H&R Block 2Q loss narrows as revenue rises

 H&R Block's fiscal second-quarter loss narrowed, helped by cost-cutting efforts. Revenue climbed mostly because of a strong tax season in Australia.The nation's largest tax preparation company typically turns in a loss in the August-to-October period because it takes in most of its revenue during the U.S. tax season. H&R Block's quarterly performance beat analysts' estimates and its...

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Hurricane Sandy Victims Find Refuge on Timeshare Marketplace RedWeek.com

Timeshares are not only for fun vacation getaways, as evidenced by the story of RedWeek.com members Bob and Jody; left homeless by Hurricane Sandy last month. With the holidays approaching, Bob and Judy turned to leading timeshare marketplace RedWeek.com to secure a timeshare rental in New York City.Seattle, WA (PRWEB) December 19, 2012Timeshares are not only for fun vacation getaways, as evidenced...

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Pure-Ecommerce.com Introduces Its New 2013 Premier Internet Business Site Collection Featuring Upgraded Designs, Larger Product Counts, and Video and Mobile Marketing

14 New Pure-Ecommerce.com Internet Businesses for Sale in the Most Popular Niche Markets in the Online MarketplaceCARY, NC (PRWEB) December 19, 2012Pure-Ecommerce.com introduces its 2013 Premier Internet Business Site Collection. This incredible new collection of 14 internet businesses for sale has been created in some of the most popular niche markets in the online marketplace. The Collection includes:...

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Escape Villas Offers Family Vacation Rentals for the Holidays

Trade the cold winter weather in North America for a tropical Christmas vacation in Costa Rica, where travelers can spend their holidays enjoying outdoor family adventures in the comfort of an Escape Villa family vacation rental.Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica (PRWEB) December 19, 2012As the holiday season approaches, more Americans are planning to travel for Christmas compared to 2011, according to a...

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Shiny Reputation Highlights Airbnb for their Focus on Local Neighborhood Information

Shiny Reputation proclaims their opinion on the recent launch of Airbnb’s Neighborhoods program, in which they are looking to narrow the focus of their site to concentrate on services in local neighborhoods where rental properties are located.San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) December 19, 2012Shiny Reputation has issued an announcement about the launch of the Airbnb Neighborhood program, which seeks to give...

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KSL Cars Adds Contact At Once! Live Chat in Ads

Utah Dealerships Can Integrate Chat to Connect with Potential BuyersAtlanta (PRWEB) December 19, 2012Contact At Once!, the leading live chat provider connecting online and mobile car shoppers to auto dealers, today announced that it has been selected by KSL Cars, Utah’s leading online marketplace, as its exclusive provider of live chat for automotive advertising. KSL Cars will bundle Contact At Once!...

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South Africa's Tutu prays for Mandela

 South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu says he is praying for a prompt recovery for former leader Nelson Mandela, who has been hospitalized for more than two weeks.Radio 702, a South African station, on Sunday broadcast an interview with Tutu in which he says he exchanged telephone text messages about Mandela with the anti-apartheid icon's wife, Graca Machel.Mandela who is 94, has been hospitalized...

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South Africa: Mandela's hospital stay extended

Former South African leader Nelson Mandela will probably spend Christmas Day in a hospital because his doctors want to be satisfied his health has improved satisfactorily before sending him home, a South African media outlet reported Sunday.Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said the physicians caring for Mandela had given no indication of an "imminent discharge" from a hospital in Pretoria, the capital,...

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Mali Islamists destroy Timbuktu mausoleums

A tourism official says that Islamist extremists destroyed four mausoleums in Timbuktu Sunday.The director of Mali's Timbuktu tourism office, Sane Chirfi, said that Ansar Dine rebels linked to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb tore down the mausoleums, which were historic but not included on the United Nations list of World Heritage sites. The mausoleums housed the remains of Muslim scholars and teachers...

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Traditions in Chad harm, kill underfed children

On the day of their son's surgery, the family woke before dawn. They saddled their horses and set out across the 12-mile-long carpet of sand to the nearest town, where they hoped the reputed doctor would cure their frail, feverish baby.The neighboring town, almost as poor and isolated as their own, hosts a foreign-run emergency clinic for malnourished children. But that's not where the family headed.The...

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Tablet as teacher: Poor Ethiopian kids learn ABCs

The kids in this volcano-rim village wear filthy, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts made of sticks and mud. They don't go to school. Yet they all can chant the English alphabet, and some can spell words.The key to their success: 20 tablet computers dropped off in their Ethiopian village in February by a group called One Laptop Per Child.The goal is to find out whether children...

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Video game shares down in wake of shooting

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shares of video game makers and sellers fell Thursday in the aftermath of a mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, which has renewed debate about violent gamesand their potential influence on crime. Shares of GameStop Corp., whose stores sell video games as well as systems like the Xbox and Wii, fell 5 percent in afternoon trading. Investors are...

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North Korea’s first video game: A boring version of ‘Crazy Taxi’ that nitpicks your bad driving

In theory, a driving game set in North Korea could be fun — it could revolve around delivering kidnapped movie stars from the airport to Dear Leader’s headquarters, for instance. In reality, though, it looks as though playing a driving game set in North Korea is about as much fun as actually living in North Korea. Business Insider’s Gus Lubin has posted his first impressions of “Welcome to Pyongyang,”...

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Brain Benefits for the Holidays? Stuff the Stocking with Video Games

Happy holidays! As the year draws to a close, one thing I'm celebrating is the fun I've had helping put together the magazine I edit, Scientific American Mind. I am looking forward to working on new articles and projects in 2013. (We have some surprises in store.) I'm pleased about my growing and attentive audience for Streams of Consciousness, too. Thank you for reading, thinking and, when you have...

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Video games and shooting: Is the NRA right?

After a week of silence following the Sandy Hook school shooting that killed 20 first graders and six staff in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association blamed the entertainment industry – specifically the producers of violent video games for inciting what has become a pattern of gun violence in the United States.In describing the industry, NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, “There exists...

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Atheist Kids and Bullying: Just an Xbox and a Football Game Away From Redemption

I’ll never forget the year my eight-year-old daughter came home from school saying she got in trouble for going to the bathroom.“I was afraid,” she said, “that the devil was coming out of the mirror to get me.... I wanted Aya to stay with me until I was done.”Like any parent, I sat her down and asked her to tell me why she would ever think a mirror could spawn something as terrifying as that.“Susie...

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Violence, fear & suspicion imperil Pakistan's war on polio

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani health worker Bushra Bibi spent eight years trekking to remote villages, carefully dripping polio vaccine into toddlers' pursed mouths to protect them from the crippling disease. Now the 35-year-old mother is too scared to go to work after masked men on motorbikes gunned down nine of her fellow health workers in a string of attacks this week. "I have seen...

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Egypt's constitution approved in vote, say rival camps

CAIRO (Reuters) - A constitution drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly was approved by a majority of Egyptians in a referendum, rival camps said on Sunday, after a vote the opposition said drove a wedge through the Arab world's most populous nation.The Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled President Mohamed Mursi to power in a June election, said 64 percent of voters backed the charter after two...

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Egypt's draft charter gets 'yes' majority in vote

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist-backed constitution received a "yes" majority in a final round of voting on a referendum that saw a low voter turnout, but the deep divisions it has opened up threaten to fuel continued turmoil.Passage is a victory for Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, but a costly one. The bruising battle over the past month stripped away hope that the long-awaited constitution would...

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North Korea could have U.S. within missile range, says South

SEOUL (Reuters) - This month's rocket launch by reclusive North Korea shows it has likely developed the technology, long suspected in the West, to fire a warhead more than 10,000 km (6,200 miles), South Korean officials said on Sunday, putting the U.S. West Coast in range.North Korea said the December 12 launch put a weather satellite in orbit but critics say it was aimed at nurturing the kind of...

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Consumer sentiment stalls ahead of Black Friday

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment weakened in November as the holiday shopping period was getting underway amid growing uncertainty over federal tax and spending programs next year, a survey released on Wednesday showed.The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on consumer sentiment came in at 82.7, a touch up from 82.6 in October but down from a preliminary reading of 84.9...

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DrugRisk Announces Updated Information on Mirena Lawsuits

The Drug Risk Resource Center is the Web’s largest source for information on medical device research, side effects and legal news. Visit http://www.DrugRisk.comNew York, NY (PRWEB) December 22, 2012Prescription drug resource center DrugRisk.com is alerting patients using Mirena IUDs that it has added information about litigation surrounding the devices to its comprehensive database, including a recently-filed...

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New Research and Development Chef at Fresh Origins Microgreens :all in the family.

Farmer's daughter is now Fresh Origins' new Chef! She's cooking up some delicious ideas for their Microgreens, Edible Flowers and other unique ingredients.San Marcos, California (PRWEB) December 22, 2012Microgreens aren’t the only thing growing at Fresh Origins! Family member, Kelly Sasuga has developed many skills, and is now the farm’s Research and Development Chef .Kelly graduated from the University...

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