Myanmar to hold trial FX auctions before April float: source

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's government plans to hold trial foreign exchange auctions in March before floating the currency from April 1, the start of the 2012/13 fiscal year, a central bank official said on Monday.

The float would mark the most substantial economic reform yet by Myanmar's new government and coincides with political reforms that are ending half a century of isolation in the former British colony also known as Burma.

"Arrangements are under way to float the kyat against the U.S. dollar effective April 1 through a sealed auction system," the official told Reuters, declining to be named.

"It's a managed float system. Every day the central bank will invite sealed bids for a certain amount of U.S. dollars from 11 private banks, which have been granted Authorized Dealer Licenses," the official said.

The trials had been suggested by the International Monetary Fund, which is advising Myanmar's one-year-old civilian government on unifying its various exchange rates, the official added.

A central bank presentation seen by Reuters on March 6 had outlined the plans for a managed float in the fiscal year starting in April, but it stopped short of identifying when the kyat would be floated.

The official said the government had calculated the national budget for the year from April 1 using an exchange rate of 800 kyat per dollar, which is around where the black market rate has been in recent weeks.

Since 1977, the kyat has been pegged to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) special drawing rights, with one dollar equaling 6.4 kyat.

Last March the former military junta made way for a nominally civilian government that embarked on a major reform drive, freeing hundreds of political prisoners, loosening media controls and engaging with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement.

DELICATE TASK

The kyat's unofficial rate, used in most transactions, has jumped from more than 1,000 per dollar in 2009 as foreign money has flowed into the timber, energy and gem sectors. That has hurt a swathe of Burmese, from farmers and manufacturers to traders and employees of foreign firms paid in dollars.

The official rate is used for government revenue and for imports by some state-owned enterprises. As a result, state revenue is grossly underestimated and some critics say it is likely vast sums of that money have been kept off the books and quietly smuggled out of the country into offshore bank accounts held by cronies of the former junta.

Currency reform is a delicate task whose prospect unsettles many ordinary Burmese. In 1987, the sudden cancellation of certain banknote denominations by late dictator General Ne Win wiped out many people's savings and helped trigger a pro-democracy uprising the following year that the military crushed by killing and wounding thousands.

A team of IMF advisers came in November to look at reforming the currency and unifying the rates. Myanmar is one of only 17 countries that still have dual exchange rates and even the IMF has only three experts on how to unify them.

As big as France and Britain combined, the resource-rich country sits strategically between India, China and Southeast Asia with ports on the Indian Ocean and Andaman Sea, all of which have made it a coveted energy-security asset for Beijing's western provinces.

Bordering five countries, Myanmar offers multiple avenues of Asian engagement as U.S. President Barack Obama shifts focus from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan towards economic growth and security in the Asia-Pacific region.

But U.S. and European sanctions, woeful infrastructure, weak investment laws, a crippled banking system and a shortage of skilled Burmese have taken a toll on the country.

Some expect sanctions to begin to be lifted if by-elections on April 1, in which Suu Kyi will run for parliament, are free and fair. A November 2010 general election was widely criticised as a sham.

(Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Alan Raybould and Jason Szep)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/myanmar-hold-trial-fx-auctions-april-float-source-120509993.html

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Smoking Gun Two sources.The Unitarian Church and Obama's Religious Upbringing

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Skip to comments.

Smoking Gun Two sources.The Unitarian Church and Obama's Religious Upbringing
American Thinker, CSPAN 3 ^ | 12/27/2008 | Andrew Walden

Posted on 03/09/2012 10:57:40 PM PST by Jahoohio

Please see the video at http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/StreetMo This is video at the Unitarian church in San Fransisco, Ca,this is sure to be wiped from the web, can anyone capture ? Also look at the Unitarian own website and see how they are supporting the Occupy movement and revolution.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...

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TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: revolutionoccupy

I hope I can figure out how to capture this.

1 posted on 03/09/2012 10:57:44 PM PST by Jahoohio

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To: Jahoohio

I saved it as a complete html file and had no problems.

2 posted on 03/09/2012 11:10:58 PM PST by skr (May God confound the enemy)

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To: skr

I screened captured as well.

3 posted on 03/09/2012 11:12:27 PM PST by imemyself

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To: Jahoohio

We have a Unitarian Church right here in Austin, TX.

Has strange McDonald?s-type M arced entrance. Hm

4 posted on 03/09/2012 11:14:12 PM PST by txhurl (Thank you, Andrew Breitbart. In your untimely passing, you have exposed these people one last time.)

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To: Jahoohio

Article reports that Obama?s mother attend uber liberal Unitarian churches in Honolulu and Mercer Island that were basically communist.

This contradicts Dreams of My Father in which Obama lies and says that his family never affiliated with any denomination.

5 posted on 03/09/2012 11:15:29 PM PST by garjog

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To: txhurl

I?ve never seen any cars actually entering or exiting the church, and I drive by it all the time.

6 posted on 03/09/2012 11:17:17 PM PST by txhurl (Thank you, Andrew Breitbart. In your untimely passing, you have exposed these people one last time.)

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To: txhurl

I?ve never seen any cars actually entering or exiting the church, and I drive by it all the time.

7 posted on 03/09/2012 11:17:17 PM PST by txhurl (Thank you, Andrew Breitbart. In your untimely passing, you have exposed these people one last time.)

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To: garjog

Communism wasn?t a denomination back then.

8 posted on 03/09/2012 11:18:19 PM PST by CT (Make Mine Newt)

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To: Jahoohio

So one of Obambi?s Unitarian pals led 25 tours to the old Soviet Union thus helping oppress the Alexander Solzhenitsyns of that era. No one could fail to see on those tours that as a tourist you were not allowed to go out of your hotel alone and wander the streets. The oppression and the lack of consumer goods would be obvious to all but the willfully blind.

9 posted on 03/09/2012 11:29:45 PM PST by Monterrosa-24 (...even more American that a French bikini and a Russian AK-47.)

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To: Pontiac

10 posted on 03/09/2012 11:34:41 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)

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To: Jahoohio

you captured the video at c-span ?

11 posted on 03/09/2012 11:50:35 PM PST by Jahoohio

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

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Source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2857168/posts

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Locklear takes over at US Pacific Command

HONOLULU (AP) ? The commander of NATO-led operations that helped Libyan rebels overthrow Moammar Gadhafi is taking over as the top U.S. military commander in Asia and the Pacific.

Adm. Samuel Locklear will succeed Adm. Robert Willard as head of the U.S. Pacific Command in a ceremony Friday at Camp H.M. Smith, a Marine base outside Honolulu where the command has its headquarters.

Locklear comes to the position as the Obama administration implements as a new defense strategy that places more emphasis on Asia in recognition of the region's growing economic importance and China's rise as a military power.

Under the strategy announced in January, the U.S. plans to expand its alliances and develop India as a long-term strategic partner.

Locklear last month told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing that China's military buildup is a source of strategic uncertainty. He described the current military relationship as "cooperative but competitive."

"It would be my plan to in every way possible improve our military-to-military relationship, with the recognition that there are things we won't agree on, that greater transparency is for the good of all of us to avoid miscalculation," Locklear told the committee.

Willard, the outgoing commander, has said that U.S.-China military ties have been maintained at a senior level but China is reluctant to have tactical and operational ties with the U.S.

In the past, Beijing has stymied bilateral military exchanges in response to U.S. arms sales to the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Locklear brings "great talents" to his new job, and praised the admiral's performance during the campaign against Gadhafi's forces. He noted some questioned whether the operation could succeed.

"Bringing that many nations together to go after targets in Libya and be able to coordinate that, to develop targets and then distribute those targets to various countries ? that's a huge responsibility," Panetta told reporters in Hawaii on Thursday. "And yet, Sam Locklear was able to put that operation together."

Locklear graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1977. He has commanded the U.S. 3rd Fleet and the Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group.

Most recently he commanded U.S. Navy in Europe and Africa.

The Pacific Command is responsible for an area stretching from the U.S. West Coast to India. It oversees some 325,000 military and civilian personnel ? about one-fifth of the military's payroll.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/locklear-takes-over-us-pacific-command-094235352.html

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Cells may spare kidney transplant rejection drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) ? An experimental technique seems to be freeing some kidney transplant patients from having to take anti-rejection drugs.

Researchers transplanted certain cells from the kidney donor's bone marrow along with the new organ. Five of eight transplant recipients who tried the method so far were off immune-suppressing medication up to 2? years later, the researchers reported Wednesday.

The preliminary results were considered important enough to be published in the journal Science Translational Medicine even though the study still is under way, because the technique worked for patients who didn't have well-matched or related donors.

The idea is that if a sort of twin immune system takes root and lasts, it can allow the patient's body to accept the foreign organ and not attack it, said study co-author Dr. Suzanne Ildstad of the University of Lousville. Scientists call it chimerism.

"The most reliable indicator of really being successful at taking someone off immune-suppressing drugs is durable chimerism," says Ildstad, who teamed with doctors at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital for the research.

Transplant recipients usually must take multiple immune-suppressing pills for life to prevent rejection of their new organ. Those drugs cause lots of side effects, such as raising the risk of cancer and kidney damage.

Other scientists are attempting to tap bone marrow to induce immune tolerance, with varying success.

Ildstad's approach transfuses a special mix of bone marrow cells including blood-producing stem cells and another type named "facilitating cells" that are thought vital for a successful transplant. She filters out still other cells that can become too aggressive and cause a life-threatening disorder named graft-versus-host disease.

Transplant recipients had radiation and chemotherapy, not destroying their own bone marrow but tamping it down to make space for the donated cells, explained study co-author Dr. Joseph Leventhal, a Northwestern transplant surgeon. Five patients who had the dual immunity a year later were weaned off all drugs. Two others whose hybrid immunity faded are faring well using a low dose of one anti-rejection drug. One patient needed a repeat transplant after an infection and didn't get to try weaning.

Much more study is needed to find the best approach but "the results are striking," Dr. Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital wrote in an accompanying editorial. He is part of a team that in 2008 reported the only other success with a small number of mismatched transplants.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-03-07-Transplant-Immunity/id-78ffc3baab8e43b6bda089d6241b357f

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Natural oil seepage off Santa Barbara takes a toll on seabirds

Oil seeping from the ocean floor off Santa Barbara is taking a toll on seabirds that are turning up by the dozens along the Southern California coastline coated in crude oil and tar.

The naturally occurring oil bubbles up and afflicts birds every winter, but wildlife rescuers in recent weeks have seen an unusual influx of oiled seabirds stranded on the shore as far south as Orange County, with the region's main rehabilitation center in San Pedro busy treating 140 of them since Jan. 1.

Accounting for most of the increase are common murres, penguin-like aquatic birds from Central and Northern California that spend most of their lives on the water, diving hundreds of feet below the ocean surface to grab small fish and squid.

"The murres have been a new thing for us," said Julie Skoglund, manager of International Bird Rescue's wildlife center in San Pedro. "Over the last three years, we've really seen a lot of them."

Scientists believe the murre population is growing and expanding south, putting the football-sized birds at greater risk of diving into waters slicked by Southern California's oil leaks, the most significant of which are found in the Santa Barbara Channel near Coal Oil Point, where thousands of gallons of oil seep into the ocean each day.

When oil and tar get stuck in the murres' feathers, it eliminates their waterproofing capabilities and makes it difficult for the black-and-white seabirds to float on the ocean surface, dive and regulate their body temperature in the cold water.

The hypothermic, malnourished birds lose energy fast. So they either die offshore or, in an act of desperation, plant themselves on the beach.

"They're literally just bone ? there's no muscle on them," Skoglund said. "Typically they're so weak people can walk right up to them and grab them."

And they do.

In recent weeks, beachgoers have found dozens of struggling, oil-stained murres on the shores closest to the major oil seeps in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and as far south as the Orange County coast.

On Saturday, for instance, a young couple scooped up a murre from San Pedro's Cabrillo Beach, bringing it to the center stuck to a sweatshirt inside a gym bag, Skoglund said.

Some beachgoers have even tried to use soap to wash the birds themselves ? a course of action that experts stress could harm the fragile creatures and should be left to professionals.

Murres migrate by the tens of thousands each fall and winter from colonies on California's central and north coast, until recently coming to Southern California only to feed.

That migration pattern appears to be changing.

Last year, researchers discovered a new colony of murres on remote Prince Island in the Channel Islands, marking the first time murre chicks had hatched there since 1912.

"That is a risky little zone there off the Santa Barbara coastline," said Josh Adams, a seabird biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Ecological Research Center in Santa Cruz. "There's substantial amounts of oil that surface that could pose a threat because of the proximity to the new breeding ground."

Murres, Adams said, are considered more susceptible to oil slicks than other seabirds because of the inordinate amount of time they spend floating on the ocean surface and diving below to feed.

Ocean conditions or an increase in the flow of natural oil also could play a role in this year's hike.

A 2005 incident that injured or killed some 1,500 birds from Santa Barbara to Huntington Beach was linked to an increase in the flow of natural oil leaks.

Tests of the oil found on this year's birds also have confirmed that the oil coating their feathers is from natural seeps, not from any sort of spill.

Though the vast majority of oiled birds found this year have been murres, International Bird Rescue also has treated other shore-based species such as Common Loons, Pacific Loons and Western Grebes.

On Tuesday, workers in rubber aprons and gloves washed oil from the feathers of eight murres found on Southern California beaches.

It's a laborious process to hold down each bird one-by-one and dissolve the oil, spray their feathers with soapy water, sponge, dunk and rinse them, and then dry them off with towels and warm air.

In all, it takes about a week for the center to clean the birds and nurse them back to health.

Not until they have reached a healthy weight and regained their ability to float, dive and repel water will they be released somewhere off the coast of Malibu.

"We want to put them back out in tip-top shape so they're able to thrive," Skoglund said.

tony.barboza@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/MVj_vp7MVdQ/la-me-oil-birds-20120307,0,5045037.story

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Capitalize on Your Online Business by Writing Persuasively ...

Posted by father on March 5, 2012

Powerful writing is what makes a good writer and cannot be shadowed by insignificant works. It?s very different from the general content writing that you do because your aim here is to get your point across, convince the reader and get him/her to take action based solely on your words. This compels you to add being into your piece and make it even more potent than ever. The reason for this article is to give you the knowledge to excel with persuasive writing using the correct avenues? Do you need the cover letter template? Consider fax cover letter template. This is the greatest cover letter template.

Consistency: One of the more societal and appreciated attributes of our mind is reliability, in which our moves and thoughts convene. Because incoherency points to lack of power, unsteadiness and constraints nobody wants to come off that way while constancy is typically the other extreme and seems to be connected with truth and regularity. Despite the fact your readers may disagree with you in the beginning, you should take a crack at being even in your writing and convince them to agree with you. Then turn your writing into something more clear-cut by backing it up with pertinent data, all while you stay connected with your opening line which has already been agreed upon. So long as you do not go crazy with it, this method can work really well when you use it. Social Proof: Taking a look at the others as a pattern to pursue, to do and to keep away from something is a psychological force to be taken seriously; this has become a necessity in our decision making process, as it is something we do almost every single day of our lives. It is something so commanding, that it controls whether you do something for good or bad. You can see the most evident paradigms of social proof by reading through case studies, testimonials and recommendations by other people. You can see that social proof is what is driving the social media today. Of course if you do it correctly, you can also place social proof in your writing, which could vary from a professional review to just dropping names. Do you need the sample cover letter? Consider sample cover letter. This is the greatest sample cover letter.

Appeal to Emotions: The heart of every persuasion method is ?emotions? ? if you can?t appeal to your readers emotions, then you?re obviously lacking somewhere. Use different emotions throughout the story to appeal to your audience on different levels at different times. You can get specific audience responses when you learn to tap into the emotional vaults of things like anger, fear, love, and greed. While it?s true that you want your persuasive writing to engage the mind of your audience, when you engage their hearts, your sales will soar.

Always be on the lookout for more ways to use persuasive writing in marketing instead of letting it play second fiddle if you want real marketing success. Do you need the resume cover letter? Consider resume cover letter samples. This is the greatest resume cover letter.

Source: http://www.peersupportworks.com/capitalize-on-your-online-business-by-writing-persuasively/

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Misery inside of pet dogs & it really is cure with Ambien treatments ...

Ambien is a remedies which may be regarding a small group of medications referred to as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. ambien The treatment a brand new treated to handle the sadness for instance major depression or other versions of sadness within the human population. Many healthcare doctors definitely advocate this method medical science for those cure for a depressive disorder and even pressure within canine animals. It is actually a true fact that hopelessness also affects all the pets equally. The twelve signs coupled with indicators of this illness are distinct through the pet owners together with puppies. If you are family pet is definitely being affected by the very depressive disorders it is challenging to the particular natural depression around the house animals. The pup could not share with you the specific situation therefore, the forecast is incredibly not easy in the animals. The true trouble health experts and additionally health care professionals could certainly recognize this disease through a handful of signs and manifestations. No more than a proficient vet medical physician are prepared for this situation at a more suitable manner in which. This means you will have to touching any type of vet physician when the doggie seriously isn?t even better. Certain essential indications of despair all of the pets include the appetite loss, typical a weakness, sleepiness, loss of weight, lack of affinity for the whole lot, fainting, nausea or vomiting and the majority of various clues. Many are vital and additionally most recently released symptoms of depressive disorder and therefore uneasiness from the pets. If you might have very helpful information regarding the potential signs of this illness then you can certainly easily establish this complaint during the canines. Workouts ought to keep these tips mentally which is vital and therefore needed often the sufferers. The signs along with indication of a depressive disorder aren?t matching within humankind and then pets. The idea medicines are also extremely effective for ones control over discomfort of which come about owing to lack of feeling destruction in the buyers. The actual is usually possible in your system and thus top thanks to neural damage. Thus aches as well as migraine is furthermore a very important symbol of this issue. There may be a nearby union concerning the difficulties and then a depressive disorder. Therefore an individual is suffering from unhappiness again and again can also facial area a new having diabetes symptom in the living.
It is hard supply any dosage of this treatments so that you can pooches but yet there is certainly gift many approach which can be used to obtain a dog. It?s possible to variation the particular medicine around the foodstuff involved with pet dogs and it?s a finest process to provide for typically the Ambien meds to make sure you pets. In the same manner remember, there are offer several other strategies in connection with this. This process drugs are to be found in the form of tablets you must accessible this tube and thus spread the content around the your meals cloth. It?s really a quite important tactic to render the following drugs to assist you to your canine friend not to mention pets. The relief of hopelessness may be very quick and easy within the men and women in fact your dog. The perfect dose on this traditional medicine towards the remedy for live people is normally Half an hour mg each and its advocated to make use of this valuable measure in ripped dosage this is because it is practical for any surfer. Often the dosage regarding Ambien when it comes to pets will only be 10 mg a day while you are unable to supply them with large quantity in this situation. It is not advisable use this medicinal drugs using MAO inhibitors or other cease depressants. The partner using this process meds can be quite bad on the affected individuals or possibly visitors. Quite often all of the critical problematic side effects final result this means that drawback. All of the excessive conversation is possible between the multiple medications combine with oneself. In the same way the exact interaction and communication is always plausible concerning the medication and then food items. Therefore special care is necessary however among instance. Individual will avoid from the blunders regarding the expertise of referral by medical professionsal.

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