Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/297377367?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, April 8, 2013
Rest easy, Spain: Your money's safe in a mattress safe
With a debt crisis still stalking Europe, a Spanish entrepreneur has a new idea to protect your euros: a mattress with a safe inside.
Two men walk in the business district in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday.
Paul White/AP
EnlargeEuropeans have tossed and turned at night since the continent's sovereign debt crisis began three years ago. Right now it?s the Cypriots, surprised earlier this month by an announcement that some personal bank accounts could be taxed in order to raise the needed contribution for a bailout.
Skip to next paragraph Whitney EulichLatin America Editor
Whitney Eulich is the Monitor's Latin America editor, overseeing regional coverage for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine. She also curates the Latin America Monitor Blog.
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The creator of My Mattress Safe explains his unusual productBut Greeks, Irish, and Spaniards know the drill all too well themselves. Spanish bank deposits, for instance, dropped by 4.7 percent between June and July 2012, as faith in the country?s banking system plummeted.
In banks, it?s safe to say, many Europeans do not trust.
So what better way to slip soundly into sleep each night than knowing the precise status of one?s life savings? That?s the idea behind the simple and inventive Caja MiColch?n, or My Mattress Safe, a bed manufactured in northwestern Spain that is?outfitted with a safety deposit box.?
Francisco ?Paco? Santos worked in the mattress business for 14 years before losing his job in 2009. Unemployed, he tapped a dormant entrepreneurial spirit, designing this mattress that stands out from the rest.
My Mattress Safe was released by Mr. Santos' company Descanso Santos Sue?os (DESS) three weeks ago, in step with the Cyprus banking saga. It sells for about $1,120.?
Set to upbeat, jazzy music, one promotional video on the company?s website shows the ins and outs of production. The mattress is made with ?the best materials? and implanted at the foot of the bed is a digital-entry safety box (there's no mention of whether or not it?s fireproof).
In the video, Mr. Santos parodies a bank commercial, calling My Mattress Safe a ?financial institution? with a new, imaginative take on saving. Not to fear, he says ? this approach to savings doesn?t come with the threat of bankruptcy, mergers, or market fluctuations.
That could be a powerful selling point, with the safety of bank deposits high on the mind in Europe once again this month. According to The Christian Science Monitor, the European Union ?raised serious doubts about its promise to guarantee citizens? savings ? a vital pillar of any financial sector that underpins savers? trust ? when it went along with a plan to levy small Cypriot depositors.?
DESS hasn?t released sales figures, but the company said they?ve exceeded expectations. And despite the initial double take, there may be a larger audience for a Mattress Safe than one might expect.
In Argentina, for example, many keep their US dollars (a popular currency because of high rates of inflation) out of Argentine banks after ?harsh lessons? learned from past economic crises. The Monitor met one Argentine last summer who keeps his dollars in a safety deposit box.
?I know that the dollars in my box are actually there,? says Francisco, an IT worker in Buenos Aires.??If you have a bank account in dollars your money doesn?t exist ? it?s just virtual money."
The My Mattress Safe tagline feeds into this mentality: ?Your money, very close to you.?
For customers looking for assurance that their money isn't going anywhere with the Caja MiColch?n, there?s a calculator on the website where customers can work out their savings over time. Enter the deposit amount, the number of months of planned investment, and voila:?The same number of euros deposited in a My Mattress Safe is at the investor?s disposal a month, year, or decade later. (?What you deposit is what you have. So easy, so simple,? reads the website.)
"History repeats itself,? Santos told Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
?Older generations thought the safest place to keep their money was under the mattress. Now we?re proposing the same thing as we've seen people's uneasiness about the current situation. I'm not going to deny that the idea is a little crazy, but we believe that people with this mattress not only will sleep well, but also will be more relaxed because their savings are safe."
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Was Chilean poet Neruda murdered?
By Rodrigo Garrido
ISLA NEGRA, Chile (Reuters) - The body of Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, dead nearly four decades, was exhumed on Monday after his former driver said the poet was poisoned under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.
Neruda, famed for his passionate love poems and staunch communist views, is presumed to have died from prostate cancer on September 23, 1973.
But Manuel Araya, who was Neruda's chauffer during the ailing writer's last few months, says agents of the dictatorship took advantage of his illness to inject poison into his stomach while he was bedridden at the Santa Maria clinic in Santiago.
"We're hoping for a positive result because Neruda was assassinated. Pinochet made an error when he ordered Neruda be killed," said Araya. Results are expected in coming months.
Neruda was a supporter of socialist President Salvador Allende, who was toppled in a military coup on September 11, 1973, nearly two weeks before the poet's death at age 69. Around 3,000 people are thought to have been killed by the brutal 17-year-long dictatorship that ensued.
Neruda was buried in his coastal home of Isla Negra beside his third wife, Matilde Urrutia.
His remains will be brought to Santiago for analysis. Some samples could be sent to laboratories abroad.
Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto, better known by his pen name Pablo Neruda, was a larger-than-life fixture in Chile's literary and political scene.
While best known for his collection "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair," published in 1924, Neruda was also an important political activist during a turbulent time in Chile.
He organized a ship to bring about 2,000 Spanish refugees fleeing the civil war there to Chile in 1939, campaigned for Allende and was ambassador to France during the socialist's presidency.
The Andean country's intelligentsia frequently congregated in Isla Negra, as well as in his Santiago home "La Chascona" - so named for his then-mistress Urrutia's messy red hair - and La Sebastiana, his ship-themed home in the port town of Valparaiso.
Democratically elected Allende committed suicide in the presidential palace as it was under attack by the military, experts confirmed last year, amid accusations he had been murdered during the coup.
Chilean courts are also investigating the death of ex-President Eduardo Frei Montalva, who is presumed to have died in 1982 of an infection after a hernia operation. Some say he was poisoned by Pinochet's agents.
(Reporting By Rodrigo Garrido; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Eric Beech)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chilean-poet-nerudas-body-exhumed-murder-probe-141159039.html
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Sunday, April 7, 2013
Are You a Good Fit for a Home Based Business? - Canadian ...
You have to have key characteristics to succeed in a home based business.
No one dreams of working for a large corporation for their entire lives, only to retire with a tiny pension (if any) and little to no additional benefits. If you ask most people, they all have a secret dream to own their own business. Luckily, there are as many potential businesses as there are budding entrepreneurs. Of those potential businesses, there is an increasing number of home based businesses. Of course, before you choose a home based business, you need to be sure you are a good fit. Below are some key characteristics to consider.
Getting Things Done in a Home Based Business Requires Self-Motivation
There are many differences between working for yourself in a home based business and succeeding in a corporate role. For instance, in the corporate daily grind, you have colleagues to push you, whether a supervisor, team leader, crew leader or the CEO. With a home business, you must be your own motivating force.? There will be no one sitting in the office next door to tell you what needs to be done, no one to prioritize your day and no one to make sure you are productive. You will have to do this yourself. While self-motivation is can be acquired over time, you may not want to test this personality trait for the first time in your own business.
Managing Distractions is a Necessity When Working From Home
Everyone dreams of being able to work from home. The thought of waking up in the morning, turning on the coffee pot and starting work in your home office or your living room in your pajamas is pretty appealing. However, you?ll need to ensure you can minimize and avoid distractions. You?ll find there are many things competing for your attention, if you allow them ? from the kids returning home from school, to the television, Facebook, email, chores and even family members calling to ask you for a favor. It?s critical to manage these distractions, otherwise they will steal time away from running your business and making money.
Being Technology Savvy Will Definitely Help With Your Home Office
Technology has become a critical component of every business and a home based business is no exception. Of course the level of technology sophistication will vary depending on your business type, but you require a PC or Mac, combination printer and scanner, high-speed Internet connection, Wi-Fi network, word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software for running the business, along with email, software for tracking and managing clients, knowledge of Internet marketing and accounting software. Let?s just say chances are you will have to become technology savvy.
Running a Home Based Business Requires a Determination to Succeed
Running a home based business can be rewarding, but there is a defining point in nearly every business requiring the determination to succeed to get through the tough times. For example, distractions, lack of motivation, client problems, technology issues, tax challenges, cash flow issues and more, can combine to create a frustrating situation from time to time. Determination and dedication is required to get through these less than ideal times. Building a profitable home based business is certainly possible, but it doesn?t come without effort.? So if you?re more interested in ?easy money,? this isn?t the option for you.
Having Organizational Capabilities Will Help Increase Efficiency
If you examine other successful home based business owners, you?ll find they all have one thing in common ? the ability to stay organized. As a business owner, you?ll have to keep track of an immense amount of information, from client invoices to tax data to work orders and many other pieces of information. You will have to be organized from day one.
Operating a home based business can be very rewarding, with the right opportunity and the right skill set. First ensure you?re a good fit before you embark on your new career and you will increase your chances of success, while enjoying the rewards of business ownership.
About the Author, CFO Team
The Canadian Franchise Opportunities team is a dedicated group whose primary purpose is to help inform those exploring franchising as a potential business model. We believe that through education we can help prospective franchisees make better decisions when evaluating, selecting and buying a franchise.?
Source: http://www.cafranchiseopportunities.com/home-based-business/
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It's Not Just You, Twitter's Latest Android Update Doesn't Let You Access Your Profile Or DMs On The ?Me? Tab
Twitter rolled out sweeping updates to all of its mobile properties this week, mostly to support the new Twitter Cards, but unfortunately, those who are using the service on Android aren?t so happy.
The app has always been a bit buggy on the Android platform, but the issues that are being reported are more than just a little problematic. Users have experienced not being able to open the ?Me? tab which allows you to access your DMs and switch accounts, important parts of the service. I?ve experienced this bug from the second that the update was released, and I?ve heard that Twitter is working on the issue. It?s not affecting all devices, but this tweet search shows it as being pretty widespread.
You?re presented with a blank screen and a small spinner, with no information or message that says that the service is having any problems. At first, I thought that I just had a poor connection, but after using the app with WiFi turned on, it became clear that this was a big ol? bug:
Since Twitter has been streamlining all of its apps, and site, it?s a glaring issue when one of the four tabs don?t work.
While no timeframe is being offered, and Twitter hasn?t made an official statement on the issue, it?s safe to say that the beautiful redesign that the Android app received is overshadowed by these issues. If you?re having the same issue, you might have to revert to using the mobile version of the site, as I?ve done. Or, you could search for yourself and get to your profile that way.
The nice part about Google Play is that as soon as Twitter updates the app with a new build, it will go live for everyone to grab without any submission process like Apple?s.
Hurry up, Twitter, people are cheesed off about not being able to get their DMs from cute girls and stuff.
[Photo credit: Flickr]
Created in 2006, Twitter is a global real-time communications platform with 400 million monthly visitors to twitter.com, more than 200 million monthly active users around the world. We see a billion tweets every 2.5 days on every conceivable topic. World leaders, major athletes, star performers, news organizations and entertainment outlets are among the millions of active Twitter accounts through which users can truly get the pulse of the planet.
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Friday, April 5, 2013
Report: Apple Is Close to Signing Two Major Music Labels for Its Upcoming Music Streaming Service
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Heitkamp, Donnelly now support gay marriage
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two freshman Democratic senators, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, have joined the growing chorus of lawmakers who say they support gay marriage.
In separate statements issued minutes apart, the two senators say their views on the issue have evolved. Donnelly says he reconsidered his opinion after recent Supreme Court arguments and public discussion on the issue.
Heitkamp says she now believes the federal government shouldn't discriminate against "people who want to make lifelong, loving commitments to each other
Donnelly and Heitkamp are the latest Democratic senators to support for gay marriage. That leaves only four Senate Democrats who have not endorsed gay marriage. Republican Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rob Portman of Ohio have also said they support gay marriage.
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