Thursday, April 11, 2013

CA-NEWS Summary

North Korea warns foreigners to leave South amid new threats of war

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea intensified threats of an imminent conflict against the United States and the South on Tuesday, warning foreigners to evacuate South Korea to avoid being dragged into "thermonuclear war". The North's latest message belied an atmosphere free of anxiety in the South Korean capital, where the city center was bustling with traffic and offices operated normally.

Quake hits near Iran's nuclear city Bushehr, 37 dead

DUBAI (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck close to Iran's only nuclear power station on Tuesday, killing 37 people and injuring 850 as it destroyed homes and devastated two small villages, Iranian media reported. The 6.3 magnitude quake totally destroyed one village, a Red Crescent official told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), but the nearby Bushehr nuclear plant was undamaged, according to Iranian officials and the Russian company that built it.

Italy's Bersani meets Berlusconi to seek end to impasse

ROME (Reuters) - Italian center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani met his center-right rival Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday to discuss the election for the next president of the Republic, offering hope of a breakthrough in the deadlock left by elections in February. "It was a good meeting but we're at the beginning," Enrico Letta, deputy leader of Bersani's Democratic Party (PD), told reporters in parliament.

Trial of bin Laden's son-in-law set for January in New York City

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal trial for a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden accused of conspiring to kill Americans will begin in January in Manhattan, a judge ruled on Tuesday. Suleiman Abu Ghaith, who acted as an al Qaeda spokesman in videos, is one of the highest-ranking al Qaeda figures to face trial in the United States for crimes related to the September 11 attacks.

Libya arms fueling conflicts in Syria, Mali and beyond: U.N. experts

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Weapons are spreading from Libya at an "alarming rate," fueling conflicts in Mali, Syria and elsewhere and boosting the arsenals of extremists and criminals in the region, according to a U.N. report published on Tuesday. The report by the U.N. Security Council's Group of Experts - who monitor an arms embargo imposed on Libya at the start of an uprising in 2011 which ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi - said the North African state had become a key source of weapons in the region as its nascent government struggles to exert authority.

North Korea's peasant army gets ready to farm, not wage war

SEOUL (Reuters) - As a North Korean army signaler near the tense sea border with the South, Lee So-yeon was given live ammunition and a steel helmet during a 1993 crisis, but soon found herself back doing what she and her comrades did most - farming. It's a vital service in a country where millions cannot find enough to eat.

Analysis: North Korea tests Obama's "strategic patience"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea's next act of defiance could be a critical test of whether President Barack Obama's "strategic patience," his long-standing policy toward the nuclear renegade state, is beginning to run out. With North Korea considered likely to cap its barrage of bellicose threats with a military provocation in coming days, the United States has drawn up new security plans with ally South Korea and increased pressure on China to do more to rein in Pyongyang, U.S. officials said.

Armenian opposition cries foul as president is inaugurated

YEREVAN (Reuters) - Thousands of Armenians protested in Yerevan on Tuesday against the inauguration of President Serzh Sarksyan for a second term, saying that his re-election had been fixed. Across town, Sarksyan said in his inauguration speech that developing the economy, ensuring the rule of law and deepening democracy were his top priorities, along with the peaceful resolution of a long-standing territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.

Chile presidential favorite Bachelet eyes major tax reform

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday she would pursue major tax reform to overhaul the nation's education system and reduce economic inequality if she is elected in November, as polls predict. Bachelet, a popular center-leftist who headed the world's top copper-exporting nation from 2006 to 2010, has asked a group of experts to come up with a package of tax measures by the end of May.

Colombians march in polarizing bid to make peace with FARC

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Waving balloons and dressed in white, tens of thousands of Colombians marched in Bogota and across the nation on Tuesday in a polarizing gathering for peace that critics slam as a show of support for Marxist FARC rebels. Throngs of people chanting "We want peace" advanced toward the capital's main square, Plaza Bolivar, a few blocks from where former presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan was assassinated on April 9, 65 years ago.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000404036.html

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Friday, March 1, 2013

MintLife Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice | Are You in the 45 ...

credit cards

Yes, that ?minimum payment due? box on your credit card statement looks so enticing. Pay a small amount, and you?re off the hook ? for a month, anyway.

But as the nearly 45% of Americans who carry a balance every month know, that rotating charge usually comes back to bite you. According to the credit-card comparison site CreditCards.com, a cardholder who owes $16,000 (the average amount of debt per household) will end up shelling out an additional $11,000 in total interest by paying only the minimum each month.

Credit card companies prefer you maintain a balance on your cards, of course, because they make their money charging you fees and interest. The higher your card?s interest rate, the more income your card balance generates.

Negative Effects of Debt

However, credit card issuers don?t intend for you to use your entire credit limit. If you do start charging high enough to reach that amount, you?ll kick off a bad chain reaction of events, including:

A drop in your credit score. Thirty percent of your credit score is based on how much of your available credit you?re using. This ratio of credit card balances to credit limits is known as your credit utilization, so the higher that ratio is ? meaning the closer you are to your credit limit ? the more your credit score takes a hit. Maxing out one credit card is bad for your credit score, maxing out all of them is a disaster.

Lenders won?t like you. Whether you apply for a car loan or a mortgage, the lender wants to see how much of your available credit you?re using. If your credit card balances are too high, banks assume you have more debt than you can handle, and will put a big ?denied? stamp on your application.

The risk of going over your credit limit. Even if you think you?re safely below your credit limit, you could still end up going over once finance charges are applied to your balance. If your balance does exceed the magic number, it can be difficult to go back because you?ll be charged an over-limit fee each month your balance is over the line.

Triggering the default rate. Credit card companies have the right to raise your card interest rate if you default on your credit card terms by maxing out your credit card. The default rate is the highest interest your card company can charge and, it?s typically a minimum of 30%.

A balance you may never be able to repay. A maxed-out credit card, with a default rate on top of that, could take years to pay, especially if you only pay the minimum. Even though you want to pay the balance in full, parting with that much cash may be hard to do by the time the payment due date rolls around.

So that those horrific events don?t happen to you, it?s wise to keep a low to no balance on your credit card. Having a balance below 10% of your credit limit won?t wreak havoc on your credit score, and it?s acceptable to lenders.

Debt Elimination Plan

And, of course, making monthly payments above the minimum is important; according to credit-scoring agency FICO, your payment history counts for 35 percent of your credit score.

Ultimately, you want to be one of the 54 percent of Americans who pay off their credit cards every month. But until then, ridding yourself of your current balance should be your top financial priority.

?You need an action plan to help you work at reducing?and eventually eliminating what you owe,? says Gail Cunningham, a spokesperson for the nonprofit National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

Here?s how to put that pay-down plan into place:

Target just one card first.

If you?re carrying balances on multiple cards, it?s a long slog to wipe out all those debts. But there are three methods you can choose from to do so.

To give yourself a boost of instant gratification, put as much money as you can toward the card with the lowest balance first. Do this even if you need to pay only the minimum on your other cards in the meantime.

If you want to boost your credit score, then tackle the card with the highest utilization rate (figure that out by dividing your credit card balance by the card?s limit). Bringing the utilization rate down just 20% could significantly increase your score.

Or, if you want to pay less in interest overall, then pay off the card with the highest interest rate first.

Cancel your credit cards ? but not all at once.

Each time you close a credit card account, it temporarily lowers your credit score, so avoid canceling more than one card in a nine-month period. The longer your credit accounts have been open, the higher your credit score.

But, ultimately, having the highest available credit line with the fewest number of cards is the best position to be in.

Transfer your balance ?? cautiously.

It?s tempting to move a balance from a card with a high interest rate to a card with a much lower one because you can end up saving hundreds of dollars a year.

However, you should only transfer a balance if you?re committed to paying off the debt within the introductory low -rate window, typically 12 to 18 months, and to making monthly payments on time. Otherwise, your rate could skyrocket, possibly ending up higher than the one you just got rid of.

Try not to make any new purchases with the card ? the low interest rate often doesn?t apply to them. Also, know that you may be charged a balance-transfer fee, which is usually about 3% to 4% of the total amount you transfer over.

If you must make minimum payments, do it twice a month.

Card issuers typically charge interest on a daily basis, so the sooner you make a payment, the faster your average daily balance is reduced ? and that translates into less interest that you?ll ultimately pay.

If you?re on a tight budget, go ahead and pay the minimum due each month, but try to make the same payment again two weeks later. Keep putting that twice-monthly minimum payment on your To-Do list until your debt is paid off.

To put it in perspective, say you charged $2,000 on a card with a 17% interest rate. If you make only the minimum monthly payment, which is about 2% of the balance, it will take more than 21 years to pay it off. But if you make an additional payment two weeks later, you?ll be debt-free in less than three years.

Quite a difference, right?

The Bottom Line

Because maintaining a positive payment history is critical to a high credit score, pay off your cards monthly. Keeping that balance down to a big fat zero translates into a glowing credit report.

Source: http://www.mint.com/blog/credit/are-you-in-the-45-here-are-4-ways-to-take-a-chunk-out-of-your-credit-card-debt-021/

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Hostess' Wonder bread brand sold for $360 million

The long wait remains for Twinkies fans to find out who may rescue their beloved, cream-filled sponge cakes.

Flowers Foods Inc. will buy Hostess Brands Inc.'s Wonder bread business for $360 million after no other bidder emerged with a competing offer, a source told CNBC Wednesday.

Wonder bread was meant to be auctioned Wednesday by the bankrupt baker. Instead it will be going to Flowers, along with the Butternut, Home Pride, Merita and Nature's Pride brands, according to Reuters, which also cited an unnamed source familiar with the matter.

There will be an auction for the Beefsteak brand, for which Flowers bid $30 million, since Hostess received a higher bid from Mexico's Grupo Bimbo, said the source, who declined to be named as the process is private.

Bimbo bid $1 million more for the Beefsteak brand, though its $31.9 million bid includes a $900,000 breakup fee.

The deal with Flowers is still subject to approval by a bankruptcy court.

Flowers agreed in January to be the "stalking horse" bidder, which set a floor for the bidding and was subject to a court-supervised auction.

Hostess declined to comment. Flowers and Bimbo were not immediately available to comment.

Hostess expects to run two more auctions next month. One would be for the Hostess snack cake brands, including Hostess Twinkies and Dolly Madison, for which private equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. set the bidding at $410 million.

The other would be for its Drake's cake business and additional bread brands. So far, McKee Foods, maker of Little Debbie snack cakes, offered $27.5 million for Drake's, which includes Ring Dings, Yodels and Devil Dogs.

United States Bakery Inc, also known as Franz Family Bakery, agreed to pay $28.85 million for the Sweetheart, Eddy's, Standish Farms and Grandma Emilie's bread brands.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/hostess-wonder-bread-business-being-bought-360-million-1C8589378

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The One Second Cure For An Assault | Jackie's Women's Interest ...

Related eBooks

A pepper spray can provide a one second cure from any kind of an assault even a domestic abuse assault. Read on to learn more.

Source:The One Second Cure For An Assault

Related Reading:

The SAS Self-Defense HandbookThe SAS Self-Defense Handbook

Essential self-defense training from the elite British SAS.

Barry Davies is one of the most widely respected experts on the techniques and training of the elite British Special Air Service (SAS). In The SAS Self-Defense Handbook, Davies reveals the self-defense techniques of the SAS. The handbook is fully illustrated with nearly 130 photographs and illustrations that explain how to properly use your body and use everyday objects such as desktop items and cigarette lighters to protect yourself. Learn how to avoid physical attacks from humans and animals, and handle those confrontations that cannot be avoided. 83 color and 39 black-and-white illustrations

Tags: self defense

Source: http://www.jackiesbazaar.com/womensinterests/self-defense/the-one-second-cure-for-an-assault

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College Common Sense ? Going to College and Paying for It | At ...

Admit it- when faced with the challenge of helping your homeschooled students apply to colleges, and figuring out financial aid and scholarships, don?t you wish someone would just hold your hand and walk you through it?


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That?s what Denise Ames has done with College Common Sense- Going to College and Paying For It. We reviewed the online subscription?and found it thorough and packed with useful information that our 16, 14, and 11 year old all absorbed with interest.

In brief, the online course is six video sessions, each approximately 20 minutes long, and with an accompanying .pdf file for you to download and print. The .pdf files are a slightly abridged transcript of each session, which makes them an efficient tool for note-taking and future reference. Sprinkled throughout are all the links to websites that students will need to access in order to work through the process of considering the cost of college, applying for financial aid, and finding scholarships.

?How do you eat an elephant??how to eat an elephant

?One bite at a time.?

This program takes a lengthy and intimidating task, and chops it into time managed and mentally chewable bits for parents and students.

Starting with the first video, ?The Big Picture?, Denise explains briefly, with a combination of slides and speaking on camera, the three major steps of going to college, as well as the real cost of going to college ? not just the price of tuition. This is a great introductory session for both parents and kids to watch together. The .pdf file also contains a college campus visit checklist. Be sure to set aside time for all the discussions that these videos will generate. We sat at the table and talked for at least 45 minutes about our educational goals and plans after viewing just this first session.

The second and third videos are ?How Financial Aid Works? and ??All About the Free Money?. While these are probably of more interest to parents holding on to their checkbooks for dear life, students need to know what it takes for them to qualify for financial aid and scholarships. One of the things Denise emphasizes throughout is that the student must take ownership and responsibility for their education, and be involved in every step of the process. Parents have an important role, but the student truly is pivotal.

Also included with the files for these sessions are worksheets for using FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and calculating the Cost of Attending.

The unique and valuable gem right in the middle of College Common Sense is session #5 ?The System That Works?. Anything that involves a 3-ring binder, dividers, and a highlighter sounds totally cool to my compulsively organized mind! Denise has created a system for keeping track of what would otherwise feel like an overwhelming task. In this section she outlines seven steps for doing scholarships. If a scholarship requires personal references or an essay, the instructions for these are included as well.

college admissions freedigitalphotos.netI appreciated all the details about different kinds of scholarships and where they come from, and how to make prudent and informed decisions every step of the way. The exercise at the end of the fifth session using the examples of real scholarships illustrates the differences in types of scholarship and the application process.

?You in the Process? brings the focus and responsibility for the entire procedure back to the student. It?s the one time that your child needs to be completely self-involved, but in a good way. Thankfully the file contains the outline of this session, because we will come back to all of this wise advice again and again.

The last video session truly does ?Pull It All Together?. I?ve told my kids over the years that their lives will be the sum total of the decisions they?ve made. Denise puts it this way-

The people we call lucky are the ones who recognize the opportunities as they pass through their lives and take advantage of them.

We were inspired by this program to start using Denise?s binder system to keep all of the future reference information organized as we research the college question for our high schoolers. The front of the binder contains all of the College Common Sense files for each video, along with our notes. Both Noah and Emma have their own section to organize their specific plans, and we are keeping it on a coffee table in our school room so that it is always in view. There is something motivating about seeing it there every day, and it helps remind us to regularly review and accomplish what needs to be done next.

There?s more to College Common Sense, though. Each week we received an email with lesson plan ideas, some even directed toward middle schoolers. At first a parent might think that considering college during middle school is a bit premature, but the earlier parents start planning the possible financial costs, the better. And the tween years are a great time for kids to start thinking ahead about what direction they?d like to take their education. It?s been my experience that the sooner a child owns their education, the more invested and self-motivated they become. This program resonated with me as a parent because Denise also approaches this topic from that perspective.
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To sample Denise?s wisdom, gained from 10+ years experience in college admissions and financial aid counseling, you can subscribe to the free newsletter, and receive free lesson plans via email. Check out the links on her website for scholarship and grant information, colleges, and helpful articles from around the web for students to read and ponder.

College Common Sense is available as a DVD and workbook for $50 + $5 shipping/handling, or a one-year online access to the video and workbook materials for $25.

Does all this feel like too much information? Have doubts about whether or not your child is college bound? Thinking about skipping the traditional college route and using an alternative method to earn a degree? This course still applies to you, as we do not know what direction the Lord has in mind for our children. Having this resource on hand instead of scrambling to figure things out is worth all the Tums at Walgreens.

Others on the Schoolhouse Review Crew?also used College Common Sense.
Click the banner below to find out more.

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Source: http://athomeandschool.com/2013/02/26/going-to-college-and-paying-for-it/

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Ask These Questions During The Job Interview To - Business Insider

It takes proper screening and careful analysis to hire talent who will?excel at their job and?fit into the company's culture.?

The tricky part is the right person isn't always the smartest or the one with the most experience, so it can be difficult to identify them during a short interview.

In his book "Extreme Productivity,"?Robert C. Pozen, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, says that there are a few lessons he considers essential to the recruitment process. Below are some questions Pozen says you need to ask during the interview:

1. Ask the candidate to talk about their personal history, which includes where they grew up and went to high school. "The answer will help you understand their character and motivation; we are all heavily influenced by our roots," Pozen writes.

2. Find out how they made the biggest contribution in their prior jobs and "working hard" should not be an acceptable answer. "You want to hear specifically how they came up with a different approach or solved a difficult problem."

3. Pozen advises that you should "engage candidates in intellectual debate about a subject of their choosing that they know well." Their answer can tell you a lot about how they think, how well they make their arguments and how they deal with counterpoints.

4. Ask them creative questions that have no absolute right or wrong answer, but will reveal the candidate's problem-solving abilities. For example, you can ask?"What are all the possible uses of a brick for our business?" and see how many different uses people can come up with.?

5. Ask questions that will reveal how driven that candidate is about their expertise and potential position. Pozen says that you should hire the candidate with the most potential and not the one with the most experience in the industry because "a?smart, hardworking individual will learn the intricacies of a new field."

Furthermore, when conducting a reference check, the former employer may not want to provide too much information,?so make it easy for them to "to subtly provide negative inputs" by asking specific questions, such as "Was this candidate the best you've worked with? Why not?," "Are there any potential downsides to hiring this candidate?" and "Would you hire him or her back?"

In short, if you hire the right people, your company will grow. On the?other hand, if you make the wrong choice, Pozen says you'll spend a lot of time closely supervising your team and resolving disputes.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-know-if-someone-is-the-right-hire-2013-2

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MWC 2013: ??????? ?????-??????? ViewSonic VSD241 ?? ...

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Source: http://forums.ferra.ru/index.php?showtopic=54695

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