is to make fuel for a Tehran research reactor that produces isotopes for medical care.

Diplomats in Vienna, where the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency is based, said on Monday they had no knowledge of any incident at Fordow but were looking into the reports. One Western diplomat said he did not believe them to be correct.

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, which regularly inspects Iranian nuclear sites including Fordow, had no immediate comment.

Iran has accused Israel and the United States of trying to sabotage its nuclear program with cyber attacks and assassinations of its nuclear scientists. Washington has denied any role in the killings while Israel has declined to comment.

(Additional reporting by William Maclean and Marcus George in Dubai, Justyna Pawlak in Brussels, Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Writing by Mark Heinrich; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/six-world-powers-hope-meet-iran-atom-talks-120752016.html

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Report: Pentagon to boost cybersecurity force fivefold

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has approved a major expansion of its cybersecurity force to counter a growing threat of hacking and to conduct offensive operations against foreign foes, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing U.S. officials.

The officials, who were not named because the plan is not yet public, said the move would increase the cybersecurity force fivefold, from 900 personnel to a total of 4,900 troops and civilians.

It said senior Pentagon officials made the decision late last year amid a string of attacks, including one that wiped out more than 30,000 computers at a Saudi Arabian state oil company.

The increase in personnel was requested by the head of the Defense Department's Cyber Command.

A Pentagon spokesman had no immediate comment, but said he was aware of the report in the Washington Post.

The plan, the paper said, calls for creating three types of force under the Cyber Command.

"National mission forces," would protect computer systems that undergird electrical grids and other kinds of infrastructure. "Combat mission forces," would help commanders abroad execute attacks or other offensive operations, while "cyber protection forces," would focus on protecting the Defense Department's own systems.

(Reporting by Sarah Lynch; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-boost-cybersecurity-force-fivefold-report-034248436.html

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Help! Too many crocodiles, S.Africa police say

This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 shows some of the recaptured crocodiles back safely on the farm they escaped from, at Pontdrif, South Africa, near the Botswana border. About 7,000 of the creatures escaped when the gates on a dam were opened this week to alleviate pressure created by rising flood waters. About 2,000 had been recaptured Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Video from the scene shows people hunting down the small-ish crocs at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, in northern South Africa. The farm, which didn't respond to an email or calls seeking comment, used to hold 15,000 crocodiles (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT

This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 shows some of the recaptured crocodiles back safely on the farm they escaped from, at Pontdrif, South Africa, near the Botswana border. About 7,000 of the creatures escaped when the gates on a dam were opened this week to alleviate pressure created by rising flood waters. About 2,000 had been recaptured Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Video from the scene shows people hunting down the small-ish crocs at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, in northern South Africa. The farm, which didn't respond to an email or calls seeking comment, used to hold 15,000 crocodiles (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT

This photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 shows a couple of the recaptured crocodiles back safely on the farm they escaped from, at Pontdrif, South Africa, near the Botswana border. About 7,000 of the creatures escaped when the gates on a dam were opened this week to alleviate pressure created by rising flood waters. About 2,000 had been recaptured Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Video from the scene shows people hunting down the small-ish crocs at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, in northern South Africa. The farm, which didn't respond to an email or calls seeking comment, used to hold 15,000 crocodiles (AP Photo) SOUTH AFRICA OUT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Calling all crocodile experts ? South African police say you're needed to help capture thousands of crocs out on the lam.

Thousands of crocodiles escaped a breeding farm along a river on the South Africa-Botswana border when the farms' gates were opened earlier this week to alleviate pressure caused by rising flood waters.

Efforts are now being made to wrangle the reptiles and get them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm, from where the vast majority escaped. Hangwani Mulaudzi, a spokesman for the police in Limpopo Province, said Friday that experts are needed right away to help sort out the crocodile crisis.

"Due to the number of crocodiles that have been washed away there is a need for expertise, people who have expertise to come and assist," Mulaudzi said. "So we are just making appeals to anyone ... who has knowledge of catching crocodiles to come and assist."

News reports from the scene show people hunting down smaller crocodiles at night, tying them up and taking them back to the Rakwena Crocodile Farm in northern South Africa. The crocodiles are easier to hunt at night because their eyes glow when hit with a beam of light. The farm's website shows crocs up to 5 meters (16 feet) long, though crocs of all sizes escaped, Mulaudzi said.

It isn't clear exactly how many crocodiles are on the loose. Mulaudzi said he believes around 10,000 from multiple farms remain on the loose. Officials from the Rakwena Crocodile Farm have been quoted in conflicting South African media accounts as saying either 7,000 escaped or up to 15,000 escaped. The farm originally held about 15,000 crocs. About 2,000 crocodiles have been returned to the farm, Mulaudzi said.The farm did not respond to an email or calls seeking comment.

Regardless of the exact number of farm-raised crocs now touring the wild, government officials and experts are calling on people who live near the remote region, which sits on the Limpopo River, to be careful around bodies of water. Many of the crocodiles are assumed to now be residing in the river.

"So far we are lucky. There has not been any emergencies," said Mulaudzi. "And we are hopeful that nothing will happen. But with crocodiles all over in the river we are saying, please, we need assistance."

Donald Strydom, a wildlife expert at South Africa's Khamai Reptile Centre, said he doesn't think the croc release will lead to a loss of human life. People are aware of the situation, he said, and crocodiles don't naturally hunt humans.

"People must not go into a monster hunt and think these crocodiles are out to eat them," Styrdom told South Africa's eNews Channel Africa.

Mulaudzi said he did not think the Rakwena Crocodile Farm would face any charges from police for releasing the crocs, given the emergency nature of the flood. Flood waters are inundating northern South Africa and neighboring Mozambique. But Mulaudzi said the farm may face scrutiny from the Department of Environmental Affairs, which is helping with the reptile emergency.

The Rakwena Crocodile Farm website shows goods like crocodile-skin purses, belts and hats for sale. Crocodile meat is also available for purchase.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-25-AF-South-Africa-Crocs-On-the-Loose/id-947329f1dceb4b5cab6f4b9a00f59175

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