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Alabama holds off Georgia 32-28, advances to Miami
Alabama running back Blake Sims (6) celebrates after their 32-28 win in the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football?game against Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hyosub Shin) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TV OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT
Alabama running back Blake Sims (6) celebrates after their 32-28 win in the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football?game against Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hyosub Shin) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TV OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT
Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron and Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, right, embrace before the start the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football?game, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Alabama running back Eddie Lacy (42) gestures as he walks off the field after their 32-28 win in the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football?game against Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Alabama offensive linesmen Barrett Jones, right, Arie Kouandjio (77) react after their 32-28 win over Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football?game against Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
Georgia linebacker Alec Ogletree (9) runs back a blocked field goal for a touchdown during the second half of the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football?game against Alabama, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
ATLANTA (AP) ? Alabama got a hand on the ball, which wobbled into the arms of a Georgia receiver who wasn't supposed to catch it.
Before the Bulldogs could get off another play, the clock ran out.
The Crimson Tide is heading back to the national championship game.
By a mere 5 yards.
AJ McCarron threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 3:15 remaining and No. 2 Alabama barely held on at the end, beating No. 3 Georgia 32-28 in a Southeastern Conference title game for the ages Saturday.
"I'm ready to have a heart attack here," Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said.
As confetti fell from the Georgia Dome roof, the Bulldogs collapsed on the field, stunned they had come so close to knocking off the team that has won two of the last three national titles.
"We just ran out of time," Georgia coach Mark Richt moaned.
Alabama (12-1) will get a chance to make it three out of four when they face top-ranked Notre Dame for the BCS crown on Jan. 7 in Miami.
This time, Alabama will head to the big game with a championship already in its pocket ? unlike last year's squad, which didn't even make it to Atlanta, but got a do-over against SEC champion LSU in the national title game.
Even though the Tide left little doubt it was truly the best team in the country, routing the Tigers 21-0, there were plenty who thought Saban's team didn't deserve a rematch.
There will be no complaints when Alabama heads to South Florida for a dream matchup between two of college football's most storied programs. The Tide and Notre Dame have each won eight Associated Press national titles, more than any other school.
"This group has been fantastic," Saban said. "They were able to accomplish something of significance, and something that last year's team didn't accomplish, which is win the SEC championship."
What a game it was.
After an apparent game-clinching interception by Alabama was overturned on a video review, Georgia's Aaron Murray completed a 15-yard pass to Arthur Lynch, a 23-yarder to Tavarres King and a 26-yarder to Lynch, who was hauled down at the Alabama 8 as the clock continued to run.
The Bulldogs (11-2) were out of timeouts.
Instead of spiking the ball and gathering themselves, the Bulldog snapped the ball with 9 seconds to go. Murray attempted a pass into the corner but it was deflected at the line and ended in the arms of Chris Conley out in the right flats.
Surprised to get the ball, he slipped down at the 5.
Georgia couldn't get off another play.
Richt said the offense had the play it wanted at the end, but Alabama ruined it by tipping the pass. If it had fallen incomplete instead of going to Conley, who instinctively caught it, the Bulldogs likely would've had at least one more play, maybe two.
Instead, they were done.
"I told the guys I was disappointed, but I'm not disappointed in them," Richt said. "They're warriors. We had a chance at the end."
The consolation prize will likely be a spot in the Capital One Bowl, though the Bulldogs certainly looked like a team deserving of something better.
"Do I think we're worthy of a BCS bowl?" Richt said. "Yes I do."
The Bulldogs even got props from Saban.
"It would be a crying shame if Georgia doesn't get to go to a BCS bowl game," the Alabama coach said. "They played a tremendous game out there. That was a great football game, by both teams. It came right down to the last play."
In a back-and-forth second half that looked nothing like a game in the defensive-minded SEC, the Crimson Tide trailed 21-10 after Alec Ogletree returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Alabama rallied behind a punishing run game, finishing with 350 yards on the ground, an SEC championship game record. Eddie Lacy ? the game's MVP ? rumbled for 181 yards on 20 carries, including two TDs. Freshman T.J. Yeldon added 153 yards on 25 carries, also scoring a TD.
After the game, Lacy hooked up with the guy he replaced in the Alabama backfield ? Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, now with the NFL's New Orleans Saints.
"He just told me congratulations and that I did a great job running and it was it was the best he's ever seen me run." Lacy said.
But the Tide won it through the air.
With Georgia stacking the line, McCarron fooled the Bulldogs with play action and delivered a perfectly thrown pass to Cooper, who beat Damian Swann in single coverage down the left side.
Georgia played like a champion until the clock ran out, though.
Using up their timeouts and forcing a punt, the Bulldogs got the ball back at their 15 with 1:08 remaining. Alabama broke into a celebration when a pass down the middle for Conley was deflected and Dee Milliner appeared to make a diving interception. But the replay showed the ball hit the ground, so Murray and the Georgia offense trotted back on the field for their last gasp.
And what a gasp it was.
Just not quite enough.
Todd Gurley led Georgia with 122 yards rushing, including a couple of TDs. Murray was 18 of 33 for 265 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
McCarron was 12 of 21 for 162 yards with an interception, just his third of the season.
After a defensive struggle in the first half, with Alabama kicking a field goal on the final play for a 10-7 lead, the last two quarters were nothing but run-and-gun.
The Bulldogs took the second-half kickoff and marched right down the field for the go-ahead touchdown. Gurley ran it seven times, capped by leg-churning, 3-yard drive up the middle to make it 14-10.
Alabama looked like it was about to answer, holding the ball for more than 5 1-2 minutes, before the drive stalled. Cade Foster came on for a 50-yard field-goal attempt, but his low kick was swatted down by Cornelius Washington. Ogletree scooped up the bouncing ball in stride and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown.
Suddenly, the Bulldogs led 21-10.
But the Tide wasn't about to go away that easy. Yeldon broke off a 31-yard run, Swann was called interference on a throw down the middle, and Yeldon powered in from the 10. He ran it again for the 2-point conversion, pulling Alabama to 21-18.
Georgia went three-and-out, and the ground assault resumed. Lacy barreled over right guard for 32 yards. Yeldon got it down to the 1. Lacy returned for the first snap of the fourth period, bulling over to put Alabama ahead 25-21.
The Tide's momentum lasted about 2 minutes.
Murray found King down the middle for a 45-yard completion and Gurley finished off the lightning-quick possession with a 10-yard touchdown run up the middle, putting Georgia back on top, 28-25.
But Alabama knows a thing or two about comebacks, having rebounded the last two years from regular-season losses.
Just three weeks ago, the Tide was upset at home by Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M.
Now, Bama is off to play for another title.
"It's just the never-give-up attitude," McCarron said. "You've got to keep fighting through it."
___
Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963
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Italy's center-left vote for premier candidate
Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, casts his vote during a primary runoff, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Italians are choosing a center-left candidate for premier for elections early next year, an important primary runoff given the main party is ahead in the polls against a center-right camp in utter chaos over whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again. Sunday's runoff pits veteran center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, not shown, who has campaigned on an Obama-style "Let's change Italy now" mantra. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, casts his vote during a primary runoff, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Italians are choosing a center-left candidate for premier for elections early next year, an important primary runoff given the main party is ahead in the polls against a center-right camp in utter chaos over whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again. Sunday's runoff pits veteran center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, not shown, who has campaigned on an Obama-style "Let's change Italy now" mantra. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
A man casts his vote during a primary runoff, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Italians are choosing a center-left candidate for premier for elections early next year, an important primary runoff given the main party is ahead in the polls against a center-right camp in utter chaos over whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again. Sunday's runoff pits veteran center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, not shown, who has campaigned on an Obama-style "Let's change Italy now" mantra. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, casts his vote during a primary runoff, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Italians are choosing a center-left candidate for premier for elections early next year, an important primary runoff given the main party is ahead in the polls against a center-right camp in utter chaos over whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again. Sunday's runoff pits veteran center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, not shown, who has campaigned on an Obama-style "Let's change Italy now" mantra. Foreground Italian reads: "Rewrite Italy"(AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
In this picture made available by Matteo Renzi election committee, Florence's Mayor Matteo Renzi casts his vote during a primary runoff, in Florence, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Italians are choosing a center-left candidate for premier for elections early next year, an important primary runoff given the main party is ahead in the polls against a center-right camp in utter chaos over whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again. Sunday's runoff pits veteran center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, not shown, who has campaigned on an Obama-style "Let's change Italy now" mantra. (AP Photo/Matteo Renzi's election committee)
A man casts his vote during a primary runoff, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. Italians are choosing a center-left candidate for premier for elections early next year, an important primary runoff given the main party is ahead in the polls against a center-right camp in utter chaos over whether Silvio Berlusconi will run again. Sunday's runoff pits veteran center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, not shown, who has campaigned on an Obama-style "Let's change Italy now" mantra. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
ROME (AP) ? Italy held a primary runoff Sunday to choose a center-left candidate to run in next year's general election ? a man who in a few months could become the EU nation's next premier.
Sunday's runoff pitted veteran Pier Luigi Bersani, 61, against the 37-year-old mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, who campaigned on an Obama-style "Let's change Italy now" mantra that has attracted many disgruntled Italians back to politics.
Nearly all polls projected Bersani, the leader of the main center-left Democratic Party, as winning Sunday's primary. He won the first round of balloting Nov. 25 with 44.9 percent of the vote to Renzi's 35.5 percent.
With Silvio Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom party lagging in the polls and in chaos over whether the three-time premier will run again, analysts were already discussing the possibility that Bersani could soon become Italy's next premier.
The 2013 general election ? expected in March or April ? will decide if Italy continues on the same path to financial health charted by Premier Mario Monti, appointed last year to save Italy from a Greek-style debt crisis. The former European commissioner was named to head a technical government after international markets lost confidence in then-premier Berlusconi's ability to reign in Italy's public debt and push through structural reforms.
Even if Renzi loses the primary, he will have won a victory of sorts in having changed the Italian left. Renzi's perceived conservative leanings, while alienating the left's hard-core communists, attracted Italians young and old who have grown disenchanted with Italy's political class.
"Even if he loses, as I think he will, he had an important renovation function within the party," Rome resident Pietro Marucci said Sunday as he voted for Renzi.
Renzi's style ? moving around Italy in a motor home to meet crowds, addressing supporters in just a shirt and tie, no jacket ? attracted quite a following and drew inevitable comparisons to Barack Obama.
But some analysts said he was simply not yet ready for the job of running Italy, and that his relaxed, fresh approach to politics isn't what Italy needs as it navigates through a grinding recession and near-record high unemployment and tries to tackle its enormous public debt of ?2 trillion ($2.5 trillion).
"Italy certainly badly needs new faces, fresh faces," commentator Massimo Franco said. "But I think that between Renzi and Bersani, the big problem is also experience."
Renzi addressed that charge during a debate this week, asking Bersani, who has served as the national transport and industry minister, what he had accomplished in his 2,547 days in government.
Renzi also complained bitterly this week about primary rules that limited voters and his campaign reported alleged voting irregularities on Sunday.
Primary organizers said they were investigating a handful of individual cases but that on the whole voting was proceeding regularly.
Berlusconi had largely stayed out of the public spotlight for the past year ? until recent weeks, when he announced he was thinking about running again, then changed his mind, then threatened to bring down Monti's government, and then went silent about his political plans.
His waffling has thrown his People of Freedom party into disarray, disrupting its own plans for a primary.
A poll published Friday gave the Democratic Party 30 percent of the vote if the election were held now, compared with 19.5 percent for the upstart populist movement of comic Beppe Grillo. Berlusconi's party was in third with 14.3 percent. The poll, by the SWG firm for state-run RAI 3, surveyed 5,000 voting-age adults by telephone between Nov. 26 and 28. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.
It's been quite a turnabout both for Berlusconi's once-dominant movement and the Democratic Party, which had been in shambles for years, unable to capitalize on Berlusconi's professional and personal failings.
Another unknown is Monti's political future. He has ruled out running for office but has said he would be willing to stay on in some capacity if he could be of service. Some commentators have floated the idea of Monti taking over the largely ceremonial role as Italian president, while others say his talents would put to better use as treasury minister.
___
Maria Grazia Murru contributed from Rome.
___
Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
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Saturday, December 1, 2012
Benefits of Vision Training | Natural Holistic Health Blog
What is Vision Training?
Also known as visual training, vision therapy is a kind of rehabilitative treatment or therapy for the eyes. The therapy is based on progressive training i.e. the exercises are easiest at first and become complex gradually. Vision training is intended to increase coordination and flexibility in the eye muscles.
People taking vision training gradually learn to control the eye muscles and can overcome many different kinds of visual impairment at the end of this therapy.
Why do People Need Vision Training?
Some people are born with weak eye muscles, while some suffer from the condition after an accident or trauma to the eye. You are also aware of the fact that all muscles in your body, including eye muscles become weak as a natural part of the aging process. With the help of vision therapy, most people who suffer from weak eye muscles can learn ways to control their eye movements in a better way.
Can Vision Therapy be Used With Eye Glasses or Contact Lenses?
Yes, vision therapy can be used even if the person is using glasses or contact lenses. Contact Lenses are much more competitively priced if you shop around at online suppliers.
Is Vision Therapy a New Concept?
Vision therapy has been around since the mid 18th century. However, the modern concepts were introduced in the United States in 1928. Often vision training is only limited to children but the fact is that it can also benefit adults. Your physician is in the best position to decide whether or not vision training is right for you.
What Can You Expect?
Vision therapy is very useful but it also takes time. Regardless of your age, you have to understand that your condition does not occur suddenly. However, you can overcome the problem by practicing vision therapy. Remember, it may take long before you see an improvement, but the key is to never give up.
Vision therapy works by stretching the unused eye muscles. It also relaxes muscles that are over strained. You will be trained to focus both the eyes together on near and far away objects. Emphasis will be given to the range you find blurry.
Your vision therapy can involve practice sessions with the vision therapist or the doctor as well as ?homework? exercises. It can take up to six weeks before you notice an improvement in vision problems. The length of your practice session is usually determined by your physician or vision therapist. You can expect drastic improvement after 10 to 15 weeks of practice sessions.
Your physician may assign you a number of exercises to do at home. Usually homework assignments take 15 to 30 minutes and you have to repeat the exercises 4 or 5 times in a week. Again, this schedule is decided by your physician or vision therapist.
Young kids need to be motivated by parents and teachers and it is important that kids consider vision therapy and homework exercises as fun. This therapy can be a real challenge even for adults therefore motivation is really crucial to continue the progress at a steady rate.
Who Can Benefit From Vision Training?
Children who are diagnosed with learning, reading or writing problems can benefit from visual training. Even autistic kids and those suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have chances of developing problems related to vision. Vision therapy can be used to manage the problems quite effectively.
A large number of professional athletes also seek vision therapy to improve their vision and reaction time. This therapy is also beneficial to improve hand and eye coordination.
Computer users, even those using contact lenses can use vision therapy to reduce discomfort due to repeated eye strain. Vision therapy is also helpful for adults who suffer from strokes or head injuries as a result of an accident.
Herbs Can Also Benefit Vision
Vizu-All Plus is a natural, safe, effective and powerful herbal formula containing carefully selected herbs to promote healthy eye functioning and to guard against eye disorders such as cataracts, macular degeneration and visual problems associated with diabetes.
Use this remedy to promote healthy eye functioning; counteract cell damage caused by free radicals; strengthen blood capillaries in the eye; help the retina adapt to both dark and light; prevent macular degeneration and cataracts; prevent and treat glaucoma
Formulated by a clinical psychologist, Vizu-All Plus is pharmaceutically manufactured to the highest standards.
About the author:
The above article is composed and edited by Donna B. She is associated with many health communities and is a freelance writer and adviser. In her free time she writes articles related to health care, fitness tips etc. She always suggests to get health tips from www.getlenses.co.uk.
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? ? Simply right click the ebook title above, and choose Save As to save to your desktop!? You can find more FREE Natural Health, Wellness and Pet Ebooks at Remedies4.com!About Guest Writer
Would you like to be a guest blogger on Natural Holistic Health? Well, it?s fast and easy! Simply click HERE to submit your unique article. We'd love to have you as a contributor on Natural Holistic Health!Source: http://www.natural-holistic-health.com/benefits-vision-training/
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The Web Is A Great Place To Discover More About Home Businesses
Achieving success at a home-based business is not everyone?s fortune, but don?t let that prevent you from giving it a try. At this time you simply need a computer to create, for a really low cost, a business that you can manage from home. It won?t take much at all. You need a small dose of determination to do the research, and a high-speed, low-cost internet access. A computer-based business has a global reach with unlimited consumers, whereas a traditional business is confined to local custom and has pricey set-up expenses. Everyone in the world with internet access is a potential client.
Click here if you?d like more information.
There are many ways to get your toes wet if you?re really considering a business on the Internet. To make a start you certainly don?t need to be an IT nerd, but being familiar with using a laptop or computer would be useful. Quite often, generating an income online has nothing to do with your technical skills, but with how much you know about the things you like doing. A good example of a web business for folks who are very good at writing would be doing copy writing. Content is often in demand, so a writer could also work on a freelance basis, obtaining writing jobs from individuals who are no good at it. All you need to do is look for those individuals who have a need, such as content, and supply it for them. Write down a few samples of your work and then do a bit of promoting, and you will be in business.
Online auction web sites are another avenue from which a large number of people are making good money. You can acquire items at wholesale value and sell them at full price, or you may already have products suitable for selling online. Getting your product offers looked at by customers is taken care of for you by places like eBay and other online auction sites. Your job is firstly to figure out a price and list your product, then wait for the sales. Once the buyer makes the purchase, you will receive the payment and then complete the purchase by sending the purchaser their merchandise.
Life is getting a lot easier in lots of ways through the advances in technology. The advent of the pc has put ownership of a business within the reach of ordinary folks. The Internet has everything you need to start a business. It offers access to products you can sell as well as information that shows you how to do it. If you could identify a business model that appeals to you and apply it to your own start-up business, that would be great.
Instead of a fulltime business you could just be after another income stream, which the Internet caters for handsomely. Spend a little time on your computer seeking information on starting an online business, and you will find lots of it. Get started on your research and you could soon begin making some cash.
Source: http://emelyblevins.getcoldfeet.com/2012/11/25/the-web-is-a-great-place-to-discover-more-about-home-businesses/
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Some wish Islam would inform climate talks
FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2011 file photo shows the main plant facility at the Navajo Generating Station, from Lake Powell, in Page, Ariz. The United Nations climate chief is urging people not to look solely to their governments to make tough decisions to slow global warming, and instead to consider their own role in solving the problem. Approaching the half-way point of two-week climate talks in Doha, Christiana Figueres, the head of the U.N.'s climate change secretariat, said Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 that she didn't see "much public interest, support, for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions."(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2011 file photo shows the main plant facility at the Navajo Generating Station, from Lake Powell, in Page, Ariz. The United Nations climate chief is urging people not to look solely to their governments to make tough decisions to slow global warming, and instead to consider their own role in solving the problem. Approaching the half-way point of two-week climate talks in Doha, Christiana Figueres, the head of the U.N.'s climate change secretariat, said Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 that she didn't see "much public interest, support, for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions."(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 19, 2012 file photo, smoke rises in this time exposure image from the stacks of the La Cygne Generating Station coal-fired power plant in La Cygne, Kan. The United Nations climate chief is urging people not to look solely to their governments to make tough decisions to slow global warming, and instead to consider their own role in solving the problem. Approaching the half-way point of two-week climate talks in Doha, Christiana Figueres, the head of the U.N.'s climate change secretariat, said Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 that she didn't see "much public interest, support, for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions."(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 26, 2012 file photo, Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) attends the opening session of the United Nations Climate Change conference in Doha, Qatar. The United Nations climate chief is urging people not to look solely to their governments to make tough decisions to slow global warming, and instead to consider their own role in solving the problem. Approaching the half-way point of two-week climate talks in Doha, Christiana Figueres, the head of the U.N.'s climate change secretariat, said Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 that she didn't see "much public interest, support, for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal, File)
DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? At Friday prayers in Qatar's most popular mosque, the imam discussed the civil war in Syria, the unrest in Egypt and the U.N. endorsement of an independent state of Palestine.
Not a word about climate change, even though the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar is hosting a U.N. conference where nearly 200 countries are trying to forge a joint plan to fight global warming, which climate activists say is the greatest modern challenge to mankind.
"Unfortunately the Arab and Islamic countries have political and economic problems," said Adham Hassan, a worshipper from Jordan streaming out of the al-Khatabb mosque in Doha. "Islam calls for the protection of the environment, but the Muslim countries are mostly poor and they didn't cause pollution and aren't affected by climate change."
Of six mosques contacted by The Associated Press in the Qatari capital, only one included an environmental message in the Friday prayers, telling those in attendance to plant trees, shun extravagance and conserve water and electricity.
The Quran, Islam's holy book, is filled with more than 1,500 verses to nature and Earth. Yet the voice of Islamic leaders is missing from the global dialogue on warming.
That disappoints Muslim environmental activists, who believe the powerful pull of Islam could be the ideal way to change behavior in both poor countries, where many people's main source of information is the mosque, and in some wealthy countries like Qatar where Islam remains important even as rapid growth has made it the world's top per capita emitter of carbon dioxide.
"It's absolutely frustrating," said Fazlun Khalid, founder of the U.K.-based Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, which oversees projects around the world that use Islamic teachings to combat problems ranging from deforestation to overfishing.
"We get very little support from Muslims," he said. "They don't connect. We have to wake them up to the fact their existence is threatened by their own behavior. Modernity and the economic development paradigm is about dominating nature. Islam, as you are aware, is submission to the will of the creator. We need to remind ourselves that we have to submit."
As the annual U.N. climate conference neared its halfway point in Doha, the usual splits opened up between rich and poor nations over how to divide the burden ? and financial cost ? of protecting the world from overheating.
U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres lamented that she didn't see "much public interest, support, for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions."
"Each one of us needs to assume responsibility. It's not just about domestic governments," she said.
The talks are aimed at limiting the level of warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 F), compared to temperatures before the industrial revolution. So the main focus is to cut the emissions of greenhouse gases that a vast majority of climate scientists say is to blame for the rising temperatures.
That goal gets more difficult to reach ever year. Temperatures have already risen about 0.8 degrees C (1.4 degrees F), according to the latest report by the U.N.'s scientific panel on climate change. And a series of reports before and during the conference warned that global emissions are still increasing, primarily driven by the rapid growth of emerging economies such as China and India.
World religions are seeking a more active role in climate change and sustainability issues. The Interfaith Declaration on Climate Change project ? endorsed by Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism ? was a regular presence at the U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009, while the Dalai Lama has repeatedly called on governments to take climate change more seriously. Religious leaders in the United States have launched a movement known as "green religion" or "eco-theology, with groups like the Evangelical Environmental Network endorsing clean energy and calling on people to consume less.
Muslims are also slowly heeding the call.
Egypt's government-appointed Muslim Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, also known at the green mufti, has been outspoken on pollution and climate change, calling them greater threats than war, according to the consultancy Green Compass Research. The holy month of Ramadan has taken on a greener theme, with Muslims across the Middle East and the United States using it to touch on food waste and sustainability. Small-scale campaigns using Islam including one aimed at turtle conservation in Malaysia and illegal mining in Indonesia have been rolled out.
"It's becoming a more important part of Islamic discourse, a more holistic approach to what it means to be a responsible Muslim in the world today," said Tamara Sonn, a humanities professor at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. "There are greater levels of education and overall global awareness of the importance of environmental concerns facilitated by advances in communication, the Internet."
But Muslim environmental activists say more could be done.
Too often, they complain, discussions of the role of Islam and the environment are limited to conferences. They say religious leaders could issue fatwas on the environment, and governments could introduce curriculums in schools highlighting themes found in the Quran such as the importance of nature, treating animals compassionately and the prohibition on wastefulness.
"The majority of Muslim scholars, leaders, and activists whose major concerns are ritualistic and the legalistic aspects of Islam, themselves have not seen the environmental issues and problems as their immediate concern," Muhamad Ali, assistant professor Islamic Studies University of California, Riverside, said in an email. "While they focus on the purity and validity of a ritual act, they lack understanding and awareness of the immediacy and cruciality of the environment crisis as a common problem. Besides, like other monotheists in general, they see human beings as superior over the natural world."
Khalid has seen firsthand how Islam can persuade Muslims to change their ways on sustainability issues. He once went to Zanzibar after conservation groups failed to persuade fishermen to stop using dynamite on coral reefs. After leading several workshops that leaned heavily on Quranic teachings, he said the fishermen never again used destructive practices.
"They stopped dynamiting coral reefs in 24 hours," said Khalid, who has similar successes in Nigeria and Pakistan with forest protection. "It had a profound impact on the local fishermen. One of the fishermen told me that we can disobey the laws of the government but we can't disobey the laws of the creator."
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Casey reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Abdullah Rebhy contributed to this report from Doha, Qatar.
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Michael Casey can be reached at twitter.com/mcasey1 and Karl Ritter can be reached at www.twitter.com/karl_ritter
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Substantial Income Tax Rate Relief Upon Introduction of DTC
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Speaking at a press conference in the capital, the Finance Minister however refrained from mentioning a probable date for the introduction of DTC. The DTC is set to replace the now out-of-date Income Tax Act of 1961.
A Parliamentary Panel headed by Mr. Yashwant Sinha, the former Finance Minister of India, has made several key recommendations that are set to change Income Tax norms in the country. The DTC Bill was to be initially introduced at the beginning of the Financial Year of 2012 on April 1. However, since the Standing Committee tabled the revised report before the Parliament only in March 2012, the Bill suffered a delay.
The DTC has undergone revisions and the present recommendations differ from the original draft in several departments, especially those related to an individual?s Income Tax exemptions. The amount of Income Tax imposed for different slabs of income is also set to undergo changes in favor of the taxpaying population.
The Standing Committee has recommended a substantial increase in exemption limits with tax exemption to be allowed for those earning an income of Rs. 3 lakh as against the current limit of only Rs. 2 lakh. The recommendations of the Committee also includes the Income limit to be increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs.10 lakh for the 10% slab, Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh for the 20% slab, and above Rs. 20 lakh instead of Rs. 10 lakh for the 30% slab. The only constant seems to be the Corporate Tax Rates which remain at 30%.
In addition to changes in the Taxation slabs, the Committee also recommends a raise in the Income Tax exemption limit of Long Term Savings from the current amount of 1 lakh to Rs. 1.5 lakh. An individual?s pension up to an amount of Rs. 1.5 lakh, medical insurance up to Rs. 1 lakh, an amount of Rs. 50,000 for education and professional studies, as well as medical insurance for dependent parents to the tune of Rs. 50,000 are all expected to be placed under the Income Tax Exempt banner as well.
Mr. Aashish Ramchand, the Co Founder of Make My Returns, among India?s leading Tax Consultant portals, welcomed the announcement saying, ?The standing committee's recommended changes to the current taxation system will definitely benefit the aam aadmi or common man. The increase in the relevant tax slabs i.e. up to 3 lakh - exempt, from 3 lakh to 10 lakh - 10%, from 10 lakh to 20 lakh - 20%, and above 20 lakh - 30%, will definitely lead to an increase in personal disposal income. Similarly the increase in 80 C limits from 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh will also help decrease the tax liability of individuals as various tax savings schemes will now be preferred.?
Mr. Ramchand also made an observation with regards to the revised DTC Bill?s benefits to the economy and said, ?The overall increase in the personal disposal income of an individual will benefit the Indian economy and lead to an increase in consumption and spending thus increasing the GDP.?
The Finance Minister?s announcement increases the hopes of a majority of the Indian populace who are hoping to save on a substantial amount of Income Tax once the Standing Committee?s recommended changes to the DTC Bill are accepted.
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Make My Returns is a Tax Portal created by some of the leading Tax Advisors and Tax Law Experts in India. The company offers one-stop solutions to a range of Taxation issues including various packages for ease in the filing of Income Tax Returns. A panel of experts specializing in Income Tax, Audits, Corporate Tax, Service Tax and Sales Tax among others help resolve various Tax concerns.
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