Olympics network problems point to issues, opportunities as mobile ...

By Chantal Tode

July 31, 2012

High volume of tweets contributes to network problems

Mobile users love of tweeting during live events has become a problem for wireless carriers trying to meet network coverage demands as use swells during events such as the Olympic Games. However, the high volume of mobile communications also points to significant opportunities for official sponsors such as Coca-Cola to be seen.

In a sign of the growing use of mobile during live events and the problems wireless networks are having keeping up with the demand the International Olympics Commission reported problems over the weekend with broadcasting certain events thanks to the large number of text messages, tweets and other communications via mobile phones. While high social media traffic is no surprise, the problems reported at the Olympics Games suggest the infrastructure is not keeping up with the growth in demand.

The speed of growth and widespread adoption of social tools likely outpaced the planning and infrastructure needed, said David Hewitt, Atlanta-based global mobile practice lead for SapientNitro.

Overall, meeting network coverage demands spawned by social media-induced mobile traffic is not special to the Olympics, London, or O2 for that matter, he said. In comparison, the United Statescontinues to have challenges at many of its larger sporting events even the ones sponsored by wireless operators.

Meeting consumer demand for wireless coverage at peak inspiring moments is no trivial task and will continue to be a sore spot with sports fans for quite some time.

Brands benefit
The problems occurred over the weekend, when commentators for the broadcast of the mens road cycling race were unable to get necessary information because of issues with the GPS system communication network. According to reports, the issue is with one of Britains wireless carriers, which did not have dedicated data networks for the sports data being broadcasted and the fan-based social media.

As a result of the problems, the IOC has asked spectators to avoid sending large numbers of text messages, tweets and other communications via mobile and to send communications by other means when possible.

The strong use of mobile social media at the Olympics could be good news for the many brands that have invested heavily in being Olympics Games sponsors and to have related marketing activity. Coca-Cola, British Airways and Adidas are just a few of the brands that are taking advantage of both mobile and social to tap into the excitement around the Olympics.

The official London 2012 Olympics apps.

Brands benefit when theyre mentioned, or seen, said Marc Poirier, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Acquisio, Brossard, Canada.

With the right positioning, an ad posted at the finish line or other placement could show up in, potentially, thousands of images being shared around the world via social media outlets, he said.

In addition to displaying ads to those present and those watching on TV, brands now have an additional opportunity to be seen all over the Internet via social media photo sharing, improving their visibility massively.

Growth will continue
Consumers use of mobile to engage in social media, watch and share videos and otherwise consume content is growing by leaps and bounds. The volume is up significantly since the last Olympics Games and while organizers said they were prepared, the issues this weekend in London point to the need for better mobile support.

A recent Live Nation study found that approximately 40 percent of consumers at concert events share their experience on Facebook while roughly 10 percent of consumers use Twitter to share a live event experience. Seventy-five percent of users take photos and 63 percent text during a live event (see story).

We can probably find a few different entities to blame for this, but what this should really come down to is a lesson in what we can expect from the future, Mr. Poirier said.

Since the last Olympics four years ago there has been explosive growth in the number of individuals using smartphones up 456 percent ? and other mobile devices to connect to social media outlets, but the reality is that networks are not built for this kind of constant and consistent load, he said.

The Olympic organizers will have to be better prepared for their own contingencies to ensure their equipment can function properly next time, as theres sure to be even more growth by then.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York

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Article source: http://feeds.mobilemarketer.com/~r/homepage-news/~3/CMTqVv-c1Jo/13420.html

Tags: Messaging, mobile, SMS, text

This entry was posted on July 31, 2012 at 4:43 AM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Posted in Mobile Text Message (SMS) Marketing by JeffArnold

Source: http://www.pocket-promo.com/olympics-network-problems-point-to-issues-opportunities-as-mobile-social-use-skyrockets/

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Medical Marijuana and Legalisation | Autism

Health and Fitness | Autism | * Written by Mark Phillips | Monday, 30 July 2012 01:46 | Word Count: 450

As of 2012, marijuana is still classified as Schedule 1 ? a drug with no medical value ? according to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. However, cannabis has been proven to reduce symptoms in a number of disabilities and diseases. This view is supported by anecdotal evidence from people who have used marijuana for medicinal purposes, and by proven scientific research.

In 2010, a team of researchers at the McGill University Health Centre in Canada found that the drug significantly reduced chronic pain in patients with damaged nerves caused by traumatic injury or surgery.

Twenty-one patients aged between 25 to 77 smoked 25 milligrams from a pipe three times a day for five days. The highest potency strain, which contained 9.4% of the active ingredient THC, reduced pain, decreased anxiety and depression, and aided sleep.

Doctors recorded no significant fluctuations in vital signs, heart rate and kidney functions.

Last year, researchers at the University of California found that people with the degenerative condition multiple sclerosis had decreased pain and muscle tightness as a result of smoking cannabis.

The study, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, tested thirty MS sufferers ? 63% of them women - with an average age of fifty. More than half the people tested needed walking aids such as sticks and frames. Twenty percent were in wheelchairs. Some of the study volunteers were randomly chosen to receive marijuana, while others were given a placebo.

The research found that those participants who smoked cannabis were had a 50% decrease in pain scores, and had less muscle tightness and spasticity than volunteers given a placebo.

Marijuana use for medicinal purposes is currently legal in sixteen US states plus the capital Washington DC.

In March 2012, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine discovered that chemicals found in cannabis can inhibit a type of HIV found in late-stage AIDS. The findings, published in the online journal PLoS ONE, showed that receptors found on immune cells released a marijuana-like chemical called CB2 to suppress the infection in resting immune cells.

The drug is already prescribed to HIV sufferers in the United States to treat pain, debilitating weight loss and appetite suppression. These symptoms are common in advanced AIDS.

The legalisation of cannabis in the UK would prevent people from receiving police cautions for the relatively minor offence of possession. This would remove the risk of people jeopardising their employment prospects. With the UK currently in recession and many young people struggling to find work, the criminalisation of the drug sees a number of law-abiding people denied jobs because of unnecessary legislation.

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Author of this article: Mark Phillips.

Mark Phillips joined FAFY - Free Article For You on Monday, 16 July 2012.

Source: http://www.freearticleforyou.com/Health-and-Fitness/Autism/medical-marijuana-and-legalisation.html

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4 Steps to Better Understand Your Brand's Social Media Relationships

Many brands have moved beyond dabbling in social media to implementing more in-depth social media strategies that require more resources. With more resources comes more scrutiny.

A well thought out social media strategy isnt complete unless there is a plan in place to measure the results. This is where many brands get tripped up because they arent sure how to bring all the required data together for accurate analysis. One aspect of the analysis should be to focus on understanding the relationships your brand has with individuals and how these relationships grow over time.

This type of analysis isnt easy to perform without either an advanced social media analytics tool or some elbow grease by the brand to collect and then analyze all the data.

To gather the information required to conduct analysis at the individual level, brands should follow these four steps.

Step 1: Social Media Monitoring Data

Utilizing social media monitoring data will allow brands to understand the brand related conversations that occur outside of the properties they control. The use of these tools is fairly common as an engagement platform, but fewer brands utilize the data for in-depth analysis at the individual level.

In order to do this, you must retain the data associated with the engagements that individuals have with or related to the brand over time. This will allow you to begin to understand who is important to your brand, the types of engagements you have with them, and how, over time, the engagements impact the relationship you have with the individual.

Essentially, youre building relationship profiles for the individuals who interact with or about your brand.

Social media monitoring data doesnt cover all the relevant conversions.

Step 2: Facebook Graph API Data

Brands can get an abundance of data from the Facebook Insights interface, but it doesnt go to the level that is required for individual level analysis. Instead, you must make use of the wealth of data that is available via the Graph API.

Here you will gain access to all the information about the wall of the brands page, which includes all the engagement that occurs. Once you begin to access this data via the Graph API, you will then be able to start storing the historical data related to the page and begin to build up a repository of data related to the engagement that occurs on the page.

This incredibly valuable data contains information on exactly who engaged, when they engaged, the type of engagements they had, as well as what they said or what they liked.

By utilizing this data, you will be able to quantify the relationships that the brand has with specific Facebook users instead of just looking at the aggregate metrics that are provided by Facebook Insights.

Step 3: Twitter API Data

Similar to Facebook, using the Twitter API will you to retain historical data about how people engage on Twitter with your brand.

By accessing and storing metrics related to your full Twitter stream, you will be able to see if you are successful at creating more engagement by gaining insights into metrics such as the volume of retweets and replies over time and if these engaged users are followers or non-followers.

More importantly, you will also be able to see exactly who the individuals are who are engaging with your brand on Twitter.

You will now be able to understand engagement at the individual level over time by seeing what each person retweets and replies to and what each individual says in their tweets when they mention your brand. This allows you to see the relationship that your brand has with individual Twitter users and how the relationships are cultivated and grow over time.

Step 4: Combine the Data

Once you start collecting the data from each of the sources, you can then begin to combine the individual level engagement data across all three sources.

You now have an incredibly valuable data set that can be used to create relationship profiles for each individual. You will also be able to connect an individuals accounts across platforms to get a more holistic view of your brands relationship with each individual.

Once you have a better understanding of your brands relationships, you will be able to categorize or prioritize individuals, which should help the brand cultivate long-term relationships. It will also help find key influencers, potential brand ambassadors, promising new relationships, and even relationships that are at risk.

Taking it a step further, you can then work toward connecting these individuals to your email and CRM systems to truly capture the full picture.

It definitely isnt an easy feat to pull off, but working toward the end goal of having user level engagement data will allow you to fit another piece into the measuring the impact of social media investment puzzle.

Join us for SES San Francisco 2012 from Aug. 13 to 17. Learn the latest tools, trends, and strategies in search engine optimization (SEO), paid search (PPC), analytics, social media, local, mobile, and much more. Time is running out, so register before August 12 and save up to $200!

This entry was posted on July 31, 2012, 6:48 AM and is filed under Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://www.a2zsports.net/2012/07/4-steps-to-better-understand-your-brands-social-media-relationships/

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Romney: US, Israel differences embolden enemies

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Mitt Romney says any public differences between the United States and Israel only embolden adversaries.

The U.S. presidential candidate says it is a "basic truth" that the United States and Israel will always stand together.

Without mentioning the tensions between President Barack Obama and Israel's leaders, Romney suggested in a Jerusalem speech Sunday that the diplomatic differences only encourage Israel's enemies.

Obama has, at times, broken with Israel's leaders and called on Israel to follow through on its commitments, such as to halt building of housing settlements.

Romney says he would never criticize Israel and would be a steadfast ally to the Jewish state.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/romney-us-israel-differences-embolden-enemies-164915554.html

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Developmental Disabilities in the News: Gym Caters to People with ...

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Gym Caters to People with Disabilities

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- If you think it feels good when you blow off some stress with a hard workout, slip into 15-year-old Jake Eisenstat?s skin for a while. With a diagnosis of severe attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and executive dysfunction, the Potomac teen has so much trouble focusing that his parents school him at home. His stamina is poor, and the development of his spatial awareness is delayed.
One day last week, he was in the newly reopened Fitness for Health gym in Rockville, using the Trazer, a floor-sized adaptation of the Dance Dance Revolution game, working on his agility and anticipation. The exercise also helps improves his concentration, at least for a while.

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Source: http://disabilitiesnews.blogspot.com/2012/07/gym-caters-to-people-with-disabilities.html

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Key role for Bill Clinton at Democratic convention

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Former President Bill Clinton will have a marquee role in this summer's Democratic National Convention, where he will make a forceful case for President Barack Obama's re-election and his economic vision for the country, several Obama campaign and Democratic party officials said Sunday.

The move gives the Obama campaign an opportunity to take advantage of the former president's immense popularity and remind voters that a Democrat was in the White House the last time the American economy was thriving.

Obama personally asked Clinton to speak at the convention and place Obama's name in nomination, and Clinton enthusiastically accepted, officials said. Clinton speaks regularly to Obama and to campaign officials about strategy.

Clinton's prominent role at the convention will also allow Democrats to embrace party unity in a way that is impossible for Republican rival Mitt Romney.

George W. Bush, the last Republican to hold the White House, remains politically toxic in some circles. While Bush has endorsed Romney, he is not involved in his campaign and has said he does not plan to attend the GOP convention.

Clinton will speak in prime-time at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 5, the night before Obama formally accepts the party nomination. While the number two on the ticket often speaks that night, the Obama campaign has instead decided that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will speak on the same night.

Biden will speak before Obama on Sept. 6, in front of tens of thousands of people expected to fill an outdoor stadium in Charlotte, and millions more on television.

The vice president's speech will focus on outlining many of the challenges the White House has faced over the past four years and the decisions Obama made to address them, officials said.

"To us it's about deploying our assets in the most effective way," Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said. "To have President Clinton on Wednesday night laying out the choice facing voters, and then having Vice President Biden speak right before the president in prime time on Thursday, giving a testimony to the decisions the president has made, the character of his leadership and the battle to rebuild the middle class that's so central to our message."

Clinton's role at the convention was to be formally announced Monday. It was first reported by The New York Times.

Clinton spoke at the 2008 convention, part of a healing process for the Democratic party following the heated primary battle between Obama and the former president's wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Since then, the ties between Obama and Bill Clinton have strengthened significantly. Obama has called on the former president for advice several times during his term and the two have appeared together this year at campaign fundraisers for Obama's re-election bid.

___

Associated Press writer Beth Fouhy in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/key-role-bill-clinton-democratic-convention-025214796.html

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Holsman Physical Therapy Opens Location on ADVANCE for ...

RAHWAY, NJ -- Holsman Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, a clinic group practice of physical, speech and occupational therapists, announced the opening of a new location in Rahway, NJ. The clinic is now open for business Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment only on Saturdays.

Holsman Physical Therapy provides physical therapy and occupational therapy specializing in geriatric rehabilitation, orthopedic conditions, arthritis, neurological therapy, and balance and fall prevention.

"We are excited to open this location in Rahway so that we can offer our special combination of treatments," said Richard Holsman, PT, MAT, GCS, president and CEO. "We not only offer physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, but also wellness programs such as yoga, tai chi, aerobic conditioning, weight loss programs and massage therapy."

Holsman is director of rehabilitation services, clinical instructor and center coordinator of clinical education at Forest Hill Healthcare Center/University of Medicine & Dentistry in New Jersey, School of Health Related Professions. He is also owner of Holsman Healthcare, a healthcare staffing and consulting services company, and Home Therapy LLC, a provider of therapy services in New York State.

Holsman Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation serves patients and clients throughout Essex, Passaic and Bergen Counties and residents of Clifton, Belleville, Nutley, Newark, Cedar Grove, Montclair and Wayne Township.

Visit www.holsmanpt.com

Source: http://physical-therapy.advanceweb.com/News/Daily-News-Watch/Holsman-Physical-Therapy-Opens-Location.aspx

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The Challenge of Healthy Eating ? The What's for Lunch Project

You can lose up to 6 pounds in two weeks?without exercising.

That?s the claim made by Kellogg?s Special K Challenge, anyway, which asserts
that replacing two meals per day with Special K products helps consumers can result
shedding up to six pounds in the short span of two weeks. Special K?s meal replacement
options are vast?and their touted benefits are enticing. There are ten varieties of
breakfast cereals, snack bars, granola bars, and meal bars, protein shakes, protein water,
and even crackers and chips, all the designed to be low in calories and high in diet-
payoff.

And with product flavors like ?Chocolatey Delight,? ?Raspberry Cheesecake,?
and ?Brown Sugar Cinnamon,? the Special K Challenge seems like a pretty sweet deal.

But before you dig into that first spoonful of cereal, take a moment to consider the costs
of a low-calorie diet based on highly-processed foods. Consider that there?s more to lose
on the Special K diet than just six pounds.

For evidence, start with the most important meal of the day?and compare Special K?s
Fruit and Yogurt cereal to Post?s ubiquitous morning staple, Shredded Wheat.

With a half cup of skim milk added, a serving of Special K Fruit and Yogurt weighs in
at 160 calories, with 10 grams of sugar, 3 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein. It also
boasts an ingredients list that?s over 30 items long. Additionally, that ingredients list
includes seven types of sweeteners: sugar, corn syrup, brown sugar syrup, brown sugar,
confectioner?s glaze, honey, and molasses.

A one-cup serving of Shredded Wheat with the same amount of milk has a higher caloric
price tag, at 210. But for those extra calories, breakfasters get 6 grams of both protein and
fiber?and no sugar at all. What?s more? Shredded Wheat has a single ingredient: whole
grain wheat.

Special K?s cereal has less calories?but it?s also nutritionally poorer, with more of the
excess sugar that can contribute to diabetes and less of the satisfying protein and fiber to
fill a hungry stomach. Most Special K products are similarly guilty. The French Vanilla
protein shake packs 18 grams of sugar (nearly as much at a pack of Reese?s peanut butter
cups) and the Chocolate Caramel meal bar has 15.

Still, the promise of losing 6 pounds in two weeks coerces many consumers to purchase
and eat the empty, sugary calories provided by the Challenge-approved products.

And if two of your meals each day are bowls of cereal at only 160 calories each, losing
weight is almost an inevitability. But the Special K Challenge comes at a cost. In order
to achieve the average participant?s weight loss of 4.8 pounds, those who partake in the

Challenge sacrifice adequate nutrition from whole foods.

But it seems many Americans?especially those concerned with weight?believe that the
number of calories is the only nutrition statistic that matters.

This is the attitude behind the Speical K Challenge. It?s the attitude behind brands like
Lean Cuisine, and diet programs made entirely of frozen, processed food, like Jenny
Craig. And this attitude will not cure or counter the epidemics of obesity and diabetes in
this country.

Even worse, this attitude has already trickled into the regulation of products sold in
public school lunches. Many states have prohibited the sale of soda in cafeterias. But if
they?re only replaced by diet drinks with unnatural, artificial sweeteners, has the selection
really improved? Replacing soda with diet drinks is not a solution. Simply lowering
calories cannot be a solution.

Americans? relationship with food, with obesity, and with diabetes will change?only
if both consumers and manufacturers start to value caloric quality over caloric quantity.
Our nation will become healthier only if we Challenge ourselves eat better, instead of just
eating less.

Source: http://wflproject.com/2012/07/the-challenge-of-healthy-eating/

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Hearing on campaign finance reforms championed by Buddy ...

Too late to help propel his now castoff presidential ambitions, Buddy Roemer, or at any rate the issue of campaign finance reform he has championed, is finally drawing a crowd. At the end of a two-hour hearing Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights titled, "Taking Back Our Democracy: Responding to Citizens United and the Rise of Super PACs," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chaired the hearing, noted that 400 people had packed the hearing and a nearby overflow room.

It was a crowd that occasionally made its sentiments known at a hearing that was, with the exception of Roemer and Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, an entirely Democratic affair. No Republican members of the Senate attended the hearing, not even Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., who had asked that Shapiro appear to deliver a contrary point of view.

Roemer entered Congress as a Democrat with Durbin 31 years ago, but, while serving as governor of Louisiana, switched parties in 1991. Roemer ran for the Republican presidential nomination, and then launched an independent run for president. In both incarnations he ran as an apostle of reforms intended to remove the corrupting influence of money on politics. Those campaigns now behind him, Roemer has founded The Reform Project, with the same mission.

Roemer is calling for such statutory changes as requiring full and swift disclosure of contributions, a ban on lobbyist contributions and limiting PAC contributions so the committees cannot give more to any candidate than an individual can give. Roemer said that after the hearing Durbin expressed interest in crafting legislation that might embody some of his ideas, and Roemer said he plans to call out Republicans for sacrificing their one-time zeal for disclosure on the altar of big money.

Bruce Alpert can be reached at balpert@timespicayune.com or 202.450.1406. Jonathan Tilove can be reached at jtilove@timespicayune.com or 202.450.1404.

Source: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/07/hearing_on_campaign_finance_re.html

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Legal action for missuse of Jamaica 50 trademark - Latest Jamaican ...

Persons who attempt to use the Jamaica 50 trademark without the proper licensing requirements could face legal action.

The Jamaica 50 Secretariat says merchandise being sold locally and internationally, purportedly bearing the official Jamaica 50 logo, are being keenly monitored by officials from the Youth and Culture Ministry.

The Secretariat is warning that action will be taken to remove counterfeit and bogus products from marketplaces, and legal options for redress pursued.

The Secretariat says this is to ensure that the public is protected from bogus goods and that the rights of licensees are protected.

?It revealed that products that use the Jamaica 50 trademark and events that use the logo without the required licensing are pirating the trademark.

The Secretariat says collectors of Jamaican memorabilia who are interested in securing authentic Jamaica 50 merchandise can purchase these at the Jamaica 50 Golden Jubilee Village to be held at Independence Park from August 1 to 6.

The Jamaica 50 designation has so far been trademarked in Jamaica and 27 other countries.

The Jamaica 50 website Jamaica50.com carries the list of authorised manufacturers of Jamaica 50 merchandise and also retail outlets.

Members of the public are being urged to report suspected piracy of the products or trademarks.

View the original article here

Source: http://jamaicanewsblogger.blogspot.com/2012/07/legal-action-for-missuse-of-jamaica-50.html

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Sony rep confirms some 2011 Xperia handsets won't be tasting Google's Jelly Bean

Some of you might be familiar with Sony's earlier struggles to successfully (and in a timely manner) deliver Google's Ice Cream Sandwich to a slew of Xperia handsets. And, as we all know, Android 4.0's no longer the freshest treat around, thus the Walkman maker will now have to answer all the Jelly Bean questions to come. The first one to do so was a resident Sony mobile expert on the company's UK Facebook page, revealing that the Xperia Arc S and the itty-bitty Xperia Mini Pro won't be receiving the latest and greatest OS from Mountain View. Meanwhile, he also stated there's nothing buttery in the works for the elegant Xperia S, though he did say "ICS should now be approved" for the device. Perhaps this is a sign it's time to start looking for an upgrade, no?

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Sony rep confirms some 2011 Xperia handsets won't be tasting Google's Jelly Bean originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Xperia Blog  |  Sony UK (Facebook)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/GnyJh7ASy_E/

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6 Dangerous Reasons People Do Not Set Goals and Never ...

Goal-setting is the framework for personal achievement. It is the backbone of becoming a person you desire to be. Setting and achieving personal goals will guarantee you success. Most people who do set goals have little to no understanding of goal-setting and as a result fail to achieve them and never succeed. You would think that if goal-setting was the ultimate skill and secret to success that everyone would develop their own personal goals and learn to achieve them. Unfortunately, the world is not that perfect. There are six dangerous reasons people do not set and achieve their goals which act like a road block to their success.

The first reason I believe why people do not set goals is they do not see its importance. Like people who do not develop their communication and other aspects of themselves, they do not see the importance of setting goals. I have met people who are unbelievably resistant to developing their communication. They have actually found it insulting to think they need to improve how they communicate! Every single person on the face of this Earth can always communicate more effectively and have their life improve as a result. Likewise, with goals there are people who do not see the importance of setting personal goals. Goal-setting forms the foundations for personal achievement and it is of the utmost importance.

The second reason why people do not set goals is a fear of others caused from criticism. People criticize because they see faults in others or are brainwashed by society and other beliefs into thinking greatness cannot be achieved. They criticize to hold people back from achieving goals. Average people do not want others to go beyond average. A person can fear setting goals because each time they have set goals in the past, others have criticized and shot down their dreams. Others impose their own self-limiting beliefs through criticism instilling fear within the person. To bluntly solve this, screw what people think. Screw allowing people to destroy your life with their beliefs. Society is filled with endless garbage to prevent you from achieving your goals. If you want something, go and get it by setting and achieving personal goals.

The third reason why people do not set goals is a fear of failure. They can think success is derived from not failing. The opposite is true. Success comes from failing a lot and failing fast. Famous inventor Thomas Edison said, ?I haven?t failed. I?ve just found 10,000 ways that won?t work.? Being an inventor, Edison understood that failure was apart of success. Failure was the nuts and bolts that constructed his success. Understand that failure occurs and it shows you are taking action. Learn from failure and enjoy knowing you are moving towards your goals instead of fearing to set out after them in the first place.

The fourth reason why people do not set goals is a fear success. People who fear success believe it is bad. The fear is common in wealth and wanting an attractive partner because negative results will occur. They believe wealth is evil or a certain type of partner is unfaithful. The fear prevents them achieving what they want by not laying the foundations of their desire with goal-setting.

The fifth reason why people do not set goals is they do not know how. This reason relates to fear of failure where the person has set goals in the past, but has not achieved them and becomes discouraged from the failure. These people become disheartened from the failure and think failure is imminent. They do not learn from past mistakes and move towards personal growth. There are techniques such as setting SMART achievable goals which I have written about but are not covered in this article. Using SMART goals enables you to set and achieve goals then merely wishing a result based on temporary motivation too common around the new years period.

The sixth reason why people do not set goals is they lack the inner desire to want something greater than what they currently have. For them, the ordinary or even sub-ordinary is sufficient. These people do not believe they can reach or deserve success because society has conditioned them into thinking they are ordinary people and therefore must do ordinary things. It can also be caused by failure, criticism, and other reasons as to why people do not set goals.

Did you find yourself relating to one of these six dangerous reasons people do not set goals and as a result never succeed? Do not fret too much because you are now more self-aware and able to doing something about. All that is required for you to do is learn how to set achievable goals. I personally advise people how to set SMART, achievable goals technique because its congruency with successful goal-setting is spot on. You set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and tangible goals leading to your success. Master this skill and you will have the most powerful personal development technique in your grasp to achieve success.

A bit of humor...

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Two dead, over 100,000 without power after fierce storms

ELMIRA, New York (Reuters) - Two people were dead and more than 100,000 homes and businesses in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania were without electricity Friday morning after severe thunderstorms swept through the region late Thursday.

The storms spawned a tornado that touched down in Elmira, New York, toppling trees and tearing off roofs, the National Weather Service said.

Officials in Pennsylvania and New York reported two storm-related deaths.

A woman who was camping in Genesee, Pennsylvania, near the New York State line, was killed when she took refuge from the storm in her car and a tree then fell on it, John Hetrick, director of emergency services for Potter County, said.

In New York City, a 61-year-old man in Brooklyn's Cobble Hill neighborhood was killed when scaffolding at a church collapsed on him as the storm passed through near 8 p.m., police said.

"It's possible that lightning struck the top of the roof, causing some bricks to fall on top of the scaffolding, causing the scaffolding to fall on top of the victim," a police spokesman said.

In Elmira, the city's east side took the biggest hit from the tornado. In one four-block neighborhood, most homes had trees toppled upon them, street signs were bent in half and tree trunks had debris wrapped around them. Several cars were crushed by downed trees.

One two-story brick building had most of the second story torn off in the storm.

On Friday morning, most power remained out for the city's 29,000 residents.

Meteorologists said 70-mile-per-hour (113-kph) winds were reported in parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma.

As the storms sent black, menacing clouds rolling across some cities, hail ranging from the size of a dime to a quarter fell in some areas of Pennsylvania, AccuWeather.com said.

Pennsylvania accounted for a majority of those still without power, with more than 85,000 customers in the dark early Friday, according to electric companies serving the region.

Roughly 34,000 people in New York were without power, most of them in the southern tier region near Elmira, according to NYSEG. About 13,500 customers in eastern Ohio were still offline, according to AEP Ohio.

The storms formed along a cold front stretching from the Northeast into the Ohio Valley, bringing the threat of damaging winds, hail and tornadoes, according to the Weather Channel.

The storm activity forced the cancellation of over 900 flights on Thursday, according to FlightAware, a Texas-based company that tracks the status of flights. The highest number of cancellations was at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

(Additional reporting by Kevin Gray and Alex Dobuzinskis; Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/storms-northeast-knock-power-cause-flight-delays-010604070.html

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9 Methods to Improve Web Visitors | ONLINE BUSINESS TIPS

There are many methods to improve net traffic; essentially the most important needless to say is
supplying some ongoing and dynamic value like blogs or on the internet discussion
that preserve the identical people coming back, but a host of other possibilities exist
which includes:

Seo

We?ve touched on this in previous chapters but ?search Engine
Optimization or ?sEO because it is typically referred to can be a massive achievement for
numerous websites, and has even spawned a service business in its personal right
where people are finding paid to optimize your site and site
submissions to try and improve how nicely your website ranks on several
search engines. Ideally you must do this your self by submitting to
numerous directories and utilizing the guidelines and hints I?ve already mentioned but in the event you are Internet Impaired it could be worth paying a consultant
to help you.

List your website in Directories and Search engines like google

You will find many search engines like google and directories around exactly where you
can list your web site for increased exposure. Some charge a fee whilst
others are totally free or low-cost however the essential factor to keep in mind is always to
go by means of each a single IN Particular person and optimize the information you give
every single to ensure the listing gives the best interface for your internet site as
feasible.

Participate in Link Exchanges

A link exchange refers for the act of obtaining an URL or hyperlink from
yet another internet site either on your page or another internet site pointing to pages on
your web site. With Exchanges one more webmaster will link for your web site in
exchange for you personally linking to theirs hopefully complimenting every
other people web sites.

Advertise your site by way of AdWords or other resources like
banner advertisements

You can find a lot of marketing avenues out there to obtain your web site
elevated recognition, the simplest needless to say link exchanges and wordof-
mouth, but paid strategies such as making use of Google?s AdWords system
to pop up a link for your internet site when particular search phrases are entered into
search engines is really a quite effective method to enhance traffic for your sites.
From the vendor side it functions like this: you bid (or offer) an quantity
that you just will spend for a list of keywords and phrases used when men and women query.
Depending on your bid and the maximum daily expenditure settings
you specify (the largest quantity of payout you will be willing to do on any
given day) your ad shows and you?re charged for every user who clicks
through the ad for your web site.

Get published on other sites

The internet can be a wide spot along with a large amount of people are around every single
day so try and take part in other internet sites having a related interest to yours
and post articles and stories make certain to include a link or reference to
your net web site and viola! Free marketing!

Request Evaluations from magazines and on the internet webmasters

Many other web sites have a link or rating page where it is possible to ask them
to supply feedback and suggestions in your page and its content material
doing so will often not simply collect further interest and visibility but
might help you to tweak your site and enhance it to far better meet your
needs.

Post in chat rooms and on blogs

Just as with posting articles utilizing chat and blog entries to promote
your web site can be a good ?semi-permanent strategy to get your internet site address
on the market before the public.

Give away free gifts and hold contests

This really is actually a variation from the consumer rewards plan thought by
holding a contest, say a $100 grand prize eBook contest exactly where you get the rights to all submitted eBooks along with the winner gets $100 you are able to
create site visitors and often get other rewards. Ideas contain help
create a logo or closes predictions for the upcoming election
anything you?ll be able to consider could be pressed into service in fact!

Join local business organizations

An often overlooked benefit of any community could be the neighborhood corporations
and merchants too as the Far better Business Bureau. Being a
member can not only let your fellow businesses be aware of you and
your site, but may also introduce you to new concepts and tools you
can use to improve both your visibility and profitability.

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Source: http://mario-petrovic-biz.com/9-methods-to-improve-web-visitors/

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Open house on 7/29/2012 at Tewksbury, MA 01876 | ERA Home ...

From: 7/29/2012 1:00:00 PM to 7/29/2012 3:00:00 PM??
For Directions: click on the map image or feel free to contact me.??
For more information: click here for the full details??

**Buyers Financing Fell Through ? Available Immediately!!! Light and bright END unit townhouse with 2 car garage & plenty of backyard space! Spacious kitchen opens to living room and sliders to back patio. Huge master suite with full bath and large walk in closet. Full basement for storage or upgrade to add living space. Great location, close to amenities and highways for commuting. Includes 1 yr builder warranty plus additional 4 year warranty by American Home Shield.

Source: http://www.erahomeandfamily.com/blog/open-house-on-7292012-at-tewksbury-ma-01876-2

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VEGAN Food Pantry Healthy Recipes Cook Whole Foods Market ...

MEATvideo.com (must see factory farms), VegCooking.com (natural recipes), HappyCow.net (find restaurants and shops worldwide), VeganBodyBuilding.com, FamousVeggie.com, VeganHealth.org (Dietician), PCRM.org (Drs for prevention over costly-less effective animal tested pills), AdoptaCollege.org (Volunteer/Donate), MercyforAnimals.org?

Duration : 0:8:23

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Mobile users upgrading to smartphones at record rates, and choosing Android

11 hrs.

Devin Coldewey

New numbers from ComScore show that users of feature phones are upgrading to smartphones?at record rates, and are overwhelmingly choosing Android for their new platform.

In April,?2011, just over 60 percent of feature?phone users chose to stay with a feature phone when they got a new one. In April of this year, that number is down to 50 percent; meanwhile, the proportion of?users choosing to upgrade to smartphones has gone from 38% percent?to 47.5 percent in the same period. It's the tipping point for smartphone adoption: it's very likely that within a few months, smartphone upgraders will outnumber feature?phone keepers.

Android is the platform of choice for these new users, according to ComScore's numbers: 61.5 percent of new smartphone users in April chose Android, while a significant but still much smaller 25.2 percent picked up?an iPhone. Meanwhile, 7.1 percent went with Microsoft and just 4.8 percent with BlackBerry.

This is likely due to the fact that Android phones are present on every carrier, often for free. Many people are simply?looking to get GPS and email on their phones, but are?not particularly interested in the premium features of more expensive Android models or the iPhone 4S. A cheap Android-based phone may not excite enthusiasts who keep up with the latest hardware, but as a free complement to a new carrier contract, it appears to be very compelling to customers.

The study comes on the heels of another by Nielsen concluding that two-thirds of all phones bought in the U.S. are smartphones. Now it appears that the remaining third, which was the subject of the ComScore's research, is going to be shrinking even faster than before.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/technology/gadgetbox/mobile-users-upgrading-smartphones-record-rates-choosing-android-910682

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More troops deployed at Games, weather big worry

LONDON (Reuters) - The government deployed 1,200 more soldiers to secure the Olympics on Tuesday, as embarrassed organisers scrambled to fill a shortfall left by a private firm hired to guard the Games just three days before the opening ceremony.

Police stressed, however, that they were content with security arrangements for the greatest show on earth, which kicks off in Cardiff in Wales on Wednesday with a football match between the women's teams of Britain and New Zealand.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors have descended on London from around the world and a million extra people are expected in the city every day of the July 27-August 12 event, putting pressure on a creaking transport system some of which dates from the 19th century.

Yet for all the grumbling by a notoriously critical media and Londoners braced for disruptions to their daily lives, the sense of excitement is palpable with the Games just around the corner and the sun shining brightly after weeks of rain.

And the early buzz from Monday evening's technical rehearsal for the opening ceremony at the main stadium of the sprawling Olympic Park was positive, suggesting film-maker Danny Boyle's unusual, quirky and ambitious vision might just work.

"I'm very satisfied that we're in a very good place," said Chris Allison, Britain's national Olympic security adviser, when asked whether he was happy with arrangements in place to deal with any possible terrorist threat.

"We've done all the planning, we've looked at the way in which terrorists have attacked in the past and we try to make sure that none of those could get through our security measures," he told reporters at a daily Olympic briefing.

SECURITY PARAMOUNT

About 11 million visitors will witness the thrill of victory and despair of defeat as some of the world's greatest athletes, from Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt to U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, battle for the ultimate prize in sport - Olympic gold.

The Games will cost nine billion pounds to stage, and in spite of criticism of the outlay during straitened economic times, officials have defended the spending as most goes into regenerating run-down east London for the long term.

As well as a flood of ordinary people, luxury yachts of the super-rich have moored close to the stadium and amongst expected dignitaries are Russian President Vladimir Putin, presidential candidate Mitt Romney and U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama.

Security is a sensitive issue in London, hit by suicide bomb attacks in July, 2005 that killed 52 people. They struck the day after the capital was awarded the 2012 Games.

And the issue has taken on added significance in the 40th anniversary year of the 1972 Munich attack by Palestinian militants that killed 11 Israeli Olympic team members.

Their widows arrive in London on Wednesday to pressure Olympics organisers to mark the tragedy, stepping up a long campaign to organise an official commemoration.

Romney joined the debate, saying he supported a minute's silence at Friday's opening ceremony, and Olympic chief Jacques Rogge paid a surprise tribute to the athletes in London on Monday.

GOOD VIBRATIONS

Around 30,000 people, including family members of the huge cast of men, women and children taking part, filled the main Olympic stadium on a balmy Monday evening for the first open rehearsal of the opening ceremony.

Most honoured Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" director Boyle's pleas for details of the event to remain secret and off the public pages of Twitter and Facebook.

The opening ceremony mastermind has voiced frustration at the media and members of the public who have leaked elements of the ceremony, which is inspired by William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" and has a strong musical element.

What is officially known is that the first sequence recreates a pastoral idyll, complete with geese, sheep, horse and cart, fields, fences and a game of village cricket. The ceremony is expected to be artistic and intimate compared to the Beijing opening extravaganza.

What the media has since leaked includes elements of the next "act" of the show, recreating the "dark Satanic mills" of William Blake whose poem including this reference to the Industrial Revolution became an anthem to England.

Even at the full rehearsal there were key moments missing, and mystery surrounds both the location of the Olympic cauldron and the identity of the individual given the honour of lighting it in front of a television audience of more than a billion.

"We can't show you everything," Boyle said in a brief introduction to the action-packed, stunt-filled show. "If you would not tweet and you would not post, especially pictures, we would really, really appreciate it."

HERE COMES THE SUN

At Tuesday's Olympic briefing, questions focused on security and transport, areas where the government and Olympic organisers have come under fire from opposition politicians and the media and where concerns remain.

The extra troop deployment, taking the military contribution to the Games to well over 17,000, was to cover the shortfall left by private security group G4S.

The company caused a scandal by announcing it would fail to meet its target for the number of guards it could provide, and on Tuesday said that it had around 5,800 security personnel deployed, still short of its revised objective of 7,000.

On transport, passport officials and some train drivers plan strikes at key periods of the Games, and London's metro and overland rail networks showed the strain this week with three lines serving the Olympic Park severely disrupted on Monday.

London's "Games lanes", reserved for Olympic officials, athletes, sponsors and the media, open on Wednesday, raising the prospect of further complaints from the city's famous black taxis and regular motorists who are excluded from the system. Londoners have labelled them Zil lanes after Soviet limousines given special privileges.

But for all the complaining, the London 2012 chief executive had other issues on his mind.

"My biggest worry is actually the weather," said Paul Deighton, adding that much of the construction was carried out in torrential rain in recent months.

"We've got a lot of events that are outside. I think the impact the weather has on people's mood, how they enjoy the games, is very big.

"So for me, if I have a prayer I could make, it's every extra day of sunshine just makes for a better experience for everybody here in town."

And the forecast? Hot sunshine until Friday, when light showers are predicted.

(Additional reporting by Avril Ormsby, Estelle Shirbon, Mike Collett, Mark Hosenball; writing by Mike Collett-White)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/more-troops-deployed-olympic-games-weather-big-worry-144317027--sector.html

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Portland area's nonprofit health providers find room for expansion ...

Daylight streams through prominent windows into patient rooms at the new Randall Children's Hospital in Northeast Portland.

All rooms are private and fitted with extra space and furnishings for family to sleep over. One floor flows out to a terrace garden where young patients can escape to play and relax with family and friends. Every patient floor features a spacious common area with warm woodwork, soft carpets, soothing artwork and floor-to-ceiling windows to make families feel less hospital-bound.

Despite the financial uncertainty hospitals find themselves in, nonprofit health systems in Portland continue to find ways to finance ambitious capital projects. Legacy Health is spending $245 million on the children's hospital project. Oregon Health & Science University has committed $92 million in institutional funding to building a new office tower on the South Waterfront. Kaiser Permanente has a $344 million hospital under construction in Hillsboro.

Randall Children's Hospital

Location: 2801 N. Gantenbein Ave., Portland

The project: A 334,000 square-foot, nine-story tower with 165 beds, four times the size of the original children's hospital at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Opening date: February 2012

Budget: $245 million, including a renovation of the emergency department at Emanuel. Legacy raised $150 million by selling bonds in 2009 that must be repaid over 20 years. The Robert D. and Marcia H. Randall Charitable Trust donated $10 million last September. Other donors total about $30 million. Legacy expects to use cash reserves to cover the balance.

Future income is one of the biggest uncertainties. Oregon hospital revenues haven't fully bounced back from the plunge they took during the depths of the recession. Since 2008, credit rating firms have been busy downgrading nonprofit hospitals, and the outlook for nonprofit hospitals this year remains negative.

For income, most hospitals rely heavily on the federal Medicare program for retirees, and Medicaid, the state and federal entitlement program that covers medical costs for low-income children and pregnant women. Oregon and other states have cut Medicaid payments by hundreds of millions of dollars and are under pressure to cut even more. Health reform efforts by state and federal lawmakers are supposed to shift money toward primary care and away from inpatient medical centers.

"It's a huge challenge," says Susan Mullaney, administrator for hospitals at Kaiser Permanente Northwest, which plans to open the new Hillsboro hospital next year. "The bottom line is, our population is aging. More people are going to need hospital care. We need to be able to provide a top-rate facility for them. We have to do this."

To maintain operating margins, some health systems are laying off workers even as they invest in construction. Legacy Health in December said it would eliminate up to 400 jobs.

Providence Health & Services, which cut 85 positions last year, has imposed a freeze on capital projects.

"Unless it is critical to our patients' health or safety, we are not moving forward with any," says Shelly Handkins, Providence chief financial officer for the Oregon region. "For the next year, I expect us to stay on that path."

The biggest challenge, Handkins says, is the flat or declining federal reimbursements. Hospitals used to cover shortfalls from Medicare and Medicaid by raising prices charged to commercial health insurers and employer groups. Now, Handkins says, "The commercial market can't afford any kind of significant increase. We've got to get our cost structure down."

Those that continue to build say they need to replace crowded, obsolete hospitals.

"Hospitals are designed a lot differently these days," Mullaney says. "We've got to keep pace with that."

Studies have raised concerns about older hospitals' confusing layouts, noise and lack of privacy. For instance, infection risk is lower when patients are given private rooms rather than sharing quarters.

Competition is another driving factor. And some health policy experts worry the competition drives hospitals to build more capacity than needed. Studies suggest excess hospital capacity can drive up spending on services without improving health.

Mullaney says the number of Portland-area people enrolled in Kaiser Permanente health plans has grown too large to be served by a single hospital, Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas.

Dr. Molly Burchell, clinical vice president for Legacy Health, says population growth and patient needs have created enough demand to keep Randall Children's Hospital busy along with Doernbecher Children's Hospital at OHSU. She says the two children's hospitals are often full or near capacity.

Oregon Health & Science University Collaborative Life Sciences Building

Location: South Waterfront

Opening date: 2013

The project: 500,000-square-foot building in collaboration with Oregon State University and Portland State University with space for education, research, offices for health professionals, retail, food service and parking.

Budget: $160 million will be funded through $110 million in state bonds, an anonymous $40 million gift, $10 million in TriMet support for a new transit station, and with OHSU assuming debt servicing for $30 million of the state-issued bonds. $135 million will be funded by $43 million in philanthropic fundraising by OHSU and $92 million in OHSU institutional funding.

Legacy raised $150 million for its latest round of construction and renovation by selling bonds in 2009 that must be repaid over 20 years. But like other hospitals, it has also found many willing donors.

The Robert D. and Marcia H. Randall Charitable Trust donated $10 million last September. The company expects to raise $30 million for other donors. Legacy expects to use its cash reserves to cover the balance.

An anonymous donor gave $40 million to OHSU, and the university expects to raise $43 million from other donations to help pay for the Collaborative Life Sciences Building on the South Waterfront. The project is also supported by $110 million in state bonds. OHSU plans to spend $92 million from its own reserves.

Nonprofit health systems often have considerable cash available for capital projects. Kaiser Permanente is using internal reserves to cover the entire $349 million cost of the hospital in Hillsboro. The company began planning and budgeting for the hospital in 2005, years before the prolonged economic downturn.

"We don't have to borrow money or issue bonds," Mullaney says. "We're staying the course on this one. Financially, we are still in a stable position to do so."

--Joe Rojas-Burke

Randall Children's Hospital

Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center

Location: Tanasbourne district of Hillsboro

The project: 421,000-square-foot hospital with 126 private rooms and capacity to expand to 240 rooms; eight operating rooms; an emergency department with 27 treatment rooms; 60 physician offices with 90 exam rooms; a multilevel parking garage for 900 vehicles.

Opening date: August 2013.

Budget: $344 million, covered entirely by the company's financial reserves.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/07/portland_areas_nonprofit_healt.html

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Insight: China's CNOOC scoped Nexen, partnered, then pounced

(Reuters) - When Canada's Nexen Inc fired its CEO in January, an oil giant on the other side of the world sprang into action.

Nexen had been on the wish list of Chinese state oil company CNOOC Ltd for five years. The removal of CEO Marvin Romanow was just the opening the Chinese needed to make their move, according to sources familiar with the situation.

By the Chinese New Year later that month, CNOOC had hired BMO Capital Markets and Citigroup Inc as financial advisers, according to these sources. That kicked off negotiations culminating on Monday with a deal to buy Nexen for $15.1 billion, the biggest foreign acquisition ever by a Chinese company.

The agreement is a triumph for China's third-largest oil company, which had to abandon its $18.5 billion bid for California-based Unocal in 2005 because of bitter opposition on sovereignty grounds from U.S. lawmakers, and shows how far the Chinese have come as dealmakers on the global stage.

It also feeds China's demand for resources to sustain an economy that despite six quarters of deceleration still grew at 7.6 percent in the second quarter, and will give it a platform from which to grow further in Canada's energy sector.

Interviews with people familiar with the Nexen deal reveal CNOOC heeded lessons from the Unocal debacle. It also closely studied Australian miner BHP Billiton Ltd's failed $39 billion bid to buy fertilizer maker Potash Corp in 2010 - a deal killed by the Canadian government - as it methodically went about laying the groundwork for the Nexen deal.

Among its tactics was the establishment of a joint venture so it could become familiar with the target and its assets, as well as the way of doing business in North America. Importantly, it quickly started building relationships with governments in the countries where Nexen operates, including Canada, the United States and Britain, the sources said.

CNOOC, which offered a 61 percent premium to Nexen's Friday stock price, already has interests in Canada - including oil sands operations in Alberta, and shale gas in British Columbia - as well as extensive exploration and production holdings in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and offshore West Africa. Nexen, Canada's sixth-largest independent oil explorer and producer, also operates in the Gulf of Mexico, Colombia, the North Sea, Yemen and offshore West Africa.

A big step for China is that the Nexen offer is for the entire company. In the wake of Unocal, many Chinese buyers have chosen to buy stakes in overseas companies rather than attempt full takeovers.

"It's partly the valuation, partly an evolution of the Chinese mindset. You couldn't do this deal a year after Unocal," one of the sources familiar with the deal said. "They had to have made the smaller steps in the meantime that made everyone comfortable that they knew how to behave responsibly, operate effectively, treat employees well."

SMALL STEP

Nexen spokesman Pierre Alvarez declined to comment on how the deal came together, saying the company will provide details in its information circular to be sent to shareholders in about a month. A CNOOC media official said Nexen had been a partner of the company for years, declining to comment further on the deal.

Despite its size, the deal may prove to be only a small step in China's ambition to acquire resources and technology. In the West, and particularly in the United States, there is still suspicion about sales of major assets to Chinese companies because of Beijing's controlling influence in the nation's corporate sector and anti-China sentiment among some lawmakers.

Although some experts and people familiar with the transaction expect the Canadian government to approve the deal, that could change if popular sentiment suddenly turned against it.

Pulling off a similar deal in the United States is also likely to remain a pipedream for Chinese buyers.

"My guess is that they continue to be wary of investments in the United States and concerned that they might either be blocked or subject to conditions that may be complicated for them," said William Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a U.S. business association focused on international trade and investment issues. "I wouldn't take it as a given that (Canada) would simply say yes and move on."

CAREFUL PREPARATION

CNOOC stepped up its pursuit of Nexen after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited China in February and said he wanted to sell more oil to Chinese and Asian markets. Canada has also stressed the need for more foreign investment to help develop its oil sands.

"CNOOC would have read very real signals into that... It would have been very strange for political leaders from countries at the most senior level to come and ask for investment and then say 'No'," said a person familiar with how the deal was forged.

In the wake of Harper's comments, the Chinese firm sought meetings with senior officials in the federal government and the government of Alberta to gauge the appetite for a possible approach.

CNOOC, realizing a hostile bid of this size would be virtually impossible to pull off after BHP's failed approach for Potash, felt a crucial advantage was that its approach had the full support of the Nexen board, the sources said.

CNOOC hired Hill and Knowlton for lobbying in Canada and the United States, and Bell Pottinger in Britain, according to one source. New York law firm Davis Polk provided legal counsel. Hill and Knowlton declined to comment. The firm filed its lobbying disclosure forms in Washington on Monday but listed the effective date of registration as May 14.

A Bell Pottinger official in the United States did not have an immediate comment.

"I don't think the problem is whether CNOOC can complete the deal," said a China-based source familiar with the matter. "The key is whether CNOOC can successfully consolidate and manage the new company, whether it can reach its targets over the next five years."

LOBBYING EFFORTS

Canada's official register of lobbyists shows that Michael Coates of Hill and Knowlton visited the top officials at the ministries of industry, trade and natural resources in late March in Ottawa.

Accompanying Coates was CNOOC Vice President Fang Zhi, who is also general manager of CNOOC International Ltd. Zhi told the officials that CNOOC thought Canada was an attractive place to invest, one source said.

Andrew MacDougall, chief spokesman for Harper, said he was unaware of who Fang might have met in Ottawa and declined to comment on any aspect of the takeover bid.

Fang, who came away reassured by his discussions, also visited Alberta for talks with local government officials, the source said. His presence there drew little attention, since CNOOC already has properties in the province.

Courtesy calls on behalf of CNOOC and Nexen were made to the federal and Alberta governments on Sunday, the day before the deal was announced.

The final decision on whether to approve the CNOOC bid lies with Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis, whose chief spokeswoman declined to comment. Paradis would make his decision based on the Investment Canada Act.

Sources said early conversations with policymakers led CNOOC to propose key concessions, such as making Calgary the head office of its North and Central American operations and a plan to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

CNOOC has also promised to retain Nexen employees. That may help to allay fears that might arise, especially given some Chinese companies have been criticized for having poor relations with their workforces in places like Africa and Latin America.

One source said it helped that Fang and CNOOC Chief Executive Li Fanrong both spoke good English and appear to have a good grasp of Western business ways. In addition to hands-on top executives, CNOOC has a large and experienced M&A team.

UNIQUE TRANSACTION

In Nexen, CNOOC also picked a deal that will be more likely to get support than if it had sought to acquire some other Canadian companies. Most of Nexen's assets lie outside Canada, making it less likely that it would be seen as a national champion falling into Chinese hands.

CNOOC had already formed a joint venture that helped it evaluate Nexen. In July 2011, it bought Opti Canada, which was Nexen's 35 percent partner in Long Lake, a C$6.1 billion steam-driven oil sands project in Northern Alberta.

The project, which started more than three years ago, is only at about half its 72,000 bpd design capacity and has had problems extracting enough oil from its early wells to fill the processing plant. But the project accounts for a large chunk of Nexen's value, and CNOOC believed that it was of higher quality than the market thought, one source said.

"It was that experience that enabled them to conclude this would actually be a good fit," another source said. "They've been taking their involvement in Canada a step at a time and you'd want the next step to be determined by what you'd experienced in the previous step."

With only small operations in the United States, the company is not likely to meet much opposition to the deal in Washington, where there is some sensitivity to Chinese investment in Canadian energy assets because Canada is a major supplier of oil to the United States.

One U.S. lawmaker, Senator John Hoeven, said on Tuesday he believes the CNOOC-Nexen deal is a "direct result" of President Barack Obama's January decision to delay approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, designed to bring oil from Canada's oil sands to Texas refineries. Soon after that delay was announced, Harper was in Beijing and talking about doing oil deals with China.

(Additional reporting by Jeffrey Jones in Calgary, Euan Rocha in Toronto, Roberta Rampton and Alexander Cohen in Washington; Judy Hua and Aizhu Chen in Beijing; Writing by Michael Flaherty and Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Martin Howell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-chinas-cnooc-scoped-nexen-partnered-then-pounced-033624290--finance.html

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