How Much Training Do Sales Representatives Need? - NYTimes.com

During the last She Owns It business group meeting, Beth Shaw, who owns YogaFit, wondered why her new sales representative wasn?t selling what she was brought on to sell ? YogaFit conference sponsorships, and the company?s branded merchandise, which includes clothing, yoga mats and DVDs. Initially, the conversation focused on compensation and learning curves. But as the discussion continued, a group member, Alexandra Mayzler, the owner of Thinking Caps Tutoring, raised the issue of training.

Specifically, she asked whether YogaFit had trained its new salesperson.

?If you?re a salesperson, I?m assuming ?? Ms. Shaw began to answer.

?Uh uh,? said Deirdre Lord, who owns the Megawatt Hour.

?You?re shaking your head,? Ms. Shaw said to Ms. Mayzler, who replied that she makes no assumptions regarding the ability of new people to sell Thinking Caps? services. She said sales at her company were relationship-driven. In fact, Thinking Caps doesn?t even use the term ?sales.? Instead it describes that function as ?networking and outreach.?

?We have a sales deck, we have a whole sponsor proposal,? Ms. Shaw said, protesting.

?So do we,? Ms. Mayzler said, adding that that?s not enough. For example, Thinking Caps just opened a Dallas office, which will be run by a clinical psychologist who has worked within schools. ?She knows how to talk about this stuff,? Ms. Mayzler said. Still, the Dallas employee will go through extensive training designed to teach her how to have conversations that sell Thinking Caps? services in a style consistent with its mission.

?Do you train her?? asked Susan Parker, the group member who owns Bari Jay.

?I?m not doing everything,? Ms. Mayzler said, adding, ?I?m finally focusing on delegating.? One aspect of training involves learning the information in the Thinking Caps manual. Next, come conversations with three different Thinking Caps staff members. These include extensive role-playing and direction on points that must be hit when talking about Thinking Caps. Ms. Mayzler holds the final conversation with the trainee, who then shadows an experienced Thinking Caps staff member during meetings with potential clients.

?There?s a difference in how you sell sponsorships and how you sell merchandise,? said Jessica Johnson, who owns Johnson Security Bureau. For example, a deck may help YogaFit?s sales representative sell sponsorships, she said, but not apparel or videos.

But, said Ms. Shaw, the salesperson received leads for pro shops locating within health clubs and offering YogaFit trainings. ?It?s not too much of a stretch to be like, ?Hey, you?re carrying yoga mats, we?ve got yoga mats. Hey, you?ve got workout pants, we?ve got great workout pants,?? Ms. Shaw said.

Ms. Johnson said that, while Ms. Shaw?s suggestions were valid, she had to be sure the sales rep understood YogaFit?s ?unique selling proposition.? A new salesperson must establish relationships with pro shops, while recognizing that they may already sell ?29 different yoga mats,? she added.

?I understand your frustration because you?re responsible for your entire business,? Ms. Johnson said. Additionally she said, ?You?re incenting this woman and giving her good compensation, and she?s come to you with what you think is credible experience, and you?re like, ?Why are you not performing and what?s not working???

?Exactly,? said Ms. Shaw.

In terms of training, Ms. Shaw said the sales representative attended a YogaFit conference where she learned about YogaFit?s products and met several instructors. Additionally, she attended some of the company?s yoga trainings.

Ms. Johnson suggested that it might be beneficial to have the new salesperson make weekly or monthly presentations to YogaFit?s staff. These could take the form of a sales call, with role-playing.

?We?ve actually tried to get her to do that, and for some reason she?s been reluctant to even make a sales call in front of the sales team that she?s trying to train,? Ms. Shaw said.

Ms. Johnson and Ms. Lord agreed this was a bad sign. Still, Ms. Johnson wasn?t giving up. ?My next suggestion would be to model to her an example sales call,? she said. ?This is what a cold call looks like, this is what a warm call looks like, this is what a warm letter looks like, this is what a face-to-face looks like,? she continued. After a certain amount of repetition, Ms. Shaw could accompany the salesperson on a call to see how she does.

?Yeah, yeah,? said Ms. Shaw, who is no longer sure anything will work. ?I now have given her a month and a week and the training period is up,? she said. Instead of continuing to bang her head against a wall, Ms. Shaw is ready to simply assign her salesperson to the customer service department for the duration of her contract, which is up on Feb. 18.

?Why not take until Feb. 18 to try to make her a better salesperson???asked Ms. Parker. ?Then either you have, hopefully, a good salesperson on Feb. 18, or you cut your losses,? she said.

?I agree with that,? Ms. Lord said.

As Ms. Shaw considered this, Ms. Johnson pointed out that the more important issue is, how she handles the issue going forward.

You can follow Adriana Gardella on Twitter.

Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/how-much-training-do-sales-representatives-need/

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Fed keeps stimulus in place as U.S. economy "paused"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left in place its monthly $85 billion bond-buying stimulus plan, arguing the support was needed to lower unemployment even as it indicated a recent stall in U.S. economic growth was likely temporary.

The U.S. central bank predicted that the nation's job market would continue to improve at a modest pace, and repeated a pledge to keep purchasing securities until the outlook for employment "improves substantially."

"Growth in economic activity paused in recent months, in large part because of weather-related disruptions and other transitory factors," the Fed said after a two-day meeting.

A report on Wednesday showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter as inventory investment slowed and government spending plunged. Analysts said superstorm Sandy, which slammed into a large swath of the U.S. East Coast in late October, also disrupted the recovery.

The Fed has kept overnight interest rates near zero since late 2008 and tripled its balance sheet to about $3 trillion through purchases of securities, which are aimed at pushing longer-term borrowing costs lower.

While the recovery from the 2007-2009 recession has been stubbornly tepid, the Fed's policy panel voiced confidence it would remain on track with continued help from monetary policy.

"The committee expects that, with appropriate policy accommodation, economic growth will proceed at a moderate pace and the unemployment rate will gradually decline toward levels the committee judges consistent with its dual mandate," it said.

That was cautiously more optimistic than the Fed had sounded in December, when it emphasized it was "concerned" the economy would not deliver stronger hiring without policy support.

"The changes to the policy rationale were tilted to sound more affirmative in nature," JPMorgan economist Michael Feroli wrote in a note to clients.

A report on Friday is expected to show the U.S. jobless rate remained stuck at 7.8 percent for a third straight month in January. The Fed repeated that it would keep overnight rates near zero until the unemployment rate hits 6.5 percent, as long as inflation does not threaten to exceed 2.5 percent.

"It's a message that policy is steady as she goes," said Julia Coronado, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.

By and large, the statement was widely as anticipated, and U.S. stocks, government bonds and the dollar were little changed after the news.

STILL LOOKING FOR LABOR MARKET IMPROVEMENT

The Fed noted that consumer spending and business investment had picked up and the housing sector had shown further improvement. It also acknowledged calmer financial conditions in Europe, omitting a December warning that these posed a significant threat, although it said downside risks remained.

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George, in her first policy vote, dissented against continued Fed stimulus, picking up the mantle left behind by Richmond Fed chief Jeffrey Lacker, who dissented at every policy meeting last year.

The Fed's bond-buying program, under which it currently purchases $40 billion of mortgage-backed bonds and $45 billion of longer-dated Treasuries a month, is part of the central bank's unprecedented effort to spark a stronger recovery and drive down unemployment.

Most analysts do not expect the outlook for the labor market to show the substantial improvement the Fed wants to see this year, keeping it on track for further bond buying.

Even so, minutes of the Fed's last meeting in December, released early this month, showed that a few policymakers thought the program should be halted by the middle of 2013.

Some Fed officials have voiced concern that any benefit from the bond purchases could be offset by mounting costs.

Two potential threats policymakers see are the risk of fueling an asset price bubble and the possibility of harming the functioning of Treasury and mortgage-backed bond markets. Some also worry that the Fed could suffer a loss when it eventually sells bonds to shrink its balance sheet, which might have serious political consequences for its independence.

Republicans have been persistently critical of the Fed and Congressman Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, went to the trouble of issuing a statement to take issue with its decision on Wednesday.

"There is little which monetary policy can achieve to promote economic growth and much the Fed risks by its continued commitment to an overly accommodative monetary policy stance," he said.

(Writing by Alister Bull and Pedro Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Andrea Ricci, Tim Ahmann, James Dalgleish and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fed-seen-maintaining-bond-buying-divisions-remain-145042088--finance.html

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Defense nominee Hagel plans to shed some holdings

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel has told Pentagon officials he plans to divest some of his financial holdings and resign from several corporate boards and public interest groups to avoid potential conflicts of interest if he wins Senate confirmation.

Hagel told Defense Department officials in a letter last week that he would resign his corporate board post at Chevron Corp. and shed investments in the energy firm, a major government contractor. He would also cut ties and investments with the McCarthy Group LLC, an Omaha-based private equity firm.

A new personal financial disclosure filed with the Office of Government Ethics lists Hagel's assets at between $2.8 million and $6 million, according to an Associated Press analysis. Hagel made earnings of more than $1 million last year, including board fees from Deutsche Bank, Zurich Insurance Group and Corsair Capital. Hagel said he would also server ties to those firms.

Hagel's Pentagon nomination has run into heavy fire from conservatives and Republicans who question whether he is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They also question his support for reductions in the nuclear arsenal. Some of his wide-ranging corporate and activist roles have also drawn criticism that his decision-making could be swayed by prior relationships. Hagel's letter to defense officials indicates he is willing to sell off possible conflict holdings and end his directorships to mute those concerns, but would still retain the ability to make his own investments.

In a letter sent last week to Robert Taylor, the Pentagon's acting general counsel, Hagel said that if he wins the defense post, he and his wife would not "invest in any company identified as a Department of Defense contractor or any other entity that would create a conflict of interest with my government duties." Hagel also pledged that if any firm that he has holdings in wins a defense contract, he would sell off those investments.

Some previous nominees for top government positions, such as former Bush administration Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, have placed their holdings in federally approved blind trusts so that they have no direct role in private investments during their tenure. Others have not used blind trusts because of their minimal investments or their preference to keep control over their holdings. Former Reagan administration Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger was among those who avoided blind trusts.

Sen. John Kerry, President Barack Obama's pick for secretary of state, has holdings worth more than $184 million, and is also not using a blind trust. Most of Kerry's investments are made through family trusts, which limit his direct involvement but are not as segregated as blind trusts qualified by the Office of Government Ethics.

Marie Harf, a White House spokesman, said Hagel worked with the OGE and Pentagon lawyers "to ensure he is in compliance with all applicable ethics laws and regulations." She added that his decision to shed any investments and directorships was "typical protocol."

In his letter, Hagel said he would not participate in any decision that "has a direct and predictable effect on my financial interests" and would request a waiver from the ethics office if he planned any move that could affect him financially.

Hagel's decision to sever his dealings and investments with Chevron were clearly dictated by the firm's extensive dealings with the Pentagon. According to government figures, Chevron received more than $500 million in defense contracts in 2012, ranking 78th among the department's largest corporate beneficiaries.

Hagel joined Chevron's board of directors in 2010 and made $116,000 in fees in 2012. He also has Chevron common stock worth between $100,000 and $250,000 according to his disclosure.

Activists from both the left and right have questioned Chevron's recent involvement with repressive governments, including its plans to develop natural gas reserves in Turkmenistan and its pipeline work in Burma.

One conservative non-profit interest group, the American Future Fund, took aim at Hagel's relationship with Chevron, asking in an attack ad: "How can Chuck Hagel run the Pentagon with so many ethical questions about his own record?"

That broadside came before Hagel's letter outlining his divestment plans. In addition to Hagel's pledge, the Senate Armed Services Committee also has some of the most stringent rules for nominees for senior civilian positions in the Defense Department, requiring nominees to divest all financial interests in any company contracting with the Pentagon. The committee bases its rules on a 330-page list of firms with any Defense contract exceeding $25,000.

Hagel also said he would cut ties to the McCarthy Group, headed by a former campaign treasurer, Michael McCarthy. In 2009, Hagel was named a senior adviser at McCarthy Capital Corporation, a subsidiary of McCarthy's company. The firm's investments include HDR and Vornado, which both have defense contracts.

And Hagel also agreed to step down as an adviser to M.I.C. industries, where he earned $120,000 last year. The firm's business includes making temporary structures under contract for the U.S. military.

His role as a member of Deutsche Bank's America's Advisory Board could also have posed problems because of reports that the German bank was among several global lenders under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly helping to skirt U.S. trade sanctions on Iran's energy industry. The German-based bank has denied the allegations.

In his letter, Hagel also pledged to cut ties with several academic and public interest groups, including Georgetown University, the Atlantic Council, the Center for the Study of the Presidency, the America Security Project and the Ploughshares Fund. The latter group has pressed for nuclear non-proliferation and Hagel's outspoken views on that issue has also raised complaints from some Senate conservatives.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/defense-nominee-hagel-plans-shed-holdings-163951628--politics.html

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Pfizer Q4 net jumps on sale of nutrition business

Drugmaker Pfizer Inc.'s fourth-quarter results easily beat Wall Street expectations, driving up its stock, as profit more than quadrupled, due to tighter spending and a $4.8 billion gain from selling its nutrition business.

Those boosts offset competition from generic drugs hurting sales of Lipitor and other medicines.

The world's biggest drugmaker said Tuesday that its net income was $6.32 billion, or 85 cents per share, up from $1.44 billion, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding the windfall from selling its nutrition business to Nestle SA for $11.5 billion on Nov. 30, and a total of $888 million for restructuring, legal and other one-time items, the Viagra maker would have had a profit of $3.51 billion, or 47 cents per share. That's 3 cents more than analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting.

In afternoon trading, the New York-based company's shares rose 87 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $27.71.

"It was certainly a good quarter," said Edward Jones analyst Judson Clark. "They continued to execute on their short-term business model," of controlling costs while making progress on the development of new drugs.

Revenue fell 7 percent to $15.1 billion, mainly due to generic competition to cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor. Analysts expected $14.35 billion.

"Overall, a good quarter driven by the revenue beat," BernsteinResearch analyst Dr. Timothy Anderson wrote to investors, calling Pfizer's 2013 financial forecast "a bit underwhelming."

Pfizer said it expects 2013 earnings per share of $2.20 to $2.30, excluding one-time items, and revenue of $56.2 billion to $58.2 billion. Analysts are expecting $2.28 per share and revenue of $57.55 billion.

Lipitor, which had reigned as the world's top-selling drug ever for nearly a decade, got U.S. generic competition in December 2011 and now has generic rivals in many major markets. The pill had been bringing Pfizer nearly $11 billion a year before then, down from its peak of $13 billion a year.

In the fourth quarter, Lipitor sales plunged 91 percent in the U.S. and 71 percent worldwide, to $584 million. A dozen other medicines also had lower sales due to generic competition.

Altogether, generic competition reduced prescription drug revenue by more than $2.1 billion. Unfavorable currency exchange rates lopped off another 2 percent, or $271 million.

However, several key newer drugs had double-digit sales increases, including fibromyalgia and pain treatment Lyrica, at $1.13 billion, painkiller Celebrex at $750 million, and the Prevnar 13 vaccine against meningitis and other pneumococcal infections, at $993 million. Viagra was up 6 percent at $553 million.

Altogether, Pfizer's prescription drug revenue fell 9 percent in the quarter, to $12.89 billion. The division was led by sales of primary-care medicines, which totaled $3.83 billion. Still, that was down 29 percent as Lipitor's sales in the two biggest markets, the U.S. and Japan, where shifted into the established products category. That segment, which markets off-patent drugs still popular in many countries, posted a 3 percent rise in revenue, to $2.37 billion.

Specialty products, such as Enbrel for psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, and hemophilia treatments Refacto AF and Benefix, had revenue dip 4 percent, to a combined $3.67 billion. Sales in emerging markets such as China and India jumped 17 percent, to $2.65 billion, while sales of cancer drugs, a newer focus for Pfizer, rose 9 percent to $370 million.

The animal health business saw revenue increase 6 percent, to $1.17 billion. Pfizer is set to sell up to 19.8 percent of the business, called Zoetis, in a partial initial public offering on Friday.

The consumer health business saw revenue jump 16 percent, to $936 million, due to strong growth of Advil pain reliever and Centrum vitamins.

"We had a good year," CEO Ian Read said in an interview, adding that he's "looking forward to progressing our pipeline and bringing new products to patients this year."

Read told analysts during a conference call that Pfizer will soon launch two new medicines, rheumatoid arthritis treatment Xeljanz and ? with partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. ? potential blockbuster Eliquis, for preventing heart attacks and dangerous clots in patients with the irregular heartbeat atrial fibrillation.

Pfizer said insurers so far have generally been covering Xeljanz, which has a wholesale price of about $2,050 for a month's supply, less than a rival drug.

Eliquis, just approved on Dec. 28 in the U.S., should be in most U.S. pharmacies by Thursday. Pfizer and partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. will promote it jointly, noting its advantages over two rival drugs on the market already, Xarelto and Pradaxa.

Asked about plans for acquisitions, Pfizer said its focus is on "bolt-on" deals, meaning purchases of companies with complementary businesses or products, with a price tag of up to several billion dollars.

Read said Pfizer's mid- to late-stage drug pipeline "continues to strengthen with key potential opportunities," including drugs for advanced breast cancer and three other types of cancer, one for high cholesterol and a meningococcal B vaccine for adolescents and young adults.

For the full year, net income was $14.57 billion, or $1.94 per share. That was down from $10.01 billion, or $1.27 per share, in 2011. Revenue totaled $58.99 billion, down 10 percent from $65.26 billion in 2011, before generic competition slashed sales of Lipitor and schizophrenia drug Geodon.

___

Linda A. Johnson can be followed at http://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-29-Earns-Pfizer/id-708e37623f3c420493b1cede32bf243e

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Ants' behavior leads to research method for optimizing product development time, costs

Jan. 29, 2013 ? Trying to find just the right balance of time spent in meetings and time performing tasks is a tough problem for managers, but a Wayne State University researcher believes the behavior of ants may provide a useful lesson on how to do it.

Using computer simulations derived from the characteristics of ants seeking food, Kai Yang, Ph.D., professor of industrial and systems engineering in the College of Engineering, has developed a mathematical model-based methodology to estimate the optimal amount of time spent to develop a product, as well as the cost, in overlapped product development. It is the latest in a series of projects he has worked on for Siemens North America.

"Non-discrete Ant Colony Optimisation (NdACO) to Optimise the Development Cycle Time and Cost in Overlapped Product Development," published recently in the International Journal of Production Research, utilizes the concept of concurrent engineering (CE), a systematic approach to product development based on parallel execution of tasks. The approach integrates several functions to reduce the development time and cost of a product while maintaining its quality. Co-authors include Satish Tyagi, Wayne State research assistant, and Anoop Verma, Ph.D., of the University of Iowa.

In CE, cross-functional teams communicate through several meetings, some before the beginning of project, categorized as precommunication, and some during execution of the project, called communication policy.

Because significant cost is incurred through those meetings, Yang said, it is necessary to investigate the cost-time trade-offs involved in the concurrent product development process to enhance work performance. Otherwise, applying the process can result in a larger number of iterations, or rework, adding to both time and cost.

"Currently, there is a lack of communication flow within organizations due to their large size, time differences, etc.," Yang said. "Therefore, the amount of precommunication and communication policy and the extent of overlapping stages should be meticulously determined to achieve the desired goals."

As product development moves forward, lack of communication from upstream decision-makers to downstream workers can leave the latter to operate without the latest available information to complete their task efficiently, he said.

Researchers studying ants' food-foraging behavior have noticed that changes in the pheromone trails left behind by the insects communicate the best ways for those that come after them to proceed. That led to the development of ant colony optimization (ACO) models, which Yang and his team are using.

Researchers believe their simulation model could reduce product definition time by as much as 50 percent, and lead to best practices that improve critical thinking and remove communication barriers. Such practices can be applied to large-sector manufacturing, health care and service companies, Yang said.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research.

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Journal Reference:

1. S.K. Tyagi, Kai Yang, A. Verma. Non-discrete ant colony optimisation (NdACO) to optimise the development cycle time and cost in overlapped product development. International Journal of Production Research, 2013; 51 (2): 346 DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2011.633120

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/AkYtUmYv0G0/130129111751.htm

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Dubai looks to Qatar for oil as flow from Iran cut

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? Dubai's government-run oil company says it has started importing supplies from Qatar and is seeking other sources in apparent moves to replace Iranian crude lost because of international sanctions.

Sunday's statement from the Emirates National Oil Co. said it could seek to expand imports from the Middle East and Asia to help meet rising demand in the city-state, which has little of its own oil unlike neighboring Abu Dhabi.

The statement did not mention Iran, but Dubai was a major buyer of Iranian condensate ? light oil ready for refineries ? and faced U.S. pressure to stop the flow.

Dubai was a major hub for Iranian trade, but commerce has been sharply reduced by Western sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dubai-looks-qatar-oil-flow-iran-cut-152117956--finance.html

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Social Knowledge Community - Early-Retirement.org

Being Social in Retirement

Today, 11:10 AM	? #1
Full time employment: Posting here. ? Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Illinois and Florida Posts: 658	Being Social in Retirement Before we retired, from a job that was somewhat stressful, and required considerable interaction with upper level management and a large number of subordinates, my retirement dream was... and this is not an overstatement... A log cabin near the top of a mountain in the Adirondaks, surrounded by barbed wire. In truth, a wish to be a hermit. Away from neighbors, only venturing out to do solo (DW and I) traveling, camping, and whatever was necessary to satisfy hedonic pleasures. Two or three close friends, but never, never, to live in a place where there were neighbors or anyone who would direct our lives. We ended up in a Florida retirement community, where there is never, ever a moment where something "fun" is not going on... and where we can draw away whenever we want. For a workaholic, a total change. Bought a boat, in our 52 slip marina, and explored the 710 miles of shoreline. Joined the computer club, crafts, pool, line dancing, bowling, painting, cards, called bingo (didn't play), shuffleboard, permanent member of decorating committee, for the first 15 years organized and planned many dances and parties shows and pot luck dinners. Also part of "Thursday's Child" five closest couples, with a moveable feast, dinner each and every week at one couple's home. With 360 home in the community, we know each and every resident, and most of the 80+ dogs. Twenty two years... never a serious argument or falling out. After reading several thousand posts, it struck me that most of the members are either not yet retired, or, retired for a relatively short time... like 4 or 5 years. In all of this time, as far as I can see, there are very few members who have, or plan to retire to a close, gated community, with people of similar ages and interests. In particular, a community that is unusual, in that members interact as a family. A social structure that is directly opposite to the working world home. A place where sports, entertainment, social events, and mutual support are the hallmarks. A place where keeping up with the Jones's doesn't exist. A place where it's easy to find others who will become close friends because of mutual interests and temperament. If it didn't sound so strange, I would have used the word commune. This changed our lives... much for the better. For a couple who intended to be unto ourselves, a complete and total turn around. I wouldn't pretend to give advice, except to share our experience, and offer it as a avenue to explore. Like... what will you be doing in the next 30 years? And so the subject... Being Social in Retirement. The difference as we see it, is having several hundred friends versus only the family and a dozen or so other friends. Everyone is different. Sometimes we are different, because we haven't considered all choices. ' + '?' + google_ads[i].line2 + '?' + google_ads[i].line3 + '?' + '' + google_ads[i].visible_url + ' '; } } '' } if (google_ads[0].bidtype == "CPC") { /* insert this snippet for each ad call */ google_adnum = google_adnum + google_ads.length; } document.write(s); return; } google_ad_client = 'ca-pub-7757781251671730'; google_ad_channel = '3711355403'; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '6'; google_ad_type = 'text'; google_feedback = 'on'; // --> __________________ my opinion only
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Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free! Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE! You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Today, 11:18 AM	? #2
Recycles dryer sheets ? Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 92	Very insightful...thanks. ' + '?' + google_ads[i].line2 + '?' + google_ads[i].line3 + '?' + '' + google_ads[i].visible_url + ' '; } } '' } if (google_ads[0].bidtype == "CPC") { /* insert this snippet for each ad call */ google_adnum = google_adnum + google_ads.length; } document.write(s); return; } google_ad_client = 'ca-pub-7757781251671730'; google_ad_channel = '3568142076'; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '6'; google_ad_type = 'text'; google_feedback = 'on'; // --> __________________
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Today, 11:23 AM	? #4
Administrator ? Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: New Orleans Posts: 23,585	Like a lot of the other INTJ's here, I am not exactly a social butterfly. In fact, I am the reverse. F and I spend quality time with one another every day, but I would rather spend the rest of my time in solitude. I have gotten to know a dozen or so retired folks at the gym who are regulars there, and we greet each other by name and seem to have plenty in common and to get along just fine, but I have no desire to see them elsewhere. We sometimes run into one another at restaurants, and smile and wave but do not eat with them. a community that is unusual, in that members interact as a family. A social structure that is directly opposite to the working world home. A place where sports, entertainment, social events, and mutual support are the hallmarks. A place where keeping up with the Jones's doesn't exist. A place where it's easy to find others who will become close friends because of mutual interests and temperament. If it didn't sound so strange, I would have used the word commune. The difference as we see it, is having several hundred friends versus only the family and a dozen or so other friends. The idea of living in such a community does not appeal to me at this stage in life. Having several hundred "friends" sounds like Hell on earth to me, to be perfectly frank. When I was younger, that was more appealing. Perhaps it will be again some day. __________________ "Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities." - - H. Melville, 1851
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Today, 12:33 PM	? #5
Moderator ? Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Charleston, SC Posts: 9,049	Thank you for your insight and perspective. It is certainly food for thought. And I think I see what you mean, and as yet another INTJ like W2R, I do like my private time, but I guess my sole complaint about a life like yours is that everyone is the same age. I would rather live as ERHoosier noted, in a more "chronologically-diverse" 'hood. Some of our most favorite people in the world have been those we met outside of our geographic comfort zone, and I think that I would be less likely to venture forth to find them if I was ensconced in such a place where all the entertainment was ready-made. But maybe, if I was older, it would be more appealing to me. Attitudes change as we age, that's for sure. __________________ "Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference." - Mark Twain?One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching.? Gerard Arthur Way
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Today, 12:41 PM	? #6
Full time employment: Posting here. ? Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Illinois and Florida Posts: 658	The idea of living in such a community does not appeal to me at this stage in life. Having several hundred "friends" sounds like Hell on earth to me, to be perfectly frank. When I was younger, that was more appealing. Perhaps it will be again some day. Absolutely!... It was my feeling to a "T".... and the change didn't come easy. We went to Texas and Florida, looking for warm, and a place to call our own, w/o relatives or obligations. It was only after we ended up in a retirement village, (free house for 3 days) that we found ourselves drawn in... Perhaps the dance party and free kegs had something to do with it. Hadn't danced in ten years, and found ourselves trapped in a world we knew nothing about. Everyone happy and appreciating retirement. Rented for another week, and couldn't wait to leave and go back to Illinois, to pack enough to go back to FL to live. (6mo. FL, 6 mo. Il) It was a new world. The villages was mentioned. It's truly a great place to visit, and for many a great place to live. It was too big for us, and in a way a bit too formal. We just love the close knit community where we live now, and though we're getting a little older and leave the parties early at 10PM, it's nice to be able to walk to the clubhouse, and know everyone along the way. Still plenty to do. Younger folks fit in perfectly, and many have bought convertibles just to be part of the new group that goes exploring... (ten couples now, I think). Having new folks coming in (many aged 55) keeps us all relatively young... I may try the FL Senior Triathalon (0ver 75) this year... Our Park manager came in third in the much younger group. FWIW... the total cost for living there, including lot rent (we own the mobile home and rent the land) upkeep, utilities, lawn, taxes etc, is about $7 to $8K per year... We can come and go as we please, live there 3 months, 6 months or all year. .................................................. .... In any case, something to look at before taking the big final step. __________________ my opinion only
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Today, 12:43 PM	? #8
Moderator ? Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Francisco Posts: 7,623	Like a lot of the other INTJ's here, I am not exactly a social butterfly. In fact, I am the reverse. F and I spend quality time with one another every day, but I would rather spend the rest of my time in solitude. I have gotten to know a dozen or so retired folks at the gym who are regulars there, and we greet each other by name and seem to have plenty in common and to get along just fine, but I have no desire to see them elsewhere. We sometimes run into one another at restaurants, and smile and wave but do not eat with them. The idea of living in such a community does not appeal to me at this stage in life. Having several hundred "friends" sounds like Hell on earth to me, to be perfectly frank. When I was younger, that was more appealing. Perhaps it will be again some day. Same here. I love to spend quality time with true friends and family, but I do not care to have lots of Facebook friends and acquaintances. I also dislike any kind of club or club-like community usually. __________________
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Today, 01:08 PM	? #11
Recycles dryer sheets ? Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Dallas Posts: 96	DW and I are headed to a retirement community in Florida much as the OP describes. We already purchased and we'll make the move from Texas to Florida next year. Can hardly wait to join in on the fun! As for any interest in age diversity, the beach is only 5 minutes away. __________________ _______________________________________________ "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do" --Bob Dylan.
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Today, 03:23 PM	? #14
Full time employment: Posting here. ? Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Illinois and Florida Posts: 658	We are thinking of a gated community, for security reasons, not social ones. Yes, I realize that "gated" and "security" are not always synonymous. Trouble with "exclusive communities" is there always seem to be one or more Queen Bees and King Pins who like to be in charge of everything. Nonconformist opinions are made fun of, and the opinion-holders marginalized. Just like high school. Tell me I'm off base... Amethyst Always is a pretty broad statement... We have leaders, thank goodness, but 22+ years without a serious problem has been our experience. One of the possible reasons could be that while we have our share of doctors, middle management, and professionals, it is essentially a working man's park. Good people, attracted to other good people is the way we see it. It's hokey, but a good way to describe it, is a learned "love" of others, and tolerance of those who are little different. Guys don't toss the "love" word around too much, but they don't have to. It's just the way things work, and the ones who don't enjoy this, or who are super competitive, soon leave the community... by choice. Very few do... And oh... by the way... we are by no means "exclusive". __________________ my opinion only
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Source: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/being-social-in-retirement-64827.html

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Dutch Queen Beatrix announces she is to abdicate

Image taken of a TV screen showing Dutch Queen Beatrix announcing she will abdicate April 30, 2014, during a speech prerecorded in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/NOS Television/Peter Dejong)

Image taken of a TV screen showing Dutch Queen Beatrix announcing she will abdicate April 30, 2014, during a speech prerecorded in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/NOS Television/Peter Dejong)

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2011 file photo, Dutch Queen Beatrix, center, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, left and Princess Maxima, second left, arrive at the "Hall of Knights" to formally open the new parliamentary year in The Hague, Netherlands. Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2011 file photo, Dutch Queen Beatrix formally opens the new parliamentary year with a speech in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/Toussaint Kluiters, Pool, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 1980 file photo, Princess Juliana, just after her abdication, kisses her eldest daughter Queen Beatrix, left, on the balcony of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch Queen Beatrix announces she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/ Ferry van Groen, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 1980 file photo, Queen Beatrix is shown during her crowning ceremony at Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ? Dutch Queen Beatrix announced Monday that she will abdicate on April 30 after 33 years as head of state, clearing the way for her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, to become the nation's first king in more than a century.

The announcement, in a nationally televised speech, signaled an end to the reign of one of Europe's longest-serving monarchs, whose time on the throne was marked by tumultuous shifts in Dutch society and, more recently, by personal tragedy.

The queen's abdication from the largely ceremonial role had been widely expected, but it is sure to bring an outpouring of sentimental and patriotic feelings among the Dutch, most of whom adore Beatrix. In everyday conversation, many of her subjects refer to her simply by the nickname "Bea."

"Responsibility for our country must now lie in the hands of a new generation," Beatrix said in the speech delivered from her Huis ten Bosch palace just days before she was to turn 75.

"I am deeply grateful for the great faith you have shown in me in the many years that I could be your Queen," she added.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte, a staunch monarchist, paid his respects in a speech that immediately followed Beatrix on all Dutch television channels.

"Since her coronation in 1980s she's applied herself heart and soul for Dutch society," Rutte said.

The timing of the announcement makes sense at multiple levels. It comes just days before Beatrix's birthday, and she is already the oldest ever Dutch monarch: the pragmatic Dutch do not see being king or queen as a job for life. The nation also celebrates the 200th anniversary of its monarchy, the House of Orange, at the end of this year, Beatrix said.

Observers believe she remained on the throne for so long in part because of unrest in Dutch society as the country struggled to assimilate more and more immigrants, mainly Muslims from North Africa, and shifted away from its traditional reputation as one of the world's most tolerant nations.

In her Christmas Day speech in 2010, Beatrix made a heartfelt plea for unity, saying, "with each other we all make up one society."

Beatrix was also thought to be giving time for her son to enjoy fatherhood before becoming King Willem-Alexander: he has three young daughters with Argentine investment banker Maxima Zorreguieta.

Beatrix has frequently said that the best years of her life were her time as a young mother, before her coronation in 1980.

The abdication also comes at a time of trial for Beatrix. This time a year ago she was struck by personal tragedy when the second of her three sons, Prince Friso, was left in a coma after being engulfed by an avalanche while skiing in Austria.

And even in a job that is mostly ceremonial to begin with, the previous government stripped her of one of her few remaining powers: the ability to name a candidate to begin Cabinet formations after elections of the national parliament.

Meanwhile Willem-Alexander, 45, is prepared to assume the job.

He is a trained pilot and expert in the quintessentially Dutch field of water management who has long been groomed for the throne, often joining Beatrix on state visits and sometimes even flying her home.

Willem-Alexander, a member of the International Olympic Committee, courted controversy with his choice to marry Maxima, whose father was an agriculture minister in the military junta that ruled Argentina with an iron fist in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Beatrix's choice of husband, Claus, who died in 2002, was met with resistance in 1966 because he was a German national and the Nazis' World War II occupation of the Netherlands was still an open wound for many who lived through it. But, like Maxima, he won the hearts of his adopted nation and there was a huge outpouring of grief at his death.

Beatrix's reign began in difficult economic times and there were riots in Amsterdam at her coronation, as thousands of demonstrators protesting the city's housing shortages fought pitched battles with police just a few hundred meters (yards) from the downtown palace where she was crowned.

But throughout her reign she was a calming influence on society, particularly in the aftermath of the 2002 assassination of populist politician Pim Fortuyn and the murder two years later of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.

Although she was widely respected for her unpretentious style, it took Beatrix much of her reign to attain the admiration and popularity of her late mother, former Queen Juliana, who was more openly loving toward her people.

But in recent years, personal tragedies exposed a softer side to the queen and brought her closer to her subjects.

Klaus's death took a toll on her, and it was apparent how deep her reliance on the quiet man had been: she was filmed leaning heavily, almost hanging on Prince Friso's arm as they entered the church for his funeral.

In another blow, a deranged loner tried to slam a car into an open-topped bus carrying members of the royal family as they celebrated the Queens Day national holiday in 2010. The driver killed seven people gathered to watch the royals and the brazen attack shocked the nation.

Then, in 2012, Prince Friso ? who had been such a support after Klaus's death ? was engulfed by an avalanche as he skied, plunging him into a coma from which he has yet to wake.

Beatrix went back to her busy official schedule soon after the accident, but it again spurred speculation that her reign could be nearing its end.

____

Associated Press writer Toby Sterling contributed from Amsterdam.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-28-Netherlands-Queen/id-ba2173657ac8431ca718a3a3ef750e14

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Abrams on 'Star Wars': 'surreal' and 'exciting'

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ? J.J. Abrams calls getting assigned to direct the seventh live-action "Star Wars" film "as surreal as it is exciting."

The director-producer-writer spoke with a handful of media outlets on the red carpet before darting into the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday night. Abrams was there to accept the Norman Lear Achievement Award for such television works as "Felicity" (1998-2002), "Alias" (2001-2006), "Lost" (2004-2010), "Fringe" (2008-2013) as well as the current series "Person of Interest" and "Revolution."

Abrams also is proving to be a go-to director of successful new films for long-established franchises, such as "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible."

Last week, Lucasfilm officially announced Abrams' hiring for "Star Wars: Episode VII," which has a tentative release date of 2015. "Star Wars" creator George Lucas personally endorsed Abrams in a statement: "I've consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller. He's an ideal choice to direct the new Star Wars film and the legacy couldn't be in better hands."

As for Abrams' plans for "Episode VII"?

"You know, obviously, it's so early," he replied. "I can just say what I want to do: I want to do the fans proud. I want to make sure the story is something that touches people. And we're just getting started. I'm very excited."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/abrams-star-wars-surreal-exciting-160239824.html

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From Reagan to Obama, how we have changed as a nation (CNN)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279873574?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Child soldier's tale illustrates Mali's dirty war

Adama Drabo, 16, stands in the police station in Sevare, some 620 kilometers (385 miles) north of Mali's capital Bamako, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Drabo, who said he was captured traveling without papers by Malian troops and eventually handed over to Gendarmes in Sevare, was arrested on suspicion of working for Islamic militant group MUJAO and caught trying to flee south, police said. A farmer's son from Niono, he admitted to having worked in the kitchens of a jihadist training base in Douentza for the past month. Drabo said his only motivation in joining the Islamic militant group had been to earn a wage, having struggled to find work at home, and that he was one of the youngest recruits on the base. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Adama Drabo, 16, stands in the police station in Sevare, some 620 kilometers (385 miles) north of Mali's capital Bamako, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Drabo, who said he was captured traveling without papers by Malian troops and eventually handed over to Gendarmes in Sevare, was arrested on suspicion of working for Islamic militant group MUJAO and caught trying to flee south, police said. A farmer's son from Niono, he admitted to having worked in the kitchens of a jihadist training base in Douentza for the past month. Drabo said his only motivation in joining the Islamic militant group had been to earn a wage, having struggled to find work at home, and that he was one of the youngest recruits on the base. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Adama Drabo, 16, sits in the police station in Sevare, some 620 kilometers (385 miles) north of Mali's capital Bamako Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Drabo, who said he was captured travelling without papers by Malian troops and eventually handed over to Gendarmes in Sevare, was arrested on suspicion of working for Islamic militant group MUJAO and caught trying to flee south, Police said. A farmer's son from Niono, he admitted to having worked in the kitchens of a jihadist training base in Douentza for the past month. Drabo said his only motivation in joining the Islamic militant group had been to earn a wage, having struggled to find work at home, and that he was one of the youngest recruits on the base. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

French soldiers fill up their tank at a local petrol station in Sevare, some 620 kilometers (385 miles) north of Mali's capital Bamako, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. The French currently have some 2,400 forces in the country and have said that they will stay as long as needed in Mali, a former French colony. However, they have called for African nations to take the lead in fortifying the Malian army's efforts. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

French soldiers stand at a crossroads as they arrive in the city of Sevare, Mali, some 620 kms (385 miles) north of Bamako, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. Mali's military and French forces pushed toward Gao on Friday, in their farthest move north and east since launching an operation two weeks ago to retake land controlled by the rebels, residents and a security official said Friday. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A Malian soldier stops at the Aviator's Club bar to watch an African Cup of Nations football match in Sevare, some 620 kms (400 miles) north of Mali's capital Bamako Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. One wing of Mali's Ansar Dine rebel group has split off to create its own movement, saying that they want to negotiate a solution to the crisis in Mali, in a declaration that indicates at least some of the members of the al-Qaida-linked group are searching for a way out of the extremist movement in the wake of French airstrikes. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

SEVARE, Mali (AP) ? The boy sits with his knees tucked under his chest on the concrete floor of the police station here, his adolescent face a tableau of fear. He's still garbed in the knee-length tunic he was ordered to wear by the Islamic extremist who recruited him.

It's these same clothes, styled after those worn by the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century, which gave him away when he tried to flee earlier this week. They have now become his prison garb.

Adama Drabo is 16, and his recruitment into the ranks of a group designated as a terrorist organization, followed by his violent interrogation at the hands of the Malian army, underscores the obstacles faced by France as it tries to wash its former West African colony clean of the al-Qaida-linked fighters occupying it.

"In terms of the rules of engagement, you have to think to yourself, what will you do if a child comes up to you wearing an explosive vest? What do you do if a 12-year-old is manning a checkpoint?" says Rudolph Atallah, former director of counterterrorism for Africa at the Pentagon during the Bush administration. "It's a very difficult situation."

France, which now has around 2,500 troops on the ground, plunged headfirst into the conflict in Mali two weeks ago, after the Islamist groups that have controlled the nation's northern half since last year began an aggressive push southward. The French soldiers are equipped with night vision goggles, anti-tank mines and laser-guided bombs. However, their enemy includes the hundreds of children, some as young as 11, who have been conscripted into the rebel army.

Among those the French will have to fight are boys like Adama, the uneducated, eldest child of a poor family of rice growers, who until recently spent his days plowing fields with oxen near the village of N'Denbougou. Living just 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the central Malian town of Niono, which has become one of the frontlines in the recent war, Adama fits the profile of the types of children the Islamists have successfully recruited. His village has a single mosque, and unlike the moderate form of Islam practiced in much of Mali, the one he and his family attended preached Wahabism.

"We have observed a pattern of recruitment of child soldiers from villages that for many years have practiced a very strict form of Islam, referred to as Wahabism," says Corinne Dufka, senior researcher for West Africa at Human Rights Watch. "We estimate that hundreds of children have been recruited."

The groups allied with al-Qaida started recruiting children soon after they seized control of northern Mali last April. Rebel leaders quoted verses from the Quran which they claim describe children as the purest apprentices. Since then witnesses have described seeing children staffing checkpoints, riding in patrol vehicles, carrying out searches of cars stopped at roadblocks, as well as preparing tea and cooking food for the fighters in the towns controlled by the insurgents, says Dufka.

The United Nations children's agency said late last year that it had been able to corroborate at least 175 reported cases of child soldiers in northern Mali, bought from their impoverished parents for between $1,000 and $1,200 per child. Malian human rights officials put the total number of children recruited by the Islamists considerably higher at 1,000 ? and that was before the French intervention.

Adama, who is now being held at the Sevare gendarmerie, was hired as a cook two weeks ago by Islamist fighters in Douentza, a city controlled by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad, or MUJAO. Its members have been linked to the recent terrorist attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria, which ended in the death of at least 37 hostages, according to the Algerian government.

The teenager claims he didn't know he was working for a terrorist group, even though the insurgents who ate the macaroni he cooked carried guns, wore beards and dressed in the unfamiliar Gulf-style clothes they gave him. He says he joined them only for the money they promised they would pay at the end of each month. The police holding him say he was promised around $200 a month, several times the average monthly salary here.

Adama explains that his friends in Niono said they knew people in Sevare who would give them work. So they took a Peugeot 207 taxi to reach the town.

"It was there in the town that we met some people and they hired us to cook for them," he says. "They said that at the end of each month we would get paid. ... And so we started cooking for them."

He says that even though some of the fighters in their entourage went to fight in the Niono area, he was unaware of their battle plans. The men spoke Arabic and Tamashek, a Tuareg language, which he did not understand.

One day, when he went to the corner store, the shop owner told him a war was on, he says.

"I told my friend, 'Even if the month isn't over yet, we need to get out of here.' We walked to the next village, where we found an old man there, and we asked him if he could please give us some water? The old man said he couldn't give us any water, because we're rebels. We said, 'We're not rebels. Give us some water.' It was then that a man on a motorcycle came by. The motorcyclist said that we are wearing the clothes of the Islamic fighters."

The boys tried to run.

The friend got away. Adama was handed over to the Malian military, which in recent days has been accused of executing dozens of suspected Islamists, including a group of six men who arrived in Sevare without identity cards. Adama may have been saved by the international outcry that followed the reported executions this week, says Atallah, putting immense diplomatic pressure on Mali's ill-trained and often incompetent army to respect human rights conventions.

"I was frightened," says Adama. "They said they were going to kill me. ... They said this several times."

During the interrogation, especially on the first day, the soldiers threatened to execute Adama if he did not tell the truth, he says. They hit him, he says, and slapped him across his face. It was only on Friday, according to Adama, that the soldiers told him they would not kill him.

"For four days, they kept me in jail with two big people," he says. "I feel somewhat reassured now, but not totally reassured. Because I am still not free."

Child soldiers have been part of the fabric of African conflicts for decades now. In Liberia's civil war more than 10 years ago, drugged 12- and 13-year-olds were famously photographed toting automatic weapons and teddy bears. However, the standoff this time is between a Western army bound by the Geneva Convention and Western values on human rights, and an enemy that includes hundreds of children. One of the most active groups in northern Mali is al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the terror network's affiliate in Africa, which originated in Algeria. In 2008, the group released a video showing a cheerful 15-year-old in Algeria who was suffering from a terminal illness, Atallah says. The Islamists convinced the boy that the best thing he could do with what remained of his life was to die for Allah, according to Atallah, who saw the recording.

"The video shows him smiling," he says. "They taught him how to drive a van. And then they filmed the van as it left, just before he detonated himself. I wouldn't put it past them to do this again."

___

Associated Press writer Krista Larson contributed from Mopti, Mali.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-26-Mali-Child%20Soldiers/id-f22db5f400e04b598d874ad96e5c9867

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