NEWARK, N.J. (AP) ? A blind Chinese legal activist who was suddenly allowed to leave the country arrived in the U.S. on Saturday, ending a nearly monthlong diplomatic tussle that had tested U.S.-China relations.

Chen Guangcheng had been hurriedly taken from a hospital hours earlier and put on a plane for the United States after Chinese authorities suddenly told him to pack and prepare to leave. He arrived Saturday evening at Newark Liberty International Airport, outside New York City.

The departure of Chen, his wife and two children to the United States marked the conclusion of nearly a month of uncertainty and years of mistreatment by local authorities for the self-taught activist.

After seven years of prison and house arrest, Chen made a daring escape from his rural village in April and was given sanctuary inside the U.S. Embassy, triggering a diplomatic standoff over his fate. With Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Beijing for annual high-level discussions, officials struck a deal that let Chen walk free, only to see him have second thoughts. That forced new negotiations that led to an agreement to send him to the U.S. to study law, a goal of his, at New York University.

"Thousands of thoughts are surging to my mind," Chen said before he left China. His concerns, he said, included whether authorities would retaliate for his negotiated departure by punishing his relatives left behind. It also was unclear whether the government will allow him to return.

Chen's expected attendance at New York University comes from his association with Jerome Cohen, a law professor there who advised Chen while he was in the U.S. Embassy. The two met when Chen came to the United States on a State Department program in 2003, and Cohen has been staunch advocate for him since.

"I'm very happy at the news that he's on his way and I look forward to welcoming him and his family tonight and to working with him on his course of study," Cohen said.

Chen will live at the Washington Square Village complex, a New York University housing facility where faculty and graduate students reside, an NYU spokesman said.

Before he left China, Chen asked his supporters and others in the activist community for their understanding of his desire to leave the front lines of the rights struggle in China.

"I am requesting a leave of absence, and I hope that they will understand," he said.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland praised the quiet negotiations that freed him.

"We also express our appreciation for the manner in which we were able to resolve this matter and to support Mr. Chen's desire to study in the U.S. and pursue his goals," Nuland said in a statement.

The White House also said it was pleased with the outcome of negotiations.

China's Foreign Ministry said it had no comment. The government's news agency, Xinhua, issued a brief report saying that Chen "has applied for study in the United States via normal channels in line with the law."

Chen's supporters welcomed his departure. "This is great progress," said U.S.-based rights activist Bob Fu. "It's a victory for freedom fighters."

The 40-year-old Chen is emblematic of a new breed of activists that the Communist Party finds threatening. Often from rural and working-class families, these "rights defenders," as they are called, are unlike the students and intellectuals from the elite academies and major cities of previous democracy movements and thus could potentially appeal to ordinary Chinese.

Chen gained recognition for crusading for the disabled and for farmers' rights and fighting against forced abortions in his rural community. That angered local officials, who seemed to wage a personal vendetta against him, convicting him in 2006 on what his supporters say were fabricated charges and then holding him for the past 20 months in illegal house arrest.

Even with the backstage negotiations, Chen's departure came hastily. Chen spent the last 2 1/2 weeks in a hospital for the foot he broke escaping house arrest. Only on Wednesday did Chinese authorities help him complete the paperwork needed for his passport.

Chen said by telephone Saturday that he was informed at the hospital just before noon to pack his bags to leave. Officials did not give him and his family passports or inform them of their flight details until after they got to the airport.

Seeming ambivalent, Chen said that he was "not happy" about leaving and that he had a lot on his mind, including worries about retaliation against his extended family back home. His nephew, Chen Kegui, is accused of attempted murder after he allegedly used a kitchen knife to attack officials who stormed his house after discovering Chen Guangcheng was missing.

"I hope that the government will fulfill the promises it made to me, all of its promises," Chen said. Such promises included launching an investigation into abuses against him and his family in Shandong province, he said before the phone call was cut off.

Much as Chen has said he wants return to China, it remains uncertain whether the Chinese government would bar him, as they have done with many exiled activists.

"Chen's departure for the U.S. does not and should not in any way mark a 'mission accomplished' moment for the U.S. government," said Phelim Kine, a senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The harder, longer-term part is ensuring his right under international law to return to China when he sees fit."

___

Tang and Wong reported from Beijing. Associated Press videojournalist Annie Ho and writer Charles Hutzler in Beijing contributed to this report.

___

Follow Didi Tang on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tangdidi and Gillian Wong at http://twitter.com/gillianwong

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In my previous post, I discussed the responsibility early educators and parent educators have to help prepare parents of young children to navigate the digital world. ?I also referred to an assignment I was completing for my technology class. ?I finished the assignment and I thought I would share it as an example of the types of materials we could be creating for parents. I completed a lesson plan that is intended for use with parents, but the presentation could easily be adapted for use with early education professionals. ?Using a Google presentation as a guide, this lesson leads parents through information about using video with young children. ?The presentation includes links to articles, videos and activities. ?This lesson could be used with parents in a group situation such as an Early Childhood Family Education parent session or could be used with an individual parent on a homevisit. ?Here is a link to the lesson plan template that acts as a facilitator guide. ?This lesson could also be used by the parent independently, without a facilitator.

I am not as familiar with Google documents as I would like to be, I am still learning, so this presentation is a little rough around the edges. ?It is not professional looking by any means but it provides a solid starting point for content. ?I plan to develop more of these and hope to increase my skills with technology so that they look a little more polished.

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Securing sufficient funding for the Dallas colleges is actually a ghd straighener challenge knowledgeable by many college districts within the United states of america. Most funding has come to be plan particular, with govt controlling its use and typically benefiting only a part in the Dallas schools students. State funding has been scarce, requiring Dallas schools to rely on local home and college taxes to address the general requirements from the schools. Moreover, federal federal government oversight generates a lot more administrative requirements. This means that a lot of of the precious dollars the Dallas colleges receive via government funding has to be invested on administrative fees, as an alternative to directly to advantage the students.

Recently, the Texas legislature passed new laws for tax and school finance reform. Numerous are touting the law as specially excellent for Dallas colleges. The legislation contains tax cuts to firms, home tax cuts, robust taxpayer protections, and school funding and accountability improvements.

Right here is how the brand new ghd hair straightener legislation affects the Dallas colleges.

College House Tax Manage. Beforehand, the Dallas schools, in addition to other schools in Texas, could elevate the college home tax price by six cents per $100 of house just about every year ? with out voter approval. Using the new laws, any elevate from the college house tax rate of additional than four cents need to have neighborhood voter approval. In addition, the optimum college home tax was $1.fifty per $100 of home. The brand new legislation will reduced that optimum to $1.00 per $100 of house over the subsequent two many years.

A lot more Accountability and Transparency. The brand new legislation not simply demands even more bureaucracy for that Dallas schools, but they?re needed to create it readily available online. The Dallas schools will now be needed to location in depth local college ghd australia investing information on an internet web-site for any individual to review. This new level of heavy oversight gives ammunition to anybody who needs to get their name within the paper through official criticism to the legislators or even bogus court action. Some question irrespective of whether this may well lead to far more expenses to the Dallas schools to defend required expenditures that benefit Dallas schools college students, either directly or indirectly.

Instructor Compensation. Over the upside, the new laws contains a $2,000 teacher spend increase, sorely necessary by Dallas schools lecturers. A $250 million state teacher performance pay plan can also be integrated within the regulation, of which Dallas colleges will obtain its portion. The performance program is always to inspire instructing innovation and excellence.

General, the brand new laws puts $1.7 billion dollars of new income into colleges across the condition, significantly ghd australia growing the state?s reveal of community school funding. Though this new legislation does choose a burden off the Dallas schools house taxpayers by supplying a lot more state funding for common school expenses, it does reduce the nearby dollars that don?t have the heavy value tag of red tape administration, at the same time as reducing the Dallas schools capability to lift money regionally.

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Here's an expansion of mobile competition in the US that comes out of left field, even for us: GameStop as a cellular provider. GameStop Mobile, as it's called, is that rare bird of an AT&T-based MVNO that relies on a bring-your-own-device strategy. As long as your hardware works on AT&T's 850MHz and 1,900MHz bands and isn't locked to another carrier, you can bring any GSM- and HSPA-based phone (or data-only device) and use it contract-free: rates start at anything from a strictly pay-as-you-go $5 through to a $55 monthly plan with unlimited voice and text, if just an anemic 500MB of data. Tablet owners and other data-only fans can pay the same $55 for 1GB per month -- a bit stiff considering that those on AT&T proper can get 5GB of data for slightly less. No doubt this is to take advantage of iPad and iPhone trade-ins, PlayStation Vitas and the overall rise of unlocked devices. We're just wondering whether GameStop will catch a few customers subscribing as they pick up their Diablo III pre-orders or else face the uncertain future that befalls many MVNOs.

GameStop Mobile launches as AT&T virtual carrier, gives us rare bring-your-own GSM in US originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mark Zuckerberg's remote ringing of the opening bell and Facebook's initial stock trades were a bit anti-climactic in person at the NASDAQ Marketsite in New York City, as we've written -- NASDAQ is a digital exchange after all, so there's not too much to see visually. But being there was still a great opportunity to talk all things Facebook with David Kirkpatrick, the NYC-based founder of Techonomy, Fortune Magazine alum, and best-selling author of the book "The Facebook Effect -- The Inside Story Of The Company That Is Connecting The World." So we were happy to have Kirkpatrick join TechCrunch TV for an interview on the floor of the NASDAQ Marketsite.

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Michigan Republican Rep. Candice Miller no doubt made some of her GOP colleagues uneasy last week when she railed against the federal flood insurance program that members were about to extend for another 30 days. She compared it to President Barack Obama's health overhaul legislation, which the GOP opposes and vows to overturn if Republican Mitt Romney wins the White House.

Here's what Miller said: "So many of us very strongly opposed to ObamaCare, the government takeover of health care because we didn't believe the federal government should be running the health care for our entire nation. But apparently we have no problem with the federal government running a National Flood Insurance Program."

The flood insurance program was created in 1968 because many homeowners couldn't find affordable flood insurance in the private markets. Obama pushed his health-care legislation through Congress in 2010 because millions of Americans couldn't find affordable health coverage in the private markets.

Republicans are countering Miller's arguments, at least somewhat. Their 30-day extension includes a mandatory study on ways to get more private insurers into the flood insurance business.

Bruce Alpert can be reached at balpert@timespicayune.com or 202.857.5131. Jonathan Tilove can be reached at jtilove@timespicayune.com or 202.857.5125.

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1 hr.

Winda Benedetti

Is there nowhere their sharp talons can't reach? The Angry Birds have taken wing on Earth and in outer?space. And now it appears they may be flapping their way to ... a race track?

Rovio has launched a website?teasing what appears to be a new racing-themed game called "Angry Birds Heikki."

Wait ... a new game so soon after the launch of?"Angry Birds Space?" Well, more accurately, it's "an innovative and novel merchandise and webgame partnership."

At least, that's how the website?belonging to?Finnish Formula 1 star Heikki Kovalainen (for whom the game is named) describes the game, which is scheduled to launch June 18.

For its part, Rovio hasn't revealed any details about the new?webgame. But it seems highly unlikely the company is planning to release anything that resembles a truly new Angry Birds title. What seems more likely is that "Angry Birds Heikki" will be a branded spinoff along the lines of "Angry Birds Rio." Same game mechanics. Different packaging. Brand new merchandising opportunities!

Also, Heikki plans to wear an Angry Birds-themed helmet when he's flying around the racetrack.

Speaking of new merchandising opportunities ... Rovio has also partnered with Finnish jewelry company Primesmith to create a line of fancy Angry Birds-themed jewelry.

That's right, for a mere $290, you can have the Angry Birds ring at left.

--?Via The Next Web, Forbes

Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things here on Twitter or join her in the stream here on Google+. And for more video game news and reviews be sure to check out the In-Game Facebook page right here.

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MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's borrowing costs shot up at a bond auction on Thursday, after economic data confirmed the country is back in recession and reports of an outflow of deposits from nationalized Bankia hammered its share price.

The Spanish Treasury had to pay around 5 percent to attract buyers of three- and four-year bonds. The longer-dated paper sold with a yield of 5.106 percent, way above the 3.374 percent the last time it was auctioned.

"This ... fits the pattern of recent sales, with the Spanish treasury successfully getting its supply away but at ever-higher yields," said Richard McGuire, rate strategist at Rabobank in London. "This unfavorable trend looks set to remain firmly in place ... Ultimately, this ratcheting up of yields will likely require some form of outside intervention."

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Wednesday his government, struggling to reduce its budget deficit, could soon find it difficult to fund itself affordably on the bond market unless the pressure eases.

On Thursday his finance minister, Cristobal Montoro, met finance chiefs from all of Spain's 17 devolved regions, most of which missed their deficit targets last year, to review their budgets which are crucial in the drive to lower public debt.

The European Commission warned last week that high debts in the regions - which account for about half of overall public spending - and the welfare system would prevent Spain meeting its deficit goal of 5.3 percent of GDP this year.

However, one regional official said the central government had approved the budgets of all but one region - the relatively small Asturias in northern Spain.

Highly indebted Catalonia, which accounts for 20 percent of the Spanish economy, said it had reached a deal with the Madrid government on spending cuts worth 1.5 billion euros this year.

The regions must cut 15 billion euros out of their budgets, after their overspending last year caused Spain to miss its deficit reduction target badly.

Moody's agency downgraded on Thursday its rating of four regions including Catalonia and Andalucia.

WORRY LIST

Spain's 10-year yields have risen back above 6 percent, which investors view as a pivot point that could accelerate a climb to 7 percent, a cost of borrowing widely seen as unaffordable even though Madrid has raised well over half its needs for this year.

Top of the country's worry list is a banking sector beset by bad loans, the result of a property boom that bust in 2008.

El Mundo newspaper reported that customers at troubled Bankia SA had taken out more than 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion), equivalent to around 1 percent of the lender's retail and corporate deposits, over the past week.

The government denied there had been an exit of funds, but the bank's shares closed down 14 percent on Thursday on top of steep losses over the past week.

"It's not true that there is an exit of deposits at this moment from Bankia," said Economy Secretary Fernando Jimenez Latorre. Bankia itself said that deposit activity was normal.

The government last week took over Bankia, the fourth-largest lender which holds around 10 percent of Spanish deposits, in an attempt to dispel concerns over its ability to deal with losses related to the 2008 property crash.

"The majority of outflows came after the chairman resigned last week, but I think once the bank was taken over by the government, depositors calmed down a bit," said one Madrid-based trader. "The share price fall has to do with disappointed retail investors dumping the stock."

Some savers were reassured by the deposit guarantee fund which covers 100,000 euros per customer.

"I have two accounts with Bankia and up to now I have not closed them. I'm not even considering it," said Jose Ignacio Gonzalez, 42. "It must be more secure with the backing of the state, it has a guarantee."

But holders of Bankia shares, which have lost 61 percent since the company listed last July, were angry. A group of about 300, out of hundreds of thousands who bought the stock through their local Bankia branches, met to explore legal action.

"I feel totally tricked ...We all want to sell but nobody wants to buy, or only at very low prices," said one elderly investor at the meeting, who did not want to give his name.

The problem for Madrid is that the property losses which banks face are not yet quantifiable, as prices are likely to fall further.

The government told the banking sector last week to set aside another 30 billion euros in provisions, prompting some analysts to say much more would need to be done.

RECESSION AND CONTAGION

While Greece, facing fresh elections which could hasten its exit from the euro zone, has dominated headlines, uncertainty over the final cost of Spain's banking reform has raised the prospect that it could also require an international bailout, a bill the euro zone would be stretched to cover.

Stuart Gulliver, head of Europe's biggest bank HSBC, reflected on his biggest external concerns.

"It's absolutely how the euro zone plays out and whether Greece stays in, and/or whether firewalls are high enough to protect Spain and frankly whether markets take things into their own hands before (Greek elections on) June 17," he said.

Official data confirmed the Spanish economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter, putting it back into recession and facing a prolonged downturn as the government cuts spending in an attempt to wrestle down its budget deficit.

Unemployment is already running close to 25 percent, rising to around 50 percent among the young.

Even if it puts its house in order, Madrid faces the threat of contagion from Greece if it elects an anti-bailout government next month, a move which could hasten a hard default and exit from the euro zone.

"It's not Greece leaving the euro that is the major issue," said John Bearman, chief investment officer at Thomas Miller Investment, which manages roughly 3 billion pounds ($4.8 billion) of assets. "It's the domino effect."

(Additional reporting by Steve Slater, Nigel Davies, Andres Gonzalez, Julien Toyer and Sarah White; Writing by Mike Peacock; Editing by David Stamp)

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The New Rules Of Marketing Your Business Internet Money Online Opportunity To Create Money Online

The new rules of marketing start adding some pretty exotic terms. News releases, blogs, podcasting, viral marketing and online media are simply couple of. You might have come across one or two of these but likely they?re new terms to you. They all are a part of the new paradigm of internet marketing. We will take particular notice their way and just how they are able to help you make money online for the business internet money online opportunity.

Listed here are five terms you should understand to assist your business internet money online opportunity to create more money online.

(1) News releases.

News or press announcements in the past were pr (PR) presentations or news articles to draw in favorable media attention and publicity for products or occasions. These were for any closed door choose group. In the world of the internet they?ve transformed. News releases might help your business internet money online opportunity. They ought to target your buyers. They ought to utilize your key phrases. Whenever you can utilize links for your squeeze pages or web sites and press announcements can help drive customers for your opportunity.

(2) Blogs.

The word blog is really a term that originated from ?website?. It is a kind of website that includes commentary by visitors and users at the site to switch ideas, material, graphics or media. They?re a really effective tool to get customers to discover your product or services. They bring a website landing page they are driving your visitors to promote a purchase. Blogs work well in assisting your business internet money online opportunity.

(3) Podcasts.

We all have likely heard the term podcast. A podcast is comparable to a broadcast of knowledge. They may be downloaded for your computer, mobile phone, or devices that accept electronic media. They work well for supplying a brief and brief explanation of the product or service. Years back you would get a cassette with information to market you a product. In the world of the internet they?ve developed to podcasts for you to supply a simple supply of details about your product or service.

(4) Viral marketing.

Viral marketing suggests something that?s sent like the herpes virus. In fact, think about internet sites for example facebook and twitter as the host and the exchange of knowledge as the virus that propagates through the internet sites. You i can say that viral marketing. Viral promotions include videos, e-books, brandable software, images as well as texts. Each one of these types of viral marketing may be used to effectively market your business internet money online opportunity.

(5) Online media.

Online media describes information for example audio, video along with other content distributed on the internet. This type of knowledge is sent very effectively and effectively on the web. For the business internet money online opportunity, online media could be a wonderful method to present product information and educate your customers about your product and service.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

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