Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Pentagon sees further use of BlackBerry as door opens to others

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-sees-further-blackberry-door-opens-others-225349533--finance.html

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hurricane upends final week of Mass. Sen. campaign

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Markets shut on Tuesday, focus shifts to Wednesday

(Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy will close stock markets for a second day on Tuesday, as Wall Street turned its attention to whether markets would be able to resume functioning on the month's final trading day on Wednesday.

Stock markets closed on Monday due to weather for the first time in 27 years. Bond markets closed early, at noon, as winds and waves from Hurricane Sandy lashed the Eastern seaboard.

NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX Group , the largest two U.S. exchange operators, said they intend to reopen Wednesday, conditions permitting. The bond markets will also close on Tuesday, with traders aiming to reopen on Wednesday.

Wednesday is a key trading day because it marks the end of the month, when traders price portfolios. With New York still to feel the full impact of the storm Monday evening, fears remained that wind damage and possible power outages could test the ability of markets to reopen. New York's mass transit system, which most employees use to get to work, also remained shut and it was unclear when service would be restored.

Fierce winds and flooding were felt along hundreds of miles of Atlantic coastline and heavy snows were forecast farther inland at higher elevations as the center of the storm moved ashore along the coast of southern New Jersey or Delaware on Monday evening.

The broad effects of the market shutdown were beginning to become more apparent by late Monday, as analysts estimated banks and trading firms could lose tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

Some companies postponed their quarterly earnings reports, and banks closed branches in the Northeast, while promising to waive certain fees in hurricane-threatened areas.

Disaster modeling company Eqecat said the storm is likely to cause insured losses of $5 billion to $10 billion, and economic losses of $10 billion to $20 billion.

The trading closure also threatened to delay IPOs of at least six companies, while Facebook Inc employees were prevented from selling shares in the social media company after a "lock-up" on trading expired.

"If you go two days, you really start to create some serious financial stress for some players that need to get something done," said Jim Paulsen, of Wells Capital.

As Hurricane Sandy began battering the U.S. East Coast on Monday, many Wall Street employees stayed home. Major Wall Street banks had planned to open with skeleton staffing, but with the stock and options markets closed and the bond market closing at noon, many people said they had little to do.

"There's nothing to do, so I'm just relaxing," said one New York-based equities trader at a large global investment bank, who spent most of the day in his pajamas, staying in touch with his boss and clients via phone and email.

Steve Gerbel, who runs hedge fund Chicago Capital Management, said that when he called a Goldman Sachs Group Inc trading desk on Monday, he got to talk to employees from its Salt Lake City office for the first time.

Since markets were closed, Gerbel said he would spend most of the day dealing with paperwork that he typically put on the back burner, and his employees would do the same, or clock out early.

"I predict my office will never be cleaner than it will be today," he said.

The weather also canceled financial conferences, leaving companies that had flown executives into New York over the weekend scrambling to find ways to keep them busy. One firm offered media interviews with portfolio managers stranded in the city after a conference they were attending was canceled.

For operations and back-office staffers, it was a busy day, as workers struggled to keep data centers and company systems up and running.

LIKE HERDING CATS

Earlier on Monday, equities trading executives pressed the stock exchanges to clearly communicate their plans to avoid a repeat of Sunday night's uncertainty.

Market participants and regulators decided late at night on Sunday to shut the stock and options markets, reversing a plan to keep electronic trading going on Monday, leaving some people complaining about confusion.

The biggest problem with the New York Stock Exchange's initial plan to trade exclusively over its ARCA electronic system was that the contingency plan that it had created in March had not been vetted by many brokerage firms, sources familiar with the situation said.

The decision to close the stock and options market came on Sunday night after SIFMA, the Wall Street trade group, held a conference call around 11 p.m. ET (0300 GMT) to debate whether to close, said a brokerage executive, who requested anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the media.

"It was like trying to corral cats," the executive said.

NYSE spokesman Richard Adamonis declined comment on friction with the brokerage community over the on-again, off-again decision to open trading during the storm.

"Through the storm, SIFMA has and will continue to work with a variety of market participants to ensure smooth market function," spokeswoman Liz Pierce said in an email.

On Monday, the industry tried to avoid a repeat of the confusion. A decision to close the markets on Tuesday had been announced by early afternoon, after an industry-wide call that included regulators, broker-dealers and executives.

BONDS AND IPO PRICINGS

On the conference call on Sunday evening hosted by SIFMA, with big banks, exchanges and other industry representatives, banks pushed for bond markets to open in New York on Monday, at least temporarily, to help secure short-term funding needs for themselves and their clients. The bond markets were open until noon, on an abbreviated schedule.

Many cautious clients took care of funding needs through Wednesday, according to a source at a large global investment bank. If firms or their clients need to get trades done during the rest of the week while markets are closed in New York, they can trade out of bank offices in Asia or Europe, he said.

The stock market's closure means companies that were looking to go public may have to wait. Six initial public offerings scheduled to price later this week will likely have to be pushed back, equity capital markets sources said. They said decisions were being made now between underwriters and the issuers.

"We can't market some of these deals while no one is on the other side of the phone," said one equity capital markets banker at a large Wall Street bank. Some deals may be pushed back to next week after the election, the source said.

Restoration Hardware, the highest profile of the public offerings set to launch this week, is still on track to price Thursday night, a source familiar with the matter said.

Radius Health, which was set to price its $61.8 million IPO later this week, is in a "wait-and-see mode," said Chief Financial Officer Nick Harvey. "We haven't made any decisions yet," he added.

CME Group Inc , the exchange operator, said it would reopen trading in stock-index and interest-rate futures and options Monday evening.

CME will start up equity-index trading at 6 pm ET (2200 GMT), and close it back down at 9:15 ET (1315 GMT) Tuesday to coordinate with the closure of U.S. stock markets.

(Reporting by Jessica Toonkel, Chuck Mikolajczak, John McCrank, Jed Horowitz, Olivia Oran, Lauren Tara LaCapra, Carrick Mollenkamp, Richard Leong, Ann Saphir and Ryan Vlastelica; Writing by Rick Rothacker; Editing by David Gaffen, Paritosh Bansal, Lisa Von Ahn and Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-bond-markets-shut-tuesday-may-reopen-wed-190916369--finance.html

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Health insurance reform has benefited (and will continue to benefit ...

insurance, medical insurance, healthcare reform

Despite having their model overhauled in recent years, private health insurance providers appear to be earning healthy profits these days. In light of the overhaul, they also seem to have turned their focus toward consumers with new apps, cost transparency tools and wellness and fitness incentives.

This has opened up doors for many startups, who are getting new business from and new partnerships with insurers because of the shifting model.

At a recent event, I caught up with Dan Phillips, a vice president at Sandbox Industries, which is the parent company of the HealthBox digital health accelerator and the manager of BlueCross BlueShield Ventures since 2008.

He shared that the types of companies the insurer is interested in investing in and working with has shifted a bit as President Obama?s healthcare reform policy has rolled out. In the move to ACOs and outcome-based reimbursement, communication and data analysis tools that enable evidence-based care have become more important. BCBS, for example, has invested in Essence Group/Lumeris, which offers a data platform and guidance to help hospitals and health plans transition to ACOs, and InVivoLink, a company focused on capturing, measuring and disseminating data from medical devices.

Then there?s what Phillips hesitantly called the ?retailization? of healthcare and insurance, marked by the implementation of insurance exchanges and the need for insurers to market directly to individuals.

Choosing insurance benefits, after all, is apparently the second-most difficult major life decision that Americans make. That?s given rise to companies like BloomHealth, which helps employers and employees find the plans and benefits that meet their needs, and ChangeHealthcare, whose Transparency Messenger platform educates health plans and employers on healthcare price variation.

Going into a near-dead-heat election, if there?s anything we know it?s that more change is coming for the healthcare industry.

NPR points out in a piece this morning that a Romney/Ryan victory would result in initial uncertainty among payers as the administration figured out how to make good on Romey?s promise to repeal Obamacare.

But several years down the road, under Romney?s proposed Medicare ?voucher? plan, the commercial health insurance industry would expand rapidly and create enormous business opportunities for certain startups working in benefit design, care management, data mining and other areas that help insurance companies, said J.D. Kleinke, a resident fellow at the right-wing think tank American Enterprise Institute.

?For most people with commercial insurance, those plans are trying to find better ways to get us to a good doctor, to help us figure out when we should be taking drugs and which one is the right one to take,? he said.

Even without the Romney Medicare plan, enrollment in Medicare Advantage, a program under which private companies contract with Medicare to provide health plans to seniros, is still expected to grow more than 10 percent next year.

With all of these factors in play, we can expect to see more strategic partnerships like UnitedHealth Group?s with mobile technology companies CareSpeak Communications, Lose It! and Fitbit, and more interest from insurers in working with startups focused on adherence, communication and wellness.

Copyright 2012 MedCity News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://medcitynews.com/2012/10/health-insurance-reform-has-benefited-and-will-continue-to-benefit-these-kinds-of-startups/

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Monday, October 29, 2012

Australia's new home sales fall 3.7 pct in Sept. - Business News - Sina

New home sales in Australia fell for the third consecutive month in September due to the loss of consumer confidence in housing sector, a new report released on Tuesday by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) showed.

The HIA mew home sales report showed a decline of 3.7 percent in September, following a fall of 5.3 percent in August.

The report said sales in the detached housing segment recorded a fall of 3.5 percent in the month while multi-unit sales dropped 4.2 percent.

HIA Chief Economist Harley Dale said the persistent weakness in new home sales in 2012 reflected a dire lack of consumer confidence in the housing sector.

"Interest rates have come down since November 2011 and there is a recognition that the home-buying environment has improved in 2012. However, households remain reticent to actually make a decision to buy," he said.

"This situation is especially evident in the new home building sector where excessive taxation instills a bias against new housing relative to existing property."

However, Dale said interest rate cuts should help foster a recovery in new home sales in the December quarter, along with new home incentives for first time buyers in three states and a promising recovery gathering legs in Western Australia.

Source: http://english.sina.com/business/2012/1029/521204.html

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Musicians: Iran's national orchestra disbanded

(AP) ? Some musicians say the Iranian national symphony orchestra has been disbanded for lack of funds.

The orchestra members told the semiofficial ILNA news agency Monday that they have not rehearsed together and have not been paid for three months.

The orchestra was reactivated just last year, after a two-year break.

The step is likely tied to heightening economic woes in Iran because of government mismanagement and Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear development program. Another key effect of the sanctions has been the collapse of the Iranian currency.

The West suspects that Iran may be heading toward production of nuclear weapons, imposing the sanctions to persuade Iran to drop its uranium enrichment project. Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-29-Iran-Orchestra/id-fe67a1ac94ec45a0a019d1ba07cca9d1

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Alicia Keys Blog: Life As a Mom Is a Balancing Act

Over and over again, I've learned that life really is a balancing act. I feel like I could metaphorically be that trapeze family I saw at Cirque du Soleil that rode and balanced two bikes with a chair between them on the tightrope. LOL! You know what I'm talking about. You could be too.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/alicia-keys-blog-balancing-life-mom/1-a-496357?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aalicia-keys-blog-balancing-life-mom-496357

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Sunday, October 28, 2012

Trial in 1977 killing asks: Were suspects framed?

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) ? Two black men wrongly convicted in the 1977 murder of a white Iowa police officer hope to prove something they couldn't during trials that sent them to prison for 25 years: that detectives framed them to solve a high-profile case.

During a civil trial that starts Wednesday in Des Moines, Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee will argue that Council Bluffs police officers coerced witnesses into fabricating testimony against them in the killing of John Schweer.

Schweer was found dead while working as the night watchman at a car dealership. Harrington and McGhee, then teenagers from neighboring Omaha, Neb., say detectives used threats against a group of young black car theft suspects to trump up evidence targeting them because of their race and pressure to solve the retired captain's killing.

Despite little physical evidence, Harrington and McGhee were convicted at 1978 trials and sentenced to long prison terms. They were freed in 2003, after the Iowa Supreme Court found that prosecutors committed misconduct in concealing reports about another man seen near the crime scene with a shotgun. The key witnesses had also recanted their testimony, saying they were pressured into implicating the men.

After winning their freedom, they filed lawsuits against prosecutors and officers they blamed for forcing them to spend their adult lives in the Fort Madison prison. Their case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009 over the issue of whether suspects have the constitutional right not to be framed by prosecutors. Before justices ruled, Pottawatamie County agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims against two former prosecutors while not admitting wrongdoing.

The settlement did not resolve claims against Council Bluffs and former detectives Dan Larsen and Lyle Brown.

Harrington and McGhee claim Larsen and Brown coerced the group of black car theft suspects into fingering them in the death. Investigators took the star witness, a 16-year-old confessed liar with numerous aliases, to the crime scene, gave him details about the murder weapon, and had him repeatedly change his story until it was plausible, the lawsuit claims.

The witness, Kevin Hughes, was aggressively questioned in Schweer's death after he was pulled over several weeks later driving a vehicle stolen from a Nebraska dealership. He first implicated three other men who had alibis before eventually claiming Harrington pulled the trigger and McGhee drove the getaway car after they went to steal a car from the dealership Schweer was guarding. Hughes said later he lied to get reward money and avoid being charged himself. Other witnesses also recanted.

Jurors will be asked to decide at trial, scheduled to last through Nov. 16, whether detectives, who were both white, and the city violated Harrington and McGhee's civil rights and, if so, how much they should receive in damages.

"We have waited for a very long time to have this trial and we look forward to having an opportunity to present our case," said Stephen Davis, an attorney for McGhee, now married and living in a Midwestern community he does not want to disclosure.

Facing a possible verdict of millions, lawyers for the detectives and the city are making an aggressive defense. They plan to argue that Harrington and McGhee probably were the real killers ? and that even if they weren't, detectives did nothing wrong in focusing on them as suspects under the circumstances.

"There is going to be evidence that this civil jury will hear surrounding Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee's involvement in this crime and it's evidence that the juries in 1978 considered," said attorney Kristopher Madsen. "But importantly, we believe there's going to be lacking any credible evidence to indicate these two police detectives in any way fabricated evidence or coerced or threatened witnesses or violated any civil rights of Harrington and McGhee."

The stakes are high for the city because recent court rulings have concluded it will have little insurance coverage if liable.

Lawyers would not say how much compensation Harrington and McGhee would seek, but they plan to show jurors a mock prison cell to illustrate their lives behind bars. Harrington's daughter, born after he was imprisoned, is expected to testify about the former high school football player's long dream of freedom.

A key question will be why detectives stopped pursuing suspect Charles Gates. Police reports about Gates had been hidden from the defense and were uncovered in 1999 by a former prison barber who became convinced of Harrington's innocence and worked for years for his freedom.

They showed that witnesses reported seeing a man with a dog carrying a shotgun near the crime scene, where Schweer's bullet-riddled body was found surrounded by bloody dog prints. In the nights before his death, the police reports show Schweer reported having altercations with a white man carrying a shotgun and walking a dog ? something Gates was known to do.

Police questioned Gates, a 48-year-old loner, and he failed a lie-detector test. He had also been a suspect in an earlier unsolved murder. Investigators even consulted an astrologer about Gates, but ignored him after Hughes and other teens were stopped in the stolen car. Gates denied in a 2003 interview with police that he was involved in the slaying. Attempts to find Gates and reach him for comment were not successful.

"Larsen and Brown thought it was their lucky day. They could pin the murder on them, or use them to pin it on some 'ghetto dwellers'," plaintiffs' lawyers wrote, using a term detective Larsen once used to refer to Omaha residents. "Either way, Larsen and Brown would be putting blacks in front of a white Council Bluffs jury for the killing of a white Council Bluffs cop. That would mean case closed and they would be heroes."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trial-1977-killing-asks-were-suspects-framed-171749731.html

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E-commerce can be tough - Dan's Internet Marketing Business Blog!

E-commerce can be toughClick Image To Visit SiteE-commerce can be tough, time consuming and traumatic for many business owners as their sites crash to a predictable failure? but what else is new?

Let?s be realistic, e-commerce is a challenge as we are building the equivalent of a physical store, with products, stock issues and product fulfilment but with the need to find and service customers. There is no store front and passing trade online? However, the important question is, why do 97% of e-commerce businesses make it harder than it is, and how can you be smarter and get immediate sales and profits, while keeping costs down?

So with that said lets rephrase the above comment: E-commerce is exciting, fulfilling and very profitable if you plan from the ground up, grow consistently and Get it Right from Today. Let me ask you a few questions:

The simple answer is it doesn?t matter. As the old saying goes, ?The Past Does Not Equal The Future?. So starting today here?s how can you tap into an invaluable level of experience of time tested techniques, technologies and methodologies ? and be in the Elite 3%.

Written in a no holds barred style for start ups and existing e-commerce site owners who are leaving money on the table!

Delivered in a quick-fire style, you?ll find 1 magic bullet after the other to show you exactly ?how to, when to and why to? for your e-commerce website and e-commerce business!

Inside you?ll find 230 pages of experienced e-commerce insider secrets, key strategies and practical tips laid out so its easy to find and easy to use ? with no fluff, no filler, no BS!

E-commerce: Get It Right! is the only how-to guide available based explicitly on over 10 years in the trenches, real life experience and test results, working in the e-commerce business model with my own e-commerce websites and businesses.

This is critical to your success because E-commerce has changed so much over the last 10 years. You need to cut through the cr*p as fast as possible and get to the key strategies that work first time for you and your particular product category, market or niche. So how do you build an e-commerce website that not only competes, but totally dominates?

Profits and Sales in e-commerce are top? Read more?

Source: http://askdanjohnson.com/network-marketing/fact-97-of-e-commerce-websites-make-0-profits-in-their-first-3-years-online-heres-how-to-get-in-the-elite-3-dominate-your-product-category-market-or.html

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Sudan rebels shell southern city during defense minister visit

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese rebels shelled the main city of the oil-producing South Kordofan state during a visit of Sudan's defense minister, Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, rebels and residents said.

Sudan's army has been fighting rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) in South Kordofan, which borders South Sudan, since June last year. But the state capital Kadugli was until this month mainly kept out of the fighting.

SPLM-North spokesman Arnu Lodi said the rebels had fired shells on army positions inside Kadugli on Friday after coming under fire from government warplanes.

"There was an aerial bombardment against SPLM-North positions and villages so we fired back against military positions in Kadugli," he said.

Residents said the shelling started when the defense minister, a close ally of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, was addressing worshippers during prayers marking Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice.

"Some seven rockets hit the town, one of them close to the place where the minister spoke," a resident said, asking not to be named. "Worshippers were really afraid."

Sudan accuses South Sudan, which seceded from the north in July 2011, of backing the SPLM-North, whose fighters were part of the southern rebel army during Sudan's long civil war. South Sudan denies the accusation.

Events in Sudan's border states are hard to verify as the government bans foreign media from travelling there.

Sudan's army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid could not be reached on his mobile phone, but the newspaper al-Intibaha, run by an uncle of Bashir, confirmed on Saturday that rebels shelled Kadugli when the defense minister was in town to celebrate Eid.

This was the fourth reported shelling of the state capital this month. The rebels first shelled Kadugli on October 8. At least one rocket hit a U.N. compound, prompting the United Nations to move its staff out of the town.

Lodi, the rebels' spokesman, also accused the army of bombing the rebel-held area of Kauda in South Kordofan on Saturday.

Fighting in South Kordofan and nearby Blue Nile state has displaced or severely affected 900,000 people, the United Nations said a week ago. Sudan agreed in August to let aid into rebel-held areas but the United Nations has been unable to win government approval to go ahead with distributing food.

Under international pressure, Sudan and South Sudan agreed last month to establish a buffer zone along their border after clashing along it several times in the past year. Indirect talks between Khartoum and the rebels, however, have made scant progress.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and Ulf Laessing, editing by Rosalind Russell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-rebels-shell-southern-city-during-defense-minister-131148780.html

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Kids' mountain bike program likely the first of many in Old Town ...

Ten children in Old Town learned the joys of mountain biking during a monthlong program for grades 4-8 that ran mid-September through mid-October.

The program was made possible by a first-of-its-kind collaboration of three Maine-based organizations: Old Town Recreation, Maine Winter Sports Center and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.

?They were very excited to just go out and experience the outdoors,? said Kevin McPhee, director of Old Town Recreation, which hosted the program. ?We have a river trail here in the Old Town-Orono area that goes along the Stillwater River. It?s just a beautiful bike trial, and they were able to experience that on a couple of occasions.?

Biking in the mud was their favorite part.

?They usually came back and had mud up their backs and huge smiles,? McPhee said. ?Their parents would come to pick them up and just shake their heads and smile.?

Healthy Hometowns, the community development program of the Maine Winter Sports Center, provided mountain bikes and helmets for participants, as well as training and curriculum for leaders.

?The focus of this program was on experiencing the lifelong, active outdoor pursuit of mountain biking,? said Central Maine Healthy Hometowns coach Lauren Jacobs. ?Kids had a blast exploring the trails, getting muddy and becoming skilled bikers.?

In April, L.L.Bean announced a $1 million donation to Healthy Hometowns to expand the program into a year-round, statewide effort. This donation coincides with L.L.Bean?s mission to get more children outdoors during their 100th anniversary year and beyond.

?In the past, Healthy Hometowns has been primarily cross-country ski-oriented and mostly in the County, up in Aroostook,? Jacobs said. ?With the funding in April, we can go statewide and year-round. This is the first time we?ve had equipment to use in other regions.?

The funding is providing staff, training and resources for Healthy Hometowns expand its focus to outdoor activities such as paddling, hiking, mountain biking, orienteering and camping.

So far, the donation enabled Healthy Hometowns to purchase 20 mountain bikes, three boat trailers of kayaks, and expand their ski collection to approximately 1,500 sets of skis. The program ?coaches? have started spreading out across the state, and the equipment supply will continue to grow over the next three years, Jacobs said.

The 10 children who participated in the Old Town mountain bike program gained skills and confidence through riding on local trails and fields and engaging in a variety of games and activities used to teach bike handling, shifting, braking, safety and navigating obstacles.

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine, a statewide cycling advocacy group, supported the initiative with a safety program for participants and program leadership by a coalition employee.

?Participants markedly improved their biking skills while getting great exercise and getting the opportunity to experience the great Maine outdoors as it was meant to be enjoyed,? McPhee said.

During the summer, Healthy Hometowns and Old Town Recreation worked together to provide kayaking and biking opportunities to summer camp participants. And this winter, the two organizations will work together for the third year to offer a youth cross-country ski program in conjunction with the Penobscot Valley Ski Club.

?This will be an ongoing effort,? McPhee said. ?We look forward to doing this spring, summer, fall and winter. We look forward to partnering with them each season to provide a different activity.?

Healthy Hometowns trailers filled with cross-country skis and snowshoes will travel throughout the state all winter to give children the chance to experience winter sports. Several schools in the Bangor area have booked the equipment, including schools in Winterport, Hampden, Bangor and Dover-Foxcroft.

?We are really focused on winter right now, planning winter sports, getting out calendars filled up and getting ready to do our ski weeks,? Jacobs said. ?But it won?t be long before we start thinking about spring and getting programming lined up. We already have a couple of requests ? Milo has already scheduled the mountain bikes for their outing club members for some time in May.?

For information about Healthy Hometowns, including equipment rental and outdoor programs, visit www.mainewsc.org; the Old Town Recreation Department at www.oldtownrec.com; and the Bicycle Coalition of Maine at www.bikemaine.org.

Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/10/24/outdoors/kids-mountain-bike-program-likely-the-first-of-many-in-old-town/

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Sen. Scott Brown: Washington needs more moderates

Spinners and Winners

The Massachusetts senate race is one of the most important to Republicans keen on recapturing control of the Senate. But incumbent GOP Sen. Scott Brown says it doesn't much matter to him which party wins the majority in Washington.

"For me it doesn't really matter who's in charge," says the junior senator, who adds the real problem is the dwindling number of moderate Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

"You still need to get to 60 votes," says Brown. "I'm tired of the gridlock. It makes me just so disgusted to walk in there and see, you know, the usual spotting on votes on both sides."

Brown says if Republicans gain control of the Senate, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the current minority leader, will still have to "earn my vote."

"I'm not going to be happy with the gridlock that we've had, so I'm going to wait and see and see who emerges, see if anyone's going to challenge him, and then I'll figure it out," says the junior senator, who agrees that McConnell bears some of the blame for the constant obstruction.

Brown's Democratic challenger is Elizabeth Warren, who enjoyed early support from Democrats thanks to a?video of her speaking on fair taxation and debt.

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody," Warren says in the video, which appeared online late last year. "You built a factory out there, good for you, but I want to be clear, you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you all were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for."

Brown says that video has helped his campaign.

"It's actually galvanized the small business owners and the people that are out there working hard and getting up in the middle of the night or early in the morning and providing services. Third, fourth, fifth generation businesses, they're deeply offended and they're voting for me."

For more on Sen. Scott Brown, including the junior senator's views on the Supreme Court, and banning outside groups such as SuperPACs from this Massachusetts senate race, check out today's Spinners and Winners. And check out tomorrow's episode for an interview with Brown's challenger, Elizabeth Warren.

ABC News' Sunlen Miller contributed to this episode.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/sen-scott-brown-doesn-t-matter-republicans-win-110810615.html

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Condition One Raises $2.35M From Mark Cuban And Others To Make Immersive, 180-Degree Video Mainstream

condition oneCondition One enables video producers to capture and share what typical video products miss, with a 180-degree field of vision. It's recently expanded its seed round to $2.35 million, coming from Mark Cuban, who invested prior to Demo Day, as well as Manilla CEO George Kliavkoff and other angels.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tZORwzk0JBw/

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

How Can I Win Her Love Back - 5 Strategies To Win Back Lost Love

How Can I Win Her Love Back  -  5 Strategies To Win Back Lost Love

Dear Kurt

How can I win her back?

Here's what happened. We'd been going out for about 6 months and everything was going smooth and our relationship was starting to get a little more serious.

Then out of no where she broke up with me. I was totally shocked and didn't know what to do. She said it was because we fought too much and that we were getting too serious too soon. I really care about her and want to get her back. Is there anything I can do?

- Broken Hearted

Dear Broken Hearted:

Out of all the emotions that we have, love is the strongest and most powerful one so when a relationship endsit stands to reason that it's going to hurt quite a bit. Now despite the pain that you're going through there are things you can do to win back the one you love but you need to know what to do and how to do it properly.

When it comes to getting someone back after a breakup, the most important thing you can do is to get them looking your way and thinking about you again. This article will give you five strategies you can use that will help get your ex thinking about you again and hopefully get you back together again.

1. The first thing you need to do is be honest with yourself about the relationship and the part you played in the breakup. I know it's not pleasant but it needs to be done. Your girlfriend said she broke up with you because you fought all the time. If this is true then it needs to be addressed by you. This is not the time to point fingers and lay blame, instead use your time apart to analyze the relationship. In fact I recommend that you get a pen and paper and write it out. List all the things things that might have contributed to the breakup and see which ones you can change. If you want to get her back you need to address this before you do anything else.

2. The next thing you need to do when it comes to getting your ex' attention again is to be dependable. Even though you've broken up you still need to be there when and if she needs you. Just be her friend and show her that you're someone that she can depend on and in return she'll start to see you as someone worth being with. Now this doesn't mean that you're going to get back together right away, but being depandable lays the ground work and the foundation for restoring the relationship you once had.

3. The third thing you should do if you want to get your ex to start thinking about you again is to encourage and support them. One of the things that people miss most during a breakup is the support they got from their significant other so if the opportunity arises, be her personal cheerleader. For example, if she's got a job interview, send her a quick 'good luck' email or something along those lines. Either way you want to show her that you've got her back and have her best intetests at heart.

4. Listen to her. Chances are she's going to call you at some point, especially if you've cut off all contact with her. When she does call, make sure you listen to what she is saying and VALIDATE her concerns. Not feeling validated or understood is the leading cause for fights in a relationship and since this was her main concern with you during the breakup it's something that you need to focus on here. Listen to what she is saying and take some mental notes and get your foot in the door.

5. Get a life. Don't sit around and sit on the sidelines. Instead get out there and live it up. Go out, have fun and rediscover yourself. This accomplishes 3 things. First it gives you self confidence which makes you more attractive to your ex. Second it reverses depression by taking your mind off things by keeping you busy. Third is that it gives you peace of mind by giving you both space and time which are key elements when it comes to dealing with your emotions after a breakup.

The Bottom Line

The key to win her back especially when she's dumped you is to get her looking your way and thinking about you again.

If you follow the 5 points in this article you will greatly increase your chances of getting back together because you will have improved as a person since the breakup which will make you more attractive to her.

Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/reconnecting/how-can-i-win-her-love-back-5-strategies-to-win-back-lost-love

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RESERVOIR DOGS And PULP FICTION Return To ... - Forces of Geek



RESERVOIR DOGS AND PULP FICTION RETURN TO CINEMAS THIS DECEMBER ? A TARANTINO XX EVENT

Miramax, NCM? Fathom Events and IGN Host Two Nights of

Quentin Tarantino?s Most Iconic Films in Select Theaters Nationwide

Celebrating Quentin Tarantino?s filmmaking career spanning two decades, Miramax, NCM? Fathom and IGN present two of his most acclaimed works ?Reservoir Dogs? and ?Pulp Fiction,? each in theaters for only one night this December. ?Tarantino XX: ?Reservoir Dogs? 20th Anniversary Event? will hit select movie theaters nationwide on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7:00 p.m. local time, and ?Tarantino XX: ?Pulp Fiction? Event? will follow two days later on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7:00 p.m. local time, with matinees in select markets. Each cinema event will include a special feature showcasing Tarantino?s 20-year career and a selection of hand-picked movie trailers from films that inspired him as a filmmaker.Tickets for ?TARANTINO XX: ?Reservoir Dogs? and ?Pulp Fiction?? are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com or www.tarantinoxx.com. The events will be presented using new digital cinema projection systems in more than 625 movie theaters across the country. For a complete list of theater locations and prices visit the NCM Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

Audiences across the country will be exhilarated by these gritty and innovative films that launched Tarantino?s iconic career, in which he has received the industry?s top honors including an Academy Award?, a Golden Globe Award?, as well as nominations for both an Emmy? and a Grammy? award.

?There is no doubt that Quentin Tarantino?s writing and directorial style has reinvented filmmaking as we know it,? said Shelly Maxwell, executive vice president of NCM Fathom Events. ?Join Vincent, Jules, Marsellus Wallace, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, Mr. Blonde and the rest of his infamous characters as they return to the big screen in this special two-night Fathom event.?

Released on Oct. 23, 1992, and named the ?Greatest Independent Film Ever Made? by ?Empire Magazine,? Tarantino?s directorial debut assembles four perfect strangers to pull off the perfect crime. But when their botched robbery reveals a police informant among them, their simple robbery explodes into a bloody ambush. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival (1992) and awarded the International Critics Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (1992), ?Reservoir Dogs? is raw, violent and unforgettable.

Two years after his groundbreaking debut, Tarantino released ?Pulp Fiction? ? hailed by critics and audiences worldwide as a film that redefined cinema.? Recognized as one of AFI?s ?Top 100 Films of the Last 100 Years,? ?Pulp Fiction,? set in the basking sun of L.A., follows a burger-loving hit man (John Travolta), his philosophical partner (Samuel L. Jackson), a drug-addled gangster's moll (Uma Thurman) and a washed-up boxer (Bruce Willis), as their four tales converge in a story of violence and redemption. Honored with an Academy Award? for Best Original Screenplay (1994) and earning seven total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, ?Pulp Fiction? has been listed as one of the best films of all-time by Time and Entertainment Weekly.

Miramax and Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release the ?Tarantino XX: 8-Film Collection,? on Blu-ray? Nov. 20. The set contains eight films personally selected by Tarantino to illustrate the first 20 years of his career, plus two extra discs packed with over seven hours of exclusive, never-before-seen interviews and special features. The set also features striking, original artwork designed and illustrated by MONDO (www.mondotees.com). Tarantino?s newest film, ?Django Unchained,? will be released in theaters on Dec. 25.?

About Miramax
Miramax is a leading worldwide film and television studio with a library of more than 700 motion pictures.? Miramax sells directly and licenses its titles globally through strategic partnerships including: Lionsgate, Netflix, Facebook, Hulu and StudioCanal.? The Miramax library holds some of the world?s most original and acclaimed independent films including?Pulp Fiction,?Shakespeare in Love,?Chicago,?Good Will Hunting,?The English Patient,?No Country for Old Men,?Kill Bill Volumes I and II,?Life is Beautiful,?Reservoir Dogs,?Sex, Lies and Videotape,?Cinema Paradiso?and?My Left Foot?? as well as scores of commercially successful films such as?Bridget Jones?s Diary,?Bad Santa, and the?Scream,?Hellraiser,?Scary Movie?and?Spy Kids?franchises. ?In 2011, Miramax released three new films including the critically acclaimed film?The Debt, starring Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain, directed by John Madden. Collectively, the Miramax library has received 284 Academy Award nominations and 68 Oscars, including four Best Picture awards.

About National CineMedia (NCM)

NCM operates NCM Media Networks, a leading integrated media company reaching U.S. consumers in movie theaters, online and through mobile technology.? The NCM Cinema Network and NCM Fathom present cinema advertising and events across the nation?s largest digital in-theater network, comprised of theaters owned by AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) and other leading regional theater circuits. NCM?s theater advertising network covers 181 Designated Market Areas? (49 of the top 50) and includes over 19,000 screens (approximately 18,100 digital). During 2011, approximately 680 million patrons (on an annualized basis) attended movies shown in theaters in which NCM currently has exclusive, cinema advertising agreements in place.? The NCM Fathom Events live digital broadcast network (?DBN?) is comprised of over 700 locations in 170 Designated Market Areas? (including all of the top 50). The NCM Interactive Network offers 360-degree integrated marketing opportunities in combination with cinema, encompassing 42 entertainment-related websites, online widgets and mobile applications.? National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) owns a 48.6% interest in and is the managing member of National CineMedia LLC. For more information, visit www.ncm.com or www.FathomEvents.com.

About IGN Entertainment

IGN Entertainment is the leading Internet media and services provider focused on the video game and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties reach more than 57 million unique users worldwide, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore.? IGN's network of video game-related properties (IGN.com, 1UP.com, GameSpy and others) is the Web's #1 video game information destination.? IGN also owns the world's largest men's lifestyle website, AskMen.com, and men's entertainment site UGO.com.? IGN is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices across North America, Europe and Australia.

Academy Awards? and Oscar? are both registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Source: http://www.forcesofgeek.com/2012/10/reservoir-dogs-and-pulp-fiction-return.html

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Odyssey Golf White Ice #4 Putter

That's White Ice #4. Not Ice-Nine.

Winter is coming. The peasants say it will be the longest winter in known time. Dismiss their folk superstitions and prognostications at your peril, for the fact remains: Winter is coming, and you must get your outdoor jollies while ye may.

The whiffle and crack of golf club against ball will be heard no more once the great snows come. Campfires and hikes to alpine meadows will be but the tales of old women -- half-recalled memories of a happier, sunnier time.

They say that, when winter comes, exercise will be banished from the land. Joggers will huff into benumbed fists. Cyclists will wrap themselves in layer after layer of spandex, hibernating until the Great Thaw. Those Crossfit people will stop dragging weights outside their gym like idiots. It will be a dark time.

So go forth! Sieze this weather while it lasts, and outfit yourself with totally acceptable gear from this Woot Off. You might want to grab a few wolf pelts and cords of wood while you're at it (sold elsewhere, maybe).

Hope to see you alive on the other side, friend.

Source: http://sport.woot.com/blog/post/odyssey-golf-white-ice-4-putter-1

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Kim Kardashian Has Mid-Dinner Outfit Change in Rome

When in Rome...wear two different things to the same dinner? While acting as a quick-change artist during a romantic dinner may not be your idea of a good time, we can't say the same for Kim Kardashian.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/kim-kardashian-outfit-change-during-dinner-kanye-west-rome/1-a-495857?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Akim-kardashian-outfit-change-during-dinner-kanye-west-rome-495857

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RU-CENTER Launches Russian-Language Version of goMobi ...

Strong mobile Internet growth in Russia underlines need for mobile specific sites

MOSCOW ??October 22, 2012 ??RU-CENTER, Russia?s largest domain name registrar and Web hosting provider, today announced the immediate availability of the goMobi mobile website builder, for the first time fully localized in the Russian language for Russian users.

The goMobi mobile site builder solution, made by mobile Web experts dotMobi, allows customers to create sophisticated, made-for-mobile websites without the need for technical knowledge.

Mobile Web usage is growing rapidly in Russia, with many people using mobile as the primary means to access the Internet. Alexander Panov, RU-CENTER CEO, said, ?We believe that mobile-specific content is a hugely important differentiator for businesses on the mobile Web. We are delighted to offer a leading-edge product like goMobi to our customers.?

goMobi is a powerful Web-based tool that lets users quickly and easily create made-for-mobile websites, which take advantage of many features designed for use exclusively on mobile devices like click-to-call, maps and directions, social networking feeds, video, QR codes and eCommerce. RU-CENTER customers can add the features they want to their sites with a user-friendly interface that allows them to see what their site looks like as they build it.

dotMobi COO Eileen O?Sullivan said, ?We are excited about working with RU-CENTER to bring goMobi to Russia. As mobile Internet usage continues to increase around the globe, the need for mobile-specific content is no longer an optional extra. That?s why the ease of building sites with goMobi is perfect for businesses, whether in Russia or in any of the other dozens of countries where goMobi is available.?

About dotMobi

Headquartered in Dublin, dotMobi ? a wholly owned subsidiary of Afilias Limited ? is a worldwide leader in enabling the development & discovery of quality mobile content through innovative services, in turn helping businesses and individuals reach the world?s billions of mobile phone users. dotMobi spurs mobile industry innovation by giving content providers the tools they need to ensure the Web will work on mobile devices with speed, accuracy and relevant content. Visit http://dotMobi.mobi for more information on .MOBI domains and all dotMobi services, including DeviceAtlas and the goMobi mobile website publishing solution.

About RU Center

RU-CENTER is the leading Russian domain name registrar and one of the biggest local hosting providers. The company provides full range of domain name services and performs registrar functions for more than three million domains. RU-CENTER has 500,000 clients and 6,000 partners worldwide.

Source: http://gomobi.info/news/10/ru-center-launches-russian-language-version-of-gomobi-mobile-website-builder/

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Video: Romney dumps neocon advisers for peace message in debate

Fungal meningitis clues may predict who's sick

Some 14,000 patients who received tainted pain shots tied to a growing outbreak of fungal meningitis soon could have better clues about whether they?re likely to get sick, health officials said. The outbreak has caused 297 infections and 23 deaths in 16 states.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/49513258#49513258

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Monday, October 22, 2012

The woman who paid down $120K in credit card debt in five years

Francine Bostick racked up six figures in debt before deciding it had to go. Here's how she did it.?

By Michael Koretzky,?Contributor / October 20, 2012

In this May 2012 file photo, a Visa credit card is tendered at opening of the Superdry store in New York's Times Square. Credit counseling is a great tool in tackling debt problems, but admitting a problem can be the hardest first step.

Richard Drew/AP/File

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Francine Bostick keeps her monthly bills in a basket on her desk at home. Also in that basket is a clear plastic sandwich bag containing 13 cut-up?credit cards?? a reminder (and a warning) of the decades she spent racking up $120,000 in?credit card?debt.

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She cut up those cards only five years ago. Today, she?s debt-free with a modest savings account.

?I have to look at that bag all the time,? says Francine, a custodial manager for a Kansas university. ?I see it every time I pay my bills.?

That sandwich bag was just one of the tactics ? big and small ? that Francine used to pay off her six-figure debt. The biggest was swallowing her pride, admitting she had a problem, and seeking credit counseling. For her accomplishment, she and her husband were honored this month as ?Clients of the Year? by the nonprofit National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC).

RELATED: Can you manage your money? A personal finance quiz

Two weeks ago, Francine flew on an airplane for the first time in her life and accepted the award at an annual convention of credit counselors in Charlotte, N.C. Her husband didn?t make the trip.

Francine was afraid to fly, but that was nothing compared to the fear of seeking credit counseling.

?It took me a year before I could walk in there,? Francine says of the Topeka-based credit counseling agency she worked with. She was 57 at the time, ?and it was very hard. I was embarrassed that at my age, I didn?t know better than to get in debt.?

But with a little help, she figured out a way to get out. Her story is both motivational and educational for anyone crushed under credit card debt.

Here?s what she told Money Talks News last week?

Going broke isn?t always obvious

Francine and her husband, Jim, didn?t look like they were in debt. They had no fancy cars or fancy clothes. They?ve never owned a flat-screen TV or the latest smartphones. Neither was laid off or faced a medical problem before Jim?s dementia. And they suffered no addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling, or even shopping.

?I really can?t point at one thing,? Francine recalls. ?We just didn?t realize we were spending $400 a month on groceries. If we wanted something, we just bought it. If it cost $200, we didn?t think about whether it should cost $50.?

So the Bosticks went boringly broke. With none of the typical warning signs ? a mansion, Porsche or exotic vacations ? their debt grew steadily and quietly. It was so unnoticeable to family, friends, and even themselves (at first) that Francine describes it now as ?easy.?

Older isn?t always wiser

Francine, now 62, is careful not to blame anyone else for her financial faults, but she says her parents didn?t help ? because they were?too?thrifty.

?My mother never had a charge card, so I wasn?t raised knowing about credit,? she says. ?If she didn?t have cash, she didn?t buy it.?

But Francine grew up in the era of increasingly easy-to-get credit, and that led to 13 cards and no self-control. ?It just got easier and easier,? she says.

Her own children ? a 42-year-old son and a 36-year-old daughter ? have learned from both her mistakes and her advice. Still, ?One of them I?m a little concerned about, but the other one doesn?t want to go where his mother has been.?

She prays her three grandchildren and one great-grandchild fare better financially. Her hope? ?They start teaching this stuff in high school,? she says. ?That?s when they need to learn? what she didn?t.

Credit counseling is easy ? and hard

For a long time, Francine knew she was in trouble but did nothing about it.

?I was not sleeping, trying to figure out how I was going to pay my bills,? she says. ?One morning, I just said, ?I can?t do this anymore,? and called.?

She knew credit counseling could help ? and she had learned from her research to be wary of for-profit counseling services but to seek out nonprofits.

She settled on HCCI, a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. NFCC was founded in 1951 and is the nation?s largest and oldest national nonprofit credit counseling association.

?I thought I was going to feel really stupid going in there,? Francine says. ?But when I came out of my first meeting, I felt like weight had been lifted.?

It wasn?t easy, though. The hardest part was walking into a meeting with ?a big fat folder? of all her bills. ?You have to admit there?s a problem,? Francine says.

Then you have to get to work. The counselor urged Francine and Jim to draw up a budget. It took three tries to get it right.

?We had to keep coming back because I wasn?t realizing I needed to give up 100 channels on my cable,? she says, ?especially when I was only watching four. I didn?t quite understand the concept.?

Even worse, ?I didn?t know how much debt I had ? because I didn?t want to know.? She wouldn?t let the counselor tell her, either. Instead, the counselor wrote it on a piece of paper, and Francine looked at it when she got home.

Saving is hard ? and easy

And then, somehow, it just clicked. Francine started saving and budgeting ? and as mysteriously as her debt accumulated, it began to disappear. Of course, her success was no mystery to her credit counselor.

?The remarkable thing about the Bosticks is their total commitment to repay their debts,? says Bob Mackey, president of HCCI. ?For five years, they worked second jobs, lived on a very lean budget, and paid $2,496 each month toward their debt repayment plan.?

That?s right ? Francine went from ?buying a new purse for $120 when I could?ve got it for $60? to working four hours a night for four nights a week for her local school district ? as a janitor. On the weekends, she ran an Avon business. Meanwhile, even though his dementia was slowly taking over, Jim worked 30 hours per week delivering auto parts.

While they were both busy and exhausted from the extra work, they were also too busy to spend more money.

?During those five years, I got used to buying just what we needed,? Francine says. Another one of her novel tactics: ?If something costs over $50, we?d go home and think about it for a few days. Lots of times, we never went back for it.?

And then, miraculously, it got easier.

Francine is happier than she?s ever been, and she insists her standard of living hasn?t diminished ? much.

?We don?t go out to eat as often as we used to,? she says. But she savors the experience more now.

And, she says, ?You have to have a little splurge.? For her, it?s purses. But now, she never spends more than $50.

The happy ending

With her debt wiped out and a modest savings account, Francine knows she needs to rebuild her credit ? and ironically, credit cards are the easiest way to do that. She also knows they have?other advantages. So she recently got a cash-back card. But she?s a little nervous about sliding back into old habits.

?I?ve been using it like a debit card,? she says. ?Every time I buy something, I automatically deduct it from my checkbook.?

So what happens now? She doesn?t know. But she knows this much: ?I was afraid because I didn?t want to have to work till I?m 80.? Now she knows she won?t have to.

Michael Koretzky is a writer for?Money Talks News, a consumer/personal finance TV news feature that airs in about 80 cities as well as around the Web. This column first appeared in Money Talks News.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/5QTlNyzzAYA/The-woman-who-paid-down-120K-in-credit-card-debt-in-five-years

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