Source: www.geoffshackelford.com --- Monday, July 29, 2013
Kathy Bissell with a splendid Jack Nicklaus ...
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Jack's Fantastic Slow Play Rant: It's The Golf Ball
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Senate ready to confirm new NLRB members
FILE - In this July 9, 2013 file photo, FBI Director nominee James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate is expected to confirm Comey to head the FBI, despite a leading conservative?s demands for more information on the Obama administration?s domestic use of drones. Senators planned to vote Monday on whether to block delaying tactics against Comey?s nomination. Lawmakers were expected to end those delays, with final approval of his nomination likely late Monday or Tuesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - In this July 9, 2013 file photo, FBI Director nominee James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate is expected to confirm Comey to head the FBI, despite a leading conservative?s demands for more information on the Obama administration?s domestic use of drones. Senators planned to vote Monday on whether to block delaying tactics against Comey?s nomination. Lawmakers were expected to end those delays, with final approval of his nomination likely late Monday or Tuesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate on Tuesday moved a step closer to approving Democratic nominees to the National Labor Relations Board.
Following a script crafted by the two parties, the Senate voted 64-34 to cut off debate and move to a final confirmation vote for Kent Hirozawa. By the end of the day, the Senate could confirm five nominees waiting to join the independent labor agency.
"I'm glad the Senate is moving forward as agreed to confirm five nominees to the NLRB, two Republicans and three Democrats," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said before the vote. "Once confirmed the NLRB will have five Senate-confirmed nominees for the first time in a decade."
Action on the NLRB nominees comes a day after the Senate took another step to break the logjam over presidential nominees by voting 93-1 to confirm James Comey to become FBI director. Comey gained attention in 2004 when, as second-ranking Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, he fought off efforts by White House officials to renew a warrantless eavesdropping program.
The lone dissenter to Comey's approval was Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who suddenly halted his procedural blockage of the nomination Monday. Paul made his turnaround after receiving an FBI letter that he said answered his questions about the agency's domestic use of drones ? and minutes before a Senate vote that seemed certain to force an end to Paul's delays.
The FBI letter said the agency has deployed drones infrequently and cited Supreme Court rulings that the agency said suggested that court warrants are unnecessary for aerial surveillance.
Senate leaders were hoping to approve a burst of nominations before Congress begins a five-week summer recess this weekend. In addition to Hirozawa, the two other Democrats Obama wants on the NLRB and heading for votes Tuesday were Mark Gaston Pearce, the board's current chairman, and Nancy Schiffer, who like Hirozawa has been a long-time labor attorney.
A vote was planned by Wednesday to halt delays against B. Todd Jones, whom Obama wants to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives. Top Democrats were also planning votes on Samantha Power, the president's pick for U.N. ambassador.
Assuming the votes on the three Democratic NLRB nominees go smoothly ? which was expected ? the Senate seemed likely to also consider two Republican candidates for the board. They are Chicago attorney Philip A. Miscimarra and Los Angeles lawyer Harry I. Johnson III, who have both worked with employers on labor issues.
The NLRB is an independent agency that is supposed to help resolve labor issues, such as disputes between unions and management or between workers and unions.
With Republicans blocking votes on nominees last year, Obama used a Senate recess to appoint three people to the board so it would have enough members to function.
Two federal appeals courts have said Obama exceeded his authority with those recess appointments. The Supreme Court has been expected to rule on the issue later this year, potentially endangering 1,600 rulings the NLRB has made since those appointments.
The three Democratic NLRB nominees were part of a bipartisan Senate deal earlier this month.
Some Republicans agreed to halt delays bottling up seven nominees, leading to confirmations that included Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy and Labor Secretary Thomas Perez. Democrats dropped efforts to revamp Senate rules to weaken a minority party's powers.
Democrats also agreed to drop two of Obama's recess picks for the NLRB. He is replacing them with Hirozawa and Schiffer.
Jones, Obama's choice for ATF, has been that bureau's acting director since 2011 and is also the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota. The agency is supposed to help enforce federal gun laws.
The Senate hasn't approved an ATF chief since it was given the power to do so in 2006. The Senate Judiciary Committee cleared Jones' nomination this month on a party-line 10-8 vote after the panel's top Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, complained that two investigations involving Jones' work in Minnesota needed further review.
Jones' nomination has been viewed by some as a proxy fight over the battle for broadening gun control laws. In the past, the gun lobby has worked behind the scenes against other nominees, but top National Rifle Association lobbyist James Baker said in an interview Monday that his group was taking a neutral stance on Jones.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Power's nomination by voice vote last week. She has faced questions from critics over comments she made as a journalist and human rights campaigner viewed as critical of the U.S. or Israel.
Associated Press1930 census nike new nfl uniforms nfl uniforms andrew bailey the village dallas fort worth tornado dallas tornadoes
Google working with Netflix to solve Android 4.3 lock up problem
Putting some Android 4.3 devices to sleep while using Netflix causes freezing
Android Central forums member WwonderLlama has posted about problems he is having using his new Chromecast to watch Netflix:
I just updated my Nexus 4 to [Android] 4.3 via the OTA. That afternoon, I got my Chromecast in the mail. After playing with it for a while, I've found that if I start casting something from my Nexus 4 and lock the screen (just clicking the power button), after a few seconds, the Chromecast audio will stutter and then my Nexus 4 will be hard-locked. I can't get it back without doing a hard reset.
He is not alone, as many people -- specifically those with the Nexus 4 or 2013 Nexus 7 -- are having freezing issues when using Netflix on Android 4.3. Once the app is opened, sleeping the display will lock the device up, forcing a reboot by holding the power button.
Considering the emphasis Google put on Netflix to promote the recently released Chromecast, Google has taken specific interest in finding a solution. Googler Dan Morrill posted on Reddit that "we have top men working on it now." Until these top men send out an update, be sure to keep those Nexus 4 and new Nexus 7 screens on when watching Netflix on Chromecast.
via: Android Police; More: Android Central Forums
     |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Y46eojd0Myk/story01.htm
Chris Brown Tattoo Innocence of Muslims Clara Schumann Jael Strauss Alison Pill
India, Sri Lanka And Maldives: The Tripartite Maritime Security Agreement And The Growing Chinese Influence ? Analysis
 Maldives |
By IPCS
July 30, 2013
By Iranga Kahangama
China and India continue to vie for maritime influence, as influence over the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) remains both commercially and strategically advantageous. However, India?s recent strategy includes developing regional cooperative maritime frameworks that focus on security as a preventative hedge on Chinese incursions. While China consolidates commercial maritime interests in South Asia, India is hoping to underscore the greater importance of maintaining security, with the subcontinent giant as the cornerstone.
In an attempt to further consolidate its littoral neighbors, India signed a tripartite maritime security pact with Sri Lanka and the Maldives in early July. The deal includes joint cooperation on Exclusive Economic Zone surveillance; search and rescue operations; working on anti-piracy efforts and; sharing and tracking of merchant vessels using new technologies.
The trilateral agreement was signed just days after the announcement giving the control of Gwadar Port to China. In August 2013, a new USD $500 million container port will open in Colombo harbor in Sri Lanka, completed largely by the Chinese state run firm China Harbor Engineering. Ultimately, this group controls an 85% stake in the terminal and will continue to hold one for the next 35 years. A Chinese state owned firm will also own 125 acres of reclaimed land from the sea being built off the coast of Colombo. These strategic partnerships follow recent US-Indian drills such as the Malabar Exercise while India officials claim both sides? naval cooperation has ?hit the big time.?
While Chinese commercial influence in the region increases, it has yet to make a significant security related move. Despite China?s continued investment in ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, India hopes to remind its neighbors that addressing physical security must include India. Without attempting to be provocative, the tripartite agreement consolidates the regional maritime cooperation; India may also try to expand the agreement to other IOR nations such as Kenya, Oman, Tanzania or Mauritius.
As a part of this, India also called for a common maritime security regime in the IOR in the latest Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) conference in early July. China remains only a periphery dialogue partner to the IOR-ARC and not a full member, while other strategically important nations such as Seychelles, Mauritius and Thailand are members. This quiet but calculated regional cooperative approach to maritime security plays into the long-term strategy of India. If India can assert itself as the regional head for maritime security, it can pressure China who will become increasingly dependent on energy resources either based in or traversing the IOR bound for China.
The agreement incorporates Sri Lanka and the Maldives into Indian identification and tracking systems as well as provides regular messaging regarding the lines of communication. Shared cooperation on Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) expands the radius of monitoring 200 nautical miles past the coast of Sri Lanka and the Maldives for India. While the agreement may not specifically give access or preferential treatment of other country?s EEZs to India, maintaining a stake in them will afford them critical information and monitoring advantages. As previously mentioned, any potential expansion to East African or Gulf nations could have similar benefits.
Last week, China operationalized the China Coast Guard for the purpose of marine surveillance and law enforcement, including the arming of ships. While this move is more clearly aimed towards South China Sea disputes with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam, it nonetheless underscores the unilateral and assertive nature of Chinese maritime security. Japan and Pakistan will continue to play a role in the continued Indo-Chinese competition.
The agreement does remain subject to broader political pressures and may at times be difficult to implement if India-Sri Lanka tensions rise for example. The agreement is an attempt to cater to mutually accepted norms for cooperation in the IOR namely, piracy, but will likely need to be bolstered in writing to ensure proper implementation and expansion. The language remains broad enough however to accommodate other IOR countries.
Regardless, India is likely betting that regional cooperation and mitigated tension are likely to trumpet the greater uncertainties of Chinese economic investments in the region. And India would do so rightly. Despite China?s belief that they can single handedly reinvigorate these ports, it remains an unsustainable plan. China?s economy alone has slowed down significantly amidst fear over its own housing bubble and rising credit risks. Previously growing at double-digit rates, it now hovers around 7%. Subsequent potential political and social unrest emanating both domestically and among its foreign partners will pose additional challenges to maritime assertions, including in the IOR.
So while the tripartite agreement is only an introduction to the potential for shared maritime security in the IOR, it emphasizes India?s assertion into its own backyard. Furthermore, it does so in a manner that specifically addresses long standing and agreed upon grievances as a means to ease into a security framework. As China concurrently takes a commercially driven approach in the region, the competition becomes a matter of development versus security. IOR nations in the immediate seem to be attracted to China?s development aid; but by playing to the long-term necessity for stabile lanes of communication, India indeed has embarked upon the proper blueprint.
?Iranga Kahangama
Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Master of Public Policy Candidate, 2014
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/eurasiareview/VsnE/~3/rDHqgHnREBc/
bruce weber google maps 8 bit mirror mirror texas relays meniscus
NASA's Chandra sees eclipsing planet in X-rays for first time
[unable to retrieve full-text content]For the first time since exoplanets, or planets around stars other than the sun, were discovered almost 20 years ago, X-ray observations have detected an exoplanet passing in front of its parent star. An advantageous alignment of a planet and its parent star in the system HD 189733, which is 63 light-years from Earth, enabled NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM Newton Observatory to observe a dip in X-ray intensity as the planet transited the star.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/xkuJ_0zbhMU/130729161610.htm
Former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada on Tuesday inspects the fir...
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Kevin Ware Google Nose success Cookies april fools day april fools day
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Jack Evans snags early union endorsement thanks to 'living wage' vote
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Source: www.washingtonpost.com --- Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Is it already mayoral endorsement season? With the April 1 primary now only eight months away, candidate Jack Evans sees no need to wait, securing an endorsement today from the Maryland/D.C. State Council of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Read full article >> ? ? ? ? ...
Experts: Unlikely US helped NZ spy on reporter
FILE - This June 23, 2013 file photo shows a TV screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong. Surveillance of a New Zealand journalist?s phone conversations with Afghan sources may have occurred under one of several military intelligence programs designed to track militants, intelligence officials and experts say. But US and New Zealand officials deny that the US directly gave New Zealand information on Jon Stephenson. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)
FILE - This June 23, 2013 file photo shows a TV screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong. Surveillance of a New Zealand journalist?s phone conversations with Afghan sources may have occurred under one of several military intelligence programs designed to track militants, intelligence officials and experts say. But US and New Zealand officials deny that the US directly gave New Zealand information on Jon Stephenson. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? If the National Security Agency monitored phone conversations between a New Zealand journalist and his Afghan sources, as reported this weekend, it was more likely to have been done under standard military intelligence monitoring of enemy communications in war zones, intelligence officials and experts said Monday.
The Obama administration brushed off new allegations of NSA surveillance overreach, this time focusing on freelance reporter Jon Stephenson, who was in Kabul, Afghanistan, working for American news service McClatchy and other media outlets when his phone records were reportedly seized.
It was the latest revelation, if greeted with less outrage, in the ongoing debate over government snooping since NSA leaker Edward Snowden in June revealed two top secret U.S. programs that monitor millions of Americans' telephone and Internet communications each day.
It's not clear what actually happened. The Sunday Star-Times reported that the New Zealand military conspired with U.S. spy agencies to monitor a Stephenson's communications with sources in Afghanistan. New Zealand officials denied the new allegations and U.S. intelligence authorities and the White House declined immediate comment Monday.
But experts and former intelligence officials said if Stephenson's phone records were collected, they would have been gathered in a military intelligence sweep that is shared among allies ? and has for years monitored most communications in war zones, where there is little expectation of privacy in the hunt for enemy combatants and suspected terrorists.
New Zealand withdrew its small contingent of roughly 150 troops from Afghanistan earlier this year. But the country's Government Communications Security Bureau, which is New Zealand's NSA equivalent, would have been included in an allied intelligence gathering and reporting system in Afghanistan, said Canadian intelligence expert Wesley Wark.
Wark said the New Zealand security bureau also would have been able to access a secret system once code-named "Stoneghost," which allows it to share and draw from intelligence reports compiled from four other counties ? the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. Stoneghost was one portal through which the so-called Five Eyes allies, the U.S., U.K, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, shared data.
"It is entirely possible that New Zealand intelligence ran its own surveillance operation against Stephenson on the basis of access to a common allied intelligence pool in Afghanistan without necessarily requiring any direct U.S. input or involvement," said Wark, a national security professor at University of Ottawa.
He added: "It would not have been beyond the means of a small New Zealand contingent to do this on their own."
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday it's possible that reporters could get caught in surveillance nets when the U.S. spies on enemy combatants. But generally, Five Eyes nations do not spy on each other's citizens and residents.
The NSA would not spy on citizens of another Five Eyes ally, especially if it were to circumvent that ally's own espionage laws, said former Michigan congressman and House intelligence committee chairman Pete Hoekstra.
What's picked up in war zones is considered fair game, however, and such surveillance has been a priority in Afghanistan as American troops prepare to withdraw in 2014. NATO and U.S. officials depend on the intelligence systems to detect and disrupt al-Qaida and the Taliban plots against the Afghan government and foreign forces.
American troops who specialize in intelligence gathering routinely tap directly into local cellphone company servers, or conduct technical surveillance though a number of electronic listening devices that are placed on jets, drones, ships and satellites, according to a current U.S. military official and a former one. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the classified surveillance program.
Each branch of the U.S. military has its own signals intelligence unit, including Task Force Odin, an Army aviation battalion created in Iraq to spot bomb makers, planters and plotters. The Odin unit's skills and some of its personnel were moved to Afghanistan ? but likely under a new name ? after it helped military counterterrorism units to track al-Qaida and other extremists.
In Iraq, where the war zone monitoring was first perfected, the cellphone metadata and an unknown number of phone calls were recorded and stored, said the former U.S. military official. When a terrorist suspect was captured or killed, their cellphones and other possessions were examined. Any phone numbers that could be retrieved were run through a U.S. telephone database, and relevant records and phone conversations retrieved.
U.S. troops and contractors also are told their own satellite and internet communications likely will be intercepted by their own nation's counterintelligence personnel, and checked for possible breaches of secrecy like the release of classified information, the officials said.
While the U.S. could legally monitor a foreign national civilian in a war zone, it would be unlikely. Wark said that it's possible that Washington nonetheless could have targeted Stephenson, given the breadth of U.S. information-gathering abilities. But he called that "rare," saying the U.S. generally would have needed to have a direct national interest in Stephenson to devote assets against him.
"For the NSA to try to do this on a New Zealand resident or citizen would be a contravention of the Five Eyes agreement," Wark said. "The rules of the road are pretty clear and established."
But if Stephenson was calling Afghans who are suspected of ties to militants, and who in turn were being monitored by U.S. or NATO spy services, that conversation could be recorded, transcribed and distributed. Usually, names of people who are not suspected of wrongdoing are deleted, according to one former administration official, and one former intelligence official.
The same practice applies to U.S. journalists, if they are talking to foreigners being monitored by the NSA in the U.S., the officials said.
New Zealand's top spy agency and the GCSB are banned from spying on its own citizens. Key has drawn fire for supporting a new bill in New Zealand's parliament that would expand the GCSB's powers to allow eavesdropping on its citizens under certain legal conditions.
Thousands of New Zealanders marched in nearly a dozen cities throughout the country over the weekend to protest the bill.
New Zealand's own spying controversy stretches back to the case MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom, a fugitive from a U.S. indictment for alleged piracy through his Internet sharing site.
The GCSB spied on the internet mogul because of the U.S. indictment, before realizing German citizen Dotcom was legally a New Zealand resident at the time of the surveillance, and therefore banned from being targeted. That case prompted the New Zealand parliament to introduce the bill to expand the listening agency's internal spying authority.
New Zealand's government did acknowledge the existence of a confidential order that lists investigative journalists alongside spies and terrorists as potential threats to New Zealand's military. That document was leaked to New Zealand freelance investigative reporter and liberal activist Nicky Hager, who authored the Sunday Star-Times article, and provided a copy to The Associated Press.
New Zealand Defense Minister Jonathan Coleman said the order will be modified to remove references to journalists.
___
Follow Kimberly Dozier on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kimberlydozier and Lara Jakes at: http://twitter.com/larajakesAP.
Associated Presshumber perfect game ufc 145 fight card ufc145 chimpanzee chimpanzee the lucky one pittsburgh pirates
Monday, July 29, 2013
Israelis, Palestinians start arguing even before peace talks start
By Dan Williams and Ali Sawafta, Reuters
JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israeli and Palestinian officials put forward clashing formats for peace talks due to resume in Washington on Monday for the first time in nearly three years after intense U.S. mediation.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is due to bring the negotiators together in the evening and on Tuesday to renew talks that broke down in 2010 over Israel's settlement of occupied land where Palestinians seek a state.
Previous attempts to resolve the decades-old conflict had sought to ward off deadlock and the risk of knock-on violence by tackling easier disputes first and deferring the most emotional ones like the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
This time "all of the issues that are at the core of a permanent accord will be negotiated simultaneously," Silvan Shalom, a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu's cabinet and rightist Likud party, told Israel's Army Radio.
The Palestinians, with international backing, want their future state to have borders approximating the boundaries of the West Bank, adjacent East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip before Israel captured them in the 1967 Middle East war.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's umbrella Palestine Liberation Organisation, said the U.S. letter of invitation to the Washington talks had not specified which disputes were to be discussed.
But Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio the talks "will begin, in principle, on the issues of borders and security."
Netanyahu had resisted Abbas's calls to accept the 1967 border formula before talks resumed. Shalom said that the Israeli position would help keep the talks, which are slated to last nine months, comprehensive.
"Had the matter of borders and territory been given over, what incentive would they (Palestinians) have had to make concessions on the matter of refugees or Jerusalem?" Shalom asked.
Israel deems all of Jerusalem its capital - a status rejected internationally - and wants to keep West Bank settlement blocs under any peace accord. It quit Gaza in 2005 and that enclave is now ruled by Hamas Islamists hostile to the Jewish state and opposed to Abbas's peace strategy.
Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war at Israel's founding, along with millions of their descendants, claim the right to return to their original homes in what is now Israel. The Israelis rule that out as demographic suicide, saying the refugees should resettle in a future Palestine or elsewhere.
Netanyahu says any peace accord must safeguard Israel, which has often clashed with Hamas in Gaza and fears the Islamist movement could gain ground in the West Bank. Kerry has also described Israel's security as ?paramount.?
Abed Rabbo said Israel and the United States had been conferring about security without including the Palestinians.
"This is a big shortcoming in the Israeli and the American behavior because they are not discussing their bilateral security, they are discussing a central and a fundamental issue of ours and it concerns our future as a whole," he said.
After months of intensive and discreet mediation, Kerry announced on July 19 in Amman, Jordan, that the parties had laid the groundwork to resume negotiations on the so-called "final status" issues that must be resolved to end the dispute.
"The meetings in Washington will mark the beginning of these talks," Kerry spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "They will serve as an opportunity to develop a procedural work plan for how the parties can proceed with the negotiations in the coming months."
In what it dubbed a goodwill gesture required to restart diplomacy, the Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved the release of 104 long-serving Palestinian security prisoners in stages. Thousands more Palestinians remain in Israeli jails.
Related:
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.summer solstice tahiti tahiti chris bosh Chris Andersen Xbox Kawhi Leonard
Neighborhood patrols ponder gun use after Zimmerman case
By Jonathan Kaminsky
FOX ISLAND, Washington (Reuters) - On a recent afternoon Kent Holder drove his Ford pickup truck, emblazoned with "Citizens' Patrol" magnetic decals, through this leafy enclave west of Tacoma, Washington, recalling when he learned that George Zimmerman had shot and killed an unarmed teenager - and was a neighborhood watch volunteer.
"I thought, ?Boy, did he ever screw up,'" said Holder, 74, a retired fireman and five-year neighborhood patrol veteran.
In Holder's view, Zimmerman violated two basic tenets of the watch program: Never confront a person you perceive to be suspicious, and never carry a weapon while on duty.
Last weekend, a Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman, 29, of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed, in Sanford, Florida. The case has focused fresh attention on the civilian patrols by law enforcement and trainers.
Zimmerman, 29, who is white and Hispanic, spotted Martin, who was black, as the teenager walked to the home of his father's fianc?e from a convenience store. Zimmerman thought Martin looked suspicious and called the police. The two had a confrontation and Martin ended up dead.
The National Sheriffs' Association's neighborhood watch program was established in 1972 to combat a spike in suburban and rural burglaries.
It was designed to empower civilians to act as "the eyes and ears of law enforcement" without taking matters into their own hands, said John Thompson, who directs the initiative. The association's 37-page manual states that patrol members should be told that "they shall not carry weapons."
While the group is seen as an authority, fewer than a third of the estimated 90,000 neighborhood watch groups in existence nationwide have registered with it, said Thompson. Zimmerman's watch group was not among those registered, he said.
"I could show you 50 groups with 50 different sets of rules," Thompson said.
During the trial, Wendy Dorival, a civilian with the Sanford, Florida, police department, testified that she trained Zimmerman on neighborhood watch protocol, advising him to avoid initiating confrontations. It was not clear whether she counseled him on whether to carry a gun.
Barring guns from civilian patrols is a legal gray area since most U.S. citizens have the legal right to bear arms, said Kenneth Novak, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, who has studied watch programs.
Local watch groups, as private entities, are on relatively firm legal ground in setting no-weapons policies for their members, Novak said, but law enforcement agencies mandating such rules could run the risk of exceeding their authority.
"People participating in neighborhood watch enjoy all the legal protections under the Constitution, as well as state and federal law," said Novak. "That can include carrying a weapon."
Jeffrey Dehan, a sergeant who advises neighborhood watch groups as part of his duties with the Thurston County Sheriff's Office in Washington state, says it is not their role to offer guidance on whether members should carry a weapon.
"We don't advocate 'should or shouldn't,'" he said.
Carmen Caldwell, the executive director of Citizens' Crime Watch of Miami-Dade, in Florida, said that in the wake of the Zimmerman case, some trainers and others were considering new safeguards, which could include background checks on prospective members and teaching about racial profiling.
Holder, the ex-fireman from Washington, said fallout from the Trayvon Martin shooting has been minimal.
"There was concern that we would've had something negative from it," he said. "But nobody has ever said, 'You guys shouldn't be out here.' They love us. They love having us."
(Editing by Prudence Crowther)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/neighborhood-patrols-ponder-gun-zimmerman-case-110932711.html
nfl draft 2013 NFL draft NFL.com Rebecca Martinson EJ Manuel Dion Jordan Omar Borkan Al Gala
Picture of Alabama's Dee Liner posing with wad of cash posted on Internet; Twitter responds
?A picture of Alabama's Dee Liner, an incoming freshman defensive end,?caused quite a stir over the weekend when it was posted to Instagram and features Liner holding cash with the hashtag #StruggleOverWit.
The Internet chimed in.
Liner de-committed from Auburn in January.
He later signed with Alabama.?
Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, who just recently was shown the door at a Texas frat party, took some heat in January after posing with a stack of cash and posting it on his Twitter account.
Below is a sampling of Twitter's reaction.
Don't judge me when u have no clue what I have been through!!!
-- Dee Liner ? (@Liner_25) July 28, 2013
Why do you think Dee Liner and Reuben Foster switched from Auburn to Alabama? pic.twitter.com/wxQmkOHxYO
-- Matt Morris (@MattSMorris) July 29, 2013
Stud Bama Freshman Instagrams Photo with Stacks of Cash (via http://t.co/lo0hVQBYRp) http://t.co/W7uFI4kH7P
-- Quarry (@Que_edwards4) July 29, 2013
Dee Liner lol. Already glad he didn't come to Auburn.
-- Will Phillips (@WillPhillips12) July 29, 2013
He probably just got money for books a little early http://t.co/IFAXmlINPF
-- Josh Harvey (@JoshHarveyFOX) July 29, 2013
Man it sure pays to play football at Bama. Especially when you wee bought away from Auburn. REQUIRES FUNDS. #SEC http://t.co/H3I7Kv5TiE
-- Matt Baxendell (@MattBaxendell) July 29, 2013
I am shocked to learn that Dee Liner has made a poor decision. http://t.co/vY3RoCJofj
-- Josh Moon (@Josh_Moon) July 28, 2013
Boneheaded = Dee Liner, his cash photo and all #Auburn tweets about him. Thanks, Liner, for feeding the trolls. #Bama
-- LivingTheCrimsonLife (@LivingCrimson) July 28, 2013
Bama commit Dee Liner posts picture of him with "wads of cash." http://t.co/EAeIgkg5CJ
-- EagleDamnWar (@EagleDamnWar) July 28, 2013
Roll tide. RT @bustedcoverage Alabama's Dee Liner posted a pic of him holding a pile of cash. (h/t @CollegeSpun) http://t.co/bSIXpjxRKG
-- Peyton's Head (@PeytonsHead) July 28, 2013
Roll Dang Cash Flow RT @CollegeSpun: Alabama Freshman Dee Liner Posts Instagram Photo Of Himself With Wads Of Cash http://t.co/NtXC9hiN8L
-- The SEC Logo (@SEC_Logo) July 28, 2013
Source: http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/07/alabamas_dee_liner_posts_pictu.html
This Week in the Business: Used Games Put Consumers in ... - Kotaku
What's happened in the business of video games this past week ...
QUOTE | "We need to curb [used games] on the retail side. We're putting the consumers in an awkward spot and we shouldn't have to."?Ready at Dawn boss Ru Weerasuriya, saying that GameStop and other outlets exploit developers and consumers.
QUOTE | "Publishers rock. They can be awesome. ... But allow us the choice to self publish, or work with a publisher we choose for ourselves."?Mike Bithell, indie developer, discussing Microsoft's move to open up the Xbox One to indies.
STAT | 7.7 million?Number of current subscribers to World of Warcraft, down 600,000 from last quarter; the MMORPG hit its high point in 2010 with 12 million subscribers.
QUOTE | "Microsoft may have the benefit of a 2-3x unit advantage at launch compared to Sony's PS4."?Analyst Colin Sebastian, saying info from the supply chain suggests the Xbox One may outship the PS4.
QUOTE | "If a game is really good, it should be all word of mouth, in a perfect world."?Paula Cuneo, VP of transmedia marketing for Meteor Entertainment, explaining why they're not spending money on Hawken advertising.
STAT | $8.2 billion?Amount it cost Activision to buy itself back from Vivendi; the company is now owned 63% by the public, 12% by Vivendi, and 24% by an investment group headed by CEO Bobby Kotick.
QUOTE | "Just because we have Bejeweled or Plants vs. Zombies doesn't mean we can do a crappy job."?PopCap founder John Vechey, describing the need to keep constant pressure on making a good game.
STAT | 2 million?Number of copies of SimCity Online that EA has sold so far, despite initial troubles, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said "SimCity is a success.".
This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International
Image by auremar | Shutterstock
Source: http://kotaku.com/this-week-in-the-business-used-games-put-consumers-in-931910753
India Readies Aircraft Carrier For Aug. 12 Launch
Indian government officials recently told journalists that the first vessel of the country?s Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) program would be launched Aug. 12. The 45,000-ton, 284-metre INS Vikrant, currently under construction at the Cochin shipyard, is expected to enter sea trials ten months after launch, and would be ready for operational service after another five years, according to a report in Aviation Week. The ship had originally been slated for full operations by 2014, though difficulties with steel supplies and the ship?s gearbox have delayed this until 2018. Aviation Week reports that India?s other aircraft carrier, the 45,000-ton, 262-meter-long INS Vikramaditya, formerly the Russian Kiev-class Admiral Gorshkov, is undergoing trials and will soon join the current sole carrier, the aging INS Viraat, which is approaching retirement. Vikrant is designed as a conventionally-powered short-takeoff but arrested recovery (STOBAR) carrier. Construction of the next ship in the IAC program, INS Vishal, has been delayed, but plans suggest it will weigh-in at 65,000-tons, with a catapult-assisted takeoff, barrier arrested recovery (CATOBAR) configuration.
Source: http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/07/27/india-readies-aircraft-carrier-for-aug-12-launch/
Sunday, July 28, 2013
4-month-old baby dies after being left in hot car in California parking lot, police say
By Monica Garske, NBCSanDiego.com
A 4-month-old baby boy died Saturday after being found unattended inside a hot car parked at an apartment complex in San Diego's El Cajon area.
Officials were called to the Belle Vista Apartments in the 500 block of north Mollison Avenue around 1:30 p.m. to investigate.
See original report at NBCSanDiego.com
El Cajon Police Department Lt. Eric Taylor said officers found the child unresponsive inside a vehicle. Officers gave the baby CPR at the scene.
The child was then transported to Grossmont Hospital, where he later died, Lt. Taylor confirmed.
El Cajon resident and witness Larry Singleton said he was headed to the store when a group of neighborhood children came running up to him and said somebody had left a baby inside a car.
?It's hurts me to know that someone's baby passed away. It?s really sad,? Singleton said.
Singleton said he doesn?t personally know the baby?s parents, only that had they recently moved into the apartment complex. He said the baby may have been left in the car for several hours.
NBC 7 meteorologist Greg Bledsoe says it was 80-degrees in El Cajon Saturday at around 1:30 p.m., when the baby was found. Bledsoe says the highest temperature in the area reached 81-degrees.
Lt. Taylor said investigators are now interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence from the scene. The child's parents and family members are being questioned, but no arrests have been made.
The child's official cause of death will be determined by the county medical examiner. Those details are forthcoming.
According to a study from the Department of Geosciences at San Francisco University, there have been at least 24 deaths of children left unattended in vehicles so far this year. In 2012, that number was 33.
Exactly one year ago, another 4-month-old baby was found unconscious and unattended inside a car in National City while the baby?s mother was shopping. That child survived, and the baby?s mother was arrested on child endangerment charges.
Sunday, July 28 TV and radio sports listings for Cleveland and northeast Ohio
CLEVELAND, Ohio
Today's TV and radio sports listings
ATHLETICS
7 p.m. CrossFit Games, ESPN2
AUTO RACING
7:30 a.m. Hungarian Grand Prix, NBCSN
1 p.m. Samuel Deeds 400, ESPN
4 p.m. GP2 (tape), NBCSN
8 p.m. Sonoma Nationals (tape), ESPN2
BASEBALL
1:05 p.m. Texas at CLEVELAND INDIANS, SportsTime Ohio; AM/1100, FM/100.7
1:30 p.m. Boston at Baltimore, TBS?
2:05 p.m. Richmond at AKRON AEROS, AM/1350
3:05 p.m. LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS at Great Lakes, AM/970
4 p.m. Chicago Cubs at San Francisco, WGN
8 p.m. St. Louis at Atlanta, ESPN
GOLF
Noon Seniors British Open, ESPN2
1 p.m. Canadian Open, Golf Channel
3 p.m. Canadian Open, WOIO
7 p.m. Boise Open (tape), Golf Channel
SOCCER
3:30 p.m. Gold Cup final, U.S. vs. Panama, WJW
TENNIS
3 p.m. Atlanta Open final, ESPN2
5 p.m. Bank of the West Classic final, ESPN2
VOLLEYBALL?
4:30 p.m. World Series of Beach Volleyball, mens final, WKYC
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/07/sunday_july28_tv_and_radio_spo.html
http://www.thesuburbanite.com/sports/x606647074/Aeros-fall-to-Richmond-9-4-in-ba...
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10153088715425014&id=469544275013
Apple: Motorola tried to charge us 12 times more for SEPs
?
Royalty rate demand unsupported by previous deals, discriminatory
Apple has filed a rebuttal arguing against a Motorola appeal in a case where Apple pursued -- and again won -- a summary judgement victory against the Google-owned subsidiary's "unreasonable" 2.25 percent royalty on Standards-Essential Patents (SEPs). The filing claims that Motorola's pricing on the SEP license is 12 times higher that the deals it made with non-rivals for the same technology, an illegal offer under the Fair, Reasonable and Non-Dscriminatory (FRAND) rules. Apple has offered a more typical deal proposing about $1 per iPhone in royalties.
The dispute comes over the SEPs, which are essential technologies required by any smartphone maker. Apple has long maintained that Motorola and Google have broken their FRAND obligations by pursuing a common but "unreasonable" 2.25 percent of all sales royalty blanket license on SEPS, and using litigation as a weapon when licensees won't agree. Judge Barbara Crabb agreed, and dismissed without prejudice a lawsuit brought by Motorola over the matter.
In its filing to try and block an appeal, Apple said that the 2.25 percent royalty was more than 12 times higher than the amount Motorola charged other companies for the same license of the same technology. Motorola's higher royalty rate would amount to $12 for every iPhone, about 12 times more than what Apple already pays Motorola for use of other SEPs in the iPhone. Apple has countered the offer by saying it would pay up to $1 per iPhone for the SEPs in question, in an effort it said was intended to "buy litigation peace and move on."
Apple also noted in its brief that Motorola has entered into litigation with other companies over the proposed 2.25 percent royalty a total of eight times, and has yet to succeed in any of those efforts to find a judge or jury that agrees with the Google-owned company's arguments. Should the previous dismissal be overruled, Apple wants Motorola to offer an actual FRAND-compliant rate, and if it refuses have a judge formulate a rate. Motorola has been understandably hesitant to risk that outcome, fearing a precedent that may not even equal the rates it is currently getting.
Should the hearings fail to resolve the issue, Motorola's appeal of its loss will likely be heard sometime in 2014. Another Apple vs. Motorola case being appealed may actually go to trial first, with both parties asking a court to overturn Judge Richard Posner's dual-dismissal over a patent-infringement case the two companies sued each other over in 2012. In that case, Posner said neither company could show any material harm in their claims against the other, and questioned the entire viability of software patents.
UFC 156 my bloody valentine Super Bowl Winners what time does the superbowl start Kaepernick Tattoos
Saturday, July 27, 2013
iPhone Apps of the Week: Yahoo Fantasy Sports, Loom, and More
Fantasy sports! Fantastic photography! A radio fantasia! All of these and more, in this week's best iPhone apps.
| |
Red Lantern Fine Chinese Dining - $20 Gift Card for $10
Welcome to the Red Lantern, your home for exceptional Chinese cuisine!
The Red Lantern serves authentic Chinese dishes and is committed to providing an exceptional dining experience. Each dish is prepared to order using the highest quality ingredients. Eat in or carry out.
Dining at Red Lantern we have chosen the best of familiar Chinese favorites coupled with signature dishes of our own. We take pride in choosing only the best ingredients for your table. This ensures that your dining experience at Red Lantern will keep you coming back for more.?
Our staff is professional and courteous and will attend to your every dining need. From cooks to wait-staff we are dedicated to your satisfaction.
Source: http://qctimes.upickem.net/engine/SplashDetails.aspx?contestid=16154&productid=9891247
Church of England to investigate links to Wonga
AP
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
The Church of England is to investigate its stake in a US venture capital fund that has invested millions of dollars into payday lender Wonga.?
The link was exposed by the Financial Times after the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, said the Church planned to "compete" the payday lender "out of existence".
The Financial Times found that Church of England's ?5bn pension fund holds an investment in Wonga backer, Accel Partners.
The Church of England's investment policy excludes companies engaged in payday loans. ?
A statement issued by Lambeth Palace said the Wonga link represented a "serious inconsistency of which we were unaware".?
"We will be asking the Assets Committee of the Church Commissioners to investigate how this has occurred and to review the holding in this pooled investment vehicle," the spokesperson said.
"We will also be requesting the Church Commissions to investigate whether there are any other inconsistencies as normally all investment policies are reviewed by the Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG)."
In an interview with Total Politics published this week, the Archbishop said he had met with Wonga boss Errol Damelin and told him: "We're not in the business of trying to legislation you out of existence, we're trying to compete you out of existence."
Source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.of.england.to.investigate.links.to.wonga/33371.htm
FDA proposes rules for safer imported foods
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Food and Drug Administration proposed new steps Friday to ensure that fresh produce, cheeses and other foods imported into the United States are safe.
The proposed rules, required by a sweeping food safety law passed by Congress 2 1/2 years ago, are meant to establish better checks on what long has been a scattershot effort to guard against unsafe food imported from more than 150 countries. Only around 2 percent of that food is inspected by the government at ports and borders.
About 15 percent of the food Americans eat is imported, including about 50 percent of fruits and 20 percent of vegetables. An estimated 3,000 people die from food-related illnesses every year.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the new rules could help prevent outbreaks like 153 recent Hepatitis A illnesses that were linked to a frozen berry mix sold at Costco. That outbreak, which hit nine states, was linked to frozen pomegranate seeds from Turkey.
Hamburg said Friday that the berry outbreak "illustrated the growing complexity of the food supply." FDA investigators had to look at berries from several different countries in the mix before they zeroed in on the Turkish seeds as the probable source of the illnesses.
The proposed guidelines would require U.S. food importers to verify that the foreign companies they are importing from are achieving the same levels of food safety required in this country. The rules, which would also improve audits of food facilities abroad, could cost the food industry up to $472 million annually.
Since Congress passed the food safety law in December 2010 and President Barack Obama signed it in early 2011, there have been several outbreaks caused by imported foods, including an occurrence of listeria in imported Italian cheese last year that killed four people. Other illnesses were linked to tainted papayas, mangoes and nuts and spices used as ingredients.
Michael Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods, says the rules show a major shift in thinking in the way the government works to keep food safe.
Like rules for domestic farmers and food companies released earlier this year, the idea is to make businesses more responsible for the food they are selling or importing by proving that they are using good food safety practices. They might do that by documenting basic information about their suppliers' cleanliness, testing foods or acquiring food safety audits.
Currently, the government does little to ensure that companies are trying to prevent food safety problems but generally waits and responds to outbreaks after they happen.
"The onus is on us to detect the problem that has already occurred," Taylor said.
Requiring better prevention was the intent when Congress passed the bill. But since then, the law has run into several obstacles, including FDA delays in issuing the rules, a lack of congressional funding and increasing opposition from some rural members of Congress who represent worried farmers.
A farm bill passed in the House this month included an amendment sponsored by Rep. Dan Benishek, R-Mich., that would delay all of the food safety rules. Farmers and importers have expressed concern that the rules will require too much time, cost and paperwork.
FDA regulators say the new rules are necessary as the food system becomes more complex and more global. Food often stops in several locations and passes through many different hands in a matter of days before it hits grocery shelves.
And a lack of funding has given the FDA little oversight over what is being produced. The agency inspects most food companies in the United States only every five to 10 years, and it does even fewer inspections abroad. The food safety law requires the agency to step up those inspections, and Taylor said the FDA inspected as many as 1,300 facilities in foreign countries last year, up from 300 in 2010. That is still a just a fraction of the companies that import to the United States.
Many food companies and importers already follow the steps that the FDA is proposing. But officials say the new requirements for domestic and imported foods could have saved lives and prevented illnesses in several of the large-scale outbreaks that have hit the country in recent years.
The domestic food safety rules proposed in January would require U.S. farms and food processors to take new precautions against contamination such as making sure workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean and livestock stay out of fields. Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the government to show they are keeping their operations clean.
The FDA will take comments on both the domestic and foreign food safety proposals for the next several months and then move to issue final rules.
___
Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fda-proposes-rules-safer-imported-foods-131204533.html
hitch justin beiber lamar odom perfect game jon jones vs rashad evans results rashad evans jon jones
Friday, July 19, 2013
VMAs Nominees: The Six Most Moonman-Worthy Reactions
No matter who ends up taking home a Moonman come August 25, these artists take the award for the best celebration.
By Emily Blake
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1710845/vma-nominations-austin-mahone-iggy-azalea-react.jhtml
alicia sacramone Don Grady ann curry euro 2012 Colorado Springs Nora Ephron mario balotelli
5 factors to consider when investing in office condos - Rappler
MANILA, Philippines ? Construction has been the best-performing sector as of the second quarter of 2013, and the continuous building of high-rise residential, commercial or mixed-use condominiums in Metro Manila is a concrete sign.
The growing business process outsourcing (BPO) and tourism sectors as well as higher private consumption and government investments contributed to the construction boom.
Melo Porciuncula, head of the Business Operations and Capital Markets of KMC MAG Group real estate services firm, said that with such growth came the increase in the benefits of investing not only in residential condominiums, but also office condominiums.
A better rate of return, a smaller market to compete in, relatively longer lease terms, less maintenance, wealthy corporate clients, consistent yields and regular escalation of rent are the advantages in investing in office condominiums.
Melo shared the factors to consider when investing in an office condominium with the audience of the 6th Money Summit and Wealth Expo at SMX Convention Center, Pasay City on July 13.
1. Location
Find a premier location. To date, there are 19 emerging business districts with approximately 1,300 hectares of developed land in Metro Manila. Makati City, Bonifacio Global City (BGC), and Ortigas Business Center remain the 3 primary central business districts.
?When you make dividends, you improve your space. When you have more people, you create more space," Melo said.
He cited an example: "When Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City was developed by Megaworld Corporation, no one believed it was going to be a success. Now, there is only 2% vacancy for office spaces there and it does not take long for them to be leased again,? Melo said.
Go where the talent pool is. BPOs prefer to set shop where potential employees are or live nearby. Thus began the development of BPO-driven ?small cities,? such as Eastwood City, UP-Ayala Technohub, Eton Cyberpod Centris and Araneta Center Cyberpark, all in Quezon City.
And Melo is seeing the inventory doubling in the city by 2014 because of the increasing number of employees working at these sites, who are moving their families with them as well.
There are also the upcoming developments in Quezon City like Gateway Tower, Three Cyberpod Centris and SM Cyber West Avenue to watch out for.
The ?next wave cities? or those arising investment sites for BPO firms like Baguio City, Davao City, Dumaguete City, Iloilo City, Lipa City, Metro Bulacan, Metro Cavite, Metro Laguna, Metro Naga and Metro Rizal, as well as centers of excellence like Bacolod City and Metro Cebu (joining Metro Manila and Metro Clark), also contribute to the steady rise in demand for office condominiums.
Consider the smaller market to compete in, and the smaller inventory. While a smaller competitive market is an advantage, the smaller inventory in office condominiums is a challenge.
For instance, The Net Group, the pioneer builder in BGC, remains the most invested company in office buildings in that location. ?They are liquid. Business is doing well. Why sell? Inventory is very little there. I have closed all over the place but never in BGC. That is my dream, one day it will happen," Melo shared.
2. Ownership structure
Do not be in a rush. Getting into the office condominium business has its challenges, such as prohibitive administrative requirements, higher costs to enter the business, limited preferred locations and balancing and future-proofing your inventory, to cite a few.
Such concerns must be dealt with accordingly, especially in balancing your inventory while transitioning your clients, which often poses a problem.
Have a plan. The ownership structure is a sticky and tricky matter in the office condominium business as it is difficult to transfer one property to another. Thus, Melo advised summit participants to consider estate and succession planning to ensure that the property will be in good hands.
For instance, you may opt to leave the property with one corporation, sell the corporation, but do not sell the property.
3. Capacity to maintain the property
Physically maintaining an office condominium is easier. Most companies today favor the open office plan ideal to staff with multiple workers.
Ceiling and air conditioning system are usually the basic fittings only provided by the owner. The rest of the fittings are to be shouldered by the tenant, and if there is a problem with lighting or plumbing, it is the tenant?s problem and not yours.
?Corporate clients are consistent tenants. We do not deal with personalities here. We receive our check every month or we get paid one year in advance,? Melo pointed out.
Be prepared for the costs. To keep your property in very good condition, you must be willing to spend a big amount of money, from high maintenance or expansion, also when appraising your property or determining the zonal value.
If you hire an accountant to do all your paperwork, including monthly declaration of taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, it will be an additional administrative cost. The association dues will also continue even if your office condominium has been vacant for 3 months or so.
Size matters. Per leads gathered by KMC MAG Group from January to June 2013, preference for 40 square meters (sqm) to 100 sqm office condominiums is highest at 32.91%, followed by preference for 101 sqm to 150 sqm ones at 17.32%.
?In residential, when you expand, you decrease your rate of return (ROR). In office condominiums, it is all about the space. Expanding your office condominium means cost, but it also means business for you. Personally, I do not like leasing out 40 sqm to 100 sqm office condominiums since these usually are for start-ups. And we want consistent yields from the likes of corporate clients,? Melo cited.
Preference for office condominiums from 201 sqm to 250 sqm is at 6.19% from the same period observed, and Melo said such size is ideal for medium enterprises.
4. Cash flow
Diversify in office condominiums for better ROR.
Consider the following figures from KMC MAG Group: The rates for a 1-bedroom residential lease in Makati City range from P32,000 to P110,000 per unit. A premium office lease like that of The Enterprise Center ranges from P950.00 to P1,200.00 per sqm and Class A office lease like that of the Philamlife Tower ranges from P685 to P850 per sqm.
In BGC, a 1-bedroom residential lease ranges from P35,000 to P60,000 per unit. A premium office lease ranges from P750 to P875 per sqm while a Class A office lease ranges from P575 to P750 sqm.
In Ortigas Center, a 1-bedroom residential lease ranges from P20,000 to P50,000.00 per unit. Also in Ortigas Center, a Class A office lease ranges from P500 to P650 per sqm while a Class B office lease ranges from P450 to P500 per sqm.
?There is an opportunity in office condominiums, and Makati and BGC still have the highest rental rates,? Melo said.
Escalating rent can be done regularly. Unlike in residential condominiums, establishing a personal connection with your tenant plays a factor, and if you have a good-standing and long-staying tenant, you maintain the rent as long as you could.
In office condominiums, tenants not only sign up leases with longer tenancy, they usually have a higher budget for rental, showing that they can and are willing to pay the market price. ?We're here to make money,? Melo said.
5. Exit plan
Examine your time frame. Even if a tenant signed up for a 3-year lease, with an option for renewal for another 3 years, still be prepared for the worse.
Either they buy a bigger floor in another condominium building or finish the contract without renewal in case they could no longer afford your rent.
?Always think of the next step. Are you willing to sell at the lowest price? Prepare for the cycles, like have a 10- to 25-year plan for your property. You really do not lose money in commercial real estate but there are times that it is not prosperous.
The good news is the bull is expected to run for 5 to 6 years. There would not be a drastic fall in real estate but we are expecting it to plateau,? Melo added. ? Rappler.com
Source: http://www.rappler.com/business/34083-5-factors-to-consider-when-investing-in-office-condominiums
Help! My Egg Yolks Are Freakishly White
The white egg yolk at left, seen next to a yellow yolk, may seen strange, but it's just a result of the chicken feed used, scientists say.
Junko Kimura/Getty ImagesThe white egg yolk at left, seen next to a yellow yolk, may seen strange, but it's just a result of the chicken feed used, scientists say.
Junko Kimura/Getty ImagesDear Salt,
I recently joined President Obama on his trip through Africa, and I brought a mystery home with me. I wonder if you can help me solve it.
I was supposed to take my anti-malaria pills in the morning, with heavy or fatty food. That meant a lot of eggs for breakfast, all across Africa. In Senegal and South Africa, everything seemed normal. Then we arrived at the final stop of the trip, in Tanzania. When I picked up my vegetable omelet from the breakfast buffet at my hotel in Dar es Salaam, one glance suggested they'd accidentally made an egg white omelet. No big deal. I ate it without a second thought.
The next day, President Obama flew home, and I went to a remote island called Mafia for 36 hours of R&R. My first morning at the rustic lodge, I ordered scrambled eggs. They, too, were white. Could this chef have left out the yolks, too? Impossible.
The next day, determined to get to the bottom of this, I ordered my eggs sunny-side-up. (Not my favorite, but a sacrifice I was willing to make in the name of scientific research.) Sure enough, the runny yolks were ghostly pale. I asked the lodge manager, who'd lived in South Africa and England, why the yolks looked more like whites. "Oh, those eggs you get in the U.S. are only yellow because they're pumped full of hormones," he said.
But I know that's not true; I buy my eggs from my neighborhood farmers market, and the yolks are the color of a setting sun.
Could the color of the yolks have something to do with what the chickens are eating, or with the breed of chicken that lays them? I know that some chickens produce eggshells in shades of blue, pink, yellow or brown. Maybe the yolk color varies just as widely? But does that explain why the eggs were pale in both a Dar es Salaam chain hotel and a remote Mafia lodge?
Can you help me unscramble this puzzle?
Yours,
Ari
Dear Ari,
White egg yolks may look bizarre, but poultry scientists I spoke with say there's nothing to worry about.
"I get that call every once in a while: 'My [yolks] are freakishly pale!' " says Scott Beyer, a poultry specialist with the state of Kansas.
As you suspected, the reason Americans eggs tend to have bright yellow yolks has nothing to do with "hormones" but rather with what we feed our hens. Beyer says egg yolk color is almost entirely influenced by the birds' diet.
So if you're feeding birds yellow corn, "it gets in the egg," he explains. "But if you had a situation where you're feeding birds white corn, then the egg yolk could be white."
In South America, hens that peck at red annatto seeds lay eggs with yolks ranging from pink to orange to deep red.
Brasil2/Getty ImagesThe yellow color in egg yolks, as well yellowish chicken skin and fat, comes from pigments found in plants called xanthophylls, primarily lutein, notes Han Jianlin, a geneticist at the International Livestock Research Institute.
In most parts of the world, he says, diners prefer their yolks with a sunnier disposition, so commercial feeds often contain lutein as an additive, though yellow maize, soybeans, carrots and alfafa powder will also do the trick. Sorghum ? a grain with much less pigmentation than yellow maize ? is used as chicken feed in Tanzania, which probably explains the pallid omelets you encountered.
On the other end of the rainbow, says Beyer, are the yolks in some parts of South America, where hens will peck at bright red annatto seeds. The result? Brilliant yolks ranging from dark orange to red orange to pink, Beyer says.
Many egg eaters assume that darker yolks are a sign of higher nutritional value, but both Beyer and Jianlin independently told me that's not the case at all. Although chicken feed does influence the nutritional value of birds and their eggs, the researchers say yolk color won't tell you anything.
? Maria
Silicon Valley techies play hard as they compete, network in amateur sports league
PALO ALTO -- The teams from Yahoo and Evernote were facing off in Ultimate Frisbee. Meanwhile, the data analytics guys from Palantir Technologies were winning at the ancient sport of tug-of-war, with a chant of "One-two, pull!" that seemed aimed at sending chills down the backs of opponents from the e-commerce site Zazzle.
For the past eight weeks, amateur athletes from some of Silicon Valley's leading tech companies and little-known startups have been duking it out in contests ranging from volleyball and kickball to softball, soccer and even duck, duck, goose. The competition in the fledgling Silicon Valley Sports League has been building to a battle royal at Candlestick Park on Wednesday night that will pit a dozen
David Spinks, CEO of letsfeast.com, leads his team in tug-o-war against Yahoo during tournament play in the Silicon Valley Sports League at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto on Saturday, July 13, 2013. (Jim Gensheimer/Bay Area News Group) ( Jim Gensheimer )
tech teams from the South Bay against 12 more from San Francisco.The contests can be fierce, but also fun. And in keeping with the ways of Silicon Valley, where today's competitors are often tomorrow's business partners, contestants say the league has been a good place to network with people from other companies who might someday become their employer, startup investor or co-worker on a joint project.
"Some of these guys are really out to win. I'm out to compete, but I'm also meeting people, learning about other software and having a good time," said Troy Ray, a tech support worker and co-captain of the team from Marketo, the San Mateo business software maker that went public earlier this year.
While few of the contestants
at Palo Alto's Mitchell Park on Saturday fit the stereotype of a nonathletic tech nerd -- "slightly out-of-shape weekend warrior" would be a better description -- several could be heard introducing themselves and asking each other about their companies. League co-founder Russell Klusas says he knows of "at least a couple" of business deals that grew out of conversations on the sidelines this summer."It's a great networking opportunity and also a way to get sweaty and fit," said Victor Jiang, an entrepreneur who started SkillSapien, an online service for hiring professional workers, in his native Australia and is now looking to expand it here.
"Who knows if a connection will turn into anything in business? It's still fun," added Chris Drew, founder of online educational platform Parent University. Both Drew and Jiang were competing for the team fielded by NestGSV, a Redwood City "startup incubator" that provides office space and other support for new companies.
They spoke during a pause between tug-of-war contests at Mitchell Park, one of two sites where teams from various tech companies have been doing battle on each of the last seven weekends. The other site is St. Ignatius College Preparatory school in San Francisco.
Klusas and his fellow league "commissioner" Misha Chellam are self-described serial entrepreneurs who said they got the idea of forming an amateur sports league as they were gearing up to launch a new business that will offer training for nontechnical workers -- people who hold jobs in sales, marketing or business development -- in the tech industry.
The idea of getting workers from a variety of tech companies to meet on the same playing field "seemed like a great way to expand our own networks while doing some good at the same time," Klusas said.
Since most of the league's expenses are covered by participating companies and corporate sponsors, he explained, proceeds from selling tickets to the championship will
be donated to the Special Olympics organization.Klusas and Chellam say they launched the league this spring by emailing friends at different tech companies. As word spread, Klusas said they soon had enough people for more than 40 teams, each with nine or more players competing under a variety of corporate flags -- including the Internet giants Google and Facebook, rival transportation apps Lyft and Uber, and online software companies like Evernote and Box.
Teams competed to earn points from victories in a different sport each week, starting with volleyball and ending last weekend with "Field Day," a hodgepodge of games like the sack race that you probably played in elementary school. Saturday's competition also included a trivia contest -- sample question: "Name the three co-founders of Apple Computer."
"Like most people in Silicon Valley," Klusas said, "we like sports more than we are good at sports."
But that doesn't mean the players aren't serious about their games. "I'm more interested in soccer and softball than duck, duck, goose," said Monica Aitken, who works in finance at Zazzle and played sports in college. But, she added, "it's kind of a fun way to meet people."
Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey.
event information:
The Silicon Valley Sports League's final championship tournament, with carnival games and live music for spectators, will be held Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Candlestick Park. Organizers say ticket proceeds will be shared with Special Olympics of Northern California. Information can be found at http://techcarnival2013.eventbrite.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)