Exclusive: Iran crude oil exports rise to highest since EU sanctions

GENEVA/DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's crude oil exports in December leapt to their highest level since European Union sanctions took effect last July, analysts and shipping sources said, as strong Chinese demand and tanker fleet expansion helped the OPEC member dodge sanctions.

Exports rose to around 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, according to two industry sources and shipping and customs data compiled by Reuters on a country-by-country basis and corroborated by other sources and consultants.

The sources said they expected exports to dip in January from the December peak ahead of new U.S. sanctions.

Western sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's disputed nuclear program halved Iran's oil exports in 2012 from 2.2 million bpd in late 2011, leading to billions of dollars in lost revenue and a plunge in the Iranian currency.

But continuous robust demand from top buyer China and others such as India and Japan, as well as the purchase of new tankers, allowed the Islamic Republic to unexpectedly boost exports late last year.

The United States and the EU are hoping the economic pressure will force Iran to address international concerns about its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but the West suspects is for making weapons.

Salar Moradi, oil market analyst at oil and gas consultancy FGE, estimated that Iran shipped more than 1.4 million bpd of crude oil in December and forecast that exports would remain between 1.1 million and 1.3 million bpd in the first quarter of 2013.

This represents an increase from a low point of less than 900,000 bpd in September and suggests monthly revenues worth approximately $4.7 billion based on December Brent prices.

"They (Iran) bought a number of tankers from China and can now do more deliveries ... It's taken some pressure off Iran and facilitated tanker traffic and we are seeing higher exports to China," he told Reuters this week.

The second industry source said the rise in exports to near 1.4 million bpd was a result of traditional buyers finding new ways to secure shipping insurance.

But, like FGE, he estimated that they would fall slightly to around 1.3 million bpd in January.

CHINESE THIRST

Chinese data showed the country bought 593,400 bpd of Iranian crude in December, the second-highest level of daily imports in 2012, a rise that Chinese officials also attributed to an easing of shipping delays.

Previously, Iran's tanker fleet had struggled to meet delivery schedules to China because EU measures in July barred Europe-based insurers from covering tankers that carry Iranian oil.

"China is saying let's up the numbers because no one is doing anything about it, and it looks like Obama has made a political decision not to go to war with Iran," said a senior source with a large independent trading house, referring to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Elena McGovern, oil and gas analyst at Business Monitor International, said: "The implications of preventing Chinese imports from Iran would be too damaging to the (U.S.-China) bilateral relationship. I would be very surprised if Obama were to take China to task on Iranian imports."

India's imports of Iranian crude were up 29 percent in December from November at around 275,000 bpd, according to tanker arrival data.

Tracking Iranian shipments has become increasingly difficult as companies have sought to conceal tanker movements from Western governments by turning off satellite signals.

Estimates of the Islamic Republic's monthly crude exports can vary considerably and are frequently revised.

NEW SANCTIONS LOOMING

A fresh round of U.S. sanctions coming into force next month could cap Iran's exports in the coming months as some buyers balk at the prospect of falling foul of the measures.

From February 6, U.S. law will prevent Iran from repatriating earnings it gets from its shrinking oil export trade, a powerful sanction that the U.S. officials say will "lock up" a substantial amount of Tehran's funds.

"We continue to engage in close consultations with our international partners on U.S. sanctions with the objective of maintaining pressure on Iran to comply with its international obligations," said U.S. State Department spokesman John Finn.

"Month-to-month variability in crude oil purchases is not unusual," he added.

The International Energy Agency in December forecast a drop in Iranian exports to around 1 million barrels per day in late 2012 and early 2013.

But no matter how many rounds of sanctions are in effect, they are never watertight. Iran found creative ways to market its products and managed to sell more than 1.3 million tonnes of its fuel oil last summer, generating revenues equal to up to a third of its crude exports.

However, the latest data showed fuel oil exports have also taken a dip from the average 648,000 tonnes from July to October.

Exports fell to approximately 230,000 to 330,000 tonnes in December, Salar Moradi said, although he attributed this partly to higher domestic consumption in winter as utilities switch to fuel oil to replace gas used to meet heating requirements in the country.

In a more conservative estimate, data from a firm tracking Iranian fuel oil shipments showed that December exports were around 150,000 tonnes.

Condensate exports also fell by around 300,000 tonnes from November to 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes in December, data from the same firm showed. A Dubai-based analyst said condensate exports might come under further pressure as Iran's biggest customer in the Middle East has decided to reduce its purchases.

Dubai government-owned Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) has started importing condensate from Qatar to replace sanctioned Iranian oil and is close to finalizing deals with other producers, the company said on Sunday.

Still, some analysts think Iran will continue to find ways to safeguard against significant drops in its oil revenues.

"What we have seen is that when Iran is pushed to a do-or-die situation, they have looked for creative solutions to get around sanctions," said McGovern.

"The system will always find a way to cope."

(Reporting by Emma Farge, Humeyra Pamuk in Dubai; additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London and Manash Goswami in Singapore; Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Editing by Giles Elgood and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-iran-crude-oil-exports-rise-highest-since-013321817--finance.html

landon collins dorial green beckham mike kelly kristen bell colbert super pac colbert super pac sloth

Cyprus jobless turn to illegal songbird trapping

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? It's just before first light and the bird-catcher strings nets among the orange, pomegranate, fig and carob trees in his orchard. The sound of chirping emanates from inside a massive carob ? a trick sent from speakers to attract tiny songbirds. By mid-morning, the man disentangles about a half-dozen blackcaps, snaps their necks with his teeth and drops them in a bucket.

For centuries, the migratory songbirds have been a prized delicacy among Cypriots. They are also an illegal one, as entry into the European Union forced Cyprus to ban the tradition of catching the creatures, some endangered, in nets or on sticks slathered with a glue-like substance.

Now economic crisis is luring many out-of-work Cypriots back into the centuries-old trade. They risk stiff fines and even jail time by supplying an underground market for the tiny songbirds illicitly served up in the country's tavernas ? but they say it's their only way to make ends meet.

Served whole either boiled or pickled, the fatty birds are such an ugly sight on a plate that outsiders find it hard to fathom how there could be any profit to be made from them. For many Cypriots, however, the tangy-sweet taste of the birds is pure bliss.

Supporters of trapping 'ambelopoulia,' as the blackcaps, robins and other warblers are known locally, ruefully reminisce about how until recently the practice was widely considered an ingrained part of local culture, one so lucrative that it sustained entire livelihoods and put countless kids through college.

That changed when Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 and authorities began cracking down. Trappers were cast as greedy villains out to line their pockets without regard for the ensnared birds. The threat of a maximum ?17,000 ($22,500) fine, a three-year jail term or both persuaded many to quit trapping.?

It's difficult to say how many have again turned to trapping because they've lost their jobs. Even discreet queries are met by a wall of silence. Trust must be earned, especially in villages in the country's southeast, where ambelopoulia trapping is most prevalent.

But Andreas Antoniou, the head of the special police anti-poaching unit, said songbirds, hares and protected mouflon sheep have been at the center of a surge in illegal hunting island-wide that he blames on the economic crisis. He conservatively estimates a 10 percent spike in recent months, although the number of nabbed trappers has remained steady.

Authorities are alarmed.

"We're concerned that in light of the economic crisis, there are signs of increased poaching and illegal trapping of ambelopoulia," said Cyprus Game and Fauna Service Director Pantelis Hadjiyerou.

Martin Hellicar, a spokesman for conservationist group BirdLife Cyprus, says locals have confirmed that trappers who had given up the practice have been drawn back because of money problems, noting a "dramatic rise" in bird-trapping using both nets and "lime sticks" since last autumn.

The country's southeast straddles well-worn routes for birds migrating in spring and fall from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Coincidentally, it also has one of the island's highest unemployment rates, running as high as 50 percent, according to local officials, with most of the job losses in the construction business.

"With the crisis, people are turning to poaching," says Liopetri Hunting Association President Costas Michael, surrounded by a half-dozen fellow hunters in the Association's cramped headquarters, replete with maps and life-size photos of hares and partridges hanging on the walls. "People who can't find a job know that there's money to be made just in their orchard."

Stavros Neophytou, president of the pro-trapping advocacy group Friends of the Lime Stick, puts it this way: "If you can't eat, what are you supposed to do?"

In headier times, trappers would earn around ?40 ($54) for just a dozen birds, while restaurants would charge customers double that. But demand has dropped amid the crisis, says Game Fund Service official Petros Anayiotos, resulting in an ambelopoulia glut which, in turn, has meant prices at restaurants are down by as much as half.

Even with the plunge in prices, however, the cash enticement to trap birds remains high for those who have lost jobs. Trapping also gives the unemployed a way to fill their hours.

And for many Cypriots, bird-trapping is about more than the money.

Michael says it's about tradition that stretches back centuries. A book entitled "Xoverga" ("Lime Sticks") ? a kind of unofficial bible for trappers ? refers to a 16th-century English traveler named John Locke, who recounted how he witnessed hundreds of bottles of pickled ambelopoulia being exported to Italy during a visit to the then-Venetian ruled island in 1553.

Michael says his association strictly supports lime stick trapping because it's been passed down from father to son for centuries, but frowns upon the more modern and more indiscriminate mist nets.

"Like my father, I would wake up and go out to set traps and I would think of nothing else," says Michael. "Ambelopoulia aren't going to disappear, there's so many of them, how many can poachers possibly catch anyway? Birds are there to be eaten."

Michael says politicians let trappers down during the country's EU membership talks by not asking to allow lime stick trapping as a traditional form of hunting. EU officials say there's no going back to allow for such an exemption.

But for authorities and conservationists alike, the rhapsodizing about tradition simply rings hollow. Both lime sticks and mist nets are non-selective trapping methods that can ensnare threatened birds such as the cuckoo, golden oriole and nightingale.

Axel Hirschfeld, spokesman for The Committee against Bird Slaughter, a group that for several years has dispatched volunteers to the island to help stop trapping, scoffs at the idea that tradition justifies the culling of endangered birds.

"I come from any area in Germany where they used to burn witches," said Hirschfeld. "Maybe it's time for these traditions in Cyprus to go away as well."

??

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-31-Cyprus-Crisis%20Songbirds/id-a6a118e19eea4d05886d224b293416b8

groundhog phil pee wee herman ketamine ground hogs day 2012 goundhog day punxsutawney facebook ipo

Can fighting fees help this couple afford a baby?

Melissa and Ryan Will sit with Bob Sullivan. As new homeowners, every penny counts, and they find a few extra ones by refinancing their car and taking stock of their expenses.

By Bob Sullivan, Columnist, NBC News

?Will we ever be able to afford to have children??

Personal finance is never really about the money. It?s about what you can and can?t do.? To Melissa Will, personal finance is about starting a family ? specifically, why she just can?t have a baby now, or anytime soon.

?I would like to have some realistic idea of when we can afford to have kids,? says Melissa. ?But I looked at what it costs to have a baby, and it?s about the same amount that we have in our checking account right now.?

In some ways, Melissa is living the American dream. She married long-time boyfriend Ryan in 2011 when he got out of the Army, and they purchased a small ranch-style three-bedroom in her hometown in the Pacific Northwest soon after.? Hard-working and responsible, she ran the numbers, and the conclusion is inescapable -- they are just getting by. So for the foreseeable future, that means no babies.

?The hardest part about personal finance for me is it always tends to get in the way of my marriage,? says Ryan, who wants to start a family soon, too. Ryan is 26, and Melissa is 25.? ?It?ll stress me out just thinking about not having money, and then if my wife is thinking about the same thing, it just brings it into we?re against each other.?

Melissa is a college graduate ? she went to Whitman College in eastern Washington, where she studied politics, and even held a brief internship in Washington, D.C. with NBC. But she wanted to live near her family, so she moved home three years ago. Now she's a legal secretary working in downtown Seattle, which means an hour-long ferry ride every morning and every night back to her home in Silverdale, across Puget Sound.

Ryan served in the Army for eight years, working as a mechanic. Now he goes to school during the day and works at a motorcycle shop at night. It was very hard to find time to talk with them together. But producer Matt Rivera and I cornered them at their home in December just long enough for a Red-Tape-Chronicles style grilling of their spending.

Melissa Will explains why her high health insurance costs make it difficult to have a baby.

The Wills struggle with the usual cell phone data plan overage fees, and wonder each month if they should cancel cable to save money. We talked about saving money in more constructive ways ? we called banks and learned they could refinance their auto loan from 4.9 percent? to 3.19 percent rate, which would save them $1,000 during the life of the loan. There?s plenty more details in the video.

But the reality of their personal finance math is harsh: They earn about $3,000 each month, and they spend about $3,000 a month. They are homeowners, and they have avoided deep student loan and credit card debt that plagues many 20-somethings, putting them on solid footing. But they aren't getting ahead. If they moved forward with their family plans, they couldn't afford the $1,000 monthly health insurance bill that would come when Melissa tried to add family members to her employer?s health care plan.

We're starting a new kind of Red Tape Chronicle series today called "Protection." Web videos will anchor the piece, because we want you to see and hear from people facing the same kinds of struggles you are. As we find with Melissa and Ryan, there's no magical tip that can suddenly change people?s financial lives. The best ?trick? of all is no trick at all: take the time to sit down and talk about money matters with the people you love, and to make plans. Watch them together, and see where the money discussion takes them, and they?ll warm your heart as they create their own 21^st?century version of ?The Gift of the Magi.? Hint: She doesn?t offer to cut her hair at the end, but almost.

We hope to spur these kinds of discussions for you, too. The Protection series will include financial "Gotcha" interventions, like this one.? We'll be publishing animated videos designed to make complex financial and economic issues simple, fun, and sharable. We'll sit down with experts who offer unusual advice, and we'll have some fun quizzing consumers about the meaning of fine print they read. But most of all, we want to talk.

Melissa and Ryan are charming, they've served the country, they love their hometowns, they are the kind of young couple you'd like living next door, and they are the kind of family you?d think define American family values.? And they have a bit of good news to share: Melissa said on Wednesday that she's just started a new job. She's still working as a legal secretary, and still taking those long ferry rides, but?she got a nice pay increase, and her new employer offers much more affordable health insurance ("We're talking less than a third of what I would have had to pay at my old job to cover myself and my dependents," she said.)

Still for now, their future family plans are hazy. Sound familiar?? Comment below.

If you?d like to be the subject of a future Red Tape fiscal intervention, write to BobSullivan@feedback.msnbc.com

?

Source: http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/30/16775758-red-tape-intervention-can-fighting-fees-help-this-young-couple-afford-a-baby?lite

sports illustrated swimsuit 2012 aretha franklin whitney houston paul williams paul babeu kevin costner budweiser shootout animal house

How to be a social climber

Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Federica Sgorbissa
pressroom@sissa.it
39-040-378-7557
International School of Advanced Studies (SISSA)

A study reveals the mechanisms of 'opportunist' societies

The researchers have carried out a social network simulation: each individual is represented by a node, while links, connecting the nodes, represent social interactions. Each individual has the tendency to enhance their social importance, and to do so they necessarily have to connect with the "most central nodes", that is, to the people who count. However, to advance socially an individual has to break with the past: technically speaking, abandon old nodes and connect with the most central ones. But how many have an inclination to break up with old connections to aim high? In other words, how many opportunist individuals are there within a society?

"Actually", replies Giancarlo De Luca, a Ph.D. student in Statistical Physics at SISSA and co-author of the research, "all individuals are 'social climbers'. The fact that society is in an egalitarian or hierarchical phase does not depend, therefore, on the number of individuals aiming at social climbing, but rather on the importance that individuals of that society ascribe to social prestige."

Therefore, a society that features a strong dominant class may indicate, according to the simulations, that there is a greater "yearning" for social prestige on the part of the inferior levels. "It works a little like Facebook", explains De Luca. "The more contacts I have, the more popular I am. In our model, the number of links determines the closeness to the centre, and belonging to the lite." In a totally egalitarian society all individuals possess the same number of nodes, of contacts. Obviously, what occurs in reality is rather different: only a small number of individuals have a very high number of contacts, while the majority have only a few of them.

More in detail...

"A further interesting aspect we have observed - adds De Luca - is that those who achieve centrality tend to stay in the position of predominance for a long time. Conversely, individuals who are attempting to climb the social ladder, that is to say, are in an intermediate position, move much more rapidly, both in a positive and negative sense."

The study also highlights that in a society with a well-structured hierarchy it is easier to identify the central nodes, that is, "those who count more", and this is why their members will have a very clear idea of who to befriend in view of their climb to success. In such a way, a very hierarchical network will be increasingly more hierarchical, and will feature a great quantity of social climbers.

###

---

[ | E-mail | 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.

Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Federica Sgorbissa
pressroom@sissa.it
39-040-378-7557
International School of Advanced Studies (SISSA)

A study reveals the mechanisms of 'opportunist' societies

The researchers have carried out a social network simulation: each individual is represented by a node, while links, connecting the nodes, represent social interactions. Each individual has the tendency to enhance their social importance, and to do so they necessarily have to connect with the "most central nodes", that is, to the people who count. However, to advance socially an individual has to break with the past: technically speaking, abandon old nodes and connect with the most central ones. But how many have an inclination to break up with old connections to aim high? In other words, how many opportunist individuals are there within a society?

"Actually", replies Giancarlo De Luca, a Ph.D. student in Statistical Physics at SISSA and co-author of the research, "all individuals are 'social climbers'. The fact that society is in an egalitarian or hierarchical phase does not depend, therefore, on the number of individuals aiming at social climbing, but rather on the importance that individuals of that society ascribe to social prestige."

Therefore, a society that features a strong dominant class may indicate, according to the simulations, that there is a greater "yearning" for social prestige on the part of the inferior levels. "It works a little like Facebook", explains De Luca. "The more contacts I have, the more popular I am. In our model, the number of links determines the closeness to the centre, and belonging to the lite." In a totally egalitarian society all individuals possess the same number of nodes, of contacts. Obviously, what occurs in reality is rather different: only a small number of individuals have a very high number of contacts, while the majority have only a few of them.

More in detail...

"A further interesting aspect we have observed - adds De Luca - is that those who achieve centrality tend to stay in the position of predominance for a long time. Conversely, individuals who are attempting to climb the social ladder, that is to say, are in an intermediate position, move much more rapidly, both in a positive and negative sense."

The study also highlights that in a society with a well-structured hierarchy it is easier to identify the central nodes, that is, "those who count more", and this is why their members will have a very clear idea of who to befriend in view of their climb to success. In such a way, a very hierarchical network will be increasingly more hierarchical, and will feature a great quantity of social climbers.

###

---

[ | E-mail | 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/2013-01/isoa-htb013013.php

freedom tower eric church world trade center quick silver where have you been rihanna kirk cousins mothers day

Proximity beats ratings in DPS school choice | EdNewsColorado

Proximity to schools matters more than the school district?s rating system when families choose schools in Denver.

Image from the school choice page on the DPS website

That?s among the findings of two recently released reports, conclusions that could spark debate about some of the assumptions education reformers have about school choice.

?Almost every family we talked to ? even though they are getting through SchoolChoice, they were not accessing any of these beautiful tools that have been created,? said?Mike Kromrey, executive director of Together Colorado, which conducted a small study focused on low-income Latino families in Denver. ?A?lot of money has been poured into creating some pretty nice tools, but what we have learned is that we? have a lot of work to do.?

The report SchoolChoice: How Parents Chose Schools in 2012 examined the new one-stop open enrollment application rolled out in Denver Public Schools and used for the first time last year.

The online application allows families to rank their top five school choices and then matches them with a compatible school based on capacity, availability, neighborhood preference and other factors.

Last year, the application included three optional questions about the most important factor in choosing a school, useful choice resources and additional information that would have helped.

The Donnell-Kay Foundation and the Piton Foundation partnered with the University of Colorado Denver?s Buechner Institute of Governance to analyze responses to those questions. Of the 23,154 forms completed, about half included an answer to at least one of the three questions. Here are the findings:

• Fewer than a quarter of the respondents listed Denver?s School Performance Framework (SPF), which documents student academic growth and school status, as an important factor in a choice decision.
• Nearly half of respondents said the most important reason for selecting a school was location close to home, work or family.
• Just under a third of parents indicated that a special program or a school?s focus was an important reason.
• Parents of Hispanic students were almost twice as likely (59 percent) to cite location as an important factor as parents of white students (32 percent).
• Parents of students eligible for free- or reduced-price lunches were twice as likely to endorse school ratings as an important reason in selecting their school, compared to parents whose students do not qualify.
• When asked which resource provided parents the most useful information, about one third of all respondents cited teachers or administrators at the school. The other most popular resources listed were information from other parents (30 percent) and the SchoolChoice enrollment guide (28 percent).
• Parents of black and Hispanic students were most likely to respond that the SchoolChoice enrollment guide was their top resource (35 percent and 37 percent, respectively), while parents of white students were most likely to respond that other parents were the best resource (35 percent).

?A lot of families ? especially families living in poverty ? are still choosing schools more based on location than the School Performance Framework,? said Rebecca Kisner, a Donnell-Kay Foundation fellow and community engagement coordinator at Denver?s Rocky Mountain Prep.

Chart from Buechner Institute of Governance report. (Click to enlarge)

Kisner said when she and her team presented the results to local school reform groups ?people felt like the number of families choosing (schools) based on the SPF was better than it has been but still certainly not as high as we?d like it to be.?

Interestingly, when families were asked what resource they would have wanted but didn?t have, they said information about academic performance. So, there seems to be a disconnect between parents and the SPF, with parents not understanding that the framework reflects academic performance, Kisner said.

The bottom line to Kisner?

?To find a really quality neighborhood school in a poor neighborhood is rare. There needs to be more quality choices in all parts of the city.?

Meanwhile, Together Colorado, The Piton Foundation and Stand for Children Colorado recently released their own report on school choice in Denver and documented similar findings.

Their study, called Fulfilling the promise of choice: Challenges and opportunities in school choice decisions made by Latino families, found families struggling to make sense of the performance framework.

The organizations hired a researcher who spent hours observing and interviewing Latino families as they went through the choice process and conducted six 10-person focus groups.

One of the biggest findings was something the reform groups already knew: Education is highly valued by new immigrants, Together Colorado?s Kromrey said.

?In many cases families come to this country for education,? he added.

The performance framework came up in both studies as something average people struggle to both access and comprehend.

The ratings are based on points awarded for student academic growth, status, post-secondary readiness, student engagement, school demand and parent engagement. Each category is weighted differently, with student growth carrying about two-thirds of the weight, followed by status (whether or not students are performing at grade level). The remaining categories carry less weight.

Schools end up with color-coded rankings that affect a school?s operations and its future. A school consistently labeled ?red? can be shut down.

The ratings are:

• ?Distinguished? or blue, which means a school has earned 80 to 100 percent of points possible
• ?Meets expectations? or green, meaning that a school has earned 51 to 79 percent of points possible
• ?Accredited on watch? or yellow, indicating a school has earned 40 to 50 percent of points possible
• ?Accredited on priority watch? or orange, meaning a school has earned 34 to 39 percent of points possible
• ?Accredited on probation? or red. This means a school has earned only 33 percent or less of points possible

The report offered several recommendations on how to help Latino parents better use all relevant information for selecting schools. These suggestions include providing:

• Comprehensive outreach through community members about school choice and factors to consider.
• More detailed information on transportation, extracurricular activities and school performance information beyond what was presented in the choice materials last year. In particular, the information presented must meet one of Latino parents? primary concerns ? geographic proximity to home.
• Information about school academic performance that is more accessible and presented more clearly to parents.
• Clearer language in choice materials.
• Informative websites that are simple and streamlined, with an easy-to-find Spanish language option, featuring data that is searchable using geographic criteria, rather than simply comparing schools against each other.

The organizations involved in the research commended DPS for making several key changes since the research was done. Relatively recent tweaks to the SchoolChoice system include creation of a new electronic SchoolMatch tool, improving the enrollment guide, use of school choice liaisons and expanding school choice expos.

But Kromrey pointed out that more needs to be done to help families access and understand the rating data.

?They did care about being close to their families. They did want to be involved with children. They wanted to see how the schools around them were doing,? Kromrey said. ?They do want to understand how data works. They need some tools that simplify without being so simple that they?re not fair to the schools.?

Kromrey also noted that transportation remains a huge issue for many low-income families. Together Colorado worked on the Success Express shuttle plan in Northeast Denver and will continue to be involved in those issues, he said. He said families also wanted more information from schools, such as information about arts programs or special education.

?The whole reform community and DPS have work to do to change this,? Kromrey said. ?We need to create some different tools. Many parents don?t have computer access. There are some computer literacy issues.?

Understanding How Parents Chose Schools: An Analysis of Denver?s SchoolChoice Form Questions

Source: http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2013/01/30/55373-proximity-beats-ratings-in-dps-school-choice

sarah burke death etta james funeral erin brockovich dodgeball 2012 pro bowl postsecret ufc on fox 2

Celts top Heat 100-98 in 2 OT; Rondo out for year

BOSTON (AP) ? A double-overtime victory against LeBron James and the defending NBA champions was difficult to celebrate for Paul Pierce and the Celtics.

News of Rajon Rondo's season-ending knee injury spoiled the party.

"Everyone was really happy for the win," Pierce said after Boston beat the Miami Heat 100-98 Sunday. "It brought a dark cloud in this room when you heard the news."

When coach Doc Rivers told his players after the game, the joy of ending their six-game losing streak stopped, even if they had just outlasted the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference, which came in with a four-game winning streak.

Now the Celtics must try to keep winning without their leader, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee late in Friday night's 123-112 loss, also in double overtime, in Atlanta.

They won Sunday after Pierce's 22-foot jumper with 31 seconds left gave them a 99-98 lead.

But making the playoffs got harder as the Celtics try to hang on to the eighth and final postseason spot in the conference with a 2 1-2-game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers.

"Obviously, the Rondo news is pretty tough. I knew it before the game," Rivers said. "I just didn't think it was any time to tell any of our guys."

This game was the first in Boston for Ray Allen since he left the Celtics after five seasons and signed as a free agent with Miami. He scored 21 points.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Pierce added 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists for the Celtics.

Rondo's injury "puts this team and the rest of the guys in a position to be ready to step up," Pierce said. Sunday's win "was a perfect example. We showed we are capable."

James had 34 points for the Heat, whose winning streak stopped at four.

"As much as I've been a rival with Boston over the years, I never want to see anyone go down," James said. "It's terrible, not only for their team but for the league."

After Pierce's basket, James had a chance to put the Heat ahead but missed a 12-foot jumper with 6.8 seconds to go from the left with defender Jeff Green jumping out at him. Pierce got the rebound and was fouled by Shane Battier.

He sank the first shot. Then, as a fan shouted "This one's for Rondo," he missed the second.

Miami had one last chance, but Battier missed a long jumper at the buzzer.

"They defended that very well," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "There are about three different options to it, four different options to it. They defended each one of them."

The Heat also could have won in the first overtime, but Dwyane Wade, who had 17 points, also missed a long jumper as the buzzer sounded. They had led 93-89 after consecutive baskets by James, but Garnett hit a layup with 1:45 remaining and a shot from the right baseline with 1:14 to go.

Boston could have avoided the first overtime when Pierce inbounded from behind his backboard with two seconds left to Jason Terry. But Terry's shot from the top of the key was short. The Heat had tied it on a 3-pointer by James with seven seconds remaining in regulation after Allen missed a 3-pointer from the left corner with 15 seconds to go.

Rivers did not mention Rondo's injury in his meeting with reporters about an hour before the game, but Courtney Lee started in his place. Doctors decided to keep Rondo out of the game after he went through his normal pregame routine but complained of pain that he thought was in his hamstring. An MRI was done and team physician Dr. Brian McKeon learned the results during the game.

Allen was part of the Big Three with Pierce and Garnett starting in 2007-08. In their first season together, Boston won its 17th NBA championship. He played against the Celtics once before this season, a 120-107 Heat win in Miami in the opener.

The crowd gave Allen a standing ovation when highlights of his career with the Celtics were shown on the video board above center court during a timeout with 5:33 left in the first quarter. At the Miami bench, he raised his left hand in recognition.

"When I saw it, just all those emotions came streaming back from all the great things we did here," Allen said. "I'll always be a Celtic in my mind."

Allen entered the game about a minute after the tribute and was booed when he touched the ball. The boos came down again when he took two free throws ? missing the first, making the second ? three minutes into the second quarter.

Allen went back into the game with 30 seconds left in the first half with the score tied at 43 and made a layup with 16 seconds to go. But Pierce sank a driving layup with 4.3 seconds remaining to tie it 45-45 at halftime.

"What happened to Ray is never good for this franchise," Pierce said, "but it wasn't about Ray. It was about us playing the defending champs."

It was Miami's first game in Boston since it won Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals behind James' 45 points.

Early in the second half, James hit a pair of 3-pointers from the same spot on the left, putting the Heat in front 51-48. The Celtics rallied and led 64-61 with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter. But the Heat scored the last seven points of the period on a jumper by Norris Cole, a free throw by Allen and two 15-footers by James and led 68-64 going into the fourth.

Notes: James and Chris Bosh each had 16 rebounds for the Heat. The last time the Celtics played consecutive double-overtime games was on March 11 and 13, 1951.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/celts-top-heat-100-98-2-ot-rondo-214433973--spt.html

2013 nissan altima masters par 3 contest google augmented reality glasses wonderlic test texas tornado fantasy baseball jared sullinger

The Yeshiva World VIDEO: R' Amnon Yitzchak Speaks Out ...

[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Following the election defeat of his Koach L?Hashpiah party, which failed to pass the minimum threshold to enter the 19th Knesset, Rav Amnon Yitzchak speaks out, in the form of a video, speaking of the ?sheker?, the lies that accompanied the election campaign and the Shas officials ?who preferred the chilonim Yair Lapid who closes kollelim and drafts Bnei Torah instead of the person who brings people back to teshuvah.

In the 17 minute video, Rav Amnon speaks of the grief caused to Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita, and the chilul Hashem and unacceptable actions of the Shas officials. He speaks of the insults to Maran and the Torah due to the actions of Shas leaders, who acted inappropriately, as well as the attacks and insults against him.

?Shas officials preferred voting for Arabs instead of me.? He explains how the Shas rabbonim never bothered to inquire, to probe and verify if indeed the harsh allegations against him were founded, which of course they were not.

Rav Amnon says he does not forgive any of them for the spilling of his blood and pain and suffering caused.

Rav Amnon speaks of many cases in which they detected voter fraud, the tricks that took place, the threats, those who saw Shas people outside asking voters ?who are you voting for?, the distribution of cash and even distribution of cell phones free of charge, all to pull people from voting Koach L?Hashpiah.

The vehicles driving around Rosh Ha?ayin and Rehovot announcing that Koach L?Hashpiah closed and that Rav Amnon instructed voters to return to Shas. The rav speaks of how Shas ignored the rulings of Central Election Committee officials, conducting a campaign that was ruled illegal and unacceptable.

Rav Amnon laments how the actions of Shas leaders and supporters actually pushed some people away from being frum, not wishing to be associated with Jews like this, citing the foul play and tactics that have become Shas, actions that are not seen among the most left-wing secular party in Israel.

Rav Amnon speaks of how 30,000 rabbonim, roshei kollel and their followers used all their energy against one man, who was simply acting upon the instructions of HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita, and instead, Yair Lapid has 19 seats.

?Lapid is good for Shas while Amnon Yitzchak is very bad. Can someone please explain this to me? he adds.

Click HERE to watch this video from a mobile device.

Have you checked out?YWN Radio?yet? Click?HERE?to listen!

(YWN ? Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Add your comment
Subscribe to RSS Feed For This Article

Source: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/?p=154367

denver news frozen planet creighton new smyrna beach st. joseph puerto rico primary manning

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden host Katy Perry in tribute to military families

If the USO took over production of the MTV Music Awards, the result would be something like the Kid?s Inaugural Concert that First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden hosted Saturday in tribute to military families. Several thousand children and their parents?many functioning both as chaperones and stepladders?filled the hall of the Washington Convention Center to capacity to hear the likes of Usher and Katy Perry.

Lt. Col. Kevin Schmiegel (Ret) of Frederickberg, Va., who spent 20 years in the Marines and now runs a program for hiring veterans and their spouses, came with his 12-year-old son Jack and one of Jack?s friends.

?I have two sons who are 18 and 16 who were too cool to come,? Schmeigel said as one of the Washington Nationals mascots, George Washington, sauntered by. Of the star-studded lineup, Jack expressed hope that Usher would perform ?OMG? and that Perry would sing ?Firework.?

Jack got his wish: Usher performed ?OMG? third in his set, after ?Yeah? and ?Without You.? While he appeared to gloss over the more overtly sexual portions of the lyrics, the closed captioning on the monitors did not. Perry ended with "Firework," set to a slideshow of President Barack Obama shaking hands and talking on the phone.

Usher was followed by the Far East Movement, who somewhat awkwardly incorporated the message of military gratitude into their Black Eyed Peas-flavored hip-hop. A gospel fusion group called Soul Children of Chicago performed as well, but neither Stevie Wonder nor Smokey Robinson, both originally reported to be on the docket, made an appearance.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/michelle-obama-jill-biden-host-katy-perry-tribute-022043241--politics.html

camilla belle NASA Robert Bork instagram mark sanchez christina aguilera Mayan End Of The World

Surgery scheduled to restore Bolshoi ballet director's eyesight

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The artistic director of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet will undergo surgery next week to try to save his eyesight after an attacker threw acid in his face, the theatre's chief said on Saturday.

Sergei Filin, 42, spoke to investigators in a Moscow hospital, Bolshoi director Anatoly Iksanov said, adding that they also questioned his colleagues, who said the attack was likely triggered by envy, rivalry or competition for roles in Russia's most prestigious theatre.

"Investigators are questioning those who worked in the theatre, artists," said Iksanov on the snowy grounds outside the hospital, where Filin was receiving visitors.

A masked assailant threw acid in Filin's face late on Thursday night outside his house as he returned home from the theatre. Colleagues said Filin believes the attacker had been following him and called him by name before striking.

An icon of Russian culture, the Bolshoi Theatre is a magnet for tourists and has seen power struggles among dancers and directors throughout more than 200 years of history.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many of those conflicts, whether driven by egos or artistic conviction, have been played out in public.

Iksanov said he and Filin discussed the theatre's future during his absence and that a temporary replacement had been chosen.

"It was Sergei's choice," he told Russia 24 television, without naming the candidate.

The chief physician at the hospital was quoted by Itar Tass as saying Filin was in bandages following surgery on Friday but was able to walk and eat.

Iksanov said medics feared for his eyesight.

"The doctors' biggest fear is the trauma (on) Sergei's eyes and in the course of two weeks, it will be understood what kind of procedures, what has to be done," he said.

"The next operation has been decided, it will happen on Tuesday or Wednesday."

Bolshoi Theatre spokeswoman Katerina Novikova said previously Filin would be transferred to a burn centre in Belgium, but government spokesman Alexei Levchenko, speaking to Interfax, dismissed those plans, saying he would stay in Russia.

"The question is not worth asking ... with (Russia's) conditions, the necessary treatment is being provided to S. Filin," said Levchenko, the spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, who has been ordered to oversee the case.

After the tightly-controlled three-decade tenure of Yuri Grigorovich ended in 1995, the Bolshoi Ballet went through five artistic directors before the appointment in March 2011 of Filin, who joined the Bolshoi's ballet troupe in 1988.

(Reporting By Thomas Grove; Editing by Jason Webb)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/surgery-scheduled-restore-bolshoi-ballet-directors-eyesight-171434033.html

westboro baptist church Fashion Island shooting Victor Cruz nfl standings Vicki Soto Adam Lanza fox news

Retiring parks and rec director reflects on time in Blaine | ABC ...

Jim Kappelhoff was the oldest of four brothers and took charge when it came to organizing pickup games.They made a small hockey rink in the back yard of their St. Paul home, and Kappelhoff would organize neighborhood kids into tournament brackets when they went to the local city park. They would stay there all day playing sports, come home for dinner and then go back to the park.

Jim Kappelhoff plans to spend a lot of time with his four grandchildren after he retires from his post as Blaine?s park and recreation director effective Feb. 28. He also plans to spend more time fishing on his boat, golfing, vacationing with his wife and working on projects around the house. Photo by Eric Hagen

?You could count on the fact that there were always enough kids to have a game of either baseball or football or hockey, and that was our entertainment,? Kappelhoff said. ?We didn?t have the video games then.?

His family moved to Anoka when he was in ninth grade. After he graduated from Anoka High School in 1972 he never lost his interest in organizing sporting events. It would become a significant part of his early career.

Kappelhoff is retiring Feb. 28 as Blaine?s park and recreation director after having served about six years in that role. Kappelhoff started working part-time as an adult athletics league director for Blaine in 1982. He became the full-time recreation supervisor in 1984 and held that title until longtime parks and recreation director Jim Peterson retired in 2007. He had been with the city for 34 years, including 23 years as the director.

Prior to Blaine, Kappelhoff was a program supervisor in Spring Lake Park?s park and recreation department in 1981 and the recreation programmer for the city of Fridley from 1977 to 1980. After he graduated from Anoka High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Army to get help paying his college tuition under the G.I. Bill. He received an associate of arts degree in recreation leadership in 1972 from North Hennepin Community College and a bachelor of science degree in recreation, parks and leisure studies from the University of Minnesota in 1982.

Mayor Tom Ryan said Kappelhoff and Peterson had the biggest impact on the growth of the Blaine parks program.

?He grew up with the whole program,? he said of Kappelhoff. ?He helped develop it a lot.?

Peterson said Kappelhoff handled the city?s adult athletics programs and was the liaison with youth athletics groups, which included scheduling field use.

Kappelhoff said he set up training programs for the adults volunteering to be coaches of the youth sports teams. He joined the National Youth Sports Coaches Association (NYSCA) and at one point served as a chapter director for this organization. He has served on the advisory committee for the NYSCA since 2002.

Kappelhoff?s father Jim Kappelhoff was Anoka?s park and recreation director from March 1975 through the end of 1979. His father would later become the director of the North Anoka County Emergency (NACE) Food Shelf in East Bethel for about 20 years.

The younger Kappelhoff was drawn to a career in parks and recreation because of his interest in sports and his father?s background. He would find out that the job was much more about sports, however.

?You have to have a passion and a vision about what?s in the future and try to meet that with the needs of the community,? Kappelhoff said.

Blaine has become a more diverse community. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 84 percent of Blaine?s population is white, 7.8 percent Asian, 3.7 percent African American and 3.2 percent Hispanic or Latino. These are the four largest segments. In 2000, the percentages were 93.9 percent white, 2.5 percent Asian, 0.9 percent black and 1.7 percent Hispanic or Latino.

In celebration of the growing diversity, Kappelhoff started the Blaine World Fest in 2008 to bring together the different cultures through the sharing of foods, dances and arts.

Another key project for Kappelhoff was the Miracle League field at the Blaine Baseball Complex, which was renamed Harmon Killebrew Memorial Field last spring. Killebrew was behind the drive to develop fields in Minnesota that gives kids with disabilities the chance to enjoy the fun and camaraderie of team sports. He attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Blaine field in 2005 and the opening game in 2006.

Kappelhoff said in 2004 that Miracle League of Minnesota founder and executive director Kevin Thoresen came to city hall to pitch the idea of Blaine having the first Miracle League field in Minnesota.

The only thing Blaine had to do was donate the land, Kappelhoff said. The construction material and labor was paid for through donations by the Minnesota Twins Community Fund, the Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation and the Minnesota Utility Contractors Association.

?Of course with Harmon Killebrew on board with the Miracle League of Minnesota, it was a success right from the beginning,? Kappelhoff said.

He fondly remembers opening day on May 6, 2006 and seeing all the kids in their jerseys playing a ball game with a real pipe organ playing in the background and T.C. Bear interacting with the kids and crowd.

Lakeside Commons Park was probably the signature project during his time as Blaine?s park and recreation director, Kappelhoff said. Planning for the nearly $3 million project was challenging, but enjoyable. He worked with multiple city departments including finance, engineering and inspections as well as with various contractors to stay up to date on what was happening.

Lakeside Commons Park opened in 2010 and includes a beach, watercraft rental, beach house with changing rooms and restrooms, picnic shelter, trails and a large playground.

?Providing a facility like that which serves 50,000 people a summer to me is something that is meeting the needs of the community,? Kappelhoff said.

Over 350 people competed in the inaugural Blaine Triathlon at Lakeside Commons Park in May 2012. Registration is open for the second annual competition on May 18. Nate Monahan, program supervisor, oversees the Blaine Triathlon.

Deciding to retire

Peterson felt Kappelhoff was the strongest person to take over for him after he retired in 2007 because he had overall knowledge of the operation of the department.

?I was very proud he was able to fill my position,? Peterson said. ?I thought he would be there longer.?

Kappelhoff also thought he would be there longer, but he was eligible for retirement and decided to accept an offer from the city to retire in early 2013 as part of the city?s overall effort to reduce its budget.

Kappelhoff said his original plan was to stay on through the end of 2013 and see through planning of the 40-acre Lexington Avenue Athletic Park complex, finishing up Legacy Creek Park and replacing a field at Aquatore Park.

Kappelhoff is preparing other staff to take over his job responsibilities after he retires, so he has not really thought about March 1, he said.

Robert Therres, who has been with the city of Blaine since 2001 and is the public services manager, will also be taking on the title of interim parks and recreation director when Kappelhoff retires.

One of Therres? roles will be to evaluate current Blaine staff to see if anybody is a candidate to become the next parks and recreation director.

Eric Hagen is at eric.hagen@ecm-inc.com

Source: http://abcnewspapers.com/2013/01/19/retiring-parks-and-rec-director-reflects-on-time-in-blaine/

florida debate rand paul mark kirk florida gop debate freddie mac kristin cavallari rough riders

America's national parks weigh solitude against cellular access

3 hrs.

Reuters

As cell phones, iPods and laptops creep steadily into every corner of modern life, America's national parks have stayed largely off the digital grid, among the last remaining outposts of ringtone-free human solitude.

For better or worse, that may soon change.

Under pressure from telecommunications companies and a growing number of park visitors who feel adrift without mobile-phone reception, the airwaves in such grand getaway destinations as Yellowstone National Park may soon be abuzz with new wireless signals.

That prospect has given pause to a more traditional cohort of park visitors who cherish the unplugged tranquility of the great outdoors, fearing an intrusion of mobile phones ??and the sound of idle chatter ??will diminish their experience.

Some have mixed emotions. Stephanie Smith, a 50-something Montana native who visits Yellowstone as many as six times a year, said she prefers the cry of an eagle to ring tones.

But she also worries that future generations may lose their appreciation for the value of nature and the need to preserve America's outdoor heritage if a lack of technology discourages them from visiting.

"You have to get there to appreciate it," Smith said. "It's a new world ??and technology is a part of it."

Balancing the two aesthetics has emerged as the latest challenge facing the National Park Service as managers in at least two premier parks, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, consider recent requests to install new telecommunications towers or upgrade existing ones.

There is no system-wide rule governing cellular facilities in the 300 national parks, national monuments and other units the agency administers nationwide. Wireless infrastructure decisions are left up to the managers of individual park units.

The agency's mission statement requires it to protect park resources and the visitor experience, but each individual experience is unique, said Lee Dickinson, a special-uses program manager for the Park Service.

"I've had two visitors calling me literally within hours of each other who wanted exactly the opposite experience: One saying he didn't vacation anywhere without electronic access and the other complaining he was disturbed by another park visitor ordering pizza on his cell phone," Dickinson said.

Can?you hear me now?
Wireless supporters say more is at stake than the convenience of casual phone conversations. Cellular providers say new wireless infrastructure will boost public safety by improving communications among park rangers and emergency responders.

They argue that the ability to download smartphone applications that can deliver instant information on plants and animals will also enrich park visitors' experiences.

"Our customers are telling us that having access to technology will enhance their visit to wild areas," said Bob Kelley, spokesman for Verizon Wireless, which is seeking to install a new 100-foot cell tower at Yellowstone.

Rural communities that border the national parks also stand to benefit from enlarged cellular coverage areas.

On the other side of the debate, outdoor enthusiasts worry that bastions of quiet reflection could be transformed into noisy hubs where visitors yak on cell phones and fidget with electronic tablets, detracting from the ambience of such natural wonders as Yellowstone's celebrated geyser Old Faithful.

Expanding cellular reception may even compromise safety by giving some tourists a false sense of security in the back country, where extremes in weather and terrain test even the most skilled outdoorsman, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Tim Stevens, the association's Northern Rockies director, said distractions like meandering moose already challenge the attention of motorists clogging park roads at the height of the summer tourist season.

"People brake in the middle of the road to watch animals. The added distraction of a wireless signal ??allowing a driver to text Aunt Madge to say how great the trip is ??could have disastrous consequences," he said.

Yellowstone already offers some limited mobile-phone service, afforded by four cellular towers previously erected in developed sections of the park.

But vast swathes of America's oldest national park, which spans nearly 3,500 square miles across the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, still lack wireless reception in an age dominated by Wi-Fi and iPad users who expect access even in the most remote locations.

Park officials see definite signs that a portion of the roughly 3 million annual visitors to Yellowstone, which crafted a wireless plan in 2008, are finding the lack of cell phone coverage disconcerting.

Park spokesman Al Nash said he routinely fields calls from anxious relatives of Yellowstone visitors unable to contact their loved ones.

"They say, 'My gosh, my niece, daughter or parents went to Yellowstone, and we haven't heard from them for three days,'" he said.?

(Reporting and writing by Laura Zuckerman; Editing by Steve Gorman)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Click For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/americas-national-parks-weigh-solitude-against-cellular-access-1B8040227

andy murray Samsung Galaxy S3 usps bachelor pad bachelor pad Green Coffee Bean Extract september 11

Looking to rebound, GOP eyes new election laws in states Obama won (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/277924649?client_source=feed&format=rss

clooney arrested southern miss rod blagojevich rod blagojevich uconn ncaa march madness mario williams

VCs Invested $26.5B In 3,698 Companies In 2012, Total Dollars And Deal Volume Both Down

A new Moneytree report is being released this evening, showing that annual VC investment dollars have declines for the first time in three years. The study, which was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), and based on data from Thomson Reuters, reports that there were $26.5 billion put into 3,698 VC deals in 2012, a decrease of 10 percent in dollars and a 6 percent decline in deals over the prior year.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-ISzi89gs2E/

heather locklear hospitalized joplin tornado extreme makeover home edition coachella 2012 constitution day constitution day dolly parton

New Zillow Rental Academy Classes Are Here | Real Estate and ...

Zillow Rentals just launched 9 new classes in the?Academy. The 200 series of classes are now here, and ready to download for free. The Zillow Rentals Academy is dedicated to providing comprehensive classes on rentals to the real estate community.

Our 200-level classes presents a series of topics rental businesses could use to bring their business to the next level. Learn how to handle issues such as reputation management, conducting credit reports, or how to deal with problem tenants.

Sign up to get updates on the Zillow Rentals Academy. We keep spinning up new classes, so you won?t want to miss out.

Source: http://www.zillow.com/blog/pro/2013-01-17/new-zillow-rental-academy-classes-are-here/

joe the plumber lra lra eric johnson eric johnson big east tournament ashley olsen

Real Estate Agent - Zillow Real Estate Advice

No, no agreement has been signed. The agent is young and they have confessed at one time they like to sleep in and don't like to get started until noon time! We live 2 hours from our desired location, so it is difficult to get together on schedules. My husband works ?out of state a lot. I would like to view homes at our convenience...
So, it wouldn't be unethical, to call up another agent is what you all are telling me, Right?

Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/Real-Estate-Agent/474711/

tampa bay buccaneers birdman whip it gabby giffords gabby giffords geithner gabrielle giffords

An NFL Player Says He Met Manti Te'o's Girlfriend, And She's Real

Although Deadspin, Notre Dame, and Manti Te'o himself are saying Lennay Kekua never existed and was a fabrication in an elaborate hoax, one NFL player claims to have met her.

Reagan Maui'a, a fullback for the Arizona Cardinals, told ESPN that he met Kekua doing charity work in American Samoa in 2011. Here's what he said:

"This was before her and Manti. I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was -- I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa."

Maui'a said it was?Ronaiah Tuiasosopo ? the person who Deadspin reports invented Kekua on the Internet ? who introduced the two. Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers was allegedly there as well.

From ESPN:

He said it is his understanding that Kekua's mother is operating her Twitter account. He said he'd never met her mother. When told by a reporter that she apparently might not have existed, Mauia said: "No, she is real."

Deadspin reports that the evidence is overwhelming that Kekua ? at least the person we taught Kekua was ? did not exist. There is no death certificate, or record of her having graduating from Stanford.

So perhaps Maui'a's claim is just proof that there is a whole lot that we just don't know right now.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/s1qclv7ivj4/arizona-cardinals-met-manti-teo-girlfriend-2013-1

sarah shahi george clooney rutgers dharun ravi george clooney arrested ravi leigh

Intel 4Q profit down, beats Street

A man walks past the Intel booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013. The 2013 International CES gadget show, the biggest trade show in the Americas, is taking place in Las Vegas this week. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A man walks past the Intel booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013. The 2013 International CES gadget show, the biggest trade show in the Americas, is taking place in Las Vegas this week. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, on Thursday said its fourth-quarter net income fell 27 percent from the previous year, as PC sales continued to weaken.

Net income was $2.47 billion, or 48 cents per share, for the October to December period. That was down from $3.36 billion, or 64 cents per share, a year ago.

Intel still beat earnings expectations for the quarter by 3 cents per share relative to the average of analysts polled by FactSet. That was due to slightly higher-than-expected prices for its chips and lower-than-expected costs for starting up new production lines.

Revenue fell 3 percent to $13.5 billion, matching analyst expectations.

Intel is challenged by a shift in consumer spending from PCs ? most of which use Intel chips ? to smartphones and tablets, which don't. Research firm Gartner said this week that global PC shipments fell 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago. Households are letting tablets replace their secondary PCs, it said.

Intel had warned that the fourth quarter would be lackluster, and that the usual holiday bounce in PC shipments would be cut in half, even though Microsoft launched its new operating system, Windows 8, in the quarter.

The Santa Clara, Calif., company expects about $12.7 billion in first-quarter revenue, below the analyst forecast of $12.9 billion but in line with usual seasonal variations.

For the full year, Intel is forecasting a revenue percentage increase in the low single digits, in line with Wall Street's 2 percent expectation.

Intel shares fell $1, or 4.4 percent, to $21.68 in afterhours trading, after the release of the results. That more than wiped out the day's gain of 57 cents in regular trading.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-17-US-Earns-Intel/id-84e63217b1714d0bbb65bd38643a3fa1

thursday night football japan earthquake Star Trek Into Darkness Heisman watch John McAfee Jenny Rivera Pacquiao vs Marquez 4

Home Based Business Tried And Tested Tips! ? James Shutt

Many say that starting any home business is rough. They may talk about the instability associated with home businesses or the difficulty in providing a full-time income. The following article will help you discover ways to make your home business successful.

Make sure your business has a phone line meant for customers. You can write off calls from this line at tax time. You can deduct these calls from your home phone bill if you do not want to set up a new line.

Be sure to indicate where customers can purchase your goods or services. Make sure you let your consumers know what stores sell your products so that they may find them in the future. This builds some trust and respect with customers for your home business and you.

You should have a solid work schedule. Avoid working around the clock by setting actual office hours and sticking to them. Give yourself personal time and try to work relatively conventional hours. It is vital to balance work with your social life at all times.

If a business partner is part of the plan, be certain to link up with a trustworthy person. Sometimes, a family member is not the best choice. While it might be challenging to find a partner with whom you can work, one who is honest and reliable, doing so can be advantageous.

One of your first steps in starting your home business is to consult with your banker and learn about business finances and accounting. He or she can open a business account for you, have checks printed with your company logo and offer options on credit lines and cards that can facilitate your start-up.

Check into liability insurance. You cannot have customers coming to visit your home business without it. If there is an accident, you will be covered and will not have to shell out large sums of money.

A home business isn?t difficult to start. There are countless different models that work well for a home business. Whether you want to start a transcribing business, become a free lance writer or get into web design, the best time to start a home business is now. Think of what products and services you would like to see in your area, then think of what would be required to start offering that.

Announce the launching of your home based business to everyone you know with a quick and enticing email. Offer them a freebie or discount to help get your business started. Make it a point to ask others to tell people they know about your business. Word of mouth is one of the most effective means of advertising, especially for a new business.

Place an inspiration board above your desk so that it?s easy to see. Pin quotes, magazine articles or anything else that will give you the incentive to remain on top of your goals. Throw in items you?d like to purchase with your home business profits, or if you?re after paying off big bills, put images of the items you are paying off on there. My vision board includes a gorgeous kitchen renovation, Niagara Falls and a favorite restaurant. )

A great tip for your home business is to be sure that you have a website. There are exceptions, but nearly all businesses will benefit from a web presence. Be sure and come up with a good domain name that represents your functions well and that all content is info-packed and highly useful to visitors.

Working at home requires an office. It does not have to be large, but it does have to be professional and well-equipped. An office needs to be where you?re able to be inspired, efficient and productive all at once. Don?t worry about the size, you can make do with whatever space you have.

What supplies or equipment will you need to get started? This list needs to be made so that you can find the best deals on the things you need to purchase.

Branch out when it comes to your home business product. Sell items that complement your main products. One example would be to think over if you?d be better off creating your own product, or get paid by another company for selling their product.

You can help your family understand your business venture better if you involve them in this process. As an example, if your child can design websites, ask him or her to take a stab at yours. Your wife may be able to help cater your special events. Could your children help put flyers in the mail?

It is vital that you keep accurate records for your home business. If you are audited, you will want to make sure that everything is intact. This will also become a guide for you to see how your business is keeping up.

Define your niche in details. You need to target an audience that will be interested in your products. Targeting the right audience can really help your business to grow quickly. Ask your friends, current customers and associates for their thoughts about your niche. Ask for additional referrals if they have any to make. Trade shows are great outlets where professionals and consumers can interact.

With these helpful tips, it is possible to have a successful home business. Like any other thing, knowledge accompanied with the drive to do something works hand-in-hand in achieving success. You should easily be able to supplement your income from home after reading this article.

Home Business

Source: http://jamesshutt.com/home-based-business-tried-and-tested-tips/

champs calvin johnson calvin johnson festivus festivus nfl playoff picture nfl playoff picture