The 10 Best Ads Of 2012 - Business Insider

Cartier

From Cartier's exquisite "L'Odyss?e" video.

Choosing the 10 best ads of 2012 is a tough task. The line between "the great" and "the absolute best" is thin indeed.

Skip straight to the list >

As usual, there's a broad mix of comedy, drama and eye-popping special effects. Overall, it reaffirms our faith that the ad business holds some of the most talented creative people on the planet. Most of these ads are way more interesting than anything you'll see on TV or at the movies. (See last year's for an appetizer.)

This ranking is entirely subjective: we looked at originality, entertainment value, and success stories. These were the brands and the campaigns that stood out. Congratulations to everyone who made the list.?

Some of the winners will be familiar. But seven of them are more obscure and you'll see them for the first time here, because broadcast TV in the U.S. is no longer the premier showcase for the world's best work. (Following the Top 10 list is a compilation of runners up that nearly made the cut but were ultimately rejected.)

The surprise at No.1? Well, if you haven't seen it -- and most people have not -- you're in for a treat.

You can also check out the 10 worst ads of 2012 here. But first ...

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-10-best-ads-of-2012-2012-11

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Bankruptcy Can Get You Good Deals for Home Financing

By Mackenzie Salis on December 2, 2012

Many people normally refrain from filing bankruptcy despite facing the reality of it to be able to avoid having a bad financial record. Not knowing that this can be used to their advantage in starting anew ? like in looking for a new home. Just after 6 months of bankruptcy, you can already do loan transactions with lenders without any association to your being bankrupt. A seller financing scheme will also be made available to you without checking your credit thus closing the deal faster with flexible payments and low interest rates.

Dealing with home financing facilities is better than getting a personal loan when buying a house. This way, you can consider your amortization as an investment. Once you?ve created a good credit standing by paying on time, you can already get a traditional loan for home improvements or buying a better house. Here is what you should do:

1. Save up for the down payment. The bigger you can accumulate, the better it would be so you will not be so burdened with a big amount for monthly amortization. This will also lower down the interest expense you incur. A bigger loan availed can make you incur bigger interest expense.
2. Determine a budget you can afford for monthly amortization. It should not be over 30% of your monthly income or you will be on deficit spending. Living expenses is quite high these days and the remaining 70% should be budgeted to include expenses for education if you have children in school. As much as possible allocate an amount for your monthly savings.
3. Choose the house that matches your family?s needs and your budget. Should your budget allow only for a two bedroom house then be it. Later on when there is extra income and savings, you can always do home improvements.

A mortgage occurs when an owner pledges his or her interest as security or collateral for a loan. And so a mortgage is an encumbrance on the right to the property. As most mortgages occur as a condition for new loan money, the word mortgage has become the generic term for a loan secured by such real property. As with other types of loans, mortgages have an interest rate and are scheduled to amortize over a set period of time between 10 to 30 years. All types of real property can be secured with a mortgage and bear an interest rate that is supposed to reflect the lender?s risk.

Types of Mortgage Loans:

There are different types of mortgages used worldwide. Several factors define the characteristics of the mortgage. Though these are subject to local regulations and legal requirements:

• Interest may be fixed for the life of the loan or variable, and change at certain pre-defined periods. It could be higher or lower.
• Mortgage loans generally have a maximum term which means the number of years after which an amortizing loan will be repaid. Some mortgage loans may have no amortizations set but require full repayment of any remaining balance at a certain date.
• The amount paid per period and the frequency of payments may change or the borrower may have the option to increase or decrease the amount paid.
• Some types of mortgages may limit or restrict prepayment of all or a portion of the loan.

The two basic types of amortized loans are the fixed rate mortgage (FRM) and adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) also known as a floating rate or variable rate mortgage. In some countries such as the United States, fixed rates are the most availed. Combinations of fixed and floating rate mortgages are also common where a mortgage loan will have a fixed rate for some period for the first five years for instance and vary after the end of that period.Don?t lose your chances of regaining your financial stability by limiting yourself with personal loans only for your new home due to bad credit history. Explore the strategies of financial institutions to suit the changing economic situation.

About Mackenzie Salis ?(2 Posts)

Mackenzie Salis is a finance writer for 3 years. She is the author of the site: OnlinePaydayLoansGuide that can provide all valuable information about loans and warn you against fraud and swindle.

Related posts:

1. Do You Know When its the Right Time to Refinance Your Home?
2. Is ?Buy to Let? the option for you?
3. Why You Should Refinance Your Mortgage to a Shorter Term
4. Making Your Home Affordable
5. Types of Mortgages?And How and When to Get Them

Posted in Personal Finance | Tagged home financing, mortage loan |

Source: http://www.richescorner.com/bankruptcy-can-get-you-good-deals-for-home-financing/

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Police: 6 students in classroom before Wyo. attack

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) ? Only a handful of students were in a Wyoming community college classroom when a man barged in with a bow and arrow and two knives, and killed the instructor and then himself.

Casper police spokesman Justin Smith says authorities believe "around six" students were in the Casper College computer science class Friday morning when 25-year-old Christopher Krumm, of Vernon, Conn., entered and attacked his father, the instructor.

Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh says Christopher Krumm had first fatally stabbed his father's live-in girlfriend, 42-year-old Heidi Arnold, at the couple's home about two miles away.

Christopher Krumm then went to the college and shot his father, 56-year-old James Krumm, in the head with the high-powered bow and arrow before stabbing himself with a large knife.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-6-students-classroom-wyo-attack-024609147.html

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Guyana's Finance Minister rules out steep tax cuts - Demerara Waves

Sterling Products Limited's Export Sales Manager, Dyanne Yhan receiving the President's Award for Export Achievement from Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds.

Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh has ruled out major tax cuts on grounds that Guyana?s economy could face major ?long term? instability but the business community on Friday remained adamant that Personal Income Tax should be slashed because Value Added Tax (VAT) is raking in huge revenues.

Singh?s position came after the President of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), Mohindra Chand called for reduction of the 33? personal income tax.? Speaking with Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com) on Friday, Chand explained that the private sector?s demand is rooted in the huge revenues that the 16 percent VAT has been raking in.

?Naturally, there should be a proper study done before you could determine by how much it should be reduced but we see an opportunity for it to reduce given the fact that the VAT has been very effective in capturing all taxpayers whereas the Income Tax is not as wide as the VAT,? he said.

Latest figures show that in 2011 VAT and excise taxes raked in GUY$53 billion and Income Tax GUY$16 billion.

The Finance Minister told the GMSA Annual Presentation Awards Dinner that government was not prepared to sacrifice economic stability for political popularity. He cautioned the business community that reducing taxes would backfire on the private sector?s growth and overall performance.

?It is not in the private sector?s interest to have a country that has large fiscal deficit that accumulates unsustainable burdens of debt that in turn will undermine all of the other key indicators, that will undermine inflation and interest rates and exchange rates and end up making the environment for doing business even more uncompetitive than had those popular choices not being exercised,? said Singh.

Saying that huge tax cuts would amount to ?reckless decisions? and ?no brainers?, the Finance Minister pledged government?s commitment to working with the private sector ?to ensure that we preserve and protect the long-term solvency, viability and sustainability of our economy.?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that Guyana will this year register 3.7 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 4.6 percent inflation and an external current account deficit of 14 percent of GDP.

The GMSA President said his organisation intends to early next month take advantage of the Finance Minister?s position and open talks with him on reducing Personal Income Tax. ?I don?t think the minister closed the door on the review-request but I think he opened the door actually for us to engage him,? said Chand.

Awards

GUYANA MANUFACTURING & SERVICES ASSOCIATION LTD.

ANNUAL AWARDS PRESENTATION & DINNER 2012

AWARDS & CITATIONS

?

H.E. THE PRESIDENT?S AWARD FOR EXPORT ACHIEVEMENT

Sterling Products Ltd.

Consistent growth and export expansion in the demanding Caribbean Markets.

This uniquely indigenous company has recorded an exceptional 19% overall growth in export business in a single year.? Sterling Products attributes this to their commitment to expanding their markets into the wider Caribbean region including Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Barbados, and to the highly competitive Trinidad and Tobago market.?

The current upward trend of sales of Umda Phalka Ghee and Baker?s Pride Shortening in Trinidad and Barbados respectively indicates that these products have superior functionality. Sterling Products has wasted no time in developing pointed strategies to ensure that the baking ingredients are more readily available in a larger number of supermarkets at home and abroad.?

Presented by:? Prime Minister, S.A. Hinds

Received by:? Dyanne Yhan, Export Sales Manager

?

BARAMA COMPANY LTD.

Attaining Verified Legal Origin (VLO) international certification?

Barama Company is one of the oldest Foreign Direct Investments in Guyana, and the largest investment in the Forestry Sector. The Company manages a forest concession area of 1.6 million hectares of natural tropical forest and their value-added operations include sawmilling, veneering, plywood and kiln drying facilities. They have also adopted the new Forestry Commission thrust of harvesting and utilizing lesser known species such as Dakamaballi, Lemonaballi, Burada and Monkey Pot.

Barama chose to place their operations under a single international certification policy and the Verified Legal Origin (VLO) certificate was awarded in November 2012.? It represents the largest single block of tropical forest in the world to be certified under a VLO-type scheme.

Presented by:? GMSA?s Immediate Past Prsident, Clinton Williams

Received by:? CEO, Clement Ooi

?

BANKS DIH LTD.

Upgrading Food Safety Management System for the Soft Drink Plant to the more inclusive international Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000

Banks DIH is one of Guyana?s long standing indigenous companies.? As a manufacturer of ?ready to eat products?, it is critical for them to implement all measures to eliminate the risk of contamination and the accompanying hazards.??

The Soft Drink, Dairy and Novelty Ice plants were already certified with the ISO 22000:2005 Food Safety Management System.? However, in order to align the company with The Global Food Safety Initiative, Banks DIH decided to upgrade to the Food Safety Certification System (FSSC) number 22000 which encompasses the soft drink plant and all food manufacturing processes.? They received this certificate in February 2012.? In July, the ISO also certified the company?s Quality Management System.

Presented by:? Private Sector Chairman, Ronald Webster

Received by:? Finance Controller, Dipnanne Seepaul

?

QUALFON (Guyana) Inc.

Improving and expanding International Marketing Service & involvement in Community Development

Since 1996, Qualfon has been ranked the top performing Business Processes Outsourcing (BPO) service provider.? Their reputation is one of high ethical values, below-market pricing, and a contented staff. ?Qualfon has been in this business internationally for some 16 years now, beginning as an IVR provider for well known clients, including one global stock exchange, IBM and AT&T.

To this day, Qualfon is the only significant call center in Guyana, proud of its expert industry experience, low turnover, and a financial strength that is designed for growth.

Presented by:? Mexican Ambassador, Francisco Olguin

Received by:? Manager, Luanna Persaud

?

Total Air Cargo (Amerijet)?

Breaking new ground in Transportation Logistics?

?

Total Air Cargo Sales and Handling Agency entered the air cargo handling industry in 1995 as proud agents for the Amerijet International cargo freighting service, providing transportation logistics for both imported and exported air cargo.? The facility specializes in aviation ground handling and inter-modal transportation of Amerijet?s cargo by air, land and water, in and outside of Guyana.? The management is also responsible for training staff and agents in the safe and proper handling of hazardous materials.

Total Air Cargo fully represents Amerijet?s primary objectives of developing long-term relationships with customers by providing first-class service, equipment and facilities, and staying dedicated to the tenets of quality service.

Presented by:? Ramesh Dookhoo

Received by:? Managing Director, Ulric Ceres

?

Farfan & Mendes/Mines Services Ltd.

Extending the range of services to the Mining, Forestry & Wood Products industries, and introducing new and innovative technologies and methodologies

Mines Services Ltd. is a vibrant subsidiary of the Farfan & Mendes Group that specializes in tyre repairs for light and heavy duty vehicles, hydraulic hose assembly, mill-certified wire rope manufacturing, and a wide range of services and accessories for the mining industry.? As the local representative of Michelin and Goodrich tyres, Rust-oleum, National Hose, ESCO and Crosby Laughlin among other globally recognized brands, Mines Services continues to expand its range of products and services and its customer base with efficient point-of-sale and after sale services.

Presented by:? Canadian High Commissioner, David Devine

Received by:? General Manager, John Peroune

?
EMPRETECO AWARD

Barbara Dublin-Peterkin

B's Beauty Circle & Naturopathic Centre, Visions of Excellence Personal Development Centre and B&D Farm Complex.

Application of the EMPRETEC Entrepreneurship Principles to Business Expansion & Community Development

The Empreteco Award is intended to foster the true spirit of Entrepreneurship based on the EMPRETEC methodology of innovativeness, investment, market penetration, export, and job creation within a framework of customer satisfaction, making profits, and generating corporate growth and development.?

Ms. Dublin-Peterkin is being awarded this year for her determined application of the ?EMPRETEC Entrepreneurship Principles to the expansion of business?.? She has been credited with pioneering efforts to maneuvre the Health and Wellness industry into a viable business venture.? She is also being recognized for applying the same principles to foster community development.

Presented by:? GMSA?s President, Mohindra Chand

Received by:? Empreteco, Barbara Dublin-Peterkin

??

Camex Restaurants Ltd.

Unprecedented growth & immense contribution to the development of the Fast Food Sector?

Camex Restaurants, Inc. is a franchisee of seven (7) Church?s Chicken fast food outlets here in Guyana, along with three Dairy Queens, and one Mario?s Pizza plaza.? More recently, the Company added a franchise from QSR International, the master franchisee for Quiznos restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean.? QSR, we are told, is pleased to have broken into the South American market through our own intrepid entrepreneur, Terrence Campbell.?

In fact, the development agreement calls for five Quiznos units to be opened within the next five years. This will significantly enlarge Camex?s operations which are spread around Guyana with Church?s and Mario?s Pizza Outlets in Georgetown, Berbice, Linden and Essequibo.?

Presented by:? GCCI President, Clinton Urling

Received by:? Director Equipment & Facilities, Gregory De Gannes

??

Superior Shingles & Wood Products

Introducing new and innovative technologies and methodologies in Wood Products manufacturing and international market penetration

Superior Shingles & Wood Products (SSWP) is the manufacturer of the now internationally recognized Turada Wallaba Shingles. Their modern shingle plant is quality assured to meet the highest international standards. The state-of-the-art production complex has been in operation since 2001 and has the capacity to produce approximately 200,000 square feet of shingles per month.

Superior Shingles has successfully penetrated a number of exotic export destinations including resorts and homes in Mauritius; St. Barthelemy; Papeete in the French Polynesian islands; and Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.? This product has become the choice roofing material for architects the world over because of its durability and capacity to resist insects, decay and even fire.

Presented by:? CEO Roraima Airways, Gerry Gouvieia

Received by:? Managing Director, George Bulkan

Prestige Manufacturing & Bottling Enterprise?

Business Expansion and immense contribution to the development of the Agro-Processing Sector?

This company is arguably one of the pioneers of export of locally processed agri-foods.? Prestige Manufacturing has for 20 years been quietly building up its production capacity, expanding its product range and acquiring more markets in the Caribbean and North America.? They have retained old customers for years because of their insistence on utilizing mostly local raw materials and traditional methods of production.?

Recently Prestige relocated to Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara, into a much larger factory building with better facilities for hygienic production and storage.? The company has also expanded its markets for achars, seasonings, churneys, essences and other products to Anguilla and Trinidad and Tobago, ?the USA and Canada.

Presented by:? Chairman, AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan

Received by:? Managing Director, Rama Prashad

?

Mr. Dennis Morgan

Denmor Garment Manufacturers

Pioneering and developing the Textiles & Sewn Goods industry

The recently deceased Dennis Morgan, founder and CEO of Denmor Garment Factory was, without doubt, the leading manufacturer of men?s, ladies? and children?s outer and under garments in Guyana.?

Over several decades in business, he never lost his optimism that Guyanese manufacturers could hold their own against competitors from North America, Europe and Asia.? ?Dennis demonstrated his business savvy securing production contracts for several big-name international clothing lines including Victoria?s Secrets.?

He became a relentless proponent for the development of our own human resources, actually walking the talk.? At his own company located at Coldingen East Coast Demerara, Denmor maintained a staff of over 98 per cent women drawn from surrounding poor rural communities.? He provided skills training and stepped up his employee welfare management programme by adding HIV/AIDS counseling to his employee and community welfare programme.?

Dennis Morgan was indeed a visionary, and a philanthropist, well loved and highly regarded.? The business community has lost a dependable, determined partner and a shrewd mind.? MAY HIS SOUL FIND ETERNAL REST.

?

We give this posthumous award this evening in full recognition of the sterling contributions he has made to his sector, and to business development in Guyana.

?

Presented by:? CESO Country Director, Dr. Leslie Chin

Received by:? Mrs. Dennis Morgan

?

Mariska?s Fashions

Sonia Noel

Continuous Expansion and Market Penetration for Guyanese Fashion Design

Whenever most people think of Fashion Designing in Guyana, Sonia Noel is the name that comes to mind.? She has become something of an icon and has already begun to stamp her mark on the industry across the Caribbean.? She has been invited to participate in symposiums and forums at Fashion Weekend events in Jamaica, Trinidad and other islands.? She went as far as the prestigious Ivy-League Brown University in the USA to lecture to students of the Arts.??

To say that Sonia is a phenomenal fashion designer is understating it.? She designs for her own showroom ? Mariska?s Fashions in Kitty, as well as a long list of clients here and abroad who prefer to wear her sometimes eclectic and fanciful designs.?

?

Presented by:? GMSA Director, Clement Duncan

Received by:? Mariska, daughter of Sonia Noel

?

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

L . Seepersaud Maraj & Sons Ltd.?

In the pockets of this steady, old Company are over 70 years worth of crafting gold jewellery of exceptional quality renowned around the world. ??L. Seepersaud Maraj has been the staple for elaborate filigreed tilaries and exotic, multi-tiered bracelets.? They create intricately wrought gold and diamond earrings and a wide range of male and female jewellery with traditional and modern designs.

They crafted a golden Tilari for the British Queen Elizabeth II when she visited in the 1990?s, and a golden multi-tiered bracelet for the Duchess of Kent when she came to Guyana with her husband for our Independence celebrations some years ago. ?

The family enterprise was awarded the International Gold Star for Quality by Business Initiative Directions (BID) of Paris.? This was actually the first time that a Guyanese or Caribbean firm was recognized by this organisation which promotes quality culture in 163 countries.

We?re not sure when exactly the patriarch, L. Seepersaud Maraj, began selling from a showcase at that particular spot in the Stabroek Market, but there are records indicating that the shop was already in existence in 1935.? He trained his sons Sharma, Ram and Heera and today, they are designing and fashioning superior gold jewellery together with their spouses Molly, Savitri and Kamla.

The GMSA proudly salutes you for building and sustaining this uniquely traditional business for nearly 8 decades.

Presented by:? Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh

Received by:? Managing Director, Heera Maraj

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Source: http://www.demerarawaves.com/index.php/201211305065/Latest/finance-minister-rules-out-steep-tax-cuts-private-sector-wants-personal-income-tax-slashed.html

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Can a Jellyfish Unlock the Secret of Immortality?

Takashi Murai

The "immortal jellyfish" can transform itself back into a polyp and begin life anew.

After more than 4,000 years ? almost since the dawn of recorded time, when Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh that the secret to immortality lay in a coral found on the ocean floor ? man finally discovered eternal life in 1988. He found it, in fact, on the ocean floor. The discovery was made unwittingly by Christian Sommer, a German marine-biology student in his early 20s. He was spending the summer in Rapallo, a small city on the Italian Riviera, where exactly one century earlier Friedrich Nietzsche conceived ?Thus Spoke Zarathustra?: ?Everything goes, everything comes back; eternally rolls the wheel of being. Everything dies, everything blossoms again. . . .?

Yoshihiko Ueda for The New York Times

Shin Kubota at Kyoto University?s Seto Marine Biological Laboratory.

Sommer was conducting research on hydrozoans, small invertebrates that, depending on their stage in the life cycle, resemble either a jellyfish or a soft coral. Every morning, Sommer went snorkeling in the turquoise water off the cliffs of Portofino. He scanned the ocean floor for hydrozoans, gathering them with plankton nets. Among the hundreds of organisms he collected was a tiny, relatively obscure species known to biologists as Turritopsis dohrnii. Today it is more commonly known as the immortal jellyfish.

Sommer kept his hydrozoans in petri dishes and observed their reproduction habits. After several days he noticed that his Turritopsis dohrnii was behaving in a very peculiar manner, for which he could hypothesize no earthly explanation. Plainly speaking, it refused to die. It appeared to age in reverse, growing younger and younger until it reached its earliest stage of development, at which point it began its life cycle anew.

Sommer was baffled by this development but didn?t immediately grasp its significance. (It was nearly a decade before the word ?immortal? was first used to describe the species.) But several biologists in Genoa, fascinated by Sommer?s finding, continued to study the species, and in 1996 they published a paper called ?Reversing the Life Cycle.? The scientists described how the species ? at any stage of its development ? could transform itself back to a polyp, the organism?s earliest stage of life, ?thus escaping death and achieving potential immortality.? This finding appeared to debunk the most fundamental law of the natural world ? you are born, and then you die.

One of the paper?s authors, Ferdinando Boero, likened the Turritopsis to a butterfly that, instead of dying, turns back into a caterpillar. Another metaphor is a chicken that transforms into an egg, which gives birth to another chicken. The anthropomorphic analogy is that of an old man who grows younger and younger until he is again a fetus. For this reason Turritopsis dohrnii is often referred to as the Benjamin Button jellyfish.

Yet the publication of ?Reversing the Life Cycle? barely registered outside the academic world. You might expect that, having learned of the existence of immortal life, man would dedicate colossal resources to learning how the immortal jellyfish performs its trick. You might expect that biotech multinationals would vie to copyright its genome; that a vast coalition of research scientists would seek to determine the mechanisms by which its cells aged in reverse; that pharmaceutical firms would try to appropriate its lessons for the purposes of human medicine; that governments would broker international accords to govern the future use of rejuvenating technology. But none of this happened.

Some progress has been made, however, in the quarter-century since Christian Sommer?s discovery. We now know, for instance, that the rejuvenation of Turritopsis dohrnii and some other members of the genus is caused by environmental stress or physical assault. We know that, during rejuvenation, it undergoes cellular transdifferentiation, an unusual process by which one type of cell is converted into another ? a skin cell into a nerve cell, for instance. (The same process occurs in human stem cells.) We also know that, in recent decades, the immortal jellyfish has rapidly spread throughout the world?s oceans in what Maria Pia Miglietta, a biology professor at Notre Dame, calls ?a silent invasion.? The jellyfish has been ?hitchhiking? on cargo ships that use seawater for ballast. Turritopsis has now been observed not only in the Mediterranean but also off the coasts of Panama, Spain, Florida and Japan. The jellyfish seems able to survive, and proliferate, in every ocean in the world. It is possible to imagine a distant future in which most other species of life are extinct but the ocean will consist overwhelmingly of immortal jellyfish, a great gelatin consciousness everlasting.

Nathaniel Rich is an author whose second novel, ??Odds Against Tomorrow,?? will be published in April.

Editor: Jon Kelly

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 29, 2012

An earlier version of this article misstated the title of Charles Darwin?s classic book on the subject of evolution. It is ?On The Origin of Species,? not ?On the Origin of the Species.?

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/magazine/can-a-jellyfish-unlock-the-secret-of-immortality.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Gaming the system - Beyond The Commons, Capital Read - Maclean's

Here at Maclean's, we appreciate the written word. And we appreciate you, the reader. We are always looking for ways to create a better user experience for you and wanted to try out a new functionality that provides you with a reading experience in which the words and fonts take centre stage. We believe you'll appreciate the clean, white layout as you read our feature articles. But we don't want to force it on you and it's completely optional. Click "View in Clean Reading Mode" on any article if you want to try it out. Once there, you can click "Go back to regular view" at the top or bottom of the article to return to the regular layout.

Andrew Coyne calls for a one-time cooperation pact aimed at electoral reform.

There are a lot of reasons to prefer proportional representation ? I?ve written about it often ? but for the opposition parties there is one reason in particular: the current system heavily favours the Conservatives, as the party with the support of the largest single block of voters.So while I don?t see the case for merging the other parties, I do think there?s some merit in a proposal floated by the Liberal leadership candidate Joyce Murray: namely, a one-time-only electoral pact, for the sole purpose of changing the voting system.?The Green Party has proposed something similar. And Nathan Cullen famously ran for NDP leader on an electoral cooperation platform. The details no doubt vary, but here?s how I can see it working. The opposition parties would agree on a single candidate to put up against the Conservatives in each riding. Were they to win a majority, they would pledge to govern just long enough to implement electoral reform: a year, two at most. Then fresh elections would be called under the new system, with each party once again running under its own flag, with a full slate of candidates.

Supporters of each party, therefore, would not have to give up their allegiance. Neither, for that matter, would reform-minded Conservatives. They could vote for the reform ticket this one time, then return to the Tory fold when it came to deciding who should represent them in a reformed Parliament.

I guess the theory is here at that the 2015 election could be an election about electoral reform. That strikes me as an odd notion. Are we going to suspend all other issues of consideration? Are the the Liberals, Greens and New Democrats going to put aside all other policy proposals? Are they going to promise, for the year or two it takes to implement reform, to not do anything else of consequence? Or are they going to have to agree on a unified platform? Could the general public be convinced to take electoral reform so seriously that all other policy issues would be secondary?

I also continue to find the idea of riding-level cooperation to be hopelessly problematic. To start, doesn?t the last federal election demonstrate the folly of trying to figure out ahead of time which party?s candidate has the best shot of winning? How many of the ridings that the NDP won for the first time in 2011 would have had a New Democrat candidate if a cooperation approach had been adopted two months before that election?

Alice Funke sees lots of?practical issues. But how would this work politically? Having agreed to cooperate on nominating candidates, how tied to each other would the parties be? Could they still disagree amongst each other? Would they have to agree to refrain from attacking each other? Wouldn?t the Conservatives happily be able to exploit differences of opinion and attack the three as a united front?the NDP held responsible for any mistakes of the Liberals and vice versa? What if 200 Liberal candidates are nominated, but, mid-campaign, the Liberal leader is suddenly enveloped in some scandal?

On a local level, how sure are we that Liberal or Green voters will vote NDP or vice versa? What would be the impact locally in 2019 on a party not running a candidate in 2015? Wouldn?t sitting out a campaign in a given riding make it at least a little bit harder for a party to mount a campaign four years later?

As when Nathan Cullen proposed it, the idea still strikes me a too cute by half. I think people who want to see cooperation among the three non-Conservative parties might as well argue for a merger (though I don?t think that makes much sense right now) or the possibility of a coalition government. Joint nominations, in my mind, put you in no man?s land between those two ideas.

Source: http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/12/01/gaming-the-system-2/

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Beats by Dr. Dre Executive

The Beats by Dr. Dre lineup of headphones continues to expand, and if the early models were targeted at athletes, pop stars in videos, and the people who love them, the latest addition, Beats Executive, is targeted at the traveling businessperson. At $299.95 (direct), the Executive's cool, metallic look is more serious than flashy. Its active noise cancellation is sufficient, but not stellar, and the pair suffers from some unfortunate deep bass distortion, but only at top volumes. Still, at moderate volumes, it delivers the typical Beats sound signature: big bass, lots of crisp treble. Bass lovers who want basic noise cancellation might enjoy these incredibly comfortable cans?and the impressive array of included accessories.

Design
The Beats Executive strays slightly from the typical Beats visual styling?yes, there's still the flat, red cable and the lowercase B logo on each ear, but the color scheme trades in glossy red, black, and white plastic for a more refined brushed metallic and black leather combination. The earpads and headband are plush and exceedingly comfortable, even during long listening sessions.?The circumaural (around-the-ear) design doesn't completely seal off the ears, but the gentle pressure of the pillow-like earpads does a good job of passively eliminating some ambient noise.

It's too bad that the Beats Executive runs on two AAA batteries (which are included) rather than a rechargeable option?both for convenience of the user and environmental reasons. The batteries fit into a compartment in the left earpiece, which closes shut with the aid of magnets?a nice design touch. A Power switch for the noise cancellation (and audio) is located on the right earpiece.

Beats rates the battery life for the Executive at roughly 25 hours before you'll need to get replacements, but this will also depend on what brand of batteries you buy and how you use the headphones.

One thing Beats always seems to get right is the accessories department. The Beats Executive folds down flat into a sturdy, thin, and easy-to-pack carrying case. Included with the headphones are two detachable audio cables?one with an inline microphone and remote for mobile devices, one without?which connect to the bottom of the left earpiece. The inclusion of these cables adds tremendous value to the expensive Executive, since cables are usually the most likely culprit in a malfunctioning pair of headphones?swapping out the cable is a lot cheaper than buying new headphones or sending them in for repair.

Beats also includes a cleaning shammy, airplane jack adapter, and a ?-inch headphone jack adapter.

Performance
On deep bass tracks, the Beats Executive runs into some trouble at high volumes, which is a bit surprising, since delivering subwoofer-like thunder is one of the defining characteristics of the Beats lineup. On the Knife's "Silent Shout," a track with intense sub-bass content, the Executive gets fuzzy and distorted at top volumes?it's not safe to listen at these levels, but it's a fair test of the headphone's drivers.

At more moderate levels, the distortion fades away and we're left with the heavy, thumping bass response and crisp, sculpted highs that Beats is known for. Bass lovers (who listen at reasonable volume levels) will be pleased; audiophiles and purists seeking a more natural, flat response should look elsewhere.

The Beats sound signature is designed with modern popular music mixes in mind, so it's not surprising that the Executive sounds best on hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B tracks. Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild" has a kick drum loop that is delivered with a serious high-mid crunch, making the attack of the kick crisp and powerful?even the vinyl crackle in the background seems a little spiked. Underneath it all, the low frequency response is also strong?the bass synth hits in the loop are delivered with serious resonance, and the whole experience seems to more or less mimic a club's sound system.

The punchy edge of the high-mids and high frequencies gives Bill Callahan's unique baritone vocals on his most recent album, Apocalypse, some extra edge that helps them stand out even more against the back drop of some occasionally thunderous percussion work.

That same crisp edge gives the higher register strings and percussion on classical tracks, like John Adams' "The Chairman Dances," some added presence?not that they really need it. The lower register strings and percussion can sound unnaturally powerful on some bass-heavy headphones, but the Executive manages to bring some added bass response to these sections without upsetting the overall balance of the mix.

As for noise cancellation performance, on a recent flight, I was impressed by how much the earpads quieted the roar of the airplane's engines. Ironically, switching the noise cancellation circuitry on seemed to add more hiss, which is a trademark of less-evolved, cheaper noise cancellation circuitry. However, the noise cancellation did eliminate a wide swath of low-to-mid frequency jet engine hum.

Unfortunately, you cannot use the Beats Executive in passive mode?it will only produce audio if the noise cancellation Power switch is in the on position. This is true of some industry-leading noise canceling pairs, like the Bose QuietComfort series. But the Beats Executive is a musical pair first, and the noise cancellation, which is not extraordinary, is merely an added bonus. This makes the inability to use the headphones passively more frustrating than it is on a more effective noise canceling pair.

The bass distortion is not necessarily a deal breaker if you plan on listening at moderate, safe listening levels, but it's nonetheless a bit of a disappointment in this high price range. If what you seek as a pair of headphones with serious bass, but no distortion, you may wish to consider the noise-canceling Logitech UE 6000 , which brings serious rumble without distortion issues, even at top volumes?and it can be used in passive mode, as well.

If noise cancellation is your primary concern, it's really hard to beat the original champs: Both the Bose QuietComfort 15 ?(a circumaural option) and the supra-aural (on-ear) QuietComfort 3 ?are excellent in terms of eliminating ambient noise without adding hiss. Our favorite current combination of excellent audio quality and solid noise cancellation, however, is the AKG K 490 NC
?it brings a level of audio performance that's often lacking in the noise cancellation realm. The Beats Executive is also a solid option, but it exists in a crowded field of similarly-priced overachievers.

?More Headphone Reviews:
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