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Two Los Angeles County prosecutors will square off in November in the race to become the county's next district attorney, with L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich falling short in his bid despite having more money and more name recognition than his fellow candidates.
The top vote-getter in Tuesday's race was Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Lacey. With 100 percent of votes counted, she had 203,889 votes, or 31.9 percent, according to election results released this morning by the Los Angeles County registrar of voters.
In second place, guaranteeing his place in the runoff, was Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson with 151,199 votes -- 23.6 percent. Trutanich had more than $1.1 million in campaign funds, the strongest name recognition of all the candidates and a number of important endorsements, but he ended up in third place with 142,576 votes, or 22.3 percent.
"We see tonight as a huge victory," Jackson said. "The Jackson campaign took on Carmen Trutanich and saved the people of Los Angeles County from a politician who was more concerned about winning the next office instead of winning the next case.
"We were outraised, outspent and outsized by the city attorney. Yet, we prevailed because voters clearly want a modern prosecutor, not a politician."
Lacey and Jackson were among five county prosecutors running to replace
retiring District Attorney Steve Cooley, but Lacey was the only one with the
endorsement of her boss.
A Los Angeles native and USC Law School graduate, Lacey has worked for the D.A.'s office since 1986. She has prosecuted thousands of crimes and tried
about 60 felony cases to jury verdicts, including 11 homicides and the county's
first trial of a race-motivated hate crime, according to her campaign. She has
emphasized her management skills and low-key temperament as key to leading the District Attorney's Office.
Lacey also said she has overseen crime-fighting initiatives focused on preventing animal cruelty, prosecuting graffiti and assigning gun cases to jurisdictions likely to obtain maximum criminal penalties. She had the endorsement of the Los Angeles Times and City Councilman Bernard Parks, a co-endorsement (with Jackson) by the Daily News, and the support of several other news outlets.
Jackson may be best known for his murder prosecution of music producer Phil Spector in 2009 and his appearances as a legal analyst on shows such as NBC Dateline's "Unsolved Case Squad." Raised in Texas, Jackson served in the Air Force and then went on to the University of Texas and Pepperdine University
School of Law. He has worked for the D.A.'s office for 17 years and is the
assistant head deputy of the office's Major Crimes Division.
Jackson led prosecutions of nearly 70 felonies, nearly half of which were homicides, including the killings of racing legend Mickey Thompson and his wife. In interviews, Jackson has said he would seek to repeal AB109 -- the state's move to reassign responsibility for low-level offenders to counties -- and allow counties to contract with out-of-state correctional facilities. He has the endorsements of County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and several police
The Peace Officers Research Association, the state's largest law enforcement group, endorsed both Jackson and Lacey. The Daily News co-endorsement of Lacey and Jackson offered the opinion that the winner should be "anyone but Carmen (Trutanich)."
Trutanich was endorsed by Gov. Jerry Brown, Sheriff Lee Baca, six Los Angeles city councilmen and most of the largest labor unions in the region, including the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Former Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal made robo-calls on his behalf.
But he also had to contend with negative press for his broken 2008 campaign promise to serve out his full term as city attorney before seeking further office.
Trutanich was elected city attorney in 2008 and said he has fought gangs and worked to confiscate guns while saving taxpayer dollars. The city attorney's office has won 82 of 89 trials during his tenure and cut outside legal fees by 70 percent, according to his campaign website.
Trutanich grew up in the South Bay and earned an MBA from USC before
pursuing a law degree from the South Bay University College of Law. He worked
in the district attorney's gang unit and later focused on environmental litigation, eventually starting a private practice.
Lacey said she was anticipating a hard fight to the finish, saying Tuesday she thought there would be "blood on the floor" before the race was over in November.


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This is 100% Authentic Louis Vuitton Malesherbes Handbag in Yellow Epi leather. Flap top secured with twist lock. Inside has purple lining and one side pocket secured with zipper. Perfect for any occasion. Will comfortably and securely keep all your small items. This is discontinued item so don't let it get away
Made in: Made in France
Serial Number: VI 1913
Size: 26 x 23 x 6 cm or 10.2 x 9 x 2.2 inches
RRP: $ 1480 USD (discontinued)
Overall 8 of 10 in excellent condition with some light signs of use.
Shape is keeping well
Leather show only very light use with only few light surface scratches
Edges: have some light surface scratches but nothing serious.
Inside show some use but overall looks clean. Inside side pocket is sticky and is peeling so it will need to be repaired before use Please consider before you make your purchase.
Hardware shows only light use and is in perfect working order.
Smell: Item comes from smoke and odor free environment.
Dust Bag Yes included.

subset: commoncrawl


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Welcome to Creativity Art Studio!
Creativity Art Studio is all about the beauty of creating and the rewarding journey of self-expression. This warm and charming studio takes pride in helping people of all ages and abilities find their artistic voice. Simply choose your blank canvas. We offer everything from ceramics and pottery to drawing and painting. Select a pallet from a wide variety of colors, and let your imagination run wild!
Friendly staff is always available on hand and eager to offer you great tips and stencils, so whether you've been adorning your walls for years or you haven't touched a canvas since kindergarten finger-painting class, you're sure to craft a masterpiece. Should you choose to make a ceramic pottery piece, your work will be glazed, fired and ready to pick up in about 7 days. You'll have a beautiful, one-of-a-kind art that is truly worthy of display – and best of all, when someone asks who the artist is, you can proudly exclaim "me!"
So come and see what the excitement is all about! Whether you seek a unique birthday party idea the kids will love, or you simply want to let the creative juices flow in an inspiring environment, Creativity Art Studio is the place to be. With endless creative possibilities and good vibes, head over to Creativity Art Studio and fashion your very own stroke of genius.
Pick and Paint Ceramics
Come in and see all of the fun and interesting pieces of bisque we have for you to paint any way you want! No appointment needed, we want to be your favorite Utah Valley Art Studio. Come in anytime, our tables are first come first serve. For ideas browse our gallery: Gallery
Birthday Parties
Call to schedule your party today! Check out all the details here: Birthday Parties
Art Lessons
Call to schedule a class with our skilled and experienced art teacher! Check out all the details here: Art Classes
Pottery Lessons
We have a pottery wheel! you can come in and use it with or without an instructor! Lessons with an instructor can be scheduled by calling the studio. Check out the details here: Pottery Lessons
Creativity Art Studio
1063 South 750 East Orem
Serving all of Utah County – Conviently located in the University Mall Village in the heart of the Provo, Orem area.


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There's a reason chairlifts don't run in high winds
Oh my god these slams are so nasty!
Surfers have done all kinds of crazy sh*t down the years...
What's better, being a surfer, BMXer, skateboarder or something else? We asked a zombie expert...
Should discounts be given to 'passengers with high body mass'?
This could make any desk job a whole lot more exciting.
Ever Dreamt Of Flying Your Bike?! They Were Already Doing It In 1963!
Planes are good for more than just taking you places... Check out these insane videos!
Grossed out by last week's gnarly x-rays? Our readers sent in more – and they're not for the faint-hearted...
The craziest moments that you probably missed!
Mpora © 2014 Factory Media Ltd.


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AHS 2009 New Orleans Data
American Housing Survey for Selected Metropolitan Areas: 2009
It is also available in print; Order Online or call HUD USER 1-800-245-2691.
The 2009 New Orleans SAS data files (Download as *.exe, 1.47 MB or *.zip, 859 KB)
The 2009 New Orleans ASCII data files (Download as *.exe, 1.89 MB or *.zip, 1.46 MB)
The file flattener program is a SAS routine that extracts the eight individual SAS files from the transport dataset and produces a single SAS file, with one record per housing unit. Observations on persons, commuting, recent mover groups, and alterations & repair projects are transformed into numbered groups of variables in the housing unit record. While this file structure requires about twice as much disk space as the individual files, some users find it easier to use.
2009 New Orleans survey topcode file (*.xls, 49 KB) Topcodes and bottom codes are used in the AHS public use file in order to maintain confidentiality. Unusually high (and, in a few cases, low) values in the AHS dataset are replaced with maximum (or minimum) values, called top (or bottom) codes. This MS-Excel spreadsheet documents these values for the affected variables.
Download the 2009 AHS New Orleans Symmetrical Tables (Download as *.zip, 70 KB updated 04/11/11)
The 2009 AHS New Orleans Symmetrical Tables show differences in housing and household characteristics of the same housing units interviewed in both 2004 and 2009, before and after the struck of Hurricane Katrina. Since the AHS is a longitudinal survey, these forward-looking tables present the 2009 characteristics of the 2004 New Orleans housing stock. For example, table 1 shows that 94,900 renter-occupied units in 2004 remained to be occupied by tenants in 2009 and only 17,200 renter-occupied units in 2004 became owner-occupied. Table 2 suggests that 63,100 households who were not below poverty line in 2004 were below poverty line in 2009. Table 9 indicates that the households who had a monthly housing cost between $400 and $499 incurred a median monthly housing cost of $732 in 2009.
Download the Descriptive Statistics of 2009 AHS Variables (Download as *.exe, 1.03 MB or *.zip, 397 KB, updated 10/26/10)
New Orleans 2004 vs. 2009 Comparison Tables (*.xls, 26 KB)
Please download the Codebook for the American Housing Survey; Public Use File: 1997 and later (*.pdf, 2.46 MB).
2009 Instrument Items Booklet (2009 Questionnaire) (*.pdf, 667 KB): The instrument items booklet is a PDF document that lists all the questions and responses in the AHS survey instrument. It was prepared for the Office of Management and Budget as part of the survey clearance process. This is the closest equivalent to a paper version of the AHS questionnaire.
Download AHS New Orleans 2004-2009 Shapefiles (*.zip, 34 KB)
These files allow you to map both the 2004 and 2009 AHS zone definitions in GIS programs.
2009 AHS New Orleans Survey Instrument (*.zip, 18.1 MB) (Posted on 8/5/2010): This zip file contains all the files needed for a runnable "demo" version of the New Orleans AHS survey instrument. This instrument includes the special questions about hurricane recovery asked only in the New Orleans metropolitan survey. Users can enter responses and step through the instrument to simulate the flow of questions in an actual AHS interview. This version of the software does not save any data; it merely demonstrates the instrument. It is intended to run on Microsoft Windows-based computers.
DISCLAIMER: The application is distributed for review purposes only, and no production data collection is permitted. By downloading the software, users agree to these terms. Further, this software is being provided "as is." Neither the Census Bureau nor the software publisher will provide any support for software downloaded from this web site.
|Changes to the 2009 National American Housing Survey – New Orleans Metropolitan Area
Households with Disabled Persons. Questions were added to determine the disability status of household members.
Impact of Hurricane Katrina. Questions were added to assess the impact of Hurricane Katrina on housing and households in the New Orleans metropolitan area, including questions on the types of repair and remodeling work completed on Katrina-damaged units. A complete list of the new questions can be found here [HUD will insert document link].
Public Use File. The Ratio Verification (RATIOV) file returns for 2009. The file contains data on the verification of income to cost when the ratio of income to cost is outside of certain tolerances. (Note: This file was present from the 1998 AHS metro sample to the 2005 national sample. This file is not present in 1997 or in 2007.)
Sample Adjustment for New Orleans. In order to comply with Census disclosure and confidentiality policies, the cases found in the New Orleans central city were dropped from the public use data file (PUF). For this reason, all the cases found in central city for the 2009 New Orleans PUF are new to the sample. The weight released on the PUF, however, adjusts for the cases that were dropped, so that accurate estimates for the New Orleans metropolitan area can be generated from the PUF.
Zone Adjustment for New Orleans. The 2004 central city zones 001-005 were collapsed to zones 006 and 007 to ensure that each zone had the minimum requirement of 100,000 people to comply with Census disclosure and confidentiality policies.Uninhabited Units in New Orleans. There are still a number of homes in the New Orleans metro area that remain uninhabited. These cases can be found on the PUF by looking at cases where STATUS equals 4 (4=Noninterview) and NOINT equals 17 (17= "Not classified above, specify"). Units that are uninhabited due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina can be further identified by selecting for HKDAMG=1.


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Tech support scammers target smartphone and tablet users
January 13, 2014 | By Jérôme Segura | 1 Comment | Share
The tech support scam (AKA the Microsoft/Windows support technician call), which is essentially about social engineering a mark over the phone by making up non-existent problems and extorting money, is evolving.
I had already documented how scammers were also targeting Apple Mac users in a similar fashion to what they do to their Windows counterparts. Now, those same crooks are going after smart phone and tablet users.
This is not too surprising since the market for mobile is surpassing that of the traditional desktop computer.
Companies involved in these scams can use one of two methods (or both) to reach out to potential victims: cold calling and/or online advertising.
In this example, online adverts are the lure but keep in mind that the same could (and most certainly will) apply to cold calls.
While paying for ads requires a certain budget, ads have the advantage of funnelling higher quality prospects because people are actually already experiencing an issue.
In contrast, cold-calling is a very wasteful approach (low ratio of interested people for the number of outgoing calls) and not to mention that in many countries cold-calling is completely illegal.
The following (Figure 1) is a search that was performed directly from an Android tablet, querying the Bing search engine for "android slow tech support".
The top two results are actually paid ads (as opposed to organic results) which guarantees the buyer best placement and therefore more traffic.
Now onto the website itself (Figure 2). It is your typical, run-of-the-mill online tech support page whose main goal is to incite the visitor to call the 1-800 number for assistance.
Very often, the same company will register different domain names with different phone numbers while in reality they all belong to the same group. This technique allows them to create multiple identities which they can cycle through in case of abuse/complaint reports.
Such sites can easily be spotted because the content is almost identical (copy/paste) and some of the graphics are the same (Figure 3).
So what exactly happens if you call the number? How are these people able to fix your phone or tablet remotely?
I was prepared for every possibility, having a Virtual Machine running Android's Jelly Bean and also a real physical Motorola Droid 4.
Interestingly enough, the tech support technician told me that he would not be able to directly connect to our phone and that I had to plug it into a computer (laptop or desktop) first.
What their intent was quickly became clear when they asked me to download remote login software so they could connect to our PC.
Now what were they going to do once connected? Run some sort of a scan or diagnostic on our connected phone? This is the least I was expecting from any decent technician.
After checking the phone's properties (Figure 4) and quickly browsing through its internal storage (Figure 5), they finally gave up and went back to their bread and butter.
Alright Sir. Just let me know one thing Sir. So when you are doing work on your mobile phone or on your computer ok, do you receive any kinds of pop ups for operation {inaudible} like Adobe Flash Player, or anything like Java as well as on your mobile phone?
You get a pop up right? And you always connect your mobile phone with your wifi right?
So the thing is there are some kind of infection over here, so that's why the infections transfer from your network to your phone ok?
You can probably guess where this is going if you are familiar with tech support scams. It's far easier to get back to making up stories about Windows 'errors' than Android or iOS ones.
You know there is something really wrong when the technician asserts that:
There is one file which is installed in your computer as well as in your mobile phone and that is a very bad file. The name of that file is rundll ok? r-u-n-d-l-l number 32 dot exe alright?
Last time I checked, rundll32.exe was a standard Windows executable, so how could it possibly be installed on my Android phone since that uses a completely different operating system?
The Windows prefetch files are often used by scammers to make up non-existing threats. In this case the technician removed all the 'infected files' and simulated a 're-infection' by quickly restoring them from the Recycle Bin (Ctrl+Z trick).
I'm going to delete all these files for you Sir…. and they're all gone. But after very quick time the old files will come back automatically. Can you see that?
It's quite hard to keep your composure when hearing such blatant lies. It's not that the technician is poorly informed but he is in fact fully aware of what he's doing and yet does not have a problem with it at all.
The scary thing is that many people that aren't too tech-savvy will believe these words at face value and end up paying several hundred dollars for dubious services from rogue technical support companies.
In this case the bill (Figure 8) was $299 for one year of so-called support. Not only is it a lot of money, keep in mind that those miscreants have direct access to your computer and data with all the risks that this entails.
I can imagine that in a near future those fake support companies will remotely access the phone or tablet directly because more and more people no longer own a 'traditional' computer.
The tech support scam lives on by adapting to its environment and exploiting the never failing human factor.
If you can stand listening to outrageous lies, feel free to watch the video segment for this scam.
For a complete guide on tech support scams, please check out our page here.
Jérôme Segura @jeromesegura
One thought on "Tech support scammers target smartphone and tablet users"
krumike says on January 17, 2014 at 1:31 pm :
It is shameless that some people do this. From cold calls to targeted Google ads… from Windows PCs to Macs and smartphones. They will take advantage of everyone and anyone without fear or favour. Of course, the more vulberable the target person is, the easier for the shameless scammer.
I've had a number of these calls over the years. No matter if I hang up straight away or follow through (but never give control of my machine) there is always a feeling of helplessness as they can simply hang up the phone themselves and move on to the next victim without blinking.
That is… until I realised there was something that I could say that MIGHT make a difference to the scammer/caller. They often sound like they're in or come from a spiritual country so now I string them along for a while then when I'm convinced they are indeed aware of their actions I simply say, "God will punish you" and then no matter what they say next (and they usually get defensive) I repeat it with emphasise on different words. "God WILL punish you." "God will PUNISH you." "God will punish YOU" and somethimes they still stay on the phonne so I start to include their family too. "God will punish you and your family." Etc. Etc. Eventually they give up but hopefully it gives them something to think about.
I used to think that maybe they too are a victim; an innocent call-centre worker with a script and without an understanding of the lies they are saying. But I don't any more.
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Later today most Americans will be huddled around their televisions, watching the 49ers take on the Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII. But if for some reason you aren't able to watch it on the big screen, just like last year there are still ways to check out the game online. CBS Sports is offering a free stream of the game from its website, and it comes with a few benefits: including both on-demand commercials and the ability to switch between 22 different camera angles. And if your laptop is out of reach, the game will also be available via the NFL's mobile app on both iOS and Android, though you'll need an NFL Game Pass subscription in order to watch. Whether you end up watching it from your smartphone or from space, the game will be kicking off at 6:30PM EST tonight in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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wii code:2102 9498 1680 7204
wii name:adam
pm me to add me
. . . . . do they have wiis in China yet?
They have the CHINTENDO VII, but the pres of Nintendo said they will have wiis in China soon.
Dunno bra!!
Do you live in China?
Brawl Friend Code
If you add me make sure you PM me so we can play
my guess is yea kuz then why wouldn't he want to know.Originally Posted by Marioman
Spoiler Alert!~~> Founder of the Dry Bones Fan Club[DBFC]<~~
PM Myself to join
Current members: Dkw0101, Turok, Nick Attack
Thanks manred for the sweet avy.
My SSBB code is 5284-1090-0218 name is DYXAN, please message me if I am ever added
...Unless he meant Japan. And, just in case you did. Japan's release is January 24th.
Thanks Star Striker for the sig.
Support the Third Parties!
Buy Zack and Wiki
No More Heroes
I just have a feeling that he isn't
^Now I could belive Jappanese...but how do you get your own country mixed up?
Brawl Friend Code
If you add me make sure you PM me so we can play
i hope you didnt get china and japan mixed up...that'd be kinda racist
but, ya my guess is in 2015
PSN ID: zapasant93


text: Last week, T-Pain replaced comedian Katt Williams as the host of the BET Hip-Hop Awards. During the show, Pain performed various comedic stand-up segments, most of which revolved around his uncanny ability to make hit records. While Teddy seemed to use his last minute fill-job as a great promotional tool (Thr33 Ringz drops November … Read More


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Getty Images
Their Royal Highnesses Prince William Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge make the journey by carriage procession to Buckingham Palace following their marriage at Westminster Abbey on April 29 in London, England.
Considering all the hype associated with the royal wedding, one wonders once the glamor fades if the relationship will survive the troubling royal family history.
Chicago sex therapist Dr. Laura Berman says the best way for Will and Kate to avoid walking the same path of divorce as parents Charles and Diana is to make their marriage a team effort.
"They're starting their marriage off on solid ground and didn't succumb to outside pressure to wed," Berman said in a release. "But there are a few things they'll need to do to keep their relationship strong."
First, they'll need to make sure their marriage is more democracy than monarchy. There needs to be a level of equal partnership where both make decisions. Middleton vowed to love and honor William, but not obey, which Berman thought was a good idea.
"Kate has already made it clear that William will not rule the relationship," says Dr. Berman. "She made that statement early on in their courtship by remaining independent and keeping to her interests. When it comes to the wedding, it's been reported that during her vows she'll agree to love and honor him, but not obey."
It also will be essential for the couple to keep the issues they face private. The pressure of the private eye and the camera will not be kind in the case that negative information the couple goes through is exposed.
The couple will have to create a normal personal life. With such a high status in the world and media, the two will have to honor time for each other always putting the other first.
If the couple makes sure abide by these rules, they will be on the road to a healthy beginning and a happy life.


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Bruce Japsen, Contributor
I write about health care and policies from the president's hometown
Providers of hospice care, which will be caring for a booming population of aging baby boomers, were told they get a 1 percent pay raise from the Medicare program and a mandate to report quality measures to the U.S. government or essentially lose that raise come Oct. 1.
The Affordable Care Act, which has pushed myriad quality measures for providers and health insurance companies, said on Friday that hospices that fail to "meet quality reporting requirements will receive a two percentage point reduction to their market basket update beginning in FY 2014," which begins Oct. 1 of this year, according the the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which runs the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly.
The move comes at a time hospitals, doctors and providers of medical-care of all kinds are being coaxed away from fee-for-service medicine to an era when they are paid base on the value of medical care that they provide. Translation: they must provide quality care or be punished in the form of less payment.
For now, hospice providers merely have to report the data. Unlike health insurance companies and others, there are no ratings that have been issued to hospice providers from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It's called the "Hospice Quality Reporting Program" and specifics can be found at this link here.
"(The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services') goal is to adopt measures for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program that ensure care is patient and family-centered and is safe and high-quality," Dr. Patrick Conway, chief medical officer and director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told Life Matters Media last week. "It is critical that hospice providers meet the care needs of all patients and families."
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Friday issued the final rule on hospice payments and the upcoming quality reporting requirements on Friday.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the so-called final rule, which was created following public comment and input from industry and lawmakers, also includes the agency's "efforts to develop a Hospice Experience of Care Survey for informal caregivers of hospice patients."
"Hospices will be required to begin using the survey in 2015," the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said.
The momentum behind quality reporting in hospices comes as both the government and private insurers and employers contract with entities that measure quality and push for better outcomes through entities like accountable care organizations (ACOs), which are created by providers of medical care to contract with insurance companies like Aetna Aetna (AET), UnitedHealth Group UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Humana Humana (HUM) and Cigna Cigna (CI) among others. If the ACO reduces costs while improving quality, the providers keep some of the savings. That is different than payment today that encourages excessive treatment by paying by procedure.
"The survey will include questions on hospice provider communications with patients and families, hospice provider care, and overall rating of hospice," the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. "CMS will include participation in the survey as a quality-reporting requirement for hospices to receive their full annual payment update beginning in FY 2017."
Stay tuned.
Since I started with my online business, I earn $62 every 15 minutes. My best friend has been averaging 11k for months now and he works about 20 hours a week. Without any doubt this is the easiest and most financially rewarding job I've ever had. This is what I do, Going1.C0M_
When has government involvement ever resulted in improving efficiency of delivering a service that has resulted in cost savings ? The answer should be self evident. But in the words of Nancy Pelosi… "lets pass the bill so we can read what's in it". So bring up YouTube and listen to the verbatim reading of the ACA so you can appreciate just how convoluted it is. End result thousand upon thousands pages of regulations that have no end in sight. Thought the tax code was complicated ? Think again
FACT: Medicare = Govt Health Care
Medicare Is More Efficient Than Private Insurance
According to CMS, for common benefits, Medicare spending rose by an average of 4.3 percent each year between 1997 and 2009, while private insurance premiums grew at a rate of 6.5 percent per year.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, administrative costs in Medicare are only about 2 percent of operating expenditures. Defenders of the insurance industry estimate administrative costs as 17 percent of revenue.
$60 AN hour! Seriously I do not grasp why additional individuals haven't tried this, I work 2 shifts, a pair of hours within the day and a pair of within the evening…And what's impressive is I'm engaging from home thus I purchase longer with my youngsters. Here is what I did…www.Bay93.ℂom
There is ALWAYS a starting point.
Maybe this is it.
Then you have insurers like United Healthcare with their blind and tiered subsidiaries that are already cashing in on hospice for profit like Evercare. I just went through using a hospice service for my mother who passed away and thank goodness I saw this was a subsidiary of United and chose a non profit, which was excellent to take care of my mother.
So with Evercare United gets both sides of it and if you look at the want ads they are advertising all over the place for nurses and other hospice workers.
Big insurers operate under the radar and make money as with this company all over in healthcare, take a look at the SEC filings which shows a ton of tiered subsidiaries but not all as the SEC rules state that subsidiaries only need to be listed if they are a "substantial operation"….and there are rules that go along with those provisions. Evercare is an interesting United subsidiary as it is listed as a sub in a couple different ways.
Is providing insurance and hospice care a good mix? You tell me…
Something had to change. It will need tweaking but at least its a start. Stop whining about every little thing and things ill be better that what we currently have. It takes 2 to 3 yrs to fix bugs in any type of program this large. Even the countries that rate far above the US in healthcare and life expectancy had to work out the kinds the first few years. But their end result was well worth it.
Hey socialist! Some people still liked having a choice, rather than being forced to pay for a service or end up getting fined! If you think that the IRS is not going to end up screwing everyone over even more than they already do, you are a sucker.
Really, then how do you explain those people from other countries coming here for their surgeries and our expertise?
If you like what other countries are doing so much, embrace logic and immigrate. Go live in one of those other countries you admire so much. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Insurance companies have no place in our healthcare system They are and have been the problem all along. They were the ones who should have been watching the store the last 50 years but instead just kept raising rates. Look where we are now. Up against the virtual wall. National healthcare is the only way to give everyone guaranteed healthcare. How can we get quality healthcare when the ONLY thing insurance companies are interested in is profit. It does not work on paper and does not work in practice. Every civilized country in the world has national healthcare because they do not have their politicians taking bribes from these special interests. That is why we cannot get this together in this country. Insurance companies would lose millions. They do not give one crap about any of us. Our people here have to wake up and realize how they are being played like violins.
Excellent post from you two.
They are either rich or somebody pays for it-doctors care for them for free. The people in this state got fed up that the state was making grants to pay for foreigners, while residents of the state lacked medical care in many basic things. The air fare- having a place to live was all free-while I had students born here that couldn't afford medical care for simple things-like surgery for cross-eyed people-cheap-easy-but their parents maybe made a dollar a month too much to get assistance, and the hospital and doctors didn't care–Shame on this state.
@John Rizoli – you're correct. Since Nixon signed MCOs into law in the 70′s, it's been one huge profit over another with denial of claims being the first step for every private insurer out there. It's sad that medicine was turned into a profit making business instead of the "profession" it was before MCOs.
Karen, I love you. Most, or should I say the majority are in some fucking dreamworld. I honestly am getting worn out. Why does the average American not see these issues that are hitting them on the head like a sledgehammer and somehow refuse to see the reality? I will not give up and I have not even begun to refute the rest of my feelings when it comes to these matters. What the hell is wrong with everyone. They seem to just need a scapegoat to blame everything one and for some reason it is not our congress which is the actual root of all these issues…? I do not have a clue
Kenneth Wallace, Where did you get the fact that "people from other countries coming here for their surgeries and our expertise"?
Oh I am sorry, you are a Republican lunatic and thus have NO use for facts. Now when pressed as to where did you got the fact backing this claim, they will state that Wall Street Journal or Fox News reported it! Now if there was an ounce of truth to this fact then the Conservative parties in Europe & Canada would be running against NHS and for US style for profit Wall Street health care system, which of course is not the case since all Conservative parties in Europe & Canada are 100% for their NHS. And there is actually an irrefutable proof of this lie: that is the same day that Wall Street Journal ran articles stating that "Europeans & Canadians are coming to US for their health care" which they have many times, the same day this story was missing from Europeans & Canadian versions of Wall Street Journal. WHY? Because it is a total lie. And if they had printed this lie in their Europeans & Canadians versions people in those countries would have burned the Wall Street Journal down for stating such an insidious lie.
Rich people come to Mayo Clinic in Minn. and other hospitals. Then American hospitals extend charity on people from third world countries. They used to consider it good publicity. My state went sour on that a few years ago-We kept asking why are foreigners given free medical care here, when this is one of the poorest state and many people can't get medical care-usually because they make fifty cents a month too much.
Kenneth Wallace , Where did you get the fact that: "People from other countries coming here for their surgeries" ?
Oh I am sorry, you are a Republican lunatic and thus have NO use for facts.
Now when pressed as to where did you got the fact backing this claim, they will state that Wall Street Journal or Fox News reported it! Now if there was an ounce of truth to this fact then the Conservative parties in Europe & Canada would be running against NHS and for US style for profit Wall Street health care system, which of course is not the case since all Conservative parties in Europe & Canada are 100% for their NHS. And there is actually an irrefutable proof of this lie: that is the same day that Wall Street Journal ran articles stating that "Europeans & Canadians are coming to US for their health care" which they have many times, the same day this story was missing from Europeans & Canadian versions of Wall Street Journal. WHY? Because it is a total lie. And if they had printed this lie in their Europeans & Canadians versions people in those countries would have burned the Wall Street Journal down for stating such an insidious lie.
"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
– Thomas Jefferson
So true
what next taxing the dead
already done
So, they get 1% to implement a policy that may cost them as much or more to develop and fund. .. .
@medicalquack: Do I want the government to determine how much my care givers can be paid, what services I am allowed to have and how much I have to pay? ACA is big government run amok. The only objective Obama had was to make a) more people dependent upon the government b) expand the budget and c) expand government employment. This is bad policy from the word go and he and his supporters have done a stupendous job of brain washing the American people again anything "for profit." The alternative to "for profit" is taxpayer dependent – which, again, is his whole goal. From education to healthcare, the tax payer burden is unacceptable.
Is this the death panel that Bachman and Palin warned about. Ask yourself, what metric is a quality measure for hospice care measured in? Answer, patient died comfortably and in a timely fashion. Please see Soylent Green if you have any other questions.
Being a cancer patient, so far putting up a good fight. I worry about this. The government cannot control things they are in charge of now. I worry about the morphine cut down, and make the patients suffer, to cut cost. I rather go out on my own, not be injected and rolled over on a high. Hospice is known to be kind to the people, they even go so far to even go to the funerals. In my fathers case. I don't trust the government, and we are talking my life real soon, what give us Tylenol and say well its pain medicine. I never hear you mention cut down on doctor fees, hospital fees, no they need more. Sorry I don't believe this, and that they are worried about patients. They want to control, what we get, how much we get, along with there change of terminology for cancer. If there was a cure, there would be no profit for them. If you people believe this, you will find out when its your turn. I don't believe this is for our benefit, its just another bull story, because they infected a lot of cancer patient, and now they have insurance payouts they do not want to pay, it is that simple to figure out.
They wanted to send me 2,000 miles away-cut off the right side of my face. eye, nose and bone. I had to take in a biker grandson to scare basic answers out of the oncologist-a real jerk. I was given pain killer when part of my nose, lip, and area between was removed. I'm allergic to tylenol and NSAIDs, so I had to use popsicles, sherbet, and self-hypnotism for pain control-the inside of my mouth was swelled up, I couldn't fit a spoon into my mouth, the muscles for sucking on a straw was cut out, what was left of my nose was pulled sideways. The plastic surgeon was investigated by the DEA for dispensing too many pain killers. She did facial reconstructions, did 8 hour surgeries to repair burn victims, she didn't take care of people that coughed or had bad backs.
I was told that I couldn't have pain killer until my last days. I was also told that I had one of the most painful cancers-it's rare too. This is today's reality. I chose radiation- and it killed all of the cancer tumors-I might have a few or many decent years left. I do know that after medical pays that my family would have to cough up a minimum of three thousand a month-my son checked. I guess that I'd be kicked out in the street if the family didn't have the money. Rethink what janet is saying- because it is true—
@Janet Sutton – sorry about your physical battles. This system as described in the article is to prevent hospice places from taking the money and not giving appropriate services. It's a good rule. The places will be followed using a rubric that indicates quality care and service that isn't being cut back for profit. That is what is happening right now. They figure it's hospice, so who's to complain. The family is to complain.
Karen you don't know what cancer does to families- and these clinics moves the patient out of state for the best care. If the family can't be there, how can the family know what's going on and complain?
Sometimes appropriate service is only on paper-not in practice.
Healthcare in America. The next Amtrak or postal service.
look out oldsters, i bet, hidden in obamacare is a clause that will allow the government to determain who lives and who dies.
my opinion is; Americans will be the ones he selects to be put down and the illegals, muslims and his pals will get a pass.
One can get far better quality care here for US$0.10 on the USD and NO lazy N's!
ret expat MD
Hospice for us little people (after all they exempted themselves and their aids) will be the little pill that makes us go beddy bye and good night.
It looked like I'd need nursing care after radical surgery for cancer. My son went to his VA counselors for some help–after medicare payments, the family would need to cough up a minimum of $3,000 a month for a poorly run home that wouldn't do tube feeding, etc. I'd be in there a year or more. The doctors told me that I'd need physical therapy and speech pathology therapy. I know that for speech therapy that the bill would be over $60,000 a year-my daughter is a speech therapist-also that therapy is brutal. I'd be alone in another state. Then the doctors were upset that I chose radiation over the standard ACS therapy and tried radiation. It killed all of the cancer cells-How long I'll be well, I don't know- But today I can eat, laugh with my family, clean up after my dogs in the back yard. From what I've seen and smelled in this state-I'm scared of nursing homes. I've read comments and articles by physicians on several AMA affiliated sites, on how the government handles nursing homes and hospices-my conclusion is that if physicians have difficulty in dealing with the care of their parents, how can my family deal with this nightmare.
It appears some commenting here do not understand what Hospice is about. The patient must have a terminal illness that is likely to end in death within 6 months. This determination must be made by a doctor. Hospice provides free-of-charge medication for the terminal condition, including for pain and mental anguish. Nurses make once a week regular visits, and are available 24/7 for emergency consultation. Hospice does not pay for nursing home care; neither does Medicare. Either the family/patient pays or there is long-term care insurance.
I had to stay with my mother 24/7 after her release from the hospital. During the second month my mother took a turn for the worse, losing her ability to walk or sit up on her own, and I truly did not expect her to recover. She did recover, and her condition is now under review every 2 months in order to continue Hospice care. I credit Hospice changing her blood pressure medication for her improvement.
There are two types of Hospice: for-profit, and not-for-profit. Both are reimbursed by Medicare; but as with claims submitted by hospitals and doctors, the reimbursement is limited. @medicalquack's comments speak against for-profit Hospices, which are run by insurance companies. I, too, chose a not-for-profit Hospice to help with my mother's care. I cannot speak as to whether a for-profit would have cost my mother more. I can only say that a for-profit would not be in the business if they were not making a profit.
@Frank Savel, Hospice is NOT a death panel. That title goes to insurance companies that deny treatments. Hospice does not make the determination that a patient is dying, and it does not preclude a patient from seeking further medical help. Your reference to Soylent Green is detestable. In the movie, Soylent Green, people were encouraged to commit suicide in a government run facility, after which their body would be converted to the synthetic food (Soylent Green) to feed the rest of the population.
Mindshift, My question more pointedly is what will the govt consider to be quality care in a specialty that the known outcome is death. The govt wants to see affordable cost controlled quality hospice care. In days of yore when I was a nursing student I went on home visits with a hospice nurse some of her clients she had been seeing for over a year, one would bake her cookies and greet her at the door. Those are patients who should have never been on hospice or should have been disqualified once they showed some sort of recovery. I believe that those cases are rare these days, but hospices were getting stinky rich at one time managing loads of these stubbornly lively dying people. Again though, the question is, what will the quality measures be for quality hospice care going forward? It may be that length of enrollment must be below some established benchmark length of time. If the patients are living too long it may cut into the organizations reimbursement. Then you get into the slippery slope of serving the patients needs or serving the master who is doling out the money. I think I know where the allegiance will lie.
They transfer the patient out of the hospice. I read some interesting articles by doctors that had patients or family members in hospices. The point was that intensive quality care can cause a person to revive a certain amount and outlive the 6 months. The federal government ordered that the patient be moved and the hospice was fined-investigated etc. because some patients didn't die on cue. The complaint is that good hospices are penalized while crappy ones are rewarded. If doctors have trouble navigating this system, what hope is there for my disabled vet son in being able to navigate the system?
In an aggressive ad campaign timed to coincide with the rollout of key Obamacare provisions this summer, the Koch brothers-backed "Americans for Prosperity" just announced that they will spend more than $1 million relentlessly attacking health care reform.
Their plan is to scare swing voters about Obamacare and rev up their Tea Party base.
The worst part? People could believe their lies if we don't set the record straight. We need you need to stand up and help us show that we're not done fighting for Obamacare.
Insurance companies have no place in our healthcare system They are and have been the problem all along. They were the ones who should have been watching the store the last 50 years but instead just kept raising rates. Look where we are now. Up against the virtual wall. National healthcare is the only way to give everyone guaranteed healthcare. How can we get quality healthcare when the ONLY thing insurance companies are interested in is profit. It does not work on paper and does not work in practice. Every civilized country in the world has national healthcare because they do not have their politicians taking bribes from these special interests. That is why we cannot get this together in this country. Insurance companies would lose millions. They do not give one crap about any of us. Our people here have to wake up and realize how they are being played like violins.
Our Congress is the problem. Always has been. Still is and worse than ever. I follow politics more than most people I know. I have watched the degradation of this country my entire life. Other civilized countries around the world have better transportation, education, healthcare etc. We are supposedly the greatest country in the world and rank 38th in healthcare. This is ALL due to our Congress being bribed by any special interest where the laws and decisions that are made always benefit them and not us. They kept us on oil when when we should have been developing solar and electric cars 30 or 40 years ago. Obama has only been our President for the last SIX years. Our Congress is a disgrace and yes I have a lot of hate and it is specifically for our Congress. They do NOTHING for us at all. That plane that crashed in the field on 911? I now wish it had actually hit the Capitol Building because it would have least done something positive as it would have crashed anyway. I do not want to feel this way…they make me feel this way and if anyone can justify why I should not, I would love to debate them ANY time. On thing we do agree on is that most people are fucked in this country because this is WHY Congress gets away with this crap. People blame everyone and everything EXCEPT Congress and I honestly do not understand the stupidity we have in this country. It is beyond my comprehension…They do not look like they are getting any smarter. There is no excuse because it is all there so see. They just choose to ignore it.
Explaining the Affordable Care Act in 7 Minutes
The YouToons Learn About Obamacare
Health insurance changes coming your way under the Affordable Care Act
Another brilliant move by Obozo and Sebelius.
First cut $700+ billion from Medicare and have the faucet slowed to a drip for seniors. Next, tell Hospice care that payments will be drastically trimmed.
What should we expect as a result? A decline in the number of available hospice beds at a time when the ranks of the over-70 crowd is growing exponentially.
All you old-timers that vote (D) to preserve your status-quo; you are finally screwed. Just like the labour unions and blacks.
"Sooner or later, you run out of somebody else's money."
Google…. "Obamacare Flowchart" at Intellectual Takeout …. to see a visual representation of the corrupt mess this really is
1. Millions are losing the insurance Obama promised they could keep. Because ObamaCare forces employers to offer expensive Cadillac plans but also offers the option of paying a fine for not providing health insurance that can be cheaper than providing it, between seven and twenty million Americans are likely to lose their health insurance coverage according to the Congressional Budget Office. The original estimate was closer to four million.
2. The cost of healthcare premiums is about to further skyrocket. Premium costs have already exploded, but that is a slow-motion explosion. In the near future, we could see costs double or worse. Naturally, these costs will hit an already burdened middle class hardest.
3. Lost jobs. Lost jobs.
The Federal Reserve's March beige book on economic activity noted that businesses "cited the unknown effects of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff."
Consulting firm Adecco found that half of the small businesses it surveyed in January either plan to cut their workforce, not hire new workers, or shift to part-time or temporary help because of ObamaCare.
4. Doctor shortages that will mean rationing: The healthcare industry is already a bureaucratic quagmire. ObamaCare is about to add steroids. As the profession becomes tyrannized by government, the talented people currently practicing medicine plan to get out sooner than expected. Who knows how many will choose not to get in. Doctor shortages are what lead to the nightmare known as rationed care.
5. Somewhere around $800 billion in tax increases will hit America's middle class. This added burden will not only further oppress a middle class already reeling from a drop in wages over the last few years, but could damage the overall economy.
6. Inflation, the cruelest tax on the poor. When businesses get socked with added costs brought about by higher taxes and burdensome government mandates, they pass those cost along to the consumer in the form of higher prices.
7. Added bureaucracy. Even those Obama lapdogs over at the Washington Post's Wonk Blog are admitting that applying for health care is about to get more burdensome than the byzantine paperwork involved in buying a home.
8. To cut costs or to avoid having to provide insurance, workers on the economic margins are already losing hours, which means a lower paycheck. There are a million sad stories in ObamaVille; here are just a few of them.
9. ObamaCare is projected to add $6.2 TRILLION to a deficit the GAO has already declared "unsustainable." That's "trillion" with a "t".
10. More taxes than currently estimated are likely to hit because of situations like this one.
11.Muslims, Amish, Native Americans, Congress are exempt from mandate and penalties under Obamacare that the rest of us have to pay.
The govt becoming more involved in health care is the reason the costs have increased. So Govt creates a crisis, then provides a solution that comes at the expense of liberty and freedom, costs trillions, and by most accounts won't solve the problem but in fact make it far worse.Corruption, incompetence, disregard of the Constitution, and lying are integral to the way that this country is being run.
Three years ago, Obama, Democrats, and his media lied to us about cutting the cost of health care, being able to keep our insurance, and not taxing the middle class. Today, those lies and what ObamaCare is and will do to the working and middle class are the biggest untold story in America.
Boycott and Repeal Obamacare…If only a mere 20% of the over 300 million population of the USA boycott Obamacare the government would be overwhelmed to even think they could penalize or mandate every citizen that refused to participate in the most corrupt and unlawful ways which it was passed that circumvented the constitution of the United States.
@Tom – it appears you didn't read the article. Interesting fortune-telling, but ONLY predictions. Apparently you haven't read the articles about premiums going down in CA & NY.
Obamacare and its namesake can both kiss my white butt
Obamacare is doomed. People will just give it the middle finger when the begin to realize all the quirks, taxes, regulation and BS one must do if they want to get care equivalent to that provided under Medicaid.
Obama hospice care now. Interesting, I came across an article during my research on the UK's NICE. Those who are into healthcare management, will understand who NICE is. The IPAB has its roots in NICE. This hospice program of Obama's is another piece of England. The UK's program is the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP). This program provides eugenics such as euthanasia. This too, was provided to cancer patients until it started branching out.


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Community Health & Wellness Fair
Saturday, September 28, 2013 – 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, click for directions.
Free Admission
Make Having a Healthy
Lifestyle a Family Affair
This year's Community Health and Wellness Fair will offer the whole family the opportunity to connect with local resources and health professionals. Please note: Fair ends promptly at 1:30 p.m. Allow time to visit all booths. No pets please.
- FREE flu shots for anyone 6 months of age and older.
First come, first served. Supplies may be limited.
- Health Care Reform Information. See if you qualify for health insurance in 2014
- Free physician, pharmacist and specialist consultations
- D.A.R.E Youth activities
Vision Vouchers
FREE vouchers for full eye exam and glasses for the first 200 people who qualify.
Qualifying Criteria for Vision Vouchers:
- (List Description: Qualifying Criteria for Vision Vouchers)
- Applicant is not enrolled in any vision insurance
- Applicant is a U.S. citizen or documented immigrant with a social security number
- Applicant has not used VSP voucher program during the last 12 months
- Applicant's family income is no more than 200% of federal poverty guidelines
Here is what you will find at the fair!
Free Health Screenings*:
- Anemia (Hemoglobin fingerstick)
- Asthma (Pulmonary Function Tests- PFT)
- Blood pressure
- Body Mass Index (BMI)
- Breast exams
- Cholesterol
- Dental
- Foot exams
- Glucose
- Hearing
- Osteoporosis (Bone Density)
- Physical Agility
- Skin cancer
- Spinal
- Vision
Professionals at the fair*:
- Cardiologists
- Chiropractors
- Dentists
- Dermatologist
- Internists
- Neurologists
- Nephrologists
- Optometrists
- Orthodontists
- Pharmacists
- Physical Therapists
- Podiatrists
- Registered Nurses
- Respiratory Therapists
- Psychologists
Local and County Resources*:
- Health Care reform, Medicare and Medi-Cal enrollment, health insurance information
- Health education, social and mental health services
Additional Information:
* Note: All available services are subject to change.
Please call, 209-832-6511 for more information.


text:
Jack Leggett knows the drill.
He'll play the recruiting/high-draft-pick game again next cycle with another of the nation's top high school players: Austin Meadows, a lefthanded pitcher/outfielder from Grayson High in Loganville, GA committed to the Tigers for the class of 2013 over South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Georgia.
Perfect Game ranks Meadows as the No. 2 prospect nationally in his high school class.
The widely-recruited dual position star played centerfield last summer for the Team USA's U16 squad that won a gold medal in international competition. He batted .537 in the event, in which he set a tournament record by driving in 28 runs in eight games.
By committing, Meadows - who projects to be a high pick in the Major League Draft - has basically given Clemson another first-shot at enrolling an elite-level lefthander, which is a rarity in college baseball.
Clemson came close last summer on Daniel Norris, the nation's top-rated high school lefty who went down to the wire before signing with the Toronto Blue Jays.
While it may be a long shot that Meadows will ever play for the Tigers, Leggett continues to put his program in the mix for the nation's elite players.
"You get some, and you lose some," said Leggett recently. "It's just a matter of which ones you get, and which ones you lose, and how many. You hope you don't get hurt so bad that it affects you the year after, or even two or three years down the road. So we try to minimize the damage every year, and educate these kids and get them entrenched to what Clemson's all about."


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Botanicus Interacticus – Designing interactive plants at Disney Research
Botanicus Interacticus is the tatest project created at Disney Research by Ivan Poupyrev in collaboration with Philipp Schoessler, Jonas Loh/Studio NAND, and Munehiko Sato. The project is concerned with developing technology for designing "highly expressive interactive plants", both living and artificial. Driven by the rapid fusion of computing and living spaces, the team take interaction from computing devices and places it in the physical world using livings plants as an interactive medium.
Botanicus Interacticus has a number of unique properties. This instrumentation of living plants is simple, non-invasive, and does not damage the plants: it requires only a single wire placed anywhere in the plant soil. Botanicus Interacticus allows for rich and expressive interaction with plants. It allows to use such gestures as sliding fingers on the stem of the orchid, detecting touch and grasp location, tracking proximity between human and a plant, and estimating the amount of touch contact, among others.
The team uses "Pepper's Ghost" technique to augment a living plant and dynamically change in response to the user interaction with a plant. Christian Riekoff and TheGreenEyl joined Disney Research on designing and producing the SIGGRAPH 2012 Botanicus Interacticus exhibition.
Ivan Poupyrev | Philipp Schoessler | Jonas Loh/Studio NAND| Munehiko Sato | Christian Riekoff | TheGreenEyl
See also SIGGRAPH 2012 Botanicus Interacticus exhibition.
/via Wired UK
Posted on: 06/08/2012
Posted in: Other
Post tags: Christian Riekoff disney research Ivan Poupyrev Jonas Loh Munehiko Sato nature peppers ghost Philipp Schoessler plants SIGGRAPH Studio NAND thegreeneyl


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Local home sales drop slightly in February
By RUTH CAMPBELL
By RUTH CAMPBELL
Single-family home sales for February in Garden City were down by two units from a year ago, according to the most recent figures available from the Garden City Board of Realtors. However, spring sales are expected to be strong.
Sixteen units were sold in February of this year, compared to 18 in February 2012.
Of those 16 sold, three were one to three bedrooms, three were three-bedroom homes and 10 were four-plus bedrooms. Average price of the homes was $122,681, average days on the market was 144 and the majority of the financing was cash, according to Garden City Board of Realtors information.
Last year, of the 18 homes sold in February, two featured one to three bedrooms, five were three-bedroom and 11 had four or more bedrooms. Average price was $137,571 and average days on the market was 123. The majority of the financing was conventional.
Vicki Bulkley of Heritage Realty said spring is always the best time for home sales, likely due to a combination of nicer weather and the end of the school year.
"Right now stuff is flying off the shelves. It's a very strong market right now," said Bulkley, Zone 8 vice president for the Kansas Association of Realtors. She keeps in contact with the board of Realtors in Garden City, Dodge City, the Southwest Kansas Board in Liberal, Pratt and Medicine Lodge, which is the Southern Plains Board, to keep them in the loop and transfer reports to the state.
The market seems to be "well rounded" right now with people moving in, upsizing or downsizing. All price ranges are "selling pretty decently. Of course, the really expensive ones take longer just because the customer base isn't as big," Bulkley said.
In all price ranges in Finney County, out of Finney County, in Garden City and Holcomb, there are 101 houses on the market. As of Tuesday, 65 houses were under contract, Bulkley said.
There were four houses on the market in the $50,000 and under price range; 37 in the $100,001 to $150,000 price range; 29 homes in the $100,001 to $150,000 range; 14 in the $150,001 to $200,000 price range; and 16 homes ranging in price from $200,000 to $500,000. She said.
Jamie Biera, a Realtor with Regan & Co. Real Estate, agreed the housing market is busy this time of year. But another factor is "very low long-term interest rates," which make homes more affordable because it makes the monthly payments lower.
Linda Adams, broker/owner of Adams Real Estate, said she's been very busy and stays that way year-round. "We're very busy. I very much need to hire agents. There's a shortage of listings" and many buyers, Adams said.
Adams, who also owns rental property, said all the rentals — including her's — are full as well, and it's not just here but all over western Kansas.
"I think they figure we're 500 housing units short right now. That would be every kind of home. ... We could use more of just about everything," Adams said.
For developers, it's hard to get enough profit out of building new rental property to encourage building, and even with the housing shortage, it's difficult to sell new homes because existing residences are less expensive, said Adams, who has sold real estate for 15 years and had her own company since 2006.
Another key factor in home sales is low interest rates.
"Interest rates are still exceptionally good. It's harder to get people qualified (for loans). You have to have a higher credit score than you used to, so it's a little more difficult in that direction," Bulkley said.
Adams agreed it's getting harder to obtain home loans because there are more requirements on buyers and the homes themselves. "Appraisers now sometimes require things to be done to homes before they can sell," such as installing a railing or fixing peeling paint.
She said this is being done to keep the housing bubble from occurring again. "There wasn't one here, so there was no bubble to burst," Adams said.
Biera had a different take. He said it's not as tough to get a home loan now as in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, but getting a loan can be a case-by-case proposition.
"Now you don't have to have perfect credit or zero debt," Biera said. There are also Federal Housing Administration loans available with a 3 1/2 percent downpayment.
And if people are waiting for things to improve or interest rates to dip lower, Biera said, "They're making a mistake because now's the time."


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Linder Gallery
- Home
- About Keystone
- Keystone Campus
- Facilities
- Linder Gallery
The Linder Gallery, located on the first floor of the Miller Library, features rotating exhibits by prominent local, national, and international artists. Gallery exhibits showcase work in all media. Most artists exhibiting in the gallery visit the campus to speak about their art and meet with students. The Linder Gallery is also the site of the Fine Arts Division Juried Student Exhibitions, held at the end of each fall and spring semester.
For further information and gallery hours, please call (570) 945-8335.
Exhibitions in the Linder Gallery
March 22 - April 27


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Staying fit on the road is never easy, particularly when it comes to eating well. Many of us let our diets go out the window when we travel, partly because there simply aren't any healthy options to be had. After all, if the only edible-looking option on the room service menu is the burger, what is one to do?! Luckily, hotels are starting to recognize the demand for more healthful food options, and a handful of chains are taking action. Hyatt, Fairmont, and Westin are among the brands paving the way, working with health experts and organizations to come up with some tasty, guilt-free menu options. Here's hoping other hotel chains get on board with this trend!
Hyatt, which has 492 hotels worldwide, is one of the largest chains to introduce healthy food options at its properties. The "Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served." initiative launched in 2012 has brought cage-free eggs, hormone-free beef, and sustainable seafood options to all of its hotels, among other health-conscious food options. Hyatt also teamed up with Partnership for a Healthier America (Michelle Obama is a Chair!) to make its kids' menus healthier in support of the effort to combat childhood obesity. In addition, all Hyatt hotels have on-site fitness centers, so no excuse not to hit the gym either!
Oyster.com's Pick for a Standout Hyatt Hotel: Hyatt at Olive 8, Seattle
You almost can't go wrong with the Hyatt at Olive 8, which is known for its exceptionally high customer ratings, environmentally conscious design, and easy, walk-to-everything location. If you're looking for a romantic lobby in which to have cocktails, you might want to head across the street to the dark and elegant Grand Hyatt; otherwise, be prepared to stay happily put.
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