Study contends Grand Canyon as old as dinosaur era

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 1998 file photo, a couple enjoy lunch on one of the scenic points at Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai Indian reservation in Arizona. A new study published in the journal Science Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, suggests the western Grand Canyon formed 70 million years ago. Some scientists disagree and believe the canyon was mainly carved by the Colorado River in the past 5 to 6 million years. (AP Photo/Jeff Robbins, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 2, 1998 file photo, a couple enjoy lunch on one of the scenic points at Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai Indian reservation in Arizona. A new study published in the journal Science Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, suggests the western Grand Canyon formed 70 million years ago. Some scientists disagree and believe the canyon was mainly carved by the Colorado River in the past 5 to 6 million years. (AP Photo/Jeff Robbins, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2006 file photo, tourists visit the Hualapai Indian Reservation along the western end of the Grand Canyon. A new study published in the journal Science Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012, suggests the western Grand Canyon formed 70 million years ago. Some scientists disagree and believe the canyon was mainly carved by the Colorado River in the past 5 to 6 million years. (AP Photo/Jake Bacon, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The awe-inspiring Grand Canyon was probably carved about 70 million years ago, much earlier than thought, a provocative new study suggests ? so early that dinosaurs might have roamed near this natural wonder.

Using a new dating tool, a team of scientists came up with a different age for the gorge's western section, challenging conventional wisdom that much of the canyon was scoured by the mighty Colorado River in the last 5 million to 6 million years.

Not everyone is convinced with the latest viewpoint published online Thursday in the journal Science. Critics contend the study ignores a mountain of evidence pointing to a geologically young landscape and they have doubts about the technique used to date it.

The notion that the Grand Canyon existed during the dinosaur era is "ludicrous," said geologist Karl Karlstrom of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

How the Grand Canyon became grand ? with its vertical cliffs and flat plateaus ? has been debated since John Wesley Powell navigated the whitewater rapids and scouted the sheer walls during his famous 1869 expedition.

Some 5 million tourists flock to Arizona each year to marvel at the 277-mile-long chasm, which plunges a mile deep in some places. It's a geologic layer cake with the most recent rock formations near the rim stacked on top of older rocks that date back 2 billion years.

Though the exposed rocks are ancient, most scientists believe the Grand Canyon itself was forged in the recent geologic past, created when tectonic forces uplifted the land that the Colorado River later carved through.

The new work by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and California Institute of Technology argued that canyon-cutting occurred long before that. They focused on the western end of the Grand Canyon occupied today by the Hualapai Reservation, which owns the Skywalk attraction, a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that extends from the canyon's edge.

To come up with the age, the team crushed rocks collected from the bottom of the canyon to analyze a rare type of mineral called apatite. The mineral contains traces of radioactive elements that release helium during decay, allowing researchers to calculate the passage of time since the canyon eroded.

Their interpretation: The western Grand Canyon is 70 million years old and was likely shaped by an ancient river that coursed in the opposite direction of the west-flowing Colorado.

Lead researcher Rebecca Flowers of the University of Colorado Boulder realizes not everyone will accept this alternative view, which minimizes the role of the Colorado River.

"Arguments will continue over the age of Grand Canyon, and I hope our study will stimulate more work to decipher the mysteries," Flowers said in an email.

It's not the first time that Flowers has dug up evidence for an older Grand Canyon. In 2008, she authored a study that suggested part of the eastern Grand Canyon, where most tourists go, formed 55 million years ago. Another study published that same year by a different group of researchers put the age of the western section at 17 million years old.

If the Grand Canyon truly existed before dinosaurs became extinct, it would have looked vastly different because the climate back then was more tropical. Dinosaurs that patrolled the American West then included smaller tyrannosaurs, horned and dome-headed dinosaurs and duckbills.

If they peered over the rim, it would not look like "the starkly beautiful desert of today, but an environment with more lush vegetation," said University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz.

Many scientists find it hard to imagine an ancient Grand Canyon since the oldest gravel and sediment that washed downstream date to about 6 million years ago and there are no signs of older deposits. And while they welcome advanced dating methods to decipher the canyon's age, Karlstrom of the University of New Mexico does not think the latest effort is very accurate.

Karlstrom said it also defies logic that a fully formed canyon would sit unchanged for tens of millions of years without undergoing further erosion.

Geologist Richard Young of the State University of New York at Geneseo said his own work suggests there was a cliff in the place of the ancient Grand Canyon.

Flowers "wants to have a canyon there. I want to have a cliff there. Obviously, one of us can't be right," he said.

Whatever the age, there may be a middle ground, said Utah State University geologist Joel Pederson.

Researchers have long known about older canyons in the region cut by rivers that flow in a different direction than the Colorado River. It's possible that a good portion of the Grand Canyon was chiseled long ago by these smaller rivers and then the Colorado came along and finished the job, he said.

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Online:

Science: http://www.sciencemag.org

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Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-11-29-Grand%20Canyon%20Age/id-bb5e670d74a947e2b460221adc9282db

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Couple's Friends Raise Thousands for Life-Saving Surgery

In the past year, Drew Lewis has proposed to his now-wife, celebrated his wedding day and received a life-changing diagnosis of stage 4 colon cancer.

He's also realized the power of social media, the power of friends lending a helping hand and, in this holiday season, the power of giving thanks.

Lewis is scheduled to undergo surgery today just days after their healthcare provider dismissed their appeals to pay for the life saving procedure as well as an earlier surgery. His medical bills, he estimates, will be about $400,000.

But Lewis and his wife, Amy Blansit, 33, of Springfield, Mo., have been buoyed by an outpouring of financial and emotional support from family, friends and strangers who have sent the couple nearly $20,000 in the past week through a Facebook page and the charity website GiveFoward.com.

"It really is unbelievable what people are doing," Blansit told ABCNews.com.

Lewis, a 45-year-old real estate agent, was diagnosed with colon cancer in January after a colonoscopy revealed tumors throughout his body and cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes.

Through nine months of chemotherapy and two surgeries to remove the tumors, Lewis and his wife relied on each other and turned down the often-overwhelming offers of help from friends and family.

"We've had friends from the beginning who wanted to help - bring food, cut the lawn - anything that they can do to help," Blansit said. "We kept turning them away."

The couple, who are raising Lewis' two teenage children from a previous relationship, turned their friends away even as they received the devastating news that Lewis' insurance carrier would not pay for the surgeries to remove his tumors, treatments that doctors told him would stretch his life expectancy from one to two years to at least seven.

Lewis and Blansit got that news just hours before Lewis' second surgery in October but decided to forge ahead with that procedure, as well as a third and final operation - scheduled for today - at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

"We thought this is our only chance and if we have to downsize and change our lifestyle to make it happen then we will," Blansit said. "You can't really put a price tag on what you would do in this situation and what life means. There's really not a number for it."

The couple appealed the insurance decision but found out last week that their appeal had been denied. Lewis' insurance carrier, HealthLink, declined to cover the operations because they were classified as "experimental" and "exploratory," according to Blansit.

HealthLink said the decision not to pay for Lewis' surgeries was made by United Security Life and Health, which it said is Lewis' primary health provider. United Security Life and Health did not return requests for comment from ABCNews.com.

That same week, Lewis and Blansit's friends and family, without knowing the couple's insurance woes, stepped in to help.

"We kept turning them away and then at Thanksgiving they just ignored us," Blansit said.

The couple's friends and family decided to use the social media tools that Lewis had been using to keep them updated on his progress as a way to raise money for the couple, both of whom have been unable to work due to Lewis' treatment.

Lewis' co-workers began a fundraising drive at the couple's bank and shared the information on Lewis' Facebook page.

As Lewis' coworkers helped in Springfield, Blansit's sister and brother-in-law, thousands of miles away in Las Vegas, established the "Drew Lewis Colon Cancer Fund" on GiveForward.com.

In just one week, nearly $10,000 has been raised by Lewis' colleagues and another $9,000 has been collected on GivingForward.com.

"It's one of those things where we're so far away from everyone who is doing it. It's such a neat way to be connected," a grateful Blansit said.

It wasn't until the hospital bills began to arrive this week and their appeal was denied that they let their family and friends know that they were tackling Lewis' treatment without the aid of insurance.

"It's a hard thing to get to and to discuss because it also means that Drew is not able to provide for his family," said Blansit. "It comes to the point that Drew has to say he's sick and can't do it on his own. That was the point we got to. It's a hard place to be in life."

Even more than the financial aid, Blansit says the helping hands have been a beacon of hope for Lewis, with the messages left on Facebook and GivingForward.com motivating his recovery.

"Drew? For the past few years I've been making a $500 donation to a charity instead of having professionals come and put lights on my house for Christmas. This year, I am sharing this gift with you?" wrote one donor.

Blansit says she and Lewis have a mini-command center in his hospital room with a laptop, iPad and two iPhones set up to monitor the overwhelming response.

"We're kind of addicted to social media right now," she said. "We just had so many people who are drawn to Drew and who absolutely think the world of him that we couldn't keep up with our phones."

"It really changes his day to have that connectedness and see that he's changing lives through his process," Blansit said. "He says that's his therapy. That's his means to sometimes manage a day."

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/couples-friends-raise-thousands-life-saving-surgery-154330224--abc-news-health.html

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Mystery Micrograph #02

By Psi Wavefunction?| November 29, 2012 |??

Share ?Email ?Print

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The previous Mystery Micrograph was of the surface of Blepharisma, a characteristically pink ciliate. You can see rows of the pigment granules responsible for the unusual colour. Not clearly visible throughout most of the image (only on the top side) are rows of cilia that are interspersed between the pigment granule rows (about every 5-7 rows are cilia). It?s a pretty cell to look at !

Now it?s time for another. To make this more ?fun?, I?ll leave out the scalebar for now. (Mwahaha!)

What is this, and whom is it a part of?

About the Author: Psi Wavefunction is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia working as a researcher at Indiana University, Bloomington, and blogs about protists and evolution at The Ocelloid as well as at Skeptic Wonder. Follow on Twitter @Ocelloid.

More??

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=0e2d05705fa6ed376f03a5439941890e

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Syrian rebels, civilians brace for long civil war

HAREM, Syria (AP) ? Before the civil war, Ramiz Moussa was a middle class civil servant who processed fines for littering, illegal construction and disturbing the peace in Aleppo, Syria's largest city.

Now, the 40-year-old squats with other rebels in damaged, abandoned homes in this embattled town. He rarely sees his family and thinks of little beyond the next attack on government soldiers.

"We no longer count the days," he said, standing in a rubble-strewn alley, holding a rifle and two rocket-propelled grenades. "Today we're in a battle, but we can't remember when it started, much less the past battles. You could ask me what day it is, but I can't tell you."

A dark realization is spreading across northern Syria that despite 20 months of violence and recent rebel gains, an end to the war to topple President Bashar Assad is nowhere in sight.

As a result, civilians and rebel fighters are digging in, building an infrastructure to secure rebel towns, care for the wounded and escalate the fight against Assad's forces.

Although incomplete and often hobbled by competition between factions, these efforts have produced a rebel force capable of victories nearly unimaginable months ago. And recent interviews in the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo with more than a dozen rebels and civilian activists gave no sign that they would give up soon.

"At the start I never imagined it would last this long," said rebel field commander Abdulllah Qadi, 25. "We have been at it for 20 months and we could be at it for 20 more. All we can do is keep fighting."

Syria's uprising started with protests calling for political change in March 2011. Like many in the opposition, Qadi said the successful toppling of dictators in Egypt and Tunisia gave him hope that Assad, too, would soon fall.

Instead, his regime launched a relentless crackdown, causing many to take up arms. The conflict escalated this year into a civil war with scores of rebel groups fighting Assad's military. Activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Syria's rebels have claimed a string of victories in recent weeks, storming military bases, boosting their armories with looted munitions and overrunning a hydroelectric dam that powers a large swath of the country.

Fueling these advances is greater organization among rebel brigades. At least three major umbrella groups have formed to solicit private aid from abroad and shuttle arms and ammunition to brigades inside Syria.

"At first, the regime's presence in many places prevented us from bringing our forces together, but after we liberated some areas, we saw that we needed to unify the forces on the ground," said Gen. Ahmed al-Faj of the so-called Joint Command. The other groups are the Syria Liberation Front and the Military Councils of the Free Syrian Army.

In one striking example of the opposition's new capabilities, hundreds of rebels recently stormed the base of the Syrian army's 46th Regiment near Aleppo after a coordinated two-month siege, taking away tanks, armored vehicles and truckloads of munitions they plan to use against Assad's forces.

But rebel advances remain limited. While they control a strip of territory along the Turkish border and have carved out pockets near Damascus and in the sparsely populated eastern provinces, much of the country remains beyond their reach. Even in Idlib, a center of rebel activity, the army still has four major towns and two bases, plus a half-dozen checkpoints to prevent rebel expansion to the west and south.

The rebels also remain largely helpless against the regime's air power, whose daily air raids often kill civilians. Many fighters are bitter that the U.S. and others have not intervened to stop Assad's air force as they did in Libya against Moammar Gadhafi last year.

"We saw in Libya the aid that the U.S. and NATO gave and how quickly the battle went," said fighter Abdullah Biram. "So why don't they come here? Don't they see all the people dying?"

One recent evening, a helicopter dropped a bomb on the village of Maaret al-Naasan in Idlib. Moments later, Bilal Haidar emerged from the stairwell he was hiding under to find that his parents, six of his siblings, his sister-in-law and three neighbors were killed when their houses collapsed.

"I have no one left," he said the next day, standing in the rubble of his former home. "My whole family is gone."

Civilian leaders have scrambled to fill the void left by the government's withdrawal, setting up hospitals with operating rooms and security brigades to prevent crime.

A half-dozen Idlib towns have also set up Islamic courts under the jurisdiction of a High Judicial Council, said Salah Hablas, a Muslim cleric involved in the effort.

When asked what the most common crimes were, he read off the names of a dozen people, all wanted on suspicion of spying for the regime.

Hablas, sporting a long gray beard, dark sunglasses and a black track suit, said the courts apply a mix of Syrian and Islamic law and have sentenced one person to death. While that sentence has yet to be carried out, others have.

"If there a punishment for anyone, whether whipping or anything else, it is carried out in the public square," he said.

The complete mobilization for war is clear in Harem, a scenic town rich with orange and persimmon groves, built around an imposing, hilltop castle near the Turkish border.

After months of clashes, rebels managed to besiege the remaining troops inside the castle. They try daily to force them out.

Sniper fire, artillery blasts and near-daily government airstrikes have sent most residents fleeing through rubble-strewn streets. Rebels squat in abandoned homes, smashing holes in walls to create passages to the front line. Between clashes, they make tea on wood fires or pick fruit, much of it about to rot because farmers can't harvest it.

Captured regime soldiers are held in a former police station and medics treat the wounded in a farmhouse before they return to battle or are driven to hospitals.

Rows of fresh graves line a grassy, tree-covered compound abutting the barbed wire of the Turkish border.

Mohammed Quweiri, 63, pointed to the grave of his son, killed by a sniper. Next to him lay a school principal and a mosque preacher, also slain by snipers, and a rebel commander who died in an airstrike that also killed 15 others, Quweiri said.

Four graves nearby held the remains of some of the 10 people killed in another airstrike near the town's mosque.

Sitting in the dirt nearby, Sobhia Qarboulad, 55, said her brother Mohammed was among the dead. When the first missile hit near their house, he rushed to help the wounded. A second missile hit soon after and he never came back.

Since then, the family has been living in the abandoned bakery where her brother once worked. When they hear a fighter jet, they collect the children and flee to the olive groves, she said, where no roof can collapse on their heads.

"We have no money to leave and no place to go," she said. "Only God can provide protection."

As she spoke, rebels crowded around the bodies of two fighters killed that day while an old man dug a new grave.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-civilians-brace-long-civil-war-180919449.html

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Toronto Real Estate: Buyers beware in real estate purchases, too ...

In light of the recent discussion about the TRUMP TOWER in Toronto, I thought I might repost this article that I wrote for the Toronto Star 14 months ago:

September 16, 2011 ? I recently read an article in the Toronto Star that got me thinking about the experiences of homebuyers purchasing newly built condominiums.

The article detailed buyers who had bought from floor plans, but, unfortunately, once the unit was built they were disappointed when they realized that one window looked at a brick wall, the floor was laminate and the balcony was ?more of a ledge.? This article is a good reminder that there is a lot to consider when deciding to buy a new home.

Condominiums are regulated by the Condominium Act. In recent months, there has been some talk about the need to reform this law, in part to provide better consumer protection. There is no doubt that the act does need reworking, but caveat emptor, or buyers beware, can go a long way to help buyers when purchasing any home.

When buying newly built housing there are many things to consider. Firstly, when you walk into a sales office, understand that often everyone there is working on behalf of the seller/builder. If that is the case, you may have discussions with them, but their fiduciary duty is to the builder, not you as the buyer. With this in mind, you do have the option of working with a realtor and entering into a Buyer Representation Agreement to authorize them to work on your behalf.

At any time that you work with a licensed realtor they must disclose, to all parties, on whose behalf they are working, in writing. For years I have been hoping that Ontario would make disclosure part of all sales that happen in the province. Currently only realtors who are licensed under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act 2002 must do so. Consumers would be better protected if all parties involved in real estate transactions ? including lawyers, private sellers and new construction on-site salespeople ? were required to do so. It?s only fair; anyone acting on behalf of someone else should have to disclose their relationship.

Secondly, a very important thing to know is that all buyers of newly built condominiums are entitled by law to a 10 day cooling-off period, during which time they can cancel their agreement. This is a good time to peruse all documentation and take it to a lawyer for review. When dealing with condominiums, it could help to use a lawyer who specializes in condo law. The lawyer may have good advice on stipulations that you can add into the contract to better protect yourself.

Thirdly, understand what you are buying:

??Make sure that a condominium suits your lifestyle. Do you have a good sense of the reality of a 665-square-foot unit with two bedrooms and two bathrooms? If you have house-sized furniture, are you ready to sell it all to make this type of new space livable?

??Be diligent in getting the details. If the plans show nine-foot ceilings, is that in all of the rooms? Where will the heating, cooling, and water be located for the apartment below and above? Ask for the full building plans so you can see where the bulkheads are planned.

??Understand the status of the neighbourhood. Is it a stable neighbourhood with little redevelopment, or is their significant development going on ? or coming ? that could change the nature of the area and affect things like the view from your unit. The municipality?s Official Plan and Planning Department staff can help you look into the future.

??Be realistic in your expectations for the property?s value; use common sense. Getting caught up in hype and speculating that your unit will increase dramatically in value from the time you purchase until construction is complete could leave you disappointed.

??Finally, be sure to consider all of your options. For many homebuyers, newly built housing is the right choice. However, if you are the type of person who likes to ?kick the tires? before buying, purchasing a resale property might be a better option for you.

Newly constructed housing is an important part of the real estate market. It fills an important niche and is the right choice for many people. However, as with any major purchase, it is important that you take steps to look out for your best interests. Go the extra step to make sure that you understand what you are buying and consider working with a realtor who can provide assistance and advice during the purchase.

Richard Silver is president of the Toronto Real Estate Board. The views expressed here are those of the president. For more information, go to www.TorontoRealEstateBoard.com. Follow on Twitter @TREB_Official, on Facebook TorontoRealEstateBoard and www.youtube.com/TREBChannel.

Reposted from The Toronto Star

Source: http://torontoism.com/2012/11/27/toronto-real-estate-buyers-beware-in-real-estate-purchases-too/

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'Pac-Man' moons: Cassini finds a video gamers' paradise at Saturn

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2012) ? You could call this "Pac-Man, the Sequel." Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spotted a second feature shaped like the 1980s video game icon in the Saturn system, this time on the moon Tethys. (The first was found on Mimas in 2010). The pattern appears in thermal data obtained by Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer, with warmer areas making up the Pac-Man shape.

"Finding a second Pac-Man in the Saturn system tells us that the processes creating these Pac-Men are more widespread than previously thought," said Carly Howett, the lead author of a paper recently released online in the journal Icarus. "The Saturn system -- and even the Jupiter system -- could turn out to be a veritable arcade of these characters."

Scientists theorize that the Pac-Man thermal shape on the Saturnian moons occurs because of the way high-energy electrons bombard low latitudes on the side of the moon that faces forward as it orbits around Saturn. The bombardment turns that part of the fluffy surface into hard-packed ice. As a result, the altered surface does not heat as rapidly in the sunshine or cool down as quickly at night as the rest of the surface, similar to how a boardwalk at the beach feels cooler during the day but warmer at night than the nearby sand. Finding another Pac-Man on Tethys confirms that high-energy electrons can dramatically alter the surface of an icy moon. Also, because the altered region on Tethys, unlike on Mimas, is also bombarded by icy particles from Enceladus' plumes, it implies the surface alteration is occurring more quickly than its recoating by plume particles.

"Studies at infrared wavelengths give us a tremendous amount of information about the processes that shape planets and moons," said Mike Flasar, the spectrometer's principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "A result like this underscores just how powerful these observations are."

Scientists saw the new Pac-Man on Tethys in data obtained on Sept. 14, 2011, where daytime temperatures inside the mouth of Pac-Man were seen to be cooler than their surroundings by 29 degrees Fahrenheit (15 kelvins). The warmest temperature recorded was a chilly minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit (90 kelvins), which is actually slightly cooler than the warmest temperature at Mimas (about minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit, or 95 kelvins). At Tethys, unlike Mimas, the Pac-Man pattern can also be seen subtly in visible-light images of the surface, as a dark lens-shaped region. This brightness variation was first noticed by NASA's Voyager spacecraft in 1980.

"Finding a new Pac-Man demonstrates the diversity of processes at work in the Saturn system," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Future Cassini observations may reveal other new phenomena that will surprise us and help us better understand the evolution of moons in the Saturn system and beyond."

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/nasa/~3/NjCLE16BH4Q/121126151127.htm

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Rice's star rises as congressional opposition dims

FILE - This April 14, 2012 file photo shows U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice speaking at U.N. headquarters. With congressional opposition softening, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice could find her name in contention as early as this week to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state. Her nomination to the top Cabinet job could signal the potential for a more robust intervention in world crises in President Barack Obama?s second term. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

FILE - This April 14, 2012 file photo shows U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice speaking at U.N. headquarters. With congressional opposition softening, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice could find her name in contention as early as this week to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state. Her nomination to the top Cabinet job could signal the potential for a more robust intervention in world crises in President Barack Obama?s second term. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

FILE - This Nov. 14, 2012 file photo shows Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, gesturing during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. With congressional opposition softening, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice could find her name in contention as early as this week to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state. Her nomination to the top Cabinet job could signal the potential for a more robust intervention in world crises in President Barack Obama?s second term. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? With congressional opposition softening, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice could find her name in contention as early as this week to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state. It's a step that may signal greater U.S. willingness to intervene in world crises during President Barack Obama's second term.

As Obama nears a decision on who should be the country's next top diplomat, Rice has emerged as the clear front-runner on a short list of candidates that many believe has been narrowed to just her and Sen. John Kerry, despite lingering questions over her comments about the deadly Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. Consulate in Libya.

According to congressional aides and administration officials, Rice will be making the rounds on Capitol Hill this week for closed door meetings with key lawmakers whose support she will need to be confirmed. Those appearances follow her first in-depth explanation of her Benghazi remarks that Republicans seized on as evidence of the administration's mishandling of the attack that took the lives of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.

Acting CIA Director Michael Morell will join Rice in her meetings with lawmakers.

A senior Senate aide said the administration was trying to measure the strength of the Republican opposition to a Rice nomination, sounding out the more moderate members of the Foreign Relations Committee such as Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who is in line to become the panel's top Republican next year, and Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

Rice is scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., her most vocal critic on Capitol Hill. She will also meet with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. McCain and Ayotte are members of the Armed Services Committee.

During an interview on Monday, McCain said he would ask Rice "the same questions I've been talking about on every talk show in America." Asked whether he thinks she's still unfit for secretary of state and what he was hoping for, McCain interrupted and said, "I'm not hoping for anything. She asked to see me and I agreed to see her."

Assessing the prospects for Rice before Obama makes any announcement would avoid the embarrassment of a protracted fight with the Senate early in the president's second term.

On talk shows the weekend following the attacks, Rice relied on talking points provided by the intelligence community that described the attack as a spontaneous assault growing out of a protest of an anti-Muslim film. GOP critics say her remarks downplayed evidence of an obvious terrorist attack just weeks before the Nov. 6 election.

Republicans called her nomination doomed, leading to a vigorous defense of her by Obama in his first post-election news conference. But since then, GOP lawmakers seemed to have softened their views. McCain, who said earlier this month that would he do everything in his power to scuttle a Rice nomination, said on Sunday that he was willing to hear her out before making a decision. McCain ally Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has also eased his opposition and said he is usually deferential to presidential Cabinet picks.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, had issued a statement highly critical of Rice on the day of Obama's news conference. He indicated Monday that perhaps she didn't know what had transpired in Benghazi on the day of the attack.

"I assumed she had full knowledge of everything that went on. I'm not at all convinced of that now. She very well could have been thrown under the bus," Inhofe said in an interview. He said she hadn't requested a meeting but he would be glad to meet with her.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that the administration appreciated McCain's latest comments about Rice, but wouldn't say whether the president saw them as an opening to make the nomination. "Ambassador Rice has done an excellent job at the United Nations and is highly qualified for any number of positions," Carney said.

Several diplomats currently serving with Rice said that what she lacked in Clinton's star power, she could make up with a blunter approach that demands attention and has marked her tenure thus far at the United Nations.

Rice, who at 48 is relatively young, has played the role of "conscience of the administration" on human rights and detainee issues and would bring "a certain edge" to the secretary of state job, according one colleague who has dealt with Rice on multiple issues over the past three years.

She "will not be going into the job as a star," said Karl Inderfurth, a former U.S. ambassador and senior State Department official who worked closely with Rice in President Bill Clinton's administration when she worked as a staff aide to the National Security Council and then as assistant secretary of state for African affairs. "She will be a rising star, though."

"Hillary Clinton understood the politics of diplomacy: what the person across the table needs in order to sell something," said Inderfurth, now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington. "Susan Rice's background is different. What she'll bring is her experience in multilateral engagement and the limitations thereof."

"But the most important thing she brings to the table is her relationship with the president," Inderfurth said.

Rice, like many other foreign policy experts of her generation, was shaped by the Clinton administration's inability to prevent the genocide of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda 1994. Years later, she told a journalist: "I swore to myself that if I ever faced such a crisis again, I would come down on the side of dramatic action, going down in flames if that was required."

That doesn't mean the U.S. will change its policy of only providing humanitarian support to Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow the regime anytime soon. But Rice's confirmation as the next secretary of state could alter the balance in an administration that has viewed humanitarian interventions with significant skepticism, given its rejection of the Bush administration's war in Iraq.

An early supporter of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Rice fell out with some of her Clinton administration-era NSC and State Department colleagues who urged her to support Hillary Clinton's competing candidacy, including her own mentor, Madeleine Albright, and some of her top aides.

With the Clinton-Obama primary battle in full gear in April 2008, tension between the two camps was on public display at a ceremony and reception to unveil Albright's official portrait in the State Department's ornate 8th floor Benjamin Franklin room, according to several people present. At those events, Rice firmly brushed aside appeals that she switch allegiance, those present said.

Obama's 2008 election brought with it the prospect that Rice, one of his campaign's top foreign policy advisers, might be in line for the Cabinet job she is known to covet. Instead, however, Obama went with the surprise choice of Clinton and gave Rice the U.N. portfolio, although he attempted to deflect her disappointment by restoring the job to a Cabinet-level position.

But her sights remained set on the top job, according to people who know her.

Since arriving in New York, Rice can point to a series of diplomatic achievements ? most notably the NATO-led air campaign that toppled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and tougher sanctions against Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs.

But Rice has also been criticized ? along with other Security Council leaders ? for the failure of the U.N.'s most powerful body to take action to end the 19-month civil war in Syria.

She has also been criticized, especially by human rights groups, for being too protective of U.S. allies, namely Sri Lanka where the U.N. says up to 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians may have been killed in the final months of the country's civil war that ended in May 2009, and Rwanda, which has been accused of backing the M23 rebel group that last week took control of the eastern Congo city of Goma.

As U.N. ambassador, she has gained a reputation for a sharp intellect and sharp elbows. She is not known for diplomatic finesse, rather for being aggressive ? sometimes too aggressive ? and using salty language on occasion. In private, she has a good sense of humor.

In a legendary exchange last December, Rice dismissed an appeal by Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who also isn't afraid to speak out, for a Security Council investigation of civilian deaths in Libya from NATO's bombing campaign as "a cheap stunt" to distract attention from the Syrian conflict.

"Oh, the bombast and bogus claims," she told reporters.

Churkin responded by mocking Rice's Stanford University degree, saying: "We hear that the Obama administration wants to establish a dialogue with the international community in the United Nations... If this is the intention, really this Stanford dictionary of expletives must be replaced by something more Victorian."

___

Associated Press Writers Donna Cassata in Washington and Edith Lederer in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-11-26-US-Cabinet-Rice/id-9fac599eb4a749b4b399de23de353cfc

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PFT: Ray Lewis could be back by Week 15

AP

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh still hasn?t spoken about his, um, interaction with Texans quarterback Matt Schaub on Thanksgiving.? However, Suh has no qualms when it comes to talking about his ambitions.

?I do see multiple Super Bowl rings in my future, especially with the team we have now,? Suh says in an upcoming issue of ESPN The Magazine, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.? ?We?re a team where if we don?t make mistakes, we are insanely dangerous.?

Some would say that some of the players have been dangerous off the field, insanely or otherwise.

Suh was dangerous, sort of, last Thanksgiving, when he stomped on the arm of Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith.? But Suh, who presumably spoke before Thursday?s game, says he has matured.

?I definitely understand how to channel my aggression in a productive way,? uh said. ?There are many reasons.? One is I went through that situation last Thanksgiving.? But also, any man, any child grows up. You learn from your mistakes or you go backward.? I?m the kind of person who wants to move forward. My fire is still there.? And when I get a full opportunity to unleash my fire, it?s like the hit I put on [Chicago Bears quarterback Jay] Cutler.? By no means am I trying to hurt him, but I am going 100 [mph] and trying to get him as quickly and as hard down to the ground as possible.? That?s the way I show my dominance, and I am going to continue to do that.? If that situation happens again with Cutler, I?m gonna hit him the same way, if not harder.?

While Suh won?t be suspended for his successful attempt to bring Schaub to the ground in a non-traditional way, Suh likely will be fined.

Whether he?ll will multiple Super Bowls is slightly less clear.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/26/ray-lewis-could-be-back-by-week-15/related/

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Stocks cut losses to end the day mixed

5 hrs.

JeeYeon Park , CNBC

Stocks eased off their lows to close mixed Monday, but gains were limited as concerns over the "fiscal cliff" and Greece resurfaced.

?Going out and making big bets in any one direction is probably not fruitful until we get some kind of clearer road," said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management. But the good news is that [the fiscal cliff] is so big that they can?t just sweep it under a rug.?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 42.31 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 12,967.37, led by AmEx and Coca-Cola . The blue-chip index was down more than 100 points in its session low.

The S&P 500 slid 2.86 points, or 0.20 percent, to finish at 1,406.29. The Nasdaq edged up 9.93 points, or 0.33 percent, to end at 2,976.78.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, ended above 15.

Among the key S&P sectors, telecoms and energy led the laggards, while utilities gained.

"Unfortunately for the last 10 days, with the House and Congress gone for the Thanksgiving recess... much progress hasn't been made," said Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat.?

Serious negotiations are expected to resume this week as policymakers return to Washington from the Thanksgiving holiday. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been trying to convince the public that they are willing to compromise and can reach a deal before year end.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with a second group of CEOs on Wednesday to discuss the deficit plan, according to the Wall Street Journal, two weeks after he met with a dozen chief executives including Jeff Immelt of GE and Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo.

"[The] pending U.S. fiscal restraint is likely to be hurdled by a late-year compromise, but that the expected agreement likely will only resolve the short-term fiscal cliff issue," wrote Citigroup in its latest research note.

U.S. stocks rallied more than 1 percent last Friday in a holiday-shortened session amid encouraging signs on the "fiscal cliff" and following some positive economic reports. Major averages soared more than 3 percent last week, logging their best weekly performance in more than five months.

Knight Capital shot higher after news that trading firms Getco and Virtu are pursuing purchase of the entire company. While exact financial terms of the deal is unclear, sources told CNBC that the price for Knight Capital will likely range between $600 million and $700 million.

Europe shares closed lower, dragged by financials, ahead of a meeting of Greece's lenders to decide when it will receive its next tranche of emergency funds.

Euro zone finance ministers, the ECB and the IMF plan are meeting in Brussels to finalize the second bailout package for Greece worth 31.2 billion euros ($40 billion).

Apple rose after Citigroup initiated coverage of the tech giant with a "buy" rating and a $675 price target. Separately, the iPhone maker said it is adding new Samsung devices to its patent-infringement lawsuit.

Facebook jumped after Bernstein upgraded the social-networking giant to "outperform" from "market perform" and raised its price target to $33 from $23. Despite the stock's 40 percent spike in the last three months, the company is still trading well below its IPO price of $38 a share.

Yahoo gained after Goldman Sachs added the Internet company to its "conviction buy list" and upped its price target to $24 from $22.

And Research In Motion was upgraded to "sector outperformer" from "sector underperformer" at CIBC World Markets. The brokerage also lifted its price target on the struggling BlackBerry maker to $17 from $8.

Google edged lower after the CEO of ICOA claimed that the press release announcing the search-engine giant has acquired the small tech company for $400 million was a "hoax," adding his firm has never been in acquisition talks.

A survey by the National Retail Federation showed a record 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the Black Friday weekend, up from 226 million last year. U.S. retail sales jumped an estimated 12.8 percent on the previous year over the four-day holiday weekend, according to the organization.

Amazon.com , Best Buy and Ebay traded higher.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart said it had its "best ever" Black Friday events, selling 1.8 million towels, 1.3 million televisions, 1.3 million dolls and 250,000 bicycles.

McGraw-Hill rallied after the publishing company announced it will sell its education business to Apollo Global Management in a deal worth $2.5 billion.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/stocks-cut-losses-end-day-mixed-1C7209897

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home for the holidays, for now. | girl meets life.

Well, here we are again ? smack dab in the middle of the holiday season. I?m still in Pennsylvania for my first of two holiday visits here, and it?s been quite lovely.

Our family tradition has always been to stay home the day after Thanksgiving to decorate the house for Christmas. I think it stemmed from my mom not wanting to go shopping on Black Friday. Luckily for her, it seems to have worked for over 25 years.

We?re a fake tree family, in case you were wondering?

?and a fake fire family too

Our trip to the mall was reserved for yesterday, where mom, Katie and I enjoyed the last of the Twilight movies.

(I know, I cried because it?s the end too.)

And for a family post-post-post Thanksgiving dinner: sushi, naturally.

As usual, my fortune left me more confused than enlightened. But hey, maybe it could speak to someone??

One of the things I?ve definitely loved the most about this visit home is getting to spend a ton of time with my sister, Katie. We?ve gotten so much closer as we get older, and it?s exciting to see where each of our lives are taking us. Isn?t she a beaut??

I?ll be here for another day before heading back to New York. I must say that my newly Christmas-spirited self is pretty excited to go back to the holiday-filled city..!

Do you go home at all for the holidays? How far do you live from your family?

Source: http://girlmeetslife.com/2012/11/home-for-the-holidays-for-now/

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Top 10 Pinterest Pins This Week

DEAR ABBY: My darling mother-in-law passed away recently. She was a wonderful woman, a caring and loving role model to her children and grandchildren. In her will she left a diamond ring to her daughter, "Mimi," a diamond ring to me, and the remainder of her jewelry to her grandchildren. Her house and its contents were to be divided equally between her son and daughter.My children received a box from Mimi filled with Mom's costume jewelry. All of her expensive jewelry was missing. When I asked about the missing items, Mimi said they were in the box, and she had taken photos to prove it. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-10-pinterest-pins-week-161200015.html

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Orpheum's holiday concert benefits Sunrise Retirement Community ...

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) -

Is there a better way to kick off the holiday season than with a holiday concert?

Siouxlanders headed over to the Orpheum Theater Saturday night, to catch Jill Miller perform a variety concert. Ticket sales will benefit the Sunrise Retirement Community.???????????

Past concerts have raised more than $125,000 for those who can't afford to stay in a nursing home.

"We do gratuitous care. And in many instances, last year, almost a million dollars of unreimbursed Medicare, Medicaid, people that don't have financial arranged for their care," said Beverly Zenor, executive director of Sunrise Retirement.

KTIV's Kristie VerMulm emceed the event. The turnout for the concert was so big Saturday night, that the ushers ran out of programs.

Source: http://www.ktiv.com/story/20177254/2012/11/24/orpheum-hosts-annual-holiday-concert-to-benefit-sunrise-retirement-community

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Laws don't curb pricey prostate cancer treatments

By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK | Fri Nov 23, 2012 4:54pm EST

(Reuters Health) ? Laws meant to prevent the overuse of expensive healthcare services don?t stop doctors from using pricey prostate cancer treatments, according to two new studies.

Researchers found doctors used robots and special radiation to treat prostate cancer regardless of whether their area had laws requiring government approval before money is spent on healthcare facilities and new equipment.

?Certificate of need laws were designed to align public need with use of different services,? said Dr. Bruce Jacobs, a lead author of one of the studies from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The U.S. government required states to implement the laws in the 1970s and early 1980s, but stopped a few decades ago. Still, some states continue to use the laws in an effort to control costs.

In each study, the researchers looked at treatments for prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer in American men.

The American Cancer Society estimates that one in every six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, but most will not die from it. Past research found that many men?s prostate cancer is slow-growing, and most are candidates for active surveillance or ?watchful waiting.?

In Jacobs?s study, the researchers looked at whether states with strict laws ? those that require approval for even low-cost equipment ? used robotic surgery to remove fewer prostates than states with less strict or no laws.

Jacobs and his colleagues write in The Journal of Urology that the price of such robots, and the questions surrounding whether or not robotic surgery to remove a prostate is better than the old-fashioned way should make it an ?ideal target? for review under the laws.

In September, for example, one of the studies that have questioned the usefulness of robotic surgery found that men who had robotic surgery ended up having fewer short-term complications, but questioned its long-term benefits and whether the hefty price tag of $1.5 million in startup costs is worth it. (see Reuters Health article of Sep. 12, 2012:)

But another recent study found robotic surgery led to fewer complications, fewer readmissions to the hospital, and fewer deaths due to surgery than traditional methods, according to Intuitive Surgical, the maker of the da Vinci Surgical System.

?That is significant for the patient and for reducing overall costs to the system,? wrote Angela Wonson, a spokesperson for Intuitive Surgical, in an email to Reuters Health.

Overall, in the new study, the use of robotic surgery to remove prostates in Medicare patients increased regardless of whether there were strict, less strict or no laws in place. Also, the chance a surgeon used robots had nothing to do with the laws.

RADIATION AND COSTS

A second study by another group of researchers looked at whether the laws limited the use of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or slowed the growth of healthcare costs related to prostate cancer.

IMRT allows doctors to focus radiation beams onto the cancer without harming healthy tissue.

However, the researchers write that IMRT is costly and ? to their knowledge ? has not been compared to other prostate cancer treatments in a randomized controlled trial, which is considered the ?gold standard? of medical research.

In a group of Medicare patients, Dr. Ganesh Palapattu, the chief of urologic oncology at the University of Michigan and the study?s senior researcher, found that areas with the laws actually saw greater growth in IMRT use.

Palapattu and his colleagues found that IMRT use increased from about 2 percent of all prostate cancer treatments in 2002 to almost half in 2009 in areas with the laws.

In areas without the laws, IMRT use increased from about 11 percent of all prostate cancer treatments to about 42 percent over the same time span.

The laws also didn?t seem to help control prostate cancer treatment costs when the researchers compared the price to treat one person with prostate cancer in states with laws, compared to states without laws.

Palapattu told Reuters Health that it may be time to reevaluate the regulations.

?If the goal is to limit the overutilization of more expensive therapies and to improve efficacy or health, then we have to reexamine how we?re doing this,? he said.

Jacobs told Reuters Health that there is more research to be done, because his group?s study did not look at how many applications for equipment may have been turned down by the states? approval board.

?I think if we really want to get to the bottom of how effective these (laws) are, the next step is to really look closely at each state?s process of review,? he said.

Palapattu said he?d also like to see if the findings are the same for non-Medicare patients. But, for now, he said men with prostate cancer should talk to their doctors about which treatment is right for them.

?Newer isn?t always better, and it?s important to have a meaningful conversation with your physician on treatment options and which one might be best for you and why,? he said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/QzKXvE and bit.ly/R5AUhH The Journal of Urology, online November 19, 2012.

Source: http://3benefits.com/2012/11/25/laws-dont-curb-pricey-prostate-cancer-treatments/

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Ownership cost: property taxes, insurance, Mello Roos, and HOAs ...

Today is part 3 in the ongoing series on Ownership Cost:

Ownership cost: income, payments and house prices

Ownership cost: interest rates and down payment requirements

Ownership cost: property taxes, insurance, Mello Roos, and HOAs

Ownership cost: taxes and opportunity costs

Four Major Variables that Determine Market Price

Over the last two days we looked at the four main variables that determine home price:

1. borrower income,
2. allowable debt-to-income ratios,
3. interest rates, and
4. down payment requirements.

Today we are looking at some of the minor cost inputs that work by influencing the major ones; property taxes and Mello Roos taxes, HOAs, and insurance.

PITI

lenders have an acronym called PITI, which stands for principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.To that we can add HOA dues and other known costs. When people qualify for a loan, the difference between what their income can support and the payment they can make to the lender is a number of related expenses that only homeowners must pay; property taxes, special assessments and Mello Roos, insurance and homeowners associations. These expenses (1) reduce your payment to the lender, (2) reduce the amount you can borrow and bid, and thereby (3) reduce the value of real estate.

Property Taxes

Property taxes have long been a source of local government tax revenues. Real property cannot be moved out of a government?s jurisdiction, and values can be estimated by an appraisal, so it is a convenient item to tax. In most states, local governments add up the cost of running the government and divide by the total property value in the jurisdiction to establish a millage tax rate. California is forced to do things differently by Proposition 13 which effectively limits the appraised value and total tax revenue from real property. Local governments are forced to find revenue from other sources.

Proposition 13 limits the tax rate to 1% of purchase price with a small inflation multiplier allowing yearly increases. In California, the first half of regular secured property tax bills are due November 1st, and delinquent after December 10th; the second half are due February 1st, and delinquent after April 10th each year. If the delinquent date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or government holiday, then the due date is the following business day.

Often the lender will compel the borrower to include extra money in the monthly payment to cover property taxes, homeowners insurance, and private mortgage insurance, and these bills will be paid by the lender when they come due. If these payments are not escrowed by the lender, then the borrower will need to make these payments. I am a fan of impound accounts because the tiny amount of extra interest you may make saving in your own account is not worth the hassle.

Due to Proposition 13, the property tax bill is very easy to calculate; take one percent of the purchase price. Divide it by twelve to get the monthly cost.

Automatic re-assessment for cash-out refinancing

An idea emerged from the aftermath of the housing bubble; limit HELOC abuse by making cash-out refinancing in excess of the original purchase price an event that triggers property tax re-assessment. The effect is to drive up the cost of borrower money and discourage the behavior. It would probably be very effective.

The lenders would cry foul, and in particular there may need to be an exception for reverse mortgages to accommodate seniors (I think reverse mortgages are a bad idea, but forcing retired people to leave their homes is probably worse). Despite the resistance, the legislation if passed would curtail HELOC abuse, but in an economy dependent upon Ponzi Scheme financing, such legislation is unlikely; although, if the budget shortfall gets bad enough, everything will be on the table. Municipalities would love the idea because their revenues would grow as long as there are Ponzis.

Mello Roos Taxes

In our reports, we classify these as other taxes and assessments because Mello Roos fees are paid through your tax bill. To understand how this became a tax you pay, a brief overview of the Community Facilities District Act is in order (What is Mello Roos?.pdf). From Wikipedia:

A Mello-Roos District is an area where a special property tax on real estate, in addition to the normal property tax, is imposed on those real property owners within a Community Facilities District. These districts seek public financing through the sale of bonds for the purpose of financing public improvements and services. These services may include streets, water, sewage and drainage, electricity, infrastructure, schools, parks and police protection to newly developing areas. The tax paid is used to make the payments of principal and interest on the bonds.

Mello-Roos is deductible in some cases but not in others.

That is the textbook version, now I will give you mine. Imagine you are a real estate developer, and you have a parcel of land that would be worth $10,000,000 if it had infrastructure installed; unfortunately, you do not have the money to install this infrastructure and wait for the investment to come back to you in land or home sales.

What if you could take out a 30-year mortgage on your infrastructure improvements and borrow the money? Now you can finance the deal and develop the land, but there is still a problem. How do you get the homeowner to pay off the infrastructure mortgage after they buy the house?

The solution elected officials came up with was to create a special tax district so the repayment of the bonds to fund the infrastructure is bumped up the payment priority list. In short, you can?t avoid paying Mello Roos, or the tax man will be after you, and he has the power of foreclosure, though it is seldom used.

For those of you that are homeowners, the next time you write that check for Mello Roos, realize that you are paying down the loan for the infrastructure around you. You didn?t think the developer absorbed those costs, did you? That would cut into profits.

Realistically, Community Facilities Districts do encourage private development by making marginal projects feasible. It keeps development in the hands of private individuals rather than municipalities developing their own roads, streets and utility systems. To the degree you believe these results are desirable, you should support Mello Roos.

Without the ability to develop marginal projects, supply is always lagging behind. The Community Facilities District Act does encourage development to lead into growing markets and blunt the impact of supply shortages. Despite the additional supply this law puts on the market, it has failed to prevent housing bubbles.

Determining Mello Roos

Property taxes and Mello Roos fees are deducted from a borrower?s available income to service cashflow, and thereby it reduces the amount they can finance. In essence, there is already a 30-year mortgage on the property you must pay off ? your portion of the Mello Roos ? so the purchaser money mortgage must be paid with left-over funds.

Builders and developers both know the impact of Mello Roos, so builders will pay less for lots with high Mello Roos fees because they know they will have to discount the purchase price of the final product in order to qualify any buyers. Developers want the Mello Roos fees to be as high as possible because the higher the fees, the greater the bond revenue developers receive. Builders want the Mello Roos to be as low as possible to give them competitive advantage. The resulting compromise usually puts Mello Roos at between 0.5% and 0.8% of total value.

The good news with Mello Roos is that the fees are fixed. As house prices go up, the Mello Roos fees become less burdensome to later buyers. If the Mello Roos are set at 0.8% of an initial $200,000 sales price, the same figure represents only 0.4% of a $400,000 resale price. Of course, the reverse is also true.

When the Irvine Company first opened Woodbury and Portola Springs, they were priced to the peak and they had maximum Mello Roos. Now that houses are selling for lower price points, the Mello Roos start to become onerous. If the original sale price of a condo was $400,000, and the Mello Roos were 0.8% of value, if the condo resells for $200,000, the Mello Roos now represent 1.6% of the purchase price. That is a stiff property tax bill by California standards.

Homeowners Insurance

Homeowners insurance protects the property owner against loss. It?s nearly always required by lenders because they want to protect the value of their collateral if they should need to foreclose on the property. Even if a lender doesn?t require it, the risk of catastrophic loss makes such insurance a necessity even for those who pay cash. Who would want to lose half a million dollars or more in a fire?

A standard policy insures the structure and documented personal property within. In addition, the package policy covers liability and legal responsibility for property damage caused outside the home itself by the owners, the members of the owner?s family, and even the family pets. Disaster damage is included, but this carries some exceptions, most notable here in California is earthquake damage, but damage due to floods and poor maintenance are also excluded. Seperate policies can be purchased to cover earthquake and flood damage, but these policies can be quite costly.

Homeowner Association Dues and Fees

Many modern planned communities have homeowners associations formed to maintain privately owned facilities held for the exclusive use of community residents. These HOAs bill the owners monthly to provide these services. They have foreclosure powers if the bills are not paid. It is given the authority to enforce the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and to manage the common amenities of the development. It allows the developer to legally exit responsibility of the community typically by transferring ownership of the association to the homeowners after selling off a predetermined number of lots. Most homeowners? associations are non-profit corporations, and are subject to state statutes that govern non-profit corporations and homeowners? associations.

California has many problems with condo associations that are poorly managed. These associations often underfund their reserves creating potential for costly assessments. This information can be difficult to find and analyze prior to a purchase. HOAs only provide their financials to potential buyers who are already in escrow, and these documents often appear at the last minute preventing any meaningful analysis. Even in circumstances when the documents are provided in a timely manner, most novices lack the time or sophistication to decipher the reports. Further, since these documents come so late in the process, many buyers who do discover problems end up going through with the transaction anyway because they are emotionally invested in the property.

Rent or Own? The Definitive Guide

To rent or to own: that is the question. Whether ?tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with real estate ownership, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles and rent instead.

Are you perplexed about what to do? Is owning always the best choice? We have developed a guide to help you answer this question critical to your financial and emotional well being.

Cost of Ownership Analysis

Are you ready to make an offer, but you are worried the cost of ownership is really more than you can afford? Don?t make a mistake that might cost you the family home, your life savings, and your good credit! Get the advice of a seasoned professional. Contact us at info@ochousingnews.com today!

We produce detailed reports showing the cost of ownership based on the most likely transaction price and current financing terms. You will know how much you will spend each month in out-of-pocket expenditures and the true monthly cost of ownership factoring in tax deductions, loan amortization, and opportunity costs on your down payment. In addition, we show you how this cost compares to a rental of equal quality to make sure buying is the right decision for your situation.

An OC Housing News Cost of Ownership Analysis will calm your worries and give you peace-of-mind.

See for yourself right now!

Reports are available for properties in the Southern California MLS coverage area, and are generally delivered within 24-72 hours. If you wish to receive multiple properties, please contact us at info@ochousingnews.com, and we will prepare the reports for you.

Download (PDF, 1.23MB)

Don?t become a foreclosure statistic

Everyone wants to own their dream house, but if you underestimate the true cost of that dream house, it may become a nightmare instead. Imagine telling your daughter she can?t have dance lessons because you spend too much on the mortgage. Or worse yet, imagine telling the whole family you must move out of your dream house because you can?t make the payments and the bank is forcing you to leave. It?s already happened to millions of borrowers, and they all had one thing in common: they bought properties they couldn?t afford, largely because they didn?t know how much it was really going to cost.

Don?t you owe it to your family to accurately determine the cost of ownership to make sure you can keep the house?

Contact us today!

Source: http://ochousingnews.com/ad/ownership-cost-property-taxes-insurance-mello-roos-and-hoas

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A Beneficial Form of Pain Management

Pain Management - There are many forms and severities of pains and a vast selection of painkillers and medication specifically for particular types of pain. The definition of pain states it as an unpleasant feeling but anyone who has experienced severe pain knows that unpleasant is a definite understatement. Depending on the injury, illness or ailment/s, pain can range in intensity, from a mild discomfort to crippling agony. Different pain management methods are beneficial for different pains and areas affected.

What is MSM? This substance is found in all life forms, from animals and humans to plants, and is called Methyl Sulfonyl Methane or MSM; also known as ?Organic Sulfur?. It is intended to supply sulfur to the body, this helps the body to make other needed and useful things. There are numerous conditions that MSM is used to treat, with a vast array of symptoms.

Regular organ function and all of the body?s systems depend greatly on this naturally occurring sulfur. It contributes to the correct functionality of over one hundred of the body?s compounds. The body uses the available supply reasonably quickly and then excrete the majority of the remaining sulfur.

MSM as a pain management option or as a dietary supplement can be extremely beneficial. It can be a great method of detoxification, flushing free radicals and toxins from the body, and can also contribute to healthy production of energy and a strong metabolism. By helping to digest food sufficiently and beneficially, MSM allows the body to break down and utilize the food eaten, greatly improving nutrition.

What MSM Is Used For? MSM is taken for several pain relief purposes but is most commonly known for its anti-inflammatory properties and the ability to increase blood flow, thus reduce swelling and improve circulation.

Uses for this natural medicine include treatment of bone and joint defects such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, joint inflammation and musculoskeletal pain, easing swelling and reducing pain. It is used to accelerate the bodies healing process. Cuts and abrasions and even stretch marks, scar tissue and wrinkles can be treated with MSM.

This natural pain relief offers possible aid for high blood pressure and cholesterol, plus poor circulation. Sufferers of Alzheimer?s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, HIV and AIDS and lung disorders like emphysema have been known to benefit from MSM. This pain management method can even help people with cancers such as breast or colon cancer.

Other reasons to use MSM are for pain management associated with illnesses from swelling of the mucous membrane, inflammation of the eye to parasitic infections. Muscle cramps and swelling, headaches/migraines and surprisingly, people with hangovers can benefit from MSM.

Odd Uses - This natural pain relief sulfur has an endless list of uses. This list includes snoring. Said to alleviate snoring, getting someone to sleep without the disturbance. It is highly unlikely that any other natural pain relief medicine can offer so many uses as this one product.? One?s hair nails and skin can benefit from MSM, making it a possible addition to beauty and hygiene products in the future.

Summary: MSM is a naturally occurring, Sulfur, present in plant life, humans and animals alike. It has immense beneficial properties and is best known for the anti-inflammatory properties and effective pain management quality. This article contains information, uses and benefits of MSM, the natural pain manager.

Clifford Woods is the Executive Director of Vibrant Life. See more information at http://www.oralchelation.com and http://www.vibrantlifemsm.com/

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About Clifford Woods

Clifford Woods is the CEO of Organic Environmental Technology. You can purchase beneficial microorganism products here: Purchase Here He is also the Executive Director of Vibrant Life: http://www.oralchelation.com Mr. Woods, who holds a bachelors degree (equiv) in Business Administration, is also considered a stellar trouble shooter and excels in untangling complex business and personal issues.

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