Iraqi VP says innocent, terror trial a sham

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq's fugitive Sunni vice president on Monday declared his "absolute innocence" in a terror trial that had sentenced him to death on charges of masterminding the murder of rivals, and rejected the conviction against him as a politically motivated sham.

Tariq al-Hashemi, who fled Iraq after the government brought charges against him, said he will not return to appeal the verdict unless he can be assured of a fair day in court.

Speaking from his exile in Turkey, al-Hashemi said a fair trial would be impossible in Baghdad and accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ? a Shiite and the vice president's longtime foe ? of manipulating the courts against him as part of a political vendetta.

"The verdict is unjust, politicized, illegitimate and I will not recognize it," al-Hashemi told reporters in the Turkish capital, Ankara. "But I put it as a medal of honor on my chest because it was al-Maliki, not anyone else, behind it. I'm proud that it is al-Maliki, and not anyone else, to target me."

"The death sentence is a price I have to pay due to my love for my country and my loyalty to my people," he added. "I reiterate that I'm innocent, and am ready to stand before a fair judicial system and not a corrupt one that is under al-Maliki's influence."

Asked directly if he will return to Baghdad within 30 days to seek a retrial, as is his right under Iraqi law, al-Hashemi said: "I'm not going, regardless of the time scale that has been offered to me."

Spokesmen for al-Maliki and the Iraqi government could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Al-Hashemi fled to Turkey after Iraq's Shiite-led government issued the terror charges against him in December, the day after U.S. troops withdrew from the country. He would receive a retrial if he agrees to return to Baghdad, but al-Hashemi has refused, saying he will never get a fair hearing in a Baghdad court.

The politically charged case sparked a government crisis and fueled Sunni Muslim and Kurdish resentment against al-Maliki, whom critics say is monopolizing power.

On Sunday, Baghdad's criminal court convicted al-Hashemi and his son-in-law, Ahmed Qahtan, of organizing the murders of a Shiite security official and a lawyer who had refused to help the vice president's allies in terror cases. In a third case, the two defendants were acquitted of the killing of a security officer due to a lack of evidence.

The charges were the first against al-Hashemi to go to trial among the government's allegations that he played a role in 150 bombings, assassinations and other attacks from 2005 to 2011 ? years in which the country was mired in sectarian violence that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime. Most of the attacks were allegedly carried out by al-Hashemi's bodyguards and other employees, and largely targeted government officials, security forces and Shiite pilgrims.

The Baghdad court sentenced both al-Hashemi and Qahtan in absentia to death. They have 30 days to appeal the verdict and could win a retrial if they return to Iraq to face the charges.

Sunday's verdict was announced as Iraq reeled from a daylong pounding of bombings and shootings that left 92 people dead and more than 360 wounded in nearly two dozen attacks across the country. On Monday, in a statement posted on a militant website, al-Qaida's branch in Iraq claimed responsibility for the wave of violence and vowed there will be more "black days ahead."

Most of the court evidence against al-Hashemi came from 10 of his former bodyguards who testified they were ordered by Qahtan, and then paid, to carry out killings in small groups. Qahtan managed al-Hashemi's vice presidential office.

Al-Hashemi has long accused the government of torturing the bodyguards into giving false statements. His defense team did not offer any witnesses or testimony during the trial's ten hearings.

Al-Hashemi ? who has been in office since 2006 ? is on Interpol's most-wanted list, but Turkey has shown no interest in sending the vice president back to Baghdad, straining diplomacy between the two neighboring nations.

Al-Hashemi appeared defiantly upbeat at the packed press conference. "I am not worried about my life," he said. "I am worried about the future of my country."

___

Associated Press Writer Chris Torchia in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraqi-vp-says-innocent-terror-trial-sham-083508712.html

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Keys to Business Marketing | Business Marketing

If you are new to the world of business marketing, you probably want to know more about how to do it, and do it in a productive manner. Here are some ideas to keep in mind as you start marketing your business.

Be genuine. Business marketing requires that you be genuine, because you want to establish trusting relationships to build on the long term for your business. Become actively involved in the business networks, and work to develop steady, strong, relationships.

Determine your goals. Before getting too deep into business marketing, it important to decide what your goals are so you can take the right steps and use the right tactics to take your business where you want it to go with marketing. It is important to become involved with networking as part of your business marketing strategy.

Become active in several networking groups. There are several different [business networking sites] you can become involved in to reach current customers, along with potential customers and even potential employees. Find groups your customers use to communicate with their friends and family, such as Facebook and Twitter. Use business specific networks such as LinkedIn, to help you connect with other businesses.

Volunteer. Become an active volunteer in your local community. This way, you can increase business exposure while giving back to those who have helped you, and those who need it the most. Volunteer at events and with organizations that are close to your business and choose a cause that matches your business goals.

Avoid yes or no questions. When networking with others during business marketing you don?t want to ask yes or no questions, because open ended questions will do more to help you learn about each other and build a foundation for the relationship.

Understand. Understand who and what you are as a business, what you do and why you do it. Understand how you do it so you can set yourself apart from the competition. A lack of clear understanding about what, when, where, and how you do it, will prohibit you from properly communicating with people you?re marketing with.

Quickly respond to referrals. When you are given a referral, it is important to follow up within 24 to 48 hours, to make sure you capture them at the peak of their interest. If you don?t follow up quickly, they will forget, or assume you have forgotten, either abandoning the idea, or moving to a competitor.

Keeping these things in mind when starting a business marketing campaign will help you be successful. It is important to market with a purpose to ensure you are on the right track to accomplish your business goals.

Source: http://www.a2ft.org/297-keys-to-business-marketing-2.html

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PPC Expert Gauher Chaudhry Grills Shaqir Hussyin of - SBWire

London, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/10/2012 -- Gauher Chaudhry, a ?pay per click? (PPC) expert and well-respected authority on paid traffic, recently interviewed Shaqir Hussyin, the founder of SoloAdsAgency.com, on how it is possible to get two thousand leads a day.

Chaudhry is well-known throughout the industry as a leading expert on the topic of paid traffic, and specifically PPC traffic. He has almost 10 years of experience in this field of work, and has developed a well-deserved reputation as the premiere authority in this arena.

As an entrepreneur and internet marketing expert, Hussyin was thrilled to speak with Gauher Chaudhry on the methods he uses for lead and traffic generation, which includes the option to buy solo ads. The fact that he was interviewed by such a well-known PPC authority is a testament to Hussyin?s level of expertise in the paid traffic, solo ads traffic, and lead generation areas.

As a solo ads expert, Hussyin prides himself on providing the most premium high quality leads to advertisers, including through the Empower Network solo ads. He and his team of email marketing experts actively recruit, manage and optimize publishers, who help ensure that their clients? ads are being shown compliantly and are reaching the correct demographics.

?SoloAdsAgency leverages our network of premium email publishers to deliver targeted advertising to qualified prospects across multiple verticals and English-speaking regions,? an article Hussyin?s company?s website noted, adding that he and his staff are able to leverage their ?unique? access to over 100 million active email addresses that they and their partners utilise.

?We allow advertisers to efficiently increase their online reach through our strategic partnerships with online email publishers stretching across multiple countries and all domains. Ourselves, with our partners, have collectively spent well over $100 million in advertising.?

About SoloAdsAgency.com
For over the past three years, Shaqir Hussyin has taught thousands of home business owners simple yet little-known marketing strategies and techniques that have literally skyrocketed their income. As a Solo Ads Traffic Specialist and Founder of SoloAdsAgency.com, Hussyin has trained some of the largest internet marketing communities in the world, and has coached hundreds of people to new levels of success through seminars, private high-level workshops he has held, and webinars that have had over 7,500 registrants. Hussyin also offers his clients personal one-on-one consulting and mentoring. To listen to this free interview and learn more about done for you solo ad traffic, please visit http://www.soloadsagency.com/gauher-chaudhry-interviews-shaqir-hussyin-solo-ads-exposed

Source: http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/ppc-expert-gauher-chaudhry-grills-shaqir-hussyin-of-soloadsagency-on-how-to-get-2000-leads-daily-162893.htm

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Make the Most of Your College Fees

The sticker price of a college education often includes a handful of mandatory fees to cover on-campus services.

At the University of California--Irvine, students pay a "campus spirit" fee, for example, and students at the University of California--Los Angeles are assessed a "green initiative" fee.

While some schools list out each fee--common charges include technology, health, building, and student activity fees--others lump them into one flat-rate tuition charge, and students typically pay for these services whether they use them or not.

To make your university fees work for you, check in with your resident adviser or stop by the office of the dean of students to find out about free and discounted services available both on and off campus. The following tips can also help college students ensure they're getting the most out of their tuition dollars:

1. Student health: Campus health centers aren't just for sick students. Revamped clinics offer everything from acupuncture to counseling for little to no cost.

"The campus health clinic isn't as exciting as access to a swimming pool or recreation area but it can have an enormous impact on general wellbeing," says University of Oregon alum Chris Grow. "It's a tremendous resource for STD tests, ... vaccinations, and general health concerns. They're also useful for getting a pulse on what viruses are going around campus."

[Find out what the Affordable Care Act means for college students.]

As colleges become smoke and tobacco free, health centers are also aiming to help students who want to quit smoking, says Paula Staight, director of health promotions at the University of Oregon, which gives students free nicotine patches or gum to help them kick their habit.

2. Technology: Computer labs and campus-wide wireless services are now commonplace at most colleges and universities, but there are other tech services available to students at many schools.

At the University of Iowa, for example, the ITS Help Desk will troubleshoot students' computer issues and resolve software or operating-system problems. For most repairs, the cost is covered by the university's mandatory technology fee.

[Discover new options for free online courses.]

Many colleges and universities also offer software such as anti-virus programs or Microsoft Office to students either free or deeply discounted.

3. Transportation: Students at urban schools often rely on public transportation for their campus commute, and some colleges charge a transportation fee that subsidizes transit system passes.

[Freshmen: Learn how to start college out on the right foot.]

University of Wisconsin--Madison's bus pass fee helps pays for on-campus bus and safe-ride services, but also gives students a pass for all bus routes on the Madison Metro Transit System.

Students at Amherst College in Massachusetts also get free access to the public bus system, which connects them to other area colleges--University of Massachusetts--Amherst, Hampshire College, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College--and nearby towns.

Transportation services can also help students get off campus. Students at the University of California--San Diego can take advantage of a free airport shuttle during school breaks. Grinnell College in rural Iowa offers a similar service to its students, transporting them to the nearest airport, as well as downtown Chicago, at a discounted rate.

At the University of Texas--Austin, the Texas Express offers weekend shuttles with nonstop service to Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Round-trip tickets range from $40.50 to $55 for UT students and staff, and the Express typically offers two drop-off points in each city.

Students seem to be big fans of the Texas Express, as most weekend shuttles fill up well in advance, says Josh Cook, assistant director of communication at UT--Austin.

Searching for a college? Get our complete rankings of Best Colleges.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/most-college-fees-144354021.html

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Consumer group sues FDA over Aricept safety

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ? A consumer group pressing the Food and Drug Administration to remove the highest dose of an Alzheimer's disease drug from the market is suing the agency for what it calls "foot-dragging."

Public Citizen said Wednesday that the FDA's own medical and statistical reviewers found that high-dose Aricept doesn't work better at controlling symptoms of moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's than two low doses.

However, the group said the high dose has more-dangerous, potentially deadly side effects including vomiting, which in Alzheimer's patients "can lead to pneumonia, massive gastrointestinal bleeding, esophageal rupture or death." Other side effects more common at the high dose are nausea, diarrhea, anorexia and confusion.

Public Citizen filed a petition in May 2011 with the FDA. The group urged the agency to halt sales of the 23-milligram dose of Aricept and put safety warnings about the high-dose risks on two low doses, 5 and 10 milligrams. The low doses are available under both the Aricept brand, made by Japan's Eisai Co. Ltd., and as inexpensive generic pills.

The FDA has yet to act.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, asks the court to declare the FDA's failure to act unlawful and to order the agency to decide within 30 days of the court's ruling whether to approve Public Citizen's request. The suit also seeks attorneys' fees and other reasonable costs.

"By ignoring Public Citizen's petition for more than a year, the agency has ignored (its) responsibility," Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, said in a statement. "During the past year alone approximately 350,000 prescriptions have been filled in the U.S. for Aricept 23."

"Allowing Eisai to exploit and harm vulnerable patients with Alzheimer's disease is unconscionable," Wolfe added.

An FDA spokeswoman said Wednesday in an email that the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation. Last December, the associate policy director in its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Jane Axelrad, notified Public Citizen the FDA was doing a detailed evaluation of the case.

"FDA has been unable to reach a decision on your petition because it raises significant issues requiring extensive review and analysis by agency officials," she wrote. "We will respond to your petition as soon as we have reached a decision on your request."

Marcia Diljak, a spokeswoman at Eisai's U.S. subsidiary, Eisai Inc. of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., said the company was aware of the complaint filed against the FDA but won't comment on the litigation.

"We stand by the FDA's decision" to approve high-dose Aricept as a safe, effective Alzheimer's treatment, she wrote in an email.

According to Public Citizen, Eisai sought approval of the higher Aricept dose ahead of the November 2010 expiration of the patents for the two low doses. The ensuing generic competition would have slashed their sales.

The lawsuit states that the FDA required the company to prove in a study that the high dose improved patients' mental and physical functioning, but the study failed to show the high-dose "has any clinically meaningful benefit."

That led FDA's medical reviewer to recommend against approving the high dose, but the head of FDA's division of neurology products decided to approve the product anyway, the lawsuit states. The high dose was approved on July 23, 2010, extending Eisai's patent protection for an additional three years, the suit notes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-09-05-Alzheimer's%20Drug-FDA%20Lawsuit/id-52209a3af4dc40e89c5b6e9d4fdc66fb

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Social Media Marketing Strategy-How to Product One for Your ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]You are here: Home / Internet Marketing / Social Media Marketing Strategy-How to Product One for Your Business ... Your business can use online social photo sharing websites such as Flickr and Facebook to its benefit.

Source: http://imspringboard.org/2012/09/09/social-media-marketing-strategy-how-to-product-one-for-your-business/

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Instagram For Video?Massive Market Opportunity, Yes! Done Right, No!

Oh, to become the Instagram for video! THAT is the dream of scores of new tech start-ups. And, that is the holy grail for all the VCs who continue to plow money into those companies. After all, Facebook just dropped a cool $1 billion on Instagram (well, actually closer to $700 million) ? and each of us can now easily capture pristine HD video on our smart phones that we carry at all times. That means personal HD video capture anytime, anywhere, and without any pre-planning. The sheer volume of personal UGC video has exploded. The potential market opportunity is massive. And, it is ripe. If it only were that easy.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/fhftKIvg4bE/

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