Facebook gets multibillion-dollar tax break

(Businessweek) It hasn?t drawn much attention, but Facebook?s first annual earnings report contains an accounting gem: a multibillion-dollar tax deduction for the cost of executive stock options and share awards.

Even though Facebook (FB) reported $1.1 billion in pre-tax profits from U.S. operations in 2012, it will probably pay zero federal and state taxes?and even receive a federal tax refund of about $429 million?according to a Feb. 14 statement from Citizens for Tax Justice.

Source: http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/facebook-gets-multibillion-dollar-tax-break/

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Tornado Puts Hold on Eureka School Museum

HATTIESBURG, Miss.-The Eureka School in downtown Hattiesburg was under reconstruction to be turned into a museum in honor of the Freedom Summer of 1964.

The building was built as a school house for African American students in the early 1920s.

?This is a 1921 building and it's well built,? said Rick Taylor, the executive director of the Hattiesburg Tourism Commission. ??We?ve lost some of the ceiling on the first floor as the water has caused the wood to turn loose and fall to the floor.?

Latoya Norman who is the museum director of the African American Military History Museum also works closely with the Eureka School.

"We were hoping to have it opened by 2014,? she said.

She said parts of the building were suppose to be ready by this June.

?Now that's completely off the table,? Norman said. ???

Taylor said the museum process started back in 2009. The outside structure and the parking lot were completely finished.

?We are on phase three right now which was a restoration to the cafeteria and the rest rooms,? he said.

After the tornado did it?s damage, Taylor said the days of rain following Sunday caused even more problems.

?We need to get a roof back on the building to prohibit further damage,? he said.

?It wreaks havoc on the time frame we had for opening this museum,? said Taylor.

The Tourism Commission is not sure how much the damage will cost them to rebuild.

Source: http://www2.wjtv.com/news/2013/feb/15/tornado-puts-hold-eureka-school-museum-ar-5605031/

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Help Yourself To A Serving Of Self-Help! - Empower Network

If you are considering an effort of personal development, doing a little research first would benefit you. There is a plethora of tips available on this topic, so be sure to read all of the information critically.

For individuals with more severe problems, the ideal solution may be therapy. Self-help books can be useful for many small problems, but they won?t help you tackle the bigger issues which could be haunting you. Sometimes, the drive to succeed can be stimulated by something as simple as a frank, honest discussion and some helpful advice. You can?t have a discussion with a book.

In order to properly advance in matters of personal development, it is very important that you declare lowliness. Realizing how tiny you are in the grand scheme of things will help you to admit your ignorance. You can then focus your attention on positive growth and development.

TIP! An important bit of personal development advice is to always treat your body well. When your body communicates a need such as hunger, pain or thirst, it is important that you address it as soon as possible.

Avoiding a decision means missing out on an opportunity when engaging in self improvement. Even if you don?t have all of the information you would like to have, don?t fear decision making. Good instincts derive from making successful decisions. Even when your decision is incorrect, you can learn a lot from the mistake that you made. Think of your bad decisions as possibilities you have eliminated.

Becoming healthier will help immensely during personal development. A healthy lifestyle often results in feeling better, which contributes to a more positive frame of mind. Your mind will be sharper, and you won?t have to pay for unneeded doctor visits or have to take the time off to be ill. You?ll often find that making one healthy choice leads to another, helping you to continue to improve your healthy lifestyle.

TIP! Leaders are powerful, yet not hungry for power. You need to understand and empathize with followers in order to be a good leader, and when you do, you will temper rebukes with compassion.

A useful self improvement tip is that you always cherish the things you believe are most valuable. Make an effort to have your priorities straight and strive for the best.

Happiness is often lost to stress. When the human mind is preoccupied with a state of stress, damage can be caused to both physical and mental aspects of the body. To be able to think clearly, it is important to eliminate stress. Set aside a period of time each day when you can be alone, clear your thoughts, and completely relax. Taking some time to renew will help you to stay calm, and will improve your self-confidence.

In order to help with depression, try to add extra complex carbohydrates to your diet. Complex carbohydrates are essential to producing serotonin, which helps to lift your mood. Add complex carbohydrates to your diet through increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, brown rice and whole grains.

TIP! An excellent method of helping you with your anxiety is going to the movies with a friend. This is a good way to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

If you don?t take care of yourself, you won?t be able to take care of others. No matter where you are in life, allow yourself time to recover and rejuvenate yourself.

It is vital for you to enhance your strengths, by working within your comfort zone. Remember that everyone is unique, and do not feel bad if you are not the best at everything. Don?t fret over things you still need to improve upon, focus on your positive attributes and abilities instead.

Whatever it is that you need to have in your life, make sure you have one thing. You need to chose to actively participate in your life instead of being a spectator. If you are only watching your life go by, you are not experiencing what your life was meant to be.

TIP! Begin today setting some money aside regularly for emergencies. It seems that every time even the slightest unexpected expense develops we have to pile even more charges on our credit cards.

When you are trying to reach your goal, don?t push your physical limitations. It may be important to you to do your best, but don?t ignore your limitations. Caring for yourself is important when you are striving towards a desired end. Trying to achieve a goal at the expense of your body?s well being is hurting your personal development.

Educating yourself is an important part of self improvement. However, you have to know how to effectively put that knowledge to use. You can develop into your own unique person in many different ways. You will be more self-assured once you implement the suggestions in this article.

Blogging is a superb Personal Development tool ? as a notebook of one?s experience. It?s so straight forward when using the Empower Network blogging platform. You could possibly even decide you would like to make use of it in order to make more income. Click this site to acquire more information about the blogging system everybody is talking about:

http://www.PowerOfBlogging.com

Source: http://www.empowernetwork.com/kfreebern/help-yourself-to-a-serving-of-self-help/

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Online petition to stop Washington divorce bill

by TERESA YUAN / KING 5 News

Bio

KING5.com

Posted on February 15, 2013 at 7:38 AM

Updated today at 9:40 AM

State senators will take up the issue of divorce Friday, just one day after Valentine's Day.
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Senate Bill 5614, also called the "Family Second Chances Act,? would extend the divorce waiting period in Washington from 90 days to one year before a marriage would be officially over.

Supporters say the idea is to avoid impulsive decisions. The bill's sponsors believe even a small reduction of divorce in Washington could benefit families and their children.

But opponents say the bill hurts people in abusive marriages. They have started a petition online.

"For those who are divorcing abusive spouses, the current 90 days is too long a wait, filled with fear and abuse from those they are divorcing. This new bill, if voted in by our senators, would be making that wait a living hell for the abused,? reads the petition.

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Source: http://www.king5.com/news/State-senate-takes-up-divorce-bill-191393041.html

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Mills College Receives Silver STARS Rating for Campus-Wide Sustainability Efforts

Oakland, CA?February 15, 2013 Mills College is proud to announce it has received a STARS Silver Rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). In its inaugural STARS report this year, Mills pledged its commitment to actively participate in a nationwide effort to educate and inspire future leaders in sustainability.

STARS?the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System?is a new program that measures and encourages responsible and proactive decision making and innovation in all aspects of higher education. Using a self-assessment system, institutions can benchmark their sustainability progress over time and compare it with others.

The program is the only one of its kind that involves publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university?s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in three overall areas: education and research; operations; and planning, administration, and engagement.

In the education and research category, several unique co-curricular sustainability programs at Mills earned high scores. A chief contributor to these efforts is the student group, CORPS (The Community Organized to Respect, Protect, and Sustain the Earth), which manages a compost program in residence halls, promotes reduced energy consumption, and hosts a ?Re-Use Depot.? Also, as part of a Climate Action Campaign to reduce greenhouse gasses, Mills works with the local utility company to implement campus-wide Power Down Days designed to reduce strain on the power grid.

In partnership with several food justice organizations and Bon App?tit Management Company, a sustainably oriented food service provider, Mills? dining services were rated strongly in the operations category. Through combined efforts, members of the campus community participate in farmworkers' rights activities, patronize farmers? markets, and volunteer to work in gardens at two local elementary schools.

In the planning, administration, and engagement category, Mills scored well for reuse, recycling, and conservation efforts. Mills reuses or recycles more than 60 percent of its waste, and aims to improve that number to 100 percent. In addition, two buildings at Mills have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications: The Betty Irene Moore Natural Sciences Building received Platinum certification in 2007. The Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business building received Gold certification in 2010. In addition, Mills maintains Lake Aliso on campus, utilizing excess water to irrigate landscaping.

?At Mills we strive to be a model of campus and community sustainability and lead by example to create experiences that demonstrate our commitment,? said Mills College President Alecia DeCoudreaux. ?Our high standards for energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, and the wise use of resources can be seen in every aspect of College life and work.?

About Mills College
Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity in approximately 950 undergraduate women and 600 graduate women and men. The College ranks as one of the Best 377 Colleges in the country and one of the greenest colleges in the nation by The Princeton Review. U.S. News & World Report ranked Mills one of the top-tier regional universities in the country and lists it among the top colleges and universities in the West in the ?Great Schools, Great Prices? category. For more information, visit www.mills.edu.

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Source: http://www.mills.edu/news/2013/pressrelease-02152013-SiverStarsRatingSustainability.php

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Asteroid's close shave ranks among Earth's biggest hits (and misses)

Scientists will be keeping an eye on asteroid 2012 DA14 - seen here in an eerie animation from Analytical Graphics Inc. - when it comes within 17,200 miles of Earth on Feb. 15. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

When the asteroid known as 2012 DA14 zooms within 17,200 miles of our planet on Friday, it'll mark the closest approach by a killer space rock in more than a century. Fortunately, the 150-foot-wide object will pose absolutely no risk to Earth ? but over the course of millennia, other asteroids have literally rocked our world.

As safe as Friday's encounter will be, it's a reminder that Earth has been vulnerable to cosmic impacts in the past, and will continue to be in the future. That's why NASA and other agencies are spending millions of dollars to detect more of the estimated 1 million near-Earth objects that could be as threatening as 2012 DA14.

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"We are looking at all kinds of partnership possibilities, across universities, space institutions and with the Air Force," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA Headquarters. This week, Johnson and other experts are gathering at a U.N.-sponsored conference in Vienna to discuss the creation of an international asteroid warning network.

Vienna is actually one of the places where 2012 DA14 can be seen in the night sky on Friday ? not with the naked eye, but with?binoculars or a small telescope. The best viewing opportunities will be available in Asia, Australia and Europe. (Follow the instructions at the bottom of this article to find out if it'll be visible from your location.)

The closest approach comes at 2:44 p.m. ET, when the asteroid will be zooming past at a speed of almost 17,500 mph, directly above the eastern Indian Ocean. It'll come 5,000 miles within the ring of communications satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit, but those satellites are so widely distributed that experts say the chance of a collision is extremely remote.

NASA / JPL-Caltech

A NASA chart shows how asteroid 2012 DA14 will be deflected by Earth's gravitational field. Experts say the space rock will be put into a safer orbit after this week's encounter.

If 2012 DA14 were on a collision course, the shock of its rapid fall through Earth's atmosphere would cause it to explode, unleashing the power of a 2.4-megaton atomic bomb. In the worst-case scenario, that'd be enough energy to destroy an entire city.?A similar cosmic blast in 1908 laid waste to 820 square miles of Siberian forest in the Tunguska region.

It's possible that other such blasts have occurred over the course of Earth's history without being recorded. Based on a statistical analysis, NASA estimates that asteroids the size of 2012 DA14 strike Earth every 1,200 years or so. The only reason we know about this encounter is because the capabilities for tracking near-Earth objects have improved so much in recent years.

A Spanish observation team discovered 2012 DA14 just last year during a more distant flyby. "We probably would not have found DA14 10 years ago," said Don Yeomans, the head of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Now that they know it's there, astronomers will be monitoring the asteroid with optical and radio telescopes, including the Arecibo Observatory's 1,000-foot-wide dish in Puerto Rico and NASA's Goldstone radio antenna in California.

Radar observations could provide insights into the space rock's shape and spin, while an analysis of the optical data could reveal what 2012 DA14 is made of. Think of Friday's encounter as a practice run for identifying and tracking the unknown asteroids that actually could threaten us in the years to come?? and an incentive to figure out ways to deflect them in case we have to.

To get a better sense of how 2012 DA14 rates, here are a dozen more hits and misses involving near-Earth objects:

65 million B.C.: The most infamous asteroid is the 6-mile-wide rock that smashed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago, sparking the global catastrophe?that did in the dinosaurs. Experts say the?explosion released as much energy as 100 trillion tons of TNT.

35 million B.C.: Geologists say a roughly kilometer-wide (0.6-mile-wide) asteroid or comet struck America's Eastern Seaboard millions of years ago, contributing to the formation of Chesapeake Bay and creating a biological crisis. Studies have shown that microbes deep underground in the blast zone are still adjusting to the ancient shock.

NASA

Barringer Impact Crater in Arizona ? also known as Meteor Crater ? is captured in this image taken in 1995 by space shuttle astronauts.

50,000 B.C.: A 150-foot-wide iron-nickel meteorite hits Arizona, creating the 0.75-mile-wide Meteor Crater. Asteroid 2012 DA14 is thought to be the same size as this meteorite, but made of less dense stuff that would break up before it hits the ground.

1490:?Chinese accounts tell of a meteor shower during which "stones fell like rain" on the Qingyang (Ch'ing-Yang) district of Shaanxi Province (now Gansu Province), killing as many as 10,000 people. Experts are doubtful about the reported death toll, but they don't doubt that a dramatic event occurred, perhaps involving the breakup of an asteroid.?

1908: The Tunguska event in Siberia, which flattened millions of trees, is thought to have been caused by an asteroid similar to 2012 DA14 in size and composition. Tunguska has become a watchword for asteroid activists. "The greatest danger from an asteroid strike is from the ones we haven't yet found," former NASA astronaut Ed Lu, chairman and CEO of the B612 Foundation, told NBC News. "Of the asteroids larger than the one that struck Tunguska in 1908, we know less than 1 percent."

1937:?Asteroid Hermes is observed to miss Earth by a distance of just 460,000 miles. Decades later, scientists found out that Hermes occasionally comes even closer to Earth, and in fact consists of two space rocks flying in tandem. Each of the objects is thought to be about 1,300 feet (400 meters) wide.

1972: The Great Daylight Fireball is witnessed blazing over the Rocky Mountains from the U.S. Southwest to Canada. Scientists say it was an Earth-grazing meteoroid that passed within 35 miles (57 kilometers) of Earth?s surface.

Footage shows the Great Daylight Fireball of 1972.

1997: Astronomers report that a mile-wide asteroid known as 1997 XF11 had a chance of hitting Earth in 2028. The report touched off a media tempest, but further observations reduced the chance of collision to zero. The news came amid a spate of asteroid disaster flicks, including "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" as well as the TV miniseries "Asteroid."

2004:?An 885-foot-wide asteroid known as 2004 MN4, later named Apophis, is initially given a 1-in-40 chance of hitting Earth in 2029. That collision risk was ruled out relatively quickly, but it took years longer to analyze the risk posed by a later encounter in 2036. Just last month, astronomers announced that Apophis will pose no threat to Earth in the foreseeable future.

2008: Asteroid 2008 TC3 explodes during atmospheric entry above Sudan?s Nubian Desert. The event marked the first time that a near-Earth object?s impact was successfully predicted, several hours in advance. 2008 TC3 was 2 to 5 meters wide, and broke up into fragments that were later recovered from the desert.

2011: Asteroid 2011 CQ11 makes the closest-ever flyby of Earth for a cataloged asteroid, passing within 3,400 miles of Earth?s surface. The asteroid was discovered just 16 hours before its super-close encounter, but because it's only a meter wide, it would have burned up in the atmosphere if it had been on a direct course.

2011:?An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier, 2005 YU55, sails past Earth at a distance of 198,000 miles, which is closer than the orbit of the moon. Earthlings marked the asteroid's passage with a barrage of picture-taking.

More about the asteroid encounter:

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Astronomers say asteroid 2012 DA14 won't be visible to the naked eye, but it is possible to watch it pass by through binoculars or a small telescope ? if you know where and when to look. The Heavens-Above website can help you get a fix on the fast-moving rock. First, go to the website's location database and find the nearest city. Click on the link for that city. Then, click on over to the 2012 DA14 sky chart and look for the asteroid's track, with notations that indicate observation times. If you don't see the asteroid's track, you won't be able to see the asteroid. In some cases, the track is shown during daylight hours?? which would generally rule out visual observations.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/14/16954270-asteroids-close-shave-ranks-among-earths-biggest-hits-and-misses?lite

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Video of police abuse stokes anger in Egypt

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's Interior Ministry offered a rare expression of regret Saturday after riot police were caught on camera a day earlier beating a protester who had been stripped of his clothes, and then dragging the naked man along the muddy pavement before bundling him into a police van.

The video of the beating, which took place late Friday only blocks from the presidential palace where protests were raging in the streets, further inflamed popular anger with security forces just as several thousand anti-government demonstrators marched on the palace again on Saturday. The uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011 was fueled in part by anger over police brutality.

In the footage aired live on Egyptian TV, at least seven black-clad riot police used sticks to beat 48-year-old Hamada Saber, who was sprawled out on the ground, shirtless and with his pants down around his ankles.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry voiced its "regret" about the assault, and vowed to investigate. But it also sought to distance itself ? and the police in general ? from the abuse, saying it "was carried out by individuals that do not represent in any way the doctrine of all policemen who direct their efforts to protecting the security and stability of the nation and sacrifice their lives to protect civilians."

Later in the day, however, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim put the blame elsewhere entirely, saying initial results from the public prosecutor's investigation indicated that Saber was undressed by "rioters" during skirmishes between police and protesters.

"The Central Security Forces then found him lying on the ground and tried to put him in an armored vehicle, though the way in which they did that was excessive," Ibrahim said.

President Mohammed Morsi's office called Saber's beating "shocking", but stressed that violence and vandalism of government property is unacceptable.

The abuse took place as thousands of protesters chanted against President Mohammed Morsi on Friday. The march was part of a wave of demonstrations that have rocked Egypt since last week's second anniversary of the 2011 revolt, leaving more than 60 people dead and plunging the country into turmoil once again.

In what appeared to be an effort to protect the police from a harsh backlash over the video, Ibrahim said that nearly 400 policemen have been wounded this past week in clashes, and warned that the disintegration of police will lead to even wider-spread chaos in the Arab world's most populous nation.

"The collapse of police will affect Egypt and transform it into a militia state like some neighboring nations," Ibrahim said, alluding to Libya where militias comprise the bulk of security after that nation's uprising.

Already some Islamists have warned they could set up militias to protect their interests, while a group calling itself "Black Bloc" whose followers wear black masks claim to defend protesters opposed to the Islamist president's rule.

Rights groups have accused Morsi of not taking steps to reform the Interior Ministry, which was the backbone of Mubarak's regime. Police under Mubarak were notorious for using excessive force against protesters and beating those in custody.

In a defining image of post-Mubarak violence against protesters, Egyptians were outraged last year when military police were caught on camera dragging a veiled woman through the streets during a protest, pulling her conservative black robe over her head and revealing her blue bra.

Protesters and rights groups have accused police of using excessive force this past week during a wave of mass demonstrations in cities around the country called by opposition politicians, trying to wrest concessions from Morsi.

But many protesters go further, saying Morsi must be removed from office. They are accusing his Muslim Brotherhood of monopolizing power and of failing to deal with the country's mounting woes. Many have been further angered by Morsi's praise of the security forces after the high death toll. Some have taken to attacking government buildings, from prisons to police stations to courthouses.

The chaos prompted Morsi to order a limited curfew in three provinces and the deployment of the military to the streets.

The main opposition National Salvation Front said Saturday that the "gruesome images" of Saber's beating demand the interior minister's resignation.

Also Saturday, Prime Minister Hisham Kandil visited Cairo's Tahrir Square and the area around the presidential palace. He said those who are camped out there are neither protesters nor revolutionaries. He said protesters "do not torch, attack hotels, rape women, steal from shops, they do not burn the presidential palace."

In an impassioned speech Saturday carried live on Egyptian state TV, Kandil said the street violence and political unrest that has engulfed the country for more than a week is threatening the nation's already ailing economy.

"The Egyptian economy is bleeding," he said. "It is holding itself, but if this situation persists it will be dangerous, extremely dangerous."

Foreign currency earners such as tourism and foreign investment have dried up in the past two years of political unrest. Foreign reserves currently estimate at around $15 billion, less than half of where it stood before the 2011 uprising that ousted Mubarak. The Egyptian pound has also lost around four percent of its value due to the turmoil and planned austerity measures threaten to curb subsidies relied on by millions of poor Egyptians.

Kandil called on the opposition to back away from any more protests or marches.

Also Saturday, Mubarak's former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, was found guilty of abusing his position by forcing police conscripts to work on his mansion and land outside Cairo. Both he and former riot police chief Hassan Abdel-Hamid were sentenced to three years in prison and fined around $340,000. The verdict can be appealed.

Al-Adly is already serving time for corruption and was sentenced to life in prison with Mubarak for failing to prevent the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the 2011 revolt that ousted the longtime leader. Both men appealed, and will be given a retrial.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/video-police-abuse-stokes-anger-egypt-163116984.html

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