China pushes Japan with sea claims, trade threats

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has moved to bolster its legal position in a volatile territorial dispute with Japan, state newspapers said on Monday, warning that Japan could endure another "lost decade" of economic stagnation if Beijing turns to trade retaliation.

The volley of warnings from Chinese officials and newspapers came after a weekend of protests across dozens of cities, some of them violent. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda urged Beijing to ensure Japan's people and property were protected.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party, which rarely allows street protests, opened the door to the display of public anger after Japan's decision last week to buy disputed East China Sea islands, which Tokyo calls the Senkaku and Beijing calls the Diaoyu, from a private Japanese owner.

Beijing called that a severe violation of its sovereignty and the dispute has triggered a wave of nationalist ire that the Chinese government has sought to both channel and contain.

China's latest effort to show resolve in the dispute was to announce it will submit to a United Nations commission a proposal spelling out its claims in the East China Sea, based on its definition of the limits of its continental shelf.

The planned submission "reflects the Chinese government's unwavering determination and will to protect national maritime rights", said Deng Zhonghua, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official in charge of boundary and maritime issues, according to a Xinhua news report late on Sunday.

Smaller protest marches resumed on Monday in front of the Japanese embassy in Beijing, watched by hundreds of police and anti-riot officers, but were nothing like the thousands who turned out in several cities at the weekend.

The long-running territorial row has erupted again while Asia's two biggest economies focus on domestic political pressures. Noda's government faces an election in months, adding pressure on him not to look weak on China.

China's Communist Party is preoccupied with a leadership turnover, with President Hu Jintao due to step down as party leader at a congress that could open as soon as next month.

Those political pressures have narrowed the room for diplomatic give-and-take. Last week, a Chinese commerce official warned that the argument could spill over into economic ties.

China is Japan's largest trading partner. In 2011, their bilateral trade grew 14.3 percent in value to a record $345 billion. A Nissan Motor Co Ltd executive has said the tensions were affecting business with China.

On Monday, the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the main newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, warned that Beijing could resort to economic retaliation if the dispute festers, threatening enduring repercussions for Japan.

"How could be it be that Japan wants another lost decade, and could even be prepared to go back by two decades," said a front-page editorial in the newspaper. China "has always been extremely cautious about playing the economic card", it said.

"But in struggles concerning territorial sovereignty, if Japan continues its provocations, then China will take up the battle," the paper said.

At the weekend, Chinese demonstrators looted shops and attacked Japanese cars and restaurants in at least five cities. Protesters also broke into Japanese-run factories in eastern Qingdao on Saturday, according to the Japanese broadcaster NHK.

China and Japan have long been at odds over how they define their territorial limits in the East China Sea. Beijing's planned submission to a U.N. commission is intended to clarify its claims under international law.

Japan says the median line between the two countries' coasts is the boundary of their respective exclusive economic zones. China says the boundary is defined by its continental shelf, extending its claimed zone beyond the median line.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-pushes-japan-sea-claims-trade-threats-021433836--finance.html

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Venezuela's Capriles goes on offensive after graft accusations

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition challenger Henrique Capriles sought to deflect attention from a corruption scandal by throwing the accusation back at President Hugo Chavez on Friday in an escalating political brawl ahead of the October 7 vote.

Already in an uphill fight to end Chavez's 14-year socialist rule of the South American OPEC member, Capriles' camp suffered a setback on Thursday when government lawmakers released a video of an aide taking cash in dubious circumstances.

Capriles immediately fired the aide, Juan Carlos Caldera, and tried to turn the incident in his favor by saying that he - unlike Chavez - would not tolerate any whiff of misconduct within his team.

"If this government and its candidate took on corruption, they'd have no ministers left," Capriles told a rally.

Transparency International ranks Venezuela as the second-most corrupt nation in the Americas, after Haiti.

Opposition critics revel in tales of Chavez allies who in a matter of years have moved from slums to plush homes and bought yachts and luxury cars.

Government officials constantly try to link Capriles with the pre-Chavez era during which politicians for decades pocketed oil revenues while poverty deepened.

Chavez in a late-night interview said Capriles moved too quickly to "wash his hands" of the matter.

"Imagine falling into the hands of these people, who turn knives on each other," Chavez said in the televised interview.

"The first thing you have to do is investigate, not come out condemning him in 10 minutes or a half hour," Chavez said. "Imagine a president like that!"

At a rally in western Lara state, Capriles mocked Chavez for the lofty contents of his election manifesto. Its goals include deepening socialism, striving for a "new international geopolitical" dynamic, and helping to "save" mankind.

"They want to save the human race ... (but) where do they propose the solution to the problems you are living with every day? They don't mention them because this government is worn out," Capriles said, holding a copy of Chavez's manifesto.

"Where's the solution to the electricity problem? Where's the solution to the water problem, the public services?" he asked, referring to power cuts and other day-to-day problems.

Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor who says Brazil's mix of capitalism and strong social welfare programs is his economic model, seeks to project an image of youth, energy and attention to grassroots problems.

He wants to end Chavez's statist economics - especially the nationalization program - and his alliances with anti-U.S. governments like Syria, Iran, Belarus and Cuba.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER OCT. 7?

Chavez, 58, who has outwitted the opposition time and time again since taking power in 1999, is promising Venezuela's 29 million voters to extend his socialist crusade, spread oil wealth and overturn historic injustices.

Most of the best-known pollsters put Chavez ahead by 10 points or more. But opinion polls are notoriously controversial and divergent in Venezuela.

Capriles' numbers have crept up in recent weeks. One major pollster on Friday put him just ahead of Chavez, 48.1 percent to 46.2 percent - neck-and-neck given the margin of error.

If Chavez wins easily, he would have carte blanche to continue his socialist experiment, perhaps seeking to extend the state's grip on those areas of the economy - such as banking - still left largely in private hands.

A close result could result in protests and fraud claims from either side, leading to possible unrest in a polarized nation full of guns.

The government hopes the video of Capriles aide and opposition legislator Caldera, which shows him taking money in return for promising access to Capriles, will tarnish the candidate's image.

But Caldera has said Capriles had nothing to do with it and that the money - about $9,300 from a businessman - was a legitimate contribution to his mayoral campaign.

"The government is doing this to try and put the brakes on something that is unstoppable," he told a television station. "They are trying to stop this with mud and dirty tactics."

Both sides have leaked documents that are purported to come from each others' camps in recent days.

The government has displayed a supposed secret "neoliberal" economic package planned by Capriles, while opposition activists have circulated what they say is an internal campaign document from the Chavez camp with instructions on how to sully the opposition and exalt the president.

(Additional reporting by Mario Naranjo, Enrique Andres Pretel and Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Brian Ellsworth and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelas-capriles-goes-offensive-graft-accusations-051408258.html

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Hang your hammock in the hummingbird family tree

Many of us in North America are facing the imminent departure of ?our? hummingbirds for the next few months, though across the Gulf Coastal Plain, a few western hummingbirds are staking out winter homes, and hardy Anna?s Hummingbirds will do just fine along the Pacific Coast and in Arizona all winter long.

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) wintering in Louisiana ? David J. Ringer

Hummingbirds are one of the most distinctive and immediately recognizable groups of birds on earth. They?re also one of the most diverse, with approximately 330 species, all in the Western Hemisphere. But it was not always so: Ancient hummingbird fossils have been described from Europe in recent years, some with remarkable similarities (PDF) to modern New World hummingbirds, leaving scientists pondering the historical implications of these unexpected discoveries.

Hummingbirds have long been classified as most closely related to the widespread, well-known swifts and the treeswifts, a small, predominantly Indomalayan family. This group (the traditional order Apodiformes) is related to the weird, wonderful owlet-nightjars. This larger group is related to nocturnal birds traditionally placed in the order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars, potoos, frogmouths, oilbird, etc.), but their relationships and even the composition of this larger clade (called Cypselomorphae) is not settled (nighthawks, for instance, may be more closely related to owls than to nightjars).

As for the hummingbirds themselves, distinctive as the group is, the relationships within the large hummingbird family have been quite difficult to unravel. However, two recent papers by McGuire et al. (PDFs: 2007 and 2009) provide a framework for the current understanding of the hummingbird family tree, which as my title indicates is a pretty awesome place to hang one?s hammock and kick back for awhile. You know, maybe a millennium or two.

Topazes and jacobins

McGuire et al. found that four South American hummingbird species ? the Florisuga jacobins and Topaza topazes ? go together at the base of the hummingbird tree, challenging the orthodoxy that living hummingbirds belong in two subfamilies: the hermits (Phaethornithinae) and everything else (Trochilinae). They note, however, that further study is needed and that despite their genetic results, topazes and jacobins may more likely be sister to all other hummingbirds except the hermits. In any case, this is a small but spectacular group of birds. Check out this Crimson Topaz. And this one.

White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) in Ecuador ? David J. Ringer

Hermits

The hermits are a distinctive group of hummingbirds, most with strongly curved bills (most pronounced in sicklebills), subdued colors, and lekking displays by the males.

Tawny-bellied Hermit (Phaethornis syrmatophorus) cc-by-sa Michael Woodruff

Mangoes

This group contains several fairly large and spectacular species, including the violetears, caribs, and mangoes, which are well represented in the Caribbean, as well as unique South American jewels, such as the Horned Sungem.

Green Violetear (Colibri thalassinus) in Costa Rica ? David J. Ringer

Coquettes

This group and the next (the brillants) together are called the Andean clade and indeed reach their highest and most mind-blowing diversity in the mighty Andes. They are tiny but often highly ornamented species, sporting some of the most breathtaking head and tail plumes in the entire hummingbird tree. Take, for instance, the absolutely incredible Frilled Coquette). In the Andes, species such as Wire-crested Thorntail, sylphs, sunangels, hillstars, thornbills, and metaltails light up the forest.

Violet-tailed Sylph (Aglaiocercus coelestis), Refugio Paz de las Aves, Ecuador ? David J. Ringer

Brilliants

The brilliants are a diverse group that includes the pufflegs, sunbeams, incas, starfrontlets, coronets, and brilliants proper, as well as the huge and magnificent Great Sapphirewing and Sword-billed Hummingbird, which is the only bird with a bill longer than the rest of its body. The brilliants are some of the most colorful and abundant hummingbirds of the Andes, and Mike and I enjoyed a great many of them when we toured the Ecuadorian Andes with Renato and Paola in 2010. Here are two:

Velvet-purple Coronet (Boissonneaua jardini), Refugio Paz de las Aves, Ecuador ? David J. Ringer

Booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii) in Ecuador ? David J. Ringer

Giant Hummingbird

The Andean Giant Hummingbird ? truly a giant at more than 8 inches long! ? is unique and is sister to all other remaining hummingbirds. It?s one that has eluded me but that I?m very eager to see someday.

Mountain-Gems

The mountain-gems, starthroats, and their relatives are a predominantly Central American and Mexican montane clade, a few of which (Blue-throated Hummingbird, Magnificent Hummingbird, and Plain-capped Starthroat) just barely make it into the United States.

Magnificent Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens) in Costa Rica ? David J. Ringer

Bees

Bees are small to very small hummingbirds, including Cuba?s Bee Hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world at about 2 inches long and weighing less than a dime (!). Bees also include the woodstars and many of the regularly occurring hummingbirds in the United States and Canada, including the widespread Ruby-throated, Rufous, and Anna?s Hummingbirds and their relatives. Thus, this group also contains the most highly migratory hummingbirds in the world. Some travel thousands of miles per year.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) ? David J. Ringer

Emeralds

And finally, we reach the emeralds, a large and widespread group of more than 100 species (about a third of all living hummingbirds), including the emeralds, sabrewings, woodnymphs, ?Amazilia? hummingbirds, sapphires, the gorgeous Snowcap, and ? in the United States ? southwestern specialties like White-eared, Broad-billed, and Buff-bellied Hummingbirds.

Andean Emerald (Amazilia franciae) in Ecuador ? David J. Ringer

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) in Ecuador ? David J. Ringer

Want to stay awhile?

And there you have it. But if you?re hungry for more hummers, check out James?s Twenty Hummingbirds post (see how many of his hummers you can place correctly in the tree) and, if you?re feeling geeky, check out John Boyd?s hummingbird taxonomy and tree (PDF).

Sapphire-vented Puffleg (Eriocnemis luciani) in Ecuador ? David J. Ringer

Source: http://10000birds.com/hang-your-hammock-in-the-hummingbird-family-tree.htm

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Why Use Email Marketing Now? | THMG.com

Sunday, September 16th, 2012

Why use email marketing now? That?s a common question. In this article I?m going to cover why to do it now in 3 ways.

First, should running a small business mean you focus on making a sale immediately? Second, should you really give everyone all information? And third, should you provide a way to interact?

1. Sales pages

People find your small business. Some people buy from your sales page right away. Yes, you should provide a sales page for these people who may have an urgent need.

On the other hand, first time visitors don?t usually convert. That?s not how Internet traffic tends to work. So that means you?ve got visitors who buy and others who visit and depart.

But you go to a lot of trouble to get a visitor. Why not get contact information so you can invite

Click here to view rest of article from original site

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Source: http://www.thmg.com/email-marketing/why-use-email-marketing-now/

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Norway court rejects Philip Morris lawsuit

OSLO, Norway (AP) ? The NTB news agency says the Philip Morris company has lost a court battle against Norway's government over the right to display tobacco products in stores.

Norway, which has had a ban on cigarette and alcohol advertising since 1975, in 2010 banned even the display of tobacco products at their point of sale.

Shops must keep cigarettes in unmarked cabinets or special vending machines with no visible logos. Customers wishing to buy tobacco must actively ask merchants for it.

Philip Morris sued the Norwegian state, arguing that the display ban interfered with the free flow of goods and broke with international agreements Norway is party to.

NTB says the Oslo district court rejected the lawsuit Friday. It was not immediately clear whether the company would appeal the ruling.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-09-14-Norway-Tobacco%20Ads/id-016ba13cd39048bab45e496666939ac7

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Tips to Simplify Legal Newsletters | Life at the Bar LLC Blog

Newsletters offer a way to stay in contact with a large number of contacts easily, consistently, and productively. Newsletters focus on substantive information, and assuming you?ve defined your areas of practice carefully enough, your content will be valuable to recipients and therefore welcome. Better yet, if your topics are timely and if you include an appropriate call to action, you may even receive requests for assistance on matters related to your writing.

Most firms have multiple newsletters tailored to their various areas of practice, often with multiple contributors. Whether you?re responsible for coordinating the content for your firm?s (or team?s) newsletter or you?re a sole practitioner with soup-to-nuts responsibility for the newsletter, you?ve probably had more than a few hair-raising moments wondering how you can possibly get it all done. (And if your firm doesn?t have a newsletter, I can virtually guarantee that fear is the top reason why not.)

So, let?s make newsletters simple. These five tips and resources will reduce the time and angst required to produce a newsletter that delivers results.

1. Repurpose presentations and articles you have written for publication elsewhere into newsletter content. Shorter articles tend to be more useful, especially in electronic newsletters, so you can often get several issues of content from a single article.

2. Keep a list of generic questions your clients ask and turn the responses into newsletter articles. You must make certain that no one interprets your article as legal advice for them (check your local ethics rules to be sure you?re in compliance) but with appropriate language, you can easily create useful information based on frequently asked questions.

3. Use social media to ?listen? for topics you should cover. You may find news or op-ed pieces you?d like to address, and by catching hot topics, you?re increasing the chance that your readers will be interested.

4. Include the ?so what? for news. It?s hard to offer unique breaking news that isn?t being covered by journalists, bloggers, and other newsletters, but you can one-up many other reports by including some analysis and commentary of the news. In other words, let others handle the details of who, what when, where, and how. You focus on the why and so what.

5. Source your content from a good outside vendor. In the past, I would not have recommended using pre-written articles because they?re generally easy to identify a mile away. Generic and often not written for the audience to whom they?re sent, bad pre-written articles that are simply dropped into a template will not help your marketing efforts and may indeed inflict terminal damage.

But I recently learned about a content provider that offers well-written articles that can (and really should) be edited so that they offer good information with your unique voice and perspective.

Insight in Motion, an offering from Amicus Media, offers articles written by lawyers on topics currently including estate planning, family law, bankruptcy, immigration, and personal injury. (I?ve urged them to include intellectual property soon ? we?ll see!) I?ve reviewed the articles and I?m impressed with the information presented and the way the content is presented.

Offering two levels of subscriptions based on the number of legal articles you need each month and number of practice areas, Insight in Motion provides a ?keep it simple? approach at a reasonable price. Even better, the company will create a customized newsletter template and send your newsletters if you?d like. The content can even be published on your firm?s website or blog.

I took a thorough tour of the system and asked the same questions you likely would, and I?m impressed. If your practice falls within the areas that Insight in Motion covers and you?ve been holding off on creating a newsletter, this may be your golden opportunity.

For more information on Insight in Motion, visit this page.

And in case you?re wondering: no, I will not receive any affiliate fees or other incentive if you enroll in Insight in Motion.

Which of these tips can you use to make your newsletter strategy simpler?

If you haven't already done so, please consider signing up for the Life at the Bar blog's RSS feed. Or you might like to receive the posts by email or to subscribe to the weekly email newsletter Leadership Matters for Lawyers, and you'll see subscription forms for both in the middle column. I promise that I won't rent, sell, or otherwise provide your information to anyone else and that your email address will be used only as you request.

Thanks for visiting! (And don't worry... You'll only see this note the first 3 times you visit the blog.)

Source: http://lifeatthebar.com/blog/index.php/2012/09/14/tips-to-simplify-legal-newsletters/

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Green light for 'The X Factor NZ' | Voxy.co.nz

The first local version of global television phenomenon The X Factor is coming to TV3 in 2013.

Put on the global map by music mogul Simon Cowell, The X Factor is the world?s largest music show and pits contestants against each other in the search for a person or group to sign a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment New Zealand.

Now, New Zealanders will have the chance to put their singing talent to the test. From Invercargill to Kaitaia, The X Factor NZ will travel the length and breadth of the country, with one goal - to discover the next great New Zealand recording artist.

Co-executive producer Andrew Szusterman says TV3 is thrilled to be bringing The X Factor format to New Zealand.

"For the viewers, this is the biggest television event New Zealand has seen, for contestants, it?s a competition that changes lives and launches careers," he says.

From the busker plying their trade on a street corner, to the muso playing a weekly gig at their local tavern, and the kid singing into their hairbrush, The X Factor NZ will showcase the brightest upcoming singing talent from all over the country, as well as some who may be best advised to save their performances for private.

"The X Factor NZ combines the best talent show format with an intensely local flavour, and combine that with the expertise of record company partner Sony Music, plus the MediaWorks? stable of radio stations, we?re confident that we can bring the biggest music entertainment programme to New Zealand screens."

The winner of The X Factor NZ will be signed to Sony Music Entertainment New Zealand. Managing Director Kim Boshier says The X Factor is recognized throughout the music industry as a legitimate and respected way to find talent.

"In the last three or four years some of the greatest recording artists on our roster have come from the X Factor format and we?re excited to finally have the format in New Zealand," she says.

Since its first UK series in 2004, The X Factor has established itself as the world?s leading singing talent search - successfully launching in over 20 territories, and discovering international recording stars including Leona Lewis, Reece Mastin and One Direction.

The X Factor NZ is open to singers of aged 14 and up - either solo performers or groups. Once through the final audition process, the four judges will take on mentoring roles, as the performers are split into categories - Boys under 25, Girls under 25, the over 25s and the Groups.

Kiwi audiences have embraced The X Factor format with American and Australian versions among TV3?s highest rating international programmes. The second season of The X Factor USA (starring creator Simon Cowell) premiered last night on TV3, hot off the satellite, screening in New Zealand within hours of its Stateside broadcast.

The X Factor is a FremantleMedia owned format and will be co-produced by MediaWorks and FremantleMedia Australia. NZ on Air will be a minority funder in the programme.

Register at TV3.co.nz/xfactornz to be the first to receive information on The X Factor NZ (including how to enter) or join the conversation at facebook.com/xfactornz.

Source: http://www.voxy.co.nz/entertainment/green-light-x-factor-nz/5/134798

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