Sarah Bernhardt, Built in 1909 on a large wooded lot that belonged to the monks, on the edge of the park of the castle by the architect René Sergent, creator of the Claridge in London, the Grand Hotel in Rome, the Trianon was the dream of a stone French businessman, Gabriel Martignan Weill, who had indeed detected the major asset of the hotel to come: its location in the shadow of the Sun King.

The address itself is an invitation to History: 1 Boulevard de la Reine.

Since its inauguration in 1910, the Trianon neo-classical attracted the cream of the Cafe Society, Marcel Proust, Sarah Bernhardt, Rene Lacoste tennis player, and more recently, Jean Cocteau, Marcel Achard, Sacha Guitry, Rene Clair and Michael Jackson. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor have spent their honeymoon, marriage in Versailles.

It’s in the lounge on the ground floor, Georges Clemenceau drafted in May 1919 the terms of the Treaty of Versailles signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the Chateau. In nine decades, the palace to the seventy-five meters long, six-story windows and 320 suffered the ravages of time, so in 1990 he has been completely renovated in 2008, a Guerlain spa, fifteen cabins and a indoor pool were added to all 199 rooms and suites comfort. So what was the TPH was admitted into the circle of the finest five-star in Europe. In 2009, he received the title at the European Awards for “Best Interior Design”.

Majestic and intimate at once, Discount Hotel Versailles Joseph Kessel has never been better designed, more pleasant-season romantic royal twenty minutes from Paris. Full every weekend.

Alas, the great chef Gerard Vie, the Lent of Versailles, was not found in the kitchen. He retired. Since 1999, the Trianon is owned by Hilton Group, which has included in his “Waldorf Astoria”.

Side kitchen, new investors have called for the two restaurants in English, three star hotels in London, Gordon Ramsay, a student of Guy Savoy, to run the two restaurants, room service and banquets. After two years of intermittent presence, the British strong character gave up the piano, going over to Simone Zanoni, his right arm at the Claridge, star of London. Happy handover, quicksilver Zanoni has retained the two stars, one wonders why the fancy restaurant is still called “Gordon Ramsay” deception harmful to the Trianon.

At the Veranda, pub food well turned luxury: risotto with halibut, marinated burrata salad with black truffles, bar flavored with pesto and Black Angus rib of beef and bearnaise for two. Crunchy chocolate caramel shortbread.

Starred restaurant, the gourmet will enjoy the evening’s creations Zanoni, Breton lobster tortellini, ravioli of lobster steamed Riesling and carpaccio, tartare and crab Scottish bar or Bresse pigeon with port wine, almonds Hazelnut: the craftsmanship, tastes and textures. In the third track star if the best Italian carves its toppings.

Desserts maestro Eddie Benghanem from the Ritz, the pineapple pina colada. Side wines, the sommelier Laurent Beaudoin selections stunning, looking for good wine and successful vintages, the Chorey-les-Beaune 2008 from Tollot-Beaut to 14 euros per glass, Zind Humbrecht Riesling superb at 16 euros and jurançon Quintessence 2006 of a divine coolness to 16 euros.

Note that the two restaurants open onto the park and well fed sheep Marie-Antoinette. Yes, a great escape in a historic well preserved.

http://usspost.com/sarah-bernhardt-2-24933/

Readmore »» “Sarah Bernhardt”  »»

Ogwumike Focused, Living In the Moment For Stanford - Stanford junior All-American Nneka Ogwumike did not bite when she was asked about The Streak today. Remember what happened to Ohio State after Jantel Lavender said she wanted to stand in the way of a potential 88-game winning streak and did not want to be part of a trivia question? UConn 81, Ohio State 50.

Ogwumike said the Cardinal do think about The Streak a bit, but only from the standpoint of what it has meant to women’s basketball.

“In the sense that it’s a great accomplishment for women’s basketball, yeah,’’ Ogwumike said. “But I wouldn’t say that we are saying `we wish that was us’ or `we need to stop it.’ We’re just focusing more on ourselves. Obviously, that’s something great. Especially for women’s basketball, to be able to achieve something like that given the lack of I guess attention that women’s sports get. I guess we just kind of saw that … That was a great accomplishment.

“Obviously, a lot of people want to beat UConn because they’re a great team. But I wouldn’t say that our focus is, `Oh, let’s stop the streak.’ I guess we’re more so focused on playing our best and getting better as a team.’’

Ogwumike is the best player on a team that is talented enough to win the national championship. With five players 6-foot-2 or taller in their primary rotation, UConn coach Geno Auriemma called the ninth-ranked Cardinal the biggest team in the country. They are certainly the biggest team the Huskies – and freshmen post players Stefanie Dolson and Samarie Walker – will face this season.

Ogwumike, who is averaging 14.7 points and 10.3 rebounds with two double-doubles in three career games against UConn, said this Stanford team is the most talented she has been a part of in her career. It is one that is playing with confidence and one she said that is looking to make a point against UConn.

“I think that would be safe to say, yes,’’ Ogwumike said. “Obviously, UConn is a great team. I do feel like we are forgotten. People underestimate us, which can also be really helpful in the sense that we can come out and just come out and play as hard as we do. But I must say that there are a lot of good teams out here on the West Coast that go unrecognized.’’

This will be the first meeting between the teams since UConn’s 53-47 win in the NCAA tournament final last April in San Antonio. Stanford led 20-12 at halftime before Maya Moore powered a 17-2 run to start the second half.

The game is not something that Ogwumike admits she and her teammates spend a lot of time thinking about.

“I’m not a muller,’’ Ogwumike said. “I don’t mull over things. That was the last time we played them so we look back and see what we can do better. But at the same time we’re also focusing on we’re doing at this moment to really get on top.’’

Here’s what Ogwumike had to say about the way Stanford regrouped after suffering back-to-back losses on the road to DePaul Dec. 16 and Tennessee Dec. 19 …

“We don’t usually lose,’’ Ogwumike said. “It was not fun, obviously. At the same time we just kind of focused on figuring out who we are and we knew that those two games weren’t like us. The second one (an 82-72 loss to Tennessee in OT) was better than the first (a 91-71 loss to DePaul). But, obviously, we didn’t win either. We just kind of sat back and relaxed and tried to just figure things out. We weren’t trying to pounce on it and just be real erratic with things. I think (Coach) Tara (VanDerveer) did a really good job of keeping us real relaxed and just figuring out who we are as a team. So I guess just kind of picking ourselves up from that was something that we needed to experience and I think we did a really good job of kind of helping each other out.’’

Moore is averaging 20.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in 31 games against ranked opponents during The Streak. She is averaging 21.8 and 9.8, respectively, in five career games against Stanford.

“If Maya struggles a lot against a good team, we’re going to struggle,’’ Auriemma said. “If Maya struggles tomorrow night and can’t play to the level that we’re used to seeing her play we’re going to lose. Everybody knows that. But she’s been remarkably consistent. And I think there’s a confidence level that our players have because we’ve got someone like Maya who can take a lot of the pressure off of them offensively. I think they play with a little more confidence than if we didn’t have her.’’

Auriemma’s comment after watching tape of Stanford’s 89-52 rout of No. 4 Xavier Tuesday: “If they’re as good as they looked yesterday I don’t think anybody’s going to beat them the rest of the year.’’

Readmore »» “Ogwumike Focused, Living In the Moment For Stanford”  »»

The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a worldwide decentralized over-the-counter financial market for the trading of currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends. The foreign exchange market determines the relative values of different currencies.

The primary purpose of the foreign exchange is to assist international trade and investment, by allowing businesses to convert one currency to another currency. For example, it permits a US business to import British goods and pay Pound Sterling, even though the business's income is in US dollars. It also supports speculation, and facilitates the carry trade, in which investors borrow low-yielding currencies and lend (invest in) high-yielding currencies, and which (it has been claimed) may lead to loss of competitiveness in some countries.

In a typical foreign exchange transaction, a party purchases a quantity of one currency by paying a quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market began forming after February 1973, when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rates from the previous exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system.The foreign exchange market is unique because of

* its huge trading volume, leading to high liquidity;

* its geographical dispersion;

* its continuous operation: 24 hours a day except weekends, i.e. trading from 20:15 GMT on Sunday until 22:00 GMT Friday;

* the variety of factors that affect exchange rates;

* the low margins of relative profit compared with other markets of fixed income; and

* the use of leverage to enhance profit margins with respect to account size.

As such, it has been referred to as the market closest to the ideal of perfect competition, notwithstanding market manipulation by central banks.[citation needed] According to the Bank for International Settlements,[3] as of April 2010, average daily turnover in global foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3.98 trillion, a growth of approximately 20% over the $3.21 trillion daily volume as of April 2007.

The $3.98 trillion break-down is as follows:

* $1.490 trillion in spot transactions

* $475 billion in outright forwards

* $1.765 trillion in foreign exchange swaps

* $43 billion currency swaps

* $207 billion in options and other products

Market size and liquidity

The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. Traders include large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other financial institutions. The average daily volume in the global foreign exchange and related markets is continuously growing. Daily turnover was reported to be over US$3.98 trillion in April 2010 by the Bank for International Settlements.

Of the $3.98 trillion daily global turnover, trading in London accounted for around $1.85 trillion, or 36.7% of the total, making London by far the global center for foreign exchange. In second and third places respectively, trading in New York City accounted for 17.9%, and Tokyo accounted for 6.2%. In addition to "traditional" turnover, $2.1 trillion was traded in derivatives.

Exchange-traded FX futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts.

Several other developed countries also permit the trading of FX derivative products (like currency futures and options on currency futures) on their exchanges. All these developed countries already have fully convertible capital accounts. Most emerging countries do not permit FX derivative products on their exchanges in view of prevalent controls on the capital accounts. However, a few select emerging countries (e.g., Korea, South Africa, India—; ) have already successfully experimented with the currency futures exchanges, despite having some controls on the capital account.

FX futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).

Top 10 currency traders

% of overall volume, May 2010 Rank Name Market share

1 Germany Deutsche Bank 18.06%

2 Switzerland UBS AG 11.30%

3 United Kingdom Barclays Capital 11.08%

4 United States Citi 7.69%

5 United Kingdom Royal Bank of Scotland 6.50%

6 United States JPMorgan 6.35%

7 United Kingdom HSBC 4.55%

8 Switzerland Credit Suisse 4.44%

9 United States Goldman Sachs 4.28%

10 United States Morgan Stanley 2.91%

Foreign exchange trading increased by over a third in the 12 months to April 2010 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues have made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. In 2009, retail traders constituted over 5% of the whole FX market volumes (see retail trading platforms).

Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to TheCityUK estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 34.6% in April 2007 to 36.7% in April 2010. Due to London's dominance in the market, a particular currency's quoted price is usually the London market price. For instance, when the IMF calculates the value of its SDRs every day, they use the London market prices at noon that day.

Market participants

Unlike a stock market, the foreign exchange market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest commercial banks and securities dealers. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. The difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips for some currencies such as the EUR). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the foreign exchange market are determined by the size of the "line" (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in different countries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail FX-metal market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, “Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s.” (2004) In addition, he notes, “Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 2001–2004 period in terms of both number and overall size” Central banks also participate in the foreign exchange market to align currencies to their economic needs.

Banks

The interbank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account. Until recently, foreign exchange brokers did large amounts of business, facilitating interbank trading and matching anonymous counterparts for large fees. Today, however, much of this business has moved on to more efficient electronic systems. The broker squawk box lets traders listen in on ongoing interbank trading and is heard in most trading rooms, but turnover is noticeably smaller than just a few years ago.

Commercial companies

An important part of this market comes from the financial activities of companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services. Commercial companies often trade fairly small amounts compared to those of banks or speculators, and their trades often have little short term impact on market rates. Nevertheless, trade flows are an important factor in the long-term direction of a currency's exchange rate. Some multinational companies can have an unpredictable impact when very large positions are covered due to exposures that are not widely known by other market participants.

Central banks

National central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses, like other traders would, and there is no convincing evidence that they do make a profit trading.

Forex Fixing

Forex fixing is the daily monetary exchange rate fixed by the national bank of each country. The idea is that central bank use the fixing time and exchange rate to evaluate behavior of their currency. Fixing exchange rates reflects the real value of equilibrium in the forex market. Banks, dealers and online foreign exchange traders use fixing rates as a trend indicator.

The mere expectation or rumor of central bank intervention might be enough to stabilize a currency, but aggressive intervention might be used several times each year in countries with a dirty float currency regime. Central banks do not always achieve their objectives. The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank. Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 1992–93 ERM collapse, and in more recent times in Southeast Asia.

Hedge funds as speculators

About 70% to 90%[citation needed] of the foreign exchange transactions are speculative. In other words, the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no plan to actually take delivery of the currency in the end; rather, they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency. Hedge funds have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1996. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor.

Investment management firms

Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades.

Retail foreign exchange brokers

Retail traders (individuals) constitute a growing segment of this market, both in size and importance. Currently, they participate indirectly through brokers or banks. Retail brokers, while largely controlled and regulated in the USA by the CFTC and NFA have in the past been subjected to periodic foreign exchange scams.[8][9] To deal with the issue, the NFA and CFTC began (as of 2009) imposing stricter requirements, particularly in relation to the amount of Net Capitalization required of its members. As a result many of the smaller, and perhaps questionable brokers are now gone.

There are two main types of retail FX brokers offering the opportunity for speculative currency trading: brokers and dealers or market makers. Brokers serve as an agent of the customer in the broader FX market, by seeking the best price in the market for a retail order and dealing on behalf of the retail customer. They charge a commission or mark-up in addition to the price obtained in the market. Dealers or market makers, by contrast, typically act as principal in the transaction versus the retail customer, and quote a price they are willing to deal at—the customer has the choice whether or not to trade at that price.

In assessing the suitability of an FX trading service, the customer should consider the ramifications of whether the service provider is acting as principal or agent. When the service provider acts as agent, the customer is generally assured of a known cost above the best inter-dealer FX rate. When the service provider acts as principal, no commission is paid, but the price offered may not be the best available in the market—since the service provider is taking the other side of the transaction, a conflict of interest may occur.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forex

Readmore »» “Foreign exchange market / Forex”  »»

Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web for the expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, interstitial ads, online classified advertising, advertising networks and e-mail marketing, including e-mail spam.

Competitive advantage over traditional advertising

One major benefit of online advertising is the immediate publishing of information and content that is not limited by geography or time. To that end, the emerging area of interactive advertising presents fresh challenges for advertisers who have hitherto adopted an interruptive strategy.

Another benefit is the efficiency of advertiser's investment. Online advertising allows for the customization of advertisements, including content and posted websites. For example, AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google AdSense enable ads to be shown on relevant web pages or alongside search results of related keywords.

Revenue models

The three most common ways in which online advertising is purchased are CPM, CPC, and CPA.

* CPM (Cost Per Mille), also called "Cost Per Thousand (CPT), is where advertisers pay for exposure of their message to a specific audience. "Per mille" means per thousand impressions, or loads of an advertisement. However, some impressions may not be counted, such as a reload or internal user action.

* CPV (Cost Per Visitor) is where advertisers pay for the delivery of a Targeted Visitor to the advertisers website.

* CPV (Cost Per View) is when an advertiser pays for each unique user view of an advertisement or website (usually used with pop-ups, pop-unders and interstitial ads).

* CPC (Cost Per Click) is also known as Pay per click (PPC). Advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their listing and is redirected to their website. They do not actually pay for the listing, but only when the listing is clicked on. This system allows advertising specialists to refine searches and gain information about their market. Under the Pay per click pricing system, advertisers pay for the right to be listed under a series of target rich words that direct relevant traffic to their website, and pay only when someone clicks on their listing which links directly to their website. CPC differs from CPV in that each click is paid for regardless of whether the user makes it to the target site.

* CPA (Cost Per Action) or (Cost Per Acquisition) advertising is performance based and is common in the affiliate marketing sector of the business. In this payment scheme, the publisher takes all the risk of running the ad, and the advertiser pays only for the amount of users who complete a transaction, such as a purchase or sign-up. This is the best type of rate to pay for banner advertisements and the worst type of rate to charge.

o Similarly, CPL (Cost Per Lead) advertising is identical to CPA advertising and is based on the user completing a form, registering for a newsletter or some other action that the merchant feels will lead to a sale.

o Also common, CPO (Cost Per Order) advertising is based on each time an order is transacted.

o CPE (Cost Per Engagement) is a form of Cost Per Action pricing first introduced in March 2008. Differing from cost-per-impression or cost-per-click models, a CPE model means advertising impressions are free and advertisers pay only when a user engages with their specific ad unit. Engagement is defined as a user interacting with an ad in any number of ways.[1]

* Cost per conversion Describes the cost of acquiring a customer, typically calculated by dividing the total cost of an ad campaign by the number of conversions. The definition of "Conversion" varies depending on the situation: it is sometimes considered to be a lead, a sale, or a purchase.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertising

Readmore »» “Online Advertising”  »»

Idaho Lottery, Scam artists are always creating new ways to steal money or identity. The Better Business Bureau recently issued a list of top scams used during the past year. Some scams are old and familiar, others are new. So it is important that people stay on their guard when it comes to protecting their money and identity.

The Office of the justice budget of 11.5 million people experiences some type of identity fraud within two years the United States. It is a fraction of the number of scams that can come via the Internet, telephone, in your mail and your door. Some scammers promise to make money with their potential victims. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Captain Ken Brown of the Idaho Falls Police. Police said the robbers put a deposit account numbers, promising large sums of money, only to raise money to hold accounts. “Many of them come from third world countries,” said Brown. “We find from Jamaica, Nigeria, some European countries and Canada.”

The Better Business Bureau has issued a list of 2010 high and hard scams. As the loans fees, sales door to door where people are using sales tactics, high pressure for the consumer have pre-pay for a product that never happens.The “grandparents scam, where the victim receives a message form someone claiming to be a friend outside the country who needs money wired to them because they had problems. However, scams job hunter seeking job seekers to pay fees to take into consideration for a job. Whenever someone requests an account number or social security number, consumers should be cautious. It is best to call the police, the sheriff’s office, state police or the FBI if a person believes they have been contacted by a scammer attempting a coup. Top Scams Advance Fee Loans: Web Sites offering credit-challenged borrowers of loans. Lenders charge a fee to be connected in advance to receive the loan. Once money is wired, borrowers do not receive the loan. Auto service contracts: Consumers can receive postcards or phone calls implying that their warranties are about to expire and offering to ease their worries about the car repair bills by purchasing many consumers, then it is extremely difficult to get money for any “extended warranty”. Repairs. Selling door-to-door sellers of magazine subscriptions, burglar alarms, home repairs, vacuum cleaners and other items used high pressure sales tactics to obtain payment for items or services that does never happens or does not meet the customers? Expectations.

‘Free’ Trial Offers: Consumers are encouraged to order a product such as teeth whitening, anti-aging pills or other products may be covered by a TV personality. After receiving the product, they discover that they were registered to receive additional products for a monthly fee which can be hundreds of dollars. It can be extremely difficult to obtain a refund or to stop spending. A friend / family in distress: Also known as the grandparents scam. The victim receives a message from someone? Friend? Or? Family member? Claiming they are outside the country and have had problems. The victim is asked to wire thousands of dollars to pay legal fees or bonding.

Lottery and Check scams: Victims receive letters in the mail from companies purporting to be from a foreign lottery, publisher clearing house or another reputable company or charity. Often, the letter contains a check look authentic. In most cases, victims are asked over hundreds of dollars back to the crooks – ostensibly to cover taxes or other fees can. Hunter Job Scams: A scammer asks job seekers to pay a fee to be considered for a job scheduling other, an out-of-town interview and ask the applicant to send money to cover an airfare. Other scams try to access personal information such as bank account or social security numbers, under the guise of evaluating somehow a potential employee. Mystery Shopping: Consumers may be told they will be paid at the shop in a store and evaluate its customer service. Victims can receive authentic-looking checks that are supposed to cover the cost of purchases. They are asked to wire money to the crooks to evaluate a money wiring service such as Western Union or MoneyGram. The checks are fake, and the victims suffer a loss and bank charges. E-mail Phishing: New phishing attack against fraudsters posing as government agencies or delivery companies in the boxes pop up everywhere. Whatever the configuration, the goal of any e-mail phishing is the same: to trick the victims to disclose sensitive financial information or infect the victim’s computer with viruses and malware. Work-At-Home Systems: Application websites that people can live in the house using Google or Twitter or by purchasing a kit that includes educational materials or products to sell. Many of these scams are no trial offer, with victims being billed each month for the cost of materials or other mystery. Legitimate employers do not require employees to make an initial investment.

http://usspost.com/idaho-lottery-24847/

Readmore »» “Idaho Lottery”  »»

Google can have Groupon, Wellesley’s got BuyWithMe - Considering the fact that the Baylor Bears made it to a bowl game for the first time since 1994, their 2010 season is a success.

The Illini dominated the game from start to finish, and beat the Bears by a final score of 38-14.

Baylor was undone by Illinois running back Mikel LeShoure, who ran for 184 yards on 29 carries, scoring three touchdowns in the process.

Illinois finished 6-6 straight up and 8-4 against the spread in college football odds with 8 of their games going OVER the total as the bowl berth likely saved coach Ron Zook’s job.

Sportsbooks also favor Baylor -120 in money line 2010 Texas Bowl odds vs Illinois EV for Wednesday's game. Freshman QB Nathan Scheelhaase finished 2nd behind LeShoure with 806 rushing yards and a 4.6 YPC average. Scheelhaase also passed for 1,583 yards and a 17/8 TD/INT ratio. Baylor finished 7-5 straight up and 5-7 against the spread in college football picks with 8 of their games going OVER the total.

Jay Finley was an outstanding back heading into 2010 Texas Bowl odds with 1,155 yards rushing and a 6.3 YPC average with 11 TD’s.

http://comp-inet.blogspot.com/2010/12/coupon-clipping-service.html

Readmore »» “Google can have Groupon, Wellesley’s got BuyWithMe”  »»

Suge Knight Killed Tupac, There is another rumor, there have been reports that have been flooding Internet chat rooms and bulletin boards that have been said that the former CEO of Death Row Records Marion Knight “Suge” was arrested and charged Wednesday, December, 29th in the 1996 murder rapper Tupac Shakur.

He was the great theme of the day, but it was not an official word from the LAPD. So far, it is rumored that fold with people who say that Knight became a suspect in the murder of another icon of rap and hip-hop at the end Smalls Christopher “Biggie”.

From Wednesday’s late at night, there was no official word on Knight’s arrest or is still a suspect in both cases, murder. Shakur was killed in September 1996 in Las Vegas after a fight between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon.

Readmore »» “Suge Knight Killed Tupac”  »»

Thailand Breast Slap – Video thai breast slap - It is being stated about Thailand breast slapping issue that recently the Thailand government has initiated this program which eventually will be helpful in encouraging those women or girls that are in favor to adopt breast slapping techniques. This technique actually helps to increase normal size of girls or women’s breast up to their desire.

Further reports about Thailand breast slapping are claiming that actually the fact is well realized by Thailand government that natural as well as valuable resources of women definitely increase their beauty and therefore this beauty is being tried to conserve by the Thailand government. Therefore the only reason is above mentioned fact about promoting or supporting this technique for Thailand women by the government.

Therefore the government of Thailand has successfully as well as intentional launched Thailand breast slapping program just in intention to encourage women who are in intention or in favor to use this latest technique to increase or enhance their natural resources’ beauty by increasing their sizes instead of adopting the previous infamous technique of breast implants which actually uses silicone for the purpose.

Now Thailand breast slapping program is being adopted by dozens of Thailand women which actually is backed or supported by their local Thailand government just to get their breast sizes increased intentionally to be looked or gorgeous even more than they currently look. Khemmikka Na Sonkhla is notorious recognized Thai beautician who actually is main person behind this breast slapping technique introduction in Thailand. Currently this beautician is also using this technique in intention to increase her breast size.

Thailand breast slap – The United Nations General Secretary, Moon, but a slap in the face of Thailand Red Shirt killing, the army said about 100 protesters Thai Red Shirts “internal politics”that the UN would be involved.

About a week before the visit of the moon to Thailand, Thai Moon Intel during a visit to Morocco for a speech on “transparency, “reported refers to those problems, “Migration and Refugees” openness. Trouble looms for Thailand, visit the moon, “is the title of Thailand Intel used.

Visit Morocco moon, the moon shows clearly that the mind is the situation in Burma.

Readmore »» “Thailand Breast Slap – Video thai breast slap”  »»

Top 10 Coupon Clipping Service Websites - If you want to save money this shopping season and not only, your best bet is to use grocery coupons, and to go for the best deals of the moment. Coupon clipping services are the type of sites that list a number of printable coupons, already clipped and ready to ship to your address. Coupon clipping is a business for many Americans. If you don’t have time to do the coupon clippings yourself, there are services that can do it for you, helping you save time. Sure, these services come for a symbolic fee. The following 10 websites are the best and most popular in the business.

The Coupon Clippers – the brain child of Rachael Woodard – boast more than a million national-brand coupons, and over 2 million Grocery Coupons in stock, even restaurant coupons. Browse the directory and select the coupons you need. The company will mail them to you.

Ohio-based grocery coupon clipping service The Coupon Carry-Out does the same thing, with a few more advantages for their customers: a Customer Loyalty program in place, and free shipping for orders of $15.00 or more.

The Coupon Master (TCM) offer grocery coupons, gift certificates and restaurant coupons as well. The site may still have the same look and feel as when it launched in 2004, but it is still one of the most popular.

ClippityQ.com offers original manufacturer’s coupons from the Sunday inserts. Like the other services, the don’t sell coupons, but charge a handling fee. Minimum order amount is $2.00, and there is no shipping fee for first class mail.

Danielle’s Coupon Paradise features a rewards program as well, with 1 point for every dollar spent and after 20 points customers get $1.00 towards their order. There are no minimum orders, but handling and shipping fees apply. Other than that, a very user friendly site.

Manufacturers Coupons announced that will charge a flat $.05 fee per clipping next year. In the meanwhile, the fee is still $.08, and the price will raise to $.10 for brand new coupons only in the first week of January.

Rebecca’s Coupons and Forms started in the early 1990’s and gets the coupons from suppliers across the United States – which means that you can find deals for various cities, even some remote ones.

CouponDede started out as a small eBay store specializing in coupon clipping. The success inspired the owner to create a site dedicated to the business. Membership based, clipping fees vary from $.08 to $.20.

The Q Hunter is a coupon-clipping service that locates, acquires and prepare coupons. The site was founded in 2008 and offers a variety of manufacturer’s coupons in the Mid West. Minimum order is $1.00.

Last, but not least, CouponBeat (with the most attractive, professional, site design of all) is run by a WHAM – Crystal, mother of two. Crystal also offers coupon training classes to teach people how get and use coupon overage to drastically save money.

http://www.pamil-visions.net/coupon-clipping-services/221923/

Readmore »» “Top 10 Coupon Clipping Service Websites”  »»

Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, and writer.

Early life

Wilson was born in Dallas, Texas, to photographer Laura Cunningham Wilson and Robert Andrew Wilson, an advertising Executive and operator of a public television station. He has an older brother, Andrew, and a younger brother, Luke, both also involved in filmmaking.[1] His family, originally from Massachusetts, is Irish American and Roman Catholic.[2]

While living in Texas, Wilson attended The Lamplighter School, and St. Mark's School of Texas, from which he was expelled when, in the tenth grade, he stole his teacher's textbook to aid him in his homework.[3] Wilson attended his junior and senior years in high school at the New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI), a public institution supported by the State of New Mexico and located in Roswell, NM. Wilson is often cited by NMMI as one of its distinguished alumni due to his career accomplishments.

Career

Wilson's initial acting role was as "Dignan" in the Wes Anderson film Bottle Rocket, which he co-wrote with Anderson. He also worked with Anderson as a creative collaborator on his next two directorial efforts, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, for which they were nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Wilson quickly landed roles in big-budget movies such as The Cable Guy, directed by Ben Stiller, an early admirer of Bottle Rocket. After minor appearances in action films like Anaconda, Armageddon and The Haunting, Wilson appeared in two dramatic roles: supporting actor in Permanent Midnight, which starred Stiller as a drug-addicted TV writer; and the lead role as a serial killer in The Minus Man. He also made a cameo in the Girl Skateboards video Yeah Right! in 2003.

Wilson at the London premiere of You, Me and Dupree, 2006.

Wilson got his big break with the 2000 comedy action hit Shanghai Noon, starring opposite Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan. The film grossed nearly US$100 million worldwide. His fame continued to rise after starring alongside Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell in the 2001 film Zoolander.

Gene Hackman took notice of Wilson's performance in Shanghai Noon and recommended Wilson to co-star in the 2001 action film Behind Enemy Lines. Also in 2001, Wilson and Anderson collaborated on their third film, The Royal Tenenbaums, which was a financial and critical success. The comedy featured an all-star cast, including Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny Glover, Seymour Cassel and brother Luke. Owen Wilson had a memorable supporting role in the film as Eli Cash, a drug-addled bon vivant who becomes a literary celebrity. It earned the writing team an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Wilson returned to the buddy comedy genre in 2002 with the action comedy I Spy, co-starring Eddie Murphy. This big-screen remake of the television series flopped at the box office. He then reunited with Chan to make Shanghai Knights (2003) and the movie remake of the television series Starsky & Hutch (2004). Due to his busy schedule as an actor and an ongoing sinus condition, Wilson was unavailable to collaborate on the script for Wes Anderson's fourth feature, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The 2004 film was ultimately co-written by filmmaker Noah Baumbach. However, Wilson did star in the film as Bill Murray's would-be son, Ned Plimpton; a role written specifically for Wilson.[4]

Wilson partnered with Vince Vaughn in the 2005 Wedding Crashers which grossed over $200 million in the US alone. Also in 2005, Owen collaborated with his brothers by appearing in The Wendell Baker Story, written by brother Luke, directed by Luke and brother Andrew.[5] In 2006, Wilson provided the voice of Lightning McQueen in the Disney/Pixar film Cars, starred in You, Me and Dupree with Kate Hudson, and appeared with Stiller in Night at the Museum as Jedediah, the cowboy, an uncredited role.

Wilson has appeared in ten movies with Stiller (a long-time friend) to date: The Cable Guy (1996), Permanent Midnight (1998), Meet the Parents (2000), Zoolander (2001), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Starsky & Hutch (2004), Meet the Fockers (2004), Night at the Museum (2006), and the sequel Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Little Fockers (2010).

Wilson appeared in another Wes Anderson film, The Darjeeling Limited, which screened at the 45th annual New York Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival and opened September 30, 2007, co-starring Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody.[6] Wilson next starred in the Judd Apatow comedy, Drillbit Taylor, released in March 2008. He appeared in a film adaptation of John Grogan's best-selling memoir, Marley & Me (2008), co-starring Jennifer Aniston.[7]

The Darjeeling Limited, starring Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, and Jason Schwartzman has been selected for a DVD and Blu-Ray release by The Criterion Collection in October 2010.[8]

Wilson's many collaborations on high-grossing comedy movies have led the media to consider him part of the Frat Pack, along with other comedy actors such as Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell.

Owen also provided the voice for the Whackbat Coach Skip in Wes Anderson's version of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Owen Wilson will be acting alongside Steve Martin in the upcoming film "The Big Year", adapted by Howard Franklin from Mark Obmascik’s book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession.[9]

Recently, Wilson made a guest appearance on the NBC comedy Community with fellow Frat Pack member Jack Black.

Readmore »» “Owen Wilson”  »»

Zodiac Signs - It is obvious that your friends will come to your new year party even if there are the same old decorations but why not go for a unique and a different set up this year ?. Get rid of those boring balloon decorations and look out for these new year home decor tips on how to decorate and make your home atttractive for this new year 2011.

1.Change your living room into a cool dance floor. Make a disco ball by buying a plain hand made paper (ball shaped) lamp shade and stick the old compact CD bits on the lamp shade. Place it at the centre of your dance floor and dance with your own disco set up.

2.Another cool way of decorating home for this new year would be showcasing the events that happened in 2010. Make a collage of photographs relating to top news stories or personal events mentioning the time and date the events took place.

3.According to the Chinese calender the year 2011 is the year of the Rabbit so decorate your home with the Rabbit theme and ask your guests to dress up with the funny theme.

4.Khaki is the fashion trend of 2011 so decorate your home decor with the Khaki color theme and ask your friends to dress up in Khaki and create a fashion trend in your neighbourhood.

5.Zodiac signs can also be the theme for your new year home decor. Mention the predictions of 2011 of every zodiac sign and decorate it all around the living room.

6.Instead of those old and boring paper streamers replace with colorful ribbons or satins and wrap around from corners to the center of the ceiling.

7.To get the party effect, decorate your living room with Christmas tree lights and scented candles. The tiny lights will set the ambience to dance.

Use these new year home decor tips listed above and surprise your guests with these unique new year home decor themes.

Readmore »» “Zodiac Signs”  »»

Photos of HTC Thunderbolt emerge, Verizon’s first LTE 4G handset - The HTC Thunderbolt is all but official after new images leaked showing the device in all its glory, highlighting the fact the device will be the first LTE 4G device to be offered by Verizon after it is unveiled at next months CES 2011 conference.

The photos show just how similar the Thunderbolt is to the HTC Evo 4G and the HTC Desire HD – similar in shape, even sporting a kickstand on the back. Initial reports suggest the device will not feature a dual-core processor, but the Thunderbolt does have the distinctive Google branding suggesting that we could be looking at a Verizon device that doesn’t feature any Microsoft products

http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2010/12/29/photos-of-htc-thunderbolt-emerge-verizons-first-lte-4g-handset/

Readmore »» “Photos of HTC Thunderbolt emerge, Verizon’s first LTE 4G handset”  »»

Carol Elaine Channing (born January 31, 1921)[1] is an American singer, actress, and comedienne. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards (including one for lifetime achievement), a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. Channing is best remembered for originating, on Broadway, the musical-comedy roles of bombshell Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and matchmaking widow Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly!

Childhood and education

Channing was born in Seattle, Washington, the only child of George and Adelaide (née Glaser) Channing. Her father was a city editor at the Seattle Star; his newspaper career took the family to San Francisco when Carol was only two weeks old. Her father later became a successful Christian Science practitioner, editor, and teacher. Carol attended Aptos Middle School and Lowell High School in San Francisco. At Lowell, Channing was a member of its famed Lowell Forensic Society, the nation's oldest high-school debate team.

According to Channing's memoirs, when she left home to attend Bennington College in Vermont, her mother informed her that her father, a journalist who Carol had believed was born in Rhode Island, had in fact been born in Augusta, Georgia, to a German-American father and an African-American mother. According to Channing's account, her mother reportedly didn't want [Channing] to be surprised "if she had a black baby".[2][3] Channing kept this a secret to avoid any problems on Broadway and in Hollywood, ultimately revealing it only in her autobiography, Just Lucky I Guess, published in 2002 when she was 81 years old. Channing's autobiography, containing a photograph of her mother, does not have any photos of her father or son.[4] Her book also states that her father's birth certificate was destroyed in a fire. (The November 4, 2002 issue of Jet magazine reported, based on her autobiography, that Carol Channing's father was African-American.)

Channing was introduced to the stage while working for her mother. In a 2005 interview with the Austin Chronicle, Channing recounted this experience:

"My mother said, 'Carol, would you like to help me distribute Christian Science Monitors backstage at the live theatres in San Francisco?' And I said, 'All right, I'll help you.' I don't know how old I was. I must have been little. We went through the stage door alley (for the Curran Theatre), and I couldn't get the stage door open. My mother came and opened it very well. Anyway, my mother went to put the Monitors where they were supposed to go for the actors and the crew and the musicians, and she left me alone. And I stood there and realized – I'll never forget it because it came over me so strongly – that this is a temple. This is a cathedral. It's a mosque. It's a mother church. This is for people who have gotten a glimpse of creation and all they do is recreate it. I stood there and wanted to kiss the floorboards."[5]

Channing's first job on stage in New York was in Marc Blitzstein's No For an Answer, which was given two special Sunday performances starting January 5, 1941 at the Mecca Temple (later New York's City Center). She was 19 years old. Channing then moved to Broadway for Let's Face It!, in which she was an understudy for Eve Arden. Decades later, Arden would play "Dolly" in a road company after Channing finally relinquished the role. Five years later, Channing had a featured role in a revue, Lend an Ear. She was spotted by author Anita Loos and cast in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as Lorelei Lee, the role that brought her to prominence. (Her signature song from the production was Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend.) In 1961, Channing became one of a very few Tony Award nominees to gain a nomination for work in a revue (rather than a traditional book musical), when she was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical, for the short-lived revue Show Girl.[citation needed]

Channing came to national prominence as the star of Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! She never missed a performance during her run, attributing her good health to her Christian Science faith. Her performance won her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, in a year when her chief competition was Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl. She was deeply disappointed when Streisand, who many believed to be far too young for the role, was signed to play Dolly Levi in the film, which also starred Walter Matthau and Michael Crawford.[citation needed]

Channing reprised the role of Lorelei Lee in the musical Lorelei. She also appeared in two New York revivals of Hello, Dolly!, and toured with it extensively throughout the United States. She also appeared in a number of movies, The First Traveling Sales Lady (1956) with Ginger Rogers, the cult film Skidoo and Thoroughly Modern Millie, opposite Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore. For Millie she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and was awarded a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.[citation needed]

In 1966, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre. During her film career she also made some guest appearances on television sitcoms and talk shows, including CBS's "What's My Line?," on which she appeared in eleven episodes from 1962 to 1966. Channing also did a fair amount of voice over work in cartoons, most notably as Grandmama Addams in an animated version of The Addams Family which ran from 1992 to 1995.

Channing was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.[6] She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 1995,[7] and an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Stanislaus in 2004.[8] That same year, she received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.[9] She and husband Harry Kullijian are active in promoting arts education in California schools with the Dr. Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian Foundation. The couple resides in Modesto, California.

Family life

She has been married four times. Her first husband, Theodore Naidish, was a writer. Her second husband, Alexander Carson, played center for the Ottawa Rough Riders Canadian football team. They had one son, Channing, who took his stepfather's surname and is now a Pulitzer-prize-nominated cartoonist publishing under the name Chan Lowe.[10] In 1956, she married her manager and publicist, Charles Lowe. They remained married for 42 years, but she abruptly filed for divorce in 1998. He died before the divorce was finalized. After Lowe's death and until shortly before her fourth marriage, the actress's companion was Roger Denny, an interior decorator.[11]

On May 10, 2003, she married Harry Kullijian, her fourth husband and junior high school sweetheart, who reunited with her after she mentioned him fondly in her memoir. The two performed at their old junior high school, which had become Aptos Middle School, in a benefit for the school.

At Lowell High School, they renamed the school's auditorium "The Carol Channing Theatre" in her honor. The city of San Francisco, California, proclaimed February 25, 2002, to be Carol Channing Day, for her advocacy of gay rights and her appearance as the celebrity host of the Gay Pride Day festivities in Hollywood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Channing

Readmore »» “Carol Channing”  »»

Adam Sandler Latest Victim of Bad Death Hoax - Adam Sandler is now the latest victim of a sick, FAKE death hoax.

According to another gross prank from Global Associated News, “Actor Adam Sandler is reported to have died shortly after a snowboard accident earlier today -December 28, 2010.”

Sandler is NOT dead.

The FAKE report claimed that while at a ski resort in Zermatt, Switzerland, “Sandler lost control of his snowboard and struck a tree at a high rate of speed… Sandler was air lifted by ski patrol teams to a local hospital, however, it is believed that the actor died instantly from the impact of the crash.”

Again, this is NOT TRUE. He’s ALIVE.

A rep for Sandler tells Gossip Cop, “It’s completely not true and such irresponsible journalism.”

So, does this rumor sound familiar?

It should.

Just two days ago, the same lame site spread word-for-word the same disgusting rumor about Charlie Sheen.

Two weeks ago, there was an equally vile death prank about Morgan Freeman, and this morning there was a death hoax about Aretha Franklin.

These hoaxes have happened many times before.

They’re not funny. They’re not cool. They’re not entertaining.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Gossip Cop is at a total loss as to why anyone would concoct phony fatalities, and sincerely hopes the only thing that dies out are these horrible hoaxes.

http://www.gossipcop.com/adam-sandler-dead-death-hoax-snowboarding

Readmore »» “Adam Sandler Latest Victim of Bad Death Hoax”  »»

New Year’s Eve party ideas for kids | 10 minutes to a great party - For most adults, a New Year’s Eve party seems pretty easy to plan. But if you’ve got a pack of young ones, then New Year’s Eve party ideas for kids may be in order. Depending on how many kids you have and their ages, a kids New Year’s Eve party can be a snap.

Targeting New Year’s Eve party ideas for kids

The biggest challenge of New Year’s Eve party ideas for kids is targeting age groups. Letting kids younger than 10 stay up until midnight could be very difficult, for example. The best kids New Year’s Eve parties help the kids feel like they’re celebrating a big change, and they’re just a bit more “grown up.” If you’ve got a mixed-age group of kids, try to have different activities for the kids that stay up later.

New Year’s Eve party ideas for kids – the food

For kids parties, loading the kids up on sugar may be the first instinct. Some sugar should definitely be on the menu for your kids New Year’s Eve party, but it should be tempered with something more nutritious, such as raisins or mixed nuts. Try mixing cranberry or apple juice with lemon-lime soda to serve in plastic champagne flutes. Breakfast for dinner is also a great option for New Year’s Eve parties, and leftovers make the next morning that much easier.

New Year’s Eve party ideas for kids – the activities

If you’ve got kids that won’t be staying up until midnight, that doesn’t mean they can’t watch the ball drop. Look for a major city in a time zone three or four hours ahead of your party, and watch the ball drop there. New York is great for West Coast, and Paris is great for East Coast parties. Use film cans or chip cans to help kids create time capsules. Washable paint can be used to put hand prints on butcher paper as New Year’s growth charts to be continued each year. An award ceremony at the end of the night or beginning of the morning can also start out the new year on the right foot.

http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2010/12/28/new-years-eve-party-ideas-kids/

Readmore »» “New Year’s Eve party ideas for kids | 10 minutes to a great party”  »»

The Air Force Falcons are the college football team from the United States Air Force Academy, located just outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team is a mid-major program that competes in Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I and the Mountain West Conference.

Style

Given the physical restrictions that military service puts on cadets, Air Force football has traditionally been based more on speed, willpower and technical execution than on pure size and strength. The Falcons have traditionally run a triple option offense, and have routinely competed favorably against bigger and stronger national opponents. While the wishbone is almost always assumed synonymous with the triple option, Air Force only deployed the formation occasionally under Coaches DeBerry and Hatfield. One mainstay from both of these coaches was the option, and the consistent repetition to near perfection, as witnessed by the wins and the rushing statistics in the past 25 years, regularly placing Air Force in the top ten rushing teams in the nation.

Falcon Stadium

Falcon home games are played in Falcon Stadium, which sits below the main campus at an elevation of 6621 feet (2018 m) above sea level. Pre-game activities include flyovers by USAF aircraft, including the F-15 and B-2. The highest attendance at a home game was 56,409 spectators in 2002, when the Falcons battled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

History

Running back Asher Clark and the Falcons take on the Houston Cougars during the 2009 Armed Forces Bowl

The Falcons are not only recognized by the lightning bolt on the side of their helmets, but their traditional option attack. Air Force is one of the premier rushing teams in the nation. Since Fisher DeBerry took over as Falcons head coach in 1984, they have ranked among the nation’s top 10 in rushing 19 times in 21 years. The Air Force football team has enjoyed success not only on the field but also in the classroom. In 49 years of Air Force football, there have been 39 Academic All-Americans.

The 1985 Season

See also: 1985 Air Force Falcons football team

1985 was the most successful season in Air Force football history. Under 2nd year coach Fisher DeBerry, the Fightin’ Falcons came within one win of playing for the national championship. They recorded 10 straight wins, climbed the polls to #2 in the nation, but lost to BYU by 7 points in the penultimate game of the season. Air Force rebounded with a bowl game win over Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl and finished with a 12-1 record as the #5 ranked team in the nation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Falcons_football

Readmore »» “Air Force Falcons football”  »»

Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as the The Queen of Soul, Franklin is adept at jazz, blues, R&B and gospel music. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Franklin No. 1 on its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time. [1][2][3][4]

Franklin is one of the most honored artists by the Grammy Awards, with 18 competitive Grammys to date, and two honorary Grammys. She has scored a total of 20 No. 1 singles on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, one of which also became her first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100: "Respect" (1967). "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (1987), a duet with George Michael, became her second No. 1 on the latter chart. Since 1961, she has scored a total of 45 "Top 40" hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She also has the most million-selling singles of any female artist with 14. Between 1967 and 1982 she had 10 #1 R&B albums - more than any other female artist.

In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[5] Aretha Franklin was the only featured singer at the 2009 presidential inauguration for Barack Obama.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin

Readmore »» “Aretha Franklin”  »»

Llanito or Yanito (pronounced [ʎaˈnito]) is an Andalusian Spanish based creole spoken in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.[1] It consists of an eclectic mix of Andalusian Spanish and British English, marked by a great deal of code switching and loanwords from many other Mediterranean languages.

Gibraltarians also call themselves Llanitos.

Language

Andalusian Spanish is the main constituent of Llanito, but is also heavily influenced by British English. However, it borrows words and expressions of many other languages, with over 500 words of Genoese (Ligurian) and Hebrew origin.[2] Its other main language constituents are Maltese and Portuguese. It often also involves code-switching to English. Some Llanito words are also widely used in the neighbouring Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción (due to the influx of people from La Línea working in Gibraltar over many years).[3]

To some outsiders who only speak either English or Spanish, Llanito may sound incomprehensible, as speakers appear to switch languages in mid-sentence, but to people who are bilingual in both languages, it can sound interesting and unique. One feature of the language is the pronunciation of English words with an Andalusian flavour. For example, bacon is pronounced beki; cake, keki; battery, batteria; and a policeman is known as un bobi, (from "bobby"), porridge is called kuecaro (a Spanish-sounding version of the brand Quaker Oats) and Happy Birthday is Hapi Berfday. Most Gibraltarians, especially those with higher education, speak standard Spanish of both Andalusian and Castilian dialects and standard English of the British English variety[4].

Llanito has significant arabic influence, because of a long standing Arab rule on the Iberian Peninsula. They introduced words and expressions from Darija, a largely-extinct Arabic-Spanish language spoken by the Berber people of Northern Morocco, such as Tetuan and Tangiers and the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa.

Even though Llanito is seldom written, a Llanito dictionary, Diccionario Yanito was published in 1978 by Manuel Cavilla and in 2001 Tito Vallejo published The Yanito Dictionary. Including Place Names and Yanito Anecdotes.[5]

Broadcasting

The Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation has also aired some programmes in Llanito including Talk About Town - a discussion series in which three presenters discuss local affairs, from the need to replace a street sign to important political affairs.

Pepe's Pot was a cookery programme which also used Llanito

Demonym

The official demonym of Gibraltar is Gibraltarians. However, the people of Gibraltar may also be referred to as Llanitos (female Llanitas). This term is commonly used in the neighbouring towns of La Línea, San Roque, Algeciras and the rest of the Campo de Gibraltar, as well as in Gibraltar itself. When speaking in English, the people of Gibraltar tend to use the word Gibraltarians to refer to themselves but when speaking in Spanish they prefer to use the word Llanitos rather than the Spanish name for their official demonym, Gibraltareños.

The truncated term Llanis is also used by the people of Gibraltar, where it can be heard all around the territory and proudly chanted in songs during the annual Gibraltar National Day.

Etymology

The etymology of the term Llanito is ambiguous. In Spanish, Llanito means "little flatland" and has been interpreted as "people of the flatlands". It is thought that the inhabitants of La Línea with important social and economic ties with Gibraltar, were actually the first to be referred to as Llanitos since La Línea lies in the plain and marsh land surrounding The Rock. An alternative theory for the origin of the word is that it is a diminutive of the name Gianni. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the majority of the male civilian population of Gibraltar came from Genoa and Gianni was a common Italian forename.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanito

Readmore »» “Llanito”  »»

The foreign exchange market (forex, FX, or currency market) is a worldwide decentralized over-the-counter financial market for the trading of currencies. Financial centers around the world function as anchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock, with the exception of weekends. The foreign exchange market determines the relative values of different currencies.

The primary purpose of the foreign exchange is to assist international trade and investment, by allowing businesses to convert one currency to another currency. For example, it permits a US business to import British goods and pay Pound Sterling, even though the business's income is in US dollars. It also supports speculation, and facilitates the carry trade, in which investors borrow low-yielding currencies and lend (invest in) high-yielding currencies, and which (it has been claimed) may lead to loss of competitiveness in some countries.

In a typical foreign exchange transaction, a party purchases a quantity of one currency by paying a quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market began forming after February 1973, when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rates from the previous exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system.The foreign exchange market is unique because of

* its huge trading volume, leading to high liquidity;

* its geographical dispersion;

* its continuous operation: 24 hours a day except weekends, i.e. trading from 20:15 GMT on Sunday until 22:00 GMT Friday;

* the variety of factors that affect exchange rates;

* the low margins of relative profit compared with other markets of fixed income; and

* the use of leverage to enhance profit margins with respect to account size.

As such, it has been referred to as the market closest to the ideal of perfect competition, notwithstanding market manipulation by central banks.[citation needed] According to the Bank for International Settlements,[3] as of April 2010, average daily turnover in global foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3.98 trillion, a growth of approximately 20% over the $3.21 trillion daily volume as of April 2007.

The $3.98 trillion break-down is as follows:

* $1.490 trillion in spot transactions

* $475 billion in outright forwards

* $1.765 trillion in foreign exchange swaps

* $43 billion currency swaps

* $207 billion in options and other products

Market size and liquidity

The foreign exchange market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. Traders include large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other financial institutions. The average daily volume in the global foreign exchange and related markets is continuously growing. Daily turnover was reported to be over US$3.98 trillion in April 2010 by the Bank for International Settlements.

Of the $3.98 trillion daily global turnover, trading in London accounted for around $1.85 trillion, or 36.7% of the total, making London by far the global center for foreign exchange. In second and third places respectively, trading in New York City accounted for 17.9%, and Tokyo accounted for 6.2%. In addition to "traditional" turnover, $2.1 trillion was traded in derivatives.

Exchange-traded FX futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts.

Several other developed countries also permit the trading of FX derivative products (like currency futures and options on currency futures) on their exchanges. All these developed countries already have fully convertible capital accounts. Most emerging countries do not permit FX derivative products on their exchanges in view of prevalent controls on the capital accounts. However, a few select emerging countries (e.g., Korea, South Africa, India—; ) have already successfully experimented with the currency futures exchanges, despite having some controls on the capital account.

FX futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).

Top 10 currency traders

% of overall volume, May 2010 Rank Name Market share

1 Germany Deutsche Bank 18.06%

2 Switzerland UBS AG 11.30%

3 United Kingdom Barclays Capital 11.08%

4 United States Citi 7.69%

5 United Kingdom Royal Bank of Scotland 6.50%

6 United States JPMorgan 6.35%

7 United Kingdom HSBC 4.55%

8 Switzerland Credit Suisse 4.44%

9 United States Goldman Sachs 4.28%

10 United States Morgan Stanley 2.91%

Foreign exchange trading increased by over a third in the 12 months to April 2010 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues have made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. In 2009, retail traders constituted over 5% of the whole FX market volumes (see retail trading platforms).

Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to TheCityUK estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 34.6% in April 2007 to 36.7% in April 2010. Due to London's dominance in the market, a particular currency's quoted price is usually the London market price. For instance, when the IMF calculates the value of its SDRs every day, they use the London market prices at noon that day.

Market participants

Unlike a stock market, the foreign exchange market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest commercial banks and securities dealers. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. The difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips for some currencies such as the EUR). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the foreign exchange market are determined by the size of the "line" (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in different countries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail FX-metal market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, “Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s.” (2004) In addition, he notes, “Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 2001–2004 period in terms of both number and overall size” Central banks also participate in the foreign exchange market to align currencies to their economic needs.

Banks

The interbank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account. Until recently, foreign exchange brokers did large amounts of business, facilitating interbank trading and matching anonymous counterparts for large fees. Today, however, much of this business has moved on to more efficient electronic systems. The broker squawk box lets traders listen in on ongoing interbank trading and is heard in most trading rooms, but turnover is noticeably smaller than just a few years ago.

Commercial companies

An important part of this market comes from the financial activities of companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services. Commercial companies often trade fairly small amounts compared to those of banks or speculators, and their trades often have little short term impact on market rates. Nevertheless, trade flows are an important factor in the long-term direction of a currency's exchange rate. Some multinational companies can have an unpredictable impact when very large positions are covered due to exposures that are not widely known by other market participants.

Central banks

National central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses, like other traders would, and there is no convincing evidence that they do make a profit trading.

Forex Fixing

Forex fixing is the daily monetary exchange rate fixed by the national bank of each country. The idea is that central bank use the fixing time and exchange rate to evaluate behavior of their currency. Fixing exchange rates reflects the real value of equilibrium in the forex market. Banks, dealers and online foreign exchange traders use fixing rates as a trend indicator.

The mere expectation or rumor of central bank intervention might be enough to stabilize a currency, but aggressive intervention might be used several times each year in countries with a dirty float currency regime. Central banks do not always achieve their objectives. The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank. Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 1992–93 ERM collapse, and in more recent times in Southeast Asia.

Hedge funds as speculators

About 70% to 90%[citation needed] of the foreign exchange transactions are speculative. In other words, the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no plan to actually take delivery of the currency in the end; rather, they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency. Hedge funds have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1996. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor.

Investment management firms

Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades.

Retail foreign exchange brokers

Retail traders (individuals) constitute a growing segment of this market, both in size and importance. Currently, they participate indirectly through brokers or banks. Retail brokers, while largely controlled and regulated in the USA by the CFTC and NFA have in the past been subjected to periodic foreign exchange scams.[8][9] To deal with the issue, the NFA and CFTC began (as of 2009) imposing stricter requirements, particularly in relation to the amount of Net Capitalization required of its members. As a result many of the smaller, and perhaps questionable brokers are now gone.

There are two main types of retail FX brokers offering the opportunity for speculative currency trading: brokers and dealers or market makers. Brokers serve as an agent of the customer in the broader FX market, by seeking the best price in the market for a retail order and dealing on behalf of the retail customer. They charge a commission or mark-up in addition to the price obtained in the market. Dealers or market makers, by contrast, typically act as principal in the transaction versus the retail customer, and quote a price they are willing to deal at—the customer has the choice whether or not to trade at that price.

In assessing the suitability of an FX trading service, the customer should consider the ramifications of whether the service provider is acting as principal or agent. When the service provider acts as agent, the customer is generally assured of a known cost above the best inter-dealer FX rate. When the service provider acts as principal, no commission is paid, but the price offered may not be the best available in the market—since the service provider is taking the other side of the transaction, a conflict of interest may occur.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forex

Readmore »» “Foreign Exchange Market (FOREX)”  »»