Work up a sweat and burn fat and calories with this 30-minute workout. This workout uses high intensity exercises to get your heart going, followed by lower intensity exercises to lower your heart rate. This is a great workout for moms to relieve stress and keep your energy levels high. Don?t quit! The more you do this workout, the easier it will get. Boot Camp Fitness for Moms! Fitness instructor Chana Balk (moveitmomma.com has designed three 30-minute, boot-camp style fitness classes to help you strengthen your body, condition your core and get your heart rate going. Try all three! www.youtube.com CafeMom Studios is Motherhood as we see it. We feature authentic voices, compelling stories, and topics moms care about. Subscribe now to CafeMom Studios so you never miss an episode! www.youtube.com
Family Health and Fitness Day USA is a national health and fitness event for families always held the last Saturday in September. This year is the 16th Annual Family Health and Fitness Day USA and is set for Saturday, September 29, 2012.
The event's purpose is to promote the importance of regular physical activity for children and their parents. Families will participate in health promotion events at hundreds of locations throughout the country, including YMCAs and health clubs, park districts, schools, houses of worship and state and local health organizations.
It's Family Time!
You can jump rope, ride bikes, and take a walk as a family. Remember to be safe by using sunscreen, bike helmets, and staying hydrated.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) ? Belfast is seeing one of its biggest Protestant parades in years Saturday, with thousands participating amid fears that it will degenerate into street clashes with the police and Northern Ireland's Catholic minority. These one-sided marches have tested tempers each year since the 19th century, and show no sign of abating despite Northern Ireland's successful peace process. The AP explores why.
WHO'S MARCHING?
The Protestant "loyal orders," chiefly two groups called the Orangemen and the Apprentice Boys. Members carry hand-painted banners depicting key historical events and values, both political and religious, while groups of fife and drum ? often called "kick the pope" bands ? play tunes ranging from the spiritual to the overtly anti-Irish.
WHY DO THEY DO IT?
For the Protestants, a successful march demonstrates their continued hold over endlessly disputed territory, town by town, street by street. They expect their right to freedom of assembly to be upheld by the law.
But for most Catholics, the marches are offensive, considered mass intimidation by the Protestant majority.
WHO ARE THE ORANGEMEN?
The Orangemen honor King William of Orange, a Dutchman who ousted a Catholic from the British throne in 1688 and then defeated that rival, James II, in a series of battles in Ireland. The Orange Order's biggest marches come each July 12, the anniversary of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne, when William's army forded a river south of Belfast to rout James' forces ? and according to Orange lore, ensured Protestant civil and religious liberty from that day forward.
WHO ARE THE APPRENTICE BOYS?
The Apprentice Boys of Derry, based in Northern Ireland's second-largest city, Londonderry, honor the other totemic moment from those 17th-century religious wars: the 1689 Siege of Derry. The recently deposed James, seeking to reclaim his London throne from his sanctuary in predominantly Catholic Ireland, sent forces to demand that the Protestant garrison of the walled town surrender. Teenage apprentices bolted the gates shut, starting a 105-day siege that the residents survived by eating rats.
ISN'T THIS ANCIENT HISTORY?
No. Both fraternal groups exist, in part, to keep these vivid ancestral memories alive in today's Northern Ireland. The Protestant community here has what sociologists call a "siege mentality," a view that they can never feel at ease because of a traitorous Irish minority forever committed to pushing Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom and into the Irish Republic.
AREN'T THESE PROTESTANTS IRISH?
Ask them. The answer is a thunderous no, they're British. But this basic issue of identity continues to be questioned to this day ? even, most hurtfully, by fellow Britons in neighboring Britain.
ARE CATHOLICS RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED?
Absolutely. Orangemen provided the organizational muscle behind Northern Ireland's creation in 1921 shortly before the rest of Ireland won independence from Britain, binding together Protestants under one anti-Catholic banner determined to stop "Rome rule" from Dublin.
For its first half-century, Northern Ireland was an overtly Orange state with a Protestant-only government. They discriminated against Catholics in housing, jobs and voting power. The marches, given safe passage by a similarly Orange police force, underscored the Catholics' second-class status.
WHICH MEANS RIOTS, RIGHT?
Yep. It's no accident that Act I, Scene I of Northern Ireland's conflict in 1969 began with Catholic hostility to a march: the Apprentice Boys' main annual parade in Londonderry. Days of clashes between Catholic civilians and Protestant police forced Britain to deploy its army as peacekeepers ? a fateful decision that inspired the rise of the modern IRA and its aim to overthrow Northern Ireland.
HASN'T THE PEACE PROCESS IMPROVED THINGS?
Mostly yes. Also no.
Nearly two decades of peacemaking have transformed Northern Ireland almost beyond recognition from its blood-stained past. Paramilitary cease-fires by the IRA and outlawed Protestant gangs are underpinned by disarmament, troops have been withdrawn to barracks, Britain has promoted Catholic recruitment to create a balanced police force and a unity Protestant-Catholic government shares power with surprising harmony.
Almost. But the clock turns backward each "marching season" ? and increased rioting has been the norm for most summers since 1995.
___
Editor's note: Shawn Pogatchnik has covered Northern Ireland for The Associated Press since 1991.
If you're having acute fiscal issues, occasionally the most effective way to cope with this situation is filing bankruptcy. In difficult times this is often the only real way out to obtain some relief. When you file for bankruptcy, you'll may not completely get relief, but at the very least you will have resolved the problem partly. It'll help you take charge of your monetary life again and start fresh.
Filing for bankruptcy can a long process. It's a complex process that will need you to put a little bit of work and money into the same. Although it will not have guaranteed you the protection you need, it is a excellent choice as it'll give you some reassurance. If you do not have the know-how for filing bankruptcy, you will make the whole process more difficult than it needs to be.
The chapter 7 of bankruptcy has made the whole process rather complex. There are a bunch of benefits that you will get from filing bankruptcy. If you get the right talents, you can consolidate all your debts into one payment for simple clearing.
With bankruptcy filing, you'll get time to put your arrears into line. You will have time to get your lenders to permit you to plan on how you are going to settle the debt you have amassed. The good thing about indulging in this task is that you'll get to decide on how you are going to pay off the debts.
When you file for bankruptcy, you'll get security over your property. You won't be at the mercies of auctioneers. You will have the peace of living in your home without being concerned about having it auctioned. It is also truly possible to have your lender lower your debts and come up with the best payment mode that will favour you.
Paul Mascia, founder and Chief Executive of The Mascia Law Firm, spends plenty of his time helping those affected by the current debt and housing emergency.
Cane Bay 26,?Colleton County 21 - The Cobras came back from a 21-0 1st half deficit as Devin Kilgore connected on a 15 yard TD pass to Maurice Wesley with 8.7 seconds to go in the game giving them their first lead of the game in a dramatic Cane Bay victory. The loss extends the Cougars losing streak to 29 straight games. Kilgore had 3 rushing TD's for the Cobras (5-1) in addition to his late scoring pass. The Cougars fall to 0-6.
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FRIDAY
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SCHSL AAAA
Stratford 41, Summerville 17?(Live 5 Game of the Week) - The Knights (6-0) ended a 10-game losing streak to the Green Wave (2-4) as Jacob Park threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns.? Jordan Johnson added 129 yards rushing and a touchdown on four carries.? Stratford is off to its best start since 2002 (the last year they beat Summerville before tonight).
Goose Creek 65, Beaufort 14 - The Gators (6-0) rolled to their 18th straight win as Caleb Kinlaw (12 carries, 136 yards, two touchdowns) and Rashard Alston (12 carries, 105 yards, touchdown) racked up the yards and points in the ground.? Dantez Bennamon added 48 yards and two touchdowns on five carries for Goose Creek.? On?defense, Gerald Turner returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown, Omar McRae returned an interception 28 yards for?a TD, and DeAndre Daniels?record a sack in the endzone for a safety. ?The Eagles fall to 3-3.
Fort Dorchester 49, West Ashley 17 - The Patriots (3-3) dropped the Wildcats to 1-5.
West Florence 45, Ashley Ridge 15 - The Swamp Foxes (1-5) have lost four straight.
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Region 8-AAA
Hanahan 40, Orangeburg-Wilkinson 7?- The Hawks (5-1, 1-0) won their first league game at the AAA level.
James Island 24, Berkeley 10 - The former Region 7-AAAA opponents met in a Region 8-AAA game for the first time.? The Trojans (3-3, 1-0) got touchdown catches from Cornell Stanley and Andrew Hutto.? The Stags (1-5, 0-1) got a 40-yard TD from Joshua Sellers.
Hilton Head 46, Stall 35 - The Warriors (2-4, 0-1) lost a shootout on the road.
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Region 6-AA
Woodland 55, Burke 6 - The Wolverines improve to 5-1, 3-0.? The Bulldogs are now 1-5, 0-3.
Bishop England 42, Battery Creek 21 - The Battling Bishops (5-1, 3-0) kept pace with Woodland thanks to a big win over the Dolphins (2-4, 2-1) in Beaufort.
Ridgeland 42, Academic Magnet 21 - The Raptors (3-3, 0-3) stumble on the road.
North Charleston at Garrett - Game stopped because the crowd became "too rowdy" according to North Charleston Police.
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Region 7-AA
Timberland 59, Kingstree 14 - The Wolves (5-1, 1-0) built a 53-0 lead by halftime.
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Region 6-A
Cross 46, Military Magnet 14?- The Trojans (6-1, 1-0) got 136 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries from Dionte Evans; he also had a 24-yard TD catch.? The Eagles are 2-5, 0-1.
Baptist Hill 13, St. John's 12 - Josh Wright made an impressive diving touchdown catch as the Bobcats (4-3, 1-0) ended a three-game losing streak and edged past their rivals.? The Islanders are 3-3, 0-1.
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SCISA
Hammond 65, Porter-Gaud 35 - The Cyclones (2-4, 2-3 in SCISA AAA) couldn't stop the Skyhawks; it is Porter-Gaud's fourth loss in a row.
Ben Lippen 46, Pinewood Prep 27 - The Panthers (1-5, 0-5) have lost in five in a row.
Bible Baptist 34, Palmetto Christian 14 - The Eagles (5-1) dropped a non-region game in Savannah, their first loss of the season.
Colleton Prep 63, Dorchester Academy 20 - The War Hawks (4-3, 2-0 in SCISA Region 1-A) dominated the Raiders (1-5, 0-2) on the road.
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The University of Central Arkansas Honors College will present Challenge Week 2012 from Oct. 5 - 12. This year's theme, ?Dear Mr. President:,? imagines a letter to the next presidential administration that asks for action on issues that affect all Americans regardless of age, ethnic origin, income level, region of residence or party affiliation.
Presenters will focus on three key areas of national concern: immigration, health care and environmental contamination.
?Challenge Week brings to campus nationally known thinkers to engage the community in a reflective interchange of ideas. Speakers present compelling arguments to UCA students, faculty and staff, and to the broader community, in an effort to inform, educate and thoughtfully address contemporary problems and concerns,? said Dr. Rick Scott, dean of the Honors College. The UCA Student Government Association is co-sponsoring Challenge Week 2012.
All events take place on the UCA campus and are free and open to the public.
Challenge Week schedule of events:
? Friday, Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. in the Presentation Room of Jefferson Farris Jr. Honors Hall. Shastady Williams and Blake Brizzolara, Honors College juniors, speak about their experiences participating in the 2012 Republican and Democratic Parties? presidential nominating conventions. They attended the conventions during academic seminars hosted by The Washington Center.
? Tuesday, Oct. 9 in the College of Business Auditorium at 7 p.m. Mireya Reith, co-founder and executive director of the Arkansas United Community Coalition (AUCC), will present, ?If it?s Broken, Fix It: Immigration Reform in the U.S.? A native of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Reith has worked in international political development across five continents with American nonprofit organizations and the United Nations to engage marginalized communities in democratic processes. Reith served as a municipal development volunteer with the Peace Corps in El Salvador, and currently serves the state as the first Latina appointed by the Governor to the Arkansas State Board of Education.
? Wednesday, Oct. 10 in the Doyne Health Sciences Auditorium at 4 p.m. Dr. Clay Arnold, professor of political science, will present, ?American Politics in the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act.? His scholarship features western water politics and issues in contemporary social and political theory. He has published articles and essays in the American Political Science Review, Politics & Policy, Journal of the Southwest, the SUNY Press series in Environmental Philosophy and Ethics and the MIT Press series in American and Comparative Environmental Policy.
? Friday Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in the College of Business Auditorium. Dr. Tyrone B. Hayes, University of California-Berkeley professor of biology, will deliver the keynote address, ?From Silent Spring to Silent Night: A Tale of Toads and Men.? Hayes is a graduate of Harvard and UC-Berkeley and also completed post-doctoral studies at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health and the Cancer Research Laboratories at UC-Berkeley. A recipient of several teaching, scholarly and citizenship awards, Hayes has published and presented widely on the role of environmental factors?particularly agricultural pesticides and herbicides?on growth and development in amphibians. His lecture is sponsored by the Honors College and the UCA chapter of the NAACP.
Founded in 1982, UCA's Honors College engages students in interdisciplinary study of classic thought and contemporary issues, helping them express leadership in the larger world as citizen-scholars.
Lennar Corp, whose sign is displayed in front of a home above, is among a number of homebuilders benefiting from putting buyers on fiscal rehab.
By Michelle Conlin, Reuters
In the post-housing crash world, Kelly and Jeff Clark are the kind of people who are not supposed to be able to buy a house.
For a down payment, they had exactly nothing. Their credit scores were sub-par. But this Christmas, the Clarks will move from their rundown rental into a brand new, four-bedroom home in an amenity-loaded development outside of Lakeland, Florida. All without paying a dime.
The Clarks were able to qualify for a mortgage because their builder, Southern Homes, spent the summer putting them through a financial boot camp. Bigger home builders such as D.R. Horton Inc, Lennar and PulteGroup Inc are also offering sophisticated financial advice to prospective home buyers who would not normally qualify for loans.
These fiscal rehabs are one reason many builders are boosting sales, even though mortgage lending is tight. Pulte said in July that its financial program could help its sales for some time. On Monday, Lennar Corp said revenue from home sales rose 33 percent last quarter from the same quarter a year earlier. Orders for homes rose 44 percent, helped by the 25 percent increase in membership in its Homebuyers Club since last year.
Providing financial therapy solves a huge problem for the builders: How to sell to first-time home buyers when s o many yo unger consumers a re s a ddled wi th student debt and ba d c redit.
The financial advisors go by names such as "mortgage advisors," "credit advocates" or "loan officers." They help prospective customers create budgets and slash spending. Both D.R. Horton and Lennar also help out with "credit repair," the practice of analyzing credit reports to determine the best stra t egies for raising scores as quickly as possible.
The buyers then get mortgages from the builders' own, in-house lending arms.
But consumer advocates say there is an obvious conflict when doling out financial advice. Instead of helping prospective customers maximize wealth, advocates say builders' advisors could be trying to suck as much money as possible out of buyers' pockets.
"What it does is create a captive consumer where the builder can charge a lot more," said Douglas Miller, executive director of Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate, a nonprofit.
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Homebuilders are often helping buyers get government-backed loans that require no down payment, or a low down payment, so taxpayers could be on the hook if buyers can't repay their mortgages. Some consumer experts fear that, just five years after the biggest housing meltdown in generations, builders are up to their old tricks again.
"You have people applying for loans that there's no way they can pay, but it doesn't matter because the ability to repay isn't the basis of the loan. It's the ability to pass underwriting so the loan can be sold," says Washington, D.C.-based bankruptcy attorney, Brett Weiss.
Builders say they are putting people in homes they can afford and helping them achieve their dreams. Most loans that banks are underwriting now meet stringent government standards.
For buyers with enough cash and income, buying a home can lower monthly housing costs because mortgage rates are at r ecord lows an d rents are surging. Monthly mortgage costs are lower than rent in nearly every major U.S. metro area now, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting.
Call whenever Last year, executives at PulteGroup found that nearly 90 percent of younger buyers wanted to own a home. They loathed throwing away money on rent each month.
"The dream of American home ownership has not died at all," said Pulte Vice President of marketing Fred Ehle. "It was somewhat of a surprise to us."
But Gen X and Yers also had reservations about buying so soon after watching the housing market crash and burn. T hey also feared they would not qualify for a mortgage.
Just five years after the biggest housing meltdown in generations, that's led some consumer experts to fear that builders are up to their old tricks again.
The number of people aged 25-to-34 who bought homes in 2011 fell to 27 percent, the lowest share in the past decade, according to the National Association of Realtors. Rising student debt has played at least some role in that decline, analysts said. According to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, about 50 percent of young people that started college in 2003 were paying more than 10 percent of their income on student debt.
In response, Pulte launched a mortgage advisor program, whose members are buying houses at twice the rate of prospective purchasers who do not participate.
The advisors hand-hold customers through the entire home process, from picking the floor plan to arranging the mortgage to taking as many calls as necessary to assuage fears.
"I could call whenever I needed to with whatever I needed," says program member Erin Shafer, a 23-year-old school teacher who is buying a new home, along with her fianc?, in Woodstock, Illinois.
The couple have student debt, but they had enough for a down payment due to a relative's recent death. Pulte is giving them $5,000 for closing costs, $3,000 worth for free appliances and a mortgage.
The incubator The Clarks thought they would remain renters forever. But early in the summer, a friend recommended that they meet with Janet Backman, a grandmotherly sales agent for Southern Homes.
During that first meeting, Backman pored over the Clarks' financials and decided to put them in what she calls her "Incubator."
That's the process Backman uses to convert the credit-challenged into home buyers within a matter of months. It drives her crazy that people in her area pay more to rent then to own.
The Clarks had no credit cards and paid for everything with cash. So as Backman talked with them that first day, she simultaneously signed them up for credit cards on the Capital One website.
Then she told the couple that, if they made $50 worth of purchases each month, but only paid the balance down to $25, their credit scores would likely rise immediately.
Within a month, Backman got the couple's scores up enough to qualify for the zero-down government-backed loan she secured for them through a partner lender.
Southern Home's sales agents have sold 162 homes so far this year, with nearly all getting similar advice and loan terms.
Says Backman: "Every time I hear about how hard it is to purchase a home, I'm thinking, what planet are they living on?"
More money and business news:
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Lennar, DR Horton and PulteGroup are all hitting multi-year highs. And Bill Mack, AREA Property, discusses opportunities in real estate.
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Italian cuisine is the most prominent cuisine in the globe. One can always find an Italian eating joint or restaurant in almost every continent. Italian recipes are regarded to be extremely appetizing along with a great tang that increases the essence of the food. Most of the Italian dishes make good use of olive oil, cream, cheese and tomatoes. Wheat pasta and breads along with semolina flour products are the staples in Italian eating.
The most famous of all Italian foods are the pizza and pasta dishes, that have attained a superior place in the global cuisine as well. These recipes have obtained such an acceptance world wide that neighbouring cuisines are very much inspired by the Italian food.
Northern Italian Preparations, that include numerous varieties of preparations prepared using food items including pork, fish, rice and corn. This area also creates a number of cheese and sausage dishes.
The Central Italian Diet, which contains the scrumptious Lasagna, Tortellini and Ham along with a wide selection of pasta recipes, cooked with tangy sauces.
Italian recipes made in South Italy regularly incorporate seafood, variety of cheese, green and black olives along with tomatoes. The main cooking oil used in Italian cooking is olive oil.
Italian food is quite famous outside Italy as well. Italian recipes made in other nations include variety of breads, pastas along with Italian soups, salads. Italian wine is also a gourmet?s choice for a true Italian meal.
Spaghetti, macaroni, penne as well as linguini are some of the main varieties of pastas used in making Italian recipes. Pastas are either made with durum wheat or semolina in order to present a nutritive alternate of white flour pastas.
Cappucino, Espresso and Caffe Corretto complement to the coffee segment of Italian recipes. Italian desserts are even highly famous not only in Italy but throughout the world for their fine flavors and delectable taste. Some of the well-known Italian desserts are Spumoni, Cannoli and Granitas.
The celebrated Italian recipes are not only tasty, but if cooked with minimum fat, are the healthy recipes.
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For added details on the numerous varieties of Italian food recipes please look at the ifood community at Italian recipes. Those interested in pasta recipes can take a look at pasta recipes.
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This product image provided by Dreyer?s/Edy?s Ice Cream shows packaging which displays a ?1/2 the Fat? label. Dieters know that if you take the fat and calories out of your favorite treats, you sometimes have to say goodbye to the taste too. But brands like Dreyer?s/Edy?s ice cream and Lay?s potato chips are trying to solve this age-old dieter?s dilemma by rolling out mid-calorie goodies that have more fat and calories than the snacks of earlier diet crazes but less than the original?versions. (Full-size photo)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Nonfat cheese that tastes like plastic. Low-calorie soda that leaves a bitter aftertaste. Sugar-free brownies that crumble like Styrofoam.
Dieters have learned an important lesson: When you take the fat and calories out of your favorite treats, you sometimes have to say goodbye to the taste too.
But snack brands like Dreyer?s/Edy?s ice cream, Hershey?s chocolate and Lay?s potato chips are trying to solve this age-old dieter?s dilemma by rolling out so-mid-calorie goodies that have more fat and calories than the snacks of earlier diet crazes but less than the original versions. They?re following the lead of soda companies like Pepsi and Dr Pepper that introduced mid-calorie drinks last year.
It?s hard to isolate sales of mid-calorie snacks since they also usually have reduced fat, or other healthy attributes like reduced sodium. But sales of all foods and drinks in which the amount of things like fat, sugar, salt, carbohydrates have been actively reduced during production have risen 16 percent to $51.72 billion since 2006, according to research firm Euromonitor International.
The mid-calorie trend is hitting at a time when companies that make sugary and salty treats are being blamed for the country?s expanding waistlines. The problem is that the same things that make snacks taste good ? sugar, salt, calories ? also make them fattening. And many Americans don?t want to sacrifice taste at snack time. Shaving a few calories enables companies to market their cakes, cookies and chips as healthier without the stigma of bad taste that goes along with some low-fat products.
It?s just the kind of marketing that might attract Monica Olivas. She says she wants to lead a healthy lifestyle, including curbing her fat and caloric intake as much as possible. But most low-fat foods just don?t appeal to her.
?Sometimes companies go too far and take out all the fat ? and all the flavor,? says Olivas, a 29-year-old recruiter from Pico Rivera, Calif.
A NEW ?LIGHT?
The mid-calorie trend is a toned-down version of the ?light? craze that started in the 1990s. Back then, ?low fat? or ?no fat? was all the rage. But the products often fizzled.
For instance, McDonald?s rolled out the McLean Deluxe, a low-fat burger, in 1991. But the burger, which was in part made with seaweed, had dismal sales. It disappeared from restaurants within five years.
Similarly, Lay?s in 1998 introduced Wow fat-free potato chips that use fat substitute Olestra. But the ick factor trumped healthiness when the Food and Drug Administration said the chips had to come with a warning that Olestra may cause abdominal cramping, loose stools, and that it inhibits the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients.
The FDA dropped the requirement for the label in 2004 after studying the matter. The chips were renamed ?Light,? but sales have not recovered.
?Originally, a lot of the diet stuff just wasn?t good,? says Richard George, chair of the department of food marketing at Saint Joseph?s University in Philadelphia. ?People would say you could throw away contents and eat the box. But they?ve gotten better.?
The new era of diet food started in the last decade. In 2007, companies began offering 100-calorie packs of popular snacks like Oreos cookies and Twinkies cakes. That?s when brands started putting their focus on reducing calories ? without any flavor change.
Turns out, there?s some science behind all this calorie slashing. Nutritionists say it?s not necessary to cut out all the ?junk? foods in your cupboard or to take all the fat or calories out of them.
Reducing a nominal number of calories in your diet each day ? even from that morning coffee run or afternoon visit to the vending machine for chips ? is an effective way to battle obesity, says David Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University.
He says ?if you typically have a 200-calorie cookie and you have a 160-calorie cookie instead? it won?t make you hungrier at the next meal. And since obesity can be caused by as few as 20 excess calories a day, Levitsky says cutting a few at each meal makes a big difference.
But in order for that to work you have to eat the snacks in moderation. It becomes a problem when people overestimate how much more they can eat of nonfat ice cream or low-calorie chips, says Kelly Brownell, a nutritionist at Yale University.
?If consumption of ice cream and potato chips does not increase and people eat somewhat better versions, the outcome will be good,? Brownell says.
TASTE IS KEY
First, companies have to convince dieters that their mid-calorie snacks are not only healthy, but tasty too.
Flavor is a key when Betty Kranzdorf, 55, considers eating foods with lower calories. She says she avoids reduced-calorie English muffins (?horrible texture and taste?) but she?ll pick up reduced-fat Pringles chips because she can?t tell the difference between those and the originals.
?I won?t buy ?low cal? just because it?s ?low-cal,?? says Kranzdorf, a paralegal from New York. ?If the food I?m eating isn?t satisfying, then I?ll just go eat something that is more to my liking later ? which defeats the whole purpose.?
With that in mind, Hershey?s in June introduced Simple Pleasures, chocolate with 30 percent less fat. A serving size of six pieces equals 180 calories and 8 grams of fat ? that?s 30 calories and 5 grams of fat less than the original Hershey?s chocolate bar. The company is hoping the deficit is enough to lure chocolate lovers who want to eat healthier.
Hershey?s developed the product after consumer research revealed that the No. 1 barrier for people to buy chocolate is the ?perceived negative health benefits,? says spokeswoman Anna Lingeris.
?We?re hearing more and more that customers want healthier options as a balanced lifestyle becomes a more prevalent way of living,? Lingeris says.
Similarly, Lay?s in July rolled out two new flavors of its Kettle Cooked potato chips with 40 percent less fat. The brand, which fries chips in small batches so as to use less oil than the continuous frying process for regular chips, introduced ?Applewood Smoked BBQ? and ?Sun-Dried Tomato and Parmesan.?
The company says it was able to lower the calories and fat without sacrificing taste: Regular Kettle Cooked chips have 160 calories and 9 grams of fat, while the reduced-fat versions have 130 calories and 6 grams of fat.
?The strategy behind mid-calorie offerings is finding the happy space between zero fat and regular products,? says Tony Matta, vice president of marketing for Frito Lay, which makes Lay?s chip brands.
But sometimes finding the right balance isn?t enough ? marketing can be key. Dreyer?s/Edy?s (it?s called Dreyer?s on the West Coast and Edy?s on the East) learned that the hard way.
The company in May rolled out an ad campaign that emphasizes that Slow Churned ice cream is half the fat and one third of the calories of regular ice cream ? but the company avoids using the word ?light.?
Why? Because when Dreyer?s/Edy?s began selling Slow Churned ice cream in 2004, the company labeled the product ?light.? But ice cream buyers didn?t take to the word, and the company stopped advertising the brand using it. In fact, the company eventually stopped advertising the product altogether after 2007, although it still sold it in stores.
??Light? used to be a word that consumers had a lot of negative perception ? because of the taste experience,? Eiseman says. ?For ice cream, taste is king, first and foremost ? they?d rather have great taste and half the fat, rather than OK taste and no fat.?
The new packaging and ad campaign for the product, which has about 120 calories and 4.5 grams of fat compared with 150 calories and 8 grams of fat in regular Dreyer?s mint chocolate chip, has the tagline ?1/2 the Fat, 1/3 Fewer Calories than Regular Ice cream.? (The company acknowledges that 4.5 grams of fat is not quite ?half? of 8 grams of fat, but Dreyer?s/Edy?s brand manager Jen Eiseman says the marketing campaign took a the liberty of rounding in order to focus on the healthier aspects of the slow-churn ice cream.
?There?s been a shift culturally from extreme dieting ? and giving up food altogether,? Eiseman says. ?Now it?s not about giving things up, but finding healthier ways of having it?all.?
* This is from an op-ed for Progress Illinois written by Brooke Anderson, Governor Pat Quinn?s press secretary?
- AFSCME claims the governor wants to lay-off 4,000 employees. False. Every employee laid off as the result of a closure of a juvenile facility or prison is offered another job within their own agency or other state agencies. The governor believes it is NOT in the interest of taxpayers to keep empty or half-full, very expensive facilities that are no longer needed open at taxpayer expense.
- AFSCME claims the governor is ?breaking union contracts and undermining collective bargaining. False. Governor Quinn believes in collective bargaining. AFSCME has enjoyed the best contract in the nation. Over the past eight years, AFSCME employees have received pay increases that equate to 45 percent. Illinois AFSCME members make, on average, 23 percent more than their peers in comparable states.
- AFSCME claims the governor wants to take away pensions from employees. False. Governor Quinn wants to preserve the pension system because the status quo is unsustainable. Illinois has the worst-funded pension system in the country. Governor Quinn has proposed a plan that repairs the pension system by giving existing employees a choice ? they can either keep their pensionable Cost of Living Adjustment the way it is and not access the state?s excellent healthcare or they can access the healthcare and accept a reduction of COLA to lesser of 3% or ? of CPI, simple interest. At a time when some states have frozen COLA?s and many employees have seen their retirements eliminated, the governor?s plan preserves the system and ensures employees have access to benefits.
- AFSCME claims the governor has doled out hundreds of millions in tax breaks to corporations and resisted closing loopholes for oil companies. False. Governor Quinn proposed and pursued legislation that closes the oil derrick loophole this year. In fact, the governor has long supported closing loopholes that are based on politics and not economics. In fact, Governor Quinn fought for and doubled the Earned Income Tax Credit, the best tool we have available to provide targeted tax relief to working families.
- AFSCME claims that the Governor refused to pay for pay raises that were promised: False. In fact, the governor included the raises in his proposed budget ? the General Assembly took the raises out. To be clear, we cannot pay for raises if there is no money in the budget to pay for those raises.
However, AFSCME and the governor do agree on this - AFSCME refuses any change to the status quo. They would prefer no closures, no pension reform and no spending cuts. They?re fine with things just as they are.
I?m betting there will be an AFSCME response in my in-box in 5, 4, 3?
Ozone Media, a?digital ad network, has?launched Ozone Smarton, a re-targeting and dynamic banner advertising platform. According to the company,?Ozone Smarton will allow e-commerce merchants to acquire dropped-off and dormant consumers by assembling dynamic banners in real-time and serving them to the re-targeted audience.
It mentioned that?Smarton is powered by predictive algorithms that determine the optimal product to be shown to the re-targeted users, and that it builds intelligence about users who have visited an advertiser?s website and shows them the relevant products in the retargeted dynamic banner ads. It selects the product to be served on dynamic banner in real time, based on its prediction algorithms, to maximize conversion rates and also supports multi-product banners that feature multiple products relevant to the user, according to Ozone.
Senthil Govindan, Associate Vice President of Product & Partnerships at Ozone Media said that the company is?in the process of working with its customers to implement algorithms through the customizable Recommendation Engine which, according to him, will maximize their ability to generate conversions through retargeting. He also added that it ?will soon be able to proactively suggest campaigns that advertisers can run, helping advertisers micro-segment their user base and target them accordingly.
Ozone claims that on Smarton pushed up the conversion rate by three to eight times for the retargeted audience, in initial results.?After e-commerce, Ozone also intends to target the travel segment, followed by?other online verticals where online customer acquisition is important.
How Retargeting Works:?Drop-off visitors are users who visit the advertiser?s site, or a site which sells the advertiser?s products or just a site where the advertiser has advertised, but don?t take any action, and move to another site. For example, if a user visits an e-commerce site and searches for a particular product,but doesn?t make a purchase and switches to another site, the retargeting service will instantly generate banner ads, enabling the company to place them on sites which the user visits. It might even list the the product on top when a user searches for a mobile phone on a search engine and display a different landing page for the user to feature that product.
Although, dynamic retargeting is an effective strategy to attract and retain users but going on an overkill, might end up hurting companies and their brands, since people might find it irritating, and equate it to online stalking.
Other Players:?Vizury Interactive, an online advertising solutions company also offers retargeting solutions. The company?s Visitor Relationship Management(VRM) solution lets advertisers identify drop off visitors, study their online behavior and usage pattern?and target them even when they leave the web site through customized dynamic banner messages for every drop-off user. Last year, online advertising network, Tyroo,?had also launched a?dynamic retargeting?service for?Indian advertisers.?The service allows advertisers to identify drop off visitors, study their online behavior and usage pattern, and target them even when they leave the web site by generating customized, dynamic banner messages.
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Got an AMD chip in your Windows PC? Then you just gained access to more than half a million Google Android apps thanks to an AMD partnership with Bluestacks. A virtualization app and website filled with Android titles can help bridge your mobile and desktop world.
Today is a day of celebration for Android app addicts who own an AMD-powered computer: The chip-maker has partnered with BlueStacks to bring 500,000 Android mobile apps to the PC. A new?AMD App Zone website contains both the BlueStacks virtualization software and an app store with featured free apps available for download. Both companies are also working with hardware makers to pre-install BlueStacks.
?PC shipments are set to decline 4% next year,? said BlueStacks CEO, Rosen Sharma in a statement to GigaOm. ?The entire sector needs an electric jolt and AMD has just given it to them. There?s nothing better than adding half a million apps ? many of them household names, to a Win8 experience that?s begging for them. This is a boon for OEMs not only in terms of user experience but also for margins.?
Sharma may be on to something as Microsoft Windows 8 is due out next month. The operating system will surely support numerous legacy applications, but the BlueStacks software can help add half a million additional apps; some of which new PC buyers may already be familiar with on their Android phone or tablet. And the?BlueStacks player software is optimized for AMD?s Radeon graphics and Open GL drivers, so app performance should be good. Add improved touch support for Windows 8 and I see potential.
I first looked at BlueStacks last year because I noted a concerted push to merge mobile and desktop computing to some degree. That shift continues today as we move more traditional computing tasks into small apps on smartphones and tablets. There?s still a time and place for ?old school? computing apps ? and will be for years to come ? but for the upcoming generation weaned on mobile apps, a solution such as BlueStacks surely has appeal.
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) ? American Airlines has sent a letter to the Allied Pilots Association, threatening legal action if the company is forced to continue cancellations due to an increase in pilot sick calls and maintenance requests.
The airline would not disclose the entire letter sent to the pilots union, but released a statement about it, which reads: ?We do not want to pursue a legal remedy, but we will be left with little alternative if APA does not take action to stop those pilots who are intentionally harming the operation. American?s operations have continued to suffer for more than a week now, and we must take the appropriate steps to ensure our customers and our airline are protected.?
It goes on to say, ?The recent conduct by some of our pilots is inflicting economic damage on the company, frustrating and alienating our customers, and driving unnecessary work and significant stress for other employees. Our goal remains for all of us to put this recent behavior behind us and turn to the critical task of operating a more efficient, competitive airline in the interests of all economic stakeholders, including our pilots, and begin the joint task of finding common ground for a new pilot agreement.?
American Airlines has blamed pilots for intentionally causing a slow down in their operations, while the pilots union denies any organized effort to impact operations. Last week, American Airlines apologized to customers and announced that it would be proactively canceling up to two percent of its flights through October.
Meanwhile, earlier on Wednesday, the Allied Pilots Board of Directors met to reaffirm their decision to enter into new contract talks with American Airlines. They spent about five hours behind closed doors to strategize for those sessions. They were set to meet again all day Thursday and Friday, but pilots union said that the talks are now highly unlikely. ?Within 24 hours of being invited back to the bargaining table, they threatened us with legal action, which just doesn?t make a lot of sense,? said Tom Hoban with the Allied Pilots Association. ?It?s a bit like being ambushed. We felt like it was a sucker punch.?
It was Monday of this week when American Airlines told the union that it wanted to re-engage in those talks. The Allied Pilots Association plans to release another statement about the situation later on Thursday.
The pilots union is in the process of asking its members to vote to go on strike. That ends next Wednesday, October 3. While the pilots cannot legally strike, it would certainly continue to draw another line in the sand.
Finally, on Wednesday, the airline confirmed that nearly 1,600 maintenance employees will accept its ?early out? offer. Because that number is so high, American Airlines said, it will substantially reduce the number of forced losses. The airline is not sure what the final number of losses will be, but said that most of the moves will start in December.
Foursquare is on an update tear. Aside from the "Always On" feature it introduced recently, the company just rolled out a new iPhone update that lets users create more personalized maps. Compatible with iOS 6, the update improves upon the existing Explore map with a more tailored search experience -- you can map out places you haven't been, top destinations, favorite spots, or where your friends have checked in. The app also promises to be faster and to have an improved design that takes advantage of the iPhone 5's larger screen. The new update certainly goes along with the company's philosophy that Foursquare is a discovery and recommendations engine rather than just another social service. Let's just hope the new Apple Maps doesn't hamper that experience.
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As we enter the 21st century, the use of wireless communication technologies ? including cellular radio, personal communication systems (PCS), satellite phones, paging systems, wireless models and local-area networks (LANs), plus multipoint distribution systems (LMDS) for wireless delivery of television and internet service ? is exploding rapidly! Wireless Communication Technology, provides the basic and straightforward electronics information users need to understand the ins and outs of each of these new and emerging wireless communications technologies. The in-depth technical discussions, combined with numerous examples and problems, provide ideal preparation for anyone seeking "hot" jobs in this rapidly expanding segment of the communications field.
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Virtually anyone who's been to a Japanese city knows that subways and trains might be closely associated with their country, but also that they only form a part of the mass transit picture. With that in mind, Google has quietly rolled out an update to Google Maps data for Android and the web that supports bus navigation in Japan, including schedules. It's a simple addition, but an important one for those who can't always get to where they're going on rails -- like teddy bears, according to Google's video. We just want to know who makes that kawaii case for the Galaxy Nexus.
ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2012) ? Despite being infamously demoted from its status as a major planet, Pluto (and its largest companion Charon) recently posed as a surrogate extrasolar planetary system to help astronomers produce exceptionally high-resolution images with the Gemini North 8-meter telescope. Using a method called reconstructive speckle imaging, the researchers took the sharpest ground-based snapshots ever obtained of Pluto and Charon in visible light, which hint at the exoplanet verification power of a large state-of-the-art telescope when combined with speckle imaging techniques.
The data also verified and refined previous orbital characteristics for Pluto and Charon while revealing the pair's precise diameters.
"The Pluto-Charon result is of timely interest to those of us wanting to understand the orbital dynamics of this pair for the 2015 encounter by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft," said Steve Howell of the NASA Ames Research Center, who led the study. In addition, Howell notes that NASA's Kepler mission, which has already proven a powerful exoplanet discovery tool, will benefit greatly from this technique.
Kepler identifies planet candidates by repeatedly measuring the change in brightness of more than 150,000 stars to detect when a planet passes in front of, or affects the brightness of, its host star. Speckle imaging with the Gemini telescope will provide Kepler's follow-up program with a doubling in its ability to resolve objects and validate Earth-like planets. It also offers a 3- to 4-magnitude sensitivity increase for the sources observed by the team. That's about a 50-fold increase in sensitivity in the observations Howell and his team made at Gemini. "This is an enormous gain in the effort underway to confirm small Earth-size planets," Howell added.
To institute this effort Howell and his team -- which included Elliott Horch (Southern Connecticut State University), Mark Everett (National Optical Astronomy Observatory), and David Ciardi (NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech) -- temporarily installed a camera, called the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI), among the suite of instruments mounted on the Gemini telescope.
"This was a fantastic opportunity to bring DSSI to Gemini North this past July," said Horch. "In just a little over half an hour of Pluto observations, collecting light with the large Gemini mirror, we obtained the best resolution ever with the DSSI instrument -- it was stunning!"
The resolution obtained in the observations, about 20 milliarcseconds, easily corresponds to separating a pair of automobile headlights in Providence, Rhode Island, from San Francisco, California. To achieve this level of definition, Gemini obtained a large number of very quick "snapshots" of Pluto and Charon. The researchers then reconstructed them into a single image after subtracting the blurring effects and ever-changing speckled artifacts caused by turbulence in the atmosphere and other optical aberrations. With enough snapshots (each image was exposed for only 60 milliseconds or about 1/20 of a second) only the light from the actual objects remains constant, and the artifacts reveal their transient nature, eventually canceling each other out.
DSSI was built at SCSU between 2007-2008 as a part of a United States National Science Foundation Astronomical Instrumentation grant and mounted on the Gemini North telescope for a limited observing run. The instrument is likely to return to Gemini North for observations in mid-2013 for general user programs from across the international Gemini partnership. Any such arrangement will be announced along with the call for proposals for Semester 13B, in February 2013.
This work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and NASA's Kepler discovery mission and will be published in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in October 2012.
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The University of Central Arkansas Honors College will present Challenge Week 2012 from Oct. 5 - 12. This year's theme, ?Dear Mr. President:,? imagines a letter to the next presidential administration that asks for action on issues that affect all Americans regardless of age, ethnic origin, income level, region of residence or party affiliation.
Great discussions are nothing new here on Lifehacker. Each day, we highlight a discussion that is particularly helpful or insightful, along with other great discussions and reader questions you may have missed. Check out these discussions and add your own thoughts to make them even more wonderful!
Ozone Media, a?digital ad network, has?launched Ozone Smarton, a re-targeting and dynamic banner advertising platform. According to the company,?Ozone Smarton will allow e-commerce merchants to acquire dropped-off and dormant consumers by assembling dynamic banners in real-time and serving them to the re-targeted audience.
