Mind, Body & Spirit: The Holy Triumvirate of NeuroModulation ...

There was a time not all that long ago when people ? and the cultures in which they thrived ? fully realized the interconnectedness of all things in their daily lives. This applied not only to nature and community, but to individuals themselves, who understood they are made up of many interlacing parts.

If one of those parts is sick and not working properly, the others are affected. Almost like a butterfly effect for the human body. But somehow this innate wisdom eroded over the years, especially in western medicine, and it?s manifesting in a society that is unwell.

To put it mildly.

While it?s often too daunting to confront the larger issues facing our planet, we can at least look a little closer to home ? at ourselves. People these days are a mess, with physical ailments, emotional trauma, and spiritual roadblocks. We treat one component of a tripod that?s in disarray, often to the detriment of the others.

And that?s where NeuroModulation Technique (NMT) comes in. But what exactly is it?

?Want to understand NMT?? asks Gail Smithson, L.Ac., of the Smithson Clinic, laughing. ?How comprehensive is your understanding of the universe and consensual reality? ?Cause that?s what it?s about. It?s based on the notion of non-duality.?

Translation please.

?NMT works with the body?s innate ability to heal,? he explains. ?Your body has infinite intelligence, and NMT basically activates that intelligence through muscle testing and response.?

In essence, your body knows better than you do. It realizes that if one area is out of synch, often all areas are out of synch.

This particular system of health care was developed by Dr. Leslie S. Feinberg of Oregon, a result of many years studying numerous methods of energetic medicine. It?s rooted in these methods, and intertwined with accepted principles of western science ? neurophysiology, physiology, psychology ? and traditional Chinese medicine concepts. Feinberg basically postulates that illness is caused by confusion in the body?s internal control center, the Autonomic Control System (ACS), which makes it nearly impossible to regulate the body to a healthy state.

This confusion can be caused by allergies, toxic agents, errors in sensitivity settings, environmental chemicals and pernicious synaptic patterns (PSPs). ?What NM T attempts to do is correct the confusion, calm the system, by reintegrating all parts of what make up a human being, including mind, body and spirit.

This is done through muscle response testing and verbal or non-verbal semantic questions and statements. The process is often further augmented with gentle stimulation of vertebral segments, specific breathing patterns and other sensory stimuli.

It?s a whole-body treatment system, and Smithson says that just about all conditions can be helped by NMT.

Let the healing begin.

Source: http://www.cpt12.org/blog/index.php/2012/11/22/mind-body-spirit/

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APNewsBreak: Corps cuts flow on Missouri River

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday began reducing the flow from a Missouri River reservoir, a move expected to worsen low-water conditions on the Mississippi River and potentially bring barge traffic to a halt within weeks.

The Missouri flows into the Mississippi around a bend just north of St. Louis. One result of this year's drought, the worst in decades, has been a big drop in water levels on both rivers.

The corps announced earlier this month that it would reduce the outflow from the Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, S.D., to protect the upper Missouri River basin. That drew an outcry from political leaders and businesses downstream, who warned that allowing the Mississippi to drop more could have devastating economic consequences.

Corps spokeswoman Monique Farmer told The Associated Press on Friday that the reduction began as scheduled that morning. By midday, the flow that had started at 37,500 cubic feet per second had been cut to 35,500 cubic feet per second.

Farmer said plans call for a gradual reduction down to 12,000 cubic feet per second by Dec. 11 because of the drought.

"We're hoping Mother Nature brings some snow this winter," she said, "but we've been told to expect low, stable conditions, that it's probably going to remain dry."

The cut in flow comes despite opposition from the governors of Missouri and Illinois and 77 members of Congress whose states sit along the Mississippi River. Scott Holste, a spokesman for Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, said his office never received a reply to a letter Nixon sent Army Assistant Secretary Jo-Ellen Darcy, asking that the corps delay plans to reduce the Missouri River flow.

The Mississippi is nearing historic lows between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill. Barges are already required to carry lighter loads and the middle of the river could be closed to barge traffic if the water level at St. Louis dips below minus 5 feet. It was at minus 0.45 feet Friday.

A zero river reading at St. Louis was established more than a century ago. It's the point at which people at that time thought the river would never drop below.

The National Weather Service forecast for river levels extends only as far as Dec. 6. It calls for the Mississippi River to get to minus 3.7 feet at St. Louis by then. Businesses that ship on the river and their trade groups expect to get to minus 5 feet by around Dec. 10.

Barges carry 20 percent of the country's coal and more than 60 percent of its grain exports. Other cargo, including petroleum products, lumber, sand, industrial chemicals and fertilizer, also gets shipped along the Mississippi River.

Barge operators and those who ship on the Mississippi have warned that a shutdown would have disastrous economic consequences on those industries, with companies laying off workers if it lasts for any significant amount of time.

River shipping trade groups have even asked President Barack Obama to intervene.

"This is a pending economic emergency," said Ann McCulloch, director of public affairs for the American Waterways Operators.

A message left with the White House on Friday was not returned.

The weather forecast offers little hope with no big storms in sight.

While the drought has eased in the St. Louis area, it persists in the upper Mississippi and upper Missouri river basins, which feed water to the areas below, said Scott Truett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in St. Louis.

"That means less runoff and hence low water levels," Truett said.

The corps has taken steps to keep the Mississippi open as long as possible, including increasing dredging. It also plans to remove two rock formations in the river in southern Illinois that jut up, potentially scraping the bottoms of barges when water levels are low.

But that work isn't expected until February, although 15 senators and 62 House members in separate letters asked for the rock removal to be expedited.

Corps officials in Omaha say the drought already has hurt recreation along the upper Missouri River areas. The low water has exposed Native American artifacts, leaving them prone to looting, and if it persists into spring, hydropower could be impacted.

Corps officials in Omaha say they are bound by the Missouri River Master Manual to act in the best interest of the Missouri River basin and what happens on the Mississippi is incidental.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-corps-cuts-flow-missouri-river-170814085--finance.html

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Small Business Marketing - tistheosmegas

Most small business owners fail when it comes to their small business marketing plans. They've got excellent technical skills in their line of work, but that just doesn't translate to having effective marketing skills.

As a result, profitability of many small businesses has been declining over the years. Ever increasing competition is making it more challenging in many ways. For those businesses that aren't losing money, most are not producing the profit they could be if they knew how to market themselves properly.

These business owners usually just copy what they see other businesses doing, or they follow the advice of some media sales person. The problem is they copy the wrong types of businesses, and the media sales people typically only know as much about effective marketing as the business owner does.

Without the right kind of marketing system in place, the success of any business is by pure chance. To help remedy this situation, below are seven things a small business can do to increase profits while spending less on marketing.

1. Use the power of free stuff

Everyone likes getting free stuff and you can use that to your advantage. If your business lends itself to giving away free samples of your product, do that. It helps get people hooked on it. Business profits have boomed on this marketing model.

As Chris Anderson author of the book titled, "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" says, "You can make make money giving things away."? In his book he talks about how businesses are giving away products and services they used to charge for, and in return, a percentage of their customers are buying something else. As a result, they are making more money than ever.

When you give something away, you often activate a universal law called the "Law of Reciprocity." It says that when people get something free, they feel obligated to do something for you. Obviously it doesn't work every time, but it does work enough of the time.

But there is another way to give away free stuff that can greatly benefit your business. When you do it right you get something very valuable in return: customer contact info...which leads us to the next tip.

2. Start capturing customer contact info and use it

One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make is not tapping their current customer base. They let customers visit their business (online or offline) all day long without ever trying to capture their contact info so they can continue to market products or services to them.

You likely know how expensive it can be to get a new customer. But you can market to your current customers for little or no cost. Capturing and using customer contact info can mean the difference between a profitable business and one that barely gets by.

Your business has more customer value in it than a customer can possibly digest in a short visit so if you aren't continually marketing to your customers, you are throwing money away!

You can make customer contact capture easier simply by using the power of free from tip number one. Simply start a monthly drawing to give away something free and print some registration slips visitors can fill out. Also have people register online on your website.

Tell customers they only have to register once for all drawings and you will contact them monthly via email to let them know who won. Of course you will always include an offer for a product or service!

What do you give away? Anything with a perceived value makes a great free item. Free items do not have to be expensive. Buy something on sale at WalMart or at eBay and offer it. You can also offer free informational reports that help people solve their problems. People are always looking for ways to solve problems they are having.

Of course, once you capture this information you have to do something with it. If you're too busy to take on any more work, then the next tip will help you out.

3. Use automated tools to keep in touch with customers

Once you have a customer list, I recommend you send a minimum of 25 "messages" a year to it. A message could be an email, direct mail piece, fax, or phone call.

If you don't use an automated tool to do the work for you, you'll likely be too busy to get the job done. When you automate, your messages go out regardless of how busy you get (the more messages that go out, the busier you'll get).

One tool you can use is an email autoresponder, which is a web-based system that sends out emails when someone signs up. It sends out emails at intervals you set up. You can also set it up to send an email on a specific day, such as a holiday.

The great thing about an autoresponder tool is that you enter your messages in the autoresponder one time, then it automatically sends emails to your list. You can also broadcast messages any time you want.

Using this tool, keeping in touch with your customers is easy and it will help keep the competition from creeping in and stealing your customers because they've forgotten about you and the services you provide.

4. Stop marketing like you're a big business.

Marketing a small business like it's a big business is something almost every small business owner does. They just copy the marketing they see being done at large companies with big brands. This kind of marketing is called "brand identity," "brand building," or "image" marketing.

This is a HUGE waste of advertising money for a small business. You simply don't have the resources you need to support a successful branding campaign.

Brand advertising typically has no "call to action," (they don't ask you to do anything). They just give you features of the product or service, or they entertain you without asking you to do anything.

Brand advertising is usually benefit free. The viewer has to determine if there is a benefit to them. It may contain a list of features and the user will have to assign their own benefit to each feature. It is usually focused on the product or provider of the product instead if the customer.

A successful marketing campaign for a small business is created around direct response marketing techniques.

5. Use old fashioned direct response techniques in new ways

The kind of marketing plan that works for a small business is direct response marketing. It doesn't require a huge marketing budget to use effectively. It can be used for all types of products and services.

And the good news is that you don't even have to hire an advertising agency to do it since it doesn't require creativity. All you have to do is learn the basic structure of direct response marketing and you can easily increase the sales your business makes.

Direct response sales copy always asks the reader or viewer to take some sort of action i.e. "Call in the next 5 minutes, and we'll include a free set of Ginzu steak knives!".

It may ask for the sale directly if a full "sales presentation" was done (one-step advertising), or it may ask them to request more information (two-step advertising). It will at a minimum, ask the reader to take some form of "traceable" action so you know if it is working or not.

There should always be a headline for written advertisements! Never put your company logo at the top of a direct response advertisement. That's brand advertising.

Whenever you create an advertisement in any form always look at them from the customer point of view. Look it and ask "Who gives a crap?" about everything in it. Do you think the customer cares about your logo. No! They care about what you can do for them. Put in benefits and not features. Let the customer know what's in it for them. A successful direct response ad for a small business includes several things:

?? * An offer to buy something
?? * Sufficient information for the consumer to make a decision to act now (or directions on how to get more info)
?? * An explicit "call to action" sooner rather than later
?? * A clear way to respond such as a telephone number or web page
?? * A means of tracking the response.

Direct response advertising is not just used for mail campaigns. You use it in all forms of media: print, web, mail, and broadcast. Take a look at all the advertising you are currently doing no matter where it is and start making the change now.

6. Use the Internet to advertise for free

Even though websites as we know them have existed since around the early 90s, only 49%* of small businesses currently have a website *9/08, Barlow Research. It's surprising how many businesses do not understand how powerful this marketing tool is. If you don't have a website, get one because there is no better source of free advertising!

The Internet has hundreds of "Web 2.0" websites where you post "content" for free. The content can be text, videos, or audios you create and it can lead people to your business. Plus, it helps establish you as an expert in your field.

EzineArticles.com is one such place you can post content. There was no charge to post this article. All I had to do is write it, post it, and then you found it.

You can put links in the "author resource" section, to drive traffic to a page on your website. The articles you post in EzineArticles can rank extremely well in Google search results with a little help from you.

You also want to get your business listed in places like Google Local if you do local business. Once again this is absolutely free.

Once you learn how to do use the Internet for promotion you'll have a head start on the future of advertising and you get customers for free!

7. Outsource routine marketing tasks so you can work on the growing your business

One of the biggest problems small business owners have is that they get so consumed by working IN their business, they don't have time to work ON their business. So no growth can occur.

When it comes to marketing yourself on the Internet, there are ways to use "virtual assistants" to do most of the work for you. A virtual assistant is someone you hire on a full or part-time basis who does the work for you.

But a virtual assistant is not a direct employee so you don't provide benefits or have the normal hassles of an employee. They are usually located somewhere in the world that has low-cost wages so they are very affordable. That's the beauty of the Internet and the communication it provides.

Virtual assistants aren't just confined to small business marketing plan tasks though. They can do almost anything for you: reservations, schedule appointments, answer phones, customer service, send flowers, buy a present for your spouse, find someone to fix your car, website development, accounting, software development, writing, graphics, or anything you need.

There are lots of resources on the Internet that can help you find a virtual assistant.

Create Your Small Business Marketing Plan Now!

Use these seven marketing tips to start building your small business marketing plan right now. If you procrastinate, your busy life will get in the way of business growth. Even if you only take a little of the advice you've been given, you'll find it can have a big impact on the profitability of your business.

Source: http://tistheosmegas.blogspot.com/2012/11/small-business-marketing-plan-increase.html

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let the good times roll...: THE Baby Shower

Writing about this baby shower will not do it justice. I almost didn't write about it because I've been content to just relive it over and over in my head. Words will not convey how truly amazing it was.

But here goes.

My friend Lindsay asked if she could throw a baby shower for me a few months ago. Of course I said yes. And thanks to pregnancy brain, I actually forgot about it until Lindsay handed me a keepsake invitation at church. The week leading up to the shower I started feeling bad that my mom and sister were not going to be able to attend. And then I had a fleeting thought: What if my mom and sister actually showed up at this shower to surprise me?! I actually played the scene over and over in my head while I tried to fall asleep one night. I would turn and see them walk in, scream, run and hug them, and then immediately start crying. And that's pretty much what happened.

After thinking about how amazing it would be if they did surprise me, I convinced myself that it would be nearly impossible for them to come to Brooklyn for my baby shower. My grandmother had recently fallen and broken her leg so my mom was at the hospital and then nursing home all day, every day. And my sister works full-time and can't just take days off. So I put the thought out of my head.

The day of the baby shower Lindsay picked me up (which I thought was a little suspicious since she was hosting the baby shower, but I figured she had people helping her set up) and we headed to the church. We walked in and passed the gym, which was set up for what looked like a luncheon. We headed to the Relief Society room where some friends had already gathered. I chatted for a few minutes and then the festivities began.

As Lindsay welcomed people to the baby shower, she said she thought she heard a few more people coming down the hall and poked her head out of the door to see. Lo and behold, my mother and sister walked in right behind her. And it unfolded just as I had imagined it would: screaming, hugging, crying. It was almost as if all the difficulties of this pregnancy came spilling out into my mom's arms, like I was saying, "It's been so hard. I know it will be worth it, but it's really been so hard."

What I didn't anticipate was this overwhelming feeling of just wanting my mom to take me home with her right then and there. Not to my apartment, but to her house in Virginia. As fun as this baby shower was going to be, I wanted nothing more than to just go home with her. I'm almost 28 years old and I turned into that little girl whose mom surprises her at school to eat lunch together, and then cries and begs her mommy to take her home with her instead of leaving her at school. Except she'd be leaving me in Brooklyn. To have a baby.

Once I got over the initial shock of having my mom and sister in the same room, I thought Lindsay would continue the baby shower and we'd all have a grand ol' time.

Then my sister stepped behind me, introduced herself and started explaining the first baby shower game. I still hadn't caught on that my mom and sister were the ones who had actually planned the baby shower. They weren't just there for the baby shower. They had brought the baby shower with them from Virginia!

I kid you not, they literally transported all of the decorations, games, gifts for winners of the games, gifts for me, and food for 30+ people from Virginia to Brooklyn. I still can't believe it. Well, actually I can because if anyone knows my mom, it's totally something she would do.

We played a few games, opened amazing gifts, and then ate a delicious lunch of barbecue sandwiches, coleslaw, cinnamon apples, and of course, cake. (Ukrop's cake at that! They know me too well.)

After everyone left we cleaned everything up and headed to my apartment to surprise Blake and Evan. That's right. Evan didn't even know about it!
My mom and sister were leaving the next day so Blake made the most of his time with Grandma and Aunt Tori. And to be honest, if it hadn't been ward conference, I would've stayed home from church to hang out with them. I was still at the church when they called and told me they were leaving and could swing by and pick me up so I wouldn't have to take the bus home. It took every ounce of strength not to tell them to come get me and just take me with them. Evan could pack our bags and we'd be on our way to a Virginia vacation. I'd figure out the whole having a baby thing later.

Alas, I let them go knowing they'd return in a few short weeks when baby #2 arrived.

Like I said, my words won't do it justice. There's no way I can convey just how amazing it was. I don't even know if the people at the baby shower really understood how amazing it was. But being able to celebrate the impending arrival of this baby with friends AND my mom and sister was just what I needed to make it to the end.

And just how there are no words to describe this incredible day, there are no words to express my gratitude to the people involved in making this baby shower a success. Lindsay, who I now know can keep the secret of all secrets was instrumental in helping my mom and sister pull this whole thing off. And Yeenor, who found out about the surprise the night before when she saw my mom and sister setting up at the church, was so kind and helpful to my mom and sister.

My dad and brother were also a big help. My dad, the ultimate boy scout, rigged up a system for them to transport all the food and other things they needed for this trip. And my brother Jordan was kind enough to let them leave for a few days while he managed things at home.

And of course, my mom and sister. I will never ever forget how loved I felt when I saw them walk in the door. I would've known how much they love me even if they hadn't done all of this elaborate planning and scheming to throw me a baby shower. But it was just another testament of the incredible family of which I am blessed to be a part.

photo cred: Emily Johnson (because I didn't think to bring my own camera...)

Source: http://bliggitybloggityboo.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-baby-shower.html

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Judgment day: UK media faces moment of truth

LONDON (AP) ? It's judgment day for Britain's press.

After nearly 18 months of damaging revelations about widespread media misconduct, the senior judge tapped to investigate the ethics and practices of some of the English-speaking world's most powerful newspapers will deliver his verdict next Thursday.

Lord Justice Brian Leveson's inquiry was launched in response to the phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World where journalists routinely intercepted phone messages to obtain sensational stories and allegedly engaged in computer hacking and bribery, too.

"The reputation of the British press is as low as it's possible to be," said James Curran, a professor of communications who has written extensively on the history and politics of the media. "For the first time, there is a possibility of modest reform."

A year's worth of hearings exposed a host of shady journalistic practices, from blackmail and stalking to trafficking in stolen medical records and other private information.

Celebrities, crime victims, and the falsely accused described feeling helpless as reporters ground their privacy and reputation to bits, while some of the country's most senior police officers ? who should have been investigating the wrongdoing ? were described glugging champagne at intimate dinners with those who would later become the scandal's chief suspects.

Leveson's recommendations and reaction from the press and politicians have been a matter of intense speculation since the inquiry was ordered by Prime Minister David Cameron in July, 2011. Leveson could recommend new rules for journalists, suggest a new press watchdog, or simply endorse the status quo. In the case of new regulations, lawmakers would have to sign off on his recommendations before they became law.

There have been scattered hints as to Leveson's approach. He and inquiry lawyer Robert Jay mostly eschewed the inquisitorial approach during hearings, often politely asking various witnesses for their thoughts on whether the press should be reformed and how to do it.

But the genial atmosphere of the hearings may mask a trenchant, industry-shaking verdict.

In August, the judge sent inquiry participants a sheaf of documents laying out his potential criticisms, a move intended to enable those targeted to have a final say before the inquiry's recommendations are released. They are meant to be confidential, but Chris Blackhurst, the editor of Britain's Independent newspaper, was so shocked by the tone that he broke with protocol to go public with his concerns.

"It is a damning indictment of my industry," he told the BBC. "The best way I can describe it is that he's loading a gun, and that this document ? well over 100 pages ? is all the ammunition. And believe you me, there's plenty of ammunition. You read it and you just gulp."

Paul Connew, a tabloid editor-turned-public relations expert who has followed the scandal closely, said he is worried, too. He predicted that Leveson would propose some kind of "light touch" regulation, for example one that would see publishers submit to the rulings of an independent regulator. But Connew ? who counts himself among the thousands of phone hacking victims ? said that the moment government becomes involved in setting rules for journalists, liberty suffers.

"It's a cliche, but it's the first step down a slippery slope," he said. "I'm not saying you're going to overturn 300 years of press freedom in one fell swoop, but you're removing one of the foundation stones."

The battle lines are being drawn as proprietors and reform campaigners prepare to fight. On Wednesday, victims of press abuse met with Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to argue their case for greater protection against unscrupulous journalists. On Thursday, the Free Speech Network, a press lobbying group, unleashed a publicity campaign against any attempt at state-backed regulation.

The group's ad in Murdoch's The Sun newspaper was particularly stark:

"These people believe in state control of the press," the ad said over pictures of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. "Do you?"

Curran said the warnings were overwrought. He explained that a regulator ? were one to actually be set up ? would probably be a body "independent of government and independent of the press which will have some backup powers. That's a far cry from Zimbabwe."

___

Online:

The Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk

Raphael Satter can be reached at: http://raphae.li/twitter

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-11-22-Britain-Phone%20Hacking/id-35692576d7fb40188197649dd388ad25

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Deployment of Patriots to Turkey could take weeks

FILE - In this May 26, 2010 file photo, a U.S. soldier stands next to a Patriot surface-to-air missile battery at an army base in Morag, Poland. Turkey's government requested the deployment of NATO's Patriot surface-to-air missiles on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012 to bolster its defenses along its border with Syria and prevent a spillover of the civil war in that nation, officials said. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

FILE - In this May 26, 2010 file photo, a U.S. soldier stands next to a Patriot surface-to-air missile battery at an army base in Morag, Poland. Turkey's government requested the deployment of NATO's Patriot surface-to-air missiles on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012 to bolster its defenses along its border with Syria and prevent a spillover of the civil war in that nation, officials said. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

FILE - In this May 26, 2010 file photo, a U.S. soldier stands next to a Patriot surface-to-air missile battery at an army base in Morag, Poland. Turkey's government requested the deployment of NATO's Patriot surface-to-air missiles on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012 to bolster its defenses along its border with Syria and prevent a spillover of the civil war in that nation, officials said. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Even if NATO quickly approves Turkey's request for the deployment of Patriot missiles on its border with Syria, winning parliamentary approval, selecting sites for the air defense batteries and transporting them there means they probably wouldn't be operational for weeks.

Syria's civil war has left Turkey the target of artillery and mortar fire. Syria is believed to have several hundred ballistic surface-to-surface missiles in its arsenal capable of carrying chemical warheads.

Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S. have the advanced PAC-3 model Patriots that Turkey wants for intercepting ballistic missiles, but if they come from the two European countries, their parliaments may have to vote on that first.

NATO said Wednesday it will consider Turkey's request "without delay," and next week a NATO team will visit the alliance member for a site survey to consider a deployment. Officials say the Patriots would probably be sent by sea.

With events in Syria changing rapidly, and deaths already having occurred on the Turkish side of the border, the wait may leave NATO-member Turkey anxious about its vulnerability to air raids or even chemical attack from across the border.

President Bashar Assad's embattled regime is believed to have one of the largest chemical weapons stockpiles in the world. Fears have risen that a cornered Assad might use them or that they could fall into the hands of extremists, including al-Qaida-inspired militants among the rebels.

Due to the complexity and size of the Patriot batteries, their radars, command-and-control centers, communications and support facilities, they cannot be sent quickly by air to Turkey, officials said.

"These are not drop-and-go systems," said an official who could not be identified in line with standing NATO regulations.

Additional time will be needed to install the systems, realign their radars and link them into Turkey's air defense network before the Patriots can be considered fully operational, the official said.

Speaking to reporters in Pakistan on Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that the deployment was for defensive purposes only.

"This is a measure being taken against certain possible attacks from (the Syrian) side," Erdogan said, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.

But in Moscow, Russia's Foreign Ministry warned Turkey against using the Patriots for "muscle flexing."

"The militarization of the Syrian-Turkish border is an alarming signal," spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. "We have different advice for our Turkish colleagues ? use their influence with the Syrian opposition to accelerate the start of a political dialogue."

During the Iraq wars in 1999 and 2003, when the Netherlands dispatched Patriot batteries to protect Turkey's border with that nation, the systems were transported by ship and then by road. They took between six weeks and two months to become operational.

No missiles were fired during those conflicts and the batteries were withdrawn soon after the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.

Unlike Hussein's Iraq, Syria has never used chemical weapons. Analysts say the bigger threat is that the weapons fall into the wrong hands.

Such worries over the fate of advanced weaponry were highlighted last month, when a shadowy militant group known as Jabhat al-Nusra joined Syrian rebels in seizing a government missile defense base.

___

Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-22-NATO-Turkey-Syria/id-c486e6a9ca034bcaa9957b3d3ee7ee64

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Video: Washington Post?s ?Fixies? awards for the 2012 election

Surviving Thanksgiving -- and grammy's parenting advice

??On Thanksgiving, sometimes, along with the turkey and stuffing comes a nice, big helping of unsolicited parenting advice from relatives. Ettiquette guru Anna Post and other parents who've navigated those waters offer tips on how to keep the peace without losing your mind.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/49908649#49908649

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