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(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo & Co are rolling out more retail services accessed by mobile phones, including check deposits, as the banking sector races to cut costs in a tepid economy.
Starting Thursday, Bank of America will allow customers to make deposits by submitting a photo of a check through their smart phones, the bank's online and mobile banking executive, Aditya Bhasin, said on Monday. The No. 2 U.S. bank is also rolling out a service allowing customers to send money to other individuals using their email address or mobile numbers, as well as expanding a coupon service that can be used by mobile customers.
Wells Fargo launched its mobile check deposit service earlier this year and will gradually expand it across the United States by the end of the year, said Brian Pearce, head of the retail mobile channel at the bank. Earlier this year, the No. 4 U.S. bank launched its money transfer service, which is part of a joint venture between Wells, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co called clearXchange.
The latest roll-outs mean two of the largest U.S. banks are adding mobile banking services that are increasingly popular with consumers. Combined, Bank of America and Wells Fargo have nearly 20 million active mobile banking users across the United States.
Executives at both banks stress they are focused on evolving customer needs, but banks for decades have also been looking to cut costs by moving transactions to ATMs, online banking sites and now mobile devices.
Banks are hoping new mobile services will eventually cost less than handling transactions in branches, even if there are high upfront costs, said Peter Olynick, card and payments leader at Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group.
Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan has said that increasing mobile use can help the bank scale back on branches and therefore cut costs.
"It is just a much more efficient and frankly strong service model," he said during the bank's second-quarter earnings conference call last week.
The bank previously said it plans to eliminate 750 branches over the next few years and, in the past year, it has quietly shed about 9 percent of its ATMs. The bank now has about 5,600 branches and 16,200 ATMs.
Bank of America spokeswoman Tara Burke said the bank's ATM numbers declined as it removed machines at Simon Property Group Inc malls and in Valero Energy Corp convenience stores. Many of these locations did not allow for check deposits or have 24-hour access, she said.
While the bank's ATM numbers are shrinking, its total active mobile users increased by about 600,000 to 10.3 million in the second quarter of this year from the first quarter.
Mobile payments can also help Bank of America defend its business from non-bank rivals such as eBay Inc's PayPal Inc, which are increasingly encroaching on banks' payments businesses, including person-to-person transactions, Carlisle & Gallagher's Olynick said.
"The banks that are not as aggressive are at risk to other entrants and other banks that are going aggressively after this," Olynick said.
Rivals JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup Inc, for example, already offer the check deposit service.
"Mobile deposit capture has been really positively received," said Beth Robertson, director of payments research at consulting firm Javelin Strategy & Research. "It makes things so much easier for consumers and small business."
Banks are keen to defend their position in the payments processing business, which can generate big revenue for them. Banks make about $14 billion of annual fees from processing debit cards for merchants, Javelin estimates. Credit cards are even more lucrative, with interchange fees paid in 2011 by merchants to Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc banks coming in at $22.75 billion, according to industry publication The Nilson Report.
AN INTEGRAL PART OF LIFE
In another service available for mobile customers, Bank of America is expanding a coupon program that allows customers to receive discounts from retailers by clicking on offers sent directly to their online banking accounts. The bank began testing BankAmeriDeals in January and is now making it available across the United States by early August, Bhasin said.
The strategy offers discounts to customers, while also encouraging customers to use their Bank of America debit and credit cards.
"There are more rewards for them and more benefits for us as well," Bhasin said.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo, which has 8.5 million active mobile users, started allowing customers to deposit checks with their phones in May, Pearce said. It is now available in six states, plus California's Bay Area, and should be nationwide by the end of the year.
The bank in May also unveiled its own person-to-person money transfer service, which allows customers to send money to other individuals using a mobile number or email address, rather than an account number. The bank currently allows customers to send money to Wells Fargo and Bank of America customers, but will add JPMorgan recipients by year's end.
Bank of America money transfer service allows customers to send money to individuals with accounts at all three banks, plus others. JPMorgan said it has not rolled out a clearXchange program yet.
Banks are increasingly finding that mobile banking is critical for interacting with their customers, Wells Fargo's Pearce said.
"This mobile lifestyle has emerged," he said. "People take their mobile devices everywhere they go and it's become this integral part of their life."
(Reporting By Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; editing by Andre Grenon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bofa-wells-fargo-rolling-mobile-banking-services-011912019--sector.html
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Text messaging is considered as the fastest and a lot of trustworthy way of interaction. It's got accumulated worldwide level of popularity Microsoft Office 2010 pulled in huge clients. I want to understand how txt messaging was made.
Text online messaging or even generally known as texting is the process regarding sending small communications typically A hundred and forty characters from a mobile. The hottest cellular phones are capable of posting about 21 sites including One hundred sixty personas regarding sms messages. Most of these Microsoft Office 2007 are commonly termed Taletid, texting and also text messages.
Text online messaging know-how functions a good Text messaging check out to be able to hook up any kind of cellular Text need to a present prompt principles assistance, Internet, Personal digital assistant units, laptops or even just about any land based cellular phone.
Some on the gadgets that are fitted with Wireless bluetooth gadgets can certainly get connected to a mobile phone like a hub may also deliver Text messaging by wireless network networking sites. Taletid are widespread along with possibly GSM or maybe not GSM solutions.
Basically, texts plans to make a method of sending information to 1 individual to another one no matter where these are providing there is indicate insurance policy coverage through the mobile phone providers. The service is used in intelligent devices predominantly when it comes to getting yields and even expert services pertaining to cellphone. Text messaging is additionally widely used in a good many competitive events.
According to your businesses, the first ever sms was initially delivered while in 1989 through Ed Lantz, occasion NASA worker. The text meaning was delivered using a Motorola beeper. Your message involves phone numbers learn ugly to learn the content.
On 12 , Several, 92 in england, the first Text messaging online messaging was developed inside of a professional shipped by way of a Vodafone GSM multi-level. Your Text messaging meaning was mailed by way of Neil Papworth with your computer help. The particular Taletid is the message Merry Christmas that is delivered to Rich Jarvis by Vodafone by having a mobile phone handset gadget unit Orbitel 901. For your Office 2007 models, the initial Text message employing a Nokia telephone appeared to be mailed simply by a good industrial college student, Riku Pihkonen.
At to begin with, sms will not be very well liked given it was made mainly to get used from the hearing and seeing affected. While in the 90s just number of information were definitely becoming provided by Text messaging. Although in the past year Year 2000, there are any step by step rise in the effective use of sms.
As the words text messaging program has become produced, the item experienced came into common use who has improved the sheer number of SMS messages along with a immediate raise in the amount of buyers.
Based upon research, Finland, Norway along with Sweden there are close to 72% with the total population are selecting text messaging. Inside The european countries together with The usa, you can find above 85% buyers involving Text.
Among any Indonesia, your Philippines contain the greatest society for mobile phone buyers who seem to purposes sending text messages as a means involving communicating. Typically 30 texting is being delivered day by day by way of a customer.
Because of your, your Malaysia have been thought to be the words investment capital of the planet. On 07 on their own, one can find 38.60 to 70 mil people who are clients regarding cellular phones.Txt messaging has been extremely popular inside Australia given it has become a 2010 inexpensive plus trustworthy choice means of verbal exchanges.
According for the Worldwide Texting Survey executed by way of Htc, sms has been proven to remain a strong hard to kick activity. It is already been proved by way of research by way of the Higher education associated with Qld that is headquartered in Queensland. It's been in comparison with always be while obsessive while smoking.
Since text messaging has become very well liked worldwide, the written text addresses as well as wording term have been modified in an effort to sort announcements speedily. Copy chat are generally abbreviations of phrases which often has a tendency to stay clear of keying in the whole statement which is time intensive. One more reason is usually that nearly all cellphones would not have QUERTY keyboards similar to personal computers.
Source: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/microsoft10/20120723/1343097535
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Surfing is an exciting pastime and nothing feels quite like catching a great ride on a perfect wave. If you've always longed to do some surfing yourself, it's a good idea to start out with a few lessons. While a board may be provided for your first lessons, eventually you're going to need a surfboard of your own. However, when you're buying one for the first time, trying to make the right choice can quickly become daunting with so many options available. Here is your one-stop buying guide to make sure you can pick out the perfect beginning board.
Different Types of Surfboards
First, before purchasing a surfboard, it's a good idea to understand some of the different types of boards available to you. Here are several of the more popular options available today.
Shortboard " These boards are designed for easy maneuverability and fast movement on steep waves. They range between 5-7feet in length and come with a nose rocker and two to four fins that make it easy to make radical, fast turns.
Longboard " This board goes back to the ancient Hawaiians and people of all skill levels, ages and shapes can successfully ride the waves on it. They range in length between 8ft and 10ft 6 inches. They can be rode progressively or traditionally.
Big Wave Board " This board is often referred to as the "big wave gun" and is especially designed for big wave surfers. It has higher volume than most other boards and is usually 8-9 feet long to make it easy to handle big surf.
Fish Board " Since the board has a fish-like profile, it's referred to as the fish board. It is wider and shorter than many other short boards and usually has 2-3 fins. They are designed for small and medium surf and allow moderately skilled and experienced surfers to get a lot of speed in waves that are slow breaking.
Funboard " For heavier surfers and beginners, this is an excellent option because it allows many surfers to surf in various conditions. Usually the length is between 7ft and 8ft6in.
Special Considerations for Beginners
When beginners are looking for surfboards, a few special considerations must be kept in mind. The wrong choice can make learning to surf and honing the skill a big disaster. One of the most important considerations is board volume. Beginners should always go with a board that offers plenty of volume, since this makes the board float better. A better floating board makes it easier for those learning to catch waves and get on their feet. Boards that have more than 60 litres in volume are great choices.
Helpful Buying Tips
So, when you're ready to buy your beginner surfboard, what exactly should you look for? Here are several helpful buying tips to keep in mind.
Tip 1 " Consider a Foamie " When you're first starting out, considering purchasing a foam board. These surfboards are made out of foam and reasonably priced. The foam offers some safety for beginners, since it won't cause serious damage if it hits a surfer in the head. This is a great learning board and you can always upgrade as you learn.
Tip 2 " Avoid Short Boards " Many beginners make the mistake of going right for a short board, thinking it looks easier. However, learning on a short board is difficult. Starting out with a bigger board is the best choice.
Tip 3 " Size Counts " While buying a big board is a great option for beginners, you do need to make sure you can transport the board you buy. Don't buy something so large that you won't be able to get it to the beach.
About the Author:
Purchasing a surfboard for the first time can be exciting. Make sure you make the right selection and soon you'll no longer be a beginner. To learn more about buying a great board and to find out more about great surfboard options, visit degree33surfboards.com for more helpful information.
Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com
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Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-One-stop-Surfboard-Buying-Guide-For-Beginners/4050793
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It is visible in the rising domestic violence rates, booming private security businesses and a seemingly unstoppable stream of foreclosures. And it can be seen in smaller form too ? at a struggling pi?ata shop, on the once-yellow fire hydrants faded to gray, in a case of stolen koi.
?The police don?t respond to anything unless there?s blood involved,? said Marlene Hinson, 51, who, after living here for 22 years without incident, was burglarized three times in four months, including the fish theft from her pond in a neighborhood of lush lawns and towering shade trees.
Even as some parts of the country are tentatively emerging from the worst downturn since the Great Depression, this city cannot seem to find solid ground.
While 50 miles to the north, in Sacramento, a bankruptcy judge and lawyers for Stockton and its 18 creditors have begun to sort out who owes what to whom, Stockton?s 292,000 residents have been left trying to hold together some semblance of order and respect for themselves.
The indignities have piled up and compounded in ways few could have imagined. After housing prices shot up in the early 2000s, when commuters from the San Francisco Bay area bought and built up homes here, the median home price plummeted by more than 60 percent in the last five years. In the first half of this year, the city had the highest foreclosure rate of any in the country, according to RealtyTrac, a company that collects foreclosure data. While it has come down a few points in recent months, for the last few years the unemployment rate hovered around 17 percent, nearly double the national average.
While Stockton?s bankruptcy troubles can be traced in part to the collapse of the housing market and the subsequent erosion of the city?s tax base, for years city leaders also mismanaged and overspent funds, pushing the city into financial peril, analysts and current city officials say. Stockton cannot afford the $417 million it owes for retiree health benefits, city officials say, and this year a bank repossessed city-owned parking garages and a $40 million building the city had bought with plans for an upgraded City Hall.
Since 2009, the city has cut 25 percent of its police officers, 30 percent of its Fire Department and over 40 percent of all other city employees. And while the Police Department has started hiring again, much ground has already been lost. Last year, there were 58 homicides here, a record. Halfway through 2012, there have already been 35. Other cities across the state are also teetering. On Wednesday, city leaders in San Bernardino, Calif., were set to vote on a fiscal emergency declaration, which would allow the city to file for bankruptcy within 30 days.
After the three burglaries, Ms. Hinson and her husband, John Hinson, 68, a retired city finance director, installed an alarm system, video cameras and a locking gate at their home. But when the alarm goes off, which it has on several occasions, they say the police do not come. ?They used to serve and protect, but now they can?t protect us anymore,? said Ms. Hinson, who works for a company that manages homeowner associations. ?We have to protect ourselves.?
To that end, the Hinsons joined their neighborhood watch group and have started patrolling the city park adjoining their house. Stockton now has about 100 neighborhood watch groups, and more are forming all the time as concern over rising crime spreads, according to police officials.
Some predict the city will see a boom in self-policing efforts similar to the one that occurred in nearby Vallejo, which experienced a 40-fold increase in neighborhood watch groups since it filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
Cuts at the Stockton Police Department have improved the fortunes of private security companies. Delta Hawkeye Security Services, the largest private security company in the city, has seen an 80 percent increase in business since 2009, according to Ron Cancio, the company?s manager. Homeowner associations, landlords and businesses hire officers for $18 to $25 an hour (with or without a gun) to do work that until recently was done by city police.
?People call us before they call the police because we respond quicker,? Mr. Cancio said.
This year, the increase in crime and clients prompted Delta Hawkeye to have 10 of its 75 officers certified to carry firearms and Tasers. The company intends to triple the number of armed officers by next summer, Mr. Cancio said.
Darien Wilson, 19, carries a gun during his graveyard shift, while he zigzags around town in his company-issued Hyundai, checking on dozens of foreclosed houses and responding to everything from domestic violence calls to reports of fistfights. If he sees a violent crime in progress, he calls the police. But he also uses his Taser and pepper spray and can handcuff people until the police arrive. He says most often the sight of an armed officer sends people running.
?Not very many 19-year-olds can say they?re armed and working security on the streets of one of the most dangerous cities in America,? Mr. Wilson said.
While the city?s financial morass has allowed Mr. Wilson?s ilk more responsibility and swagger, it has left a multitude of others in need of refuge, a roof and a hot meal.
In 2008, 716 battered women received counseling at the Women?s Center Youth & Family Services, a nonprofit here serving victims of domestic violence. Last year that number had jumped to 3,347. The center?s shelters are over-capacity, said Joelle Gomez, the center?s executive director. ?We?ve never seen anything like the increases we?ve seen in the last four to five years in calls to our helplines, our emergency shelter, counseling services and requests for restraining orders,? Ms. Gomez added. They also arrive more brutalized. ?The nature of the domestic violence that is occurring is more violent than we?ve seen before,? Ms. Gomez said. ?People have lost their sense of hope and stability, and with that comes a lot of anger.?
The city?s homeless shelters are operating at 125 percent capacity and have been since 2009 when foreclosures left many, particularly renters, with nowhere to go, said John Reynolds, executive director of Stockton Shelter for the Homeless, a nonprofit with multiple shelters throughout city.
The hardships here are hardly limited to those already at the margins of poverty. The women?s shelter has seen more middle- and upper-middle-class battered women. ?These days almost every person I see has been through foreclosure or their mortgages are seriously underwater,? said Timothy Miller, a psychologist who has served wealthier Stocktonians for 30 years. ?People feel absolutely crushed by that pressure.?
Even the city?s cats, dogs and parakeets have become orphans of economic adversity. Officials at the Delta Humane Society & S.P.C.A. said the shelter was 60 percent over capacity, forced to turn away those who try to drop pets off they cannot afford, or animals that, along with their owners, lost homes to foreclosure.
?People are dropping off boxes of kittens at the gate during the night,? said Patrice Davidson, the executive director. ?We?ve got kittens in the bathroom and cat cages in the lobby.?
Stocktonians disagree on whether bankruptcy will, in the end, help or harm their city. Some say Chapter 9 is a stain the city will never be rid of while others swear it is the last chance to crawl back from insolvency and tough luck.
Regardless of where they fall on that spectrum, many residents? misfortunes track with the city?s own.
Yuri Campos?s grandparents first arrived here as farm workers from Mexico 50 years ago. As the city grew from an agricultural town into what was, until recently, a rapidly expanding exurb, Ms. Campos? family grew with it. She bought a house, had a son and opened a shop called Party Barn specializing in handmade pi?atas. But these days few here have the means, or the will, for parties.
As the city stumbled into financial ruin, Ms. Campos, 30, and her family fell with it. By last November, the bank had foreclosed on her house and the homes of three other family members in town.
Ms. Campos started looking at rental listings in Southern California cities like Oxnard and Long Beach. One of her aunts decamped for Arizona.
Then in March, Ms. Campos was at a bar when a fight broke out and a man was shot and killed. When she tried to contact the police with information about what happened, she says no one at the Police Department would meet with her or call her back.
By the end of June, the city?s bankruptcy made national headlines and for the first time in her life, Ms. Campos began to feel something akin to shame.
?People will ask me, ?Where are you from???? she said. ?Sometime I hesitate to say. I just feel like they?ll think I?m a violent person. They?ll look at me like I might hurt them.?
Source: http://bankruptcylawyersacramento.net/years-of-unraveling-then-bankruptcy-for-a-city-new-york-times/
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ScienceDaily (July 17, 2012) ? An ice island twice the size of Manhattan has broken off from Greenland's Petermann Glacier, according to researchers at the University of Delaware and the Canadian Ice Service. The Petermann Glacier is one of the two largest glaciers left in Greenland connecting the great Greenland ice sheet with the ocean via a floating ice shelf.
Andreas Muenchow, associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering in UD's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, reports the calving on July 16, 2012, in his "Icy Seas" blog (http://icyseas.org/). Muenchow credits Trudy Wohleben of the Canadian Ice Service for first noticing the fracture.
The discovery was confirmed by reprocessing data taken by MODIS, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites.
At 46 square miles (120 square km), this latest ice island is about half the size of the mega-calving that occurred from the same glacier two years ago. The 2010 chunk, also reported by Muenchow, was four times the size of Manhattan.
"While the size is not as spectacular as it was in 2010, the fact that it follows so closely to the 2010 event brings the glacier's terminus to a location where it has not been for at least 150 years," Muenchow says.
"The Greenland ice sheet as a whole is shrinking, melting and reducing in size as the result of globally changing air and ocean temperatures and associated changes in circulation patterns in both the ocean and atmosphere," he notes.
Muenchow points out that the air around northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island has warmed by about 0.11 +/- 0.025 degrees Celsius per year since 1987.
"Northwest Greenland and northeast Canada are warming more than five times faster than the rest of the world," Muenchow says, "but the observed warming is not proof that the diminishing ice shelf is caused by this, because air temperatures have little effect on this glacier; ocean temperatures do, and our ocean temperature time series are only five to eight years long -- too short to establish a robust warming signal."
The ocean and sea ice observing array that Muenchow and his research team installed in 2003 with U.S. National Science Foundation support in Nares Strait, the deep channel between Greenland and Canada, has recorded data from 2003 to 2009.
The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Henry Larsen is scheduled to travel to Nares Strait and Petermann Fjord later this summer to recover moorings placed by UD in 2009. These mooring data, if recovered, will provide scientists with ocean current, temperature, salinity and ice thickness data at better than hourly intervals from 2009 through 2012. The period includes the passage of the 2010 ice island directly over the instruments.
According to Muenchow, this newest ice island will follow the path of the 2010 ice island, providing a slow-moving floating taxi for polar bears, seals and other marine life until it enters Nares Strait, the deep channel between northern Greenland and Canada, where it likely will get broken up.
"This is definitely d?j? vu," Muenchow says. "The first large pieces of the 2010 calving arrived last summer on the shores of Newfoundland, but there are still many large pieces scattered all along eastern Canada from Lancaster Sound in the high Arctic to Labrador to the south."
Prior to 2010, the last time such a sizable ice island was born in the region was 50 years ago. In 1962, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada, calved a 230-square-mile island.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Delaware. The original article was written by Tracey Bryant.
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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120717100027.htm
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WORLD NEWS TOMORROW | WNT NEWS; Russian officials fear an Iranian lawsuit for a cancelled missile delivery deal may prove successful, according to sources in the government, Kommersant reported on Wednesday.
The legal claim submitted to an arbitration court in Geneva is to make Moscow either supply the S-300 surface-to-air missile complexes or pay nearly $4 billion of compensation.
?Unfortunately, we have no reason to believe that the court will take into account all the niceties of the current complicated situation over Iran,? an official admitted to the daily on condition of anonymity.
UN Security Council resolution
The contract for five missile complexes worth $800 million with the Russian arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, was cancelled back in 2010, when then-President Dmitry Medvedev ordered supplies of arms to Iran to stop.
The decision was due to implementation of a UN Security Council resolution passed earlier that year, and Russia is going to use this fact in court, Kommersant reported.
The Iranian Defense Ministry and state-run Aerospace Industries Organization, which filed the lawsuit in April 2011, are going to argue that supplying surface-to-air missile complexes has not been restricted by the council.
Russia has already returned the advance payment of? $167 million, but Iran is hoping to get extra cash to compensate for losses or see the missile complexes delivered. The governmental official said this lawsuit was ?unpleasant? and called Iranians ?ungrateful,? given the stance Russia has taken in talks over the country?s nuclear program.
?Paying up for the past
The compensation demanded by Iran, equal to nearly one-third of Rosoboronexport?s total revenue in 2011, includes the value of the contract, expenses for the complexes? installation and moral damages, according to Kommersant?s sources on the arms market.
But the $4 billion is also to pay for problems with arms supplies in the past, according to Rajab Safarov, director at the Center for Modern Iranian Studies.
Teheran added penalties for other contracts with Russia which have not been fulfilled because of an agreement from 1995, endorsed by then-U.S. Vice President Al Gore and then-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, which banned Russia from exporting regular arms to Iran.
?Military and technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and Iran was in fact frozen,? Safarov told Kommersant. Moscow officially withdrew from the contract only in 2000.
Source: http://www.worldnewstomorrow.com/?p=1866
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? The nation's largest produce-safety testing program narrowly escaped closure thanks to a last-minute grudging reprieve from the Agriculture Department, and finding a permanent solution to keep tainted fruits and vegetables from reaching consumers could take an even bigger effort.
Each year, the tiny program screens thousands of produce samples. It has found more than two dozen bacteria-laced examples that prompted recalls of lettuce, tomatoes and other foods from grocery stores.
It was at risk of being scrapped after President Barack Obama's proposed budget slashed the effort's funding earlier this year. But USDA spokesman Justin DeJong said late Monday that although the Microbiological Data Program "does not align with USDA's core mission," it will operate through December, using existing agreements with states to keep testing for salmonella, E. coli and listeria over the next six months.
Public health officials and food safety advocates have long argued that getting rid of the program would leave the country without a crucial tool to investigate outbreaks of deadly foodborne illnesses.
If samples test positive for bacteria, it can trigger nationwide recalls and keep contaminated produce from reaching the public.
Dr. Robert Tauxe, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's top food-germ investigator, has said the program's information can be key to pinpointing foods tied to outbreaks, and it could not easily be replaced by companies' internal tests or more modest federal sampling programs.
The CDC said contaminated fruits and vegetables caused nearly one-third of the major multistate foodborne illness outbreaks last year.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a longtime food safety advocate, said she would continue to push for the program to stay open beyond the year's end, since the House and Senate have not included any funding for it in their agriculture spending bills.
"I am glad to hear the program will continue, but a temporary reprieve is not enough," she said. "It is unacceptable for this crucial, cost-effective program to be eliminated."
Finding more money for the modest program, which cost $4.3 million to run last year, may be tough in this economic climate. The FDA is already squeezed for food safety dollars, receiving so little money for food inspections that some facilities are only inspected every five to 10 years.
In recent years, industry leaders from United Fresh Produce Association and other major trade groups have repeatedly urged the government to get rid of the USDA program, saying it has cost growers millions of dollars in produce recalls and unfairly targeted farmers who aren't responsible for contaminating the food.
They want the private sector to do more testing, rather than allowing the USDA to take random samples of fruits and vegetables at massive grocery store distribution centers, after produce has already left company control.
Ray Gilmer, a United Fresh spokesman, did not immediately comment Monday. He has said the industry supports funding the FDA to do more scientifically rigorous tests that would help monitor public health.
___
Follow Garance Burke on Twitter at http://twitter.com/garanceburke
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LeVar Burton has to take a moment. He pauses, dabs his eyes with a tissue, taking it all in: the washed-out white room, over-exposed by the sun, filled with journalists, industry reps and friends in rows of folding chairs, red, orange, yellow, green and blue. Large balloons hang from the corners of the room, dressed up like hot air balloons, carrying small, empty baskets. A guitar sits next to an amp off the corner of the stage while the Reading Rainbow logo beams on a flatscreen monitor, largely unchanged since its heyday a quarter-century ago. Burton, too, appears mostly unchanged since those days, aside from closer-cropped hair, more neatly manicured facial hair and a smart, mustard suit jacket.
There's plenty to be emotional about, of course, hitting the stage on the tail of an introduction by producer Mark Wolfe, who calls Burton, "my best friend." The return of Reading Rainbow - now in the form of an iPad app - has been a long time coming, the beloved children's series having been largely MIA since being pulled from the airwaves in 2009, after a 26-year run. "This is two years in the making," Burton begins in his familiarly gentle cadence as we sit down for an interview roughly an hour later, "and I'm really just overwhelmed with the response. It's like making a movie. You're just so close to it and you sometimes lose perspective, you can't see the forest for the trees, that sort of thing. There's so much that's gone into it, so much work, so much sweat, so much blood."
A lot, certainly, has gone into the launch, Burton singling out theme song composer Steve Horelick and singer Tina Fabrique in the audience. "It's my first time meeting her in-person," he explains, extending a hand to bring her up on stage. "Butterfly in the sky," she begins, as though not a single day had passed in the last two and a half decades that she didn't wake up singing that line. "I can go twice as high," Burton joins in. By "take a look, it's in a book," nearly everyone in attendance adds to the chorus. It's a surreal sight placed up against the standard fare of tech press conferences, where bloggers elbow one another to shoot tablets on stands behind bulletproof plexiglass, and before the crowd finishes singing "a Reading Rainbow," Burton's eyes aren't the only misty ones in the house.
Continue reading Re-Reading Rainbow: an interview with LeVar Burton
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MANILA, Philippines?Philippine naval forces began readying vessels to assist the Chinese warship that ran aground on a reef in disputed waters of the Philippine Sea (South China Sea) off Palawan, officials said Saturday.
Even though China has not made any requests for help, ?our assets are prepared in case there is a distress call. We will try to provide assistance. That will be our task there,? said Commodore Rustom Pe?a, commander of the military?s Naval Forces West.
The Department of National Defense, on the other hand, declined to comment on whether the presence of the Chinese frigate within what the Philippines considers its territory could be considered an intrusion.
?We cannot comment on that as we are still investigating and gathering details,? defense department spokesperson Peter Paul Galvez said. ?As of this time, we are still awaiting reports. I believe bad weather is hampering our monitoring,? he added.
A military official who did not want to be identified by name because of the sensitivity of the matter said ?some consider it innocent passage,? possibly belying reports that the Chinese warship had been patrolling Philippine-claimed waters.
But the Chinese Embassy in Manila said Friday the Chinese Navy vessel was doing ?routine patrol mission? when it ran aground on Half Moon Shoal, which the Philippines calls ?Hasa-Hasa Shoal.?
Pe?a said the Navy still had no visual confirmation of the grounded frigate, and that it had sent assets to the area for that purpose.
The Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald, which broke the story, said the grounded People?s Liberation Army?s naval ship No. 560 was a Jianghu-class frigate ?that has in the past been involved in aggressively discouraging Filipino fishing boats from the area.?
The shoal, according to military sources, is located about 111 kilometers (60 nautical miles) from the municipality of Rizal on the main island of Palawan province, within the country?s 370-km (200-nautical-mile) exclusive economic zone.
China, however, considers it part of its territory in the Nansha Islands, its name for the Spratly group of islands, which it claims wholly.
The Spratlys, a reputedly oil-rich chain of tiny islands and reefs, is located near Palawan and claimed wholly or in part by the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan.
The Philippines, supported by its strongest defense ally, the United States, has sought a multilateral solution to end the territorial disputes, but China wants to deal with individual countries separately.
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Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines.Tags: China , Foreign affairs , Military , Philippines , South China Sea , territorial disputes , West Philippine Sea
Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer's day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer's Reader's Advocate. Or write The Readers' Advocate:
Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/44195/philippine-navy-ready-to-assist-grounded-chinese-frigate
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[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pluto-moon-hints-perilous-journey-spacecraft-135149758.html
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The Higgs boson is discovered and I am proud of my mom. My mom has worked as an administrative assistant in the Brown University Physics Department for 18 years. This morning I was sent news from Brown that Professors Landsberg, Narain, Heintz, and Cutts played important roles in the successful search for the ephemeral particle, and that Professor Guralnik was one of six originators of the theory that predicted the boson 48 years ago. I recognized their names from my mom?s work stories.
It wasn?t until I started graduate school that I appreciated what my mom does. I knew it involved typing, but I couldn?t really picture it, or maybe I didn?t take the time to picture it. But now I understand. My department?s administrative assistants help me at least once per week, whether I need help navigating my university?s byzantine structure or managing a grant. Lab technicians and undergraduate staff are also responsible for making any lab run. In short, I have benefitted massively from people who rarely get credit for what they do. Science functions because of their labor.
My mom does many things. She types and proofreads manuscripts with intricate technical formulas. She keeps tabs on research expenses. She publicizes visiting speakers. She organizes departmental events. She tracks large undergraduate classes. She Xeroxes tests. She schedules meetings. She answers the questions of undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and staff. She writes newsletters. She sorts mail. In sum, she helps professors attend to their research.
Office and administrative support staff make up approximately 20 percent of employment in private colleges and a similar employment share in state colleges. On average these employees make $33,000 per year. They do work that is essential to the functioning of science and of a university.
My mom loves her job and the people that she works with. Some of her coworkers have been instrumental in discovering the Higgs Boson. They deserve news coverage and big congratulations. Congratulations, also, to my mom, Jane Martin, and to the staff of the many universities and centers involved in this discovery.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=ae69746f5223f31c381b879577e1b02c
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? It had all the trappings of a re-election rally: thousands packing a convention center, Barack Obama T-shirts, videos celebrating the health care law, and a wall-size banner with encouraging messages to the incumbent president.
"You are our knight in shining armor ? Sarah C., Norman, Okla.," read one inscription.
But this Obama love fest in Washington was not a campaign event. The nearly 9,000 gathered were teachers in town for the National Education Association's weeklong annual convention.
For the Republican teachers in attendance, the digs at their political views were impossible to overlook.
"What I don't like is the harassment going on for people to be an 'EFO' ? an educator for Obama," said Maureen van Wagner, a special education teacher from Anchorage, Alaska.
In interviews with The Associated Press, roughly a dozen teachers who identified themselves as Republicans said they felt pressure from union leaders and the rank-and-file to support Obama's re-election ? and felt marginalized when they wouldn't. Some interviewed said they were so worried about retribution from their colleagues that they wouldn't provide their names for publication.
National unions such as the NEA ? it's the largest teachers union in the U.S. ? have long been stalwart supporters of Democratic candidates, and to be effective, they must speak with a unified voice. But teachers, like other professional groups, are not monolithic in their political views, prompting inevitable tensions when the union mobilizes its political machine.
NEA leaders have been urging members to hold house parties to educate their friends about why Obama, who addressed the convention Thursday by telephone to thank teachers for their support, deserves a second term. So it wasn't really a surprise that the union showed its support for Obama so overtly at the convention. After all, 72 percent of delegates at last year's NEA convention voted to endorse Obama for re-election ? the earliest the group has ever endorsed in a presidential election cycle.
But what did take Republican teachers off guard was the criticism they received for expressing support for Mitt Romney.
A Republican teacher speaking at the convention was booed for doing just that. The incident prompted NEA President Dennis Van Roekel to intervene, saying that everyone had the right to speak. And when the union invited delegates to the Democratic National Convention in September to a special meeting, no such invitations went out to delegates to the GOP convention until a Republican teacher complained to Van Roekel ? an error the union said resulted from a missed newsletter deadline.
Then there were the T-shirts. Some Republicans said they were presented with NEA T-shirts featuring Obama's name ? and that it felt like being forced to choose between their profession and their politics.
"I'm not here representing myself, I'm here representing other teachers," said Chris Cvijetic, a first-grade teacher and Republican from Palm Springs, Calif. "That's the only way I can get through the day."
NEA officials said the union, which has never endorsed a Republican for president, makes every effort to ensure all its members feel welcome. The union holds a Republican Leadership Conference the same week as the annual convention. Union dues are kept separate from the NEA's political action committee, which spends donated funds to promote candidates such as Obama. And the NEA has endorsed GOP candidates who are pro-public education.
Despite the complaints, the NEA has no plans to shy away from a full embrace of what Mary Kusler, the union's director of government relations, called "the incredible legacy and vision of this current administration."
That's not stopping NEA members who disagree with Obama from making their voices heard.
In the convention center's basement-level expo center, squeezed in between the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teacher's caucus and a stall selling designer handbags of questionable authenticity, sat a small, two-person table for the NEA's Republican Educators Caucus. The group has about 160 members, although it has seen its ranks grow in recent years, said Davina Keiser, the caucus chairwoman.
"For Republican teachers, it's almost like we're stepchildren in NEA, and then in the Republican Party we're also stepchildren, because we're public schoolteachers, and that's not part of their focus," said Keiser, who teaches high school math in Long Beach, Calif.
___
Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP .
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-teachers-balk-obama-centric-nea-convention-074356972.html
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The president is the leader of our country. Our Congress is for lawmaking and support of our country's elected officials.
Let's take a look at Congress and its effect on the president. Date of election ? Republicans wished he would fail.
From that point on the Republican Congress has made its mission to do just that.
Their delays and noncooperation have caused us to lose our status in the economic community. They have earned the name "do-nothing Congress."
Our president has been blamed for high unemployment.
I remember Ross Perot saying that with our free trade agreement "you will hear a giant sucking sound" for American jobs going to Mexico and Canada.
Trickle-down economics has been in effect for 10 years ? tax breaks for big and small businesses so they can hire people.
What happened? Somebody's pockets are getting fat. Not the people who need jobs.
ROBERT E. SARGENT
Modesto
Source: http://www.modbee.com/2012/07/04/2270091/congress-thwarts-the-president.html
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Each of the four players suspended in connection with the bounty case need a so-called preliminary injunction in order to delay their suspensions once the regular season begins.? For three of them, a ruling isn?t needed until Week One, since Saints defensive end Will Smith, Packers defensive end Anthony Hargrove, and Browns linebacker Scott Fujita can participate in training camp and the preseason before sitting out games.
For Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, time is of the essence, because his suspension begins right away, blocking him from training camp and the preseason.
And so Vilma?s lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, currently is trying to get a temporary restraining order pending a hearing on the preliminary injunction.
It?s a separate question than whether the players will get their suspensions overturned.? The issue turns on whether the players should be permitted to keep working while the legal process unfolds.
It?s the same analysis that delayed the StarCaps suspensions several years ago.? Though several factors apply, the key question is whether the players will suffer ?irreparable harm? if suspended now and vindicated later.? In other words, is there anything the court could do after the fact to put the toothpaste back in the tube?
In StarCaps, the answer was no.? Though the players? pay can be refunded, there?s no way to allow the players to go back and play in the games they missed.
Given that the review of Commissioner Roger Goodell?s handling of the appeals shouldn?t take much time (as legal cases go), the bigger question becomes whether the injunction would continue on appeal, if the players lose at the district court level.? If so, there?s a good chance none of the suspensions will be served this year, since the appeal process typically takes several months to complete.
Still, with the Hall of Fame game exactly one month away (the Saints play the Cardinals on August 5) and New Orleans training camp coming in just a couple weeks, Vilma needs an injunction sooner rather than later.
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Liberty and progress go hand in hand, according to The Circle Bastiat's John P. Cochran. President Taft was once known as Mr. Republican. In the present era, Cochran believes Ron Paul has taken up Taft's mantle.
By The Circle Bastiat,?Guest blogger / July 2, 2012
EnlargeI was in Washington on what was an historic day, June 28, 2012 to testify at Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, Committee on Financial Services, US House of Representatives, chaired by Congressman Ron Paul. While it would be nice to think the day was historic because Dr. Paul was continuing his informational hearings focusing on a return to sound money, other events were perhaps more important to most Americans.
Skip to next paragraph The Circle BastiatThis is the institutional blog of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and many of its affiliated writers and scholars commenting on economic affairs of the day.
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In the morning I had time to wander around the Capitol area. While searching for a shady place to sit and rest, I wandered up to Robert A. Taft Memorial ?and was struck by the quotation of Taft on one side of the memorial. It is ironic as I was reading these words my wife called to inform me of the Supreme Court decision on the monstrous health care reform bill. The quote, ?Liberty has been the key to our progress in the past and is the key to our progress in the future. ?If we can preserve liberty in all its essentials there is no limit to the future of the American people.?
How true these words are and it struck me how unfortunate we are as a people that Congressman Paul, who I was to meet later that day, is one of probably no more than a handful of men in public office who truly believe in liberty in all its essentials.
The memorial also includes this inscription, ?This Memorial to Robert A. Taft, presented by the people to the Congress of the United States, stands as a tribute to the honesty, indomitable courage, and high principles of free government symbolized by his life.? The website for the memorial, reminds us that ?He (Taft) was affectionately dubbed ?Mr. Republican.?
As Lew Rockwell not too long ago argued, (http://mises.org/daily/2822/), based on the principles that made Taft? Mr. Republican?, ?in a previous era, Ron Paul, with his honesty, courage, and high principles? should be Mr. Republican today. How much brighter our future would be if the prospects were better that this ?Mr. Republican? would become next leader of the United States.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on blog.mises.org.
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Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks answers a question during a news conference, Wednesday, June 20, 2012, in Miami. The Thunder are scheduled to play Game 5 against the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks answers a question during a news conference, Wednesday, June 20, 2012, in Miami. The Thunder are scheduled to play Game 5 against the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks watches action against the Miami Heat during the first half at Game 5 of the NBA finals basketball series, Thursday, June 21, 2012, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? Scott Brooks always believed he would be back as the coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, even as his previous contract was surprisingly allowed to expire following the NBA Finals.
There were rumors that he would be replaced by 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson or Jeff Van Gundy ? which general manager Sam Presti discarded as "rubbish" ? but Brooks remained confident.
"I knew it would work out," Brooks said Tuesday at a news conference to formally announce the deal he signed a day earlier. "This is where I wanted to be. This is the best situation for me. I couldn't ask for a better place to coach, to live, and I'm excited about the opportunity ahead of me."
Brooks reportedly now has a four-year deal worth more than $4 million annually, but the team isn't releasing the terms.
Brooks has built the Thunder into a championship contender since taking over around Thanksgiving 2008. The team had won just one of its first 13 games after relocating from Seattle to Oklahoma City. It went 23-59 that season, but improved enough to make the playoffs the next season, then the Western Conference finals the next season and then the NBA Finals this past season.
"Sam and I met before the season and he said, 'NBA Finals or adios,' so he put a lot of pressure on me," Brooks said in jest.
Presti said he values Brooks' experience in being with the franchise during the tough times. Brooks was an assistant during a rocky final season in Seattle, and made the transition to head coach during a dreadful 3-29 start to the 2008-09 season.
Since taking over, he has insisted that his players work hard through success and failure, and he has used his experience as an 11-year NBA veteran to guide his youthful roster.
"I believe in players. I believe that you have to figure out ways to get them better and you have to look at their weaknesses and address their weaknesses but you don't focus on all of their weaknesses. You improve those areas but then you bring it all together," Brooks said. "I've always felt the best coaches that I've had are the ones that empowered me to think that I was a little bit better than I was. I've always felt that if you're able to do that, the players are going to give you more than they think they can give you."
After the Thunder largely wiped the slate clean following the franchise's relocation, Brooks' impact has been even more pronounced.
"I think his contributions are enormous. We wouldn't be in this situation, where we feel really good about our future, without him," Presti said. "He's got a great understanding of the organization and a big part of that is because he's helped construct it."
Still, it was startling for the same general manager who was waiting on Kevin Durant's doorstep for the moment he was allowed to offer him a maximum contract extension ? even with a year left on his rookie deal ? to allow his head coach to briefly become a free agent.
"It would have probably gotten done earlier if we didn't make the playoffs or went (out in) the first round," Brooks said, "but it was a good problem to have."
By the time Oklahoma City's season was over, there were only eight days left to negotiate a new contract.
"When the season ended, we could really put all of our attention on it. I feel like we got it done fairly expeditiously but ... sometimes these things take time," Presti said. "There's a lot more conversation that has to happen in order to make it come to fruition."
Now that Brooks is locked up, Presti can turn his attention to the roster. Veterans Derek Fisher, Nazr Mohammed and Royal Ivey are all unrestricted free agents while Sixth Man of the Year James Harden, NBA blocks leader Serge Ibaka and backup point guard Eric Maynor are all eligible for contract extensions.
"We've got a lot of things obviously on our plate," Presti said. "Scott and I have had some really good discussions about just the team and the things that are really important to us going forward roster-wise and organizationally. ... We obviously are going to start having conversations with James and Serge and efforts to try to figure their situations out.
"The NBA offseason is definitely a marathon and not a sprint."
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