Atlanta Sales Excellence Director - GSD Job - GA, 30301

Job Category: Sales
Location: Atlanta, GA, US
Job ID: 829395-107528
Division: Sales

The Sales Excellence Manager role is responsible for processes, systems, tools, business planning, management frameworks, initiatives and programs that will optimize sales and provide the discipline for increases in sales force productivity.

The Sales Excellence Manager role drives towards these results by providing:
Sales productivity expertise in Relationship Management, Opportunity Management, and Business Management.
Process readiness and coaching.
Systems and tools requirements.
Planning and Business management frameworks such as Rhythm of the Business (ROB), three-year planning, pipeline management and forecasting support, budgeting management, commitments and quotas.
Ensuring sales model implementation through segment strategy, customer segmentation and role taxonomy.
Development of initiatives for annuities, customer/partner experience, and Cost of Sale (CoS).

The Sales Excellence Manager role affects Microsoft at the EPG sales organization level within a specified region or subsidiary. The Sales Excellence Manager role focuses on processes, systems, tools, organizational issues, financial, and communication processes that affect effective operations within the entire organization.
The Sales Excellence teams are considered to be the change leaders, providing business management expertise and driving sales productivity. This team functions as the execution engine in the field, which means they touch all levels of people and groups throughout the business. This role has significant importance in how we drive the vision for successful change management, business strategy, and sales optimization.

The key decisions made by the Sales Excellence Manager role are:
Strategic annual and three-year planning decisions
Key metrics to drive plan achievement
Rhythm of the Business (ROB) frameworks, processes and metrics
Budget investments and resource management

The Sales Excellence Manager role also makes recommendations and decisions with worldwide EPG and field Sales Excellence leadership on vision, direction and plans to roll out efforts to increase sales productivity, drive sales optimization efforts and lead Rhythm of the Business (ROB). The Sales Excellence Manager role is a strategic leader to a community that needs guiding principles to implement and execute against fiscal year Sales Priorities. The Sales Excellence Manager role partners with its manager (the EPG Lead) to develop the priorities and set the strategy accordingly.

The Sales Excellence Manager role works with the following internal resources:
EPG Lead (the Sales Excellence Manager functions as the COO for the EPG Lead).
ATU, STU, PTU, IU Leads (for driving adoption of sales processes, systems and tools discipline).
Finance (for all processes and data related to budgeting, Cost of Sales (CoS), and forecasting).
Human Resources (for all interactions related to resource requirements, resource planning, and compensation management).
M&O (for determining fiscal year Sales Priorities and investment requirements).

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

1) Essential Experience - Excellent verbal and written communication skills with equally good listening, team leadership and excellence in execution skills. 10+ years of proven solution sales and sales management experience in Enterprise accounts and a track record of working with a wide range of business partners. Extensive experience leading sales teams who had to rely on a range of internal individuals - account managers, partner account managers, services, marketing - to achieve their goals. Preference will be given to candidates who can demonstrate knowledge of the business drivers within the lines of business of enterprise customer organizations.

2) Personal Attributes - Highly motivated leader with a mature and positive attitude, a passion for leading efforts for sales teams (both sales managers and sales professionals) and working with internal partners on driving the sales of Microsoft technologies.

4) Qualifications - Bachelor?s degree required, Master?s/MBA preferred), 10 or more years of related experience, management experience is required, experience with sales management being highly desirable.

Relocation is not available.

SMSG
SALES:EPG
MSUSJOB

Nearest Major Market: Atlanta
Job Segments: Sales Management, Sales, Manager, Field Sales, Business Manager, Management

Source: http://www.microsoft-careers.com/job/Atlanta-Sales-Excellence-Director-GSD-Job-GA-30301/2520411/

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Feds bypass the state on Title X funds (Offthekuff)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

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If Steve King Runs for the Senate, His Opponents Will Have a Lot to Work With

Earlier this month Rep. Steve King said there was a better than 50 percent chance he would run for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa. A staunch conservative with a history of saying inflammatory things, is a divisive political figure by any calculation. To take the state, he?d have to overcome money from a Karl Rove organization aimed at preventing fringe GOP candidates from winning primaries, and win over districts far less conservative than his own. But his biggest obstacle may be overcoming 10-plus years of giving his opponents sound bites to use against him. Here are a few that you?ll likely hear on repeat if he runs.

Compared Immigrants to Dogs.?During last year?s campaign, King made news when his comment at a town hall seemed to paint a parallel between immigrants and canines. In talking about which immigrants should be allowed to come into this country, King drew from his hunting experience for a metaphor: ?You want a good bird dog?? he told the crowd in Pocahontas, Iowa. ?You want one that?s going to be aggressive? Pick the one that?s the friskiest ? not the one that?s over there sleeping in the corner.? King went on to say that the United States should have ?the pick of the litter.?

Later, King would tell reporters that he meant no harm by the comment and that it was being blown out of proportion.

"It was a compliment.... They knew it was a compliment; they turned it into an insult because they're professional hyperventilators,? he said.

Waded into Legitimate Rape Debate.?Former Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri is the poster child for why Karl Rove feels the need to fight fringe GOP candidates. His comment about ?legitimate rape? became all anyone could talk about during the last election, and very well could have kept Missouri in Democratic hands.

And King just couldn?t stop himself from becoming part of the conversation. As a cosponsor of a bill called the ?No Taxpayers Funding for Abortion Act,? King was asked whether exemptions should be made for victims of statutory rape or incest, such as a 12-year-old girl who gets pregnant.

"Well I just haven't heard of that being a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way,? he said. ?I'd be open to discussion about that subject matter.?

Various media outlets picked up this comment as a sign that King may have partially agreed with Akin?s stance. And while his statement wasn't nearly as controversial as Akin?s comments at the time, it is likely to become part of the conversation in a senatorial election.

Called Joe McCarthy a Hero.?Sen. Joseph McCarthy?s name has become synonymous with witch hunts. And yet, in 2005, King called the former chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, or HUAC, a ?hero.?

?His tactics were relentless, his personality invidious, and his habits sometimes excessive,? King said. ?Nonetheless, he was a central figure in the movement to remove communist spies and sympathizers from our most sensitive government positions.?

And that was not just a one-time declaration. For years, King has been pushing the sentiment, saying?in 2010 that he supported the reestablishment of HUAC, ?"but I would support a different committee name so that we don't have to deal with the history, and move forward."

Is Not a Fan of Gay Marriage.?When the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could marry in the state, King warned that the Hawkeye State could become the ?mecca? for gay marriage.? Anyone who didn?t already know how he felt about the issue needn?t look any further than a 2003 press release King issued after a Sioux City judge granted a divorce to a lesbian couple.

?Unicorns, leprechauns, gay marriages in Iowa ? these are all things you will never find, because they just don?t exist,? he said.

But, if you want to look beyond that view, check out King?claimiing that?same-sex marriage is really just a push for socialism.

Says He Might Start His Own Country, Anyway.?Democrats don't want King to become senator, and Rove and other Republicans worry he may hurt their chances at picking up the seat. They might prefer that he start his own country somewhere and stay out of Iowa. Who knows, maybe he will. After the House passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, King told a crowd of tea-party activists he was thinking about it.?

"If I could start a country with a bunch of people, they?d be the folks who were standing with us the last few days," he told the crowd. "Let?s hope we don?t have to do that!?Let?s beat that other side to a pulp! Let?s take them out. Let?s chase them down. There?s going to be a reckoning!"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/steve-king-runs-senate-opponents-lot-135044973--politics.html

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OUYA game console retail availability set for June 4 | Android ...

We know the OUYA game console began shipping out to the Kickstarter backers as of yesterday, however we are now seeing some additional details. These are details in terms of the shipping process as well as the upcoming retail launch date. The folks at OUYA have also given an updated status in terms of the amount of available games and left things with a promise that these shipments are ?only the beginning.?

In fact, the OUYA team has dubbed this an ?exclusive preview period? and promised that in the lead up to the June 4 retail availability ? users would be seeing goodies to include refinements to the user interface as well as new features. One point worth mentioning, these Kickstarter shipments are going out over time. In other words, just because you were a Kickstarter backer, that does not necessarily mean your OUYA console is ready to ship just yet. The shipping process is expected to last ?several weeks.?

Some good news for those with a console on the way as there should be plenty to keep you busy. As of this time there are just over a 100 available games including Final Fantasy III, Beast Boxing Turbo, Stalagflight, Knightmare Tower and Save the Puppies. Alternatively, for those looking to a bit more aside from gaming, we have already seen the OUYA serving as a media center thanks to XBMC.

Otherwise, it looks like those plugging in a console for the first time should expect a software update to be waiting. The OUYA team hasn?t detailed the update, however they did mention that moving forward, they hope these updates will be done in the background. Finally, as for games, you will have to put a credit/debit card on file for purchases, however all games are still free to try.

[via OUYA]

Source: http://androidcommunity.com/ouya-game-console-retail-availability-set-for-june-4-20130329/

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What a Sci-Fi Porno Set Looks Like

If you want to take a peek at the set of the movie Surviving Humanity, here it is. If you're wondering what the heck Surviving Humanity is about, don't worry. It's fantastic. It's a sci-fi porno that stars James Deen, Sinn Sage and Andy Sand Dimas. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/6kgs8b0s5sA/what-a-sci+fi-porno-set-looks-like

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US futures down as jitters about Europe continue

NEW YORK (AP) ? Concern about Cyprus and other nations in the Eurozone is weighing down U.S. stock market futures.

Cyprus is formulating details for reopening its banks after a nearly two-week shutdown, following an international bailout agreement that calls for large deposits to be taxed heavily to help pay for the rescue.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are sliding 69 points to 14,409. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 13 to 2,786.80. S&P 500 futures are off 7.75 to 1,549.50.

Investors are waiting for data on pending U.S. home sales for February, set for release at 10 a.m. Eastern.

In Europe, major indexes fell amid worries that the "bail-in" that taps deposits in Cyprus could be considered a model should other countries falter. Asian stocks rose, following Tuesday's rally in U.S. markets.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-futures-down-jitters-europe-continue-122552133--finance.html

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S&P sees no rating impact on Russian banks from Cyprus

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Credit agency Standard & Poor's said it sees no immediate ratings impact on Russian banks from the Cyprus bailout, though imposing capital controls could lead to operational risks for lenders and borrowers.

Cyprus is finalizing capital controls to prevent a run on its banks when they reopen on Thursday after the Mediterranean island state agreed a rescue package with the European Union.

S&P credit analyst Sergey Voronenko said in a report that restrictions on the flow of funds were having only a limited direct impact on rated Russian financial institutions despite their sizable loan exposure to the island.

Russia's central bank reiterated on Wednesday that it did not see systemic risks to the country's banking system emanating from Cyprus should it impose capital controls, though clients might be "inconvenienced."

S&P estimated that as of January 31, cross-border loans to Cyprus-based companies of Russian origin totaled about 23 billion euros ($29.6 billion) - or around 10 percent of the corporate loan books of the three Russian banks it rates - VTB, Gazprombank and Alfa Bank.

VTB has the biggest exposure to the island among Russian banks via its subsidiary Russian Commercial Bank.

S&P said that cash flows related to these loans could be shifted to banks located in other countries.

"However, the imposition of cross-border capital controls and restrictions on money transferring could lead to operational risks both for lenders and borrowers," it said.

Russian banks have said they see a limited impact from the Cypriot banking crisis, with VTB saying its worst-case losses would be tens of million of euros.

Russian officials have expressed concern that Cyprus may keep capital controls for a lengthy period, and have linked their willingness to restructure a 2.5 billion euro bailout loan granted in 2011 to the duration of such restrictions.

($1 = 0.7777 euros)

(Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Oksana Kobzeva; Editing by Megan Davies, John Stonestreet)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/p-sees-no-rating-impact-russian-banks-cyprus-132346487--business.html

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Stocks lower as Italy adds to European fears

JeeYeon Park , CNBC ? ? ? 21 min.

Stocks were sharply lower Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 pulling back from record levels, as political uncertainty in Italy sparked fresh worries over the euro zone and the euro dropped to a four-month low.

(Read More: Early Movers: WMT, CS, BA & More)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled nearly 100 points, dragged by Boeing and JPMorgan.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were also sharply lower. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, jumped above 13.

Major averages ended near their best ever levels on Tuesday, with the Dow posting a new high and S&P 500 finishing less than 2 points from its closing peak.

(Read More:Bulls Revved Up to Take Out Next Stocks Milestone)

All key S&P sectors were firmly in the red, led by materials and industrials.

On the economic front, pending home sales slid 0.4 percent in February, according to the National Association of Realtors. Economists polled by Reuters expected a 0.9 percent decline, compared with a 4.5 percent rise in the prior month.

In Europe, political deadlock continued in Italy as the country's main leadership candidate Pier Luigi's Bersani reportedly said that only an "insane person" would want to govern the nation now, adding that Italy is "in a mess and faces a difficult year ahead."

Bersani made the remark after the anti-establishment "Five Star Movement" party headed by comedian Beppe Grillo again refused to form a coalition government with Bersani, thwarting his latest attempts to form a governing alliance.

(Read More: Hey Euro Zone, You Overrate Yourself: Moody's)

A political stalemate since its inconclusive elections in late February has spiked concerns over how the country will handle its growing debt problems. Italy paid more to borrow over five years than it has since October at its latest auction, indicating worries over its financial situation.

The euro extended its losses below $1.28 against the U.S. greenback, its lowest level since late November.

Elsewhere in Europe, Cyprus is finalizing financial control measures to prevent a run on its banks, which have been shut for a week since the country agreed to a conditional 10 billion euro ($12.8 billion) bailout from international lenders. Cypriots have been lining up to withdraw cash from ATMs, with limits at 100 euros a day for some banks.

"Banks will open on Thursday ... We will look at the best way to limit the possibility of large sums of money leaving, and not imposing punitive conditions on the economy, businesses and individuals," Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris said in an interview on Cypriot television.

"Cyprus is a reason to remind investors that Europe is a source of risk, but I'm not sure Cyprus itself is going to be enough [for a market pullback from the recent run-up]," said Thomas Lee, chief U.S. equity strategist at JPMorgan. "The big picture still points to a major secular bull market being underway, with at least another four years left, led by durable goods."

Trading is likely to be thin ahead of the three-day Easter weekend. U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Good Friday.

Wal-Mart declined after the world's largest retailer said that probes into alleged foreign bribery at its stores are likely to result in a financial loss. Separately, the company said it would start using stores to get Internet orders to shoppers faster, amid growing competition from online rivals such as Amazon.com.

Boeing edged lower as its 787 Dreamliners face a temporary ban on some of the transocean flights, which would be a costly new challenge for the company.

Cliffs Natural Resources plunged to lead the S&P 500 laggards after Morgan Stanley downgraded the iron ore and metallurgical coal producer to "underweight" from "equal-weight." Rivals Alpha Natural Resources and Peabody Energy also traded lower.

Weekly mortgage applications rebounded last week as interest rates pulled back for the first time in three weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Paychex and Red Hat are among notable companies scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell.

Several members of the Federal Reserve are expected to speak throughout the day, including Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren.

Meanwhile, crude oil inventories for last week will be released by the Energy Department at 10:30 am ET. Inventories rose by 1.31 million in the prior week.

The Treasury is slated to auction $35 billion in 5-year notes with the results available shortly after 1pm ET.

(Read More: Global 'Triple-A Ratings Club' Shrinks 60 Percent)

?By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)

? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved

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Wal-Mart steps up its online game with help from stores

By Jessica Wohl and Alistair Barr

SAN BRUNO, California (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is ramping up plans to combine its physical stores with online technology, testing the use of lockers to hold goods ordered on the Internet until shoppers pick them up, as the world's largest retailer tries to catch up with e-commerce leader Amazon.com Inc.

While Wal-Mart is the leading retailer overall with $466.1 billion in annual sales, it trails Amazon and a handful of other retailers when it comes to selling goods online.

Amazon had $61 billion in sales last year.

Wal-Mart is on track to surpass $9 billion in annual online sales this year, Neil Ashe, chief executive of its e-commerce unit, said on Tuesday.

Until recently, Wal-Mart has not broken out its online sales, and prefers to look at overall sales and the growing trend of shoppers ordering online and picking up in its thousands of stores.

"We can build e-commerce equivalent to anyone in the world," Ashe said. Mixing the company's expanding online capabilities with its knowledge from running stores for 50 years "creates a commerce experience that no one else can do."

LOCKERS COMING THIS SUMMER

One way the company is blending its massive retail footprint with the faster-growing online marketplace will be to test the use of lockers. Starting this summer, it will put lockers in about a dozen U.S. stores to hold goods ordered online until shoppers pick them up, Ashe said.

The test is one of many steps the retailer is taking to link its growing e-commerce business with its thousands of stores around the world, Ashe told a group of reporters at the company's e-commerce media day in San Bruno, California.

Amazon.com, which has no stores, is installing lockers in brick-and-mortar stores like Staples Inc to help customers store and pick up online orders securely.

Wal-Mart hopes its network of physical stores, which number about 4,000 in the United States, will give it an edge as consumers increasingly use smart phones while they shop.

Wal-Mart has been testing the shipping of online orders from a small number of its physical stores for about two years. In 2013, the company plans to expand this program from about 25 stores currently to a total of roughly 50 stores.

This is an effort to compete with Amazon's successful Prime subscription service, which provides free two-day shipping in the United States for $79 a year.

Using stores as fulfillment centers that are closer to customers allows Wal-Mart to offer same-day delivery and next-day delivery of online orders "at very low cost," said Joel Anderson, chief executive of Walmart.com.

"Is it really efficient to use our stores. We've been picking and putting items in boxes for years," he added. "Ship from store is no different. We are picking items from the shelves and putting them in a box."

Two-thirds of the U.S. population live within five miles of a Wal-Mart store.

Wal-Mart is also competing against Amazon by increasing the number of products it has available for sale on its website.

Product assortment on Walmart.com grew 35 percent to 40 percent to two million items in 2012 and the company plans to double that this year, Kelly Thompson, a Wal-Mart merchandising executive said.

Wal-Mart, which hosted a small group of reporters at its e-commerce headquarters south of San Francisco, faced some criticism in social media as part of the event.

The retailer asked reporters who were tweeting comments on Tuesday to use the hashtag #WMTinnovate. Along with tweets from the reporters, #WMTinnovate tweets were being sent from groups and individuals speaking out against the retailer.

For example, the union-backed group Making Change at Walmart posted on Twitter: "@WalmartNewsroom Why don't you start by empowering the women in your stores with equal pay for equal work? #equality #wmtinnovate."

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl and Alistair Barr in San Bruno, California; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Steve Orlofsky and Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wal-mart-test-lockers-stores-online-deliveries-174445181--finance.html

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Should this killer be released from prison?

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) ? Iowa's governor has called a rare public hearing Wednesday to gather input on whether he should free an inmate widely credited with turning his life around while serving 38 years in prison for a 1974 murder.

Rasberry Williams, 66, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder after shooting a neighbor over a $30 gambling debt outside a Waterloo pool hall. His decade-long bid to have his sentence commuted to a set number of years so he can become eligible for parole has won the backing of the Iowa Board of Parole, prison wardens, the prosecutor who convicted him and the judge who oversaw his trial.

But the only opinion that matters is that of Gov. Terry Branstad, who called the hearing in Waterloo to allow the public to sound off on the parole board's 4-0 recommendation that Williams' sentence be adjusted. Branstad is the third Iowa governor to consider Williams' request and has until May 4 to accept or reject the board's recommendation. During 18 years in office spread over three decades, Branstad has commuted the life terms of only two inmates, the last being in 1992.

Williams' supporters, however, argue the governor should show leniency to reward a remarkable rehabilitation. Prison officials describe Williams as a model inmate who got an education in prison, mentored scores of young offenders and served as a fixture in programs where he warned young people to avoid trouble. And, in what officials call his most noteworthy act, he once intervened to save the lives of prison guards who had been taken hostage by another inmate.

"It's an extraordinary case, and that's what makes it so compelling," said Waterloo attorney David Dutton, who prosecuted Williams but recently came out in support of commutation. "He's served 38 years and during that time, he's saved two guards and has comported himself as a model citizen, albeit under very difficult conditions. That, in my view, indicates a person who has truly understood the importance of acting on behalf of others. I think that's a sign of a changed person, and a person that is not going to be a threat to society."

Branstad requested Wednesday's hearing because he wanted to hear from people who live in the community where the shooting happened, said the governor's spokesman, Tim Albrecht. He said Branstad will consider the impact on victims, public safety and Williams' behavior while incarcerated, in deciding Williams' future.

Jeremy Haile, who tracks criminal justice issues at the Sentencing Project, which advocates shorter sentences, said it's rare for a governor to free someone convicted of murder because of the political risks involved. The hearing is a smart move, he said, because strong support for Williams would help justify a decision to release him.

"Ultimately, executives have to act not because they will benefit politically, but because extending mercy is the right thing to do," Haile said.

Only a dozen Iowa inmates serving life sentences have had them commuted since 1986, state data shows. Nationally, Haile said the number of life sentences had risen dramatically in recent decades in a tough-on-crime political climate and executives at the state and federal level have been increasingly reluctant to show mercy.

Williams was convicted in the death of his next-door neighbor, 40-year-old Lester Givhan. The two began arguing over a $30 debt at a pool hall, and when Givhan refused to pay, Williams waited outside, confronted Givhan and shot him once. Williams turned himself into police hours later.

Givhan had a gun in his pocket, and the then-28-year-old Williams claimed he acted in self-defense. "I had to stand my ground," he told the parole board in January. He said he worried Givhan would've killed him, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press through the public records law.

But jurors didn't buy that, and even Williams' defense lawyer, Wallace Parrish, said he was guilty.

"When you have facts like that, it was like getting hit on the head with a hammer," Parrish said. "You had him lying in wait, you had intent. There was no defending that. It was like he read a book on the elements of first-degree murder, and went out and committed each element deliberately."

The attorney also said, however, that Williams had served enough time for "a crime of passion" and would not pose a safety risk if allowed to live with his sister in Chicago. Parrish called the former prosecutor's support for Williams' commutation "very significant."

Dutton opposed the parole board's 2005 recommendation to commute Williams' sentence. But he said he didn't know then that Williams had helped save the lives of two guards who were held hostage in 1979 by an inmate at the penitentiary in Fort Madison.

In a letter supporting Williams' commutation, inmate George Goff said he planned to ignite gasoline in a cell where he was holding guards at knifepoint, but Williams approached and told him, "'boy don't you do that! It is not worth getting a life sentence for.'"

Goff freed the hostages unharmed.

"If it not been for Rasberry Williams that day there would have been two dead guards and I would be doing a life sentence," Goff wrote.

Gov. Tom Vilsack denied Williams' commutation bid in 2006, citing concerns he had been gambling in prison, which Williams denied. His successor, Gov. Chet Culver, reviewed Williams' commutation file during his final days in office in 2011 but didn't act.

Among those hoping Branstad will give Williams another chance is Walter Polk, 65, who worked with Williams at the WonderBread bakery in Waterloo even after his arrest.

"He was so trustworthy and the company liked his work, that he worked up until his conviction," Polk said. "Rasberry was a happy-go-lucky person, a person to keep you laughing. . . . I knew he had this incident in his life, but I think he just got caught up in in the moment."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iowa-governor-holds-hearing-releasing-killer-183926507.html

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James McAvoy Is a Real-Life Hero!

All that time playing an X-Man has rubbed off on James McAvoy! The X-Men: First Class star, currently starring in a London stage production of Macbeth, stopped the show on Thursday to help an audience member who had collapsed. Swoon!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/celebrity-hero-james-mcavoy-stops-play-help-sick-audience-member/1-a-530051?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Acelebrity-hero-james-mcavoy-stops-play-help-sick-audience-member-530051

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Kirstie Alley Weight Gain: Actress Posts SHOCKING Photo

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/kirstie-alley-weight-gain-actress-posts-shocking-photo/

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New York state senate pushes ahead with budget votes

By Cheryl Clark

ALBANY, NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state's senate made a start on ratifying the state's budget in a session on Sunday afternoon even as the assembly said it would remain shuttered until Thursday in what may turn into to a race to beat the end-of-month deadline.

The budget looked like it would be the earliest since 1976 in a state known for regularly missing deadlines. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo inked a deal with legislative leaders late on Wednesday after days of closed-door meetings.

Cuomo had wanted the budget to be clinched this weekend ahead of the Passover and Easter holidays this week but last minute wrangling and rules that stipulate bills need to age for three days once they are printed are slowing down the process.

The budget needs to be passed by both houses before the start of the state's fiscal year on April 1.

Speaking to reporters outside the Republican conference room in the state Capitol in Albany, senate Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos said he and Senator Jeff Klein decided to spend Sunday evening and the rest of the week passing budget bills even if Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver does not call his members back into session until Thursday morning.

Skelos, a Republican, and Klein, a Democrat, lead a power-sharing arrangement in the senate.

"We believe this budget could have been finished a week ago, but for some reason issues that were closed were reopened," Skelos said. "Now it's up to the Speaker to make a determination as to whether he wants an on-time budget or he doesn't want an on-time budget."

Skelos said he expects all remaining budget bills to be printed on Sunday night in order to be available for voting on Wednesday. Cuomo could make an exception to the three-day rule but senate minority spokesman Michael Murphy said "all indications are that Cuomo won't" make that exception.

During the three-hour session that began at 3 p.m. with an hour of closed-door meetings senators passed budget bills on public protection and a bill that implements the transportation, economic development and environmental conservation budget.

The senate is planning to reconvene at 11 a.m. on Monday.

(Reporting By Edward Krudy; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/york-state-senate-pushes-ahead-budget-votes-235333125--business.html

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Bonnet Island Wedding from Brooke Lyn Photography

I absolutely love hearing from a Bride that loved the wedding planning process. Someone who let themselves get wrapped up in all the lovely and truly enjoy the little moments spent dreaming up the perfect day to say I do to her new beau. It should be no surprise that this Bride, the talent behind?Raquel Bianca Creative, was just that sort of girl. Her day unfolded into a masterpiece of prettiness, and thanks to?Brooke Lyn Photography?we get to devour every last love-filled detail right here.

From the Bride? As a designer, photographer and general artist, I knew that I would design the look of my own wedding. Having been a bridesmaid times six , I knew a fair amount going into the planning! Having never planned a large event myself, I found this a little daunting at first. But once I had a sense of what I wanted, I worked with many talented vendors and artisans to create what you will see in these photographs. Thank Heavens for Etsy! It was so rewarding to work with the many artists and craftsmen who helped bring my vision to life.

The gorgeous photography you will see in this post is from the very talented Brooke Fitts. The photos speak for themselves, and she is a true gem. I must have had a hundred people ask me what I was going to do for a photographer for our wedding, as I am one. I knew immediately upon seeing her work that I wanted her to be our photographer. She was a sweetheart and a joy to share my wedding day with. This is important because your photographer is someone you will spend a lot of time with on the day of your wedding. Our second shooter was Ruth of Ruth Anne Photography who was equally as delightful. Thank you ladies for giving a fellow photographer images she will cherish for a lifetime!

The first design element I started with was our color palette, and how that would translate onto paper. As someone who used to work in Advertising, I was most comfortable starting with print design. Once I had the invitations layout, I moved onto design boards for the event. Thank you so much to my day-of wedding planner Eileen at An Affair to Remember! She gave me amazing recommendation after amazing recommendation. My florist, Michael at Jardiniere Fine Flowers was a magician.

Kyle and I opted to sit at a sweetheart table for dinner. I have to say, we were both really happy with the choice. There isn?t a lot of alone time to be had on your wedding day. Having our own table allowed for some private conversation, but since we were situated near the door, our guests could come up to us at their leisure. ?

Although I like to think that Kyle and I are important, our band was really the main event of the whole wedding. The Hudson Project is based in NYC, and I cannot properly describe how insanely talented they are.

I loved every moment of planning our wedding. Probably because planning an event is a good fit for me. The actual wedding week was incredible as well. I met many of Kyle?s family members that I hadn?t known prior. It felt like a week enveloped in love. It was a dream really. Kyle and I took each moment as it came to us, and feel blessed to be joined with our best friend for life. I can only hope that other couples feel this kind of happiness. We are still floating!

Wedding Photography: ?Brooke Lyn Photography?|?Second Shooter : Ruth Powell from?Ruth Anne Photography?|?Wedding Venue:?Bonnet Island Estate?in Long Beach, New York | Event?Planner:?An Affair to Remember?|?Floral Design:?Jardiniere Fine Flowers?|?Caterer:?MerryMakers?| Wedding?Cake:?The Bake Works?|?Band:?The Hudson Project?|?Wedding Invitations + Stationery: The Bride,?Raquel Bianca Creative?|?Favor:?Country Kettle Fudge?|?Favor Packaging:?Whisker Graphics?+?Wedding Paper Divas?|?Shell Place Card Holders: Sweet Ingredients via?Etsy?|?Wedding Dress: Alita Graham?|?Hair Flower: Twig & Honey?|?Bride?s Shoes: Badgley Mischka?|?Bride?sEarrings: Kenneth Jay Lane?|?Bride?s Purse: Ruche?|?Bride?s Belt: Kirsten Kuehn?|?Wedding Rings: Amanda Keiden?|?Bridesmaids Attire: BHLDN, J.Crew, Nanette Lepore, Rebecca Taylor?+?BCBG?|?Bridesmaids? Jewelry: Kendra Scott?|?Flower Girl Attire:?Sophias Style?|?Ring Bearer Attire:?J.Crew Crewcuts?+?Janie and Jack?|?Groom + Groomsmen Attire: Bar III |?Groom + Groomsmen Sunglasses: Ray-Ban?|?Hair + Makeup:?Cosmo Bleu Salon

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US to hand prison over to Afghans

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) ? The U.S. military is handing over to the Afghan government the only detention facility in the country that was under American control. The transfer comes a year after the two sides initially agreed on the handover.

A transfer ceremony was scheduled for Monday at the Parwan Detention Facility, which is next to the U.S.-run Bagram military base north of Kabul.

The U.S. was supposed to fully hand over the facility last September after signing an agreement to do so a year ago.

But the transfer was held up pending a final deal between the U.S. and the Afghans over the release of dangerous prisoners.

That deal was struck late last week and under it, prisoners considered dangerous would not be released from the detention center.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-hand-prison-over-afghans-063202689.html

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Venus vortices go for chaotic multi-storey strolls around the poles

Mar. 24, 2013 ? A detailed study of Venus' South Polar Vortex shows a much more chaotic and unpredictable cyclone than previously thought. The analysis reveals that the center of rotation of the vortex wanders around the pole differently at different altitude levels in the clouds of Venus. In its stroll around the Pole, in layers separated by 20 km, the vortex experiences unpredictable changes in its morphology.

The results of this study are published online in Nature Geoscience today.

The study, entitled 'A chaotic long-lived vortex at the southern pole of Venus', used infrared images from VIRTIS instrument onboard the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft. VIRTIS provides spectral images at different levels of the atmosphere and allows the observation of the lower and upper clouds of Venus.

Atmospheric vortices are common in the atmospheres of different planets of the Solar System, although they have different behaviors. Venus is a planet similar to Earth in size, but very different in other aspects. It rotates slowly around its axis, with a day on Venus lasting 243 Earth-days, and it spins in the opposite direction to Earth. Its dense carbon dioxide atmosphere, with surface pressures of 90 times that of Earth, causes a runaway greenhouse effect that raises the surface temperatures up to 450?C. Between 45 and 70km above the surface there is a dense layer of sulfuric acid clouds that completely covers the planet and moves at speeds of 360km/h in a phenomenon named superrotation, where the atmosphere rotates much faster than the surface of the planet. The origin of this effect is still unknown.

At the poles of Venus, the atmospheric circulation forms intense and permanent vortices that change shape and size on a daily basis. In the new analysis published today, researchers report that the winds in the vortex, which were tracked by studying images obtained by the Venus Express orbiter, change chaotically from day-to-day. This unpredictable nature of the Venus polar vortices make them different from polar vortices found on other planets, like Earth or Saturn, which are much more stable and predictable.

The large-scale cyclone extends vertically in Venus' atmosphere over more than 20 kilometers, through a region of highly turbulent, permanent clouds. However, the centers of rotation at two different altitude levels (42 and 62 km above the surface) are not aligned and both wander around the south pole of the planet with no established pattern at velocities of up to 55km/h. The study also finds that even when averaged cross-winds are roughly the same at both altitudes, there is still a strong vertical gradient, with winds increasing by as much as 3km/h for every kilometer of height and leading to possible atmospheric instabilities.

The vortices are fed by the atmospheric superrotation and are trapped in polar regions by a wide, shallow collar of cold air in subpolar latitudes. The eye at the centre of the vortex covers an average area of 2200 kilometres by 1400 kilometres. Despite several years of observations, it is not possible to explain why the vortex is variable enough to alter its shape in just one day, or remain stable for weeks. Thus, along with the origin of the superrotation of the atmosphere, identification of a mysterious source of ultraviolet absorption in the clouds, Venus polar vortices are one of the great mysteries of our twin planet. This study will help for a more precise explanation of the vortex and its relationship with the atmospheric superrotation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Europlanet Media Centre, via AlphaGalileo.

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Journal Reference:

1. I. Garate-Lopez, R. Hueso, A. S?nchez-Lavega, J. Peralta, G. Piccioni, P. Drossart. A chaotic long-lived vortex at the southern pole of Venus. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1764

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/pLydDIkdCx4/130324152140.htm

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Tom Tancredo Disavows Rand Paul, Calls Him 'Softer' Than Obama on Immigration

Former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) regrets his previous endorsement of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), disavowing the former ally because he has "flip-flopped" on immigration.

"Rand Paul began his speech in Spanish and it went downhill from there," Tancredo wrote in an op-ed titled "Why I No Longer Stand with Rand Paul" in the Christian Post. "His speech was filled with virtually every single discredited pro-amnesty clich? you could imagine."

On Tuesday, Paul gave a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington calling for comprehensive immigration reform, including allowing undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States, work legally, and eventually become citizens. Paul, however, never used the word "citizenship" or "pathway to citizenship" in his address.

Tancredo said he even regretted the contribution he gave to Paul's campaign. He actually praised Mitt Romney's "self-deport" stance, saying there are not just two options available: legalization or deporting all 12 million undocumented immigrants.

"The problem is that not one congressman or major commentator has called for deporting all 12 million illegal immigrants," Tancredo wrote. "Rather, we argue that strict enforcement of employer sanctions and allowing local police to cooperate in immigration enforcement will encourage most illegal to, in Mitt Romney's words, 'self-deport.'"

Tancredo, who has spent most of his career calling for stricter immigration enforcement, goes on to write that Paul is "softer" than President Barack Obama on immigration for his proposal.

"Both Obama and the Gang of 8 say that the illegal immigrants must pay a penalty for legal status, while Rand Paul told reporters after his speech he is not 'not as a big a stickler' on these items, because the illegals would not be able to afford the fines," Tancredo said.

Paul's speech this week had a welcoming tone and he peppered his address with Spanish phrases as well as calling Hispanic voters "natural" Republicans, something the RNC also said this week in their "autopsy report," which pledged to open up the party to more Hispanic voters and use more welcoming language. Tancredo doesn't believe it.

"Rand Paul said that the only reason why the GOP is losing the Hispanic vote is because we have turned them off with 'harsh rhetoric over immigration,' Tancredo writes. "Paul doesn't give a single example of what that 'harsh rhetoric' was. Presumably it could have included his pre-flip flop position on immigration."

Tancredo goes on to call Paul a RINO (Republican in Name Only) and "just another politician" saying he doubts "the grassroots conservatives who elected Rand to Senate and whose support he expects if he runs for president in 2016 feel the same."

"When I endorsed Rand Paul, I did not expect to agree with him on every issue," Tancredo wrote. "I respect people with strongly held beliefs regardless of what they are. Most importantly, I felt that I could trust him to maintain his campaign promises. I was wrong. Oh how I long for a Republican leader who exhibits true courage and integrity. That's the stuff leaders are made of."

During his time in Congress, Tancredo tried to establish English as the official national language, as well as many other legislative efforts to try and restrict immigration. He left Congress in 2009 after making a failed bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, where he also focused on immigration.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tom-tancredo-disavows-rand-paul-calls-him-softer-003604430--abc-news-politics.html

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The drones are coming ... but our laws aren't ready

Nidhi Subbaraman , NBC News ? ? ? 6 hrs.

When a fire broke out in a church in Mesa County, Colo., in September 2011, the police department was ready with its flight team. Strapping a thermal camera to a Draganflyer X6, they flew the drone above the burning building. Together, police and firemen identified hotspots in the structure, and traced the direction in which the fire was spreading.

In 2010, a 5-pound Marcus drone was loaned to forest rangers in West Virginia by University Cincinnati researchers, in order to monitor a controlled burn. Now the group is developing an unmanned system to help control wildfires.

Even the Global Hawk, used by the U.S. Army, has entered civilian life. NOAA and NASA have decked two out with all kinds of sensors to watch storms as they brew. The crafts can endure (comparatively) long missions, letting researchers study large-scale weather patterns, like how grains from a Sahara sandstorm can seed a new hurricane when they reach the ocean.

There's no doubt drones can do a world of good. They can get to places humans can't, and do many jobs quicker ? for a fraction of the cost. Benjamin Miller, who manages the Mesa County Sheriff?s Office drone program, estimates that drones can do "30 percent of the missions of manned aviation for 2 percent of the cost." The two Mesa County drones cost $25 for each hour they are used.

But state-level bills cropping up across the U.S. could ground virtuous drones used in rescue and research. Meanwhile, privacy advocates and legal experts disagree over how effective the proposed legislation really will be.

In Oregon, one proposed bill requires that anyone who operates a drone, whether it's a local police department or a hobbyist, get a license from the Oregon Department of Aviation first.

An Indiana state bill wouldn't let a news station survey traffic on a highway, or let law enforcement send out an unmanned search party for lost hikers, the American Civil Liberties Union's Allie Bohm explained to NBC News. And a Nebraska bill wouldn't allow law enforcement to gather evidence or information via drone except in the case of a terrorist threat.

Two bills on the governor's desk in Virginia propose drone restrictions, but exclude select cases, such as search and rescue. Same for a bill proposed in Massachusetts last December, which would require police to get a warrant before sending a drone to collect aerial photography or thermal data as part of a criminal investigation.

Privacy advocates told NBC News they support this type of drone law.

"With drones, we have arrived at a moment when it is technologically possible to engage in constant mass aerial surveillance," the ACLU's Jay Stanley told NBC News. But don't surveillance cameras do some of that already? "We don't like those either," Stanley added, "But I think that drones raise the stakes considerably from there."

There's currently a trade-off between how maneuverable a drone can be and how long it can stay in the air. You can't combine the endurance of the solar-panelled QinetiQ Zephyr ? which stayed aloft in the Nevada desert for two straight weeks, but whose view can be blocked by clouds ? with the steady gaze of the Pentagon?s 1.8-gigapixel drone camera. Not yet.

One drone that captured the attention of Wednesday's senate hearing was AeroVironment's Nano Hummingbird, which can fly sideways or vertically by flapping two tiny wings. It weighs less than a AA battery, but records video. Not especially well, mind you, but cameras are always improving.

Regardless of current limitations, drones great and small still give law enforcement more reach than it had before. Yet while new legislation will surely be required, existing law may address some concerns.

"I believe that existing frameworks will provide more protection than is generally appreciated," John Villasenor a policy expert with UCLA and the Brookings Institution, told NBC News via email. By that he means that, when drones start snooping, courts will uphold certain privacies thanks to the Fourth Amendment.

Others say that current laws may be insufficient, but targeting drones misses the point.

?Whether data's being collected by Google or from cellphones or bank cameras or traffic cameras, I don't think the medium is the essence," Michael Toscano, president of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, which represents drone manufacturers, told NBC News. "The question is what's being done with it, who's using it, who's collecting it, where's it being stored, where is it being deleted."

Toscano's organization may wish to keep drones out of legislation, but legal experts agree with the premise.

"Privacy law is not keeping up with surveillance technology, and drones are helping us see that," Ryan Calo, assistant professor of law at the University of Washington told NBC News. "But it's not limited to drones," he said, citing street cameras and vans like the ones driven by Google's mapping team.

"I think the good reason to get the privacy laws right here is to avail ourselves of this kind of technology," Calo said. And there's no time like the present, as the FAA has been asked to fully integrate drones into U.S. airspace by 2015.

More on drone policies: Lawmakers voice concerns on drone privacy questions

Nidhi Subbaraman writes about technology and science. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/29ebe35d/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Cdrones0Eare0Ecoming0Eour0Elaws0Earent0Eready0E1C90A0A6243/story01.htm

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Senate shows support for Internet sales taxes (The Arizona Republic)

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ND lawmakers define life as starting at conception

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) ? North Dakota didn't set out to become the abortion debate's new epicenter.

It happened by accident, after a legislative caucus that once vetted abortion bills languished, leaving lawmakers to propose a flurry of measures ? some cribbed from Wikipedia ? without roadblocks.

Long dismissed as cold and inconsequential, North Dakota is now trying to enact the toughest abortion restrictions in the nation. The newly oil-rich red state may soon find itself in a costly battle over legislation foes describe as blatantly unconstitutional.

"It had to happen some place," said Sen. John Andrist, a Crosby Republican who has served in the Legislature for more than two decades.

"I'm from the group who hates voting on abortion issues and who don't like to play God," said Andrist, who describes himself as "moderately pro-life" and has voted for some but not all of the restrictions North Dakota has taken up this year. "But we have some strong-willed people in this state who do."

Lawmakers on Friday took a step toward outlawing abortion altogether in the state by passing a so-called personhood resolution that says a fertilized egg has the same right to life as a person. The House's approval sends the matter to voters, who will decide whether to add the wording to the state's constitution in November 2014.

It's one of several anti-abortion measures to pass the Legislature. Most are awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who hasn't yet indicated whether he supports the laws. Even if he were to veto them, some could have the support for the Legislature to override him.

One bill would prohibit abortion if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Another would make North Dakota the only state to prohibit women from having the procedure because a fetus has a genetic defect, such as Down syndrome.

Though similar proposals in other states have faced fierce opposition, almost all of the anti-abortion measures in North Dakota this year have passed with little debate and with overwhelming support. One Democrat, Sen. Connie Triplett, walked out of the Senate in a silent protest during debate last week on the genetic abnormalities bill, knowing her vote wouldn't keep the measure from passing.

The only significant measure to fail so far was a second personhood bill debated Friday that would have automatically defined in state law that life begins at conception. Lawmakers worried the wording would jeopardize couples' efforts to get pregnant using in vitro fertilization.

So why is this happening in North Dakota, and why now?

The answer lies in part with the disintegration of an anti-abortion caucus that used to take the lead on introducing bills aimed at the procedure. Longtime Sen. Tim Mathern, a Democrat from Fargo who once led the caucus, said the group favored a more gradual approach to ending abortion in the state, focusing on measures it thought would withstand legal challenges. Without the caucus, some of the Legislature's most ardent abortion opponents are taking up the cause, introducing bills crafted by out-of-state organizations or from examples found on the Internet.

Mathern, a Roman Catholic, fears the approach could backfire in the courts and with the state's residents.

"In the long term, no question, it hurts," he said.

The caucus that once helped organize and streamline anti-abortion proposals didn't formally go away. Mathern said it just "petered out little by little" in recent years, amid disagreements over what approach to take with legislation.

The group often whittled proposals down to just a few, if any, bills each session that had the backing of lawmakers and national anti-abortion groups.

"The problem was we could never get all the groups on the same page," Bismarck Republican Sen. Margaret Sitte said.

Sitte introduced some of this year's anti-abortion measures, including the "personhood" resolution. She said the idea came from her heart ? with inspiration from former President Ronald Reagan and legal language lifted from an online encyclopedia.

"There was no grandiose plan," Sitte said, adding that the template for the personhood resolution came from a quick web search. "It came from Wikipedia."

Sitte and other abortion foes acknowledge they want to shut down North Dakota's only abortion clinic, which is in Fargo, the state's largest city. They also hope to challenge the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion up until a fetus is considered viable, usually around 22 to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

Jordan Goldberg, state advocacy counsel for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, said the measures are backed by large anti-abortion organizations or smaller "fringe" groups.

"None of the bills originated in North Dakota. All the bills came from out of state, every single one of them," Goldberg said.

Critics of North Dakota's proposals say the state of about 700,000 residents is setting itself up for a costly legal battle that would be tough to win.

North Dakota is uniquely positioned to undertake an expensive legal fight. Fueled by the unprecedented oil bonanza in the western part of the state, North Dakota boasts a nearly $2 billion state budget surplus and has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation.

Still, the record production that has thrust the state to the nation's No. 2 oil producer behind Texas also has brought challenges, including more crime brought on by an exploding population and torn-up roads from increased traffic. Hundreds of millions of dollars in new housing construction and infrastructure improvements haven't kept pace.

Rep. Kathy Hawken, a Republican from Fargo who supports legal abortion, said she believes most of the state's residents would prefer to see lawmakers focus on other issues, such as taxes and education.

"This is not coming from here, from the people of our state. It's coming from out of state," she said of the anti-abortion legislation.

Hawken is among a bipartisan group of about 10 lawmakers who have urged Dalrymple to veto anti-abortion measures.

"We're clearly not the brightest bulbs in the bunch if we take a legal medical procedure and try and make it illegal," she said.

__

Follow James MacPherson on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/macphersonja.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nd-lawmakers-define-life-starting-conception-184327864.html

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Bodybuilding icon Joe Weider dies in Los Angeles at 93

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Joe Weider, the fitness and bodybuilding guru who built a magazine empire that included such publications as Muscle and Fitness, Shape and Men's Fitness, died on Saturday at the age of 93, his publicist said.

Weider, also known for creating the Mr Olympia bodybuilding contest and mentoring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, died of heart failure, publicist Charlotte Parker said.

"Joe Weider was a titan in the fitness industry and one of the kindest men I have ever met," Schwarzenegger said in a statement posted on his website.

"He leaves behind a fantastic legacy of a fitter world," the film star and former governor of California said. "Very few people can claim to have influenced as many lives as Joe did through his magazines, his supplements, his training equipment and his big-hearted personality."

Born in Montreal in 1920, Weider began lifting weights as a teenager to stand up to neighborhood bullies before competing in his first bodybuilding contest at the age of 17.

He started his first magazine, Your Physique, in the 1940s and in 1965 created the Mr Olympia competition, the premiere bodybuilding contest.

Schwarzenegger first gained fame by winning Mr Olympia titles in the 1970s before retiring from bodybuilding in 1975 and going on to a successful career in action films and then politics.

Weider is survived by his wife, Betty.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fitness-bodybuilding-icon-joe-weider-dies-los-angeles-212139218--spt.html

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