20 percent Americans misidentify Obama as Muslim

A new poll shows nearly 20 percent Americans misidentify Obama as Muslim. Like his place of birth, Obamas religion has been the subject of internet-spread rumors and falsehoods since he began his presidential campaign. Poll indicates that those rumors have gained currency since Obama took office. The number of people who now correctly identify Obama as a Christian has dropped to 34%, down from nearly half when he took office.
The poll was released on Thursday by the Pew Forum, conducted before the Manhattan mosque uproar last week.
White House officials expressed dismay over the poll results, blaming misinformation campaigns by the president’s opponents.

Member States promise to deliver $200mn aid: Ban Ki Moon

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon assures that member states promise to deliver $200mn aid for the flood affected people of Pakistan. In the recently held UN general assembly session, Ban Ki Moon had requested member states to help Pakistan for the rehabilitation of disaster-stricken people. He further added that aid process should be kept continuous as Pakistan has been hit by the worst flood disaster of the last 80 years, due to which all the communication to the affected areas has been broken.

Universe will probably be expanding forever: Research

Galactic lens reveal that the Universe will probably be expanding forever.To work out the amount of dark energy in the cosmos, astronomers used the way that light from distant stars was distorted by a huge galactic cluster known as Abell 1689. Dark energy is known as mysterious force that speeds up the expansion of the Universe. Astronomers, understanding the distribution of this force, concluded that the likely fate of the Universe is to keep on expanding. They say that It will eventually become a cold, dead wasteland,The study was conducted by an international team led by Professor Eric Jullo of Nasa, is published in the journal Science.Dark energy makes up three-quarters of our Universe but is totally invisible. Its existence is known because of its effect on the expansion of the Universe.

Obama presses Hu on yuan exchange rate

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has kept up the pressure on China to revalue its yuan, telling President Hu Jintao to adopt a more “market-oriented” exchange rate for the Chinese currency.

Obama stated his view that it was “important for… a sustained and balanced global economic recovery that China move toward a more market-oriented exchange rate,” said senior National Security Council official Jeff Bader after a face-to-face meeting of the two leaders.

US lawmakers have threatened sanctions against Beijing, saying that China”s action to keep the yuan artificially low against the dollar had resulted in a ballooning US trade deficit and a loss of American jobs.

But Hu delinked the yuan”s value from the US trade deficit or the nearly 10 percent unemployment grappling the United States.

“RMB (renminbi or yuan) appreciation would neither balance Sino-US trade nor solve the unemployment problem in the United States,” Hu told Obama, according to China”s official Xinhua news agency.

The two leaders met in Washington on sidelines of a 47-nation nuclear security summit following a stormy period in US-China relations over the yuan and trade disputes as well as issues such as Internet freedom, Tibet and Taiwan.

International critics say that China keeps the rate of its yuan artificially low against other foreign currencies to boost exports.

But China defends its exchange rate policy as necessary for the survival of Chinese manufacturers and to support jobs growth.

Bader said the yuan issue cropped up as the two leaders reviewed the situation of the global economy, recovering from the worst financial crisis in decades.

Speculation mounted last week that China was preparing to alter its exchange rate policy and allow for the yuan to appreciate, after US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made a hastily arranged visit to Beijing.

Facing election-year pressure over unemployment, US lawmakers had been pushing the US Treasury to label Beijing a “currency manipulator” — a move that would open the door to sanctions by Washington.

But the Treasury announced the delay of a report that was due in mid-April and which could have slapped China with the “manipulator” tag, with Geithner saying there were better ways to advance US interests.

China made its currency a little flexible in 2005 following US pressure but when the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, it repegged the yuan to the US dollar to prop up Chinese exports and revive the economy.

Between 2005 and 2008, China allowed the yuan to appreciate by about 20 percent against the dollar but some experts say the Chinese currency is now undervalued by up to 40 percent.

Obama also asked Hu Monday to remove China”s “market barriers” that have become a concern to American business leaders.

“The president also noted his concern over some market access issues, market access barriers, in China and the need to address them as part of the rebalancing effort,” Bader said.

He did not identify the barriers but a recent US government report to Congress said China had erected new hurdles to foreign competition with rules favoring domestic firms.

The report by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk cited a directive by China stipulating that sellers of high-tech goods must contain Chinese intellectual property for them to be included in a government procurement catalogue.

Accredited products will be favored, according to the policy, which foreign firms say effectively excludes them from the process.

A recent American Chamber of Commerce in China survey found that 38 percent of members felt unwelcome to participate in China”s market, up from 26 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The survey cited discriminatory government policies and inconsistent legal treatment.

Hands Free Devices for Refurbished Cell Phones

It is becoming more and more common for states to pass laws that make it illegal for drivers to talk on their cellphones while driving if they do not use a hands-free device. People caught without a hands-free device are issued a ticket and are forced to pay a fine for their first offense. Repeat offenders face harsher penalties with each repeat offense. The theory behind these new laws is that they allow drivers to keep both hands free to steer, shift, etc. and allow the driver to focus more on driving instead of holding a phone against their ear.

The most common hands free device is a Bluetooth earpiece. This wireless solution simply clips over the ear, allowing you to speak without holding the phone. To use a Bluetooth device, just associate it with any Bluetooth capable cell phone. Today, most new cell phones, as well as many used cell phones, are Bluetooth capable.

If you own an older used cell phone, it may lack Bluetooth technology. Do not worry, however, as there are still hands-free solutions that will work with any kind of phone. The most common is a wired headset that resembles ear buds and connects to your phone with via a headphone-like jack. These devices perform the same function as a Bluetooth headset except they use a wire to transfer data to and from your phone and are also generally cheaper. They are available for nearly any model of phone made in the past 10 years, so even if you’re still using an older refurbished Sprint cell phone, you will be able to find a hands-free solution.

A hands free accessory is not just beneficial for driving. Even if you live in a state that does not require hands-free devices for driving, chances are you will find some benefit from being able to talk on your phone without using your hands, such as being able to type while on the phone (not while you’re driving!).

Another choice if you are looking for a way to make your used Blackberry hands free is to use a plug and play kit for your car, which usually draws power from your cigarette lighter. This tiny attachment contains a microphone and speaker, and can be attached to your dashboard, air conditioning vent, or another area in your car. Unlike a Bluetooth headset, you need not attach anything to your ear when using a car kit. While some of these are wireless and rely on Bluetooth technology, others can be attached with a wire to your cell phone.

The bottom line is that there are numerous options for hands free devices for all phones and they should not prevent you from taking advantage of the great deals you can get on used phones. Hands-free devices can be found for nearly any phone with a headphone jack and/or Bluetooth. Even if you live in a state that does not currently have a hands-free law, they probably will eventually, and the other benefits are often worth it.

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Hands Free Devices for Refurbished Cell Phones was first posted on April 8, 2009 at 1:51 pm.