Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act Expiring Soon

SAN RAMON, CA ? The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, originally put into place in 2007, is set to expire at the end of December ? and could be?devastating?for the recovering real estate market.

Starting in January, homeowners who lose their home to foreclosure will be taxed on the unpaid balance of the loan that cannot be recouped through an auction. Loan balances reduced with a principal reduction through a loan modification and any amount written off through a short sale will also be taxable as ordinary income.

Bottom line ? struggling homeowners are first hit with financial difficulties of having an underwater home ? then slapped a second time with a tax bill for the amount forgiven.

The good news is that the first $250,000 (or $500,000 if married) of the amount written off can be excluded from taxes if the homeowner has lived in the home two out of the last five years. In California, that still leaves many homeowners owing taxes. Sellers are advised to consult their tax professional before making any decision to do a short sale or loan mod.

We have seen a severe shortage of inventory (homes for sale) in most East Bay cities, including San Ramon, Danville, Pleasanton, Dublin,and ?Livermore. The number of buyers competing for these homes has increased because of historically low interest rates. This means multiple offers on most homes ? and the competition means higher sales prices.

If the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act is not renewed, more homeowners could give up trying to resolve their personal mortgage crisis and let the home go to foreclosure. More foreclosures could mean a flood of homes on the market, leading to less competition and a stunted growth of selling price.

This, combined with rising interest rates, could stall the market and abort recent recovery. For more information, contact Cindi Hagley at 925-867-4663.

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Source: http://thehagleygroup.com/short-sale-sheep/mortgage-forgiveness-debt-relief-act-expiring-soon/

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Promotional Videos and Net Etiquette | Sphinx Web Design Experts

If you are a business owner who traffics in e-commerce, no doubt you?ve overheard a colleague ? perhaps an IT person, or a web guru ? tell you, ?Don?t do that on the web page. Nobody likes advertising videos. It?s poor form.?

It doesn?t matter that the worker is looking at the World Wide Web from a potential customer?s viewpoint rather than a business establishment?s perspective. Much too frequently, the harried business owner, insecure about his own grasp of Internet commerce, will succumb to these types of outcries. He is terrified of turning off and repelling potential customers. But, how is that different from a network executive determining to pull all of their advertising campaigns because ?folks hate marketing??

In one critical regard, Internet commerce is no different from face-to-face purchases that have definitely run human economies for millennia. It?s this: nothing sells like a real man or woman talking to another real person. The notion that a business may be managed based on the wishes and inclinations of the customer, surfing the Web at 3 a.m., is a myth. But wait, you say. What about Amazon? iTunes?

Fair enough, but these websites are exceptions, not the rule. Besides, Amazon didn?t turn a profit until 10 years after it kicked off.

And Apple, frankly, could afford to take the numerous risks it has made over its substantially lengthier existence.

Unsuccessful online companies think that it is much easier to generate profits on the Web rather than in a brick and mortar store. The truth is, it?s not much different. Business has not changed that much. It?s the means of communication at our fingertips that has streamlined, or alternatively amended the methods we employ to communicate with one another. Of these, video promotion is the most powerful, but may be overused. Business is a push-pull partnership. It relies on interaction, and it relies on getting a person to give something up (cash, momentary convenience, time), to obtain what you?re selling. Picture if companies looked at everything from the consumer?s point of view? Precisely where would we be then?

Let?s look at some examples:

? YouTube pulls all ads from its videos, because site viewers do not like to see them. YouTube soon cannot afford to give site visitors the experience they have come to enjoy because revenue dwindles.

? A car lot gets rid of its whole entire floor sales team, because no one likes to be bothered by pushy salesmen. Fewer vehicles are sold, which affects the car dealership?s bottom line. They may have to shut their doors permanently.

? Safeway declares every Sunday an ?everything?s free day.?

Do we need to go on with this?

It turns out online marketing is no different. No right-minded bricks-and-mortar small business owner would let the consumers determine the company?s marketing plans.

Nor should a small business owner whose presence is mostly online, allow customers on the Internet to establish the business? level of success. The point? Leave the marketing to the online marketers (including video marketers). They are the ones that have your profits as their key interest. Does that mean undertaking things that some individuals find annoying or undesirable is always advantageous for you, the business owner? Certainly not. But never forget that your needs are the opposite of the consumer?s needs. They might want your services or product, but they would rather not sacrifice their money. You want the consumer?s money, but it would be cheaper and easier for you not to have to sacrifice your services or product.

Your task is to convince the customer he or she is receiving the better end of the deal, while you know that you are ? and you have the annual report to confirm it.

---

Mike Sneed produces summaries on various facets of marketing video on the net.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Promotional Videos and Net Etiquette

Source: http://www.sphinxnow.com/blog/2012/11/30/promotional-videos-and-net-etiquette/

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Mount Greylock football reaches third straight D-III Super Bowl

Click photo to enlarge

Ethan Ryan and Mount Greylock ran over Greenfield.

ORANGE -- Belchertown football coach John Mayo and his Orioles will step out of the frying pan and into the fire in the Division III Super Bowl on Saturday.

Mount Greylock running back Ethan Ryan ran for 223 yards and five touchdowns in the first half, finishing up with a career-best in yards rushing (286) and touchdowns (six) as the second-seeded Mounties routed Greenfield 62-0 Tuesday night at Mahar Regional High School.

"We're going to be watching a lot of film" on Greylock, said Mayo. "They're like they have been for the last three years. They don't make mistakes. They're very quick, very fast and a great fundamental team. Their running back is as good as anybody. He's got to be the best running back we've seen all year."

Ryan had touchdown runs of 48, 42, 2, 25, 8 and 63 yards in the win. He was able to hit pretty much every hole his line opened for him. Daivon Clement also had big runs on the night, breaking a 45-yarder for a touchdown. Michael McCormack finished up the scoring with a 54-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

While Ryan added to his already impressive yardage total -- he now has 1,839 this season -- the defense prevented Greenfield's 1,000-yard rusher and passer from getting anything going on the ground.

Zach Bartak ran for just 55 yards and added just another 79 through the air. The Mounties changed their defensive approach for this semifinal matchup and it seemed to work. Greylock switched to a 4-2-5 defensive scheme

and recorded three interceptions.

Source: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/localsports/ci_22078817/mount-greylock-football-reaches-third-straight-d-iii?source=rss

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Charter School Proponents To Announce Major Focus On Shutting Down Failing Schools

Charter schools are about to get a reality check.

As someone who has observed the breakneck pace of the growing charter school movement up close, Greg Richmond, who leads the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), is taking a step back.

"We didn't start this movement in order to create more failing schools, but that's what we have," Richmond told The Huffington Post. "Hundreds of them."

On Wednesday morning, Richmond will join New Jersey Schools Commissioner Chris Cerf and California charter schools advocate Jed Wallace at Washington D.C.'s National Press Club to announce a new campaign, "One Million Lives," that aims to crack the whip on the duds.

The campaign will focus on getting states to adopt rules that make failing charter schools close automatically, hold charter authorizers accountable for their schools' performance, and revamp their authorizing bodies so they become more professional. Initial allies include organizations and philanthropies that have, until now, focused on growth -- rather than quality -- in the charter sector.

Charter schools are publicly funded but independently run, and often admit students via lottery. Proponents such as the Obama administration advocate for charter schools in the belief that educational opportunity should not depend on zip code, and that running schools without regulations -- without district-imposed curricula or mandatory union representation -- gives schools more room to innovate and succeed, unencumbered by bureaucracy.

But critics have long claimed that the schools siphon money away from public schools, and a steady stream of evidence has shown that, on average, charter schools do not outperform traditional public schools. NACSA found that between 900 and 1,300 charter schools are performing within the lowest 15 percent of schools within their state.

Because of results like this, some say an initiative like One Million Lives is long overdue. About a year ago, several charter school supporters told HuffPost that the movement needed to check itself, since it would be hard for politicians to continue advocating for funding these schools without definitive results, and with so many underperforming schools continuing to operate.

"We've been talking about this for a number of years and still there are hundreds of failing schools in the country," Richmond said. "We have to switch gears from the rhetoric and make it reality."

Most recently, he added, education policymakers have been concerned with low charter school closure rates. According to his organization's survey, two years ago, 12 percent of charter schools up for renewal were shuttered; the next year, that number fell to 6 percent. These numbers were particularly startling because they indicate that charter schools aren't holding up their end of the bargain: namely, increased flexibility in exchange for more accountability. New survey findings released Wednesday, it should be noted, show that the rate increased the following year.

Most notably, philanthropic groups that have attracted citicism for supporting massive charter growth -- a move that often has them accused of "destroying public education," as Richmond put it -- are getting behind the cause. Richmond said the initiative has significant support from the Gates, Walton, Robertson and Dell foundations.

Other initial allies include Cerf, who, in a statement, said the focus on closures "is precisely what the exchange of autonomy for accountability means -- the core idea inherent in charter schools."

Michelle Rhee, a former Washington, D.C. schools chancellor, also praised the campaign.

"If we are going to really help kids succeed, every school entrusted with public money ... must be held accountable to the families they serve and the taxpayer for high standards and achievement,"?Rhee said.?"We need to promote better authorizer practices and stronger state policies to achieve a higher quality of charter schools and, at the same time, set clear protocols for closing chronically failing schools."

But even as the campaign launches, some states appear to be continuing down a path that prioritizes charter school growth over quality, threatening to create legions of new underperforming schools. The Michigan state legislature is currently weighing a bill that would expand charter schools further by allowing basically anyone to start one of these schools, with few safeguards for quality or experience.

"It provides no assurance of quality," said Amber Arellano, who heads the nonpartisan advocacy group EdTrust Midwest. "This is a reckless gamble that threatens the very future of our students."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/28/charter-school-proponents-failing-schools_n_2201912.html

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Leather Cases That Are More Beautifully Crafted Than Your iPad

While an iPad is robotically handcrafted by a Foxconn slave, these Feit iPad cases are lovingly made in a family-owned atelier in Florence. At least from the photos, the details show. Because these leather sleeves are lovely. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Y7yJJkftbZI/leather-cases-that-are-more-beautifully-crafted-than-your-ipad

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Fed's Lockhart warns of unusual threats to financial system

BERLIN (Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve official warned on Tuesday of potential risks to financial stability from cyberattacks on the U.S. payments system and from a looming funding gap in public pensions.

In a speech to a conference in the German capital, the president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, Dennis Lockhart, said that at a global level the span of vigilance needed to be extremely broad.

"Our radar should scan widely - beyond the most obvious sources of risk," said Lockhart, according to the text of his speech, arguing that markets viewed by some as too small to cause much trouble before the 2008 crisis had ended up posing systemic-scale problems.

Homing in on the issue of cyber-security, he said the fragmented nature of the U.S. payments industry and its rapid evolution were creating many areas of vulnerability.

"A real financial stability concern, however, is the potential for malicious disruptions to the payments system in the form of broadly targeted cyberattacks," he said.

He argued that they should now probably be viewed "as a persistent threat with potential systemic implications".

Although they were unlikely to have as deep or long-lasting an impact on financial system stability as fiscal crises or bank runs, Lockhart said the potential attacks provided justification for collaborative attempts to take preventative measures.

Another growing concern is a potential funding gap in public pensions, Lockhart said, adding that this would more likely appear as a "gradually accreting threat to growth" than as a single event shock.

"As a financial stability consideration, the problem of pension underfunding is not likely to be the source of any immediate shock or trigger a broader systemic crisis," he said.

"However, the situation needs to be monitored as public finance does contribute to financial and economic stability more broadly."

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers, editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-lockhart-warns-unusual-threats-financial-system-124417400--sector.html

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University of Denver professor wins prestigious prize for improving world order

Erica Chenoweth to share $100,000 award with co-author Maria Stephan

DENVER? Erica Chenoweth, an assistant professor at the University of Denver?s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, and Maria Stephan, a lead foreign affairs officer with the U.S. State Department, have won the 2013 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.

They earned the $100,000 prize for the ideas set forth in their book, ?Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Non-Violent Conflict? (Columbia University Press 2011). Chenoweth and Stephan collected and analyzed data on all known uprisings between 1900 and 2006 involving more than 1,000 people that related to a country?s secession, overthrow of a dictatorship or removal of a foreign occupation. They learned that the non-violent campaigns succeeded twice as often as the violent ones?even in the face of brutal repression.

They also found that the governments of countries where the peaceful resistance took place were far more likely to become or remain stable democracies afterward.

In the non-violent campaigns they studied, unarmed civilians used a mix of strikes, boycotts, protests and demonstrations, while bombings, assassinations and armed attacks were predominant among the violent movements.

?The implications of their work are enormous,? said Grawemeyer award director Charles Ziegler. ?Not only do their findings validate the work done by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., but they shed new light on the political change we?re seeing today, such as the Arab Spring process in Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations.?

The book by Chenoweth and Stephan also won the 2012 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for best book published in the United States on government, politics or international affairs.

The University of Louisville presents four Grawemeyer Awards each year for outstanding works in music composition, world order, psychology and education. The university and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary jointly give a fifth award in religion.

H. Charles Grawemeyer, industrialist, entrepreneur, astute investor and philanthropist, created the lucrative Grawemeyer Awards at the University of Louisville in 1984 to help make the world a better place. An initial endowment of $9 million funded the awards, which have drawn nominations from around the world.

?It is a tremendous honor to receive the Grawemeyer Award,? said Chenoweth. ?The award is really a testament to people all over the world who choose to fight oppression using nonviolent means. I am so grateful that this idea resonates. And it is deeply humbling to be included alongside prior Grawemeyer recipients, given that so many of them have inspired my own work.?

-30-

Contact:? Jordan Ames
Phone: (303) 871-2781
E-mail: jordan.ames@du.edu

Source: http://blogs.du.edu/today/news-media/university-of-denver-professor-wins-prestigious-prize-for-improving-world-order

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UK police launch series of dawn raids in domestic violence crackdown

Source: Guardian UK

Police in London have carried out dawn raids across the capital as they pursue a week-long crackdown on domestic violence that has led to 264 arrests.

Scotland Yard said officers engaged in Operation Athena were targeting violence within the home as well as hate crime. Ten per cent of all calls made annually to the Metropolitan police are related to domestic violence.

Assistant commissioner Simon Byrne, in charge of territorial policing said: "The scale of the violence and abuse caused by those in domestic relationships is shocking. About one-third of all women will suffer some form of physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their partners. Suffering behind closed doors should not and cannot be ignored. We all have a responsibility to put a stop to domestic violence."

Within the first 36 hours of the operation, which began on Monday and runs until Friday, police had made 230 arrests. By 8.30am on Wednesday that figure had risen to 264, with offences ranging from harassment to rape and threats to kill.

The campaign is being led by specially trained officers and is being accompanied by outreach work, victim-focused workshops and multi-agency drop-in centres, the Met said in a statement.

"We are committed to tackling all of forms of violence, and will make sure we play our part in supporting and protecting victims of both sexes. It is also importantly about demonstrating to abusers that their actions have legal, and in some cases, long-lasting consequences," said Byrne, who claims the drive will send a message to both offenders and victims that police will take reports of domestic violence seriously.

Also Read:? International Day to end violence against women: Time to act

UK

Source: http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/domestic-violence/dv-uk/3354-uk-domestic-violence-crackdown.html

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To derail Maine wind farm project, nonprofit sues federal permitting ...

PORTLAND, Maine ? A nonprofit organization filed a federal lawsuit Monday in a last-ditch effort to prevent the planned expansion of the Kibby Mountain wind farm in northwestern Maine.

The Friends of the Boundary Mountains filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, claiming the federal agency neglected several federal laws in late September when it provided a permit to TransCanada Maine Wind Development Inc. allowing the company to expand its Kibby Mountain wind farm onto nearby Sisk Mountain in northern Franklin County.

The lawsuit named as defendants Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, and Jay Clement, the Army Corps? senior project manager in the New England District.

The Friends of the Boundary Mountains, which was founded in 1995 and is based in Farmington, claims the expansion of the wind farm will violate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Act, according to court documents. In addition, the group alleges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to comply with the Clean Water Act when it issued the permit to TransCanada.

Before TransCanada had completed its original 44-turbine Kibby Mountain project in 2010, it already had proposed an expansion onto nearby Sisk Mountain. After TransCanada scaled back its expansion plans from 15 to 11 turbines, Maine?s Land Use Regulation Commission approved the project in January 2011. The Friends of the Boundary Mountains opposed TransCanada?s original Kibby Mountain wind farm, as well as the Sisk Mountain expansion.

Bob Wiengarten, the nonprofit?s president, said this lawsuit is the group?s last chance to stop TransCanada from building the Sisk Mountain expansion.

?We?ve been fighting this a long time,? Wiengarten said. ?We?re a minority trying to protect these species from the onslaught from wind power.?

The group?s lawsuit is related to a permit TransCanada needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is the keeper of the inland waterways under the Clean Water Act, to temporarily and permanently fill in some wetland areas to build the wind farm expansion. As part of its compliance with the Clean Water Act, the Army Corps also is required to judge the resulting effect on wildlife.

The lawsuit argues that while the Corps had a responsibility to investigate the wind farm?s effect on the golden eagle and the Bicknell?s thrush, it failed to adequately do so. Wiengarten claims both species, which have habitat on or around Sisk Mountain, would be at risk if TransCanada is allowed to expand its wind farm.

Tim Dugan, a spokesman for the Army Corps in New England, declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing internal policy.

The complaint argues that the golden eagle species is ?falling between the cracks? as neither LURC nor the federal government has exercised ?the necessary due diligence in evaluating the true risks and threats to the species,? the complaint claims. Maine considers the golden eagle an endangered species, though the federal government does not. It is protected, however, under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Act.

The lawsuit cites a May 2011 letter from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to TransCanada: ?Proper siting of wind turbines continues to be the [service]?s most critical concern related to wind energy development to avoid and minimize wildlife mortality and habitat fragmentation. New information about migration and movements of golden eagles suggest this species may be the raptor most vulnerable to wind power in the eastern U.S.?

Wiengarten said the Army Corps put conditions into the permit that it claims will protect the golden eagle, but the conditions are inadequate. One such condition is that TransCanada needs to develop an eagle conservation plan, but the company can build the wind farm before submitting it, Wiengarten said.

?We don?t think that?s a very logical way of proceeding,? Wiengarten said. ?We know in the real world that these conditions don?t mean anything. Once TransCanada builds it, it?s too late.?

This could be the first lawsuit in Maine that cites the Eagle Act as a reason to prevent the construction of a wind farm, according to Todd Griset, an attorney at Preti Flaherty who specializes in the energy sector.

?I have seen other lawsuits alleging violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, although I am not aware of any such claims made in Maine,? he wrote in an email.

The Bicknell?s thrush is a migratory bird that spends its winters in the Caribbean and its summers in the subalpine habitat found on Sisk Mountain. The species is rare and fickle about choosing its breeding habitat, Wiengarten said. The federal government is currently reviewing a request to identify it as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, a process Wiengarten points out could take at least a year.

?Our argument is they should pay attention to it right now,? he said. ?Sisk is just not a good place to put a wind turbine because there?s this rare habitat that this bird, which may be endangered ? it?s probably endangered now, but it needs the listing to be official ? it needs that breeding habitat. It?s just too risky. It?s crazy to do this.?

When asked why he thinks the Army Corps did not pursue the effects of TransCanada?s wind farm on the Bicknell?s thrush and the golden eagle, Wiengarten said he believes federal agencies are under political pressure to support the wind power industry.

Wiengarten said he?s not against alternative energy, just not the siting of a wind farm on Kibby and Sisk mountains.

The Friends of the Boundary Mountains is asking the court to void the permit the Army Corps granted and prevent the issuance of a new permit until the violations are addressed. It?s also asking for monetary compensation for ?their costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys? fees,? according to the complaint.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/11/26/business/to-derail-maine-wind-farm-project-nonprofit-sues-federal-permitting-agency/

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Nintendo makes Wii Mini official: currently exclusive to Canada, launches December 7th for $100

That was quick. Scarcely two hours after Best Buy spoiled the party, Nintendo is launching the Wii Mini. The crimson console is billed as a Canada-exclusive for now -- we're reaching out to confirm if and when it might go elsewhere -- and is clearly meant to catch those families that find the Wii U (or even a regular Wii) too pricey. To get there, though, they'll have to make some big sacrifices. The Wii Mini cuts out both GameCube compatibility (seen in some regular Wii variants) and, more importantly, internet access; unfortunately, this won't be your budget Netflix box. Still, when gamers in the Great White North can pick one up on December 7th for $100, it might be the ideal fit for that TV in the basement or the occasional party.

Continue reading Nintendo makes Wii Mini official: currently exclusive to Canada, launches December 7th for $100

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

Comments

Source: Nintendo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/27/nintendo-makes-wii-mini-official-exclusive-to-canada/

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Paper books, physical language schools still most popular for English learning

By Ken Y-N ( November 27, 2012 at 00:54) ? Filed under Lifestyle, Polls

goo Research recently conducted a survey into overseas travel and language learning, the highlights of which japan.internet.com published.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 9th of November 2012 1,094 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% of the sample were male, 16.3% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.4% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

I too much specify a preference for real books and real language schools, which leads me to think that perhaps there is an age bias in this survey. The figures were not reported, but older people tend to travel overseas more (I think?), thus older people would tend to be more wedded to 20th century technology, thus the bias away from virtual learning?

Since I?m mentioning online learning, I?ll put in a good word for Tofugu; he offers online Japanese courses along with his rather entertaining blog.

Research results

Q1: Have you been abroad within the last five years? (Sample size=1,094)

Q1SQ1: Did you take English lessons in preparation for this travel? (Sample size=377)

Yes (to SQ2)	17.2%
Didn?t travel to English-speaking country	18.6%
No	64.2%

Combining these two we get:

Q1+Q1SQ1: Did you take English lessons in preparation for overseas travel within the last five years? (Sample size=1,094)

Yes	5.9%
Didn?t travel to English-speaking country	6.4%
No	22.1%
Haven?t travelled abroad within the last five years	65.5%

Q1SQ2: How did you study English? (Sample size=65)

Books	28
Language school	19
Online lessons	14
Radio	14
PC software	13
From friends	10
Home tutor	9
Smartphone app	9
Nintendo DS, Sony PSP game	8
Work, school language learning support service	6
Other	10

Read more on: english,goo research,travel

Permalink

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Language study means watching English educational television

English ? the sooner the better

Online English lessons attractive to one in four Japanese

English study just a hobby for most

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatJapanThinks/~3/_Dhu0SZYGyM/

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'DWTS: All-Stars' Reveal Their Favorite Holiday Films and Traditions ...

"DWTS: All-Stars" (ABC)

The competitors on ?Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars? wanted a brand new bright and sparkly holiday decoration this year?the mirror ball trophy! But even the celebrities and pro dancers who didn?t win the coveted prize were looking forward to spending time with friends and family, resting their tired feet in front of the Christmas tree, exchanging gifts, watching their favorite holiday movies and ringing in the New Year. Here, some of the ?All-Stars? share with XfinityTV.com their holiday favorites and traditions:

DVR the Next Episode of ?DWTS: All-Stars?

GILLES MARINI:
Favorite Holiday Movie: ?Home Alone.? It?s frickin? hilarious. You can watch it sober or not. It still is very funny. You can watch it 20 years later, it?s funny. Macauley Culkin? Every kid wanted to be him! I wanted to be him! Watch ?Home Alone? on XFINITY On Demand.

Holiday Viewing Traditions: Over the holidays, we?ll watch a movie, going to the movie theaters. I can?t wait to see the James Bond movie because my son already went and wants to go back and I want to go with him.

This Year?s Christmas Plans: I will be in Colorado with my dear friend Dr. Christopher Offutt. Remember I broke my toe [and he fixed it]? We became very good friends so we?re going to his house. Actually, my daughter fell in love with his son, she?s in love with Seth. I said [to her], do you want to go to Bora Bora or to Colorado to see Seth and she saved me a lot of money. She?s six years old. You know, you can be three years old or 70?when you look at somebody and you feel something, no matter what age you are, you feel it.

Catch Up on a Recent Episode of ?DWTS: All-Stars?:

APOLO ANTON OHNO:
Favorite Holiday Movie: ?A Christmas Story.? It?s a hilarious classic. They go to a Chinese restaurant and they try to get turkey but they get the duck and they sing fa la la la la. When I was training as an athlete, we were always training through Christmas so we?d always be eating Chinese food because everything else is closed. I could relate! Watch ?A Christmas Story? on XFINITY On Demand.

KELLY MONACO:
This Year?s Christmas Plans: I haven?t spent Christmas away from my family my entire life so I?m sure I?ll be nestled in the woods somewhere with them. My mom, my dad, my sisters, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins. We celebrate Christmas like every East Coast Philadelphia Catholic family?Christmas tree, presents under the tree, you get down there at 8 o?clock in the morning like Santa came. I gotta do it! We watch all the Christmas movies, everything from ?Rudolph [the Red-Nosed Reindeer]? to? ?Miracle on 34th Street.? Watch ?Miracle on 34th Street? on XFINITY On Demand.

VAL CHMERKOVSKIY:
This Year?s Christmas Plans:? I don?t celebrate Christmas. My family wasn?t raised religious. For us, New Year?s is the celebration. I just celebrate family and I celebrate New Year?s with my family every year.

PETA MURGATROYD:
This Year?s Christmas Plans: I?m going to go to Australia for Christmas and Maks [Chmerkovskiy] is coming with me!

SHAWN JOHNSON:
This Year?s Christmas Plans: I will probably just be going home to Iowa. I haven?t really been home since before the Olympics. It?s been a long time so going home and spending it with them is going to be what I plan on doing.

Watch top shows starting from the first episode [like The Office, Lost, Grey?s Anatomy] and hit movies [like Eight Crazy Nights, Panic Room] with a FREE SAMPLER of XFINITY Streampix.

KARINA SMIRNOFF:
Favorite Holiday Movie: ?A Christmas Story? because it?s just positive, optimistic. It gives you hope and makes you go in the right state of mind.

Holiday Viewing Traditions: I?ll do the ?Dick Clark [New Year's Eve] Special? definitely. To be honest, I always have a gift to get at the last minute. I usually have the big presents but I need to stuff the stockings and get the little ones so that happens on Christmas Day.

Holiday Family Traditions: I?m usually with my family and friends. My mom always does a Christmas tree?always! And every year since we came to the States, she would buy a little house or a church or a village to put underneath the tree. We?ve been in the States since 1993 and now it?s like a mini country there that takes up half the living room. Every year she adds one more and they?re pretty intricate. Some of them have slides and train stations. I love that stuff. My dad is Jewish so I also enjoy a Hanukkah bush decorated in blue. We spend time making breakfast. Usually, it?s difficult for me not to give the gifts earlier because I love watching my family and my friends open the boxes and say, this is so awesome. But for the most part, I wait and we open the presents.

EMMITT SMITH:
Favorite Holiday Movie: ?Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.? I just love it because here you have an odd ball reindeer that nobody really wants to play with, which is like life sometimes. And now this reindeer has something to offer in order to make the world better. That?s a wonderful thing! It?s the original story about bullying.

TONY DOVOLANI:
Favorite Holiday Movie: ?Home Alone.? It was the first Christmas film I saw when I came to the United States and I laughed so hard.

Holiday Viewing Traditions: When we do have the television on we watch a lot of Disney films and Christmas themed cartoons ? like ?Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.?

This Year?s Holiday Plans: I will be spending the holidays at home with family and friends ? sharing time and catching up with everyone ? since I have been away for the past 4 months in LA for ?DWTS.?

Source: http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2012/11/26/dwts-all-stars-reveal-their-favorite-holiday-films-and-traditions/

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Statistics Show Severity Of Childhood Obesity Crisis Your Health ...

From Canada.com?..

Thank you for bringing to the public?s attention the urgency of the childhood obesity issue in your editorial on Nov. 23.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation?s vision is that all children and youth will grow up healthy with access to physical activity and healthy eating where they live, learn and play. The Jump Rope for Heart program supports this through the fun event of skipping and is supported in over 30 schools in the Nanaimo Ladysmith school district and 135 schools Island wide.

In addition to the statistics that you quoted from 2007, there are even more concerning statistics that come from the recent 2012 Report Card on Children and Youth. These stats are not showing improvement in the lives of the next generation:

? 46% of Canadian kids get three hours or less of active play per week, including weekends

? 63% of Canadian kids? free time after school and on weekends is spent being sedentary

? Canadian kids are spending seven hours and 48 minutes per day in front of screens, exceeding the guideline of no more than two hours per day.

We cannot simply point the finger at parents and kids for these trends. It takes an entire community to implement this magnitude of change. Changes in our neighbourhoods and environments can make it challenging for families to make healthy choices.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation is working to help make it easier for children and youth to eat healthy food and be more physically active: ? We are launching a campaign in the fall 2012 to encourage British Columbians to ask for nutrition information in restaurants across the province. Diners can use this information to make healthier choices for themselves and their families when eating out.

? We are working with local governments to design communities with health in mind, such as making it safer and easier to walk or bike to and from school.

? Our National ?Time to Start Campaign? is an educational campaign that will be launched in August 2012 to help give their kids a healthy start to the new school year. Parents will find helpful tips on preparing healthy breakfasts and finding active ways to get to school.

To read the full story?..Click here

Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=7467

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The Parent Rap: Like Gangnam Style, raising dorkyness to an art (+video)

The Parent Rap video raises the dorkyness of parenting to an art. Why does a mom wearing some of her toddler's breakfast find this both funny and unsettling?

By Stephanie Hanes,?Correspondent / November 26, 2012

Parenting rap from Bluefish TV's parenting series 'It Starts at Home with Matt Chandler & Gary Thomas.'

It?s no Gangnam Style, but Bluefish TV?s ?The Parent Rap? video is making waves ? at least among the decidedly-no-longer-cool (ever cool?) parenting set. (Of which, I will admit, I am a card-carrying member.)?

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Now, there are times when a video posted by multiple friends on Facebook is funny. And there are times when it is...? well... a bit close to home. We?re not quite sure into which category this one falls. You be the judge. And then help explain to me why I am both laughing and feeling a bit uncomfortable while I watch it. (Is it that first image of the living room destroyed by toddlers?? The suburban white parents trying to look hard core?? The fact that I am still wearing some of my toddler?s breakfast?)??

Anyhow, in case you missed it on Facebook, here is ?The Parent Rap.?? Because we want to make sure you keep up with the times.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ZBJN8-g3uzA/The-Parent-Rap-Like-Gangnam-Style-raising-dorkyness-to-an-art-video

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"Shadow of Roh" neck and neck with dictator's daughter before South Korea polls

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's December presidential election looks set to turn into a referendum on two of the country's most polarizing leaders as the daughter of military dictator Park Chung-hee faces off against a former aide to ex-President Roh Moo-hyun.

Park's authoritarian rule propelled South Korea from poverty to the cusp of developed-nation status and ended when he was assassinated in 1979. The left-wing Roh's single five-year term closed in chaos as economic reforms failed and a policy of engagement with North Korea was wrecked as Pyongyang pushed ahead with a nuclear weapons program.

Roh committed suicide in 2010 after bribery charges dogged his retirement.

The conservative candidate, Park Geun-hye, 60, who is bidding to become South Korea's first woman president, and left-winger Moon Jae-in, 59, formally registered their candidacies on Sunday after independent Ahn Cheol-soo dropped out to support Moon.

"It is going to be a negative election campaign," said Kim Jun-seok, a political science professor at Dongguk University in Seoul. "People will split between the 'pro-growth' generation that supports Park Chung-hee and the 'pro-distribution' generation that supports Roh Moo-hyun."

Initial polls showed Moon had a slight edge over Park as Ahn's supporters rallied behind a candidate who has pledged engagement with North Korea, to renegotiate a free trade agreement with the United States, to increase taxes on the wealthy and tackle the power of big business.

A survey from pollster Realmeter published on Saturday put Moon, who says his favorite political moniker is "Shadow of Roh", on 48.1 percent versus Park's 46.2 percent. Broadcaster MBC gave Moon 41.2 percent to Park's 39.2 percent.

The lead was within the margin of error and success for Moon will likely hinge on whether he and his Democrat United Party, which failed to oust the ruling conservatives in parliamentary polls in April, can win the support of Ahn supporters who wanted a break with South Korea's established political parties.

Polls showed that Ahn, a software mogul and philanthropist, had until recently been rated the candidate more able to beat Park and to galvanize the support of disenchanted young voters.

Analysts cautioned against reading too much into the polls which also showed that between a quarter and a third of Ahn supporters were now undecided.

"Despite the latest surveys showing Moon Jae-in has a slight lead, the two main players are running neck and neck in the race," said Kim Kwang-Dong, chief analyst at independent political think-tank the Nara Policy Institute.

In addition to Park and Moon, two fringe candidates have so far also registered.

CONFRONTATION POLITICS, CLASS WARFARE

Park, who disappeared from public life after the death of her father and re-emerged as a politician in 1997 when South Korea was plunged into the Asian financial crisis, has made two previous bids to win the conservative candidacy.

Fighting back tears at a press conference at which a flustered Park initially misspoke and said she would step down from the presidency, she formally registered her candidacy on Sunday and pledged an era of "national reconciliation".

"If I do not receive your confidence at the presidential election, I will be ending my political journey," she said.

Like Moon, Park has promised greater "economic democracy" and better social welfare, although she has stressed that the big family-run businesses that dominate South Korea - the so-called chaebol - are essential to the country's success and its ability to create jobs.

She has termed her father's coup as "unavoidable and the best possible choice". At the same time, she says she has always been "apologetic" to victims of her father's push for industrialization, when he suppressed dissent in the face of threats from North Korea.

Moon has refused to visit the grave of Park Chung-hee, who put him in prison, and says that his daughter enjoyed a life of luxury in the presidential mansion and cannot understand the difficulties of ordinary people.

"When I was living in poverty, she was living the life of a princess in the Blue House," Moon said when he declared his candidacy earlier this year. "When I was fighting against dictatorship, she was at the heart of it."

On Sunday, he returned to the theme, setting the stage for a bitter final few weeks of campaigning that political analysts said would likely turn off many uncommitted voters.

"Please choose the force that can safeguard people's welfare and livelihoods and square up to the forces that protect the chaebol and the privileged class," Moon said.

(Additional reporting by Jack Kim, Sung-won Shim and Somang Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shadow-roh-neck-neck-dictators-daughter-south-korea-211144851.html

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Bird enthusiasts attend bird mart at Pomona's Fairplex - DailyBulletin ...

POMONA - Bird enthusiasts flocked to the Everybody's Bird Mart on Sunday at Fairplex.

A variety of birds, cages, seed, feeder, vitamins, toys, perches and other means of spoiling pets were available at the 111th event.

"A lot of people see the outside bird as being brown, black or tan," said small business bird owner Elizabeth Shogren, "but then they come here and they don't realize how many different kinds of birds there are and the colors they come in."

Shogren, who is also a member of the Hemet Valley Bird Society, said that while birds can be pets like dogs and cats, they live much longer.

"This miligold macaw can live up to 75 to 80 years," she said. "When I tell people that, they usually say `I'm

going to have to will it to somebody."'

In addition to selling birds, Eric Antheunisse, owner of Cedar Hill Birds in Lodi, provided tips for those looking to purchase a feathered-friend.

"There are two types of birds, pet birds and breed birds," said Antheunisse, who is also a professional aviculturist. "Pet birds are tame and are hand-fed birds, and if anyone is selling you a pet bird they should be able to take them out of the cage and put them in your hand."

Breed birds are not tamed, and are not meant to be because they are used only for the purpose of reproducing, he said.

Unlike most pets, birds' reproductive organs are internal, said Antheunisse, who has been breeding birds for 30 years. Birds have to be DNA tested to know the sex.

Some of the prices Sunday ruffled the feathers of a number of people at the bird mart.

There were birds being sold for less than $10, but others cost more than $1,000.

After a decade of not having birds, Zeus Villaflor of Carson decided to buy six parakeets. Each had distinctive colors and each was about 2 inches tall. Villaflor said they're the cheapest of birds, priced at $6 each.

"I didn't want to jump into buying something expensive or a high-maintenance bird," said Villaflor, 25. "A friend advised me on which type of bird to purchase and these are lovely, easy to take care of and you don't have to pet them all the time."

Villaflor planned to name them once he got home.

Many bird vendors have birds as pets.

Cesar Fabian, owner of Maria and Artemios Birds in Arleta, has an African Grey parrot named Pancho that talks.

Fabian said birds offer companionship.

"He reacts to me and gives me attention - he's my buddy," said Fabian, of San Fernando.

Marta Armas bought three English budgies on Sunday that will join the 35 other birds at her Canyon Country home.

"I have cats, dogs, turtles. I love animals," she said. "And once I bought one bird I kept on buying more."

---

Reach Canan via email, call her at 909-987-6397 ext. 425, or find her on Twitter @ChinoValleyNow.

Source: http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_22064236?source=rss

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Reference-and-Education Red Ribbon Week Time to Celebrate ...

ge the student Reference-and-Education Red Ribbon Week Time to Celebrate Freedom 20th September 2007 So many times when we celebrate Red Ribbon Week we only think about not taking drugs. Students get tired of the no, don't do that message. They want to hear something else. Well, if you think about it this should be a week to celebrate

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for most vintage clothes, including knitwear, as long as you are prepared to do a little by hand. If youe fallen in love with, and bought, a cardigan that worn or even holed, hopefully youl have looked at the necessary repairs before hand over your cash, and got yourself a good price that takes your valuable time into account. Depending on the kind of yarn the clothing is made from, you may be able to find a close match and darn through the existing yarn to make a relatively http://www.moncleroutletlstore.com/ invisible mend. If the damaged area is relatively unobtrusive, such as under the arm, where a lot of wear occurs, your repairs won be on show for close scrutiny anyway. If your item has a hole or has already been patched, the best alternative may be to simply cover up the area. Consider an appliqu?patch on shoulders or front panels, for example. If you pick the patch carefully, you can sometimes make it look as though it was part of the original design. Or, if the damage is lower down on the front, you could add a patch pocket or two in fabric or lace, or even knit a patch yourself in a contrasting or coordinating colour, to create a truly unique, yet still vintage piece. With a worn hem, collars, or cuffs, lace may again be your saving grace. A narrow lace edging stitched through the existing knitwear, and backed with
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Source: http://www.hubmesh.com/content/reference-and-education-red-ribbon-week-time-to-celebrate-freedom

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Observatory: Makemake, Dwarf Planet Beyond Pluto, Has No Atmosphere, Study Suggests

Not much is known about Makemake, a dwarf planet that circles the Sun beyond Pluto. But scientists got a closer glimpse of it last year, when it passed briefly in front of a star (an event called an occultation), and they report their findings in the current issue of the journal Nature.

Nick Risinger/ESO

An artist's rendition of the surface of the distant dwarf planet Makemake. A new study now shows that?Makemake is not surrounded by a significant atmosphere.

Previously, researchers believed that because the surface temperature of Makemake (pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh) is heterogeneous, it might have an atmosphere. ?If you have some patches with a higher temperature, the ice melts and creates vapor,? said an author of the new study, Noemi Pinilla-Alonso, a planetary scientist at the University of Tennessee. ?And with vapor the planet can develop an atmosphere around it.?

But the new measurements ? based on observations from multiple telescopes in different parts of South America ? indicate that Makemake, like another dwarf planet, Eris, does not have a significant atmosphere.

The researchers also determined that Makemake reflects about 77 percent of the Sun?s light, comparable to the reflection made by dirty snow, and that it is flattened at both poles.

Makemake occupies a portion of the solar system with very few stars, so a stellar occultation is rare, Dr. Pinilla-Alonso said.

?The fact that we could do this and record it with so many telescopes of different sizes is amazing,? she said.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/science/space/makemake-dwarf-planet-beyond-pluto-has-no-atmosphere-study-suggests.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Transformation at SWD Cricket : The Gremlin ? Daily online ...

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Source: http://rezaahmed470.blogspot.com/2012/11/transformation-at-swd-cricket-gremlin.html

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Taking Care of Your Home's Heating and Cooling Systems - Kasa ...

Nov 24

Duct Cleaning St Louis Park MN Selecting an experienced professional who uses the quality materials and understands heating and cooling system is the most important thing if you need repairs for these systems. There are many brands of furnaces which all have distinct parts and functions. Depending on the type of house you live in, your home temperature and utility bill can improve dramatically if you buy the right furnace. Cooling systems are also very different and it is essential to use one that is the most effective. When you meet with a heating and cooling professional, they can evaluate your home and help choose the tools that best meets your needs. These specialists can also handle all varieties of heating and cooling repairs. Experience a large change in your year-round comfort with quality heating and cooling technicians working for you.

Posted in: Services.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 24th, 2012 at 10:25 am and is filed under Services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://kasadekriz.com/taking-care-of-your-homes-heating-and-cooling-systems/

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On dying | Aurat

Woody Allen once said ?I?m not afraid of death, I just don?t want to be there when it happens.?

There is no way to adequately deal with death.

Despite being the only predictability it always seems to hit? unexpectedly, haphazardly. Inevitable but anarchic, it turns your? stomach inside out, leaving disordered and painful ruminations on your? own existence and those close to you.

The passing of a cancer-stricken uncle earlier this year (in Pakistani parlance, a family friend) is the first time death feels as close as a cold breath.

A celebrated elderly surgeon, dealing with death was part of? Uncle?s business, but at 28 I had barely experienced it, too young to remember grandparents overseas.

Uncle?s wife loved poetry and would invite me to their beachfront? Sydney shire home as a university student. We?d chat about politics? and Pakistan. I?d listen to their globetrotting stories in exotic locations.

Aunty would talk about her next planned ?mushaira? or poetry night? where literary types would gather reciting urdu ghazals and melancholy prose.

A migrant, rising from working class ranks to excel in? medicine? and return to assist the country?s most needy, Uncle adjusted? effortlessly to his new life. Elegant, old fashioned, stern, dapper, organised and razor sharp, he had a pedantic meticulousness in manner? and dress that seemed reminiscent of a colonial drawing room.

Even on his deathbed he retained admirable social etiquette, chatting amiably with visitors, ordering doctors about and even neatly leaving a note on funeral arrangements the day he died.

The couple spoke the same Pakistani-dialect we did and childhood trips across Sydney to their palatial homes opened up a world of what was possible.

As I offered my Aunty condolences and apologies for not being there, moored interstate for work, it struck me how unprepared our generation was in dealing with death, and how far removed we were from the elegance and niceties of Uncle?s generation.

I watched in awe as family and community friends rallied, providing support, arranging a Quranic khatam where friends gathered to pray.

They went to hospital, attended the janaza funeral prayer at the mosque and finally saw the body buried at Rookwood cemetery.

Instead of awkward platitudes their assistance was immediate, anchored within the obligations of tradition and religion that provided ritual to deal with what my friends and I find uncomfortable to even speak about.

Even the notification of death is circumscribed in Islam, to be met with a prayer: Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajion, to God we come from and God we return.

As our lives become longer and more comfortable, as we shut our elderly in homes for remote death, dying is the last taboo, unspoken of and unwelcome, as we struggle to find words to comfort the grieving.

In the world of transient texts, virtual friendships and unanchored individuals with unlimited choice,? I was reminded of the importance of community, family and faith. The all-encompassing reassurances of the frailty of our humanity, that allow pain to be collectively shared and understood.

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Source: http://aurat.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/on-dying/

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??? ????? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ??????? ????????????, ? ?????????? ?????? ????????, ???? ?????? ????? ????? 20, ? ??????? ?????? - ?? ? 2, ??? ?????????...in its time (in a galaxy far far away) ? ?????, ??? ?????? ?????????? ?????, ? ??????????? ??????????? ???????? http://news.rambler.ru/16466149/

Source: http://forums.ferra.ru/index.php?showtopic=53090

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NO PROPERTY TAX UNDER OUR BUDGET PROPOSALS, SAYS ...

Donegal Fianna F?il TD Charlie McConalogue has said there is no need to hit hard-pressed homeowners with a property tax in next year?s budget.

Fianna F?il launched its alternative budget for 2013 this week, proposing a full reversal of controversial cuts to home help hours and vowing to protect frontline education services.

The proposals, which have been fully costed by the Department of Finance, will reach the target of ?3.5 billion in savings next year through an even split of taxation and expenditure measures.

But Deputy Charlie McConalogue said it?s about a fairer way towards recovery, instead of expecting hard-pressed families and the most vulnerable people to bear the brunt of the burden.

The Donegal TD explained, ?We are proposing that education, mental health and disability services be fully protected. This means reversing the deeply unfair slash and burn of home help hours, and well as reversing the cuts to rural schools and DEIS schools, and the dangerous cuts to guidance counsellors at second level. We also propose lifting the ban on recruitment in the garda?, as local garda services have already been stretched to the limit.

?Fianna F?il has worked out measures to exceed the Government?s one tax targets for next year, without slapping hard-pressed homeowners with hefty property taxes. We believe that this is not the time for a property tax, with so many homeowners in Donegal and across the country struggling to pay their mortgage.?

The party has also accused the Government of failing to tackle the deepening jobs crisis and to provide proper supports to small businesses in difficulty.

Deputy McConalogue said: ?Donegal has the highest rate of youth unemployment in the country, and the government?s jobs plans have had absolutely no impact on the jobs crisis in this region.

?We are proposing to increase the places in local employment schemes, in areas such as child care, home help and community renewal projects. We also propose a range of supports for local companies by tackling the burden of commercial rates, reforming the availability of credit and scrapping plans to push the cost of sick pay onto employers.?

?

Source: http://www.donegaldaily.com/2012/11/22/no-property-tax-under-our-budget-proposals-says-mcconalogue/

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jamainai: HEALTH and FITNESS | Disability Benefits Explained Ebook

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BII MOBILE INSIGHTS: Are Retailers Approaching ... - Business Insider

Mobile Insights?is a daily newsletter from?BI Intelligence?delivered first thing every morning exclusively to?BI Intelligence?subscribers.?Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today.

---

Mobile Cliff Coming For Retailers On Black Friday? (Keynote)
The 2012 holiday shopping season is anticipated to be the year for mobile, as large numbers of holiday shoppers use their smartphones for research and purchasing. But retailers may not be ready. Keynote predicts that slow site performance will leave many retailers and mobile shoppers crying in their eggnog.

• Online retail sales are forecasted to be $68.4 billion, 15% over last year. (Forrester)
• 20% of online sales predicted to come from mobile devices. (IMRG/Cap Gemini)
• Four in five mobile device owners will use their devices in some way to assist with shopping. (Google/Ipsos)

Meanwhile a Keynote User Study found that user expectations for site performance across smartphones and tablets are high:

• 64% of smartphone users want an under four second page download
• 60% of tablet users want an under three second page download

So are online retailers ready to give the gift of mobile website performance and delight their customers looking to compare and buy online? Right now average response time is over 11 seconds.

Merry Mobile Shopping (Clickz)
From all appearances, it seems that Santa's sleigh bells are ringing in 2012 as the year that holiday shopping went mobile. In comparison to 2011, research is predicting that we'll be seeing twice as many consumers using their mobile devices to buy holiday gifts this year. It's no wonder. According to recent findings explored in the IAB's second annual Mobile Shoppers study, U.S. smartphone ownership took a sharp uptick since 2011, rising to 68% of consumers owning a smart mobile device versus 57% last year. And mobile shopping is on the rise. If Santa's sleigh bells can be heard around the globe, I think we can expect to hear the sounds of consumers collectively tapping on their mobile devices to make sure there is something under the tree.

Mobile Email Marketing: Tips For The Holiday Season (Marketing Land)
Even if you haven?t been able to transition your emails into a responsive template or you?re waiting to roll out that new mobile strategy in 2013, there are still a few mobile-smart techniques at your disposal:

• Set to scale for iOS devices
• Optimize your pre-header message
• Prioritize for holiday shopping activity
• Adjust for touch
• Design for short attention spans
• Make it easy to read

The holiday season can be a challenging time to try new things, but now you have a few simple tips to help your messages grab attention in the mobile inbox.

Effectively Measuring Lead Performance In Mobile Is Essential (Search Engine Watch)
If you?re like most digital marketers, you engage in advertising to achieve one of two goals ? either to generate or increase awareness or to generate new leads or customers. The metrics used to measure each of these goals vary dramatically, both in type and complexity. Lead measurement on the other hand is often very complex for the simple fact that every business measures them differently. Despite this fact, the most common metrics used in the digital world to measure this type of performance are clicks and calls. In mobile, there is a new engagement metric that is largely overlooked by marketers new to the space that is just as valuable, if not more valuable as a qualified lead measure, a call or completed forms: The access of map and driving directions. These actions are of great value, as the act of clicking through to view map and driving directions demonstrates a high level of user intent to convert through an offline visit to a store or business location.

SEO For The Mobile Web (Webdesigner Depot)
With the explosive expansion in the use of tablet computers and smartphones for web searches, why are so many SEO experts unable to look beyond desktop development? Is it because developers do not feel the need to duplicate their efforts, or does the answer lie in the clients? and employers? unwillingness to swallow the extra expense? If more users are searching for businesses while on the go through their smartphones, don?t we need a recommended practice for attracting them? Actually, there already is one: SEO. Google has already taken steps to consider how to rank pages tailored for smartphones. The mission of Googlebot-Mobile is "to increase ? coverage of smartphone content and to provide a better search experience for smartphone users." If you are planning a mobile specific version of your site, you must ensure that the content delivered is genuinely different from the desktop site.

Adoption Of Marketing Attribution Driven By Social And Mobile (Econsultancy)
The rise of social media and mobile usage has led to an increased interest in marketing attribution, according to the latest Econsultancy/Adobe Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing. The survey finds that marketing attribution has moved past the 'early adopter' phase, and is now used in some shape or form by the majority of respondents. The proliferation of mobile devices, and their potential to provide a link between online and offline, makes the task of attribution more difficult.?? Just under half (49%) of client-side respondents agree that mobile has increased the focus on marketing attribution, as they need to find ways to calculate the value of the channel.? Impact of mobile and social on attribution:

Econsultancy / Adobe

Social has also been instrumental in building the momentum of attribution marketing, with 58% of agency and 43% of client respondents agreeing that social media has increased focus on attribution.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/bii-mobile-insights-are-retailers-approaching-a-mobile-cliff2-2012-11

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