Monday, December 31, 2012

Across US, New Year traditions of ham hocks, icy swims

Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

More than a million people convene at Times Square, where a ball is dropped at midnight at the start of a new year. Millions more watch the festivities on television.

By Isolde Raftery, NBC News

New Years in the United States is one steeped in tradition ? the Waterford crystal ball drops over Times Square in New York, the peach drops over Atlanta; an orange drops over Miami. Noisemakers sound, kissers kiss and those who know the words sing ?Auld Lang Syne.?

Then, hours later, a brave few strip down to their skivvies and run into nearby oceans and lakes for an invigorating polar bear dip. This, they say, in the name of resolution and renewal.

Happy New Year, America. Welcome to 2013.


The new year is also a time of anticipation. In Washington, D.C., this year, thousands lined up at the National Archives to honor the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the order signed by President Abraham Lincoln which declared an end to slavery. It went into effect on Jan. 1, 1863.

Traditionally, black churches held Watch Night services, according to theleafchronicle.com, a nod to the night when slaves waited to hear the order had gone into effect. That night in churches across the South, Lincoln?s words were read aloud. ?

?We will be calling back to an old tradition,? U.S. Archivist David Ferriero told theleafchronicle.com. ?When you see thousands of people waiting in line in the dark and cold ? we know that they?re not there just for words on paper.?

New Year's Day marks the 150 anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation ? when President Lincoln sign an order that broke the back of the slave trade. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

Tradition is often marked with food, and in the South, a place of tradition in general, black-eyed peas, rice and ham hocks are cooked together to produce a deliciously salty combination. Sometimes, according to a New York Times story from 1987, greens ? representing money -- are added to the mix. The black-eyed peas represent coins.

Champagne is a given, usually accompanied by a pop, suds and a toast. Toasts are a ?verbal souvenir,? npr.org says: "It's something you take home with you as sort of a remembrance of that time."

Some background on the less obvious of these traditions: The Polar Bear Club was founded on Coney Island in 1903, when it was believed that ?a dip in the ocean during the winter can be a boon to one?s stamina, virility and immunity.?

The festivities in Times Square were started in 1904 as a huge street party held by the owners of The New York Times who wanted to celebrate the opening of their new building on 42nd Street, according to the Huffington Post. ?

The Huffington Post also tells us that the Times Square ball drop, now a symbol of its own, was a nod to another tradition ? the Royal Observatory in England would drop a ball every day at 1 p.m. so that ship captains and others in the region could synchronize time.

Happy New Year! New York's Times Square prepares for midnight revelries as more than a million people began to pack the country's biggest block party. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

If you hear people singing ? or mumbling, more likely -- "Auld Lang Syne," know that it was written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1796 who heard it sung by an old man near where he grew up. Here are the words if you want to impress at a party.

Other traditions across the country include the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., which began in 1890 to promote the city as ?the Mediterranean of the West.? It has since been folded into the festivities surrounding the Rose Bowl football game.

Mobile, Ala. continues a now five-year-old tradition with an 80-pound MoonPie that was delivered in a huge box to the Mobile Convention Center, according to local15tv.com. That?s 45,000 calories of Moon Pie.

There are other, less boisterous traditions. Faithful Catholics attend a New Year?s Eve mass in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus. And in Boston, 1,000 artists gather for First Night?Festival of the Arts, a tradition started in 1976. The event, which showcases 200 performances, attracts more than a million revelers from throughout the region.

Damian Shaw / EPA

From Sydney to Siberia, revelers celebrate the arrival of a new year.

More content from NBCNews.com:

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/31/16273543-across-america-traditions-of-ham-hocks-watch-nights-and-music?lite

ncaa bracket 2012 2012 ncaa bracket john carlson greg smith catamount mike dantoni bulls heat

Sunday, December 30, 2012

David Gregory's Interview With Obama - Business Insider

To embed this post, copy the code below and paste into your website or blog.

600px wide (preview)

400px wide (preview)

300px wide (preview)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/david-gregorys-interview-with-obama-2012-12

Shark Week 2012 evelyn lozada UFC 150 Caster Semenya Medal Count 2012 Olympics victoria beckham London 2012 rhythmic gymnastics

Spain?s recession-battered economy to grow and create new jobs in year 2014

  • Organiser of Spanish Halloween party where five died held

    Barcelona News.Net - Friday 28th December, 2012

    The owner of the company behind a giant Halloween party in Madrid that ended with a human stampede resulting in five deaths has been arrested. Miguel Angel Flores was detained because of the risk ...

  • Evictions rise in Spain

    Barcelona News.Net - Thursday 27th December, 2012

    Eviction proceedings in Spanish courts rose to a record 49,702 as of Sep 30, up 15.9 percent from the same period in 2011, authorities said Thursday. Total evictions so far in 2012 have topped the ...

  • Spain does not need European help for now

    Times of India - Friday 28th December, 2012

    Mariano Rajoy said on Friday that Spain did not need to tap for now the European Central Bank's bond-buying programme for troubled euro zone governments but did not rule out asking for aid in ...

  • 56 of Female University Students Get Drunk in Record Time Spanish Study Suggests

    Science Daily - Friday 28th December, 2012

    -; Researchers from the HealthyFit group at the University of Vigo have studied university students' lifestyles; their analysis, which includes alcohol and illegal drug consumption habits, ...

  • P.M. Rajoy says Spain faces tough year ahead

    Denver Post - Friday 28th December, 2012

    MADRID-Spain's prime minister says the country's economy faces a tough year ahead as it grapples with recession, a deep financial crisis and 25 percent unemployment. In his end-of-year ...

  • Spains PM says does not rule out asking for European aid

    The West Australian - Friday 28th December, 2012

    Reuters ? Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy arrives at parliamentary session for the formal approbation of the budget for 2013 at Parliament in Madrid December 20, 2012. REUTERS/Juan ...

  • Spain sees very tough economy in 2013

    Yahoo!7 News - Friday 28th December, 2012

    View Photo Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy attends a parliament session on Spain's 2013 budget in Madrid on December 20, 2012. Rajoy warned Friday of a "very tough" year ...

  • Shares in Spains Bankia plummet for second day

    Tampa Bay Online - Friday 28th December, 2012

    MADRID (AP) -- Shares in bailed-out Spanish bank Bankia SA are falling for a second day, dropping more than 30 percent at one point during trading on the IBEX-35 stock ...

  • Recession batters Spain in final months of 2012

    Times of India - Friday 28th December, 2012

    unemployment and a banking crisis, Spain remains stuck in recession in the final quarter of 2012, the central bank said Friday. The eurozone's ...

  • Foreign money returns to Spain for second straight month

    The West Australian - Friday 28th December, 2012

    By Clare KaneMADRID (Reuters) - Foreign investors put more money into Spain in October than they took out, marking the second month running the country has benefited from an influx of capital.Spain ...

  • Spain Retail Sales fall by only -7.8 in November

    Nasdaq - Friday 28th December, 2012

    FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - In Spain, Retail Sales (MoM) in the month of November fell -7.8%, beating consensus expectations of -10.0%, and marking an improvement from -9.7% in the previous ...

  • Iniesta No end in sight to Barcelona success

    soccerway - Friday 28th December, 2012

    Andres Iniesta believes Barcelona's current cycle of success can continue for many years to come.The attacking midfielder has been at the heart of a Blaugrana side which has set the standard in ...

  • Source: http://www.barcelonanews.net/index.php/sid/211656618/scat/943ff37d8bcb6116

    the Rumble 2012 Columbus Day 2012 carlina white Sam Champion Engaged Infield fly rule Taken 2 Venezuela Elections

    Saturday, December 29, 2012

    Global Gaming deal on shares in Razon's Bloomberry Resorts ...

    Billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.'s Bloomberry Resorts Corporation on Friday said that Global Gaming Philippines LLC has consummated the share purchase option on 921,184,056 ?Bloomberry shares at P1.67 apiece in a special block sale.

    ?

    Global Gaming bought the shares from Prime Metroline Holdings Inc. for a total consideration of $15 million, plus a 10 percent seller's cost of investment in a casino hotel. Both are parties to ?a participation agreement... on participation rights in new shares, tag-along and drag-along rights and co-investment rights...? Bloomberry corporate secretary Silverio Benny Tan disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

    ?

    Global Gaming holds the services management contract to Bloomberry?s $1.2-billion Solaire Manila casino hotel project in Pasay City.

    ?

    Bloomberry is one of four groups with a license to operate in the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation?s ?Entertainment City ? a Las Vegas-style gaming district. The others Andrew Tan?s Alliance Global, Kazuo Okada?s Tiger Resorts, and Henry Sy?s Belle Corp. ? VS, GMA News

    Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/288054/economy/companies/global-gaming-deal-on-shares-in-razon-s-bloomberry-resorts-consummated

    real life barbie zipper armenian genocide asteroid mining memorial day ivan rodriguez planetary resources

    Buying Insurance Coverage: It's Not About The Money - GLHFCasting

    Home Insurance Pismo Beach Ca The amount of cars and drivers on the road increases every year. This can lead to a higher possibility of a collision for you and your family. If you get in a car wreck, the auto insurance you have can make a large difference in what happens next. How can you determine what insurance you require and how to purchase it? Your car insurance may be able to pay for car crash expenses ranging from car repairs to replacement costs. No matter where you are living, you will need to buy some variety of auto insurance. Deciding to drive without owning insurance could cause you to repair or replace a stolen or damaged vehicle and pay the cost of any damage for which you might be responsible. Liability: Liability pays for damages due to bodily injury and property damage to others when you are responsible. It can also cover your legal fees if you are sued. Recommended, more comprehensive levels of liability insurance can be purchased that take care of more events than the stripped-down, state-mandated varieties. Personal Injury Protection: Personal injury protection pays for all medical treatment for you and your passengers, no matter who was responsible for the accident. It is sometimes referred to as no-fault coverage. State law typically sets minimum amounts. Medical Payments: Medical payment coverage can be purchased in states that are not considered no-fault and will pay no matter who is responsible for the accident. All reasonable medical or funeral expenses will be covered under this type of policy. Collision: Pays for damage to your car caused by a collision. Comprehensive: This kind of insurance protection covers all damages not caused by a collision. This could include fire and wind damage, vandalism, and burglary. Uninsured Motorist: Many drivers are ignoring the law by driving a car without purchasing the proper amount of car insurance. This type of coverage will protect you if you are in a collision with one of these drivers. Under-Insured Motorist: Pays for damages when a driver with insurance is injured in a crash caused by a driver who does not have the right amount of insurance to pay for the full amount of the damages. Emergency road service, car rental, and other varieties of car insurance can also be purchased. What you pay for auto insurance varies by company and will depend on several factors, including: * Which policies you choose * The type of the car you own * Your driving record * Your age, sex and marital status * The place where you live Some have consider auto insurance as a necessary evil, but it can truly save you from a financial disaster. Review your needs, do your research , and with the guidance of your insurance agent, make the decision that best suits you.

    Source: http://www.glhfcasting.com/buying-insurance-coverage-its-not-about-the-money-12/

    the quiet man yellow cab dropkick murphys guernsey nit colcannon dystonia

    Netflix Hammers Privacy Protections - Pilant's Business Ethics

    Netflix Hammers Privacy Protections
    Netflix Hammers Privacy Protections

    Netflix Hammers Privacy Protections

    Netflix now has the right to share your viewing habits ? Salon.com

    After nearly two years of intense lobbying, Netflix has won the reform it needs to integrate its services with Facebook. Ars Technica first reported that the Senate quietly passed a reform to the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) last week, giving video streaming companies the right to share your data for up to two years after asking for your permission once. (Mother Jones notes that ?The Senate didn?t even hold a recorded vote: The bill was approved by unanimous consent?).

    Netflix now has the right to share your viewing habits ? Salon.com

    ?

    This is a government subsidy to a business, in this case, a particular business. The act gives away a right to privacy with no return to the consumer.

    Is this good business ethics? One of the first tests of ethics is the question, ?Is it legal?? The ?reform? makes what was previously illegal into a legal act. It?s also intensely profitable. This passes the sole test of Friedman?s code, ?Does it enhance shareholder value?? Yes, it makes more money for the company. I would expect the company?s value to be enhanced.

    But this is slicing good business ethics pretty thin. It?s legal and profitable. But so are a great many things that we can be ashamed of.

    Is it bad business ethics? It takes a public good, privacy, and converts it to private profit. What did consumers gain from allowing Netflix to sell their information to other companies? That easy, they won the right to be specifically targeted in advertising. Their viewing habits can be used to get a handle on their political beliefs, whether they have children, etc.

    It might be argued that the consumer has to give permission to access his records. A blanket right has been abolished and replaced with a private opt out clause. One of the things I have learned is that few of my students even though they are computer literate have any concept of how their data can be used against them. Considering that observation and the mass of e-mails we are bombarded with, I find it unlikely an informed decision is going to be made in many cases.

    A company has been profited at a cost to the public interest. It is a government subsidy with all that implies. The company could have done better.

    James Pilant

    From around the Web -

    From the web site, 33 Bits of Entropy: (This article highlights another important issue in online privacy. jp)

    New lines will need to be drawn defining what is acceptable data-release policy, and in a way that takes into account the actual re-identification risk instead of relying on syntactic crutches such as removing ?personally identifiable? information. Perhaps there will need to be a constant process of evaluating and responding to continuing improvements in re-identification algorithms.

    Perhaps the ability of third parties to discover information about an individual?s movie rankings is not too disturbing, as movie rankings are not generally considered to be sensitive information. But because these same techniques can lead to the re-identification of data, far greater privacy concerns are implicated.

    From the web site, Tech of the Hub:

    Today, Netflix presented at the F8 conference to talk about their planned integration with Facebook. You can see what you friends are watching and they can see what you are watching on Facebook. Not only on a granular level, but Facebook will present what it finds to be interesting trends among your friends? viewing habits. Mark Zukerberg?s example showed that four of his friends just watched movies staring Johnny Depp. Netflix will be integrating with both Facebook?s newly announced Timeline as well as their OpenGraph platform. Facebook will have similar integration with Hulu.

    And, finally, from the web site, Addicting Info:

    An archaic 1988 law, the Video Privacy Protection Act, currently prevents the sharing of your video watch lists, such as with services like Netflix or Hulu, on social media outlets such as Facebook or Google+. Earlier this month, the US Senate put through an upgrade to the bill to address this issue, to little notice. It was a minor correction to an old set of laws. But when the US House got ahold of it, they put forth some edits, which is where the problem begins.

    These changes, as reported by the ACLU, divorces the bill from a larger set of laws, called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. In so doing they eliminated protections which were in place to require a warrant for accessing of cloud-based private electronic communications and other content, such as email, private social network posts, any information stored on cloud based servers. Instead, a subpoena is all that is required, a legal process but one which does not require the due diligence of a warrant, not even requiring an active investigation to acquire.

    Source: http://pilantsbusinessethics.com/2012/12/27/privacy-protection/

    kim zolciak travis pastrana quinton coples a.j. jenkins riley reiff david decastro aj jenkins

    Friday, December 28, 2012

    Blog outs staff of newspaper that published gun-owner addresses

    Yesterday we told you about the interactive map of local gun owners published by the?Journal-News,?a newspaper serving the Westchester and Rockland counties of New York, and the outcry it immediately drew. Turns out the stunt was so unpopular ? with gun owners and privacy advocates alike ? that a blogger named Christopher Fountain took it upon himself to dig up and organize the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the?Journal-News staff, starting with editor Cyndee Royle. The post is called "Keep up the heat" and encourages readers to pester the paper and prevent them from continuing to report gun-owner addresses.

    RELATED: Murdoch's Vows to Build a Pay Wall

    As long as they were keeping it to letters to the editor(s), the staff list was, at first, small potatoes as far as payback goes: the allure of the paper's original map of gun owners was the ability to see who, and how many people, owned a gun near a specific address ? the paper's stunt was a map, not just a (sparsely populated) list of names. But overnight a different retaliatory blogger decided to map the newspaper staff addresses culled thus far (from Google and elsewhere). Here's what Robert Cox, of?Talk of the Sound, came up with:

    RELATED: Typo of the Year: Obama vs. Osama

    RELATED: Joe Weisenthal Is the Best Kind of Wrong

    It's a disparate (and perhaps desperate) effort ? there are only eleven addresses, one of which is located in Manhattan ? and lacks the visual impact of the original map, which indicated just how many gun owners (and guns) there are in just two counties in blue-state New York. So it's not particularly interesting, but it may be dangerous, and it's certainly depressing ? as its author notes: "Be advised that the Journal News has been in downsizing mode for the past several years. I have to wonder if all these names are current employees but we will treat them as such until we learn otherwise."

    RELATED: Times-Picayune Reporter is Mad as Hell and She's Not Going to Take This Anymore

    It's an open question whether the retribution is misplaced. In a morning interview with CNN, Fountain said he was angered by calls from victims of domestic abuse with gun permits who were worried their whereabouts had been inadvertently revealed. And, more philosophically: "In the aftermath of Newtown, it was obviously one tragedy, but somehow they were conflating legal gun owners with some crazed tormented devil up in Newtown and putting the two together."

    Source: http://news.yahoo.com/newspaper-published-gun-owner-addresses-gets-staffs-outed-144657471.html

    jo paterno dead south carolina tuskegee airmen mike james red tails red tails heidi klum

    Ex-President George H.W. Bush in Intensive Care (Voice Of America)

    Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

    Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273377840?client_source=feed&format=rss

    oklahoma news nascar news doppler radar colorado rockies moonshine news channel 4 radar weather

    Bias complaint? Beware retaliation claim, too ? Business ...

    Here?s an important reminder for employers when an employee alleges discrimination. Regardless of the merit of the original claim, remind supervisors they can?t retaliate.

    Complaining is so-called protected activity; punishing an employee for that protected activity is illegal retaliation. It doesn?t matter whether the original complaint pans out.

    Recent case: William worked for a union, attempting to organize Texas employees of the Transportation Security Administration. William is white. The woman who supervised him at the time is not.

    William complained to other supervisors, as well as HR, that his supervisor made racial slurs that ought to be offensive to blacks. He said she called him a ?young white boy? who got the job because of his race. She also allegedly told him that she got her job by performing a sex act.

    The union response was to tell William he had to get along with his supervisor and get used to her name-calling because that?s the way things worked.

    Shortly afterward, he got into a shouting match with the supervisor. He was fired almost immediately because she told HR that she felt physically threatened.

    William sued, alleging a hostile work environment, race discrimination and retaliation.

    The court made quick work of the first two claims. It explained that the comments, though perhaps offensive, weren?t pervasive, frequent or severe enough to break the law.

    However, the court said Will?iam?s retaliation case could go to trial. It noted that he had been praised for good work and that the timing was highly suspect. (Cuth??bert??son v. American Fed??er??a??tion of Government Em??ployees, No. 3:10-CV-2107, ND TX, 2012)

    Final note: The union will have to show the jury either that William didn?t do a good job or that he really made a threat.

    Like what you've read? ...Republish it and share great business tips!

    Attention: Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, Media, Webmasters and more...

    We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

    The only thing we ask is that you keep the article exactly as it was written and formatted. You also need to include an attribution statement and link to the article.

    " This information is proudly provided by Business Management Daily.com: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/33808/bias-complaint-beware-retaliation-claim-too "

    Source: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/33808/bias-complaint-beware-retaliation-claim-too

    kim zolciak travis pastrana quinton coples a.j. jenkins riley reiff

    Thursday, December 27, 2012

    Serve With Pleasure Serve With Pleasure - ArticlesWide.com

    Traditional refrigerators and freezers are not the only applications commercial refrigeration companies offer. Commercial refrigeration manufacturers offer different products to suit any user's needs. If you are planning to buy an Ice Merchandiser and find the best deals while purchasing these machines, then I am sure you would like to go through this post.

    The advantages of having ice machines in a bar or at home is that you want freshly made ice cubes in a matter of minutes or seconds. For people running a bar or restaurant, it is important to have one of these machines to keep the customers happy when serving up drinks. As much as people find it fun to freeze up their own ice cubes, ice machines make it that much more efficient.

    You can create a strong foundation with your chefs by giving them the tools they need, like a refrigerated chef base. Whether making salads, sandwiches or pizzas, refrigerated prep tables keep all of the necessary food ingredients easily on hand. With a storage refrigerator below, a cold pan well on top and a full-length cutting board, prep tables are a must-have piece of commercial refrigeration for any restaurant. No bakery or meat counter is complete without a refrigerated display case as customers can easily see the products on display. The back of the case has sliding doors so workers can easily pull out a particular customer's desired item.

    But these machines are not just useful for bars and restaurants because people at home are also able to benefit from using these. Ice machines can be built-in, plumbed in, placed on a Tabletop or come portable. Table top ice machine is great to keep in the kitchen. These normally cost around 200 pounds or less, making it affordable to everyone. These have proved to come useful for many establishments, providing cool icy beverages in no time.

    Whether a countertop or floor model, sliding door or open air, all refrigerated Merchandisers does one thing, increase revenue by allowing customers to quickly select their own products. Refrigerated Merchandisers can be used to display everything from wine bottles to prepared sandwiches to bouquets of flowers.

    So, now be ready to serve unlimited ice to your lovable customers and feel obliged at the same time.

    For Ice Merchandiser and various Tabletop Ice Machine, browse through www.iceandwine.com and get heavy discount on all our products.

    Source: http://www.articleswide.com/article/12171-Serve_With_Pleasure_Serve_With_Pleasure.html

    cesar chavez winning lotto numbers lottery tickets mega lottery sag aftra mega mill power ball

    Fergie and Josh Duhamel: Shirtless Season's Greetings!

    Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/fergie-and-josh-duhamel-shirtless-seasons-greetings/

    davy jones death born this way foundation lytro camera lytro camera andrew brietbart branson mo monkees songs

    Joey Kissimmee: Internet Entrepreneur, Online Marketing Strategist ...

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    *