Sandy likely to hit car buyers in the wallet

7 hrs.

Paul A. Eisenstein

With much of the Eastern Seaboard still digging out and drying out from Superstorm Sandy estimates now put the damage at anywhere up to $50 billion, perhaps more.? But in the weeks to come, even consumers as far away as the West Coast could feel the pinch.

That is likely to be especially true for car buyers.? Early estimates suggest that tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of vehicles were damaged to the point they will need to be replaced.? And that is likely to drive up prices for both new and used vehicles in the weeks and months ahead, experts warn.

If there?s a positive side for consumers it could mean better prices for those looking to trade in a car. For the industry, it?s likely to add even more momentum to the U.S. automotive market?s ongoing recovery.

?The extent of the damage from the superstorm remains to be seen. But experts are already trying to make some comparisons to the trio of hurricanes that slashed through the Gulf Coast region in 2005, destroying an estimated 640,000 vehicles.

?The damage from this storm was more widespread across a more populous area than was hit by Katrina, so the number of vehicles that will need to be replaced will likely be much bigger,? warns Ricky Beggs, vice president of the Black Book, a major source of pricing information on used, as well as new, vehicles.

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In fact, the impact will have a ?ripple effect in other parts of the country? as dealers and customers in storm-damaged regions race to find replacement vehicles.

The first measure of the impact, suggests Beggs, will likely become apparent at the 62 wholesale automotive auctions covered by the Black Book each week. He anticipates that dealers on the East Coast will significantly increase their bidding and likely grab vehicles that would have otherwise gone to the Midwest, South or even to the Pacific Coast.

Complicating matters, used vehicles already were in short supply because of declining sales of new vehicles during the Great Recession of the last four years.? Prices had already been nudging record levels for much of 2012 and Beggs predicts there will be another ?bump? in the months ahead.

Sandy Taking Steam Out of Strong Oct. Sales

?We may be seeing anything from $200 to $600 depending on how much the need is,? he says, adding that there could be especially strong demand for pickups and full-size vans used by contractors and repair crews ? not only to replace vehicles damaged by the storm but ?because there?ll be demand for services to repair the damages from the storm, so someone who might have had one truck may now need two.?

New car prices may also be heading up, the Black Book editor cautions, especially in markets with high lease penetration, such as the Boston area.? Those customers, he anticipates, will be more likely to replace damaged vehicles with new ones.? How many other motorists buy new vehicles could depend on whether they?re covered by insurance ? and how much they get in a settlement, experts caution.

Chrysler CEO Marchionne Calls Out Romney Over False Jeep Ads

But automakers could also face demand for more vehicles from new car dealers whose lots were damaged. So, while the storm resulted in a short-term sales dip in much of the Eastern third of the U.S., the mid-term focus is much more upbeat.

And the story isn?t entirely bad for consumers, says Beggs. -?It might be a good time,? he adds, ?even this week,? for getting maximum value for a trade-in as dealers scramble to line up used vehicles to replace those destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.

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Source: http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/31/14833006-sandy-likely-to-hit-car-buyers-in-the-wallet?lite

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Chris Weidman?s house damaged in Hurricane Sandy

As the country starts to clean up from the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, a UFC fighter will be part of the group who has to deal with wrecked homes. UFC middleweight Chris Weidman's home was damaged when the storm hit Long Island.

UFC light heavyweight Ryan Bader, who has the same manager as Weidman, tweeted that Weidman's home was lost.

Thoughts go out to @chrisweidmanufc & his family. Lost his home in the storm on the east coast.Please show him your support. @magllc @ufc

? Ryan Bader (@ryanbader) October 30, 2012

Weidman later spoke to MMA Fighting, and confirmed his home was severely damaged. The flooding was up to his chest in some places, and the first floor, backyard, garage and deck are destroyed.

"We lost a lot of stuff but as long as we are healthy that's all that matters. I actually documented a lot through video and pics. We had water up to my chest in some parts of my house."

He will need to deal with the clean up as he prepares for his next fight. Weidman is fighting Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 in late December.

Click here to learn how to help with Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chris-weidman-house-damaged-hurricane-sandy-125638992--mma.html

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Cfp: 7th International Technology, Education and Development ...

Date: 04-06 March 2013
Venue: Valencia, Spain
Website: http://iated.org/inted2013/

Submission Deadline: 29 November, 2012

The International Association of Technology, Education and Development (IATED), a non-profit private association dedicated to the promotion of international education and university cooperation in the field of Technology and Science. The IATED announces the 7th edition of INTED2013: an opportunity to present your projects and discuss the latest results in the field of Education and Research.

The general aim of the conference is to promote international collaboration in Education and Research in all educational fields and disciplines. The attendance of more than 700 delegates from 70 different countries is expected.

List of all possible conference topics is listed at?http://iated.org/inted2013/topics.

CALL FOR PAPERS

You can present your projects in three modalities: in person (either oral or poster presentation) or virtually (not attending authors).

Attending in person. Oral presentation:

Each presentation will last 15 minutes and will be presented in parallel thematic sessions. You will be informed about the reference of your session and the time of your presentation about 4 weeks before the event. If you have any personal restriction to present your paper in a specific date, please send us an email with your request as soon as possible.

Attending in person. Poster presentation:

Your poster will be exhibited during the conference poster session. Poster sessions will provide an opportunity for authors to display the results and conclusions of their papers. Authors are offered to present their works face to face to individuals and small groups.

Not-attending. Virtual presentation:

If you wish your paper to be published in INTED2013 Publications, but you are not able to attend INTED2013 Conference in person, you can register for a ?virtual presentation?. Registered virtual authors will receive a copy of the INTED2013 Abstracts CD, INTED2013 Proceedings CD, a participation and author certificate and an invoice of the registration fee.

Please find all the information about the virtual participation here.

Submission guidelines for oral, poster and virtual modalities:

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

• Abstracts should only be submitted on-line.
• The deadline for abstract submission is November 29th, 2012.

• There is a limit of two contributed submissions per registered author.
• All abstracts must be submitted and presented in English.
• Abstracts should be based on any of the topic areas listed in the section topics of this website or related areas.
• Abbreviations should be defined the first time they appear in your text. Example: HEA (Higher Education Area), before being used as an abbreviation only. Please, do not define or use abbreviations in the title.
• Please, avoid complex mathematical formulas. For the symbols ? or ?, type instead <= or >=.
• Tables, charts or other graphics may not be included and will be deleted by the editors.
• Abstracts may not be longer than 3500 characters including spaces.
• The minimum characters for an abstract to be reviewed are 900 including spaces
• Authors should indicate their presentation preference: oral, poster or virtual. The Programme Committee reserves the right to decide on the final allocation and presentation method.
• Authors will have their personal access and password codes, in order to manage, edit, etc. their abstracts.
• After having registered as author, you will receive a confirmation by e-mail with your login and password codes.
• After registering your abstract, your will receive an email with your abstract id.
• If you encounter any problem during the submission process or you do not receive any confirmation by e-mail please contact the Conference Secretariat: inted2013@iated.org
• If you wish to make any corrections to an already submitted abstract or if you wish to submit other abstracts, you should use your personal access codes. Corrections to abstracts can only be made until the deadline: November 29th, 2012.
• The notification of acceptance/rejection of the abstracts submitted will be sent to you via e-mail by December 21st, 2012.

FINAL PAPER SUBMISSION

• If your abstract has been accepted, you should submit your Final Paper. There is a limitation of 10 pages. The template of the Final Paper is available in the templates section.
• Contributions will only be published at INTED2013 publications if at least one of the authors of the paper is registered before January 24th, 2013. (in person or virtually).
• If you wish to be a session chair, please e-mail your request to inted2013@iated.org and indicate the topic area in which you are interested. Registration for the conference is required to be a session chair.

There will be three presentation modalities: oral and poster presentations (in-person) and virtual (for those who cannot attend in person).

Deadlines

• Abstract Submission Deadline: November 29th, 2012 (by midnight LA Timezone)
• Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: December 21st, 2012
• Final Paper Submission Deadline: January 24th, 2013 (included) (by midnight LA Timezone)

More information is available at the conference website here.

?

Source: http://www.role-project.eu/?p=3333

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9/11 mastermind dons camo vest to face Gitmo court

ACLU lawyer Hima Shamsi (background) addresses Judge Pohl, while 9/11 victim family members (left to right): Gordon Haberman, Kathy Haberman, Jo Aquaviva, and Anthony Aquaviva observe from behind a glass barrier at the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on Wednesday.

By NBC News staff and wire services

The self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks showed up to court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Wednesday wearing a camouflage vest after a judge ruled that the military-style garment would not disrupt the proceedings.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was using his attire to make a political statement, which he coupled with a monologue late in the day?s proceedings to condemn what he called prosecutors "elastic" use of national security to justify its actions.

"The government uses national security as it chooses," the Arabic-speaking Mohammed said through a translator while seated at a defense table. "Many can kill people under the name of national security and torture people in the name of national security."

---

Mohammed was appearing before the military commission for the third day of hearings that will set the ground rules for the trial of the 47-year-old Kuwaiti and four accused co-conspirators accused of planning and aiding hijackers who flew commercial airlines into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing 2,976 people.

All five defendants are charged with terrorism and murder and could be sentenced to death if convicted. The trial is likely more than a year away.

Fashion statement
Mohammed, who has grown a long beard in detention and dyed it with henna, wore the vest over his traditional white tunic and turban. He and a co-defendant had sought to wear camouflage items at their May 5 arraignment, but that request was denied.

At the time, the commander of the Guantanamo Bay prison said the camouflage might make it harder for the military prison guards to gain control if necessary, suggesting the clothing could create confusion about telling the difference between prisoners and fellow troops.

Earlier coverage of the week's Guantanamo pre-trial hearings:
Tuesday: Hearings for accused Sept. 11 terror planners haggle over rights, secrecy
Monday: 9/11 mastermind, alleged accomplices return to Guantanamo court

In Tuesday?s hearing, Military Judge Army Col. James Pohl dismissed the suggestion that the more than a dozen military members in the courtroom would have any problem distinguishing the bearded defendants. But just to be sure, he specifically prohibited them from wearing any items from U.S. military uniforms.

Mohammed considers himself a prisoner of war and wanted the same right to wear a uniform as the Japanese and German troops prosecuted for war crimes after World War II, according to his lawyers.

Mohammed surprised the courtroom midway through the afternoon by raising his hand to request that the court allow him to make a statement.

Watch World News videos on NBCNews.com?

Judge?Pohl said defendants are not generally permitted to comment on proceedings, but then granted his request.

"This is a one-time occurrence," Pohl told the defendant after some some back-and-forth.

"We are all human beings," Mohammed said in his brief monologue. "Your blood is not made out of gold and ours is made out of water."

He said that while Americans were sad that 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, the U.S. government has "killed millions of people."

He urged the judge not to be persuaded by the government's "crocodile tears," and he complained that the U.S. president can "legislate" assassinations in the name of protecting Americans.

Battle over secrecy?
Earlier Wednesday, the court resumed hearing arguments on the admissibility of testimony that includes information about the period of detention and harsh interrogation techniques employed at secret CIA prisons, before the men's transfer to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.

Even the judge grew frustrated with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed during a hearing at Guantanamo Bay as he refused to answer his questions. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports.

The government has already acknowledged some details about the secret prisons, including the fact that Mohammed was subjected to a near-drowning technique called water-boarding 183 times, but prosecutors have said that restrictions are necessary to prevent the release of information that would reveal information about intelligence sources and methods.

ACLU attorney Hina Shamsi picked up where she left off Tuesday when court adjourned, arguing that the detention information should be part of the public record.

Shamsi said the restrictions were overly broad and intended not to protect national security so much as to prevent the public from learning more details about the harsh confinement of the defendants in the CIA's prisons overseas.

Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter

"We are aware, your honor, of no other protective order that is as radical as what the government is asking you to judicially bless here," Shamsi said.

But government prosecutor Joanna Baltes said the ACLU and other critics of the proposed rules are exaggerating the restrictions. She said the restrictions, known as protective orders, are similar to those in major terrorism cases in civilian courts.

"I think it is a very inflammatory allegation for the ACLU to come in and claim they have never seen anything like this," Baltes said.

The painstaking pre-trial hearings are intended to deal with 25 motions, many of them dealing with security rules and defendants? rights.

On Monday, the court agreed that the defendants could not be forced to attend the pre-trial hearings.

At Wednesday?s hearings, Mohammed, who was born in Kuwait, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, a Pakistani, were the only two of the five who attended. Mustafa Al Hawsawi, a Saudi; and Walid Bin Attash and Ramzi Binalshibh, both from Yemen, sat this one out.

Hearings were slated to continue on Thursday morning.

The Associated Press and NBC News' Courtney Kube and Kari Huus contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/17/14513616-sept-11-terror-mastermind-dons-camouflage-vest-to-face-gitmo-court?lite

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How You Can Make An Income By Being An ... - A Home Business

If you become a prosperous eBay seller, then you may wish to try other source of income. This chance is called eBay Trading Assistant Program, in which it allows a seller to promote its items on consignment to other eBay members. To be an efficient trading assistant for other individuals, you have to be effective also with your auctions. The benefit of being a trading assistant is the opportunity to access the trading assistant marketing materials which can support you in your marketing campaign. To become an authorized trading assistant, you are required to at least sell ten goods for three months, acquire a feedback rating of 100 with at least 97% positive feedback, and one of the most important factor would be to have good standing with your eBay account.

Most newcomers do not possess the idea on how you can sell their goods. Generally, these people want to auction big ticket products, like real estate or vehicles and they?ll often use an eBay trading assistant that can help them make the sale. Items such as these have extremely big commissions that may be exploited by serious trading assistants. Usually, all the obligation with regards to the auction is offered to the trading assistant, such as product shipping and payment collection.

Should your main objective would be to start an eBay business, and not only to auction a couple of items to get some additional income, then you have to utilize the eBay business options which are made accessible for you. It is a reality that eBay?s success will significantly rely on the success of its personal vendors ? that is why they do everything to help you attain your goal. In order to successfully start an eBay business, it?s crucial to use eBay business solutions.

eBay Store is a popular solutions that is designed for eBay business entrepreneurs. An eBay store will allow you to list multiple numbers of item, and allow you to keep them out there for an extended period of time. Most eBay business owners have the advantage of enjoying a much lower auction fee, and can access the more superior tools for marketing. In the long run, you must consider upgrading your account into an eBay Pro Store, this will allow you to setup your very own storefront and incorporate your very own brand and website.

It?s also importantto establish a source for your goods. Most internet company ownersdepend on drop-shipping companiesbecause it is much more practicaland you?re not required to have your own inventory. For this jobyou need an effective drop shipping solution like Worldwide Brands to assist youin any of your drop-shippingactivities .

Andrea Milan is an accomplished eBay entrepreneur who likes to share her experience on drop shipping, it is possible find the best info by visiting dropship review and eBay business in general on her interesting blog where she also writes articles online business in general.

Tags: customer satisfaction, drop shipping company, Online auction, online auction sites

Source: http://www.easy-home-business.com/blog/how-you-can-make-an-income-by-being-an-ebay-trading-assistant/

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The Wacky World of Multiple Offers

Today?s Boston real estate market is highly competitive. There is the biggest shortage of inventory in a decade, and the historically low mortgage rates are fueling high buyer demand. This is leading to many competitive bidding situations for desirable properties in high demand areas of the city.

Great news for sellers, right?

Yes?.but?.

Multiple offers are a tricky situation for sellers. It is a nice ?problem? to have, but the situation needs to be handled delicately and transparently for all parties involved so it doesn?t blow up in your face.?Some age old clich?s come to mind?..

Hogs get slaughtered.

One in the hand is sometimes better than two in the bush.

But multiple offers can yield a great end net result for a seller if handled properly.

Let?s say you?ve?valued your home perfectly?and it has created multiple offers (how to do just that will be the topic of a future post).

The bottom line is that buyers detest being in a multiple offer situation. They feel as though they are getting ?bullied?, and the seller must walk a fine line between maximizing their own personal needs, and not simultaneously turning off buyers and creating ill will ? especially considering the transaction will be ongoing for a month or more even after the bidding stops.

On several?occasions?I?ve seen what seemed like advantageous multiple offer situations just evaporate with all the buyers walking away from a deal ? simply by the way it was handled by the seller and their agent.

How do you prevent that from happening?

?

The first thing to consider is that an offer is not just price. The terms of the deal matter just as much.

• How strong is the buyer financially? Is their loan assured?
• How experienced are they emotionally (1^st timers versus seasoned real estate buyers)?
• Do the closing dates work?
• Is there a?discernible?difference in their respective contingencies?

All of these issues are very important when weighting your options as a seller.

Assuming there are multiple offers that are similar in price and terms, then a common, and effective strategy is to ask for everyone?s ?best and final? offer by a specific time (typically 12-24 hours from receiving the multiple offers). ?I have always found that the best strategy when asking for a ?best and final? is foremost to ensure that they are both (or all) worthy of putting people in a ?best and final? situation. There is no need to force everyone into an emotionally volatile situation if there is 1 party that is a clear cut, far and away a ?better? option than all the other offers. Leveraging the competitive landscape is a great thing, if done properly; if not, it can be disastrous.

The one element of this process that I am adamant with my seller clients about is that ?best and final? is a one-time deal. I think it is a questionable strategy to ask for ?best and final? offers, and then try to go back and negotiate more. Yes, we all know there are exceptions to every rule, but I think this shows a lack of courtesy and credibility that can end up having a negative impact on a transaction, versus helping it.

Another factor for sellers to remember is that the market is the best indicator of value. If you have a hot new listing and get lucky enough to get in a multiple offer situation, then there is no more opportune time to learn the true value of your property?.even if none of the offers are at, or over the asking price. Buyers will often stretch their budgets and drop any ?hardline/low ball? negotiating tactics, if they know there are other interested parties. After all, they have to. ?That being said, if there are multiple offers, and the best one is still 3-5% below the asking price, then the odds are that is still going to be the best offer for the property. Thinking other buyers may come along in a week or 2, and be as aggressive is not a wise assumption.

At the end of the day use your ?newness? on market and the competition buzz created by multiple offers to get the best deal you can for yourself as the seller. Just be disciplined enough to realize the context of this fortuitous occurrence.? Treat people ethically, fairly, and appreciate that multiple offers typically will only happen once, and knowing how to handle it will ultimately help you achieve the most optimal end result.

Want to know how to create multiple offers on your home? Pricing your home correctly is the first step. The 2nd is an all encompassing marketing strategy to drive traffic to your home, both on the web and in person.?Contact me?and I?ll be happy to walk you through our marketing strategy with a proven track record to beat the market.

?

About P.T. Vineburgh

P.T. Vineburgh is the Founding Partner of Charlesgate Realty Group. His primary role is to lead the residential brokerage division of the company. P.T. has a B.A. from Boston College and an MBA from Babson College. He is a member of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors, The Boston Chamber of Commerce, and participates in various political and community organizations. He lives in Back Bay West and enjoys travel, sports and politics.

Source: http://charlesgaterealty.com/2012/selling-advice/the-wacky-world-of-multiple-offers/

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Ladbrokes loses out in Olympic competition

LONDON (Reuters) - Blanket Olympic television coverage and canceled horse races in a soggy summer reduced the sums gambled in British betting shops, bookmaker Ladbrokes Plc said on Thursday.

The Olympics in London were hugely popular with Britons but this did not translate into a surge in business for bookmakers, as many of the sports in the Games do not attract large numbers of gamblers.

Ladbrokes, Britain's second-largest bookmaker, said amounts staked in its British betting shops fell 4.9 percent in the three months through September, covering the Olympics and Paralympics and when bad weather caused the cancellation of 38 horse racing meetings.

"You had 24 hours of free, high-quality TV sports and it went on for four or five weeks. People were watching that rather than going to betting shops," said Ladbrokes Chief Executive Richard Glynn. "It's a once in a lifetime thing."

Online gambling exchange Betfair Group Plc said last month Olympics mania had sapped interest in betting on soccer and horse racing in August.

Quarterly operating profit at Ladbrokes reached 49.2 million pounds ($79.5 million), barely changed from 49 million a year earlier. Net revenue rose 3.9 percent.

"Though the economic outlook remains uncertain, we remain confident in our delivery and are in line with the board's expectations for 2012," said Glynn.

Ladbrokes said first versions of its new online sports betting website had been successfully released and it planned to migrate customers on to the platform by the end of the first quarter of next year.

The company's first-half performance had been hit by problems in its digital business - comprising online, tablet and mobile - where profits halved, in contrast to rivals who have seen strong growth online.

It has been investing more than 50 million pounds on technology over the past two years and expects to start to see a payback from 2013.

Glynn said Ladbrokes would look at acquisitions only if the price were right and they did not embroil the company in regulatory problems.

Takeover talks with online gaming company Sportingbet Plc foundered last year over regulatory concerns related to business in Turkey.

William Hill, Britain's largest bookmaker, has now joined forces with GVC Holdings Plc for a 530 million pound takeover of Sportingbet, which won provisional approval this week from the Sportingbet board.

Ladbrokes shares, up 15 percent since first-half results in August, were little changed at 180.8p by 0830 GMT.

($1 = 0.6186 British pounds)

(Editing by Paul Sandle and David Holmes)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ladbrokes-says-digital-track-q3-profit-flat-063457540--finance.html

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Experts: Costa Concordia equipment malfunctioned before crash

23 hrs.

NBC News staff and wire reports

GROSSETO/GIGLIO, Italy - An Italian court heard on Tuesday that equipment aboard the Costa Concordia luxury liner may not have been functioning when she ran aground and capsized, killing 32 people.

The list of issues compiled by a panel of court-appointed experts included a wide range of alleged malfunctions, from lights that did not work during the disaster to the?possibility?that radar equipment had been turned off or broken.

The hearing is closed to the public because the huge media interest could not be accommodated.

The 114,500-ton luxury cruise ship capsized on Jan. 13 after approaching the Tuscan island of Giglio to perform a maneuver close to the shore known as a salute. It struck a rock which tore a gash in its hull.

Previous?story:?Packed court as Costa captain hears evidence

Also on Tuesday, Francesco Schettino,?the captain blamed for the disaster admitted he made?mistakes?but accused the cruise liner company of mishandling the response.?He said last week he was suing Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp., for unfair dismissal following the accident.

His lawyer Francesco Pepe said the hearing would show his client was not solely responsible for the disaster.

"Schettino's responsibility needs to be established and it needs to be established that others may have contributed as well," he said after the conclusion of the hearing's first day.

Meanwhile in Giglio, where the stricken liner still lays on her side awaiting salvage, news has emerged that thieves broke into the Costa Concordia earlier this year, stealing furniture, paintings and luxury goods from a gift shop. Sources at Costa Crociere say the thieves had used entry holes and guide ropes made by search and rescue teams to get into the ship.

'I saved your lives'
Schettino?slipped into court by a back door on Tuesday, wearing dark glasses and offering just a brief wave to waiting journalists. According to Italian TV network Tg1, he spoke to two German Costa passengers inside court, saying, ?I saved your lives and those of many other passengers.?

This week?s hearings will help the judge decide if Schettino should stand trial. He is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship while passengers and crew were still aboard. He denies the accusations and has not been charged.

Previous?story:?Costa Concordia cruise ship captain says sacking unfair

A key question is how much of the blame Schettino should shoulder himself and how much responsibility lies with his crew and employer, Costa Crociere, a division of the Miami-based Carnival Corp. Costa Crociere has denied negligence and has distanced itself from Schettino, firing him in July.

In all, nine people face the prospect of criminal trial, which would be unlikely to begin before next year.

The company's lawyer defended the ship's other crew.

"I believe that everything that came out yesterday -- and the conclusions drawn by the court appointed experts -- acknowledge that everything that could have been done by the Costa Concordia crew, was done,"?Marco de Luca, a lawyer for Costa Crociere, told NBC News, outside the courtroom.?

"The one fact that has been completely underestimated is that more than four thousand people were disembarked in a short period of time -- some two hours -- and this was done exclusively by Costa personnel.?

Praxilla Trabattoni and Claudio Lavanga of NBC News, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.?

More world stories from NBC News:

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/experts-costa-concordia-equipment-may-not-have-been-working-crash-1C6496546

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Romney primary message shifts as election nears

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign event at Ida Lee Park Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, in Leesburg, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign event at Ida Lee Park Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, in Leesburg, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gets a hug from a supporter campaigns at Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, Va., Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, Va., Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign event at Ida Lee Park Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, in Leesburg, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) ? On immigration, taxes and women's issues, Mitt Romney is abandoning his "severely conservative" talk of the Republican primary season and moving sharply to the political center as he looks to sway on-the-fence voters in the campaign's final three weeks.

At the same time, the GOP presidential nominee's advisers and the Republican National Committee are looking to give Romney more routes to reaching the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. They are weighing whether to shift resources from North Carolina, where Republicans express confidence of winning, into states long considered safe territory for President Barack Obama, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The evolving strategy comes as both candidates work to capitalize on their second debate-stage meeting, a Tuesday night face off in which Romney emphasized his bipartisan credentials as well as his efforts to hire women while Massachusetts governor, and declared, "I'm not looking to cut taxes for wealthy people."

One day after the debate, Romney's camp conceded that Obama had a strong performance and mapped out a plan for the Republican to focus on the economy in the coming days, including delivering a speech on spending and debt early next week. Romney also intends to continue aggressively reaching out to the narrow slice of moderate, undecided voters.

The former Massachusetts governor, who described himself as "severely conservative" in February, offered a moderate message while appealing directly to women voters Wednesday in Virginia, which Obama won four years ago and is up for grabs now.

"This president has failed America's women," Romney told an estimated 3,500 supporters Wednesday gathered outside Tidewater Community College in Chesapeake. "They've suffered in terms of getting jobs. They've suffered in terms of falling into poverty."

At an evening rally in Leesburg, he cited the struggle of single mothers and called for more cooperation in politics.

"I want to ensure that we come together as Republicans and Democrats. People of all the states, come together," Romney said at an evening rally that drew 8,500 to northern Virginia.

He also has softened his tone on women's issues as he looks to cut into Obama's polling advantage among women.

Romney's opposition to Planned Parenthood was a common theme during the primary, and Obama hammered the Republican on Tuesday over his plan to cut funding for Planned Parenthood, the network of clinics that provide women's health care and also provide abortion services.

Romney hasn't backed away from that stance; his plan to cut Title X, which funds family planning health services, is still listed on his website. But he isn't quick to talk about it either. Earlier this month, he told the Des Moines Register's editorial board that he didn't intend to pursue any abortion-related legislation as president, and then back tracked.

Romney had also been careful not to take a position against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. That bill, the first Obama signed as president, requires employers to prove that differences in pay are related to qualifications, not to gender; it also allows more time for employees to sue employers if they are discriminated against.

Romney adviser Ed Gillespie said Tuesday night that Romney had opposed the Ledbetter legislation all along but, a day later, the aide said he had been wrong.

Looking to cut into Obama's polling edge with Hispanics, Romney assailed Obama on Tuesday for failing to live up to a promise to try to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. He tried to offer a sunny explanation for a phrase he favored earlier this year: self-deportation ? essentially, creating employment and enforcement conditions so harsh that immigrants are forced to leave.

During the primary season, Romney insisted he wouldn't talk about a comprehensive plan until the U.S. border with Mexico was more secure.

"Secure the border. Once we do that, we can start talking about the 11 million or whatever number that may be that are in the country illegally," Romney said in a debate in Iowa last year.

Romney also is emphasizing his plan to overhaul the nation's tax system, including the declaration that wealthy Americans won't get a tax break under his plan. The campaign's internal polling during the debate found that to be his most popular line, along with his promises to help small businesses and reduce the nation's deficit.

The tax pledge is a departure in tone, if not policy, from his position during the primary, when his comments were squarely focused on his plan to cut tax rates by 20 percent across the board.

"By reducing the tax on the next dollar of income earned by all taxpayers, we will encourage hard work, risk-taking, and productivity by allowing Americans to keep more of what they earn," Romney told the Detroit Economic Club earlier this year.

Tuesday night, it was a different message. Said Romney: "I'm not looking to cut taxes for wealthy people. I am looking to cut taxes for middle-income people."

___

Hunt reported from Washington.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-17-US-Romney/id-62da01bc406945838bf61c52f9b6827a

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AppDirect Acquires Open Source Billing Company jBilling

Today cloud app store company AppDirect announced its acquisition of open source billing company jBilling. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. AppDirect co-CEO Daniel Saks says existing jBilling won’t be affected and AppDirect will continue to sell and support jBilling products. AppDirect makes “white label” software-as-a-service app stores. Saks says its customers are mostly local IT consulting companies who want to be able to sell SaaS applications like Google Apps, DocuSign, New Relic, and SendGrid. The company was founded in 2009 by Saks, co-CEO Nicolas Desmarais (previously of Bain Capital) and technical co-founder Andy Sen (who worked at Salesforce.com on its enterprise app store AppExchange). Saks was an investment banker in the SaaS market at Viant Capital and saw that many had trouble reaching businesses users. “Businesses don’t know where to find and purchase software. They mostly go through local consultants or buy boxed software through companies like Office Depot.” That meant the new wave of cloud services weren’t finding their way to traditional businesses. AppDirect makes it possible to sell several different SaaS apps, and provides a universal login system based on OpenID. It’s also quite possibly enabling, through its partnership with Rackspace and AppFog, the sort of “platform-as-a-service app stores” that I previously postulated. The company raised a $3.25 round of seed funding in 2011, and a $8.5 million series A from iNovia Capital last summer. jBilling is based in Ottawa, Canada and was founded in 2002. It follows an “open core” business model — it developers a free Community Edition along with commercial versions for different verticals, including telcos and SaaS providers. It has major clients such as Constant Contact, VeriFone and Sage.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dS9BJSczt_A/

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Soul Switch

When going about your daily routines you meet a spirit who was brought into your world to fight for their right to live again. However they must cooperate with the living in order to fight. Are you up for the challenge?

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On the Call: EBay CEO John Donahoe

EBay Inc. reported an increase in its third-quarter earnings and revenue Wednesday, helped by its fast-growing PayPal unit as well as its core marketplaces business, which includes eBay.com.

In a conference call with analysts, CEO John Donahoe answered a question about possible job cuts at PayPal, which has been undergoing a reorganization since David Marcus took helm in April. Marcus has tried to streamline how PayPal creates and delivers new products and make PayPal work more like a nimble startup than a large company.

QUESTION: In the context of the product reorganization you mention, how should we think about the reports of headcount reductions at PayPal?

ANSWER: First of all, let's be clear. PayPal is a very strong franchise, strong business, strong opportunity. While that's true, we are absolutely committed to accelerating the pace of innovation at PayPal. And since David has taken over, he is taking what is in essence of nine different product organizations across PayPal and streamlining and consolidating them into one global product organization. And PayPal employees know about that.

We haven't finally landed on the impact of that. And once we do we will communicate that to the employees and elsewhere. But I think the two things I would say is, one, this is clearly not a case where we're trying to pursue any cost reduction or efficiency goals. This is 100 percent focused on streamlining and simplifying how we create and consistently deliver great products. And that's something we are committed to do and I think you will see real strong evidence PayPal is doing that in the coming weeks and months.

The only thing I might add is that we're working through things at this end and I would say we haven't announced anything yet. Externally. When we get along to where we have something to announce as usual we in fact will.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/call-ebay-ceo-john-donahoe-230709176--finance.html

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Friends memorialize ex-Sen. Arlen Specter in Pa.

NARBERTH, Pa. (AP) ? Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter was an "irreplaceable" force who approached politics ? and life ? with grit and determination, a who's who of politicians and others said Tuesday at the longtime senator's funeral.

"I've never seen as much undaunted courage as Arlen had ? both physically and politically. He believed he could change the world, if he just worked hard enough at it," Vice President Joe Biden told mourners, including three Pennsylvania governors, federal judges and hundreds of friends, at Har Zion Temple in Narberth, a Philadelphia suburb.

Specter died at his Philadelphia home on Sunday at 82 after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He had spent 30 years in the Senate before losing his seat in 2010, after crossing party lines to vote for President Barack Obama's stimulus package and later switching parties.

"In a dark time for our nation, he was willing to lose his seat to cast a decisive vote," said Specter's son Shanin, whose remarks capped about 90 minutes of tributes.

U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois recalled how his friend approached everything in life "with intensity, determination and grit," managing to teach one last law class on Oct. 4 at the University of Pennsylvania, even as he was losing his third fight with cancer.

Specter's influence on law, medicine, politics, Judaism and other walks of life was clear from the diverse, bipartisan and powerful crowd of mourners, including Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and rows dotted with current and former members of Congress, along with federal judges whose careers Specter backed.

Specter, a political moderate, switched parties twice but mostly served as a Republican. Speakers said he honed his respect for opposing viewpoints as a child, growing up in the only Jewish family in Russell, Kan.

"He really set the standard for working across party lines and we're going to miss that," said Casey, who said Specter had helped smooth his transition when he arrived in Washington.

Anthony J. Scirica, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, called Specter "irreplaceable."

"He touched so many lives," Scirica said. "He had some tough times, but he always thought that he was working for the public good."

Two of Specter's granddaughters also spoke, including Silvi Specter, a freshman at Penn who drew applause when she said she hopes to follow her grandfather into law and the U.S. Senate ? before becoming president.

Shanin Specter, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, compared his father to the fictional character Forrest Gump, given Specter's proximity to so many seminal events in modern American history.

Specter served as counsel to the Warren Commission investigating President John F Kennedy's death. He won his Senate seat in the Reagan landslide of 1980 and, as one of the Senate's sharpest legal minds, took part in 14 Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

He grilled Anita Hill when the law professor raised sexual harassment complaints against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. That cost him some of the support he enjoyed from female voters, but, much like the stimulus vote, he felt it was the right thing to do, former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell recalled.

All the while, Specter fought two earlier bouts with Hodgkin lymphoma, and overcame a brain tumor and cardiac arrest following bypass surgery. He then announced in August that he was again battling cancer.

"There are some things that even the most robust human spirit can't conquer," said Rendell, choking up.

His greatest legacy, his friends said, may be the $10 million in federal money he steered into cancer research.

Specter is also survived by his wife, Joan, son Steve and three other granddaughters.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/friends-memorialize-ex-sen-arlen-specter-pa-172929501.html

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Chinese Guestworkers Head Into BC Coal Mines

A curious twist for Canadian coal exports.

This is surely one of the stranger dimensions of the coal export saga we?ve been cataloging: the Canadian government is approving guest-worker status for as many as 2,000 Chinese nationals to extract coal from British Columbia?s underground mines.

As the Vancouver Sun reports:

Canadians ?just don?t have the experience? operating the equipment needed to safely extract coal in underground mines, said John Cavanagh, chief executive of Vancouver-based Canadian Dehua International Mines Group Inc., a company founded by China-born Vancouver businessman Naishun Liu.

Understandably, Canada?s unions are not exactly thrilled with the idea:

Stephen Hunt, western director for the United Steelworkers union, ridiculed Tuesday the suggestion Canadians couldn?t be trained to work underground.

?Bullshit,? he said of Cavanagh?s assertions.

?That?s just a cop-out, a way to bring in guest workers who are going to go into a camp, contribute virtually nothing to the economy, and then when they?re done they?ll be sent back to China,? he said.

I don?t know anything about Canada?s Temporary Foreign Worker program, but I think it?s fair to say there?s something odd about the whole thing: not just because Chinese workers will dig up BC?s coal but because almost all of BC?s coal is exported, mainly to East Asian manufacturing centers where it is used in steelmaking and other types of industry.

In British Columbia the economic upside of coal exports is getting thinner and thinner. (And that?s to say nothing of the grave environmental and health problems created by coal). If anything, the province is starting to look like the very definition of a resource colony.

Source: http://daily.sightline.org/2012/10/15/chinese-guestworkers-head-into-bc-coal-mines/

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Integrative Coping Skills Group - DukeHealth.org

Date

Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012
Click here for a list of other dates

Time

4:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

Organization

Duke Psychosocial Treatment Clinic

Description

12 Weekly Sessions include:

• Integration of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness and yoga-based principles to learn anxiety management and general coping skills
• Relaxation techniques that include breathing exercises, body poses, guided imagery and music

Program Details:

• Children 8-12 years old
• Thursdays from 4 - 5:15 PM
• September 27 - December 20
• A maximum of 8 children per group

Contact

Call 919-681-0040 or contact Taryn Allen at taryn.allen@duke.edu or Anava Wren at anavanessa.wren@duke.edu

Registration status

Registration open

Registration Requirements

Maximum of 8 children

Location

Pavilion East at Lakeview
2608 Erwin Road
Suite 300
Durham, NC 27705

About This Page

Updated: Sept. 17, 2012
URL: http://www.dukehealth.org/events/integrative-coping-skills-group/20121018

Source: http://www.dukehealth.org/events/integrative-coping-skills-group/20121018?utm_source=dukehealth.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS_events

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Discovery! Earth-Size Alien Planet at Alpha Centauri Is Closest Ever Seen

The star system closest to our own sun hosts a planet with roughly Earth's mass and may harbor other alien worlds as well, a new study reports.

Astronomers detected the alien planet around the sunlike star Alpha Centauri B, which is part of a three-star system just 4.3 light-years away from us. The newfound world is about as massive as Earth, but it's no Earth twin; its heat-blasted surface may be covered with molten rock, researchers said.

The mere existence of the planet, known as Alpha Centauri Bb, suggests that undiscovered worlds may lurk farther away from its star ? perhaps in the habitable zone, that just-right range of distances where liquid water can exist.

"Most of the low-mass planets are in systems of two, three to six or seven planets, out to the habitable zone," study co-author Stephane Udry, of the Geneva Observatory, told reporters yesterday (Oct. 16).

So the discovery "opens really good prospects for detecting planets in the habitable zone in a system that is very close to us," Udry added. "In that sense, this system is a landmark."

Alpha Centauri Bb zips around its star every 3.2 days, orbiting at a distance of just 3.6 million miles (6 million kilometers). For comparison, Earth orbits about 93 million miles, or 150 million km, from the sun. [Countdown: The Top 5 Habitable Alien Planets]

A difficult detection

The research team, led by Xavier Dumusque of Geneva Observatory and the University of Porto in Portugal, spotted Alpha Centauri Bb using an instrument called the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS.

HARPS is part of the European Southern Observatory's 11.8-foot (3.6 meters) telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The instrument allows astronomers to pick up the tiny gravitational wobbles an orbiting planet induces in its parent star.

In the case of Alpha Centauri Bb, these wobbles are very tiny indeed; the planet causes its star to move back and forth at no more than 1.1 mph (1.8 kph). It took more than 450 HARPS measurements spread out over four years of observing to detect the planet's signal, Dumusque said.

"It?s an extraordinary discovery, and it has pushed our technique to the limit," he said in a statement.

The detection, published today (Oct. 17) in the journal Nature, was so difficult that some astronomers aren't yet convinced that Alpha Centauri Bb exists.

For example, Artie Hatzes of the Thuringian State Observatory in Germany lauded the discoverers' technical achievement but said he believes the jury is still out.

"As the American astronomer Carl Sagan once said, 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,'" Hatzes wrote in a commentary piece in the same issue of Nature. "Although a planetlike signal is present in the data, the discov?ery does not quite provide the 'extraordinary evidence.' It is a weak signal in the presence of a larger, more complicated signal. In my opin?ion, the matter is still open to debate."

Udry, however, said that the team's statistical analyses show a "false alarm probability" of just one in 1,000 ? meaning there's a 99.9 percent chance that the planet exists.

And some experts don't agree with Hatzes that Alpha Centauri Bb requires extraordinary supporting evidence.

"The reason why this seems to be an extraordinary claim is because everyone has heard of Alpha Centauri B; it's a household name," said Greg Laughlin of the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not part of the discovery team. "It's extraordinary not so much in terms of the robustness of the result, but rather just in terms of the fact that's it's a well-known nearby star."

A lava world?

Dumusque and his colleagues determined that Alpha Centauri Bb is about 13 percent more massive than Earth, suggesting it's a rocky world. In addition to being the closest known exoplanet, it's also the first planet with a mass similar to Earth ever found around a sunlike star, researchers said. [Gallery: The Smallest Alien Planets]

Alpha Centauri Bb's extreme closeness to its parent star probably gives the planet a surface temperature around 2,240 degrees Fahrenheit (1,227 degrees Celsius), making it unsuitable for life, researchers said.

"At this temperature, there is a lot of chance that the surface ? if it's made of rock, for example ? it's not solid, but it's more like lava," Dumusque told reporters yesterday.

Even though it resides in a three-star system ? consisting of close-orbiting Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, along with the more distant Proxima Centauri ? the newfound world's orbit is stable over the long haul, Laughlin said. So are orbits in Alpha Centauri B's habitable zone, he added.

It's possible that Alpha Centauri A and Proxima Centauri may host planets as well, Udry said. The system will likely be the subject of newly intense scientific scrutiny, as astronomers seek to confirm the existence of Alpha Centauri Bb, learn more about it (such as whether or not it has an atmosphere) and hunt for additional nearby alien worlds.

"If you want to envision exploring this system, then it's almost twice as easy to get there as anywhere else," Laughlin said. "This is our backyard, and to find out that planet formation did occur there is just extraordinarily exciting."

Astronomers have now discovered more than 800 exoplanets, but thousands more ? including 2,300 detected by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope ? await confirmation by follow-up investigations. Work so far suggests that small, rocky planets such as Earth are quite common throughout our Milky Way galaxy.

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and?Google+.

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/discovery-earth-size-alien-planet-alpha-centauri-closest-220016352.html

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JCSD1 Board Approves Employment, Other Requests | Sheridan ...

At their last meeting, the Johnson County School District One Board of Trustees approved a number of requests concerning employment, Isolation and Home Schooling.

A recommendation for Sherri Wright as a full time special education aide at Clear Creek Middle School was approved. She will work 7-hour days at pay rate of $9.85 per hour.
Resignations were approved from Lisa Marton as a library/media aide at Buffalo High School effective October 8th; and from Maggie Hokanson as head volleyball coach at Kaycee High School effective October 10th.

Isolation requests from three seperate families concerning four students for a total of 62 miles was approved by the board.

One home school request concerning one student whose family submitted in writing their proposed curriculum was approved by the board.

Source: http://www.sheridanmedia.com/news/jcsd1-board-approves-employment-other-requests56082

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15 October 2012. Vox Pop on the Church Situation?

One of the Cabinet sent this:

I?ve mentally checked out of the OCA. I never really subscribed to the bullshit about an ?American Church?. I just want us to go home to Russia. It?s interesting to consider how much house cleaning would occur here in the former OCA if that happened. Frankly, I don?t hear much about the ?American Orthodox Church? in my parish unless it?s from a few old codgers. The Moriak crap has just put me over the edge. I?m staying in the OCA because I?m staying in my parish, at least for the time being? decent priest, lovely people. There?s a Russian parish close enough, if it comes to that. I?m paying attention to events, but I rarely stir from my parish.

If anyone knows about the content of the Moriak texts in my parish, no one?s talking about it. Frankly, people have better things to do? like living their lives? rather than following the latest scandal. Hell, my state of mind is better if I?m not following everything closely. However, it?s like a car wreck on the highway, with delays from people rubber-necking to see what happened. ?There?s something rotten in the state of Denmark? (Shakespeare,?Hamlet)? what?s so institutionally wrong with the OCA that, time after time, they?ve chosen crappy bishops? Vladyki Job wasn?t perfect, none of us is, but he stood head and shoulders above the current crop.

On another topic, I received the Everyday Saints book recently and have begun reading it. The monks described so far are certainly characters! Regardless of what you can say about the author, he certainly is an interesting storyteller.

There?s been interesting back n? forth on Atty:

He?s done some good renovations, etc, but he?s apparently pushy and overbearing. Seminarians don?t have to stay there on weekends like they used to and he doesn?t either. His wife sings in Mayfield because she likes Slavic music, not the whiney crap the convert seminary director pushes.

On the other hand, I got this:

I know this for a FACT. Fr Atty?s a wonderful man, a real priest. He?s called it as he?s seen it at STS and the vipers hate him for it. He stands openly and unabashedly for the truth. That speaks volumes? ?and makes the cockroaches run from the Light.

I?ve never taken a position one way or the other on Atty personally; I?ve only reported what?s out there concerning him. Members of the Cabinet are all over the map concerning him. You pays your money and you takes your choice.?On a lighter note, one of the Cabinet contributed on Wet Willy:

?Mormonia?? they combined the former states of Catatonia and Polygamiland to form it, didn?t they?? Capital is Grain-of-Salt City? All the women wear beehive hairdos and the men wear funny underwear? I seem to remember spending a few years there back in May of ?98. The kids either buy burgers at the sign of the Golden Tablets or eat lots of Moroni-and-cheese.

Then, there was a little give n? take on this:

Only it?s ?I will give YOU rest?. Plural. I hope you can change that.

?Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest?

The Gospel according to St Matthew 11.28

I?m sensitive to this because after always using the KJV, the half-converted and Renovationists want to abandon that version totally. THE English version? the only one that received help from the?Orthodox during its translation, as Patriarch Kirill Loukaris sent King James? men an ancient copy of the Received Text to help them out. While we DO also use the RSV, Evangelicals have always hated that version (because it?s a critical text translation, i.e. scholarly) so that?s not good enough either. I see them using the NIV or similar versions. Ugh.

I replied:

That was deliberate? it was meant to be ?personal?? that is, Christ gives all of us, individually, rest. Note that I didn?t ?cite chapter and verse?. That?s OK? you didn?t know my intent.

NEVER assume bad intent on the part of one?s interlocutors. NEVER. It?s why I treasure the Cabinet so? I know that there are ?eyes out there?? it keeps me honest. Remember, things are going to get murkier in the near term? believe nothing that you don?t see or that reliable people see. It?ll have a good end, I?m sure, but the trick is in getting there?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Monday 15 October 2012

Albany NY

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Source: http://02varvara.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/15-october-2012-vox-pop-on-the-church-situation/

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