Obama honors fallen troops at Arlington Cemetery

President Barack Obama speaks at the Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama speaks at the Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama arrives on stage at the Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 28, 2012. At center is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is at right. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama, right, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, center, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, stand during the singing of the National Anthem at the Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Honor Guard members line up for the Memorial Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater ahead of President Barack Obama's arrival at Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 28, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) ? President Barack Obama paid tribute Monday to the men and women who have died defending America, saying the country must strive "to be a nation worthy of your sacrifice."

He said the war in Iraq has ended after nine years and is "winding down" in Afghanistan. But he conceded that the pain of war lingers for the families of those lost in battle, noting mourners can be seen daily at Arlington National Cemetery daily, not just on Memorial Day.

"These 600 acres are home to Americans from every part of the country who gave their lives in every part of the globe," said the president, speaking under a brilliant sun before a large audience, including many uniformed servicemen and women, at the cemetery, after taking part in the traditional laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The president promised war veterans that "we will be there for you," to ensure that troops returning home from battle get the benefits they deserve.

Obama said sending troops into harm's way was "the most wrenching decision that I have to make. I can promise you I will never do so unless it is absolutely necessary and that when we do, we must give our troops a clear mission and the full support of a grateful nation."

Preceding Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that "all the men and women who rest here are a constant reminder that freedom is not free." He noted that some 6,400 men and women have died defending America since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Obama was traveling later Monday to the Vietnam War Memorial to give special recognition to the troops who served and died in that war.

In this election year, Obama has been reminding his audiences about the end of the war in Iraq and the move to bring all troops home from Afghanistan by 2014. In a campaign ad released last week, he credits U.S. servicemen who helped in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

With so many troops returning home from their service, Obama says the U.S. needs to return the favor.

"We have to serve them and their families as well as they have served us," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "By making sure that they get the health care and benefits they need; by caring for our wounded warriors and supporting our military families; and by giving veterans the chance to go to college, find a good job and enjoy the freedom that they risked everything to protect."

The White House said the gathering at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial War would mark the beginning of a 13-year program to honor those who served during the Vietnam War.

Republican Mitt Romney was scheduled to appear Monday with Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP nominee, in San Diego, home to a large number of military personnel and veterans. Romney has made the case that too many veterans are returning home to poor job prospects, casting blame on Obama's economic policies.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics report in March found that 12.1 percent of U.S. Armed Forces veterans who served on active duty after September 2001 were unemployed in 2011. The unemployment rate for all veterans was 8.3 percent.

Veterans could play a significant role in the 2012 election. Exit polls in 2008 showed that Obama was supported by about 44 percent of voters who said they served in the military, while 54 percent voted for McCain, a former Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war for more than five years during the Vietnam War.

A poll released Monday by Gallup found that 58 percent of veterans support Romney and 34 percent back Obama. The results were based on a sample of 3,327 veterans who are registered voters and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Several closely watched states in the election have large blocs of military voters. Florida, home to several military installations, has more than 1.6 million veterans, according to the Veterans Administration. Pennsylvania has nearly 1 million veterans, while Virginia and North Carolina each have about 800,000 veterans living in their states.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama started the day with a breakfast at the White House for families who have lost loved ones in combat.

___

Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Associated Press

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Local Afghan militia?s numbers set to rise to cater to security needs following withdrawal of international troops - Indiatalkies.com

London, May 26: The number of officials of a local Afghan militia is set rise, who would serve as a replacement of international troops after their withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014, it has emerged.

An Afghan security force Afghan Local Police (ALP), which has previously faced corruption allegations, is to be doubled in size as the West embarks on its exit path from the war.

Coalition commanders say the government militia, has proved to be highly effective in combating the insurgency in their own back yard, and it needs to be strengthened.

The ranks of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) are set to rise from the current 15,000 to 30,000 as international troops begin preparations for a withdrawal in 2014, a deadline reiterated at this week?s international summit in Chicago.

Officials in Kabul, who strongly refuted charges of malpractice against the force, claimed that the numbers should be further augmented by another 10,000 if necessary.

According to The Independent, senior officers have warned that too hasty a reduction would prove damaging at a difficult time with fledgling Afghan forces taking over control of security throughout the country.

The ALP was set up by General David Petraeus when he commanded Isaf (the International Security Assistance Force) in Afghanistan. It is partly modelled on militias, which turned the tide against the Iraqi insurgency when he was leading Coalition forces in that country.

However, Sami Sadaat, a security analyst and former policy analyst in the Ministry of the Interior, warned saying, ?We must be careful of what we are creating.?

He claimed that in some southern parts of the country the local police ?are taking the law into their own hands, beating people and taking money. Yes, they helped remove the Taliban. But in a way they replaced them by doing these kinds of things.? (ANI)

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UN: 32 children among dozens killed in Syrian town

Dozens of people are dead in Syria after the latest wave of violence. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

BEIRUT -- More than 92 people were killed in a single Syrian town, the U.N. team monitoring conditions in Syria said Saturday.

"This morning U.N. military and civilian observers went to Houla and counted more than 32 children under the age of 10 and over 60 adults killed," said the head of U.N. team monitoring the ceasefire, which has yet to take hold.

"The observers confirmed from examination of ordinances the use of artillery tank shells," Maj. Gen. Robert Mood said in a statement, without elaborating. "Whoever started, whoever responded and whoever carried out this deplorable act of violence should be held responsible."

---

The bloodied bodies of children, some with their skulls split open, were shown in footage posted to YouTube purporting to show the victims of the shelling in the central town of Houla on Friday.?

In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded "the government of Syria immediately cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers".?

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was coordinating a "strong response" to the killings and would call for the U.N. Security Council to meet in the coming days.?

The carnage underlined just how far Syria is from any negotiated path out of the 14-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.?

Activists said Assad's forces shelled the town of Houla after security forces killed a protester and following skirmishes between troops and fighters from the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency fighting Syria's rulers, who belong to the minority Alawite sect.

Syrian state television aired some of the footage disseminated by activists after the killing in Houla, calling the bodies victims of a massacre committed by "terrorist" gangs.

Reuters

These were among the bodies being prepared for burial in Houla, Syria, on Saturday.

It also showed video of bodies with what looked like gunshot wounds to the head, sprawled on bloodstained mattresses.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said residents continued to flee the town, in central Homs province, in fear that artillery fire would resume.

Syria calls the revolt a "terrorist" conspiracy run from abroad, a veiled reference to Sunni Muslim Gulf powers that want to see weapons provided to an insurgency led by Syria's majority Sunnis against Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect.

The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed, most of them civilians, in the uprising.?

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

?

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Rampage 6, el smartphone resistente de 5,7 pulgadas. El ?Hummer? de los Android

Raro? No digo diferente digo raro. No s? si el mundo est? al rev?s o soy yo el que est? cabeza abajo. Creo que haci?ndonos eco de la conocida canci?n de Fito y Fitipaldis es la mejor forma de caracterizar el tel?fono, por llamarlo de alguna manera, que hoy os presentamos: Rampage 6.

S?, has visto bien la fotograf?a que acompa?a a este art?culo y es que el smartphone que os queremos ense?ar hoy es completamente distinto a lo que estamos acostumbrados. El Rampage 6 est? dise?ado para soportar cualquier tipo de maltrato al que sea sometido. Sencillamente, brutal. Ha sido calificado con el sello IP67 el cual verifica que este dispositivo est? protegido frente al agua, al polvo, a temperaturas extremas y, como no pod?a ser de otra forma, a ca?das desde varios metros de altura. Tan solo con ver una imagen del Rampage 6 nos damos cuenta de que, por lo menos, resistente es.

?Qu? m?s hace diferente a este smartphone? Pues bien, no contentos con las capacidades de resistencia de este Rampage 6, lo cierto es que dotar a este tel?fono con una pantalla de 5,7 pulgadas consigue hacerlo ?nico.

Despu?s de ver las dos grandes caracter?sticas de este ?m?vil? el resto de las caracter?sticas quedan en un segundo plano. Cuenta con un procesador que corre a 806 MHz y una memoria RAM de 256 MB. Parecen escasos para un m?vil como este pero hemos de entender tambi?n que no est? precisamente orientado hacia los mismos usos que podamos tener los usuarios de a pie. Como es l?gico, no creo que los compradores de este m?vil necesiten un gran procesador para correr las aplicaciones m?s punteras o jugar a los ?ltimos t?tulos por lo que es entendible estas caracter?sticas. Adem?s de estas espeficicaciones, tambi?n cuenta con una memoria interna de 4GB ampliables gracias a su slot para tarjetas de memoria.

El resto de hardware lo completa su conector jack 3,5 mm para auriculares, un conector de 9 pines y un puerto USB. En el apartado de conectividad es destacable tanto la conexi?n Wifi como Bluetooth? y tambi?n habr? una versi?n con configuraci?n Geo con GPS y con c?mara de 3.2 megap?xeles.

El software que montar? ser? una versi?n un tanto antigua de Android, Gingerbread 2.3 ser? el encargado de mover este impresionante dispositivo.

El fabricante, SDG Systems, ha creado un dispositivo sin rival aparente en el mercado y con una exclusividad digna de menci?n. Entra dentro de esa categor?a de m?viles resistentes pero, como es l?gico, un escal?n por encima de otros como pueda ser el Motorola Defy. El Rampage 6 es un tel?fono acorazado que har? las delicias aquellos que de verdad lo necesiten pero que ser? un monstruo para el 99% de los usuarios.

No conocemos datos acerca del precio exacto pero se prev? que supera la cifra de los mil euros libre como alguno de sus competidores (como el Trimble Nomad)?y saldr? a la venta durante el tercer cuatrimestre del 2012.??Cu?l ?es el mercado del Rampage 6? Evidentemente un grupo muy reducido de usuarios y/o profesionales que de verdad necesitan dichas caracter?sticas. Cuanto menos, curioso.

Fuente: Engadget

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6 Small Business Week Deals and Insights: HP MagCloud, vSplash ...

HP MagCloud ? 25% Off

This code ? SMALLBIZTECH512 -?is for 25% off the print cost of a new publication, for all purchases of that publication made between now and the end of June (expires June 30, 2012 at 11:59pm PST). The code should be entered by the publisher during the publish process, and it cannot be combined with other MagCloud discounts. http://www.magcloud.com

Free Web Site & Digital Presence Report

vSplash announced today that it is offering?small?businesses free website and digital presence analysis this?week?in celebration of National?Small?Business?Week. SMBs can sign up for their free analysis at?http://bit.ly/K7SbQG.

Cute Cards (imagery) To Remind You of Small Biz Benefits

Happy National?Small?Business?Week! To acknowledge the activity in Washington DC and across the country this?week,?Concur?Small?Business?today launched the ?Concur Says Thanks? campaign via a series of funny, custom-made?Someecards. Check them out?here!

Concur is aiming to spread these far and wide to say thanks to?small?business?pros throughout the US for the products and services they provide, while increasing awareness of the value that thriving?small?businesses bring to our economy. If you?re familiar with Somecards.com, you know that they spread like wildfire over Facebook and Twitter. Please feel free to share these on your social channels, or on the wall of your favorite?small?business. You can find the cards on the?Concur page?of?Someecards.com.

Small Biz Are Working Longer and Using Mobile Tech More

Sage North America?announced today the results of its?Reinvention of?Small?Business?Study, a survey focused on how?small?businesses are changing the way they conduct?business?in an unpredictable economy. The study found that a many?smallbusiness?owners are putting in more hours, extending their work?week, and taking less vacation compared to five years ago. In order to stay more connected after hours and weekends, many?small?business?owners indicated that they are utilizing more mobile solutions and tools. Sage, a leading provider of?business?management software and services to more than 6 million?small?and midsized businesses worldwide, conducted the study among 258?small?businesses in the U.S.?

?The latest Sage?small?business?survey indicates that owners have not only had to reinvent their?business?model during the past five years, but have also made significant personal sacrifices to keep their operations afloat,? says?Connie Certusi, executive vice president and general manager,?small?business?accounting solutions, Sage North America. ?Knowing how?small?businesses have changed their operations during the economic downturn helps Sage develop new and improved solutions that will make their?business?life easier. We hope to gleam some more insight into what?small?businesses are planning for the future during the?Small?Business?Administration?s?National?Small?Business?Week, of which we are a sponsor.?

Chrylser Commerce Vehicles for Small Biz

National?Small?Business?Week, an annual event hosted by the U.S.?Small?Business?Administration, supports and celebrates?smallbusinesses in the U.S. In conjunction with this special?week, Chrysler?Small?Business/BusinessLink has launched a new commercial vehicles website at?www.ChryslerCommercialVehicles.com.

This new website is designed especially for the?small?business?owner that requires up to 10 vehicles for day-to-day?business?use. The site is a valuable resource for all?small?business?owners. It was designed with total cost of ownership in mind, with a built-in vehicle selection slider, allowing the?business?owner to quickly compare vehicles based on fuel economy, cargo space, towing, passenger capacity and more.

The new website also provides a variety of shopping tools that enable the?small?business?owner to easily build and price a vehicle, search new inventory, schedule a test drive, and find the nearest dealer. The website provides current incentives, trade-in value, financing options, and the tools to get a quote from a dealer and apply for credit. Currently Dodge and Ram Truck brand vehicles are on the site. Chrysler and Jeep? brand vehicles will be added to the website in June.

While?small?businesses come in all shapes and sizes,?business?owners have in common an incredible drive to succeed. Starting today, eligible?small?business?owners can submit their success stories to Chrysler?Small?Business/BusinessLink in the ?Declare Your?BusinessDrive? contest for a chance to win and select a prize consisting of one of a 2012 Jeep Patriot, Chrysler 200, Dodge Journey, Ram 1500 Tradesman, or Ram Cargo Van. Entry forms and official contest rules are at?http://DeclareYourDrive.ChryslerCommercialVehicles.com/.

5 Issues of Small Biz For the Election by PayChex

1. Taxes:?Deficit reduction and tax reform are sure to be significant areas of dialogue during the election, especially when considering the potential provisions that could specifically impact small businesses. These provisions include: the continued viability of business structures (such as S-corps) largely intended to provide insulation from certain types of tax; the possible scaling back (or conversely, creation) of certain tax breaks targeted specifically to businesses; the ongoing potential for increased unemployment tax burdens on businesses; and the general question of whether the basic federal business tax rate should be adjusted.
2. Overall Regulatory Burden:?Another likely election subject will be the degree of existing and proposed regulations facing small businesses and the appropriate balance between business and consumer priorities. In addition to taxes, the existence of a ?business-friendly? environment, also referred to as freedom from undue regulatory burden, is usually seen as a primary factor in a small business owner?s appetite for expanding and/or investing in his or her business.
3. Employment Regulations:?A particular area of focus this election season will be the topic of worker-focused regulation by the federal government. Such regulations include an increase to the federal minimum wage, the creation of additional ?protected? categories during the hiring process (i.e. the unemployed, those with criminal records or poor credit histories), steps to ease the formation of labor unions, and other items which might not garner broad support from the business community.
4. Immigration:?Early indications are that immigration policies may be a key point in the election, particularly in select swing states. A key focus of the immigration debate will likely be the extent businesses should play a role in managing and enforcing immigration policy through hiring practices.
5. Retirement Security:?An item which could emerge as an election issue is the growing concern over the inadequacy of retirement savings for many Americans, and the possible role that some think employers could play in a mandated solution such as an Auto IRA program or other similar option.

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New telescope to be in South Africa, Australia

AMSTERDAM (AP) ? A giant radio telescope made up of thousands of separate dishes and intended to help scientists answer fundamental questions about the make-up of the universe will be built and based in both Australia and South Africa, the international consortium overseeing the project announced Friday.

The Square Kilometer Array telescope will be 50 times more sensitive and scan the sky 10,000 times faster than any existing telescope. Not a long tube with an eye piece, the telescope is instead a huge collection of dishes with a combined surface area of one square kilometer (0.39 square miles) that don't all have to be in the same place.

John Womersley, chair of the consortium's board, said the telescope will help scientists answer key questions: "Where do we come from? Where are we going? What is this universe we live in?"

"We don't understand what 96 percent of our universe is made of," he said.

The organization, made up of scientific organizations from around the world, said in a statement that dividing construction of the telescope will "maximize on investments already made by both Australia and South Africa."

The decision appeared to be a compromise as Australia and New Zealand had been vying with South Africa for the honor of hosting the ?1.5 billion ($1.88 billion) telescope, which will be made up of some 3,000 separate 15-meter (49-foot) diameter dishes.

Most of the dishes built in the first phase of construction, scheduled to start in 2019, will be in South Africa, the organization said.

Womersley said that splitting construction between the two nations will likely add around 10 percent to the ?350 million ($439 million) cost of the first phase of building the giant telescope.

But he said there would be a pay-off for astronomers.

"It delivers more science in phase one. The capabilities of this instrument are greater than the original design," Womersley said.

South Africa's science minister, Naledi Pandor, said the decision to split the project, with one of three components in Australia and the remaining two in Africa, was a surprise. She said an assessment had shown Africa was the best site, and that the goal had been to find a single site.

But, she added, "we accept the compromise in the interest of progress and as an acknowledgement, we believe of the sterling work done by our scientists and the excellent SKA team."

Australia's bid also involves building some parts of the telescope in New Zealand.

All three countries offer the kind of terrain radio telescopes need to work best ? huge open spaces with very few humans.

Australian government representative Patricia Kelly said the remote site in Western Australia state is about the size of the Netherlands and has a population of 300 people.

Michiel van Haarlem, Interim Director General of the SKA Organisation, said the telescope "will transform our view of the universe. With it we will see back to the moments after the Big Bang and discover previously unexplored parts of the cosmos."

____

Associated Press writer Donna Bryson contributed from Pretoria, South Africa.

Associated Press

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Romney in new China dig at Obama

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Insert Coin: PressurePen stylus lets you make all kinds of lines on your tablet

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

If you're like Charles Mangin, you love your iPad or Android tablet, but wish it was a little more Wacom-esque. But why wait for hardware manufacturers to bring the styli to you? Mangin has concocted the PressurePen, a pressure-sensitive stylus that plugs into a tablet's audio jack. The peripheral sends a tone to the tablet based on how far the tip of the pen is pushed in. The tone affects the thickness of the pen stroke, helping you alternate the sizes of lines more naturally than on a standard tablet.

Mangin is shooting for $10,000 over on his Kickstarter page, with a little under a week and around $4,000 left to go. Those who pledge $60 or more will get a PressurePen to call their own. Mangin will also be open sourcing the plans for the pen, so those with access to a 3D printer will be able to make their own shell at home. Video of a PressurePen prototype in action after the break.

Continue reading Insert Coin: PressurePen stylus lets you make all kinds of lines on your tablet

Insert Coin: PressurePen stylus lets you make all kinds of lines on your tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 14:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Idaho town seeks to lure gun and ammo makers

Potlatch Mayor David Brown stands in front of conceptual drawings of plans to revive the town on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, in Potlatch, Idaho. The Potlatch community was once home to the nation's largest sawmill, but wants to be reborn as a gun town. Business leaders are actively seeking firearms and ammunition manufacturers to breath new life into Potlatch. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios)

Potlatch Mayor David Brown stands in front of conceptual drawings of plans to revive the town on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, in Potlatch, Idaho. The Potlatch community was once home to the nation's largest sawmill, but wants to be reborn as a gun town. Business leaders are actively seeking firearms and ammunition manufacturers to breath new life into Potlatch. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios)

A sign welcomes visitors at the entrance to Potlatch, Idaho, on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. The Potlatch community was once home to the nation's largest sawmill, but wants to be reborn as a gun town. Business leaders are actively seeking firearms and ammunition manufacturers to breath new life into Potlatch. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios)

Potlatch Mayor David Brown looks over the former sawmill site on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, in Potlatch, Idaho. The Potlatch community was once home to the nation's largest sawmill, but wants to be reborn as a gun town. Business leaders are actively seeking firearms and ammunition manufacturers to breath new life into Potlatch. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios)

A man walks by a closed store in downtown Potlatch, Idaho, on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. The Potlatch community was once home to the nation's largest sawmill, but wants to be reborn as a gun town. Business leaders are actively seeking firearms and ammunition manufacturers to breath new life into Potlatch. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios)

POTLATCH, Idaho (AP) ? This small community in the forested, western foothills of the Rocky Mountains was created as a company town to house workers for the nation's largest white pine sawmill, and its tidy homes and straight, tree-lined streets are a testament to its planners.

But the town has slumbered since the Potlatch Lumber Co. mill closed in 1981, and was searching for an economic future when an ammunition maker decided last year to move its operations from the liberal Seattle area to this more conservative region.

The move by PNW Arms was like a signal flare to business and political leaders in the town of 800 people, who were in the process of trying to determine what industry would be best to pursue.

"We were in the middle of doing our marketing plan at the time and decided that firearms is the niche we would recommend," said Gary White of Kennewick, Wash., a business marketing consultant who is helping develop the town's pitch to gun makers.

Potlatch, they decided, would go from timber town to gun town. It would try to lure firearms and ammunition makers, and plans also called for hunting-themed housing and retail development.

"It will help draw some out-of-towners and out-of-staters," Mayor David Brown said.

Potlatch's efforts piggyback on a national trend in which firearms-friendly states are trying to pry gun and ammo makers out of the Midwest and Northeast, where some states have more restrictive gun laws.

The Idaho Department of Commerce is making firearms manufacturers a recruiting priority. The state recently passed a law that protects firearms makers from liability lawsuits or excessive regulation, White said.

"Lots of states are anti-firearms states," White said. "That is what Idaho is playing against, positioning itself as a firearms friendly state."

Firearms are a $3.8 billion industry that employs 90,000 people in the United States. The industry includes household names like Remington, Winchester, Smith & Wesson and Colt, but also more than 1,000 smaller companies.

"There are a number of states in the South and out West that have pitched to have companies relocate or start businesses in their states," said Lawrence Keane, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry trade group.

South Dakota has had some success in luring companies, and states like Alabama, Montana, Idaho and Arizona have also rolled out the welcome mat, Keane said.

Many firearms companies have long been headquartered in states like Massachusetts and Connecticut, where the political climate has turned more hostile to firearms. Massachusetts, for example, has passed laws limiting the number of guns people can buy. Several states have passed or proposed laws calling for their gun makers to "micro-stamp" handguns with a mark on the firing pin that would allow bullet casings to be identifiable by gun owner.

No such fears in Idaho, a conservative state where firearms are a daily part of many people's lives.

"The regulatory environment in Idaho is friendly to guns and ammunition and we thought we could take this and run with it," said B.J. Swanson, head of economic development for Latah County.

Potlatch went public in April with its come-hither pitch to gun makers.

"We've had two nibbles already and we haven't even tried," Swanson said.

Swanson acknowledged that gun manufacturers would not be welcomed everywhere. Even in Latah County, they might face opposition 15 miles away in liberal Moscow, where the University of Idaho is based.

"In Potlatch, they would be welcomed with open arms," Swanson said. "I have not heard a single person in Potlatch saying, 'We don't want them here.'"

White agreed: "If we proposed this in Seattle or Portland, I'm sure it would be entirely different. For Potlatch, Idaho, this makes absolute sense."

The idea is to create a niche, like guns, and then recruit a cluster of companies to fill it, White said. In nearby Dayton, Wash., White is helping develop an organic food retail and business park to cash in on the tourists who visit the farm town.

Potlatch was created in 1905 to provide homes for the 500 workers at the Potlatch Lumber Co. mill. Nineteen of the homes built by the company are on the National Register of Historic Places, and City Hall used to be the mill headquarters. The mill closed in 1981, and no major business activity has emerged to replace the lumber jobs.

But Potlatch didn't shrivel up. Located a short distance from the university towns of Moscow and Pullman, Wash., Potlatch became a bedroom community for workers and students at both schools. Busy State Highway 6 serves as the main street through the town, and the small business community actually has trouble finding workers, said Dale Spring, owner of Dale's Wagon Wheel Bar & Grill.

Spring wonders where the workers would come from for any new firearms factory. "There's no labor force," he said.

Many Potlatch residents work at the universities, or at one of the thriving private sector employers in the Moscow-Pullman area, he said.

Local economic development leaders believe good-paying jobs will draw workers.

The lure for manufacturers is the former lumber mill site, of which 26 acres is set aside for firearms and related companies, White said. The mill site is currently without buildings, but has nearby utilities, is flat and the town has plenty of water and sewer capacity, Swanson said.

Nationally, there has been a big jump in the popularity of target shooting, largely the result of a slew of television programs on that subject, White said. They expect Potlatch's plan to appeal to some of those people, he said.

The marketing effort is funded by Potlatch Corp, which still owns the mill site, by local utility Avista, and by local city and county governments.

Town leaders were careful to use the word "firearms'" in the pitch, Mayor Brown said. "Firearms sounds more friendly than gun park," Brown said.

Associated Press

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Mars Rover Sees Its Shadow in Red Planet Crater (Photo)

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Deep-seated fear of unrest haunts Lebanese

Fed by the 14-month crisis in neighbouring Syria and rumours of renewed civil unrest, turbulence across Lebanon is stoking fears the situation in the country may take a turn for the worse.

On Wednesday night, a gunbattle broke out in the Caracas district of west Beirut, followed by a clash that lasted several hours and left two dead, according to security officials.

The spark for the clash, during which gunmen used hand grenades against the Lebanese security forces, was a "personal dispute" between at least one of the men and a woman in her early 20s, the officials added.

Though the shootout was an "isolated incident," a security official at the scene told AFP, "the timing of the incident is very bad, because people in Lebanon are nervous about the overall situation."

Uncertainty turned news of a crime into a new cause for alarm. That some of those involved in the clash were Syrian nationals sparked rumours on the streets the next morning.

Some wondered where the gunmen got the weapons from, others said their real target was the Lebanese army, and still others raised questions about whether the gunfight had a political backdrop.

The developments have proven right experts who say Lebanon has fallen hostage to the conflict in neighbouring Syria, following deadly sectarian clashes between the country's pro- and anti-Damascus camps.

Though the violence has on the whole been short-lived and focused on small areas of the country, individual citizens' lives have already been transformed.

"My husband is travelling and due to return soon," Mirella Qazzi, 40, told AFP. A mother of four, Qazzi lives in Jounieh, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the capital Beirut.

"I am very worried that when he flies back, he won't be able to get home, because the roads might be blocked," Qazzi added.

She said was angry because she felt the spectre of war looming, "even if no Lebanese wants war, regardless of our sectarian differences."

Though relatively contained, the speed with which the waves of violence have unfolded from specific security incidents has left many feeling shaken.

On May 12, Shadi al-Mawlawi, a young Islamist from the northern port city of Tripoli was arrested on charges of belonging to a terrorist organisation. The arrest was followed by clashes that left 10 people dead.

Then on May 20, troops shot dead two Sunni clerics when their convoy failed to stop at a checkpoint in the north, prompting a round of fighting in Beirut that left two dead.

Residents protested the clerics' killing by setting fire to tyres and cutting off several roads in northern Lebanon.

Youths also cut off roads when a group of Shiite Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped in Syria this week.

On Wednesday night, west Beirut's commercial district Hamra saw a second shootout near a pro-Syria party office. Earlier in the day, a political clash broke out between students at Saint Joseph University.

On the same day, two men fought over a bill at a store in east Beirut. The dispute escalated, and led to a shootout. In the evening, residents took to the streets.

"My business partner is from the Gulf region," said 48-year-old Khaled Saad, a construction consultant, who complained to AFP that his work had been put on hold by frequent unrest.

"I cannot ask him to send me money to start work, when his country won't let him come to to Lebanon."

Last week, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait issued their citizens warnings against travel to Lebanon. And the US embassy in Beirut on Thursday warned Americans to be wary of "tensions" and "violent incidents."

But 25-year-old Caracas resident Hossam said unrest was part of life in the neighbourhood.

"This is the real Lebanon," he told AFP. "So long as we live in such a divided country, we won't live in peace."

Asked whether he was worried about the future, Hossam echoed the voices of thousands of youths and said he might emigrate.

Yousef Mallah, a Lebanese Civil Defence volunteer at the scene of Wednesday's gunbattle, said "an individual security incident shouldn't be blown up.

"But because there's weapons involved, everyone gets worried," he added.

The Lebanese press too has mirrored the mood on the streets.

An-Nahar daily blamed the authorities for their "scandalous paralysis," and As-Safir said the country was "cursed with insecurity."

Baseless rumours too have become rife, with AFP receiving alerts over alleged incidents that turned out to be false.

Still, people have found ways to laugh at the situation.

"The good news for all of Lebanon's sects is, there's enough tyres to go around for everyone," read one joke that has been circulating on Lebanese Facebook pages.

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NY Army National Guard aviation unit to deploy (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

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And the winner of 'Dancing With the Stars' is ...

By Ree Hines

As a football pro, Donald Driver knows a thing or two about how to play a game. It doesn't matter if you're down in the first half -- or even the first three quarters. What matters is where you land when the game's over. And when the clock ran down on Tuesday night's "Dancing With the Stars" finale, the Green Bay Packer was the clear winner.

ABC

Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd celebrate as "Dancing With the Stars" champions on Tuesday.

After spending most of the season trailing just behind his fellow finalists?William Levy and Katherine Jenkins, Donald closed the gap (and then some) in the finals. A solid judge's pick routine on Monday night and his 24-hour-prep performance in the finale helped him, but it was no doubt his show-stopping, country-themed finals freestyle that sealed the deal when it came to viewer votes.

When the results were announced, Donald threw himself across the dance floor, as he's been apt to do during high-points all season long. Then host Tom Bergeron turned to the wide receiver and said, "I've got to ask you the question that Brooke (Burke Charvet) always asks: How do you feel?"

Completely ignoring that Brooke zinger, Donald raved, "Amazing! Oh, this is awesome! Thank you so much."

The victory was a sweet one for the man who spent much of the season hoping (and rehearsing) for a single perfect score from the panel -- and more importantly, from head judge Len Goodman. Donald regularly wished for a "10 from Len," and in the final 24 hours of the competition, he boasted two of them and a sparkling mirror ball trophy too.

Of course, the win wasn't just a victory for Donald. His partner, Peta Murgatroyd, is now a "Dancing" champ. After exiting the game in the first week during her premiere season, she took it all the way with Donald in her second effort.

Adam Taylor / ABC

Donald and Peta's win wasn't the only one of the night. OK, technically it was, but Donald's fellow finalists put on some praise-winning, if not show-winning performances.

First William, who ended the night in third place, took the floor for a salsa. It was a bold choice for his final routine after getting an earful from Len for performing a salsa-filled freestyle the night before. His last effort wasn't as polished as his earlier ones, but it still packed the hip-shaking and rear-rotating moves he's now known for.

Then second-place finisher Katherine took the floor for a jumping jive that earned raves from the panel. According to judge Bruno Tonioli, the dance only cemented the fact that she's "the girl that has it all."

Well, everything but a mirror ball trophy.

Donald's last-chance cha cha -- easily the best dance of the night, other than maybe his encore freestyle -- proved his win was well earned. The routine packed body rolls, smooth transitions and fan-pleasing perfect lines.

All the dances earned top scores from the panel.

And those weren't the only performances of note. The ballroom's past challengers of the season came back to remind the crowd just what they could do. Highlights included Sherri Shepherd's "It's Raining Men" routine, complete with pros Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Tony Dovolani raining from the ceiling while she took one last spin with Val Chmerkovskiy. And Melissa Gilbert hit the floor again with both Brothers Chmerkovskiy for a reworking of her memorable trio routine.

Roshon Fegan had the chance to show viewers what his freestyle would have looked like had he made it to the finals. The fast, content-packed dance was worth watching, but it seems a safe bet to say Donald would have still won that round.

But one of the most memorable performances of the night came from a not-so-great dancer -- Gladys Knight. The singing legend traded her dancing shoes for a microphone and belted out a tear-jerking rendition of "The Way We Were" while the finalists awaited the results.

That (and a whole lot of star-studded, clip-tastic filler) was all the two-hour finale could pack. But as Tom reminded viewers, the ballroom bash will be back in the fall with an all-star season bound to entertain fans once again.

What did you think of the finalists' last dances? Which returning star had the best performance? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!

{"contentId":"11818378","totalVotes":"16945"}

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My Financial Evolution: Discovering What's Right for Me

This post is from staff writer Tim Sullivan.

?I don?t know what they want from me. It?s like the more money we come across, the more problems we see.?
? Notorious B.I.G.

For a while, just like Notorious B.I.G., I battled the stresses of lifestyle inflation, though on a much smaller scale. I was making more money than ever, yet more nervous about finances as well. I was more knowledgeable and more empowered with money than ever, but somehow still felt like catastrophe was right around the corner.

I sat down to look at the financial infrastructure I?d set up and my heart sank. I thought I had it all together: automated savings and bill pays, targeted accounts, investments. Everything. But it all suddenly felt so wrong. My liberal arts degree couldn?t help but cry out, ?Tim, this doesn?t express you.?

The Penniless Year I Felt Rich
I spent a year paying off my student loans, devoting almost all of my disposable income to this project. I was inspired. My quality of life went through the roof because my Sunday walks through the nearby forest were freeing ? mostly because they were free. In fact, I walked everywhere. Every book I got out of the library was a victory as I smugly checked the retail price on the back. At the end of every month, I tallied my savings and felt like I ruled the world.

I was dead broke. Man, it felt good.

Devouring Financial Advice
Repaying my loans was a huge step forward, and I was ready for my new financial outlook. I read everything I could about personal finance. It was all so persuasive. I started doing everything.

• I put together a budget.
• I set up investment accounts.
• I automated anything I could. (I even automated 1% of my paycheck to go to a targeted savings account, a puppy fund, in case I ever decided to get a puppy!)
• I got credit cards for the rewards.
• Then I read something that made me cut up all my cards.
• Then, weeks later, reading more about hidden perks, I called to get my cards sent to me again. I automated those and then froze them in my freezer.

I was being a good finance soldier, following the advice of experts.

In the personal finance books, the authors? voices are strong and convincing. They seem to have all the answers even if they constantly contradict each other and, often enough, themselves.

The Story I Bought
As many personal finance gurus recommended, I set up auto-withdrawals into my savings accounts. Outside of my retirement account, I had targeted savings for all of the following:

• Grad school
• Future home
• Future kids? college fund.
• Honeymoon
• Car
• Puppy fund

I was 23 years old, single, and didn?t know if I was going to stay in France or move back to the States. I didn?t know if I wanted to go to grad school or even what I would study. Yet still, I continued contributing because that seemed like what I was supposed to do. Never mind that I hated the idea of owning a car. I just thought it was the adult thing to do. As I acquired wealth, things like buying a car, or even a house, became more tangible, and because of that, they were causing me stress. Mo? money, and ? in this case ? mo? information caused me to create my own problems.

I bought into the story that you graduate college, get a job, work hard, get married, buy a house, have kids, send them to college, and, eventually, retire. This trajectory was so heavily ingrained in me that I couldn?t shake it.

The road to wealth is paved with goals is one of J.D.?s tenets. I had goals set based on the idea that there?s one right way to live. It was cathartic watching my automated system run its little gears to all the separate accounts. I got so much satisfaction from checking my accounts and seeing all the little numbers rise, but then a few hours later, I?d worry if I was putting away enough, or if I was putting too much somewhere, or not enough into my retirement fund. So what did I do? I read more?

I saw all the charts about what saving for retirement looked like if you started young versus if you started a decade or two later. I thought I could exponentially increase my future wealth if I just put more away now. But what about my short-term goals?

I was a mess. I thought about money all the time. I was a few years into my personal finance adventure and already felt like I was having a midlife crisis. I was over-thinking. I needed to take a step back.

My Actual Goals
I wanted to find the excitement I had while repaying my student loans again. I wanted goals that made sense and were important to me. I didn?t know if I wanted to own a house, much less what city to put it in. A car seemed like a terrible idea for me. And Chairman Meow, who entered my life for free when my girlfriend?s co-worker found him in a box, converted me from my dogs-only mentality. Grad school? shrug ?maybe someday. Future kids? college fund? It all just seemed too far away!

But more money shouldn?t lead to any of these problems. It should enhance my already happy lifestyle.

Here?s my step back: I took away my targeted savings accounts and contented myself with having one account marked ?savings? and one marked ?Istanbul?. That?s enough for me.

Savings gets a chunk because there will be more concrete goals in the future and I?ll have a huge jump start on them. I really wanted to do everything right and have a leg up, but as I find out more and more, just as there are different developmental stages of our emotional lives, there are different stages of our financial lives. There are no shoulds or shouldn?ts. And maybe being debt-free and stashing some money toward the future, whatever it may hold, is just right for me ? right now.

Have you found yourself in a trap of over thinking your finances? What have you done to simplify and make your system of saving more appropriate for you?

Tip: The last thing I did to stop worrying about where every dollar went was set up an auto-payment to Doctors Without Borders. Yeah, it?s a good cause. But for me, I figured if I was giving money away, I really had no reason to freak out about it ? a few dollars less and a lot fewer mental problems.

This article is about Budgeting, Choices, Real-Life??

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