Thursday, June 28, 2012

Enter Human Resources Management in Three Short Years ...

Do you have an interest in the Human Resources Management field, which involves business administration and ensuring that a company hires people with the appropriate skills? Have you completed at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent or are 19 years of age or older? In addition, do you possess the compulsory English 12C or U or skills assessment, or equivalent and the Math 11C, M or U, or 12C or U or skills assessment, or equivalent? If you answered ?yes? to these questions, you may want to consider applying to attend Centennial College?s Human Resources Management offering, officially known as Business Administration ? Human Resources.

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Completed in three years, this undertaking combines the most important topics in business administration with human resources management essentials to train students to become Human Resources Management Specialists. Several duties are involved in this position, including: identifying staff vacancies; recruiting, interviewing and selecting applicants; conducting new employee orientation and serving as the liaison between management and employees when handling questions about contracts and other work-related problems; providing current and prospective employees with information about policies, job duties, working conditions, wages, opportunities for promotion and employee benefits; handling understaffing, refereeing disputes, firing employees and administering disciplinary procedures.

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If, however, students of Centennial College?s Human Resources Management undertaking feel they would like to obtain further education, they may do so thanks to the partnerships the college has with articulated program with selected universities, institutes and professional associations. These partnerships allow graduates to apply academic credit towards further study and include: Athabasca University, Lakehead University, Northwood University U.S.A., Royal Roads University, Ryerson University, and University of Lethbridge.

?

But just how does the Human Resources Management offering get students from novices to experts? First and foremost, it incorporates current trends in the strategic management of human resources, the affirmation of diversity and human rights and the promotion of positive union and management relations. As previously mentioned, there is also a balance between business administration and human resources, which ensures that students are able to handle the corporate environment with confidence. As such, the first three semesters of the Human Resources Management offering are common to all business programs. During this time students attend courses such as: Strategies for Business Success, Fundamentals of Business, Mathematics of Finance, Business Operations and more.

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Once students are comfortable with the business administration concepts, they develop expertise in all major areas of human resource management such as: human planning, recruitment, selection, orientation, employee training and development, occupational health and safety, compensation and benefits, employee relations, labour relations and human resource management systems. Lastly, students learn the use of integrated human resource systems software and computer skills to manage information and support decision making. This part of the offering is facilitated through the use of microcomputer training in popular business software such as Excel, Access and SAP.

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To graduate from the human resources management/ business administration training, students must maintain a minimum C grade average (2.0 GPA).

derrick rose

California ranks No. 5 for commercial construction | KW Commercial ...


by KW Calabasas ? on General ? June 26th ?

Featured BusinessCalifornia ranked fifth in the U.S. last year in the development and construction of office, industrial, warehouse and retail space, according to a report.
California had $4.5 billion in spending and 70,817 jobs supported by construction according to the report.
According to a NAIOP Research Foundation report, Texas was the top state, accounting for $7.9 billion in spending and 150,000 jobs supported in 2011.
New York ranked second with $6.5 billion in spending and 83,762 jobs supported; West Virginia ranked third with $5.9 billion in spending and 100,889 jobs supported. Arizona rounded out the top five with $4.2 billion in spending with more than 74,000 jobs supported.
This was the first year the commercial real estate industry posted gains nationwide since the recession began in 2007. The total economic impact of commercial real estate during 2011 added $261.6 billion to the Gross Domestic Product, compared to $231.7 billion in 2010. This is a 13 percent increase year-over-year.
U.S. construction spending on commercial real estate totaled $92.3 billion, a 12 percent increase over 2010. This spending supported nearly 2 million jobs nationally. These increases in construction spending and activity resulted in the building of 238.3 million square feet of new space, an increase of 2.5 percent from 2010. This new space has the capacity to house 610,000 jobs with an annual payroll of $26.8 billion.
In addition to the advances made in 2011, forecasts for 2012 call for project construction spending to increase and to accelerate further in 2013 and 2014, according to the report.
?For the first time we are seeing across the board increases in this sector,? said Thomas Bisacquino, NAIOP president and chief executive officer. ?We believe this is the most solid evidence yet of a strengthening recovery.?
NAIOP is the leading organization for owners, developers and related professionals in the office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate sectors. NAIOP has 15,000 members across North America. The NAIOP Research Foundation was established in 2000 to provide research information on how real estate benefits communities across North America.

Los Angeles Business from bizjournals by Sacramento Business Journal

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Men's Health USA ? July 2012 (HQ PDF) | Free 4 Downloads

Men?s Health USA ? July 2012 (HQ PDF)

Men?s Health USA ? July 2012 (HQ PDF)
English | 168 pages | HQ PDF | 130.00 Mb

Men?s Health, the world?s largest men?s magazine, is an essential read for individuals who want to look, feel and live better. Professionals and experts from diverse fields of psychology, fitness, fashion and health team up with journalists to give you interesting features on the issues that matter most to men of all ages. Men?s Health is loaded with complete instructions for mastering the world?s greatest exercises and trusted, informative tips on how to cook healthier. You?ll find advice on careers and lifestyle along with fashion tips and easy-to-make recipes that will inspire you to live better. Weight loss advice comes in the form of articles like ?Eat This, Not That!? and tips on how to transform traditional recipes into power-packed, healthy meals. With research-based articles filed into sections including ?Health,? ?Sex & Relationships,? ?Nutrition,? ?Fitness,? and ?Guy Knowledge,? Men?s Health is your go-to guide for all of your important questions and concerns.

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NO MIRROR PLEASE!!!

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Hebrew National hot dogs not kosher, lawsuit claims

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With tablet, Microsoft takes page from Apple

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Children's Health & Fitness ? The Gift Of Time May Help Childhood ...

June 18th, 2012 by Len Saunders

From The Herald Community?..

Can the government give us more time?

It certainly seems to be offering up every other possible thing, and spending a gargantuan amount of money in the process, in a bid to improve our children?s lives.

If you haven?t noticed all the media kerfuffle in recent months about the childhood obesity epidemic and the government?s $2-million pledge to fight it (gov.ns.ca/growinguphealthy), then you just haven?t been paying attention.

And at the end of May, the province released a discussion paper on early childhood development (novascotia.ca/earlyyears). Giving Children the Best Start outlines the many programs and family-focused initiatives that the government now funds.

While there are far too many of those to list here, the discussion paper tidily sums up the current state of family affairs in this province by stating: ?Leading up to this consultation staff identified more than 200 programs and services, and a provincial investment of about $100 million for the early years. Thousands of people are working hard in 200+ programs and services dedicated to supporting families and children.?

It then goes on to drop a most dismal reality bomb ? all of these many things, that cost so much money, are not working nearly well enough. Despite all the funding and programming, Nova Scotia is still ?lagging behind other provinces in providing a co-ordinated approach to deliver such programs,? the paper says.

To read the full story?..Click here

Entry Filed under: Health / Fitness Articles

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Immigration reprieve means thousands of new workers in California

As thousands of young illegal immigrants consider openly applying for work permits under a new Obama administration directive, they dream of jobs they could never find in the shadows.

Eduardo Ruiz, of San Jose, has worked in a South Bay market since he was a teenager, but the trained artist wants to animate 3-D movies and open his own studio. Fiona Cruz, of Daly City, earned a biotechnology degree at UC Davis but is blocked from working in a science lab. Alameda's Ju Hong bussed tables at a sushi restaurant to pay his UC Berkeley bills but would rather be drafting better government policies.

An estimated 350,000 children and young adult immigrants in California and more than 1 million nationwide could qualify for protection from deportation and temporary work permits through the new federal relief initiative announced Friday, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

How their arrival into the formal job market will affect California's economy and employment is a mystery to many economists because nothing quite like this has ever happened before.

Many of those eligible are already working, but only because their employers don't know or care that they are here illegally.

Giving them legal work permits -- renewable every two years -- will open up previously unattainable careers to people like Ruiz, Cruz and Hong.

"My dream is to start my own studio. I'll have to hire people. That's job creation, an investment," said Ruiz,

a 29-year-old about to graduate from San Jose State. "There will be a lot of young people graduating, starting businesses, and that will create jobs," he said.

Not everyone is as optimistic.

The relief measure could also flood the California job market with newly legal workers competing for scarce jobs with other workers, especially native-born Americans who never went to college, said Steven Camarota, research director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., which seeks to reduce immigration.

"The benefit to the illegal immigrant himself might be significant," Camarota said. "But that raises other concerns. Unemployment is so bad at the bottom end of the labor market."

Well-paying fields that weeded out illegal workers because of strict background checks -- such as in security or parcel services -- could suddenly get more competitive, he said.

Statewide unemployment was 10.8 percent in May. More workers "could mean higher unemployment, longer bouts of unemployment, lower wages, lower benefits," Camarota said.

Those are assumptions many economists don't hold since most studies show illegal immigrants have a trivial effect on other workers, said UC Berkeley economist David Card.

"For various reasons, however, the spillover effects of immigration capture a disproportionate share of attention, particularly from critics of immigration," Card said in an email.

The directive's biggest effect will be on the beneficiaries themselves "who in the best case might be able to apply for better jobs," he said.

Immigrant advocate Reshma Shamasunder is among those who believe empowering undocumented youths with legal jobs and freedom from deportation benefits the broader community.

"They'll be able to make money and increase their ability to buy a home, buy products," said Shamasunder, director of the Oakland-based California Immigrant Policy Center. "Young people are very smart investments for California."

Biotechnology major Cruz graduated from UC Davis in 2009 and aimed for a career in stem cell research or regenerative medicine. Unable to work in those fields, she chose activism after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sought to deport her to the Philippines.

The 24-year-old won a deportation reprieve earlier this year but has not been able to work.

The directive the Department of Homeland Security issued last week applies to illegal immigrants under 30 who came to the United States before they turned 16. They must either be high school graduates, currently in school or military veterans.

The government won't begin taking applications until mid-August.

Hong, 22, graduated from UC Berkeley in May worried about his future. The South Korea native is a longtime "Dreamer," part of a national network of undocumented student activists who have been fighting for a federal Dream Act giving them a path to citizenship.

This short-term administrative directive doesn't do that, but Hong said it is an important step.

"I never thought the Obama administration would allow Dreamers to have work permits," Hong said. "It's a huge victory."

The political science major imagines one day working for the government, the same one he grew up fearing would deport him.

immigration directive QUESTIONS?
  • The government will not begin accepting applications for deportation relief and work permits until mid-August.
  • People with questions about the new policy can call the hot lines for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at 800-375-5283 or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at 888-351-4024 during business hours or send an email to EROPublicAdvocate@ice.dhs.gov.
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    IBM's Sequoia Towers Above All Other Supercomputers

    IBM's Sequoia supercomputer has headed up the most recent Top500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers. The list, released on Monday at the 2012 International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, Germany, is compiled twice a year. Sequoia has overtaken Fujitsu's K Computer, installed at the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science in Kobe, Japan.


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    Wednesday, June 13, 2012

    Supreme Court declines case accusing Donald Rumsfeld of torture

    The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal arguing the US government violated the constitutional rights of citizen Jos? Padilla by detaining and subjecting him to harsh interrogation as an enemy combatant suspected of having links to Al Qaeda.

    By Warren Richey,?Staff writer / June 11, 2012

    In this January 2011 photo, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is interviewed at his office in Washington, D.C..

    Jacquelyn Martin/AP/File

    Enlarge

    The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a case examining whether government officials who order the alleged torture of a US citizen on American soil can be sued for violating the citizen?s constitutional rights.

    Skip to next paragraph

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    Apparently, the answer is no.

    The high court rejected, without comment, an appeal filed on behalf of former enemy combatant Jos? Padilla, who was held for 3-1/2 years in military detention. Mr. Padilla was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques to break him psychologically and force him to reveal everything he might know about Al Qaeda.?

    ?The Supreme Court?s refusal to consider Jose Padilla?s case leaves in place a blank check for government officials to commit any abuse in the name of national security, even the brutal torture of an American citizen in an American prison,? said Padilla?s lawyer, Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union.

    ?To date, not a single victim of the Bush administration?s torture regime has received his day in court,? Mr. Wizner added in a statement.

    ?It is precisely the role of the courts to ensure that allegations of grave misconduct by executive branch officials receive fair adjudication,? he said. ?That vital role does not evaporate simply because those officials insist that their actions are too sensitive for judicial review.?

    US citizen as enemy combatant

    Padilla?s case rose to prominence because he was the first American citizen arrested in the US to be designated an enemy combatant and subjected to open-ended detention and harsh interrogation tactics.

    Lawyers working on his behalf waged a multiyear effort to win a measure of judicial review to determine the legality of his detention. After years of inconclusive litigation and with the Supreme Court poised to finally consider his appeal, the government rendered the case moot by transferring Padilla from military detention to the criminal justice system.

    After a trial in federal court in Miami, he was convicted of conspiring to provide material support to Islamic terror groups. He is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence.

    In 2007, prior to his criminal trial, Padilla and his mother, Estela Lebron, filed a civil lawsuit against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other military officials for authorizing and directing his alleged torture.

    Lawyers acting on Padilla?s behalf sought a court judgment that their client?s treatment violated the Constitution. They also asked for nominal damages of $1 from each of the named defendants.

    Path through the courts

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    The World's Biggest Natural Gas Powerhouses - Business Insider

    Unconventional gas reserves, including shale gas and coal seam methane, are now at least as abundant as conventional reserves, according to the International Energy Agency.?

    It is also getting cheaper and easier to exploit previously inaccessible resources. The result has been a long decline in natural gas prices.

    Those low prices aren't good news for everybody. Major natural gas exporters, some of whom have made significant capital investment to exploit gas reserves, will see lower profits and less government revenue. For countries whose economies depend heavily on gas exports, low prices could put pressure on their finances.

    The countries in the following list of natural gas exporters are ranked by natural gas rents as a percentage of GDP. Natural gas rent?is the difference between the value of natural gas production at world prices and total costs of production.? Data is from 2010 unless otherwise noted.

    ?

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    Report criticizes Israel PM over 2010 naval raid

    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 10, 2012. Netanyahu on Sunday led a chorus of Israeli officials expressing outrage over the bloodshed in Syria, accusing Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah militants of complicity in the carnage there. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, Pool)

    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 10, 2012. Netanyahu on Sunday led a chorus of Israeli officials expressing outrage over the bloodshed in Syria, accusing Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah militants of complicity in the carnage there. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, Pool)

    (AP) ? A government report released Wednesday harshly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision-making in a deadly Israeli naval raid on a Gaza-bound ship two years ago, saying it was flawed and marked by superficial discussions.

    Israeli naval commandos killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American after being attacked when storming the ship on May 31, 2010. The ship, the Mavi Marmara, had set out from Turkey in an attempt to breach Israel's blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

    The raid drew heavy international criticism and deepened a diplomatic feud with Turkey, Israel's one-time ally. Israel's refusal to apologize for the flotilla killings sent relations deteriorating even further.

    "Substantive and significant deficiencies were discovered in the decision-making process ... that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led and oversaw," State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss wrote in the 153-page report.

    "The prime minister's decision-making process took place without orderly, coordinated and documented team work, even though the senior political, military and intelligence ranks were aware that the Turkish flotilla was different from other flotillas," it said.

    Netanyahu, the report continued, "did not internalize that the forcible stopping of the flotilla was liable to spark a violent confrotnation on the decks of the Mavi Marmara."

    Netanyahu has argued that Israel behaved responsibly in its handling of the affair.

    In an initial response to the report, Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev said that "Israel's democratic process includes institutional mechanisms for independent oversight and we thank the State Comptroller for his work."

    Associated Press

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    Tuesday, June 12, 2012

    US fears new Syria massacre as helicopters hit towns

    The United States voiced fears that Syria's government is planning a new massacre, as regime helicopters fired on rebel stronghold towns and raging violence killed nearly 90 people on Monday.

    On the political front, the newly elected leader of Syria's exiled opposition urged President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy, in line with a plan based on a UN-backed transition in Yemen.

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nationwide violence cost the lives of at least 87 people on Monday, adding to its toll of more than 14,100 killed since an anti-regime revolt erupted in March 2011.

    Government helicopter gunships strafed rebel positions in Al-Heffa, as well as the opposition stronghold of Rastan in the central province of Homs.

    An activist broke down in tears as she told AFP via Skype that tanks were parked on the edge of Al-Heffa, a town of 30,000 set in rugged countryside near Turkey.

    "They have never come this close before," Sem Nassar said, adding: "There's only one doctor working to treat the wounded in the town," and that most residents had fled.

    Such reports prompted Washington to voice concerns Assad's regime is planning to carry out new atrocities, after the massacre of 55 people last week in Al-Kubeir and at least 108 near Houla on May 25-26.

    "The United States joins joint special envoy Kofi Annan in expressing deep alarm by reports from inside Syria that the regime may be organising another massacre," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

    Nuland said the tactics showed the Assad regime, cracking down on the most severe threat to his family's four-decade rule, was "increasingly desperate."

    "What government voluntarily uses helicopters and fires from them on their own civilians if they're not desperate? What government depends on a bunch of thugs in trucks -- irregulars -- if they're not desperate?" she asked.

    But Nuland again ruled out US military intervention.

    Russia has strongly opposed the prospect of force to remove Assad, whose family has been a key ally of Moscow since the Cold War.

    "The concern has been that putting foreign military forces into this situation... will turn it into a proxy war," Nuland said.

    A spokesman for UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said he was "gravely concerned by the latest reports of violence coming out of Syria and the escalation of fighting" by both sides.

    The former UN chief, who drew up a faltering peace plan, was referring to shelling in Homs and the reported use of mortars, helicopters and tanks in Al-Heffa.

    "There are indications that a large number of civilians are trapped in these towns," spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said.

    "The Joint Special Envoy demands that the parties take all steps to ensure that civilians are not harmed, and further demands that entry of the UN Military Observers be allowed to the town of Al-Heffa immediately."

    The bloodshed has persisted despite the presence of 300 UN observers charged with monitoring a putative April 12 truce.

    The UN mission also expressed concern about the escalation of violence in Homs.

    "The impact from heavy artillery shelling and machinegun firing was heard and seen over the neighbourhood of Khaldiyeh in the city centre," said the UN Supervision Mission in Syria.

    "UNSMIS has also received reports of a large number of civilians, including women and children trapped inside the town and are trying to mediate their evacuation."

    It said reports of a large number of casualties could not yet be confirmed.

    Activists said Khaldiyeh and two other neighbourhoods were under siege and Red Crescent teams were denied access.

    UN observers also reported heavy fighting in Rastan and Talbisseh, north of Homs "with artillery and mortar shelling, as well as firing from helicopters, machine guns and smaller arms," the UN statement said.

    Observers reported that in Talbisseh, the rebel Free Syrian Army captured soldiers.

    The Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman said assaults elsewhere, such as the central province of Hama and northwestern Idlib, showed "the regime has decided to escalate militarily."

    "In many areas, the shelling has been non-stop. The regime is surrounding villages, and shelling non-stop with tanks and helicopters," he told AFP.

    With Annan's peace plan faltering, world powers are divided on how to stop the crisis. The West has called for tougher sanctions and for Assad's departure, while Russia and China reject any foreign interference.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Iran on Wednesday to discuss a Moscow conference on Syria, among other issues.

    France said it will talk to Russia about the idea, as it urged the new head of the Syrian National Council, Abdel Basset Sayda, to unite the opposition.

    Sayda called on Assad to "leave office to his vice president" Faruq al-Shara, Anatolia news agency reported.

    Sayda said Syria's leadership was losing its grip day by day, claiming that "the regime is able to maintain its control only over a few streets (in Damascus)."

    Russia is under growing pressure to back his departure as a first step in a peace accord that would see his inner circle assume command in the interim, as happened in a UN-backed transition in Yemen.

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    Make Sale Training more Interesting | Money & Business

    Sales Training is one of the important concepts of sales industry, which each individuals are trained separately in order to facilitate great reach of the products. Generally, sales training can also be termed as product training because the trainees are made to focus on how to demonstrate their products to the customers rather than to sell.

    76242 575x250 Make Sale Training more Interesting

    Moreover the main goal of sales training is to analyze the mind of sales person and make the sessions interesting as much as possible. But in many cases, sales training leads to failure as it confuses attitude with the process.

    ?

    Basic steps to make sales training interesting

    There are diverse steps of sales training and every organization should try to facilitate an interesting training session to their trainees. It is time to look at the steps of sales training at a quick glance:

    1. Create humour in all your training sessions
    2. Track the impact after the end of each sessions
    3. Impute action plan in case of any default.

    ?

    Guidelines for effective sales training

    It is essential to understand the process of sales training before you start selling your products to the ultimate customers. Often many sales training will be a boring one and this may result in a breakup to your business. In order to execute effective sales training there are certain guidelines which has to be implicated and they are as follows:

    1. Goal-oriented

    Setting a goal for your sales training organization will be helpful in achieving your determined target within a short period. Also it enables you to outstand from the competitor?s crowd. Make sure that you utilize the concept of innovation in your methods.

    2. Increase sales training

    It is necessary to improve your techniques of sales training when there is heavy competition. Suppose if the sales decline then don?t waste your money and effort in promotion & marketing. Consequently try to refine the methods with the way to achieve desired results.

    3. Skills training

    This is one of the aspects which have to be applied in a sales team meeting and Skills training will enable to navigate the trainee?s inner skill talents to the people. Further make sure that you provide training on fundamental skills and many Trainees lack in the ability of understanding the concept in deep.

    4. Role-play session

    Include role-play activity in your sessions and this process will make the trainees to bat around various concepts of sales theory. Practically, these role play sessions establish the actual behavior of the trainees in a systematic way.

    5. Images

    At present, images are widely used in social media with a way to uphold or create an identity to your business. Likewise the same technique can be adopted in sales couching. Check that you release images of funny signs in order to exhibit a cool look to the product.

    Conclusion

    Therefore there is lot of areas which has to be covered for effective sales training. But the above five methods play an important part in sales training aspect and they have to be well organized with a way to fetch a good financial outlay. Further every organization should try to offer an interesting sales training rather a boring one.

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    Sunday, June 10, 2012

    Linux lands on Android 4.0-toting MK802 mini PC

    Linux lands on Android-toting MK802 mini PC

    If the MK802 piqued your interest but has you pining for Ubuntu, Linux Questions forum user michaelfisk has a solution. The secret sauce is a pre-baked image of Ubuntu 10.04 modified for a different device using the same 1.5 GHz Allwinner processor. Simply slide a microSD card prepped with a bootable image of the distro into the mini PC and you're set. Though Lucid Lynx can be coaxed to run on the $74 mini PC without considerable hassle, performance isn't exactly top notch -- unseemly load times and a few kinks are reportedly throughout the experience. Eager to load up your Cotton Candy competitor with Linux? Hop past the break to see Liliputing give it a test drive or hit the links below for walkthroughs and the appropriate download.

    Continue reading Linux lands on Android 4.0-toting MK802 mini PC

    Linux lands on Android 4.0-toting MK802 mini PC originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jun 2012 01:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink Liliputing  |  sourceLinux Questions, Rhombus Tech  | Email this | Comments

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    Part-Time Health Fitness Speacialist-269 - Fitness Jobs, Fitness ...

    Part-Time Health Fitness Speacialist-269
    Location:Minneapolis MN 55416 US?
    Employment Type:Employee?
    Work Schedule:Part-Time?
    Travel:No Travel?
    Industry:Exercise/Fitness/Health?
    Category:Exercise/Fitness/Health?
    Experience Required:Yes?
    Manages Others:Yes?
    Degree Required:Yes?
    Drug Screen/Background Check Required:Yes ?
    Description
    MediFit Corporate Services is a leading provider of onsite fitness and wellness solutions. We currently have an opportunity for a Part-Time Health Fitness Specialist at our client's corporate fitness facility in Minneapolis, MN. The position is for approximately 20 hours/week with a need to be flexible with scheduling for Monday-Friday.

    The Health Fitness Specialist is an integral role in the success of our worksite wellness centers.

    Interested candidates are encouraged to apply online at http://www.medifit.jobs - This position is requisition 12-0269.

    The main responsibilities for this position include:

    - Supervising and monitoring exercise participants.
    - Performing fitness assessments, determining exercise prescriptions, and designing workout programs for a diverse population, including a variety of high risk clientele.
    - Providing one-on-one consulting, training and motivation.
    - Design & Implementation of incentive, health promotion, and other specialty programs.
    - Instruction of group exercise classes.
    - Performing administrative tasks associated with facility operations.
    - Other duties as assigned.

    Requirements
    Qualified applicants will have a bachelor degree in a health/fitness field of study. CPR and First Aid certifications, excellent organizational and interpersonal skills are required. Experience teaching group exercise is desired but not required. However, candidates must demonstrate the willingness to learn how to teach exercise classes.

    Local candidates desired. Relocation not offered for this position.

    We are an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act, applicants may request accommodation needed to participate in the application process.

    Contact Information

    This employer has chosen to remain anonymous. You may contact this employer about this job via anonymous email by clicking here.

    This job has been viewed 13?times.

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    5 pieces of tsunami debris found so far

    In this June 6, 2012 photo provided by Ryan Pallister, Patrick Chandler removes tsunami debris on Montague Island near Seward, Alaska. More than a year after a tsunami devastated Japan, killing thousands of people and washing millions of tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, neither the U.S. government nor some West Coast states have a clear plan for how to clean up the rubble that floats to American shores. (AP Photo/Gulf of Alaska Keeper, Ryan Pallister)

    In this June 6, 2012 photo provided by Ryan Pallister, Patrick Chandler removes tsunami debris on Montague Island near Seward, Alaska. More than a year after a tsunami devastated Japan, killing thousands of people and washing millions of tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, neither the U.S. government nor some West Coast states have a clear plan for how to clean up the rubble that floats to American shores. (AP Photo/Gulf of Alaska Keeper, Ryan Pallister)

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? Items ranging in size from a 164-foot shrimping vessel to a soccer ball have already made their way into North American waters following the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.

    Environmentalists fear this is just the first wave of an estimated 1.5 million tons of debris that is in the ocean following the tsunami, much of which could land on U.S. shores.

    Here's a look at some of the items that have already shown up, from biggest to smallest:

    1. The 164-foot fishing vessel Ryou-Un Maru was in Hokkaido, Japan, and destined for the scrap heap when the tsunami dislodged it from its mooring. It drifted across the Pacific Ocean until the U.S. Coast Guard sank it in April 2012 in the Gulf of Alaska after determining it was a threat to shipping and the state's coastline.

    2. Newport, Oregon, residents awoke Wednesday to find a 66-foot concrete and metal dock on the shore at Agate Beach along the central coast. The 165-ton dock was one of four that broke loose from the port of Misawa in the tsunami. Two other docks from Misawa are still missing.

    3. A Harley-Davidson motorcycle was discovered inside a white container that washed up April 18 on Graham Island, off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. It was traced back to its owner in Japan by its license plate.

    4. Cleanup workers near Craig, Alaska, in late March found a basketball with the words "Kesen chu," short for Kesennuma Chugakko or Kesennuma Middle School. Kesennuma is a major fishing port that was hit hard by the tsunami. Officials with the Marine Conservation Alliance in Juneau said the basketball was being packaged Thursday to be returned to Japan, along with a care package for students at the school still living in temporary housing.

    5. David Baxter, a radar technician from Kasilof, Alaska, found a soccer ball in April 2012 on an Alaska island 110 miles south of the mainland. With the help of his wife, Yumi, who is Japanese and reached out to a Japanese reporter, the ball was reunited with its owner, a teenager who lost all his possession in the tsunami. A volleyball believed to be from Japan was also found on the trip.

    Associated Press

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    Saturday, June 9, 2012

    Battleground Counties: 'People Get Along Across the Divide'

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    Rift over political spending divides huge AFSCME

    FILE - In this March 6, 2012 file photo AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee A. Saunders speaks in Albany, N.Y. A heated battle is taking place inside the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees after its failed effort this week to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. At stake is the future direction of the 1.3-million-member government workers union following the labor movement's biggest political loss in three decades. (AP Photo/Stewart Cairns, File)

    FILE - In this March 6, 2012 file photo AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee A. Saunders speaks in Albany, N.Y. A heated battle is taking place inside the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees after its failed effort this week to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. At stake is the future direction of the 1.3-million-member government workers union following the labor movement's biggest political loss in three decades. (AP Photo/Stewart Cairns, File)

    FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2011 file photo, Civil Service Employees Association union president Danny Donohue speaks in Albany, N.Y. A heated battle is taking place inside the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees after its failed effort this week to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. At stake is the future direction of the 1.3-million-member government workers union following the labor movement's biggest political loss in three decades. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

    (AP) ? A heated battle is taking place inside a giant U.S. public employees' union following its crushing failure this week to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ? organized labor's biggest political loss in decades.

    At stake is the direction of the 1.3-million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees after 31 years under retiring president Gerald McEntee. He's been known for his zeal to build and maintain AFSCME's clout as a leading liberal voice and political kingmaker in the Democratic Party.

    A major question is whether that should continue.

    Fresh off losses in the Wisconsin recall election and in California municipal referendums rolling back public employee pension and health benefits, the union will pick a successor to the 77-year-old McEntee in two weeks.

    The race is shaping up as a broader debate on whether AFSCME should become more prudent in doling out cash to Democratic causes and candidates and perhaps make itself less a lightning rod for attacks from conservatives.

    The union's No. 2 official, secretary-treasurer and McEntee protege Lee Saunders, faces a strong challenge from Danny Donohue, the union's leader in New York state. Donohue questions whether the union's free-spending ways in the political arena have been effective given the pounding public employees are taking around the country.

    Delegates will select their new leader June 20 at the union's convention in Los Angeles.

    AFSCME has pledged to spend about $100 million this election cycle ? more than any other union ? to help re-elect President Barack Obama and boost other labor-friendly candidates at the federal, state and local levels. AFSCME was the biggest overall spender in the 2010 midterm elections, pouring about $93 million into races around the country.

    Donohue criticizes McEntee's approach as "checkbook unionism," saying the union has been too Washington-focused and has lost sight of the issues facing members locally.

    "We seem to be trying to throw money at problems," Donohue said in an interview. "Instead of writing a check, how do we galvanize our members?"

    "It's just not about the Senate and the House. It's about the governor races, the county races, who's going to be mayor in some cities. Our enemies ... didn't start in Washington, they started at the school board and county level," he said

    The union has been hit hard in recent years, losing about 10 percent of its members since 2009, according to public filings and internal documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

    AFSCME claims it has 1.6 million members, but a spokesman says that includes retirees. Its most recent annual report with the U.S. Department of Labor says it had about 1,423,000 active members in 2011. That number has dropped to about 1,315,000 as of February, documents show.

    Saunders defends the McEntee era and says accusations the union is too focused on national politics are wrong. He said about 65 percent of the union's political budget goes to local battles.

    "I think we've got to recognize that we have one of the best political and legislative operations in the country and I think we've done a lot of things that are right," Saunders said in an interview.

    Donohue claims the union doesn't share enough information with members about how their political money is spent.

    Some labor leaders were scratching their heads, for example, when AFSCME spent $1 million in January to buy TV ads in Florida criticizing Mitt Romney ahead of the state's GOP presidential primary. They questioned whether that was the best use of the union's money in a year when collective bargaining seemed under attack in more than a dozen state legislatures around the country.

    "Rather than just dumping it all on the primary fight with Romney, we could have spent half of it mobilizing our members," Donohue said.

    Saunders said the Florida ad buy linking Romney to a culture of "corporate greed" during his time running the private-equity firm Bain Capital was effective in "softening up" the presumptive GOP nominee. He pointed out that Obama's re-election campaign is now going after Romney on the same issue.

    McEntee, who has strongly endorsed Saunders, defends his own tenure as having built the strongest grass-roots operation in American labor.

    "We worked our hearts out on the 2010 elections," McEntee said when asked if the union could have done more to prepare for the onslaught of anti-union measures in Wisconsin and other states. "Anyone who indulges in Monday morning quarterbacking on the 2010 elections is delusional."

    And Saunders says he never heard Donohue complain about AFSCME's political strategy until he recently made it an issue in his bid for the union presidency.

    Donohue has also criticized what he considers exorbitant spending and lavish salaries for the union's top leaders. McEntee earned a base salary of $387,671 in 2011. Donohue has pledged to slash that by $100,000 if he wins. Donohue currently earns about $200,000. Saunders' salary is $310,137.

    The election is a rematch between the two candidates. Saunders narrowly defeated Donohue in a 2010 race to become secretary-treasurer. Before that, Saunders was McEntee's executive assistant in charge of running the union's political operation. He began his career with AFSCME in 1978 as a labor economist.

    Donohue has been president of the New York State Civil Service Employees Association since 1994 and has been with the union since 1975.

    ___

    Follow Sam Hananel's labor coverage on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP

    Associated Press

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    Designers Dolce, Gabbana face tax trial: sources

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    ESPN3: @BarackObama with @nfl Champs @Giants during @WhiteHouse visit (@ESPN3 photo) this afternoon http://t.co/cLJiLg4R

    Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

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    Kindergarten Readiness ? June Bugs For Fun and Learning #7 | 1 2 ...

    Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home but first can you help us support kids with some kindergarten readiness learning and some June bug fun?

    ladybug-countSupporting children as they learn and play can use whatever is close at hand, in any room of your home. The ingredients for this learning fun activity are simple, a round lid which makes the body of the lady-bug, and some small bottle caps to make the dots. Kids can put the dots-caps on the lid-body. Counting the bottle caps adds some fun with numbers. Or they can be sorted according to color. If your child is interested, try 2 lids (or a pie plate or something else that is round). Your child put dots on each one. Have your child count the dots to see if one has more than the other. Or do both lady-bugs have the same amount?

    Math is about numbers but it is also about?relationships. Using ordinary objects connects math to everyday activities. As kids practice with numbers, they are also practicing ways they can use math. Playing and learning is another great relationship. Do you think your child would enjoy this activity?

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    Insight: California's Brown set for fight over pension reform

    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's Democrat Governor Jerry Brown heard a clarion call for his party to take on state pensions in the overwhelming passage of retirement reforms by the second and third biggest cities in the state, San Diego and San Jose.

    The message did not resonate as strongly in the statehouse where fellow Democrats rule, though.

    In California, a reliably blue state, the pensions issue is set to trigger a fundamental struggle within the Democratic Party over what needs to be done and how fast - a struggle that could have national implications as some other states have worse pension funding problems.

    The result may be that voters have to force any changes they want through the state's initiative process.

    The liberal capital of the Silicon Valley, San Jose, voted on Tuesday to force employees, including police and firefighters, to pay sharply more for retirement or see a sharp drop in benefits.

    More conservative San Diego by a similar margin passed a measure to put new employees on a 401(k)-style plan in which the city guarantees how much it will contribute to retirement plans, not how much retirees will get.

    Brown, a restless and unpredictable politician with an independent streak, took the vote as a sign the state was ready to jump on his 12-point plan to narrow a pension shortfall estimated to be as high as half a trillion dollars in a state that has struggled in recent years to close budget deficits.

    He would put new state employees on a plan that forces them to shoulder some financial market risk, raise the retirement age - to 67 from as little as 55 for many employees - and raise the financial experience of state retirement boards, among other things.

    "The pension vote in San Jose, which is a more liberal city than the state as a whole, is a very powerful signal that pension reform is an imperative. It's really important," Brown said in a San Francisco Chronicle video interview.

    "Right now, I want to lock this budget down. But people should have confidence that pensions and their reform are on the agenda, right at the top."

    At least part of Brown's plan would need a statewide vote, however, and the governor has only three weeks to convince the legislature to put a measure on the November ballot - the deadline is June 28.

    "I think there's a pretty strong case to be made for the need for the people to speak on this," said Marty Morgenstern, secretary of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which oversees state labor relations. The budget must be passed first, he said, but "I wouldn't rule out going to the voters through the legislature. ... It would have to be real quick."

    DODGING AN EARTHQUAKE

    California's Democratic legislators indicated they did not feel an earthquake coming from San Jose, though, and they are working on a different schedule than Brown.

    While Brown emphasizes reform, other Democrats focus on eliminating tricks used to boost pensions - such as working more overtime to boost income in years when future benefits are assessed - and say taxpayer savings must be balanced with ensuring a fair retirement.

    "It doesn't change a thing for me. My opinion is the same. We know we need to get pension reform done before the end of the legislative session and we will get it done," the head of the state senate, Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, said in an email statement from his spokesman.

    Legislators are discussing a law, not a ballot measure for voter approval, said Warren Furutani, an assembly member who co-heads a joint committee that will craft pension legislation and send it directly to the floors of both houses before the current session ends in August.

    He said he had not come to a decision on whether to accept the governor's "hybrid" plan to share market risk with retirees, and said there was a lot left to do, such as taking care of workers not covered by federal Social Security because of their state government jobs.

    Brown is also pushing a temporary tax package that will go before voters in November, and he has argued that his party, which backs the plan, can improve its credibility with voters by moving on pension reform.

    That does not fly with all his allies.

    "My instincts tell me that it would not be a major boost," responded Dave Low, chair of the union coalition Californians for Retirement Security. Key proposals by the governor to raise the retirement age to 67 and introduce the hybrid plan are problematic, he said. And while citizen interest in pension reform has risen, it's still relatively low, he said.

    Between the budget and competing issues, there might not be time for pensions. "The thing with Sacramento is there are a lot of urgent issues," he said in reference to the state capital.

    The ultimate response by Brown could be to go straight to the people with a pension initiative, following the path he's taken this year with a tax ballot measure that avoids the legislature. Low argues that the economy may have improved enough by the time of the next election that pensions will not be as pressing an issue.

    Backing a ballot measure in those circumstances would be a waste of time, he said: "I don't see why somebody would want to pour money into that rat hole."

    San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, a Democrat, does not expect his party to act. "I personally think they will not do anything. This will happen by statewide ballot initiative," he said.

    Pension shortfalls are huge, but they only capture the attention of voters when costs start to hobble their government. The state's annual payments are growing from a reasonably small base, but in San Jose, a quarter of the budget now goes to retirement benefits.

    Democrats and Republicans alike could not ignore that, Reed said. "In San Jose it was impossible to convince people that this was not a problem," he said.

    (Reporting by Peter Henderson; Editing by Martin Howell and Todd Eastham)

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