Sunday, March 31, 2013

My final mortgage refinancing (hopefully) | a windycitygal's Weblog

Recently it seems there has been an uptick in posts about mortgages in the personal finance blogosphere. While Grumpy rumblings has been posting a mortgage update on a regular basis, and 101 Centavos recently had some fun equating the thirty-year mortgage and fish oil, there are two posts I?ve read in the past month that were stand outs:

Retire by 40?s Should you pay off your mortgage if you could;

Afford Anything?s Pay down your mortgage or invest in cash?

I?m not even close to being able to think about getting rid of my mortgage, so it?s heartening to read about how they can fit into a solid investment strategy. I did, however, recently refinance my mortgage from a 30-year fixed rate to a 15-year fixed rate. I?m planning on this being the last refinance I will ever have to do on this house.

When I moved into this house back in the summer of 2001, I was married and the mortgage was secured in both of our names. My ex-husband and I had very good money habits and stellar credit, but the mortgage rates in 2001 were not as low as they are now. We paid $100 extra on the mortgage each month, refinanced a few years later when the rates had dropped, and continued our practice of paying a bit extra to principal on a regular basis. Then we filed for divorce in 2008.

I wanted to keep the house and my ex-husband was amenable to that, so I had to secure my own mortgage. My credit history and rating was fantastic, and I had a stable and well-paying job, so qualifying for a mortgage wasn?t going to be an issue. However, I wanted to do some work in the house and the divorce settlement was going to leave me cash poor, so I needed to secure a ?cash-out? refinancing. I worked with a good mortgage broker, but the rates for a 30-year cash-out refinance?weren?t as low as a standard 30-year mortgage and I ended up paying 5.5% interest when I closed in February 2009.

In December 2009, I worked with the same mortgage broker to refinance to a new 30-year mortgage at 4.875%. At this point I had extra income from taking on roommates and had saved enough to create an emergency fund, so I felt it was time to start paying extra towards principal every month. Through December 2010, I used the old approach of adding an extra $100 to the monthly payment. (Actually, because I wanted to round-up my monthly payment to a whole number, my principal curtailment was the odd figure of $108.69 every month.) Then in January 2011, I decided to challenge myself more by rounding up the monthly mortgage payment even more, resulting in principal curtailment of just over $300 a month.

Why such a big jump in my repayments? My age. I don?t want to be paying a mortgage in my retirement years, and since I?m in my mid-40s now, I needed to pay the mortgage down faster. I ran through some options in a mortgage repayment calculator and settled on the $300 figure to get the mortgage paid off by the time I was 67, my Social Security retirement age. It was also a stretch goal for my budget and I wanted to see how it worked out. What I found was that it wasn?t as much of a stretch as I thought it would be, and I was able to continue comfortably paying quite a bit extra while still saving money for vacations and a car.

Mortgage rates continued to drop, and in October 2011, I decided to try refinancing yet again. I got in touch with my mortgage broker, completed all the paperwork, and paid my appraisal fee. This time I was going for a 20-year mortgage, so I could continue to meet my goal of paying off the mortgage by 67. Unfortunately while I had all the qualifications of a good lending prospect, the local real estate market was not in my favor. The appraisal on my house came back much lower than expected, and I was faced with the prospect of either paying PMI having to come up with a large chunk of cash?so I could refinance without PMI.

I decided to simply sit tight on my 4.875% mortgage and continue to pay extra in principal curtailment. It would not have been a good financial decision to take on PMI, nor to liquidate most of my cash savings just to secure a rate that was not quite a full percentage point lower than my current rate.

Truthfully, I was devastated by the appraisal of my house. I know that home appraisals for purposes of refinancing don?t mean as much as a resale appraisal. It?s just a number of paper until you actually try to sell the house, after all. However for me, it did mean more. I had taken on the house as my main asset when I was divorced in early 2009, trading all of my cash on hand for it. So for me, the house was my divorce settlement in its?entirety. Seeing that a bank appraiser thought that in November 2011 it was worth $85,000 less than in December 2008 meant that I had lost over $40,000 in the settlement. Even more crushing, the appraised value was $20,000 less than we had paid for the house in the summer of 2001. It was as if 10 years of diligent property improvements and extra principal payments meant less than nothing.

I waited until the fall of 2012 before contacting the mortgage broker yet again about refinancing. In the meantime, I continued to pay extra on the mortgage, although in early 2012 my strategy of rounding up to the nearest thousand was coming out to only $275 extra. (The difference was due to more being added to escrow for taxes.) The mortgage broker wasn?t responding to my emails, though, and I didn?t push it. The real estate market in Chicago has been lagging other areas of the country, and I was in no hurry to be told yet again that my house wasn?t worth as much as I had paid for it.

So when I got a call out of the blue just over a month ago from an employee of my current lender, Chase, asking if I wanted to meet to discuss a refinance I jumped at the opportunity. I set up an appointment at the local branch for the next week and brought along everything I would need to apply for a refinance, just in case. We ran some numbers for a 30-year mortgage. My goodness how low the payments looked. I told the bank rep how much I had been paying every month, including the extra principal payments. So we ran some numbers for a 15-year mortgage, and those payments looked very good, too.

I told the Chase rep about my experience in the fall of 2011 with the appraisal on my house, and how I thought my diligent principal?curtailment would have helped. Even if the appraisal came back the same, I had paid enough principal down that I would be back to the magic 20% equity mark. (Worst case: I would be close enough that a couple thousand dollars from savings would bring me there.) I was offered a 3.125% rate on a 15-year mortgage, so I thought it worth the appraisal fee and on we went.

The appraisal was done a week later, and I was very happy to find that this time the house was valued at much more than 20% equity. In fact, it was appraised only $15,000 less than the appraisal done in December 2008, and I was at the 60% equity mark. :-) I was also able to have the escrow waived. Now I can deal with the taxes on my own, so if there is an issue with the property tax bill I can deal with it more effectively. (The frustrations around my property taxes in 2011 were a missed blogging opportunity that I may still write about at some point.)

I know there could be rates lower than 3.125% out there for a 15-year mortgage, but I?m very happy with this rate. Chase also has a 1% cash back program if you have a checking account with them that is linked to the mortgage for automatic payments. With this program, 1% of the principal and interest payment is refunded after a year. The refunded amount can be applied directly to the mortgage principal or deposited in the Chase checking account. I did not have a Chase checking account at the time I applied for refinancing, but I opened one the same day I closed on my new mortgage. With interest rates on savings accounts being so low, I?m happy to get a little over $180 a year in the cash back program.

The close of my new mortgage was completed in a matter of minutes. Really. I got to the branch at 9 AM and walked away from the desk at 9:10 AM with a shiny new mortgage. My first payment is due May 1, 2013, and my last will be due when I?m 60.

It?s this last fact that gives me the most pleasure. In only four years I?ve gone from being cash poor with a mortgage I?d be paying into my 70s, to being on a sound financial footing with a mortgage payoff date several years before my effective retirement date. Way to go, Linda! :-D

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Source: http://awindycitygal.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/my-final-mortgage-refinancing-hopefully/

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Clean fuel regulations: EPA, oil industry vie over effect on gas prices

EPA on Friday proposed new regulations to require refineries to make cleaner gasoline. The cost? EPA says less than a penny a gallon. Oil industry says nine cents a gallon ? and higher gas prices.

By Ron Scherer,?Staff writer / March 29, 2013

Suzanne Meredith, of Walpole, Mass., gases up her car at a Gulf station in Brookline, Mass., July 2012. Reducing sulfur in gasoline and tightening emissions standards on cars beginning in 2017, as the Obama administration is proposing, would come with costs as well as rewards.

Steven Senne/AP/File

Enlarge

The Obama administration proposed on Friday new ? and more costly ? regulations of the refining industry to produce cleaner gasoline and clearer skies.

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If the new rules are implemented as scheduled in 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says, they will spare thousands of people from premature death and prevent respiratory problems in tens of thousands of children. The cost: on average less than a penny gallon.

Not so, says the oil industry, which has been battling the EPA over the proposed rules. The new rules will add as much as nine cents a gallon to the cost of making fuel and will produce ?ambiguous? results, says The American Petroleum Institute.?API, the industry?s lobbying arm in Washington, refers to the proposed new rules as part of a ?tsunami of regulations? the industry faces this year that could add as much as 65 cents to the cost of producing a gallon of fuel in the future.

Gasoline prices are politically sensitive. Consumers often know how much they have paid for a gallon of gasoline compared with their prior fill-up. When pump prices are rising, consumers grumble and, if prices get high enough, cut back on other discretionary purchases. As a result, economists refer to rising fuel prices as a tax on the economy.

But will Americans pay more for fuel and smile about if they believe it will result in cleaner air?

?Some will, but the majority won?t,? answers Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at GasBuddy.com. ?There is a sense among a lot of people that we are entitled to cheaper fuel prices than the rest of the world.?

The proposed changes would make US standards the same as most of Europe, Japan, and South Korea, Mr. Kloza says. ?We would be joining 45 other countries with tougher fuel standards,? he says.

Republicans quickly attacked the proposed regulation. ?The Obama Administration is modeling our regulations after California, which has the worst economy in the nation, and today?s announcement is essentially a guaranteed energy tax hike and unfortunately is just one of many radical policies coming out of this Administration that will deal a heavy blow to middle-class families and small businesses,? said Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, in a statement.??

In January, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, often associated with Democratic issues, conducted what it termed a ?bipartisan survey? of 800 registered voters for the American Lung Association on whether Americans favored tougher fuel regulations and improved antipollution laws. It found 62 percent of voters supported new gasoline and vehicle standards, and 32 percent opposed them.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/uyzMslT9zt4/Clean-fuel-regulations-EPA-oil-industry-vie-over-effect-on-gas-prices

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N.C. police: 3 dead after shooting, police standoff

HARRISBURG, N.C. (AP) ? Authorities in a Charlotte suburb say a man suspected of shooting two neighbors has committed suicide after a six-hour police standoff.

The Charlotte Observer is reporting that Cabarrus County sheriff's deputies said late Friday that the suspected shooter shot himself as deputies and SWAT team members surrounded the house where he was hiding.

Late Friday afternoon, deputies responded to a report of a man shooting a gun at a house. They said the suspect shot two neighbors in what was described as a neighborhood feud. Neighbors told the newspaper that the two victims were adult males.

WBTV-TV reports that a woman and her young children were able to escape the home where the initial shootings occurred.

Sheriff Brad Riley couldn't immediately be reached for comment by the Associated Press.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nc-police-3-dead-shooting-police-standoff-034401056.html

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15th Annual Spartan Golf Outing and Dinner Auction - in Brookfield ...

The Westmoor Country Club is one of the most premier country clubs, featuring a golf course designed by expert golf architects. The club offers an olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis courts and a banquet and dining area. The executive chef and staff design delicious and creative cuisine that will make every occasion a special one.? Westmoor Country club is located across from the Brookfield Square mall, just off the I-94 interchange.

Source: http://brookfield-wi.patch.com/events/15th-annual-spartan-golf-outing-and-dinner-auction

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Man Tattoos Pitbull, Defends Actions as Dog Lover

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Growing plants on Mars

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Concrete plans for a one-way ticket to Mars have been forged. Food will have to be grown on location. Is this a distant future scenario? Not for Wieger Wamelink, ecologist at Alterra Wageningen UR, for whom the future will begin on 2 April. He will be researching whether or not it is possible to grow plants on the moon.

We have been to the moon several times. Next time, we may go back for a considerable period. And concrete plans for a one-way ticket to Mars have already been forged. Food will have to be grown on location. Is this a distant future scenario? Not for Wieger Wamelink, ecologist at Alterra Wageningen UR, for whom the future will begin on 2 April. He will be researching whether or not it is possible to grow plants on the moon.

Will plants survive in Martian soil or moon dust? This question was initially prompted by Dutch plans to establish a colony on Mars. As the plan does not include a return trip, the basic necessities would have to be satisfied on location. "Mars is still a long way off," says Wieger Wamelink, explaining his plans. "But the moon is closer, so it would be more realistic to establish a colony there. What's more, we already know the mineral composition of the soil on the moon, and of moon dust. So what I'm aiming to find out now is whether plants will grow in moon substrate, or whether certain essential elements are lacking. This has never been done before. We are gradually discovering more about Mars, which is why the planet has been included in this research."

Wamelink's research will compare the requirements of certain species of plants with the mineral composition of the soil on the moon and Mars. Alterra has a database that can analyse 25 abiotic preconditions per species and calculate whether a plant species will survive or not. The database also stores information about heavy metals and minerals, although as yet, there are no fixed preconditions for these elements. Using this data, he will be able to determine which plant species would theoretically be capable of growing in moon dust or Martian soil.

Wieger Wamelink: "We will then allow certain species of wild plants and agricultural crops to germinate in pots of artificial moon and Martian soil supplied by NASA. The growth of these plants will be compared with that of the same species in ordinary soil from the Earth. Preconditions relating to heavy metals and minerals will be derived from our findings. Our research is based on the premise that an atmosphere will be available to the colony, perhaps in domes or buildings. We are also assuming the presence of water, either from the moon or Mars or transported from Earth. The plants would produce oxygen and recycle carbon dioxide, ultimately creating a kind of ecosystem."

At a later stage, Wamelink also wants to look into the food safety of agricultural crops grown in human-made conditions on the moon in moon soil. The first trial crops will be planted in greenhouses on 2 April.

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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/space_time/astronomy/~3/6ImhEcm_7W4/130328075708.htm

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The Secret Republican Plan to Repeal Obamacare (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Friday, March 29, 2013

The truth behind N. Korea's threats

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Across North Korea, soldiers are gearing up for battle and shrouding their jeeps and vans with camouflage netting. Newly painted signboards and posters call for "death to the U.S. imperialists" and urge the people to fight with "arms, not words."

But even as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is issuing midnight battle cries to his generals to ready their rockets, he and his million-man army know full well that a successful missile strike on U.S. targets would be suicide for the outnumbered, out-powered North Korean regime.

Despite the hastening drumbeat of warfare, none of the key players in the region wants or expects another Korean War ? not even the North Koreans.

But by seemingly bringing the region to the very brink of conflict with threats and provocations, Pyongyang is aiming to draw attention to the tenuousness of the armistice designed to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula, a truce North Korea recently announced it would no longer honor as it warned that war could break out at any time.

It's all part of a plan to force Washington to the negotiating table, pressure the new president in Seoul to change policy on North Korea, and build unity at home ? without triggering a full-blown war if all goes well.

In July, it will be 60 years since North Korea and China signed an armistice with the U.S. and the United Nations to bring an end to three years of fighting that cost millions of lives. The designated Demilitarized Zone has evolved into the most heavily guarded border in the world.

It was never intended to be a permanent border. But six decades later, North and South remain divided, with Pyongyang feeling abandoned by the South Koreans in the quest for reunification and threatened by the Americans.

North Korean army officers punch the air as they chant slogans during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 29, 2013. Tens of thousands of North Koreans ... more? North Korean army officers punch the air as they chant slogans during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 29, 2013. Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for the mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin) less? In that time, South Korea has blossomed from a poor, agrarian nation of peasants into the world's 15th largest economy while North Korea is struggling to find a way out of a Cold War chasm that has left it with a per capita income on par with sub-Saharan Africa.

The Chinese troops who fought alongside the North Koreans have long since left. But 28,500 American troops are still stationed in South Korea and 50,000 more are in nearby Japan. For weeks, the U.S. and South Korea have been showing off their military might with a series of joint exercises that Pyongyang sees a rehearsal for invasion.

On Thursday, the U.S. military confirmed that those drills included two nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers that can unload the U.S. Air Force's largest conventional bomb ? a 30,000-pound super bunker buster ? powerful enough to destroy North Korea's web of underground military tunnels.

It was a flexing of military muscle by Washington, perhaps aimed not only at Pyongyang but at Beijing as well.

In Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un reacted swiftly, calling an emergency meeting of army generals and ordering them to be prepared to strike if the U.S. actions continue. A photo distributed by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency showed Kim in a military operations room with maps detailing a "strike plan" behind him in a very public show of supposedly sensitive military strategy.

North Korea cites the U.S. military threat as a key reason behind its need to build nuclear weapons, and has poured a huge chunk of its small national budget into defense, science and technology. In December, scientists launched a satellite into space on the back of a long-range rocket using technology that could easily be converted for missiles; in February, they tested an underground nuclear device as part of a mission to build a bomb they can load on a missile capable of reaching the U.S.

However, what North Korea really wants is legitimacy in the eyes of the U.S. ? and a peace treaty. Pyongyang wants U.S. troops off Korean soil, and the bombs and rockets are more of an expensive, dangerous safety blanket than real firepower. They are the only real playing card North Korea has left, and the bait they hope will bring the Americans to the negotiating table.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said North Korea's "bellicose rhetoric" would only deepen its international isolation, and that the U.S. has both the capability and willingness to defend its interests in the region.

Narushige Michishita, director of the Security and International Studies Program at Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, isn't convinced North Korea is capable of attacking Guam, Hawaii or the U.S. mainland. He says Pyongyang hasn't successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

But its medium-range Rodong missiles, with a range of about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers), are "operational and credible" and could reach U.S. bases in Japan, he says.

More likely than such a strike, however, is a smaller-scale incident, perhaps off the Koreas' western coast, that would not provoke the Americans to unleash their considerable firepower. For years, the waters off the west coast have been a battleground for naval skirmishes between the two Koreas because the North has never recognized the maritime border drawn unilaterally by the U.N.

As threatening as Kim's call to arms may sound, its main target audience may be the masses at home in North Korea.

For months, the masterminds of North Korean propaganda have pinpointed this year's milestone Korean War anniversary as a prime time to play up Kim's military credibility as well as to push for a peace treaty. By creating the impression that a U.S. attack is imminent, the regime can foster a sense of national unity and encourage the people to rally around their new leader.

Inside Pyongyang, much of the military rhetoric feels like theatrics. It's not unusual to see people toting rifles in North Korea, where soldiers and checkpoints are a fixture in the heavily militarized society. But more often than not in downtown Pyongyang, the rifle stashed in a rucksack is a prop and the "soldier" is a dancer, one of the many performers rehearsing for a Korean War-themed extravaganza set to debut later this year.

More than 100,000 soldiers, students and ordinary workers were summoned Friday to Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang to pump their fists in support of North Korea's commander in chief. But elsewhere, it was business as usual at restaurants and shops, and farms and factories, where the workers have heard it all before.

"Tensions rise almost every year around the time the U.S.-South Korean drills take place, but as soon as those drills end, things go back to normal and people put those tensions behind them quite quickly," said Sung Hyun-sang, the South Korean president of a clothing maker operating in the North Korean border town of Kaesong. "I think and hope that this time won't be different."

And in a telling sign that even the North Koreans don't expect war, the national airline, Air Koryo, is adding flights to its spring lineup and preparing to host the scores of tourists they expect to flock to Pyongyang despite the threats issuing forth from the Supreme Command.

War or no war, it seems Pyongyang remains open for business.

___

Lee is chief of AP's bureaus in Pyongyang, North Korea, and Seoul, South Korea. She can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/newsjean. Eric Talmadge in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-nkorea-threat-may-more-bark-bite-132942749.html

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Samsung Galaxy S4 up for pre-order in the UK

Galaxy S4

Official pre-orders start today ahead of April 26 launch

A little under a month away from launch day, Samsung's Galaxy S4 is now available to pre-order from leading UK retailers and carriers. You'll find a breakdown of what the major players are offering with Samsung's latest handset after the break.

We'll update this post with any more pre-order deals that come to light during the day. Check below for the full breakdown.

read more



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/cHtm32WsyZ4/story01.htm

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What the justices said?and how often

By Steve Keating ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Tiger Woods's renewed success has him back on top of the world rankings but questions thrown at him after Monday's triumph at Bay Hill were about something he has not done for a long time, win the Masters. While all signs point to Woods being close to his best after years of struggling with injuries, personal strife and a tedious swing overhaul, his comeback will not be complete in many minds, including his own, until he snaps a drought in the majors that dates back to the 2008 U.S. Open. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/browse-supreme-court-oral-arguments-speaker-interactive-transcripts-191651776--politics.html

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Pre-dawn operation removes part of Berlin Wall

BERLIN (AP) ? Work crews backed by about 250 police removed parts of the Berlin Wall known as the East Side Gallery before dawn Wednesday to make way for an upscale building project, despite demands by protesters that the site be preserved.

Residents of the area expressed shock at the move, which followed several protests including one attended by American celebrity David Hasselhoff.

Police spokesman Alexander Toennies said there were no incidents as work began about 5 a.m. to remove four sections of the wall, each about 1.5 yards (1.2 meters) wide. That will make way for an access route to the planned high-rise luxury apartments along the nearby Spree River.

The East Side Gallery is the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall. Construction workers removed a first piece earlier this month as part of a plan to make a road to a new luxury apartment complex . The public outcry brought a halt while local politicians and the investor said they were looking for a solution to keep the rest of the wall untouched.

The investor, Maik Uwe Hinkel, decided to remove four more 1.5-yard (1.2-meter) wide parts of the wall, according to Toennies.

"The constructor had the right to do this and he informed us a few days ago about his plans. Last night we were told that he wanted to remove the wall pieces early this morning," Toennies said.

Plans to remove part of the 1.3-kilometer (3/4-mile) stretch of wall sparked protests whose main message was that developers were sacrificing history for profit.

At least 136 people died trying to scale the wall that divided communist-run East Berlin from West Berlin. Over the years, the stretch has become a tourist attraction with colorful paintings decorating the old concrete tiles.

"I can't believe they came here in the dark in such a sneaky manner," said Kani Alavi, the head of the East Side Gallery's artists' group. "All they see is their money, they have no understanding for the historic relevance and art of this place."

By mid-morning the six-yard (meter) gap was covered by a wooden fence and protected by scores of police. Passers-by and a handful of protesters stared in disbelief.

"If you take these parts of the Wall away, you take away the soul of the city," said Ivan McClostney, 32, who moved here a year ago from Ireland. "This way, you make it like every other city. It's so sad."

In an emailed statement, Hinkel said the removal of parts of the wall was a temporary move to enable trucks to access the building site. He said after four weeks of fruitless negotiations with city officials and owners of adjacent property he was no longer willing to wait.

The East Side Gallery was recently restored at a cost of more than 2 million euros ($3 million) to the city. The wall section stood on the eastern side of the elaborate border strip built by communist East Germany after it sealed off West Berlin in 1961. At least 136 people died trying to scale the wall until it was opened on Nov. 9, 1989.

The stretch of wall was transformed into an open-air gallery months after the opening and is now covered in colorful murals painted by about 120 artists. They include the famous image of boxy East German Trabant car that appears to burst through the wall; and a fraternal communist kiss between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German boss Erich Honecker.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pre-dawn-operation-removes-part-berlin-wall-120324155.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: NOT Married Despite Ring Swap

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/angelina-jolie-and-brad-pitt-not-married/

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Gotcha! A NYC art show for George W. Bush is a hoax

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/art-show-george-w-bush-not-exactly-171521393--politics.html

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The Secret Republican Plan to Repeal 'Obamacare'

A few minutes after the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision upholding President Obama?s health care law last summer, a senior adviser to Mitch McConnell walked into the Senate Republican leader?s office to gauge his reaction.

McConnell was clearly disappointed, and for good reason. For many conservatives, the decision was the death knell in a three-year fight to defeat reforms that epitomized everything they thought was wrong with Obama?s governing philosophy. But where some saw finality, McConnell saw opportunity ? and still does.

Sitting at his desk a stone?s throw from the Senate chamber, McConnell turned to the aide and, with characteristic directness, said: ?This decision is too cute. But I think we got something with this tax issue.?

He was referring to the court?s ruling that the heart of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the so-called individual mandate that requires everyone in the country to buy health insurance or pay a penalty, was a tax. And while McConnell thought calling the mandate a tax was ?a rather creative way? to uphold the law, it also opened a new front in his battle to repeal it.

McConnell, a master of byzantine Senate procedure, immediately realized that, as a tax, the individual mandate would be subject to the budget reconciliation process, which exempted it from the filibuster. In other words, McConnell had just struck upon how to repeal Obamacare with a simple majority vote.

The Kentucky Republican called a handful of top aides into his office and told them, ?Figure out how to repeal this through reconciliation. I want to do this.? McConnell ordered a repeal plan ready in the event the GOP took back control of the Senate in November ? ironic considering Democrats used the same process more than two years earlier in a successful, last-shot effort to muscle the reforms into law.

In the months that followed, top GOP Senate aides held regular strategy meetings to plot a path forward. Using the reconciliation process would be complicated and contentious. Senate rules would require Republicans to demonstrate to the parliamentarian that their repeal provisions would affect spending or revenue and Democrats were sure to challenge them every step of the way. So the meetings were small and secret.

?You?re going in to make an argument. You don?t want to preview your entire argument to the other side ahead of time,? said a McConnell aide who participated in the planning. ?There was concern that all of this would leak out.?

By Election Day, Senate Republicans were ready to, as McConnell put it, ?take this monstrosity down.?

?We were prepared to do that had we had the votes to do it after the election. Well, the election didn?t turn out the way we wanted it to,? McConnell told National Journal in an interview. ?The monstrosity has ... begun to be implemented and we?re not giving up the fight.?

Indeed, when it comes to legislative strategy, McConnell plays long ball. Beginning in 2009, the Republican leader led the push to unify his colleagues against Democrats? health care plans, an effort that almost derailed Obamacare. In 2010, Republicans, helped in part by public opposition to the law, won back the House and picked up seats in the Senate. Last year, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney?s embrace of the individual mandate while Massachusetts governor largely neutralized what had been a potent political issue.

But, in the next two years, Republicans are looking to bring the issue back in a big way. And they?ll start by trying to brand the law as one that costs too much and is not working as promised.

Democrats will be tempted to continue to write off the incoming fire as the empty rhetoric of a party fighting old battles. But that would be a mistake. During the health care debate, the GOP?s coordinated attacks helped turn public opinion against reform. And in the past two years, no more than 45 percent of the public has viewed Obamacare favorably, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation?s tracking polls. Perhaps even more dangerous for Democrats, now-debunked myths spread by Republicans and conservative media remain lodged in the public consciousness. For instance, 40 percent of the public still believes the law includes ?death panels.?

During the legislative debate over the law, Democrats promised Obamacare would create jobs, lower health care costs, and allow people to keep their current plans if they chose to. Those vows, Republicans argue, are already being broken.

The Congressional Budget Office, the Hill?s nonpartisan scorekeeper, estimated that the health care law would reduce employment by about 800,000 workers and result in about 7 million people losing their employer-sponsored health care over a decade. The CBO also estimated that Obamacare during that period would raise health care spending by roughly $580 billion.

McConnell?s office has assembled the law?s 19,842 new regulations into a stack that is 7 feet high and wheeled around on a dolly. The prop even has it?s own Twitter account, @TheRedTapeTower.

?All you got to do is look at that high stack of regulation and you think, ?How in the world is anybody going to be able to comply with all this stuff?? ? GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch, told National Journal. ?And I?m confident that the more the American people know of the costs, the consequences, the problems with this law, then someday there are going to be some Democrats who are going to join us in taking apart some of its most egregious parts.?

In fact, just a few hours after that interview last week, 34 Democrats joined Hatch on the Senate floor to support repealing Obamacare?s medical-device tax. Though the provision passed overwhelmingly, it doesn?t have a shot at becoming law because the budget bill it was attached to is nonbinding. Still, Republicans see it as a harbinger of things to come.

?Constituent pressure is overriding the view that virtually all Democrats have had that Obamacare is sort of like the Ten Commandments, handed down and every piece of it is sacred and you can?t possibly change any of it ever,? McConnell said. ?When you see that begin to crack then you know the facade is breaking up.?

Of course, Republicans are doing their best to highlight and stoke the kind of constituent anger that would force Democrats to tweak the law. In fact, if Democrats come under enough pressure, Republicans believe they might be able to inject Obamacare into the broader entitlement-reform discussion they are planning to tie to the debt-limit debate this summer.

But that is a long shot. If Republicans hope to completely repeal the health care law, they have to start by taking back the Senate in 2014 and would likely need to win the White House two years later. Still, some Republicans think the politics are on their side.

?I?m not one of those folks who ... because I didn?t support something, I want it to be bad. I want good things for Americans. But I do think this is going to create a lot of issues and ? affect things throughout 2014 as it relates to politics,? Republican Sen. Bob Corker said. ?The outcome likely will create a better atmosphere for us.?

Republicans will need to win half a dozen seats to retake the chamber. So, what are the chances??

?There are six really good opportunities in really red states: West Virginia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Alaska,? McConnell said last week. ?And some other places where you have open seats like Michigan and Iowa. And other states that frequently vote Republican, an example of that would be New Hampshire. So, we?re hopeful.?

And earlier this week, Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson put his home state of South Dakota in play when he announced he will not be running for reelection in 2014.

In addition to trying to win back the Senate, McConnell will have to protect his own seat in two years. McConnell has made moves to shore up his right flank to fend off conservative challengers. He?s hired fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul?s campaign manager, who helped Paul defeat the establishment candidate McConnell backed in the primary. ?

In the meantime, Republicans will continue to, as GOP Sen. John Barrasso put it, ?try to tear (Obamacare) apart.? And the GOP suspects it might get some help from moderate Democrats less concerned about protecting Obama?s legacy than winning reelection.

It?s just the latest act in a play that saw McConnell give more than 100 floor speeches critical of Democratic reforms and paper Capitol Hill with more 225 messaging documents in the 10 months before Obamacare?s passage. Away from the public spotlight, McConnell worked his caucus hard to convince them to unite against the law, holding a health care meeting every Wednesday afternoon. GOP aides said they could not remember a time before, or since, when a Republican leader held a weekly meeting with members that focused solely on one subject.

?What I tried to do is just guide the discussion to the point where everybody realized there wasn?t any part of this we wanted to have any ownership of,? McConnell recounted. ?That was a nine-month long discussion that finally culminated with Olympia Snowe?s decision in the fall not to support it. She was the last one they had a shot at.?

Indeed, some Republicans remember opposition forming organically as it became clearer where Democrats were headed, crediting McConnell for crystallizing the issue. Asked who unified Senate Republicans against Obamacare, Corker recalled, ?I think it happened over time.? As time moved on, it just seemed that this train was going to a place that was going to be hard to support.?

McConnell had finally won his long-fought battle to unite the conference against Obamcare. And some Republicans credit McConnell with being first to that fight.

?He had the Obama administration?s number before almost anyone else,? Hatch recalled. ?He began laying the groundwork for this fight very early, in private meetings and so forth, and really was the first one on our side in the ring, throwing punches just about how bad it was for families, businesses, and our economy.?

?There?s been no stronger fighter against this disastrous law than Mitch McConnell,? he added.

And as McConnell?s war continues, Democrats have begun positioning themselves for the next battle. Leading up to last week?s three-year anniversary of the law?s passage, Democrats held press events touting its benefits, claiming more than 100 million people have received free preventive services; 17 million children with preexisting conditions have been protected from being denied coverage; and 6.6 million young adults under 26 have been covered by their parents' plan.

Democrats wisely rolled out many of the easiest, most-popular Obamacare benefits first. The next few years will see the implementation of provisions that are both more complicated and controversial, like creating state-based insurance exchanges where people can buy coverage. Asked about the political ramifications of possible implementation problems, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, a chief architect of Obamacare, sidestepped the question saying, "My job is to do my best to make sure this statute works to help provide health care for people at the lowest possible cost."

Far from a full-throated assurance that everything will run smoothly, Baucus?s answer hints at the dangers Democrats face as Obamacare comes online.

And with the law moving from the largely theoretical to the demonstrable, the health care debate is poised to return to intensity levels not seen since before the law passed.

For congressional Republicans, it?s probably their last, best chance to turn opposition into political gain.

And much of that job falls to McConnell, a brilliant defensive coordinator who will have to play flawless offense if he hopes to take control of the Senate next year.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/secret-republican-plan-repeal-obamacare-200403420--politics.html

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PowerSkin announces battery case for the BlackBerry Z10

Just as the title says, the PowerSkin for BlackBerry Z10 is available now from PowerSkin. ?The one-piece shockproof, anti-dust silicone skin protects your Z10, and it contains a 1500mAh rechargeable battery that gives your smart phone up to 60% more talk or standby time. ?It weighs only 3 ounces and measures 5.39″ X?2.89″ X 0.79″. [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/03/28/powerskin-announces-battery-case-for-the-blackberry-z10/

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Cleverly designed vaccine blocks H5 avian influenza in models

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Until now most experimental vaccines against the highly lethal H5N1 avian influenza virus have lacked effectiveness. But a new vaccine has proven highly effective against the virus when tested in both mice and ferrets. It is also effective against the H9 subtype of avian influenza. The research is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.

The strength of the new vaccine is that it uses attenuated, rather than "killed" virus. (Killed viruses are broken apart with chemicals or heat, and they are used because they are safer than attenuated viruses.) Killed virus vaccines against avian influenza are injected into the bloodstream, whereas this vaccine is given via nasal spray, thus mimicking the natural infection process, stimulating a stronger immune response.

The danger of current attenuated virus vaccines is that they might exchange dangerous genetic material with garden variety influenza viruses of the sort that strike annually, potentially rendering a lethal but very hard to transmit influenza virus, such as H5, easily transmissible among humans. To mitigate those dangers, the study authors, led by Daniel Perez of the University of Maryland, came up with an ingenious design. Influenza viruses carry their genetic material in eight "segments," explains coauthor and University of Maryland colleague Troy Sutton. When viruses reassort, they exchange segments. But each segment is unique, all eight are needed, and the viruses are unfit if they contain more than eight segments.

The vaccine is based on an attenuated version of the H9 virus, with an H5 gene added into one of the H9 virus' segments, to confer immunity to the H5 virus. Segment 8, which is composed of the so-called NS1 and NS2 genes, was split apart, and the NS2 gene was moved into segment 2, adjacent to the polymerase gene, which copies the virus' genetic material during replication. Placing NS2 next to the polymerase gene slowed its function, interfering with the virus' replication. That makes the vaccine safer.

The next step was to engineer the H5 gene into the vaccine. It was inserted into segment 8, where the NS2 gene had been.

Another aspect of the new vaccine's design makes it safer still, by rendering successful reassortment less likely. Both NS1 and NS2 are needed for viral replication. Since the two genes are now separated into different segments, any reassortment will have to include both segments, instead of just segment 8, in order for a reassortant virus to be viable. This greatly reduced the probability of successful reassortment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes avian influenza subtypes H5, H7, and H9 as potential pandemic viruses, because they all have in rare instances infected humans, and because they circulate in wild birds. Single reassortants could be sufficient to breach the species barrier, and since they do not circulate among us, we lack any immunity. Moreover, H5 is unusually lethal, having killed roughly half of those few it is confirmed to have infected.

###

American Society for Microbiology: http://www.asm.org

Thanks to American Society for Microbiology for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 27 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127454/Cleverly_designed_vaccine_blocks_H__avian_influenza_in_models

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Badgeville Gamifies Salesforce Platform Toolkit To Drive Behavior, Increase Use Of Cloud Apps

badgeville-250x250Badgeville today launched a toolkit on the Salesforce Platform that is designed to get people more engaged in using online apps. The new toolkit?puts a Salesforce Force.com wrapper around Badgeville?s APIs that hook into behavior tools and are designed to affect how people use the customer's service, said CEO Kris Duggan in an email interview.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/hhekOBKwaW0/

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Research: Women over 40 still need effective contraception

Research: Women over 40 still need effective contraception [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Susan McDonald
slmcdonald@wihri.org
401-681-2816
Women & Infants Hospital

Women reaching the age of 40 tend to be less vigilant about birth control because they think the risk of pregnancy is low or that birth control can cause health problems - but a review of the evidence by a team that includes a Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island physician recently underscored the need to be vigilant about contraception even in perimenopause.

"Despite declining fertility, women over age 40 still require effective contraception if they want to avoid pregnancy," according to Rebecca H. Allen, MD, MPH, of Women & Infants' Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Research. "In addition, the benefits of birth control outweigh the risk. Even for women with risk factors, there are methods that can be safely used."

The research, entitled "Contraception in women over 40 years of age," was published recently in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). The goal is to educate women and help physicians find the best methods of contraception for their patients.

Women over 40, Dr. Allen explains, need to talk with their primary care provider about which choice of contraception is best for them given their health. Even if they've used a specific method in the past, it might be less appropriate now because of other medical conditions.

Contraception should be used until a woman is assured she has gone through menopause, she adds. Menopause can be assumed after a woman age 50 or older has no menstrual cycle for a year.

In addition to helping to prevent pregnancy, women can find relief from some perimenopausal symptoms with the right contraceptive. This includes:

  • Estrogen-containing oral contraceptives or the progestin-releasing intrauterine device for help stemming the heavy menstrual bleeding that can occur in the perimenopause
  • Estrogen-containing contraceptives can help vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats
  • Estrogen-containing oral contraceptives might possibly prevent declines in bone density, according to one study
  • Combined oral contraceptives decrease a woman's risk of developing endometrial cancer by 50%, according to the results of two large studies

###

Women needing a primary care provider or gynecologist can call the Women & Infants Physician Referral Line at 1-800-921-9299.

About Women & Infants Hospital

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country with nearly 8,400 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

New England's premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiology; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Institutes of Health's Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Research: Women over 40 still need effective contraception [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Susan McDonald
slmcdonald@wihri.org
401-681-2816
Women & Infants Hospital

Women reaching the age of 40 tend to be less vigilant about birth control because they think the risk of pregnancy is low or that birth control can cause health problems - but a review of the evidence by a team that includes a Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island physician recently underscored the need to be vigilant about contraception even in perimenopause.

"Despite declining fertility, women over age 40 still require effective contraception if they want to avoid pregnancy," according to Rebecca H. Allen, MD, MPH, of Women & Infants' Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Research. "In addition, the benefits of birth control outweigh the risk. Even for women with risk factors, there are methods that can be safely used."

The research, entitled "Contraception in women over 40 years of age," was published recently in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). The goal is to educate women and help physicians find the best methods of contraception for their patients.

Women over 40, Dr. Allen explains, need to talk with their primary care provider about which choice of contraception is best for them given their health. Even if they've used a specific method in the past, it might be less appropriate now because of other medical conditions.

Contraception should be used until a woman is assured she has gone through menopause, she adds. Menopause can be assumed after a woman age 50 or older has no menstrual cycle for a year.

In addition to helping to prevent pregnancy, women can find relief from some perimenopausal symptoms with the right contraceptive. This includes:

  • Estrogen-containing oral contraceptives or the progestin-releasing intrauterine device for help stemming the heavy menstrual bleeding that can occur in the perimenopause
  • Estrogen-containing contraceptives can help vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats
  • Estrogen-containing oral contraceptives might possibly prevent declines in bone density, according to one study
  • Combined oral contraceptives decrease a woman's risk of developing endometrial cancer by 50%, according to the results of two large studies

###

Women needing a primary care provider or gynecologist can call the Women & Infants Physician Referral Line at 1-800-921-9299.

About Women & Infants Hospital

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country with nearly 8,400 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

New England's premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiology; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Institutes of Health's Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/wih-rwo032513.php

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US Labor Department announces new online resources to help ...

WASHINGTON?- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the launch of the Business Center, a suite of online resources for employers looking to recruit, train and retain a skilled work force through the department?s CareerOneStop Web site.

?

The site includes tips about how to recruit qualified candidates through local American Job Centers and provides employment projections. Additionally, the site offers access to local training and educational institutions, a catalog of occupational certifications and a tool to help employers translate the military training and skills of returning service members into specific civilian occupations. The CareerOneStop Business Center is available online at?http://www.careeronestop.org/business.

?

?These resources will help educate employers about our nation?s work force development system and put the resources they need to find and hire qualified workers right at their fingertips,? said Jane Oates, assistant secretary of labor for employment and training.

?

The new Business Center page builds on existing resources available through CareerOneStop, which also has information to help job seekers find education and training providers, conduct a job search and access local labor market information.

?

Employment and Training Administration staff will have a webinar on March 27 at 2 p.m. EDT to highlight the Business Center?s tools. A webinar is a seminar conducted over the Internet. For more information and to participate in the webinar, visit?https://www.workforce3one.org/view/5001307743087754858/info.

?

Short URL: http://www.hawaiireporter.com/?p=312837

Author: Guest Contributor

To be a guest contributor, submit your story to Malia@hawaiireporter.com. Check out past stories by guest contributors!

Guest Contributor has written 2615 articles for us.

Source: http://www.hawaiireporter.com/us-labor-department-announces-new-online-resources-to-help-businesses-recruit-train-and-retain-a-skilled-work-force/123

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Taliban threat forces Pakistan's Musharraf to cancel welcome rally

Kamran Jebreili / AP

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf talks to a journalist in his office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before leaving for Karachi on Sunday.

By Waj S. Khan, Producer, NBC News

KARACHI, Pakistan - Pakistan's ex-president Pervez Musharraf who returned home Sunday after four years in self-exile, was forced to cancel a welcome rally after a video allegedly showing Taliban suicide bombers preparing to target the former leader was released.?

"The threat by the Taliban to General Musharraf's life is real, very real. There are increasing chances every hour that something could happen," said retired Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, his former military spokesperson and now a member of Musharraf's political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League.

Musharraf had been expected to address supporters in Karachi, where he arrived from Dubai.

A video allegedly showing a squad of Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers being trained to target Musharraf was released on Saturday. Like threats in the past, they reiterated that they would kill Musharraf, who is blamed by Islamist militants for supporting the American "war on terror" in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

After landing in Karachi today afternoon, Musharraf was expected to briefly address a crowd, and will then be moved to an undisclosed location.

Photos:?Victims of Pakistan bomb attack mourned

His lawyer and party leader, Ahmad Raza Qasuri, said the former president will have a busy few days "dealing with the legal mess of three very serious cases that have been waiting for him."

On Friday his legal team won him no-arrest bail for three different cases ? one that charges him as a conspirator of the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the killing of Akbar Bugti, a separatist politician, in 2006, and for forcibly detaining several judges in 2007 who wouldn't anoint his military rule.

The bail, according to Qasuri, was going to ensure that Musharraf was not arrested on arrival. The country's interior ministry had warned that Musharraf would be arrested as soon as he set foot in Pakistan.

According to the lawyer, Qasuri, Musharraf will have to travel to "unsavory?and unsafe places like Quetta [in Balochistan] to face the courts, which shows that he understands the risks of returning back here."

Related:

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani teen shot by Taliban, back at school -- in UK

Pakistan captures suspect in death of journalist Daniel Pearl, officials say

Tough neighborhood: Can Waziristan militancy be dismantled, and society built?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/29ebe096/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C240C174371160Etaliban0Ethreat0Eforces0Epakistans0Emusharraf0Eto0Ecancel0Ewelcome0Erally0Dlite/story01.htm

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Monday, March 25, 2013

BlackBerry shares slide on Goldman downgrade

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry stock fell nearly 4 percent on Monday after Goldman Sachs cut its rating, citing a disappointing U.S. launch for the smartphone maker's new touchscreen device that went on sale in the United States on Friday.

"Our retail checks at over 20 store locations since March 22, including at AT&T, Best Buy, and RadioShack, revealed a surprising lack of marketing support and poor positioning of the product," Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski said in a note to clients on Monday.

Jankowski also said advertising of the product launch was limited.

"As a result, despite the product itself being relatively well received by sales associates and online reviews, sell-through at most locations was less than 10 per day," said Jankowski.

The brokerage firm cut its rating on shares of BlackBerry to "neutral" from "buy."

BlackBerry shares were down 3.9 percent at $14.33 in trading before the morning bell in the United States.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blackberry-shares-slide-goldman-downgrade-124119682--finance.html

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'It's supposed to be spring': Cold, snowy weather causing March sadness

In the first days of spring, people across the Midwest are digging out of a major snowstorm that barreled across the country, dropping over a foot of snow on St. Louis. Today more snow is expected up and down the East Coast. The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.

By Alastair Jamieson and Erin McClam, NBC News

It?s the winter that wouldn?t die.

Five days into spring, a winter storm raked the Midwest and Northeast on Monday, turning commutes messy and threatening to dump up to 4 inches of snow around Philadelphia and Washington.

The good news: Temperatures hovering at or just above freezing should hold accumulations down.

?The roads are in pretty good shape this morning because, after all, it is March,? Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Seidel said from Frederick, Md.

More coverage from weather.com

During the morning drive, the storm was dropping snow across a curlicue swath of the country, from the Mid-Atlantic coast back through the southern Great Lakes and down into the Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky and Tennessee.

In New York and parts of New Jersey, a winter weather advisory was in effect for most of Monday, and snow and rain showers continued through late afternoon and wind down by early evening.

"I'm ready for flip flops," said Jessica Cunitz, 24 of Westchester County, N.Y., who stopped at a gas station along Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania to fill her overheating car with antifreeze. "It's supposed to be spring."

In Philadelphia, rain during the morning commute was expected to change to a wintry mix that will last for most of the day. Untreated roads could turn slippery, said Brittney Shipp, a meteorologist for NBC affiliate WCAU.

And in Hamburg, Pa. ? which has seen three here-and-gone snowfalls in little more than a week ? carpet installer Seth Hanna drank coffee and surveyed the slush from a covered front porch.

"We got these warm days a few weeks ago, and everybody got their hopes up. March is supposed to be out like a lamb but it's not doing it," said Hanna, 30. "I love the snow, but I'm ready for some warm spring weather."

Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images

A woman removes snow from her driveway Monday in Silver Spring, Md. A messy Monday is in store for millions along the East Coast.

Inside the Washington Beltway, forecasters called for a mix of rain and snow, with accumulations of less than an inch. North and west of the capital, 2 to 4 inches of snow was expected ? and perhaps as much as 8 inches west of Interstate 81.

Over the weekend, the same storm system pounded parts of the Rocky Mountains east to the Ohio Valley. Denver got almost a foot of snow, and Goodland, Kan., reported 15 inches.

On Friday, a qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup outside Denver was played in near-blizzard conditions ? so much snow that officials had to bring in a yellow-and-purple soccer ball.

The United States beat Costa Rica 1-0, and Costa Rica has asked the governing body of soccer to order a replay.

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A storm system blanketed the Midwest in snow, while thunderstorms and wind gusts slammed the South, NBC's Janel Klein reports.

At the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, people waiting in line for tickets to this week's arguments on gay marriage held umbrellas or put tarps over their belongings as the snow fell. Darienn Powers wore a trash bag from the waist down to keep dry, but said the snow still made everything "a little wet and uncomfortable."

The spring snow was not expected to affect Washington's famous cherry blossoms. National Park Service spokeswoman Carol Johnson said the flowering trees are still expected to reach peak bloom between April 3 and April 6.

Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, N.J., said colder-than-normal temperatures the past few weeks had created conditions ripe for snow.

"It's fairly late in March to see a system like this," he said.

And the untimely blast of cold and snowy conditions could also harm parts of the U.S. winter wheat growing area, with widespread freeze damage feared in some of the more mature fields, experts said.

"I think we'll certainly have some (freeze damage)," said Travis Miller, an agronomist at Texas A&M University. "We did not dodge a bullet. It is a mess out there, both from freeze and drought."

It will take several days after the freeze passes to determine the extent of plant-tissue damage, wheat experts said, with areas where wheat fields were maturing quickly seen suffering the most harm.?

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story

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