Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Top 5 Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Make

 - Getting Virginia businesses online. Free websites from Google.
www.VirginiaGetOnline.com

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

If you’re a small business owner, your website is the central hub of your company, and it’s a pivotal part of your marketing and branding.

Potential customers visit your site specifically for its content, meaning its appearance and usability are critical to its success and how those users view your company. However, getting your web design wrong can have a negative impact on your business.

Here are 5 common web design mistakes you must avoid to create a great user experience and grow your bottom line.

1. Poor Navigation

Many small businesses fail to make navigation a priority, but without careful attention to how people navigate your site, you could unintentionally be creating a frustrating experience for any potential visitor. People visit your site for specific information, and if they cannot find it they will quickly go elsewhere, leaving with the impression that your business is disorganized in more than just its website.

A good navigation structure should be seamless and will keep visitors on your site longer, which means potentially more readers, subscribers, sales or leads — whichever is your primary objective.

Website navigation affects both usability and accessibility, so it’s important to make it a primary concern. Most websites and blogs use common navigational techniques that are expected by the average visitor. The pages and sections of the site should be easy and logical for visitors to maneuver. Don’t make your visitors think about how to navigate your site; it should be effortless and natural.

There are several principles you can follow to create an effective navigation structure:

  • Use icons to aid navigation. They’re both visually appealing and easy to use and understand.
  • Create logical groups of related links, with the most important links on the top-level navigation bar and functional (dashboard, account, settings, etc.) and legal (copyright, privacy, terms) located elsewhere.
  • Provide location information so users know where they are on any given page and how to proceed to another area of the website. This can be achieved by using Breadcrumb navigation.

2. No Clear Calls To Action

The fundamental error of many small business websites is the lack of a clear call to action. We’ve all seen bland small-business brochure websites with nothing but endless descriptive paragraphs. If you aren’t leading users to commit to an action (buy a product, contact you or subscribe, for example), then you are losing them.

Driving traffic to your website is important, but that traffic is useless if your primary call to action is a plain “click here” link buried in a sea of text. Call-to-action buttons are a great way to grab the user’s attention, and these buttons can be the key to higher conversions. Investing time and consideration into creating successful calls to action can help guide users and address their needs while achieving your own business goals.

It’s important to keep the following best practices in mind when creating an optimal call to action:

  • The design of a call to action can be broken down into 4 simple elements — size, shape, color, and position. Each plays a vital part in determining how effective the call to action is in directing the user.
  • Don’t make your users work or think, or they’ll leave. It’s not that they aren’t smart, it’s that they want access to information quickly without spending unnecessary time searching for it.
  • Don’t overdo it with multiple, competing calls to action on every page. Decide what your primary target is and then define a clear objective per page. Your content should have answered, “What’s in it for me?” and your call to action should now answer, “What do I do now?”

3. Color & Contrast

Color and contrast aren’t usually high up on the list of priorities for a small business owner when it comes to creating a website. But it should be, because if your website text does not have sufficient contrast compared to its background, people will have difficulty reading your content, especially people with poor vision or color-blindness.

Aside from plain readability, color and contrast are important because they can be used to create visual interest and direct the attention of the user. It can equally be effective in organizing and defining the flow and hierarchy of a page, and it’s therefore an essential principle to pay attention to during the design process. Here are some tips:

  • Using a free a Color Contrast tool (which conforms to accepted standards) you can easily check to see how the contrast on your website measures up.
  • Research how major sites use color and contrast to improve readability and highlight specific sections, and use this knowledge to experiment with color schemes.
  • One of best ways to enhance contrast is by creating size differences between elements, making some things appear larger than others. This works especially well within a minimal color scheme, and it means you don’t have to necessarily rely on color.

4. Content, Content, Content

People visit your website for its content, and how that is structured is a huge factor in its success or failure. Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of small businesses get so caught up in overloading the user with information that they overlook how that information is presented.

Most people do not read unless it’s absolutely necessary, and they prefer to scan through information quickly to get to the points of interest. This is why it’s so important to establish a strong visual content hierarchy so users can quickly scan your site and sifting through relevant information. A logical content hierarchy also acts as a guide through each page and creates a more enjoyable user experience.

So when focusing on your content, it’s best to keep in mind these three tips:

  • White space is possibly the most important factor to consider. It will allow the user to focus on the meaningful content within each section.
  • Break up lengthy pieces of information into digestible blocks of text, utilizing headings, sub-headings, bullets, blockquotes and paragraphs.
  • Readable content is important, so use a good line height that is large enough to make content scannable. Margins and letter spacing also need to be taken into consideration.
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The 10 Most Blatant Design Ripoffs in Social Media 

http://mashable.com/2012/01/31/10-blatant-social-media-design-ripoffs/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter#view_as_one_page-gallery_box4095

Pinspire vs. Pinterest
It doesn't get more blatant than this. Pinspire is pretty much a pixel-for-pixel Pinterest clone, created by the serial digital ripoff artists at Rocket Internet. It's a bit obscene just how much of a copycat Pinspire is -- from concept to functionality to the cursive-style logo. Will it be as lucrative for the Rocket's Sawmer Brothers as their other projects, an eBay clone they sold to the real auction site for $50 million or the European deals site that Groupon gobbled up? Or will someone finally serve them with a cease-and-desist letter? If that happens, someone please pin it.
Heello vs. Twitter
Founded by the guy who created Twitpic, Heello doesn't just look like Twitter. It works exactly the same, just renaming tweets as pings, retweets as echoes and followers as listeners. The only things missing are, of course, the user base and popularity. That's left Heello, after a short period where it was an amusing haven for joke accounts (imagine Mark Zuckerberg as a profane megalomaniac), largely empty.
Funded By Me vs. Kickstarter
"Crowdfunding has been used for centuries," says the About page for Funded By Me, almost coming across as an excuse to blunt any accusations of copyingKickstarter. It's actually a rather benign clone, basically taking the crowdfunding idea and giving it a base in Scandinavia. Site design is very similar, however, with both adopting a call to action that's more prominent than the brand, followed by a Pinterest-y river of featured projects.
Yammer vs. Facebook
Yammer is a networking tool for business. Rather than re-invent the wheel on group communication, Yammer chose to emulate Facebook's user interface and functionality. And when we say "emulate" we mean "copy wholesale," right down to the blue-and-white color scheme, pulldown menus and sidebar list of apps. If you have both services open, you are guaranteed to be confused about which one you're on at some point -- probably right when you're about to share those photos of your pub crawl last night.
SCVNGR vs. Foursquare
Location services have been around for a long time, and Foursquare is far from the first. It's arguably the most successful, though, and with that success brings imitators. Case in point: SCVNGR, whose name may be a little too on the nose, and cribs not just Foursquare's concept of socially powered check-ins, but also the game mechanics of badges as well. Facebook might also want to have a word about the main menu, since it looks very similar to the one in Facebook's old iOS app.
DianDian vs. Tumblr
Can we forgive a service in China for wanting to create an instablogging service that functions just like Tumblr? Of course. Is it then OK to rip off the execution so completely that the sign-up process, layout and tiled explore wall. We'll leave that up to you, but there's no question DianDian, aka the Chinese Tumblr, is one of the more top-to-bottom copycats we've seen.
Hacker News vs. Reddit
Take one look at Reddit and you'll wonder why anyone would ever want to rip off its design, but there's Hacker News, inviting the question. Reddit, like Craigslist, is almost laughably minimalistic, and it wears its stripped-down design with pride. The approach is popular with a certain nerdy demographic, and it's clearly the same group targeted by Hacker News, complete with its own voting system.
PicPlz vs. Instagram
Sorry, PicPlz, we're not buying it. You may have changed Instagram's "Popular" to "Interesting" and taken the number of columns down to three from four, but it's the same damn thing. Just like "My Network" is exactly like "Feed" and "News" is "Activity." PicPlz may do a couple of tricks that Instagram doesn't, like preserving the original image, but the whole presentation makes it come across as a second-rate copy.
Blinklist vs. Delicious
During its Yahoo years, you wouldn't have thought Delicious would have been worth ripping off, but being the original web-based bookmarks app counts for something (as does the clever name). Delicious has since revamped itself, so Blinklist serves as a ripoff of what it used to be, and kind of an ugly one at that. And you have to question the relevance of a "social bookmarking" service that none of my friends are on and where one of the Popular topics is just "insurance." As ripoffs go, this one's a fail.
DZone vs. Digg
Sorry Dzone, but flipping which side your margin is on (as well as the thumbnail photos on posts) doesn't make your site design any less of a Digg ripoff. Maybe selecting a different color for your vote boxes or ditching the white background would do the trick. The "Digg for developers" concept is kind of promising, but right now there's not much reason to visit DZone instead of the developers section of Digg.

In the world of social media, discovering that worthwhile original idea for your app or website is by far the hardest thing to get right. It’s so hard, in fact — and the field so potentially lucrative — that many parties who jump into the field tend not to bother. Why should you create something original when there are so many successful sites and services that you can just rip off?

At least that appears to be the thinking behind many Internet companies whose concepts, web design or apps appear to owe a lot to other, more successful forebears. Once you start looking, it’s not hard to find digital ripoffs. At best, they’re quirky homages inspired by a successful digital brand. At worst, they’re ersatz imitators looking to cash in on someone else’s idea — just a step or two above malware.

Perhaps that’s a little harsh. After all, the humor writer Josh Billings once said, “About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment.” If you substitute “web designer” for “writer,” he may have been talking about the state of digital design today. After all, it would be impossible to find a design that isn’t at least a little derivative.

SEE ALSO: Top 5 Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Make

Still, there’s a difference between borrowing some core design ideas and wholesale imitating. In social media, where the essential premise of connecting and sharing with your friends provides a basic architecture, perhaps the line between the two is blurrier than in other fields. After all, Facebook was called a MySpace clone, which was called a Friendster clone before that. But they are (and were) nothing like each other.

While building on existing concepts will always be part of design, so too will mimics, where the cloning is so pervasive and total that the site is nothing more than a copy of the original, merely slipped into a different skin. Here are the 10 most flagrant design ripoffs in social media today, at least to Mashable‘s eye.

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The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848 - 164 years of occupation ! 

Nuestro Pueblo tiene una historia de lucha y resistencia sin fin
encontrá la violencia y la opresión nacional, segregación racista,
explotación de clase, deportaciones masivas y desigualdad, NOSOTROS
creemos que tenemos que RECONOCER la linea fronteriza entre EU-Mexico
y el Tratado De Guadalupe Hidalgo de 1848 COMO ILEGAL! (Es una
frontera impuesta por fuerza militar, guerra, invasión y opresión) Y
Feb 2, 1848-2012 164 years of occupation! Because in the 1836 to 1900', we as a Mexican@ Indigenous people were displaced by force off our lands in South Texas and what is now the Southwestern United States, and by the 1900's we were working what were our lands but now under Gringo ownership. The invaders and occupiers became the owners and we became 'cheap' wage-labor, Because the clauses guaranteeing the land ownership of Mexican and Indigenous people north of the borderline established by the War of the United States against Mexico 1845-48 and under the protection by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo but that were VIOLATED repeatedly and with impunity, Because our people suffered a campaign of terror and death at the guns of white racist vigilantes, lynchings by White mobs, the mass savage killings by the Texas Rangers, and genocide under the Slave Republic of Texas and under United States occupation and military control that turned the northwestern part of Mexico, into the now Southwest of the United States, Because we have been treated and have experienced genocide in indigenous peoples and lands, national oppression as a people, exploitation as a working class, racism and racial segregation, mass deportations as migrant workers and youth experience incarceration not education, And because, our people have a story of unending struggle and resistance against the violence, national oppression, racist segregation, class exploitation, mass deportations, and inequality We believe that we must recognize the US-Mexico border line and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848, as ILLEGAL! (It is a border imposed by military force, war, invasion and oppression) and denounce them every year on this date, We must rescue and revive our peoples struggles and stories; A regeneration of our culture, universal human rights, indigenous roots, and languages, and connection to the land that is not U.S. Centric, We must decolonize our lands, our minds, spirits and our people for we are for all practical and political purposes treated as an internal colony within the entrails of the monster. We reject the assimilationist models of hegemonic power, capitalism and imperialism, colonialism and white supremacy and hold high our goal for liberation, not just reform; but true democracy, and universal equality for all! Another United States is Possible and Necessary for another world to be possible and happen! "Traducción: El Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo del 2 de febrero del 1848-al 2012 son 164 anos de occupacion!. Porque desde 1836 y 1900, Nosotros como pueblo Mexicano Indígena, nos desplazaron por fuerza de nuestras tierras en el sur de Tejas lo que es el suroeste de los EU y ya para los 1900s estábamos trabajando esas tierras pero ahora abajo de los nuevos dueños gringos. Los invasores y ocupadores se volvieron los dueños y nosotros nos convertimos trabajadores "mano barata." Porque las clausas garantizando títulos de la tierra para los dueños de sus tierras para nosotros los Mexicanos e otros pueblos indígenas norte de la LINIA FRONTERIZA establecida por la Guerra de los EU y Mexico del 1845 z 1848 y abajo la protección del Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo pero que FUERON VIOLADOS repetidamente y con impunidad. 
Porque Nuestra gente sufrio de una campana de terror y muerte de las armas de los vigilantes racistas blancos, ahorcadoras por hordas blancas, las masacres salvajes de los Rinches tejanos, y genocidio abajo el ESTADO Esclavista de Texas y bajo la ocupación de los EEUU y su control militar que cambio el Noroeste de Mexico a lo que ahora es conocido el Suroeste de los EU. Porque hemos sido tratados y experimentado genocidio en tierras y pueblo indígenas, opresión nacional como pueblo, explotación como clase trabajadora, racismo y segregación racial, deportaciones masivas como trabajadores migrantes y hemos experimentado encarcelación de juventud y no educación, Y Porque
Tenemos Descolonizar nuestras tierras, nuestras mentes, nuestro
Denunciarlos cada ano en esta fecha. Necesitamos Rescatar y Revivir
las luchas de nuestros pueblos y sus luchas; Una Regeneración de
nuestra cultura, derechos humanos universales, raices indígenas y
Lenguas, Y nuestra conectivo a la tierra que no sea USA-Centrica.
espíritu y nuestra gente porque al fin de cuentas practicables y políticas somos tratados como una colonia interna en las tripas de la bestia. Rechazamos modelos de asimilación de poderes hegemonías, capitalismo e imperialismo, colonización, y la supremacia blanca y Guardamos alto nuestras metas para la liberación, no solo reformas; pero verdaderamente una democracia y igualdad universal para todos! Otro EU es posible y Necesario para que Otro mundo sea posible y sucede!" Ruben Solis University Sin Fronteras grulla@swunion.org skype:rubensolisgarcia
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Pitbull VS Kitten (Real Love Real Fights) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=czhpQe-56qg
WATCH THE SEQUEL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAsHRinMg6UIntroducing the dog Spike - my majestic American Pitbull Terrier - and Visa, my 2 months old cat. While trying to depict their relentless Looney Tunes style relationship of caring and hugging while fighting and mocking about (countless plates and cups were broken during filming) the best choice of soundtrack was Guns n' Roses - Live And Let Die 
http://amzn.to/xfEWIQAnd remember Pitbulls are not dangerous. 
People with video cameras are.

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U.S. Drones Stir Outrage In Iraq; Fleet May Grow

U.S. Drones Stir Outrage In Iraq; Fleet May Grow --Program by State Dept. Is Seen as an Affront to Sovereignty 30 Jan 2012 The State Department is operating a small fleet of surveillance drones in Iraq to help protect the United States Embassy and consulates, as well as American personnel mercenaries. Some senior Iraqi officials expressed outrage at the program, saying the unarmed aircraft are an affront to Iraqi sovereignty. The program was described by the department's diplomatic security branch in a little-noticed section of its most recent annual report and outlined in broad terms in a two-page online prospectus for companies that might bid on a contract to manage the program. It foreshadows a possible expansion of unmanned drone operations into the diplomatic arm of the American government; until now they have been mainly the province of the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency. [Just shoot them down - problem solved.]


Breaking: Mitt Romney projected winner in GOP Florida primary: NBC News --50 delegates at stake 31 Jan 2012 Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is projected to win the Republican primary in Florida, in a 'winner-take-all' primary state, NBC News projects. Newt Gingrich is projected to finish in second place. [This story will be updated.]


FDA secretly surveilled e-mail of scientists and doctors, intercepted communications with congressional staff 29 Jan 2012 The Food and Drug Administration secretly monitored the personal e-mail of a group of its own scientists and doctors after they warned Congress that the agency was approving medical devices that they believed posed unacceptable risks to patients, government documents show. The surveillance - detailed in e-mails and memos unearthed by six of the scientists and doctors, who filed a lawsuit against the FDA in U.S. District Court in Washington last week - took place over two years as the plaintiffs accessed their personal Gmail accounts from government computers. Copies of the e-mails show that, starting in January 2009, the FDA intercepted communications with congressional staffers and draft versions of whistleblower complaints complete with editing notes in the margins. The agency also took electronic snapshots of the computer desktops of the FDA employees and reviewed documents they saved on the hard drives of their government computers.


USociopaths trolling to spend billions on Blackwater and other corpora-terrorists: Pentagon Prepares for New Military Talks With Iraq 30 Jan 2012 The Obama administration is preparing to begin talks with Iraq on defining a long-term defense relationship that may include expanded U.S. training 'help,' according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's chief policy aide. Michele Flournoy said in an interview with a small group of reporters that the administration is open to Iraqi suggestions about the scope and depth of defense ties. "One of the things we're looking forward to doing is sitting down with the Iraqis in the coming month or two to start thinking about how they want to work with" the U.S. military to develop a program of exercises, training and other forms of security cooperation, Flournoy said.


Car bomb kills three Iraqi soldiers north of Baghdad 31 Jan 2012 Three Iraqi soldiers have been killed in a bomb blast north of Baghdad, an Iraqi official said today. The attack came hours before the nation's parliament is to reconvene after Sunni-backed politicians ended their boycott in protest at persecution of Sunni officials. Major Ghalib al-Karkhi, a police spokesman in Diyala province, said a parked car bomb was detonated near a military patrol in Baqouba late yesterday, killing three soldiers and injuring three others.


Huge Israeli Drone That Can Reach Iran Crashes [What a shame!] 30 Jan 2012 The Israeli military says a drone that can fly as far as Iran has crashed in central Israel on a routine experimental flight. The military says there were no injuries in Sunday's crash, and it was investigating the incident. The Heron TP drone is also known locally as the Eitan. It is the largest unmanned aircraft in Israel's military arsenal.


Karzai 'to hold peace talks with Taliban in Saudi Arabia' 30 Jan 2012 The Afghan government will hold talks with the Taliban in Saudi Arabia, opening up an alternative avenue to peace negotiations between the insurgent group and the United States, according to reports. The Taliban, which was ousted from power after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks [inside job] on the United States, has previously refused to talk to the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, branding him as an American stooge. The Saudi-brokered meetings are due to take place in coming weeks ahead of talks in Qatar, where the Taliban is opening an office for the purpose of holding discussions with the Americans aimed at ending the decade-long war, the BBC reported.


Thousand police officers deployed on streets of Indianapolis as massive Super Bowl security operation swings into gear --Special teams sweeping Lucas Oil Stadium 30 Jan 2012 A massive security operation involving 1,000 police officers has been launched in Indianapolis as the city's first Super Bowl rolls into town this week. Super Bowl fever has already hit the city and 150,000 NFL fans are expected to descend on downtown Indianapolis in one of the most high-security events in the U.S. The city has invested millions of dollars to keep spectators safe, including most bizarrely the installation of 150 new manhole covers after a series of underground explosions. Officers at the event have been equipped with smartphones and other electronic hand-held devices to allow them to feed photos and videos to a new state-of-the-art operations centre on the city's east side.


Police Violence Targets Occupy Oakland Demonstration --NLGSF Demands Action From the Monitor On Police Misconduct 30 Jan 2012 The National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLGSF) condemns Oakland Police (OPD) and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) violence, mass arrests and abuses against Occupy demonstrators at Saturday's demonstration. Police violently attacked activists with chemical weapons, so called Less-Lethal munitions, and physical assaults. Hundreds were arrested unlawfully, without opportunity to disperse, and then detained for many hours on the street and then in buses, in stress positions, and without bathrooms, food or water. Once in jail, protesters faced inhumanely crowded conditions, abusive treatment and were denied access to legal counsel. The NLGSF received many reports of assaults on protesters... Police reportedly threw others through a glass door, and down a flight of steps. A videographer was pushed to the ground and clubbed.


Park Police tase Occupy D.C. protester Sunday 29 Jan 2012 An Occupy D.C. protester was tased Sunday afternoon at McPherson Square, as Park Police were handing out fliers about the upcoming Monday deadline on overnight camping. Park Police Sergeant David Schlosser tells WTOP the man got angry about the fliers and confronted officers about the ban. Schlosser says officers used a taser on the man when he wouldn't comply with police orders. Police arrested him and took him to the hospital, after he informed them about a previous medical condition.


Park service to crack down on Occupy DC camps --Demonstrators vow to continue vigil at two sites in DC 30 Jan 2012 The National Park Service plans to crack down Monday on what it calls "sleeping activity" at two longstanding camps established by Occupy DC demonstrators in the nation's capital. The service notified protesters on Friday that they "may be subject to arrest and their property subject to seizure as evidence" if there are evident "camping violations" by around noon Monday. The demonstrators say they will defend their sites.


WikiLeaks to move servers offshore, sources say 31 Jan 2012 Julian Assange's investors are in the process of purchasing a boat to move WikiLeaks' servers offshore in an attempt to evade prosecution from U.S. law enforcement, FoxNews.com has learned. Multiple sources within the hacker community with knowledge of day-to-day WikiLeaks activities say Assange's financial backers have been working behind the scenes on the logistics of moving the servers to international waters. WikiLeaks' servers are now based in Sweden and Iceland, among other locations.


WikiLeaks's Assange Sued on Eve of U.K. Extradition Appeal 31 Jan 2012 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who will ask the U.K. Supreme Court tomorrow to block his extradition to Sweden in a rape case, was sued by the British law firm he hired after his 2010 arrest. Finers Stephens Innocent LLP, which specializes in commercial litigation, sued the 40-year-old Australian yesterday in London over legal fees, according to court records. Assange replaced the firm last year after a U.K. judge rejected his defense and upheld the Swedish arrest warrant.


Illinois nuclear reactor shuts down, vents radioactive steam --Officials say the steam contains low levels of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen. --Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared 'unusual event' 30 Jan 2012 Officials at a northern Illinois nuclear power plant believe a failed piece of equipment at a switchyard caused it to shut down. Exelon Nuclear officials say the switchyard is similar to a large substation that delivers power from the plant to the electrical grid. Unit 2 at Byron Generating Station shut down around 10:18 a.m. Monday after losing power. Operators began releasing [radioactive] steam to reduce pressure, though not from within the nuclear reactor.


Illinois nuclear plant shut down over power issue 30 Jan 2012 A nuclear reactor at a northern Illinois plant shut down Monday after losing power, and [radioactive] steam was being vented to reduce pressure, according to officials from Exelon Nuclear and federal regulators. Unit 2 at Byron Generating Station, about 95 miles northwest of Chicago, shut down at 10:18 a.m., after losing power, Exelon officials said. Diesel generators began supplying power to the plant, and operators began releasing steam to cool the reactor from the part of the plant where turbines are producing electricity, not from within the nuclear reactor itself, officials said.


Japan finds water leaks at stricken nuclear plant 29 Jan 2012 Japan's stricken nuclear power plant has leaked more than 600 liters of water, forcing it to briefly suspend cooling operations at a spent-fuel pond at the weekend. The operator of the Fukushima complex, the Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), reported two main leakages on its Web site on Sunday, one from a pump near the plant's office building and another from a back-up cooling system at reactor No.4. Water had also leaked at other facilities within the complex, the Nikkei newspaper said Monday.


Fukushima pets in no-go zone face harsh winter 31 Jan 2012 Dogs and cats that were abandoned in the Fukushima exclusion zone after last year's nuclear crisis have had to survive high radiation and a lack of food, and they are now struggling with the region's freezing winter weather. The government let animal welfare groups enter the evacuation zone temporarily in December to rescue surviving pets before the severe winter weather set in, but Yasunori Hoso said there were still many more dogs and cats left in the area. Hoso runs a shelter for about 350 dogs and cats rescued from the 20-km evacuation zone around the crippled nuclear plant.


Occupy Exxon Mobil: Exxon Mobil's quarterly profit hits $9.4 billion 31 Jan 2012 Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit rose 2% to $9.4 billion, or $1.97 a share, from $9.25 billion, or $1.85 a share, in the year-ago period. The oil major earned $41.1 billion in 2011, up 35%, reflecting higher crude oil prices. In the fourth quarter, capital spending remained about flat at $10 billion. [Exxon Mobil - and other oil corpora-terrorists - gets huge tax subsidies - thanks to Obusha and his GOP overlords. And, after USociopaths/Israel attacks Iran, Exxon Mobil will make a greater killing on the killing.]

Taxpayers still owed $132.9B from bailout: report 26 Jan 2012 A government watchdog says U.S. taxpayers are still owed $132.9 billion that companies haven't repaid from the financial bailout, and some of that will never be recovered. The bailout launched at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008 will continue to exist for years, says a report issued Thursday by Christy Romero, the acting special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout. Some bailout programs, such as the effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing mortgage payments, will last as late as 2017, costing the government an additional $51 billion or so.


Eurozone unemployment at new record high 31 Jan 2012 Unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone ended 2011 at 10.4 per cent, a new record high for the single currency since its launch at the start of 1999, official figures showed today. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said the rate in December was unchanged, as November's was revised upwards from a previous estimate of 10.3%. Unemployment has been steadily rising over the past year - in December 2010, it stood at 9.5% - largely because of Europe's debt crisis.


Free the Captive Dolphins in Turkey --Target: Republic of Turkey Prime Minister and the Turkish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock --Sponsored by: Freedom for Dolphins and Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project 31 Jan 2012 Dolphin captivity is cruel, no matter where it is in the world. Unfortunately, there are 10 dolphinariums in Turkey, with dolphins being held in rusty, cramped and unnatural pens. Sadly, many bear the physical and emotional scars of their appalling conditions... The Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry, together with the Turkish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, have the authority to shut down these operations and to prevent further captures and imports of dolphins into the country. Please sign and share this petition!

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Some Interesting Books !

Ahmed Rashid.  Descent into Chaos:  The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. 
http://www.amazon.com/Descent-into-Chaos-Disaster-Afghanistan/dp/014311557X/r...

Peter Maass (for some reason, this author's name rings bells for me, but I can't remember why).  Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil. 
Aaron L. Friedburg.  A Contest for Supremacy:  China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia.
http://www.amazon.com/Contest-Supremacy-America-Struggle-Mastery/dp/039306828...
Last night I saw a very interesting interview by Charlie Rose on PBS.  He talked to David Barboza, the Shanghai correspondent for the New York Times, and it was a fascinating glimpse into post-Mao, post-Communist China.  You can catch the interview at http://www.charlierose.com/  I'm not sure that Chinese capitalism is an improvement over the People's Revolution. 
You will have to watch the program and decide for yourself.

Andrew Feinstein.  The Shadow World:  Inside the Global Arms Trade.
ISBN 978-0-374-20838-7

Steve Crenshaw & John Jackson.  Small Acts of Resistance:  How Courage, Tenacity and Ingenuity Can Change the World.

Alan Axelrod.  A Savage Empire:  Trappers, Traders, Tribes and the Wars that Made America.
ISBN 978-0-312-57656-1 
   The jacket blurb says, "The story of the role of the beaver trade in the founding of America."

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