Inside Breezy Point: An inferno in a flood

REPORTERS' NOTEBOOK

By Keturah Gray and Jim Dubreuil

When we were sent out on Monday afternoon to report on the "holdouts" of Hurricane Sandy - those who refused to leave their homes despite New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's mandatory evacuation orders - we expected winds and rain, but thought it was nothing that we couldn't handle.

We had our bottled water, our rain gear, our chips and were ready to tough out the storm with the citizens of Breezy Point, a beach town in Queens on the far end of New York City, and a place where Jim has family.

We were two of the last to arrive over the Marine Parkway Bridge before it closed to the public at 2 p.m. ET, and we joined up pretty quickly with 30-year-old Mary Lepera. She gave us a tour of the neighborhood and explained why she, like so many others, planned to stick out Hurricane Sandy at home: She'd spent her whole life there and wasn't about to abandon her home.

"We're sticking it out," she said. "Even if we have to go up on our roof, we'll do it."

A lot of people kind of felt that they had jumped through hoops for Irene, and this time, they weren't going to do it. And there was just this feeling that the storm was going to be like any other storm that hits the East Coast. It wasn't going to be the Super Storm that had been portrayed - but that's not what happened.

Over the course of the next few hours, though, Breezy Point became a literal lightning rod in the storm, battered by winds, rain and fire. At least 80 homes were destroyed in the beachfront neighborhood and we got caught in the chaos.

The last thing anyone imagines is a fire breaking out. But that's exactly what happened.

Jim DuBreuil: I remember looking out the window around 8:30 at night, and all of a sudden, we just saw this ? it seemed like we were in a national forest where you see all those fires with timbers flying around. It was off in the distance and at 8:20 at night, I wasn't thinking this is going to affect us. But as each hour progressed, the storm, the fire was just coming closer and closer and God, you [Keturah Gray] looked at me and said, "We're getting the hell out of here," and I was like, "Yeah, let's go." I got a trash can and we threw in garbage bags and all of our camera equipment in it. The family we were with did the same and we were out the door.

Keturah Gray: I just remember when I first saw that fire thinking we have water on one side of the house, we have a TON of water on the back side of the house, and we have a fire that is inevitably going to get closer because of all of the winds. I was just like, "What do we do? Where do we even begin? Do we take this route or this route?" I was so worried about the people that I knew, because we had been down that beach earlier that afternoon. There were a lot of people in that line of fire, and I just didn't know how they were going to get out.

Jim DuBreuil: I kind of think where we got lucky was the tide started going down. The water was much higher at 8 o'clock and then by 9 o'clock and 10 o'clock it was just easier to get around. Where the water would've been up to our chins, the water was finally at our waist. We put on our backpacks and got our trashcan and headed out of there.

Keturah Gray: I think I was the first one that was like, we need an escape plan, but I also didn't know if I was going to be strong enough to walk through the water.

Jim DuBreuil: Timbers are flying and there's 80 mph winds coming at you as you're going through the waves. You're trying to get through the flood and the fire's behind you and I just remember looking at you and going "don't look back, don't look back."

Keturah Gray: The water was receding, but the fire was becoming stronger. We were walking against the current, which was really hard, and we're carrying a trash can and a lot of other people had babies they were carrying and bags.

Jim DuBreuil: I think it could've been absolutely chaotic and hell on earth at one point, but everyone got together. People were helping each other and going "OK, we're going to get you out." We were moving from one spot to the next. When we got to our first evacuation spot, which was maybe 100 meters away from the first house we were at, I could smell kerosene. They told us there's a gas pump nearby. At that point, the fire has moved and the embers are now coming in to the fire and Keturah looked at me again and was like, "Let's get the out of here." It just seemed the fire was following us. We finally got to a Roman Catholic Church and, for me, that was the moment when I was like, "We're going to be all right. These people are going to be all right and we're going to get out of here."

Keturah Gray: That's when they said nobody can stay. You are leaving this time. And everybody that we were with, for the most part, were happy to hear those words.

Jim DuBreuil: I think it's easy to look at people like this and say, "Gosh, why didn't they heed the warning," but I think these people just love their community so much and they take care of each other, that they just didn't want to leave and they didn't think it was going to be bad and I think they realized that they made a mistake. But again, they could've never predicted a huge fire. The people of Breezy Point will come back and rebuild.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/inside-breezy-point-inferno-flood-002046120--abc-news-topstories.html

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Sharp announces first TVs with Moth-Eye technology: the AQUOS XL series

Sharp may look like it's in trouble, but that's not stopping it bringing new displays to the market, including today's announcement of the AQUOS Quattron 3D XL TV line. Behind the mouthful of acronyms, these LED-backlit LCD panels are the first to feature Sharp's Moth-Eye technology, designed to reduce glare and pump out bright colors, as well as a deep black. The company's 'four primary color' tech is partly responsible for the rich output, which squeezes a yellow sub-pixel in with the standard R, G and B. All the panels run at 1,920 x 1,080, as you'd expect, sport a 10 million to 1 contrast ratio and use five speakers to deliver audio. Prices aren't fixed, but the 46-, 52- and 80-inch models will be released in Japan on December 15th, while the 60- and 70-inch variants will come slightly earlier, on November 30th. You're going to have to be quick on launch day, though -- only 10,000 units are expected to be available in the first month.

Filed under: Displays, HD

Sharp announces first TVs with Moth-Eye technology: the AQUOS XL series originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/JAtsstJfYNw/

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Mystery Glow of Dark Matter Halos Fueled by Extragalactic Stars

Stars ripped from their home galaxies as they collide with other galaxies can get slung into giant invisible cocoons of dark matter, researchers say, which might explain mysterious radiation pervading the sky.

These findings suggest the halos of?dark matter?surrounding galaxies are not completely dark after all, but contain a small number of stars, investigators added.

In recent decades, satellite telescopes have detected more infrared light emanating from the sky than known galaxies could account for. Scientists had suggested this strange glow might come from sources too dim for observatories to see directly ? for instance, the earliest, most distant galaxies. If such primordial galaxies were responsible for this radiation, that might suggest far more of them existed than before thought, potentially radically altering notions of how the cosmos evolved.

Now, using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have viewed a sufficiently large enough patch of sky to help shed light on this infrared glow. The researchers found that neither primordial galaxies nor faint dwarf galaxies could explain fluctuations in this excess radiation seen across space.

"We have made new measurements of the glow and found it to be brighter in intensity by several orders of magnitude than the first galaxies," study lead author Asantha Cooray, a cosmologist at the University of California, Irvine, told SPACE.com.

Instead, the researchers suggest wandering stars in the gargantuan spherical halos of dark matter enveloping their home galaxies might be responsible for this mysterious light. Physicists think invisible, as-yet-unidentified dark matter makes up about 85 percent of all matter in the universe.

"These diffuse stripped halo stars explain the missing infrared glow," Cooray said.

These stars were likely torn from the main bodies of their galaxies during epic collisions with other galaxies. They may have also been stripped away from their original homes by other galaxies pulling at them with their gravity, just as the moon's gravity tugs at Earth's oceans to generate tides. [Photos of Great Galaxy Crashes]

"For a typical Milky Way-sized galaxy, the intensity of light coming from these halo stars is about 1 percent of the total light from that galaxy," Cooray said. "That fraction grows rapidly, to as high as 20 percent, in denser galaxy environments like galaxy groups and clusters, as collisions and tidal stripping are more frequent in dense regions of the universe."

Mostly, these stars were only exiled to the most distant outskirts of their home galaxies instead of getting hurled out into intergalactic space, trapped as they were by the gravitational pull of the dark matter halos surrounding their galaxies. Galaxies exist in dark matter halos that are much larger than the galaxies; when galaxies merge together, stars and gas sink to the middle of the resulting combined halo.

"If I sum all of the galaxies out to about a billion years since the Big Bang from today, the stripped diffuse stars contribute about 10 percent of the total infrared light intensity seen by Spitzer ? the rest is the light from galaxies," Cooray said. "The previous explanation attributed that 10 percent of unexplained intensity to primordial galaxies and stars, but the most recent estimates by a variety of authors, not just my group, are that the primordial galaxies contribute at most 0.5 percent."

Future research can see whether data from other telescopes and experiments will confirm the research team's model.

"These halo stars, while bright in the infrared, should also emit visible optical light," Cooray said. As such, the Hubble Space Telescope should be able to see these stars as well, he explained.

The scientists detailed their findings in the Oct. 25 issue of the journal Nature.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?&?Google+.

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mystery-glow-dark-matter-halos-fueled-extragalactic-stars-171003300.html

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Family of Teenager Killed by Energy Drink Files Suit

? Fourteen-year-old Anais Fournier was at home watching a movie when she suffered a heart attack last December. Doctors put Anais in an induced coma to reduce her brain swelling, but to no avail. She lived for six more days and then her family made the heartbreaking decision to remove her from life support. According to the autopsy, the cause of death was caffeine toxicity from an ?energy drink.?

Anais had drunk two 24-oz. Monster Energy drinks in a 24-hour period, up to just hours before her death. Combined, the two drinks contained 480 milligrams of caffeine, the equivalent of almost 14 cans of cola. The FDA requires that soft drinks contain no more than 71.5 mg of caffeine per 12 oz drink. However, the caffeine content of so-called ?energy drinks? such as Red Bull, Rockstar and Monster Energy is not regulated by the FDA because it is considered a ?dietary supplement? and not a food and not subject to the FDA?s caffeine restrictions. These energy drinks also contain guarana and taurine, stimulants that contain caffeine or produce similar effects on the cardiac muscles.

The R. Rex Parris Law Firm of Lancaster, California filed suit on behalf of the family on October 17th against Monster Energy for failing to warn about the product?s dangers. The case was filed in the Superior Court of California for the County of Riverside, Case No. RIC 1215551, Wendy Crossland and Richard Fournier, as surviving parents of Anais Fournier v. Monster Beverage Corporation. Among other claims, the lawsuit alleges strict product liability, failure to warn and negligence in the design, sale and manufacturing of the product. ?These energy drinks contain highly dangerous levels of caffeine and can be extremely harmful, but these grave health dangers are not clearly marked on the cans,? said Alexander R. Wheeler, a lawyer at the R. Rex Parris Law Firm. ?Anais?s family wants to make sure another family doesn?t have to endure the same tragedy as they have.?

Wendy Crossland, Anais? mother, said: ?I was shocked to learn the FDA can regulate caffeine in a can of soda, but not these huge energy drinks. With their bright colors and names like Monster, Rockstar, and Full Throttle, these drinks are targeting teenagers with no oversight or accountability. These drinks are death traps for young, developing girls and boys, like my daughter, Anais. Nothing will replace the love and vitality of Anais. I just want Monster Energy to know their product can kill. I want Anais? life to send a loud and clear message to today?s youth that energy drinks can kill. I would like nothing more than to have these drinks regulated by the FDA and ban the sale to minors.?

In the eight years between 2004 and 2012, sales of energy drinks have gone up 240%, and the FDA has reported six deaths and 18 hospitalizations associated with Monster Energy drinks. A report issued last year by the U.S. Department of Health and Services cited ten times as many emergency room visits associated with energy drinks between 2004 and 2009, totaling more than 16,000 visits in 2008 alone, leading some states such as Virginia to ban the use of the drinks during student athletic events.

?Monster, with their targeted marketing practices and promotion of energy drinks to teenagers, put profits over the safety of America?s youth,? said Kevin I. Goldberg, of Goldberg, Finnegan, and Mester, in Silver Spring, Maryland, a lawyer also representing the family. ?Nothing can bring Anais back, but we can tell the world these energy drinks are harmful. Our hope is discovery in this case will shed light on Monster Corporation?s practices regarding what they do or do not tell the public and FDA about the safety of their products.? Attorney Goldberg will be appearing pro hac vice in the case, along with Baltimore attorneys Michael A. Brown, Joseph W. Hovermill and Michael E. Blumenfeld of Miles & Stockbridge, P.C.

Fourteen-year-old Anais passed away December 23, 2011. She was an organ donor and her last acts were to save the life of a 40-year-old woman through the gifts of her kidney and pancreas, and giving sight to the blind through donation of her corneas. She is survived by her parents, her twin brother, Dorian, and younger sister, Jade.

Source: http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/18173/monster-energy-drink-lawsuit.html?ref=rss

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Five Simple Tools that Make it Crazy Easy Integrate Mobile Into Your ...

With more and more people using their phones to browse the Internet, it?s imperative that companies focus on developing mobile tools that can best showcase their products. This means being able to both create a strong brand identity, while being able to demonstrate excellent customer service and an understanding of individual user needs.

Some of the best mobile tools that can contribute to this effect include analytics like Tello, online pay services such as Obopay, and mobile interface builders like Hootsuite. These tools, and more, can significantly boost your business without costing a fortune.

What follows are five of the top tools you can use to

Tool #1: Tello. Tello is a tool that can help you gather information on customers. It uses a realtime feedback system whereby messages and quality reports can be added from different locations. Tello can help to boost and sharpen your marketing push by allowing you to respond to criticism, while building on positive feedback. The simple interface similarly means that you can tailor the tool to your particular business.

Tool #2: Obopay. An online pay tool that?s ideal for mobile phones, Obopay has been running since 2005, and makes it straightforward to set up and process transactions. This kind of tool is excellent for small to medium sized businesses that want potential customers to be able to buy from them in a safe and efficient way. Even better, Obopay is designed to be easily used by non-profits, and includes convenience fees, rather than transaction fees, as a core part of its appeal. Individual tools include widgets, text links, and web page buttons.

Tool #3: Tweetvite. Make use of the marketing potential of Tweetvite to communicate an event or product launch on a major scale. Tweetvite, also used for social gatherings, allows you to create a promotional page and launch address for events that can be sent out to all followers. RSPVs can also retweet the invite to their followers through hashtags, creating the potential to reach a huge number of people with a simple, low cost marketing tool.

Tool #4: Hootsuite: This tool is ideal for monitoring different social networks at the same time and feeding back mentions and conversions in realtime to a single dashboard. Recently added features like Hootsuite Conversations make it possible to create single chats and IMs across different social networks. The main strength of something like Hootsuite is that it enables you to much more effectively deal with different levels of traffic from social networks in a way that doesn?t overload you with information.

Tool #5: MobiCart. A tool that allows you to create your own mobile web storefront, MobiCat represents a straightforward way of adding an online shopping feature for your products. A template enables you to customize a storefront to your products and branding, with the further advantage of providing support outside of a traditional website. Other features include checkouts and self designed apps that can be integrated into an overall shopfront. Excellent if you just want to create a reliable mobile storefront for your business that doesn?t require a lot of technical knowledge.

Author Bio: Liam Ohm is a regular technology blogger with an interest in helping people make money. He highly recommends using cloud services as a great way of helping your business to become more efficient and organized.

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012, 7:37 pm ??|?? General Marketing??|??RSS feed |??Respond??|??Trackback

Source: http://60secondmarketer.com/blog/2012/10/23/mobile-business-tools/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mobile-business-tools

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Home Improvement Videos by The Handyguys

Moving to Home Improvement Videos?and Youtube

Then Handyguys Podcast is now moving primarily to a video format. To get all of our latest content and to see our home improvement videos, please subscribe to our youtube channel.? We will begin uploading new content in the next week or so and have already filmed 5 new episodes in the updated Handyguys Productions studio.

Why the Change?

We moved to home improvement videos?because our content benefits from our ability to visually demonstrate our topic at hand. We tried to make the move to video a couple of years ago but we did not have the resources or organization necessary at the time to make the leap. We now have a production crew, a wardrobe, set, lights and access to multiple cameras. Of course that requires significant capital investment. We hope to recoup some of that cost through youtube?s monetization system but also through other video production ventures. ?We think that our new-found ability to help out both our regular listeners and occasional visitors through short, targeted home improvement videos will benefit the DIY community. Get ready for shows on pneumatic nailers, garage shelving and cabinets, Ipe Decking, cutting the cable and more! ?As always, we encourage our listeners to provide feedback for our content. If you have?questions?or would like us to cover a specific topic, please use the contact form. As always?thank you for listening viewing the Handyguys Podacast and enjoy the show.

Tagged as: DIY, handyguys, home improvement, How to, Tools, Video Podcasts

Source: http://www.handyguyspodcast.com/2962/home-improvement-videos/

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Wine and fracking don't mix, say vineyard owners

Fred Frank poses for a photo in his vineyard at Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, N.Y., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Frank, grandson of Dr. Konstantin Frank, worries the region's carefully tended reputation is in danger if tourists who make the long trip up from the New York City area and elsewhere have to deal with traffic created by gas drilling. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

Fred Frank poses for a photo in his vineyard at Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, N.Y., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Frank, grandson of Dr. Konstantin Frank, worries the region's carefully tended reputation is in danger if tourists who make the long trip up from the New York City area and elsewhere have to deal with traffic created by gas drilling. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

Fred Frank poses for a photo in his vineyard at Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, N.Y., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Frank, grandson of Dr. Konstantin Frank, worries the region's carefully tended reputation is in danger if tourists who make the long trip up from the New York City area and elsewhere have to deal with traffic created by gas drilling. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

Fred Frank poses for a photo in his vineyard at Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, N.Y., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Frank, grandson of Dr. Konstantin Frank, worries the region's carefully tended reputation is in danger if tourists who make the long trip up from the New York City area and elsewhere have to deal with traffic created by gas drilling. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

Fred Frank poses for a photo in his vineyard at Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars in Hammondsport, N.Y., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. Frank, grandson of Dr. Konstantin Frank, worries the region's carefully tended reputation is in danger if tourists who make the long trip up from the New York City area and elsewhere have to deal with traffic created by gas drilling. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

The hillside vineyards of New York's Finger Lakes region make money producing fine Rieslings and inviting tourists to sip white wine by the water's edge. Now winery owners are worried about the prospect of a grittier kind of economic development: gas drilling.

Some grape growers fear that if shale gas drilling, or fracking, is allowed in this region of postcard-perfect hills and crystal-clear lakes, the muddy well sites and rumbling trucks will not only endanger the environment but threaten the Finger Lakes' reputation for pristine beauty.

In their view, wine does not pair well with drilling.

"If they allow hydro-fracking anywhere near us, tourism will be over and the industry will be done," said Art Hunt of Hunt Country Vineyards near Keuka Lake, N.Y.

Hunt owns one of the roughly 100 wineries that dot the gently sloping hills around the Finger Lakes, which has a grape-friendly micro-climate created by the deep, slender, hill-framed waters.

The upstate wine region about 200 miles northwest of New York City does not have the cachet of California's famous valleys, but it has garnered a global reputation over the past decade for its Rieslings. Many of the wineries are small operations and depend heavily on business from tourists who make their way from vineyard to vineyard along the scenic roads.

One prominent winery, Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars near Keuka Lake, averages 70,000 visitors a year. Dr. Frank was a World War II refugee from the Ukraine who brought the Finger Lakes into the modern era by successfully cultivating vinifera grapes in a region where winter temperatures commonly drop to 15 below zero.

His grandson Fred Frank worries the region's carefully tended reputation will be in danger if tourists who make the long trip up from the New York City area and elsewhere have to deal with traffic created by gas drilling.

"If they're in on traffic coming up a steep hill behind two or three tanker trucks crawling around at 5 mph, they're perhaps less likely to come back," Frank said.

The Finger Lakes sit atop the Utica shale formation and on the northern fringe of the Marcellus Shale formation, which is being tapped just across the state line in Pennsylvania through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The process involves the injection of massive amounts of chemically treated water into wells and is denounced by many environmentalists as a danger to drinking water supplies.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration is reviewing the environmental and health effects of fracking and will decide whether it can go forward in New York. It is unclear how long the review will take.

Fracking is a polarizing issue that pits residents eager for new economic activity in a job-hungry region against those with environmental concerns. More than 110 upstate New York municipalities have passed moratoriums or outright bans on gas drilling.

The sweet spot for fracking in New York is south of many Finger Lakes wineries, and some of them would be protected by local bans. But winery operators say an entire lake could be polluted with one spill of chemical-laden water. They say that would create not only an environmental hazard, but a public relations nightmare.

"If the drilling does come to the Finger Lakes, what I can see happening in a heartbeat given a couple of accidents, all of the sudden the consumers are going to say, 'Are your vineyards near any wells?'" said Peter Saltonstall of King Ferry Winery by Cayuga Lake. "If people start thinking something is wrong with it, then we are sunk. That's something I stay up nights and worry about."

The advocacy group New Yorkers Against Fracking lists dozens of Finger Lakes wineries that want fracking banned.

A spokesman for the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York, a trade group, said fears of a forest of rigs and roads choked with trucks are unfounded. The buildup in New York is expected to be slow, wells will be spaced far apart, and water used in the process will be drawn from nearby ponds, lakes and streams when possible, instead of being brought in by truck, spokesman Jim Smith said.

"The industry and tourism in general have coexisted very well in New York, and our expectation is that it will continue to do so and that when we look back on this, the tourism industry will see this as a benefit to their business," Smith said.

Allied with the drilling companies are hundreds of residents looking forward to new jobs or big profits from leasing their land to drillers. Some farmers are among those who would welcome the economic jolt.

"The drilling operation is temporary and then all there is is a pad and pipe sticking out of the ground," said Gerald Urda, who grows organic vegetables and fruit, including grapes, southeast of the Finger Lakes in Windsor, N.Y. "I think the two can coexist. It's not going to be drilling forever, and it's not going to be the whole area at once."

___

Hill reported from Albany, N.Y.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-10-23-Drilling%20vs%20Wine/id-92d8858393654223af12e9d87da50ffb

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The psychology of wealth creation - 6 rules - Property Investment ...

When I was younger I felt that ?the mind-set of wealth creation? was mere psycho-babble.?

I simply believed that if you worked harder you would better off. If you didn?t, you wouldn?t. And that was that!

Now, I?m a little older, and hopefully a little wiser, I know that the psychology of wealth creation is of real importance in achieving success. In fact, it?s vital.

It starts when you are born

Our internal beliefs concerning money and wealth were ingrained into our subconscious without us ever having realised it.

In this recent article, Michael Yardney asked us to consider what happened to us when we were young.

What did our parents teach us about money? Get a good job? Work hard? Rich people are to be mistrusted?

?Money doesn?t grow on trees, you know! We?ll never be able to afford that!?

These are powerful messages being programmed into our subconscious. It is important to remove your limiting beliefs about money if you want to build wealth.

Here are just 6 of the rules of the psychology of wealth creation which should be followed if wealth for the long term is your goal:

1 ? Increasing your self-esteem

Why is self-esteem relevant to wealth creation?

The reason is because if your self-esteem is low and you then achieve a level of success that exceeds what you believe you are worth, you will unconsciously sabotage your success.

Yardney uses the analogy of a thermostat: each of us has a financial thermostat that is programmed to a certain level. The temperature may fluctuate a little from time to time, but eventually we return to the level at which our thermostat is set.

A top consultant or specialist is comfortable with charging handsomely for his or her time because, in the words of the jarring L?Oreal ad, they believe ?they?re worth it?. It wouldn?t be possible without a commensurate level of self-esteem.

Share trading author and doyen Dr. Alexander Elder has always said that ?failure is a curable disease?.

He believes that if we can understand and recognise our own potential to self-sabotage then we can re-train our brains to think more positively. We can be cured of our propensity to make suboptimal decisions, he argues.

Further, Elder states, we will never be successful until we can remove this subconscious need to sabotage any outperformance of our expectations.

2 ? It pays to invest for the long term

Too many of us devise plans to make ourselves a little better off in the short term, but have no cogent plan for building wealth over the long term. True wealth and fortunes are built slowly but surely.

One oft-quoted example is that of the American Indians having sold the island of Manhattan to the Dutch leader Peter Minuit in 1626 for beads and trinkets worth just $24. Historians naturally noted that the American Indians were dealt a raw deal.

Yet controversially, revisionists argued that had the $24 from the beads and trinkets been invested safely at a rate of return of 8% per annum, the unhindered compound growth would have ensured that the trinkets could today buy back Manhattan in its entirety, with all of its prime-location real estate?leaving a few hundred million dollars over as walking around money.

Food for thought!

Following the principle and power of compound growth is the key to building wealth. If you can add some leverage ? the use of other people?s time and other people?s money ? you can join the ranks of the super-wealthy over time.

3 ? Study and counsel with wise men

If you want to be successful, learn from successful people. Find someone who has achieved what you want to achieve. Study and follow their methods.

You may even be able to learn from some of their mistakes and reach your goals even more quickly and completely than they did themselves.

This is a powerful tool known as ?modelling?. I consciously use it every day.

4 ? Pay yourself first

What do most of us do? Pay our mortgage, pay our bills, pay our credit cards and pay for other essentials. Then we look to see what is left over at the end of the month.

We need to see things another way. Invest a decent sum safely away first and then worry about the other payments thereafter. It sounds arrogant. It works.

5 ? Controlling expenditure

Financial freedom is about having passive income ? which flows to you regardless of whether your work ? that is greater than your outgoings. There are two variables in that equation that can be adjusted to achieve the goal.

One is to increase the passive income figure (through investment). The other is reducing the outgoings (through thrift).

Where are the holes in your financial foundations?

Where do you tend to spend big? Holidaying in Honolulu? Wasting at the Westfield? Squandering at Star City?

How can you plug the gaps?

6 ? Take action

It?s all very well studying these first five steps, but what really counts is taking massive and consistent action and simply never, ever giving up.

What is holding you back from starting today?

A fear of failure? A fear of losing money? You?re ?doing OK? without investing? When will you start to take action? Next month, next year, next decade?

You need to dare to be different to achieve wealth. Procrastination is the killer of all opportunity. Take action today!

?

Source: http://propertyupdate.com.au/the-psychology-of-wealth-creation-6-rules/

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CAMH protein discovery may lead to new treatment to prevent smoking relapse

Public release date: 22-Oct-2012
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Contact: Michael Torres
media@camh.ca
416-595-6015
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

For Immediate Release October 22, 2012 (Toronto) Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified a potential new approach to preventing smoking relapse, which occurs frequently in smokers who attempt to quit, despite current treatments.

"We have developed a protein peptide that may be a new type of highly targeted treatment to prevent smoking relapse," says Dr. Fang Liu, Senior Scientist in CAMH's Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Liu and her team initially found that nicotine exposure can enhance binding between two types of brain receptors a nicotinic receptor and a glutamate receptor. They identified the sites where the two receptors bind together. With this information, they were able to generate a protein peptide to disrupt the binding of the two receptors.

Working with CAMH Senior Scientist Dr. Anh Dzung Le, the peptide was then tested in an animal model of relapse. As anticipated, it had the effect of reducing attempts to seek nicotine.

"These discoveries present an avenue to develop an anti-smoking medication that directly targets the relapse process by focusing on this brain target," says Dr. Liu, whose study was published online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine today. "We hope that it will lead to an alternative treatment for smokers who aren't succeeding with current smoking cessation medications." A year after treatment with current medications, only about 20 per cent of people remain abstinent, past research shows.

"As research continues, future steps are to determine how this discovery can be translated into a novel intervention for patients," says Dr. Liu. "We are optimistic that our findings will lead to new options for treatment for smoking, which is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability and premature death in our society."

###

Media contact: Michael Torres, CAMH Media Relations, 416-595-6015; or by email at media@camh.ca

Anita Dubey, CAMH Research Communications, 416-535-8501 ext. 4932

Follow CAMH media updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/CamhMediaUpdate

Become a fan of CAMH's Official Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/CentreforAddictionandMentalHealth

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in its field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.

CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. For more information, please visit www.camh.ca

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 22-Oct-2012
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Contact: Michael Torres
media@camh.ca
416-595-6015
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

For Immediate Release October 22, 2012 (Toronto) Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified a potential new approach to preventing smoking relapse, which occurs frequently in smokers who attempt to quit, despite current treatments.

"We have developed a protein peptide that may be a new type of highly targeted treatment to prevent smoking relapse," says Dr. Fang Liu, Senior Scientist in CAMH's Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Liu and her team initially found that nicotine exposure can enhance binding between two types of brain receptors a nicotinic receptor and a glutamate receptor. They identified the sites where the two receptors bind together. With this information, they were able to generate a protein peptide to disrupt the binding of the two receptors.

Working with CAMH Senior Scientist Dr. Anh Dzung Le, the peptide was then tested in an animal model of relapse. As anticipated, it had the effect of reducing attempts to seek nicotine.

"These discoveries present an avenue to develop an anti-smoking medication that directly targets the relapse process by focusing on this brain target," says Dr. Liu, whose study was published online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine today. "We hope that it will lead to an alternative treatment for smokers who aren't succeeding with current smoking cessation medications." A year after treatment with current medications, only about 20 per cent of people remain abstinent, past research shows.

"As research continues, future steps are to determine how this discovery can be translated into a novel intervention for patients," says Dr. Liu. "We are optimistic that our findings will lead to new options for treatment for smoking, which is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability and premature death in our society."

###

Media contact: Michael Torres, CAMH Media Relations, 416-595-6015; or by email at media@camh.ca

Anita Dubey, CAMH Research Communications, 416-535-8501 ext. 4932

Follow CAMH media updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/CamhMediaUpdate

Become a fan of CAMH's Official Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/CentreforAddictionandMentalHealth

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in its field. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.

CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. For more information, please visit www.camh.ca

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/cfaa-cpd102212.php

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Wandering The Desert Of Time

We came from all different times. We remember very little of who we are. But we know that we must make the journey. And we want you to join us.

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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

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RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.

If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.

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Ex-Gov. Spitzer talks politics in NY's capital

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8 WAYS TO INSURE NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH SUCCESS, 10 ...

?

If you?ve considered launching a new innovation to grow your top line, you?re not alone. ?

According to?Forbes, 250,000 new products were introduced to the world in 2010 alone. We?re overwhelmed by so many new product entries, which range from sophisticated new technologies like?the Nest thermostat?and infomercial sensations like Pajama Jeans. To complicate things, brands are introducing new line extensions like Kraft Sizzling Salads, Disney Appmates, and a wealth of "new and improved" products from venerable brands like Gillette and Kleenex.

But the fact remains that the success rates of new product introductions and innovations have improved little over the last 20 years. Booz & Company reports 66% of new products fail within two years, and Doblin Group says a startling 96% of all innovations fail to return their cost of capital. This is due to a number of factors, including economic conditions, an explosion of consumer touchpoints, shifts in decision-making behavior, and the deluge of information marketers have to sift through to ensure they are up to speed with the latest trends.

Here are 8 steps any company can follow to increase their odds of growth and transformation through a new product launch:

1. Address head-on the number one reason for failure.?You can?t fake it if an innovation has no clear or compelling relevance to people?s lives. Companies often refuse to acknowledge a new product or service idea serves no strongly identified customer need, and they try to retrofit their marketing to compensate. Start by identifying a relevant, resonant role you could play in people?s lives. Then develop offerings and experiences that deliver it in a peremptory way.
2. Focus on the most critical rule of thumb for growth today--customer acquisition.?Get as many quality customers--even light, occasional users--as quickly as possible. More customers mean more sales, share, and with that, conversion to loyal, heavy users. In addition, new customers have a key attribute that every marketer should leverage--word of mouth. Forrester Research concludes the most valuable customer today is the one that may buy little but whose blog postings, online product reviews, and favorable word of mouth gets 10, 50 or 1,000 others to buy. The longer people are with a brand, the less they talk about it, but new customers are more likely to recommend a brand to their family and friends.
3. Face what you must really accomplish through Facebook.?Nielsen reveals that the number one reason a Facebook user ?likes? a brand is to receive a discount or special offer. Their research also shows 84% of users who ?like? a brand on Facebook never return to a brand?s page after exercising the incentive that got them there. This means the typical marketer?s Facebook strategy is doing little to grow their customer base, and worse, it could be inadvertently and dramatically hurting their margins. Marketers must ask themselves: What--beyond a discount--will both incent new customers to like my brand and habituate their interaction with it?
4. Think faster.?With the impatience of bosses and investors today, you can?t just obsess about how to quickly add quality customers. You also have to obsess about how to add them faster than anyone else in your category. Growing a customer base quickly is unlikely to come from building an e-commerce site and expecting people to find it only through search and blogs and Facebook. Getting lots of new customers quickly requires some sort of mass reach. From the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) to the World Advertising Research Center (WARC), the findings are quite consistent: Mass reach from traditional media is--at least for now-- still the most effective way to grow a customer base. It?s also the quickest way to jump-start search, online relationships, and e-commerce. Even the ?most viewed? YouTube videos get their biggest jolt with a mention in mass media. The very thing that can?t be done in social media is what traditional media does best: jump-start conversations. Social media then fuels these conversations.
5. Don?t be fooled by the hype.?Contrary to the buzz about the power of social media and apps, adding TV to the media mix still proves to be the most effective way to jump-start growth. One particularly interesting case is that of KAYAK.com, which launched only online and grew steadily over two years without mass advertising. Since adding TV to its marketing mix last year, sales experienced a dramatic lift. TV exposure can--even weeks later--drive a potential new customer to search for you.?
6. For maximum ROI, perfect your mix.?It?s a waste of time to debate whether TV or Facebook delivers it best. It?s more important to identify the ROI of the media mix that advances people through the purchase funnel--what medium best engages to drive a consumer to deeper engagement in another medium, and then habituates engagement or converts the interaction to a sale. Identify the mix that leads to the best conversion rate and then work continuously to improve it.?
7. Map your measurement.?Many marketers say they know the media or touchpoint path their consumer takes on their way to purchase--until asked to map it visually. Plotting the path takes a chart with a horizontal axis of touchpoints, and a vertical axis with the steps and stages of the buying process. Identifying the elements of each axis and then tracking the order and incidence of each forces marketers to confront what they know and don?t know, like: What is the entry point into people?s lives for a new category or product? Where and when can one maximize reach? Where are people falling off the path to purchase? What message is best at each touchpoint to move a person to the next stage of their decision-making? The ultimate benefit of mapping is identifying the mix of touchpoints and messages that drive the best conversion rate. It?s almost never one medium or message but a mix that, with the right analytics, can always be improved and optimized.?
8. Prepare yourself: Your launch never ends.?Marketers must face that their launch will be forever in beta, a state of continuous improvement that prevents the brand from losing momentum, or worse, stalling out. Studies confirm that marketers who assume their launch is over, who pull back, who stop innovating, or who let share of voice fall below their market share, do not fare well.?

While embracing any one of these ideas can make a difference in the launch of a new initiative, really increasing one?s odds of success will come from bringing them together in a comprehensive strategic marketing plan. As so many successful company leaders have confessed: The best way to predict the future is to create it for yourself.?

COMMENTARY: ??

10 Common Product Launch Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

Every year there are thousands of new products that hit the market. The vast majority of them are failures. Making even one mistake can ruin your product launch. With so many intangibles in the process, it makes sense why there are so many things that can go wrong. Let?s look at some of them.

1. Assuming There?s A Need?For Your Product -?Just because you think that your product will be a success doesn?t mean that anyone else will. Poor research in the product development phase can lead to this problem. Will people choose your product over the competition? What makes your product different from the competition? These are questions with answers that should be determined long before a product can be brought to market.
2. Being Too Much Like the Competition -?This is the single most repeated mistake that businesses make. There are always going to be some similarities between products, like Pepsi and Coke or Chevy and Ford. You still want to carve out as much of an identity as possible. If you are aware of the position that your product occupies in the market place, you should be able to avoid this.
3. The Product Doesn?t Live Up To Expectations -?History is littered with products that were pushed into the market before they were ready. Companies think that they can overlook quality issues and just get it out there. Cell phone manufacturers are notorious for this. The thinking is that any software glitches can be ironed out after the product is in the hands of the consumer. All it does is cause ill will on the part of your customers.
4. Not Being Fast Enough -?You must meet your product deadline. If you?ve done your job right, customers will be heavily anticipating your launch. If you don?t come through on your promise, people will doubt that you can come through on anything else. ?It?s better to work as hard as you can and finish before that date, than miss it. Follow these points to avoid wasting your time:
   1. Give your team a goal that is sooner than the one that you?re giving to the public. This helps to keep everybody motivated.
   2. Constantly re-evaluate those goals. Since your internal goal will be sooner than your external one, you should have plenty of time to make it. If you?re always on top of your timeline, you won?t be caught off guard if there are delays.
   3. Establish touch points. As you work toward your product goals, divide them into 5 or 6 smaller achievements so that you can keep an eye on your progress. For example: 20 days before launch, your plans for your launch event will be complete; 30 days before launch, your marketing materials will be complete, etc.
5. Poorly Defined Problem -?Another avenue that can derail your launch is if your team is unsure about what problem your new product is supposed to address in the first place. If you and your team understand the problems of your customers differently, it may be difficult to get everyone together to solve that problem. If your team is confused about the purpose of the product, it will be impossible to solve the issue. This can also lead to conflict between members of your team. ?Either way, communication is the key to success. If you don?t think everyone is on the same page, ask them how they see the product solving the problem. Asking questions is a fundamental way to solve problems.
6. Ignoring The User -?If you?re launching a new product, it only makes sense that you?d want to test the public for feedback. But this isn?t always the case. A lot of times, people who develop products don?t really care about engaging with customers. If you aren?t comfortable with the idea of doing prototype testing of your products with people who have never seen it before, then you need to have someone else do it. Ignoring users gives you a product that no one wants.
7. They?re Afraid To Fail -?People will delay product launches over and over again out of fear. They think their item or service won?t be as good as what they competition is offering. They think that people will look down on them, and this makes them hold back. ?There is nothing more difficult than launching a product that is intended to surpass a favorite of customers. But really, what?s the worst that can happen? Yes, you can fail, yes, it might be expensive, but thousands of successful people have failed before you. You miss 100% of the shots that you don?t take. Failure can be a great teacher. Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, the company he started, only to come back and be much more successful than before. That failure was arguably the best thing that ever happened to him.
8. Too Many Distractions -?One of the keys to a successful product launch is focusing on the task at hand. The time frame around the development and launch of your new product should be about nothing else but preparing for that launch. Eliminate as many distractions as possible; it?s key that you keep them to a minimum. Remind your team that the launch needs to be their focus as well. Put reminders of the product launch date everywhere so that no one forgets.
9. Developing a Product For Technology Most People Don?t Have -?Sometimes a company will attempt to capitalize on the newest-cutting edge technology. There?s nothing wrong with that in theory, but if a platform is too advanced or too expensive, much of the general public won?t use it. Software designed for an operating system that only genius super-hackers use won?t get very much exposure. ??Conversely, don?t base your product on outdated, obsolete technology. Designing Commodore 64 game today probably wouldn?t be very lucrative.
10. Spending Too Much On The Launch Itself -?The launch is the kickoff for your new product; don?t blow your whole budget on it. Your new product needs ongoing support to ensure that it is a success. You?ll want to continue to build on its awareness with a combination of advertising, social media, public relations, and other marketing techniques to help it succeed.

Conclusion

It is extremely difficult to launch a new product successfully. Some estimates put the failure rate of new products as high as 95%. With hard work and attention to these 10 areas, hopefully you can avoid the mistakes that others have faced

The Three New Product Launch Phases

• Phase 1?-?Pre-Launch?phase is where you build a list of prospective buyers in your target market. In this phase you create and tweak your sales process until it is very solid and you create a buzz around the product which will promote awareness.
• Phase 2????Launch Day?, is the day that all your affiliates and JV partners will help to promote your product. To help increase sales, you put some kind of scarcity or deadline on your offer ? so that you can get as many sales as possible.
• Phase 3???Post-Launch?phase usually has two parts to it, first part is where you create an additional bonus or bonuses to prevent buyers? remorse and reduce refunds. The second part is to figure out how you will continue making more sales so that your site will not just have the launch spike and then fade into the deep blue sea.

These 3 phases of product launches may seem simple, but the truth is only a few marketers are able to pull them off leaving those that have not followed this new product launch checklist well and truly down on sales and profits.

By following these 3 phases successful product launches should become the norm and not leave you scratching your head and wondering what else you need to do to increase sales.

Alpha and Beta Testing or Readiness Validation?

Always thoroughly test your new product in order to discover any design, mechanical or electronic design flaws, errors or omissions. ? Failure to test your new product or service can lead to embarassement, ?a costly product recall, refunding customers or lawsuits due to dangerous products. New product testing should include both an Alpha Test and a Beta Test. ?This is commonly referred to as A/B Testing. ? If you are a software developer, below are the important steps in an A/B Testing.

• Alpha Testing?- The first testing should occur in-house with different operating systems and different hardware configurations. An alpha version may not yet contain all of the planned features, and may lack documentation. Use virtual systems or test drives to fully test software with various operating systems and patches. ?Thorough alpha testing will make beta testing run smoother.
  • Use people within your organization that are unfamiliar with your software. If you don't have anyone available in your organization consider asking family and friends.
  • Before moving an alpha product, to a beta product consider having an "ignorant" user do a complete install. Silently watching the tester, will give you a birdseye view into user habits and potential problems during the install process.
• Beta Testing?- Beta testing is considered the second phase of software testing. Beta tests are typically external tests to identify any performances issues or bugs prior to an official release. Beta tests can be open or closed. A closed beta test is used to control the number of users participating. An open test is open to anyone who has an interest in beta testing.

Why Beta Testers are Important

Beta testers are important because it is almost impossible for developers to test their software in all of the various conditions that might occur. Software should never be released without thorough beta testing. It is impossible to predict or test software on all kinds of hardware with other applications.

Some developers segment the closed beta into different release stages so they can maximize feedback. Historically the majority of feedback is received from beta testers within the first week of the beta release. ?It is highly recommended that you use a minimum of 100 beta testers for your new product. ?This will allow you to?

100 Beta Testers

• Week 1 - Alert 1st Group of Testers (34 testers) of beta availability. Bugs found and fixed.
• Week 3 - Alert 1 & 2nd Group of Testers (33 testers) of beta Bugs found and fixed?
• Week 5 - Alert 1, 2 & 3 Group of Testers (33 testers)

Solicit Testers?

Use all communication channels to solicit testers. Existing users are the best testers because they are familiar with software and use specific software features.

1. Offer Incentives?- Lets face it its not easy to convince users to try buggy software
   1. free registered version for feedback?
   2. discount on registered version for registered beta testers
   3. payment for finding bugs
   4. make beta testing a benefit
2. Layout Beta Test Expectations?- Beta testers should have a good understanding of their role as a beta tester. Educating beta testers will go a long way to improving the quality of feedback that you receive. Provide details on the information they should provide any bug reports.
3. Know What to Ask?- If a user reports a problem, ask the right questions, so that you can attempt to reproduce the problem.
4. Dialogue is Important?- You should be sure that you have an open channel of communication with beta testers. Respond to their queries in a timely fashion (24 hours) and always thank them!
5. Forum?- Create a forum for beta testers to post questions and concerns. Post file updates to the beta forum. Create a specific section of the website that contains beta information.
6. Use Exit Surveys in Beta?- Use exit surveys in the beta version. This will not only give you statistical information about uninstalls, but will also provide details about why users uninstalled.
7. Weak Documentation?- Be sure to mention any holes in the documentation, and where the testers can get any additional information that they might require.
8. Provide Upgrade Details?- Be sure to provide details for users that are using an existing version of the software and looking to test the beta version. Double check prior to releasing the beta version that the user's data will remain intact through the upgrade. Also, check to make sure they have an adequate key or code for the beta version so that it does not expire.
9. Make Beta Versions Backwards Compatible?- Can users go back to their old version if they do not like the new version? In other words will their registration key work in both the new and old version? Is there a drop dead date, which will prevent testers from using the software for an extended period? Be upfront about these issues so beta testers know what they are getting into.
10. Don't Rush It?- It takes time to conduct a thorough beta test, don't rush it.

Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap that their first new product prototype will meet or exceed all expectations coming out of the gate. ?Taking a product from raw concept stage to finished and fully-functional prototype may not always end well for numerous reasons. ?I have known of numerous cases where the finished prototype failed to work or look like the original concept drawings. ?It was either poorly designed to begin with, it was too big or too small, failed to work properly and there wa no "Aha" moment when you first saw it. ?

You cannot compete effectively in a market by producing new products with just incremental changes. Your new product must leap the competition with new technology innovations that do not currently exist. ?It must be able to solve problems or fill needs that are not presently met by alternative products. ?Steve Jobs said it quite appropriately when he said that Apple makes products that "people lust for" and you must be prepared to "put a dent in the universe." ??

Finally, if you have created a truly unique and leading edge new product that is worth protecting, try to obtain trademarks and patent protection if possible. ?Investors will look at you and your new product more positively if you can show that you have filed the necessary paperwork to protect their investment. ?

Courtesy of an article dated April 4, 2012 appearing in Fast Company and an article appearing in Effective Software Beta Testing

Source: http://tommytoy.typepad.com/tommy-toy-pbt-consultin/2012/10/8-ways-to-ensure-your-new-product-launch-succeeds.html

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Former Senator George McGovern dies, aged 90

By NBC News staff

Former Senator George McGovern, who lost a 1972 presidential bid to?Richard Nixon in a historic landslide,?died early Sunday, his family said in a statement.

The 90-year-old passed away?at a hospice in?Sioux Falls, SD.

Steve Hildebrand, a spokesman for the family, issued a statement to NBC News which read: "At approximately 5:15 am CT [6: 15 a.m. ET] this morning, our wonderful father, George McGovern passed away peacefully at the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls, SD, surrounded by our family and life-long friends.

"We are blessed to know that our father lived a long, successful and productive life advocating for the hungry, being a progressive voice for millions and fighting for peace.

"He continued giving speeches, writing and advising all the way up to and past his 90th birthday, which he celebrated this summer."

McGovern was a bomber pilot in World War II who became an early critic of the Vietnam War and a leader of the Democrats' liberal wing.? ?He was elected to his first of three Senate terms in 1962.

McGovern ran for president three times, also making a try for the nomination in 1968 and 1984.? ?Despite the 1972 Watergate break-in, Nixon won a second term by a huge landslide.

There will be more on this story shortly.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/21/14592769-former-senator-george-mcgovern-dies-aged-90?lite

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