Kerry to bring his own causes to State, including efforts in custody battle

WASHINGTON - With John Kerry poised to breeze through Thursday's Senate confirmation hearings to become America's next secretary of state, one thing is clear: he'll bring different qualities and causes to the job than his predecessor.

American environmentalists are already hopeful that the longtime Massachusetts senator ? one of the fiercest climate hawks in Congress ? will put the brakes to TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, something Hillary Clinton's State Department seemed loath to do.

But there's a lesser-known cause that also distinguishes Kerry from Clinton: his tireless attempts to reunite a Boston-area father with his children after they were spirited away to Egypt three years ago by the boys' non-custodial mother, an Egyptian consultant whose family had close ties to ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Kerry could face questions about the case from fellow senators on Thursday, when he's quizzed by the Senate foreign relations committee.

Kerry is currently the chairman of that panel and pushed through a Senate resolution last year demanding Egypt return the two boys to their father.

In 2009, Colin Bower had full, legal custody of his sons, then aged six and eight, when they were kidnapped by their mother, Mirvat El Nady, and taken illegally to Egypt. The FBI alleges El Nady unlawfully changed her childrens' names, acquired Egyptian passports, paid cash for a one-way plane ticket and abducted them.

Kerry has been actively involved in trying to reunite Bower with his sons, Noor and Ramsay, for the past three years. His efforts once included engaging in a heated argument with Mubarak.

"After my first calls and meetings with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Bower's behalf, my next call was to then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak," Kerry wrote in an opinion piece in the Boston Herald in September.

"It ended in a shouting match, as it became clear Mubarak would do nothing to intercede and, in fact, he was determined to protect the abductors who had ties to his corrupt, crony regime."

Since then, Kerry wrote, he's been working with Egypt's new regime to help Bower get his sons back.

"Tenacity and more is required to complete this job and help a nascent government in Egypt to see the importance of facilitating the return of two abducted children and ending the nightmare that Colin Bower is living each day," he wrote.

"The rule of law must mean something, and respect for law cannot end at a border."

In a recent interview, Bower said he's hopeful one of Kerry's first moves as secretary of state will be to step up efforts to reunite him with his sons.

"Every Tuesday, I speak with two of his chiefs of staff and they reiterate that his priority is getting this done," Bower said.

"He really slammed this through the Senate to be sure he was the one who was owning this issue, and he continues to be the one to say he's committed to resolving it. And there's more that you can do as a member of the cabinet than you can as head of the foreign relations committee."

One of the challenges facing Kerry, however, is the fact that many mid-level bureaucrats in Egypt are from the Mubarak era, Bower said. His ex-wife's family owns a lucrative yeast business and allegedly has ties to the military.

"The family was part of the Mubarak elite, and there are still holdover people in government from Mubarak's regime," he said.

Nonetheless, Bower remains confident that Kerry can and will get the job done.

"He can do that, he's a true diplomat. They're going to have to deal with Sen. Kerry for four years; they're going to want to build up some goodwill."

A Kerry aide said Tuesday that the lawmaker will continue to fight on Bower's behalf.

"Sen. Kerry remains deeply and personally invested in working to reunite Colin Bower with his sons and has been focused on this tragic case since shortly after the illegal abduction from Massachusetts," the aide said.

"He's urged the reunion of Colin and his boys to the highest levels of the Egyptian and U.S. government, and it will remain a personal priority."

Kerry has the backing of congressional Republicans. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives introduced a resolution on the custody dispute late last year.

"The resolution is not calling for anything extraordinary," Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican congresswoman from Florida, said on the House floor in late December.

"We are simply appealing to the Egyptian government to uphold its responsibilities and return these two boys to their rightful home."

Kerry's first overseas trip, however, isn't to Egypt but to Turkey, according to the Turkish daily Milliyet.

The newspaper reported on Monday that a visit to Ankara will be Kerry's first visit to a foreign country as secretary of state. He'll be there for talks on Iraq and Syria.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-bring-own-causes-state-including-efforts-custody-213722242.html

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Why Natural Anxiety Treatments Are Popular Choice These Days ...

overcominganxiety1.net he Alternative Cure for Anxiety Medical Prescriptions It is said that it?s just ordinary for a person to have feelings of anxiety every now and then. Yet if the events of nervousness or worrying have become frequent and uncontrollable, it is considered to be a disorder that needs the help of anxiety treatments. A person suffering from an anxiety disorder must immediately seek cure because if the anxiety becomes worse, it can ruin the patient?s mental and emotional stability. If you are one of those individuals suffering from anxiety, you don?t have to be afraid to seek out treatment because there are various alternatives on the market nowadays which include natural cures for it. You can now evade those medical prescriptions that often bring fear to patients because of their anticipated side-effects and addicting elements. What?s the Difference of Using Natural Anxiety Treatments People will always look for a safe and natural way of treating their anxiety, which explains why natural anxiety cures are favored among other forms of treatments. The choice is obvious at all since going for natural treatments will spare you from any harmful drawbacks normally associated with taking drugs. This is a major advantage of going natural with your cure for anxiety as this kind of treatment rarely holds any bad results to your health. Natural cures also solve the main cause of your anxiety disorder through making you feel more comfortable and relax most of the ?

Source: YouTube

This entry was posted in Health Tutorials and tagged Health, Health Videos, Videos. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://health-ful-hints.com/2013/01/20/why_natural_anxiety_treatments_are_popular_choice_these_days/

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Samsung S380C TracFone | Prepaid QWERTY Cell Phone ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SCH-S380ZKATFN

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US officials join 787 investigation in Japan

U.S. officials, center, inspect a All Nippon Airways jet which made an emergency landing Wednesday, at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. An official with Japan?s transport safety board says four U.S. officials, including two Boeing Co. representatives, have arrived at the airport in western Japan to inspect the troubled Boeing 787 jet. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

U.S. officials, center, inspect a All Nippon Airways jet which made an emergency landing Wednesday, at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. An official with Japan?s transport safety board says four U.S. officials, including two Boeing Co. representatives, have arrived at the airport in western Japan to inspect the troubled Boeing 787 jet. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

This Jan. 17, 2013 photo provided by the Japan Transport Safety Board shows the distorted main lithium-ion battery of the All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 which made an emergency landing on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan. U.S. safety officials and Boeing inspectors joined a Japanese investigation Friday into the 787 jet at the center of a worldwide grounding of the technologically advanced aircraft. The pilot of the ANA plane made an emergency landing Wednesday morning after he smelled something burning and received a cockpit warning of battery problems. All passengers evacuated the plane on emergency slides. (AP Photo/Japan Transport Safety Board) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES

This Jan. 17, 2013 photo provided by the Japan Transport Safety Board shows the distorted main lithium-ion battery and its lid, left, of the All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 which made an emergency landing on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 at Takamatsu airport in Takamatsu, western Japan. At right are the model in normal condition. U.S. safety officials and Boeing inspectors joined a Japanese investigation Friday into the 787 jet at the center of a worldwide grounding of the technologically advanced aircraft. The pilot of the ANA plane made an emergency landing Wednesday morning after he smelled something burning and received a cockpit warning of battery problems. All passengers evacuated the plane on emergency slides. (AP Photo/Japan Transport Safety Board) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES

A representative of the U.S. investigation team is surrounded by the reporters as they arrived at Takamatsu airport, following an emergency landing of a Boeing 787 exposed a battery fire risk in Takamatsu, western Japan, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. Boeing, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were sending representatives to work with the Japanese government on the investigation, NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

Representatives of the U.S. investigation team arrive at Takamatsu airport, to investigate an emergency landing of a Boeing 787 which exposed a battery fire risk in Takamatsu, western Japan, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. Boeing, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were sending representatives to work with the Japanese government on the investigation, NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

TOKYO (AP) ? U.S. safety officials and Boeing inspectors joined a Japanese investigation Friday into the 787 jet at the center of a worldwide grounding of the technologically advanced aircraft.

Japanese TV footage showed the American investigators ? one each from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board and two from Boeing Co. ? inspecting the All Nippon Airways jet on the tarmac at Takamatsu airport in western Japan.

The investigation is being led by the Japan Transport Safety Board.

The pilot of the ANA plane made an emergency landing Wednesday morning after he smelled something burning and received a cockpit warning of battery problems. All passengers evacuated the plane on emergency slides.

The American inspectors were expected to examine the battery later Friday, said Mamoru Takahashi, a JTSB official. Photos of the battery provided by JSTB show a blackened mass of wires and other components within a distorted blue casing.

In the wake of the incident, nearly all 50 of the 787s in use around the world have been grounded. Aviation authorities in Japan have directed ANA, which owns 17 of the planes, and Japan Airlines, with seven, not to fly the jets until questions over their safety have been resolved.

The 787, known as the Dreamliner, is Boeing's newest jet, and the company is counting heavily on its success. Since its launch after delays of more than three years, the plane has been plagued by a series of problems including a battery fire and fuel leaks.

An initial inspection by Japanese officials of the 787 in Takamatsu found that a flammable battery fluid known as electrolyte had leaked from the plane's main lithium-ion battery beneath the cockpit. It also found burn marks around the battery.

The 787 relies more than any other modern airliner on electrical signals to help power nearly everything the plane does. It's also the first Boeing plane to use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for its main electrical system.

GS Yuasa Corp., the maker of the lithium-ion batteries used in the 787s, said it was helping with the investigation but that the cause of the problem was unclear.

The FAA has required U.S. carriers to stop flying 787s until the batteries are demonstrated to be safe. United Airlines has six of the jets and is the only U.S. carrier flying the model.

Aviation authorities in other countries usually follow the lead of the country where the manufacturer is based.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-18-Japan-Boeing%20787/id-34a39834a1e34473b8fb45b003528139

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J.G. Wentworth Abandons Plans To Sell its Structured Settlement ...

The last few years have been a rollercoaster for J.G. Wentworth, the financial services firm that injected itself into public consciousness with a series of humorous commercials featuring the catchphrase, ?It?s my money and I need it now!?

Earlier this week Bloomberg reported that the owner of the company, New York private equity firm J.L.L. Partners, has reconsidered plans to auction off the company due to bids falling below the $1 billion asking price. The auction was reportedly handled by Deutsche Bank and Moelis & Co.

The $1 billion price tag is nearly ten times the company?s pretax profit.

The move to sell came after the company entered Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in 2009, citing ?liquidity problems amid a tightening credit market.? The structured settlement company laid off 120 of its 200 employees, and its general corporate bonds were deemed ?almost worthless? by industry insiders during this period.

Less than six months after the layoffs, J.L.L. Partners invested $100 million in the company, and increased its staff to 178.

In 2011, J.G. Wentworth merged with Peachtree Settlement Funding. J.L.L. Partners retained control of both companies. J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree Settlement Funding reportedly control anywhere from 50-75% of the structured settlement market.

The decision to auction off the company came on the heels of several setbacks for the Radnor, PA, company. Earlier in 2012 J.G. Wentworth faced a lawsuit stemming from its acquisition of Peachtree Settlement Funding, alleging that the company was engaging in deceptive trade practices. The point of contention in the suit was that J.G. Wentworth was deceiving customers into believing that it and Peachtree were competing against each other, when in reality the companies were commonly owned and staffed.

One Ripoff Report told the story: the writer?s sister went back and forth between J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree, trying to find the best quote for the sale of her payments. After a while of this, the Peachtree representative told her that the deal Wentworth was offering was a good deal, and that Wentworth was a great company to sell to. A phone call from a different company some time later informed her that Wentworth and Peachtree were the same company, and that a conservative estimate of how much her payments were worth was $22,000 more than what she received from J.G. Wentworth.
?My sister is now in complete shock and depressed to the point where I had to take time off work to be with her during this terrible period.? She writes, ?She paid dearly for this settlement (the wrongful death of her child) and now she feels like she has been victimized all over again by J.G. Wentworth and Peachtree Financial. J.G. Wentworth is clearly using their recent purchase of Peachtree Financial as a means to deceive people just like my sister. I don?t care what they want to call it but it is just plain disgusting and criminal to steal from people who have already suffered terribly already.?

There have also been allegations that the company engages in ?bait-and-switch? tactics with their customers, wherein sales representatives and clients agree to a deal only to have the terms of the deal altered by J.G. Wentworth when the client is locked into the sale. ?One complainant on the Ripoff Report website detailed a situation in which the structured settlement company offered them $58,250 for their payments, had them sign a sales contract, then, just when the client?s court date had been set, informed them that a mistake had been made, and they could only pay them $51,000.

The structured settlement company has also been accused of anti-consumer practices by illegally preventing consumers from selling settlement payments to anyone other than J.G. Wentworth/Peachtree. In November of 2012, a Texas district court ruled against the company?s attempt to prevent a single mother from selling her structured settlement to a company other than Wentworth.

In July 2012 the company was accused of failing to pay Federal excise taxes on $550 million.

J.L.L. Partners paid around $170 billion for a 70% stake in the company back in 2005, which has since increased to 100%.

J.G. Wentworth was founded in 1991 as a merchant bank for the healthcare industry. Their first foray into buying payments was in 1992, when the company began buying auto insurance deferrals. They began focusing on the structured settlement and annuity market in the late 1990s.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2013 at 12:41 pm and is filed under J. G. Wentworth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.rslfundingllc.com/blog/j-g-wentworth-abandons-plans-to-sell-its-structured-settlement-business.html

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Apple offers last 'Downton' episodes before PBS

By Ree Hines, TODAY contributor

If you're a fan of "Downton Abbey" but not a fan of the long wait between the U.K. broadcast and the U.S. broadcast, there a little good news. In just two weeks, you can finish up the entire season before the final three episodes even air on PBS.

But of course, a perk like that comes at a premium price -- $19.99, to be exact.

On Monday, Apple announced that "Downton" devotees who purchase a "season pass" for the series from the company's iTunes store will be privy to the early viewing in the form of "the unedited U.K. edition."

The advance screening kicks off on Jan. 29.

As for viewers who prefer their TV favorites free, PBS will air the last three episodes of the series on Feb. 3, 10 and 17 respectively.

Would you pay to see any of your favorite shows before they air? Tell us on our Facebook page.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/01/15/16528374-apple-offers-final-downton-abbey-episodes-before-they-air-on-pbs?lite

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Tata Jaguar Land Rover to add nearly 800 new jobs at UK plant

Tata Motors is living up to its reputation as one of Britain's biggest manufacturing employers and is set to add hundreds of new jobs at one of its UK plants.

Just days after the news came that Japanese car major Honda was to cut 800 jobs at its Swindon factory, Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will announce just as many new jobs at its Solihull plant in the Midlands.

JLR already employs as many as 24,000 people in the UK.

According to the Sunday Times, an announcement of the latest recruitment drive is expected in time for the Detroit Motor Show which begins tomorrow.

The investment, which defies a general slowdown in the auto industry, is largely down to a surge in demand for JLR brands in China, Russia and the US.

The iconic British car giant, taken over by Tata in 2008, registered record profits of 1.5 billion pounds last year due to this overseas boost.

It marks a significant reversal of fortunes for JLR under the stewardship of Tata Motors, which had announced 1,000 new jobs at its Halewood plant on Merseyside last year and now employs nearly 24,000 staff in the UK.

Following a period of uncertainty as the credit crunch hit soon after Tata's takeover from Ford, the sales of most JLR brands rebounded considerably to result in an ambitious expansion plan two years ago.

The company wants to launch 40 new models in the next five years and has a target of making 60,000 cars a year.

... contd.

Tags: Tata Jaguar Land Rover, tata jobs, tata UK jobs, business news

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Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tata-jaguar-land-rover-to-add-nearly-800-new-jobs-at-uk-plant/1058820/

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Colin Powell says GOP having `an identity problem' (The Arizona Republic)

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Used coffee grounds are a rich source of healthful antioxidants

Jan. 9, 2013 ? To plant food, insect repellant and other homespun uses for spent coffee grounds, scientists are adding an application that could make the gunk left over from brewing coffee a valuable resource for production of dietary supplements. Their new report in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry concludes that used coffee grounds are a rich source of healthful antioxidant substances.

Maria-Paz de Pe?a and colleagues explain that people around the world drink millions of cups of coffee every day, generating about 20 million tons of used grounds annually. Although some spent coffee grounds find commercial use as farm fertilizer, most end up in trash destined for landfills. Coffee itself is a rich source of healthful antioxidants. De Pe?a's team wondered about the amount of antioxidants that remained in used coffee grounds from different coffee-making methods.

They found that filter, plunger and espresso-type coffeemakers left more antioxidants in coffee grounds, while mocha coffeemakers left the least. Because filter and espresso coffeemakers are more common in homes and commercial kitchens, the authors report that most grounds are likely to be good sources of antioxidants and other useful substances. They note that after these compounds are extracted, the grounds can still be used for fertilizer.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Chemical Society.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jimena Bravo, Isabel Ju?niz, Carmen Monente, Bettina Caemmerer, Lothar W. Kroh, M. Paz De Pe?a, Concepci?n Cid. Evaluation of Spent Coffee Obtained from the Most Common Coffeemakers as a Source of Hydrophilic Bioactive Compounds. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2012; 60 (51): 12565 DOI: 10.1021/jf3040594

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/AttD4HYTXHE/130109110057.htm

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Obama returns to capital after Hawaii vacation

President Barack Obama walks with daughter Malia on the first family's return from vacationing in Hawaii, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama walks with daughter Malia on the first family's return from vacationing in Hawaii, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama waves to the media as he walks with daughter Malia on the first family's return from vacationing in Hawaii, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama has returned to Washington after a winter vacation in Hawaii that was interrupted by the "fiscal cliff" crisis.

Obama arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Sunday morning after an overnight flight.

The president's annual end-of-year visit to his native state was disrupted just after Christmas when he was forced to return to the capital to help broker a solution on a plan to avert a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that could have sent the economy back into recession.

He returned to Hawaii on New Year's Day.

Obama faces a full agenda in Washington, including possible appointments of a new defense secretary and CIA director and a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (HAH'-mihd KAHR'-zeye).

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-06-Obama/id-cf2894872062411893d19f9bb70cbf28

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Sources: US drone strikes kill 18 Pakistani militants

By Mushtaq Yusufzai, NBC News

Updated at 10:09 a.m. ET: PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Eighteen suspected militants were killed in three separate American drone attacks in Pakistan's South Waziristan on Saturday night,?military and government sources told NBC News.?

Pakistani military officials said the drones fired 10 missiles and pounded three different militant compounds in the Babar district. Eighteen people died in the drone attacks, said the officials, who asked not to be named because they were not allowed to speak to the media.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

The militants targeted were led by Hakimullah Mehsud?and had set up sanctuaries in the mountainous district, about 85 miles northeast of Wana, the capital of the South Waziristan tribal region.?Mehsud's fighters often target the Pakistani army.?

The death toll could rise as dozens of militants were present in the compound during the drone strikes, NBC sources said.?

Tribesmen in the adjoining Razmak area of the North Waziristan region told NBC News that they had heard heavy blasts overnight but could not confirm if the explosions were drone strikes.

Islamabad opposes the use of U.S. drones in its territory, but is believed to have tacitly approved some strikes in past. The drone campaign also infuriates many Pakistanis who see them as a violation of their country's sovereignty. Many Pakistanis complain that innocent civilians have also been killed, something the U.S. rejects.?

Pakistani security forces conducted a massive military operation against the militants in South Waziristan in October 2009 but spared the area targeted in the overnight attack.

An A to Z guide to the Islamic Republic of 'Banistan'

A top Pakistani Taliban commander, Maulvi Nazeer, was killed in a drone attack on Wednesday, along with his senior commanders and fighters in South Waziristan.

He was considered pro-government because he and his men had signed a peace accord and pledged not to fight against Pakistani forces. He was affiliated with the Afghan Taliban and fought U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

On Saturday, an estimated 6,000 tribesmen demonstrated in Azam Warsak, which is about 10 miles from Wana, to protest the killing of Nazeer. ?They pledged to?continue fighting alongside the Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.?

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/06/16376663-us-drone-strikes-kill-18-pakistani-militants-sources-tell-nbc?lite

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A Trust Is Still Not A Legal Entity Under Georgia Law - Bryan Cave ...

It?s a pretty common mistake for litigators in Georgia unfamiliar with fiduciary litigation ? naming a trust as a party to a lawsuit.? Apparently, as we recently saw in Ford v. Reddick, it?s a mistake made in real estate transactions, too.

It?s hard to blame them because, on the surface,?the Georgia Code?s many references to trusts may unwittingly suggest to some that a trust is itself a legal entity. ?But, under Georgia law, it?s not.

So what tripped up the real estate transaction in?Ford?

It?s a straightforward set of facts. ?Kaiser Ford, as attorney-in-fact for Ruby Lee Gloster, executed two warranty deeds conveying Gloster?s real property to ?Morison Outreach, a Trust.? ?Gloster sued to set aside those deeds. ?Gloster contended that the deeds were invalid as they conveyed property to a trust instead of a trustee. ?The trial court and Georgia Court of Appeals agreed.

It?s well-settled law that a deed that does not properly designate a grantee does not convey title. ?Under Georgia?s Trust Code, in order for a deed to convey property to a trust, the trustee must be designated as the grantee of legal title. ?In other words, when it comes to property transactions in Georgia, a trust can only convey or receive property through its trustee.

Source: http://bryancavefiduciarylitigation.com/a-trust-is-still-not-a-legal-entity-under-georgia-law

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Countdown to Downton Abbey: Viewing Party Food and Drink ...

?

Downton Abbey's third series arrives in the U.S. in January and loyal viewers are approaching the season with the fervor of football fans in the pre-season. Season 3, which begins on Sunday, Jan. 6, is a red-letter day for fans.?

Viewing parties are commonplace during the show, and since the food and drink complement the event, Patch asked local food experts for their best Edwardian era picks.

EthnicNJ's Anthony Ewing offers menu picks and a thoughtful analysis.

"According to the NPR segment I heard," explains Ewing, "the period drama portrays universal themes with particular relevance for current times, and plenty of class and sexual tension.?I'll suggest a mix of modern and traditional British fare.

For modern British, serve?Madras Curry Lamb from Brick Lane Curry House in Montclair. This dish captures the legacy of British Colonialism, reflects the vibrant immigrant communities of modern Britain, and it's spicy. For traditional British, serve a Steak and Kidney Pie from The Pie Store?also in Montclair." Ewing notes, "This dish is probably prepared in the basement kitchen of Downton Abbey, reflects traditional British cuisine, and is best enjoyed if you don't know everything going on under the surface."

Once the savory is cleared away by the footmen, it's time for the sweet.?

The Able Baker,?Julie Pauly, recommends?Apple Charlotte. Pauly notes the dessert "was referenced in season 2 as an all-the-rage dessert."

And for the beverages, served by the butler in both the dining room and the sitting room after the meal??Hank Zona?of Swirl Wine Events, explains, "The very short answer is sherry, port and clarets...and the word is sherry?sales in the UK are up about 20 percent due in part to the show."

Here's to another successful season of Downton Abbey!

Easy Apple Charlotte

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 (1 pound) loaf bread, crusts trimmed
• 8 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
• ? cup white sugar
• ? tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, cubed
• nonstick cooking spray

Directions

1.? Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a bread pan or a "pudding basin" with 1 tablespoon butter. Press bread slices onto the bottom and sides of pan. Overlap slices and keep in mind this part of the dessert will be visible.

2.? In a bowl, combine apples, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons cubed butter. Place apple mixture in bread-lined pan. Cover with bread slices, and coat with cooking spray. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.

3.? Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Cool in pan, then invert onto serving dish. Serve with ice cream or creme fraiche. ? ? ? ? ? ??

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

A version of this story ran in Feb. 2012.

Source: http://scotchplains.patch.com/articles/countdown-to-downton-abbey-viewing-party-food-and-drink-2e641628

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ALIEN SPACESHIPS TO ATTACK EARTH IN MARCH 2013 ...

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Private and Simple Family Sharing on Rootsy.com - Eastman's ...

Rootsy.com is a new, start-up web site that is designed as a private place to share your family stories and connect with the people you care about most. The site allows you: 1) build your family tree, so you can map out your family relationships and explore your heritage, and 2) share photos, videos and stories that your family will enjoy. Everything on Rootsy is private, so only your family can see what?s happening in the network.

Rootsy.com is not a genealogy site to compete with other sites on the Internet. You won't want to use it to list your ancestors back ten generations and it doesn't provide places for source citations and there are no fancy charts. Instead, Rootsy.com is designed as a gathering place for your living relatives who would like to keep in touch with each other. One page on the web site states, "Our goal is to help people strengthen their bonds with close family as well as reconnect with distant relatives. We believe that family is the most beautiful thing on earth." In other words, Rootsy.com is a bit of a social networking site for your family.

The web site allows you to build family trees, restricting it to names, photos, and only basic facts about each person. Then any family member can share photos, videos, text files, or whatever they wish.

To create a family space on Rootsy.com, you first add yourself to a new family tree. Then you can add a spouse, sibling, parent or child. When you add this person to your digital tree, you can invite them to the network by entering their email address. Once they join, they can invite other family members to Rootsy, too and help your grow the tree, or you can add all the family members yourself. The person who starts the tree is the administrator, but down the road Rootsy will add functionality for other people to manage the tree. Any family member can post or share something with the group.

Users will receive notifications when major family events occur, and all this information is kept private. No one else outside your family tree can view what you post on Rootsy.

Rootsy.com has a rather strong privacy policy that is similar to that of most other genealogy web sites. All information uploaded remains the property of the person(s) who uploaded it although obviously the uploader does give permission to Rootsy.com to publish the information for other family members to see. Full details may be found at http://blog.rootsy.com/privacy.

Rootsy.com is free for everyone. The site does plan to add advertising with commercial partners in the future but expects to always be free for users. The site's FAQ (frequently-asked-questions) simply says, "Coming soon!" Obviously, the site is in its infancy and is missing many of the things that we expect from mature web sites that have been in business for a while. Rootsy was developed by the QLabs tech incubator, backed by AOL, in Noho, New York.

Rootsy shows a lot of promise but it strikes me as not being ready for prime time just yet. The developers need to spend more time fleshing it out.

You can learn more about Rootsy.com at http://www.rootsy.com/.

Source: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2013/01/private-and-simple-family-sharing-on-rootsycom.html

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Congress OKs cliff deal, signaling future fights

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, passes waiting reporters as he leaves a closed-door GOP meeting on the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, passes waiting reporters as he leaves a closed-door GOP meeting on the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Barack Obama winks as he arrives to make a statement regarding the passage of the fiscal cliff bill in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, speaks to reporters on the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night that's waiting for the House vote at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. Democrats were meeting with Vice President Joe Biden who has been shuttling between the White House and Capitol Hill to help negotiate a legislative path to avert the across-the-board tax increases and sweeping spending cuts that could damage the economy. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., center, leaves a second Republican caucus meeting to discuss the "fiscal cliff" bill passed by the Senate Monday night_and now awaits a vote in the GOP-controlled House_ at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress' excruciating, extraordinary New Year's Day approval of a compromise averting a prolonged tumble off the fiscal cliff hands President Barack Obama most of the tax boosts on the rich that he campaigned on. It also prevents House Republicans from facing blame for blocking tax cuts for most American households, though most GOP lawmakers parted ways with Speaker John Boehner and opposed the measure.

Passage also lays the groundwork for future battles between the two sides over federal spending and debt.

Capping a holiday season political spectacle that featured enough high and low notes for a Broadway musical, the GOP-run House voted final approval for the measure by 257-167 late Tuesday. That came after the Democratic-led Senate used a wee-hours 89-8 roll call to assent to the bill, belying the partisan brinkmanship that colored much of the path to the final deal.

"A central promise of my campaign for president was to change the tax code that was too skewed towards the wealthy at the expense of working middle-class Americans," Obama said at the White House before flying to Hawaii to resume his holiday break. "Tonight we've done that."

The bill would boost the top 35 percent income tax rate to 39.6 percent for incomes exceeding $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples, while continuing decade-old income tax cuts for everyone else. In his re-election campaign last year Obama had vowed to boost rates on earnings at somewhat lower levels ? $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families.

Scores of GOP lawmakers voted for the measure, reversing a quarter-century of solid Republican opposition to boosting any tax rates at all.

The bill would also raise taxes top earners pay on dividends, capital gains and inherited estates; permanently stop the alternative minimum tax from raising levies on millions of middle-income families; extend expiring jobless benefits; prevent cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors; and delay for two months billions in budget-wide cuts in defense and domestic programs slated for this year.

Both sides lamented their failure to reach a significant deficit-cutting agreement. But neither much mentioned another omission: The immediate expiration of a two-year, 2-percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax.

That break, which put an extra $1,000 in the wallets of typical families earning $50,000 a year, was an Obama priority two years ago as a way to boost consumer spending and spark the flagging economy, but it fell victim this time to other priorities.

House Democrats voted by an overwhelming 172-16 for the agreement, which was crafted over the weekend by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Vice President Joe Biden.

But Republicans tilted against it 151-85. It is rare for leaders to bring a bill to the House floor that will be opposed by most lawmakers from their own party, and the decision underscored the pressure GOP leaders felt to approve the legislation.

Boehner, R-Ohio, took no public stance on the measure before the vote. But he guided the compromise to the House floor after an unsuccessful attempt by many conservatives to persuade leaders to add spending cuts to the bill.

Had the House inserted those budget cuts and the Senate refused to consider them, the legislation could have died. That left House Republicans worried that voters might blame them for a huge, sweeping tax increase and for any swoon the nation's financial markets might take when they reopened Wednesday.

"You can be right and you can be dead right. Which is it?" said Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Fla., of the quandary Republicans faced. "Right now you need to take the tax issue off the table" and move on to a focus on curbing spending, he said.

Boehner voted for the bill, an unusual step because speakers seldom vote, and he was joined by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the GOP's vice presidential candidate last fall. Voting "no" were the other two top GOP leaders, Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia and Kevin McCarthy of California.

Passage came nearly 24 hours after a decade's worth of tax cuts enjoyed by tens of millions of Americans expired with the stroke of the new year, technically raising taxes by more than $500 billion in 2013 alone.

Those tax increases ? plus $109 billion in defense and domestic spending cuts that were to be automatically triggered Wednesday ? became known as the fiscal cliff. Economists warned that their combined impact would hurl the economy back into recession, but Obama's signature on the bill would prevent the "cliff" from taking hold.

Obama can sign the bill remotely using a machine called an "autopen," or the bill can be flown to Hawaii for his signature.

Overall, the legislation would add nearly $4 trillion to federal deficits over the next decade compared with what would have happened had all the tax cuts expired, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

"I'm embarrassed for this generation. Future generations deserve better," complained one foe, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.

The agreement's journey to passage was a tortured one. It included negotiations between Obama and Boehner on a larger, deficit-cutting deal that collapsed, and a failed effort by the speaker to drum up enough GOP votes to pass a "Plan B" that would have limited tax boosts to incomes exceeding $1 million.

It took weekend talks between McConnell and Biden, former Senate colleagues, to craft the more modest package that focused on averting the worst impacts of the fiscal cliff while postponing any deficit reduction efforts to coming months.

Those first showdowns will come over the next three months, when the government's legal ability to borrow money will expire and temporary financing for federal agency budgets will expire. Republicans have already said that, as they did in 2011, they will demand spending cuts as a condition for extending the debt ceiling.

"Now the focus turns to spending" and overhauling the tax code, Boehner said in a written statement after the vote. He said the GOP will fight for "significant spending cuts and reforms to the entitlement programs that are driving our country deeper and deeper into debt," a reference to costly benefit programs like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.

Spending cuts are "going to be a component of every single battle we have" in the new Congress, conservative GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee told CNN on Wednesday.

Obama, in his White House remarks, said that while he was open to compromise, he would demand deficit-cutting savings from added revenue on the well-off, not just spending cuts.

He also pointedly said he would "not have another debate with this Congress" over extending the federal borrowing limit.

"If Congress refuses to give the United States government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic ? far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff," he said.

Though its focus was on taxes, the measure approved Tuesday would prevent a potential doubling of milk prices and prevent a $900 salary increase for members of Congress in March. Its extension of jobless benefits would help 2 million people out of work at least six months, and it would prevent a 27 percent cut in reimbursements doctors get for treating Medicare patients.

Weighing in with criticism of the compromise were the chief authors of an influential bipartisan deficit-cutting proposal, former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton. They called the measure "truly a missed opportunity to do something big to reduce our long term fiscal problems."

___

AP reporters David Espo, Charles Babington, Andrew Taylor and Larry Margasak contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-01-02-Fiscal%20Cliff/id-4d6364d1ead840fab334232212f87421

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7 Ways to Have a Happy New Year

Feeling grateful makes people feel good: That's not just intuition, it's science.

Research also shows it's possible to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. One of the creators of the World Gratitude Map, Jacqueline Lewis, shares some tips on how to feel more grateful, and happier, in your New Year.

Once you find your sources of gratitude, you can post them to the web-based Map, which helps people around the world record and share the things for which they feel grateful.

1. Slow down and take notice: Pick three good things that you see or experience during the day, then write them down or post them on the World Gratitude Map. You can also throw a quarter or a dollar in a jar. When it's filled, treat yourself, or better yet, someone else, Lewis suggests.

2. Saying thank you: Take time to thank someone every day, anything from a card to an email or a hand on the shoulder will do. Connecting with others this way will help you get outside of your own head, Lewis said. Research that came out in May revealed a simple "thank you" may boost relationship satisfaction. The undergraduates in the study, detailed in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, reported feeling more appreciative of their partners the day after they themselves felt more appreciated. Those who felt appreciated were also less likely to break up in the following nine months, saying they felt even more committed to each other at that time.

3. Build in ways to help others: For example, Lewis recalls throwing a party and asking that, in lieu of gifts, guests bring gift cards to donate to a local shelter. Science has shown those people who buy gifts for friends or give charitable donations experience a happiness boost not seen in individuals who spend on themselves. That study was published in 2008 in the journal Science. [7 Things That Will Make You Happy]

4. Feel your feelings:?If you miss someone, don't try to escape the feeling; instead use it to feel thankful.?When missing her mom, who passed away in 2011, Lewis remembered how her mother used to re-arrange the furniture when she was stressed. So, to thanks her mother, Lewis re-arranged her own furniture. "You are not going to avoid the loss and the sadness, but you can take control of it," Lewis said.

5. Find ways to connect to faraway loved ones: Around Easter one year, when Lewis' mother was dying, Lewis said she brought friends and family together in spirit, or at least costume, by asking everyone to send photos of themselves wearing bunny ears for "Bunnyfest." Another example: Lewis said her sister and a remote friend have used Skype to cook together.

6. Be creative with nostalgia: Make a whimsical photo album to enjoy. Include silly pictures of yourself or friends, and take a look back at it every so often. Turns out, nostalgia really can warm the heart: Research has found a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past can warm up the body. In addition, looking at the past in a rosy light, such as with silly photo journeys, can really boost happiness. This phenomenon may explain why extroverts are happier than other personality types, according to a study published in 2011 in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

7. Notice what you have: One Christmas, Lewis received a gift that made her cringe: a bright-yellow ski suit. When she opened it, she envisioned herself as a big lemon, tumbling down a slope. Her husband at the time, who had given it to her, tried to explain: "It's the yellow snowsuit." Then she realized he was referring to a story she'd told him about the moment she felt most loved and safe, when her mother was zipping her into a yellow snowsuit as a young child. Her then-husband had wanted to replicate that moment for her. The lesson: "We have an idea of what the holidays should look like, what we are entitled to, what love looks like, what happiness looks like, and then we are measuring our life against this idealistic version of what we should have," she said. "That is what stands in the way of noticing what we have."

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/7-ways-happy-151305678.html

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