Five Reasons You Need To See Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom'

by Adam Murphy When it comes to Wes Anderson, moviegoers fall neatly into two piles: those who love him, and those who?ve never heard of him. What?s that? His twee sensibilities are just a little too indie-quirky-cute for you? Well, ?Moonrise Kingdom? may surprise even the most jaded viewers. Sure, it?s packed with Anderson?s trademark [...]

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Jobs and Career Training Tips and Info: Open Letter from a Student ...

Start a second career with?

Access Business College:

An Open Letter from a Student.

My name is Sherika Alexander and I?m a single mother of four.

Before enrolling at Access Business College, I was a manager at McDonalds located in the Jane and Finch area, a neighbourhood well known for often being in the news.

One day I was called into the store manager?s office, and handed a pink slip saying I was being laid off. I was a responsible, hard-working and reliable employee, but couldn?t escape the employee cuts. Right away, my world turned upside down.

After losing my job I lost my husband because I was unable to help provide for our family and I ended up in a shelter. One day, I decided to drop off resumes at the Jane and Finch Mall and came across the JVS Toronto career centre. I went in to browse the job posting board and came across a flyer about second career opportunities for laid off employees. I took the flyer and went on to the government website to research more about the Second Career Ontario Education Program and the education institutions that support it.

I called community colleges and lots of private colleges. One of the colleges I called was Access Business College. I spoke with the director and explained my situation. She invited me to come to the school and sit in on some of the classes to get an idea of the environment and teaching style the school embraces.

When I arrived, teachers and students knew me by name and that alone made me feel welcome. After my visit, and doing all of the paper work for second careers, I enrolled at Access Business College. The knowledgeable teaching staff and very structured business administration diploma program prepared me for my second career. Six months before graduation I was taught how to compose a customized resume for each position, a cover letter and interview techniques. Upon graduation I was prepared for my job search.

I want to thank Access Business College for providing some of the best teachers to help me with questions and concerns and for the one-on-one discussions. I want to thank the government for putting the second career program in place so that laid off employees like myself can go back to school not only to make a difference in my life but also my kids. If it was not for the second career program I would not have been able to afford to go back to school and receive my diploma. Thank you for supporting the adult education and students in putting our best foot forward in accomplishing our dreams.

-Sherika Alexander

Access Business College Graduate

Access Business College provides post-secondary and mature students with the tools necessary to succeed in business, arts and design programs. Whether you lost your job or looking to embark on a new career path, the college continues to strive to be the best second career college in Toronto. For information about programs offered at Access Business College and to learn more about government funding, please visit www.accesscopllege.com or call 416 510 2739.

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Lexis4Communication: Admission College Interview (2) - The ...

Do interviews matter??
It depends on the school. In many cases it counts; undoubtedly, the interviewee can prove thoughtfulness, facility with words and commitment. Fewer and fewer former admission officers say that interviews are inefficient. More and more universities go back to the old times when interviews were not mandatory. Consequetly, candidates are now warned they cannot participate in the interview underprepared, without previous research and training.
What kind of questions can you expect?
There are typical questions and unexpected ones. The interviewer (college student, alumnus* or alumna, admisssion officer) decides. Anyway, it's not the questions you need to be afraid of; only 7 percent of the message is conveyed through words. The interviewer is looking for the real picture of you, trying to learn who you really are. The truth leaks out through the remaining 93 percent non-verbal communication. Make it profitable.

Watch this video and you'll understand why body language is crucial in business, politics, media, sales.
Length of video: 1:3o:13 ?
Is there any explanation for the college admisssion interviews to be in the focus again? Recent findings prove that written communication is limited in conveying feelings and attitudes. Is this why in modern communication (emails, memos or chat) young people mainly add emoticons? Isn't it a way to avoid misunderstanding? Isn't it why a face-to-face conversation is more reliable than any other type of communication?

This is a topic worth paying attention to. If you liked the topic, please subcribe to receive updates.

Glossary:?
alumnus *(male singular) = university graduate, former employee or member
alumna (female singular)
alumni (plural)

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Video: Rossen Reports: Salons and underage tanning

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

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It's the Customer Service, Stupid - InfographicHub.com

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Word of mouth is still the most important factor for many people making buying decisions. They simply distrust the sea of marketing hype that we?ve all been swimming in since birth, and would rather trust the opinion of someone they know and respect. Customers are also notoriously fickle. Just look at the stats in this infographis; they show that customers are quick to abandon a company after a negative experience, and they?re especially reluctant to give that seller a second chance.

Most of these negative experiences are driven by poor customer service. The people on the sales floor, on the phone or at the drive-up window are, for better or worse, the face of a company that most customers interact with. If that interaction sucks, all the slick marketing campaigns in the world won?t fix it for you. If you own a business, and you don?t at least have some strategy for customer service, you?re at the mercy of your untrained employees.

Via: Bolt Insurance

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Side Effects: Dogs? Genetic Roots Remain Obscure

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Little about the origins of dogs is agreed upon, beyond the fact that they descended from wolves. Genetic research has provided little insight so far.

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The Risks of Launching a New Services Business ? Branding ...

Freemium : payer plus pour des services et fonctionnalit?s suppl?mentaires (Photo credit: louisvolant)

Two weeks ago, we learned of the Fall 2012 launch of PeerJ, a new proposition in the open access (OA) publishing space. Instead of per-article charges as part of an OA business model, PeerJ is proposing to allow researchers to publish as much as they want, all for the low, low price of one $99 lifetime membership.

After scooping my brain back into my skull once I?d absorbed this apparently foolhardy approach to cash flow and sustainability (a topic I?ll return to momentarily), it began to dawn on me that perhaps what PeerJ is headed toward is more akin to a freemium model, like WordPress, where you can publish for free if you accept limited functionality and some Google ads, or you can pay premium fees to get rid of the ads and get more robust functionality. Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, recently announced it expects to make $45 million this year with a robust version of this model. (WordPress also sells an enterprise version and many services that can be purchased separately.) PeerJ is hoping to collect cash up-front with its $99 lifetime membership fee. On the face of it, scalability would seem to be their main challenge.

Of course, this is all speculation, and my attempt to get Peter Binfield to tell me more about the PeerJ business model before I wrote this post was kindly rebuffed, with Binfield stating that things aren?t final or ready for primetime yet. There is already some skepticism that PeerJ, taken at face value, can work. And there are two interesting hedges in PeerJ?s admittedly scant description of its business model:

Researchers will be able to purchase Lifetime Memberships, starting at just $99, giving them the rights to publish their articles in our peer reviewed journal.

The first hedge is ?starting at,? a classic indication that up-charges are headed your way. The second hedge is that the Lifetime Membership grants researchers ?rights to publish,? but nothing more.

So what could come after the ?starting at just $99? price? I could imagine peer-review fees, formatting fees, search engine optimization fees, press release fees, data storage and hosting charges, syndication fees, and so forth. The list could be impressive, and the ala carte final charge could be significant and recurring.

As Chris Anderson outlined in 2009, freemium is usually enabled by restrictions:

• Feature limited
• Time limited
• Capacity limited
• Seat limited
• Customer class limited

The freemium model only works as well as the balance of free and premium services works. That is, you have to offer enough initially to hook the customer, then hold back enough things ? service omission or the prospect of service provision ? so that the customer is compelled to pay for more. If I had to bet, I?d wager on PeerJ adopting feature, capacity, or customer class limits in the freemium model I?m imagining.

For this blog, we pay every year to rid the site of ads, have a custom domain, and have advanced CSS editing capabilities. Certainly, WordPress could provide all this for free, but they have struck a reasonable balance for their freemium model, one I have a hard time complaining about. We could blog here without all those extra features. What we pay for are ?nice to haves,? not ?need to haves.?

Also, notice that I said that ?we pay every year? ? that?s an important part of the freemium model, and crucial to the cash flows of an organization. Without predictable cash flows, an organization risks problems with payroll, health insurance premiums, lights, heat, and all those other regular payments that underpin its infrastructure. However, PeerJ has stated that it will not stoop to subscriptions:

Subscription fees made sense in a pre-Internet world, but now they just slow the progress of science.

Yet, continuing the freemium assumption and the comparison to Automattic, if I want to keep this blog free of ads, the domain linked to SSP, and the CSS customizable, I have to pay every year. Automattic even allows the much-vaunted ?auto-renew? feature, so my credit card is just charged, saving me the annoyance of a renewal notice. Automattic also refers to service continuity as a ?subscription? once renewal time comes. There is no shame there about the subscription model.

Cash flow drives a lot of behaviors in businesses.

For example, when PLoS first emerged, it focused on two high-quality journals possessing familiar peer-review and publication practices ? an editor at the helm of each, small issues, selective editorial control, and monthly publication. However, this model didn?t provide sufficient cash flows using OA publication fees, so PLoS created PLoS ONE, a high-volume mega-journal that allowed the organization to publish more papers without singular editorial oversight or a filter that added novelty or interest criteria, allowing the publication to settle for methodological soundness.

Around the same time, BioMed Central fully embraced article-processing charges and began launching dozens of OA journals, creating a high-throughput article publication environment but parceling it out through multiple titles rather than one main mega-journal.

Since then, ?predatory? OA publishers have emerged time and again, with a common thread linking them ? namely, every one seems to launch dozens or hundreds of journals simultaneously.

There is a reason for OA publishing taking on this high-throughput aspect ? namely, cash flow.

OA publishing?s model differs significantly from traditional subscription publishers? in that every paper has a single payment event associated with it ? paid upon publication. This is essentially the only financial transaction the OA publisher can rely upon, since Creative Commons licenses are typically non-commercial in nature, the authors retain copyright, and advertising is at best a small secondary business. For the OA publisher, each article is sold once and only once.

This places significant cash flow restrictions on the OA publisher. For the (dare I say it) traditional OA publisher, the obvious answer to the question of how to increase cash flow and revenues has been and will continue to be, publish more articles more frequently. There is no clear alternative, even with supplemental revenues from institutional memberships and other secondary revenue streams, like ads. The main thrust of the OA model dictates this financial reality.

The side-effects of this simple financial model are legion ? the lowering of standards to accommodate bulk publishing practices; an emphasis that publishing is just a technology business in order to strip away the costs of legal, editorial, and custodial work; and advocacy to make OA publishing as prevalent as possible to further increase throughput.

At some level, it?s all about cash flow.

Other aspects of the OA business model smack of this same cash flow mechanism. After all, the best cash flow is the most predictable cash flow. The subscription model is a masterpiece of predictable cash flows, which is why it?s been embraced by DVD rental companies, cable companies, and contact lens mail-order companies. It?s also why OA publishers have been trying to find a way to incorporate the subscription model or something quite similar to it. They?ve done this through institutional and corporate ?memberships? which provide discounts to published authors or other benefits.

PeerJ has an intriguing proposition to steal customers from PLoS and BMC using a potentially novel business model ? a low initial ?lifetime membership? PeerJ can then upsell. By getting initial commitment from researchers, PeerJ creates a small but real switching cost if member researchers decide to try publishing at PLoS or BMC. PeerJ also gets some fast cash in the door. And if PeerJ adopts a freemium model ? which I believe they will scrupulously avoid calling a subscription model ? cash flow will be their main motivator, and many of their services will likely have renewal elements.

Should PeerJ adopt a freemium model, it will be a new variant of OA publishing, and possibly one that could be more selective than traditional OA ? that is, if the services and inherent subscriptions around ongoing publication services take hold, PeerJ may not have to publish more papers to thrive, just provide better service over time.

There is a major risk to starting a services company in the freemium mode. Service companies ? and I?m putting most OA publishers in this camp ? run the risk of having a fairly transparent and reproducible set of value propositions on the market, with little to no protection. Hence, the publisher of PLoS can leave PLoS and take the same service to market at a much lower price point. There is nothing PLoS can do about it. (Because PLoS doesn?t protect its content, I?m wondering why PeerJ doesn?t also take all the PLoS content, but that?s a more nefarious plot by a long shot ? and the fact that it would create no real value for PeerJ underscores that OA publishers are services businesses, not product businesses.)

In any event, PeerJ is essentially ?service replication at a lower price,? which reveals the fatal flaw of any service business ? if someone can do essentially the same thing more cheaply or scalably, you?re dead.

Of course, one service a publisher arguably provides is branding ? by building, sustaining, and extending a brand wisely over time, a company can lend brand equity to affiliated parties, be they authors or readers in the case of publishers. Perhaps the brand is a journal brand, an author?s name, or a book series.

The PeerJ branding start isn?t promising, I have to say. I started thinking about this when I came across this link on their Twitter stream ? a link to an article wishing there were more prestige associated with OA publishing, but sent from an OA publisher that currently has a blue monkey as its branding element and a name I don?t quite know how to pronounce. (Apparently, the blue monkey?s days are numbered, but this is what we have today.)

I?ve long worried about the branding of PLoS, which has veered from ?you say you want a revolution? audacity before any journals appeared, to fairly staid branding with PLoS Medicine and PLoS Biology, to a weed-choked brand now with PLoS standing for . . . well, it?s unclear. PLoS ONE doesn?t quite match up with the others, the umbrella PLoS brand is disassociated and free-floating, and the other PLoS brands don?t mesh well.

Such branding problems are not unique to PLoS. Nature is a brand that has struggled to pull off the ?brand the house? approach. Outside of publishing, Infiniti is an auto brand that is often tagged with being vague in what it?s trying to convey ? sport, luxury, power, style, entry-level luxury, high-end Nissan? Compared to its competitors (Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Acura), the Infiniti brand is murky and pliable.

But these are relatively subtle branding issues. The problems with the PeerJ brand are obvious and easily fixed. Here?s the prescription:

• No silly blue monkeys.
• Teach us how to pronounce the name, and exactly what it?s intended to convey. Is it ?Peer-juh? or ?Peer-jay?? (Scribd has/had the same problem with pronunciation ? Is it ?scribed? or ?scrib-duh? or ?scrib-dee??)
• Tell us what the ?J? means? I?ve seen some indication that ?PeerJ? stands for ?Peer Journal,? but nothing definitive. Have I missed something? Or did you mean it to be a smiley and your email client botched it for you?

Branding, cash flow, service distinctiveness, and competition ? with all these elements in play, it seems like PeerJ has a hill to climb. It will be interesting to see how their initial business model, offerings, and market stance contend with vital elements that will determine their fate.

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Medtronic fiscal 4Q profit climbs 28 pct

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Front Bike Lights and Staying Safe in the Countryside

Front Bike Lights ? Why are They Important?

No matter what type of rider you are, front bike lights are extremely important, especially if you know you will be cycling in the dark. Safety should be your main concern when our riding; the road can be a dangerous place when there are cars and other cyclists present so it is vital that you remain visible at all hours of the day. You can do this in a number of ways including wearing reflective clothing and investing a set of front bike lights. They will protect you and ensure your journey is a safe and smooth one. Country roads in particular can be full of hazards such as sharp bends and narrow bridges. Motorists should be another one of your main concerns; they can be extremely unpredictable by overtaking and flying around bends so it is essential to remain vigilant and have those front bike lights on full power.

Riding in the Country

Riding in built up areas or on busy roads is a completely different experience to that of riding in the countryside. There are plenty more risks to a cyclist riding amongst countryside lanes so it is essential to be well prepared. If you choose to ride in the day and know that you will be back well before dark, it is likely that you won't need a set of front bike lights however isn't it better to be safe than sorry? Imagine if you get lost and get delayed or come across bad weather, then you'll wish you attached that light to your bike! If you know you will be riding in the dark on countryside lanes, lights are an absolute must and you should also wear reflective clothing. This way you will be extra noticeable to drivers and other riders. Here are a few tips to riding in the countryside:

• Hold your own whilst riding and don't let cars bully you.
• Look out for potholes on those roads you haven't visited before.
• Be assertive with any animals you come across.
• Stay hydrated; bring enough water and food with you.
• Kit yourself out with front bike lights and wear reflective clothing.

Front Bike Lights and Enjoying Your Ride

Of course it is safety that should be your primary concern but it is also important that you enjoy your ride! Having front bike lights attached to your bike will mean you can get the most out of your hobby and it will also allow you to ride whatever time of day you please. As already discussed, cycling in the countryside brings with it many dangers but if you are aware of these and are well prepared, countryside riding is fun and exciting! There are so many front bike lights available today so make sure you choose wisely.

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Elusive 'Asian Unicorn' Faces Extinction

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Toxic mercury, accumulating in the Arctic, springs from a hidden source

Monday, May 21, 2012

Environmental scientists at Harvard have discovered that the Arctic accumulation of mercury, a toxic element, is caused by both atmospheric forces and the flow of circumpolar rivers that carry the element north into the Arctic Ocean.

While the atmospheric source was previously recognized, it now appears that twice as much mercury actually comes from the rivers.

The revelation implies that concentrations of the toxin may further increase as climate change continues to modify the region's hydrological cycle and release mercury from warming Arctic soils.

"The Arctic is a unique environment because it's so remote from most anthropogenic (human-influenced) sources of mercury, yet we know that the concentrations of mercury in Arctic marine mammals are among the highest in the world," says lead author Jenny A. Fisher, a postdoctoral fellow in Harvard's Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS). "This is dangerous to both marine life and humans. The question from a scientific standpoint is, where does that mercury come from?"

The results of the study, which was led jointly by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), have been published in the journal Nature Geoscience on May 20.

Mercury is a naturally occurring element that has been enriched in the environment by human activities such as coal combustion and mining. When converted to methylmercury by microbial processes in the ocean, it can accumulate in fish and wildlife at concentrations up to a million times higher than the levels found in the environment.

"In humans, mercury is a potent neurotoxin," explains co-principal investigator Elsie M. Sunderland, Mark and Catherine Winkler Assistant Professor of Aquatic Science at HSPH. "It can cause long-term developmental delays in exposed children and impair cardiovascular health in adults."

Mercury is considered a persistent bioaccumulative toxin because it remains in the environment without breaking down; as it travels up the food chain, from plankton to fish, to marine mammals and humans, it becomes more concentrated and more dangerous.

"Indigenous people in the Arctic are particularly susceptible to the effects of methylmercury exposure because they consume large amounts of fish and marine mammals as part of their traditional diet," Sunderland says. "Understanding the sources of mercury to the Arctic Ocean and how these levels are expected to change in the future is therefore key to protecting the health of northern populations."

Sunderland supervised the study with Daniel Jacob, Vasco McCoy Family Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Engineering at SEAS, where Sunderland is also an affiliate.

Mercury enters the Earth's atmosphere through emissions from coal combustion, waste incineration, and mining. Once airborne, it can drift in the atmosphere for up to a year, until chemical processes make it soluble and it falls back to the ground in rain or snow. This deposition is spread worldwide, and much of the mercury deposited to Arctic snow and ice is re-emitted to the atmosphere, which limits the impact on the Arctic Ocean.

"That's why these river sources are so important," says Fisher. "The mercury is going straight into the ocean."

The most important rivers flowing to the Arctic Ocean are in Siberia: the Lena, the Ob, and the Yenisei. These are three of the 10 largest rivers in the world, and together they account for 10% of all freshwater discharge to the world's oceans. The Arctic Ocean is shallow and stratified, which increases its sensitivity to input from rivers.

Previous measurements had shown that the levels of mercury in the Arctic lower atmosphere fluctuate over the course of a year, increasing sharply from spring to summer. Jacob, Sunderland, and their team used a sophisticated model (GEOS-Chem) of the conditions in the Arctic Ocean and atmosphere to investigate whether variables like melting ice, interactions with microbes, or the amount of sunlight (which affects chemical reactions) could account for the difference.

Incorporating those variables, however, was not enough.

The GEOS-Chem model, which is backed by rigorous environmental observations and more than a decade of scientific review, quantifies the complex nuances of the ocean-ice-atmosphere environment. It takes into account, for example, ocean mixing at various depths, the chemistry of mercury in the ocean and the atmosphere, and the mechanisms of atmospheric deposition and re-emission.

When the Harvard team adapted it for their Arctic mercury simulations, the only adjustment that could explain the spike in summertime concentrations was the incorporation of a large source to the Arctic Ocean from circumpolar rivers. This source had not been recognized previously.

As it turns out, approximately twice as much mercury in the Arctic Ocean originates from the rivers as from the atmosphere.

"At this point we can only speculate as to how the mercury enters the river systems, but it appears that climate change may play a large role," says Jacob. "As global temperatures rise, we begin to see areas of permafrost thawing and releasing mercury that was locked in the soil; we also see the hydrological cycle changing, increasing the amount of runoff from precipitation that enters the rivers."

"Another contributing factor," he adds, "could be runoff from gold, silver, and mercury mines in Siberia, which may be polluting the water nearby. We know next to nothing about these pollution sources."

As the contaminated river water flows into the Arctic Ocean, Jacob says, the surface layer of the ocean becomes supersaturated, leading to what scientists call an "evasion" of mercury from the ocean into the lower atmosphere.

"Observing that telltale supersaturation, and wanting to explain it, is what initially motivated this study," says Fisher. "Relating it to Arctic rivers was detective work. The environmental implications of this finding are huge. It means, for example, that climate change could have a very large impact on Arctic mercury, larger than the impact of controlling emissions to the atmosphere. More work is needed now to measure the mercury discharged by rivers and to determine its origin."

###

Harvard University: http://www.harvard.edu

Thanks to Harvard University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Fight To Save 'Un-Islamic' Dogs Of Iran ? Pets. Safety. Education.

For years now the brave Iranian dissidents have been fighting?Ayatollahs? Islamic oppression.

Now there is one more way the regime is?suppressing?freedom of expression in Iran: It?s banning pet dogs!

?As part of police operations in Tehran, officers also issue warnings to dog owners walking their pets outside. In Sharia-ruled Iran, dogs are considered ?impure.? Dozens of dogs in Tehran were round up last month and placed in quarantine.?

First they came for the pet dogs?

I hope all the good dog owners out there are as outraged as I am.

I am actually thinking of starting a Facebook ?cause? page to fight for the release of the?innocent?dogs from ?quarantine?.

Now that I am thinking, what exactly are they in ?quarantine? from? Isn?t ?quarantine? is where they put all the dissidents?

Like this:

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Tags: animals, Ayatollahs, dogs, innocent dogs, Iran, iranian dissidents, Islam, middle-east, news, pet dogs, photo, politics, world

About Dr Vadim Chelom

Dr Vadim Chelom is a Registered Veterinarian, a writer and an educator

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New Genealogy Blogs May 19, 2012 | GeneaBloggers

There are 11 newly-discovered genealogy and family-history related blogs that we?ve located this week. Remember to try and help out these new blogs by:

• using any follow?feature listed on the blog

• adding them to your blog reader

• adding a comment on their blog saying ?hi? and ?welcome?

Here are this week?s new listings:

45 Minute Genealogist
http://45minutegenealogist.com
Blog type: Genealogy education

Steve Birkhauser is a lifelong genealogy enthusiast who has spent countless hours researching and recording his family history. His interest was sparked at the tender age of eleven when he first saw ?Roots? and became fascinated that someone could trace their family back over 200 years.

He enjoys helping others with their own family research and believes that by devoting 45 minutes a week to pursuing their heritage anyone can have a ?genealogical experience? that will have real benefits for the researcher and their family.

Steve was born and raised in Wisconsin. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at St. Norbert College and is completing a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies at Northwestern University.? He is also in the process of completing his accreditation with the Board for Certification of Genealogists.? Steve wants others to experience the rewards that come from researching and knowing their family history. He currently resides in Chicago and can be reached by email at [email?protected]

Family Tree Service
http://www.familytreeservice.co.uk/blog
Blog type: Genealogy vendor blog, Professional genealogist blog, UK genealogy

I am a professional genealogy researcher who started out, like most, as an enthusiastic researcher of my own family. I began to be interested in my UK ancestry in about 2000. Since then my passion has grown, and with the advent of genealogical information on the internet, so too has my tree. Covering English genealogy, Scottish genealogy and Welsh genealogy, it has been fascinating research. Over the years I started to research the family trees of several friends (focusing majorly on Yorkshire and Lancashire genealogy) and after meeting my wife, who has a fascinating and complex family history, including Jewish genealogy, I became obsessed!

In response I set up Family Tree Service and have been operating since 2007. To date I have completed hundreds of trees, some just a few generations, others ten, fifteen or even twenty, with excellent results and very positive feedback.

Family Tree Service was set up with three main aims.

To allow anyone to research their family history, no matter how big or small.

To cater for all budgets.

To use the information gathered (not including living relatives) to help the genealogical community at large.

My background was initially in Human Ecology but has seen me move in publishing, working in a research capacity before managing a Technology Support team. This has given me great research skills, a passion for problem solving and a drive to produce quality, accurate work.

Family Tree Service will give you a very friendly, approachable and professional offering in the UK genealogy research field that you find to be extremely good value for money. I promise, you won?t regret it.

You can view our family tree packages here or contact us for a quote.

Hunting Down Headstones
http://huntingdownheadstones.wordpress.com
Blog type: Cemetery blog

Hunting down headstones should be fun, not frustrating.? I will include many helpful hints on how to start your hunt, and soon you will be skipping through the stones with success.? Remember ? There may not always be a marker for your loved one, or you may not even find their plot, but arm yourself with the tools to make your adventure worthwhile.

Hunting Down History
http://huntingdownhistory.wordpress.com
Blog type: Individual family history, Professional genealogist blog

Hunting Down History provides various research, services to the genealogy and family history community.

Megan Heyl began by researching her family lines for several years before becoming involved professionally, helping others with their genealogy research and family history.

See the Services for a description of professional services offered, and Megan Heyl for a biography and summary of experience.

Thank you for visiting my website. Please take the time to send me email with any questions you may have, or just to let me know what you think of this site.

Indiana Genealogy Blog
http://www.indianagenweb.com/genblog/
Blog type: Indiana genealogy blog

My name is Lena H. and I am the County Coordinator (CC) for the Clinton County, Indiana GenWeb site! I have never had a blog before, so this is a whole new experience for me! I hope to use this blog to share information about genealogy (particularly Indiana genealogy) and to offer encouragement to other researchers!

A little about me: I have always been interested in family history and became involved in genealogy research around 1999. I did some volunteer work for the Montgomery County, Indiana GenWeb site and volunteered for the Tippecanoe County Historical Association (TCHA) in the early 2000?s. In 2004 I became the County Coordinator for Clinton County and have held that position ever since. I am also on the USGenWeb Election Committee, a post I began in January of 2012.

I welcome any suggestions anyone might have!

Pommerscher Greif e.V. (Genealogy and more about Pomerania)
http://www.blog.pommerscher-greif.de
Blog type: German genealogy

Willkommen, hier wollen wir ihnen Neuigkeiten und Termine mitteilen zur Erg?nzung unseres Internetangebotes auf pommerscher-greif.de

Translation (via Google Translate): Blog of the Pomeranian Cross Association with news about Pomeranian genealogy.

Strong Foundations
http://www.shazlex.blogspot.com.au
Blog type: Australian genealogy, Individual family history

I first became interested in family history over 20 years ago after completing a family tree for a school history project and have been collecting information ever since. It was the death of my grandmother in 2006, which made me realise how important it is to record memories, events and details of our heritage for future generations. I am now totally addicted to family history research. I have completed one family tree book and I am currently researching for my second.

The Amateur Family Historian
http://amateurfamilyhistorian.blogspot.com
Blog type: Individual family history

Hello, everyone. My name is Bill Hunsicker. I have been researching my family history off and on for about the last 15 years or so. I define an Amateur Family Historian as someone who is only interested in researching his or her own family history and is not interested in becoming a certified professional genealogist. This defines me perfectly. I am researching the surnames Hunsicker and Stauffer, the surnames of my father, William Robert Hunsicker, and my mother, Dorothy Mae Stauffer, respectively.

I have recently discovered the online Genealogy Community and that is what has motivated me to both blog about my research and take it to the next level. I will be talking about my efforts to improve the quality of the data in my family tree and learn more about genealogy in general.

The Lineal Arboretum
http://linealarboretum.blogspot.com
Blog type: Genealogy education

Some Helpful Hints for Budding Genealogists from a Family Tree Surgeon.

The Wayfaring One
http://www.goinoverhome.blogspot.com
Blog type: Individual family history

Katie Andrews Potter grew up in Carmel, Indiana and at an early age grew interested in her family history. She would (and still does) spend hours upon hours looking through old books and records searching for one more branch to her family tree. Katie has always enjoyed writing and has piles of old spiral-bound notebooks filled with stories. It was on one trip to an old cemetery in Brown County, Indiana in 2009 when the storyline for Going over Home popped in her head. What if you found your own name on a headstone?? From that day on the story took a hold in her mind until it was fully formed.? Going over Home will be published on Amazon?s Createspace in June 2012.

Katie lives in Carmel (for now ? she and her family are rehabbing a house on the near eastside of Indianapolis) with her husband, Ben and their 3-year-old daughter Eliana. They also have a zoo of pets ? 3 dogs, 3 cats, and 6 fish.

Where Is My Family From?
http://whereismyfamilyfrom.com/theblog
Blog type: Genealogy education, Genealogy vendor blog

Welcome to all those who are exploring their family origins. where is my family from? was designed with the beginner in mind, but also invites the seasoned genealogist to offer their insights. We hope you find this site informative and an ongoing resource as you discover your family history.

Learn the terminology, find suggested online resources and how to connect with others who are researching your family records, too! Stay up to date on new developments in the world of genealogical research, read, ask questions, share your knowledge and your successes. Enjoy your journey!

? 2012, copyright Thomas MacEntee

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Syria: Suicide vehicle bomb hits military compound

In this citizen journalism image provided by Sham News Network SNN, an anti-Syrian regime protester, holds up a Cross and Crescent painted with colors of the Syrian revolution flag during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar Assad, at the Damascus suburb of Yabroud, Syria, Friday, May 18, 2012. Syrian security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands rallying Friday in Aleppo in what activists said was the largest protest yet in a city that has largely remained loyal to President Bashar Assad during the country's 15-month uprising. (AP Photo/Sham News Network, SNN)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO

In this citizen journalism image provided by Sham News Network SNN, an anti-Syrian regime protester, holds up a Cross and Crescent painted with colors of the Syrian revolution flag during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar Assad, at the Damascus suburb of Yabroud, Syria, Friday, May 18, 2012. Syrian security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands rallying Friday in Aleppo in what activists said was the largest protest yet in a city that has largely remained loyal to President Bashar Assad during the country's 15-month uprising. (AP Photo/Sham News Network, SNN)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO

In this image made from amateur video released by the Shaam News Network and accessed Thursday, May 17, 2012 purports to show a Syrian man helping a wounded man in Rastan town, Homs, Syria. Government forces pounded a rebel-held town north of the central city of Homs with artillery shells and rockets, according to Syrian opposition groups. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

BEIRUT (AP) ? A suicide vehicle bomb tore through the parking lot of a military compound in an eastern Syrian city on Saturday, killing nine people in the latest in a series of blasts in recent months targeting security installations, the country's state media reported.

State TV showed footage of damaged buildings, smoldering cars, and trucks turned upside down. Debris filled a street that was stained with blood.

Attacks such as the blast in Deir al-Zour, a former transit hub for militants heading to fight U.S. forces in nearby Iraq, have raised fears that al-Qaida-linked jihadis, possibly including Iraqis, have made strong inroads into Syria's rebel movement.

The report said the vehicle was rigged with 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of explosives and did heavy damage to buildings up to 100 meters (yards) away. It added that the explosion left a crater five meters wide and 2 1/2 meters deep.

The state-run news agency SANA said the blast hit the parking lot of a military residential compound, while an opposition group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that the bomb went off close to the city branches of the Military Intelligence Directorate and Air Force Intelligence. State TV said U.N. observers based in the city visited the site of the blast.

No one claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack. A group calling itself the Al-Nusra Front has claimed some previous attacks through statements posted on militant websites. Little is known about the group, although Western intelligence officials say it could be a front for a branch of al-Qaida militants from Iraq operating in Syria.

The most recent bombing targeted an intelligence building in Damascus on May 10. It struck during morning rush hour and the high death toll ? some 55 people ? made it the deadliest such attack since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March of last year.

Some of the tactics used in Damascus ? a small blast drawing attention prior to a larger one ? were reminiscent of al-Qaida attacks during Iraq's insurgency.

On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he believes that "alarmingly and surprisingly," al-Qaida must have been behind the May 10 attack in the Syrian capital.

"The recent terrorist attacks in Damascus suggest that these attacks were carefully orchestrated," he said. "Having seen the scale and sophistication of these terrorist attacks, one might think that this terrorist attack was done by a certain group with organization and clear intent."

Deir el-Zour city is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Iraqi border. Saturday's blast came a day after the state-run news agency SANA reported that authorities foiled an attempt to blow up a car rigged with explosives in the city and detained those involved.

Deir el-Zour province, of which the city is the provincial capital, was a major crossing point for jihadis traveling to Iraq to fight after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. During the war, the U.S. and the Iraqi government repeatedly accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters from across the Arab world to pass through, but Damascus said it could not stop smuggling networks from crossing the long desert border.

In 2008, a cross-border raid by U.S. special forces killed the al-Qaida-linked head of a smuggling network and seven other people in the province.

Associated Press

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CORAL CAVES Mitopoiesi music review by Mellotron Storm

I just read in the bio here that they used to be a PINK FLOYD tribute band and while the music here isn't in the same style as FLOYD's, the guitar work brought Gilmour to mind many times. This is a pretty good debut from these young Italians. Funny when i first listened to it i went in thinking they were a Psychedelic band just because of their band name. Boy was i wrong. This is good music though with Italian vocals.

"Mitopoiesi" gets things started with lots of synths as the vocals join in then the guitar replaces the vocals after 1 1/2 minutes. The guitar continues until before 4 1/2 minutes. More synths in there though after 3 minutes. Good start. "Sorridi" opens with the sound of a motorcycle starting and taking off. Bass and drums take over then it gets fuller. A psychedelic calm after 1 1/2 minutes is brief then it changes as vocals and piano come in. Not a fan of the latter sound. Guitar 4 1/2 minutes in then it speeds up a minute later. It becomes spacey after 6 minutes to the end. "Cliff Of Moher" is strummed guitar as the keyboards and vocals join in. It picks up with synths. Not a fan of this one. "Senza Di Me" opens with gentle guitar as electric guitar solos over top. Reserved vocals join in. A melancholic track and i really like this. It does pick up though with guitar 4 minutes in. Organ too. My favourite right there.

"Ricordi" sounds like Gilmour as far as the guitar work goes. "Torno A Casa" is one i can't get into until it settles down without the vocals. "Tenochtitlan" features prominant drums as the guitar solos over top. Reserved vocals replace the guitar. More passion 2 minutes in. I like when the guitar goes on and on. "Eterno Ritornon" opens with atmosphere and rain. Vocals after a minute as it changes. Nice guitar follows. Vocals are back before 5 minutes. "Il Dolce Canto Della Terra" is the over 13 minute closer. It has this nice laid back sound with organ and more as reserved vocals join in. A calm with acoustic guitar and flute 4 minutes. The opening theme is back after 9 1/2 minutes.

I really enjoyed certain sections but overall 3 stars is the most i can give.

Mellotron Storm | 3/5 | 2012-5-18

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Analysis: U.S. cities wrestle with universities for cash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In 1978, after New York City had barely escaped bankruptcy, Mayor Ed Koch went looking for cash from an unlikely source: the city's colleges and other nonprofits, which do not pay taxes on their valuable land.

Koch was trying to do then what cash-starved cities are now pulling off: extracting more money from colleges, universities and private hospitals to help restore bare-boned budgets.

Two weeks ago, Providence, Rhode Island, Mayor Angel Taveras struck a deal with Brown University, which doubled its annual voluntary contribution to nearly $8 million for five years.

Brown's city property is worth $1 billion and its $2.5 billion endowment is four times the size of Providence's budget. The city has laid off workers and reformed its public pensions in an effort to stave off a potential bankruptcy.

Across the country, at least 154 municipalities in 27 states have persuaded nonprofits to make voluntary payments in lieu of taxes for the period from 2000 to 2011, according to researchers at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"It's in the university's best interest to help the city thrive. And the city has to realize it can't kill the goose," said Daphne Kenyon, co-author of Lincoln's report, regarded as the most comprehensive on the issue.

Universities are often the biggest employer in town. But their relationships with their hometowns can get complicated - by students rioting in the streets after sporting events or other disturbances.

In exchange for police, fire protection, sanitation and other city services, some colleges have long contributed money, services or both.

Less commonly, they also may pay a portion of what they would otherwise owe in property taxes. Such voluntary agreements are concentrated in the Northeast, with 85 jurisdictions that use the pacts located in Massachusetts alone. Cities in Indiana, Illinois and elsewhere also use such deals, Lincoln said.

When such deals are not easy to get, cities find other ways to squeeze nonprofits. This year in Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel ended free water service to more than 6,000 nonprofits, including churches.

"There's push-back now," said Kim Griffo, executive director of the International Town & Gown Association in Clemson, South Carolina. "Cities are saying, ?What are you going to do for us?'"

IVY-LEAGUE SCHOOLS UNDER PRESSURE

Elite East Coast schools with big endowments are facing particular scrutiny, Lincoln's Kenyon said.

Princeton University recently agreed to increase its contributions to both Princeton Township and Princeton Borough, in New Jersey, which are slated to merge to save costs.

In 2011, the university paid $1.7 million to the two municipalities. For 2012, it increased its payments to nearly $2.5 million. It also paid $7.7 million in property taxes - a third of which was tax-exempt, university Vice President Robert Durkee said.

Princeton also helped the two municipalities save about $250,000 on aerial photography - which the school is already performing for some of its programs - required for the post-merger remapping of election districts.

Ithaca, New York, home to Cornell University and its $5.3 billion endowment, is "facing a stark financial climate in the upcoming years," the city says on its website.

Cornell, however, makes no payments in lieu of taxes. But it does make other voluntary contributions to the city. For 2013, its payment will be $1.23 million, up from $1.19 this year, said John Gutenberger, Cornell's director of community relations.

Mayor Svante Myrick has "talked to us about other ways we can collaborate," Gutenberger said. "Ways that have a little more staying power than just writing a check and saying, 'We'll see you again next year.'"

Universities sometimes sponsor programs that have other community benefits, such as tutoring, paying stipends for employees to buy homes in the area, redevelopment and funding for social organizations.

"EMOTIONS RUN HIGH"

Getting colleges to pay their hometowns doesn't always go smoothly. In a move that angered many in 2009, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl proposed a tax on college students' tuition fees. He dropped the plan after schools upped voluntary payments.

"Emotions run high. It's tough to part with that money as an institution, because you know there's going to be consequences across the campus," said International Town & Gown's Griffo. "Ultimately it trickles down to the student."

Agreements are usually negotiated individually, and they can vary from city to city and school to school.

In Boston, home to one of the largest networks of colleges and universities, Mayor Thomas Menino convened a task force to create city-wide guidelines on payments in lieu of taxes.

Under the new program, in the first half of 2012 Boston got almost $10 million - more than 90 percent of the total that Boston officials requested and a 30 percent increase over what would have been paid under the old rules, the city said.

If it were not exempt, the $13.6 billion in real estate owned by Boston's 45 biggest nonprofit medical, educational and cultural institutions would have generated $423.4 million in taxes in fiscal year 2011.

Though many see the effort as a good example of collaboration, Menino's office sent out notices indicating how much nonprofits should pay. That prompted Tim Delaney, president of the National Council of Nonprofits, to call the program "Orwellian" and "coerced."

(Reporting By Hilary Russ, editing Tiziana Barghini and Dan Grebler)

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Mary Kennedy is mourned at private funeral in NY

Members of the Kennedy family arrive for the funeral of Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at St. Patrick's Church in Bedford, N.Y., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Kennedy was found dead of an apparent suicide this week at her home in Bedford. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stands third from left. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Members of the Kennedy family arrive for the funeral of Mary Richardson Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at St. Patrick's Church in Bedford, N.Y., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Kennedy was found dead of an apparent suicide this week at her home in Bedford. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stands third from left. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Members of Mary Richardson Kennedy's family embrace as the casket holding Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arrives at St. Patrick's Church in Bedford, N.Y. Saturday, May 19, 2012. Kennedy was found dead of an apparent suicide this week at her home in Bedford. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Members of Mary Richardson Kennedy's family remove the casket holding her, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at St. Patrick's Church in Bedford, N.Y., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Kennedy was found dead of an apparent suicide this week at her home in Bedford. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Members of Mary Richardson Kennedy's family remove the casket holding Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at St. Patrick's Church in Bedford, N.Y., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Kennedy was found dead of an apparent suicide this week at her home in Bedford. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is background center, facing camera. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

In this 2005 photo provided by Peter Michaelis, Mary Richardson Kennedy poses for a photo outside her Bedford, N.Y. home. Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who had fought drug and alcohol problems, was found dead in her home Wednesday, May 16, 2012. She was 52. (AP Photo/Peter T. Michaelis)

BEDFORD, N.Y. (AP) ? Family and friends gathered Saturday at a modest stone church in a hamlet north of New York City for the funeral of Mary Richardson Kennedy, the latest member of that charmed and cursed family to fall victim to tragedy and inner demons.

The service, held on a beautiful spring morning, was private, but the list of celebrities attending was a testament to both Kennedy star power, and Mary's knack for friendship.

The mourners included actors Susan Sarandon, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase and Edward James Olmos, tennis great John McEnroe and musician Paul Shaffer. Glenn Close sang and "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David spoke during the ceremony, according to a program left at the church.

Mary's estranged husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., delivered the eulogy.

Speaking to reporters outside the church before the service, Mary's sister-in-law and nearly lifelong friend, Kerry Kennedy, recalled her as "brilliant" and "beautiful."

"She cared so very, very deeply about everybody around her," she said.

But she added that Kennedy had fought a lifelong struggle against depression.

The 52-year-old architectural designer and environmentalist was found dead of an apparent suicide Wednesday at the family's estate in Bedford. Her death followed a difficult two years, during which her husband filed for divorce and she was charged twice with driving while intoxicated.

Still, Kerry Kennedy said, those troubles didn't stop her from developing "really deep, rich, rich friendships," with friends in every corner of the globe.

"She was an angel who was brought to us, to live with us here on earth, and I think that God just brought her back up to heaven, and said, 'You don't have to fight for me anymore,'" Kerry Kennedy said, her voice breaking.

The casket was carried into St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church by a group that included three of Mary Kennedy's older children, one of her sisters and the hotelier Andr? Balazs.

A bell tolled at the end of the service. Robert Kennedy touched the hearse lightly as it departed with her body.

Mary Richardson married into the Kennedy family in 1994, but had been close to the clan since meeting Kerry at boarding school as a teenager. The pair wound up being roommates for 15 years, including their time together at Brown University.

She had four children with Robert, the son of assassinated U.S. senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, but the couple separated years ago. He filed for divorce in 2010. The case was pending when she died.

Shortly after the split, her internal struggles became public when she was arrested twice on charges of driving while intoxicated.

The domestic turmoil extended into preparations for her funeral. One of Mary's brothers went to court to request custody of her body, which could potentially have spoiled a Kennedy plan to bury her near the family's seaside compound in Hyannisport, Mass.

That internment was initially scheduled to take place later Saturday, although it was unclear whether the arrangement had been altered as a result of the court action.

Robert Kennedy and a lawyer for the Richardson family spent part of the day in court Friday arguing the case, before Mary's body was released to her husband just hours before her planned wake. Details of the case were sealed by a judge.

Associated Press

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Victoria Advocate | Developer: Pols can't keep approving new casinos

• WAYNE PARRY/Associated Press
• Originally published May 17, 2012 at 12:56 p.m., updated May 17, 2012 at 2 p.m.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Casinos are not like Starbucks stores: You really can't have one on every corner.

That's the word from David Cordish, whose company is opening a huge new casino next month in Maryland.

Yet Cordish warns that the expansion of casino gambling can't go on unchecked forever. A big problem is the attitude of politicians nationwide who view casinos as free money.

"I don't know how we can control the politicians; they certainly don't understand the word 'oversaturation,'" Cordish said Thursday. "They think you can have casinos like Starbucks."

If that attitude continues, Cordish said, "it's going to implode on them."

That sentiment was voiced repeatedly at The East Coast Gaming Congress, a major annual casino industry conference, held this year in the newly opened Revel casino resort in Atlantic City. The $2.4 billion Revel is being counted on to help turn around Atlantic City's five-year slump. But several experts at the forum said the solution to Atlantic City's woes is the closure of one or more of its 12 casinos.

"Here in Atlantic City, we have assets for sale that literally nobody wants to buy," said Gary Loveman, president of Caesars Entertainment, which counts four Atlantic City gambling halls among its 56 casinos. "There is simply too much supply in Atlantic City. The supply doesn't go away. That's a very bad thing. The problem here? Nobody ever closes."

During a panel of Wall Street experts, Andrew Zarnett, managing director of Deutsche Bank Securities, said Revel might hurt, rather than help, Atlantic City's overall casino market.

"Everybody's a loser; when you add supply to a market that's not growing very much, everybody gets cannibalized," he said. "We need some of this capacity to close and go away. I would have thought that would have happened two years ago, but the properties are still here."

Zarnett said he doubts any Atlantic City casino will close until they see whether New Jersey will approve Internet gambling and throw the struggling properties a lifeline. He also predicted that New York will approve a casino in Manhattan within five years.

Not all the news from Atlantic City was bad, though: Figures released Thursday by state regulators showed the casinos saw a 17 percent increase in gross operating profit for the first quarter of this year, following a 26 percent increase in the fourth quarter of last year.

The expansion of casino gambling has continued rapidly over the last several years, nowhere more fiercely than in the Northeast. There is serious disagreement within the industry as to whether the market is oversaturated or whether there is room for further growth. But most agree it is tougher to do business in the Northeast casino market than it ever has been before.

The Cordish Co.'s Maryland Live!, opening on June 6, will have 4,750 slot machines and cost $500 million.

"Thanks, David, for bringing 4,700 new slots to this market," joked Don Marrandino, eastern division president of Caesars Entertainment. "That's great news for us."

Cordish said the casino market needs the stability of knowing how many operators there are going to be, particularly with the 67 percent tax Maryland imposes on its casinos.

He said the state will have four casinos with more slot machines "than anything in Las Vegas. It's an experiment that nobody knows how it's going to turn out. A contest I don't want to win is Maryland will probably be the king of the oversaturated market with the highest tax rate. It's a real problem.

"What happens when you put mega-casinos close together is they generally not only oversaturate the market, they don't work," Cordish said. In the Washington, D.C., region soon, he added, "you'll have four of the largest casinos in the country operating within a short drive of one another."

But new casinos keep coming. Timothy Wilmott, president of Penn National Gaming, which has 26 casinos nationwide, said the company is interested in new markets in Massachusetts and Texas and is opening new casinos in Ohio soon.

And Virginia McDowell, CEO of St. Louis-based Isle of Capri Casinos, which owns 15 casinos in six states, said there are excellent new markets that don't yet have casino gambling. The company plans two more, including one in Pittsburgh. She listed Massachusetts, Texas and Florida as prime spots for new casinos and said even traditionally hostile states such as Georgia, the Carolinas and Kentucky are considering legalizing them.

"Frankly, some of these opportunities are the best untapped gambling markets in the United States," she said. But, McDowell said, "the industry lets its best growth opportunities die on the vine, choosing instead to fight each other."

Mitchell Etess, CEO of Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, said the state's two Native American-run casinos once had few competitors, but the Northeast casino market is becoming more crowded.

And part of that will be due to Mohegan Sun, which is also seeking a casino license in Massachusetts.

___

Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC.

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JPMorgan's future losses at the mercy of an obscure index

(Reuters) - It's the biggest parlor game on Wall Street: Estimating how large JPMorgan Chase & Co's trading loss will be from a hedging strategy that went wrong.

The biggest U.S. bank by assets has already disclosed $2 billion of paper losses, and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said it could lose another $1 billion or more.

The losses will grow, some traders say, because it appears JPMorgan has only sold a small portion of its position, leaving it vulnerable to price swings in a thinly traded market. Others are not so sure the bank will suffer much more than it already has. Dimon said the bank won't rashly sell, and any additional losses could arise throughout the year. A JPMorgan spokeswoman declined comment.

The source of JPMorgan's problems is an obscure group of indexes that track the performance of corporate bonds. One of the indexes, the Markit CDX NA IG Series 9 maturing in 2017, is essentially a portfolio of credit default swaps - basically contracts that protect against default by a borrower.

This particular index is tied to the credit quality of 121 North American investment-grade bond issuers, including such names as Kraft Foods and Wal-Mart Stores .

JPMorgan used that index, and others, to bet that credit markets would strengthen. Because that position is widely known on Wall Street, many traders are betting the opposite way in the hope of profiting as the bank's losses increase. The index has been moving against JPMorgan in recent days.

Oppenheimer & Co used the average of the index in 2011 - 141 - to estimate on a straight line basis a theoretical additional loss for the bank of $5.9 billion. Oppenheimer analysts, however, cautioned that such a large loss was unlikely. "We think the number will be less" than a $5 billion estimate, they said.

For starters, they said, JPMorgan likely offset the trading position before announcing the loss. Their analysis also reflects a trade in a vacuum without any counter-bets. Additionally, credit quality has been improving so "the underlying market has moved in JPM's favor," they said.

Some analysts are frustrated at how difficult it is to determine the source of the bank's losses. "I've been through this exercise a few times, and I can't make the numbers make sense," said Michael Johnson, chief market strategist at brokerage M.S. Howells, who helped put together earlier versions of the credit derivatives index.

The Markit CDX NA IG 9 index maturing in 2017 stood at 128 on May 10, just before Dimon announced the losses, up from 112 at end-March, according to Markit. Higher values for the index indicate the market sees credit quality as having deteriorated, which hurts JPMorgan. On May 11, the index jumped to 139, and on Wednesday, it traded near 150.

Without knowing the specific details of JPMorgan's trades, precise figures for the bank's losses are hard to determine. The total size of JPMorgan's bets and the dates and prices it paid to place the bets are not known. It's also not known what trades the bank has made to counteract the losses.

What's more, the current higher value of the index may entice hedge funds and other investors to sell credit protection on the index, which amounts to buying exposure to the portfolio of credits. If that happens it could help JPMorgan by moving the index level lower.

WHALE SPOTTING

JPMorgan's trades are based on credit derivative indexes conceived by JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley a decade ago to allow banks, hedge funds and corporate treasury departments to buy and sell insurance against the risk that corporate bonds they own might default.

JPMorgan sold credit insurance on the CDX index maturing in 2017 as a way of gaining exposure to the portfolio of credits, according to traders. On its own, that position would perform well if credit quality improves or stays more or less the same.

The traders don't know JPMorgan's precise trading positions but believe they can at least partially identify them given that the index is traded relatively infrequently and given the size of JPMorgan's presence in it. JPMorgan was such a significant player in the CDX NA IG 9 index that one of its traders, Bruno Iksil, was dubbed the "London whale" in the markets.

"When someone is that big in the market, anonymity really goes out the window," a New York-based debt trader said.

The bank is believed to have had offsetting bets to the same index maturing at the end of this year. Put together properly, the combination of selling default protection on the 2017 index and buying protection on the 2012 index would protect the bank against massive weakening in the credit market.

In addition, the bank is also believed to have made bets that a high-yield index would rise - that is, that high-yield debt would deteriorate - and an investment-grade index would fall or stay stable, traders said. This trade is also widely believed to have generated losses, according to the traders, though again they can't say with any certainty.

A key job for the bank's Chief Investment Office - which oversaw the index trading - was to hedge the bank against risks of default. As one of the world's biggest lenders, JPMorgan has hundreds of billions of dollars of exposure to credit, so it makes sense for the bank to hedge against the credit market doing poorly. The bank's hedge position is believed to have been crafted to generate few changes in value if the credit markets barely budged.

INCREASINGLY COSTLY

Over time, though, keeping the trade as a bet on the market turning down would have become prohibitively expensive, because as the 2012 index got closer to expiration it would offer less of a hedge against movements in the 2017 position. If the bank wanted to keep the trade hedged effectively it would have had to buy more and more of the 2012 credit default protection.

So, by January, JPMorgan faced a decision, according to credit derivatives traders: either reduce the size of its overall trade, or allow it to turn into more of an outright bet on credit markets improving.

JPMorgan opted to allow its protection against disaster to turn into a bet on markets improving, traders said.

There may have been merit to that decision initially.

In January, investors began to have a more optimistic view of the global economy, thanks in part to the European Central Bank's decision in December to give European banks cheap access to 489 billion euros ($623 billion) of financing. The ECB followed in February with another 529 billion euros of funding.

For a time that flood of money eased investor concern about the European debt crisis - and bolstered the view that corporations would be able to pay off their debt. Signs of strength in the U.S. economy and job market helped, too.

The corporate credit index began falling, a sign of credit fears abating. In October, the index hit 182, meaning it cost $182,000 to insure against $10 million of default through December 2017. By January, the index had fallen to as low as 121. In late March, the index hit 106. Those declines likely translated to healthy gains in the first quarter.

But in April and May, the indexes began rising as investors grew concerned about the durability of a recovery. The weakening credit market likely resulted in increasing losses for JPMorgan.

Matters worsened for the bank as hedge funds began betting against JPMorgan. That pushed up the index, giving the bank more losses. In the first nine days of May, the index climbed. On the 10th day, the bank stunned markets by announcing it had racked up more than $2 billion in losses.

($1 = 0.7849 euros)

(By Dan Wilchins and Carrick Mollenkamp in New York; Editing By Alwyn Scott, Martin Howell and Ian Geoghegan)

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