Finally a break in the real estate industry ? TN Legal Update Blog

Last week the United States Supreme Court decided a case which refines a commonly debated interpretation of the?Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (?RESPA?)?by lower courts. ?RESPA?is a Federal law that plays a significant role in how real estate brokerage companies (among others) conduct day-to-day business. ?It has myriad prohibitions, restrictions and disclosure requirements that are applicable to such ?settlement service providers? as title companies, mortgage lenders, real estate brokers and more. ?Generally, it prohibits referral fees and unearned fees by settlement service providers in connection with a federally-related mortgage, imposes restrictions and requirements on ?affiliated business providers?, mandates certain disclosures to increase transparency of transactions for consumers, and more.

Until this month, the issue of how RESPA impacts ?administrative fees? charged by real estate brokers and agents was a controversial and often debated real estate brokerage issue, nationwide. ?There was a split in how the decisions in various cases across the country interpreted Section 2607(b) of RESPA. ?That section provides:

?[n]o person shall give and no person shall accept any?portion, split, or percentage of any charge made or received for the rendering of a real estate settlement service [...] other than for services actually performed.? 12 U. S. C. ?2607(b)

The various split in decisions and HUD interpretations addressing this issue left some unanswered questions as to whether a real estate brokerage would find itself in hot water when charging an ?administrative fee? or similar charge in addition to a commission, if the real estate broker could not readily identify what service was being rendered pursuant to that admin fee.

The United States Supreme Court decided a case last week (May 24, 2012) which clarifies this issue significantly, and simplifies this issue for real estate brokers. ?In the case of Freeman v. Quicken Loans, the Supreme Court found that there is no?violation of ?2607(b) of RESPA without showing that a charge for a settlement service was divided with a third party.

The full decision of the Freeman case can be found here:?http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1042.pdf. ?An interpretation of how this decision impacts real estate brokerage companies and brokers/agents was offered by the National Association of Realtors(R) (?NAR?), and their article can be found here:?http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2012/05/24/supreme-court-rules-fee-split-required-for-respa-violation/.

In short, this author suspects that some of the national controversy and confusion surrounding real estate brokerage admin fees will now become an easier topic to ?address consistently, and with less controversy. Prior cases, including the controversial 2009 decision in Busby v. JRHBW Realty, Inc. d/b/a Realty South, had suggested that merely charging an ?admin fee? in addition to a commission, even if it is disclosed to the consumer paying such fee, is in and of itself a violation of RESPA. ?In January 2010, a HUD letter from Helen Kanovsky (Office of the General Counsel at HUD) clarified that there may be some room from brokerages to have commissions composed of a flat fee or commission or both.

Now that the?Supreme?Court has weighed in, it would seem likely that admin fees charged by real estate brokers should draw less scrutiny. ?Additionally, the prior caselaw and unfavorable decisions interpreting RESPA in such a way as to further restrict the real estate industry than was explicitly stated in RESPA are probably of dramatically less impact, or their impact is narrowed significantly by this decision.

Stay tuned to the Thomsen Nybeck Legal Update blog for further discussion of this issue as more information, interpretations, and decisions bring this issue into even sharper focus. ?For now, real estate brokerage companies, agents, and brokers who charge (or have ceased charging) administrative fees may wish to discuss these issues once again with their legal counsel to identify how they want their business practices to fit within the fluid and evolutionary laws surrounding these practices.

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This blog entry is written by?Brad Boyd, a Shareholder at?Thomsen Nybeck.??Brad?s practice focuses primarily in Real Estate, Real Estate Brokerage, Business and Corporate law.? Brad provides legal advice, guidance, and representation related to risk management in a wide variety of real estate and business law matters.? He is counsel to the Minnesota Association of Realtors, many individual Realtors and brokerages, business clients and individuals, and is a frequent speaker for real estate continuing education throughout the state of Minnesota.

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Tags: Thomsen & Nybeck, Brad Boyd, Legal Update, RESPA, Freeman v. Quicken Loans, United States Supreme Court, Broker admin fees, RESPA 2607(b)

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Ask Questions ? Answers Archive ? Home Improvement Projects to ...

Are you planning to finish some home improvement projects to help increase the value of your home? If your house is on the market, or you plan to put it up for sale in the near future, it makes sense to make it as attractive as possible to possible buyers. This is a lot harder than it sounds, though, because some of the improvements you want to make are expensive and others could send the wrong message to buyers.

One of the very first things you need to do when your house is on the market is make sure that all of the most important systems and appliances are working properly. This includes things like your house?s heating system, all of the water heaters and the plumbing. Try to remember that every potential buyer is going to have the house professionally inspected and if there are any serious problems with it, they could reconsider the sale or make you lower the price. Appearances count as well, and if your boiler looks like it hasn?t been replaced in several decades, it won?t make a good impression at all. This is true for your refrigerator too. Show your potential buyers that you cared enough about your house that you kept all of the important things up to date.

Make sure that you don?t make improvements to your home that reflect your own personal tastes, especially if they are a little unusual or idiosyncratic. For example, maybe you really like decorating your home in the styles popular in feudal Japan or in Victorian England; it?s perfectly fine but not everybody shares your personal tastes.

When you do all of your decorating in just one style you can lower the overall appeal of your home. Try to keep your style as neutral as possible when you?re selling it. This is also true when you want to go after really bright or unconventional paint colors for your walls. You want your home to be as attractive as possible to as many potential buyers as possible.

Spending money toward making your home more energy efficient is one option for raising the value of your home. When it comes to spending money, this is something that might be worthwhile, especially since people are more aware of how much they are spending on energy, as well as trying to be friendlier to the environment. So putting in energy efficient windows, solar panels or having your home insulated is often a good investment. Ordinarily, the warranty for things like new windows can be transferred to the new homeowner and this can be a pleasant feature. Because the odds are on your side for regaining the money you spend, you should take a look at the different choices you have in making your home more energy efficient.

It makes a lot of sense to make sure that your house is in the absolute best condition it can be in when you want to show it to potential buyers. You do not want your potential buyers to have to use their imaginations to see how it can look after it has been repaired, painted and cleaned up. Most people prefer that the house be as close to perfect as possible. The truth is, however, that you need to take all of these ideas under advisement before you can take on any real home improvement projects.

There is more content available about waterproof labels there?s plenty of points not detailed on this page, find those details on Author?s blog to locate added information.

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The seventh rule... is that generally success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics.

The tenth rule... is you do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments.

~Saul Alinsky

Obama learned his lesson well... It is a fine tribute to Saul Alinsky as we approach his 100th birthday.

~L. David Alinsky

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Advisers still shaky on social media policy

(Reuters) - As the securities industry finally warms up to using social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, regulators are discovering that brokerages and investment advisers are off to a rocky start.

Some firms are making major missteps as they ramp up their presence on the sites, and many do not even have social networking policies. Or if they do, many have inadequate guidelines.

And while many brokerages and investment advisers were once reluctant to use social media for their work, a growing number find they cannot ignore the marketing opportunity. They are increasingly using social media sites to increase their presence among customers and to recruit new business from investors.

A recent survey by the Massachusetts Securities Division found that 44 percent of the state's investment advisers use at least one social media site. More are expected to use social media within the next year.

Social networking sites, however, have caused a great deal of angst for compliance departments at firms. Many compliance professionals have worried that using social media would expose their firms to scrutiny from regulators for, among other things, not saving copies of the messages sent through the sites.

But findings from industry regulators suggest that some firms are not taking that scrutiny as seriously as they once did, and brokerages that still prohibit social media use can be sloppy about making their policies known.

For example, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the retail brokerage industry's self-funded regulator, asked questions about social media in more than 1,000 brokerage examinations since mid-2010. Not having a social media policy in place - even one prohibiting the use of social media - was the most common violation of industry regulations, according to Amy Sochard, director of advertising regulation at FINRA.

But simply adopting a policy does not guarantee a smooth examination, a periodic regulatory review for brokerages. Failing to enforce existing social media policies, whether through record keeping or the storage of electronic communications, was the second most common violation, Sochard said at a recent FINRA conference.

Similar problems are cropping up at registered investment advisers, which are regulated by the SEC and by state regulators.

HOW ONE FIRM FELL SHORT

A recent follow-up letter to a registered investment adviser examined by a state regulator gives clues about the scrutiny firms can expect as they ramp up social media communications.

In the letter, obtained by Reuters, the regulator said the investment adviser did not create and outline proper procedures for social media use and did not adequately train employees. Simple guidelines, however, such as what types of posts were allowed or not, did not exist.

The source who provided the letter to Reuters asked that neither the firm nor the state involved be identified.

The firm, whose employees often used LinkedIn and Facebook, also fell short by not checking up on their activities there, even though it hired an outside company to save messages employees sent through the sites. The regulator suggested mapping out a periodic review of those details.

Investment firms "are shooting themselves in the foot," said Scott Peterson, co-founder of Relay Station Social Media LLC, a Washington-based consultancy. "Social media is its own kind of animal" and requires a policy of its own, he said.

Regulators typically send so-called "exam deficiency" letters after examinations of both brokerages and investment advisers to outline compliance problems that a firm needs to correct.

Another issue for compliance professionals is crafting a clear policy to require prior approval of employees' posts to the site, or spelling out procedures for ensuring that employees are acting in the best interests of their clients, in the event employees post investment recommendations.

WHAT DOES 'LIKE' MEAN?

An ongoing struggle for advisers is uncertainty over whether investors who click the "like" button on an adviser's Facebook pages are effectively giving testimonials, or a positive endorsement about the adviser. Similar questions also apply to recommendations clients may write for an adviser on professional networking sites, such as LinkedIn.

Use of client testimonials about an adviser's investment skills is a heavily regulated area.

The practice is severely restricted for brokerages and not even permitted for registered investment advisers. Still, there is little clarity from regulators about whether they may construe a "like" as a "testimonial." The SEC, in guidance from examination results it published in February, mentioned the concern, but left the question open.

Firms that are already concerned about clients "liking" their advisers on Facebook may be even more jittery after seeing how that detail was addressed during the state examination.

The state regulator asked the adviser to provide an explanation about why it does not consider a "like" on Facebook to be considered a testimonial.

If the adviser cannot provide that explanation, it will have to disable the "like" button, according to the letter.

One state that is among the few that are more specific is Massachusetts. Guidance released by Massachusetts securities regulators in January concluded that clicking the "like" button on Facebook, without further client commentary, is not considered a testimonial.

But uncertainty over "liking" and more social media issues in other jurisdictions will eventually lead to additional input from regulators, said Paul Cox, chief executive of Business Compliance Partners, a San Diego-based compliance consulting firm.

"At the current volume of social media deficiencies discovered during examinations, creating new rules and issuing new guidance will be warranted and required in the future," Cox said.

(Reporting By Jason Wallace of Thomson Reuters Accelus and Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Walden Siew and Leslie Adler)

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Paris plane crash spurs cultural growth in Atlanta

This May 4, 2012 video frame grab shows a framed portrait of Henrietta Collier Armstrong Ayer, who died fifty years ago in a plane crash, in her daughter's Atlanta home. Penny Hart was a 19-year-old college sophomore studying at the Sorbonne when her mother was aboard the returning chartered Air France plane carrying a group of Atlanta?s cultural leaders that crashed on takeoff at Orly Field in Paris. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)

This May 4, 2012 video frame grab shows a framed portrait of Henrietta Collier Armstrong Ayer, who died fifty years ago in a plane crash, in her daughter's Atlanta home. Penny Hart was a 19-year-old college sophomore studying at the Sorbonne when her mother was aboard the returning chartered Air France plane carrying a group of Atlanta?s cultural leaders that crashed on takeoff at Orly Field in Paris. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)

ATLANTA (AP) ? Fifty years ago, a group of 106 influential cultural and civic leaders from Atlanta traveled to Europe to visit famous museums and demonstrate the ascendant southern city's commitment to culture.

The Atlanta area's population in 1962 had recently hit a million people, but political and business leaders worried the growth wouldn't continue if the city didn't improve its museums and venues for theater and music. The city's cultural development would be altered forever by the trip, but in ways that had to do more with its tragic end.

The group was on its way home June 3 when its chartered Air France plane crashed on takeoff at Orly Field in Paris, killing all but two flight attendants. It had been the worst single plane crash to date.

"The community was just in shock," said Joe Bankoff, outgoing president and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta. "I mean, to lose over 100 people in a moment was just unbelievable. But to lose such a cross section of Atlanta was particularly important."

On the flight were artists, company leaders, the first woman elected to the city's school board and other leaders. Among the sites on their packed agenda were the Louvre in Paris, the Coliseum in Rome and London Bridge.

Out of the city's grief grew a sense that something needed to be done to memorialize them, to improve on its tiny art museum in an old house and struggling art school.

"These people were heads of companies in Atlanta. They were the wives who did a lot of the volunteer work at the art association," said Susan Lowance, who had traveled with the group but had decided to stay in Europe longer to visit friends.

She believes the development of the arts center is a fitting tribute to her friends.

"These were people who had a stake in what was going to happen, and what happened was wonderful," Lowance said.

Atlanta is now home to a world-class art museum that has collaborated with the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Louvre, a Grammy-winning symphony orchestra and other top-notch cultural institutions.

Several business leaders led the efforts to create a permanent home for the arts. They wanted to honor the dead, but also shared the belief that to attract big business they needed to have big arts.

"It was about doing something that would put Atlanta on the map, and that vision was driven really by people who were not themselves passionate about the arts," said Bankoff, whose last day as head of the arts center was Thursday.

The idea was to create a single entity that would house all major art forms. It led to the establishment of Atlanta Arts Alliance and the Memorial Arts Center ? now named the Woodruff Arts Center, after former Coca-Cola president and major donor Robert Woodruff.

The groundbreaking for the Memorial Arts Center was held on June 3, 1966, the fourth anniversary of the crash. It took about two years to complete with a final price tag of more than $13 million, according to "Explosion At Orly," a book by historian Ann Abrams.

When the center opened in October 1968, the French ambassador to the United States presented to the city a casting of sculptor Auguste Rodin's "The Shade." Today it sits on the grounds of the High Museum of Art in a memorial ringed by polished stone etched with the names of those who died in the Orly crash.

The center has grown over the years to include the Richard Meier-designed High, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Alliance Theatre, the 14th Street Playhouse and the Atlanta College of Art.

Speculating on what the Atlanta arts footprint would look like today if the crash had never happened, both Abrams and Bankoff said they believe the city was destined to grow into a major arts center.

"Frankly, it would have happened anyway, but it might have taken a little longer, and it might have taken a few different turns," Abrams said.

The different artistic entities would likely have been scattered instead of winding up on a single campus in Midtown Atlanta, Bankoff said. The visual and performing arts were grouped under combined management, which may have accelerated their development and strength.

While Atlanta's profile in arts bloomed, the families of the crash victims put their lives back together.

Penny Hart was a 19-year-old college sophomore studying at the Sorbonne in Paris when her mother, Henrietta Collier Armstrong Ayer, came over on the trip. They ate dinner together the night before the crash.

"It was just a wonderful, happy occasion all the way around," Hart said.

Hart's stepfather booked her a flight to Atlanta the day after the crash. She stayed for several weeks and returned to Paris to finish her studies after her mother's funeral. After graduation, she abandoned her plans to go to graduate school for clinical psychology and decided she wanted to keep traveling. She became a flight attendant for Pan American World Airlines for several years.

"There was no one to stop me, and my mother would have stopped me. It just wouldn't have fit in with her image of things," Hart said. "I had a great deal of freedom, I guess. But it's also very strange to have no support if you need it."

She eventually returned to Atlanta. Her involvement in the memorial project was limited until decades later when she helped the center locate surviving relatives of the victims.

"Most of them were so thrilled to have been found because they hadn't had anybody to talk to about this very much and certainly not for a long time," she said. "In those days, you didn't wallow in your troubles publicly ever. You got right back up and dusted yourself off and got moving again."

Also killed were Tom Little Sr., an architect who restored 18th-century buildings, and his wife, Charlotte, who decorated the interiors with period furnishings. Their son, Tom, was 12 and was being cared for by an aunt while his parents were in Europe. He remembers watching cartoons in his parents' bedroom when the phone rang. He answered at the same time that his aunt picked up the extension in the kitchen and listened as another aunt sobbed that the plane had crashed.

Little remembers sharing stories with other family members of victims at the 40th anniversary of the crash. In his home, a photo of his parents taken just before they left for Europe sits on a shelf, and framed pencil drawings by his father hang on the walls. He said even he and his older sister had rarely spoken about the crash.

The Woodruff Arts Center and other organizations have planned events to mark the date, and Bankoff said the 50th anniversary provides "a moment to stop and reflect not just on the loss, but on 50 years of continuous support for arts and culture in the community as an important sign of what this community values."

"I'm glad that we have these anniversaries," Little said, "because I like to think that my parents' legacy will last forever."

Associated Press

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Finding Out What Causes Back Pain ? Remedies Revealed ...

Millions of people suffer from back pain; some of the cases are mild and others are severe. Backaches can strike anyone, even if they are fit as a fiddle and in great health. There is chronic back pain that can last for a long time and has to be treated by a medical care provider; then, there are the minor backaches that are just temporary annoyances. If you want to learn three of the reasons people have backaches, please read the rest of this report.

If you sit at a desk or computer, or anywhere, for a long time without moving around, you might be subject to back pain. Simply sitting, in whatever kind of chair or seat, is the culprit here. The chair can be comfortable, or uncomfortable, and that doesn?t seem to make a difference. The pressure seating exerts on your back is a lot more than the pressure when you are up and about. You may have noticed that many people who work in professions that require them to sit a lot ? such as office workers ? experience more instances of back pain. Some people, following the example of author Philip Roth, place their computers on a high surface such as a lectern or counter-top and work there Many companies now offer their employees desks that can be used either standing or sitting. There?s also the fact that your health and well-being will be improved if you spend more time moving around and standing than if you are seated. This has been proven by research. Maybe the thought of working while standing up doesn?t appeal to you. If so, at least get up from time to time and move around a bit. You back will enjoy the change if you just get up, walk around, stretch, and then go back to work. If you have had a spinal fracture, it can lead to back pain and, in reality, is a common reason for back problems. Osteoporosis ? a reduction of your bone mass ? weakens your bones and can lead to spinal fractures. While this can affect both men and women ? especially in their ?golden? years ? it is most common in women. And, as you can well imagine, when bones are less dense they are weaker and, as a result, can break more easily. Any sudden injury, anywhere in your body, can cause a bone to collapse. This is very painful and, if your spine is involved, it can lead to deformation. Medication is often prescribed for the pain, and in some cases surgery is recommended to help hold fractured bones in place. There is evidence that regular exercise and a healthy diet can reduce the severity of osteoporosis and help prevent spinal fractures. The important thing to keep in mind is that your knowledge plus action on what you learn about proactol has great potential. Take action on this because that is the only thing that will help you.

It seems so many people have a sincere desire to do something, but they fall in the trap of just sitting there and wishing. Make a plan that you will take action, and then work from that plan every day until you see the results you want.

It is not hard at all, really, to use this information if you become aware and commit to it. Let?s see what else there is to know about this topic.

While old age is not itself the cause of back pain, people are prone to many conditions that cause back problems as they get older. Osteoporosis, usually happening to women, reduces the strength of the bones and fractures are more apt to happen. Osteoarthritis can cause pain throughout the body, but the spine is particularly vulnerable.

Without proper treatment, bone density will lessen in strength with age and may cause degenerative disc disease. There are also a number of less common ailments that older people are at risk for and which cause back pain. There are preventative measures you can take to lessen the chances of suffering some of these illnesses; like a daily exercise routine, along with the required supplement to keep your bones fit. Suffering from back pain is very distressing. In fact, it can make it extremely difficult to even rise out of bed each day. As they say, ?knowledge is power?, and if you can discover the root of your back pain, you can take the steps to prevent it returning in the future. The first step, of course, is to take care of any medical conditions that could lead, or contribute, to your back pain. If not, simply pay attention to your overall health and fitness, your diet, and any other issues in your life that may lead to back pain. We have strived to give you the most useful ideas as it relates to this important topic.

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Hornets win draft lottery, will pick No. 1 in NBA

NEW YORK (AP) ? New owner, and now a new star player. The future suddenly looks bright for the New Orleans Hornets.

Meanwhile, it was yet another loss ? in a historic season full of them ? for Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Hornets, recently sold by the NBA to Saints owner Tom Benson, won the NBA's draft lottery Wednesday and the No. 1 pick overall ? which they almost certainly will use to pick Kentucky star Anthony Davis.

At least that's what the consensus college player of the year is expecting. Moments after the Hornets won the lottery, Davis said he was looking forward to playing professionally in the place where he led the Wildcats to a national championship in April.

The good news for the Hornets comes after a difficult season in which they traded All-Star Chris Paul and a couple of years in limbo where they couldn't do much to upgrade the roster while the league was looking for a buyer.

"Just a first step for us to winning it all," Benson said in a TV interview after the lottery.

The Hornets moved up from the fourth spot, where they had a 13.7 percent chance, to earn the pick.

"Everything was surreal once they announced the fourth pick," said Hornets coach Monty Williams, who represented the team on stage. "I said 'This is pretty cool.' I knew my wife and kids were home praying that things would go well and they did."

The Bobcats, after going 7-59 for the worst winning percentage in NBA history, fell to the No. 2 pick. Washington will pick third and Cleveland fell one spot to fourth.

Charlotte had a 25 percent chance of grabbing the No. 1 pick, but instead will have to take the best player after Davis, possibly his teammate, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The team with the worst record hasn't won since Orlando drafted Dwight Howard in 2004.

"We will still take the best player available and when you win seven games you have a lot of holes," Bobcats general manager Rich Cho said. "From a competitive standpoint and for anyone who has played sports or been competitive, you want to win and be No. 1. We know we're still going to get a good player."

Cho and team vice chairman Curtis Polk said they hadn't heard from Jordan, the Bobcats owner.

"Being No. 2 isn't terrible. We'll be fine," Polk said.

The league bought the Hornets from owner George Shinn in December 2010 and the sale to Benson was completed in April. The NBA was criticized for the conflict of interest of a league owning a franchise, particularly when Commissioner David Stern blocked a trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers in December, then approved another that landed Paul with the Clippers.

The ownership uncertainty hindered the Hornets, but they were in a celebrating mood Wednesday after earning the No. 1 pick for the first time since 1991, when they were still in Charlotte and took Larry Johnson.

General manager Dell Demps said he pumped his fist in the room where the drawing took place after seeing that the balls had been drawn in the Hornets' favor.

"When our combination came up, it was an exciting feeling," he said. "I got an incredible rush. ... We knew what the odds were. We hoped for the best. It was nothing we could control. We're just happy."

The Hornets, who went 21-45, also have the No. 10 pick. They played hard at the end of the season even as it reduced their lottery odds, winning eight of their final 13 games with a young roster.

"Obviously, we're very excited," Demps said. "This is a great day for the city of New Orleans, our fans. ... This is the start of a new beginning."

Though they didn't officially say it, it's expected to start with Davis, one of the most dominant defensive college players in years who was Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four even as he went 1 for 10 from the field in the championship game. He blocked a record-tying six shots and had 16 rebounds and three steals in the Wildcats' 67-59 victory over Kansas.

"Davis is not LeBron. He's not Tim (Duncan). But they were young once and Tim had four years of college," Williams said.

The Nets were the other big loser when they stayed in the No. 6 spot. They owed their pick to Portland for this season's Gerald Wallace trade unless they moved into the top three.

The Cavs beat the odds last year and moved up to take Kyrie Irving, the eventual Rookie of the Year, and tried to follow the same formula. Nick Gilbert, the 15-year-old son of owner Dan Gilbert, was back on the podium in his bow tie, and the Cavs' traveling party that included Dan Gilbert, and former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar and current Browns players Josh Cribbs and Joe Haden sported the same dress.

But there was no repeat, as the Cavs went backward this time.

"Still feel very good about (number)4 pick," Dan Gilbert wrote on his Twitter page. "We are getting a great player there and good additions w/our other 3 picks. I believe."

Sacramento rounds out the top five of the draft, to be held June 28 in Newark, N.J.

The Golden State Warriors stayed at No. 7, meaning they get to keep their pick instead of having to trade it to Utah. The Trail Blazers will also have two lottery selections, the Nets' and their own at No. 11.

___

AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed to this report.

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Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

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Crossing the Sun: The Last Transit of Venus until 2117

Features | Space

Next week will be the last opportunity this century to see the planet Venus as a little black dot moving across the solar disk--a rare event with a long, important history in astronomy

By Jay Pasachoff ?| May 31, 2012

Image: Jay M. Pasachoff, David Butts, Joseph Gangestad, and Owen Westbrook (Williams College Transit of Venus Team) with John Seiradakis and George Asimellis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece); expedition run with Bryce Babcock (Williams College) and Glenn Schneider (University of Arizona)

Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

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On June 5 in the Americas and June 6 in the rest of the world, people will be able to see one of the rarest predictable events in astronomy: a solar transit of the planet Venus. Over a six-hour period the disk of Venus will be silhouetted against the sun. Seeing it safely requires a special eye-protection filter, available for a dollar or so?alternately, a telescope or binoculars can safely project an image onto a wall or sheet of paper. But if you miss it, your next chance won't come until the year 2117.

Every century or so, the relative orbital motions of Earth and Venus bring them into perfect alignment with the sun, producing a pair of transits separated by eight years. Only six transits have been observed in history: in 1639; 1761 and 1769; 1874 and 1882; and 2004. Observing them was once the "noblest problem in astronomy" (as an English Astronomer Royal put it), because until the 20th century it was the only way to determine the distance from Earth to the sun. Hundreds of expeditions went as far north and as far south as possible to make giant triangles with Venus and thereby maximize the precision of the measurement. The most famous was probably Captain Cook's voyage to Tahiti in 1769.

Transits have lost none of their capacity to surprise astronomers. At the time of the 2004 event, nobody alive had seen one. I remember watching it on images streaming back from NASA spacecraft. When Venus was about halfway onto the sun's edge, the planet?s atmosphere became visible, bending sunlight toward us. This unexpected phenomenon has led us to plan worldwide observations of Venus's atmosphere during the upcoming event. We should be able to detect a dimming of the sun by a tenth of a percent as Venus blocks that much of the sun's disk. Our view should help researchers interpreting Venus's atmosphere with the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft. In addition, it provides ground truth for the Kepler spacecraft's observations of exoplanetary transits around other stars.

I personally will observe from the University of Hawaii's solar telescope on Haleakala volcano on Maui, supported by the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society. I hope to incorporate results from the space-based observations in time to include them in my address to the American Astronomical Society in Alaska the following week. And we hope that people in 2117, as the next transit of Venus approaches, look back at the scientists of 2012 and say we carried on with skill the tradition of Captain Cook and the Astronomers Royal.

View a slideshow of past transits, as well as a map of when and where the upcoming transit will be visible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Jay Pasachoff, the Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College and chair of the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Solar Eclipses, has seen 55 solar eclipses, as well as transits of Venus and Mercury.

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Article-Burton Jernigan State Farm Insurance

You are here: Home ? General ? Article-Burton Jernigan State Farm Insurance

auto insurance hidden valley There are more cars and drivers hitting the road every year. With so many vehicles on the road, crashes will happen. The difference between a small aggravation and major obstacle can be automobile insurance. So how do you know what insurance you need and how much to buy? Auto insurance protects you by covering the cost of damage or injury you cause others while driving your car, damage to your car or injury to you or your passengers from a crash, plus specific other occurrences, such as theft. Every state and province requires car insurance by law. Without insurance, you risk having to pay the full price of any harm you cause others or of repairing or replacing your car if it is damaged or stolen.Liability pays for damages due to bodily injury and property damage to others for which you are responsible. Bodily injury damages include medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering. Property damage includes damaged property and loss of use of property. If you are sued, it also pays your defense and court costs. Higher recommended insurances are available that cover more than the lower, state-mandated insurance. Personal injury protection: This is required in some states and is optional in others. Sometimes referred to as no-fault coverage, this pays the medical treatment for you or your passengers regardless of who was at fault. It may also pay for lost earnings, replacement of services and funeral expenses. State law usually sets minimum amounts. Medical payments: This type of coverage is available in non-no-fault states and will pay no matter who is responsible for the accident. It pays for an insured person?s reasonable and necessary medical and funeral expenses for bodily injury from a crash. Collision: Pays for damage to your car caused by an accident. Comprehensive: This applies if your car is stolen or damaged by causes other than collision, including fire, wind, hail, flood or vandalism. Uninsured motorist: Pays for damages when an insured person is injured in a crash caused by another person who does not have liability insurance or by a person who cannot be identified (usually a hit-and-run driver). Under-insured motorist: Pays for damages when an insured person is injured in a crash caused by another person who does not have enough liability insurance to cover the full amount of the damages. Other coverage, such as emergency road service and car rental, is also available. insure your automobile

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Career and Business Advice for College Students

The business world can be a terrifying and confusing place for the average college student to enter. While it is mostly juniors and senior sweating about their life after college, underclassmen as well are constantly reminded that their college utopia will end someday and that they, too, will have to enter the ?real world?. For students trying to find jobs, just navigating through the seas of applications and interviews that come with landing a position is overwhelming enough.

Many have a very fuzzy idea of where their career will lead them. Should they have an entrepreneurial spirit, this picture is even less clear. Things associated with starting a new business ? such as finding a location, business partners, and reliable employees ? are not even on their radar, and nor should they be. While it is important for graduating students and rising seniors to keep these things in mind, they must also keep their situation in perspective. Most undergraduates finish college at 22 years old ? if they do not plan on going to graduate school, this means that they will enter the workforce in their early 20?s and most likely work until their late 50s or early 60s. This means that the majority of their years will be spent working; there is no need to worry about every detail of their career at this moment if they have almost 40 years to shape it.

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Tagged as: Advice, Graduates

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Kuwait-led consortium gets nod in Iraq energy bids

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A consortium led by a Kuwaiti energy company has won the rights to search for oil and gas in southern Iraq.

Kuwait Energy and its partners, Turkey's TPAO and the UAE's Dragon Oil, will be paid $6.24 for each barrel of oil equivalent they find in a 900-square-kilometer (350-square-mile) area in Iraq's oil-rich southern Basra province.

The Basra-area exploration block is the first to be awarded of 12 that are up for bidding in Iraq's fourth postwar energy auction that started Wednesday. Three dozen foreign companies are involved.

The government is seeking foreign investment to build up an energy sector hit by years of neglect and violence. Iraq holds the world's fourth largest oil reserves and hopes to develop its natural gas industry.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq opened on Wednesday its fourth postwar bidding round for oil and natural gas exploration, with 39 foreign energy companies registered to compete for exploration rights in a dozen areas of the country.

The government is seeking foreign investment to build up an energy sector hit by years of neglect and violence. Iraq holds the world's fourth largest oil reserves and oil revenues make up nearly 95 percent of the country's budget.

In an opening speech, Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Karim Elaibi said exploration of the areas up for bidding will increase Iraq's oil reserves and help the country enter the natural gas industry. He promised that his ministry will "spare no efforts to help and support the companies as partners to achieve the common interests."

Still, conditions for bidders are less attractive than in the three previous rounds held since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

Only areas with undetermined hydrocarbon resources are on offer, while previously the rights to known big and medium oil and gas fields were being auctioned off. Operating costs for energy companies could be high because most of the 12 exploration blocks are in remote and unsafe areas and lack infrastructure.

The government also added a clause for the first time that prevents companies from signing deals with regional authorities without the approval of the central government in Baghdad. Companies that violate the clause will have their contracts terminated, said Sabah al-Saidi, the deputy head of the Oil Ministry's Licensing and Petroleum Contracts department.

The new clause came in response to Exxon Mobil's bold move last year to sign six deals with Iraq's northern self-ruled Kurdish region without Baghdad's approval. In return, Baghdad banned the Texas-based company from taking part in the current bidding, but kept a deal to develop the 8.6-billion-barrel West Qurna Phase One oil field in the south.

Wednesday's auction started with no one bidding for an 8,000-square-kilometer (3,100-square-mile) block in northwestern Iraq with presumed natural gas fields.

Still, the current bidding round poses an opportunity for energy companies because the exploration blocks are in "fertile and easy-to-extract areas," said Kuwait-based independent analyst Kamel al-Harami.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry approved 47 international energy companies to participate in two days of bidding on Wednesday and Thursday, but only 39 companies paid the participation fee.

Top among the approved companies are the Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, UK's BP, Chevron and Occidental of the U.S., China's CNOOC and CNPC, Japan's Japex, Russia's Lukoil and others.

The blocks are expected to add about 29 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to the current 126.7 trillion cubic feet in reserves, and about 10 billion barrels of oil to the current proven 143.1 billion barrels of proven reserves.

Nearly 70 percent of them hold natural gas and the rest a combination of oil and gas.

Five of the blocks are in Iraq's western Anbar province or shared between Anbar and neighboring provinces; two are in the northern Ninevah province; one is shared between central Diyala province and neighboring Wasit province while the rest are scattered throughout southern Iraq.

The bidders are vying for service contracts in which they will be paid a flat fee, rather than the more lucrative production-sharing contracts in which they receive a share of the hydrocarbons found.

Since 2008, Iraq has awarded 15 oil and gas deals to international energy companies, the first major investments in the country's energy industry in more than three decades.

The goal was to boost daily production from about 3 million barrels now to 12 million barrels by 2017. But Iraq is mulling whether the target should be revised downward to fewer than 10 million barrels, considering a possible drop in demand on oil in the international market and infrastructure bottlenecks.

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Scientific Literacy vs. Concern Over Climate Change

New submitter gmfeier writes "An interesting study reported in Nature Climate Change indicates that concern over climate change did not correlate with scientific literacy nearly as much as with cultural polarization. Quoting: 'For ordinary citizens, the reward for acquiring greater scientific knowledge and more reliable technical-reasoning capacities is a greater facility to discover and use?or explain away?evidence relating to their groups? positions. Even if cultural cognition serves the personal interests of individuals, this form of reasoning can have a highly negative impact on collective decision making. What guides individual risk perception, on this account, is not the truth of those beliefs but rather their congruence with individuals? cultural commitments. As a result, if beliefs about a societal risk such as climate change come to bear meanings congenial to some cultural outlooks but hostile to others, individuals motivated to adopt culturally congruent risk perceptions will fail to converge, or at least fail to converge as rapidly as they should, on scientific information essential to their common interests in health and prosperity. Although it is effectively costless for any individual to form a perception of climate-change risk that is wrong but culturally congenial, it is very harmful to collective welfare for individuals in aggregate to form beliefs this way.'"

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EU calls for "banking union" to fight debt crisis

The European Commission proposed Wednesday that such a body should oversee banks directly, sidestepping national governments.

By David McHugh and Raf Casert,?The Associated Press / May 30, 2012

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a news conference at the commission's headquarters on Wednesday. The commission is calling for a banking union among Euro states.

Sebastien Pirlet/Reuters

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As Europe's debt crisis intensifies, top officials say the continent urgently needs a central authority with the financial muscle to fix its broken banks.

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The proposal could give immediate relief to Spain's increasingly fragile economy, with its borrowing rates rising to unsustainable levels, rattling investors.

The European Commission called Wednesday for a "banking union" that can oversee and, if needed, bail out banks without having to go through national governments. It would have the power to force banks to heal their finances and also have access to a pool of money to rescue banks, lifting pressure off individual countries ? like Spain ? that are already strapped for cash.

Germany resists allowing a central body to spend money ? much of which Berlin provides ? to rescue banks around Europe. But markets nudged Spain, the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone, ever closer to needing financial aid that Europe can scarcely afford to give it. Its 10-year bond yield rose to 6. 64 percent on Wednesday, close to the 7 percent threshold that caused Greece, Ireland and Portugal to need financial assistance previously. Stock markets tanked globally, with the Dow falling 1.3 percent and Madrid's index down 2.6 percent.

Spain is in a particularly bad situation because its banks are not only holding massive amounts of shaky government bonds, but also sit on huge real estate investment losses. One of them, Bankia, asked for ?19 billion ($23.6 billion) last week. How the government, which has been making savage austerity cuts to lower its debts, will afford that ? and other potential bailouts ? is worrying investors.

Adding to the pressure, depositors in some countries, most notably Greece, have been pulling their money out of banks. There are concerns that Greece might have to leave the eurozone if political parties that reject its bailout terms come to power next month. While the drain in deposits from banks in Athens has so far been slow, some fear it could become a quickly devastating bank run.

The solution, economists and a number of European Union policy makers say, is to cut the knot between governments and banks. Europe should create a central banking authority with the power and the money to take broken banks off governments' hands ? and override national regulators who may be reluctant to force expensive and politically painful restructuring of failed financial institutions.

The current European Banking Authority lacks such sweeping powers.

"Already before the crisis, it was acknowledged that the EU model of cross-border banking was not stable," the European Commission said in a report Wednesday.

The commission suggested that the permanent European bailout fund could be permitted to put money directly into banks, bypassing the governments.

But Germany, which contributes most to the bailout fund, has long resisted such a move and said Wednesday that it would continue to oppose it.

Whether Berlin and the other European leaders will be able to find some compromise to create a new central authority will be key to snuffing out the continent's 2 ? year-old crisis.

"What you need is to create a system at the scale of the eurozone that would consolidate the systems that exist in member states," said Nicolas Veron, a fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. "If you have more centralized decision-making for the whole bank restructuring agenda throughout Europe, then you can be tougher because you get a hold of the entire branch."

Europe's banking vulnerabilities include:

? No central regulator with the power to step in and force weak banks to ask investors for more capital to strengthen finances, or to break them apart and restructure them.

? No central deposit insurance backstop, making it more likely that a bank failure would exhaust one country's fund to compensate depositors.

? National regulators who may be protective of their home financial services industry and reluctant to declare a home institution a failure and break it up.

The U.S. bank bailouts made clear the significance of a central authority that could restructure banks. Insurer AIG failed financially and had to be bailed out. Although it was incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York, neither state had to go bankrupt paying for the rescue. The burden was shouldered by the U.S. Treasury.

In Europe, Ireland went bankrupt because it was unable to cope with the size of the bailouts it had to pay for banks. The government was ready to force bondholders to accept some losses as part of restructuring the banking system. But European officials, fearing a spread in financial chaos, pushed Ireland to have taxpayers shoulder the burden, adding hugely to the country's debts.

Governments are under pressure to rescue failed banks because the financial system is the source of credit for businesses and thus key to growth. A bank failure may spread financial damage if other banks loaned the failed bank money.

Michel Barnier, the European commissioner for the internal market and services, on June 6 is expected to reveal more proposals for Europe to restructure banks. He has spoken of the need for "bail-in," where creditors ? like a bank's bondholders ? can be forced to take losses, as opposed to "bail-out," where taxpayers take the hit.

The EU is likely to phase in any new system. Earlier studies suggested first increasing cooperation and making rules more uniform and only later creating an EU-wide authority.

The timing of such a process is slow. New measures would go through the EU legislative process by early next year at the soonest, and then could take laborious rewriting of complex national level laws to conform. Some aspects could take years more to take effect.

European officials are also working on a beefed up deposit guarantee system. One proposal would allow national deposit insurance funds to loan money to each other, creating a much deeper pool of money. That proposal has passed an initial vote in the EU parliament but is currently held up in a dispute between the European Parliament and national governments about the mechanics of funding it.

Veron says quicker help is needed. He proposes putting together a task force similar to the one that oversaw the restructuring of U.S. auto companies General Motors and Chrysler under bankruptcy court protection.

The current system "is unsustainable and we need to change course," he said.

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Real Homes: Small, frugal, and green | Energy Bulletin

Recent college graduate Ella Jenkins lives with her parents while she builds her 103-square-foot home in their yard.

The real estate bubble that kicked off the 21st century taught us some things that a home isn?t. It isn?t a way to get rich quick. It isn?t a cash machine. It isn?t a speculative investment that?s guaranteed never to lose value.?

This is not to make light of the pain of people who have suffered from the real-estate-fueled financial meltdown. It wasn?t the buyers who made those claims about residential real estate?it was the people who were making the loans. Say what you may about undeserving people getting loans they shouldn?t have gotten, but remember one thing: not one of the borrowers ever approved a loan. That was done by the people who made money writing the loans.

Few of the people who bought during the bubble have gotten any help from banks or the government. Lenders and speculators, on the other hand, got billions in bailouts. CoreLogic, which provides analytical data on real estate and financing, estimates that, in the fourth quarter of 2011, the difference between the current value and the amount owed for underwater loans was $717 billion. That is hardly more than the $700 billion handed over instantly to banks and corporations in the early days of the financial meltdown?and a fraction of the trillions in loan guarantees and other assistance the big players got. We could have reduced the principal on every underwater loan to current market value for less money than we?ve pumped into the banks and corporations that caused the problem in the first place.

But the residential real estate market remains a mess, with 2.7 million foreclosures during 2011 alone, and many more to come. This has been an ?unprecedented cycle,? says Walter Molony, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors. ?We?ve never had this kind of mortgage market before, and it?s going to be at least another year or two before foreclosures stabilize.?

And the crash has expanded well beyond the much-maligned subprime market. High unemployment following the financial meltdown has left previously rock-solid homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure in record numbers.

The Census Bureau estimates that, in 2011, there were 18.7 million houses standing empty, even as hundreds of thousands of people were homeless. The giant houses that were an ostentatious display of wealth are now millstones holding their owners underwater, worth far less than the debt owed on them.?

Experts speculate about when housing prices will return to previous levels. But why would that be a good thing? The previous levels were unrelated to real value. We were oversold, paying too much for houses that were much too big.?

It?s a perfect time to take a look at what it means to own a home, to make a home, to rent a home. This is an opportunity to take the best from the old ways of doing things, and from the new, and to define ?home? in a way that doesn?t place unsustainable burdens on resources, both natural and fiscal.

Some of the solution lies in adjusting our expectations about what a household looks like and how much space we really need. Some of it lies in recognizing that, in a world where our energy use is destroying the climate, we have to change the way we put our houses together.

Home is where you stay

One thing we lost sight of during the bubble is that, traditionally, a home wasn?t a speculative investment. In fact, houses typically appreciated not much faster than a savings account. You bought a house as a form of security. Unlike renters, you didn?t face the possibility of having to move if the owner sold or lost the house to foreclosure. You could paint it the color you wanted, add rooms, knock out walls. You could turn the lawn into a garden or plant trees that took years to grow and bear fruit. Once you paid off the mortgage, you burned it?with ceremony and a sense of relief?and you didn?t refinance.

When people bought houses and intended to stay, they made a commitment to the community. They made lasting connections with people and businesses. Once a house became something that you owned just long enough for the big cashout, those connections were lost.

Smaller is smarter

There?s a simple way to make a huge difference right away in both the environmental and financial impacts of housing. Unfortunately, in light of the ?bigger is better? story that has become firmly entrenched in the American belief system, the simple solution is not the easy one. Plainly stated, it?s this: Small is beautiful.

It?s not a deep concept. Smaller houses cost less to build. It takes less furniture to fill them. They cost less to heat and cool. For existing homes, you can come close to cutting the environmental footprint in half just by doubling the number of people living in the space. Jason McLennan, who developed the Living Building Challenge, proposes that, regardless of ?green? features, large houses simply cannot be environmentally sound. He says that, on average, 450 square feet per person is as big as we should go-?and smaller is better.

The modern trend, however, is exemplified by a radio ad campaign that ran about ten years ago. The ads featured people shouting across distances, with lots of echo effect?they were in their gigantic living rooms. There was one in which a guy got lost in his huge house. That, the builder assured us, was what we should aspire to.

Asking Americans to crowd together is asking a lot, right? It?s asking us to return to some primitive state with people crammed cheek-by-jowl into hovels.

That would be correct, so long as you consider 1950 to be a brutal and primitive time. There were a lot of things wrong in the ?50s that we don?t want to recapture. But living in small spaces was not something that people complained about. And here?s a fact: The average American now has about 961 square feet of space. That?s awfully close to the average size for an entire house in 1950, when we managed with 259 square feet per person.

Reversing the trend

Why, over the course of just 60 years, did we triple our living space? In part, because we could. Building materials were cheap. The energy to run a house was not too costly. For builders, whose main cost is labor, the profit margin on a big house is greater than on a small one. We slipped into a feedback loop, where builders pushed bigger houses and consumers, seeing what everyone else was buying, started demanding them. Once square footage became the key measure of value, banks were less interested in loans on small houses.

There are signs that the trend is reversing. The average size of a new house peaked in 2007 and has gone down since. But so far that only replicates what happened during past recessions?although the decrease is larger this time. The question is whether we return to the pattern of ever-increasing house size if the current recession ends for everyone, not just the rich.

The growing popularity of tiny homes is hopeful. Often owner-built, these sub-200-square-foot houses are the epitome of affordability and efficiency. They?re not for everyone, but everyone seems to find them fascinating.?

Doubling up

There?s also hope in the growing trend toward ?doubling up,? whether in the form of multigenerational households or shared living with people of different families. For the moment, this is a matter of economic necessity as people who have lost their jobs and homes move in with relatives, and recent college graduates, saddled with debt and unable to find work, move back in with their parents.

But this may be the beginning of remembering that people can thrive in smaller spaces. A Pew Research poll of people living in multigenerational homes found about 80 percent reporting that the living arrangement had strengthened family bonds. (A similar percentage reported that it had increased tension?the two are not mutually exclusive.)?

We can expect to see more doubling up as a matter of necessity as baby boomers enter their elder years with retirement funds depleted by the housing and financial crashes. But as it becomes more normal for people to use less space, we may figure out that what worked in the 1950s was much closer to what we really need.

Then we can convert the giant houses of the bubble into multifamily housing; make sure new housing is small, green, and affordable; and have a shot at housing everyone without destroying our habitat.

---

Doug Pibel wrote this article for?Making it Home, the Summer 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Doug is managing editor of YES!

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How you can Choose A Spacious Auto! | Submit Article

Posted by carminagoff37 on May 29, 2012 | 0 views | Comments Off |

Have you ever actually felt that your tiny auto can no longer deal with your actually developing family members Have you ever actually believed of getting a brand new, larger, far more spacious vehicle If so, then this post will display you how you can select the perfect spacious car for your household!

First off, the choice for a much more spacious loved ones vehicle is normally between an activity utility car (SUV) along with a minivan. Both supply flexible passenger and cargo areas, comfy seating for 5 to eight persons, and rear-seat entertainment methods.

So, what kind of auto need to you choose To come up with the right choice, you will need to look at how the vehicle?s styling, gas economy, passenger and cargo room, towing capability, and safety will fit your family?s demands and life style.

Passenger & Cargo Room ? Activity utility vehicles and minivans have comparable passenger and cargo space, but the roomy interiors of a minivan can be a delight to young kids. Unlike SUVs, minivans also possess a low step-in height, so they?re easier for kids to climb into. Minivans? large picture windows afford young passengers a better view of the passing scenery, therefore keeping your impatient young kinds amused for any good part of the ride.

Gasoline Consumption ? Minivans give better mileage than SUVs, which have a reputation for being gas guzzlers. If you want to squeeze much more miles out of the gasoline tank, then a minivan would make a far more financial option than an SUV. Other ownership costs, such as maintenance and insurance, also tend to be higher for SUVs than minivans. Unless you?re willing to pay the price for being cool and stylish, the practical minivan is the way in which to go.

Fashion ? More than a matter of need to have, a vehicle?s styling is a matter of personal preference. The SUV typically wins out over the minivan when it comes to appearance. With its rugged, sporty styling, an SUV oozes urban cool, unlike the minivan, which is perpetually associated with soccer moms and suburban neighborhood carpools. Most men would recoil at the believed of driving a minivan, so if your husband would be sharing driving duties, you might have to talk it out with him.

Towing Capability ? If you own a boat and like to get the entire brood for weekend sailing retreats, then an SUV would make an acceptable choice. SUVs have superior towing capacities, enabling them to pull practically anything in between a trailer as well as a small boat. Otherwise, if you?re only schlepping groceries and your kid?s soccer team, then there?s no reason to overlook the minivan.

Safety ? Although both have comparable security features, SUVs possess a higher rollover risk than minivans. SUV devotees counter this by pointing out that rollovers account for only three percent of all traffic accidents and claiming that SUVs offer you excellent passenger protection in two-car collisions. It remains to be seen whether this supposed collision security factor outweighs the risk of rollovers. If the threat of rollover accidents keeps you awake at night, then a minivan could give you a little peace of mind.

Selecting the perfect spacious auto for the family members involves carefully evaluating the above features and choosing what?s very best for everyone. By doing your homework, you are going to save yourself from ever before facing buyer?s remorse when buying your next household vehicle!

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Head Of Hair Beauty Advice For You | Life Coach, Business - Career ...

By Administrator on May 29, 2012 in Health and Fitness

Certainly one of a lady?s many key weapons penghitam rambut alami is the girl head of hair. Inside fictional pieces and flicks, guys have frequently been shown to adore women who sport extended, delicate, and great-smelling hair. In real life, such things happen much more.

To get healthy hair, your first problem ought to be to free your head regarding dandruff. Dry skin brings about dry skin as well as irritation, ultimately causing uninteresting as well as damaged locks. Coconut acrylic has been confirmed a highly effective normal element for dealing with dry skin and enhancing the growth of hair, and this is exactly what you will have to carry out the beauty advice for the head of hair that follow. Therapeutic massage your own head in slow circles along with genuine avocado essential oil. You can also use avocado essential oil which has been boiled along with onions, and clean it well having a combination of water energy depleted through boiled rice and green g powder. A mixture of coconut essential oil, essential olive oil, and lemon juice may also be used, with a 15-minute vapor towel-wrap later on. Nice hair has to be washed with hair shampoo following your method.

There are lots of other efficient 100 % natural ingredients towards dandruff. For instance, use a blend of gooseberry liquid and also almond oil as well as put it to use together with your disposal in your scalp. You may also grind the particular results in of a five-petal hibiscus flower and also clean your hair with its penghitam rambut liquid, or perhaps apply mustard as well as fenugreek insert in your head. Avoid using business dandruff shampoos right away. Beauty tips for your hair utilizing home treatments coming from dynamics are readily available, and you will choose some of these for stopping dandruff without causing additional damage to nice hair.

Right after your own dandruff disappears, it?s time to concentrate your energy directly into creating nice hair gleaming and excellent, along with retaining it healthful. Grape oil remains the principal ingredient with regard to beauty tips regarding gorgeous hair. Blend coconut oil as well as mustard oil and also bathe the vast majority a mug of curry simply leaves within the combination overnight. Each day, heat the curry simply leaves until they will change clean. Following removing these in the temperature, add 3 camphor balls and allow the particular oil to cool. After forcing, apply the essential oil in your hair roots and massage in sectors. Abandon the essential oil within your locks while you sleep and also rinse with wash once you awaken each day. For the best final results, repeat the task twice a 7 days.

One of the more typical natural splendor tips for hair is making use of ova because strengthener. Create a mixture of ovum white-colored, 2 spoonfuls regarding castor oil then one spoonful of glycerin, as well as put it to use in your crown and head of hair. Wash that shampoo herbal right after 30 minutes. Every one of these beauty tips will definitely provide you with head of hair which additional women will be jealous of and men will be seduced by.

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PFT: Driver says he has 1-2 more years left

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Last week, Panthers linebacker Jon Beason took issue with comments from 49ers quarterback Alex Smith regarding the big stats from 2011 generated by Carolina quarterback Cam Newton.

On Tuesday, Beason had more to say during an appearance on SiriusXM?s Mad Dog Radio.

By way of background, here?s what Smith originally said:? ?I could absolutely care less on yards per game.? I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you?re losing games in the second half, guess what, you?re like the Carolina Panthers and you?re going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games.? That?s great.? You?re not winning, though.?

Here?s what Beason said on Tuesday:? ?When you read the comments it seemed like he used the Carolina Panthers as a way to take the pressure off himself, in the meantime taking a shot at us.? Based on what he said I think couldn?t be any further from the truth, actually what happened this season.?

There?s more.? ?I think [Cam Newton] is way ahead of Alex was as a former first-round pick,? Beason told Evan Cohen and Steve Phillips.? ?You know, going into a situation where you?re on the worst team in football, or in an offense that finished 32nd in scoring last year, to an offense that finished fifth, I think you should at least take your hat off to him and understand the situation and the type of pressure that Cam Newton was under this year.?

The bottom line is that, while the 49ers went to the NFC title game, the Panthers offense generated big passing numbers last year, and the 49ers didn?t.

?I think 19 touchdown passes is, you know, not going to get you in a Super Bowl,? Beason said.? ?I think five interceptions is an amazing stat, but it is just like in basketball, if you don?t shoot you can?t score.? So based on what they were able to do and the parts around him, the coach, the defense, I think they did a great job.? You win 13 games you?re the best in the league.? I think that?s the right formula for them but that wouldn?t have been the right formula for us.? So do you take your hat off to Alex Smith?? Yes.? Should he feel good about himself?? Yes.? Should he get upset about having to answer questions about him finishing 29th in the league in yards per game?? That?s a stat.? If you don?t like it maybe fix it but, like I said, in the meantime don?t take shots at other people or other players because you are tired of dealing with that question.?

Beason?s ultimate point is valid.? In defending his relatively bad stats, there?s no reason to knock down those who had better stats.? Newton had the best rookie season of any quarterback to ever play the game.? Regardless of the team?s won-loss record, that?s a fact.

For 49ers fans, it could actually be a good sign that Smith is starting to display a bit of a chip on his shoulder.? And he definitely should have one after the team openly flirted with Peyton Manning before giving Smith yet another chance to prove that he can finally become the guy the organization thought he would be when making him the first overall pick in 2005.

Whether that shoulder-chip generates a better stat line for Smith will be one of the more relevant questions of the 2012 season.

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Join 'Snow White' Stars Kristen Stewart And Sam Claflin Now!

Kristen Stewart in "Snow White and the Huntsman"
Photo: Universal Studios

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iVoice on Student Loans: ?College Is The Worst Financial Decision I Ever Made?

iVoice Liz Henry, was the first of her family to graduate college but only made $8 an hour working at a cafe. Saddled with debt, Liz sounds off on her student loans and why she feels her "American Dream" is dead. Do you have college loans or worry about your kids and their school debt? Tell us about it here!

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Green homes get green light from Planning Commission ...

At its special meeting on May 29, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission voted to approve the plan of development for Four Forty Four North Front Associates? proposed townhome development at 412 N. Front St.

A previously unknown ghost street has altered developers' plans for green townhomes on this North Front Street lot. The City Planning Commission has given the revised project its blessing.

This project, which we caught wind of last month, has been modified a bit from its original design, a changed forced on the developers when their subsurface surveys found an eight-foot box culvert storm sewer running under the property in a 40-foot right of way for a street not marked on city plans.

As a result, the development will have only 32 townhomes, down from the 35 originally proposed. The ghost street will become the access point for the interior homes? garages and surface parking for the units facing Front Street.

The development?s noteworthy green features remain in place, including green roofs, extensive stormwater management features, a landscaped interior courtyard and street plantings that will also hide utility meters on Front Street.

As the project sits on a historically certified street paved in Belgian block, the developers pledged to replace any blocks damaged during construction. One commission member, however, noted that the street was already in not that great shape. On the whole, though, the commission praised the project for reflecting the goals of the city?s Central Delaware Waterfront Master Plan.

More details and architects? renderings to follow ? we?ll keep you posted.

-By Sandy Smith for PhiladelphiaRealEstate.com

Photo by the author

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