Nonprofit Mergers Will Help the Homeless - San Jose Inside

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on Friday, November 30, 2012

Nonprofit agencies are expected to serve the public good, be mission-driven and operate like a business. We nonprofits need to be compassionate, yet focused on obtaining successful outcomes. To end homelessness, the direction is clear: Move the homeless into housing quickly and provide ongoing support services. However, emergency services are still needed for homeless individuals?a meal when someone is hungry, warm clothes and a bed during cold winter months.

There is not one answer for addressing homelessness. A multitude of services are required to solve the immediate needs of the homeless population while planning for long-term support and housing solutions.

In the current economy, nonprofit agencies are seeking creative ways to continue providing, and in some cases expanding, services to needy populations. Homeless service providers are collaborating with their peer ?competitors? to create one-stop service centers. Going a few steps further, a few nonprofit agencies have merged to reduce overhead and consolidate programming.

One recent high-profile merger was announced last spring between InnVision and Shelter Network of San Mateo County. Christine Burroughs, long-time CEO of InnVision, was retiring. She, along with her board of directors, decided that instead of searching for a new CEO the nonprofit would pursue a merger.

Burroughs operated InnVision from her heart more than anything, and she realized that InnVision would benefit from a leader with solid business acumen. After much searching and deliberation, Shelter Network in San Mateo County was found to be the perfect fit. They provided similar services for homeless individuals and families, and they had a dynamic and business-savvy CEO who is well-respected. The new organization, InnVision Shelter Network, was officially announced on July 1, 2012.

As InnVision Shelter Network staff reviewed services and collaborations, some hard decisions needed to be made due to drastic cuts in government funding. Using what it had learned during their merger, the organization made long-term solutions to solving homelessness a priority.

To help reduce costs and better align goals, administrators made the tough decision to end collaboration with Loaves and Fishes, a nonprofit that provides meals to the homeless.

Several years ago, when Loaves and Fishes was scouting a new home base, the nonprofit found a perfect fit with InnVision?s Montgomery Street Inn. The Montgomery Street Inn provides shelter for the homeless and Loaves and Fishes provides meals. At the time it was a win-win for both organizations. When circumstances and priorities shifted, InnVision Shelter Network made the decision to ask Loaves and Fishes to find a new location.

Understandably, the CEO of Loaves and Fishes did not embrace the decision.? I don?t really know what was said between the two CEOs. Unfortunately, we are now watching the issue play out in the media and it doesn?t serve any of us well. As a nonprofit CEO, I worry that the public will get the wrong impression and think that nonprofits do not work well together. We do work together, but sometimes we have different goals.

Thankfully, Goodwill has responded to the request for space from Loaves and Fishes and offered them their 7th Street location. This could be the beginning of a terrific new collaboration, because Goodwill provides job training to many low-income people who, until they are employed, need a meal.

During my tenure at Bill Wilson Center, I have overseen the merger of three nonprofit organizations. I know firsthand that it is not an easy task. We may have hoped to see a smooth transition with the relocation of Loaves and Fishes; however, I feel it?s important to give InnVision Shelter Network some time to adapt and become a single organization with a changed culture. I am confident that the new InnVision Shelter Network will be a leader in helping end homelessness in our community.

Sparky Harlan, Executive Director/CEO at Bill Wilson Center, is a nationally recognized advocate for youth in foster care and in the juvenile justice system, as well as homeless and runaway youth.

Source: http://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/entries/11_30_12_nonprofits_homeless_invvision_goodwill_loaves_fishes/

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African Union asks UN for immediate action on Mali

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) ? In an open letter Thursday to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the president of the African Union urged the U.N. to take immediate military action in northern Mali, which was seized by al-Qaida-linked rebels earlier this year.

Yayi Boni, the president of Benin who is also head of the African Union, said any reticence on the part of the U.N. will be interpreted as a sign of weakness by the terrorists now operating in Mali. The AU is waiting for the U.N. to sign off on a military plan to take back the occupied territory, and the Security Council is expected to discuss it in coming days.

In a report to the Security Council late Wednesday, Ban said the AU plan "needs to be developed further" because fundamental questions on how the force will be led, trained and equipped. Ban acknowledged that with each day, al-Qaida-linked fighters were becoming further entrenched in northern Mali, but he cautioned that a botched military operation could result in human rights abuses.

The sprawling African nation of Mali, once an example of a stable democracy, fell apart in March following a coup by junior officers. In the uncertainty that ensued, rebels including at least three groups with ties to al-Qaida, grabbed control of the nation's distant north. The Islamists now control an area the size of France or Texas, an enormous triangle of land that includes borders with Mauritania, Algeria and Niger.

Two weeks ago, the African Union asked the U.N. to endorse a military intervention to free northern Mali, calling for 3,300 African soldiers to be deployed for one year. A U.S.-based counterterrorism official who saw the military plan said it was "amateurish" and had "huge, gaping holes." The official insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Boni, in his letter, said Africa was counting on the U.N. to take decisive action.

"I need to tell you with how much impatience the African continent is awaiting a strong message from the international community regarding the resolution of the crisis in Mali. ... What we need to avoid is the impression that we are lacking in resolve in the face of these determined terrorists," he said.

The most feared group in northern Mali is al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, al-Qaida's North African branch, which is holding at least seven French hostages, including a 61-year-old man kidnapped last week.

On Thursday, SITE Intelligence published a transcript of a recently released interview with AQIM leader, Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, in which he urges Malians to reject any foreign intervention in their country. He warned French President Francois Hollande that he was "digging the graves" of the French hostages by pushing for an intervention.

Also on Thursday, Islamists meted out the latest Shariah punishment in northern city of Timbuktu. Six young men and women were each given 100 lashes for having talked to each other on city streets, witnesses said.

___

Associated Press writer Virgile Ahissou in Cotonou, Benin and Baba Ahmed in Bamako, Mali contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-union-asks-un-immediate-action-mali-172902123.html

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German unemployment drops slightly in November

BERLIN (AP) ? Official figures show the number of Germans unemployed ticked down slightly in November, even though growth in Europe's largest economy is coming off the boil.

Labor Agency head Frank Weise says Thursday the numbers show the job market in Germany remains "robust."

Overall, 2.751 million people were out of work in November, down 2,000 from October. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.5 percent.

When adjusted for seasonal factors the number of jobless increased slightly, leaving the rate at 6.9 percent.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski says the German labor market appears to be "gradually losing steam," but that the slowdown may be "gradual" and "short-lived" if the external environment improves quickly.

German growth has moderated as many of the country's euro partners struggle in the face of their big debts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/german-unemployment-drops-slightly-november-094603034--finance.html

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Searching For Faces And Fads For Your Campaigns

In the new generation marketplace of cut throat competitions and unscrupulous business tactics, traders are coming up with innovative and extremely targeted marketing tactics to sell their wares. Along with conventional advertising campaigns on billboards and social media, they are introducing moredirected and effective campaigning like personalized invitations and street marketing.

This kind of aggressive marketing is effective in keeping the client well informed, interested and reminiscent about the specific products in a more efficient way than conventional ads do.

Street marketing and guerilla marketing are very much in practice nowadays in the nooks and corners of our popular spaces, like shopping malls and recreational centers. Most companies employ marketing staff from agencies that provide trained manpower for the different types of gimmicks involved in street marketing.

These workforce ware houses retain a large number of permanent staff for carrying out all sorts of field marketing activities and event managements. Small local businesses and multinationals utilize the services provided by these firms to carry out their promotional events.

The specially trained staff are sent out on various marketing activities such as exhibitions, events, leafleting campaigns, lead generation and guerilla marketing. All sorts of supportive personnel are supplied by these agencies, such as drivers, riggers, hospitality staff, grid girls, security staff and event marshals.

They make sure of the smooth and effective running of the promotional events, by taking up responsibilities like planning out the campaigns and executing the space hire, set building, taking care of storage and delivery, vehicle branding and shipping. They can offer help in creating the simplest to the most elaborate settings and take care of the designing, 3Dvisualisation and animation aspects of the presentations.

Events staff are thoroughly trained for the various promotional activities, and promotional models are chosen in accordance with the image and personality requirements of the brand or service that is being promoted. The right promotional attitude can help create a deep impression in the targeted audience, and encourage them to store the product in their mental list of choices.

The specific training given for brand ambassadors take the campaigning a long way through all sorts of campaigning events like product launches, conferences, demonstrations, road shows and sampling campaigns. Eccentric marketing tactics like guerilla marketing, which are aimed to reap optimum results from minimal resources, are great crowd pullers, and the PR stunts and entertaining activities involved are planned out by the event managing firms in great detail.

These event management and staff training firms are dedicated to researching new age marketing techniques and studying the effect of their strategies on purchasing trends of consumers, and are forever coming up with new solutions and strategies for promotion of products.

You can search for a list of these event firms and promotional staff providers in the internet, or look up the business directories in your local area.

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Source: http://www.workoninternet.com/business/reviews/miscellaneous/220296-article.html

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Precisely engineering 3-D brain tissues

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? Borrowing from microfabrication techniques used in the semiconductor industry, MIT and Harvard Medical School (HMS) engineers have developed a simple and inexpensive way to create three-dimensional brain tissues in a lab dish.

The new technique yields tissue constructs that closely mimic the cellular composition of those in the living brain, allowing scientists to study how neurons form connections and to predict how cells from individual patients might respond to different drugs. The work also paves the way for developing bioengineered implants to replace damaged tissue for organ systems, according to the researchers.

"We think that by bringing this kind of control and manipulation into neurobiology, we can investigate many different directions," says Utkan Demirci, an assistant professor in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST).

Demirci and Ed Boyden, associate professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at MIT's Media Lab and McGovern Institute, are senior authors of a paper describing the new technique, which appears in the Nov. 27 online edition of the journal Advanced Materials. The paper's lead author is Umut Gurkan, a postdoc at HST, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

'Unique challenges'

Although researchers have had some success growing artificial tissues such as liver or kidney, "the brain presents some unique challenges," Boyden says. "One of the challenges is the incredible spatial heterogeneity. There are so many kinds of cells, and they have such intricate wiring."

Brain tissue includes many types of neurons, including inhibitory and excitatory neurons, as well as supportive cells such as glial cells. All of these cells occur at specific ratios and in specific locations.

To mimic this architectural complexity in their engineered tissues, the researchers embedded a mixture of brain cells taken from the primary cortex of rats into sheets of hydrogel. They also included components of the extracellular matrix, which provides structural support and helps regulate cell behavior.

Those sheets were then stacked in layers, which can be sealed together using light to crosslink hydrogels. By covering layers of gels with plastic photomasks of varying shapes, the researchers could control how much of the gel was exposed to light, thus controlling the 3-D shape of the multilayer tissue construct.

This type of photolithography is also used to build integrated circuits onto semiconductors -- a process that requires a photomask aligner machine, which costs tens of thousands of dollars. However, the team developed a much less expensive way to assemble tissues using masks made from sheets of plastic, similar to overhead transparencies, held in place with alignment pins.

The tissue cubes can be made with a precision of 10 microns, comparable to the size of a single cell body. At the other end of the spectrum, the researchers are aiming to create a cubic millimeter of brain tissue with 100,000 cells and 900 million connections.

Answering fundamental questions

Because the tissues include a diverse repertoire of brain cells, occurring in the same ratios as they do in natural brain tissue, they could be used to study how neurons form the connections that allow them to communicate with each other.

"In the short term, there's a lot of fundamental questions you can answer about how cells interact with each other and respond to environmental cues," Boyden says.

As a first step, the researchers used these tissue constructs to study how a neuron's environment might constrain its growth. To do this, they placed single neurons in gel cubes of different sizes, then measured the cells' neurites, long extensions that neurons use to communicate with other cells. It turns out that under these conditions, neurons get "claustrophobic," Demirci says. "In small gels, they don't necessarily send out as long neurites as they would in a five-times-larger gel."

In the long term, the researchers hope to gain a better understanding of how to design tissue implants that could be used to replace damaged tissue in patients. Much research has been done in this area, but it has been difficult to figure out whether the new tissues are correctly wiring up with existing tissue and exchanging the right kinds of information.

Another long-term goal is using the tissues for personalized medicine. One day, doctors may be able to take cells from a patient with a neurological disorder and transform them into induced pluripotent stem cells, then induce these constructs to grow into neurons in a lab dish. By exposing these tissues to many possible drugs, "you might be able to figure out if a drug would benefit that person without having to spend years giving them lots of different drugs," Boyden says.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. The original article was written by Anne Trafton.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Umut Atakan Gurkan, Yantao Fan, Feng Xu, Burcu Erkmen, Emel Sokullu Urkac, Gunes Parlakgul, Jacob Bernstein, Wangli Xing, Edward S. Boyden, Utkan Demirci. Simple Precision Creation of Digitally Specified, Spatially Heterogeneous, Engineered Tissue Architectures. Advanced Materials, 2012; DOI: 10.1002/adma.201203261

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/fUfdj_J3bHc/121129143454.htm

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Google launches site to help veterans land jobs

By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

Google is aiming its search-engine horsepower at homecoming veterans, launching Thursday what may be the largest online hub to help men and women exiting the military as American armed forces draw down.

Called VetNet,?the site offers veterans three distinct ?tracks? to plot and organize their next life moves ? from ?basic training? which aids job hunters to ?career connections? which links users to corporate mentors and other working veterans to ?entrepreneur? which offers a roadmap to starting a business.

To arm the new site with some heavy-hitting experts, Google partnered with three leading nonprofits in the veteran-employment space: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce?s Hiring Our Heroes program, the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, and Hire Heroes USA.

?We asked: What else can we be doing with our technology to help these folks transition home?? said Carrie Laureno, founder of the Google Veterans Network,?the company?s employee-volunteer community which seeks to make Google a military-friendly work environment.

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?We wanted to really move the needle in the right direction. And working with our three partners, we asked: What can we do together to help you reach more people?? Laureno said. ?How do we help these millions of people who are in this situation get the resources they need (to land civilian jobs) in a much easier, more straightforward way that?s ever been possible before??

After clicking a button to connect with VetNet, users gain access to a weekly snapshot of ?what?s happening? in the veteran-employment arena as well as to a ready group of business advisers and to an ongoing array of virtual ?hangouts? that train people on basics from resume writing to making ?elevator pitches? or that allow veterans to hear insights from leaders in retail, transportation, retail and entrepreneurship, Laureno said.

The venture drew a favorable review Thursday from a key congressional member.

?I am especially pleased to see companies like Google and their partners take the initiative to bring together these various resources to help veterans navigate the employment opportunities together,? said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans? Affairs.

Click here for more military-related coverage from NBC News.

?I am confident their combined efforts will be especially helpful to those who may not know where to start their job search. This is the least we can all do for our veterans who have served our nation so honorably,? Miller said in an email.

Miller?s words hint at the fresh irony of post-war life for thousands of ex-service members: Their initial challenge is not a lack of help; it is the over-abundance of nonprofits seeking to guide veterans from their once-super-structured schedules and tight packs of buddies to the wide-open, ultra-competitive job market.

According to an April 2012 study by the Center for a New American Security, more than 40,000 nonprofit groups now exist in this country with missions focused on filling the various needs of active-duty troops, veterans and their families.

That giant-yet-fragmented bundle of organizations???while striving to do well by veterans???must also battle for the same funding dollars. And that jostling hasn?t fostered a cohesive landscape for veterans to navigate as they begin their new career journeys, Laureno said. Given that mish-mash of helping hands, some veterans simply don?t know where to go first.?

?I?ve heard occasionally people (in the veteran-helping field) use the word ?competitors.? They are competing for funds. They are competing for awareness. They are competing to be in the spotlight,? Laureno said. ?It?s also a well-documented issue in this community that there are some people, just like anything else, who got involved because wanted to help but that emerged as sort of looking for press.

?The founding partners here are not of that ilk. These are partners who have stuck with their original mission, who are focused on getting the help out to the people who need it, and who recognize that technology can help them take that help to a completely different level than ever before possible,? she added.

Google and VetNet are hoping to attract new partners from that sea of 40,000 groups. But they?re still hammering out the best ways to assess prospective collaborators ? and their larger intensions???before they are invited to join, Laureno said.

?That?s one of the biggest challenges all of us are facing in this issue, and that?s why there has been this proliferation of 40,000-plus (veterans organizations),? she said. ?We are going to need to have a some sort of vetting process. That is something the partners are working on right now: What will be the criteria they use to judge who comes on board and who doesn?t?

?Anyone who would like to get involved, who has effective services, and who is willing to make the commitment to providing them on this platform who will be supportive of the community, they?re all welcome,? she added. ?But if somebody wants to advertise on a one-off basis about their particular program, this probably isn?t the right place for them.?

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/29/15545883-google-launches-new-site-to-guide-veterans-into-civilian-work-force?lite

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ANN ARBOR: University of Michigan ranks highest public university spender for research and development

Inside the Newsroom @ Reporter and News-Leader

Staff writers at The Saline Reporter and Milan News-Leader write about their beats, sharing their thoughts and insights while covering local events and issues in both communities, and adding local photos and video.

A2 Journal Blog

Welcome to Inside the Newsroom at A2 Journal, a blog written by the newspaper's staff at A2 Journal, a new, weekly, community newspaper covering Ann Arbor. We will include photo galleries, videos and links, and encourage readers to post their comments.

Source: http://heritage.com/articles/2012/11/28/ann_arbor_journal/news/doc50b621a1df9bf207455570.txt

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Having Fun With Lamar Snowboards

Lamar boards first entered the picture in 1989 the moment the label was founded by Bert Lamar in his garage. Lamar had been a skater in the early 1970's scene, an integral part of Tom Simm's team that earned three World Cup Tournaments straight as well as the overall title in the World Cup Halfpipe. Lamar also has the classification as being the youngest shredder to be given a signature board. As he put up his organization, Lamar changed the public presence of snowboarding using merchandise vision and ambitious promotion. Progressively, Lamar snowboards ended up being favored by powerful list of riders that included Mike Ranquet, Jimmy Halopoff, Kevin Jones, Megan Pischke, Tricia Byrnes, along with Wes Makepeace. Lamar has been in business for more than 20 years and it's not showing any indications of stopping in the near future.

Apart from snowboards, Lamar also offers boots as well as bindings for men, women, and kids. This manner, regardless of what age you might be in, you'll have all the features you need to snowboard when you want to. For Lamar snowboards for men, snowboarders can decide on the Volt, Fixx, Click, What, Cranium, Word, Skylark, Viper, Hunter, Trooper CO, and Trooper CA versions, while women's boards include the Allure, Pixie, Prima, Merlot, Essence, and Belle designs. As for children?s boards, models on offer are : the Viper, Rally, Essence, and Pixie.

Lamar employs what is known as ETF (energy transmission frame) technology in the snowboards, together with fully wooden cores with bullet cap construction plus Versa Flex. Some versions may also have butt protection and alloy ends, which makes them even stronger than before, despite the fact that Lamar's snowboards are indeed developed to last. To shield snowboards from sun damage, high-gloss Ultra violet films are also provided. Snowboards come in different sizes in order to choose what's most effective for you. Men's snowboards are available in at least 5 capacities, while women's and children's snowboards possess 4 measurements to be able to choose from.

Lamar boards often cost you below $300 at their full price with the men's models. However, you can get your hands on snowboards from Lamar at less expensive selling prices from various sellers on the web where a discounted but unused Lamar snowboard will cost you under $200. Not bad to get a well-constructed snowboard which has a great layout, right! Buying snowboarding gear can be really expensive so that it would really benefit if you can buy your board on a budget without reducing good quality. Anything you spend less on your main boards you can use towards funding the rest of your gear to help you have a truly great snowboarding adventure.

If you would like to learn more about lamar snowboards visit our site where you will find all the information that you need including lamar snowboard reviews.

Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/having-fun-with-lamar-snowboards-304948

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Vacation Blues (and Blacks & Purples) | Hoop | Play | Fitness ...

by brngckn on November 27, 2012

I've just returned from a fabulous restorative vacation! It was quite an adventure.?

Souvenirs include:

Many people thought I was nuts for heading so near the Middle East right now, but I'm really glad I went. Yea, I'm a bit battered and bruised (only myself to blame), but I've got some great memories, new friends and hopefully a few decent photos.

It's surely a vacation I won't forget!

? Kirsten Tucker is a certified Level 1-3 Hoopnotica hoopdance instructor, Level 1-2 BodyHoops instructor, HoopChi certified instructor, Hoop Revolution Mentor, Master T-Tapp Trainer/Trainer Mentor, 11 year personal trainer, play advocate & Certified Laughter Leader. She offers hoop classes and training in NW Houston and worldwide. Founder of Hoopy Thoughts hoop Meetup group, she thinks hoopy thoughts every day.

Tagged as: adventure, black eye, Kirsten Tucker, travel, vacation

Source: http://www.hoopythoughts.com/vacation-blues

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Video: Markets & Political Instability

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49965904/

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Chimp comedy brings the blues

Costumed chimps used to make me grin ear to ear when I saw them on TV. Now I realize there?s little that separates that delight from coveting a Chinese potion made from rhino tusks. It is sad to lose this pleasure, but somehow I?ll manage.

After a visit to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone, I knew my days of snickering at chimps imitating actors were over. As it turns out, many other non-Africans have delighted in chimps before me. Since 1950, the small West African country exported more than 2,000 live chimps to the US, Japan, and Europe for the entertainment industry and for biomedical research. A law restricting such exports was passed in the eighties, but chimps continued to be owned within Sierra Leone, typically by tourists and expatriates including Peace Corps volunteers [reference 1]. A young chimp sells for US$61 on average, which is a pretty price in a country where most people survive on less than $1 per day.

Young chimps are super cute! But as they age, the jungle within appears. They flip tables, tear down drapes, and occasionally attack. A grown chimp is far stronger than a grown man, and it bears fiercer teeth. (Remember when Travis the chimp, a former star in Coca Cola and Old Navy commercials, mauled Charla Nash in California?) People tend to ditch their pet chimps once they?ve grown, but these human-raised creatures can no longer fend for themselves in the wild, and zoos often turn them away because they do not know how to integrate within chimp society.

Chimps at Tacugama from Amy Maxmen on Vimeo.

Thus, in 1995, an accountant in Sierra Leone, Bala Amarasekaran, established Tacugama Chimp Sanctuary to rehabilitate orphaned chimps, and to advocate against the chimpanzee pet trade. Some of the sanctuary?s chimps are donated by expatriates who no longer want their pets. Others are discovered within cages in abandoned houses, or chained by the road for sale. More recently, authorities confiscate illegally owned chimps because of a 2007 law prohibiting the capture, killing, or possession of chimps in Sierra Leone, and bring them to Tacugama.

A skinny Sierra Leonean man with a lazy eye and a warm demeanor named Moses Kappia led my tour of Tacugama Sanctuary. As we watched chimps howl and bounce through various rehabilitation enclosures, we talked about the history of the sanctuary.

When Kappia arrived at Tacugama 16 years ago, he watched it blossom with start-up donations from the European Union. Soon after, the sanctuary struggled to survive as civil war ripped through Sierra Leone. In 1997, rebels broke into the sanctuary and threatened to kill the chimpanzees for food, but Kappia and the few remaining staff convinced them to spare the animals. Instead, the rebels stole their belongings, their food, and the food and medicine intended for the chimps. The rebels returned again during that brutal, 11-year ?blood diamond? war, and again Kappia defended the chimps.

As the war wound down in 2002, Tacugama joined together with other African primate sanctuaries in the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance. They still struggle for funds, but manage to care for nearly 100 orphaned chimps that now frolic in their fenced-in slice of jungle.

Ali, my taxi driver, accompanied me on the tour. Inspired by Kappia, he vowed to report any chimps he discovered being sold or kept. And on the ride home, Ali said that he?d let any ?white people? in his taxi know that he could take them to see (not buy) the chimps ? just a 20 minute drive from the capital city of Freetown.

Back in the US, I?ve taken note of the Captive Primate Safety Act that has languished in Congress since 2007. It seeks to protect monkeys, chimps and other primates from the exotic pet trade in the US. The Humane Society suggests that people urge their legislators to support the act when it is reintroduced next year.

Kappia managed to convince rebels notorious for rape, amputations, and other crimes against humanity to leave the chimps alone. So when he asked me why our civil society continues to allow chimp pets and promotes chimps as entertainment despite the harm that then befalls our closest cousins, I felt lame answering, because we think it?s funny.

1. Kabasawa, Asami. 2009. African Study Monographs. ?The Current State of the Chimpanzee Pet Trade in Sierra Leone.?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=577bd9775e2552afb4df2979efe07887

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Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4, Student and Teacher Edition (Mac/PC)

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Source: http://educationsoftwarezone.blogspot.com/2012/11/9-adobe-photoshop-lightroom-4-student.html

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mower awol: Home Improvement Tip From SWF Home Inspections

If there?s a custom tile that you love but your budget won?t allow you to cover the entire bathroom with it, use it as an accent tile and purchase lower-cost field tiles. You?ll save money and still get the look you want.

It is our goal to help Florida homeowners by providing you helpful information to allow you to easily, efficiently and cost effectively enjoy your Florida home.

If there are ever ANY questions about maintaining your home, feel free to call me directly. We are afterall, ?Your property consultants for life?

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Source: http://www.swfhomeinspections.com/blog/home-improvement-tip-from-swf-home-inspections-saving-costs-on-custom-tile-installation/

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"Fiscal cliff" talks stalled for now, but progress possible (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/266219715?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Thai anti-government protesters clash with police

BANGKOK (AP) ? Protesters calling for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down rallied in the heart of Bangkok on Saturday, clashing with police in the first major demonstration against the government since it came to power last year.

Although the rally site itself was peaceful, protesters on a nearby street tried and failed to break through a concrete police barricade, at one point ramming a truck into it. Both demonstrators and riot police lobbed tear gas canisters at each other.

Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Piya Utayo said five officers were injured in the skirmishes, two of them seriously. He said 130 demonstrators were detained, some of them carrying knives and bullets.

The demonstration underscores the simmering political divisions that have split the country since the army toppled Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra in a 2006 military coup, a move that triggered years of instability.

Saturday's rally was organized by a royalist group calling itself "Pitak Siam" ? or "Protect Thailand." Led by retired army Gen. Boonlert Kaewprasit, the group accuses Yingluck's administration of corruption, ignoring insults to the revered monarchy and being a puppet of Thaksin.

Yingluck has taken the threats seriously, and accused demonstrators of seeking to overthrow her government, which came to power in mid-2011 after winning a landslide election. Earlier in the week, Yingluck ordered nearly 17,000 police deployed ahead of Saturday's rally and invoked a special security law, citing concerns it could turn violent.

Protest organizers had spoken of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of supporters. But by Saturday afternoon, only around 10,000 had turned up.

Speaking from the rally's central stage on Saturday, Boonlert vowed the demonstration would remain peaceful. But he said: "I promise that Pitak Siam will succeed in driving this government out."

He then led the crowd in a chant: "Yingluck, get out! Yingluck, get out!"

The rally was held at Bangkok's Royal Plaza, a public space near Parliament that has been used by protesters in the past.

Police allowed protesters into the site, and two roads leading to it were open. But in an effort to control access, they blocked roads on another street leading to Royal Plaza.

Protesters tried to break through the barriers in the morning, cutting through rings of barbed wire. They clashed with police in the area at least twice on Saturday.

While Pitak Siam is a newcomer to Thailand's protest scene, it is linked to the well-known "Yellow Shirt" protesters, whose rallies led to Thaksin's overthrow. The same movement later toppled a Thaksin-allied elected government after occupying and shutting down Bangkok's two airports for a week in 2008.

Thaksin remains an intensively divisive figure in Thai politics. The Yellow Shirts and their allies say he is corrupt and accuse him of seeking to undermine the popular constitutional monarch ? charges Thaksin denies.

On Thursday, Yingluck's Cabinet invoked an Internal Security Act in three Bangkok districts around the protest site. The act allows authorities to close roads, impose curfews and ban use of electronic devices in designated areas.

Since then, police have closed roads around Yingluck's office and Government House, and boosted security at the homes of senior officials, including the prime minister.

In a nationally televised address explaining the move, Yingluck had said protest leaders "seek to overthrow an elected government and democratic rule ... and there is evidence that violence may be used to achieve those ends."

Analysts said they did not view the protest as an immediate threat to Yingluck's government, but were watching it closely.

"Anytime you have tens of thousands of people converging, assembling in a central Bangkok location, it becomes a government stability concern," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

But he added: "I think it's a serious concern more than a serious threat."

Boonlert, the protest group's leader, is best known for his role as president of the Thailand Boxing Association. His name is unfamiliar in the anti-Thaksin protest movement, but his message appears to have resonated with Yellow Shirt supporters who have laid low in recent years after Yingluck's party won the last elections.

Thailand has been gripped by bouts of political instability since 2006, with Thaksin's supporters and opponents taking turns to spar over who has the right to rule the country.

The most violent episode came in 2010, when Thaksin's "Red Shirt" supporters led a two-month occupation of central Bangkok to demand the resignation of an anti-Thaksin government. The protests sparked a military crackdown that left at least 91 people dead and more than 1,700 injured.

Thaksin has lived in self-imposed exile since 2008, when he jumped bail to evade a corruption conviction and two-year jail term. He retains huge popularity among the rural poor, who want to see him pardoned and returned to power. But he is reviled by the urban elite and educated middle class, who see him as authoritarian and a threat to the monarchy.

Buoyed by Thaksin's political machine, Yingluck was elected by a landslide victory in August 2011. She initially was criticized for her lack of political experience ? she was an executive in Shinawatra family businesses ? but has won praise for leading the country through one of its longest peaceful periods in recent years.

___

Associated Press photographer Sakchai Lalitkanjanakul and correspondent Todd Pitman contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thai-anti-government-protesters-clash-police-084555082.html

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Kids taken from UK couple over independence support

By Ian Johnston, NBC News

LONDON -- Three children were removed from the care of an English couple because their support for the U.K. Independence Party meant they were unsuitable to provide foster care, an official said Saturday.

Local government body Rotherham Council said that the three children were not ?indigenous white British? and that social workers had raised concerns about the UKIP political party?s stance on immigration, ITV News reported.

Joyce Thacker, the director for children and young people's services at Rotherham Council, told BBC News that the children were placed with the couple on an emergency basis and were not due to remain with them permanently. She confirmed they had been removed from the couple's care.

?If the party [UKIP] mantra ? is ending the active promotion of multiculturalism, I have to think about that,? she added. ?I think they [UKIP] have very clear views on immigration.?

She told the BBC that the decision had not been ?easy? and she did not think UKIP was a ?racist party.?

'Ruled by this regime'
UKIP campaigns for Britain to withdraw from the European Union, saying "we do not have to be ruled by this regime" in order to trade with European countries.

On immigration, it says "the tide of mass EU immigration has pushed down wages and restricted job opportunities. Only by leaving the EU can we regain control of our borders." The party is calling for a permanent immigration freeze for 5 years and says immigrants "must be fluent in English, have minimum education levels and show they can financially support themselves."

Read more UK and world stories from ITV News

UKIP party leader Nigel Farage said in messages on Twitter that the authorities ?clearly have no understanding of UKIP and by their actions, clearly no desire to know.?

He said the council was ?partially backtracking? by saying the couple would still be allowed ?to adopt. But by the sounds of it, only white children. New Apardheid? [sic]??

Read more World stories from NBC News

The British Education Secretary Michael Gove, a member of the center-right Conservative Party, also attacked the decision, ITV News reported.

?Rotherham's reasons for denying this family the chance to foster are indefensible. The ideology behind their decision is actively harmful to children,? he said.

?We should not allow considerations of ethnic or cultural background to prevent children being placed with loving and stable families. We need more parents to foster, and many more to adopt,? he added.

The center-left Labour Party said in a message on Twitter that ?Membership of UKIP shouldn't block parents from adopting children. There needs to be an urgent investigation by Rotherham Council into this.?

ITV News is an NBC News partner.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/24/15407064-kids-removed-from-uk-couple-over-support-for-independence-from-europe?lite

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The Gps device Monitor Signifies Increased ... - Communications ...

Automobile thievery is definitely an submerging issue that most of the lenders come across all year round around the world. Hence it becomes required to keep eye upon renowned chattels.

Retaining closed consideration on a regular basis by observing older binoculars, valuable property, eying upon infants and the family members suffer from any kind of medical issues within not possible for all the moment. Luckily, a gps device monitor is here now which can be creating all of your issues simple by it's great efficiency.

GPS trackers possess extensive impact within the marketplace globally and the've already been strongly suggested by the peoples because of their excellent performance.

Any Gps device tracker can be a gadget which usually monitors correct area of your car, particular person and many types of esteemed chattels that it really is attached to document the positioning from normal time periods. Recorded place information retailers inside the monitoring unit, or even transfers with a central location databases or the net related computer by the use of GPRS, satellite television modem or perhaps stereo seated in the product.

This kind of hi-tech set up is popular simply by the majority of the countries to execute far better in several areas. Many of them also provide related their sanding vans as well as road sweepers with this device and planning to supply with the rest convoy. Forestry car may also be in target. Gps device isn't a simple monitoring method yet can be boosts the effectiveness of employees through tracking them closely. Gps navigation monitor is extensively accepted not just by government entire body however it is highly recommended through common peoples generally.

A number of gps trackers namely automobile tracker, gps navigation individual tracker as well as other others are obtainable in target act as safety measures. Any gps navigation private tracker offers higher standard shields to a family event members. A vehicle system, that is successful to stop through being your vehicle robbery or any other connected issues.

A gps tracker works together with four international gsm bands eight hundred fifty Megahertz, 900 MHz, 1800 Megahertz and 1900 Megahertz also it can supply globally. It really is suitable to offer shields for animals, children and adults too. Gps device monitor being should used when opting for hiking or trekking and also hardwearing . family members secure and guaranteed. Additionally, it delivers trust your kids is within catalogue and performing investigation and not inside a trip regarding shopping mall for any hangout making use of their friends and colleagues.

In case you have any parent part of family with Alzheimer's disease difficulty this offers safety that they are not really absent more than a telephone call. You may also stop your dog through outfitting all of them with these types of gps trackers and stop through numerous dangers. In the event of absent they could be effortlessly followed from the assistance of this kind of following system. Thus will not stay butt and just do it to select from GSM/GPS tracker, Gps navigation automobile monitor & alarm system, Gps navigation information logger, navigator as well as other to locate your chosen 1.

GPS system is a good system for protection prospective customers. I not only protected from various risks it also supplies a piece of brain while doing work in office. Thus remain active along with work without being in any sort of security worries.

Source: http://onlinescommunication.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-gps-device-monitor-signifies.html

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Source: http://stobbettalesha7.typepad.com/blog/2012/11/the-gps-device-monitor-signifies-increased-communications.html

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Source: http://balusebidupu.posterous.com/the-gps-device-monitor-signifies-increased-co

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Video: Shopping smart this holiday season

>>> this morning in today's consumer, how to avoid overspending. the holiday shopping season is in full swing and your favorite stores have a few tricks up their sleeve to get you to shell out some big bucks . carmen is here to reveal what they are. good morning to you.

>> good morning, carl.

>> why should people be more worried about having the retailers sort of figure out this whole game of how to get us to spend more?

>> they are fighting for your money, right? because we're the most savviest consumers ever. we've got shopping apps on our phone, promo codes, shopping sites. we know how to shop and we're much more likely to have a budget. since the recession, we cut down on credit card debt , and we'll spend a little bit more, but we want to stick to our budget.

>> you've laid out a few of the strategies that they use. the first one is called the decoy effect .

>> here we go. here's the decoy. let's say you have two choices of the same item. different in quality, but it's $50 for that coffee maker versus $100. if only those two choices existed and you're on a budget, you'll choose the $50 coffee maker . the decoy is brought in in the middle to get you to spend more, because once that decoy is there, you're more like tlly to buy the one in the middle. the middle range in price and quality, because it goes from just a savings decision the a value and quality decision. oh wow, $70. for an extra $20, i can get closer to that $100. that's what happens in your mind, even if it blows your budget. just be mindful of that.

>> this works because we think we're getting a deal?

>> exactly. our perception has topped. if you have a bottom and a top, that's your only choice. the decoy makes it seem like oh, i got a deal.

>> i like this next one. it's the scarcity effect.

>> okay, what is black friday? why do people line up and all that? because when you have a limited timeframe and a limited amount of items, we go nuts. this is black friday. this is also, though, the flash sales on site. i call this the guilt effect for guilt.com, which really started these flash sales. it's new. we've got to go in. it's a limited quantity. we've got to buy. this goes back to 1975 , behavioral economists found that women with two sets of cookies -- they called this the cookie effect. simply because one set of cookies, there was a smaller amount. women rated them higher. the cookie effect is the scarcity effect. going back to hunting and gathering .

>> this last one, the reciprocity effect.

>> freebies. women at the makeup counter. you get free. if you spend $50, you get free. now online, too, if you buy from online retailers , they'll send you free samples . here's the thing. 90% of us say if we get a freebie, we'll be very likely to buy from that person again. it's the "you owe me one" effect.

>> the best defense against all of these are what?

>> to know that they exist and to know how they work, and just be very mindful of what's going on. that time pressure, ban yourself from those sites if you have a problem with it, and with the freebie effect, just because someone gives you something doesn't mean you owe them anything.

>> that masters in psychologist is

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49947478/

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The X Factor Results: Fowl Play?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/11/the-x-factor-results-fowl-play/

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Family Home and Life: Fall Color Palette PicMonkey Scrapbook ...

I made some Fall Colors Scrapbook pages to use for myself and want to also share them with you. I'm kinda late getting them out, I'm sorry! Perhaps you can use these to showcase your Thanksgiving pictures. I'll try to post a Christmas?palette?soon to use.

On my copy of this scrapbook page, I have the family names on labels underneath each photo.?I used?PicMonkey?to first?create the color palette?using my inspiration photo. Then using that color palette, I made these?scrapbook?pages and?here is the tutorial?for that. Yes they are virtual, but they can be printed out.?Re-size?them to fit your printer paper. They are fun to use to make your own scrapbooks to save to your computer or online. You know what I like best about that? It is all?free...nothing to buy and or store!

If you don't want to make your own ?please feel free to use mine. You can right click and save them as images to your computer, then upload them at?PicMonkey?to place your photos where you would like them.

I often save my work without merging it. That way after the save I can perhaps change a few things to make a new page without having to recreate it all.?

To make the plaid, I choose 'overlays- geometric-?rectangle',?then sized and tinted to make the strips. I alternated layers horizontally and?vertically. For the floral, I choose 'overlays-floral'. The polka dots are simply font that is enlarged, duplicated and tinted, then moved into place.

Full size Fall page with place for photos, Happy Fall Y'all!

Your can save this (above) page to your computer, and upload it to PicMonkey. Then choose 'overlays-your own', and select the photos you want to place on there. You can turn the photos to fit how you want. Then have some fun and add wording, or banners, labels... anywhere you would like. Then re save it all. Enjoy!

?8 x 10 sheet Happy Fall Y'all! This is a nice printing size.

Full size plain scrapbook page, Happy Fall Y'all!?Decorate?this one yourself or leave it plain.

Email me for the stripes, plaid or [polka dot pages if you would like them.

I have had a lot of content theft lately. If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright? Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

Source: http://www.familyhomeandlife.com/2012/11/fall-color-palette-picmonkey-scrapbook.html

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What is the "Credit Counseling" Course Requirement? | Florida ...

The 2005 Bankruptcy reforms?established the requirement that every individual who files a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy must complete a ?credit counseling? course, or else their petition will be dismissed.? In the case of joint filers, both spouses must?take the course and receive a ?certificate of completion? that is filed with the court along with their paperwork.

In most cases, credit counseling must be completed within 180 days before the bankruptcy petition is filed.? If the certificate is over 6 months old, then the course must be retaken for a new certificate before the bankruptcy can be submitted to the court.? Under certain circumstances, the credit counseling requirement can be waived if the debtor is incapacitated, disabled, or on active military duty in a combat zone. Additionally, it may also be possible to request a deferral of the credit counseling course until after the petition is filed.? However, to receive a deferral the petition must be filed under emergency circumstances, the debtor must be unable to complete the course within 7 days of requesting one.? If granted, the course must be taken?within 30 days of filing the petition.? It is important to note that the grounds for requesting a deferral or waiver of the requirement are narrow, and requests are not frequently granted.

The credit counseling course must be taken through an agency that has been approved by the United States Trustee department.? Depending upon the agency, credit counseling may be completed over the telephone or Internet. Costs may vary between the $30-$50 range, but for those who qualify with limited income the payment may be waived.

If you plan to hire an attorney to handle your bankruptcy, then it is worth inquiring as to whether the cost of credit counseling is included in the costs charged for representation.? Attorneys who frequently represent bankruptcy clients will often have access to order credit counseling through an approved agency ? and often at a lower than standard rate.

Source: http://jtmlawfirm.com/blog/2012/11/what-exactly-is-the-credit-counseling-requirement-for-filing-bankruptcy/

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Halle Berry's fiance fistfights with her ex

By Janet Kwak and Melissa Pamer, NBCLosAngeles.com

David Livingston / Getty Images file

Actors Olivier Martinez, left, and Halle Berry attend a function in Beverly Hills, Calif., in April 2011. Police say Martinez was involved in a fight Thursday with Berry's ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry.

Updated at 11:30 a.m. PT Nov. 23: LOS ANGELES -- Halle Berry's ex-boyfriend and her current fianc? got into a fistfight at her Hollywood Hills home on Thanksgiving morning, authorities confirmed.

Gabriel Aubry has posted $20,000 bail, after being booked for suspicion of battery.? Police tell NBC4 that Martinez was not charged because Aubry was the aggressor.?

The confrontation between ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry and fianc? Olivier Martinez took place at her home in the 1100 block of Doheny Drive on Thursday morning, police said.

Berry's daughter Nahla was inside the home, but did not witness the fight.

More from NBCLosAngeles.com: Kimora Lee and Djimon Hounsou split

A Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman confirmed firefighters were called to the scene just after 10 a.m.

The two men fought with each other, then Aubry was hospitalized at Cedars Sinai Medial Center and later jailed, according to Sgt. Mike Odle of the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Station.

Aubry was booked on a misdemeanor battery charge Odle said.?

Aubrey was the one who attacked Martinez, Odle said.

"He was the aggressor in an altercation with victim," Odle said.

More from NBCLosAngeles.com: 'Modern Family' star spends time with niece amid family drama

The extent of Martinez's injuries was not clear. And police would not comment on the cause of the fight.

Berry and Aubry are in a custody battle over their 4-year-old daughter Nahla.?

Odle said an emergency order is in place to protect Berry, Martinez and Nahla, according to police.

LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said it's standard in a case such as this one for a judge to issue an emergency protective order in which the aggressor is ordered to stay 100 yards from the victim. Smith said he could not comment on the specifics of this case, however.

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/11/22/15372309-halle-berrys-fiance-fistfights-with-her-ex-who-is-arrested?lite

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Catalan independence debate hits cold realities

GIRONA, Spain (AP) ? As in towns across this wealthy northwestern region, the maze-like cobblestone streets of Girona's medieval quarter are fluttering with flags in favor of Catalonia's independence. Here, however, there is also a smattering of flags bearing the slogan: "Catalonia, A New European State."

It goes to the heart of a Catalan conundrum.

While the separatist dream of millions has never felt so close to becoming a reality, independence fervor is now coming up against the cold, hard facts of what breaking free would really mean. Few realize that this Spanish region famed for its trading prowess would be shut out of the European Union for years, a huge hurdle to doing business with its most important trading partners. EU officials say an independent Catalonia would face the same membership conditions of any other candidate nation.

Catalonia holds elections on Sunday that will be seen as a test of the regional government's plans to hold a referendum on independence, and one of the key issues emerging is the theoretical place of a free Catalonia in Europe.

Polls suggest that many Catalans haven't thought through the consequences of freedom.

A survey published by El Pais newspaper this month showed that while nearly half of Catalans support independence, the number drops to 37 percent if it means being out of the EU.

Tough membership conditions aren't the only thing possibly standing in the way. The European Union's treaty states that each of the 27 member states can veto a candidate nation's accession, meaning that a vengeful Spain could block Catalonia from joining the club.

"Now we want to be a state inside Europe," said Josep Matamala, who, along with friend Miquel Casals, created the banner that combines the slogan of EU aspiration with the red-and-yellow stripes, blue triangle and white star of the "estelada" flag that symbolizes Catalonia's independence drive.

Catalonia's regional president, Artur Mas, who is leading the independence charge and holding rallies bristling with European Union flags, has voiced optimism ? perhaps mere wishful thinking ? that an independent Catalonia would be swiftly embraced into the EU fold. In a recent speech in Brussels he declared: "Catalonia has never in its history let Europe down, now we trust Europe will not let us down."

And there are pro-independence voters who simply can't fathom being cast out of the EU.

"I imagine that if faced with a majority of Catalans who vote yes for independence in a referendum, (the EU) wouldn't be able to turn its back on us," said 35-year-old Girona music teacher Merce Escarra

Girona, one of Spain's richest cities, is an example of what Catalans call "seny" ? roughly the equivalent to "practical sense." It typifies the Catalan character of being hardworking and businesslike. But these days, Girona, like the rest of Catalonia, is experiencing an outburst of "rauxa," seny's polar opposite, meaning "wild exuberance." And the source of that is a separatist passion ignited by Spain's ongoing economic crisis.

In 2010, Escarra featured in the local press when she was asked by the owner of the building where she lives to remove the "estelada" flag from her balcony. "I said I had a legitimate right to protest and left it up, and it has been there ever since," she said.

Two years later it is difficult to find a building in Girona that isn't bedecked with the red-and-yellow Catalan flag or the pro-independence "estelada."

"Now there has been a boom in the pro-independence movement," Escarra said. Her reasons for wanting independence are representative of millions of Catalans: The region pays more than it receives back in taxes; its infrastructure has been neglected by the central government; and independence would ensure the survival of the Catalan language.

The regional government calculates it contributes ?16 billion ($21 billion) more than it gets back. Other wealthy regions in Spain also pay more, but many Catalans feel that infrastructure projects like the Mediterranean rail corridor are left unfunded, while Spain's high-speed passenger train network is extended to its less industrialized regions.

In recent years, grassroots pro-independence groups have held unofficial referendums on independence in towns across Catalonia. This "fake-it-till-you-make-it" attitude has found an extreme expression in dozens of Catalan villages, which have declared themselves "free Catalan territories."

But symbolism's one thing, hard economics another.

While most of Catalonia's business community is taking a wait-and-see attitude, Jose Manuel Lara, the president of media giant Planeta, said he would move his company from Barcelona to Spain if Catalonia went independent, in order to remain based in the EU.

Ramon Tremosa, a European parliament member from Mas' pro-independence party, said that Catalonia's fate would hinge on pressure being applied on Spain by other European powers and the multinational companies established in Catalonia, which would be anxious for a quick return to business as usual in the common market.

"I can't imagine the 4,000 multinationals (in Catalonia) allowing themselves to be expelled from the EU, from the euro and the free movement of goods and capital, it's not realistic," Tremosa told The Associated Press. "Spain would not be able to stop it because it is heading toward a bailout."

European law experts were uncertain about how quickly an independent Catalonia could join the EU. "It is unknown territory," said Andreu Olesti, an international law and economics professor at the University of Barcelona.

Nicolas Zambrana, professor of international law at the University of Navarra, was pessimistic about Catalonia's EU prospects.

"Spain would be in a good position to prevent Catalonia from returning to the EU," he said.

Both the El Pais poll and a second poll published in Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia indicate that Mas' CiU party has lost steam and would not make significant gains in Sunday's elections, putting into question whether Mas will be able to claim a mandate to push for a referendum. El Pais surveyed 2,500 people by telephone from Nov. 8 to Nov. 15. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percent.

"I am not supporting independence because I feel it is waste of time. I have no hope it will change the social situation here," said John MacKay, a 54-year-old teacher from Barcelona.

And the idea of a fledgling Catalan state left out in the European cold is giving some independence supporters second thoughts.

"It worries me," said Monica Casares, a 41-year-old mother of two who lives just north of Barcelona. "Taking into account that we would face a Spanish boycott on Catalan products for sure, and that we would also have to pay more on exports, we would have a big problem."

But Matamala insisted that the EU would soon come around to the benefits of embracing a rich and dynamic Catalonia.

"Who is going to kick us out of Europe?" said Matamala. "I can't conceive of it."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-22-Spain-Catalan%20Independence/id-b77341653ea247ed904e3f77e4008a69

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