Yesterday Was ?Relieve Goldman Sachs of Their Legal Exposure? Day

I mentioned yesterday that Goldman Sachs got a rare ?reverse Wells notice? from the SEC, when they were told that a mortgage-backed securities deal which they earlier heard they would face prosecution for would not net them any civil enforcement. But that was just the beginning. Later in the day, they learned they would not face any prosecution from the Justice Department for the misdealings brought to light in a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report a year ago.

In a written statement, the department said it conducted an exhaustive investigation of allegations brought to light by a Senate panel investigating the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

?The department and investigative agencies ultimately concluded that the burden of proof to bring a criminal case could not be met based on the law and facts as they exist at this time,? the department said [...]

A Senate subcommittee chaired by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., in April 2011 found that Goldman marketed four sets of complex mortgage securities to banks and other investors but that the firm failed to tell clients that the securities were very risky. The Senate panel said Goldman secretly bet against the investors? positions and deceived the investors about its own positions to shift risk from its balance sheet to theirs [...]

The Senate panel probe turned up company emails showing Goldman employees deriding complex mortgage securities sold to banks and other investors as ?junk? and ?crap.?

Levin said during his subcommittee?s investigation that he believed that Goldman executives ?misled the Congress? and that Goldman ?gained at the expense of their clients and they used abusive practices to do it.?

So Goldman got off for two separate things here, detailed in this contemporaneous report on the SPSCI report: one, the securities fraud elements of lying to their investors and profiting off their lack of disclosure; and two, lying to Congress about it. The Justice Department didn?t see a problem with it. So any upstart investment bank looking to make it in the world, you have your marching orders. You have to lie to your investors, take the other side of the bet on the deals you offer them, and when questioned about it, obfuscate and obstruct the investigatory body. That?s the way to the top.

I swear that ?if the Justice Department saw crimes committed, they would have done something? and ?it?s a higher bar? are macros on the keyboards of defenders of the lack of prosecutions. But it?s pretty simple to come up with ways to prosecute on this conduct if you really wanted. Just take the Sarbanes-Oxley Act alone. Section 802 clearly states:

Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

Even if lying to Congress weren?t a crime, this would potentially cover it. And then there?s Section 906:

(a) Certification of Periodic Financial Reports.? Each periodic report containing financial statements filed by an issuer with the Securities Exchange Commission pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m (a) or 78o (d)) shall be accompanied bySection 802(a) of the SOX a written statement by the chief executive officer and chief financial officer (or equivalent thereof) of the issuer.

(b) Content.? The statement required under subsection (a) shall certify that the periodic report containing the financial statements fully complies with the requirements of section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of [1] 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m or 78o (d)) and that information contained in the periodic report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the issuer.

(c) Criminal Penalties.? Whoever? (1) certifies any statement as set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section knowing that the periodic report accompanying the statement does not comport with all the requirements set forth in this section shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both; or

(2) willfully certifies any statement as set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section knowing that the periodic report accompanying the statement does not comport with all the requirements set forth in this section shall be fined not more than $5,000,000, or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

Goldman has paid $550 million in civil fines (with that ever-present ?neither admit nor deny wrongdoing? clause) to the SEC on precisely these types of mortgage backed securities deals. The annual certification was clearly fraudulent, and yet no major investment bank has been prosecuted under that statute.

However, you can take comfort in the fact that one Goldman Sachs alum was arrested yesterday. That would be the programmer accused of ripping off the company?s source code:

The legal odyssey of a former Goldman Sachs programmer, Sergey Aleynikov, took a surprising turn on Thursday when the Manhattan district attorney charged him with state crimes.

Mr. Aleynikov was charged in state court less than six months after a federal appeals court overturned his conviction on federal criminal charges that he stole secret source code from Goldman?s computers.

While the case involved a relatively low-level ex-employee at a financial firm, the government has taken a particularly hard line. The district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, have made the prosecution of corporate espionage and high-tech theft a top priority.

So the only way to get arrested if you worked at Goldman Sachs is if you?re accused of stealing from Goldman Sachs.

Talk about adding insult to injury.

Source: http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/08/10/yesterday-was-relieve-goldman-sachs-of-their-legal-exposure-day/

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US women's vball team tries for 1st Olympic gold

USA's Destinee Hooker (19) reacts after scoring a point against South Korea during a women's volleyball semifinal match at the 2012 Summer Olympics Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

USA's Destinee Hooker (19) reacts after scoring a point against South Korea during a women's volleyball semifinal match at the 2012 Summer Olympics Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

USA's Lindsey Berg (4) reacts after the team scored a point against South Korea during a women's volleyball semifinal match at the 2012 Summer Olympics Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

USA's Destinee Hooker (19) reacts as her team defeats South Korea 3-0 during a women's volleyball semifinal match at the 2012 Summer Olympics Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Members of team United States, clockwise from top left, Foluke Akinradewo, Lindsey Berg, Destinee Hooker and Jordan Larson celebrate after defeating South Korea in a women's semifinal volleyball match at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

(AP) ? Destinee Hooker is the fire of the U.S. volleyball team. Lindsey Berg is its heart.

Together the two women will try to win the United States' first gold medal in the sport when the team faces Brazil in Saturday's final match at the London Games.

Berg, the team's captain, is a three-time Olympian who has been here before: The U.S. team made it to the gold medal match at the Beijing Games, but fell 3-1 to the Brazilians.

That team didn't have Hooker, an Olympic rookie who was a last-minute cut from the team that went to China.

Hooker's been electric at the London Games, where she's second among all players in scoring with 147 points, 123 of them on kills.

As setter, Berg is the one who often feeds the lanky wing spiker for the kill.

"She's incredible," Berg says. "She's playing like a vet right now and it's very easy to play with her. And I'm lucky that's who I have to set up because she makes my balls look good."

Hugh McCutcheon, who guided the U.S. men's team on an undefeated run to the gold medal in Beijing, moved over to the women's side and made Hooker a key component of his offense.

Hooker dissolved into tears when talking about the faith McCutcheon put in her.

"Now I'm at this level that I never thought I'd be, and I have so many little girls who look up to me," Hooker said. "It's truly a blessing."

The U.S. women are undefeated in London and advanced to the gold medal rematch against Brazil with a straight-set victory over South Korea that was fueled by Berg's emotional return after missing a game with a left Achilles strain.

Berg hurt her leg in the Americans' final preliminary-round match against Turkey on Sunday. The United States was tightlipped about the extent of her injury and when she might return because that could have given opponents an advantage.

Berg says she's officially day-to-day.

"But I'm sure the adrenaline for the gold-medal match will kick in and I'll feel perfect," she said.

It will be the U.S. team's third appearance in the Olympic final. The United States won the silver medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Games before earning another in Beijing. The team won bronze in Barcelona in 1992.

Brazil, which won its first Olympic gold in the sport in Beijing, earned its spot in the London final with a straight-set victory over Japan on Thursday night.

The United States and Brazil have split eight matches since volleyball joined the Olympics in 1964.

The Brazilians went undefeated in Beijing before defeating the surprising U.S. team 3-1 in the final.

The two teams met again in London in the preliminary round, with the United States turning the tables for a 3-1 victory. Hooker had 23 points in the win.

"Both teams are very different teams and very strong teams. Brazil's very emotional, so sometimes that's a good thing for them and sometimes a bad thing for them," Berg said. "Both teams are going to be incredible. It's the gold-medal match."

Late last year, Brazil surrendered its four-year hold on the No. 1 ranking to the United States. Brazil is ranked No. 2 by the sport's international governing body.

"It's another final now. Previous Olympic Games we were the favorite and now the United States is the favorite," Brazil's Sheilla Castro said. "Not sure it will be more difficult or not, they are always difficult."

South Korea and Japan will play in Saturday's bronze medal match. Japan hasn't won a medal in the sport since it captured the bronze in 1984.

South Korea's best finish in the Olympics was the bronze in the 1976 Montreal Games.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-08-11-OLY-VOL-Brazil-US/id-7cbc2c9630bc421d80fc9c23788c610c

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Chicago Integrated Communications Forum Event | Wired PR Works

On Wednesday, September 19,?PR Newswire, in cooperation with Business Development Institute, presents the Chicago Integrated Communications Forum, a gathering of marketing and communications executives from leading brands and agencies.

It?s an honor to be on the panel with speakers from WOMMA, Chrysler and PR Newswire.

Are you in the Chicago area? Consider this your invitation to join us!!

Event information courtesy of Business Development Institute.

Date:?Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Time:?8:30 a.m. ? 11:30 a.m. CST
Place:?University Center Conference Chicago; 525 S State Street; Chicago, Illinois 60605
Registration Fee:?$50.00
Website:?http://www.bdionline.com/cmcforum0912.html

About?Chicago Integrated Communications Forum

PR Newswire, in cooperation with Business Development Institute, presents the Chicago Integrated Communications Forum, a gathering of marketing and communications executives from leading brands and agencies.

How can you stay on top of the latest developments in social media communications? Join us for this exciting half-day event as our presenters discuss how proactive, ongoing monitoring and influencer targeting is vital to brand awareness and content marketing success.

During this forum, we will discuss:

  • How brands are effectively using content strategy and content marketing to attract and retain customers and prospects
  • Leveraging organizational thought leadership to power social communications
  • How to efficiently spot and monitor industry trends
  • Best practices for identifying, targeting and engaging your social influencers
  • The role of data in helping to shape and refine one?s marketing and communications strategy
  • Top integrated platforms and technologies currently being employed for social communications and content marketing

Chicago Integrated Communications Forum?Speakers

Suzanne Fanning, President,?Word of Mouth Marketing Association
Ed Garsten, Head, Electronic Communication,?Chrysler Group LLC
Barbara Rozgonyi, Founder, Social Media Club Chicago & Principal,?CoryWest Media, LLC?
Sarah Skerik, Vice President, Social Media,?PR Newswire

Sponsors:
PR Newswire;?SEMPO;?Social Media Club Chicago?;?Social Media Today;?Word of Mouth Marketing Association

For additional information, including registration, please?click here?to visit the event website.

Disclosure: as a panelist, I receive complimentary event registration.

What questions do you have for the panel??

About the Author

Written by Barbara Rozgonyi

Barbara Rozgonyi publishes WiredPRWorks.com and directs CoryWest Media, an integrated social media marketing and PR firm. As Social Media Club (SMC) Chicago?s founder, Barbara is a recognized spokesperson for brands, bloggers and the social media marketing PR industry. Barbara invites you to join the Wired PR Works community on Facebook or to contact her regarding interviews, partner promotions or speaking engagements at 630.207.7530.

Visit my Website Read all my Articles -->

Source: http://wiredprworks.com/social-media-marketing/chicago-integrated-communications-forum-event/

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International Entertainment News: American Idol Winner Kris Allen ...

American Idol Winner Kris Allen And Berklee City Music Host 2012 Scholarship Concert

Scholarships Pave Way to Higher Education through Music for Youth from Underserved Communities

BOSTON, Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Last night, American Idol winner Kris Allen and 97 talented youth from around the country performed their hearts out during the Berklee City Music Scholarship Concert. An annual event that showcases the accomplishments of Berklee City Music youth in the final week of Berklee College of Music's Five-Week Summer Performance Program and awards students with 2012 City Music College Scholarships to attend Berklee College of Music.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-idol-winner-kris-allen-and-berklee-city-music-host-2012-scholarship-concert-165463426.html

"My passion is music education and my work with Music Empowers Foundation introduced me to this amazing network connected by Berklee City Music. These kids are beyond talented, but it takes organizations like Berklee City Music to help them turn talent into a tool for success in life," Kris Allen said.

Berklee City Music is a nonprofit program that harnesses the energy of contemporary music to provide music education to 4th through 12th graders in underserved communities at 38 Network sites, educating more than 10,000 students across the country, and bringing as many as 100 of them to Boston each summer. Each year, Berklee City Music awards scholarships to attend Berklee's Five-Week Summer Performance Program as well as four-year scholarships to attend Berklee College of Music.

2012 City Music College Scholarship: Full four-year scholarships for study at Berklee College of Music, beginning fall 2012, were awarded to City Music Summer Scholarship recipients who have been accepted by the college and completed the Berklee College of Music Five-Week Summer Performance Program. The following 2012 students received City Music College Scholarships:

-- Khari Alamin, Voice, Stax Music Academy, Memphis, TN
-- Jabril Barnes, Trumpet, The Music Settlement, Cleveland, OH
-- Brian Benton, Bass, The Music Settlement, Cleveland, OH
-- Wendy Chung, Voice, Berklee City Music, Boston, MA
-- John Dandan, Piano, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Richmond,
CA
-- Eli Dawson, Guitar, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center, Pittsburgh, PA
-- Robert Gould, Voice, Little 5 Points Music School, Atlanta, GA
-- Danielle John, Voice and Piano, Boston and City Music High School
Academy, Boston, MA
-- Tamina Johnson-Lawson, Voice, A Place Called Home, Los Angeles, CA
-- Charina Kimes, Voice, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center, Pittsburgh,
PA
-- Langston Maxwell, Drums and Piano, The Music Settlement, Cleveland, OH
-- Rachel McLean, Voice and Flute, Berklee City Music, Boston, MA
-- Matthew Pitts, Bass, Berklee City Music, Boston, MA
-- Emily Ronna, Voice, Berklee City Music, Boston, MA
-- Langston Theard, Voice, Tipitina's Foundation, New Orleans, LA
-- VanDarrel Woods, Trumpet, The Music Settlement, Cleveland, OH
With the ongoing struggle to provide access to music education in the United States, Berklee City Music Network is providing a pathway to higher education by engaging passionate, talented youth in underserved communities in a contemporary music education program.

"Every year, for the last 20 years, I am blown away by the power of music. When these kids develop their talents and skills in music, you can see their confidence grow too and with that, the potential for success is just limitless," J. Curtis Warner, Jr., Executive Director, Berklee City Music, said.

About Berklee City Music
Berklee City Music is a nonprofit program that harnesses the energy of contemporary music to provide music education to 4th through 12th graders in underserved communities at 38 Network sites, educating more than 10,000 students across the country. With year-round instruction, the Berklee PULSE(TM) Music Method online music education platform, expert faculty, individualized mentoring and a comprehensive curriculum, Berklee City Music combines the breadth of Berklee College of Music resources, facilities and available scholarships with an environment of attention and encouragement. Youth receive the tools and support they need to flourish as students, musicians and, perhaps most important, confident and well-rounded individuals, ready to shape the world. Since its inception, Berklee City Music has awarded scholarships to more than 1000 students to attend the Five-Week Summer Performance program. In 2012, Berklee City Music provided more than 100 summer program scholarships and hopes to award more than 20 full scholarships to attend Berklee College of Music. www.berkleecitymusicnetwork.org

About Kris Allen
Since winning American Idol in 2009, Kris Allen has become a household name. After releasing his self-titled debut album in 2009 on 19 Recordings/Jive Records, Kris toured the U.S. opening for Keith Urban, Maroon 5, the Barenaked Ladies, and Lifehouse, as well as headlining his own club tour. His first single, "Live Like We're Dying" has sold over 1.7 million copies. Kris's second album, "Thank You Camellia" with its hit single, "The Vision of Love" was released in May 2012. For more information go to http://www.krisallenofficial.com

Related Link:
Berklee City Music Network

SOURCE Berklee City Music

Video:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-idol-winner-kris-allen-and-berklee-city-music-host-2012-scholarship-concert-165463426.html
Berklee City Music

CONTACT: Regan Dillon, Cone Communications, +1-617-308-2168, rdillon@coneinc.com

Web Site: http://www.berkleecitymusicnetwork.org

-------
Profile: intent

Source: http://internationalentertainmentnews.blogspot.com/2012/08/american-idol-winner-kris-allen-and.html

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Apartment Careers: Real Estate/Property Management jobs ...


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Source: http://jobs.apartmentcareers.com/jobs/4873106/business-manager

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Bizarre crystal may have zipped here from space

A sample of a bizarre crystal once considered unnatural may have arrived on Earth 15,000 years ago, having hitched a ride on a meteorite, a new study suggests.

The research strengthens the evidence that this strange "quasicrystal" is extraterrestrial in origin.

The pattern of atoms in a quasicrystal falls short of the perfectly regular arrangement found in crystals. Until January, all known quasicrystals were man-made. "Many thought it had to be that way, because they thought quasicrystals are too delicate, too prone to crystallization, to form naturally," study researcher Paul Steinhardt of Princeton University told LiveScience at the time.

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      A Roman trading ship from the time of the Caesars has been discovered off the coast of Italy, reportedly in such good condition that some of the food may still be preserved.

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Then researchers announced the presence of a natural quasicrystal in a meteorite found in the Koryak Mountains of Russia. That meteorite was being kept in a museum in Italy. Now, on an expedition to the site where it was found in Russia, Steinhardt and his colleagues now have found more natural samples of quasicrystals for analysis. [ Gallery: Microscopic Beauty Found In Rocks ]

Mysterious matter
Quasicrystals were first synthesized in a lab in 1982 by Israeli chemist Dan Shechtman, whose work won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2011. Regular crystals are made up of regular clusters of repeating atoms arranged in particular symmetries. Quasicrystals are orderly, too, but they do not exactly repeat themselves. If regular crystals are like boring bathroom tiles, quasicrystals are like complex tile mosaics.

Steinhardt and his colleagues were long on the hunt for natural quasicrystals. They first saw one in 2008, when Italian mineralogist Luca Bindi of the Museum of Natural History in Florence spotted a tiny quasicrystal grain in a rock sample in the museum's collection.

The researchers reported that find in the journal Science in 2009 and then traced the rock to Russia. An analysis of the rock fragment, published in January in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that the rock was a meteorite that likely formed in the early solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago, before the Earth existed.

The hunt for quasicrystals
Now Steinhardt and Bindi report in the journal Reports on Progress in Physics that quasicrystal samples are found in an environment that would not have had the extremes needed to create them. The report strengthens the case that the sample rode to Earth on a meteorite.

On their expedition to the Koryak Mountains, the researchers also determined that the samples came to Earth during the last glacial period, about 15,000 years ago.

"The fact that the expedition found more material in the same location that we had spent years to track down is a tremendous confirmation of the whole story, which is significant since the meteorite is of great interest because of its extraordinary age and contents," Steinhardt said in a statement.

The next goal, Steinhardt said, is to figure out the secret of the natural quasicrystals' formation.

"What does nature know that we don't?" he said. "How did the quasicrystal form so perfectly inside a complex meteorite when we normally have to work hard in the laboratory to get anything as perfect? What other new phases can we find in this meteorite, and what can they tell us about the early solar system?"

"At the moment, we are at the tip of the iceberg," Steinhardt added.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience@livescience. We're also on Facebook &Google+.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48602448/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Indian data shows shock fall in industrial output

India's industrial production contracted by a shock 1.8 percent from a year earlier in June, as manufacturing output shrank in Asia's third-largest economy, official figures showed on Thursday.

The data underscored the massive job ahead for India's new pro-market finance minister, P. Chidamabaram, who pledged this week to "restart the growth engine" of India's sharply slowing economy.

Manufacturing output, which accounts for three-quarters of the index of industrial production, fell 3.2 percent from a year earlier in June, according to the government data.

Manufacturing has been undermined by high interest rates to combat stubbornly high inflation, falling business confidence and Europe's debt crisis which has hit exports.

The 1.8-percent shrinkage in output by factories, mines and utilities in June was the third contraction in four months and followed a revised 2.5 percent production rise in May.

The industrial output reading was far below analysts' expectations, which were for an increase of 0.80 percent, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll.

The weak performance is likely to pile pressure on the central bank to ease interest rates to spur growth.

The bank has said it wants inflation to come down before cutting borrowing costs, but Chidambaram has already indicated he wants lower rates, saying "sometimes it is necessary to take carefully calibrated risks".

The weak numbers come as the left-leaning Congress-led government is under pressure over a string of graft scandals and its attempts to liberalise the still inward-looking economy to spur growth have led to gridlock in parliament.

India's once-booming economy grew just 5.3 percent between January and March -- its slowest annual quarterly expansion in nine years.

Capital goods output, an important investment indicator, slid 27.9 percent in June from a year earlier.

Goldman Sachs economist Tushar Poddar, who recently pared his full fiscal year growth forecast to 5.7 percent in contrast to the central bank's expectation of 6.5 percent expansion -- saw more tough times ahead.

"Weak monsoons are also likely to impact rural consumption demand and exacerbate weakness in investment demand," Poddar said ahead of the data.

Citibank has said if a nationwide drought is declared -- which would be the country's third in a decade -- growth could be as low as 4.9 percent as hundreds of millions of farmers depend on the annual rains for their income.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indian-data-shows-shock-fall-industrial-output-074550061.html

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THE RACE: Clock ticking down on Romney veep choice

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at Central Campus High School in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at Central Campus High School in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney hugs a supporter as he campaigns at Central Campus High School in Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama returns a salute as he prepares to board Air Force One before his departure from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Aug., 8, 2012. Obama is traveling on a two-day campaign trip to Colorado. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Mitt Romney isn't making it easy to figure out his choice for running mate.

He's been very cagey and tight-lipped on the subject, while campaigning around the country with prominent Republicans believed to be in the running. Were the trips auditions?

The clock is ticking. The Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., is under three weeks away.

With Romney's wife, Ann, now back from London where she watched her horse Rafalca compete in the Olympics, the running-mate decision could come any day.

Romney on Saturday begins a four-state bus tour, with stops in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio ? swing states where the race is hotly contested.

Three Republicans seen as vice presidential potentials will join him for various legs ? Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rob Portman of Ohio.

Is this still another try-out or will a decision have been reached by then?

Others mentioned in speculation, including South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, already have been given convention speaking slots.

Romney campaigned Wednesday in Iowa, another key swing state, with a morning appearance at a Des Moines high school where he pressed an accusation that President Barack Obama had gutted a Clinton-era welfare law's requirement that recipients work ? a claim both the White House and former President Bill Clinton rejected as false.

At issue is a recent Obama executive order giving states more flexibility in putting people back to work.

Obama, who'll spend three days next week touring Iowa by bus, was campaigning Wednesday and Thursday in Colorado ? yet another battleground state ? with his first stop in Denver.

After Iowa, Romney goes to New Jersey Wednesday to raise money.

__

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum. For more AP political coverage, look for the 2012 Presidential Race in AP Mobile's Big Stories section. Also follow https://twitter.com/APCampaign and AP journalists covering the campaign: https://twitter.com/AP/ap-campaign-2012

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-08-The%20Race/id-426bd6cd505d401ebb98029916199fe1

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Fitch cuts Slovenia's rating by a notch, outlook negative

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fitch ratings on Wednesday downgraded its credit rating on European Union member Slovenia by one notch to A-minus citing a deterioration in the country's banking sector during 2012.

"The lack of a timely and credible bank recapitalization plan continues to put pressure on the rating," Fitch said.

The agency added Slovenia's sovereign funding conditions have deteriorated, which "could make it difficult for the government to finance fiscal and bank recapitalization requirements."

Fitch said the rating outlook is negative, meaning the rating could be downgraded in the medium term. Fitch had cut Slovenia's ratings by two notches in January.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fitch-cuts-slovenias-rating-notch-outlook-negative-163847884--finance.html

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Video Marketing for Small Business | STORYWORKS

Posted

As published in Independent Retailer on August 1, 2012 by Vladimir S

The story goes that on August 1, 1981 video killed the radio star.

Whether historians ultimately find video guilty of murder or not, what?s for certain is that video is streaming life into a new kind of Internet?one that is challenging small businesses to connect with consumers in a new and different way?in full-color moving pictures and sound. The web video era is upon us, and it?s here to stay.

Of course video is not new to the Internet. The revolution was sparked even before April 2005 when the first digital video was uploaded to YouTube. In the time since, YouTube?s trove of video content has grown exponentially, especially given consumers? easy access to digital video devices including today?s camera phones. In fact, in the next 60 seconds users will upload 72 hours of video footage to YouTube just as they do every minute, all day, every day. Think about it. That?s a lot of videos.

And where there are a lot of videos, there are a lot of viewers. YouTube tells us that over 800 million unique visitors watch over 3 billion hours of video each month. Given the ubiquity of broadband and advanced video streaming technologies for both PCs and smart phones, perhaps those numbers shouldn?t be so hard to believe. Bottom line: today everyone is watching video.

So, what does all of this video stuff mean for today?s small business? More than anything else, it means that business owners should seize this opportunity and leverage video to introduce themselves, give virtual tours of their businesses, highlight their products and services and engage their target audiences as never before. As if through a television commercial, but not simply a television commercial, a better-than-television commercial. One that is interactive, on-demand and opt-in. So, one that is unicast to the right person at the right time, on his or her terms. Marketing just doesn?t get more efficient than that.

Nor does it get any cheaper! That?s because professional grade digital video capturing and editing technologies are available in today?s consumer grade electronics. So, just as in 1999 when one out of every two Apple Macintosh owners was a self-proclaimed web designer, today there are millions of camcorder jockeys producing digital video for the web. There?s no need to hire a Madison Avenue advertising firm. No need for a Superbowl-sized ad budget. A web video for your business can be had for a couple hundred bucks. Or even cheaper when you do it yourself. (It doesn?t take much. Heck, DIY- types can even shoot, edit and upload their videos to the Internet without ever leaving their iPhones to do it!)

But if you want superior production quality?you know, maybe a professional voiceover, a little animation, some nice background music?then you?re talking $500 or more. And if you really want to get carried away and perhaps give the GEICO? Lizard and Jack in the Box? a run for their money, you can hire a reputable agency to develop your concept and easily spend a couple thousand dollars on the idea alone.

With digital video offering so many creative possibilities, knowing where to begin is often the hardest part. So, here are some tips to put video to work for your business and leverage the Internet?s latest sea change for marketers.?

1) Assume the Starring Role

Web video allows business owners to put themselves in front of the camera and virtually introduce themselves to would-be customers. You should do this. It?s not quite face-to-face, but it?s close. This technique is helping dentists, chefs, therapists, coaches and untold other professionals put themselves out there, share their value propositions, and tell their unique stories in far more personable ways. In so doing, they more easily build trust with and evoke an emotional response from the viewer, which hopefully results in an action.

If you?re too shy to look and speak into the camera, you?ve got other options. Consider filming yourself in action making a widget, merchandising your retail space, or doing whatever it is that you do in your business. Even better, film yourself interfacing with real customers. Of course, you can always record your voice and use it for the voiceover. In any case, as the business owner, assume the starring role. You?ll be surprised at how viewers will respond knowing that the owner of the company has genuinely put himself out there.

2) Keep it Brief

Your video should be about 30 to 60 seconds in duration, but absolutely no longer than 2 minutes. While you may be tempted to tell a comprehensive history of your business or even dig into microscopic details of your product offering, don?t. Follow the leader on this one: there is a reason that television commercials are 10, 20, 30 or 60 seconds max!

I can hear Bill Guthy and Greg Renker screaming from here. And while it?s tough to argue against Guthy-Renker and their wildly successful brand of modern, hour-long infomercials, I?ll maintain my point: most of us have come to expect that all we need to know in order to make a buying decision will be delivered in 60 seconds or less. While it?s true there are those in your target audience for whom more information will most certainly lead to a sale, even they prefer to consume commercial content on their terms. To satisfy these types, you can always provide access to longer, more informational and more educational videos that you make available on your website. But for those web videos that you hope will attract and convert?i.e. cause a prospect to follow a call to action?including ones that you embed on your home page, landing pages or that you share anywhere else on the web, keep those videos short and sweet.

3) Keep it Real

Just as customer reviews have taken hold as the currency of trust and goodwill online, video testimonials from actual customers are the Internet?s latest equivalent to word-of-mouth marketing. Live, onsite, interview-style testimonials are relatively easy to stage. Recruit one of your loyal customers to display her on-camera charisma. Prospects viewing your video will identify with a real-life person who describes making a purchase decision and being happy with the results. If you can?t recruit a customer to get in front of the camera, perhaps ask one to call and leave a voicemail message that can later be used as voiceover in your video. Honest and unrehearsed phoned-in customer testimonials are perfectly acceptable, and viewers tend to forgive any lack of production quality recognizing the trade-off for an authentic review.

4) Steak & Sizzle

We all know the old marketing adage that tells us to ?Sell the sizzle, not the steak.? But with its obvious emphasis on keyword relevance and indexing, Internet marketing such as PPC and SEO forces marketers to stick with the steak in order to achieve high-ranking results that match customer-entered keywords. A little too much sizzle can even have adverse effects with such online marketing. But not with web video! Use your moving pictures and sound as creatively as possible. Favor on the benefits of your product, the differentiators of your service, or the people on your team, and do it all with great flourish. The point is that regardless of what you are selling, in order to do it most effectively via video, you are smart to include both the steak and the sizzle.

5) DIY or Outsource Production?

For the typical small business, especially ones without a marketing staff, stepping up to video may be intimidating, but it?s really quite easy. As previously suggested, the barriers to entry are few enough and the costs low enough that DIYers can successfully produce and distribute web video with little more than a digital camera, a PC and a YouTube account. (You won?t receive an Emmy or an Oscar anytime soon, but that?s not your aim now is it?)

One word of caution here: successful video marketing requires a type of commercial storytelling that doesn?t come easy to everyone. A commercial well-conceived is like a story well told: in order to capture a viewer?s attention, hold it and then inspire an action, it must follow a time-tested structure and incorporate knowledge and experience few video novices can replicate. So, if you?d like to increase the chances your videos will be found, watched and ultimately converted into a sale, you may wish to hire a professional firm that uses the same post-production skills found in television commercials and film to shoot, edit and create a video of which you will be quite proud.

Is this beginning to sound a little more than you bargained for? Don?t fret. There are many reputable companies available to assist small business owners who desire to get into the video game. Companies such as STORYWORKS are capable of producing professional, commercial-grade videos and animations, at an affordable cost, for small business customers all over the world. Some of these companies leverage a network of remote videographers who will shoot footage on location. As a more economical option, some of these companies accept still photos and video footage from clients just like you, and then apply their own post-production skills to deliver a video you?d expect from a professional agency.

6) Reach Your Target Audience

But even when you turn to a company for help, producing a great video is one thing. And getting it in front of someone who really matters? Well, that?s something altogether different. It takes a heck of a lot of work to reach your target audience when and where it matters most. Start by uploading your video to YouTube. Do the same at Metacafe.com, Vimeo.com, Dailymotion.com, Viddler.com, Break.com and Veoh.com. Don?t overlook these lesser video brand names, as each can generate a great deal of traffic to your website.

Beyond that effort, in order to truly reach its audience, your video must match what it is your target audience is looking for. In other words your video must be relevant. Let?s say you?re a dentist in Deluth. Wouldn?t it be nice if your video was on page 1 of Google whenever Deluth residents searched for a local dentist? Of course! So, it?s no wonder that search engine optimization (SEO) has given birth to VSEO (or video SEO) and spawned another cottage industry for doctoring up keyword relevancy. Human-authored video metadata can (and should) be created for each video to increase its search engine visibility. At its best, proper VSEO can assure that your video achieves the highest ranking possible on YouTube (the world?s second most popular search engine) and perhaps even reaches page 1 of Google (the most popular).

Like its webpage sibling, VSEO comes in many forms and is administered by firms, agencies and consultants alike. There is an awful lot for the typical novice to learn, but if you truly wish to do it yourself, you can. That said, here again companies such as STORYWORKS are experts at helping optimize video campaigns for small businesses. Prices can vary greatly depending on comprehensiveness of services offered and the competitiveness of your specific geographic marketplace and business category. Zero or limited-risk guarantees are available such as STORYWORK?s Pg1! Video Marketing service (your video achieves and maintains its place on page 1 of Google or you pay nothing). Just know that whether it?s a DIY project or an outsourced program, your VSEO strategy must consider the long-term. One-time optimizations can do the trick, but will only last so long.

Conclusion

Although web video is not new, its use among small businesses is fairly limited, so now is the time for opportunity. Take a look for yourself?are your key competitors using video? Regardless, working to edge out your competition online is no easy task and video can only help. When you can position your business in front of your target audience, e.g. with a listing on page 1 of Google, you still need to gain a competitive edge by making your listing distinct. But get your video on page 1 of Google; a premium video listing with a graphic thumbnail; often the one and only one of its kind on the page, and you win! Video is easy, the price is right, and the help is there if you need it. So, what are you waiting for? It?s time. Lights, camera, action!

Source: http://www.storyworksvideo.com/2012/08/07/video-marketing-for-small-business/

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