Real estate notes | TribLIVE

By Sam Spatter

Published: Saturday, January 26, 2013, 9:00?p.m.
Updated 8 hours ago

? Heartland Homes, which is now part of NVR Inc., plans a preview of its 14-lot residential subdivision, Waterford Place in MCandless, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at its Pinecrest community in Pine. The new community will be off Ringeisen Road. The homes will feature HardiePlank siding, brick water tables, concrete driveways and upgraded landscape packages, said Kevin Oakley of Heartland.

? At a hearing Thursday before the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment, Jacob B. Metz will seek an exception to operate a recycling processing center in 10,400 square feet of a two-story structure at 2235 Mary St., South Side. Kenneth Jeffrey Hanna Jr. wants to use 600 square feet in an attached garage of 919 N. St. Clair St., Highland Park, for brewery manufacturing as a home occupation.
E Squared Construction wants an OK for a 4,800-square-foot expansion of a restaurant and banquet hall in a three-story structure at 710 N. Homewood Ave. Melody Farrin wants to have four poultry birds as an urban agriculture accessory at a single-family dwelling, 1126 Winterton St., Highland Park. Waterford Land Partners LP will return to seek approval for 31 two-story single-family attached dwellings on Davison Street, Lawrenceville.

? Dan Jones of Precision Home Inspections Inc., based in Connellsville, was honored by the American Society of Home Inspectors for 15 years of membership. Jones, a ASHI certified inspector since 1998, does pre-listing and maintenance inspections in southwestern Pennsylvania. Precision conducts inspections of new and previously owned homes,

? A free seminar, ?Is Real Estate Your New Career?? will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Northland Public Library, 300 Cumberland Road, off McKnight Road, by Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. Cindy Criss and Cathy Winghart will co-host the event. For reservations, call 412-934-3400 or 412-366-3100.

? The franchise owners of CMIT Solutions in Western Pennsylvania, a provider of managed services and other computer consulting services, will expand the number of offices by up to five over the next few months. Two offices are already in the region. Sam Gupta and his partner, Sunny Yalamarthy, are looking at Downtown, Monroeville and the South Hills, among other sites. Karen Stephens covers northern Allegheny and southern Butler counties. There is a North Hills office.

? Allegheny County and the county Parks Foundation will host two meetings on Wednesday to obtain public input on projects in North Park and South Park. At the North Park meeting in Rose Barn, Pearce Mill Road, GAI Consultants will show schematic designs for the Lake Trail Gateways and Municipal Row Path. At the South Park meeting in the Park Home Economics Building, Buffalo Drive, Pashek Associates will present design options for the Playgrounds Oval. Both meetings start at 7 p.m.

? America?s Best Contacts & Eyeglasses has opened in Town Marketplace, Monaca, its seventh store in the region.

Sam Spatter is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.

He can be reached at 412-320-7843 or sspatter@tribweb.com.

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Source: http://triblive.com/business/realestate/3335341-74/park-road-south

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Karnow, Vietnam reporter-historian, dies at age 87

Stanley Karnow, the award-winning author and journalist who wrote a definitive book about the Vietnam War, worked on an accompanying documentary and later won a Pulitzer for a history of the Philippines, died Sunday morning. He was 87.

Karnow, who had congestive heart failure, died in his sleep at his home in Potomac, Md., said son Michael Karnow.

A Paris-based correspondent for Time magazine early in his career, Karnow was assigned in 1958 to Hong Kong as bureau chief for Southeast Asia and soon arrived in Vietnam, when the American presence was still confined to a small core of advisers. In 1959, Karnow reported on the first two American deaths in Vietnam, not suspecting that tens of thousands would follow.

Into the 1970s, Karnow would cover the war off and on for Time, The Washington Post and other publications and then draw upon his experience for an epic PBS documentary and for the million-selling "Vietnam: A History," published in 1983 and widely regarded as an essential, even-handed summation.

Karnow's "In Our Image," a companion to a PBS documentary on the Philippines, won the Pulitzer in 1990. His other books included "Mao and China," which in 1973 received a National Book Award nomination, and "Paris in The Fifties," a memoir published in 1997.

A fellow Vietnam reporter, Morley Safer, would describe Karnow as the embodiment of "the wise old Asian hand." Karnow was known for his precision and research ? his Vietnam book reaches back to ancient times ? and his willingness to see past his own beliefs. He was a critic of the Vietnam War (and a name on President Nixon's enemies list) who still found cruelty and incompetence among the North Vietnamese. His friendship with Philippines leader Corazon Aquino did not stop him from criticizing her presidency.

A salesman's son, Karnow was born in New York in 1925 and by high school was writing radio plays and editing the school's paper, a job he also held at the Harvard Crimson. He first lived in Asia during World War II when he served throughout the region in the Army Air Corps. Back in the U.S., he majored in European history and literature at Harvard, from which he graduated in 1947.

Enchanted by French culture, and by the romance of Paris set down by Americans Ernest Hemingway and Henry Miller, Karnow set out for Europe after leaving school not for any particular purpose, but simply because it was there. "I went to Paris, planning to stay for the summer. I stayed for 10 years," he wrote in "Paris in the Fifties."

He began sending dispatches to a Connecticut weekly, where the owner was a friend, and in 1950 was hired as a researcher at Time. Promoted to correspondent, he would cover strikes, race car driving and the beginning of the French conflict with Algeria, but also interviewed Audrey Hepburn ("a memorable if regrettably brief encounter") fashion designer Christian Dior and director John Huston, who smoked cigars, knocked back Irish whiskies and rambled about the meaning of Humphrey Bogart. Friends and acquaintances included Norman Mailer, James Baldwin and John Kenneth Galbraith.

Karnow's first book was the text for "Southeast Asia," an illustrated Life World Library release published in 1962, before the U.S. committed ground troops to Vietnam. It was partly a Cold War time capsule, preoccupied with Communist influence, but was also skeptical enough of official policy to anticipate the fall of a key American ally, South Vietnamese president Ngo Dihn Diem, an event that helped lead to greater American involvement.

Like so many others, Karnow initially supported the war and believed in the "domino theory," which asserted that if South Vietnam were to fall to communism its neighbors would too.

But by war's end, Karnow agreed with the soldier asked by a reporter in 1968 what he thought of the conflict: "It stinks," was the reply.

"Vietnam: A History" was published in 1983 and coincided with a 13-part PBS documentary series. Like much of his work, Karnow's book combined historical research, firsthand observations and thorough reporting, including interviews with top officials on both sides of the war. Decades later, it remained read and taught alongside such classics as David Halberstam's "The Best and the Brightest" and Michael Herr's "Dispatches."

"There are not many carefully delineated judgments in the book. But that is more a comment than the criticism it might be, for Mr. Karnow does not claim to have reached a sweeping verdict on the war," Douglas Pike, a former U.S. government official in Vietnam who became a leading authority on the war, wrote for The New York Times in a 1983 review.

"Because he has a sharp eye for the illustrative moment and a keen ear for the telling quote, his book is first-rate as a popular contribution to understanding the war. And that is what he meant it to be."

The PBS series won six Emmys, a Peabody and a Polk and was the highest-rated documentary at the time for public television, with an average of 9.7 million viewers per episode. Along with much praise came criticism from the left and right. The liberal weekly The Nation faulted Karnow for "little analysis and much waffling." Conservatives were so angered by the documentary that PBS agreed to let the right-wing Accuracy in Media air a rebuttal, "Television's Vietnam: The Real Story," which in turn was criticized as a show of weakness by PBS.

Karnow completed no books after "Paris in the Fifties." He attempted a study of Asians in the U.S., which he abandoned; a history of Jewish humor that never advanced beyond an outline; and a second memoir, with such working titles as "Interesting Times" and "Out of Asia." He also cared for his ailing wife, Annette, who died of cancer in 2009. A previous marriage, to Claude Sarraute (daughter of French novelist Nathalie Sarraute), ended in divorce in 1955. Karnow had three children.

He was often called on for speeches, panel discussions and television appearances and asked for his opinions on current affairs. One query came in 2009, through his old friend Richard Holbrooke, at the time the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan. Holbrooke wanted advice on U.S. policy in Afghanistan and put Karnow on the phone with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander. Karnow and the general discussed similarities between the wars in Afghanistan and Vietnam.

"What did we learn from Vietnam?" Karnow later told the AP. "We learned that we shouldn't have been there in the first place."

___

Associated Press writer Ben Nuckols in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/karnow-vietnam-reporter-historian-dies-age-87-215252838.html

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MCX Crude Oil: Positive US inventory numbers may spoil the bull party

By Ankush Kumar Jain
On India's MCX, crude oil for January delivery is expected to have crucial resistance at Rs 5170 and the next upside move may occur only above Rs.5170 level. If prices sustain above Rs.5170 then it may touch Rs 5300 levels in coming sessions.

Meanwhile, as per the American Petroleum Institute data, U.S. crude oil stocks climbed 2.4 million barrels last week. The Energy Information Administration data scheduled for today may show crude stocks climbing by 2 million barrels, a Bloomberg survey said.

?We?ve got inventory numbers tonight and with a forecast increase that keeps stockpiles at very elevated levels,? said Michael McCarthy a chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney to Bloomberg News.

This may be bearish for crude oil prices intra-day.

While on the lower side, crude oil is having a very good support at Rs.5040. Prices are expected to trade in a range between Rs.5040 and Rs.5170 for the day and breakout to any of the sides would give a clear direction domestic markets.

Intra-day traders are advised to short sell crude oil January futures around Rs 5140 with a stop loss of Rs 5170 and wait for the target near Rs.5090 and Rs.5050.

Crude futures on the NYMEX faced a strong resistance of $94 in yesterday?s session. By the end of the session crude lost all the gains as it was unable to breach the said levels. Today the commodity is expected to trade in a range between $92 and $94 and breakout to any of the sides will give a clear direction for oil prices.

The EIA meanwhile forecasts that crude consumption around the world is expected to climb to record levels.

On India's MCX, crude oil for delivery on January 21 was seen trading at Rs.5107 a barrel, a loss of 0.02% as of 05.13 PM IST on Wednesday.

On the ICE Futures Europe, price of Brent Crude Oil for February 13 delivery was spotted trading at $111.79 a barrel even as WTI Crude oil for delivery on the same date was seen trading at $ 93.03 as of 17:32 IST on Wednesday.(Ankush Kumar Jain is Research Analyst, Commodity Online)

Reach Commodity Online at its service phone number: 079 40275050

Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/mcx-crude-oil-positive-us-inventory-numbers-may-spoil-the-bull-party-52152-3-52153.html

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White House official: AG, HHS, VA heads to stay

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A White House official says Attorney General Eric Holder and the secretaries of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs will remain with the Obama administration as it enters a second term.

The official said Holder, who leads the Justice Department, and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki will remain with the administration amid changes to the Cabinet as President Barack Obama moves into his second term.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis submitted her resignation.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel changes, said the three remaining officials were not an exhaustive list of which Cabinet members intended to stay.

Obama has received some criticism that his initial Cabinet choices for the State Department and Defense Department do not reflect the nation's diversity.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-official-ag-hhs-va-heads-stay-214245302--politics.html

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A Minute With: "Glee" star Chris Colfer's "Lightning" film debut

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Chris Colfer, best known for portraying the openly gay Kurt Hummel on the hit musical television series "Glee," will make his feature-film acting and writing debut in dark indie comedy "Struck by Lightning" on Friday.

Colfer, 22, plays a high-school student who blackmails the popular kids into contributing to his literary magazine. The film also stars comedienne Rebel Wilson and "Modern Family's" Sarah Hyland.

Colfer sat down with Reuters to talk about the film, and his day job on "Glee," which is now in its fourth season on U.S. network Fox.

Q: You play a high-school student on television. What made you want to stick to the high-school genre for your debut film?

A: "I really wanted to tell a story of a genre of high-school students that often doesn't get told - the under-appreciated over-achieving student, like I was in high school."

Q: Was it hard to get financiers to see you as a credible writer because you are known primarily as an actor?

A: "Anytime an actor associated with something larger than life like 'Glee,' I think there is automatic suspicion and doubt that the script would be good. Once people got the script, it wasn't hard to convince them to read it, but it was difficult getting it made. Had I sold it to a studio, I bet you anything it would have been turned into a movie with me not in it and about a kid losing his virginity or doing drugs. Because that's what happens and that's not what I wanted."

Q: Why did you choose to make this movie as your debut? Were you not getting other offers?

A: "I have been getting offers but for the most part they were Kurt Hummel 2.0-type roles. Which I don't mind because I see typecasting differently. My attitude is as long as I'm employed, I really don't mind. But this character that I wrote just happened not to be a Kurt Hummel-type. I really wanted to play this character and tell his story."

Q: You shot this while on hiatus from "Glee." Was that tough?

A: "With 'Glee,' every time we go on hiatus, we go on a tour. As soon as we were done with that tour, I had 2 1/2 weeks off before shooting season three. I was the only cast member who decided to do a movie during that time, so the odds were definitely against me. We shot the film in 16 days. We shot digitally, which helped a lot because there wasn't quite as much lighting to set up or time needed to reload the camera and get film. So that helped. And the locations were all very close to one another."

Q: This latest season of "Glee" sees a split in storylines as the show follows both a new generation of students at William McKinley High and graduates - like Kurt Hummel - at their new school in New York. What do you think of this change?

A: "I love it. I think we all love it because it means not all of us are working eight days a week, 25 hours a day like we used to. We all get a few days off every week, which is really nice. It's been fun to leave the choir room and experience what else is out there for Kurt. That's been great."

Q: You published a children's fiction novel, "The Land of Stories," last year, which topped the New York Times bestseller list, and you have a sequel due out this year. Is writing important to you?

A: "Unless you fit the standard Hollywood template perfectly, to survive in this business you have to generate your own stuff. But for me, it's more the drive of wanting to tell stories. I've always been a storyteller ever since I was a kid."

Q: Really?

A: "One of my biggest blessings ever was being born knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I have a very long bucket list of films and stories - mostly stories - that I want to tell. I love creating characters and I love creating worlds that represent something that's not so on the nose."

Q: Because Kurt Hummel is openly gay, do you feel responsibility to represent the gay community in real life?

A: "Everyone automatically associates me with being the poster boy for gay youth. But I feel like Kurt put me in a position to be the poster boy for anyone who is at all uniquely different. I feel anyone who has that one secretive element that makes them different from the rest is my demographic. And with all the writing I've done and with this movie, I feel like I've added another straw to my cap in representing all the ambitious kids out there, which is a dream for me."

(Reporting by Zorianna Kit; Editing by Eric Kelsey, Piya Sinha-Roy and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/minute-glee-star-chris-colfers-lightning-film-debut-110438681.html

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Jan. 31 end-game in sight ? Business Management Daily: Free ...

Mark your calendar. By Jan. 31, employees must have their W-2s, and the IRS must have the fourth-quarter 941 form, and annual 940, 944 and 945 forms. Here?s what you must do now:

?? If you need more time to file W-2s or 1099s, request an extension by filing Form 8809 with the IRS now.

?? Renew third-party designee status on Forms 940 and 945.

?? Review states? mandatory e-filing thresholds for W-2s.

?? Review wage and tax categories. Before processing W-2s and the fourth-quarter 941, verify that the general ledger employer/employee withholding liability accounts balance. Make correcting journal entries for out-of-balance situations caused by year-end adjustments.

?? Complete your fourth-quarter 941 first, then balance the 941 and W-2 totals. What must balance: Social Security and Medicare wages/taxes and federal income tax withheld.

?? Use the Social Security Administration?s (SSA) free Accuwage software to check balances before distributing W-2s. Access Accuwage here.

?? Verify data before a preliminary printing of W-2s on plain paper. Watch: Employees? Social Security numbers, employees whose wages exceed the 2012 Social Security wage base, benefits reported in Boxes 10 and 12, check marks in Box 13 and state/local totals. Match totals to a reconciliation worksheet.

?? Check that employees sign requests for duplicate or corrected W-2s and that signatures are legitimate. This ensures that ex-spouses haven?t slipped one by employees.

?? For corrected W-2s issued to employees prior to filing, check the Void Box on Copy A, and insert ?Corrected? at the top of Copies B, C and 2.

?? Notify the mailroom of the date W-2s will be mailed. Remind mailroom personnel to have sufficient postage in the postage machine.

?

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George Saunders and Andy Ward

Author George Saunders (left) and editor Andy Ward (right)

Photo by Chloe Aftel; Courtesy of Andy Ward

Andy Ward has edited George Saunders? writing since 2005, first at GQ, and now at Random House. On the occasion of Saunders? new collection, Tenth of December, Ward and Saunders emailed each other about writing, editing, outtakes, and how over and over again The Novel becomes a story.

Ward: Correct me if I?m wrong, but there?s a story in this here collection, ?Semplica Girl Diaries,? that you started in 1998 and finished in September of 2012, 14 years later.

Saunders: Yes, and thanks for bringing up that painful subject.

Ward: Hey, at least I didn?t ask you when you were finally gonna write The Novel!

Saunders: Actually, at least three of the stories in this book were ?novels? until they?came to their senses. That seems to be the definition of ?novel? for me: a story that hasn?t yet discovered a way to be brief.

Ward: OK, but at one point, I think you said ?Semplica Girl Diaries? was almost 200 pages long. When you sent it to me?with the caveat that ?this story has confused me for many years now?? it was about 30 pages long. Is this normal for you? It brings to mind a story I once heard about Robert Rauschenberg, I think, who was asked, ?How do you know when a painting is done?? And he responded, ?When I sell it.? Do you feel the same way, that you could keep reworking things forever?

Saunders: ?Semplica Girl Diaries? was unusual in the time it took but not in the pattern. I?ll often get stuck in the middle of something like that. What happens is that I start out pretty well and then ?figure out? what the story is about?but the danger is that the story will just be about ? that. So there can be a period where I?m waiting for the story to hop up to another level?but to get that to happen takes me a lot of writing.

As far as Rauschenberg?I have an internal standard for when a story is done that I can?t really articulate. Maybe it?s just: I know it when I see it. Or: I know it when I don?t see it. It has something to do with making the action feel undeniable. There?s a feeling I get when (in the rereading) the language passes over from language to action: What was mere typing before starts to feel like something that has actually happened. So that can take a while and it?s not just about the language?it?s also a structural thing. If the story is tight and all the scenes are necessary, it helps me to understand what the current section is supposed to be doing?and hence I can know when it?s right and done.

One thing that really helped on this one was your patience?as we went down to the wire, the story still kept opening up and I appreciated how positive and supportive you were?no pressure, all hope.?A perfect atmosphere in which to write.

Ward: A lot of people say to me, ?God, it must be so fun to work with George Saunders. Do you even have to edit him at all?? And they say it like they assume you shun all editing, or don?t allow editing, which is always really funny to me, because you are a person who craves feedback, who wants to be pushed and challenged and sent off in new directions. This all sounds self-serving, I realize, so I should add: Of course, at this stage, you don?t need an editor. But you want an editor. Why?

Saunders: No, I definitely need and enjoy having an editor, and for the exact reasons you state. There?s a really nice moment in the life of a piece of writing where the writer starts to get a feeling of it outgrowing him?or he starts to see it having a life of its own that doesn?t have anything to do with his ego or his desire to ?be a good writer.? It?s almost like an animal starts to appear in the stone and then it starts to move, and you, the writer, are rooting for it so hard?but may not be able to see everything clearly after working on that stone for so long.

If a writer understands his work as something that originates with him but then, with any luck, gets away from him, then what he needs is someone who can grasp the potential of the piece and lead him to that higher ground. (I?m aware I?m mixing metaphors here. OK: One ascends to the higher ground, and on that higher ground is a sculpture of a bear, a bear that is ?coming alive? and ?outgrowing? him. And the editor is encouraging him to ?grasp the potential of? the bear. Aiyee.)

One of the things that you are really great at is simultaneously acknowledging the parts that are working and showing me to the places where the piece could be working better?it?s a genuine kind of encouragement that is literally ?en-couraging??it makes me feel, ?OK, I can do this, Andy likes Part A and Part B, so I can go back to Part C and find a bit more in it.? There?s also a way that you have of being precise but also allusive, that works well for me?it?s something about the open-hearted way you frame your queries. Instead of feeling daunted or discouraged, I feel excited to give whatever it is a try. This takes a lot of editorial wisdom and confidence?to know just how to get the writer to take that extra chance.

Ward: It?s easy to acknowledge that parts are working when the parts are working! I never strain to find passages in your work where I can write ?I love this? in the margin and really mean it. But it?s also freeing, as an editor, to know that your partner in the process?the writer?is so open to suggestions, and to reworking things, and pushing deeper into an idea, or a scene, that might seem good enough as it is. I never get the sense that you don?t want to be bothered to make something better. And I often find that you have a pretty good sense of what I?m going to say, anyway. Like, I?ll put a note in the text that says, ?I?m not sure this graf is working, or adding much. Cut?? And you?ll say, ?Yes, cut, and I kind of knew it wasn?t working, too.? That kind of similarity of sensibility/worldview takes a lot of the tension out of the editing process?which I always feel shouldn?t really be a tense process if both parties are coming to it honestly and with good intentions.

You and I have talked a lot about how this book feels a little different than your previous collections. The voice has maybe come down an octave here and there, the emotional stuff simmering beneath the surface is, for me at least, harder to ignore. Can you articulate why that is? Was this a conscious thing?

Saunders: It wasn?t exactly conscious, I don?t think, because the book came together over such a long time. It might have just been developmental: I got older and moved into a new stage of life. And in that new stage, things look different. But I think the most truthful explanation is a little more technical. I would come to some fork in the road in a story and it would seem that certain choices weren?t interesting, in part because either I?d done them before or had seen them done before. So in order to keep interested I?d have to swerve in a new direction, and that direction often tended to be ? (and here I?m struggling for the word, so as not to sound full of it) ? but maybe ? well, I found myself trying to avoid what we might call the ?knee-jerk negative swerve.? Or ?the choice that indicates humans are always shit.?

I turned 54 this year and I find myself feeling like I?m in a bit of a race to get down on paper the way I really feel about life?or the way it has presented to me. And because it has presented to me very beautifully, this is hard. It is technically very hard to show positive manifestations. (?Happiness writes white,? said de Montherlant, who was, Wikipedia told me when I just now went to find out who?d said that, a Nazi collaborator.) But I can look back at the way I thought and felt even as a little kid and there was a lot of wonder there, and openness to the many sides of life?the way that beauty and ugliness co-present, for example, or the way that tragedy might be enshrouded in something really funny, or vice versa?and I feel like I?ve only barely scratched the surface so far in what I?ve been able to write. And I have finally realized that, you know, it?s not a given that my lifespan will accommodate my writing aspirations. It could be that it would take me 12 more books at six years each to get it?which means I would have to live to be 126. Which I fully intend to do, of course. But it seems to me that there are certain thoughts and vignettes and attitudes that I have always had the desire to represent?but that I?m only now picking up the chops and/or confidence to pull off. So, good news/bad news: good news that I?m progressing; bad news that life is short and art is long.

Ward: Let?s talk about nonfiction. I spent 15 years in magazines, editing stories, and I never encountered another writer who worked like you. Your drafts were incredible. You delivered a version of the story?often a little longer than we?d anticipated, but still: Jesus?and a companion file of ?outtakes.? This file consisted of 2,000-3,000 words of perfectly polished sections you had taken out of the story, and yet, obviously kind of wished you had kept in. Otherwise, why the crystalline outtake file? What a beautiful system. So the process, for me, became merging documents, essentially: picking my favorite outtakes, and working them into the final story. How did you come up with that system? I noticed you also do it with some of your short stories, too. Isn?t it hard to put something back into a story once you?ve taken it out?

Saunders: It?s a little like packing for a trip. First you lay out everything that might possibly be useful, with no thought about the size of your suitcase. Then, look at your suitcase. In the case of narrative, there?s a certain obligation to keep the pace up and have each section or subsection be doing something. The ideal thing would be: no merely decorative sections. Every section has to (1) be good in its own right (funny, or sad, or fast, moving, whatever) and (2) advance the story in a meaningful way. With that criteria in mind, some bits are just ? goiter-esque. Even if they?re good. If they?re not functional, they?re optional.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=fc92a0f94ea4906a299b7ba03eb77695

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Office demand slackens with slow job growth

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New demand for U.S. office space slipped in the fourth quarter from three months ago and a year earlier as job growth remained sluggish, according to a report.

Tenants took on 3.7 million square feet of additional office space in the fourth quarter, down from 4.8 million in both the third quarter and the year-earlier period, according to the report released on Monday by real estate research firm Reis Inc.

"Without a robust labor market recovery there will be no robust office market recovery," said Ryan Severino, senior economist for Reis.

Employers added a lackluster 155,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate held steady at 7.8 percent, the government said on Friday.

The office vacancy rate in the quarter was 17.1 percent, far higher than the 12.6 percent recorded at the end of 2007 right before tenants gave up space in the financial crisis.

The vacancy rate, however, edged lower by one-tenth of one percentage point in the quarter as developers added only 3.2 million square feet of space, less than renters took on. U.S. office inventory amounts to 4.09 billion square feet, according to Reis.

Weak demand for space gives developers little reason to build, Severino said. Lenders continue to impose more stringent requirements on developers before they will provide construction financing, he said.

The vacancy rate peaked at 17.6 percent in the financial crisis.

Average rental rates, adjusted for discounts and incentives offered by landlords, grew by a weak 0.8 percent in the quarter to $22.96 per square foot per year, Severino said.

The cities with the tightest markets continue to be those with stronger technology or energy sectors in their economies. Rents in San Francisco, for example, rose 3.6 percent, the most of any of 79 markets, to $34.69 per square foot. The vacancy rate in San Francisco was 13.8 percent.

Washington, D.C. has the tightest market of all at the moment, with a vacancy rate of 9.3 percent. But Severino expects New York to take that title soon as its increasingly important technology sector takes more space and as the government in Washington cuts employment.

The vacancy rate in New York was 9.9 percent in the quarter, two-tenths of a percentage point better than three months earlier. The average rental rate in New York was $48.55 per square foot, up 1.4 percent in the quarter.

(Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/office-demand-slackens-slow-job-growth-050822648--sector.html

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Renewable Energy Law News - Week of January 7, 2013

Wind Energy Tax Credit Extension Passes with Fiscal Cliff Deal

On January 1, 2013, Congress passed legislation that included the long-sought extension of wind energy tax credits in a bill to avert the "fiscal cliff" that now moves to President Obama for his expected signature.

The extension of the production tax credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is expected to save up to 37,000 jobs and create far more over time, and to revive business at nearly 500 manufacturing facilities across the country. Wind energy PTC, and ITC for community and offshore projects, will allow continued growth of the energy source that installed the most new electrical generating capacity in America last year, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

The version included in the deal would cover all wind projects that start construction in 2013. Companies that manufacture wind turbines and install them sought that definition to allow for the 18-24 months it takes to develop a new wind farm.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee included that version in a "tax extenders" package they assembled in August, which made it into the overall fiscal cliff deal that passed the Senate early Tuesday morning and the House Tuesday night. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law swiftly.

The Energy Information Administration said that wind set a new record in 2012 by installing 44 percent of all new electrical generating capacity in America, leading the electric sector compared with 30 percent for natural gas, and lesser amounts for coal and other sources.

U.S. Gauging Interest in New York Offshore Wind Farm Projects

The Obama administration is gauging interest in wind power development off the coast of New York, after a state agency proposed an offshore project 11 nautical miles south of Long Beach.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a request today for any competing interests in the proposed lease area, which covers about 127 square miles (329 square kilometers), according to an e-mailed statement. If no other parties express interest, the New York Power Authority can get a lease on a non- competitive basis.

The agency, part of the U.S. Interior Department, is also seeking comments on potential environmental effects of a wind farm in the area. The authority has proposed a project that would generate 350 to 700 megawatts of power for Long Island and New York City.

There are no offshore wind farms currently operating in the U.S. The government has awarded two offshore wind-energy leases, in Massachusetts in 2010 and in Delaware in October, through non-competitive arrangements with Cape Wind Associates LLC and NRG Energy Inc. The administration plans to conduct the first competitive lease auctions this year for projects off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia.

The Long Island - New York City Offshore Wind Project is being backed by the New York Power Authority, Long Island Power Authority and Consolidated Edison Co., according to its website. The Long Island Power Authority canceled plans in 2007 to build a wind farm off Jones Beach after costs rose.

Photo via Flickr.?

Source: http://renewableenergylaw.blogspot.com/2013/01/renewable-energy-law-news-week-of.html

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MTN Satellite Communications Signs Four New ... - Cruise Radio

MTN Satellite Communications (MTN) announces new contracts and activities with luxury cruise operators around the world. The continued relationships with these exclusive brands further solidify MTN?s position as the leading communication provider delivering on value, innovation, and service excellence. For more than 30 years, the company has provided maritime customers with very small aperture terminal (VSAT) satellite network solutions as well as voice, data, Internet, news, entertainment, and financial services. These solutions enable MTN?s customers to enhance their overall business operations, as well as ensure passenger satisfaction and crew welfare initiatives.

Recent contract wins and activities in the cruise market include the following brands that look to MTN for VSAT services, television and special events, and Internet and calling solutions for passengers and crew:

• Windstar Cruises, a sailing luxury small ship cruise line based in Seattle, Wash.
• Paul Gauguin Cruises, owned by Pacific Beachcomber S.C., French Polynesia?s leading luxury hotel and cruise operator
• The World, the only residential ship at sea that continuously navigates the globe
• Freewinds, ?a 440-foot chartered ship based in the Caribbean, with the home port of Cura?ao

?Our team at MTN recognizes that no two customers are alike and it is our job to develop communication solutions that not only meet, but exceed their unique communications requirements,? said Brent Horwitz, senior vice president and general manager for MTN cruise and ferry services. ?The fact that these prestigious cruise lines chose to use MTN for delivery to customers who demand only the best is a testament to our ability to lead market innovation when it comes to high-quality, reliable maritime connectivity solutions.?

Source: MTN

Subscribe to our Cruise News Updates.

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Source: http://cruiseradio.net/mtn-satellite-communications-signs-four-new-cruise-contracts/

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The Facts: Frida Kahlo Paintings

Frida Kahlo de Rivera is a famous painter. She was born in 1907 and died in 1954. Frida Kahlo paintings are known for being self portraits of the Mexican painter. Her work is regarded in Mexico as a symbol of indigenous and national tradition. Furthermore, many feminists regard her work as emblematic of the female form and experience. Her work has been classified as naive, folk and surreal art.

As a young child, Kahlo was afflicted with polio, a health condition that caused her right leg to appear thinner than her left. It remained that way throughout her life. As a teenager, she was in a traffic accident that caused lifelong health issues, which are presented in many of her paintings. She is also known for her marriage to Diego Rivera, a Mexican artist as well.

Following her traffic accident, Kahlo decided to take up painting. She used painting as a hobby while she was temporary immobile. During this time, self portraits became a major part of her art career. With support form her family, a special easel from her mother and oil paints and brushes from her father, she began painting more frequently. Her works were inspired by her personal experiences: marriage, health struggles, miscarriages, and more.

During her life, she is credited with painting approximately 143 paintings. Of these pieces, 55 are said to be self portraits, each one symbolically portraying psychological and physical wounds. Most of her works are thought to have a common theme of pain.

Her husband is thought to have greatly influenced her style, as Frida had great admiration for Diego and his works. The two met in 1927 when she approached him while he was doing a mural in the Public Ministry of Education. She shared some paintings with him and he seemed impressed. From that point forward, they begin visiting each other frequently and married two years after meeting.

Frida also took inspiration from her culture. Her appreciation for indigenous Mexican culture was evident in her used of dramatic symbolism, primitive style and bright colors. She often added a monkey in her art, which is a symbol of lust in Mexican mythology. In her work, she used monkeys as a protective and tender symbol instead. Jewish and Christian themes are seen in her work. She also used traditional religious Mexican culture.

The painter also made a few drawings of portraits. These, unlike most of her pieces, were abstract works. In the 1930s she was invited to France to showcase her works at an exhibit in Paris. The Louvre purchased one of her works. The work, called The Frame, was the first artwork by a twentieth-century Mexican artist to have been purchased by the museum.

Frida Kahlo paintings are known for symbolizing the pains of the artist herself, Frida. Born and deceased in Mexico City, Kahlo was a women who struggled with many health problems during her life and used that, along with other struggles in her life, as inspiration for her artwork. Her art has been classified as surreal, naive, and folk.

I hope you find this article interesting. Consider a museum quality reproductions painting for your home decoration project. Our studio specialized in reproductions of museum masterpieces. Enjoy our large selections of Frida Kahlo paintings at affordable prices.

Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/the-facts-frida-kahlo-paintings-310829

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How to Tell Your Story in Job Interviews

Alan Carniol is the Founder of InterviewSuccessFormula.com, an online training program that helps job seekers deliver powerful answers that prove why they are the right person for the job. Follow Alan and Interview Success Formula on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Imagine sitting in a job interview. You're already nervous. You know you have something to contribute. You really admire the company. However, when the interviewer asks you to tell them about yourself, you buckle. You realize telling your story in person is quite difficult. You stumble or forget the most important pieces of your personal story, potentially damaging your interview experience. Now what?

We create stories about ourselves in mere minutes online in social profiles or blog "about" pages. Why is it so hard to tell the same story in person? Perhaps the solution is to merge your two stories, your online self and offline self, together in order to optimize your image. The following are a few tips that can help you to craft a compelling personal story for job interviews.

Your Two Stories

According to Rafe Gomez, author of What's In It For Me: A Powerful New Interview Strategy to Get Hired In Today's Challenging Economy, the trick is to create validations.

"The online story ? blog posts, articles, etc. ? should validate the assertions and promises made in the offline story ? resume ? if you're seeking to leave a positive and memorable impression in a job interview. For instance, if you're presenting yourself in interviews as being an experienced sales executive who has delivered results for your employers, your online story should support this assertion,??? Gomez says.

Further, blending the two stories will back up any career history claims you've made during the interview. "Online mentions of, references about, or discussion of your accomplishments will serve to legitimize your offline claims, and make it indisputable that you could be an invaluable addition to your interviewer's organization.???

Consistency

According to TheLadders job search expert Amanda Augustine, making the two as similar as possible can make telling your story more interesting.

"Your online presence and interview responses give you a chance to provide more color to your career history. You can go into more detail and really show your passion for a particular industry or company in ways that aren't possible in a resume. However, the bottom line is that both stories should be similarly positioned,??? Augustine says.

Look at your interview story as a way to "sell" your accomplishments, strengths and motivations to the interviewer. By doing so, you clearly show why you're worthy of the position.

"Remember that as a job seeker, you must develop a personal advertising campaign to tell prospective employers and recruiters what you're great at and passionate about, and how that's of value to an organization. Your online presence, resume, and how you pitch yourself during networking events and interviews are all components of this campaign. Each of these components needs to tell one consistent story to build a strong personal brand,??? Augustine explains.

Be Sure Your Story Checks Out

A recent JobVite survey indicated nearly four out of five hiring managers and recruiters check candidates' social profiles. It's possible you will be researched online before your interview. If your offline story does not match your online one, the interviewer may challenge you.

"Before an interview, make sure you Google your name so you know what any recruiter or hiring manager will see when they search for you (and trust me, they will). If any damaging results show up, now you have a chance to try and remove them or at least prepare a response for the interview. The worst thing you can do is look surprised or taken off guard when an interviewer challenges your story based on something they found online," says Augustine.

It's also important to spin the conversation back to your accomplishments if things start to go sour. According to George Dutch of JobJoy, flush out concern by asking what caught their attention and if they have any specific concerns about your capabilities.

"Understanding the interview as a risk assessment exercise helps you respond appropriately to these kinds of challenges. It's not personal ? they don't know you ? it's them doing their due diligence," Dutch says.

Creating your interview story in a digital era means more than telling the interviewer about yourself. Merge your online and offline stories to create a more cohesive story. Doing so helps the interviewer understand why you're right for the job.

What do you think? What are some other ways to create your interview story in a digital era?

Mashable Job Board Listings

The Mashable Job Board connects job-seekers across the U.S. with unique career opportunities in the digital space. While we publish a wide range of job listings, we have selected a few job opportunities from the past two weeks to help get you started. Happy hunting!

Image via iStockphoto, maxphotography

Source: http://mashable.com/2013/01/06/tips-job-interviews/

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Electoral College count affirms Obama's win

Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the House Chamber before the counting of Electoral College votes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. Biden presided over a Joint Session of Congress Friday as four members of the House and Senate took turns announcing the votes that had been tallied in state capitals last month affirming the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio in the House Chamber before the counting of Electoral College votes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. Biden presided over a Joint Session of Congress Friday as four members of the House and Senate took turns announcing the votes that had been tallied in state capitals last month affirming the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Vice President Joe Biden watches at left as Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., center, shakes hands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, right, in the House Chamber during the counting of Electoral College votes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. Biden presided over a Joint Session of Congress Friday as four members of the House and Senate took turns announcing the votes that had been tallied in state capitals last month affirming the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. walks out of the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, following the counting of Electoral College votes. Vice President Joe Biden presided over a Joint Session of Congress Friday as four members of the House and Senate took turns announcing the votes that had been tallied in state capitals last month affirming the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Pages lead a Senate procession carrying two boxes holding Electoral College votes through Statuary Hall to the House Chamber on Capitol Hill on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, for the counting of the votes in the presidential election. A tally of the U.S. Electoral College vote affirmed President Barack Obama's re-election. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Vice President Joe Biden talks in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, following the counting of Electoral College votes. Biden presided over a Joint Session of Congress Friday as four members of the House and Senate took turns announcing the votes that had been tallied in state capitals last month affirming the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress made the obvious official on Friday. President Barack Obama has been re-elected.

In a joint session, Congress formally certified that Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were the winners in the November election with 332 electoral votes, well more than the 270 required. Republican Mitt Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, won 206 votes.

It's a mostly ceremonial ? yet constitutionally necessary ? vote that's mostly intriguing to political junkies and policy wonks. The count Friday lacked the suspense of the drawn-out campaign and election but was steeped in tradition.

Biden and about a dozen senators trekked across the Capitol from the Senate to the House chamber, and the vice president joined House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, on the rostrum. Senate pages carried two dark wooden boxes that contained the results of the electoral votes that had been counted in the state capitals last month. Clerks used silver letter openers to unseal the envelopes.

Taking turns, the leaders of the Senate Rules Committee ? Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. ? and the top members of the House Administration Committee ? Reps. Candice Miller, R-Mich., and Robert Brady, D-Pa. ? read the results from each state. Biden, who presided over the session, announced the final results to applause from the scattering of House and Senate members in the chamber.

The 12th Amendment directs the electors chosen by the states to meet and vote for president and vice president. Each state gets its equivalent in the 435-member House and the 100-member Senate. The District of Columbia gets the other three electors. Their certified tally sheets must be counted in Washington.

The low-key session was in sharp contrast to the drama in January 2001, when Vice President Al Gore, the loser in the disputed election, presided over the certification of an electoral count that gave the presidency to his rival, Republican George W. Bush. Gore had beaten Bush in the popular vote but lost the electoral count.

Months after the November election, the final official vote from all 50 states and the District of Columbia showed Obama with 65,899,660 votes, or 51.1 percent, and Romney with 60,932,152 votes, or 47.2 percent. Obama is the first president since Republican Dwight Eisenhower to win back-to-back presidential elections with more than 51 percent of the popular vote.

Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in Obama at noon on Jan. 20 at the White House in a private ceremony, and then administer the oath again on the West Front of the Capitol the next day. The Constitution requires that the inauguration take place on Jan. 20 but because it is a Sunday, the public session and the accompanying parade and festivities will occur on Monday.

Biden has asked Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to swear him in for a second term. She will be the first Hispanic to administer either a presidential or vice presidential oath.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-04-Electoral%20College/id-ca5b524a14334d559c826c4d7420f5ac

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Are People Being Unfair to the House Republicans? (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/274993443?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Tips To Create A Solid Internet Marketing Strategy - Maynas Eric

Web marketing, how are you thinking about it? Have you tried to improve upon your web marketing efforts? Many resources are available on the subject of website marketing, such as videos, books, magazines, shows, and more. You need to set up plans and goals. Give the insight in this article a chance to get you on the right road.

A great tip is to give customers a chance to buy products at wholesale discount prices if they purchase a certain amount of product. You should always be making money on wholesale items you?re selling and it great for increasing the amount you sell.

If you use your website to it?s full potential, you will be successful at Online marketing. This can be done by trying different color schemes in order to see what combination would help in selling your product better. How a website presents itself is a major determining factor as a visitor decides whether to stay or look elsewhere.

TIP! One way to improve the success of your internet marketing efforts is with a blog that you update on a regular basis. A blog gives you another way to communicate with your customer base.

A well-designed website is the first step toward increasing your search engine ranking. This will be the first, and one of the most important, steps for anyone building a web business. When you have a good looking and effectively working site, you will not have as much work to do on it in the future.

Get yourself some free advertising by sending your free products and articles to online directories offering free services to all. Use multiple directories or sources if you are publishing and distributing a free e-zine. The same holds up for any type of eBook directory, article directory, etc. Keep things specific to the freebie you?re offering.

You can cultivate some extra traffic by using subtle advertisements that will link readers to a page that tells them more about your product. Try creating an advertisement that blends seamlessly with the text of an article, so that it appears to be a continuation of the content. The result will not resemble an advertisement.

TIP! Interested in advertising over email? Allow several opportunities for visitors to leave their email address and other information. Offer freebies or contests, and they will be much more likely to provide you with their contact information.

Create an FAQ page to help out your Internet marketing endeavors. For each question or issue, offer a thoughtful answer, and mention products that you sell as a solution when appropriate. Write the questions so that your products are the answers without making it look like obvious product placement.

Tailor your banner ads to deviate from what people would expect a normal banner ad to look like. An exciting or interesting banner ad will attract more attention and inspire more clicks.

Emails are really important when establishing an Internet promotion campaign. Ensure that your emails are protected! Avoid free webmail services that will delete your old messages ? you may need to access those old emails for one reason or another. Pay for reputable companies to archive and maintain this sensitive information.

TIP! Consider marketing your website as a forum or social gathering spot instead of just another business website. You can have more site traffic if people are communicating with others! This may make potential customers more likely to return to your site.

Encourage new visitors to your site with a $1 promotion. You create a great buzz and promote strong traffic, and it boosts your product?s exposure. Once you get people interested in a discounted item, make sure you offer them shopping suggestions and encourage them to order more products. Believe in what you sell!

For every email you send out ? business or personal ? include your signature. This is just like handing out business cards. You want as many people to see your signature as possible. Giving the recipient a glimpse of your business may result in a new customer and another sale.

Never overlook something like direct marketing, as this can be an excellent complement to help in your Affiliate marketing efforts. Reach out to your potential and existing customers with traditional methods, such as telephone or fax. There are many ways to get the information of potential customers, including websites and the yellow pages.

TIP! Never simply give up on an approach if it does not immediately produce the desired results. Your idea that failed to catch on in the past, may work now.

Offering an instructional course at no cost is an excellent way to attract potential customers to your business website. The beauty of this approach is that you can tie the course to a product that is related, and prompt purchases. Announcing a free giveaway can also be the core of a whole advertising campaign.

Your website should be interesting and well-designed. The website that you create is the very center of the online marketing strategy you employ. Interesting articles and a user friendly design will go a long way in keeping visitors on your site. Engaging the visitor is key, because as they build interest, they stay longer and purchase more often.

Are you prepared to test things now that you have a good grasp of where to start? Apply what you just read to your own business. You can begin changing your plan to serve your purposes. If you?re able to, then don?t hesitate and get started!

TIP! Find some type of service that you can provide free to users of your site. A lot of people will visit your site because of the free product or contest you are offering.

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Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/tips-to-create-a-solid-internet-marketing-strategy

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Analysis: Soaring Syria death toll brings intervention no closer

AZAZ, Syria/LONDON (Reuters) - The death toll in Syria now exceeds 60,000, the United Nations says. Another 100,000 may die this year, warns U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. About 220 were killed on Wednesday alone.

"When numbers get serious, they leave a mark on your door," goes a song by American musician Paul Simon.

But in Syria those bloody notches show no signs of braking a headlong struggle to the death watched from afar by divided outside powers, most of whose leaders seem convinced that the risks of direct intervention outweigh any possible rewards.

Syrians realize they are essentially on their own, and 21 months after the start of protests against President Bashar al-Assad inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere, some of the civilians caught up in what has become a civil war are near despair.

"It's all nonsense," said Adnan Abu Raad, an elderly man wrapped in a scarf against the cold, as he watched fresh graves being dug after 11 people were killed in a weekend air strike in the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz near the border with Turkey.

"Neither the Free Syrian Army nor Assad's forces can protect us. The two factions are fighting each other, but no one is dying except for the innocent, the children, women and elderly."

Abu Raad derided the peace efforts of Brahimi and his predecessor Kofi Annan as hypocrisy and dismissed reports of even limited outside help for the rebellion against Assad as fiction. "No one has sent us a single bullet. It's all a lie."

Some Western countries have provided what they call non-lethal aid to rebels, while some Arab states are reported to have sent weapons, mostly channeled through Turkey. Fighters complain of a dearth of ammunition even for the arms they have acquired.

Without a negotiated solution, Brahimi said on Saturday, Syria may soon resemble Somalia as a failed state plagued by warlords and destabilizing its neighbors. But the opposition National Coalition rules out talks until Assad goes, while the Syrian leader says he will not give in to his foes.

The insurgents have grabbed swathes of countryside in the north and east, as well as holding parts of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, and some suburbs of Damascus, the capital.

Yet Assad's power base is more cohesive than that of his fractious opponents. He controls the armed forces, using air power and heavy weaponry to contain rebel advances or to pound any towns or urban districts that slip out of his control.

"HURT THE PEOPLE"

In Azaz cemetery, Abu Bahri, a 45-year-old in a black coat, accused Assad of seeking to sap rebel support by targeting civilians and depriving them of water, electricity and bread.

"Hurt the people and turn them against the Free Syria Army. It's a calculated move," he said, as the grave-diggers' spades gouged at the soil to lay the next victims to rest.

With the military struggle evolving so slowly, no end to the bloodletting is in sight. The outside world appears impotent.

Indeed, many Syrians on both sides have concluded that by defining any use of chemical weapons as a "red line", Washington has effectively given Assad immunity to use anything else.

The United States and its European allies, after extricating themselves from Iraq and soon Afghanistan, show no appetite for another such venture, with Syria viewed as more likely to become an Iraq-style quagmire than a Libyan quasi-success.

In 2011, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution interpreted by the West as allowing a NATO bombing campaign that helped rebels defeat Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - whose air defenses were flimsy and whose friends were few.

Syria's dense core of towns and cities, as well as the sectarian diversity of its 23 million people in a country formally at war with Israel and deeply inter-connected with a volatile regional neighborhood, all mark it off from Libya.

For their part, Russia and China have vetoed three Security Council resolutions on Syria, for fear they might lead to sanctions or foreign meddling aimed at ousting Assad.

Shi'ite Iran fiercely opposes outside intervention against its main Arab ally. The Shi'ite-led government in Iraq also fears the consequences of any victory for mostly Sunni Muslim rebels against Assad and his Shi'ite-linked Alawite minority.

Egypt's new Islamist leaders have called for Assad's fall, but the most populous Arab nation, gripped by its own political and economic turmoil, is in no shape to bring this about.

NEW "REALISM" IN TURKEY

Turkey, which swiftly turned against its former Syrian ally and for months talked of a possible no-fly zone or safe haven inside Syria, also said it would never intervene unilaterally.

"There is a more realistic assessment now of what the international community can do," said Sinan Ulgen of the Istanbul-based Centre for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies.

Now worried about Syria's chemical weapons, a growing influx of refugees, and Syrian support for Kurdish militants, Ankara is focusing more on urging its allies to give the rebels more help.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Istanbul a month ago in the hope of persuading him to soften his stance on Syria, but made little apparent headway.

U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar have provided funds for weapons and other supplies to Assad's opponents, albeit selectively by all accounts, favoring Islamists over others.

Given their own autocratic systems and eagerness to suppress Shi'ite dissent in Sunni-ruled Bahrain, the Gulf nations cannot credibly portray themselves as champions of democracy in Syria.

The Saudis are preoccupied by their regional and sectarian rivalry with Iran. They have every interest in the removal of Assad, a linchpin of a once-vaunted "axis of resistance" to Israel and the United States that also included Lebanon's Iranian-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah group and - until it changed sides last year - the Palestinian Sunni Islamist Hamas movement.

A Gulf Arab official declined to disclose his state's support for the Syrian opposition, but said government violence had left the rebels with no choice but to adopt military means.

He faulted the West for not backing the rebels decisively and for what he said were its attempts to restrain others from doing so, for fear of plunging Syria further into chaos.

"But there will be chaos whatever happens," he said. "We have argued that if you step up the fight, there will be a quicker result and the chaos that follows will be shorter."

Mustafa Alani, a Gulf-based security analyst, said funding for rebels actually came mostly from individuals not Gulf state budgets. He argued that Syrian rebels were increasingly arming themselves from looted or captured army stocks, making the issue of outside intervention less critical than it had seemed.

"The battle has now moved to Damascus. The idea is that things will slowly collapse," he said.

Predictions by some Western leaders in recent weeks that Assad's demise is imminent have failed to materialize.

As the civil war grinds on, the grave-diggers in Azaz and countless other conflict zones across Syria will stay busy.

(Additional reporting by Nicholas Tattersall in Istanbul and William Maclean in Dubai; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-soaring-syria-death-toll-brings-intervention-no-144624878.html

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Mary Mary Season 2 Episode 5

[unable to retrieve full-text content]By the time Mon night rolled around, there was very little surprise left within the "surprise" screening at this year's big apple festival. Thanks to, among others, Deadline.com's Nikki Finke, nearly everybody fighting through Disney's tight security within the lobby of Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall knew they were there for the globe premiere of Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln." (Perhaps in associate degree lyric to 1865 America, no cell phones, iPads or perhaps Kindles were allowed within the theater; uncalled-for to mention, this caused quite little bit of fear among attendees.A probable award competition for Best image, "Lincoln" (which filmmaker same was still unfinished) strode into the Academy Awards race with a quiet confidence that matched its titular protagonist. Written for the screen by acclaimed author Tony Kushner ("Angels in America") and directed by filmmaker, "Lincoln" is associate degree impeccably elaborated production -- once the screening, filmmaker disclosed that sound designer mountain Burtt ("Star Wars") found Ibrahim Lincoln's actual ticker and recorded its ticking for the film -- that is loaded with applaudable performances. Among the notable actors: Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, James Spader, John Hawkes and Michael Stuhlbarg, all of whom might realize themselves within the Supporting Actor spoken language. however conjointly kind-hearted; he lives by a strict ethical code, however is not afraid to bend the foundations to form certain others do the correct issue.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/68repQvV2wU/viewtopic.php

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What's available in 2013 for bridging loans, commercial mortgages ...

Posted on | January 1, 2013 | No Comments

Despite last year seeing some big name bridging loan providers closing their doors there is an increasing number of lenders entering this market. With a growing number of lenders we can probably expect some lower rates and set up costs plus hopefully some more flexible lending criteria. If property values show strong positive signs of increase during 2013 then hopefully we can expect to see bridging loan LTVs also increase.

On a negative note with the prospect of increasing fraud attempts, there is the likelihood of more security measures being introduced by some of the bridging loan providers. One major lender introduced late last year the requirement for all customers to be interviewed by a representative in order to confirm their identification. Other lenders who have had any suspicions about applications have been known to request customers to visit them, or have sent representatives to the client, before payout. These extra measures may become a necessity in order to avoid becoming the targets of large frauds that could spell financial disaster to a bridging lender.

Hopefully this coming year will see the major high street banks increase their willingness to provide commercial mortgages and loans. As independent commercial finance brokers, we always look to find our customers the best possible deals for the commercial mortgages and loans that they require. However, when the high street banks will not provide the funds required, we do have an increasing number of facilities from alternative commercial mortgage providers. These alternative lenders offer more flexible underwriting and often higher loan to values than the high street banks. The interest rates are usually a little higher than those provided by the high street banks, but do provide an excellent alternative source for commercial mortgages.

The number of secured loans provided during the last 12 months has seen an increase when compared to the previous couple of years. This increase in expected to continue during 2013 for a number of reasons. New lenders entering this market in addition to previous secured loan providers returning to the market are helping to provide more competitive rates, higher loan to values and flexible underwriting that will take into consideration some adverse credit and a low credit score. With mortgages and remortgages being difficult to obtain and some old mortgage facilities charging much lower rates than can be obtained on any new facility available today, secured loans can be a very attractive alternative to a remortgage. This has been further helped by the recent introduction of secured loans facilities for amounts up to ?250,000!

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Source: http://www.kisbridgingloans.co.uk/blog/462/whats-available-in-2013-for-bridging-loans-commercial-mortgages-and-secured-loans/

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