Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Jim Hitt, CEO of American IRA-A National Self-Directed IRA Provider ...

Jim Hitt, CEO of American IRA-a national self-directed IRA provider, speaks about the historically low savings account interest rates and offers expert opinion! CNN Money reports ?Higher yields on savings? It will be awhile? Jim Hitt shares some little-known solutions available to everyone with a retirement account.

This report from CNN is one of many recent reports which clearly point to the fact that people need to ?take action? in order to build savings for their retirement years. In fact, CBS Philly reports that a recent survey shows 40 Percent of Americans have $500 or less in savings. Jim Hitt interjects, ?I speak to many folks who are scared about not having enough to survive on during their retirement years. I tell them all that having a good plan and being prepared is the key to eliminating that fear. I firmly believe that self-directed IRAs and self-directed 401(k)s are the solution. People have got to take control! Sitting on those savings accounts and hoping they grow is like incubating an alligator egg and hoping a chicken hatches.?

Here?s what people need to know?self-directed IRAs and self-directed 401(k)s allow people to take control of what their IRA and 401(k) invest in. The options are wide open. People can invest in Real Estate, Private Lending, Precious Metals, Limited Liability Companies, Self Storage Units, and much more.

A great example is a client who loaned $300,000 from their Real Estate IRA to an individual who needed funds to purchase a large self storage facility valued at $400,000. They agreed on a 6% interest only loan with a balloon payment due in 5 years. After 5 years, the client had collected $90,000 in interest and the investor paid back the principal amount of $300,000.

A $90,000 profit in 5 years is a great return for the client and the investor was able to purchase a self storage facility that they otherwise would not have had the funds to purchase. This is just one example of how individuals can make those retirement accounts grow.

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Source: http://www.americanira.com/2012/resources/jim-hitt-ceo-american-ira-a-national-self-directed-ira-provider-speaks-historically-savings-account-interest-rates-offers-expert-opinion/

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

We'll Buy Anything From Drunk Jeff Goldblum

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

'Paranormal Activity 4' earns $29M at box office

The latest chapter in the "Paranormal Activity" saga didn't capture as much attention at the box office as previous films.

Paramount's "Paranormal Activity 4" debuted at No. 1 with $29 million, a big drop from the $40 million and $50 million opening weekends of the past two installments.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Paranormal Activity 4," Paramount, $29,003,866, 3,412 locations, $8,501 average, $29,003,866, one week.

2. "Argo," Warner Bros., $16,445,475, 3,247 locations, $5,065 average, $43,011,964, two weeks.

3. "Taken 2," Fox, $13,260,870, 3,489 locations, $3,801 average, $105,832,339, three weeks.

4. "Hotel Transylvania," Sony, $13,001,434, 3,384 locations, $3,842 average, $118,522,389, four weeks.

5. "Alex Cross," Summit, $11,396,768, 2,539 locations, $4,489 average, $11,396,768, one week.

6. "Sinister," Summit, $8,815,475, 2,542 locations, $3,468 average, $31,735,643, two weeks.

7. "Here Comes the Boom," Sony, $8,407,201, 3,014 locations, $2,789 average, $23,131,529, two weeks.

8. "Pitch Perfect," Universal, $6,756,430, 2,660 locations, $2,540 average, $45,516,778, four weeks.

9. "Frankenweenie," Disney, $4,329,358, 2,362 locations, $1,833 average, $28,238,779, three weeks.

10. "Looper," Sony, $4,202,687, 2,223 locations, $1,891 average, $57,842,819, four weeks.

11. "Seven Psychopaths," CBS Films, $3,273,480, 1,480 locations, $2,212 average, $9,161,472, two weeks.

12. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," Summit, $2,153,247, 745 locations, $2,890 average, $9,123,872, five weeks.

13. "End of Watch," Open Road Films, $826,809, 751 locations, $1,101 average, $37,895,571, five weeks.

14. "Trouble With the Curve," Warner Bros., $729,354, 925 locations, $788 average, $34,084,572, five weeks.

15. "Atlas Shrugged: Part II," Atlas Distribution, $613,889, 945 locations, $650 average, $2,859,980, two weeks.

16. "The Master," Weinstein Co., $520,677, 412 locations, $1,264 average, $14,738,213, six weeks.

17. "House at the End of the Street," Relativity, $468,298, 746 locations, $628 average, $30,782,862, five weeks.

18. "Brave," Disney, $421,577, 277 locations, $1,522 average, $235,044,709, 18 weeks.

19. "The Dark Knight Rises," Warner Bros., $359,509, 345 locations, $1,042 average, $446,764,067, 14 weeks.

20. "Student of the Year," Eros International, $326,508, 106 locations, $3,080 average, $326,508, one week.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/paranormal-activity-4-earns-29m-box-office-221142185.html

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Jennifer Esposito Slams Producers Of ?Blue Bloods?

Jennifer Esposito Slams Producers Of “Blue Bloods”

Actress Jennifer Esposito has blasted producers of her hit show “Blue Bloods” after she was put on leave of absence due to her medical problems. [...]

Jennifer Esposito Slams Producers Of “Blue Bloods” Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/10/jennifer-esposito-slams-producers-of-blue-bloods/

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Will Teacup Cats Become a Disastrous Celebrity-Spawned Pet Trend?

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Exec says he never heard man was Spears' manager

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2012 file photo, singer Britney Spears arrives at the Pre-GRAMMY Gala & Salute to Industry Icons with Clive Davis honoring Richard Branson in Beverly Hills, Calif. Testimony has opened in a defamation lawsuit against Britney Spears' parents, with a top record executive, Barry Weiss, saying on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, he was never told that plaintiff Sam Lutfi was her manager. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci, file)

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2012 file photo, singer Britney Spears arrives at the Pre-GRAMMY Gala & Salute to Industry Icons with Clive Davis honoring Richard Branson in Beverly Hills, Calif. Testimony has opened in a defamation lawsuit against Britney Spears' parents, with a top record executive, Barry Weiss, saying on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, he was never told that plaintiff Sam Lutfi was her manager. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci, file)

FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 file photo, Britney Spears' parents, Lynne Spears, left, and Jamie Spears arrive at court in Los Angeles. Testimony has opened in a defamation lawsuit against Britney Spears' parents, with a top record executive, Barry Weiss, saying on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, he was never told that plaintiff Sam Lutfi was her manager. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

(AP) ? A top recording executive testified Monday that he was Britney Spears' "lifeline" during the darkest days of her well-documented meltdown and never heard that she had a new manager named Sam Lutfi.

Barry Weiss, who headed Jive Records, the label on which Spears recorded, said his only contact from Lutfi in 2007-08 was when Weiss asked him for assurance that Spears would be on set to record a music video for her "Blackout" album.

"Britney was pretty erratic at the time," Weiss testified during trial in a defamation lawsuit brought by Lutfi against Spears' parents.

Lutfi claims he was Spears' personal manager and deserves millions as his share of her income during that period.

The defamation suit stems from the way Lutfi is depicted in a book written by Spears' mother that detailed the star's meltdown.

The trial took an early recess Monday and will resume Tuesday.

Conservators of Spears' estate, including her father, Jamie, who was in court, contend that Lutfi was never her manager but was simply a user who inserted himself into Spears' life and preyed on her vulnerabilities.

Weiss told of working closely with her former personal manager, Larry Rudolph, but said he was never told Lutfi had assumed the role.

"Sam Lutfi never introduced himself or came in for a meeting. He never discussed records or a record contract," Weiss said.

"He helped us get a video made," Weiss acknowledged. "He was trying to keep Britney on the set."

But in the end, Weiss said he saw Lutfi's role as a "gofer ... like a personal assistant."

Weiss said the singer would discuss with him the album's packaging, choice of a single record and creative matters normally discussed with a manager.

"There was no manager involved," Weiss said. "She was estranged from her family. I felt I was a lifeline for her. She was texting me constantly from her cellphone."

Weiss said that he had known Spears since she was 16 when he signed her for a contract with Jive Records.

"She's a superstar, a household name in every country in the world," Weiss said.

On cross-examination by Lutfi's attorney, Weiss said Spears' current contract requires one more album. Weiss said he has been in talks to persuade Spears to join him at his new label.

"It would be nice to be back together, if that happened," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-22-Britney%20Spears%20Trial/id-5a363d8051df4e3fbed306a13dc1dbba

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South Korean activists float leaflets into NKorea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? South Korean activists floated balloons carrying tens of thousands of anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea, eluding police who had disrupted an earlier launch attempt due to threats from North Korea.

North Korea's military warned last week that it would strike if the South Korean activists carried through with their plan, and South Korea pledged to retaliate if it was attacked.

South Korean police, citing security concerns, had sent hundreds of officers Monday to seal off roads and prevent the activists and other people from gathering at an announced launch site near the border. Residents in the area were also asked to evacuate to underground facilities, according to local official Kim Jin-a.

Later in the day, some of the activists, mostly North Korean defectors, moved to another site near the border that was not guarded by police and launched the balloons. They had described the police response as a surrender.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said there were no suspicious activities from North Korea's military.

Before acting Monday, the South Korean government had implored activists to stop their campaign but had cited freedom of speech in not making further attempts to intervene. South Korean activists have sent leaflets across the border in the past, and North Korea has issued similar threats to attack without following through.

Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported Monday that the ban on entering the border area was imposed as South Korea detected that North Korea had uncovered artillery muzzle covers and deployed troops to artillery positions in possible preparation for an attack. Yonhap cited no source for the information.

Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters North Korea was believed to have acted in line with carrying out its threat. He declined to elaborate on the North's army movement as that was confidential military information.

He said South Korea had bolstered its military readiness following the North's threat and would "strongly" retaliate if attacked.

The activists said they floated balloons carrying about 120,000 leaflets critical of North Korea's young leader Kim Jong Un and his country's alleged human rights abuses. They said they wanted to let North Korean people know the true nature of their country.

"We could not delay our plans to send anti-North Korea leaflets because it is our love toward our northern brothers," the activists wrote in a statement posted on the website of Seoul-based Free North Korea Radio, one of civic organizations involved in the leafleting.

Lead activist Park Sang-hak had said the ban on entering the border area was tantamount to yielding to Pyongyang's threat.

"It's surrender. It's clearly surrender," he said.

The top U.S. envoy on North Korea urged Pyongyang to stop issuing destabilizing threats.

"It is grossly disproportionate to have threatened to respond to balloons with bombs," Glyn Davies told reporters in Beijing after meeting with Chinese officials.

China, the North's main ally and biggest aid source, welcomed South Korean efforts to quash the balloon-flying and urged all parties to exercise restraint.

"As a close neighbor to the peninsula, China supports dialogue and discussions between North Korea and South Korea in resolving relevant issues, opposes any action which may heighten tension, and firmly opposes military conflicts on the peninsula," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily media briefing. "We hope the parties involved will stay calm and restrained."

Ties between the rival Koreas were badly strained after two deadly attacks blamed on North Korea killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.

The Korean Peninsula officially remains at war because an armed conflict in the 1950s ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The latest flare-up in tensions comes as almost all the regional players are consumed with domestic politics. Elections are being held or are expected soon in South Korea, the United States and Japan, while China's Communist Party is in the midst of transferring power to a younger generation of leaders.

__

Associated Press researcher Zhao Liang contributed to this report from Beijing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-korean-activists-float-leaflets-nkorea-003326201.html

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Poll Questions? (talking-points-memo)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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NBC/WSJ Poll: Views Improving For Romney, Economy

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Fighting flares for 5th day in Libyan town

WADI DINAR, Libya (AP) ? Pro-government militias battled fighters in a former stronghold of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi on Sunday, the fifth straight day of clashes that have killed at least 30 people.

The fighting in Bani Walid, some 140 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Tripoli, has overlapped with the anniversary of Gadhafi's capture and killing on Oct. 20, 2011. A year since his death brought an end to Libya's civil war, Bani Walid is the most significant city in the country to still resist the nation's new authorities.

A resident said Sunday by telephone that pro-government militias and fighters in the city were clashing on its outskirts. The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said there were reports of new casualties, but that the fighting was less intense than a day earlier.

In Tripoli, some two hundred protesters demonstrated in front of the parliament building to urge the end of the fighting, which they say is harming only civilians. The demonstration was dispersed by a massive show of force when army units pulled up and opened fire above the heads of the crowd with heavy weaponry.

Government forces near Bani Walid said there were no civilians in the conflict area, and they had helped evacuate hundreds of residents a day earlier.

The official LANA news agency said at least 22 pro-government militiamen were killed during clashes Saturday. Pro-government militiamen said most of the casualties came during an ambush by fighters in the besieged city.

A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement on Sunday that Ban was alarmed by the growing number of civilian casualties and calling on Libyan authorities and those in Bani Walid to begin resolving the stand-off peacefully.

"In their historic July elections, the Libyan people put their trust in the Libyan state, and the Secretary-General urges all Libyans to work together to strengthen the legitimacy and effectiveness of state institutions across the country," the statement said.

The violence Saturday coincided with conflicting reports about whether security forces had arrested Gadhafi's former spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, in Bani Walid.

The government said its forces had apprehended Ibrahim, but never produced evidence to support its statement. Then an audio recording purportedly by Ibrahim surfaced on the Internet denying that he had been arrested or that he was even in Libya.

The reports of Ibrahim's alleged arrest sparked brief celebrations in the Libyan capital. But in a reflection of the persistent lack of confidence in the new authorities, Libyans quickly began to demand that the government produce evidence ? photographs or video ? to back up their claims.

Government spokesmen could not be reached for further comment about Ibrahim.

Violence has flared periodically over the last year in Bani Walid. This round of fighting began when the pro-government Libya Shield militia besieged the town, blaming residents for the death of a well-known anti-Gadhafi rebel. Negotiations to hand over the suspects in the killing had failed.

Pro-government fighters on the road outside of Bani Walid were transporting fleeing civilians and foreign workers from the fighting. Some of the fleeing workers said others were locked up in the city because of the heavy shelling.

In the Wadi Dinar area, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) outside of Bani Walid, one pro-government fighter said civilians in the city are making it harder for his troops to go after fighters loyal to Gadhafi.

"We are doing two jobs. We are rescuing foreign workers, Egyptians and Africans, and putting them on vehicles out of the fighting area, and we are combing the area for armed gunmen," he said speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Another fighter, Nidal, from Libya Shield, said the fighting over Bani Walid was focused on two fronts but that his opponents are well armed. He was speaking as clashes continued at the Wadi Dinar gate into the city, saying his force and the Bani Walid fighters were exchanging fire from two hilltops.

"This is going to take more than one day. There is a distance between us," he said.

In Tripoli, the situation in the late afternoon was tense around the parliament with dozens of protesters at the doors of the building itself while outside a few hundred more called for the end to the siege.

Militiamen acting as police arrived to contain the crowd but many were from the Souq al-Jumaa neighborhood, which earlier in the year lost several fighters in Bani Walid. The confrontation resulted in angry exchanges.

The men fired in the air several times to disperse the crowd, who responded with defiance, waving Libyan revolutionary flags and bearing their chests in front of the militiamen. Women made up around half of the crowd.

"In Bani Walid no one supports Gadhafi," said a veiled woman who identified herself only as Um Mohammed, or mother of Mohammed. "We support this government."

Um Mohammed said her children and husband were in Bani Walid.

"We need protection," she said, expressing her fears that the pro-government militias would take their revenge on the city and destroy it like they have others.

The militiamen were unsympathetic and at times prevented the protesters from talking to journalists and started hauling people out of the crowd, detaining them and beating them near their trucks.

"These people here say they want their freedom, but we gave them a lot of chances to change their mind," said one militiaman. "A lot of Gadhafi people are hiding there and people from Bani Walid have killed a lot of people form Souq al-Jumaa."

The standoff ended when 12 army trucks pulled up filled with men wearing new camouflage uniforms who fired into the air with anti-aircraft guns, sending everyone to the ground.

The trucks then drove into the parliament compound and used similar methods to disperse the people inside. Journalists were also stopped from photographing.

___

Schemm reported from Tripoli, Libya.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fighting-flares-5th-day-libyan-town-153234447.html

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No-Fail Slow Cooker Pot Roast - Tolland, CT Patch

Crockpots or slow-cookers are great to use for many dishes, however, some such as meat dishes need a little extra prep work to get it right.

I have made this pot roast recipe many times and have tried to perfect it so the meat as well as the veggies come out tender all at the same time. Six hours on "high" for my crockpot seems to do the trick.

This recipe takes a little advance work and always makes a mess of my cook-top, but the end result of tasty, tender pot roast the whole family will enjoy is worth the clean up.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Depending upon size of roast, serves 5-8

2-3 cups baby carrots (not sliced)

3-4 ribs of celery, cut into 1 inch pieces

One 3 to 5 pound pot roast (I used a 3 lb. boneless chuck roast)

salt and pepper

flour for dusting

1 T of vegetable oil

1 T butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 oz. package fresh mushrooms, sliced thick

1 T flour

1 T tomato paste or ketchup

2 1/2 cups chicken, beef or vegetable broth

Directions:

Place baby carrots and celery slices in the slow cooker.

Season roast with salt and pepper and lightly coat with flour. In a large stainless steel frying pan, heat vegetable oil until hot. (Try not to use a non-stick pan as you want a good browning on the roast).?

Brown the roast on all sides until evenly browned. Place browned roast on top of carrots and celery in slow cooker.

In same frying pan, melt the butter and add the onions, sauteing for several minutes. Add the garlic and cook briefly, but don't let it brown. Add mushrooms, flour, tomato paste or ketchup, and broth and cook, stirring up any browned bits left from the roast. Stir well for a few minutes then carefully pour this mixture on top of the roast in the slow cooker.

Cover, and cook on high for 6 hours. After about 3 hours, you can turn the roast over if you desire (and are at home to do so) but it's not necessary.

When 6 hours is over, remove the roast and place on a rimmed cutting board. With the cover off the slow cooker, keep the temperature on high and stir the sauce, letting it thicken slightly. If desired, stir together one teaspoon each of butter and flour and add to sauce if it needs thickening.

To serve, slice pot roast into chucks and place on top of mashed potatoes or cooked egg noodles with the vegetables and gravy.

Source: http://tolland.patch.com/articles/no-fail-slow-cooker-pot-roast-0e989c04

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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Team Building & Development? But Not As You Know It

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Getting the most from a trained business team has always been the objective of the company team leader, company executive or even the company owner. In many cases team leaders will look to fun day team events in the expectation their team will form a closer bond through their exhilarating shared experience. However the end results are usually disappointing and at best mediocre and almost always short-lived.

There are many companies whose teams are actually performing very well, some at maximum capacity and some might even be described as ?high octane performance?. At the opposite end of the spectrum there are teams who are failing miserably and there are those who are just falling short of the target.

In general though, many companies report their teams are performing okay, but could perhaps do a little better. And it?s from this starting point that a new type of team building programme has been developed. Enterprise LEADER is based on a new concept in team development, which encompasses all that is already known about successful team development, combined with some lesser known but essential elements.

Developed Specifically For Highly Motivated Professionals

The programme is the brainchild of successful entrepreneur Richrd Parkes Cordock, acclaimed business author and the creator of the best-selling ?Millionaire MBA? programme. Enterprise LEADER has been more than 5 years in the making and is specifically aimed at companies who want to develop highly focused and highly motivated teams of professionals, without having to send them on very expensive and quite often very distracting external courses.

In a recent interview, Richards Parkes Cordock explained, ?Many companies have under-performing teams, which consist of highly intelligent and very ambitious individuals, who also aspire to be much better achievers. The problem is they don?t know how to get to the next level. Enterprise LEADER shows them how.?

He added, ?Team leaders, executives and business owners will find that Enterprise LEADER is a unique programme designed to maximise team efforts, and ultimately team results, within a very short but also a much focused time frame. The whole programme is based on just 20 hours of highly concentrated in-house development, and a fully synchronised team building formula.?

During its initial ?beta testing? trial period, the programme was very well received and has already helped bring about significant changes and benefits to the companies who have implemented the recommendations and training.

Further information about the innovative Enterprise LEADER team development programme is now available directly from the company?s dedicated website at: www.teambuildingforbusiness.com

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Source: http://www.freepressreleases.com/team-building-development/266291

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New Product! Fish Habitat - Eagle Hardware Farm & Ranch

New Product! Fish Habitat

fish habitat 225x300 New Product!  Fish HabitatWe have a new product at Eagle Hardware -? fish habitat structures!?? They can be sunk in your favorite fishing spot or mounted under a pier.? This easy to assemble, long-lasting structure is 5? x 5? and resembles the look and feel of natural cover while providing great habitat for bait fish and all types of game fish.? Algae growth occurs quickly due to the realistic bark like texture of the Fish Rack.? Stop by and see our display in the store!

Source: http://www.eaglehardwarefarmandranch.com/news-updates/new-product-fish-habitat-2012-10-2688

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Make The Right Choices About Commercial Real Estate: Tips And ...

Getting going initially in commercial real estate is actually a far simpler task than you might currently think. There are, however, a few things you need to know about a property before making any transaction. Read on to learn how to best approach the commercial real estate market so that you can experience success.

Learn to recognize good deals. Real estate professionals have an easier time finding deals. They always have an exit plan, and they are aware of when it is a good time to turn down a deal. They can also quickly spot damages needing repair, have the ability to calculate risk and can do the calculations that let them know for sure that their monetary objectives will be fulfilled by the property in question.

Interest rates that change constantly can be the single biggest problem facing investors in commercial real estate. A bad economy can cause rates to rise and fall quickly, and investors find themselves unable to predict these tendencies. Interest rate fluctuations should be taken into account when evaluating your long-term goals and profits.

TIP! Put a high priority on emergency maintenance needs. Talk to the landlord about who does emergency repairs for your building or office.

Always stay on the lookout for sellers who are motivated to sell. It?s up to you to seek them out, particularly those who are willing to let the property go for less than its market value. You want to find someone who is motivated as this is the only way you can find some deals.

Be mindful of the environment that your possible property is situated in. You are ultimately responsible for disposing of environmental waste from your building. Is the property you?re considering purchasing located in a flood zone? You may want to reconsider your choice. It?s possible to get information specific to the locale you?re considering by contacting environmental assessment agencies in that area.

Real Estate

TIP! Figure pest control into your rented or leased commercial real estate property costs. If you are renting in an area that is known to have a lot of rodents, pests, or bugs, then ask your agent what the policies on pest control are.

If you want to make sure that your real estate broker is right for you, inquire as to what they think is a success or failure. Find out what criteria they use to determine their results. Be sure that you understand his techniques and approach. Don?t use a broker who has wildly different values than you. You should feel comfortable with their strategies, and with any beliefs they have regarding real estate, especially their beliefs about what will promote success.

Your investment might prove to be time-consuming in the beginning. It can take a little time to find a property worth purchasing, and you also may have to make necessary repairs. You should never give up because it is time consuming. The rewards will show themselves later.

If your property deal requires inspections (as it should), look at the inspector?s credentials. This is even more important for those who deal in pest removal, as many of them work without accreditation. This can help you avoid headaches after the sale.

TIP! It?s likely that the property you buy will need some repairs and work before you move in. The changes could be rather cosmetic.

When you are looking for a building for your business, size is very important. Invest in property which allows your business to grow as necessary so you can avoid having to buy another property down the road.

When making decisions between one commercial property and another, think big. Finding adequate financing on a piece of property takes time and patience. Just think about it as the more you buy the lower you are paying per unit, so you save more in the end.

Be aware that there could be drastic inflation in the time after you invest in commercial real estate. One thing past leases had were clauses in them which based on Consumer Price Index protected the signers from inflation because there were adjustments in them. Unfortunately, this practice has become vanishingly rare, which makes you at higher risk to suffer losses due to inflation.

TIP! If you are ready to sign a lease for your commercial property, be very cautious if the lease is only a standard form. Large real estate companies often slip in additional requirements or covenants into lease documents, which could be very long at times.

Check a commercial property for access to electricity and other utilities; make sure there is good access. Your business has utility needs of its own, but you will also need water, electric, sewer and maybe even gas.

Commercial real estate agents come in different types. You have a full service broker who works on behalf of both the tenant and landlord, then you have brokers who only work with tenants. A broker who works only with tenants should have more experience and should represent a better choice for you.

Commercial Real

TIP! Assess what you need before you look for commercial properties. Features like square footage or restrooms should be predetermined to make the process easier.

As you have seen, it is important to do your research before jumping into investing in commercial real estate. The advice you have learned in this article will help you succeed in commercial real

Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/make-the-right-choices-about-commercial-real-estate-tips-and-advice-2

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Sandra Bullock: Nude, Bullying Chelsea Handler in the Shower

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/10/sandra-bullock-nude-bullying-chelsea-handler-in-the-shower/

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Looper: Movie Review | thefreegeorge.com

Looper: Movie Review

Joseph Gordon Levitt in Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)In the past few years cinema has taken a turn into surrealism by fusing science fiction movies with action movies. The result has been an indulgence in mind games that leave the audience begging for a clear answer and/or simply frustrated with the director?s creative liberties. There was Inception, which relied on facets of the subconscious in order to illustrate a harrowing reality in which anything was possible, leading more into fantasy than intelligent or believable plot lines. Movies like this break down the fourth wall, attempting to shatter our preconceived notions of reality, leaving them at risk for being pretentious. But Looper travelled into the realm of futuristic technology with a little bit more caution, and thus created an artful portrayal of time travel, which was as credible as a science fiction movie can be.

Looper in an interesting symbiosis of gritty realism and nightmarish fatalism. Directed and written by Rian Johnson, the tale involves a character named Joe who is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a looper. Thirty years from when the movie takes place, time travel has been invented, leading to the mob?s use of it to send people it wants gone back into the past to be assassinated. Unable to do it in the future due to the law?s precociousness in tracking down crime, it is the job of Loopers to kill them and hide their bodies. The only thing is that Loopers are required to agree to their own death after thirty years of service because by then their service will be obsolete.

The movie does little to glorify the mob of which Joe is a part of. They are equipped with guns that make it impossible to miss from close range, but very difficult to hit from farther than fifteen feet out. The guns are big and dumb looking, not slick, and the job of the Loopers is not very glorious either. They simply wait in a spot for the target to be sent back through time at a specific time. Joe?s designated spot is in a cornfield where there is a tarp set up in front of which Joe stands with his gun, looking bored in anticipation for the target to appear for assassination. The tarp shakes in the wind, creating the only noise in the shot, creating an empty space in which something terrible is about to happen. The effect is spooky for us and becomes spooky for Joe when his older self shows up, unmasked and looking Joe in the face, played by Bruce Willis. This is when things get interesting as the time travel complex begins to have problems. Bruce Willis has returned to the past to kill a child who will become the ?Rain Man?, head mob boss of the future who will kill Joe?s wife. But younger Joe does not care, wants to kill his older self, and have a chance to create his own future.

When Joe?s older self escapes, he watches over all of the younger Joe?s moves and has a cynical eye over his actions. The woman who will take him in is one who saves him, but Joe does not want to be saved, is perfectly fine with himself as he is, as would make sense. We get to see fate and free will fight each other face to face, and watch as young Joe attempts to protect his own future by eliminating the ironically based threat to it: his better self.

The soundtrack for the movie has an interesting story in itself. Instead of relying on traditional epic theme songs such as are used in Star Wars or other popular cultish science fiction movies, the kind that are grandiose and overwhelmingly orchestral, Nathan Johnson decided to concoct a natural blend of noises for the movie?s score. He did so by walking around New Orleans for a month, and tuning his ears into the noises that the city made, and figuring out how they could be recorded and used as instruments. This gives the soundtrack to the movie a very unique sound, one that is composed of imperfect noise, providing the film with a realistic and rugged edge.

The most intriguing part of this movie is the moral dilemma that it presents. Lives are at stake in the battle for creating a better future, a child must be killed in order to prevent him from becoming a mob boss, challenging our notions of what is ethical and unethical murder. The ending makes the whole picture worth watching, and the dynamics between a present and future self create a vivid picture of how one can change over time, and can?t be forced into that change instantly, or else also alter that future person as a result, making the system imperfect and mind boggling.

?Ezra Prior is a Contributor to The Free George.

The Free George is the online magazine and visitors? guide of Upstate NY, covering things from Albany to Lake Placid, including Saratoga, the Lake George region and the Adirondacks. Check out our City Blogs section for our extended coverage areas as well.

Short URL: http://thefreegeorge.com/thefreegeorge/?p=17847

Source: http://thefreegeorge.com/thefreegeorge/looper-movie-review/

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Genetic protection against arsenic

ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2012) ? Evolution has not only controlled human development over millions of years, it also has an impact on modern humans. This is one of the conclusions of a study of Argentinian villagers in the Andes, where the water contains high levels of arsenic. A gene variant that produces efficient and less toxic metabolism of arsenic in the body was much more common among the villagers than among other indigenous groups in South or Central America.

The study was a collaborative effort by Karin Broberg from Lund University and Carina Schlebusch and Mattias Jakobsson from Uppsala University in Sweden.

"We know that many bacteria and plants have genes that increase resistance to arsenic, a highly toxic substance that is found in soil and water in many parts of the world. There has been no previous research on whether the people in these regions also have protective genes against arsenic," says Karin Broberg.

High levels of arsenic in drinking water are linked to a range of health problems. Increased child morbidity and an increased risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes are some examples.

In many places this is a relatively new problem, for example in Bangladesh, where it arose in connection with new drilled wells. In the Andes, however, people have lived with drinking water containing arsenic for thousands of years, owing partly to high levels of the toxic substance in the bedrock and partly to consequences of mining since the pre-colonial era. Even 7 000-year-old mummies from northern Chile have been found to have high levels of arsenic in their hair and internal organs.

Occupational and environmental medicine researcher Karin Broberg has been studying the health impact of metals in the Andes for a long time.

"We found that the people up in the mountains in Argentina had unusually efficient metabolism of arsenic. This meant that the toxin left the body rapidly and less toxically instead of accumulating in tissue," she explains.

In the newly published study, the researchers have studied the genes of Atacame?o Indian villagers in San Antonio de los Cobres in Argentina, who have lived in the area for multiple generations. Their genes were compared with those of various indigenous and Mestizo groups from Peru and indigenous groups from Colombia and Mexico. Over two thirds of the Argentinian villagers were found to carry a gene variant that accelerates the metabolism of arsenic, compared with half of the Peruvian villagers and only 14 per cent of the other indigenous groups.

There has been very little previous research on human evolutionary adaptation to environmental toxins. However, it is known that many of the genes that control the metabolism of poisons in the body have a large number of variants that occur with varying prevalence around the world. There may therefore be different adaptations among different populations, depending on what toxins they are exposed to in the local environment, according to Karin Broberg.

The study is a collaboration between researchers in Sweden, the US and Peru. They now hope to continue mapping genes that increase human tolerance of toxic substances.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Lund University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Schlebusch CM, Lewis Jr. CM, Vahter M, Engstr?m K, Tito RY, Obreg?n-Tito AJ, Huerta D, Polo SI, Medina ?C, Brutsaert TD, Concha G, Jakobsson M, Broberg K. Possible Positive Selection for an Arsenic-Protective Haplotype in Humans. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2012; DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1205504

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/VuKIBnHiOpw/121016085027.htm

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The 10 Best Colleges For Your Bank Account

Millennials came of age during a volatile time of market booms and busts, skyrocketing tuition costs and an increasingly competitive job market. Now, when it comes to selecting a college, they are focused on value: finding programs that will pay off and prepare them for the working world. According to a new survey of nearly 6,000 high school and college students, conducted by market research firm TRU, 88% of college-bound teenagers place career preparation and future success over more nebulous goals like personal growth or pursuing their passions.

My previous research has shown that not all degrees are created equal. Health care, business and the STEM majors (science, technology, engineering and math) are more stable and higher paying for recent college graduates, whereas graduates of the arts, humanities and social sciences face higher unemployment rates and earn lower salaries.

More On Forbes: The 10 Worst College Majors

By the same logic, not all degree programs are created equal. Financial literacy website NerdWallet analyzed the senior exit surveys and post-graduation reports of 300,000 graduating students or recent graduates to discover which colleges offer the best financial prospects for their students. In total, the site?s researchers reviewed 240 top-rated undergraduate programs in 100 colleges for the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. They discovered that when it comes to salary, it pays to attend a name-brand school.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Amateur Team Finds 'Tatooine' Planet with 2 Suns in 4-Star System

Amateur astronomers have helped discover an alien planet with two suns and a twinkling twist: The entire twin-sun setup, a real-life version of Tatooine from "Star Wars," is orbited by two more stars ??a solar system that is the first of its kind known.

The alien planet, called PH1, is a gas giant planet slightly bigger than Neptune. Its discovery in the midst of a strange, four-star planetary system is the first confirmed world discovered as part of the Yale University-led Planet Hunters project, in which armchair astronomers work with professional scientists to find evidence of new worlds in the bountiful data collected by NASA's Kepler space telescope.

"Planet Hunters is a symbiotic project, pairing the discovery power of the people with follow-up by a team of astronomers," said Debra Fischer, a professor of astronomy at Yale and planet expert who helped launch Planet Hunters in 2010, in a statement. "This unique system might have been entirely missed if not for the sharp eyes of the public."

Since its March 2009 launch, Kepler has found evidence of more than 2,300 candidate alien worlds. [Gallery: More Alien Planets with Twin Suns]

Finding a strange, new world

Since its initial discovery via Planet Hunters, the existence of PH1 has been confirmed by a team of professional astronomers, who will present their work today (Oct. 15) at the annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in Reno, Nev.

With a radius about 6.2 times that of Earth's, PH1 is a smidge bigger than Neptune. The gassy planet spends 138 days completing a single orbit around its two parent stars, which have masses about 1.5 and 0.41 times that of the sun. The stars circle each other once every 20 days.

The two other stars orbiting the PH1's twin suns are about 1,000 astronomical units (AU) from the parent stars. (One AU is about the distance between the Earth and sun, about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers.)

If you're hoping to catch the quadruple sunset, this may not be your best bet. The researchers estimate PH1's temperature would range from a minimum of about 484 degrees Fahrenheit (524 Kelvin, or 251 degrees Celsius) and a maximum of 644 degrees F (613 Kelvin, or 340 degrees C), too hot to be in the habitable zone.

"Although PH1 is a gas giant planet, even if there is a possibility of rocky moons orbiting the body, their surfaces would be too hot for liquid water to exist," researcher Meg Schwamb of Yale University and colleagues write in a draft of their research article.

A planet with two suns

Until now, scientists had identified just six planets orbiting two parent stars, called circumbinary planets, and none of these have stellar companions orbiting them. Until their discovery, circumbinary planets were once the realm of science fiction with Tatooine, the fictional homeworld of Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars," among the most famous.

"Circumbinary planets are the extremes of planet formation," Schwamb said in a statement. "The discovery of these systems is forcing us to go back to the drawing board to understand how such planets can assemble and evolve in these dynamically challenging environments."

The Planet Hunter volunteers, Kian Jek of San Francisco, Calif., and Robert Gagliano of Cottonwood, Ariz., spotted PH1 using the transit method, noticing faint dips in light as the plant passed in front of, or transited, its parent stars.

Gagliano said he was "absolutely ecstatic" about the finding. "It's a great honor to be a Planet Hunter, citizen scientist, and work hand in hand with professional astronomers, making a real contribution to science," he said.

Jek, too, expressed his amazement.

"It still continues to astonish me how we can detect, let alone glean so much information, about another planet thousands of light-years away just by studying the light from its parent star," he said in a statement.

Schwamb led the team of professional astronomers who confirmed the discovery and characterized the planet, following observations from the Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

The research was supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship.

For more information on the Planet Hunters project, visit: http://www.planethunters.org.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?and?Google+.

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amateur-team-finds-tatooine-planet-2-suns-4-155255068.html

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Video: Presidential Debates: Round 2 Tonight

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49428239/

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Scientists identify likely origins of vertebrate air breathing

ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2012) ? University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists have identified what they think is the ancestral trait that allowed for the evolution of air breathing in vertebrates.

They will present their research at the 42nd annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience Oct. 17 in New Orleans.

"To breathe air with a lung you need more than a lung, you need neural circuitry that is sensitive to carbon dioxide," said Michael Harris, a UAF neuroscientist and lead researcher on a project investigating the mechanisms that generate and control breathing.

"It's the neural circuitry that allows air-breathing organisms to take in oxygen, which cells need to convert food into energy, and expel the waste carbon dioxide resulting from that process," he said. "I'm interested in where that carbon-dioxide-sensitive neural circuit, called a rhythm generator, came from."

Harris and colleagues think that air breathing likely evolved in an ancestral vertebrate that did not have a lung, but did have a rhythm generator.

"We try to find living examples of primitive non-air-breathing ancestors, like lamprey, and then look for evidence of a rhythm generator that did something other than air breathing," Harris said.

Lampreys are ancient fish that have characteristics similar to the first vertebrates. They do not have lungs and do not breathe air. As larvae, they live in tubes dug into soft mud and breathe and feed by pumping water through their bodies. When mud or debris clogs a lamprey's tube, they use a cough-like behavior to expel water and clear the tube. A rhythm generator in their brain controls that behavior.

A video clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7b3pl9pK_o) recorded in Harris' lab shows the difference between gill ventilation and a 'cough' in a larval lamprey. The 'cough' occurs at about the 9 second mark.

"We thought the lamprey 'cough' closely resembled air breathing in amphibians," said Harris. "When we removed the brains from lampreys and measured nerve activity that would normally be associated with breathing, we found patterns that resemble breathing and found that the rhythm generator was sensitive to carbon dioxide."

Air breathing evolved in fish and allowed the movement of vertebrates to land and the evolution of reptiles, birds and mammals. Without a carbon-dioxide-sensitive rhythm generator, the structure that would become the lung might not have worked as a lung.

"The evolution of lung breathing may be a repurposing of carbon dioxide sensitive cough that already existed in lungless vertebrates, like the lamprey," said Harris.

Harris and collaborators Barbara Taylor, a UAF neuroscientist, and their lab technician Megan Hoffman, also study Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and hope understanding the evolutionary origin of breathing will provide insights into their SIDS research.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/0Lkqu7QnqO4/121016141701.htm

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