3 skiers killed in Wash. avalanche; 4th survived

STEVENS PASS, Wash. (AP) ? Three skiers were killed Sunday when an avalanche swept them about a quarter-mile down an out-of-bounds canyon at a popular resort, but a fourth skier caught up in the slide was saved by a safety device, authorities said.

The four were among three groups of skiers ? about a dozen people in all ? making their way through a foot and a half of fresh snow on the back side of Stevens Pass when the avalanche hit. Stevens Pass is in the Cascade Mountains, about 80 miles northeast of Seattle.

All were buried to some extent, but the men who died were swept approximately 1,500 feet down a chute in the Tunnel Creek Canyon area, King County Sheriff's Sgt. Katie Larson said.

Most of the other skiers, all well-equipped, were able to free themselves and rushed to dig out the victims. They performed CPR on the three men to no avail, Larson said.

The fourth skier who was swept down the mountain, a woman, appeared to avoid a similar fate because of the avalanche safety device she was wearing, Larson said.

Such devices include wearable airbags that can be deployed to help a person float atop an avalanche rather than being buried underneath it, or inflatable bags that create space between a person's mouth and the snow. It wasn't immediately known which kind the woman had, said Deputy Chris Bedker of the sheriff's search-and-rescue unit.

The men who died were believed to be in their 30s and 40s.

"Most of the people involved in this were well-known to the ski community up here, especially to the ski patrol," Bedker said. "It was their friends who they recovered."

Initial reports of the avalanche reached the sheriff's office just after noon, and for some time it wasn't clear whether the other skiers had also been swept up in the slide.

The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center on Sunday issued a warning for high avalanche danger for areas above 5,000 feet, saying warmer weather could loosen surface snow and trigger a slide on steeper slopes. The elevation of the avalanche wasn't immediately clear.

At mid-afternoon, the temperature at the base of the Stevens Pass ski resort was 24 degrees, with light winds and good visibility. The temperature at the top of the mountain was 22 degrees, according to the resort's website.

John Gifford, the ski area's general manager, said Sunday that the resort had received 19 inches of snow in the past 24 hours.

Stevens Pass is one of the most popular outdoor recreation areas in the state, with visitors flocking to the scenic site to go cross-country, back-country and downhill skiing, as well as snowshoeing and backpacking.

It's been a deadly winter in Washington's mountains. Four people disappeared in vicious storms while camping and climbing on Mount Rainier last month. The four remain missing, and authorities have said they're hoping to find their bodies when the snow melts this summer.

Across the West, there had been 13 avalanche deaths this season as of Thursday, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which tracks avalanche deaths in the U.S.

Experts have said the risk of additional slides in the region could remain high all season. They attribute the dangers in part to a weak base layer of snow caused by a dry winter.

Avalanche deaths are more common in the backcountry than at ski resorts. Out of about 900 avalanche deaths nationwide since the winter of 1950-51, 32 were within terrain that was open for riding at ski resorts, according to the Utah Avalanche Center.

Also Sunday, King County Sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West said a snowboarder was killed in a separate incident at the Alpental ski area east of Seattle. The snowboarder, a man, went over a cliff.

___

Associated Press Writer Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-02-19-Washington%20Avalanche/id-2ef5ee2f3d244920a17a08ca000da152

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Iran as continual regional menace (Politico)

As the crisis generated by Iran?s nuclear programs intensifies, we are learning more about Iran?s regional foreign policy. It demonstrates that Tehran menaces all its neighbors and rivals ? not just Israel.

We learned late last year about an Iranian plot to hire a hit man from the Mexican cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington and blow up the Saudi and Israeli embassies there. On Jan. 25, Azerbaijan uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate Israel?s ambassador to Baku, Michael Lotem. There were also reportedly plans to blow up a Jewish school near Baku ? though these were later denied.

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This is not the only such plots against Israel in Azerbaijan. In 2008, Azeri security forces seized members of a terrorist cell who planned to blow up Israel?s embassy in Baku, in revenge for the killing of Imad Mughniyeh, a notorious terrorist implicated in the 1983 attacks in Beirut that killed 241 Marines, the 1996 Khobar Towers attack that killed 19 Americans and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish Community Center in Argentina.

Iran?s other neighbors, Iraq and Afghanistan, also confront Tehran?s systematic efforts to use terroism to subvert its neighbors. Iranians has reportedly trained Iraqi fighters, helping them develop improvised exploive devices and other weapons. It has assisted the Taliban and other terrorist groups; and, through Syria, is a leading supplier for Hamas and Hezbollah. These groups threaten not only Israel but also Lebanon. Meanwhile, Gulf states fear Iranian designs ? either on their territories or their regimes.

Iran also targets Azerbaijan. In 2001, Iranian forces blew up an Azeri oil exploration ship in the Caspian Sea, claiming it was in Iranian territorial waters. In 2009, Iran?s movement of an oil rig toward Azerbaijan?s territorial waters in the Capsian Sea led Baku to seek Washington?s advice about reacting to this perceived threat of a joint Iranian-Russian encirclement.

Throughout the decade 2001-11, Iran often reprimanded Azerbaijan for being pro-Israeli and pro-American, and warned that if it hosted U.S. military facilities it would face devastating Iranian attacks. More recently, on Jan. 16, Iranian sites launched cyber-strikes against 25 Azeri Internet sites, apparently not for the first time.

Since Iran is regularly cited as a leading state sponsor of terrorism, it is hardly surprising that it continues to foment terrorist plots against neighboring governments.

Moreover, its policies appear driven both by anti-Semitism and aggressive, perhaps even neo-imperial, designs on the governments (if not the territory) of its neighbors. Tehren is likely to increase these terrorist activities, based on the belief that nuclear weapons could provide an umbrella and that its regional enemies are weak and irresolute

Tehran?s behvior undermines its own argument that Iran with a bomb could be deterred ? since it Iran is not deterred even now from threatening its neighbors. U.S. history, with its Southern ?fire-eaters? in the 1850s, driven by racism and chauvinism, as well as the rise of European dictators in the 1930s, tell us that states driven by deep ethno-racial hatreds do not necessarily know when to stop.

This is not an issue of the clinical diagnosis of Iran?s leaders. Iran might be deterred from striking at the U.S., but it is not deterred from trying to conduct acts of war against Israel, Saudi Arabia and possibly others. The necessity of thwarting Iranian nuclear weapons should, therefore, be evident since it threatens its entire region.

Stephen Blank is a professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the Army War College. The views expressed here do not represent those of the Army, the Defense Department or the U.S. government.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0212_73067_html/44591376/SIG=11m7ighrn/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73067.html

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Team-Building in Successful Business Management ... - On Business

The success of a company greatly depends on people working at the achievement of certain goals. Indeed, close ranks of employees define the vectors in which each individual business will develop. In view of this fact, it is vital for the business owners to apply sensible management strategies to strengthen the team and make them work jointly.

Business management is a rather difficult process requiring persistence and accurate goals. One of the greatest tasks of any business is to encourage effective teamwork but at the same time not to cast away individual achievements of workers. Each team member should feel the importance of that part of work he fulfills; he might be sure that the result of his work will influence the general development tendencies. Each employee must know his duties in details and should understand that non-fulfillment of at least the tiniest assignment will destroy the usual course of things.

However, individual work should be combined with team work, so how to reach the desirable results? As far as one man works for the achievement of common goals, so it?s necessary to strengthen the ties between all employees. It is necessary to make team-building activities a regular scheme which will improve interpersonal communication and ameliorate the understanding of business goals within the team. Those activities might include games, corporate parties or exit sessions.

If a company consists of several or many departments, it?s advisable to define the persons with expressive leadership characteristics who would direct the work of the whole department. This person will be not only a manager but also an assistant to any member of the team who will readily lend a helping hand in confusing situations.

Besides, a team leader will appoint short-dated assignments for the whole department and for an individual worker. This will ensure that each member knew exactly his duties, time limits for accomplishment and qualitative level.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20th, 2012 at 11:47 am and is filed under Business .

Source: http://www.fk999kfw.com/2012/02/20/team-building-in-successful-business-management-process/

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Kevin Love Fouled? Timberwolves Beat 76ers With Free Throws After Late Foul Call (VIDEO)

MINNEAPOLIS -- Kevin Love scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 0.1 seconds, to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 92-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.

With the Target Center crowd standing and roaring, Love drove to the basket with his head down and tempted Andre Iguodala to reach in and try to swipe the ball away. The whistle sounded, Love walked to the line and calmly swished both shots. He also had 15 rebounds after starting the game 3 for 16 from the floor.

Ricky Rubio had a career-high 22 points to go with six rebounds and five assists. His backup, J.J. Barea, added 14 points to help offset another strong game by Jrue Holiday of the Sixers. Holiday had 20 points on 10-for-20 shooting, plus five rebounds and three steals.

Neither team led by more than one over the final 6 1/2 minutes. Love, who had only six points at halftime, drained a 3-pointer down the stretch and hit a 21-footer with less than a minute to go to push the Wolves to a 90-89 lead.

Thaddeus Young answered on the other end for the Sixers with a jumper from the wing, and Love missed a 3-pointer.

Lou Williams, who got it going in the second half after Philadelphia's leading scorer attempted only three shots before the break, tried a crossover step-back jumper from the top of the key with Martell Webster in his face that rimmed out. Love grabbed the rebound with less than 4 seconds left, setting up the final possession.

Nikola Pekovic had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves (16-16), who notched their third three-game winning streak of the season to move back to the .500 mark. They play at Denver on Monday night, starting a stretch of 16 out of 23 games on the road. Coach Rick Adelman shortened his rotation to eight again, and the Pekovic-Love starting lineup improved to 6-3 on the season.

Sixers coach Doug Collins spoke about how "exceptionally proud" he's been of his team during this difficult month on the schedule, encouraging the players to keep the positive energy they created earlier in the season despite four losses in their previous six games.

Still in command of the Atlantic Division, the Sixers (20-12) played seven of their past nine games against some of the toughest teams in the NBA, including a loss on Friday night to defending champion Dallas. This is their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Collins has been pushing Holiday to assert himself more offensively rather than being so focused on getting all his teammates involved, and the third-year point guard tried to do that, taking 10 shots in the first half. It looked as if Rubio, who is fast becoming one of the NBA's premiere pass-first point guards, was listening in on the other team's pep talk judging by the first half.

He had a scorer's mentality over the first 24 minutes for sure, helping the Wolves dig out of an 18-7 deficit early with a tying 3-pointer late in the first quarter. He also reached the free throw line six times, making all six.

The floppy-haired rookie went back to distribution mode after halftime, assisting on each of Minnesota's first four baskets and setting up Pekovic inside for a potential fifth, but the big guy got fouled.

With Love and Pekovic playing together now in the post, the Wolves are even more of a handful for anyone to keep away from rebounds, putbacks and soft hook shots around the basket. They spent much of the third quarter attacking inside and parading to the foul line, but they were unable to build any more than a brief one or two-point lead against the Sixers and their rugged, active defense.

Philadelphia leads the league with an average of less than 88 points allowed per game.

NOTES: The last time Rubio scored 20-plus points in a game was when he was a 17-year-old playing for the DKV Joventut club in Spain, 4 1/2 years ago. ... Williams had averaged nearly 19 points over his last seven games. He finished with 13. ... Pekovic grabbed five or more offensive rebounds for the fifth straight game, matching Minnesota's franchise record set by Love in December 2009. ... The three Timberwolves rookies were hazed with new backpacks at their stalls in the locker room before the game. Rubio's was purple with a picture of teen pop star Justin Bieber; Malcolm Lee's was pink featuring the "Hello Kitty" cartoon; and Derrick Williams had a pink depiction of Disney princesses. Adelman said he hadn't heard about the prank but immediately suggested veteran Brad Miller as the culprit.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/19/kevin-love-foul-timberwolves-76ers-video_n_1288189.html

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Best ways to quit smoking | New Health and Fitness

New Health And Fitness.Org - Health Information You Can Use

Help me quit smoking cigarettes is a request made by thousands of people! This is a habit that is very hard to give up. It is costly and not good for anyone?s health. Smoking is a constant nag in the life of a smoker. There are solutions if you and the smoker put your mind to it. I hope to address some ideas and issues about smoking. There are suggestions you can make to the person requesting help me quit smoking cigarettes.

One of the quickest ways to quit smoking naturally is cold turkey. That means to stop smoking immediately. The body goes through a withdrawal period so it is important to go easy on not physically exerting oneself. During this first state it is recommended to drink large amounts of water. Water detoxifies and replenishes the body with important minerals. It can be also taken in the form of herb teas and natural fruit juices that help to soothe and energize the healing body.

With the help of an hypnotist to quit smoking, you can easily achieve your goal

There are many different reasons why you may want to quit smoking. It might be helpful to write a list of reasons why you want to quit and how your life will change when you do. Deciding to quit smoking is the best and one of the most important decisions you can make. This is a challenging step in your life but well worth the effort.

A healthy technique to quit smoking naturally is to eliminate all saturated fats, refined sugar and processed foods. Avoiding these foods will reduce one?s blood pressure and inclination to have hypertension. By removing these fats and sugars from the body over time one will possibly start to lose weight also which will put less stress on the heart. The more the body is provided healthy foods and fewer unhealthy foods, the more quickly it will have a stronger immune system for a better sense of well being.

People who smoke know how difficult it is to quit smoking and sometimes even they know that smoking is bad for their health they cannot quit it. So here comes the products like quit smoking patch that work effectively and there are many people who have found easy to quit smoking by using nicotine patches.

Learn more about easy quit smoking ? The Benefits of Stopping Smoking (Part Two). Visit our website where you can learn all about Quit Smoking By Putting Your Mind To It.

This entry was tagged Alternative Medicine, supplements by Ronaldo Tesan. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://newhealthandfitness.org/2012/02/20/best-ways-to-quit-smoking-6/

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Streaming Audio ? 10 Tips On Preparing For Your First Recording

Creating your initial streaming audio recording does not must be a difficult or intimidating experience. Nowadays it is easier than ever to form your 1st recording. You can, but, eliminate a ton of frustration by preparing properly.
You?ve got a likelihood, but only a brief one, to grab the attention of your audience. You?ll capture their interest or lose them fully in the primary few seconds following the clicking of the play button. What your visitors hear might verify whether they continue to be on your website.

Here are ten tips about getting ready to make your 1st streaming audio recording a sensible one.

1) Assume carefully concerning your message.
Before you head to your laptop or choose up a microphone, suppose concerning what you would like to mention to your visitors. Take some time with this first step as a result of it is crucial to the most effective potential finish result. If you haven?t clearly defined your message in your own mind you cannot expect your listeners to figure it out.

2) Write your message down.
Once you have got thought it through, write it down. Have some fun with this. Remember, this is your personal message and you would like it to replicate the simplest aspects of your personality. Whether or not you have a tendency to be the bubbly, vivacious kind or rather on the intense aspect, your message should be compelling.
When you place your concepts on paper write the way you normally speak. This can facilitate your to sound natural. Write the method you would speak to a fan or colleague.

3) Read your message out loud to yourself.
Do that a number of times till you?re snug hearing your own voice. If you?re new to taking note of your recorded voice it can sound strange at first. It?s like that for everyone.
You?ve got almost certainly heard your recorded voice at a while in your life. Did not it sound strange the primary time you heard it? The more you hear it though, the more you may come back to acknowledge it as your own voice and become snug with it.

four) Read your message to someone else.
This will work wonders to create you?re feeling relaxed when you make your recording. The microphone
can be a little intimidating at first as a result of it?s appears sort of a person, listening with a crucial ear, to what you?re saying. Once you become comfortable reading your message to another person, you are prepared for the microphone.

five) Arise once you speak into the microphone.
Standing provides you a bigger feeling of authority and control. This authoritative feeling can be reflected in your voice. I do not mean that you should sound bossy or confrontational. You ought to sound confident.

6) Hold the microphone shut to you.
Hold your microphone simply a few inches from your mouth and do a test recording. Then do another take a look at or 2 and see that sounds better. The simplest distance to carry the microphone from your mouth can rely on the sort and sensitivity of your microphone and also the strength of your voice.
Once you identify the optimal distance the microphone ought to be from you, keep on with it. Make certain to keep up that distance after you record. Don?t permit yourself to be distracted and flip you head removed from the microphone.

7) Cut down, speed up.
I am not trying to confuse you but usually one can either speak too quick, like in an effort to urge the recording over with or too slow, sounding indifferent, even lazy.

eight) Attempt to sound natural.
Keep in mind, you would like your recorded voice to sound like you are speaking to a follower or business acquaintance. How would you sound speaking the identical words to your succor, your barber or beautician? Imagine that and hold that image in your mind as you record.

9) Keep in mind to breathe.
You don?t want to run out of breath and fade away does one? It?s easy to manage this by keeping your sentences short. A run on sentence may leave you gasping for air [*fr1] approach through.

10) Observe until your technique is perfected.

James Brunner been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in audio streaming ,you can also check out his latest website about:
Natural Home Cures Which reviews and lists the best
Natural Home Cures For Stress

Source: http://www.1directory.net/internet-and-businesses-online/streaming-audio-10-tips-on-preparing-for-your-first-recording-6096.html

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How to Lose Fat by Avoiding These 8 Common Mistakes ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY Only Directory which has Articles Related to COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY · Home · About Us · Privacy Policy · Contact Us. Welcome to article directory. We have 142788 published ...

Source: http://computersandtechnology.us/2012/02/how-to-lose-fat-by-avoiding-these-8-common-mistakes/

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