Speaking of ?friends help?? ? The Power of One Writer

Lots and lots and lots of people over the years have approached me with a question something like this:

?I have a great idea for/have written/have written and re-written and re-written a children?s book. What now??

I always recommend the Society of Children?s Book Writers and Illustrators. It was at SCBWI conferences that I first got to talk with and hear from published authors, where I met my first editors. My first agent was also someone I approached because of the bulletin published by SCBWI.? When River Friendly River Wild won the SCBWI Golden Kite award, I got to go to the SCBWI national conference and show a roomful of writers in LA the quilt that my writer friends had made for me after the flood.

If people are super duper serious, I recommend the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program where I teach. Even if I did break my elbow at the residency this month, I?m a fan. I?ve learned such craft from being part of that community of children?s book writers?and that?s with 25 books already published when I started to teach there.

Serious? The VCMFA community is, too.

Before I became part of the VCFA faculty, I also occasionally mentored writers. One was an amazing school librarian from the state of Maine. When Toni Buzzeo got in touch with me, she had already done the first important work of becoming a serious writer of children?s books?she was a serious reader of children?s books. I loved the work she did in her school to find new books and connect them with young readers?and I told her that she had the rhythm and voice of picture books that I didn?t often see in samples people asked me to read.

I began to share some of what I?d taught myself about writing picture books. We went from that kind of back-and-forth to places like ALA and to writing retreats together with some of my other author friends. Later, I asked her advice about the new libraries I was volunteering to help plant in Ethiopia through Ethiopia Reads (www.ethiopiareads.org) We became deep friends.

This week, I sat in the big hall at the American Library Association all shivery with excitement to hear which of my favorite books of the year would be honored with awards. The Caldecott and Newbery awards, in particular, are the stuff of writers? dreams?luminous and shiny with wonderfulness.

When Toni?s new picture book popped onto the screen, it was hard not to shout triumphant, leap up and do a cartwheel, broken elbow and all. Caldecott Honor, baby! Bring on the celebration!

I remember Toni on retreat writing this story.? My picture book workshop at VCFA had loved?it and come back to the pictures and words over and over?and Toni?was generous enough to share with those VCFA students some of her process as the author. Did?those students and I?feel cool and smart and smug to have recognized a winner? Uh-huh. We did.

Writing fiction is a lonely obsession but writers can hold pinkies in the tough times and share ideas and sadness and also sometimes feel the wild joy with you. Only a fellow artist knows just how high the mountain peak feels after the slog, slog, slog of the journey.

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Source: http://janekurtz.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/speaking-of-friends-help/

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Senate Panel Approves Kerry Nomination for Secretary of State (Voice Of America)

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GOP lawmakers see automatic cuts as leverage

Click photo to enlarge

FILE - In this Dec. 21, 2012 file photo, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks to reporters about the fiscal cliff negotiations at the Capitol in Washington. There's a growing sense of resignation that the country's political leaders will be unable or unwilling to find a way around looming automatic spending cuts despite fresh signs the cuts would threaten the recovering economy.

WASHINGTON?There's a growing sense of resignation that the country's political leaders will be unable or unwilling to find a way around looming automatic spending cuts despite fresh signs the cuts would threaten the recovering economy.

On one side are conservative Republicans, outnumbered and frustrated, who see the painfully large cuts as leverage in their battle to force Democrats into concessions on the budget. On the other side are President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies, who are pressing to replace some of the cuts with new tax revenues.

The predictable deadlock?and looming cuts of $85 billion this budget year alone?has the potential to slam the economy, produce sweeping furloughs and layoffs at federal agencies and threatens hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs.

The cuts would shrink the Pentagon budget by 7 percent and force most domestic agencies to absorb a 5 percent cut concentrated in the last half of the budget year.

Just last year, GOP leaders were among the loudest voices warning of dire consequences for the military and the economy if more than $100 billion in cuts across the board went into effect. Now, even as defense hawks fume, Republicans see the strategy as their best chance of wringing cuts from costly government benefit programs like Medicare that Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress have been reluctant to touch.

The move is fraught with risk. Some $43 billion would be cut from the Pentagon budget between March and October if battling Democrats and Republicans can't agree on an alternative. Equal cuts would hit domestic programs, although the health care programs that are major drivers of future deficits are largely exempt.

"Talk about letting the sequester kick in, as though that were an acceptable thing, belies where Republicans were on this issue not that long ago," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday. "This is sort of political brinksmanship of the kind that results in one primary victim, and that's American taxpayers?the American middle class."

The automatic cuts, known as a "sequester" in Washington-speak, are the penalty for the failures of the 2011 deficit "supercommittee" and subsequent rounds of budget talks to produce an agreement.

Along with the threatened expiration of Bush-era tax cuts, the spending cuts were a major element of the so-called fiscal cliff crisis that gripped the country at the new year. While most of the tax cuts?except for upper-bracket income?were made permanent, negotiators could only agree on a two-month reprieve to the sequester after finding $24 billion in replacement money that reduced this year's round of cuts from $109 billion to $85 billion. Eight more years of cuts, totaling almost $1 trillion, still remain.

The austerity, economists say, would slow down the economy. Under a formula by the Congressional Budget Office, a $43 billion cut in defense spending could cost 300,000 jobs this year.

"In terms of the political dynamic here, defense spending is only 20 percent of the federal budget, but it's taking 50 percent of the cuts, which means it's going to be hitting the Republicans a lot harder than the Democrats," said defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute think tank.

On Wednesday, the government reported that the economy shrank by 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2012 and said a slowdown in defense spending and uncertainty over the automatic spending cuts could have kicked in at the start of the year.

Last year, Republicans issued dire warnings of the impact the cuts would have. Defense hawks like Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., made campaign tours in political swing states like Virginia and Florida lambasting the cuts, warning that the reductions would hollow out the Pentagon and cost many thousands of jobs. They reminded voters that the sequester was an idea developed by Democrats during 2011 negotiations on increasing the government's borrowing cap.

"The White House is responsible for the 'sequester' that threatens our national security," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in September. "History has taught us we can't continue with policies that jeopardize our defenses or weaken our economy."

This year's GOP move to embrace the sequester was hatched at a recent strategy retreat for House Republicans in Williamsburg, Va. Much of the retreat was devoted to coming up with a way to solve a more urgent issue: finding a way to get the tea party-infused House to again increase the debt limit and prevent an economically devastating, first-ever default on U.S. obligations. The party agreed on a strategy to punt the debt dilemma until May or later and instead use the sequester as leverage in the budget debate.

A senior House GOP aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss party strategy, said some Republicans see the sequester as their best opportunity to achieve spending cuts. That strategy, however, is rife with potential to split open the Republican Party and pits the defense hawks against the tea party.

How people would actually react should the across-the-board cuts hit is anyone's guess. But it's not lost on anyone with institutional history that Republicans got creamed in a similar situation in 1995-96 when they sparked a partial government shutdown under the leadership of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the warring parties should try to figure it all out, but he set up a clash with Republicans over using new taxes to fix the problem.

Reid said the sequester cuts should be replaced "in short increments" with spending cuts and revenues like repealing oil and gas subsidies, which were discussed in earlier negotiations.

"There are many low-hanging pieces of fruit out there that Republicans have said they agreed on previously," Reid said. There's a lot of things we can do out there, and we're going to make an effort to make sure that there is?sequestration is?involves revenue."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dp-politics/~3/6A0CS_ilAhE/gop-lawmakers-see-automatic-cuts-leverage

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Lindsay Lohan could face jail after March trial in California

Lohan was ordered to appear at yesterday?s hearing because she decided to switch lawyers. ? Reuters pic

LOS ANGELES, Jan 31 ? Actress Lindsay Lohan will stand trial on March 18 on charges she lied to California police about a June car crash and violated probation, raising the possibility she could be sent back to jail.

A judge in Los Angeles yesterday set the trial date on charges related to the car crash and said the court will hold a hearing at the same time on whether Lohan in the incident violated probation from a 2011 jewelry theft.

The star of the movie ?Mean Girls,? who has been in and out of rehab and jail since 2007, wore a black sleeveless dress and looked tired at the brief court hearing. She arrived in Los Angeles late Tuesday from New York and has abandoned her longtime lawyer in favour of new attorney Mark Heller.

Lohan has pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, lying to police and obstructing police when she said she was not behind the wheel of her sports car, which smashed into a truck in Santa Monica, California in June.

Lohan, 26, left court without speaking to the media.

The former ?Parent Trap? child star has been in and out of trouble since a 2007 arrest for drunk driving and cocaine possession.

Sautner warned Lohan that she could be found in violation of probation even if she is acquitted on charges connected to the car crash because the standard of proof is lower.

Lohan was ordered to appear at yesterday?s hearing because she decided to switch lawyers, firing longtime attorney Shawn Holley this month.

She was arrested in New York on a misdemeanor assault charge on the same day in November that the Santa Monica car crash charges were filed. The Manhattan district attorney?s office has not filed a criminal complaint in the assault case.

Lohan?s appearance in Los Angeles had been in doubt after Heller wrote to the court earlier this week saying was suffering from an upper respiratory infection and could not appear.

?Glad to see you?re feeling better,? Judge Stephanie Sautner told Lohan at the hearing. ? Reuters

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tmi/news/allnews/~3/Hb1n1BTHk9M/story01.htm

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To Start Anew

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North Korea Just Got a Lot of New Roads According to Google Maps

Google has given its maps of North Korea a massive overhaul, using the open source Map Maker project to pull together all of the data. Suddenly, the country looks like it's not a barren wilderness. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/THvKhq-PZhw/north-korea-just-got-a-lot-of-new-roads-according-to-google-maps

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Commodity Resource Stock Investors Can Expect Sunnier Days ...

Commodities / Resources Investing Jan 29, 2013 - 08:47 AM GMT

By: Frank_Holmes

During the current commodity supercycle, there have been occasions--too many to count--when investor psyche has been damaged by reports about slowing U.S. growth, a hard landing in China or a debt crisis in Europe. Yet just behind the gloom, significant and positive trends are taking hold, causing the storms to start dissipating.

I often say that government policies are precursors to change, which is why we follow the monetary and fiscal actions closely as they can have a significant impact on asset prices. You have to go back about 16 months when Brazil kicked off the latest global easing cycle by cutting interest rates by 50 basis points. Since then many developing countries such as the Philippines, China and Colombia, as well as developed nations of Japan, the European Central Bank, the U.S. and the U.K. have joined forces in a world-wide synchronized stimulation of the economy.

Last summer, Mario Draghi indicated that the ECB would do "whatever it takes" to save the euro. In the fall, the Federal Reserve agreed to buy $85 billion a month in Treasuries and mortgages, amounting to $1 trillion a year. And just recently, Japan announced that, in addition to pumping $1.1 trillion into the markets through 2013, the central bank will keep an open-ended approach to buying assets through 2014.

Historically, central banks' policy actions occur after there's been some economic deterioration. Several months later, the stimulative measures work their way through the global economy.

This has been the case with China, which has been showing remarkable improvement in its export-oriented HSBC Purchasing Managers Index. The PMI is a measure of health of companies in China, as it includes output, new orders, employment and prices across numerous sectors.

This month, the Flash PMI came in at 51.9, beating market consensus, which was at 51.7. The PMI stands at a two-year high, as you can see in the chart below.

A few months ago, when China's improving PMI was just beginning to attract attention, I talked with Peter Gibson and Randy Cass from Canada's Business News Network, who were skeptical of the data because of the slowdown in Europe, China's largest trading partner. I indicated that although Europe's deceleration negatively affected China, there were other underlying positive factors taking place. In addition to the continuous stimulus program happening in the countries, China's new leadership had been solidified. I believed that these dynamics would help PMI accelerate and exports to pick up.

PMIs are leading indicators for global resources stocks, which have lagged over the past year. In 2012, the Morgan Stanley Commodity Related Index only increased 1.4 percent. However, this year, the index is off to an incredible start, rising more than 8 percent in only four weeks.

Stocks across a number of cyclical areas of the market have benefited from this global improvement, including industrial companies such as trucking, rail and airlines. Take a look below at a classic cyclical measure of the market, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, or Dow Jones Transports. The index, an average of 20 transportation companies in the U.S., reached an all-time high last week.

In addition to the synchronized stimulus driving resources, we are entering the time of year that has historically been good for energy equities. Looking at two decades of seasonal patterns of companies in the S&P 500 Energy Index, the next six months have historically been the best of the year. While energy stocks typically decline in January, they have seen positive results in February, March, April and May. July has historically been the best month for energy stocks, climbing more than 3 percent on a median return basis.

It seems clear that there are a number of investors who have gained confidence in the global economy and are seeking to capture the growth opportunities taking place around the world. With the European crisis comfortably in the rear view mirror and global central banks taking the position that they will continue their easing policies, investors have taken their foot off the brake and have begun to accelerate.

As we've been consistently communicating in presentations lately, we see more sunshine and less stormy weather ahead. Take advantage of these momentous and seasonal shifts and make sure you have an appropriate allocation to equities poised to benefit, such as global natural resources stocks. As a benchmark weighting for investors, the energy and materials sectors make up 15 percent of the S&P 500 Index.

A caveat to these sunnier days is the U.S. debt ceiling issue. In managing expectations going forward, we likely will see volatility not unlike the ups and downs of the last four years. However, every dip has historically been a buying opportunity. With many investors now considering equities today, future dips are likely to be opportunities to buy as well.

For more updates on global investing from Frank and the rest of the U.S. Global Investors team, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/USFunds or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/USFunds. You can also watch exclusive videos on what our research overseas has turned up on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/USFunds.

By Frank Holmes

CEO and Chief Investment Officer

U.S. Global Investors

U.S. Global Investors, Inc. is an investment management firm specializing in gold, natural resources, emerging markets and global infrastructure opportunities around the world. The company, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, manages 13 no-load mutual funds in the U.S. Global Investors fund family, as well as funds for international clients.

All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor.

Standard deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data from its mean. The more spread apart the data, the higher the deviation. Standard deviation is also known as historical volatility. All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. The S&P 500 Stock Index is a widely recognized capitalization-weighted index of 500 common stock prices in U.S. companies. The NYSE Arca Gold BUGS (Basket of Unhedged Gold Stocks) Index (HUI) is a modified equal dollar weighted index of companies involved in gold mining. The HUI Index was designed to provide significant exposure to near term movements in gold prices by including companies that do not hedge their gold production beyond 1.5 years. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance in the global emerging markets. The U.S. Trade Weighted Dollar Index provides a general indication of the international value of the U.S. dollar.

? 2005-2013 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.

Source: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article38735.html

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Police push for background checks on gun purchases

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Law enforcement leaders who met with President Barack Obama Monday urged him to focus on strengthening gun purchase background checks and mental health systems, but did not unify behind his more controversial gun control efforts.

The message from sheriffs and police chiefs gathered at the White House reflected the political reality in Congress that the assault weapons ban in particular is likely to have a hard time winning broad support. The president appeared to recognize the challenge of getting everything he wants from Congress as well, participants in the meeting said.

"We're very supportive of the assault weapons ban," as police chiefs, said Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief J. Thomas Manger in an interview with The Associated Press. "But I think everybody understands that may be a real tough battle to win. And one of the things that the president did say is that we can't look at it like we have to get all of these things or we haven't won."

Opinions over an assault weapons ban and limits on high capacity magazines ? two measures the president supports ? were divided in the room. While Manger said the police chiefs from the large cities support that kind of gun control, some of the elected sheriffs who were in the meeting may not.

"I think what was made clear was that gun control in itself is not the salvation to this issue," said Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald of Story County, Iowa, one of 13 law enforcement leaders who met with the president, vice president and Cabinet members for more than an hour, seated around a conference table in the Roosevelt Room.

Among the participants included three chiefs that responded to the worst shootings of 2012, including Aurora, Colo., where 12 were killed in July; Oak Creek, Wis., where six died in an assault on a Sikh temple, and Newtown, Conn., scene of the most recent mass tragedy that left 20 first-graders dead.

The White House recognizes that police are a credible and important voice in the debate over guns that has developed following last month's elementary school shooting in Connecticut. Obama opened the meeting before media cameras and declared no group more important to listen to in the debate.

"Hopefully if law enforcement officials who are dealing with this stuff every single day can come to some basic consensus in terms of steps that we need to take, Congress is going to be paying attention to them, and we'll be able to make progress," Obama said.

Obama urged Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, limit high capacity magazines and require universal background checks for would-be gun owners in a brief statement to the reporters. But participants said after the media was escorted from the room, the focus was not on the assault weapons ban.

"He did not ask us if we do or do not support an assault weapons ban," said Hennepin County, Minn., Sheriff Richard Stanek, president of the Major County Sheriffs' Association. "He did not ask us if we do or do not support high capacity magazines."

"I told him very candidly that this isn't just about gun control alone," Stanek said. He said the bigger issue is that the Justice Department's system for background checks is incomplete since many states don't report mental health data or felony convictions. He mentioned how in his home state of Minnesota, a 14-year-old shot and killed his mother with a shot gun, but was later able legally to buy additional handguns and automatic weapons because the background check did not reveal his history. "There's example after example after example like that across the country," Stanek said.

Fitzgerald said the mental health system needs to be better funded because jails across the country are becoming "dumping grounds for the mentally ill."

"I was not the only sheriff that spoke up on that issue," Fitzgerald said. "To me, that is the No. 1 thing if we are going to impact that kind of violence that's happening in America."

All the law enforcement participants interviewed said they appreciated the president's attention to the issue and found the meeting constructive. Manger said the president did a lot more listening than talking and heard about the need to fund more police officers to protect school safety and a proposal to restrict the sale of ammunition on the Internet besides the broad calls for stronger mental health and background check systems.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said he's never been more encouraged about the prospect of gun control legislation of some sort, even if the assault weapons ban his group supports is an uphill battle.

"You're not going to get 100 percent of people to agree on anything as it relates to gun control, and we're no different, but a majority of people in the room recognize that something needs to be done," he said. "This was not just a passing thing as far as the president and vice president are concerned. This is something that they are determined to keep in front of the American people until they get something passed."

While the assault weapons ban was not a major focus of the White House meeting, participants say it was discussed at length at a later meeting with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who sponsored a ban in 1994 that lasted for a decade and last week introduced a renewal of the ban in Congress.

"I would say her message was not well received overall by the group," Stanek said. "Everyone has an opinion on it one way or another."

___

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-push-background-checks-gun-purchases-023655912--politics.html

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Mali rebels torch ancient library in Timbuktu

Thousands of residents came out to celebrate after French and Malian troops entered the town of Gao on Sunday, with a parade of motorbikes honking their horns and people weeping in disbelief. Lindsey Hilsum of the UK's Channel 4 News reports.

By Adama Diarra and Richard Valdmanis, Reuters

GAO, Mali -- French and Malian troops on Monday sealed off Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, but fleeing Islamist rebel fighters torched several buildings in the ancient Saharan trading town, including a library of priceless manuscripts.

Without a shot being fired to stop them, 1,000 French soldiers including paratroopers and 200 Malian troops seized the airport and surrounded the centuries-old Niger River city, looking to block the escape of al-Qaida-allied fighters.

The retaking of Timbuktu followed the swift capture by French and Malian forces at the weekend of Gao, another major northern Malian town which had also been occupied by the alliance of Islamist militant groups since last year.

A two-week intervention by France in its former Sahel colony, at the request of Mali's government but also with wide international backing, has driven the Islamist rebel fighters northwards out of towns into the desert and mountains.

A French military spokesman said the assault forces at Timbuktu were being careful to avoid combat inside the city so as not to damage cultural treasures and mosques and religious shrines in what is considered a seat of Islamic learning.

But Timbuktu's mayor, Ousmane Halle, reported that fleeing Islamist fighters had torched a South African-funded library in the city containing thousands of priceless manuscripts.

Nic Bothma / EPA

A French soldier in Mali on Sunday.

"The rebels set fire to the newly constructed Ahmed Baba Institute built by the South Africans ... this happened four days ago," Halle Ousmane told Reuters by telephone from Bamako. He said he had received the information from his chief of communications who had traveled south from the city a day ago.

Ousmane was not able to immediately say how much the concrete building had been damaged. He added the rebels also torched his office and the home of a member of parliament.

The Ahmed Baba Institute, one of several libraries and collections in the city containing fragile ancient documents dating back to the 13th century, is named after a Timbuktu-born contemporary of William Shakespeare and houses more than 20,000 scholarly manuscripts. Some were stored in underground vaults.

'Free as the wind'
The French and Malians have faced no resistance so far at Timbuktu, but they face a tough job of combing through the labyrinth of ancient mosques and monuments and mud-brick homes between alleys to flush out any hiding Islamist fighters.

"We have to be extremely careful. But in general terms, the necessary elements are in place to take control," French army spokesman Lieutenant Thierry Burkhard said in Paris.

Timbuktu member of parliament El Hadj Baba Ha?dara told Reuters in Bamako the Islamist rebels had abandoned the city. "They all fled. Before their departure they destroyed some buildings, including private homes," he said.

The United States and European Union are backing the French-led Mali operation as a strike against the threat of radical Islamist jihadists using the West African state's inhospitable Sahara Desert as a launch pad for international attacks.

In the first installment of Rock Center's Hidden Planet series, Richard Engel travels to Mali, on the edge of the Sahara desert, to discover the city of Timbuktu.

They are helping with intelligence, airlift of troops, refueling of planes and logistics, but do not plan to send combat troops to Mali.?

In Gao, crowds celebrated the arrival of French forces. Many smoked cigarettes, women went unveiled and some men wore shorts to flout the severe Shariah Islamic law the rebels had imposed for months. Youths on motorcycles flew the flags of Mali, France and Niger, whose troops also helped secure the ancient town on the Niger River.

"Now we can breathe freely," said Hawa Toure, 25, wearing a colorful traditional African robe banned under Shariah for being too revealing. "We are as free as the wind today. We thank all of our friends around the world who helped us," she said.

About a dozen rebels were killed in Gao, while French forces suffered no losses or injuries, the?French defense ministry?said.

Youths in Gao said there were still some rebels and rebel sympathizers around, but they were being found. "Yesterday, even, we found one hiding in a house. We cut his throat," one man said, asking not to be named. "Today we found another and we brought him to the army."

A third northern town, the Tuareg seat of Kidal, in Mali's rugged and remote northeast, remains in rebel hands.

Related:

Jihadists leave trail of destruction, brutality

PhotoBlog: Eerie photo of French soldier in Mali upsets military officials

Analysis: Why France is taking on Mali extremists

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/28/16734043-french-led-forces-in-mali-seal-off-timbuktu-rebels-torch-ancient-library?lite

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Justin Bieber Shares His Pain Over Selena Gomez Breakup

Justin Bieber is channeling his heartbreak into music. The pop star has released his first single from Believe Acoustic, "Nothing Like Us," which he admits is about his breakup with Selena Gomez. Click here to listen!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/justin-biebers-new-song-about-selena-gomez-breakup/1-a-518424?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Ajustin-biebers-new-song-about-selena-gomez-breakup-518424

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They Might Be Giants: Till My Head Falls Off

They Might Be Giants are well-known for their crazier themes and lyrics, and also for that totally-annoying-in-its-entirety Malcom in the Middle theme song. But occasionally, there's a little dark sincerity poking out of their work, and "Till My Head Falls Off" is a perfect, catchy example. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/cS3emJ37_58/they-might-be-giants-till-my-head-falls-off

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Content management systems - UK Business Forums

I'm really getting into this forum. UK Business Forums Free Member ? Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Manchester Posts: 260 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

Content management systems What is the best content management system out there? I have used wordpress since the launch of my site 18 months ago, and although I really like the ease of wordpress I have never been 100% happy with the functionality of my website as a whole. I have tried for ages to bridge the site with all the different forum software's & shopping carts & never found anything I am truly happy with. All 3 components work brilliantly individually but what I really want is 1 website that offers everything under 1 login. Our website is now becoming really popular, so want to invest in a long term website option. My requirements are... 1, blogging system 2, chat forum 3, shopping cart 4, Facebook connect (1 of my main traffic sources) 5, WHMCS / membership module - we run a magazine so something that could handle magazine subscriptions as well as website membership. Anyone have any experience or advice to offer on upgrading from wordpress ?? __________________ UK's biggest Manchester United magazine

I am part of the furniture here. ...UK Business Forums Full Member... ? Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Woking Posts: 874 Thanked 213 Times in 184 Posts

I think that you are really talking about a custom build. You will find similar 'components' in Joomla & Drupal, but you probably will have the same concerns as you do today in Wordpress. However the custom build costs could be frighteningly large for everything you need compared to the free opensource / low cost components you get with Wordpress etc. Another approach is to identify the specific concerns you have and get a developer to fix them.

The Following User Says Thank You to roibot For This Useful Post:

I'm really getting into this forum. UK Business Forums Free Member ? Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Manchester Posts: 260 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

Thanks roibot, Out of interest, what ball park figure do you estimate for a custom build? Instead of having the whole site custom built would it be better to take existing software which matches most my requirements then custom build the rest? Has anyone used expression engine? http://ellislab.com/expressionengine would this have all the functionality I require? __________________ UK's biggest Manchester United magazine

I say quite a bit around here. ...UK Business Forums Full Member... ? Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Belfast Posts: 586 Thanked 70 Times in 70 Posts

Wordpress/Buddypress/Zencart would sort this out. Quite a lot of recoding needed but can be done and should be a lot cheaper than a custom build.

The Following User Says Thank You to bargainmania For This Useful Post:

Super Moderator UKBF Voluntary Moderator ? Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Gloucestershire Posts: 4,097 Thanked 1,491 Times in 1,250 Posts

I have used EE and it's blooming brilliant but like Joomla and Drupal, it has a large learning curve as it's ultimately a custom built system. It can also get very expensive as modules are chargeable and can be upto $500 for the forum module. A lot of large websites use EE including Vidahost, but they don't use the EE forum module, instead running on Xenforo (which is built by the guys who built Vbulletin) You're never going to find a 100% fit without a custom build, as every websites needs are different and what works for one website, won't work for another. Custom build, estimate would be ?15k + but will depend on so many variables including features, coding language used etc.

The Following User Says Thank You to Faevilangel For This Useful Post:

I'm just testing the water here. UK Business Forums Free Member ? Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post

Quote: Out of interest, what ball park figure do you estimate for a custom build? Instead of having the whole site custom built would it be better to take existing software which matches most my requirements then custom build the rest? For your requirements a custom build would be really quite expensive, it's a lot of work. Hiring someone to link pieces together would be a bit cheaper but it's not going to be without it's issues. With each part being separate and developed elsewhere the updates might be pulling in different directions and you might have to do a lot to keep it maintained. Consider that it's not a completely terrible crime to have separate unlinked systems though. It's not at-all outside the realm of a users typical experience to have to sign up to a website and then separately to it's forum. __________________ That's Brill - Fantastic products curated. For retail therapy or gift ideas. thatsbrill.co.uk

The Following User Says Thank You to That's Brill For This Useful Post:

I'm really getting into this forum. UK Business Forums Free Member ? Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Manchester Posts: 260 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

Cheers Faevilangel, Why don't vidahost use the EE forum? is it not that good? does the Xenforo forum integrate fully? I'm aware that I still won't get 100% of my requirements but if I could get 90% + I would be really happy. as my site continues to grow I think wordpress is going to be less suitable, so would like to design for the future now. I have my own graphic designer so would only really need to pay for the modules and then maybe someone experienced to do little bits of coding I reckon I could pick up a lot myself. I have a decent sized budget but not enough for a custom build. As a rough guess what would it cost to set up a site with my requirements with EE? and would this meet most of my requirements? Also anyone recommend any other CMS's not yet mentioned? __________________ UK's biggest Manchester United magazine

Super Moderator UKBF Voluntary Moderator ? Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Gloucestershire Posts: 4,097 Thanked 1,491 Times in 1,250 Posts

The EE forum module is kind of limited, it's not developed very much while Xenforo is and is just a better forum out of the box. It's the same for all forum packages, using modules for existing systems, normally means a more limited system while an external script gives you a better system. I haven't used EE in at least 2 years so wouldn't be able to quote as not looked at it for ages, but can put you in touch with someone I know who develops with EE. Cost wise, including buying the system, ?1500-?4k depending again on how many features you want (EE has a lot out of the box).

The Following User Says Thank You to Faevilangel For This Useful Post:

I'm really getting into this forum. UK Business Forums Free Member ? Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Manchester Posts: 260 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

Quote: For your requirements a custom build would be really quite expensive, it's a lot of work. Hiring someone to link pieces together would be a bit cheaper but it's not going to be without it's issues. With each part being separate and developed elsewhere the updates might be pulling in different directions and you might have to do a lot to keep it maintained. Consider that it's not a completely terrible crime to have separate unlinked systems though. It's not at-all outside the realm of a users typical experience to have to sign up to a website and then separately to it's forum. Cheers that's brill, yeah I have seen a lot of decent websites that run a different forum. As I would eventually like to make my website a membership service, I would prefer to have it all the same if poss? that way I can restrict parts of the site & forum for paid members. __________________ UK's biggest Manchester United magazine

I'm really getting into this forum. UK Business Forums Free Member ? Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Manchester Posts: 260 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

Quote: The EE forum module is kind of limited, it's not developed very much while Xenforo is and is just a better forum out of the box. It's the same for all forum packages, using modules for existing systems, normally means a more limited system while an external script gives you a better system. I haven't used EE in at least 2 years so wouldn't be able to quote as not looked at it for ages, but can put you in touch with someone I know who develops with EE. Cost wise, including buying the system, ?1500-?4k depending again on how many features you want (EE has a lot out of the box). This sounds more in the ballpark I was looking at, yeah would be great if you could put me in touch. __________________ UK's biggest Manchester United magazine

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