Pinochet homage heats up bitter debate over legacy

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 1995 file photo, former Chilean dictator and military commander Gen. Augusto Pinochet is helped by a bodyguard to put on his coat during a military ceremony in Santiago, Chile, on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of his taking the post as head of the Chilean armed forces. Months after his appointment in 1973, Pinochet led the coup that ousted President Salvador Allende. Pinochet sympathizers will honor the former strongman on Sunday, June 10, 2012 with the screening of a new documentary about his dictatorship years in a Santiago theater. (AP Photo/Santiago Llanquin, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 23, 1995 file photo, former Chilean dictator and military commander Gen. Augusto Pinochet is helped by a bodyguard to put on his coat during a military ceremony in Santiago, Chile, on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of his taking the post as head of the Chilean armed forces. Months after his appointment in 1973, Pinochet led the coup that ousted President Salvador Allende. Pinochet sympathizers will honor the former strongman on Sunday, June 10, 2012 with the screening of a new documentary about his dictatorship years in a Santiago theater. (AP Photo/Santiago Llanquin, File)

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) ? The poster makes its plea from one of the pock-marked walls once splattered with blood at Londres 38, a former detention and torture center where 96 people died or disappeared during Chile's long dictatorship. It reads: "Pinochet, may your legacy die."

Yet that legacy is far from dead. Gen. Augusto Pinochet's loyalists on Sunday are holding their biggest gathering since his death in 2006, and it has ignited a national debate about the limits of freedom of speech as groups on the other side sought unsuccessfully to block the event.

There were worries about possible clashes between the two sides, as happened in November during a smaller event for another dictatorship official, and police planned to set up a wide perimeter in an effort to keep the opposing groups apart.

Sympathizers of Pinochet will honor the former strongman with the premiere of a documentary about the run-up to his dictatorship years. It casts him as a national hero who saved Chile from communism and who died victimized by vengeful leftists who accused him of embezzlement and human rights crimes.

The screening was organized by Corporacion 11 de Septiembre, named for the day when Pinochet seized power in a bloody 1973 coup that brought down the democratically elected government of Marxist President Salvador Allende.

"We want to set the record straight on Pinochet," Juan Gonzalez, a retired army officer who leads the pro-Pinochet movement, told The Associated Press. "We have stoically put up with the lies and cheating and seen how the story has been manipulated."

Although Gonzalez's own sister Francisca has said publicly she was tortured by Pinochet's forces, Gonzalez disputes that there were human rights abuses during the dictatorship. He says those killed and tortured where casualties of a war against leftist dissidents.

"Why can't we have a documentary if they have their monument to Allende," he said, referring to a statue outside the presidential palace with Allende's last words: "I have faith in Chile and its destiny. "

The homage for Pinochet comes against a backdrop of growing political divisiveness, with widespread street protests demanding more diversity in political parties as well as free education, protection of the environment and a greater distribution of the country's wealth.

Chile remains highly polarized over Pinochet and his 1973-90 reign.

His thick mustache, spotless dress uniforms and dark glasses, even the mere mention of his name, make many Chileans cringe over the memories of his shutting down Congress, outlawing political parties and sending thousands of dissidents into exile, while his police tortured and killed thousands more.

To his loyalists, though, Pinochet is the fatherly figure who oversaw Chile growth into economic prosperity and kept it from becoming a failed socialist state.

The current governing coalition led by the conservative Union Democrata Independiente and the center-right Renovacion Nacional is the first conservative government since Chile's return to democracy in 1990. Members of both parties supported Pinochet's dictatorship and several Pinochet-era officials now serve as lawmakers and mayors.

Analysts say Pinochetistas like Gonzalez are emboldened by the conservatives' winning control of the government in 2010.

Still, last year, President Sebastian Pinera's government officially recognized 9,800 more victims of the dictatorship. That increased the total list of people killed, tortured or imprisoned for political reasons during Pinochet's regime to 40,018. The government estimates 3,095 people were killed, including about 1,200 of whom no trace has ever been found.

About 700 military officials face court trials for the forced disappearance of dissidents and about 70 have been jailed under crimes against humanity.

"There's obviously an effort to revive and clean up Pinochet's image," said Marta Lagos, head of the Santiago-based pollster Mori. "They're saying: 'This is really a guy who deserves a tribute.' So I ask: What would happen in Germany if someone would try to pay tribute to Hitler?"

But Lagos says Chileans have a harder time deciding where the line should be drawn, because Pinochet died under house arrest without facing trial on charges of illegal enrichment and human rights violations.

"We're facing an ambiguous situation, especially among the younger generations who were not part of the time and who have never voted or are apolitical," Lagos said. "The fact that he wasn't judged turns out to be a major point. They see this man who was never convicted and think, 'Well, there must be a reason.'"

Families of the dictatorship's victims are outraged over the efforts to praise Pinochet, calling it a dangerous campaign to rewrite Chile's history.

"We can't allow this homage because it seeks to vindicate the dictatorship, the state-sponsored terrorism and its crimes," Mireya Garcia, vice president of the Group of Families of Detainees and Missing People, said at Londres 38. She wore a black-and-white-photo around her neck of her brother Vicente Israel Garcia, a student and Socialist Party member who disappeared in 1977.

"Our family members didn't die in vain in the struggle for democracy for something like this to be allowed. But Pinochetistas are not the only ones to blame for this. The government must be held accountable for this serious blow against democracy," Garcia said.

Relatives of the disappeared and more than a dozen human rights groups sent a letter to Pinera asking him to ban Sunday's event. But the government said organizers had the right to express themselves. Human rights groups also appealed to the courts but the request was denied.

Guillermo Holzmann, a political science professor at the Universidad de Valparaiso, said the event could bring a needed discussion on Pinochet and his regime.

"Chile has to start a new maturity phase," Holzmann said. "This issue must be on top of the table, not hidden under the rug, so that society's evolution on its own leaves them aside. ... I'm sure that the radical visions on Pinochet don't represent the opinion of the majority, but that has to be shown."

Associated Press

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David P. Angel: Peter Thiel's Message Is Simply Wrong

A recent 60 Minutes segment profiled billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel's "20 Under 20" fellowship program in which he pays selected students $100,000 apiece to forgo college and devote their time to working on their inventions. Thiel contends that college is a debt-fueled waste of time for many, and points to innovators like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates who have achieved success without the benefit of a college diploma. While I admire the entrepreneurial spirit driving Mr. Thiel's venture, his message is simply wrong when considered as a blueprint for young adults considering whether to invest in a college education.

Are there, across this country, young entrepreneurs who have the kernel of a new innovation ready to be developed into a product or market opportunity? I do not doubt that the answer to that question is yes. Could some of those entrepreneurs, working with others, succeed in bringing their ideas to market while bypassing college? The answer to that question is also yes. After all, as Peter Thiel has noted, there are innovators who have done exactly that. And it may be that the "20 under 20" fellowship program is a way of identifying a few of these young entrepreneurs who are likely to succeed.

But this does not mean that forgoing college is the wise choice for the vast majority of young adults. For the majority, such a decision is akin to buying a lottery ticket because somebody else just won a million-dollar prize. The luck of one lottery winner does not predict your likelihood of success. Indeed the odds are stacked against you. And the risks of dispensing with a college education in the hope of winning the entrepreneurship prize are very high. The income discrepancy between those with a higher education degree and those without is substantial -- according to the U.S. Census Bureau the holder of a bachelor's degree will on average earn about $1 million more in the course of his or her working life than a high school graduate.

How do emerging adults across this country view the link between college and successful careers? According to the Clark University Poll of Emerging Adulthood, 82 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 agree that one of the most important keys to success in life is a college education.

The Clark University Poll, which is associated with the research of Clark University Psychology Professor Dr. Jeffrey Arnett, who coined the term "emerging adulthood," also notes a paradox among this demographic group. Despite the clear value they place on a college degree, 66 percent of those surveyed believe they can find a good job even without a college education. This is consistent with Dr. Arnett's research, which reveals that emerging adults are adamantly optimistic about the world and their place in it. Even during bleak times, they maintain a positive outlook about their personal prospects.

The best colleges fuse students' optimism with their big ideas and channel them into successful outcomes. It is in this process of college student growth and transformation that innovation and entrepreneurship have something to teach us. Part of Peter Thiel's message is that there are skills and capabilities important to career success that are most effectively nurtured and deployed in demanding true-life situations. Capabilities such as resilience, the ability to analyze risk and make effective decisions in fast-changing environments, the ability to mobilize others behind important ideas, are all effectively developed when a student's classroom education is closely linked to creative problem-solving in the world.

The good news is that colleges and universities across this country are developing programs to provide more of these opportunities for our students. Indeed, with gathering pace higher education is reconsidering the links between the classroom and the world, implementing a wide variety of creative ways for students to gain the knowledge and perspective that comes from knowledge, theory and understanding while building up capabilities of effective practice. In some cases this takes the form of entrepreneurship programs, such as Clark University's program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. But it also involves placements in existing businesses, hospitals, art museums and other organizations, cutting-edge student research conducted in the community and around the world, new study-abroad opportunities, and a fresh approach to student volunteerism and civic engagement.

As colleges and universities prepare their students for life after graduation, they do so with a keen sense that today's global economy requires its workers to be nimble, adaptable and resilient. I encourage students to look carefully at the opportunities colleges and universities provide to hone these skills and capabilities beyond the classroom. These robust opportunities enhance the return on education for our students, our country and our world.

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All but three states reject 'pink slime' in school lunches

The vast majority of states participating in the National School Lunch Program have opted to order ground beef that doesn't contain the product known as lean finely textured beef, or 'pink slime.'

By Candice Choi,?Associated Press / June 5, 2012

This March 29 photo shows the beef product known as lean finely textured beef, or 'pink slime,' during a plant tour of Beef Products Inc. in South Sioux City, Neb., where the product is made.

Nati Harnik/AP/File

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The nation's school districts are turning up their noses at "pink?slime," the beef product that caused a public uproar earlier this year.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the vast majority of states participating in its National School Lunch Program have opted to order ground beef that doesn't contain the product known as lean finely textured beef.

Only three states ? Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota ? chose to order beef that may contain the filler.

The product has been used for decades and federal regulators say it's safe to eat. It nevertheless became the center of national attention after the nickname "pink?slime" was quoted in a New York Times article on the safety of meat processing methods. The filler is made of fatty bits of beef that are heated then treated with a puff of ammonia to kill bacteria.

In response to the public outcry over its use, the USDA said in March said that it would for the first time offer schools the choice to purchase beef without the filler for the coming 2012-2013 school year. The agency has continued to affirm that lean finely textured beef is a safe, affordable and nutritious product that reduces overall fat content.

But as of May 18, the agency says states ordered more than 20 million pounds of ground beef products that don't contain lean finely textured beef. Orders for beef that may contain the filler came to about 1 million pounds.

Because schools were not given a choice last year, all states may have previously received beef with the product mixed in. The USDA estimates that lean finely textured beef accounted for about 6.5 percent of ground beef orders.

The agency is still accepting orders for the upcoming school year.

The USDA does not buy lean finely textured beef directly, but purchases finished products from beef vendors who must meet the agency's specifications for orders; products can consist of no more than 15 percent of the product.

The USDA's National School Lunch Program buys about 20 percent of the products served in schools across the country; the rest is purchased by schools or school districts directly through private vendors.

The percentage of beef that schools get through the USDA tends to be higher, however, because beef is expensive and schools like to take advantage of the favorable prices the government can negotiate.

Schools aren't the only ones rejecting the product. In the wake of the public outcry, fast food chains and supermarkets have also vowed to stop selling beef with the product.

Beef Products Inc., the South Dakota company that makes lean finely textured beef, has been reeling from the controversy. This month, the company announced that it will shutter three of its four plants.

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37 Ways to Get Traffic To Your Website | Business 2 Community

Each and every business today can benefit from a website. It can be a promotional site, an extension of your sales or services, and even the entirety of your business if you?re online-only. Once you?ve got a website developed and ready to go, you?ve got to get people visiting it. Here are 37 ways to drive the traffic you need to your site and earn the online exposure you want.

Online Advertising

Pay Per Click ? Text ads through Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter, or any third-party PPC client.

Search Engine Optimization ? Embed keywords into your site content that draws traffic from relevant search results.

Blogging For Business ? Keep a business-relevant blog with regular updates, and you?ll be rewarded with higher page ranking and more search traffic from web searches.

Twitter ? The premiere microblogging social network service. Reach out to thousands of customers, professionals, and associates in under 140 characters.

Facebook ? The gold standard of online communication and social networking. Facebook Pages for Business let you customize your promotions, and per-click advertisements can draw extra traffic.

Google+ ? Google?s answer to Facebook, now with integrated search results. Establish a profile for your business, reach out to customers, and improve your page rank with upcoming AuthorRank search engine perks.

Google Places ? Tell Google about your business, and it will show up in local relevant searches with your information. Help Google help others find you.

Pinterest ? This hot new social sharing website is a favorite for older crowds willing to explore and spend more. Excellent for building positive feedback with potential customers.

Youtube ? Can you produce a lot of useful or entertaining video through your business? Host your own video content on Youtube, or advertise with the service for additional exposure.

Yelp ? Monitor what your customers think of your business, improve your services from direct suggestions, and encourage customers to drive traffic to your site by reviewing you online.

Other Social Media ? Go to where your customers are. Foursquare, LinkedIn, online forums; just about anywhere you can reach potential customers is untapped potential.

Banners ? Purchasing ad placements through third-party services can be pricey, but if your customers will see it, it may be worth the expense.

Affiliate Advertising ? Advertise other products and services your customers may appreciate, or advertise your own business on other relevant websites.

Email Newsletters ? Staying in touch with past customers is easy with email blasts and newsletters. Turn previous visitors into repeat customers with email campaigns.

Local Savings Offers Online ? Sites like Groupon and Livingsocial can distribute discounts coupons online and generate buzz for your website.

Purchasing Untargeted Traffic ? If you?re hurting for hits, you can sink money into untargeted traffic that may or may not bite on your website. Truly a last resort?your money can be better spent elsewhere.

Unplugged

Print Ads ? Purchasing newspaper and magazine ads is a great way to attract attention off the internet.
Event Sponsorships ? Drum up goodwill towards your business and your website by underwriting or hosting an event, locally or nationally.

Word of Mouth ? Nothing beats positive promotions directly from happy customers. Make your customers and clients happy, and they?ll send more business to you.

Local Business Affiliations ? Partner with small businesses in your area and cross-promote each other?s products and services.

Promotional Products ? Order a set of branded pens, notepads, or any other inexpensive, fun items. Give these away in-house or on-location at professional events with a link to your website.

Direct Mail Kits ? Direct mailers can be more than informative. Sending calendars, promotional items, or interactive ?pop-up? mailers can make an excellent impression and drive interest towards your website.

Press Releases ? Publishing press releases for your services and distributing them to news outlets can get added exposure to your site. Press releases can be published online, as well, and appear in searches.

Awareness Campaigns ? Sponsor awareness campaigns for causes and charities. If you?ve been affected by breast cancer, sponsor a Breast Cancer Awareness Month event or campaign.

TV and Radio ? TV and radio can extend your business?s reach with a well-placed interview or commercial purchase.

Local Discounts ? Offer local customers with return discounts, membership bonuses, and more. Reward your loyal customers with online and offline deals.

Branding Makeover ? Consider rebranding your business with a new logo, a refreshed website and an attractive new edge over your competition. Image can make the difference between loyal business and unimpressed visitors.

Creative

QR Codes ? Leave a hyperlink in physical space. Generate QR codes for print materials and send users to your mobile site directly.

Viral Content ? Never underestimate the power of viral content. Entertainment worth sharing can attract hundreds of thousands of new potential customers overnight.

Alternate Reality Games ? If you?re promoting a larger client or need to generate some long-term buzz, an ARG can grab the interests of dedicated customers and hobby sleuths by wrapping your brand in mystery and intrigue. Very complicated to pull off, but it can keep your brand viral for months.

Layar ? Set up virtual installations and promotional materials in physical space. Invite customers to visit the virtual side of your physical location, or send them on a digital scavenger hunt into the real world. Layar is a fun little service with infinite possibilities.

Mobile App ? Many small towns and small business communities have found mobile apps to be an interesting new source of traffic and customer leads. Smartphone users engage with apps longer than they do standard advertisements.

Brand Your Vehicle ? If you?re doing a lot of in-town commuting, your car can attract new traffic by branding your business or personal vehicle with your company?s address.

Operate Uniquely ? Are you doing something original? Is your business like no other? Your unique approach to business is definitely worth some additional exposure, be it from online interest articles and interviews, or local TV and radio reports.

Involve Customers ? Getting personal and reaching out to your customers can turn them into evangelists and advocates for your brand. Empower word of mouth advertising with a personal approach to communicating with your customers.

Kickstarter ? Kickstarter is an online crowd-funding platform. If you have a good idea, throw it on the site and let the community help you fund it. Just about anything and everything can be funded through Kickstarter if it gathers enough interest and is useful to a wider audience.

Local Improvement Projects ? Give back to your community by sponsoring improvement projects and getting your customers and neighbors involved. Get your hands dirty, do something good for your community, and you?ll see results in your business and online traffic.

These are primarily advertising techniques, but the secret to attracting traffic to your website is to be a good marketer for your company. These ideas are just starting points, and it?s up to you to find out what works best for your business. If you have any other excellent suggestions for attracting traffic, tell us about it!

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Groupon stock tumbles as IPO lock-up period ends

NEW YORK (AP) ? Groupon's stock is tumbling as insiders are selling their shares after a post-IPO prohibition was lifted.

Employees and other insiders are required to wait before selling their stock following a company's initial public offering. Groupon's lock-up period expired on Friday. The company went public on Nov. 4.

Shares of Chicago-based Groupon Inc. fell 93 cents, or 8.7 percent, to $9.71 in midday trading Friday. Earlier, the stock was as low as $9.53. That's the lowest since its IPO, which priced at $20.

Friday was a bad day for the overall stock market, too. A closely watched report showed that the U.S. economy added far fewer jobs than expected last month.

Associated Press

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How To Fix Up The Problems Of Your Distant Relationship - WordNice

All of my friends seem to say that long distance relationships are worthless. I?ve personally met a lot of people who are content with their distant relationships. It is difficult to maintain such a relationship but if you know each other well enough, it should not be too difficult to keep the relationship alive. Find some great tips on how to maintain a relationship here.

If you really wish to succeed in maintaining a distant relationship, it is really important for you to completely trust your partner. Don?t be like those ignorant people who forget the value of trust in a relationship and later cry when they break up.

Only one thing can save this relationship and that is lots of good communication. Trust me, if you give this relationship your time and interest, it is going to be really easy for you to successfully maintain a healthy relationship with your partner.

Did you know that giving time to a relationship is what mostly neglected these days? Only those relationships fall apart quickly where people forget that they need to be in constant touch with their partners. It is very important that the two of you share every single detail of what?s happening in your life to keep things moving. These small small details that you?re going to share with one another is going to help you both in a long way managing the relationship.

The second issue I?d like to discuss is signs of jealousy which is very common in most long distance relationships. If you let jealousy take control of your emotions, you are surely on the path of a break up very soon. I wouldn?t blame you entirely for feeling jealous towards your partner as it is the distance that plays the role of being a culprit. The best way to overcome jealousy is to have more trust in your partner and only then are you going to sustain this tough ride of distant relationship that you?re facing right now.

Most men like having private talks with their girlfriends and so it is important that you two do it sometimes. This will help ensure that the your relationship remains spicy for a long time to come.

You cannot ever become successful in managing a long distance relationship if you just never compromise. You must learn how to compromise and yet stay very happy and only then would your relationship emerge successful. You will be surprised to see how many people out there manage to compromise all the time and yet stay happy. Guess what, those guys pretty much the ones who are most successful when it comes to long distance relationships.

You can definitely take the above points into account when trying to find solutions in fixing up your relationship.

Are you looking for some free and quality dating advice? I?m sure you would love to receive all those advice. The dating game is very easy to leran and adopt. Read our websites at WaysToAskAGirlOut and Ala1wck4le Twitter.

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