Its simple to completely renovate your bathroom by installing artwork & new wallpaper. Wallpaper trim is affordable, & there are a variety of patterns from which you can select to complement your decor. In addition, its effortless to install. You can totally redesign your bathroom with just a few inexpensive pieces of artwork.
Dont let anyone wear shoes on your new carpet or wood floor! Make storage accessible near the doors, & perhaps even provide slippers to guests & family. This way, your flooring wont be soiled by debris being tracked into the house.
Consider refinishing an old, ugly bathtub instead of replacing it. There are lots of companies that can refinish porcelain tubs, making them look satisfactory as new. They can moreover put a new complete on the old dated tile above the tub without taking it down. Replacing tile floors & bathtubs can be expensive, so alternatives offer a less expensive way to donate your bathroom an updated look.
New couches & chair are not cheap. Add some style to your home by buying good, used furniture at garage sales & thrift stores. Amongst all of these bargains, you will likely find many astonishing deals on decor & furniture. Some pieces of furniture may require work. It could be well worth the investment, though.
Finally, whether you or anyone you know are planning to make some home improvements, doing some research on home improvement tips is wise. This will assist you to figure out if you are doing the right thing. Use the advice you have read here to be more successful in your improvement projects.
Learn more approximately cavity wall ties or burst water pipes
Posts related to A basic guide to home improvement...
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama has spent months trying to balance his re-election bid with running the government.
Now, just when his campaign needs him the most, with little more than a week before the election, his official job is beckoning.
Republican challenger Mitt Romney, too, faces questions about how to conduct his campaign as a superstorm charges toward the East Coast. But as president, it's Obama who oversees the federal government's preparations for the looming storm and it's Obama who will bear the responsibility for any missteps.
With that in mind, Obama scrapped campaign events Monday night and Tuesday morning. He planned to return to the White House late Monday to monitor the storm and the government's response.
"This is an example, yet again, of the president having to put his responsibilities as commander in chief and as leader of the country first, while at the same time he pursues his responsibilities as a candidate for re-election," Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, told reporters traveling with Obama to a campaign event Saturday in New Hampshire.
Still, ripping up Obama's strategically planned travel schedule was something his Chicago-based campaign was loath to do unless absolutely necessary.
In the tight race, the candidates have few opportunities left to blitz through the most competitive states, trying to build momentum and make a final pitch to undecided voters.
The president's handling of the storm could sway those late-breaking voters. If Obama is perceived as a strong leader who shows command in a crisis, some undecided voters may be compelled to back the president. But a botched response or a sense that he's putting politics over public safety could weaken his support at a point in the race where there's little chance to reverse course.
"I think that the president of the United States is the commander in chief. The American people look to him, and I'm sure he will conduct himself and play his leadership role in a fine fashion. So I would imagine that might help him a little bit," said Arizona Sen. John McCain, who lost to Obama in 2008.
"But I'm not sure it will affect votes. People have been exposed to this very long campaign," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Obama advisers say they've learned the lessons from President George W. Bush's widely criticized response to Hurricane Katrina. Bush was seen as ineffective and out of touch, and his presidency never recovered.
That's why Obama's team has moved quickly throughout the year to avoid the impression that the president was shirking his responsibilities, even as the campaign ramped up.
When separate crises struck Colorado this summer ? destructive wildfires and a mass shooting at a movie theater ? Obama hastily arranged trips to meet with victims and their families. When a hurricane barreled through the Gulf Coast ahead of the Democratic Convention, the president added a stop in New Orleans to his preconvention itinerary.
But those decisions were far easier than what's facing Obama's team. Back then, there was time to add or reschedule trips. Now, with just nine days until Election Day, time is a precious commodity and canceling trips may mean never having the chance to make them up.
Hurricane Sandy was expected to hit the East Coast late Monday, then combine with two winter weather systems as it moves inland, creating a hybrid superstorm. At least four battleground states are likely to be hit: New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.
Obama plans to spend every day between now and Nov. 6 on the road in most of those states and others, though his schedule does call for him to be back in Washington some nights.
In canceling Obama's event Monday in Virginia, aides also considered the optics of urging thousands of people to venture out to a political rally in the midst of a raging storm.
Still, it was clear Obama's team was working hard to ensure that the president could keep campaigning as long as possible before he was needed back in Washington.
His departure for Florida, where he'll hold an event with Bill Clinton, was moved up from Monday morning to Sunday night in order to get ahead of the storm. Even though Monday's late event in Virginia was scrapped, Obama and Clinton planned to squeeze in an evening rally in Youngstown, Ohio, before the president was to return to the White House.
Romney canceled three events in Virginia on Sunday and planned to spend the day campaigning with running mate Paul Ryan in Ohio.
If bad weather keeps people in hard-hit battleground states from going to the polls, it could mess up the campaigns' carefully crafted get-out-the-vote efforts.
Jennifer Psaki, Obama's campaign spokeswoman, said the Democratic ticket was urging people to vote early when they can, especially if it helps them get to the polls before the storm.
"Safety comes first," she said. "And that's the case with early voting as well."
(CNN) ? The first sign of their political differences surfaced on the first date, when she noticed the photo on his wall of him posing and smiling with George H.W. Bush.
He was a 30-year-old petty officer in the Navy and a Southern Baptist from Georgia. She was from a liberal family in San Diego, a 19-year-old who had protested military recruitment on her high school campus.
Still, he was charming and handsome, so she gave him a chance. Though he identified as a Republican and she as a Democrat, they agreed on social issues that she considered deal breakers, like supporting abortion rights. They?ve been happily married for 14 years now, but the ideological differences still come to a head during election years.
?We have our differences and it really becomes apparent in election time. That?s usually when it gears up, when everything comes to the forefront,? said Melissa Reylek-Robinson, a 34-year-old mother of two in San Diego. ?Election time is probably the worst time for us. We definitely get into some heated debates.?
For many, political loyalties can make or break a relationship. But couples who have learned to successfully weather political partisanship could teach us all a thing or two about relationships, said etiquette expert Anna Post.
?These are admirable couples. It takes a lot of patience and passion and respect for the relationship, especially where large political divides exist,? said Post, spokeswoman for the Emily Post Institute and great-great-granddaughter of Emily Post. ?To be able to do that successfully speaks to the kind of relationship these couples have.?
Political differences don?t always lead to political discord, she said, and shouldn?t be considered insurmountable. If Democrat James Carville and Republican Mary Matalin can talk along party lines on television as full-time jobs, others can learn to do it in small doses.
?It has to do with the tone of the conversation and knowing why you?re having it,? she said. ?It?s not about what the differences are. It?s how you choose to bridge them that will create a problem or make things work smoothly, knowing how to have a dialogue and which boundaries not to push or cross.?
As a devout Christian and Republican who?s also a Colts fan, Janet Davis is rarely on the same side as her significant other, an atheist Democrat who roots for the Patriots. After years of loud fights, it took the birth of their son to mellow them out.
?How do we do it? Very, very carefully,? she said. ?No one really ever wins in a battle of personal beliefs. Since the birth of our son in 2005 we are both much more respectful of each other?s viewpoints.?
Life-changing events like births or deaths can change a couple?s perspective on what really matters in their relationship, said marriage and family therapist Sharon Rivkin.
?It?s such a powerful experience that?s bigger than the both of them,? said Rivkin, author of ?Breaking the Argument Cycle.? ?For many people, that?s when they learn to respect each other, when you get down to the nitty-gritty of what?s important.?
If a couple can coexist with different political views, it creates a foundation for a healthy and long-lasting relationship, psychotherapist Karen Ruskin said, because they?ve learned to see each other as two individuals within a relationship.
?For some people, they do not feel like individuals when they become married, they become one,? she said. ?But that doesn?t mean you have to share one position or one philosophy. It means you take care and look out for the other person as much as yourself. You love that person as much as that person loves you.?
It?s not easy, she acknowledged, and probably impossible for someone who needs to always be right. It?s a matter of learning to not be threatened by another position and accepting that what works for your partner doesn?t have to work for you.
Again, James Carville and Mary Matalin come to mind, she said. Their careers have grown over their years together even as they?ve worked on different sides of the aisle.
?Instead of seeing it as conflicting you view it from the mental framework of acceptance, accepting that we have a difference in opinions,? she said. ?In a healthy relationship, a difference in opinion does not define the relationship or erode it. It?s another puzzle piece to fit into the relationship as a whole.?
Reylek-Robinson has learned to live with the ?the giant Bush in the room,? as she likes to call her husband?s photograph. He tolerates the fridge magnet she uses to display her children?s homework depicting George W. Bush and his infamous quote, ?Rarely is the question asked, ?Is our children learning?? ?
This year, the hot-button issue has been President Obama?s Affordable Care Act, she said. As someone who has epilepsy, she said she supports ?Obamacare? even though she has coverage through her husband.
?I have way too many pre-existing conditions and no one would touch me with a 10-foot pole if I didn?t have his coverage. I wouldn?t be able to afford all the medication I need if I had to get insurance without the Affordable Care Act,? she said.
Her husband doesn?t think it should be mandatory, ?but we just agree to disagree.?
?The fact that I believe in (government-mandated) health care and he doesn?t is not something I?m going to divorce him over,? she said. ?At the end of the day you have to realize that you love the person for things other than their political beliefs.?
The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta ? & ? 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
Fannie Mae Limiting Loans Helps JPMorgan Mortgage Profits
.
Piggybankblog posted on 10/22/12
Cross linked with buisnessweek.com
Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Ginnie Mae are seeking to protect taxpayers as a flood of new lenders apply to do business with them. That?s also helping big banks? profit and blunting Federal Reserve efforts to boost housing.
Fannie Mae, the government-supported mortgage financier, has begun limiting how many loans annually it will guarantee or buy from certain firms. Ginnie Mae has moved slowly with responses to applications, according to David Lykken, an industry consultant. The U.S.-owned bond insurer has gotten tougher this year about approving lenders even as it?s signed up about 50, Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer said in an interview.
Limited competition in the industry and a lack of capacity to meet demand is helping JPMorgan Chase (JPM) & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon get ?very high (JPM)? mortgage margins. That?s frustrating central bankers such as William Dudley, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York president, who said this month that mortgage rates are higher than they could be after the Fed said it plans to acquire $40 billion of home-loan securities a month.
?More direct access to Fannie would end up in more mortgage companies getting a better price and consumers would benefit,? said John Robbins, head of Bexil American Mortgage Inc., who founded two lenders later sold to banks now part of JPMorgan and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) ?The problem is, if you?re Fannie you just can?t let all these companies have unlimited access. You don?t want to give a high-speed, temperamental race car to someone who just got a driver?s license.?
Taxpayer Conflict
The conflict between protecting taxpayers and encouraging more lending to help the real estate market recover from the worst slump since the Great Depression shows the challenges facing the government and the industry as about 3,500 people attend the Mortgage Bankers Association?s annual conference in Chicago that started yesterday.
U.S.-backed mortgages still account for about 90 percent of new lending in the almost $9.6 trillion home-loan market four years after Fannie Mae and rival Freddie Mac were rescued by taxpayers.
The companies ?are playing an outsized role: in a properly functioning market, Fannie Mae should not have such a significant share,? Chief Executive Officer Timothy J. Mayopoulos said yesterday in a speech at the conference. ?We see little evidence of substantial private capital ready to meet the very significant market needs.?
Changing Rules
David Stevens, the MBA president, former Federal Housing Administration head and ex-Freddie Mac executive, says his organization is worried that the company and Fannie Mae are changing a broad range of rules without first going through the same steps to seek public input as other arms of the government.
?No matter how much they say they?re being transparent with the customers, it really pales in comparison to the process required by other rulemakers,? he said.
Fannie Mae, which has more than 1,000 approved lenders, won?t disclose how many have been capped or its total applications and approvals this year for customers that originate and service mortgages, or so-called seller-servicers.
The delivery limits affect a ?relatively small number? of lenders, ?primarily? new ones, according to Zach Oppenheimer, a senior vice president who heads customer engagement.
Fannie Mae?s volume limits, based on the net worth and business profile of counterparties, add to steps by U.S. and international lawmakers and regulators that may hurt competition and ?consumer access,? Stevens of the MBA said.
Government Seizure
The mortgage industry remains in flux six years after mortgage defaults began climbing, reaching unprecedented levels that would freeze private markets and cause hundreds of lenders to collapse. Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the top underwriters of so-called non-agency mortgage bonds connecting investors with homeowners, imploded in 2008.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FMCC) were seized (FNMA) by the government that year and have received $137 billion of aid since then, enabling them to finance about two-thirds of new loans. Even with steps to reduce their dominance, including increases to how much they charge for mortgage guarantees, there are few signs of progress on legislation that might shrink their role.
?Reform is not going to happen next year and probably not until 2015,? said Isaac Boltansky, a Washington-based policy analyst for Compass Point Research & Trading LLC.
The ?uncertainty? over their future is bad for the companies as they seek to hire and retain qualified employees and make decisions such as technology investments, Freddie Mac Chief Executive Officer Donald Layton said during a panel at the conference in Chicago.
Fannie Future
The development of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been on the backburner this year amid a presidential election and a recovery in housing, including higher prices, home sales and construction. That?s being driven in part by the Fed?s policy of buying mortgage bonds to push down borrowing costs. The Obama administration also adjusted rules to allow more borrowers to tap record-low rates.
Refinancing applications soared to a three-year high with 30-year mortgages reaching 3.36 percent this month, straining staffs of lenders, which held rates higher than they could offer in part to reduce demand.
Mortgage rates could be more than 0.4 percentage point lower based on the average gap between bond yields and borrowing costs over the past decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. New expenses and legal risks contribute to the higher spread, said Bexil?s Robbins, also a former chairman of the mortgage-bankers group.
Production Margins
At JPMorgan, mortgage-production margins are ?very high?at ?well over? 2 percent, up from less than 1 percent historically, Dimon said on an Oct. 12 conference call about its record $5.7 billion in quarterly earnings. The bank?s home-loan business lends directly to consumers and buys mortgages from about 800 firms.
?Obviously one day that will normalize,? Dimon said.?And in the meantime, you get volume and higher spreads.?
Three days later, the New York Fed?s Dudley explained in a speech that only part of the drop in debt yields created by the central bank?s actions was being passed on to consumers, the flip side of Dimon?s expanded profits.
The factors behind the wider spreads ?warrant ongoing attention from policymakers,? Dudley said.
Dudley cited ?a concentration of mortgage origination volumes at a few key financial institutions? as part of the cause. At the same time, Mayopoulos said that ?we?ve seen significant deconsolidation in the industry as major players pulled away or withdrew completely.?
Smaller Lenders
Over the past year, more companies have been taking market share as firms including Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and MetLife Inc. abandoned roles buying loans from smaller lenders, getting them guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae and selling them to investors.
Those middlemen were ?absorbing a lot of risk? that Fannie Mae must take on itself when dealing directly with smaller firms, Mayopoulos said. ?We very much want to serve smaller lenders but we want to do that in a prudent way,? he said. ?We?re also serving the taxpayers.?
During the second quarter, 47 percent of Fannie Mae?s business came from its top five customers, down from 65 percent a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing. A decline that began last year ?accelerated sharply? this year, Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Mahesh Swaminathan wrote in an Oct. 18 report.
Still, Wells Fargo & Co. has a record market share. The San Francisco-based lender made or bought 33.1 percent of home loans originated in the first half of 2012, according to newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance. That?s almost twice the 16.8 percent share recorded by Countrywide Financial Corp. in 2007. That year, Wells was second with 11.2 percent.
JPMorgan Share
JPMorgan is now in second place with 11.1 percent. The rest of the top five ? now U.S. Bancorp, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) andCitigroup Inc. (C) ? also are smaller than five years ago.
Fannie Mae?s new delivery caps, which it may increase as companies gain capital and prove their operations, can affect existing customers with financial trouble or poor performance as well as new clients, Oppenheimer said. Newsletter National Mortgage News earlier reported the restrictions.
Under its previous policy, a lender with a $2.5 million net worth, its minimum, could ?theoretically deliver billions of dollars of loans,? Oppenheimer said. If the lender was forced to buy back loans because of faulty underwriting, it wouldn?t?take that many bad loans to add up to substantial costs and wipe you out. Ultimately if those institutions fail, it would be the taxpayer who would be paying.?
Loan Costs
Fannie Mae?s Oppenheimer said the caps may not have much effect on the cost of loans because borrowers often turn to their servicers to refinance and Fannie Mae is already doing business with more than 1,000 lenders.
?I?m not certain that the addition of many new originators would have a material change to margins in today?s market.?
Rob Hirt, chief executive officer of RPM Mortgage Inc., a Walnut Creek, California-based lender, understands the decision.
?If you?re looking at it from Fannie?s perspective, I don?t see how you can blame them,? he said. Still, ?the small guys are really getting whacked in some ways, which at the end of the day is bad for the consumer.?
Hirt said his firm, which will sell about half of its $6 billion of loans this year to Fannie Mae, has been told to expect that ?what you?re selling to us you can keep selling to us,? he said.
Direct Relationship
A direct relationship with Ginnie Mae, whose bond guarantees help lenders sell off FHA loans allowing low-down payments and mortgages for veterans, is also in demand. The agency, which has more than 300 approved issuers, relies on the companies to do work including advancing payments missed by borrowers to bond investors as they service outstanding loans.
Lykken, the managing partner of consultant Mortgage Banking Solutions, is doing work for four lenders seeking Ginnie Mae approval, which he said should be considered a ?privilege?requiring scrutiny. One has been waiting for more than a year.
?You send in your application and you don?t really hear anything for months, nada,? he said. ?People are up in arms about it. They?re frustrated, but they?re afraid to say anything.?
Ginnie Mae?s Tozer said it?s not changing its minimum standards, which represent a ?starting point? to getting its approval.
Holistic View
Instead, it?s looking at lenders in a more ?thoughtful?and ?holistic? way, often leading to more back and forth. For example, a company that plans to outsource servicing work to a less established firm may need to prove it has an executive experienced in the field on its own staff, he said.
?There?s no value to me or them in getting people in the program that aren?t going to be successful,? Tozer said in an interview at the conference.
Lenders forced to sell mortgages they originate to bigger companies, instead of directly tapping government programs, must usually give up contracts to manage outstanding debt created with new loans. Prices for those servicing rights have dropped as lenders such as Bank of America stopped buying them.
Even with rates on new loans at record lows and their default risk small, buyers pay three to four times the contract?s annual payments, down from five to six times historically, said Norcom Mortgage?s Philip DeFronzo. The yearly payments typically equal 0.25 percentage point of loan balances.
?It?s just not as competitive a marketplace right now,?said DeFronzo, president of Avon, Connecticut-based Norcom, which is among lenders holding on to more of those contracts. Firms that have to sell the servicing rights cheaply lose revenue that can be used to offer less-expensive mortgages.
Lenders also face loan standards from so-called aggregators that are stricter than they can get when dealing directly with government programs, said John Fearon, the majority owner of Fearon Financial LLC. The company, which also lends under the name Smarter Mortgages, is now seeking Fannie Mae approval.
?We?d probably not be as tight as some of the larger institutions in making our own underwriting decisions,? he said. ?It would give us the ability to serve a lot more of the market in the 11 states we?re in,? including Ohio and Texas.
Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke said this month the economy needs more small lenders and that new regulation may drive more out of business. These firms historically have been willing to give more consideration to good borrowers with unusual situations that bigger lenders don?t want to deal with, she said.
?You need to make sure you can still make the irregular loan, the one that doesn?t fit exactly in a box,? Duke said.
Regulators are writing rules such as national servicing guidelines that will be relatively more costly for smaller lenders to comply with, said Robert Bostrom, who served as general counsel for Freddie Mac for five years through 2011.
?There?s just not enough capacity in the marketplace,?said Bostrom, who is now at law firm SNR Denton. ?And we all know who?s going to end up paying for it: the consumer.?
To contact the reporters on this story: Jody Shenn in New York at jshenn@bloomberg.net; Clea Benson in Washington at cbenson20@bloomberg.net; and Heather Perlberg in New York at perlberg@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at agoldstein5@bloomberg.net; Rob Urban at robprag@bloomberg.net; Maura Reynolds at +1-202-654-7360 or mreynolds34@bloomberg.net.
My name is John Wright AND I AM FIGHTING BACK!
All Rise! The Honorable Judge Wright has left The Courtroom of Public Opinion!
.
.
Your donation makes a difference in my life.
?.
.
.
?
. PRIVACY NOTICE: Warning ? any person and/or institution and/or Agent and/or Agency of any governmental structure including but not limited to the United States Federal Government also using or monitoring/using this website or any of its associated websites, you do NOT have my permission to utilize any of my profile information nor any of the content contained herein including, but not limited to my photos, and/or the comments made about my photos or any other ?picture? art posted on my profile.
You are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or taking any other action against me with regard to this profile and the contents herein. The foregoing prohibitions also apply to your employee , agent , student or any personnel under your direction or control.
The contents of this profile are private and legally privileged and confidential information, and the violation of my personal privacy is punishable by law. UCC 1-103 1-308 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
October 23, 2012 3:26 PMText Size: A . A . A A month after Apple presented the iPhone that surprised no one, it did the same today with its new shrunken tablet. The iPad mini is just what its name implies: a smaller iPad.
The price, though, isn?t much smaller; the base-level iPad mini, which comes with 16 GB of storage, will cost $329. The most expensive version, with 64 GB of storage and cellular capabilities, will go for nearly twice as much.
The iPad mini is not a 7-inch tablet?its 768 x 1024?pixel screen measures 7.9 inches diagonally?but 7-inch tablets are its main competition. Apple put the Google Nexus 7 directly in its crosshairs during today?s announcement by focusing on the way apps display and function on a small tablet screen. Apps running on the iPad mini are more likely to be scaled-down iPad apps than scaled-up iPhone apps; that means they tend to look better than Android tablet apps, which are usually enlarged phone apps.
Web browsing is better, too, Apple says; the same webpage gets 50 percent more display area on the mini compared with the Nexus 7. And Apple out-performs Google even before the tablets are turned on. At 0.68 pounds, the mini weighs in a tad lighter than the Nexus 7.
Today?s Apple event went according to Apple tradition, which means a bunch of less exciting announcements came before the mini took the stage. The company introduced a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, which, like the larger Retina-display laptops introduced earlier this year, comes without an optical drive.
There are also new Mac Minis and iMacs, both with faster processors and more hard-drive space. The desktop iMacs get much thinner, too, measuring just 5 mm at their thinnest points. They also get what Apple?s calling a Fusion Drive?a combination solid-state and traditional hard-drive setup. The computer comes with a 128 GB solid-state drive plus either a 1 TB or 3 TB hard drive.
A number is often a web server or holder of hosts that ?hosts? the Arian Foster Jersey data files composing your website online. Businesses normally supply a variety of offers at different charges for his or her hosting professional services, but it?s vital that you make a choice along with your potential company at heart, and not merely protecting a couple of dollars presently.
Carefully think about all of your current budgeting requirements before purchasing an online internet hosting company to optimize your consumption of it. Some companies offer you the option for paying upfront by a year or more, plus some are for sale to around five dollars per month. Recognize what you are able and wish to invest, so you have a number of repayment Arian Foster Jersey strategies readily available.
Many online hosts supply their end users a number of offers to select from. It is recommended so that you can get a deal that fits your needs and that is certainly affordable. There are many discount rates that hosts will give you using their deals. Take the time to enquire about the offered discounts.
If you will certainly be selling services or products from your web site, verify to make certain that your web variety delivers SSL. This is a support that allows protected deals, and do not take too lightly value of this. A lot of buyers will not give their private Arian Foster Jersey financial details to your website that does that claim that the transaction is secured by SSL.
Think about exactly how much down time the web number may have when evaluating a single. These downtimes differ from ten percent to .000001Per cent. Because of this there might be hours of downtime per week or less than seconds. Choose a host with all the lowest volume of downtime that you can discover.
Look for a cash back guarantee. Look for no less than a 14 to 30 day money-back guarantee with any company you are looking for as the Arian Foster Jersey web host. In case a clients are dependable because they claim, they will be prepared to rear which claim up. This can also let you really get a full look at the organization and encounter their services before you shed your hard earned money forever.
For those who have a variety of sites, look at hosting them all with similar firm. Some companies supply significant discounts for numerous websites. Additionally, starting up a new internet site by using a business you know offers you enhanced comfort of being aware of you might be working with a business you can rely.
If you currently have more than one web site, you might like to utilize a web host that permits an account to contain a number of domain names. This could save you dollars and enable you to only need to worry about Arian Foster Jersey coping with 1 accounts as opposed to several accounts. Coping with one account is less stress filled.
If there was clearly anything at all with your company that you need to be prepared to waste money on, it?s the potency of a proper hold. It will be one of the more significant decisions you are making, and when you purchase wrong, it could possibly end up that means weeks of misplaced service and dropped profits.
Recognized J.J. Watt Jersey Shop supplies all sorts of good value Andre Johnson Jersey immediately with Swift Delivery, Get Payment & Superb Customer Support.
Since the Time of Troubles The dark church of Bane's power has waned, but The High Priest of Darkness, Lord Balthazar, has devised a sinister plot to secure power and converts for the his dark master.
Owner:
Game Masters:
Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.
I don't steal good ideas; I replicate them.
Plagiarism
Member for 0 years
I'll have a posting order made before we get things rolling, we may not get up to 11 or more though so no real reason to worry about that yet.
As for balance, this game will be strictly RP, and doesn't have to adhere to the rules quite as much as if we brought out the books and dice. If I find a character that I believe is OP or broken in any way I'll whip out the nerf-stick and beat it until everyone's happy.
The classes, every base class is up for grabs IF you can make it believable. Minotaur psions and pixie samurai will need an excellent backstory before I say yes. As for prestige, and multiclassing, as we progress through the storyline PM me about it and I'll try to squeeze in some NPC trainers... I'm pretty much open to everything at this point, there's a lot more freedom to be had since it's going to be strictly roleplay.
All that I ask is that the characters be believable.
Gunz4Legz
Member for 1 years
Post a reply
RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.
If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood greet fans the Country Music Hall of Fame Inductions on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP)
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood greet fans the Country Music Hall of Fame Inductions on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP)
FILE - This Oct. 7, 2012 photo shows Garth Brooks singing "Papa Loved Mama," a song written by Kim Williams, as Williams is inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tenn. On Sunday, Oct. 21, Brooks will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood attend the Country Music Hall of Fame Inductions on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP)
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood attends the Country Music Hall of Fame Inductions on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP)
Connie Smith attends the Country Music Hall of Fame Inductions on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Wade Payne/Invision/AP)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Garth Brooks promised he'd be emotional during his Country Music Hall of Fame induction. But the tears started before he made it all the way into the building.
Reflecting on personal heroes George Strait, Bob Seger and James Taylor on hand to salute him Sunday night, Brooks teared up as he spoke with reporters on the red carpet. He only got more emotional as the night went along.
"I moved to this town for one reason and that was to get 'Much Too Young to Feel This Damn Old' cut by George Strait," Brooks said before the ceremony as his eyes began to redden. "That's what George is singing tonight. It's gonna be so cool. I'm a fan. So I get to be a fan tonight."
Brooks was inducted along with trailblazing singer Connie Smith and keyboard player Hargus "Pig" Robbins, whose rolling signature sound has adorned countless hits across the radio dial.
It was a night studded with stars. Strait, Seeger and Taylor played for Brooks, dubbed "the mighty Garth" by Robbins. Lee Ann Womack, the Quebe Sisters and The Whites saluted Smith. Merle Haggard provided her induction speech.
Ronnie Dunn serenaded Robbins with a version of George Jones' "White Lightning," the first No. 1 hit Robbins played on in 1959, while simultaneously drinking moonshine from a Mason jar. Ronnie Milsap, who like Robbins is blind, joked "Pig and I are driving home tonight," before joining Robbins on "Behind Closed Doors."
Robbins is one of the most widely recorded session players in Nashville history, though his reputation spread far beyond Music City's borders. From Jones and most of his country contemporaries to rock 'n' roll pioneers like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and J.J. Cale, he worked with some of the most dynamic artists in music history. His sound defines some of pop music's most memorable songs as well, which Crystal Gayle reminded everyone by singing "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue."
"If we listened to every hit record he played on, none of us would live long enough to make it to the end," Charlie McCoy said during his induction speech for Robbins.
Robbins also played on Smith's early recordings shortly after she arrived in Nashville.
Smith recounted before the show how she won a talent contest in Columbus, Ohio. Bill Anderson heard her sing and less than a year later she had her first hit, "Once a Day," which became the first debut single by a female country artist to reach No. 1. It sat atop the charts for eight weeks.
She inspired a generation of singers just as she was inspired by singers like Jean Shepard and the late Kitty Wells, whom she now joins in the hall of fame.
"Jean Shepard went in last year and she said, 'I hope they hang your plaque next to mine,' and I don't think I could have a better compliment that that," Smith said.
Wherever they decide to hang Brooks' plaque will quickly become the most visited spot in the museum. Selling out stadiums, drawing more than 750,000 fans to Central Park, hosting "Saturday Night Live" and earning his own TV specials, Brooks rose from playing for tips in Oklahoma bars to becoming a pop culture phenomenon who started fashion trends, changed the concert business and is still imitated endlessly despite a decade of semi-retirement.
Name just about any trophy, lifetime achievement award or honorific, and Brooks can claim ownership. He balked, though, when informed he'd be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame last spring because of all the greats he thinks should go in ahead of him. But there's no denying Brooks' place in not only country music history, but American pop music as well. The third best-selling artist in U.S. history with more than 128 million albums sold, he helped take an oft-maligned genre of music to the world.
As Strait said during his induction of Brooks: "He blew it up, man."
And fans are still breathless in his company. Hundreds lined up outside the hall of fame in anticipation of the 50-year-old singer's arrival with wife Trisha Yearwood, holding signs and cheering. The shouts were just as loud during the ceremony.
Brooks gave a speech that included thanks to friends, family and industry professionals who helped him along the way. And he told the story of how Taylor, Seeger and Strait affected him at the points they entered his life. He remembered hearing Strait for the first time while visiting home after his freshman year in college.
"Unwound" came on the radio and it changed everything.
"From that point forward I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life," Brooks said. "I wanted to be George Strait so bad, man. And I have to say now, 20 years in the business under my own name, thank you very much, I still want to be George Strait so damn bad."
___
Online:
http://countrymusichalloffame.org
___
For the latest country music news from the Associated Press: http://twitter.com/AP_Country . Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott .
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic donors gave unprecedented amounts of money in September to their party's three main "Super PACs," federal disclosures revealed on Friday, a reflection of how wealthy Democrats' reluctance to give to such groups has faded in the weeks before the November 6 election.
A fundraising laggard for much of the campaign, the political action committee (PAC) backing President Barack Obama raised more than a rival group backing Republican Mitt Romney, the second consecutive month the Democratic group has done so.
The pro-Obama group Priorities USA Action raised $15.2 million in September, compared with $14.8 million for the pro-Romney group Restore Our Future, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Restore Our Future, a formidable advertising force whose attack ads on Romney's Republican rivals helped him secure the party's presidential nomination, began the crucial month of October with $16.6 million in cash on hand.
American Crossroads, a Super PAC run by veteran Republican operative Karl Rove, on Saturday reported raising $11.7 million and kicking off October with $15.8 million in cash on hand.
DONORS GIVE BIG
Republican PACs have invested far more in advertising than Obama's backers, spending $84.1 million since September 10 alone, according to a Reuters analysis of disclosures through October 18. Democratic-aligned groups spent $23.1 million in that time.
Early this year, many Democratic donors were reluctant to donate to PACs supporting their party's candidates because they disliked the idea of contributing to attack ads and other negative advertising - a staple of spending by groups known as "Super PACs" because they have no limits on how much they can raise and spend.
In recent months, fundraising for Democratic PACs has accelerated to counter the waves of anti-Obama and anti-Democratic ads from Republican groups.
Priorities in September received $2 million from founder of Newsweb Corp Fred Eychaner; $1.5 million from billionaire hedge fund manager of Renaissance Technologies Corp James Simons; and $1 million each from film director Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and New York lawyer David Boies Jr, according to filings.
The group had $7.3 million in cash on hand at the end of last month, Saturday's filing showed. Spending nearly three times less than Priorities in September, Restore Our Future started October with $16.6 million.
Restore's biggest donors in September included Texas home builder Bob Perry and billionaire Harold Simmons.
Perry gave $2 million in September and leads all donors with $10 million contributed to Restore Our Future during this election cycle. Simmons gave $500,000 for the month, increasing his total to the group to $1.3 million.
Simmons is also the biggest donor to American Crossroads. The Dallas patron was the group's biggest donor, giving $2.5 million in September. Together with his firm Contran Corp, Simmons has given $15.5 million to the Super PAC.
Its other big September donors included telecommunications conglomerate Armstrong Group of Pennsylvania, which gave $1.3 million, and Jay Bergman of PETCO Petroleum Corp in Illinois, who gave $1 million.
CONTROL OF CONGRESS
The Democratic PACs seeking to help candidates win House of Representatives and Senate seats also saw donations rise in September.
Majority PAC, the group helping Democratic candidates for the Senate, announced on Friday its biggest cash haul since its creation in 2010: $10.4 million in September, and another $9.7 million during the first week of October.
Its sister group, House Majority PAC, also had its best month in September and is on track to double that in October, an aide to the group said.
Democrats need a net gain of 25 seats to become the majority party in the 435-seat House, an outcome that most pollsters see as unlikely. Republicans need a net gain of four seats to take control of the Senate. Most pollsters also see that as unlikely.
Scores of Republican PACs and tax-exempt groups have been formed to support Republican House and Senate candidates. Tax-exempt groups do not disclose their finances.
American Crossroads alone spent $27.9 million on polling and ads, among other things, in September, filings showed.
Republicans showed greater fundraising strength at the party level in September.
The Republican National Committee raised $48.4 million and ended September with $82.6 million in cash on hand. Its Democratic counterpart took out a large loan.
The Democratic National Committee, which has focused on races for the Senate and House, raised $20.3 million in September and borrowed $10.5 million. It ended September $20.5 million in debt, according to its filing with the FEC.
A DNC representative declined to comment on the reason for the debt and how it might affect Democratic candidates in the final two weeks before the election. The party had $4.6 million in cash on hand heading into October.
The RNC reported $9.9 million in debt at the end of September, with its $82.6 million in cash on hand.
Unlike the DNC, the Republican Party has been working closely with its presidential candidate, Romney, who heavily relies on its grassroots operation. On the Democratic side, Obama's campaign has a huge grassroots organization itself and does not need such help from its party.
(Additional reporting by Alexander Cohen; Editing by David Lindsey, Bill Trott and Todd Eastham)
If you are in the Internet marketing business or if you run a business online, an autoresponder can make a world of difference. They can handle a majority of your technical support questions and informational requests, by sending out automated messages to interested customers. When they get an email, they will respond instantly with a preset message. This can save you quite a bit of time- especially if you get a lot of emails on a daily basis.
Out there on the Internet, there are many autoresponders to choose from. They are classified into three main types ? locally hosted, remote hosted and desktop hosted. Each type has pros and cons, depending on your needs. Locally and desktop hosted programs will give you complete control over the program, as you run them through your own server or website. Remote hosted on the other hand, is ran through a third party service provider. Remote programs cost you a monthly fee, while desktop and locally hosted programs cost one fee ? then you have complete ownership of the program.
Before you decide to purchase an autoresponder, you should always compare and see what each one has to offer. If you are interested in running one from your server or website, then you?ll need to look at desktop and locally hosted autoresponders. There are free programs available online, although they will normally come with strings attached, such as ads in your emails. This can be a bad thing, as ads in your email will give customers the wrong impression. www.Automatic-Responder.com is a great service that also offers a free version for up to 250 subscribers and no advertisements.
When you purchase one of these types of autoresponder programs, you should always research and find out all that you can. There are many programs out there that you can buy, many of which will offer you great features at a great price. Buying your program is the way to go, especially if you have an image to uphold. Once you have found a program and buy it, it will be yours for as long as you decide to use it.
If you are looking towards a remotely hosted autoresponder, you?ll need to research for the best prices and service, this is a must when shopping around. You?ll be dealing with a company who has control over the address of the autoresponder, meaning that your domain name won?t appear in the emails you send using the autoresponder. This can be good for some, although many prefer to have their name in their emails.
When it all comes down to it, you should always research an autoresponder before you decide to make a purchase or use a free program. There are several out there to choose from, although some are far superior to others. If you take the time and research what each one has to offer you and how much it will cost you ? you?ll end up with an autoresponder that will prove to be more than worth the cost.
BRANSON, Mo. (AP) ? Entertainer Andy Williams was remembered Sunday for a smooth voice that could soothe the soul, an inviting smile and a warmth that became synonymous with Christmas as celebrities and fans alike gathered for a memorial tribute at his Moon River Theatre in the southwest Missouri town he adopted as his home.
Williams, who died last month at the age of 84 after a battle with cancer, was serenaded in absentia by a series of musical artists who got their start with him decades ago or had performed with him over the years ? the Lennon Sisters, Osmond Brothers and Gatlin Brothers, among them. Entertainer Bob Newhart choked up with emotion as he joked of his friendship with Williams.
Others sent tributes by video, including comedian Bill Cosby and Ethel Kennedy, who recalled swooning as she once danced with Williams ? a family friend who sang at the memorial for her husband, Robert Kennedy, after his assassination in 1968.
Williams himself also appeared on the video screen as clips recalling his musical albums, TV variety show and Christmas specials were played.
More than 1,000 people attended the tribute hosted by entertainer Peter Marshall that started as an invitation-only event, but was opened to fans as word spread through Branson.
Williams had three platinum and 18 gold records, and five Grammy award nominations during a career that began at age 8 ? when he performed with his older brothers Dick, Bob and Don ? and continued nearly until his death as he performed at his Branson theater named for his signature song, "Moon River."
"For his fans, his music is the tapestry of our lives ? it can soothe life's difficult moments, help to celebrate the glorious ones," said Anthony Gigliotti, who spoke at the memorial service as a representative of Williams' fan club.
Williams became a big star in 1956, the same year as Elvis Presley, with the swing song "Canadian Sunset." He hosted "The Andy Williams Show" through the 1960s into 1971, and the show won three Emmys. His annual Christmas specials, featuring Williams dressed in colorful sweaters singing favorites such as "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," continued long after his TV show ended and were renewed with live performances after Williams opened his Branson theater in 1992.
"Christmas is never going to be the same to me," Newhart said Sunday, his voice breaking up with emotion.
A cross section of people who knew Williams was seated out of the spotlight in the theater that he built. Some knew him in passing from his friendly smile and wave that graced Branson, and others in a more personal way, including the man who regularly golfed with Williams or the woman who once lived next door to him.
Former neighbor Jude Rhodes recalled Williams holding her sick dog and singing to her for a birthday.
"I could go on for days and days what a wonderful man he was ? a sweet lovely man," Rhodes said.
Williams was passionate not only about singing and entertaining, but about art, architecture, golf and virtually everything he did, his family and friends said.
His older brother Dick drew a standing ovation after singing at the service. Then the 2?-hour memorial tribute closed with a video of Williams singing "May Each Day" ? a tune he often used to close his own shows.
"May each day in the year be a good day. May each day find you happy and gay. And may all of your days be as lovely as the one you shared with me today," Williams sang. "May each day of your life be a good day, and good night."
Then the theater lights went dark. And an audience applauded one final time for Williams.
The United States of America is a nation full of natural riches, from rain forests, rivers, lakes, oceans, desserts, and whatnot. If sustained, supported, and consolidated properly, these natural resources can turn into economical and industrial behemoths that can serve the people environmentally and financially.
For this reason, the United States Government has developed a slew of agencies that are established solely to render concerns related to the country's natural resources.
The United States Forest Service, one of the agencies in the natural resources sector, is an agency operating under the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres of land.
The mission of the agency is "to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations."
The agency is divided into three primary divisions, the National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, and the Research and Development branch. The agency carries out its mission by establishing grant programs such as the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program, which was generally intended to encourage individuals, businesses, groups and other organizations to collaborate on the design, implementation, and monitoring of projects that value local and traditional knowledge, promote healthy and productive forests and watersheds, and build ownership and civic pride.
The National Park Service, on the other hand, is a United States federal agency that manages manages all national parks, various national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations.
The grants and programs of the National Park service are all geared towards the achievement of its primary agency mission which is to "provide quality law enforcement to safeguard lives, protect our national treasures and symbols of democracy, and preserve the natural and cultural resources entrusted to us."
Meanwhile, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, operating within the United States Department of the Interior, is the primary agency dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats.
The mission of the agency, which is "to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people", is carried out by creating several grants and initiatives that serve this purpose.
One of these grant programs is the Evaluation of Mixed-grass Prairie Biotic Communities Project, which was developed to assist with research study design, statistical analyses, data assimilation, and development of written scientific manuscript or report regarding the present situation of mixed-grass prairie biotic communities.
For my second PSA Essentials project this month, I wanted to create a simple, but elegant piece of home d?cor that was personal without being too sentimental.? I covered sentiment with my Framed Recipe Cards project.? I got my paper crafting skills on to make understand personalized initial art.
To make Personalized Initial Art, you will need:
double frame with mat
coordinating scrapbook paper or cardstock
PSA Essentials stamps and ink
paper cutter
exacto knife
roller adhesive
edge punch
circle cutter
When my aunt moved out of state (we miss you, Annie!), she needed to downsize a lot of things.? One of the pieces to get the boot was this store-bought wall art.? My mom scooped it up for me, knowing that even if it wasn?t my style, I could use the cool frame for something else.
I eventually got around to doing just that with this project.? I ripped apart the back of the frame and dismantled the insides.? It was all very violent.
Using a rotary trimmer and an adhesive roller, I re-covered the artwork with silhouette scrapbook paper.? Silhouettes are still on trend and they read as family-oriented, even if the silhouettes aren?t really of your family.
I trimmed the paper around the inner frame with an Exacto knife and added some decorative touches with an edge punch.
I used the Espresso Brown ink pad and the H initial from the Romance Peel & Stick Pack to stamp a few trial runs on my scrapbook paper.? I used my circle cutter to cut one out (not on the wood table, thank you very much).
Pretty, no?? I cut a circle 1/4 larger in diameter out of brown metallic cardstock, as well.
I used the adhesive roller to stick the initial to the brown cardstock and the cardstock to the inner frame.
I reassembled the frame to reveal an completely new piece of artwork.
The frame looks really nice sitting with our Fall d?cor because the bronze tones in the paper and the frame work well with the other warm metals I have used on the mantel.? Eventually, I think I will hang this frame in a wall collage with framed family photos.
Did you like this post?? Think it?s worth sharing?? Please share with your friends using the social media share buttons on the toolbar at the bottom of the page!
.
Fannie Mae Limiting Loans Helps JPMorgan Mortgage Profits
