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Despite its location, doing business in Argentina sometimes feels more like doing business in Europe. The vast majority of Argentines are of European descent and retain many character traits of their mostly Spanish and Italian ancestors. The official language is Spanish, but it bears only a slight resemblance to what you would hear in Spain as it has a healthy mix of Italian thrown in.

On the whole Argentines are open and direct in their dealings, but can be tactful and diplomatic when they need to be. They are warm and passionate and quite tactile so any visitor should be this in mind as body language plays a large part of communication here. Social interactions are the fabric of their culture. Argentines have networks of family and friends they call on when they need anything. If one does you a favour, expect to be called upon to repay it one day.

Because of this social nature, Argentines do business with people rather than companies. They will want to get to know the visitor and will only do business once a relationship has been established. It is people that get things done in this country, not organizations. Once they get to know you, their loyalty will be to you and not who you represent. If a negotiating team has to change for any reason the proceedings would have to begin anew as the relationships are built with the new members. This can become frustrating, but it is important not to show this in public.

Anyone doing business in Argentina is going to need some Spanish. Although English is widely spoken, it isn’t the language of business there. It is advisable to have a native speaker with you when you go. Greetings are title and surname until invited otherwise. Academic or educational titles are optional.

Having some Latin American blood means there is a real sense of style to the culture. Argentines dress to impress and any visitor should do the same. Stylish but conservative business attire is the norm. Make business cards stylish too, it will add a little extra to the first impression. Cards are normally exchanged after formal greetings then dismissed, there are no special considerations.

When meeting in Argentina, promptness is expected of you, but they may not be prompt themselves. As with Brazil and other places, this isn’t a slight, just the way things are here. Life is frenetic and there is always lots of things going on at once. Don’t be surprised if your host takes calls or does other business while talking to you, there is no strict organization. Don’t get straight down to business. Although they are direct and open, Argentines like to get to know people first. Expect to make small talk before even broaching the subject of business.

The visitor to Argentina should be on fairly familiar ground, as it is very similar to the European way of doing business. Ensuring relationships come before business will result in a much more successful trip and some lifelong friends.

Video production through Internet

Corporate videos being an important source to record events, meetings and conferences, video production is a good source to record these and to upload them to Internet. There are many web sites which draw huge benefit by uploading videos of corporate sector and commercial sector. A variety of industries take advantage from video production of its products, goods and services.

Video production enables people to get good knowledge about products and services and helps them in making good decisions. Video production has worked to the development and growth of Internet and also industrial sector. Further video clippings of latest films and other music album videos also have enabled to the advertisement of the latest albums for the entertainment of people.

Because of the increasing demand for video production, the software which is used for video production has been developing on a rapid pace and it is giving lot of benefits to the videographers who can bring good quality videos. Further the videos that are uploaded to the Internet also are very appealing that facilitate lot of business and entertainment to the people.

Experienced professionals in the field of video production also give lot of good work to the customers who can derive lot of benefit and advantage from videos. Video production can also market your products and can bring lot of business to your web site.

If web sites are promoting about your products and selling your products to your customers, videos of your products will advertise about your business and products to the customers and will drive more traffic to your web site.

Many small and medium businesses have prospered through video productions and there is more future and prospective growth for video production. This holds very good for the future and also for the present in bringing more awareness about Internet purchase and Internet business.

To state about the future of video production, the employment opportunities in the field of video production are very good and many young aspirants can make their career in video production and can start good businesses. Apart from this, large establishments which research and develop video production software and which market video production software is also very attractive for the future. Continuous research and working is very important in video production as it is a very creative field and it works to the best of corporate sector, industrial sector and commercial sector giving good results at all levels.

CNN Runs Report on ClimateGate, But Only Includes Guests Who Dispute ClimateGate

On Sunday, during the 6:00 p.m. hour and again during the 7:00 p.m. hour, CNN NewsRoom, hosted by Don Lemon, ran a report by correspondent Mary Snow on ClimateGate -- which was somewhat more balanced than the piece aired on November 25 -- though this report similarly did not quote any of the emails that suggest manipulation of data on global warming by scientists at the UK's University of East Anglia. But both times after Snow's report aired, Lemon followed up by talking with a guest or reporter who disputed the credibility of ClimateGate, without interviewing any global warming skeptics.

After Snow’s report aired during the 6:00 p.m. hour, Howard Gould of Equator International opined that "I don't see any importance" in the emails, and later asserted: "I think people are making a big deal out of nothing. I think it's the climate debunkers that are out there, it's their last ray of hope, and they're trying to cling on to something. But it's really, you know, I think it's a bit of a joke."

After Snow's report aired during the 7:00 p.m. hour, CNN international correspondent Phil Black brought up the timing of the email release and referred to the "broad consensus that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal." Black:

Don, many climate scientists believe those e-mails were deliberately hacked and leaked to try and destabilize the negotiations here. And they say those e-mails do nothing to discredit the work of thousands of climate scientists around the world...Some climate change skeptics are also traveling to this city to try and make their case. But they shouldn't expect a friendly reception because this conference is based on the scientific theory accepted by a broad consensus that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal.

On the bright side, before presenting the views of those who dispute ClimateGate, Snow’s report informed viewers of the investigation into whether climate data at the University of East Anglia was manipulated, and that "Phil Jones, the head of the university's climate research unit, has stepped down temporarily." Snow:

This U.N. probe is in addition to an investigation under way at the University of East Anglia which says it's looking to see if there's any evidence that scientific data was manipulated or suppressed. Phil Jones, the head of the university's climate research unit, has stepped down temporarily. Those who questioned the effects of human activity on climate change have seized on the e-mails, accusing scientists of conspiring to hide evidence and trying to destroy data. Among them, Republican Senator James Inhofe, who's called global warming a hoax.

Snow included only one soundbite of a global warming skeptic -- Republican Congressman John Shadegg of Arizona -- but she used soundbites of two scientists who dispute the significance of the ClimateGate scandal.

Below are transcripts of relevant portions of the 6:00 p.m. hour and the 7:00 p.m. hour of CNN NewsRoom from Sunday, December 6:

#From the 6:00 p.m. hour of CNN Newsroom:

DON LEMON: Well, it’s an issue that is bringing more than 100 world leaders and 15,000 people to Denmark for a two-week summit starting tomorrow. It is global warming. There's wide agreement in many quarters on the issue, but it remains fiercely controversial in others. Why does it matter? Well, for starters, scientists say a warmer Earth has dangerous consequences – storms, droughts and rising sea levels. While they support cuts in greenhouse gases to reduce and even reverse the impact of global warming. But critics say that's foolish. Global warming – if it is happening – they say, is being exaggerated for political purposes. It's this sometimes bitter debate that awaits President Obama when he heads to Copenhagen for the U.N. Climate Summit on December 18th.

Well, the talks in Copenhagen open with a cloud of controversy hovering over the conference. It may be called "ClimateGate"– look for that term to be used a lot – a series of stolen e-mails that may cast some doubt on global warming research. Our Mary Snow has a report.

MARY SNOW: Two weeks after computers were hacked at the UK's University of East Anglia, and e-mails between climate scientists were posted on the Internet, the head of the U.N.'s climate science body told BBC Radio he wants an investigation.

AUDIO OF RAJENDRA PACHAURI, IPCC CHAIRMAN: We are certainly going to go into the whole lot, and then, as I said, we'll take a position on it. So we certainly don't want to brush anything under the carpet. We don't want to sweep it under the carpet. This is a serious issue, and we certainly will look into it in detail.

SNOW: This U.N. probe is in addition to an investigation under way at the University of East Anglia which says it's looking to see if there’s any evidence that scientific data was manipulated or suppressed. Phil Jones, the head of the university's climate research unit, has stepped down temporarily. Those who questioned the effects of human activity on climate change have seized on the e-mails, accusing scientists of conspiring to hide evidence and trying to destroy data. Among them, Republican Senator James Inhofe, who's called global warming a hoax. This week he called for hearings. No decisions yet. And the e-mails were raised at a House hearing this week.

REP. JOHN SHADEGG (R-AZ): Anyone who thinks that those e-mails are insignificant, that they don't damage the credibility of the entire movement, is naive.

SNOW: But at that hearing, a top government scientist said the e- mails do nothing to change the science.

JANE LUBCHENCO, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION: E-mails really do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus and the independent scientific analyses of thousands of scientists around the world that tell us that the earth is warming and that the warming is largely a result of human activity.

GAVIN SCHMIDT, NASA GODDARD INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES: These are the temperature records from the U.S.

SNOW: Gavin Schmidt is a leading climate scientist with NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. In the weeks since the e-mails were hacked and questions arose, he’s been putting large volumes of data links on the Web site RealClimate.org that demonstrates a consistent trajectory of a potentially dangerously warming climate.

SCHMIDT: So what we've done is we just said, you know, look, you're not aware of that data. But here is all the data that's already existing.

SNOW: His name appeared on those e-mails, and he says he has nothing to hide.

SCHMIDT: There’s nothing in these e-mails that's problematic, you know. Most of the stuff that has been talked about has been taken completely out of context, and there's a lot of nonsense that's being spoken.

SNOW: Debate over these e-mails comes as world leaders head to Copenhagen next week for the U.N. Climate Change Conference. As to what impact these might have? The UK's Energy and Climate Change Secretary is quoted by the BBC as saying the idea that they could derail the conference is in his words, nonsense. Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

LEMON: All right, Mary, so let's talk about all of this now with Howard Gould. He is the president of Equator Environmental, and he joins us from Stanford, Connecticut. Good to see you, Howard. So ClimateGate, ClimateGate, ClimateGate, what's the importance, if any, of these e-mails?

HOWARD GOULD, EQUATOR ENVIRONMENTAL: I mean, I don't see any importance. The fact is that there's going to be an investigation that's ongoing and going to looking to exactly what happens. I mean, I do think that a lot of this stuff was taken out of context. But I also think that let's just take all of it out of the picture, and you still look at all the other scientific institutions that are out there, and they all say the same thing. So it's, you know, I think people are making a big deal out of nothing. I think it's the climate debunkers that are out there, it's their last ray of hope, and they're trying to cling on to something. But it's really, you know, I think it's a bit of a joke.

LEMON: So you don't think it's suppression at all, as they claim, of any evidence about global warming?

GOULD: Oh, I mean, I'm not, I'm not saying that maybe certain scientists out there in their particular data sets might have done something at that university. I mean, that may well have occurred. I can't speak to that. But I, you know, my thought is that, okay, fine, let's just take all of that data that's come out of that university off the table, and look, I mean, you just heard yourself from the people over at NASA that look, look at the data. It's, you know, it says that climate change is occurring, and the globe is warming, and it is probably anthropogenic, or manmade.

#From the 7:00 p.m. hour of CNN NewsRoom, after Snow's report re-aired:

DON LEMON: And CNN has learned that officials at this week's climate conference in Copenhagen will not shy away from the controversy over the leaked e-mails. Let's go now to CNN's Phil Black who is in Copenhagen. Phil?

PHIL BLACK: Don, here in Copenhagen, just hours before the Climate Change Conference opens, United Nations officials admit that ClimateGate is already being discussed by delegates here. The U.N.'s climate change chief Yvo de Boer, says the issue of those e-mails from the University of East Anglia will be addressed directly in speeches during the opening ceremony. I asked Yvo de Boer what he makes of the allegations. And he said he believes there is a positive side to this scandal.

YVO DE BOER, UNFCCC EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: I actually think it's very good that what's, what has happened is being critically addressed in the media because this process has to be based on solid science. And if the quality and the integrity of the science is being called into question, then that needs to be examined.

BLACK: Don, many climate scientists believe those e-mails were deliberately hacked and leaked to try and destabilize the negotiations here. And they say those e-mails do nothing to discredit the work of thousands of climate scientists around the world, independent scientists whose work draws similar conclusions. Some climate change skeptics are also traveling to this city to try and make their case. But they shouldn't expect a friendly reception because this conference is based on the scientific theory accepted by a broad consensus that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal.

—Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.

Naples Video Production

Effective Marketing Videos
by: Naples Video Production

To sell something online takes work, ingenuity and perseverance. After all, if it was easy we’d all be doing it. Videos are the latest in a long line of innovations that have passed through the internet and out the other side. A few have remained, but only the really good ones.

Making a marketing video for online use is harder than it may seem. Besides the odd YouTube phenomenon that happens almost by accident, the simple talking head formula is the one to beat. In my opinion, it is the easiest to film, needs the least amount of post-production and anyone can do one. All you need is someone who is good in front of the camera and away you go.

The whole point of making a marketing video is to create a connection and trust between the subject and the viewer. A talking head style shoot is the most effective way of doing that, as the subject is talking directly to the viewer.

Like any production, the key to a good video is preparation. Have the subject rehearse what they are going to say, and have prompt cards beside the camera if necessary. Try to get them relaxed and in a good mood, as it will come across quite clearly on film if they aren’t at their best. Get them made up and ready, then have them run over the lines again.

Talk to them or have the director do it and talk them through the process, the shots, the language used and the different hand signals. Get them as comfortable as possible with the way the studio works so they are more relaxed.

Set the lighting, preferably a diffused light either side, or to one side if in profile. Set the overhead lights so they highlight the subject but doesn’t make the skin look shiny. Set up the microphone, preferably a wireless remote, but whatever you have and do your sound checks.

Once everything is prepared, I tend to start the cameras and ask the subject to do a dress rehearsal as if they were on camera. They don’t know it’s being filmed and are often much more relaxed in their demeanor. More often than not I take at least some footage from here and use it in the final cut.

Then do the piece to camera as many times as it takes to get it right. If they are using a script, there should be prescribed cut breaks to change shot or to re-take.

Then the real work begins. If the shoot was a good one, there will be very little post production to do. If there were a lot of cuts, then there might be some cutting to do.

It’s just my opinion that talking head style marketing videos are the most effective. They subscribe to the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid) and attempts to engage the audience directly. That is why they are by far the most used method of video production around at the moment.

Finding a good SEO in Naples

Sometimes it can be tricky trying to find a good SEO person or company. Usually the best way to go about finding a quality SEO is to just go but the search results. I mean think about it, if the SEO can't get themselves #1 for "naples seo" in Google, then what makes you think they will be able to rank your website for the terms you want?

Let's say you don't need local SEO done, you need national SEO done, meaning you want to rank nationally for a given search word or phrase. I would say to open up google and search for "SEO". The first couple results aren't going to be SEO companies but once you go down the list a few spots you should run into an SEO company or two. Now if that company is ranking for the term "SEO" then you can pretty much be assured they know what they're doing. You don't get on the first page of Google for SEO if you don't know what you're doing. Just be advised that getting ranked for a national search term like that is gonna cost big bucks.

Expand Your Horizons with a Sanibel Condominium

Sanibel Real Estate

Many people are faced with a dull and regimented life, spending their days following a routine that doesn’t really lead to anywhere or amount to anything. Prospects can change however, especially if those prospects involve a good Sanibel condominium.

What is your daily routine? Some people have a severely restricted routine that it’s almost laughable if not pitiable. For example, a student would have himself woken up in the morning by his alarm clock. He spends the next few minutes thinking about the comfort of bed and why he needs more sleep. Only to be bribed or cajoled out of bed by his mom and rushes to gulp down a coffee and breakfast in order to be in time for school. At school he listens to the teacher talk and talk. After school, he goes home where he eats his dinner and readies himself for the comfort of bed where he dreams of swimming freely in the oceans beyond the limitations of the neighborhood. This is a serious case of need for break from the numbing routine.

An employee could be experiencing the exact same thing except that he has his work in place of school. It’s a sad thing because most of these guys only have their weekends for fun and games and it’s never enough. There are inevitably additional projects or overtime that encroach on this precious free time. So they won’t have the spare time to travel to the beach and enjoy the sunset.

Living in a Sanibel condominium puts an end to all that drudgery and allows much more time for fun and games. Sanibel is best known for its beautiful beaches and sub-tropical climate. You can enjoy the feel of soft white sand beneath your feet as you play a swift game of volleyball with your buddies. Or you could spend your time relaxing and removing yourself from the stress of work by having a day building sand castles, shelling, or having a romantic stroll along the shore.

If you really want to have options, then you should know that most condos are situated within the center of the area, providing access to virtually every amenity. You could rent a bike and start riding all around town using the many trails available. You could play tennis in the nearby courts or enjoy a round of golf in one of the many courses around. There are more golf courses in Florida than in any other country so you’re spoilt for choice.

After a tiring work-out or an exhausting game, it’s time to refresh and recharge your batteries with a nice meal from any of the restaurants in the town. What you choose do to with your time is entirely up to you. There is something for every taste here, so there is no excuse not to visit.

You can’t possibly be chained to a dull routine when you live in a Sanibel condominium with all the choices spread around you. The main problem is going to be deciding what to do!

IRAN: Ahmadinejad’s Predicament and Iran’s Political Crisis

Analysis by Farideh Farhi*
Daniel Saltman

HONOLULU, Hawaii, Aug 10 (IPS) - With the confirmation of his re-election by Ayatollah Khamenei and his oath of office taken, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will begin his second term facing much steeper challenges than any of Iran’s previous second-term presidents.

In fact, despite the proclaimed support of 24 million Iranians, his government is by far the weakest post-revolutionary government. Ironically, it is this weakened position that tempts him to be a force of constant agitation and confrontation.

Challenges facing Ahmadinejad include open hostility from a large section of the Iranian elite which Ayatollah Khamenei characterised in Ahmadinejad’s confirmation speech as "angry and wounded"; highly charged criticisms of his appointments and policies from within the conservative ranks; continued civil disobedience; a public mood that has turned from mostly inattentive and apolitical to concerned and angry; general unhappiness among the clergy about the harsh crackdown; and a much more hostile international environment.

All this is on top of serious economic woes that he was unable to address during his first term - as he had promised to do in his 2005 campaign.

Prior to the June election, Ahmadinejad had indeed attempted to implement a value-added tax on the sale of goods and introduce legislation to overhaul Iran’s over-bloated subsidy system - replacing it with more targeted cash subsidies to the poorer strata of society. These measures plus gradual price increases in utilities and fuel prices were meant to lower the government’s fiscal burden.

But, merchants resisted the implementation of the value-added-tax. His so- called Economic Transformation Plan was also roundly rejected prior to the campaign season as the conservative-controlled Majles - worried about the legislation’s inflationary impact and its unreliable or exaggerated data - chose to delay the discussion till the post-election period.

The political crisis that has ensued has effectively pushed economic concerns to the side, and brought to the forefront once again a whole set of political civil rights issues emphasised during former President Mohammad Khatami’s reformist era.
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Ahmadinejad could pursue his economic agenda while at the same time attempting to reduce political tensions generated by the election and its aftermath. This would entail a coordinated effort with other centres of power - including the office of the Leader and the Judiciary - to address some of the serious breaches of citizens’ rights that have occurred, finding those responsible for them, and putting in place mechanisms that would ensure against their repetition.

But Ahmadinejad’s personality - and the paranoid outlook of the security- oriented circles that surround him - make it unlikely that he will choose that route for fear that any sign of weakness will only worsen his predicament. The decision to put on trial past officials en masse under conditions that lacked the slightest trappings of due process is already an indication against such a conciliatory approach.

In foreign policy, Ahmadinejad’s approach to Iran’s unprecedented turbulences is likely to deem the best defence a strong offense.

In reaction to his polarising approach, efforts to influence, control or dislodge him will come from all corners of Iran’s political spectrum - making his already erratic managerial style even more haphazard and shifting, adding to his difficult position.

Foremost among his woes is popular protest combined with unprecedented cracks at the top of Iran’s political apparatus that show no sign of subsiding. For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic, a president is faced with a combination of popular mobilisation and a squeeze from the top.

Squeeze at the top has always been a predicament of the office of Iran’s president, caught between non-elective institutions - robustly equipped with their own independent and often shadowy security and economic appendages - and a rancorous elected Parliament, whose only assertion of power in the Iranian political system can come in the form of confronting or harassing the president on domestic issues.

But the persistent social mobilisation from below is bound to make the squeeze at the top even more difficult to manage because of the intensity of pressures coming from challengers, critics, and even avid supporters.

Ahmadinejad’s supporters are already calling for more heads to roll over election events, demanding that some of the most celebrated figures of the Islamic Republic - including Mir Hossein Mussavi, and former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani - be put on trial for their collusion with external powers to stage a Velvet Revolution against the Islamic Republic.

Ahmadinejad’s challengers - riding on popular sentiments that have gone beyond indignation over election fraud and turned into an even more visceral outrage over the harsh crackdown in the streets, torture and deaths in prisons for which no one is willing to take responsibility - have already turned their movement into one pursuing an end to the arbitrary rule of Iran’s many shadowy instruments of repression.

The strategy of this Green Movement, according to Mussavi, will be inspired by a "slogan that in its expansiveness includes the largest number of Iranians both inside and outside of Iran." There is persistent emphasis on the political and civil guarantees in the Islamic Constitution that "have remained vanquished" and the insistence that those engaged in the crackdown "are the ones that are breaking the structure" of the Islamic Republic.

This constitutionalist approach is deemed the most effective in creating further cleavages between the government and its conservative critics.

Ahmadinejad has never been very popular even among conservatives, but recent events have created further worries among them about his ability to manage the tide of protests and letting them subside.

To be sure, similar worries exist regarding Ayatollah Khamenei - whose wholehearted support of Ahmadinejad has effectively transformed him, in the public mind, as the real source of the harsh crackdown. However, as the chief executive officer of the country, Ahmadinejad is the one who ultimately has to face the brunt of criticisms regarding the way popular protests are confronted, prisoners treated, and civil rights undermined.

In any case, he is a much easier target to attack without being accused of questioning the foundation of the Islamic Republic.

In trying to find a Modus Vivendi to placate popular anger against his presidency, Ahmadinejad’s first task will have to be the selection of a team that can reach an agreement about how to deal with the situation. And this may not be an easy task, as one of his weaknesses as a leader has always been his inability to work well with people outside of a very close circle of friends.

In his first term he had to spend almost nine months trying to get approval for key ministers in his cabinet. And by the end of his first term, close to half of his cabinet had been either sacked or had chosen to resign. He also changed the heads of key institutions such as the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) several times, and at the end managed even to antagonise the most hard-line of his ministers at the Intelligence and Culture and Islamic Guidance ministries.

This is why two major conservative organisations - Followers of Imam and Leadership Line and Society of Islamic Engineers - have already issued unprecedentedly harsh letters warning Ahmadinejad against obstinacy, not listening to anyone, and having delusions about the extent and depth of the support he has been given. Instead they called upon him to avoid "confronting the clergy," and to rely on the views of "Majles and Leadership" in choosing his cabinet.

Ahmadinejad’s options are limited. He can acknowledge his weakened presidency, over-see a cabinet whose individual members will contest his policies, and head an administration that is conflicted from within. Or he can try to try to act resolutely by picking fights with almost every political force in the country - in which case his behaviour will be the source of heartache for everyone who for ideological reasons or for fear of reformist resurgence ended up supporting him in the election.

*Farideh Farhi is an Independent Scholar and Affiliate of the Graduate Faculty of Political Science at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

(END/2009)