Revel, Atlantic City's newest casino set to open

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) ? Michael Garrity recalls sitting on a pile of dirt at the end of the Atlantic City Boardwalk in 2006 with Kevin DeSanctis, a former New Jersey state trooper and casino executive. Morgan Stanley, Garrity's Wall Street investment firm, had just lined up land for what would become Revel, a new casino resort.

The economy was humming along and Atlantic City's casino revenues were at their height. Yet sitting on that dirt pile, DeSanctis was already thinking several years ahead.

"He said, 'The last thing Atlantic City needs right now is a new casino,'" recalled Garrity, who is now Revel's chief investment officer.

So they set out to build something that was not just a casino but a true destination resort, a glittering glass-encased vacation and meeting mecca that just happened to offer casino gambling.

Monday morning, when the sun comes up, Revel will have arrived. A sunrise champagne toast will officially open the facility. Six years and $2.4 billion after the two men sat atop that dirt pile, it becomes Atlantic City's 12th casino ? one that is being counted on to help revive the sagging fortunes of the nation's second-largest gambling market.

"The real issue is: Can you maintain the interest and the excitement?" DeSanctis said. "If we can do that, then I'm not worried. This is going to be a great resort."

That was certainly the verdict from Margy Woolsey, an Atlantic City resident who was among 5,000 invitation-only guests last week for the first of three trial-run gambling nights at Revel, to see how equipment, systems and personnel would work under real-world pressures.

"It's got that wow factor," she said between a string of winning hands of electronic blackjack. "I usually play at Harrah's, but this is my place now."

Revel is Atlantic City's only non-smoking casino resort, and the only one to fully embrace the ocean, with floor-to-ceiling views of the coast that are considered a no-no in other gambling halls. It was designed to appear as if its foundation had been gently sculpted by waves, and a newly replenished beach is a key attraction.

Gambling is only part of the $2.4 billion resort; it also has a luxurious spa, 14 restaurants, 10 pools and a theater with 5,050 seats that will host Beyonc? on Memorial Day weekend.

It has 2,450 slot machines and 160 table games. Its hotel, when fully open later this year, will have 1,898 rooms. Revel will employ about 5,500 full and part-time employees.

Located at the extreme northern end of the Boardwalk, next to the Showboat Casino Hotel, Revel is the first Atlantic City casino to open since its main rival, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, debuted in 2003. With its angular slanted roof and its giant white light-up ball atop the 47-story structure ? the second-tallest in New Jersey at 710 feet ? Revel is already an iconic presence here.

Revel had to overcome numerous obstacles in order to reach Monday's opening. Three key executives working on the project died in a Minnesota plane crash in July 2008; a worker pouring concrete was struck by lightning and killed last September.

The project ran out of money during the recession and had to stop construction halfway through. Morgan Stanley pulled out, taking a $1.2 billion loss on the project. It only got completed with the help of state tax incentives that were approved in February 2011. That came amid bitter opposition from the city's main casino union, which is livid that Revel has not signed a contract with its hotel and service industry workers, and filed several lawsuits seeking to thwart government assistance to the project.

___

Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC.

Associated Press

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Obama's China Syndrome

Chatting here on web radio with Democratic Party rural strategists Dave "Mudcat" Saunders and Billy Bova about how working class anger at China could play into the presidential election (58 minutes). Our consensus? The Obama campaign ought to get Vice President Joe Biden out front against Mitt Romney's endlessly telegraphed plan to portray the president as weak on China, an issue that connects the dots between economics and foreign policy for voters who might not understand the complexities but well know and feel the loss of jobs to Communist China.

Trail Mix Radio (craigcrawford.com)..

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Follow Craig Crawford on Twitter: www.twitter.com/craig_crawford

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Source: www.slideshare.net --- Sunday, April 01, 2012
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Dalrymple wins GOP endorsement for governor

BISMARCK ? Gov. Jack Dalrymple pledged to hold the line on spending, work for greater tax cuts and meet the needs of western North Dakota if he?s elected to his own term as governor in November.

Dalrymple defeated Fargo architect Paul Sorum for the Republican gubernatorial endorsement during the party?s state convention Saturday, receiving 1,128 votes compared to Sorum?s 478.

Sorum defeated Dalrymple in six of the 47 districts: District 10 in northeastern North Dakota, Districts 11, 21 and 41 in Fargo, and Districts 18 and 42 in Grand Forks.

Dalrymple said he stood before the Republican Party two years ago and said he was ready to take the reins of state government.

?I promised I would do my very best with your help to take North Dakota to a new level of pride and prosperity,? he said. ?Well, with Drew Wrigley as my lieutenant governor, we achieved our goal and, today, North Dakota is the envy of the nation.?

Dalrymple highlighted the state?s thousands of job openings, low unemployment rate and rising personal income. ?My friends, our policies are working,? he said.

It?s not just about statistics but creating a better life for people in North Dakota, Dalrymple said. He told the story of a Beulah mother who was once resigned to her children and grandchildren living far from North Dakota. In the last year, all three of her children have landed jobs within driving distance of Beulah, he said.

Dalrymple said he wants mothers across the state to be able to share stories about their children finding opportunities in North Dakota.

?I am ready and eager to help North Dakota realize this vision,? Dalrymple said.

Dalrymple also highlighted the state?s challenges in his speech, including rebuilding Minot after last summer?s devastating flood and dealing with the oil and gas impacts in western North Dakota.

He vowed the work will continue until Minot is rebuilt and said more help is on the way for western North Dakota.

?We will not fail to meet the needs of the people of western North Dakota,? Dalrymple said.

Dalrymple said the state has struck the right balance by investing in priorities, saving for the future and cutting taxes.

?Some people say that we have spent too much and, at the same time, other people say we have not spent enough,? Dalrymple said. ?Our principles on spending are clear: We have not and we will not spend more on ongoing programs than we receive in ongoing revenues.?

He told Republicans not to be misled by comments about large increases in state spending, saying that includes tax relief, making up for cuts in senior programs and one-time infrastructure improvements.

Dalrymple grew up in Casselton on the family farm, established in 1875 as North Dakota?s first large-scale wheat farm.

He graduated with honors from Yale and returned to North Dakota to manage the farming operations. He and his wife, Betsy, have four daughters.

He served eight terms in the North Dakota Legislature and served as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

In 2000, he was elected lieutenant governor and served in that post with former Gov. John Hoeven until Hoeven was elected to the U.S. Senate in late 2010. Dalrymple has served as the state?s governor since and appointed Wrigley, a former U.S. attorney, as his lieutenant governor.

During his convention speech seeking the party?s endorsement, Sorum vowed to return North Dakota government to Republican principles.

?The biggest commitment I can make to you today is that I will work for you,? he said. ?I have taken a pledge to our core Republican principles because Republican principles are our founding principles of freedom, self-government, private property rights, limited government.?

Sorum said he believes the state is headed in the wrong direction and criticized the increase in state spending over the past 10 years. He also said he would stand up to the Environmental Protection Agency and any efforts that threaten North Dakota industries.

Dalrymple and Wrigley will face Senate Minority Leader Ryan Taylor of Towner and former Valley City State University President Ellen Chaffee in the November election.

The governor?s annual salary is $113,594. The lieutenant governor?s salary is $88,183.

Finneman is a multimedia reporter for Forum Communications Co.

Tags: jack dalrymple,?paul sorum,?grand forks,?news,?gop,?republican,?endorsement,?gubernatorial,?governor,?fargo,?minot

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Are Homeopathic And Herbal Cures for Pets Safe? | catallaxy.net

Posted on 31 March 2012

Interested in alternative medicine and natural treatments? Click here for some helpful info: read this

In case you are wondering? ?are homeopathic and natural remedies for pets safe ? and efficient??, do not forget that in the wild, animals naturally seek crops and herbs for healing.

Holistic veterinarians believe that the overuse of prescription drugs as well as using industrial pet foods may be major contributors to most of the chronic illnesses and conditions that appear to plague animals in growing numbers. Keeping your pet healthy in the first place might help ensure that conventional medical therapies will not often be needed.

Go to here to read more about a related issue: ???? ???

Natural Cures

Pet natural remedies can deal with a variety of ailments, but using natural therapies for pets just isn?t limited to treating sicknesses after the fact. There are numerous supplements you may give your pet for optimal health.

Vitamin and mineral supplements are available with specific formulas for each stage of life. You can also give your pet specific vitamins, like vitamin C for bone strength or vitamin E and selenium to assist forestall the development of arthritis in older animals.

Digestive formulas are available that assist forestall furballs in cats, and animals that are under stress can be handled with natural remedies solely created for pets. In case your pet is chubby, an herbal supplement could be efficient in helping to boost metabolism and regulate digestion in order that weight reduction might be easier. Natural immune boosters and antioxidants might help maintain pets from changing into sick, and in the event that they do get sick, natural pet products with antibiotic properties present a natural alternative to pharmaceuticals. There are also efficient natural pet remedies for animals with chronic sicknesses like diabetes, arthritis and anxiety.

Homeopathic Cures

Homeopathy for animals is one other natural strategy to health that is very much worth considering once you understand what holistic pet professionals have to say about using conventional medicine and industrial pet products.

Homeopathy is a kind of natural remedy in which tiny doses of substances that will produce an sickness in larger amounts are taken in order that the body can build immunity to the toxin. Animals could be treated with homeopathy for a lot of totally different conditions. To learn more about such circumstances, as well as safe homeopathic and natural remedies for pets you?ll be able to trust, visit your veterenary specialist.

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How To Adjust To And Get Along With Step Children ? ArticlePlatz ...

New step parents need to be aware that stepchildren may not accept you right away and that it may take some time. Often times these children will be adjusting to having lost their parent in a divorce which can be hard to take. This will be a challenge for many new stepparents who find it difficult to blend into this new family.

Basically, how old your stepchildren are will determine how you interact with them. Obviously, the younger the child is, the easier it will be. A baby or a toddler will come to regard you as their primary parent and will probably not remember their bio parent. When you are considering marrying someone who already has children, it?s important to think seriously about what your responsibilities will be ahead of time. You may find yourself cast in the role of a friend, or advisor, more so than of a substitute parent if your step-kids are older. The original parent of teen-aged stepchildren in any new marriage will most likely be the primary parent with the stepparent assuming a supporting role. To be sure, each family faced with these same circumstances will have different needs, but the age of the stepchildren will be the deciding factor in how you handle your step-parenting role.

It helps immensely if you are blessed with an abundance of patience. This is a vital character trait you will be called upon to exhibit. Your acceptance by your stepchildren can usually take a while, so don?t think they will just accept you immediately. In many cases, whether one of the parents has died or there was a divorce, the child will be missing that parent and may even resent you for trying to take his or her place. It?s important to continue to patiently advance your efforts to bond with the child, but you have to be careful not to be too aggressive. In time, the child will relax and accept you. This will come more easily if you just assure them you don?t plan to replace their biological parent, but you are there for them whenever they need you.

Whenever the subject of the natural parent is being discussed, you have to be very careful what you say. Don?t think that just because the bio parent has died that they don?t play a part in the life of your stepchild. That couldn?t be further from the truth. When your new spouse is divorced, he or she may still be the victim of unresolved feelings about their former partner. This can be a very sticky situation for you, as the stepparent. It?s not your place to state an opinion about a natural parent who mistreated the kids. You should stay neutral on the subject or even be a little positive if you must say something. You should always respect the fact that this person was the child?s original parent and not try to diminish their role (or memory) in any way. Parenting stepchildren is a little different than parenting your own, yet it is still a skill that you can utilize an acquired over time. The above tips can be useful to make this transition easier, but you also need the ability to be flexible and go with the flow in a new family environment. Being accepted by the step children in this new family environment will come with time, especially if you do your best to be a great role model and are very patient.

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Working Out at Work. | Health & Fitness

?The center is convenient and cheap,? says Friedson. ?For those who want to take advantage of it, it?s a great perk.?

CDW is not alone in offering a?fitness programto its employees. According to the 2000 Benefits Survey produced by the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Virginia, 24% of the 606 companies that responded to the survey provide a fitness center or gym subsidy to employees, and 19% actually have an on-site fitness center.

Making Fitness Convenient

?Regular exercise is clearly linked to improved health,? says Dr. Peter Snell, an exercise physiologist and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Still, Snell adds, about 60% of adults do not exercise, and only 25% get the recommended amount. Exercise recommendations range from 30 to 60 minutes a day ? on most, if not all, days of the week. Forty percent of adults who don?t exercise say they don?t have enough time.

?The availability of facilities to exercise at the work site removes many of the barriers to exercise,? says Snell. These include

• Finding time
• Being self-conscious at public health clubs
• Safety
• Convenience
• Social atmosphere
• Weather conditions
• Expense

Having a place to exercise during lunch can be a real bonus especially for women with children, who may find it difficult to exercise before or after work, says Snell.

Not all companies can afford a full-service fitness center, but that doesn?t mean they?re not providing some fitness options. At Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, Elaine Coll, professor emeritus of physical education, organized a faculty-staff noontime workout called ?Ultimate Fitness.? The idea originally started with a volleyball coach who began the program for physical education students. When the coach moved away, a number of faculty and staff who had been ?auditing? the program were left, well, a bit less fit.

So Coll stepped up to the plate. She leads Ripon faculty and staff in an exercise routine that includes a 5-minute warm-up and then a circuit of ten to 12 stations, each of which focuses on an upper- or lower-body exercise or an aerobic exercise. After each station, the workers run one lap around the gym to the next station, and so on, until all stations have been visited. This is followed by a 10-minute stretch-and-cool-down period.

All this goes on to some ?really ghastly music,? says Coll, ?but we have a great time.?

Participation Is Key

Workplace exercise and health programs may seem like a great benefit, but do they really work? Apparently the jury?s still out.

According to Roy Shephard, PhD, professor emeritus of applied physiology on the University of Toronto?s faculty of physical education and health, work-site exercise and health programs are widely believed to be a way to keep employees healthy, thereby increasing a company?s productivity while controlling health insurance costs.

Participation in work-site wellness programs?can?yield a variety of health benefits, Shephard writes in a February 1999 article, ?Do Work-Site Exercise and Health Programs Work?? (published in the journal?The Physician and Sportsmedicine): The potential benefits include:

• Weight loss
• Increased cardiovascular health
• Increased muscle strength
• Increased flexibility
• Improved mood
• Lower medical insurance claims

But Shephard, who is also a past president of the ACSM, also reports that ?few, if any, programs have delivered all of the expected benefits.? The reason, according to his research, is that most employees don?t join them.

That certainly doesn?t seem to be the case at CDW Computer Centers, however, where about 1,000 of the company?s main-campus 1,800 employees (there are another 900 in other locations) take advantage of CDW?s on-site fitness center.

?Our co-workers love it,? says Friedson. ?It gives them the opportunity to get together in a relaxed setting.? An added bonus, says Friedson, is that working out is becoming ?contagious.?

Friedson is well aware that company-sponsored fitness programs are thought to contain medical costs by keeping employees healthy and fit, but he himself has no measurable figures to back that up. It doesn?t really matter to him though. ?We?re really more interested in keeping our co-workers engaged, motivated, and happy. We don?t focus on whether we?re saving a dollar or two per person on sick time.?

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