China plans for slower, consumer-driven growth

A vendor watches the live telecast of the annual government work report by outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao on a television in a vegetable wholesale market in Fuyang in central China's Anhui province Tuesday, March 5, 2013. China's government promised its people Tuesday deficit-fueled spending to fight deep-seated corruption, improve the despoiled environment and address other quality-of-life issues demanded by an increasingly vocal public looking for change. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

A vendor watches the live telecast of the annual government work report by outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao on a television in a vegetable wholesale market in Fuyang in central China's Anhui province Tuesday, March 5, 2013. China's government promised its people Tuesday deficit-fueled spending to fight deep-seated corruption, improve the despoiled environment and address other quality-of-life issues demanded by an increasingly vocal public looking for change. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

BEIJING (AP) ? Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday pledged to transform China into a consumer-driven economy but gave no indication what Beijing will do about big state companies that reformers warn could handicap future growth.

Wen, speaking to China's ceremonial legislature, confirmed a 7.5 percent growth target in an annual economic plan. That is below the double-digit rates of the past decade but in line with Communist Party plans for a rebalancing of the world's second-largest economy away from reliance on trade and investment to drive growth.

Wen steps down next week after 10 years as China's top economic official but the goals he announced are part of a long-range plan incoming leaders under the newly installed party general secretary, Xi Jinping, are expected to adhere to.

"We should energetically change the growth model and speed up structural adjustment of industry," said Wen. "We should enhance people's ability to consume."

Promoting consumer spending would both support more self-sustaining growth and boost living standards for ordinary Chinese, who have been treated until now as a source of labor while an elite reaped most of the benefits of explosive growth.

The government is pressing companies to raise wages and pledged in January to narrow China's huge gap between the elite and its poor majority. But consumer spending is growing more slowly than authorities want, which has forced Beijing to rely on government -financed investment to support its recovery from an economic slowdown.

Wen gave no details of how Beijing will promote consumption but also promised efforts to clean up China's battered environment and promote energy conservation. Both goals have high-level party support but will hurt corporate profits, possibly generating resistance from business leaders and their allies in the party.

Wen promised to give market forces a bigger role in the state-dominated economy but gave no indication how Beijing will deal with giant state companies that control most of China's industries and are shielded from foreign and private sector competition.

The premier repeated government pledges to give private companies a "level playing field" and "equal access to factors of production" ? a reference to bank loans and other resources. Despite such promises in the past, most lending still goes to state companies, which also receive low-cost access to energy and land.

Advisers including the World Bank have warned China must curb the dominance of state industry, promote competition and support entrepreneurs who generate its new jobs and wealth. In a report last year, the World Bank and a Cabinet think tank warned that without quick action, growth could decline to 5 percent by 2015 ? dangerously low by Chinese standards.

The Communist Party sees state companies both as potential tools to drive economic development and as a source of money and jobs to help keep the party in power, which will make change politically difficult.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-05-China-Economy/id-e213d9f8db104feebb20d6a3f23b7fe9

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Snowstorm threatening big Midwestern cities

Snow-covered trees form a scenic canopy over Avenue C in Bismarck on Monday, March 4, 2013, in the wake of a slow moving winter storm that passed through the state leaving southern areas of North Dakota with rain that later turned to snow. Northern areas of the state received significant snowfall totals causing school closings and many cancellations of scheduled events and travel advisories. (AP Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Tom Stromme)

Snow-covered trees form a scenic canopy over Avenue C in Bismarck on Monday, March 4, 2013, in the wake of a slow moving winter storm that passed through the state leaving southern areas of North Dakota with rain that later turned to snow. Northern areas of the state received significant snowfall totals causing school closings and many cancellations of scheduled events and travel advisories. (AP Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Tom Stromme)

Eric, a Moorhead, Minn. man who did not give his last name, plays with an ATV after a snowstorm left city streets slick on Monday, March 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Minnesota Public Radio, Nathaniel Minor)

A tow truck operator prepares to haul away a car involved in an accident on Interstate 94 in Fargo, N.D. on Monday, March 4, 2013. Overnight snow made travel treacherous across much of the upper Midwest. (AP Photo/Minnesota Public Radio,Nathanial Minor)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? A late-season snowstorm that blanketed parts of the Dakotas on Monday was threatening to do the same to cities from Minneapolis to Chicago, which were bracing for as much as 10 inches of powder.

The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for a long swath stretching across the Upper Midwest from North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, then southeastward into western and southern Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa, northern Illinois, northern Indiana and into western and central Ohio.

"There's quite a variance (in precipitation) depending on where you are, but overall it's a pretty large storm system," said Dave Kellenbenz, a weather service meteorologist in Grand Forks, N.D.

North Dakota took the brunt of the storm early Monday. In the northeast part of the state, Devils Lake had 11 inches of snow by midmorning, and a foot of snow fell in Sarles about 60 miles to the north. In southeastern North Dakota and parts of eastern South Dakota, freezing rain that coated roads was more of a problem but there were no immediate reports of major accidents.

No travel was advised in several North Dakota counties, while many schools started classes late or canceled them for the day, as did a handful in Minnesota.

Morning commuters in the Twin Cities area got a foretaste of the storm as they were greeted with up to an inch of snow. While rush-hour traffic slowed on many major metro highways, few accidents were reported. The relative lack of problems prompted Lt. Eric Roseke, spokesman for the Minnesota State Patrol, to drop his plan to tweet accident totals, as he customarily does in major snowstorms.

Few delays were reported at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Morning snowfall totals reached 4 inches in Vesta, Wanamingo and a few other parts of southern Minnesota, but only 1.4 inches in Minneapolis. Still, the weather service said the snowfall was expected to intensify in the afternoon and evening.

More than 10 inches of snow was possible from northwestern Minnesota down into southwestern Wisconsin, including the Twin Cities, by Tuesday evening, according to the weather service.

As the storm moves east, Milwaukee could get as much as 3 to 5 inches of snow and other areas in far southeastern Wisconsin could get as much as 6 to 8 inches Tuesday. The Chicago area and other parts of northern Illinois were forecast to get 7 to 10 inches by Tuesday night.

The weather service warned that the greatest impact in the Chicago area would be felt during the Tuesday evening rush hour, and that travel through Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports was likely to be significantly affected Tuesday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-04-US-Winter-Storm/id-331dd4737ac94f6a95977522f1bc7488

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Stolen yacht washes ashore: Suspected thieves captured(+video)

Stolen yacht washes ashore: The yacht owner saw on TV that his boat had washed ashore near Pacifica, Calif. He called the police and three suspected thieves were arrested aboard the stolen yacht.

By Ronnie Cohen,?Reuters / March 5, 2013

An 82-foot (25-meter) Californian luxury yacht owner was shocked on Monday to glimpse the vessel on a television newscast beached and bobbing in the surf 20 miles (32 km) down the Pacific Coast from its Sausalito berth.

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Two men and a woman found aboard the yacht and first thought by authorities to be in need of rescue were arrested on suspicion of stealing the vessel after its owner called authorities to report that the yacht he was seeing on TV was his.

Police say the accused thieves took the boat from its Sausalito anchorage north of the Golden Gate Bridge before dawn and sailed the vessel to the seaside town of Pacifica, south of San Francisco, where it washed up on a popular surfing beach.

Pacifica Police Captain Joe Spanheimer said the suspects, Leslie Gardner, 63, Dario Mira, 54, and Lisa Modawell, 56, appeared to have intended to take the Darling on a longer trip.

Sheriffs deputies riding jet skies, a Coast Guard vessel and helicopter surrounded the sailboat, but the three repeatedly rebuffed their offers of assistance, he said.

Authorities ultimately coaxed the three off the yacht, and they were arrested after the boat's owner, John Fruth, who had watched the drama unfold on TV, called to report that the boat in question belonged to him and was stolen, police said.

"He was seeing the news media coverage of a vessel that had run aground," Sausalito police Sergeant Bill Fraass said. "The individuals did not want assistance from the Coast Guard but were stuck on a vessel that could go nowhere."

The boat, which had been stripped of its main sail, is reportedly valued at $4 million, sleeps up to six people in three staterooms and is available for charter at $5,000 a day.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that authorities found beer and pizza aboard the boat and that its three occupants had grown queasy as the waves on the beach bounced them around.

Richard Spindler, publisher of sailing newsletter Latitude 38, joked about the caper in a column.
"We can imagine there might be one person dumb enough to think they could steal a very large and expensive blue-hulled yacht and get away with it - where are you going to hide with something so conspicuous?" he wrote. "But three people that stupid in one place?" (Editing by Steve Gorman and Sandra Maler)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/E5hsSt0l29E/Stolen-yacht-washes-ashore-Suspected-thieves-captured-video

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Officials: 42 Syrian troops killed in Iraq ambush

BAGHDAD (AP) ? At least 42 Syrian soldiers were killed in a well-coordinated ambush Monday after seeking refuge across the border in Iraq following clashes with rebels in their home country, officials said. The attack in Iraq's restive western province of Anbar is likely to significantly raise concerns that Iraq could be drawn into the Syrian civil war.

Iraqi officials said the Syrians had sought refuge through the Rabiya border crossing in northern Iraq during recent clashes with rebels and were being escorted back to Syria through a different border crossing farther south when the ambush occurred. The gunmen struck near the area of Akashat, not far from the Syrian border, although the identity of the attackers was not known.

A senior military intelligence official said the attackers appeared to have been tipped off about the soldiers' movements and prepared a well-coordinated attack involving roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades. They finished off the attack by spraying the vehicles with bullets.

He and another official accused al-Qaida in Iraq of organizing the attack because the militant group is known to have a presence in the area where the ambush occurred. They said it was unlikely that Syrian rebels had managed to cross the border from Syria into Iraq to carry out the attack.

At least seven Iraqi soldiers who were escorting the Syrians were also killed, officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information to reporters.

Sporadic clashes between the Syrian army and rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad have been reported near the Rabiya border crossing in recent days. Officials have previously said a number of Syrians, including some who were wounded, had crossed into Iraqi territory to escape the fighting.

On Friday, Iraqi officials said a Russian-made rocket fired from Syria slammed into Iraqi territory, though no casualties were reported.

Iraqi officials have repeatedly warned that violence from Syria's civil war could spill into Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told The Associated Press last week that he feared a victory for rebels in the Syrian civil war would create a new extremist haven and destabilize the wider Middle East, sparking sectarian wars in his own country and in Lebanon.

His comments reflect fears by many Shiite Muslims in Iraq and elsewhere that Sunni Muslims would come to dominate Syria should Assad be toppled.

The war in Syria has sharp sectarian overtones, with predominantly Sunni rebels fighting a regime dominated by Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Rebel groups have increasingly embraced radical Islamic ideologies, and some of their greatest battlefield successes have been carried out by Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida-affiliated group which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.

Iraq's Shiite-led government has faced more than two months of protests from Sunni Muslims angry over perceived discrimination. The rallies began in Anbar, the vast desert province where Monday's attacks occurred.

___

Associated Press writers Adam Schreck and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-04-Iraq/id-aaccaf3ba9ce4a0a8b80627d98ad73bf

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St Lucia: One For The Bucket List

Every one has a bucket list: a list of things they would like to accomplish, see, have or experience before they die. For some, its going on an adventure, or doing something daring and exciting. For others, its travelling to exotic places on their dream holiday, seeing the most beautiful locations and indulging in natures raw beauty. For still others, its spending a few worry-free days relaxing in a beautiful place being pampered to within an inch of their life on the ultimate romantic getaway with the guy or girl of their dreams. While everyones bucket list is different, many items just seem to come up again and again, such as love, adventure, and pleasure. The good news is, theres a place in the Caribbean that fulfils everything: Cap Maison St Lucia.

Beauty
Google images of St Lucia and you may want to book the next flight out to the island. Just northwest of Barbados, on the Caribbean Sea bordering the Atlantic Ocean, the island features miles of rainforest (complete with exotic flora and fauna) and the most gorgeous coastlines with pristine beaches, imposing reefs, and the bluest waters you can imagine. It has been repeatedly named as one of the most beautiful places in the world. Travel guides such as Concierge and Frommers have consistently named it as one of their must-visit destinations, and the New York Times has mentioned it as being one of the most coveted places to visit. Even Oprah Winfrey has declared it to be one of the five places to visit in your lifetime.
The famous resort Cap Maison St Lucia has been recommended on Googles "Places To See in Your Lifetime", by people who have travelled there personally. Two especially recommended spots are the Infinity Pools at Cap Maison St Lucia and the Diamond Waterfalls, located in the southwest region of the island. The latter comes down in six stages through sulfur springs that change the waters color from purple, to green, to yellow.
Adventure

Considering the island is such an idyllic place one may be have the impression that it may not offer excitement for the adventurous spirit. This impression would be completely wrong as the island offers various adrenalin-pumping activities, some of which can be experienced here and nowhere else, in fact. For example, where else on earth can you drive through a volcano or have a pirate adventure a la the movie Pirates of the Caribbean? Soufriere Volcano, the world's only drive-in volcanic volcano crater provides a truly a unique experience, as does the Brig Unicorn Pirate Sail adventure, where participants can spend the day touring the island on a pirate ship exploring coves, swinging into the sea from the ships ropes, and even walking the plank.

Love

Find and marrying the love of your life is on nearly every persons bucket list. After all, as countless movies and books have expressed, love is the greatest adventure of all. For that perfect romantic moment in your life, whether your proposal, wedding, honeymoon, or anniversary, you wont go wrong spending it at Cap Maison St Lucia. Known as a wedding and honeymoon destination, the resort offers luxurious accommodations for romance (such as suites with private pools and Jacuzzis), as well as beautiful wedding facilities both indoors and outdoors for those who wish to take advantage of the beautiful Caribbean weather. The resort even offers a proposal package, complete with a proposal concierge for popping the most important question of your life.

Cheryl Matthews works for the Essential Hotel Collection. If youre looking for superb accommodation, like the world famous Cap Maison, St Lucia, we offer a handpicked portfolio of privately owned hotels. We have an intimate knowledge of every property and can provide the perfect accommodation to make your island dreams a reality.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/St-Lucia--One-For-The-Bucket-List/4466661

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Kellie Pickler drummer among injured in Ky. crash

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a multi-vehicle wreck on Interstate 65 near the 82 mile marker, Saturday, March 2, 2013 north of Sonora, Ky. Kentucky State Police say six people are dead in two crashes that happened near the same location in central Kentucky on Interstate 65. (AP Photo/The News Enterprise, Neal Cardin)

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a multi-vehicle wreck on Interstate 65 near the 82 mile marker, Saturday, March 2, 2013 north of Sonora, Ky. Kentucky State Police say six people are dead in two crashes that happened near the same location in central Kentucky on Interstate 65. (AP Photo/The News Enterprise, Neal Cardin)

A burned vehicle involved in a fatal wreck sits on a rollback ready to be moved from the scene in the northbound lanes of Interstate 65 around the 82-mile marker Saturday, March 2, 2013, near Sonora, Ky. Kentucky State Police say six people are dead in two crashes that happened near the same location in central Kentucky on Interstate 65. (AP Photo/The News Enterprise, Jill Pickett)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) ? The drummer for country music star Kellie Pickler was in serious condition Sunday as one of five people hospitalized in two crashes that happened within minutes at the same spot on Interstate 65 in central Kentucky and killed six.

Pickler's manager, Larry Fitzgerald, said 36-year-old Gregg Lohman of Goodlettsville, Tenn., suffered serious injuries in the wreck Saturday. He remained in serious condition Sunday at University of Louisville Hospital.

Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Norm Chaffins said Lohman, who also works as a music instructor at Tennessee State University, had head and neck injuries after a four-vehicle wreck in the southbound lanes. It happened about 15 minutes after a fiery crash involving a tractor-trailer and an SUV on the northbound side of the highway.

On her Facebook page, Pickler said Lohman wasn't just a drummer, "he is family."

"I believe in the miracles and the power of prayer, so it would mean the world to me, my band and Gregg's family if you would please keep him in your prayers," Pickler wrote. "Thank y'all so much."

Six people from rural Wisconsin were killed when the tractor-trailer rear-ended their Ford Expedition at about 11:13 a.m. EST Saturday in the northbound lanes near Glendale, Ky.

Killed were 62-year-old driver James Gollnow and his wife, 62-year-old Barbara Gollnow; 92-year-old friend Marion Champnise; 18-year-old Sarina Gollnow, relationship unknown; and foster children 10-year-old Gabriel Zumig and 8-year-old Soledad Smith.

Two other foster children survived and were taken to area hospitals. Police identified them as Hope Hoth, 15, who was transported to a hospital in Lexington with burns and a broken spine; and Aidian Ejnik, 12, who was taken to Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville with cuts to the back of his head.

Barb Gollnow of Shawano, Wis., the sister-in-law of those killed, called the collision "a horrible tragedy," but said details about her family's trip that led them through the Bluegrass State would have to come from the surviving children in the family. The children did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press left through Gollnow.

State Police said the family was returning to Wisconsin from a vacation to Orlando, Fla.

Chaffins said the tractor-trailer was following too closely to the SUV to stop before the collision. The Expedition was "totally engulfed in flames. It was totally destroyed by the fire," he said, adding, "It's just a charred mess." Distracted driving is among the causes being investigated.

"That's one of the points we're looking into," Chaffins said. "We haven't pinpointed the exact cause."

Chaffins said despite snow flurries, weather was not a factor in Saturday's crashes. The driver was identified as 47-year-old Ibrahim Fetic of Troy, Mich. Police were looking at his driving logs and collected a blood sample.

The National Transportation Safety Board did not immediately have a comment about whether they were investigating. Chaffins expects the board to become involved.

The two crashes shut down the busy stretch of highway for about five hours.

Chaffins said police were investigating whether rubbernecking was the cause of the wrecks in the southbound lanes.

In that wreck, the Freightliner driven by 58-year-old Mark Bowser from Lewisburg, Ohio, struck Lohman's vehicle, then hit a 2005 Saturn SUV driven by 53-year-old Victor Martinka of Glenview, Ill.

Chaffins said Martinka's vehicle then struck a 2012 Chevrolet SUV driven by Stephanie Yates, 55, of Louisville. Chaffins said none of the other drivers were hospitalized.

The wreck on Saturday happened just north of where a tractor-trailer crossed the median and struck a van carrying 11 people in 2010. In the wake of that crash, the NTSB called for a ban on talking on cellphones or texting by long-distance truckers.

___

Karnowski reported from Minneapolis, Minn.

___

Follow Associated Press reporter Brett Barrouquere on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BBarrouquereAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-03-Kentucky%20Crashes/id-9c30bd19d455487da2c3597a9257e8b4

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SEO Services Company offers quality Internet marketing solutions ...

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Everyone is aware of SEO or computer program improvement is very important once it involves securing a lot of customers globally or regionally via your web site. however what several new business house owners in all probability do not know is that web site improvement for the computer program is not as simple as adding some keywords here and there, giving some PPC ads and gap social media accounts. It needs coordinated effort, intelligent designing and flexibility to dynamic SEO trends and competitors? efforts. SEO services by an expert corporate seo are important to the success of any on-line business.

A best SEO services company is one that has SEO plans for everybody. Or in different words that would provide customized plans to suit individual wants. Each web site has completely different wants and you merely cannot apply one SEO technique to any or all the sites. SEO plans ought to be modified or created or customized in step with the business wants. It?s the responsibility of the service supplier to create SEO plans once finding the business necessities.

FMS on-line selling offers quality net selling solutions. It?s been perceived as a science of effective usage of keywords and careful analysis of keyword density mistreatment Gregorian calendar month code tools and Techniques. SEO Services Company could be a company that?s equipped with extremely competent SEO tools with full information in net selling that has a good vary of SEO services. These businesses want up-to-date info as they?re manufacturing a bunch of extremely qualified professionals specializing in numerous services like analysis, analysis and quality link building.

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Source: http://videowebpromotions.com/2013/03/seo-services-company-offers-quality-internet-marketing-solutions/

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'Miracle Garden' is Dubai's latest over-the-top attraction

dubai

A. Pawlowski TODAY contributor

13 hours ago

Courtesy Dubai Miracle Garden

It took 60 days and 400 people to create the the Dubai Miracle Garden, which contains 45 million flowers.

No, it?s not a mirage. An impossibly huge and colorful garden is blooming in the desert climate of Dubai, aiming to set world records and lure visitors with sensory delights.

The region?s newest tourist attraction ? dubbed the Dubai Miracle Garden -- contains 45 million flowers arranged into mosaics, patterns and shapes. Organizers hope it will stand out in a metropolis that already dazzles travelers with its glitzy architecture, man-made islands and the world?s tallest building.

After all, this is the place where you can frolic in the snow in the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East, but the garden?s creator is betting that visitors are yearning to spend time outside.

?People get tired of malls, closed places,? said Abdel Nasser Y. Rahhal, general manager of Akar Landscaping Services and Agriculture.

?I hope people will understand that this country is not only for extremes in concrete and steel. This country is given beautiful weather for seven months? with a little care, you can get a really beautiful production.?

Courtesy Dubai Miracle Garden

The park features about 30 different varieties of blooms, including petunias, geraniums and marigolds.

So how do you get flowers to thrive in a region known for its dry, hot weather?

The blooming season in Dubai lasts from mid-October to mid-May, Rahhal told NBC News. Right now, daytime temperatures reach 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit and dip to around 50 degrees at night, so flowers don?t need much watering and the water that is provided doesn?t evaporate, he added.

At the same time, the garden has installed what it calls an eco-friendly irrigation system and uses water retention materials, like capillary mats and polymers, to deliver moisture most efficiently.

It took 60 days and 400 people to create the 721,000 square foot garden, which opened on Valentine?s Day. Rahhal estimated the cost of the project at around $11 million.

The park features about 30 different varieties of blooms, including petunias, geraniums and marigolds. Visitors strolling among the flower-covered arches, pyramids, and sculptures have been impressed.

?I was stunned,? said Anne Abit, an expat from the Philippines who lives in Dubai and blogged about her visit to the garden. But she noted it wasn?t as peaceful as she had hoped, with caretakers carefully watching visitors and blowing their whistles at anyone who was in danger of touching a petal. However, the garden is so breathtaking that "it's totally understandable why the guards are so protective with the flowers," she told NBC News.

Another drawback, said Abit, is the location's relative inacessability. There's no direct public transit and the Miracle Garden is so new that she said she had to show taxi drivers the spot on the map to get there.

Courtesy Dubai Miracle Garden

The garden features whimsical designs, as well as flower-covered arches, pyramids and sculptures.

The park will close for four months out of the year during the hottest period -- a break that will give organizers the chance to redesign it for the next season, with different flowers and shapes, Rahhal said.

?If you come next year, you will never know you were in the same garden,? he added.

The second phase of the project is set to begin this summer, with the addition of a butterfly garden, retail space and an ?edible plants dome? that will allow people to pick their own fruit.

Dubai Miracle Garden also hopes to be recognized by Guiness World Records as having the world?s biggest flower clock, the longest wall of flowers and the largest pyramid of flowers.

Admission to the park is about $5.50 for adults. Kids under 3 get in for free.

The Dubai Properties Group, a partner in the project, expects the park to draw more than one million visitors over the next year.

Source: http://www.today.com/travel/giant-miracle-garden-dubais-latest-over-top-attraction-1C8616900

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Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has ruptured disk

AAA??Mar. 3, 2013?12:03 PM ET
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has ruptured disk
AP

St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, left, talks to Washington Nationals bullpen coach Jim Lett before an exhibition spring training baseball game, Saturday, March 2, 2013, in Jupiter, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, left, talks to Washington Nationals bullpen coach Jim Lett before an exhibition spring training baseball game, Saturday, March 2, 2013, in Jupiter, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny holds the Washington Nationals line up before an exhibition spring training baseball game, Saturday, March 2, 2013, in Jupiter, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, center, watches from the dugout in the eighth inning of an exhibition spring training baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Fort Myers, Fla. St. Louis won 15-4. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Former NFL football coach Bill Parcells, center, talks to St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, left, and Houston Astros manager Bo Porter before an exhibition spring training baseball game in Jupiter, Fla., Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay, right, talks to manager Mike Matheny during spring training baseball, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013, in Jupiter, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

VIERA, Fla. (AP) ? (AP) ? St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has a ruptured disk in his back.

Matheny, a major league catcher from 1994-06, is scheduled to have an epidural injection Monday to reduce inflammation and get a particle off a nerve. If the injection doesn't help alleviate pain, he said surgery would "have to be something we would consider."

Starting his second season as the Cardinals' manager, Matheny has had back issues for several years.

"I've had problems for a long time, off and on," he said Sunday. "I've been on a program to kind of strengthen it, but ... something set it off in a bad direction. I don't know exactly what it was.

Matheny did not travel with the team to Kissimmee on Friday, citing back pain and food poisoning. He returned to manage the Cardinals on Saturday in Jupiter.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-03-BBN-Cardinals-Matheny/id-f15cd159bcff403aab15dcfe0d998fa2

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I Will Rock the World: PPC training and its guidance

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Source: http://ultimatricksinfo.blogspot.com/2013/03/ppc-training-and-its-guidance.html

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Pitching App Ideas? AppGyver Delivers Mobile App Prototypes In Minutes, No Technical Know-How Needed

Although there are a ton of DIY app builders out there, the majority of them are either designed for those with a little bit of coding know-how, or involve drag-and-drop components which are used to create a basic app or mobile website. A new startup called AppGyver (rhymes with?MacGyver!) is different. It's a mobile app prototyper, not an app builder, and it's aimed at those who need to rapidly iterate on designs during the app development process.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/uNkuvSDOEBQ/

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Deal of the Day ? Dell Inspiron 15z Core i5 Ultrabook

LogicBUY’s Deal for Thursday is the configurable?15.6″ Dell Inspiron 15z (5523) Ultrabook for $649.99 after LogicBUY’s coupon code. ?Shipping is free. ?Features: Core i3 6GB memory 500GB hard drive, 32GB mSSD, DVD burner Skullcandy audio with WaveMaxx 4.0 Windows 8 1-year in-home service plus 90-day Premium Phone support Other models are available at similar savings, [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/02/28/deal-of-the-day-dell-inspiron-15z-core-i5-ultrabook/

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Obama urges justices to overturn gay marriage ban

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration wants the Supreme Court to overturn California's gay marriage ban, outlining a broad legal argument that could ultimately be applied to other state prohibitions across the country.

The administration's friend-of-the-court brief, filed Thursday evening, unequivocally calls on the justices to strike down California's Proposition 8 ballot measure, although it stops short of the soaring rhetoric on marriage equality President Barack Obama expressed in his inaugural address in January. Still, it marks the first time a U.S. president has urged the high court to expand the right of gays and lesbians to wed.

The brief is not legally binding, though the government's opinion could carry weight with the Supreme Court when it hears oral arguments on Proposition 8 in late March.

California is one of eight states that give gay couples all the benefits of marriage through civil unions or domestic partnership but don't allow them to wed. The brief argues that in granting same-sex couples those rights, California has already acknowledged that gay relationships bear the same hallmarks as straight ones.

"They establish homes and lives together, support each other financially, share the joys and burdens of raising children, and provide care through illness and comfort at the moment of death," the administration wrote.

The brief marks the president's most expansive view of gay marriage and signals that he is moving away from his previous assertion that states should determine their own marriage laws. Obama, a former constitutional law professor, signed off on the administration's legal argument last week following lengthy discussions with Attorney General Eric Holder and Solicitor General Donald Verrilli.

In a statement following the filing, Holder said "the government seeks to vindicate the defining constitutional ideal of equal treatment under the law."

Obama's position, if adopted by the court, would likely result in gay marriage becoming legal in the seven other states: Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island.

In the longer term, the administration urges the justices to subject laws that discriminate on sexual orientation to more rigorous review than usual, as is the case for claims that laws discriminate on the basis of race, sex and other factors.

The Supreme Court has never given gay Americans the special protection it has afforded women and minorities. If it endorses such an approach in the gay marriage cases, same-sex marriage bans around the country could be imperiled.

Despite the potentially wide-ranging implications of the administration's brief, it still falls short of what gay rights advocates and the attorneys who will argue against Proposition 8 had hoped for. Those parties had pressed the president to urge the Supreme Court to not only overturn California's ban, but also declare all gay marriage bans unconstitutional.

Still, marriage equality advocates publicly welcomed the president's legal positioning.

"Obama again asserted a bold claim of full equality for gay Americans, this time in a legal brief," said Richard Socarides, an attorney and advocate. "If its full weight and reasoning are accepted by the Supreme Court, all anti-gay marriage state constitutional amendments will fall, and quickly."

The National Organization for Marriage, a leading supporter of the California ban, rejected Obama's arguments. Spokesman Thomas Peters said he expects the Supreme Court to uphold the votes of more than 7 million Californians to protect marriage, spokesman Thomas Peters said.

The president raised expectations that he would back a broad brief during his inaugural address on Jan. 21. He said the nation's journey "is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law."

"For if we are truly created equal, than surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well," he added.

Obama has a complicated history on gay marriage. As a presidential candidate in 2008, he opposed the California ban but didn't endorse gay marriage. He later said his personal views on gay marriage were "evolving."

When he ran for re-election last year, Obama announced his personal support for same-sex marriage but said marriage was an issue that states, not the federal government, should decide.

Public opinion has shifted in support of gay marriage in recent years.

In May 2008, Gallup found that 56 percent of Americans felt same-sex marriages should not be recognized by the law as valid. By last November, 53 percent felt they should be legally recognized.

Gay marriage supporters see the Supreme Court's hearing of Proposition 8, as well as a related case on the Defense of Marriage Act, as a potential watershed moment for same-sex unions.

In a well-coordinated effort, opponents of the California ban flooded the justices with friend-of-the-court briefs in recent days.

Among those filing briefs were 13 states, including four that do not now permit gay couples to wed, and more than 100 prominent Republicans, including GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman and Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

Two professional football players who have been outspoken gay rights advocates also filed a brief in the California case. Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo urged the court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court has several options to decide the case that would be narrower than what the administration is asking. The justices also could uphold the California provision, as opponents of gay marriage are urging.

One day after the Supreme Court hears the California case, the justices will hear arguments on provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman for the purpose of deciding who can receive a range of federal benefits.

The administration abandoned its defense of the act in 2011, but the measure will continue to be federal law unless it is struck down or repealed.

In a brief filed last week, the government said Section 3 of the act "violates the fundamental constitutional guarantee of equal protection" because it denies legally married same-sex couples many federal benefits that are available only to legally married heterosexual couples.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Follow Mark Sherman at http://twitter.com/shermancourt

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-01-Obama-Gay%20Marriage/id-5dfe887dbc9340dd806f5a004a1d2669

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