UCONN Lady Huskies 89 and Counting

UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma was in the midst of his postgame news conference after his team's major-college record 89th victory in a row when a PR flack interrupted to hand him a cell phone.
Who could possibly be important enough to keep a roomful of reporters waiting? None other than President Obama himself.



"No, you're not interrupting anything," Auriemma said, chuckling. "If I was calling you and you had all those reporters in front of you, you'd be dying to take my phone call, right?"
Most congratulatory phone calls between a president and the coach of a championship team occur out of the public eye, so it was fascinating to see Auriemma so calm with one of the most powerful men on the planet on the other end of the line.

Auriemma, who has met Obama during White House visits each of the past two years, graciously accepted congratulations on defeating Florida State to eclipse the 88-game winning streak set by John Wooden's legendary UCLA men's teams from 1971 to 1974. He also noted that the Huskies haven't lost since Obama became president, joking "How about we keep that streak going for a couple more years, huh?" Maybe the highlight of the video, however, is the zinger Auriemma unleashed to reporters as soon as he got off the phone with Obama. "That was the new president of the University of Connecticut," Auriemma deadpanned. "We just wanted to get off on the right start."

Thanks to Obama the Rich Win Again

I really was a big supporter of President Obama and wanted him to be successful but he is allowing himself to be played, and lacking the back bone that I thought he had, I do understand he is in a difficult position and things are difficult right now, but stand tall and fight for what's right. If should not allow another party to dictate to him, he is the Commander and Chief. The extension to Bush's tax credit to the rich is contrary to what he promised and it seems that he does not understand how the game is really played. He wants us to think he caved in because he was looking out for the best interest of the working class an poor, but all he did was make a deal with the devil (Republicans) and they saw him coming. This is going to be his demise because it expires again in two years in time for the next election.

By all means, he is the Freaking, President he has the power of Veto, and he can do what he wishes in spite of the Republicans' agenda. I really wish Obama was more like or would at least sit down and talk with Representative Anthony Weiner, D-NY, I like his politics and he seems to have real understanding, and actually voted against the tax extension and the deal the president made with the Republicans. I could go on and on but will spare you of my thoughts and allow you to read the article posted on Yahoo, so that you can form your own opinion.

WASHINGTON – A massive bipartisan tax package preventing a big New Year's Day tax hike for millions of Americans is on its way to President Barack Obama for his signature Friday.
The measure would extend tax cuts for families at every income level, renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and enact a new one-year cut in Social Security taxes that would benefit nearly every worker who earns a wage.

The president is expected to sign the bill Friday afternoon. In a remarkable show of bipartisanship, the House gave final approval to the measure just before midnight Thursday, overcoming an attempt by rebellious Democrats who wanted to impose a higher estate tax than the one Obama agreed to. The vote was 277-148, with each party contributing an almost identical number of votes in favor (the Democrats, 139 and the Republicans, 138).

In a rare reach across party lines, Obama negotiated the $858 billion package with Senate Republicans. The White House then spent the past 10 days persuading congressional Democrats to go along, providing a possible blueprint for the next two years, when Republicans will control the House and hold more seats in the Senate. "There probably is nobody on this floor who likes this bill," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "The judgment is, is it better than doing nothing? Some of the business groups believe it will help. I hope they're right." Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., said that with unemployment hovering just under 10 percent and the deadline for avoiding a big tax hike fast approaching, lawmakers had little choice but to support the bill.

"This is just no time to be playing games with our economy," said Camp, who will become chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee in January. "The failure to block these tax increases would be a direct hit to families and small businesses." Sweeping tax cuts enacted when George W. Bush was president are scheduled to expire Jan. 1 — a little more than two weeks away. The bill extends them for two years, placing the issue squarely in the middle of the next presidential election, in 2012. The extended tax cuts include lower rates for the rich, the middle class and the working poor, a $1,000-per-child tax credit, tax breaks for college students and lower taxes on capital gains and dividends. The bill also extends through 2011, a series of business tax breaks designed to encourage investment that expired at the end of 2009.
Workers' Social Security taxes would be cut by nearly a third, going from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, for 2011. A worker making $50,000 in wages would save $1,000; one making $100,000 would save $2,000.

"This legislation is good for growth, good for jobs, good for working and middle class families, and good for businesses looking to invest and expand their work force," said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Some Democrats complained that the package is too generous to the wealthy; Republicans complained that it doesn't make all the tax cuts permanent.
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla., called it "a bipartisan moment of clarity."

The bill's cost, $858 billion, would be added to the deficit, a sore spot among budget hawks in both parties. "I know that we are going to borrow every nickel in this bill," Hoyer lamented.
An opponent of the legislation, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., said Obama and lawmakers will face enormous election-year pressure in 2012 to extend the cuts again or make them permanent. Weiner said the Republicans turned out to be "better poker players" than Obama.
At the insistence of Republicans, the plan includes an estate tax that would allow the first $10 million of a couple's estate to pass to heirs without taxation. The balance would be subject to a 35 percent tax rate.

Many House Democrats wanted a higher estate tax, one that would allow couples to pass only $7 million tax-free, taxing anything above that amount at a 45 percent rate. They argued that the higher estate tax would affect only 6,600 of the wealthiest estates in 2011 and would save $23 billion over two years. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the estate tax the "most egregious provision" in the bill and held a vote that would have imposed the higher estate tax. It failed, 194-233. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said he thought the White House could have gotten a better deal. "When I talk to the Republicans they are giddy about this bill," he said.

Four Tax Changes You Need to Know

I thought this article was worth sharing. It is crucial that we understand all of the tax incentives available to us as tax payers. Thanks to Yahoo.com for posting it. Despite the availability of professional tax preparation services, an estimated 40% of Americans do their own taxes. The typical do-it-yourself filer needs about 24 hours to complete the task, according to the IRS.

Commercially available software undoubtedly makes the job a lot easier, but no brand is guaranteed to be infallible. Thus, it's important for do-it-yourself filers to keep up as best they can with relevant changes to the tax code as a safeguard against errors in their tax prep software. Here are four of the most important changes to know about as you prepare your 2010 return.

1. Smaller Deductions for Business and Medical Mileage
You can't write off the cost of a daily commute by car, but you can deduct other work-related mileage you're not reimbursed for. This year, for example, you'd get 50 cents a mile for driving from, say, Boston to New York City and back for a trade show. That's five cents less per mile than you'd have gotten for the same trip in 2009.

At 16.5 cents a mile, the deduction for operating your car for medical reasons is 7.5 cents less than last year. However, driving for charitable purposes is still deductible at 14 cents per mile, just like last year.

[See States That Tax Retirees the Most]

2. Better Limits on Deductions for Property Damage or Loss Due to Theft
For damaged or stolen property to be deductible, the loss amount must now only exceed $100, compared with $500 in 2009. The "10% of AGI" rule still generally applies though.
Remember, AGI is the sum of all your income - such as wages, interest and alimony received - minus certain adjustments, such as IRA contributions, student loan interest you've paid and moving expenses.

3. Deduction for Taxes and Fees on New Motor Vehicle Purchases
Did you buy a new car, light truck, motor home or motorcycle between February 17 and December 31 of 2009? If so, in 2010 you can deduct state, local, and excise taxes related to the purchase. If your state has no sales tax, you can instead deduct other taxes or fees the purchase generated. A neat feature of this deduction is you can use it to increase your standard deduction or take it as a regular itemized deduction, whichever works out best for you.

[See Make the Most of Your Charitable Donations ]

There are a couple limitations to know about. First, the deduction is only good on up to $49,500 of the purchase price. Second, it's phased out at certain levels of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) - between $250,000 and $260,000 for joint filers and from $125,000 to $135,000 for other taxpayers. MAGI is your AGI plus certain deductions such as those for student loans, IRA contributions and higher education costs.

4. Bigger Deductions for Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance Premiums
IRS rules allow LTC insurance policy owners to deduct more of their premiums in 2010 than in 2009. For example, those ages 51 to 60 can claim up to $1,230 in LTC insurance premiums this year, compared with $1,190 last year - about a 3% increase. Similar increases have been approved for other age groups as well: 40 and under, 41-50, 61-70 and 71 or over. At $330, the deduction is smallest for the 40-and-under age group. It rises progressively to a maximum of $4,110 for those ages 71 or over.

As you can probably imagine, the government has tinkered with the tax rules quite a bit more than this article describes. To see what other potentially beneficial changes have been made, check out a list called "Tax Changes for Individuals" at the IRS website. Who knows what other sorts of breaks you might unearth?

Conductor Job or Temporary NFL Position

There are a number of ways to look at this story. It sounds notable to place family over career, but if you have dreamed of a career in the NFL all of your life, do you seize the moment and take advantage of an opportunity, or do you become practical and realistic regarding the situation? What move would you make?

It's not often that you see a perfectly healthy, NFL-ready person turn down an offer to join the roster of a playoff team, but Mississippi State grad Keith Fitzhugh, who has spent time with the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free-agent safety, has decided to respectfully decline a recent offer by the Jets to be a part of their active roster.

Rex Ryan's defense was looking for new blood after losing safeties Jim Leonhard and James Ihedigbo for the season to injuries. Despite their 45-3 killer loss to the Patriots on "Monday Night Football," the 9-3 Jets are still a near-mortal lock for the postseason, with possible Super Bowl glory in their future. So why would Fitzhugh say "no"?

Because he's thinking about his family and its financial security. He's currently a conductor for the Norfolk Southern Railroad, and he's had that job since the Jets released him in September. There was no venom behind Fitzhugh's decicion to turn down the team that cut him; it's more about Fitzhugh's father, who is disabled and unable to work.

"I told them I'm very thankful for the opportunity," Fitzhugh recently recalled to Jenny Vrentas of NJ.com. "But right now, being that [NFL employment] would be for just a couple weeks, I feel that I'd rather stay with a secure company and job, somewhere I know I could have long-term employment." Fitzhugh was the 12th-ranked safety coming out of college in 2009, according to NFLDraftScout.com. He is known as a dynamic hitter and good special teams player with some range in pass coverage. He caught the eye of scouts at the East-West Shrine game, and has advanced his talent forward enough to stay on the short list of replacement-need players. But Daniel Rose, Fitzhugh's agent, affirmed the thoughts behind his client's decision.

"The kid has more heart than anybody I know," Rose told Vrentas. "This is his dream, to play. I don't think this is the last you've heard of Keith Fitzhugh." Let's hope so. Fitzhugh is deferring his NFL dreams for all the right reasons, and that's the kind of guy whose dreams should come true down the road.

I unsure if this happened or not, but As I see it, he should have met with his current supervisor to see if a leave-of-absence was an option or what options if any were available to him, or he should have simply stepped out on faith. I am uncertain of his current salary but I am sure the league's pay would have been enough to carry him over until the next job, if negotiated properly. However, I do admire the man for thinking of his family needs instead of his own.

Michael Jordan's New Unfinished Mansion

Easy Come Easy Go

I thought this article posted on Yahoo was interesting because so many people believe that if they inherit or earn millions, they will have it for ever, which is contrary to the fact for some.

Money management is key to financial success, regardless of how much you have in the bank, it is imperative that the ramifications are considered prior to making substantial investments. Lose the cockiness, arrogance, and most of all do your home work prior to making substantial purchases or investments.

Grateful to have found work in this tough economy, Nick Martin teaches grape growing and winemaking each Saturday to a class of seven students in a simple metal building here at a satellite campus of Highland Community College.

Nick Martin (featured above) at the Highland Community College vineyard in Wamego, Kan., where he has taught winemaking since losing a fortune he got from the sale of the business his father founded. (Steve Hebert for The New York Times)

Then he drives 14 miles in an 11-year-old Ford Explorer to a sparsely furnished tract house that he rents for $900 a month on a dead-end street in McFarland, a smaller town. Just across the backyard is a shed that a neighbor uses to make cartridges for shooting the prairie dogs that infest the adjacent fields.

It is a far cry from the life that Mr. Martin and his family enjoyed until recently at their Adirondacks waterfront camp at Tupper Lake, N.Y. Their garage held three stylish cars, including a yellow Aston Martin; they owned three horses, one that cost $173,000; and Mr. Martin treated his wife, Kate, to a birthday weekend at the Waldorf-Astoria, with dinner at the "21" Club and a $7,000 mink coat.

That luxurious world was fueled by a check Mr. Martin received in 1998 for $14 million, his share of the $600 million sale of Martin Media, an outdoor advertising business begun by his father in California in the 1950s. After taxes, he kept about $10 million. But as so often happens to those lucky enough to realize the American dream of sudden riches, the money slipped through the Martins' fingers faster than they ever imagined. They faced temptations to indulge, with the complexities and pressures of new wealth. And a pounding recession pummeled the value of their real estate and new financial investments, rendering their properties unaffordable.
The fortune evaporated in little more than a decade.

While many millions of Americans have suffered through this recession with only unemployment benefits to sustain them, Mr. Martin has reason to give thanks — he has landed a job at 59, however far away. He also had assets to sell to help tide his family over.
Still, Mr. Martin, a strapping man with a disarming bluntness, seemed dazed by it all. "We are basically broke," he said. Though he faulted the conventional wisdom of investing in stocks and real estate for some of his woes, along with poor financial advice, he accepted much of the blame himself. "We spent too much," he conceded. "I have a fourth grader, an eighth grader and a girl who just finished high school. I should have kept working and put the money in bonds."
Mrs. Martin recalled the summer night in 1998 when the family was having a spaghetti dinner at home in Paso Robles, in central California, and a bank representative called to ask where to wire the money. "It seemed like an unbelievable amount," she said regretfully.

Soon after the money arrived, the family decided to leave Paso Robles, amid some lingering tensions that Mr. Martin felt with his brother and brother-in law, who had run the business. Mr. Martin had never been in management at the billboard company, though he had been on the board and worked at Martin Brothers Winery, another family business. First, the Martins bought a house in Somerset, England, near the home of Mrs. Martin's parents, and he decided to write a novel. At about the same time, they spent $250,000 on the 3.5-acre camp with four structures on Tupper Lake, deep in the Adirondacks, as a summer home. They began extensive renovations at the lake, adding a stunning three-story boathouse and two other buildings.
Clouds gathered quickly. Life in England turned sour when Mr. Martin's novel, "Anthony: Conniver's Lament," did not sell, and the family's living costs — school fees, taxes and even advice for filing tax returns — swelled. In 2002, fed up with England, the Martins chose a new base, Vermont, and plunked down about $650,000 for a home there, as renovations continued on the Tupper Lake property.

By March 2007, the Martins were determined to move to the lake full time.
They managed their expenses for a while, but the costs mounted and mounted some more as they worked at refurbishing the Adirondack property — eventually totaling a staggering $5.3 million, Mr. Martin said. He poured another $600,000 into the Vermont property, he said.
He vacillates between blaming the builders and blaming himself for letting costs get out of hand. "We should have built something quite modest," he conceded.

Tensions rose in 2007 as summer came without any offers for the Vermont home.
"I thought that housing was going into a tailspin," he said. "I had the feeling that something bad was happening." So "we started selling cars, shotguns, antique furniture, whatever," Mr. Martin said. The Aston Martin fetched $395,000. With a big gap in his employment history, he found a job teaching English at Paul Smith's College near his home in Tupper Lake for $14,000 a year. For an additional $7,000, he coached the school's cross-country runners.

Then came the financial crisis. The markets plunged, as did the value of the Martins' trust. By fall 2008, with much of the family's net worth tied up in housing, Mr. Martin faced a series of margin calls. He needed more cash in his brokerage accounts because he had been tapping into a credit line with his investments as collateral. In January 2009, he cashed in a retirement account worth roughly $91,000. The houses could not be sold quickly. Though if they had been, some of the pressure would have lifted. "To maintain those things, you have to have a pretty good cash flow," Mr. Martin said.

The family ultimately put the Adirondacks property on the market for $4.9 million, then quickly slashed the price by half. Last month, the Martins got an offer for just half of the latest $2.5 million asking price. They have stopped making payments on their $1.1 million mortgage and their $53,000 in annual property taxes in the Adirondacks as well as the mortgage and taxes on their Vermont home. They cannot afford those obligations on Mr. Martin's current salary of $51,000. Their household income is down from $250,000 four years ago. At the moment, they are working with a loan modification unit at their bank. The lender proposed a new payment of $3,550 a month, reduced from $7,400. Given his current status, Mr. Martin argued, that it does not make much sense. He predicts that the house will ultimately be sold or taken over by the bank. Meanwhile, for the Christmas holidays and some of next summer, the family has found renters for the main house to help cover some of the costs.

Over lunch recently at Barleycorn's Downtown Bar and Deli in Wamego, Mr. Martin said he believed "the worst is behind us." Perhaps. But a forced restructuring can be difficult for children and spouses even in longstanding marriages. Sometimes he and his wife took it out on each other, he said. "She bought a bunch of horses. I blamed her for the horses. I bought cars. She blamed me for the cars — and the house being too big. We had a rough time," he acknowledged. "But I think we have gotten over that." Until Christmas, when she plans to join him, Mrs. Martin continues to work as a substitute teacher with autistic children at an Adirondacks elementary school: a $12,000-a-year job she loves in a place she says she is hesitant to leave. With their younger daughter, she has moved into a smaller building on their big property.

A lively woman who loves bike riding and horses, she has built a close network of friends. "What is the place in Kansas like?" she asked a reporter with some trepidation before her first visit at Thanksgiving. Mr. Martin, who moved to Kansas last April, brought the couple's 13-year-old son, Edward, to join him in the fall. He has been counting the days until his wife and Sophia, 9, come permanently. The older daughter, Mrs. Martin's from a previous marriage, has found work in Florida after finishing high school. In the meantime, Mr. Martin is also overseeing a one-acre vineyard beside the Oregon Trail Road, drawing on his knowledge of the wine industry from his California days.

He does what he can to lessen the family strains. "I have a temper. I have to control my temper," he said. "I could drink like a fish, but if you have problems in your life, drinking does not help." And he recites a quotation he holds dear : "The measure of a man is not whether he falls down, but whether he gets up again." Still, Mr. Martin is prone to ruminate over the loss of so much money. He is furious at the banks and the bankers, who he thinks gave him bad advice, and he still sounds angry at his brother and others who decided to sell the company and who he says gave him little voice. Some of them got more than $100 million each, he said, while he got $14 million, as did his father and his sister Ann, because they were all minority shareholders.
His brother-in-law David Weyrich said that if Mr. Martin had objections to the sale, he did not voice them. Mrs. Martin says she believes the move from California was motivated in part because he resented his brother and brother-in-law's bigger role in the community.
She also speculates that the Adirondacks estate was alluring partly as a way of keeping up. "I think he wanted to show his brother and brother-in-law that he had a big home, too," she said over dinner recently in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Mr. Martin disagreed. "We are Irish Catholics, and we thought it would be a compound for our family over generations," he said. After the cramped rooms at their house in England, he liked the big rooms, he said. "Sometimes, things don't work out."

As I see it, life is meant to be lived and money is meant to be spent, just be informed and not compulsive, but most importantly live your life to the fullest and without fear.

New Home for Wesley Snipes

Came across thisMIAMI (Reuters) - Actor Wesley Snipes was ordered on Friday to start serving a three-year prison sentence for failing to file income tax returns by a federal judge who rejected the Hollywood star's bid for a new trial.

"The defendant Snipes had a fair trial ... The time has come for the judgment to be enforced," U.S. District Judge Terrell Hodges said in his ruling.

Revoking bail for the 48-year-old star of the "Blade" trilogy, the judge ordered him to report to prison as directed by the U.S. Marshals Service or Bureau of Prisons.

It was not clear when or where Snipes would begin serving his time behind bars, however. His lawyer, Daniel Meachum, has said he would appeal if a new trial was denied.

Meachum told the Orlando Sentinel the ruling was shocking.

"Wesley is very disappointed but staying strong and positive," the newspaper quoted Meachum as saying.

Snipes had already lost his appeal of the prison sentence stemming from his 2008 conviction in Hodges' Ocala, Florida, court on three counts of "willful failure to file tax returns" for 1999 through 2001.

Snipes was found not guilty of five other counts in the high-profile felony tax case.

In seeking a new trial, Meachum had argued that jurors in the original trial were biased and that the prosecution's star witness had his own criminal problems.

At his sentencing, prosecutors said Snipes, a resident of Windermere, Florida, had earned more than $38 million since 1999 but had filed no tax returns or paid any taxes through October 2006.

Although he is best known for his roles in action films, Snipes has also had critical success in comedies like "White Men Can't Jump" in 1992. He played the lead in director Spike Lee's interracial drama "Jungle Fever" in 1991 and also played the jazz saxophonist in Lee's "Mo' Better Blues" in 1990.

Eric Thompson, a supervisor in the U.S. Marshals Service office in Orlando, Florida, said the Bureau of Prisons would notify Snipes and his lawyer of a surrender date.

"He'll probably get it by certified mail," Thompson said.

He declined to say what prison was likely to be selected for Snipes except to say that it would not be in Florida.

A listing for Snipes already posted on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website says his prisoner ID or registration number as 43355-018, his location is "in transit" and his release date is "unknown."

(Reporting by Tom Brown, additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

1.5 Million Dollar Fine For Music Downloading

Read this on Yahoo.com and thought it worthy of more exposure. What's the value of a song? Jammie Thomas-Rasset has spent the last few years in court debating that question. The Minnesota mother of four is being penalized for illegally downloading and sharing 24 songs on the peer-to-peer file-sharing network Kazaa in 2006, but how much she owes the record labels has been in question. The jury in her third trial has just ruled that Thomas-Rasset should pay Capitol Records $1.5 million, CNET reports, which breaks down to $62,500 per song. It's a heavy penalty considering the 24 tunes would only cost approximately $24 on iTunes, which was Thomas-Rasset' argument, too.

Thanks to Thomas-Rasset's colorful case, she has become the public face of the record industry's battle with illegal downloaders. In her first trial, in 2007, the jury demanded she pay $222,000 for violating the copyright on more than 1,700 songs by Green Day, Aerosmith and Richard Marx, to name a few. (Marx said he was "ashamed" to be associated with the "farcical" prosecution of an illegal downloader.) Thomas-Rasset maintained she wasn't the computer user who did the file sharing, and her legal team cited an error in jury instruction to secure a second trial in 2009 that ended with a much harsher result: an astronomical fine of $1.92 million. However, earlier this year a U.S. District Court judge found the $1.92 million penalty against Thomas-Rasset to be "monstrous and shocking" and "gross injustice" before lowering it to $54,000, or $2,250 a song. Thomas-Rasset and her legal team decided to appeal that decision, too.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the organization that represents the four major record labels, was pleased by the most recent decision, even if it has no intention to collect the $1.5 million from Thomas-Rasset. "Now with three jury decisions behind us along with a clear affirmation of Ms. Thomas-Rasset's willful liability, it is our hope that she finally accepts responsibility for her actions," the RIAA said in a statement. Earlier this year, the RIAA offered Thomas-Rasset the opportunity to end the legal battle for $25,000 and an admission of guilt; Thomas-Rasset declined.

Burying a Midwestern mom in insurmountable debt isn't the best publicity move, so rather than argue the labels are entitled to the cash, the RIAA has sought to make this trial into a cautionary tale for anyone considering illegally downloading music -- a reminder that there are penalties. But as the constantly declining weekly Nielsen SoundScan sales figures demonstrate, nothing seems to have deterred music fans from stealing rather than purchasing songs and albums. And in a digital world now dominated by Bit Torrent and Rapidshare, a trial over a music-sharing dinosaur like Kazaa seems nothing but antiquated. (Last month, after a decade of illegal file sharing, peer-to-peer service LimeWire was shut down by the government, much to the surprise of the millions who thought LimeWire had faded years ago into the Internet ether.)

Still, Thomas-Rasset and her legal team are already making plans to appeal, setting the stage for a fourth trial. "The fight continues," promised Thomas-Rasset's lawyer Kiwi Camara. Even if Thomas-Rasset were to win the next trial, the RIAA would likely appeal that decision to ensure that copyright infringement without penalization won't happen. This story has the potential to drag on well into the next decade -- when for $1.5 million, all of Thomas-Rasset's four kids could finish law school and take up the fight on her behalf.

Bush Admits Kanye Struck A Nerve

I think this is a mere PR tactic, Bush will do anything to sell his book, he claims Kanye's remark: "Bush does not care about Black people" hurt his feelings. Kanye was responding to Bush's lack of attention given to the victims of Hurrican Katrina.

Yahoo posted the following article, can you imagine being such a solider of pop culture that your activism would warrant you making the pages of a book written by a President? Wouldn't such an inclusion make your family proud? Wouldn't it be a bragging right to share with your grandchildren? Shouldn't it get you an automatic NAACP Image Award? Maybe the above would be the case if the President actually had something good to say about you.

But when President George W. Bush mentions Kanye West in his forthcoming book, "Decision Points," he's not singing the praises of the Chicago rapper who slammed him on a telethon for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, a week after numerous gulf coast cities were destroyed by the devastating storm and its aftermath. [Bush admits he considered replacing Cheney] Bush expressed his frustration with the "Runaway" singer in an interview with the "Today Show"'s Matt Lauer to air Monday on NBC's "Matt Lauer Reports."

When Lauer asked Bush if he remembered the comments Kanye made about him, President Obama's predecessor offered a matter-of-fact response. "Yes, I do. He called me a racist," Bush told Lauer. Lauer clarified that Kanye did not literally call Bush a racist but instead said, "George Bush doesn't care about Black people." But Bush maintained his stance.

"That's - 'he's a racist,'" Bush said. "And I didn't appreciate it then. I don't appreciate it now. It's one thing to say, 'I don't appreciate the way he's handled his business.' It's another thing to say, 'This man's a racist.' I resent it, it's not true, and it was one of the most disgusting moments in my Presidency."

Lauer quoted an excerpt from the book on the matter: "I faced a lot of criticism as President. I didn't like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich. But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all time low." [Kanye collaborating with Jay-Z on album]
Bush said he still feels the same way and added that Kanye's comments upset him because it was not reflective of his work. "My record was strong I felt when it came to race relations and giving people a chance. And--it was a disgusting moment," Bush said.

Lauer asked Bush if he was concerned that some might be upset that he has placed so much emphasis on being angry about someone criticizing his responsiveness to the hurricane victims as opposed to being saddened by the impact of "watching the misery in Louisiana."
Bush said no. "I also make it clear that the misery in Louisiana affected me deeply as well," he said. "There's a lot of tough moments in the book. And it was a disgusting moment, pure and simple." If the saying is true that no publicity is bad publicity, getting this shout out from President Bush can only help the record sales of Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" album out in a few weeks.

Buy Repo Instead of New

Useful information for those seeking to purchase a vehicle, I lifted this article form AOL.com Vehicle repossessions are financial tragedies of the first order, but they can be bonanzas for bargain-hunting car shoppers. In one of the few silver linings of today’s economy, more and more repossessed vehicles have streamed into the market, offering consumers at least the possibility of saving thousands of dollars on good -- and sometimes spectacular -- used vehicles.
“Repos can be a good deal if you are smart and know what the market value of the vehicle is," said Jeff Ostroff, publisher of carbuyingtips.com.

About 1.8 million vehicles were repossessed in the U.S. last year, up from a million in 1995. The rising tide hasn’t spared owners of high-end vehicles either, as BMW’s, Jaguars and Cadillacs are well represented on repo lots around the country. Repossessed vehicles are sold from a wide range of venues, from financial institution parking lots and websites to auto brokerages and car auctions.

A Risky Proposition?
Shopping for a repo vehicle can be a trip into uncharted territory. The actual condition of the car, truck or SUV is always the big unknown. Vehicle histories aren’t always available or may be incomplete and repo vehicles usually lack warranties. If owners have been in dire financial straits, they may not have been able to afford regular service for their vehicle. Some have been known to stop maintaining fluid levels or to trash their cars as a parting message to their lender.
In the worst-case scenario, a bargain hunter may not be able to distinguish a repo vehicle from a salvage vehicle. By definition, a salvage vehicle has suffered damage equivalent to at least 70 percent of its value. That means it could be ready for the junkyard -- or have just come from one.

“When something is ‘as is,’ with no warranty, you are assuming 100 percent of the risk," Ostroff said. “If the car were to drop dead after you drive 30 feet off the site, you own it."
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Perhaps the easiest way to buy a repossessed vehicle is to visit a dealership that specializes in them. While the discounts you’ll get from a dealer may not be as substantial as can be had at an auction, buying from a dealership offers another upside. Without the high-pressure environment of an auction, buyers may be able to do a more thorough inspection of the vehicle.

And even at a dealership, buying a repo car can save you plenty. For example, Schultz Auto Brokers of Wayne, Michigan, recently put a $10,500 price on 2004 Audi A8L Quattro, which was about $2,000-$4,000 below its book value. In mid-October, a 2002 Jaguar XJR was priced at $9,500 -- as much as $4,000 below its value. Direct From The Lender
Another option for buying a repo is to inquire at your local bank or credit union, as some financial institutions offer repossessed vehicles for sale directly at a branch or on websites.

If a vehicle is in good shape, a credit union may be tempted to sell it directly to one of its members, said John Kurtz of the Texas Credit Union League. He has seen credit unions market their repos from branch parking lots. Sometimes, members will be given a chance to bid on a car over a period of several days, with the vehicle going to the person who makes highest bid over a set minimum.

Some institutions will also sell repo vehicles for fixed prices. Buyers benefit in two ways, as they pay a fairly low price for a used car and get rock-bottom interest rates in the bargain.
“Credit unions usually set the sales price to cover the amount owed on the loan,” Kurtz said. “They offer interest rates as low as zero percent on the car, but there is no bargaining on the price.” You can obtain financing quotes from your local bank or credit union or for free online by using sites such as car.com. A repo car tends to be in the best shape if the borrower has turned it in voluntarily, Kurtz said. So a consumer would be wise to ask how the car was repossessed. If a car has been abused, the credit union often won’t be selling it on its own -- it’s usually taken to auction, he said.

Buying At Auction

AOL Autos Poll
Would you buy a repo vehicle?
Yes. I want that great deal!
No. It's much too risky.
var poll243 = new PollsFormHandler("poll-243")
poll243.setExpire(new Date("October 31, 2019 12:00 AM"))
poll243.validateUserSession() This is the classic strategy for buying a repossessed vehicle, and the way some savvy buyers have been known to reap the biggest savings.

Jeff Karpinski, general manager of the Greater Detroit Auto Auction in Brownstown, Mich., said bidders can generally count on good prices at his events. “On the bank repossessions, the prices are almost always below Blue Book,” he said. “That’s just the way the auction formats work.” Bidders tend to be cost-conscious and don’t drive prices beyond that level, he said.

Auctions also pose a special challenge to consumers. Vehicles in every imaginable condition are on the lot, and it can be hard to find a good one. Vehicle documentation is another issue. In many cases, that can be in even worse condition than the cars. One of the clear signs to walk away from a deal is that there’s no title, which means a buyer may have problems proving ownership or licensing a vehicle for the road.

A buyer might be told that the title is "in transit,” but according to Ostroff, “There is no reason for the bank or the repo company to not have a title.” Some auctions make the process a bit easier for buyers. At Greater Detroit Auto Auction, bank repos account for just a small portion of the 300 to 500 vehicles auctioned each week at his company, and they are clearly designated on its bid lists, Karpinski said. Each comes with a vehicle history and a title in the bank’s name, with VIN numbers and pictures posted on Greater Detroit Auto Auction’s website. Creditworthy buyers can even head into the auction with pre-approved financing from a credit union affiliated with the auction.

Many auction houses even offer customers the chance to inspect and drive vehicles before the bidding starts. Interstate Auto Auctions in Salem, New Hampshire, for example, holds auctions on Wednesdays and Saturdays and gives bidders access to vehicles for several hours before each event. In this uncertain environment, buyers ought to at least exercise some control over the price they are willing to pay. Ostroff recommends that buyers set their maximum bid in advance. In the weeks before the auction, they can go on eBay and look at successful bids to get a price range for the models they are targeting, he said.

“Because you are taking on additional risk, you want to get the car even cheaper than those prices,” said Ostroff. “If your bid isn’t accepted, that’s fine. If it is, then you got a really good deal on something that is in your price range.” And that, of course, is what makes all the effort worthwhile.

O'Reilly Keeps Job and Williams Fired Over Muslim Comment

This is simply wrong, just wrong: NPR terminated the contract of Juan Williams on Wednesday after comments the veteran journalist and news analyst made about Muslims on Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor."

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly stirred up controversy last week on "The View" after making the blanket statement that "Muslims killed us on 9/11," a comment that led to co-hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walking off the set.

On Monday, O'Reilly asked Williams if there is a "Muslim dilemma" in the United States. The NPR analyst and longtime Fox News contributor agreed with O'Reilly that such a thing exists, and added that "political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don't address reality."

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot," Williams continued. "You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

[Photos: See more of ousted commentator Juan Williams]
Some commentators and a leading Muslim civil rights organization took issue with Williams' comments.

The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan wrote Wednesday morning that Williams' statement about fearing Muslims on planes is an example of bigotry. "What if someone said that they saw a black man walking down the street in classic thug get-up," Sullivan wrote. "Would a white person be a bigot [if] he assumed he was going to mug him?'

The Council for American-Islamic Relations sent out a press release Wednesday afternoon calling on NPR to address the matter. Nihad Awad, the organization's national executive director, called the comments "irresponsible and inflammatory" and said they "should not pass without action by NPR."

They certainly didn't. NPR took action Wednesday night and put out a statement regarding the severing of Williams' contract: "His remarks on 'The O'Reilly Factor' this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."

Williams often appears on Fox as the liberal counterpart to one of the network's conservative hosts or guests. But some NPR listeners -- an audience certainly more left-leaning than Fox's conservative one -- don't see Williams as an advocate for progressive politics when he appears on the cable news network.

Last year, NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard wrote that Williams had become a "lightning rod" among NPR's staff and noted many complaints from listeners after an appearance on O'Reilly's show. Williams had described First Lady Michelle Obama as having a "Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress thing going," a reference to the militant African-American activist. After those comments, NPR executives asked that NPR's logo be removed when he appears on Fox News.
It can be expected that Fox hosts, especially O'Reilly, will have something to say about NPR's decision.

[Rewind: CNN host Rick Sanchez fired over on-air remarks]
Bernie Goldberg, a Fox News contributor and author of several books on what he describes as liberal media bias, offered his take Thursday morning in an email to The Upshot.
"So Juan Williams is fired for saying something the liberals at NPR find controversial?" Goldberg said. "One more piece of evidence that liberals have forgotten how to be liberal."

Goldberg continued: "These are the kind of people who brag about how open-minded they are -- as long as you agree with them. And here's the dirty little secret: lots and lots of liberals feel the same way Juan does when they get on an airplane. And a lot of those liberals work at NPR. Juan's 'crime' was saying it out loud."

Weekly Standard Editor and Fox contributor Bill Kristol also had some choice words for NPR, which he dubbed "National Politically-correct Radio." Kristol concluded a post about the firing by saying: "NPR -- unfair, unbalanced ... and afraid."

UPDATE: Williams went on Fox and addressed the controversy Thursday.
Watch (his remarks start at about minute 3):

Five Need to KnowRight Moves for CPR

The American Heart Association announced today new recommendations for the way CPR is performed. The small change could make a big difference in the lives of people suffering from cardiac arrest, the organization says.For nearly 40 years, CPR guidelines have trained people to follow these simple A-B-C instructions—tilt the victim's head back to open the airway, then pinch their nose and do a succession of breaths into their mouth, and finally perform chest compressions.

But now, the AHA says starting with the C of chest compressions will help oxygen-rich blood circulate throughout the body sooner, which is critical for people who have had a heart attack. With this shift, rescuers and responding emergency personnel should now follow a C-A-B process—begin with chest compression, then move on to address the airway and breaths. This change applies to adults, children, and babies, but does not apply to newborns.

The revision is a part of the 2010 emergency cardiovascular care report published by the AHA., an organization that reviews its guidelines every five years, taking into account new science and literature. Although the changed procedure will take some time to reach what Monica Kleinman, the vice chair of the AHA's Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee, calls "front-line people", there is a plan in place to implement the recommendations as soon as possible to their training network, medical staffs, and first-responders.

"The sooner chest compressions are started, the more likely there will be a better outcome," Kleinman announced. "Studies performed in labs as well as large-population studies have shown that people do better if they get chest compressions within four minutes."That four minutes is the amount of time it could take for emergency crews to rapidly respond, Chicago firefighter and CPR instructor Kelly Burns notes. Until then, he stresses that any CPR bystanders perform can make a difference."Early activation is critical," Burns says, especially in cities where traffic and walk-up buildings can slow even the fastest respondents during a trauma where every minute counts.When someone needs CPR, the very best reaction is a quick one, he says."In a perfect world, someone else calls 911 while you start chest compressions on the person in need," he advises.

According to Kleinman, however, only about one-third of victims of cardiac arrest get assistance from bystanders.Despite changing guidelines, outdated training, or any confusion in the moment, Burns says that no one who tries CPR is faltering."People are reluctant to jump in and help, especially if the person is not a family member or friend," Burns observes on a weekly basis. "The only mistake a civilian can make in these situations is waiting and not doing anything at all."To that end, the new AHA guidelines are meant to help anyone who encounters this kind of emergency—the idea being, if they know better, they will do better.5 potentially life-saving notes to remember about the new C-A-B method of CPR:

1. There are no mistakes when you perform CPR."One thing most people don't know, " Kleinman says, "is that there is almost nothing you can do [during CPR] to harm a person in cardiac arrest except delay responding."Starting with chest compressions is now viewed by the AHA as the most effective procedure, and all immediate assistance will increase the chances the victim will survive with a good quality of life.If one person calls 911 while another administers CPR, as Burns recommends, emergency operators will give informed instructions over the phone as well as dispatch aid to the scene.

2. All victims in cardiac arrest need chest compressions. The AHA asserts that people having a heart attack still have oxygen remaining in their lungs and bloodstream in the first few minutes of cardiac arrest. Starting chest compressions first thing pumps blood to the victim's brain and heart sooner, delivering needed oxygen. This new method saves the 30 seconds that people performing CPR used to take to open the airway and begin breathing under the old guidelines.

3. It's a myth that only older, overweight men are at risk for a heart attack."Equal numbers of women and men have heart attacks," Kleinman reports. Sufferers are primarily adults.Although infants and children are far more likely to require CPR due to accidents than cardiac arrest, it is important to know how administer care to them. (You can learn how to perform CPR on infants and children with this kit produced by the AHA or by signing up for one of their training sessions.)

4. Nearly all cardiac emergencies occur at home. "Ninety percent of events take place at home. If you perform CPR in your lifetime, it's probably going to be for someone you love," Kleinman reveals.

5. Training is simpler and more accessible than you think.Learning CPR has never been hard, Kleinman says, but guideline changes in the last ten years have reduced the number of steps and simplified the process even more.Traditional CPR classes (listed here on the AHA website) are accessible for many people at local schools and hospitals.

Kits are also available to complete in the privacy of your own home or workplace. Kits available through the AHA include inflatable, disposable mannequins and a training DVD."Anybody can learn to do CPR. It's clearly important for saving lives, and now it is easier than ever," Kleinman asserts.Have you ever administered or received CPR? Would you jump in to the C-A-B method if you saw a person in need?

Twice Bunkrupt for Toni Braxton

According to TMZ, Toni Braxton has filed for bankruptcy again -- claiming she owes somewhere between $10 million and $50 million in unpaid debts all over the country ... including DMVs in TWO different states. Braxton -- sold more than 40 million albums in her career -- just filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California ... and in the docs, the singer claims she's only worth somewhere between $1 mil and $10 mil ... but she could have up to $50 mil in debts.

In the docs, 43-year-old Braxton lists a ton of creditors to whom she thinks she may owe money... including:

-- AT&T -- The Four Seasons Hotels-- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center-- Various medical bills-- DirecTV-- Neiman Marcus-- The William Morris Agency -- Tiffany & Co. -- Orkin Pest Control-- The Internal Revenue Service -- BMW Financial Services-- ADT Security-- American Express-- Flamingo Las Vegas-- Mesa Air Conditioning -- Nevada Power Company -- Screen Actors Guild-- The Westin -- Wells Fargo BankBraxton also claims she may owe money to the City of L.A. Parking Violations Bureau -- and the DMV in both California and Nevada. Braxton has a storied history of financial problems -- she filed for bankruptcy back in 1998 ... and earlier this year, the IRS filed a lien against her for $396k.

A close relative of Toni Braxton tells TMZ ... the singer's financial undoing can be traced back to her show in Las Vegas. The relative tells us Toni took out "show insurance" through Lloyds of London for her act at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino back in 2007. When Toni was diagnosed with a heart condition -- in the middle of the show's run -- she had to pull the plug, but she was still on the hook to the Hotel for big bucks.

Toni expected Lloyds to cover the loss but Lloyds didn't, arguing Toni had a undisclosed, preexisting medical condition, rendering the policy void. In the end, Toni had to absorb a huge loss, which the relative claims sent her on a downward financial spiral. Toni Braxton showed up to the Dolphins game in Miami on Monday ... wearing some blinged out jewelry, a snakeskin bag and a pair of Louboutin heels which retail for over $800.

How Long Is Too Long for Freezing Food

I thought this was an interesting articled posted on Yahoo.com, the writer is Lori Bongiorno. When it comes to preparing healthy meals at home, don't underestimate the value of your freezer. A well-stocked freezer can save you a trip to the store when you're pressed for time, which could mean the difference between making dinner and ordering in. It also lets you save meals that you prepare in big batches ahead of time, take advantage of discounts at the grocery store, and keep food that might otherwise go to waste.

Freezing is also an easy way to preserve local, in-season, fruits, and veggies that you buy at farmers markets or grow in your garden. If you want to eat delicious tomatoes in the dead of winter, for example, but are intimidated by canning, freezing is worth considering.
But just how long will that casserole or whole chicken last in the freezer? According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, food stored in a freezer set at 0 degrees Fahrenheit will stay safe indefinitely. But that doesn't mean the taste and texture will remain the same.

Here is a guide to how long you can freeze foods before you sacrifice quality. Keep in mind that quality does deteriorate the longer food sits in your freezer, so aim to defrost sooner rather than later.
Bacon: 1 to 2 months
Breads: 2 to 3 months
Casseroles: 2 to 3 months
Cooked beef and pork: 2 to 3 months
Cooked poultry: 4 months
Cookie dough: 3 months
Fruit: 8 to 12 months
Frozen dinners: 3 to 4 months
Hot dogs: 1 to 2 months
Lunch meats: 1 to 2 months
Sausage: 1 to 2 months
Soups and stews: 2 to 3 months
Uncooked chicken (parts): 9 months
Uncooked chicken (whole): 1 year
Uncooked steaks, chops, or roasts: 4 to 12 months
Uncooked ground meat: 3 to 4 months
Vegetables: 8 to 12 months

Basic tips for freezing food:
Freeze foods as close to purchase (or harvest if you have a garden) as possible. The fresher food is when you freeze it, the better the quality when you defrost it.
While most foods can be frozen, there are some foods you should keep out of the freezer. Don't freeze canned foods or eggs in shells (which can crack and allow bacteria to enter). Technically you can freeze mayonnaise, cream sauce, and lettuce, but the quality takes a big hit. Here's a list of foods that don't freeze well with details on their condition after thawing.

Cool cooked foods down before freezing so they freeze faster, which helps preserve quality.
Packaging matters and varies depending on what you're freezing. If you choose glass over plastic containers, wrap, or bags, you'll need to make sure it's tempered so it doesn't break.
You can freeze meat in its original packaging, but if you want to store it for long periods of time, add an additional layer of packaging, such as plastic wrap or bags.
It's always a good idea to label items so you know what they are and how long they've been in the freezer.

Resist the temptation to defrost foods on your countertop. The three safest ways to thaw foods are in your fridge, in cold water, and in the microwave.

How to freeze fresh produce:
The key to freezing fresh fruit is to spread out the cleaned, dried, and prepared (cut up) pieces of fruit on cookie sheets. Once the individual pieces of fruit are frozen, you can combine and put in freezer bags. Some people prefer to pack fruits in sugar or sugar syrup to help preserve texture and flavor. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has tips on how to freeze specific fruits such as strawberries, tomatoes, peaches, and many more.
Vegetables usually need to be blanched (boiled or steamed for a short time) before freezing to maintain flavor, color, and texture. Blanching times vary depending on the vegetable. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has a chart with blanching times for everything from corn to collard greens and simple instructions for how to freeze a large variety of vegetables.

Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green's users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.

ATL's Newest Housewives

The latest installment of Bravo's Real Housewives series, has two new additions to the Atlanta cast, and returns for its third season last night and introduced viewers to: Phaedra Parks who is an entertainment lawyer on shows like 'Entertainment Tonight,' but her personal life is even juicier. Husband Apollo Nido served five years in jail for racketeering before his release in 2009.The other new addition is Cynthia Bailey, a model and restaurant owner whose first booking as a model was the cover of Essence Magazine. She recently got married in a surprise summer ceremony. Find out more about America's favorite 'Housewives,' from why Kim wears a wig to how much the ladies get paid.

Friday Laugh - The Landlord

Its Friday, let your hair down and Laugh, courtesy of Funnyordie.com There is even a funnier video or Tom Brady and Mike Tyson performing Bobby Brown's Every Little Step. I tried to post it but the Landlord pop-up. However, after previewing this video which is equally as funny, I decided to go with it.

How to Get Your Resume Noticed

The following article was posted on Yahoo's home page. I am hopeful you can benefit from the information. The article was written by Karen Burns who is an author, the name of her book is mentioned at the end of the article.

Fact: Job hunters obsess about resumes. Who wouldn't? There's so much to get right--functional versus chronological, objective statements (pro and con), key words, templates, references, font size, white space, action verbs, employment gaps, placement and style of bullets, typos, and whether to include hobbies (probably a "no" on that last one).
So much, in fact, that we often forget the most important ingredient of a really great, interview-obtaining, new-job-snagging resume: It needs to be written specifically for the job you're after.
Does that mean you have to do a new resume for every single position you apply for? Yes, that's exactly what it means.

[See 21 Secrets to Getting the Job.]

Fear not, this is not as laborious as it sounds. You don't have to start from scratch each time. All you need to do is edit--or refocus--your "master" resume to sync with the job in question. How?
--First, read and reread the job description. Study it. Ponder it. Identify the words and phrases the employer uses to describe the position.

--Next, take a look your work accomplishments, certifications, education, and experience. You should be keeping lists of all this stuff. This is the raw data you draw on to craft your resumes and cover letters, too.

--Then ask yourself which of your credentials can honestly be described using the same words and phrases the employer uses in the job description. --Finally, take those words and phrases and use them to describe yourself in your resume. From this point, all you have to do is plug in info from your master resume. See, it's not a total rewrite. In fact, most of your resume will stay the same. You'll find that customizing your resume gets easier each time you do it.

[See more job advice at U.S. News Careers.]

A few more thoughts to consider:
--If you use a career objective at the top of the page, it should include the exact job title of the position you're seeking.
--Remove experience/qualifications that have nothing to do with the job in question. You want to make it easy for employers to see the credentials they most care about.
--Try to figure out what credentials are of highest importance to the employer and put those first. Pretend you are in the employer's shoes and ask yourself, "What's my biggest need? What's most important to me about this job?" Talk to your mentor and contacts in the field. Try to find people who are already doing the job you want and ask them, "What is the most important part of your job?"
--If your past job titles are ambiguous, overly jargony, or don't obviously relate to the job you're applying for, rephrase them in laymen's terms--in a way that shows how those past jobs qualify you for this new job.

So, what's the worst mistake you can make on your resume? Failing to customize. It's a new employment market out there. A cookie-cutter resume just doesn't cut it anymore. You need to show your potential employer that you're applying for this job, not just any job. Good luck.

Karen Burns is the author of the illustrated career advice book The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use, recently released by Running

Press. She blogs at www.karenburnsworkinggirl.com.

Infant Formula Recall: Bug Contamination

According to Matthew Perrone, a health writer for the Associated Press, there is a recall on Similac baby formula.

WASHINGTON – Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories said Wednesday it is recalling millions of containers of its best-selling Similac infant formula that may be contaminated with insect parts.
The voluntary action affects up to 5 million Similac-brand powder formulas sold in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam and some Caribbean countries. The company said the products may contain a small beetle or larvae, which could cause stomach ache and digestion problems.

The recall does not affect any liquid formulas or other Abbott-brand products.
A company spokeswoman said Abbott uncovered the insects last week in one section of a manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan.

"We immediately shut down that one area and began an investigation," said Abbott's Melissa Brotz. "We're in the process of resolving it now." Abbott manufactures Similac at several U.S. sites. Brotz said the company has been consulting with the Food and Drug Administration, which determined there was no "immediate health risk" from the contamination.

Consumers can enter the lot number on their containers online to determine if they are subject to the recall. The products should be returned to Abbott for a full refund.
"Delivering anything less than the highest quality infant formula is unacceptable to us," said Brotz. "We will do whatever is necessary to maintain the trust of parents in the coming weeks."
The affected products were sold in plastic containers and various can sizes, including 8-ounce (227-gram), 12.4-ounce (352-gram) and 12.9-ounce (366-gram).

Similac is the best-selling infant formula in the U.S. Abbott's nutritional products — which include adult brands like Ensure — had sales of $5.3 billion last year.
Abbott expects to lose $100 million in connection with the recall. However, the North Chicago, Illinois, company confirmed its third-quarter earnings guidance between $1.03 and $1.05 per share. Shares of Abbott Laboratories fell 16 cents to $51.99.

What Does the Patient's Bill of Rights Mean for Us?

The following message was emailed from the White House on behalf of the President:

Good morning,
Six months ago, Gail O'Brien didn’t know whether or not she would be able to treat her cancer. Betsy Burton wasn't sure if she could afford to keep paying the skyrocketing premiums for her employees' health insurance. Paul Horne was struggling to make ends meet after his prescription drug coverage hit the "donut hole." The thing about these stories is that they could happen to anybody. Millions of Americans -- maybe even you or someone you know -- have been struggling for years with our broken health care system. These stories are what inspired me to fight for the Affordable Care Act and made me so proud to sign this landmark legislation into law six months ago. Every day, I hear from Americans like Gail, Betsy and Paul, and a few of these folks have stepped forward to bravely share their stories with the entire country. Take a minute to hear what they have to say:

The Affordable Care Act is already making a difference in the lives of millions of Americans. And starting tomorrow, the Patient's Bill of Rights goes into effect, ending some of the worst abuses of the insurance industry and putting you, not your insurance company, in control of your health care. Here's what the Patient's Bill of Rights means for you:

No more discrimination against kids with pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies can no longer bar families from purchasing coverage because of a child's pre-existing condition.
No more lifetime coverage limits. Insurance companies can no longer put a lifetime limit on the amount of coverage you can receive.

Young adults can now stay on their parent's plan. Young adults can stay on their parent's health insurance plan up to age 26 if their job doesn't provide health care benefits -- a huge relief for many parents and recent college graduates.

Free preventive care. If you join or purchase a new plan, the insurance company will be required to provide preventive care like mammograms, colonoscopies, immunizations, pre-natal and baby care without charging you any out of pocket costs.

Freedom to choose your own doctor. If you purchase or join a new plan, you have the right to choose your own doctor in your insurer network.

No more restrictions on emergency room care. Insurance companies will not be allowed to charge you more for out of network emergency services if you purchase or join a new a plan.
This is a long-overdue victory for American consumers and patients. For years, millions of Americans have been at the mercy of their insurance companies as they jacked up rates, denied coverage or dropped patients all together.

Now, some opponents of this reform have pledged to "repeal and replace" all of the progress we've made over the past six months. But I refuse to go back to the days when insurance companies could deny a child health care due to a pre-existing condition or impose a lifetime limit on care for a cancer patient. Those days are over.

The Affordable Care Act provides basic rules of the road that make our health care system work for consumers. It cuts costs and will help us begin to get our fiscal house in order. And most importantly, it provides Americans with the peace of mind that their insurance will be there for them when they need it.

To learn more about the Patient’s Bill of Rights and the Affordable Care Act, visit:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform
Sincerely,
President Barack Obama P.S. Last week, I surprised Gail O'Brien by calling her at home. You can see what happened here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform

Acid Attack A Hoax

According to AOL on line reporting, The Washington state woman who said a stranger threw acid on her face admits she inflicted the injuries on herself and made up the attack story, police said today.

Bethany Storro told police an unknown woman threw acid on her face outside a Starbucks in Vancouver, Wash., causing disfiguring burns.Bethany Storro, 28, had claimed an unknown woman approached her outside a Starbucks in Vancouver, Wash., on Aug. 30. Storro said the woman asked her, "Hey, pretty girl, want something to drink?" then threw acid in her face.Storro suffered disfiguring burns on her face. Police released a composite sketch of the attacker, described as a black woman with a ponytail, but they were unable to find any witnesses who had seen the incident. "During the course of the investigation, several discrepancies began to emerge regarding the alleged attack," Vancouver Police Chief Clifford Cook said today, according to KOMO News.Police served a search warrant at Storro's home this morning and removed several items. They did not say what those items were.After the search, police interviewed Storro again, and they said she admitted she made up the whole thing.

This is a police sketch of the woman who Storro said threw acid on her face."She is extremely upset and very remorseful," Cook said, according to The Columbian newspaper, which first raised suspicions about her story. "In many ways, this just got bigger than she expected."Police said they did not know a motive for the hoax. Clark County Senior Deputy Prosecutor John Fairgrieve told The Columbian his office would review the case. He said Storro could face charges of making a false or misleading statement to police, which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Fairgrieve said prosecutors would take into account Storro's mental health before making any decision on charges.Reports of the attack made national headlines, and Storro made several media appearances. She had been scheduled to go on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" but canceled the appearance.
Filed under: Nation, Crime, Top Stories

Alternative Ways to Purchase Event Tickets

According to Lou Carlozo the are a number of alternative ticket sellers for the hottest ticket in town, Not so long ago, snagging a ticket to a concert or sporting event was as simple as sauntering up to a booth with cash in hand. Holy Hot Stub: You could buy a ticket to the first Super Bowl in 1967 for $10, and not worry about missing the action. The game wasn't even a sellout. Tickets to the last Beatles concert ever in 1966, just four months earlier? Between $4.50 and $6.50 (with more than 17,000 empty seats at Candlestick Park).

So why is it that today, if Lady Gaga staged 45 minutes of synchronized sneezing, or Miley Cyrus announced "Hanna Montana's Lipsynch Bonanza 2010," that tickets would be so freaking hard to get? Among other things, the ways people gain admission have multiplied faster than you can say "boy band." People use computers and charge cards; smartphones and ticket agencies; search engines and public auction sites. So numerous are the options, we wouldn't blame you if you thought you needed a ticket just to queue up to buy some tickets.But really, it's not that bad. Your friends at WalletPop have done the requisite research -- manning the phones, laptops and long lines so you don't have to -- all in the name of giving you a reserved seat to the bargain hunting. Care to join the show? Join us, then: We reserved a seat just for you, and you're just in time to watch the curtain rise on another Savings Experiment.That's the ticket: What options do I have?

To get a sense of how ticket buying works these days, it helps to know your options -- though not all of them, it's worth noting, seem either fair or attractive.First, there's ticketing's 800-pound gorilla -- or Snidely Whiplash, if you prefer: Ticketmaster. Remember them? They're the company that arena rockers Pearl Jam famously took on for their convenience charges. Well guess what? Ticketmaster won, and Eddie Vedder still has to explain that terrible cover version of "Last Kiss" -- though that's a debate for another time. But there's no debate that Ticketmaster's so-called "convenience charge" ranks as one of the most despicable monikers in the biz. Imagine if they called real estate taxes "public service enhancement fees," or parking tickets a "vehicle reminder certificate."

A convenience, in the true sense of the word, makes you feel good -- not like you've been ripped off thanks to someone's ability to spin the language. For every ticket Ticketmaster sells, that convenience charge amounts to roughly 20% of the total order price. On top of this, Ticketmaster also tacks on a non-convenient processing charge (less than $3 per order), and additional taxes. So all told, a $30 general admission ticket has about $9 worth of fees -- including a $2.50 printing charge. Hmmm. That must be some expensive ink and paper they use. You might think LiveNation would offer a more viable option, but since they're part of the same company that owns Ticketmaster, you're just going to get redirected to them. That leads us to option number 2, StubHub. Their service charges are lower -- about 10% of the ticket with a minimum of $5 -- but their shipping costs can run unreasonably high, in the $15 to $20 range. If you can print your own tickets, you're in luck. But that's only good for limited numbers of tickets, so be careful. It's also possible that certain high-demand concerts simply won't be listed there.

Additional sites do exist, among them TheTicketisRight.com, Lastminutetickets4less.com,Ticketsinventory.com and Ticketluck.com. But as with StubHub, watch out for delivery charges. Occasionally, these services will have better prices and and more availability. But you could spend a lot of time shopping around. What to do?Ticket freak, meet Seatgeek Seatgeek's unofficial motto is "We do math to save you money." Well, then: Since I hate math, love saving money and now have someone else to do the math for me, I think that's worth a definite look-see.Essentially, this is the go-to search engine for finding concert tickets. Seatgeek doesn't sell tickets; rather it gives you a list of sellers from five of the most popular online ticket vendors, showing you where the seats are and how much they'll cost (with fees included in the estimate). You can even set a price range, so it will only search for what you can afford.Also, Seatgeek has a "price forecast" that combines several market factors, as well as the history of sales, to figure out if it's worth buying tickets now -- especially if they're selling fast, or won't get any cheaper. It will also tell you whether you should hold out, as prices will likely hit a "sharp decrease." Geeky? You bet. But saving dough is way cool, thus Seatgeek has become a very popular site.

We highly recommended it.Note that Seatgeek can take a little while to load, but it's worth the wait, since it's a one-stop shop on the Internet for finding the cheapest concert ticket, or exactly where you want to sit for the big game. Also Seatgeek's estimates of how much a ticket costs do not include shipping, so beware, as most concert tix don't have an online printable option.Craigslist: Worth sticking your toe in for a stub?I continue to be an outspoken critic of Craigslist for many reasons. My personal experiences have been flaky, to say the least. One woman offering a couch refused to part with it until I and other interested parties answered a quiz: Most right answers wins! (Huh?) Another man listing a piano refused to return my calls. It simply fails to inspire the same kind of accountability in sellers that eBay does, and stories about people being victimized via Craigslist now seem to make headlines with increasing frequency.

Make no mistake: To work Craigslist, you will need patience, keen negotiating skills and a nose for sniffing out bargains as opposed to scams. But if you're a savvy shopper, it's a pretty decent option for scaring up tickets. Make sure to use a secured payment method such as Paypal, and beware of any after-dark rendezvous in a parking lot. Comparing the ticket vendors head to headWe chose a double bill of Arcade Fire and Spoon at two venues: in Nashville (at the Ryman Auditorium) and New York (at Madison Square Garden).

Here's what we found:TicketmasterRyman: $49 + $11.09 in taxes/fees (for lower level) = $62.59 ... or $39 + $10.49 taxes/fees (for balcony) + $2.50 printing fee = $51.99. Ticketmaster sold out as of July 26.MSG: $49.50 (standard admission) + $10.70 taxes/fees (per ticket) + $2.50 printing fee = $62.70. Best seat: 200sStubHubRyman: No tickets available. MSG: $32 (sec. 340) + $6.40 service fee + $4.95 printing fee = $43.35 (cheapest option) ... or $75 (floor seating) + $7.50 (service fee/ticket) + $4.95 printing fee = $87.45. Cheaper than Ticketmaster (if you have option to print online), but seats are not as good (one section higher).Theticketisright.comRyman: $167 + $5.00 delivery = $172MSG: $45 (100s sec.) + $9.00 service fee + $5.00 delivery = $59CraigslistRyman: $110-220/ticket (sold out show, no tickets on Ticketmaster or StubHub)MSG: $50-60 each (prices negotiable)

You can see that Craigslist does offer the option of buying tickets sold out elsewhere, and that where you buy tickets for other shows depends on a number of variables, including where you'd like to sit. Taking a swing at sports tixTwo key differences exist between sporting events and concerts: 1) sporting events have season ticket holders who, depending on the city and team, are often happy to sell their unused tickets for a reduced price, and 2) tickets can almost always be printed at home (from Ticketmaster and StubHub only) which saves a bundle on shipping ($10-15). StubHub is the uncontested winner for sports. Printable tickets are not an issue for sporting events; season ticket holders always have that option, so it's likely available on StubHub, and for prices below face value. Remember that StubHub gives people the option to sell their tickets, so it's become a popular destination for folks trying to unload passes for games they won't get out to see. Comedy, tragedy, seats for me: Scoping out theater eventsIn the theater world, it's the Big Apple, and everything outside it.

Let's look at New York first.TKTS Booths: There are three of these around the city, each usually open from 3-8 p.m. These provide discounts between 20-50% off full price of select Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, for performances that day (or next- day for matinees). There's a $4 service charge per ticket, but some downsides: Long lines (with only three booths), limited availability and hit-or-miss selection of shows. Plus, it's cash only. Student rush/lottery: This offers the best discount to Broadway and off-Broadway shows. Check a show's website to make sure that this is an option; often shows will hold a lottery for tickets a couple of hours before the show (see sites, time of lotteries vary). Since this is a crap shoot, resist making ironclad plans until you know what you can scoop up. But if you do get in, you'll pay about $20 a ticket. TDF (Theater Development Fund): This members-only option provides newsletters and huge discounts for various shows and performances. More than 80,000 qualified theater lovers who enjoy discounts of up to 70% on admissions to hundreds of Broadway, Off Broadway, music and dance productions each year.

To qualify for TDF membership, you must belong to one of the following groups: full-time students, full-time teachers, union members, retirees, civil service employees, staff members of not-for-profit organizations, performing arts professionals, the armed forces or clergy.Box Office purchases: Broadway tickets online cost an additional $7 per ticket plus a handling fee. Eliminate these costs by walking to the theater and buying your tickets there.Outside of New York, try these options for cheap seats:Goldstar.com: Most helpful in major cities: Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. It lists events going on in the area and provides significant discounts to those events with a (free) membership. Sometimes events are free, too.TKTS-type programs: These exist in cities around the U.S. in various forms. Search for non-profits in the area that support theater and the performing arts to find locations near you.

One example is Atlanta Performs' AtlanTIX.Youth discounts: Many local theaters and organizations have special discounts for young theatergoers, but info on such programs must be found on the theater's/organization's websites.Making the ticket schtick stick: Our best ticket advice condensedAs you try to make sense of shopping the best ticket prices, remember that you'll do best weighing several options, and jumping into the fray early rather than later in the sales cycle. That said, you can do well for same-day theater tickets, for example, provided you're flexible with what you see and where you'll sit. For small concerts, small bands, small venues and medium/large venues that will not sell out, it's usually best to simply buy your ticket at the door, or pick it up at will call. There are no printing or service charges and hopefully, this can be done without Ticketmaster and their fees. It's possible to find tickets on Craigslist for a discounted price (if it's a non-returnable ticket that the seller doesn't intend to use), but it's only a shot in the dark. Keep in mind concerts that cost $15-$30 aren't going to have major bargains anyway.

When a show is big/popular enough where tickets are severely limited on Ticketmaster, a better option will be StubHub and/or Craigslist. Ticketmaster will have the price to beat -- that is, if tickets are plentiful -- but StubHub will have more options if seating arrangements can vary. Craigslist is the best place to search for hidden gems. People often buy too many tickets, expecting to sell at a profit when the concert sells out. But if it doesn't, these people will be left desperate to sell their extras, probably at face value or cheaper; most people in this situation are willing to negotiate a price. Always check Craigslist; it's worth a shot, often people are friendly and willing to negotiate. That said, exercise proper caution when dealing with strangers here.

StubHub will likely have better sections and seating options (unless it's general admission). But these come with StubHub's burdensome shipping issue-- if there's no printable option, expect $15-$20 in shipping fees, on top of their 10% service fee. Don't expect to find too many bargains on StubHub.For sold out shows, Ticketmaster is usually not the answer. To them, a sold out show is a sold out show. But do keep in mind that in some cases, tickets go back on sale -- if a person's credit card, for example, denies the charge after they've "purchased" the tickets. Your best bet, though, is to check out StubHub, Craigslist, eBay, or sites suh as lastminutetickets4less.com or theticketisright.com – you won't get a discounted price, but you will find a ticket to the show.

For those with nothing to lose, show up at a concert venue and hour before the show and see if a last-minute pool of tickets has been released. Bands often hold tickets for industry big shots, media or friends; if those tickets go unclaimed, they're released for last-minute sale. As you might've guessed, these seats are usually the best in the house. For theater events, check out the show/theater's official site first. Details on how to receive discounted tickets are spelled out for most shows. Local non-profits that support the performing arts could also have discount ticket initiatives that are well worth checking out.For sports, look to StubHub for a healthy market on tickets being unloaded by season ticket holders who want to get rid of seats to events they can't attend. Check out Seatgeek.com as you begin your quest for the best ticket price.And so, we bring the curtain down on this version of the Savings Experiment. We hope that you enjoyed the show, and that the next time you stand in line, get on the phone or fire up the web browser to land a ticket, you'll think of us and the splendid time we spent together in search of entertainment bargains.

You might even say that all the world's a stage, and all the men and women are merely savers.
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