Cheney on 4,000 Killed In Iraq "They Volunteered"

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Vice President Dick Cheney was asked what effect the grim milestone of at least 4,000 U.S. deaths in the five-year Iraq war might have on the nation.

Noting the burden placed on military families, the vice president said the biggest burden is carried by President George W. Bush, who made the decision to commit US troops to war, and reminded the public that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty.

"I want to start with the milestone today of 4,000 dead in Iraq. Americans. And just what effect do you think it has on the country?" asked ABC News' White House correspondent, Martha Raddatz, who traveled with the vice president on a nine-day overseas trip to Iraq and other countries in the Middle East.

"It obviously brings home I think for a lot of people the cost that's involved in the global war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan," Cheney said in the interview, conducted in Turkey. "It places a special burden obviously on the families, and we recognize, I think — it's a reminder of the extent to which we are blessed with families who've sacrificed as they have."

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Small Industries Hold Key to Industrial Progress

MUMBAI: Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said small and medium enterprises (SME) hold the key to the country's industrial progress.

"They are likely to play a pivotal role in immediate future, as they can carve out unit growth model for the country," Ahluwalia said Friday at the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) Ramkrishna Bajaj Award 2007.

In the key note address, the Planning Commission deputy chairman emphasizing the role of SME, said, "In the drastically changing economic scenario, SMEs are the future. It is erroneous to see the financial volume as a benchmark for assessing success of any company or enterprise."

Praising the IMC for recognising the mettle of SME, he said " It is strange that an award for SME was instituted three years ago. And it is only now for the first time that there is a recipient. The very acknowledgement of this sector shows that the there is a dawning of realisation of the structural changes that have taken place."



He said that it was time to change one's corporate perspective, emphasising, "not to get swayed by financial highs".

"SMEs have emerged as a vibrant tier of the economy as it has already taken over as the key contributor to the GDP of the country. Precisely for this reason, we are looking into the existing policies and the necessary changes required in so as to make the SME role more proactive in order to achieve greater economic goals," he said.

Src: Economic Times
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The History of Fitness

The history of fitness portrays some fascinating themes that relate closely to the 21st century. One commonality is the strong association of military and political might with physical fitness throughout mankind’s advancement. In many ways, this shows how impacting our world leaders can be on health and fitness.
The mind-body concept has had a tenuous development. At times, some cultures prescribed spirituality at the expense of the body where as others, such as Greek society, upheld the ideal a sound mind can only be found in a healthy body.
Another interesting development from history is the concept of exercise for the body and music for the soul. Present day fitness programs have evolved this concept harmoniously, with music being a distinctive component to the exercise experience.

It appears that as societies become too enamored with wealth, prosperity and self-entertatinment that fitness levels drop. In addition, as technology has advanced with man, the levels of physical fitness have decreased. History offers little insight how to prevent or turnaround these recourses. Thus, this is a resolution we are challenged with in today’s society. Perhaps utilizing all of the extensive research completed on health and fitness in combination with the creative minds now in the fitness industry, we now can solve this part of the fitness puzzle.

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Money Buys Happiness................

I've personally been a fan of the idea that money does not buy you happiness - it only provides the ability for you to find what makes you happy. Below is an interesting story in relation to happiness and money:

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Harvard Business School have found that it's possible to buy happiness after all: when you spend money on others.

In a series of studies, UBC Asst. Prof. Elizabeth Dunn found that individuals report significantly greater happiness if they spend money "pro-socially" -- that is on gifts for others or charitable donations -- rather than spending on themselves. Her findings will appear in the March 21 edition of the journal Science.

"We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn," says Dunn, who teaches in the UBC Dept. of Psychology and is lead author of the study.



Her co-authors are UBC master's student Lara Aknin and Michael Norton, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School.

The researchers looked at a nationally representative sample of more than 630 Americans, of whom 55 per cent were female. They asked participants to: rate their general happiness; report their annual income; and provide a breakdown of their monthly spending, including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity.

"Regardless of how much income each person made," says Dunn, "those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not "

The study also measured the happiness levels of employees at a firm in Boston before and after they received their profit-sharing bonus, which ranged between $3,000 and $8,000.

What affected the employees' happiness, says Dunn, was not so much the size of the bonus but how they spent it.

The employees who devoted more of their bonus to gifts for others or toward charity consistently reported greater benefits than employees who simply spent money on their own needs.

In another experiment, the researchers gave participants a $5 or $20 bill, asking them to spend the money by 5 p.m. that day. Half the participants were instructed to spend the money on themselves, and half were assigned to spend the money on others. Participants who spent the windfall on others reported feeling happier at the end of the day than those who spent the money on themselves.

"These findings suggest that very minor alterations in spending allocations -- as little as $5 -- may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day," says Dunn.

Src: Science Daily
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Now THIS is News

Dolphin Rescues Stranded Whales

A dolphin swam up to two distressed whales that appeared headed for death in a beach stranding in New Zealand and guided them to safety, witnesses said Wednesday.

The actions of the bottlenose dolphin -- named Moko by residents who said it spends much of its time swimming playfully with humans at the beach -- amazed would-be rescuers and an expert who said they were evidence of the species' friendly nature.

The two pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, were found stranded on Mahia Beach, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of the capital of Wellington, on Monday morning, said Conservation Department worker Malcolm Smith.



To see the video associated with this article and to read the full article, click here.

Src: CNN
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And There's Still Not Enough Money For Education In America

Candidates aren't the only ones raising record amounts of cash -- the political parties collect hundreds of millions of dollars each election cycle. The parties may only raise "hard money," which is given by individuals and political action committees and is subject to federal contribution limits. Until November 2002, the parties also could raise unlimited "soft money" from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals.



Where does all that money come from? For the answers, view our money profiles for both major parties and for each of their main fundraising committees.

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