Something's sizzling in the kitchen

Flirty and fun, today's aprons are hot items for new reasons

By Chris Zdeb, Edmonton Journal

Something's heating up the kitchen and it isn't the oven. The apron is so hot these days, it may well be doing double duty in the bedroom.
"I wouldn't be surprised," laughs Gloria Lockie, "particularly the black-and-white print one we had, with black pleats on the bottom and black ties. That might have gone for . something else."
Neither of the outlets of Call The Kettle Black (callthekettleblack.com) that Lockie manages in Edmonton can keep aprons in stock. Women buy them for themselves or as gifts. Men buy them for their women.
"They say their wives need a nice little apron. I don't ask any questions; I just sell it," Lockie chuckles.
Most aprons are as functional at keeping clothes clean from cooking spatters as they were in granny's day. They disappeared from the kitchen for a while around the time the feminist movement surfaced in the late 1960s.
But now aprons are also feminine, flirtatious and fun, since it became popular about five years ago for modern women to tie one on again.
Aprons are kitchen haute couture that say "cooking is fun, cooking is fashionable," Lockie says. "I think we're getting more romantic (and nostalgic) about a lot of stuff," (including aprons).
Cory Hrushka, a registered psychologist/ sex therapist, says the return of the apron is a sign "women are re-embracing the power of their femininity, which a lot of people have disregarded in the past because they view (femininity) as weak, where really, it's more powerful than masculinity, relationally.
"When we look at the rules in bars and in the bedroom, really, women are the ones that have the power; they are the gatekeepers." he says. "A lot of women are coming back and going, 'Oh, I can actually do both. I can be strong in my femininity, which will attract men.' "
The apron fulfils both sides of the coin, Hrushka explains. The front reminds us of home and caring, intimacy, nurturing and warmth. The open back is all about sex.
Heather Hansen has been making money from the sexy power of aprons since she cofounded Flirty Aprons (flirtyaprons.com) almost four years ago with partner Jamie Taylor and their husbands. The company boasts that their clothes-covers "make you look delicious."
"Over the years, the apron has been seen as the ball and chain, or the domestication of women, and we wanted to make an apron that would suit the modern woman - someone who loves style and fashion, but also loves to expand her talents through cooking or painting," Hansen says on the phone from her home in Provo, Utah.
The flattering cut of their aprons accentuate the waistline creating an hourglass shape that makes the wearer feel womanly, but also beautiful and confident and sexy - empowered - instead of frumpy, while she's doing tasks that some consider drudgery, she says.
"They're not meant to put a woman in her place, like she's supposed to be in the kitchen. . They're meant to bring some pizzazz and sassiness to her day."
Does she wear an apron in the bedroom? "No comment!" laughs the 27-year-old former runway model and mother of one, who is expecting twins in February.

But many of the women who have bought or received her sexy tie-ins do.
"We get e-mails from customers saying they love to wear (their apron) by itself for their husbands or their significant others, that it doubles as a second wardrobe in the bedroom."
They weren't intended for that use, but Hansen suspected they would be used that way.
"It's every man's dream, I think, to come home to his wife wearing nothing but an apron and cooking a meal for him."
The best selling Flirty Apron is the Sassy Black, which features a black and white floral print and a decorative bow that ties in front. Others include the new Marilyn line, named after '50s movie star Marilyn Monroe, and the Little Black Dress that has a faux string of pearls hanging over the bib.
The sexiness of the apron is nothing new.
"When you go back into all the old pin-up pictures, back in the olden days (the 1940s and 1950s), you find a lot of pin-up girls wearing aprons and holding feather dusters," says professional photographer Tammy Deren of Smiley Eyes Photography in Spruce Grove (smileyeyesphotography.com). She's taken several boudoir and pin-up shots of local women in aprons, usually worn over some kind of lingerie.
"Add an apron to a woman in fishnets and high heels and nothing much else on, and that's pretty hot," Deren says. "It's kind of a secret, naughty thing, kind of like forbidden, but not really."
Household or domestic wear, whether it's a maid's outfit or kitchen outfit, are popular getups for role playing, confirms James Priel, owner of The Passion Vault, "Edmonton's Classiest Adult Store."
"The butt is exposed, that's the draw. It's something you can't see from the front but there's something back there that you want."
They're especially popular with newlyweds and for Valentine's Day.
Aprons, with or without anything else on, look good and can add to the fun in a relationship, Priel says. "It's like vacuuming with very little on; you're engaged in fantasy, which increases the pleasure of couples together ... because sex can get awful boring in a hurry, especially if you've been together many years.
"Sometimes it becomes a job and that's just because of the normalcy of it, and not engaging in conversation is what it is," explains Priel, 55, who will have been married 30 years in November.
As sexy as aprons and domestic outfits are, the most popular role-playing costume is the nurse's uniform. "Nurses see so much and they're supposed to know so much," Priel says.
"It's the caretaker role, but assertive," Hrushka says.
"A lot of men, when they come home, traditionally, want to be taken care of," he explains, and that puts women in a position of power, whether they're wearing an apron, or not.
czdeb@edmontonjournal.com

Wait in Line: Strange Ways to Make Money

 By Jennifer Derrick,

If you’re a patient person with a lot of time on your hands, you can make some extra money by waiting in line. Whenever a high demand product is released, people wait in line for hours, sometimes days, to be the first to get their hands on it. There are also long lines for concert tickets, movie premieres, and Black Friday sales. But many people don’t have the time to wait in line for hours. They have jobs, kids, and other obligations. That’s where the professional line-waiter comes in. You do the waiting and the buying so others don’t have to. There are two ways you can profit from waiting in line.
Wait on behalf of others: You have made an agreement with another person (or more than one if you’ll be able to buy more than one of the in demand items) that you will wait in line for them, buy their item, and then give it to them. The other person will reimburse you for the cost of the item and pay you for the time you wait in line. You can charge a set fee for your line time, charge by the hour, of charge a percentage of the items’ cost.
Wait, buy the product yourself, and then resell it: If you don’t particularly care about the item being released, you can wait in line anyway, buy as many as you’re allowed to buy, and then resell them on eBay, Craigslist, or to people you know. You’ll add a markup to the price you originally paid that will allow you to make a profit. To figure the amount you should charge, look at what other people are asking for their items. The more in-demand an item is, the more profit you can make. This strategy can also work well for Black Friday sales. Items are often heavily discounted meaning you can sell them for a price that is still below retail (thus attractive to buyers) but which will allow you to make a good profit.
If you decide to take up line waiting, be prepared. Know what the weather will be and plan accordingly. Bring something to sit on. If you’ll be staying overnight, bring something to sleep in or on such as a sleeping bag or lawn chair. Some places allow you to set up a small tent which is wonderful if it’s cold. Carry your own food and drinks because you won’t be able to leave the line for food. Finally, bring something to entertain yourself with such as books, handheld games, or a laptop. I’ve seen people go all out and bring generators, grills, and televisions to camp in line. It all depends on what’s allowed and how much stuff you’re willing to carry.
Don’t forget to consider your security and safety, as well. It’s best not to wait alone, particularly for women. Bring a friend along if you can. (This extra person can also take your place while you go for a bathroom break or to take care of anything else that may arise.) Many places will provide security if they are expecting a big turnout, but you still need to be vigilant and keep your personal belongings in sight at all times. Don’t bring anything valuable to the line or display large amounts of cash. When the release hour approaches, be careful not to get caught in the crush of people. Hopefully the retailer will have an organized and orderly distribution system but if not, stay clear of the stampede. People do get trampled to death.
If you don’t want to leave your house, you can try virtual line waiting. You simply sit and hit refresh on your computer until the online deal is released and then you check out as fast as possible. You need a fast Internet connection to do this, but you are safe and comfortable in your home.
Line waiting can make you some extra money if you have the time for it. You can also meet some interesting and colorful people. It has it’s drawbacks, though. Bad weather, security problems, and rude people can make line waiting a tough business. Generally, though, it’s low stress and can even be fun if you think of it like a campout.

Apple takes home 66% of phone industry profits

By Cam Bunton
Earlier it was reported that Apple has more cash than the US government. Let’s face it, Jobs&Co know how to make money. Sure, Apple only has 10% (max) of the PC market, and around the same share of the overall mobile hardware market. But is that what makes the difference in the business world? Guaranteed, any other company would give up its position in the market to have Apple’s bank balance.

The most recent figures show that Cupertino makes more profit from iPhone sales than all the other phone manufacturers put together. In fact, you could double the profits made by the competition combined and it would just about match what Apple makes – at least, in the last quarter. It’s been a dramatic growth for Apple, jumping from 1% to 66% in the space of 4 years! Nokia, once top dogs have slipped from making 55% the industry’s profits to not even being recognised in the top vendors chart.

Currently the top four money makers are Apple, HTC, Samsung and RIM. It’s not a surprise that Android’s most popular hardware partners are up there. Google powered handsets have seen a rise in popularity since the platform became available on a wider range of manufacturers. Samsung’s Galaxy range has been a massive success, the most recent version – the Galaxy S II – has sold more than 3 million units already, before a US release.
So what does the future hold? Is Apple going to keep expanding its profit margins or will it drop prices to gain a larger foothold in market share? What would you prefer, market share or the majority of the profits?

Cousins' latest speech contradictory, but hits home

By Dennis Dodd
CHICAGO -- Kirk Cousins spoke of privilege, responsibility and the value of a scholarship Friday at the annual Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon. Michigan State's quarterback was the perfect guy to deliver the message. He's smart, loves the Spartans, Big Ten football and public speaking.
The senior from Holland, Mich., does 20-30 engagements a year representing his school. This time was special. This one really hit home. The 1,800 in attendance not only applauded on Friday, they gave him a standing ovation.
A dreamer might conclude at that moment something had changed -- the national tide had turned against the wave of wrongdoing that has spread across the college landscape like an oil slick.
That would suit Cousins fine. He loves being an idealist.
His moment comes each time he, as a typical college student, goes to the gas pump and counts his purchase down to the penny so as not to overspend.
"Then," Cousins said, "you look across the street and your jersey is on a mannequin in a store. You say, 'Something is wrong here.' But what am I going to do about it, just try to voice it to you guys?"
This is not the next pay-the-players column. Cousins says up front, he doesn't have the answers. His one-liners might be better than his future vision.
"If you want to break your finger, touch my bicep."
But shortly before killing it at the luncheon, Cousins met with some reporters at the conclusion of Big Ten media days. Word had gotten around. Not-just-your-average-quarterback has a way-above-average intellect. He has something to say. Cousins has been saying it articulately for a while.
Those speaking engagements could make him a comfortable living in the real world. NCAA strictures prevent him from receiving any more than a travel reimbursement and the cost of a meal. Cousins understands that. Then again, he doesn't.
"A normal person is getting that same speaking opportunity and getting a couple of hundred dollars or more," Cousins said. "Not only am I not being paid to play the game, I'm being denied income for things I am doing.
"I understand how it can be out of control, though. If you're speaking and there is a booster who wants to help you out or wants to get you to come [to their school] they'll promise to pay you thousands of dollars to speak at these little functions. Which would not be right."
Every time Cousins speaks on the subject he contradicts himself. It can't be helped. He is among a vast population of college athletes who struggle to have enough money to change their oil, pay their cell bill or fix a flat. He also has that free education that Cousins says will total $100,000 in tuition, books, room, board and fees.
"We might not realize the benefit of the education we've been given for free until we're in our 60s and 70s," Cousins said, "[when we] retire and look back at where the education was able to take us in life."
He is merely voicing the NCAA conundrum. Sure, there is a case to be made for paying players. A good one. The two most powerful men in college sports agree -- Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and SEC counterpart Mike Slive. But the hurdles are huge.
"A girl on the softball team can't sign a jersey and sell it for $2,000," Cousins said. "But Terrelle Pryor can do that and is capable of that. He's being denied income when a softball player isn't."
Cousins might have chosen the wrong former Big Ten quarterback to make his point. Pryor abused the system, leading a college life of privilege and entitlement before skipping town. Cousins has diligently worked his way up the depth chart to put himself in the discussion as the best Big Ten quarterback in 2011.
"It's not important," he said. "[Northwestern's] Dan Persa does things that I can't do. [Michigan's] Denard Robinson does things that I can't do. To compare them is comparing apples and oranges."
And Roses. After helping lead the Spartans to their first share of a Big Ten title since 1990, the next step is Michigan State getting to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1988.
Until then it's more penny pinching at the pump.
"These rules are preventing athletes from being paid for jobs they're already doing," Cousins said. "I think that's Step 1 ...
"The NCAA, to some degree, would like to protect us from that but the fact of the matter is, we've got to go live in the real world someday. It's a complicated issue. I don't take a stance on either side."
Actually, he does and those softball players won't like being called out.
"The way I see the world, the people who earn the money, make the money," Cousins added. "There's a reason the coaches are making upwards of a million dollars and the softball coaches at these schools aren't.
"There are revenue sports and non-revenue sports. My understanding is in the world, companies that make money and companies that don't make money get paid differently."
In one sit-down, Cousins sounds like a savant, a mogul, a corporate raider and a humble student-athlete. Maybe that's the key to public speaking. Kirk Cousins is many things. Boring isn't one of them.
"I'm not even asking to be paid," he said.
No, he's asking to be heard.

Debt ceiling vultures come home to roost

When you can see a crisis coming, you can find a way to profit: Buy low, sell high 

By Andrew Leonard

This is just embarrassing.
From The Washington Post:

Investors were paying more Wednesday to insure against a loss on U.S. debt than they were to hedge against a default by Turkey, Thailand, the Philippines or the Slovak Republic. The cost was about four times the price for British debt, almost twice the price for Russian debt, and more than double the price for IOUs issued by Panama.

Credit swap gamblers are speculating that the the greatest superpower and biggest economy is more likely to default on its debt than the Philippines. That's impressive.
The surreal nature of the debt ceiling crisis gets more stark by the day, if not the hour. As we hurtle closer and closer to the deadline, no one knows exactly what will happen, but everybody knows something really bad could happen. This is entirely unlike most previous economic crises -- either those that brewed slowly, like oil-shock induced recessions, or those that came fast -- like the post-Lehman Brothers collapse. It's hard to think of anything historically similar: a crisis that is entirely in our power to avoid, but might happen anyway, due to phenomenal political dysfunction. If there's any good news, it's that wiser heads have some time to prepare, but that's small solace.
On Wednesday, the U.S. stock market signaled more nervousness than usual, but on Thursday morning, complacency was back in style. Hard to know what to make of that, since it seems unlikely that investors think the probable passage of the Boehner bill in the House this evening would presage an end to the crisis. Yes, there's already plenty of crowing in right-wing circles, where there seems to be widespread belief that a successful vote on the Boehner bill means total victory for Republicans. But does it really?
Continue reading

Girl, 16, hitchhikes from Waterville running camp to Mass. home

WATERVILLE, Maine — Police say a 16-year-old girl who hitchhiked 200 miles home to Massachusetts after running away from a cross country running camp in Waterville was playing Russian roulette.
Waterville Deputy Police Chief Charles Rumsey said the girl left the 28th annual Colby College cross country camp wearing a T-shirt and running shorts. She was not carrying a cell phone and had no money.
Colby College Security Director Pete Chenevert says the teen had previously told her parents that she wanted to leave running camp and return home before joining them on the island of Islesboro.
On Tuesday night the girl called her parents from their hometown of Worcester and said she was there.
Rumsey tells the Morning Sentinel the story could have had a tragic ending.

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Setting the stage for resale

By Alison Appelbe, Special to The Sun

When Dana Smithers was preparing a home for the real estate market, she told the owner that his valued collection of samurai swords must come down from the walls.
“That was gruelling for him,” says Smithers of the elegant, if lethal, weapons.
However, if a property is to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible, any item deemed personal — from family photos and memorabilia to political or religious art, meaning anything that might distract, offend or provoke — must go temporarily into storage, insists Smithers - founder of PRES Home Staging and Redesign.
According to the North Vancouver-based pioneer of the relatively new home-staging business, the process of “depersonalizing” a home and “pre-packing” expressions of one’s personal life is key to selling the property for as much, and as quickly, as possible.
“Once you put your home up for sale, it’s a piece of merchandise,” says the staging teacher and author of books that include Start & Run a Home Staging Business, from Self-Counsel Press. “The biggest mistake home-sellers make is that they’re not able to look at their property objectively.”
Taking a no-nonsense look at your well lived-in home and then giving it an unemotional makeover — whether by doing it yourself or by paying a stager to provide part of all of the services — is what home staging is all about.
Susan Evans of Home Suite Home Staging in downtown Vancouver says: “A lot of people think it’s just a fun job, but there’s a big business component, too.”
Evans charges $225 for an initial consultation of a standard-sized house. That will include a room-by-room assessment, measurements and photos, followed by a proposal and cost estimate for a full staging.
In Smithers’ experience, consultation for a one-bedroom apartment (excluding furniture or fixture rentals) will cost $500, while a day in a house would be about $1,000.
Some realtors include a basic $100 staging consultation fee in their service package.
It’s then up to the homeowner to decide if he or she wants to hire a stager. In the end, reports Smithers, staged homes sell 50 per cent faster, and for six to 13 per cent more than those that have not been prepared for the market.
In starting the process, Smithers asks: “Who is most likely to buy? A couple with children, or pets, a senior, or a young corporate person? Or someone who wants to flip the property?
“Look at what’s being sold in your neighbourhood, who’s bought, and for how much,” she advises. By understanding the potential buyer, you’re in a better position to decide how much time and money to spend on staging, and what’s required.
Professional stagers — experts in home-design trends — will tell you to make it as simple, uncluttered and open-spaced as possible.
The next step, says Smithers, is determining the primary function of each room. In one home Smithers staged, the room designed as a den had come to house a pet rabbit and lots of junk. She restored it to its primary purpose. In the same home, a computer and related paraphernalia were removed from the space intended for dining.
“Function is first,” says Smithers. “And then find a focal point — maybe a fireplace or a great view. The focal point is the first thing you want people to see when they walk in. You want them to say, ‘Wow, I love it.’”
The next step is to “de-clutter” and “depersonalize.” As a professional stager, says Smithers, “you have to be a psychologist — you have to be tactful. And the seller has to be on board (the process). Ninety-five per cent of sellers are. The other five per cent are not ready to detach (from their home).”
Almost all homes, and definitely those 10 years or older, must be repainted. “It’s about refreshing the home — and painting is the No. 1 thing that people can do,” Smithers says. Neutral colours are strongly recommended. Expect to pay three to five per cent of the asking price on improvements, she adds.
When a Kitsilano homeowner asked Susan Evans how best to stage his long-neglected heritage property on a limited budget, she advised him to paint the entire four-bedroom house. “This was what was going to give him the biggest impact,” she says.
Many homes need new flooring, with hardwood being the preferred option. And for every major purchase or service, says Smithers, get more than one quote. Check out several home-stagers before shelling out for an entire package. “Have them make a presentation. Get references. That’s really important.”
“Furniture placement is key,” Smithers continues. “We usually take out about half of the [owner’s] furniture — you only want the essential pieces in each room. The further the eye can travel the bigger the room looks. Most people like a modern, clean look.”
Often it’s necessary to rent basic, neutral furnishings. Fluff Design in East Vancouver is among local firms that rent everything you need to temporarily furnish a home — from fashionable couches and tables to colourful bedding and lighting.
Flattering lighting then “sets the ambience — it’s where the emotions are,” Smithers says, pointing out that you can buy all types of lighting relatively inexpensively at home-décor and big-box outlets. “Look for what’s trendy and modern.”
Finally, the accenting accessories are added: the universally acceptable art, colourful cushions and maybe a handsome plant or vases with flowers.
When Evans was asked to stage a small mill-house in Coquitlam, again on as little money as possible, she and her designer exposed several antique sconce lamps that had been hidden by furniture or overlooked.
By removing about half the furniture, including the TV, taking down the window coverings (a trademark action of Canadian Staging Professionals, with whom she trained), and uncoupling an antique cupboard (or hutch) from the chest of drawers on which it sat, then repositioning the lower piece, the house acquired a new charm and spaciousness.
Sometimes, a stager will create a small “setting” or vignette, Smithers says. For example, in a master bedroom they’ll cluster a table with a lamp and book, and a comfortable chair. “It makes you want to sit and read and snuggle up. It’s the power of suggestion.”
Similarly, Evans demonstrates that by placing a small antique table in an otherwise empty hallway and adding a few accessories, an overlooked niche can be brought to life.
In fact, a byproduct of home staging is counselling homeowners on how to live well, Smithers says. ”I’ve had women walk into the homes that we’ve done and cry. They wonder why they didn’t do it themselves. It’s all about the transformation.”
Special to The Sun

South Ayrshire Care Home Complaints

by Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

A HEFTY catalogue of complaints into South Ayrshire nursing homes lies in the files of care watchdogs.
Vulnerable residents and their worried families have had cause to criticise the state of care 114 times in just five years.
Startling new figures reveal a concerning insight into how certain facilities are run and have sparked outrage from the elderly forum.
In contrast, the information revealed through the Freedom of Information Act also shows which care homes in the community are consistently getting things right.

Each complaint made to Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) is looked in to.
And of the 114 complaints made, investigators held up 99 in full or in part.
Fairknowe House in Maybole had 13 complaints upheld against it – more than any other home.
That includes SEVEN complaints within a year (2009-10).
Nutrition, hydration, care of property, staffing levels, food quality, medication issues and general welfare were just some of the issues found lacking during that year alone.
Claremont Nursing Home closely followed with 12 complaints upheld in full or in part over the same five year period.
Although no complaints were made against the Ayr home in the last year, issues previously included potential abuse, continence care, inadequate healthcare, staff training and missing property.
Glennie House in Auchinleck was next on the list with 10 complaints upheld in full or in part.
Staffing levels, dignity and privacy, security, choice of care and treatment, communication, inadequate healthcare and fitness of the premises were all found to be lacking.
Alex Baird, chairman of South Ayrshire Elderly Forum, was horrified at hearing the information.
He told the Post: “That amount is staggering. There are always complaints about care homes but I’m very surprised to find that so many have been held up.
“To me it’s because these big private companies who run the care homes are all about making money.
“They bring in cheap staff and barely train them. You can’t look after elderly and disabled people properly unless you’ve had a lot of training. It is a difficult job.
“A lot of companies are only interested in the bottom line of their accounts and keeping it black, if it’s red they’ll cut costs or sell it off.”
But Mr Baird heaped praise on the homes that are keeping everyone happy.
He continued: “It’s important to make the point that there are a lot of caring, hardworking people in these homes.
“But unfortunately it only takes one or two people who are fed up to sour the whole situation.
“In some homes you have kids straight out of school charged with the care of elderly. Care home staff tend to be paid terribly, that all has an effect on the quality of care given.
“Not all care homes are bad, I have a friend in Temple House in Mossblown and it’s excellent. I couldn’t speak higher of the home or the staff.” Kenny Valentine, regional director for Bupa Scotland, who run Claremont, said: “Claremont is a very good home with an excellent team of caring staff – it is very highly regarded by its residents and their families. The last inspection saw the regulator grade the home as good, with a number of areas graded as very good. The entire team should be praised for the high standard of care it provides.”

Japan's big-3 banks target growth overseas as home lending sags

By Taiga Uranak

TOKYO, July 29 (Reuters) - Top Japanese banks are looking to expand their footprints in markets as far apart as Vietnam, Brazil and Malaysia as they seek to counter poor demand for loans at home and benefit from a strong currency.
Mizuho Financial Group , the nation's second-biggest lender, is set to seal a deal soon to buy as much as 20 percent of Vietnam's Vietcombank , sources said.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , Japan's No.1 bank, last month began talks with CIMB to expand their investment banking ties and take a bigger stake in the Malaysian lender. And Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group teamed up with Brazil's BTG Pactual in April to offer project finance and advisory services in the Latin American nation.
The overseas focus is understandable. In a flagging economy, bank loans fell for the 19th consecutive month in June from a year earlier, data from the Bank of Japan shows.
The expected boost to loan demand from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has yet to materialise.
While a surge in loan requests was seen in the immediate aftermath of disaster, it has not lead to an increase in actual lending because many clients approached lenders as a precaution against possible cash needs.
"I expect a pickup in lending later in this year when there is likely to be increased reconstruction-related spending," said Alastair Macdonald, an analyst at Macquarie Capital Securities.
"But the bigger picture remains the same in that companies are still paying down loans rather than investing to expand domestically," he said.
Those realities will be reflected in first-quarter results of the banks, which are due on Friday.
Except for MUFG, which will book an already-flagged hefty gain from its stake in Morgan Stanley , April-June net profits at the lenders are likely to fall from a year earlier.
The banks have forecast this year's profits to either show minimal growth or even dip from the previous year, when they enjoyed strong bond-trading gains.

LOW CREDIT COSTS
Analysts expect the banks are likely to have enjoyed low credit costs for the quarter, thanks to a relatively small number of bankruptcies during the period. Their lending in the disaster-hit areas in northeastern Japan is considered relatively limited.
MUFG is expected to book about 200 billion yen ($2.5 billion) after converting its preferred shares in Morgan Stanley into common stock, raising its stake in the Wall Street firm to 22 percent.
As a result, first-quarter net profit is likely to have come in at 400 billion yen, a more than two-fold jump from a year earlier, Citigroup Global Markets Japan estimates.
The brokerage estimates net profits of Mizuho and SMFG to be 100 billion yen each, down 33.2 percent and 52.8 percent, respectively.
The overseas push and the build-up of investment banking operations will take time to pay off.
The investment banking units of the banks have been hurt by weak client activities and their overseas profits are still too small to offset sluggish Japanese operations.
"Investment banks, especially, their wholesale operations, face a tough environment. (Equity) underwriting business is weak amid a dearth of capital-raising by big companies," said Yuri Yoshida, an analyst at Standard & Poor's.
"The banks cannot make much money on overseas lending since their exposure is relatively limited to those with high credit ratings," she said.
Japan's top three banks are seen as able to comfortably meet new global bank capital rules without the need for fresh fund-raising.
Global regulators have agreed to slap a surcharge on the world's biggest banks on top of the 7 percent minimum capital ratio required in Basel III rules to be phased in from 2013.
MUFG, Mizuho and SMFG are expected to be in lower range of the surcharge on "too-big-to fail" banks, at 1 percent or 1.5 percent.
($1 = 78.515 Japanese Yen) (Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Priest-killer pleads to go home

By ZELDA VENTER

 French priest Father Louis Blondel devoted 22 years of his life to uplift the poor, and he loved the people he worked with. Yet, the Pretoria High Court heard he was shot dead, execution-style, by one of these people for a computer, R50 and a cellphone.

While the State called for his killer, Nelson Malope, to be jailed for a long time, the 20-year-old’s lawyer asked for a non-custodial sentence, saying Malope was an example of how the youth, due to lack of parental control, as well as drug use in the townships, nowadays strayed.

Malope also asked for Blondel’s family, in France, and members of his congregation, to forgive him. “I am sorry, I did not know what I was doing. I wanted money for beer and drugs,” he told the court.

Malope asked Judge Vivian Mngqibisa-Thusi not to send him to jail, as he wanted to go home and “make things right”.

His parents, Ester and Isaac Malope, also pleaded for mercy for their son. They said they wanted to take him home and promised to keep a better eye on him.

Father Sean O’Leary, who knew Blondel for 22 years, told the court that the Catholic Church did not want revenge – it only wanted justice to be done.

Blondel was gunned down in his Diepsloot parish on April 7, 2009, by Malope, who went there with a gang of his friends – to “fetch” a computer. He was 18 at the time and the rest of the gang were teenagers.

The four others implicated in the housebreaking, robbery and murder pleaded not guilty to the charges and they will be tried in the high court in February next year.

Malope, who admitted to all the charges, on Thursday said he would testify against his mates.

He said he had smoked the drug nyaope at the time. But he said he had now come to his senses in this regard as the drug caused him to “make mistakes”.

He said he had left his parental home in Groblersdal and went to Diepsloot to visit a friend for a few days. Here he met his co-accused and they went to a tavern, where they found a gun and bullets.

Someone also “placed an order” for a computer and he and his friends went to the parsonage which Blondel shared with Father Guido Bourgeois. Both priests were in their 70s.

Blondel was shot when he woke up and confronted the burglars at his bedroom door. The court heard he was shot, point-blank, in the head.

Ester Malope, while wiping tears away, said her son was a good boy who never gave her problems. Asked how she felt about what he had done, she said: “I don’t know what to say. This thing hurts me a lot, but I want him to stay out of prison and to come home.”

His father, who also wants his son to come home “right now”, said he too felt bad, but added that if his son was guilty, he should “face the music”.

O’Leary, in taking the stand for the State, said Blondel had moved to Diepsloot four months prior to his murder. Before that he was in Orange Farm and Soweto, where he had set up a trade school to help the poor in obtaining skills.

He was about to set one up in Diepsloot, but it never got off the ground after his death. His death was a huge blow for the community and the church.

Asked what sentence the Catholic Church would want to see, he said if it was only theft, they would ask for a lenient term.

But he added that a message had to be sent to killers, especially those who killed priests. “If not properly punished, they will say, ‘if we want to kill someone, kill a priest, because he’s an easy target’.”

He said the church was looking for justice, not revenge.

Asked by the defence whether the church was not all about forgiving, the Father answered: “Let us first have justice. I am sure our God and the community and friends will forgive him. But first things first. We are not in a Church here.”

The matter was postponed to September 5 to obtain reports. - Pretoria News

More Money Issues For R. Kelly, Hitmaker Owes IRS Almost $1 Million

We know R. Kelly will always make money, especially since he has such an extensive catalog, but is he making enough? After reports of facing a possible home foreclosure, it’s now being said the “Love Letter” singer owes the IRS almost $1 million in unpaid taxes.

According to The Detroit News, Kelly owes the IRS $837,000 in unpaid federal taxes, prompting the government agency to file a tax lien against him.

The tax delinquency shows more probability that Kelly may be having financial problems. Earlier this month, news broke that he faces possible foreclosure of his $2.9 million suburban Chicago mansion.

On the other hand, the IRS released a $1,036,858 tax lien filed against Kelly, so maybe he does have some money stashed away in the "closet."
Source http://www.singersroom.com/

Renting your home to strangers: A vacation horror story

By Laura Bly, USA TODAY

Airbnb, a popular online service for short-term rentals, says it's stepping up efforts to protect guests and hosts after a distraught host blogged about an Airbnb client who allegedly ransacked her San Francisco apartment while she was away.Late last month, a blogger named "EJ" wrote about coming back from a week-long business trip to find her home had been "burglarized, vandalized and thoroughly trashed" by a traveler she'd connected with via Airbnb, which bills itself as a "community marketplace for unique spaces" and announced this week that it had raised $112 million from investors.
The renter supposedly punched a hole through a locked closet containing her grandmother's jewelry, external hard drive and other valuables, tried on and scattered her clothes and shoes, used a Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon with her stolen MasterCard and dumped bleach through the apartment.
"EJ" - who didn't list her name and didn't respond to USA TODAY's request for further comment - praised Airbnb for its emotional and financial support but also took the company to task for giving a false sense of security by controlling communication between prospective travelers and hosts and minimizing the risks involved. Airbnb's Terms & Privacy section states that "We are not involved in the actual face-to-face contact between users," have "no control over the conduct of our users or the truth or accuracy of the information that users post," and " do not investigate any user's reputation, conduct, morality, criminal background, or verify the information that any user submits to the Site."
In response, an Airbnb statement said the company was "truly shocked and saddened" by the incident, which it said was the first of its kind since its launch in 2008. Airbnb added that the renter is now in custody (though the San Francisco police department couldn't confirm the incident), and said "we are now focusing our attentions on how to prevent an issue like this happening again" through such measures as doubling its customer support staff, offering insurance to hosts and "facilitating richer communication" between guests and hosts before booking.
Airbnb lists more than 100,000 rentals in 188 countries, charging hosts 3% and guests 6%-12% of the reservation costs. It is part of a growing contingent of online services that match adventuresome, budget-minded travelers with hosts eager to make money from a spare bedroom (or, in some cases, an entire home).
But regulations concerning such rentals are complicated and vary widely between jurisdictions, and critics in the hotel industry point out that such private arrangements can leave both guests and hosts without protection if something goes awry.

RELATED:  More destinations ban vacation rentals

RELATED:  New York governor approves short-term rental ban

In New York, where a new law prohibits short-term rentals in many city buildings unless the owner is on the premises, "opportunistic brokers have been seeding Airbnb with multiple properties that they own or lease and filling them with a revolving door of travelers," the New York Times reports. (Airnb spokeswoman Merredith Branscombe responds that the service is not designed for "illegal hotels, and we do our best to monitor and keep them off the site.")
Last month's incident, playing out against the backdrop of Airbnb's swift rise in fortunes, has generated intense online debate - and renewed longstanding advice about how to prevent unhappy encounters on that and similar services.
Travel writer David Lee of GoBackpacking.com has been a host and frequent guest at CouchSurfing, a social media-fueled service that matches travelers with hosts offering a free couch or other sleeping space. His tips include a thorough reading of potential guests' profiles, and the recognition that "if there is no history of references, you're taking a greater risk by being the first host."
"The CouchSurfing community and concept is self-policing. If you get a negative referral, it'd be like getting kicked off paradise island," he says.
Depending on the service, homeowners can also ask potential guests for more information through e-mail or phone conversations, adds Chris Gray Faust of Chris Around the World.
Good questions - such as "what's the purpose of your trip?" and "what attractions are you looking to take in?" can uncover red flags, say representatives at Airbnb and HomeAway, who also suggest setting clear policies and expectations upfront and adding renters as limited access Facebook friends so hosts can check profiles for incriminating information.
From a guest's perspective, "you need to become a detective," says travel expert Pauline Frommer, studying photographs, verifying ownership and location details and getting a detailed rental agreement that spells out responsibilities for both parties.
And, adds Lee, it's important to "trust your gut. If something doesn't seem right with the person, whether on their profile or through email exchanges, turn the person down."

Readers, what do you think? Do the risks of staying with - or renting to - strangers outweigh the benefits of a money-saving, "live like the locals" exchange?

India Journal: What the UAE Can Teach India

By Mayank Maheshwari

For-profit schools and colleges.
The very idea of making money in a sector that is innately construed to be charitable and altruistic in India sends shivers down the backs of regulators, parents and thought-leaders in the country.
At a time when India is widely regarded as passing through a revolution in its education sector, the stubborn mind-set against private entrepreneurs benefiting from a sector that is parched for their innovative ideas and their healthy investments sounds bizarre.
Yet, despite government prepared reports underscoring the benefits of private schools over shoddy government schools, and half-hearted attempts by the government to open schools to profit-making investors, India today remains closed to those wanting to make money, pay taxes and educate its millions.
As regulators in India mull over the future of their education system and how best to prepare it for the 21st century, it would do them good to cast an eye towards the UAE, a country that is witnessing an education reformation of its own, and the investor-friendly, forward thinking policies there that have allowed the seeds of positive education reform to be sown in the country.
Like India, the UAE has been plagued by how to repair its public education system, improve teacher training standards and build scale in its higher education sector. Over the past few years, the government has responded to these challenges by adopting a more investor friendly policy; essentially, allowing the operation of for-profit schools and colleges alongside government run institutions, and crafting special regulations to allow foreign institutes to setup base in the country.
The idea has been to create an environment where private schools compete among themselves to provide the best possible education at the lowest cost, much like how restaurants compete to serve the tastiest food at reasonable prices. The government acts more as an enabler, setting basic standards of operation for schools and creating the necessary infrastructure needed by schools to operate.
The decision by reputed universities such as New York University and Paris’s Sorbonne to locate to the UAE, the growth in the number of schools in the country and the setting up of much needed vocational education colleges in areas such as Dubai Knowledge Village can be attributed to such investor friendly policies.
The positive effect these schools and colleges will have in educating both the local and expat population as well as in arresting a brain-drain from the UAE is sizeable.
On the other hand, India has adopted what it claims is a more child friendly policy, with the government not only disallowing profit making but also dictating terms to privately run schools’ daily operations. The recently ratified Right to Education Act, which requires private schools to enroll low-income students at highly subsidized fees is an example of such interference.
Despite being advertised as benefiting the common man, such policies are to the detriment of India’s long term aspirations as an educational powerhouse for a few reasons.
Firstly, it is no secret in India today that despite being legally coined as not-for-profit, education entrepreneurs in the country use complex structures and underhanded methods to remove a few bucks for themselves. The use of hefty capitation fees in schools and colleges in India, something many Indian expats in UAE are forced to pay for their children’s education back home, is an example of such a structure created to remove money from a system that does not legally allow profit-making.
Would it not be better to allow people who are passionate about education reform to make money legally as is the case in the UAE instead of letting cronies exploit parents through capitation fees?
Moving on, the Indian government is known to be a terrible operator of schools, with teacher absenteeism and poor infrastructure the norm in low-income areas. UNESCO ranks places India’s public education system one of the lowest in the world today. An innovative idea in the UAE to tackle a similar underperformance of public schools was to lease out a few government schools in Abu Dhabi to private, for-profit operators to manage.
Would it not be better for India as well to empower entrepreneurs to repair the messy public education system and also set up low-cost private schools?
Finally, just as it was in the UAE, parents in India are worried about high tuition fees, poor teaching quality and inferior student performance. In India’s current pseudo-socialist education system, the government is responsible for overseeing education quality, even in private schools, and sets its own benchmarks for schools to adhere to. In the UAE, where schools compete for profits, there is an automatic pressure on them to provide excellent quality education or risk losing their students to another, better performing school. Wouldn’t such a system offer India a win-win situation for schools, parents and regulators?
Despite a societal mindset against profit-making in educational institutes, India must recognize, like the UAE, that its goal of a child friendly education system is heavily reliant on how private investors and entrepreneurs are treated in the country—as empowered teachers or as bullied students.
Mayank Maheshwari is an entrepreneur and freelance writer based in Dubai, UAE. He serves as a senior committee member for the Hope Hall Foundation School in New Delhi.

Work from Home Site Shines the Light on Rise in Number of Work from Home Scam

NSW, Australia -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/26/2011 -- With the current state of the economy many people are looking for new and innovative ways to work from home. The term “Make Money Online” has literally tuned into a multi-billion dollar industry. The combination of rampant unemployment and the growth of the internet have created a rich environment for people to strike it big online; but just like all things, where the good go the bad tend to follow.

Most “internet marketers” find out very quickly that making money online is not quite as easy as it seems. All it takes is a simple Google search for the terms “make money online” or “work from home” and users are given literally millions of home based businesses to choose from.

Most, if not all, beginning internet marketers get sucked into a few bad “make money online programs” before they make even one cent on the internet. Some of these programs boarder on “scam” and most new online marketers are left wondering if making money online is even possible? Some even arrive to the point where they think “the only way to make money online is by claiming to be able to teach others how to make money online!” A scary realization indeed.

While there are certainly many scams taking place on the internet, making money is entirely possible for those pragmatic enough to discern between “too good to be true” and “too good to pass up.”

In his website, Tom White, who has seen unprecedented success with his own “work from home” ventures, reveals common work from home scams in the industry and explains how to avoid them. He assures readers that “It’s not all doom and gloom and there are hundreds of genuine work from home opportunities and online training programs out there. It’s really frustrating that the reputation of a growing, dynamic industry is affected by a minority of people,” Says Mr. White.

For novice internet marketers in particular, avoiding the common pitfalls of starting out online can save thousands of dollars and months of wasted time. Beginners (and even experienced professionals) can come to the website and get educated on the most popular home business scams taking place right now on the internet.

The site boasts a wide array of informative articles with titles such as: “Should You Pay an Upfront Fee for a Work from Home Opportunity?” and “Rise in number of make money online, inflated promises & hype” which help readers discern between the good and the bad, and in the end, shows them which ones to leave at the door.

To learn more about some of the common scams on the internet today, or to find some effective work from home opportunities, please visit: http://www.workfromhomecoach.com.au
Source http://www.sbwire.com/

Top tips to make money from your home during London 2012

Mindful that planning ahead usually gets the best results, the National Landlords Association has issued a series of top tips for homeowners wishing to rent their properties to people visiting London and other UK cities during London 2012.

Homeowners who fail to rent their properties by correctly following the relevant regulations can find themselves out of pocket and even falling foul of the law.

The NLA advises that homeowners use the following ten points as guidance if they wish to rent their homes as a short-term holiday let:

1 Ensure the accommodation is properly furnished and includes beds, sheets, towels and appliances - a Wi-Fi connection will be an advantage;
2 Keep the property to a high standard, tenants visiting during the Olympics will expect good quality accommodation;
3 Check the terms and conditions if using a letting agency to find a tenant; typically, they charge a commission of up to 25%;
4 Use a letting agent that is registered with a professional body such as the UK Association of Letting Agents (UKALA) or the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA);
5 Issue a contract for a Holiday Let or Licence. This can be downloaded from a reputable service that supplies such legal forms such as www.oyezforms.co.uk;
6 Be aware that this type of tenancy contract does not fall within the legislation requiring a tenancy deposit to be protected in a Government-authorised tenancy deposit protection scheme;
7 Take an inventory detailing the contents of the property;
8 Ensure that rent for the whole tenancy is obtained upfront;
9 Supply enough sets of keys for the number of people renting the property;
10 Provide information about the area, such as maps, an events calendar and transport advice.

NLA Chairman David Salusbury said: "It's important that homeowners wishing to rent their properties during the 2012 Olympics are aware of their responsibilities to tenants, as well as the various regulations they must comply with.

"Homeowners who fail to rent lawfully and fairly may end up falling foul of the law.

"The NLA recommends these guidelines to ensure a successful experience for both the landlord and tenant as they visit the UK to enjoy the 2012 Olympics."
Source http://www.investortoday.co.uk/

Buena Vista house is now home sweet home for family

BUENA VISTA -- Rachel and Robert Velazquez are living a young couple's dream -- a new house with a big yard and a mortgage they can manage.The Velazquezes' dream came true because it happened to intersect with a new federally funded, township-run project.
The project's purpose is to get rid of abandoned or foreclosed housing. The Velazquezes' new home, on the 1000 block of Route 54, is the second house to emerge from that project.
The first house in the program, on Rockefeller Lane, was rebuilt. But the Route 54 property was built from scratch after an existing rancher was demolished.
Local and Atlantic County government officials celebrated what Mayor Chuck Chiarello called a "miracle of transformation" with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.
The Velazquez family, including 9-month-old Isaiah, moved into the house in June. The family is from Vineland.
"It was a great program for us because the township afforded us the chance to get this wonderful, new house at a very affordable price," Robert Velazquez said.
A relative told the family about the program.
"We were looking to buy a house anyway," he said. "And everything we saw in our price range was nothing near in size what we got here, and way more expensive."
Buena Vista set up the initiative using an $826,908 Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant it was awarded in May 2009. The aid is channeled through the state Department of Community Affairs.
In 2009, the township's hope was to squeeze that grant hard enough to acquire, fix and sell six houses.
The township is working on a third property, on Meyner Lane. A fourth house will depend on whether enough money is left, the mayor said.
Triad Associates, a consulting firm, worked to get the grant for the township.
Triad Chairman Michael Zumpino said several hundred people applied, but annual income limits and tight credit conditions cut deeply into the list of eligible buyers. Approved buyers must obtain their own mortgages.
The Route 54 property went through foreclosure last year, and the township bought it in May 2010 for $38,000.
The Velazquez family purchased the house, which sits on about 2.8 acres, for $106,000.
The township wants to keep money from the home sales, minus its costs, to roll back into the program. New Jersey hasn't agreed to that idea.
"The state is trying to 'recap' as much funds from grants as they can from wherever," Chiarello said. "So we've been kind of fighting a little undercurrent to make that stay with us."
The township has about $250,000 left from the 2009 grant.
The Cumberland Empowerment Zone also received money from the same federal program. Its funds are paying for five houses in Vineland and six in Millville.
Source http://www.thedailyjournal.com/

Home sales help charities

 GLENDORA - Everybody has a wish.
For Zak Bushey, a Realtor with Century 21 Marty Rodriguez in Glendora, the wish was simple: make the community a better place.
"My broker, Shelley Dow, and I were trying to think of a way to help the local school district that had experienced budget cuts," Bushey said. "The Glendora district has a program called `SOS' - Support Our Students - that raises money to bridge the budget gap.
"So my company started the ABC - A Better Community - program that donates $300 in the client's name. As we started that up I realized that I can help more nonprofits than just the Glendora school district."
For Bushey, his experience as a volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation led him to move that organization to the top of the list.
"While the choice of charity is up to the client, we put together a preferred list of IRS 501c3 charities that we have established relationships with," Bushey said. "Make-A-Wish is at the top of my personal list. I know they do great work with children."
With the support of Dow and her mother, Marty Rodriguez, the ABC program was set in motion earlier this month. The company donates $300 in the client's name for each one of Bushey's sales. If the transaction winds up with Wells Fargo Mortgage of Glendora as the lender, Wells Fargo donates an additional $300.
"I'm really excited about the program," Bushey said. "The client isn't asked to donate a penny. All they have to do is to designate a charity.
I know with Make-A-Wish, to make the average wish come true costs approximately $7,500. So the need is definitely there."
Through Bushey's efforts, $600 has already been donated to Make-A-Wish, with two other deals pending.
Mark and Sherah Wyly recently bought a home in Covina, with Bushey serving as their agent. They were also the first participants in the ABC program.
"Zak found us our ideal house," Sherah Wyly said. "We were first- time homebuyers but Zak made it happen for us. Then he mentioned that we could designate a charity and his company would donate $300 in our name, and we were really excited about that.
"So we talked and decided to designate Make-A-Wish. It's a wonderful cause."
Bushey's second client in the ABC Program was quite a different story from the Wylys' experience.
"It was a listing in Glendora, a short sale," Bushey said. "A couple was losing their home. We see a lot of that now. They wanted to stay, but really waited too long for a refinancing deal that never came through.
"Long story short, it ended up a short sale. Still, I asked the sellers if they wanted to designate a charity, and they were quite taken by that. So at least something good came out of their misfortune."
Bushey has high hopes for the ABC Program.
"I'm really excited about it and want to get the word out to other real estate offices," he said. "The recession hurt us all, but imagine the pain that nonprofits like Make-A-Wish have experienced, since they rely on donations.
"I see it as a win-win situation. We can help Make-A-Wish, or local school districts, or City of Hope or even the California Peace Officers Association, really any 501c3 charity."
Bushey said he feels "blessed" to be working out of Marty's office.
"It's been a tough time for real estate," he said, "but this office still believes in giving back to the community."
Source http://www.sgvtribune.com/

New veterans bring changes to old facility

The oldest of Washington’s three state veterans homes was built 120 years ago in the Puyallup Valley to serve former Union soldiers.
Today, many occupants of the Washington Soldiers Home and Colony near Orting are in their mid-70s or older, veterans of Korea and World War II.
As thousands of service members return from Iraq and Afghanistan, the state is making plans to expand the home to better meet their needs. No veterans of those two wars live there now.
State leaders envision new programs at the sprawling 181-acre campus, including therapy and housing for younger veterans dealing with traumatic brain injury, known as TBI.
The changes have some residents of the East Pierce County home concerned about what will happen to them.
“Right now, everything is up in the air,” said Gary Smith, 55, an Army veteran and president of the resident council. “They’ve got a lot of guys worried.”
State officials say they don’t need to be.
Two programs at the home will be phased out, but participants either will move into a remaining program or be placed elsewhere, they said.
“We are compelled because of the war, which is now 10 years old, to make sure we position ourselves to take care of veterans now and into the future,” said John Lee, director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs. “The Soldiers Home campus is going to play a significant role in the state’s response to what happens when the war is over.”
One potential change is the renovation of the Roosevelt Barracks, which today holds veterans in the home’s light-nursing and long-term housing programs. It was built in two phases starting in 1935.
The idea is to use the first floor for short-term residential therapy and respite care for veterans with TBI. The condition is often described as the signature wound of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, where roadside bombings are common.
Canine and equine therapy could become part of the program, along with a therapeutic garden, greenhouses and orchard.
The barracks’ second floor would hold transitional housing for veterans with TBI, post-traumatic stress or other challenges.
It would be modeled on a transitional housing program that operates at the state veterans home at Retsil, in Kitsap County.

The renovation, plus some work on two other campus buildings and the grounds, is expected to cost $6 million, said Heidi Audette, veterans department spokeswoman.
Lee said his department would raise the money to cover it.
It’s not the only change under discussion. The department is exploring working with nonprofit groups to add buildings, including affordable housing and a behavioral health center, as well as rehabilitating another aging barracks, officials said.
No expansion plans are final, and there’s no firm timeline. However, Lee said he expects changes at the Orting campus to begin unfolding over the next decade.
Some current residents are concerned how they’ll be affected as two programs are phased out over the next several years.
“Some people have been here for years and figure they’re losing their homes,” said longtime resident Alan Hommel. “It’s quite upsetting to a lot people.”
“People are really worried about their futures,” Smith said.
Residents don’t have enough specific information about the changes, he said. One of his personal worries is how it will work to take his dog to wherever he goes next, he said.
Lee said he’s planning a meeting with residents next month to provide more information and discuss their concerns.
The two programs that will go away are known as “light nursing” and “domiciliary.” They have roughly 70 people between them; there’s no set timeline for their departure.
Those in light nursing often receive help with medication but don’t need the more intensive care provided at the skilled nursing home on-site.
Washington is the only state that provides light nursing at its veterans homes, and officials said that it appears the federal money that pays for it will go away.
Domiciliary residents are even more independent; they get some extra support in their day-to-day lives, such as with meals, but don’t require medical care.
Nationwide, veterans care is moving away from this long-term housing model toward ones that put veterans back with their families or in community settings, officials said. The Orting home is the only one of Washington’s three state veterans home with a domiciliary program.
The equivalent program at the Retsil home was phased out about seven years ago; the home in Spokane never had one.
Over the next several years, veterans in the light-nursing and domiciliary programs either will move to the higher level of care at the Orting home or will move elsewhere, such as a group home, officials said.
Audette said case managers will work with each individual to find the right placement.
The skilled-nursing program will remain.
Smith said the state is required by law to provide domiciliary and nursing care. He plans to bring that up when Lee meets with residents next month.
He said he doesn’t want to see older veterans pushed aside to make room for new ones.
Lee said that’s not happening. The home will take care of residents as the campus changes its mission, he said, and no one will be kicked out.
But planning for the future must happen now, he said.
“The war is going to be over,” Lee said. “We don’t want to wake up in two to five years and say, ‘Let’s start getting ready.’ ”

Source http://www.thenewstribune.com/

Lease Your Life: Three sites that let you make money loaning out your stuff

By EMMA JOHNSON - www.Deals.com 

 While it's easy to admonish readers to stop wasting so much time on money-saving activities and to instead use those precious minutes to earn more money through tactics other than thrift, it's easier said than done. But in our world of abundance, there emerges a trend of peer-to-peer rental resources to help you make money from stuff you already have. Zilok.com This is a one-stop shop for many categories - vacation properties and camping equipment, tools and electronics, cars and party supplies. Dust off that sewing machine - someone might need it for a few hours! (The going rate is $15 per day.) What about that Batman costume you'll never wear again (but you hate to sell, since your kid just might want it one day)? There is no doubt a Halloween partygoer somewhere who would love it for this year's shindig. (In fact, someone in Chicago is renting theirs for $30 per day.)
Pros: Make money without spending any. You're saving the planet (since the borrower doesn't have to buy a new, Earth-destroying product). Help a fellow thrifty soul save money.

Cons: Can be a lot of hassle for minimal return. Always the risk that the borrower will break or steal your goods.
Competitor: Rentalic.com
Airbnb.com Have an extra room to rent, or are you leaving your place for vacation? Why not make some extra cash by listing it on this hip, user-friendly site that connects travelers and hosts around the world. Just create a profile and upload pictures of your pad, set a price and wait for the doorbell to ring. Just do yourself a favor and tidy up beforehand, and don't walk around in your skivvies - two-way user reviews feature heavily here. Going nightly rates vary, but current listings include a slick little studio apartment in Paris for $119 a night; a two-bedroom, two bath house in Summerville, South Carolina, for $89 and an adorable tree house in San Francisco for $75 per night.
Pros: Earn hard cash on an unused room or home. Make new friends. Have company when you're lonely or the security of knowing someone is keeping an eye on your place when you're away.
Cons: You have strangers staying in your place. They can make a mess. You might have to talk to them when you don't feel like it. You're nervous knowing people are in your house when you're away.
Competitors: iStopOver.com, HomeAway.com, HouseTrip.com (for Europe)
Prosper.com Interest rates are low. Which is a great thing if you're buying a house, car or paying for college. Not so much if you're looking for a safe place to stash your cash savings. Savings and money market accounts and certificates of deposits actually lose you money, since their miserable returns lag inflation. This site is a safe way to make a great return on your cash by lending it directly to individuals, whom the site prescreens and assigns a rating. You can browse borrowers' stories and loan terms or you can invest with the site's automated tool, which spreads your money over loans that fit criteria you set.
Pros: Awesome rates. Feel good knowing you're helping another person. Diversify your portfolio.
Cons: You're the bank. If the borrower doesn't pay, you don't get paid. Again like a bank, you get your money and interest in monthly installments, usually over three to five years. Prosper takes a 1 percent service charge.
Competitor: LendingClub.com
Emma Johnson lives in New York City, where she writes about the intersect of money and life for www.Deals.com - your easy-to-remember source for the best online coupons, deals and sales.

Home-nation places give Olympic boost to Britain's smaller sports

A Team GB presence in every Olympic sport has resulted in significant improvements by British athletes in minor sports

UK Sport director of performance, Peter Keen, has overseen the sharing of knowledge and systems across Olympic sports. Photograph: David Levene

Athletes in a dozen Olympic sports in which Team GB will compete in just over a year's time have extra reason to celebrate that the Games are in London. For it is very possible that none of them would be there were it not for the fact that the British Olympic Association has been able to rely on accepting "home-nation places" in each sport.
The full list reads: rhythmic gymnastics, wrestling, fencing, synchronised swimming, beach volleyball, basketball, table tennis, judo, handball, indoor volleyball, water polo and weightlifting. In some of those sports, such as handball and beach volleyball, there is no history of British Olympic competition, and the Games is seen as an unparalleled opportunity to establish them. In others, the decision was made to take a home-team place because of doubts whether athletes would have reached the qualifying standard.
A British presence in every Olympic sport will swell the size of the GB team to 550 and create its own challenges. One will be around engendering a common team spirit across athletes from well‑established sports in which medals are not only expected but demanded, and those from less well-recognised sports who are hoping only to deliver credible performances.
According to the British Handball performance director, Lorraine Brown, that should not be difficult. "We are very focused on being professional and ensuring we go out to compete. When we started, there was only one way to go. We've proved we can consistently improve and it's exponential."
She said that "phenomenal progress" had been made, particularly by the women, who recently beat Slovenia (ranked 12th) and have qualified for the European Championships, and that it was realistic to expect the handball teams to qualify by right for Rio 2016 and target the podium in 2020.
"We would not be sitting here if it wasn't for the London Games. Great Britain has never been able to put a team in because we didn't have the infrastructure or quality of athletes. When we started, we had a talent pool of three women and seven men. We've had to create two Olympic teams from scratch."
Some play abroad for professional clubs in handball heartlands such as Germany and Scandinavia, while others have been picked up through UK Sport's talent-identification programmes. But there will be some challenges around suddenly being pitched into an Olympic environment, she concedes, and surrounded by 17,500 athletes including some big names. "We will arrive five days early so they can acclimatise. They are not there to collect autographs, they are there to play handball." Volleyball was forced to rethink its pre‑2012 planning in January 2010 when UK Sport reduced the investment in eight Olympic sports to deal with a funding gap. That highlighted the tensions inherent in a system where most of the money is remorselessly, if understandably, directed to those with the best hope of converting it into medals. Cycling, swimming and rowing all get more than £25m over four years, while volleyball receives £3.5m, handball £2.9m and table tennis £1.2m.
To deal with the shortfall, the women's volleyball team had their funding withdrawn, forcing them into a money-raising drive, and the men's development squad had to be axed. Kenny Barton, British Volleyball's performance programme manager, said the men had maintained their trajectory regardless – as demonstrated at this weekend's 2012 test event at Earl's Court. "We got within two points of the USA in two sets. If you'd told me that a year ago I wouldn't have believed you. They didn't faze us and they had to work hard to beat us," he said. Britain, ranked 94 in the world, then went on to beat Egypt, ranked 14th, in four sets on Sunday.
Their coach, the Dutchman Arie Brokking, does not pull his punches when it comes to criticising the decision to cut volleyball's funding. But he said that making it out of the group stage and into the quarter-final remains a realistic aspiration.
The BOA forced each sport hoping to secure a home-nations place to appear before a panel to convince it they would be able to compete creditably. "We made all the home-nation places demonstrate whether they have a legacy plan from the Games," said the chief executive, Andy Hunt. "That was not only in high performance terms – how will they qualify on merit for future Games – but also what have they done to work with the home-nation associations in each of those sports. Can they demonstrate they are ready to receive any upswing in those sports?"
"Handball, volleyball or table tennis, have they built solid plans? Are they co-ordinated? It's often the coaches that are the constraint. Sometimes it's facilities, in archery for example. But usually, it's coaches." Biz Price, performance director for synchronised swimming, said the prospect of the Games acting as a shop window for potential athletes and coaches was particularly alluring. "The media exposure at this Games is going to open up the opportunity for more athletes to get involved with this incredibly dynamic and interesting sport," she said. "The second thing is coach development. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and we want to make sure we get it right."
Peter Keen, left, the UK Sport performance director, said the sharing of knowledge and the replication of systems that had worked for successful sports like rowing and cycling had helped accelerate the development of some of the smaller ones. On Monday, handball's "traffic light" ranking went from amber to green on the Mission 2012 tracker board employed to monitor progress among Olympic sports. Of the 28 Olympic sports, 11 have an overall green rating.
The UK Sport chief executive, Liz Nicholl, said the overall mood was one of "measured confidence" and that Team GB remained on track to hit its goals of at least fourth in the medal table and "more medals, across more sports" than in Beijing.
For Brown, medals are highly unlikely to be on the agenda. But the ultimate boost to the sport could be just as significant: "What's important is that we use it as a springboard. We don't want to be a flash in the pan. We're not just turning up to get the blazer."
Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/

 

Fraud investigators see spike in suspicious home kitchen fires

By Alexia Campbell
A pattern of suspicious kitchen fires — apparently set by homeowners trying to collect insurance money — has led state investigators and insurance companies to work together to uncover the bogus claims.
Two state task forces are now investigating the trend in kitchen fires.
South Florida had nearly half of the state's fraud-related home arson cases investigated by the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud in fiscal year 2010-2011, state records show.
State and private investigators say the problem largely can be blamed on a surge of homeowners setting their kitchens on fire so they can renovate with insurance money. Ultimately, the scheme could mean higher premiums for other policyholders.
"It's scary, because there's a lot of money going out to pay these claims," said Herb Price, who investigates insurance fraud in Florida for the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Investigators have spotted a pattern: First, a homeowner leaves food cooking on the stove while they rush to the store for a missing ingredient. The oil then supposedly catches fire and a pan falls on the floor and breaks a tile. A public adjuster, who earns a percentage of the claim payout, inflates the estimate for repairs and renovations.
The number of suspicious insurance claims linked to home arson more than doubled in Florida between fiscal years 2007-2011 — from 31 to 74 — according to the Division of Insurance Fraud. Many of those came from South Florida, where 28 cases were reported in fiscal year 2010-11 in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties.
The state set up two task forces in South Florida to investigate suspicious kitchen fires, and their work has resulted in the arrests of several public adjusters and Miami homeowners.
More cases are under investigation in Broward and other parts of the state, said Price, of the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
"It first looked like it was a small ring of people in Miami. Now it's spread to a lot of people," said Price. "They think it's a good way to fund a new kitchen renovation."
Investigators with State Farm Insurance in Florida are spending a lot of time and money looking into the suspicious kitchen-fire claims, which can cost up to six figures each, said Rich Wickliffe, who oversees State Farm's investigation unit in Florida.
"You have people who can't really sell their homes and they look at their lime-green kitchen and want something else," said Wickliffe. It is unclear how much these fraudulent claims are costing other policyholders, he said.
In May 2010, the state's Kitchen Fire Task Force arrested five Miami public adjusters for their roles in two kitchen-fire schemes, according to a Miami-Dade arrest warrant.
A homeowner told investigators that adjuster Jorge Antonio Espinosa, 34, used a hammer to smash kitchen tiles in her southwest Miami-Dade house. The woman's kitchen appeared to have accidentally caught fire when she left chicken frying on the stove.
Espinosa broke the tiles to make it look like damage from the pan falling so they could get more money from Federated National Insurance Co., the report stated.
Espinosa submitted a claim for $69,000, of which he would keep a percentage. He and four of his employees later were arrested on numerous charges, ranging from organized scheme to defraud and grand theft to tampering with evidence. The result of the case is still pending in Miami-Dade Court.
It's unclear if the homeowners are under investigation for arson or fraud.
The scheme has spread through word of mouth as people hear about payouts that cover a complete kitchen remodeling, according to a 2010 report of the Florida Department of Financial Services.
One red flag is that the homeowner never calls the fire department, which it is not necessary to file an insurance claim. Instead, the person brings in a public adjuster to assess the damage. By the time an insurance company sends an investigator, the kitchen has been cleaned up.
"These are incredibly difficult claims to prove," said Chris Neal, a State Farm spokesman.
Few investigations lead to arrests and even fewer to convictions, state records show. In most cases, an unscrupulous public adjuster tells homeowners how to start the fire and get away with the scheme, the state financial services report said.
"The public adjuster knows how to coach them," said Wickliffe of State Farm. "Lo and behold, they get a whole new kitchen."
On June 30, 2010, state investigators in Davie trained about 150 public adjusters and investigators about how to spot red flags in kitchen fires. The state is required to investigate each suspicious claim to keep property insurance rates from going up, said Lynne McChristian, the Florida representative of the Insurance Information Institute.
Sometimes, investigators are able to recover fire debris and test it for accelerants such as gasoline or lighter fluid. But most often, homeowners have cleaned the evidence by the time investigators are called in. When accelerants are detected, police can build a good arson case, McChristian said.
In 2009, a Hialeah man was arrested for arson and insurance fraud after lab tests found traces of gasoline in his kitchen fire.
Cristain Rodriguez Acosta admitted to setting the fire and causing $100,000 in damage to his home to renovate his kitchen with insurance money, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office. The outcome of that case was unavailable in Miami-Dade Court records.
"Most people don't think of arson as insurance fraud, but it is," McChristian said. "All policyholders end up paying for it."