Former President George H.W. Bush out of intensive care

Former President George H.W. Bush was moved Saturday out of the intensive care unit of the Houston hospital where he has been for more than a month.

"President Bush's condition has improved, so he has been moved today from the intensive care unit to a regular patient room at The Methodist Hospital to continue his recovery," his office said in a statement distributed by spokesman Jim McGrath.

Bush was moved to the intensive care unit last Sunday as doctors worked to control "a stubborn fever," McGrath said at the time. He was listed at the time in guarded condition.

Bush was initially hospitalized with bronchitis and remained in the hospital for a lingering cough. He was admitted from November 7 through 9, then returned on November 23. He has remained at the hospital since. Before his ICU admission, Bush was undergoing physical therapy as doctors prepared to have him home for Christmas.

While in the intensive care unit, Bush was on a liquid diet. It was not immediately clear on Saturday whether he remained on that modified diet.

On Friday, McGrath signaled that the former president was improving.

"The president is alert and, as always, in good spirits - and his exchanges with doctors and nurses now include singing. The Bushes thank everyone for their prayers and good wishes and, like their doctors, are cautiously optimistic that the current course of treatment will be effective."

That same day, Bush took a call from one of his favorite bands: the Oak Ridge Boys.

The gospel-turned-country crooners returned from their vacation, members said, to serenade the former president by phone at the request of former first lady Barbara Bush.

"We asked what song he would like to hear and he said, 'Elvira,' so we blasted some oom pop a mau mau's in the direction of Houston, Texas," band member Joe Bonsall said.

Source: http://www.wptz.com/news/politics/Former-President-George-H-W-Bush-out-of-intensive-care/-/8869804/17945524/-/qswtjwz/-/index.html?absolute=true

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A solution to this scourge in our society - Guyana Times International ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.guyanatimesinternational.com/?p=22738

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Krauthammer: Obama Has Ruthlessly Shattered the GOP, Created Internal Civil War (Little green footballs)

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Fearful of ban, frenzied buyers swarm gun stores

FILE - In this Thursday, July 26, 2012 file photo, an AR-15 style rifle is displayed at the Firing-Line indoor range and gun shop in Aurora, Colo. Demand for firearms, ammunition and bulletproof gear has jumped since the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 children and six adults. Politicians, including President Barack Obama, have called for tighter gun control since then. That has sent Americans into a panic, buying as many guns and as much ammunition as they can get their hands on before any type of ban is set. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, July 26, 2012 file photo, an AR-15 style rifle is displayed at the Firing-Line indoor range and gun shop in Aurora, Colo. Demand for firearms, ammunition and bulletproof gear has jumped since the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 children and six adults. Politicians, including President Barack Obama, have called for tighter gun control since then. That has sent Americans into a panic, buying as many guns and as much ammunition as they can get their hands on before any type of ban is set. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 file photo, Clerk Lance McCoy, right, shows a variety of weapons including an AR-15 style semi-automatic at Kizer Guns and Ammo near Nacogdoches, Texas. Demand for firearms, ammunition and bulletproof gear has jumped since the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 children and six adults. Politicians, including President Barack Obama, have called for tighter gun control since then. That has sent Americans into a panic, buying as many guns and as much ammunition as they can get their hands on before any type of ban is set. (AP Photo/The Daily Sentinel, Andrew D. Brosig, File) MANDATORY CREDIT

NEW YORK (AP) ? The phones at Red's Trading Post wouldn't stop ringing. Would-be customers from as far away as New York wanted to know if the Twin Falls, Idaho gun shop had firearms in stock. Others clamored to find out if their orders had been shipped.

Overwhelmed, gun store manager Ryan Horsley had to do what no employee would ever think of doing just days before Christmas: He disconnected the phone lines for three whole days.

"We had to shut everything off," says Horsley, whose family has owned Red's Trading Post, the state's oldest gun shop, since 1936. "We were swamped in the store and online."

The phones at gun shops across the country are ringing off the hook. Demand for firearms, ammunition and bulletproof gear has surged since the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown, Conn., that took the lives of 20 schoolchildren and six teachers and administrators. The shooting sparked calls for tighter gun control measures, especially for military-style assault weapons like the ones used in Newtown and in the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting earlier this year. The prospect of a possible weapons ban has sent gun enthusiasts into a panic and sparked a frenzy of buying at stores and gun dealers nationwide.

Assault rifles are sold out across the country. Rounds of .223 bullets, like those used in the AR-15 type Bushmaster rifle used in Newtown, are scarce. Stores are struggling to restock their shelves. Gun and ammunition makers are telling retailers they will have to wait months to get more.

Store owners who have been in the business for years say they have never seen demand like this before.

When asked how much sales have increased in the past few weeks, Horsley just laughed.

"We haven't even had a chance to look at it," he says. Horsley spends his days calling manufacturers around the country trying to buy more items for the store. Mainly, they tell him he has to wait.

Franklin Armory, a firearm maker in Morgan Hill, Calif., is telling dealers that it will take six months to fulfill their orders. The company plans to hire more workers and buy more machines to catch up, says Franklin Armory's President Jay Jacobson.

The shortage is leaving many would-be gun owners empty handed.

William Kotis went to a gun show in Winston-Salem, N.C., last weekend hoping to buy a rifle for target shooting. Almost everything was sold out.

"Assault rifles were selling like crazy," says Kotis, who is president and CEO of Kotis Holdings, a real estate development company based in Greensboro. "People are stockpiling."

He left without buying anything.

Luke Orlando's parents were able to get him the 12-gauge shotgun he wanted for Christmas to bird hunt, but his uncle wasn't as lucky.

"At Christmas dinner, my uncle expressed outrage that after waiting six months to use his Christmas bonus to purchase an AR-15, they are sold out and back ordered over a year," says Orlando, 18, a student at the University of Texas.

No organization publicly releases gun sales data. The only way to measure demand is by the number of background checks that are conducted when someone wants to buy a firearm. Those numbers are released by the Federal Reserve Bureau every month. Data for December is not out yet. But the Federal Bureau of Investigation says that it did 16.8 million firearm background checks as of the end of November, up more than 2 percent from a year ago.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which handles background checks for the state, can't keep up with the number of requests it is getting. The bureau has pulled staff from other units and increased its hours, says spokesperson Susan Medina.

Many firearm dealers and manufacturers say that Obama's comments since the Newtown school shooting are driving demand.

James Zimmerman of SelwayArmory.com, a website that sells guns, ammunition and knives, says that sales really took off on Dec. 19 after President Barack Obama held a White House press conference announcing that Vice President Joe Biden would lead a team tasked with coming up with "concrete proposals" to curb gun violence.

That day, one customer ordered 32,000 rounds of ammunition from SelwayArmory.com, worth close to $18,000. The order had to be shipped from the company's Lolo, Mont., office to Kentucky on a freight truck.

"I've done more sales in the week after the 19th than I have the whole year," says Zimmerman, who launched SelwayArmory.com in 2009.

At Lady Liberty Gunsmithing LLC in Atlantic City, N.J., a customer called last week asking if a pistol he wanted was available. When he was told there was only one left, he drove more than two hours from Newark, N.J., to buy it that same day.

"People want guns now even more than ever," says Guy Petinga II, whose father opened the store above his home in 1996.

Others saw demand immediately after the shooting.

Bullet Blocker, which makes bulletproof vests, briefcases and insert panels, saw sales of its children's backpacks suddenly jump.

"That's how I found out about the tragedy. I saw the sales rise and then turned on CNN," says Elmar Uy, vice president of business operations at the Billerica, Mass., company.

Bullet Blocker has sold about 50 to 100 bulletproof backpacks a day since the shooting, up from about 10 to 15 in a regular week. The children's backpacks, which are designed to be used as shields, cost over $200 each.

"I've never seen numbers like this before," says Uy.

___

Follow Joseph Pisani at http://twitter.com/josephpisani

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-28-Smallbiz-Guns%20For%20Christmas/id-369e2085b5d34fa39af3cb5294f52226

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KOL's Nathan Followill, Jessie Baylin welcome baby

FILE - This Feb. 12, 2012 file photo shows Jessie Baylin with her husband Nathan Followill of the band Kings of Leon at the 54th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Followill and Baylin welcomed a baby girl on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE - This Feb. 12, 2012 file photo shows Jessie Baylin with her husband Nathan Followill of the band Kings of Leon at the 54th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Followill and Baylin welcomed a baby girl on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? The Kings of Leon family has just gotten bigger.

Drummer Nathan Followill and his wife, singer-songwriter Jessie Baylin, welcomed a baby girl on Wednesday. It's the first baby for the couple and the third for the Followill family band. Nathan Followill's brother Caleb and cousin Matthew also have children.

A spokesman says Violet Marlowe Followill was born at 4:01 p.m. in Nashville. She was 7 pounds, 13 ounces at birth.

The baby comes before what promises to be a busy 2013 for Kings of Leon. The Nashville, Tenn.-based band has been working on new music for an album that's expected to be released next year. Baylin released her third album, "Little Spark," earlier this year.

The couple has been married since 2009.

___

Online:

http://kingsofleon.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-27-People-Kings%20of%20Leon/id-0601d12d624946fe87f9324a09cc8673

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New, gentler snowstorm heads for Northeast

It won't be a blockbuster snowfall, but most of the big cities in the Northeast will get one to three inches of snow. The Weather Channel's Chris Warren reports.

By Miguel Llanos, NBC News

A second, smaller winter storm will hit the Northeast Friday night and into Saturday, dumping up to 6 inches of snow in major cities and up to a foot and a half of snow in less populated areas. But it won?t pack nearly the punch of the one earlier this week that brought twisters, high winds, icy roads, power outages and record snowfall, and that led to at least 17 deaths and thousands of grounded flights, affecting tens of thousands of holiday travelers.

"This storm will move at a rather brisk pace, so we don't expect any overwhelming snow amounts," weather.com reported.

Boston could see 4 to 6 inches "if the low-pressure system tracks close enough to the coast," weather.com added.

New York City can expect 2-4 inches Saturday morning and into the evening, NBCNewYork.com reported, calling it a "postcard" storm ideal for sledding and strolling.

More storm coverage at weather.com

Washington, D.C., is looking at 1-3 inches, NBCWashington.com was forecasting. Some of that snow is likely to mix with rain.

---

Freezing rain -- making for treacherous travel conditions -- was predicted for parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia while significant rain was likely along the New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland coasts, the?National Weather Service?said.

The weather service forecast 12 to 18 inches of snow for northern New England, accompanied by freezing rain and sleet.

Tom Olney, a 50-year-old stay-at-home father of two, was making plans to go sledding with his children in their hometown of Wayland, Mass.?

"We love snow," Olney told Reuters. "What else are you going to do when it's this wet and cold out?"?

Western Massachusetts, like much of the Northeast, had an uncharacteristically mild winter last year, but residents such as Olney say they are ready for a more typical cold season.?

"Mother Nature doesn't usually give you two in a row," he said. "We've still got a lot of supplies from last year, so I guess we're ready for it now."?

Eleven inches of snow was forecast for Buffalo, N.Y., where some 8 to 12 inches of snow fell overnight into Thursday. Prior to that, Buffalo was 23 inches below average for this time of year, the weather service said.

"It's just a reminder: Winter is here," said Tom Paone of the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

The earlier winter storm was tied to at least 17 deaths and?forced the cancellation of thousands of airline flights. It?dumped record snow in north Texas and Arkansas before sweeping through the South on Christmas Day and then veering north, where the Adirondacks got 20 inches of snow.

More than 2,000 flights have been canceled, and more than 200,000 customers are without power in several Southern states as the impact of severe winter weather was felt across the nation. NBC's Eric Fisher reports.

It also triggered tornadoes and left almost 200,000 homes and businesses in Arkansas and Alabama lost power on Wednesday.

In Arkansas, 106,000 homes and businesses were still without power Friday afternoon, and the state's largest utility said many might not get it back until after Jan. 1.?

Deena Brazell spent a night in her car for warmth, though she hadn't planned it that way.

"Everything in the apartment is electric. I stayed in the apartment the first night. After that, it got cold really quick," she told The Associated Press. "I went out to charge the phone and fell asleep, then I just decided to stay."?

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.?

Ice and snow changes our environment, as winter engulfs our world.

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/28/16209527-new-snowstorm-heads-for-northeast-but-this-one-should-be-postcard-quality?lite

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Mark Sanchez To Start For Jets Due To Greg McElroy Concussion

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. ? The New York Jets' wacky quarterback situation took yet another twist.

Greg McElroy has a concussion ? which he didn't reveal until Thursday ? and will be replaced by Mark Sanchez as the New York Jets' starting quarterback in the season finale at Buffalo on Sunday.

Coach Rex Ryan walked into his news conference before practice, took the podium and opened with: "You're not going to believe this."

McElroy, preparing to make his second NFL start in place of the benched Sanchez, was lifting weights Thursday morning and started experiencing headaches, Ryan said. McElroy went to the team's training staff and then revealed he was suffering concussion-like symptoms after being sacked 11 times in the Jets' 27-17 loss to San Diego last Sunday.

McElroy and head trainer John Mellody then went to Ryan to tell the coach the news.

"We come to find out that Greg wasn't exactly truthful with our training staff after the game," said Ryan, who acknowledged he was "stunned" to hear it. "He never disclosed that he had symptoms after the game to our trainers. Right now, he's being evaluated for a concussion."

Ryan said there was no way he would play McElroy against the Bills and the third-stringer will "definitely be out." McElroy had been listed on the injury report Wednesday with a mild abdominal strain, but was a full participant in practice and was expected to play without any issues.

"I admire his courage and everything else, but you have to be truthful and I think that's the lesson learned here with the medical staff," Ryan said. "The fact he really wanted to play, I understand the competitive side of Greg and all that, but the most important thing is the health of the players.

"Obviously, I feel fortunate that something like this showed up without him going out there and putting himself in harm's way."

Ryan chose to start Sanchez over Tim Tebow because the team has just two practices and a walkthrough to prepare before the game.

"Mark has had success earlier in the season against Buffalo and he's very familiar with them," Ryan said. "That's the reason I'm going with Mark."

After finding out about McElroy's condition, Ryan spoke with both Sanchez and Tebow to tell them of his decision.

"Obviously, Tim's not happy with that, as you'd expect," Ryan said.

Sanchez was benched for the first time in his four-year career after turning the ball over five times at Tennessee on Dec. 17. McElroy leapfrogged Tebow on the depth chart to start against the Chargers.

The news comes on the heels of some tension between Ryan and Tebow last week, when the popular backup quarterback told the coach he was "disappointed" at not getting the start and wanted to play "regular quarterback." ESPN New York first reported Sunday that Tebow asked out of the wildcat, and a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed that to The Associated Press. But Tebow insisted Wednesday that he did not ask out of doing anything and acknowledged that Ryan might have misinterpreted what he said.

The two met again last Friday to clear the air, and Tebow reiterated that he was willing to do anything the team asked him to do. Tebow will be the No. 2 quarterback on Sunday at Buffalo, and could play ? but it won't be as the starter.

"Obviously, he'd like a shot at it," Ryan said, "but with the situation the way it is, it's a short window, really, to get the preparation time in and I just think it's best for our football team."

___

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/mark-sanchez-jets-greg-mcelroy-concussion_n_2370658.html

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maggiewillis0: interment saran: charlesmurra8: Speed reading apps ...

23 Dec

I installed some speed reading apps and tested them. I?ve so far notices a few ?categories? or groups of equals:

• One kind exists mostly from showing a text word by word in the middle of the screen. Showing each word a very short time and so you can read at a high wpm because you never need to move your eyes.
• Another kind is merely a speed reading article disguised as app.
• Another kind is no speed reading app but just a reading app with a fancy name.
• Yet another kind is training in the form of news/actually.
• And the last kind is a training app, not for your own stuff but purely for training.

I only tested them quickly and unions talked the non-interesting. But they aren?t quite what I?m looking for. Maybe I should write one myself for training and guided reading.

This entry was posted in Other and tagged Android, Self Improvement, Speed Reading. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://www.tjenwellens.eu/other/speed-reading-apps-for-android/

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If you?re encountered with biology syllabus assessment in that case he/she really needs to fully grasp the exact objectives to make sure that he/she are able to comprehend the objective. There are 3 well-known objectives concerning learning the field of biology which generally are to have practical knowledge with understanding, ability to actually deal with important information and resolve issues in conjunction with learning experimental skillsets as well as inspections.

The actual Biology Syllabus entails of scientific phenomena specifics hence these particular 3 important objectives are crucial for the main assessment procedure. A few other reasons for assessment are to be capable of making predictions, address issues, manipulate data and locate ideal sources to get knowledge acquisition.

19 December 2012 | Reference and Education

Source: http://www.apodimosstudents.com/reference-and-education/biology-syllabus-so-what-does-the-subject-focused-on/

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Force a Little Christmas Cheer on YouTube Trolls with This Festive Censorship Browser App

YouTube comments can be an unmoderated wilderness full of ill-will and lame obscenities the likes of which, well, the likes of which you've seen in YouTube comments. Maybe you're used to it, maybe you don't dare drift that far down the page for fear of losing yourself in the inanity. YuleTube can help change that by making those gift-giving comments elfin' festive. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/0GJ7g199_cQ/force-a-little-christmas-cheer-on-youtube-trolls-with-this-festive-censorship-app

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Boehner's failure signals marginalization of GOP

If House Speaker John Boehner can't get Republicans to back a tax increase for the richest 0.3 percent of Americans, it has lost its claim to mainstream status.

By Robert Reich,?Guest blogger / December 22, 2012

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) of Ohio speaks to reporters about the fiscal cliff negotiations at the Capitol in Washington, Friday. Hopes for avoiding the 'fiscal cliff' that threatens the US economy fell Friday after fighting among congressional Republicans cast doubt on whether any deal reached with President Obama could win approval ahead of automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts, which kick in Jan. 1.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Enlarge

Remarkably, John Boehner couldn?t get enough House Republicans to vote in favor of his proposal to keep the Bush tax cuts in place on the first million dollars of everyone?s income and?apply?the old Clinton rates only to dollars over and above a million.

Skip to next paragraph Robert Reich

Robert is chancellor?s professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Clinton. Time Magazine?named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written 13 books, including ?The Work of Nations,? his latest best-seller ?Aftershock: The Next Economy and America?s Future," and a new?e-book, ?Beyond Outrage.??He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.

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What? Even Grover Norquist blessed Boehner?s proposal, saying it wasn?t really a tax increase. Even Paul Ryan supported it.?

What does Boehner?s failure tell us about the modern Republican party?

That it has become a party of hypocrisy masquerading as principled ideology. The GOP talks endlessly about the importance of reducing the budget deficit. But it isn?t even willing to raise revenues from the richest three-tenths of one percent of Americans to help with the task. We?re talking about 400,000 people, for crying out loud.?

Benghazi review finds systematic security faults

WASHINGTON (AP) ? An independent panel charged with investigating the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans has concluded that systematic management and leadership failures at the State Department led to "grossly" inadequate security at the mission in Benghazi.

"Systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place," the panel said.

The report singled out the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Near East Affairs for criticism, saying there appeared to be a lack of cooperation and confusion over protection at the mission in Benghazi, a city in Eastern Libya that was relatively lawless after the revolution that toppled Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Despite those failures, the Accountability Review Board determined that no individual officials ignored or violated their duties and recommended no disciplinary action now. But it also said poor performance by senior managers should be grounds for disciplinary recommendations in the future.

The report appeared to break little new ground about the timeline of the Benghazi attack during which Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens, information specialist Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods ? who were contractors working for the CIA ? were killed. Stevens' slaying was the first of a U.S. ambassador since 1988.

But it confirmed that contrary to initial accounts, there was no protest outside the consulate and said responsibility for the incident rested entirely with the terrorists who attacked the mission.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, administration officials linked the attack to the spreading protests over an American-made, anti-Islamic film that had begun in Cairo earlier that day. Those comments came after evidence already pointed to a distinct militant attack. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on numerous TV talk shows the Sunday after the attack and used the administration talking points linking it to the film. An ensuing brouhaha in the heat of the presidential campaign eventually led her to withdraw her name from consideration to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state in President Barack Obama's second term.

The review board determined that there had been no immediate, specific tactical warning of a potential attack on the 11th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. However, the report said there had been several worrisome incidents in the run-up to the attack that should have set off warning bells.

While criticizing State Department management in Washington along with the local militia force and contract guards that the mission depended on for protection, the report said U.S. personnel on the ground in Benghazi "performed with courage and readiness to risk their lives to protect their colleagues in a near-impossible situation."

It said the response by Diplomatic Security agents on the scene and CIA operatives at a nearby compound that later came under attack itself had been "timely and appropriate" and absolved the military from any blame. "There was simply not enough time for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference," it said.

The report also discounted speculation that officials in Washington had refused appeals for addition help after the attack had begun.

"The Board found no evidence of any undue delays in decision making or denial of support from Washington or from the military combatant commanders," it said. To the contrary, the report said the evacuation of the dead and wounded 12 hours after the initial attack was due to "exceptional U.S. government coordination and military response" that helped save the lives of two seriously wounded Americans.

The State Department sent a classified version of the report to lawmakers on Tuesday and shortly thereafter released an unclassified version. The report made 29 recommendations to improve embassy security, particularly at high threat posts. In an accompanying letter to Congress, Clinton thanked the board for its "clear-eyed, serious look at serious systemic challenges" and said she accepted all the recommendations.

Some of those challenges were revealed in earlier congressional briefings and hearings, notably one held by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, when several State Department officials discussed competing demands for security and cost prohibitions.

In her letter, Clinton said the department had already begun to implement some of the recommendations. They include increasing by several hundred the number of Marine guards stationed at diplomatic missions throughout the world, relying less on local security forces for protection at embassies, consulates and other offices, and increasing hiring and deployment of highly trained Diplomatic Security agents at at-risk posts.

Members of local Libyan militias provided some security around the consulate, but in the attack it became unclear whose side they were on.

The report also called on Congress to fully fund the State Department's security initiatives, noting that budget constraints in the past had led some management officials to emphasize savings over security despite numerous requests from the Benghazi mission and embassy in Tripoli for enhanced protection.

"For many years the State Department has been engaged in a struggle to obtain the resources necessary to carry out its work with varying degrees of success," it said. This has led to efficiencies but also "had the effect of conditioning a few State Department managers to favor restricting the use of resources as a general orientation."

It said the number of Diplomatic Security staff in Benghazi before and on the day of the attack "was inadequate despite repeated requests ... for additional staffing."

"The solution requires a more serious and sustained commitment from Congress to support State Department needs, which, in total, constitute a small percentage of the full national budget and that spent for national security," it said. "Congress must do its part to meet this challenge and provide necessary resources."

Congress has denied some funding requests from the State Department for more security and the recommendations made public on Tuesday echoed similar suggestions made by the Accountability Review Boards set up in the wake of the deadly 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

In her letter to lawmakers, Clinton urged Congress to support the department's security requests, noting that "all of us ... have a responsibility to provide the men and women serving this country with the best possible security and support."

Retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, led the independent review, studying thousands of pages of cables and other documents, hours of video and intelligence and interviewing more than 100 people, including survivors. They will testify before the House and Senate foreign affairs committees behind closed doors on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the State Department's two deputy secretaries, William Burns and Thomas Nides, will testify in open sessions before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Clinton was to have appeared at Thursday's hearing but canceled after fainting and sustaining a concussion last week while recovering from a stomach virus that dehydrated her. Clinton is under doctors' orders to rest.

The Benghazi attack has highlighted the larger question of how U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers can do their jobs in unstable environments, as al-Qaida spreads across Africa, without also expanding their security. Diplomats have said that overreacting to the attack could produce what some are calling a "Benghazi effect" that would wall them off from the people they are supposed to be engaging.

In her letter, Clinton said, "We will never prevent every act of terrorism or achieve perfect security" but she stressed that "our diplomats cannot work in bunkers."

"We must accept a level of risk to protect this country we love and to advance our interests and values around the world," she said.

___

AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report.

___

Online:

The report: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/202446.pdf

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/benghazi-review-finds-systematic-security-faults-022048643.html

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Murder-Suicide Research Sheds Little Light on Sandy Hook

A makeshift memorial for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 17, 2012

Photo by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images.

After the Newtown, Conn., massacre, the word floating around in my mind on a surge of dumb feeling is paucity. Death draws us up short, sends us racing for facts, as if the recovery of details about a tragedy counteracted, in some magical way, the losses sustained, the bodies destroyed. We tell ourselves that knowledge helps us take action. It gives us back control. In some cases, that rationale is even true?the more we understand about what led Adam Lanza to open fire on two classrooms full of students at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the more we can do to prevent attacks like his in the future. But sometimes the facts don?t lead us toward any brilliant new insights: They?re just momentary stays against confusion. In the frenzy to harvest all the minutiae of Lanza?s past, what sense or comfort did we really shake free? A year later, will it help that we pored over his brother?s Facebook account? That we knew the killer wore a pocket protector or could assemble a computer from parts?

Murder-suicides are among the most difficult crimes to comprehend. They represent a particularly wrenching type of violence. The emotions they summon are confused and incoherent: After a homicide, you feel horror and disgust for the perpetrator, compassion and grief for the victims. But people who destroy others and then themselves pre-empt the natural instinct for revenge, giving us, in their deaths, what we think we want?and then exposing the emptiness of that consolation.

The United States currently has no tracking system or database that captures the national incidence of murder-suicide. But a 1992 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that 1.5 percent of all suicides and 5 percent of all homicides fall under this category in a given year. In 1997, researchers led by Yekeen Aderibigbe estimated that murder-suicides cause 1,000 to 1,500 deaths annually in the United States. ?????

We can try to situate the Newtown shooting in a broader context of murder-suicides. But that?s not a simple task, since Lanza defied the typical profile as much as he conformed to it. While men commit up to 94 percent of these crimes, according to a 2006 study by the Violence Policy Center, the perpetrators are mostly embroiled in domestic disputes. Ninety percent of the time, they kill their romantic partners. (The recent case of NFL linebacker Jovan Belcher is a textbook example: Belcher and his girlfriend reportedly argued over their baby?s paternity before the athlete shot her and himself.) And when not carried out by jealous twentysomethings or thirtysomethings, murder-suicides tend to be enacted by frail old men who, no longer able to care for their ailing spouses, turn to violence out of a misguided sense of mercy. Or they?re mothers drawn to self-harm but anxious that their children will suffer too much without them. (Suicidologists call this impulse ?deluded altruism.?)?

A more slender set of data exists on murder-suicides that occur outside the family. In 2010, psychologist David Lester examined suicide rates among ?pseudo-commandos,? the subset of mass murderers who behave like soldiers. He found that 35 percent of such rampage killers take their own lives, compared with only 6 percent of serial killers. What?s more, the serial killers were more likely to commit suicide in order to avoid arrest or imprisonment, whereas rampage murderers had murkier motives. Perhaps, Lester speculated, the commandos ?are energized by such a great amount of anger that even killing many victims is not sufficient to discharge it.? Their residual rage is then ?turned inward on the self.?

So, rage. If we believe the poets, that quality blazed in civilization?s oldest warriors, who suited up for battle knowing they were destined to die alongside their enemies. ?Sing, o Muse, of the rage of Achilles, murderous, doomed,? goes the first line of the Iliad. And according to Katherine van Wormer, a psychologist and author of Death by Domestic Violence: Preventing the Murders and Murder-Suicides, a peculiar type of rage distinguishes people who commit murder-suicides from those who kill only themselves or only others?one mingled with self-hatred and psychopathy, the mental disorder most closely associated with anti-social behavior. Of course, van Wormer continued in her email to me, we know very little about what drove Adam Lanza in particular. Was he on drugs? Delusional? At 20, was he just beginning to manifest the signs of schizophrenia? (While psychosis alone would not explain such extreme actions, the disease does emerge in the late teens and early 20s.) In another email, David Lester conjures still more uncertainty: He wonders how the Lanza family dynamic played out. What did the guns represent?

To further complicate matters, in July of this year Mother Jones editor Mark Follman compiled news reports of rampage killings from 1982 to the present. (He updated his data on Friday to include Newtown.) Out of 62 instances of mass murder, only one other spree besides Lanza?s started in the home and fanned outward. The ways in which the Sandy Hook shooting breaks the template, resists our attempts to understand it, keep adding up.

But we can keep trying. Australian forensic scientist Paul Mullen thinks that some pseudo-commandos turn their weapons on themselves because they relish grand, theatrical gestures. In an interview with ABC News, he proposes, ?These people are on a project to suicide. They go out there to die, and they go out to die literally in what they see as a blaze of glory. They are seeking a sort of personal vindication through fame or, more precisely, infamy.? Mullen?s account aligns with research tying grandiosity to psychopathy. It also subtly supports the hypothesis that, in many murder-suicides, the suicidal impulse is the primary one. To psychologists who?ve studied ?suicide by cop,? staged massacres are often just a desire for one?s own death working itself free. Killers rehearse their suicides by slaying others, these experts claim. After spilling enough of the blood of strangers, the perpetrators are emboldened to annihilate themselves.

On the other hand, maybe the Freudian analyst Ernest Becker was right to assert, in 1973, an interchangeability between yearning for someone else?s death and yearning for your own. He subsumed both urges under thanatos, the death-drive. Like many Freudian explanations, Becker?s is more theoretical than empirical, with a big dose of classics thrown in. Still, could Adam Lanza have just been hopelessly, ferociously morbid?

There is, of course, one very simple way to understand what happened last Friday. The vast majority of murder-suicides?more than 90 percent of cases?involve guns. As van Wormer points out, it?s incomparably quicker and easier to fire a gun than it is to kill by almost any other method. Guns allow for both impulsivity and planning. They are loud and dramatic. They are the perfect weapon for a murder-suicide.??

But aside from our need for a firearm policy overhaul, nothing about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings seems simple or straightforward. No single explanation plugs the wounds. I wonder, though: If we found one, would it make us feel any better??

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=29465d6e2cafef5fe9d2a2057cc1b366

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Lobster and Shiitake Mushroom Pasta and a bad drink pairing ...

Lobster Shiitake Mushroom Pasta

Lobster tails are again popping up in the grocery store and I took advantage and purchased a few. I love lobster tails for their convenience: they are usually frozen so you can store them in the freezer until you?re ready to cook them, they?re easy to cook, very tasty and no tears involved in cooking them! A few years ago, I decided to make Julia Child?s lobster thermidor and humanely killing the lobster was pretty traumatic. I swear the lobster knew what was coming when my fiance picked up the knife to kill him before throwing him into the pot of hot water. That is an experience I don?t want to relive anytime soon, and I am therefore grateful for the existence of frozen lobster tails! I usually bake my lobster?tails, but I didn?t have any good side options in my fridge and decided to just make a meal out of it by making it into a pasta dish. I was lucky enough to get the last shiitakes at the store, but while this dish would probably be more flavorful with wild mushrooms, any would do.

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 Tb butter
• 2 lobster tails (mine were 4oz each)
• 6 oz shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced
• 1 Tb dry basil (or ~ 1/4 cup fresh)
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 oz clam juice (a bottle is usually 8 oz)
• 1 ? 1 1/2 cups pasta (uncooked, I used rotini)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup Italian cheese blend (or plain Asiago or parmesan)

Melt butter in a pot that you can cover over medium heat, I used my Le Creuset dutch oven. Add tails and saute until bright red (3 min). Cover pot, reduce heat to low and cook until the tails are cooked through (~ 5 min). Turn heat off, remove lobster tails from the pot and place on a plate. Using kitchen shears (you can use a knife as well, but I find the shears much more useful when dealing with lobster) cut tails in half, remove meat and cut it in bite size pieces.

pretty lobster

If you haven?t already done so, slice your mushrooms and onions.

sliced shiitake and green onions

Bring the same pan to medium heat. Also, start boiling the water for the pasta.Add the mushrooms, green onions and basil and saute until the mushrooms are soft (~ 5 min). Add cream and clam juice and boil until thickened (~ 10 min). Drop your pasta in and cook until al dente (8-10min).

boiling the cream sauce

When sauce is thickened, add lobster, drained pasta and simmer until heated through. Plate, sprinkle with cheese and enjoy!

Now, when deciding what to drink with dinner, I picked the Delirium Noel because Christmas is coming and it is really cute. This was a terrible choice as it tasted horrible with the pasta dish! If you?ve ever had a bad food drink pairing you know what I mean, if you haven?t, you?re a lucky fellow So if you decide to make this dish, please don?t pair it with the Delirium Noel.?Don?t get fooled by its cute looks, it won?t taste good with the pasta dish.

Delirium Noel

Serve it with these brownies instead! Besides the bad pairing, this is a delicious beer as most Deliriums are

Source: http://thewindykitchen.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/lobster-and-shiitake-mushroom-pasta/

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I would like to refinance my loan that was modified in 2009 ... - Zillow

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.zillow.com/advice-thread/I-would-like-to-refinance-my-loan-that-was-modified-in-2009-my-current-intrest-rate-is-7-how-do-u/471532/

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Children Keep Active In Science - Reference and Education - Scottie ...

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Source: http://olsen10.typepad.com/blog/2012/12/children-keep-active-in-science-reference-and-education.html

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Samsung ATIV S goes on sale at the big three Canadian carriers

Samsung's ATIV S has only just started trickling out into the marketplace, but Canadians will be happy to know they're some of the first to get their feet wet: Bell, Rogers and Telus have all made the Windows Phone 8 headliner available from today. We're seeing a wild variety in pricing that doesn't often happen with smartphones, however. Bell is offering the phone for $100 on a lengthy 3-year contract, but the amount drops to a momentary $80 at Rogers and just $30 at Telus' discounted price. Landing the ATIV S off-contract either costs $600 (at Bell and Rogers) or $650 on Telus. Locals shouldn't count on a walk-in purchase when there's talk at MobileSyrup of tight supply; they'll likely still be glad when they at least have the chance a week or more before their British counterparts.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

Comments

Via: MobileSyrup

Source: Bell, Rogers, Telus

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/14/samsung-ativ-s-goes-on-sale-at-the-top-three-canadian-carriers/

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Video Game Design: Are Indies the Wave of the Future? | HackCollege

Developing a video game was once the exclusive province of computer programmers who built games from scratch in computer languages like C++, Visual Basic or Perl; these programmers worked for big-name game manufacturers like Apple, Zynga or Activision. The successes of games like Doodle Jump, Minecraft and Angry Birds?are changing the industry?s marketplace. Independent developers with access to expanded game publishing options are often turning a tidy profit. Technological advances in game-building software have also opened doors for indie gamers, and new publishing platforms like Apple?s App Store and IndieCity continue to widen the playing field for new customers.

This?change in the gaming industry is a relatively new one, and successful indie developers are learning the ropes as they go. Markus Persson, creator of the immensely popular?Minecraft, started building the award-winning sandbox exploration game on nights and weekends while he worked for a gaming development firm during the day. Around the time that Minecraft?s gameplay began to take shape, Persson stumbled across a little-known indie-developed game called Infiniminer. Persson was inspired by Infiniminer and stepped up the development of his dream game. In May of 2009, still employed at a professional development firm by day, Persson released Minecraft as a developmental alpha release. The game was an?instant hit in the gaming community. Persson immediately began work on a beta release, and within months was so busy that he switched to part-time work. By the following winter, the beta version of Minecraft generated enough revenue for Persson to quit his day job entirely. The game?s popularity has not waned; affectionately termed ?Minecrack? for its addictive qualities, the game has?generated sales as high as $350,000 a day.

Rapidly evolving game platforms have also?aided in the success of indie gaming. Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, developers at Electronic Arts, were tasked to bring a game called?World of Goo to the iPhone market. However, several delays conspired to make the intended launch date impossible and Electronic Arts dropped the project. A year later, the introduction of the iPad spurred Gabler and Carmel to?further develop the game to fit the iPad platform. Funding the development from their own bank accounts and working in coffee shops with free wi-fi, World of Goo was built over the next two years. On its release in 2008, it received numerous awards, including Best Independent Game from Spike TV. Currently, this popular video game is available on Wii, Nintendo and the iPad platforms and has sold over a million ?downloads.

Developer Jonathan Blow created an innovative time-warp platform called?Braid. Blow had personally financed $200,000 in development costs and was in considerable debt when Braid was released on Microsoft?s Xbox Live Arcade service in 2008. Three years of relative poverty and dedication paid off. Several months after the game?s release, Blow checked his bank balance on his smartphone ? and discovered that?he was a wealthy man. Braid was the second-largest grossing Xbox title in 2008.

What do these three games have in common? All of them are the result of persistent efforts by developers who loved their craft. These individuals also saw changes in the gaming world and took advantage of new tools available to developers. While there is no guarantee that every game achieves massive financial success, many indie developers are operating profitable businesses by self-publishing their games. Successful independent developers do offer some?advice for would-be game builders.

The core to every successful game is three-pronged: gameplay, art and concept. Your concept must be instantly clear to players and your play must be designed so that users have fun right away. Whether you are appealing to a niche audience or a wide swath of users, consider that everyone problem-solves differently; present your concept with extreme clarity for every type of player. You must have a solid grasp of video game design. Your rule systems will be employed by users of different skill levels and your game rules must be consistent and understandable. Last but definitely not least is artwork. The aesthetic component of your game is what attracts users, and the more original and polished your graphics are, the better chance your game will succeed.

Operate as a business entity. You may be developing a game by yourself on your days off, but that does not preclude the need for a business plan. You must think commercially to succeed, or partner with someone who can leave the creative direction to you. Hire an accountant, set sales targets, establish timelines. Consider pricing models and payment methods. Determine whether you will publish beta versions and request gamer feedback. Ensure that your game contains a method for data analysis; post-release, player analytics can provide you with priceless clues about improving your game or developing another one.

Market your product aggressively. Weak marketing efforts are?often the reason indie games fail; factor public relations into your business plan. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube offer low-cost avenues to raise awareness of your game. E-mail game reviewers with a free promo code and ask them to review your game. Be a part of the indie gaming community, and network your way to brand awareness or cross-market with another game. Consider value-added pre-sales, where you offer an interesting new feature for early adopters prior to launching your product. Create buzz as often and as loudly as you can.

The success of so many fan-funded indie development ideas on?Kickstarter proves that customer interest in indie games is high. If you enjoy programming and possess a resilient spirit,?the gaming industry welcomes you. You may not achieve great personal wealth and you may not even successfully sell your first game; however, successful indie developers stay in the industry because they love what they do. Learn from your mistakes, collaborate with the right talent and make yourself known in the gaming world ? ?you may very well be the next award-winning independent game developer.

Source: http://www.hackcollege.com/blog/2012/12/14/video-game-design-are-indies-the-wave-of-the-future.html

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HOW I USE A HOUSE DURING A SHOOT ? Orange County ...

LIGHT FIRST, STUFF SECOND.

Well, PEOPLE FIRST. Obviously. That goes without saying. After we get that straight, then comes the light and the stuff.

That?s how I choose what to use and where to shoot in a clients? home. I take a walk around and watch where the kids gravitate naturally as they show me. I?m like, ?Okay there?s a good window ? there?s some gorgeous color ? oh! There?s some pretty stuff.?

I ask them what is important to them, what corners of their home are favorite. I ask them what, if any, objects they would like to incorporate.

I like to try for 5-10 different set ups, depending on how many people are involved. A set up is one location or activity in the home.

Sometimes light is most important in a certain set up, sometimes the thing they want to incorporate is in a dark place and that is what is important. I crank my ISO and give it to them anyway if I can?t move it to better light.

For this session I was working in a two bedroom loft apartment. I would say they had low to average natural lighting in their home. It was not the most difficult house I?ve worked in, but it was also not the easiest. Just a sweet, real home filled with mementos and love, so I felt it would be the perfect one to share.

Bedroom set up: I fell in love with the pile of stuffed animals in their shared room, so even though the lighting wasn?t the best on the floor there I asked them to hop into position. The blinds are partially down and closed because there was direct sunlight coming through and I was blocking it. After I shot them like this, I asked them to each sit on the top bunk near the window. I moved to the end of the bunk bed, side-lighting them with the window as I photographed them together. A reflector would have come in handy if I ever used the one I bought in 2003. I usually move too fast for reflectors.

Drum set up: The sliding glass door offered some amazing light in their main living area. I knew I would want to shoot there. The fact that the drum set was placed there was just my luck. After we shot those, I placed a chair in front of the window and faced my clients towards the light for portraits. (Cropped out of the photos is the treadmill next to the daughter and the big screen TV next to the son.)

Play kitchen/Art set up: The blue metal cabinet and wall of artwork caught my eye immediately upon entering their home. I knew I had to use it in some way, just for my own satisfaction. There was a window above the cabinet that was covered. We had to open the drapes and pull up the blinds completely to light that area. I asked the daughter to hang out by her play kitchen, and got that image as she walked over.

The old payphone was something they loved and really wanted to incorporate. I asked to place it in the spot that inspired me so that I could fill two requests at once. Theirs and mine.

To summarize my organized chaos:

There is the light, there is what the client wants, and there is what you see.

I take note of the light and move furniture or stuff to place people where I find it appealing.
I pay attention to the corners of a home that inspire me personally and find a way to use them.
I ask the client what part of their home inspire them and do my best to use it whether good light or bad.
I find out where they spend most time together and what they do, and then we do that.
I ask the client what objects, if any, they would like to incorporate into the session.
I take photos of small details on shelves and nightstands, etc.

If I can shoot in good light, I do.
If I can?t, I make it work.

This is very personal as lighting and decor preferences have a BIG range. Don?t go into someone?s home with the intention of shooting just what is popular right now. Go to a home with the intention of finding what the client loves about it and what you are personally touched or inspired by. If you walk in and the house is dark or small for your taste, drop your light drenched hopes and dreams and focus on the reality in front of you. (MAKE IT WORK ? TIM GUNN.) Your clients are trusting you in their most vulnerable place ? their home. Earn that trust.

If HOME is chosen as the location for the session, it is most definitely loved. And that is all the inspiration I need. All you have to do is pay attention to what is loved.

-Tara

Source: http://tarawhitney.com/justbeblogged/2012/12/how-i-use-a-house-during-a-shoot/

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NHL files suit, labor charge against union

NEW YORK (AP) ? Anticipating a possible antitrust suit, the NHL is bringing its labor fight against players to federal court.

The league announced Friday that it has filed a class action suit in U.S. District Court in New York, seeking to establish that its now 90-day lockout is legal.

In a separate move, the NHL filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the players' association has bargained in bad faith.

The NHL said it believes the union's executive board is seeking authorization to give up its collective bargaining rights, a necessary step before players could file an antitrust lawsuit.

The league's moves were made Friday after the sides held a bargaining conference call, following two days of talks that included federal mediators.

Players' association special counsel Steve Fehr declined to comment on the union's plans regarding a so-called disclaimer of interest.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-14-NHL%20Labor/id-2e05acadc25547e1aefd5781a95e3f52

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Senate Moves Bill Covering Fertility Care for Vets

Wounded veterans and their spouses who want to have children could get the government to pay for fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization under legislation beginning to move through Congress in the waning days of the session.

By voice vote, the Senate passed a bill Thursday to update the Veterans Affairs Department's medical coverage for one of the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: trauma to a soldier's reproductive organs.

Nearly 2,000 service members suffered such wounds between 2003 and 2011. But when wounded veterans went to the VA for medical help in starting a family, they were told the VA doesn't provide that kind of care.

A similar bill is pending in the House. Supporters said the Senate's action increases its chances of becoming law before Congress adjourns.

The chief sponsor, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she has heard from veterans whose marriages have dissolved because of the stress of infertility, in combination with the stresses of readjusting to civilian life after severe injury.

"Any service member who sustains this type of serious injury deserves so much more," she said.

With both chambers deadlocked on budget issues, even Murray was surprised the bill didn't raise a single objection in the Senate. Any objection would have quashed it for the year.

As Murray spoke, Tracy Keil, of Colorado, watched from the gallery. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Matt Keil, was paralyzed from the chest down after he was shot in the neck in Iraq. The Keils were able to afford the nearly $32,000 it cost for in vitro fertilization and now have 2-year-old twins, Matthew and Faith. But knowing that many families cannot afford that on their own, the Keils have been lobbying Congress to expand the VA's coverage.

"It made us feel like we were back on track, that our marriage was where we wanted it to be and that our family was where we wanted it to be," she said of having children. "Even though we had the injury disrupt the timeline of our expectations, it's everything we've always dreamed of and it makes Matt feel whole again."

"We wake up to the joys of our kids every day and I can't picture my life without them now," added Matt Keil in a telephone interview.

The legislation is estimated to cost $568 million over five years, to be covered through savings from scaling down military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-moves-bill-covering-fertility-care-vets-212039772.html

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Confused By Commercial Real Estate? Help Is Here! | Overseas ...

Commercial property is a very exciting endeavor, however, it takes a ton of work. Many property owners are unsure about where to begin ensuring that their properties are adequately maintained. It can be challenging to learn all you must know regarding ownership of commercial property, but the tips in this article can help you on the road to acquiring and owning commercial property.

Go big or go home! Managing five units might seem far less complicated than fifty, but the work that you put into financing and setting up lease agreements will be the same no matter how many units you manage. Both require commercial financing, and a larger building will cost less to finance per unit.

If you are looking for a business property, always think larger than you currently need. Unless you plan to move a few years later, look for a property that is large enough for your business to grow.

Always have an inspector look over your commercial property before you put it out on the market. Listen carefully to the inspector?s report so that you can immediately repair any problems.

Interest Rates

People who invest in commercial real estate know the threat associated with fluctuating interest rates. Current economic conditions can make rates rise and fall with shocking unpredictability, which leaves investors open to the possibility of drastic increases in the interest rates. Always keep these rate fluctuations in mind while shopping for properties so you can understand the long-term impact of them on your purchase.

Establish an online presence before jumping into the market. You should really consider making a LinkedIn profile or something similar as well as create a website. Search engine optimization principles will increase your online visibility. Your goal is to have people instantly find information about you when they type your name in to a search engine.

Prior to selecting a real estate broker, determine what kind of negotiating tactics they have. You can ask them how much experience and training they actually have. You also want to check into the methods they use and make sure they are ethical when doing business. Request additional information or examples of the results from previous negotiations.

Know exactly what your business needs before shopping locations. Know just what type of office space that you are going to use. While the real estate market is in the right place, it would be a great idea to purchase extra space for keeping up with your growing company.

Develop the perception that you are an expert by beginning an online blog. Putting up a blog will also help you find lessees or buyers for your commercial properties as well.

You also want to take into consideration the neighborhood that your real estate is in when you purchase commercially. If you are looking in a high-rent neighborhood, you may have a better chance at success once you get going because of the potential of area residents to have money to spend. On the other hand, if you are going to offer a product or service more popular with working class individuals, a less affluent neighborhood might be a better choice.

Line up a commercial lender before offering to buy a property. Discuss the situation with your loved ones as well as other investors, and create a list of good lenders available to you. Instead of moving forward with a deal, you must first conduct extensive research on prospective lenders. While it may take extra time to line everything up, this can help make sure you qualify for the loan.

When you are setting up your home office or commercial property for selling purposes, consider the Asian art of feng shui. Opening spaces and clearing clutter are both two major attractions from those presets that appeal to buyers.

Try to decrease potential events of defaults before negotiating a lease. This decreases the chances that the tenant will default on the lease. This type of situation is considered very undesirable.

See to it that you initially make use of the right type of financing. Commercial lenders and real estate are much different than simply buying a home. Depending on how you view the situation, they are often better. Although you have to pay more upfront for the property, it?s worth it because you won?t be held personally liable if the deal falls through. In addition, you can borrow down payment funds from people you know to secure a commercial loan.

Regardless of whether you are buying or selling the property, it is in your best interest to negotiate. Be heard and fight to get a fair property price.

Commercial Property

You know now that finding, purchasing and owning a commercial property is a journey filled with doing your homework and spending your time in order to maximize your returns. You will also need to stick with it and not give up. Keep studying and putting the tips into practice that you just read about. You will soon successfully buy your first commercial property.

Do you want to learn about Overseas Property Investment? That?s great, because this article had some great hints. This article has everything you want to know about Overseas Property Investment. Keep an open mind, and remember what you can learn from great research.

Source: http://www.davidstanleyredfern.com/general-news/confused-by-commercial-real-estate-help-is-here-2

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