Non-profits and Social Media: Fundraising ... - Business 2 Community

Fundraising is one of the necessary evils of the non-profit world.

In order to keep a non-profit afloat, and do the good works that you originally set out to do, you have to be funded. That requires some mix of seeking grants from the government and businesses, as well as approaching individuals to ?invest? in the work you are doing. And quite often, in this economy, it might seem as though you spend more time trying to raise funds, than you do on your actual social mission.

In his wonderful new book, The Non-Profit Narrative (which I?ll be reviewing very soon), Dan Portnoy notes:

Non-profit organizations weren?t started to consistently ask for money and talk about the troubles of keeping the lights on. Remember, they were started to change the world.

And yet, if you work at a non-profit organization, you may feel like you always have your hand out. And that might actually be the perception that many have of your organization. But what if you just took the time to maximize your fundraising efforts, so that you could generate more money with each ask, and therefore, not have to ask so often? Wouldn?t that be a wonderful thing? It?s no fun asking for money.

Unless you?re creative. And have the right tools at your disposal.

Enter Razoo Giving, an online social giving platform. My friend Ifdy Perez, a champion of social good, and the Community Manager at Razoo, which I believe is the most robust social giving platform[, sent me a DM on Twitter yesterday telling me about their new project: Twive and Receive. When I checked it out, I knew I not only had to write this post about it, but I also signed up. But more on that later?

Twive and Receive is a 24-hour online giving competition scheduled for June 14th. Folks like you and me will represent our communities on Twitter and other social platforms to raise money for our favorite local non-profit, while at the same time competing to help them win a share of $30,000.

Razoo has hosted one-day events like this before, but usually on a more hyper-local or regional level. For instance, ?Give to the Max Day? back in November in Washington, D.C. raised more than $2-million in just one day for over a thousand local non-profits. Pretty impressive, eh?

Here?s what I like about this particular campaign:

1. It?s social ? At the heart of this campaign is Twitter, but other platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and even blogging will be used to raise awareness during this 24-hour period. While one or two people in each community will be heading up the effort, they?ll be using their online social influence to get others on board.

2. It fosters community ? The large majority of the campaign will be done online, but there can be offline elements as well. And you and other locals can band together online, and even gather together offline, to rally the troops and raise awareness and funds for your cause. Nothing brings people together better than a shared cause that benefits your local community.

3. It?s short ? Many high profile fundraisers seem to go on forever. And ever. This is limited to 24-hours. In. Out. It?s Over.

4. It?s competitive ? Gamification is one of the buzzwords of the social realm these days. Foursquare and other platforms use gamification to get people involved and keep them involved. Who doesn?t love a little friendly competition? It?s you and your city against a host of other cities, seeing who can raise the most money. Community pride can be a powerful motivating factor.

5. It?s fun ? Or, it CAN be fun. It?s all how you execute. But when?s the last time you enjoyed fundraising? Usually we dread the task of asking others for money. Here, you can have some fun and raise money at the same time.

6. It fosters and rewards creativity ? I have no idea how this campaign will shake out, but I?m convinced of one thing: the cities that win will be the ones that exhibit the most creativity. If all you do is tweet about raising money, you can only go so far. But what if you get local businesses and media involved? Are there offline methods you can use to get people involved online? What about a tweetup for happy hour? There are so many things

7. It fosters relationships between the community and the non-profit ? If you do this right, your non-profit will be on board, and they?ll be promoting it as well. You?ll have the chance to connect local folks to the non-profit, who might never have engaged with them in the past. And it feels good to give something back to your community as an individual. At the same time, the non-profit benefits by rolling up their sleeves and working alongside community members.

8. Razoo will help you along the way ? This isn?t some promotion or contest where you?re told to do something, and then the organizing business disappears until the last day. Razoo will be putting together an online toolkit to help you plan your day, including widgets you can put on websites and Facebook pages. They?ll also be hosting weekly conference calls to bring you up to date on the campaign, and offer you tips.

9. Everyone wins ? You win by being a part of something good in your community, and you?ll get to meet and build relationships with others. Your non-profit wins, because even if they don?t ?win? the competition, they still get to keep the money that was raised for them. Plus they?ll most likely have access to new donors. And Razoo wins because they are the organizers of this, and many non-profits will be introduced to their great platform.

I?ve already signed up to be the point person for my community in Lancaster, and I?ve chosen the non-profit for which we?ll be fundraising: Water Street Ministries (client) which provides a variety of services to the homeless and needy in our area. They serve a lot of people and do great work.

What about you? Are you willing to step up and be the point person for your community? If there is no one representing your city, why not consider signing up now? And if your city is already spoken for, join the cause! Contact the person listed next to your city and offer to lend a hand, or a tweet.

What do you think are the hallmarks or elements of a successful online fundraising campaign? What has worked for you in the past? How can you incorporate these elements into your fundraising efforts all year long?

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SmackDown results: Jericho built WrestleMania momentum by 'besting' Kofi Kingston

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2012 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

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Cheap Carpet ? Suggestions About Precisely how This Can keep ...

New floor covering is a great way to update the look and feel associated with a room within your house. A reputable flooring company can install new hardwood, carpet, laminate or tile flooring in as little as eventually or go to your local home improvement store for do it yourself options. Home improvement is often a daunting task. This is due to time and also the levels of money required. However, it doesn?t need to be so bad. If you have several projects within your house, divide them up into several smaller DIY projects. For instance you might want to redo the whole living room. Begin slowly, just by replacing carpeting, and before very long, your living room will be like new ? you must make sure you consider cheap carpet when undertaking this project

Carpet the bottoms of the drawers you keep you tools in. This won?t make the shop room a quieter place however it can help protect your valuable tools. Keep those tools rust free by spraying the carpet lightly with machine oil prior to placing the tools within the drawer. Choosing to use wooden flooring instead of carpeting can save you lots of hassle in the long run. Carpet can contain allergens and cleaning it is sometimes out of the question. The price of ripping up and replacing your carpet can almost be as costly as just putting down wooden flooring. Wooden floors can be refinished and repainted as needed; also providing a more rural and cottage style environment. Stairs can be a great addition to a house, however they can also be dangerous. Consider putting carpeting on your stairs to avoid moving accidents. Going up and on the stairs in socks can be a neck-breaking accident if one slips on the wooden staircase. Attempt to look at different carpet or rug designs that may look great on your stairs.

Flooring could be a easy do it yourself project even for a novice. Focus on putting tile in your kitchen and bathrooms and replace your carpet with hardwood floors. Home improvement stores possess a wealth of here is how to create this method easy for you to accomplish. Refurbishing an unfinished basement floor can bring the area together while enhancing the functionality of the basement. Family members and friends may wish to drop there a lot more than they did before and one can create a new area to entertain guests. Putting down a wood, carpet, or synthetic floor will really improve ones basement. Use carpet samples to carpet an entire room! Retail stores often throw away their samples. Cut each sample up into smaller pieces and tack or glue them into place free of charge flooring. Cut them in identically sized pieces for any tile effect or cut them in irregular geometric shapes to have an abstract look.

Watch out for carpet installation sales at local locations of national home improvement retailers. They will frequently offer installation for any low, inexpensive to encourage carpet purchases. This is a superb time for you to have new carpet put into your house, because the price of labor and installation, often can exceed the cost of the actual product. Before purchasing new hardwood flooring, seek advice from an expert about exploring the current floors in your home. Sometimes you may have beautiful, natural hardwood hiding underneath layers of carpet or linoleum that is just waiting to be refinished. You will find yourself with a nicer looking, high quality floor at a lower price.

So if you?re wanting to know a lot more about cheap carpet and actually appreciate everything about the subject then you may want to look at further investigation. The easy way to achieve this is to please click on the web page link and visit the web site it hyperlinks to.

The following task was completed and built in in partnership with seo company online.

Source: http://pittsburghlaminateflooring.com/cheap-carpet-suggestions-about-precisely-how-this-can-keep-you-below-budget-for-your-home-imporvement-project

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Appropriate steps for data recovery

Sometimes the data we store on our disk drives become inaccessible. The reasons for this could be a virus attack, system failure, hardware conflict and many more. Whatsoever be the reason, our only concern is to get back the data by any means, and for this we ask help from our friends, nearby technicians and online tech gurus. However, the most appropriate and safe option is to avail the services of a data recovery ( Recupero Dati ) company.

A data restoring company either help you in restoring process or provide you with some data recovery software's. A data redeeming software is an application which help in restoring the lost data. These software's can be divided into various categories depending upon the type of data to be recovered. Some of the software categories are:

Hard Disk Recovery Software: This software enables you to recover the data lost from computer?s hard disk because of corruption in the operating system.

Hard disk recovery software come in various categories depending on the operating system you are using, like Windows, Linux, Unix data recovery ( Recupero Dati ) software and many more.

MS Office Recovery Software: The most frequently used software package is MS Office, which includes applications like MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power-point and other. Files created using these applications can get corrupt due to various logical and physical reasons and need to be recovered to defeat the data loss.

Email Recovery Software: This software facilitates recovery of lost emails, contacts, tasks and other mailbox items stored in software's like MS Outlook.

Some more data recovery ( Recupero Dati )software's are available in market like photo and ipod recovery software's.

You can search over the Internet to look for all the features of these software's. Beside these software's you can also look for? companies providing the same services. Refine your search by thoroughly navigating the websites of such companies after all it?s your data? therefore, your first priorities should be the quality of service offered by company.

There are many data recovery ( Recupero Dati ) companies working in market with an objective of recovering data in the shortest possible time. These companies recover data from damaged hard drives and also specialize in retrieving data from RAID. They also provide their price list on the website, from where you can estimate the expenses of recovering data and this also help you in comparing any two companies providing the same service.

Source: http://technology.ezinemark.com/appropriate-steps-for-data-recovery-7d352df21a4f.html

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Mega Millions jackpot hits $540 million, still rising

Seven-time Florida lottery winner, Richard Lustig offers tips to winning the $500 million dollar jackpot.

By msnbc.com staff

The Mega Millions lottery hit $540 million on Thursday, and people endured long lines for a chance at winning the hefty jackpot ? an amount that could rise as more tickets are sold for Friday?s drawing.

?I have never seen so many people inside one store,? Jessie Rae Vaglivielo, a clerk at Hallelujah Junction, a one-stop gas and convenience store?in Honey Lake, Calif., near the Nevada border, told msnbc.com on Thursday. It was her fifth day on the job and she didn?t have time to talk -- she was selling tickets to dozens of people who had lined up.

---

Vaglivielo laughed when asked if she was going to buy a ticket. "No, I don't play," she said, adding "but there are a lot of people here who do, and I gotta go."

At a 7-Eleven in the Bronx, Leisa Aspes said she sold at least $1,000 in tickets during the morning rush hour on Thursday. She described conversations at the store as lively, bursting with dreams of winning. ?

?That?s all people have been talking about all morning,? she told msnbc.com. ?People are talking about what they would do if they won. I made sure to buy my tickets.?

Nobody matched all six numbers in Tuesday's regular draw, and the total jackpot has been growing since. With a $540 million total, the lump sum payment is estimated at $389.8 million, according to lottery officials. Winners can also take payments annually for 26 years.

Mega Millions raises tough question for job seekers

Mega Millions is is played in 42 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Players pay $1 for a ticket and must pick five numbers from 1 to 56 plus a Mega number from 1 to 46 to win the jackpot. The odds of winning are 1 in about 176 million, according to the official Mega Millions website.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever won was $390 million in March 2007, when the prize was split between two tickets sold in Georgia and New Jersey.

This story includes reporting by msnbc.com's Sevil Omer.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10923500-mega-millions-jackpot-hits-540-million-and-could-go-higher

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Justices meet Friday to vote on health care case

WASHINGTON (AP) ? While the rest of us have to wait until June, the justices of the Supreme Court will know the likely outcome of the historic health care case by the time they go home this weekend.

After months of anticipation, thousands of pages of briefs and more than six hours of arguments, the justices will vote on the fate of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in under an hour Friday morning. They will meet in a wood-paneled conference room on the court's main floor. No one else will be present.

In the weeks after this meeting, individual votes can change. Even who wins can change, as the justices read each other's draft opinions and dissents.

But Friday's vote, which each justice probably will record and many will keep for posterity, will be followed soon after by the assignment of a single justice to write a majority opinion, or in a case this complex, perhaps two or more justices to tackle different issues. That's where the hard work begins, with the clock ticking toward the end of the court's work in early summer.

The late William Rehnquist, who was chief justice for nearly 19 years, has written that the court's conference "is not a bull session in which off-the-cuff reactions are traded." Instead, he said, votes are cast, one by one in order of seniority.

The Friday conference also is not a debate, says Brian Fitzpatrick, a Vanderbilt University law professor who worked for Justice Antonin Scalia 10 years ago. There will be plenty of time for the back-and-forth in dueling opinions that could follow.

"There's not a whole lot of give and take at the conference. They say, 'This is how I'm going to vote' and give a few sentences," Fitzpatrick said.

It will be the first time the justices gather as a group to discuss the case. Even they do not always know in advance what the others are thinking when they enter the conference room adjacent to Chief Justice John Roberts' office.

By custom, they shake hands. Then Roberts will take his seat at the head of a rectangular table. Scalia, the longest serving among them, will be at the other end. The other seven justices also sit according to seniority, the four most junior on one side across from the other three.

"They generally find out how the votes line up at the conference," said Orin Kerr, a George Washington University law professor who worked for Justice Anthony Kennedy nine years ago.

The uncertainty may be especially pronounced in this case, where the views of Roberts and Kennedy are likely to decide the outcome, Kerr said in an interview Thursday. "I don't think anyone knows. I'm not sure Justice Kennedy knows."

No one's vote counts more than the others', but because they speak in order of seniority, it will become clear fairly quickly what will become of the health care overhaul.

That's because Roberts speaks first, followed by Scalia, then Kennedy. If the three men hold a common view, the Obama health care overhaul probably is history. If they don't, it probably survives.

If Roberts is in the majority, he will assign the main opinion, and in a case of this importance, he may well write it himself, several former law clerks said. If Roberts is a dissenter, the senior justice in the majority assigns the opinion.

The court won't issue its ruling in a case until drafts of majority opinions and any dissents have circulated among the justices, changes have been suggested and either accepted or rejected.

"These justices aren't locked in. Minds have changed during the drafting process and minds have changed after opinions have been circulated," said Rick Garnett, associate dean and professor of law at Notre Dame Law School who worked for Rehnquist 15 years ago.

In one celebrated case decided in 1992, Rehnquist initially assigned Kennedy to write a majority opinion for five justices allowing prayers at public school graduations. In the end, Kennedy ended up writing the opinion for a different five-justice majority striking down the graduation prayers. According to several accounts, Kennedy simply changed his mind during the writing process.

No one will know precisely when decisions on particular cases will be coming, until perhaps Roberts ends a court session in late June by announcing the next meeting will be the last until October. Then it's a safe bet that whatever hasn't been decided will be on the last day. And decisions in the biggest cases very often aren't announced until that last day of the term.

Supreme Court opinions rarely find their way to the public before they are read in the marble courtroom, although the court inadvertently posted opinions and orders on its website about a half hour too soon in December.

The last apparent security breach occurred more than 30 years ago when Tim O'Brien, then a reporter for ABC News, informed viewers that the court planned to issue a particular opinion the following day. Chief Justice Warren Burger accused an employee in the printing shop of tipping O'Brien and had the employee transferred to a different job.

Sometimes, though, the justices themselves manage to let people know something big is coming.

On May 17, 1954, the attorney general, secretary of state and Nina Warren, wife of the chief justice, were in the courtroom when Earl Warren read the historic, unanimous opinion in Brown v. Board of Education outlawing school segregation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/justices-meet-friday-vote-health-care-case-211054958.html

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3 Super C's of Customer Service That Create Loyal Customers ...

For most organizations, creating a customer service process that creates loyal customers is a constant challenge. In the day-to-day rush of trying to keep up with customer demands, it?s easy to lose sight of the principles and practices that have the greatest effect in the customer experience. One approach to ensure that every decision, process, and action makes the most of customers service?s ability to develop the customer relationship.

I rely on 3 C?s to ensure that customer service stays on track.

The 3 super C?s of customer service that create loyal customers:

Communicate with customers. Can it get any more basic than this? I don?t think so. But we need to ensure that we?re communicating and not just talking to customers. Too often we just talk at our customers and do little actual communicating with customers. Communication involves a form of sharing and exchanging information.

Customer service communication is GIVING and RECEIVING information. Sometimes we receive customer feedback, other times, the receiving of communication is simply receiving an acknowledgement from the customer that the message has been received.

How many times have your received an email with a reply address of NO-REPLY@COMPANY_NAME.COM? NO REPLY? Why not? What customers have a question, or concern, or comment? Too bad, I guess.

We?ve long argued that getting customer feedback isn?t a right, it?s a privilege. These are people who want to help you succeed. That?s a special thing, and you need to reward them by listening to and acting on their feedback.

-Evan Hamilton
Community Manager, UserVoice.com

Evan & The UserVoice team, I salute you! Let?s all commit today to kill Mr. NO-REPLY. Sorry Mr. No Reply, you?re not part of the real customer service solution.

Communicate with customers, besides the actual product or service, it?s what customers want most. Communication is key to making your customers feel valuable. The quicker they hear back from you ? the more respected and comfortable they feel that you are capable of serving them correctly.

2. Use Customer Service to CONNECT with Customers

Connect with customers. Send out greetings. Customers are human too, so when it comes to New Years, Christmas, Easter, etc., make sure to send out a mailer to reminder them you care.

If I could marry Zappos I would. They have everything I want in a relationship. They listen to complaints, give gifts as random acts of kindness, and even send flowers when down in the dumps.

-Jacob Ramos, PepperDigital

Does connecting with customers get any better than that? This is successful customer service, creating an experience where great service is associated with your brand. Don?t be afraid to invest money to make money. Every once in a while think of a promotion to make for your clients. Offer a 10% discount ? a freebie if they order over a certain amount, send a gift. You will be surprised just how well this works with creating more sales.

3. Use Customer Service to CELEBRATE Customers

And last but not least, celebrate the customer. Even though the customer is NOT always right, they are always the customer. Customer want to know you care. Make sure that they know that you have their best interests at heart and that you are not looking for a quick sale. Smile, bite your tongue often, and no matter what, your customer needs to feel special!

No matter what business you?re trying your hand at, the simple fact of the matter is that you can?t do it without customers. Getting customers is one thing, but being able to keep them and bite them back for more orders is another thing.

Successful organizations with massive positive customer goodwill and awesome reputations are those that have embraced, live by, and innovate in customer service, customer experience, customer interaction and customer delight.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/loyalty-marketing/3-super-cs-of-customer-service-that-create-loyal-customers-0154757

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Essential Tips For Home Improvement Home Equity Loan Financing ...

March 27th, 2012 Posted in Mortgage Info

by Jewel Chesson

No one will argue that increasing the value of your home through home improvement projects is a great idea. However, large home improvement projects can become quite expensive. Lightening your wallet and emptying your savings account is what home improvements can do. Careful planning and thinking about all your financing options is necessary before beginning your home improvement project. Here are some tips for home improvement home equity loan financing that you should try to consider.

Becoming one of the most popular loans when it comes to home improvement are home equity loans. The interest is deductible from your taxes which is why it is a viable tool for borrowing money. Usually, interest rates on home equity loans are lower than the interest rates of other types of loans. Home improvement loans are also fairly easy to get which is another good thing about them.

Because the project can greatly increase the appraisal value of your home, this is therefore a great loan for home improvement. This is a loan that is obtained to be able to get additional investments for use in the future. Home improvement projects such as bathroom additions, bedrooms and home extensions can increase the value of a house. However, increasing the value of the house is not really the result of some home improvement projects. The construction of a swimming pool is an example of this project.

When getting a home equity loan, you should take care. You should also remember that the collateral that you are putting up against the loan is your own house. In case you can?t make the payments and make them on time, then you could end up losing your home. You borrowed money for the sole purpose of improving your house and losing your house would be a disastrous situation indeed.

Plenty of people actually use home improvement home equity loans for other reasons. Sometimes, the money is spent to finance other expenses such as vacations or everyday needs. What people rely on to be able to pay for the debt is the steady appreciation of their houses. In case the value of their houses depreciates at the end of any period, then they are in huge financial hot water. Therefore, home equity loans should be used for the improvement of your home because the risks of depreciation are lower because of this reason.

To avoid being indebted because of home improvement projects, these tips should be kept in mind. Considered as a great way for you to increase the value of your house are home improvements but you should always use your head when getting home improvement home equity loans to finance these projects..

About the Author:

If you are considering Canada bankruptcy, consult a professional. We can answer all of your bankruptcy questions and find a solution for your situation.

Source: http://phoenixlivingnews.com/essential-tips-for-home-improvement-home-equity-loan-financing/2012/03/

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Investing Made Simple: A Beginner's Guide to a Roth IRA | Careful ...

Let?s start a movement!

This post is part of the Roth IRA Movement started by Jeff from the Good Financial Cents blog.

I?m so excited to be participating because I believe a Roth IRA is something everyone should know about and utilize to their benefit.

Over 140 bloggers have agreed to be part of this movement, and you can join in the conversation too, on Twitter. Just use the hashtag #RothIRAMovement.

?

What is a roth IRA?

A Roth IRA is an individual retirement arrangement (account) that is generally not taxed, if the guidelines are met. Unlike a Traditional IRA, the money contributed to this account is after-tax income, so you don?t have to pay taxes again when you withdraw the funds.

One of the main reasons this account is considered the best retirement available, is because the earnings/interest grow within the account tax free. You can withdraw your direct contributions (the money you pay in every year/month) at any time, without paying taxes or penalties. For this reason, some people like to use their Roth IRA as a back-up emergency fund.

Earnings can be withdrawn tax free as well, if you fulfill these two requirements.

1. The account must be open for at least 5 years
2. You become disabled, reach 59.5 years old or qualify for another exemption

?

How to get started and open an account

Find a local brokerage or bank. I opened my first Roth retirement account in 2005, however, I didn?t start contributing to it until 2009 when I sat down with a local broker at Edward Jones. In my opinion, sitting face to face and talking with a Financial Advisor in person, is the best thing to do if you?re just starting out.

After you get educated and more comfortable with investing and building wealth for retirement, then you can start investing with other companies for diversification. Local banks and some online banks (like ING Direct) offer simple IRA options, like CD?s (more detail below).

Use an discount online brokerage account. Many online discount brokerage accounts like Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Scott Trade, offer lower fees and more flexibility than a traditional bank or brokerage firm. If you?re comfortable being more hands on, these options could be a much better choice.

Try a new investment program like Betterment. Last November, Betterment.com launched their Roth IRA account, and I jumped at the chance to open a second account. I can choose the amount of risk, by adjusting the meter between a preset investment basket of stocks and bonds. Stocks are riskier and bonds are more conservative.

Here?s how I?ve divided my stock options. I prefer to have riskier portfolio, since I?m young and plan to keep my money in there for many years.

?

Investment options

Most Risk:

Securities, like stocks and bonds. As mentioned above, stocks and bonds are the traditional route when it comes to investing within a Roth IRA. It took me awhile to understand how it all works, but basically you can choose any type of investment vehicle, which is covered by a Roth IRA blanket. You get the same benefits as a normal investment, without having to pay the capital gains tax on dividends.

Some Risk:

Mutual funds. Investing in individuals stocks on the stock market, is very risky. If you want to get in on the ?stock market action? but take less risk, you can invest in mutual funds. In my opinion, good growth stock mutual funds are some of the best, and it?s what I put my money into.

Less Risk:

Certificates of deposits (CD?s). Opening a Roth IRA with a CD comes with the least amount of risk. It?s also great to use, if you invest in other methods and want a little diversification. Of course with less risk, comes less reward and using a Certificate of Deposit won?t create much of a return on your money. Although, this option does let you have more control of your investing and assures a steady, solid rate of return.

?

Contribution limitations and Income rules

If you think the Roth IRA sounds too good to be true, well it kind of is. If you make more than a certain amount of income, your contributions will be limited or even phased out completely.

There are ways around this limitation (like opening a nondeductible Traditional IRA and converting it to a Roth), but this is more advanced and somewhat complicated.

Always be sure to check the eligibility requirements first, so you aren?t penalized for putting in too much. I would suggest finding a tax professional, financial advisor or CPA to help. No matter what amount of income you make, the contribution limit is $5,000 per year, or $6,000 for anyone age 50 or older (for 2012).

?

Advantages

• Direct contributions can be withdrawn tax-free at any time
• A lifetime maximum of $10,000 in earnings can be withdrawn tax-free, when used to buy a principal residence, for a first time home buyer
• You can invest in a 401(k) at the same time as a Roth IRA
• For estates subject to higher income taxes, having a Roth IRA can reduce the overall taxes due, since the taxes have already been subtracted
• There is no RMD (required minimum distribution) rule with a Roth IRA

?

Disadvantages

• Contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax deductible
• Investing in a Roth does not reduce your total Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)
• If you live in a state with a state tax, you will have to pay taxes on the amount to state as well
• In the future, Congress may change the rules that currently allow for tax free withdrawals

?

Building wealth for retirement

If you haven?t opened a Roth IRA, now is the best time! The younger you are, the more time you will have to save and build wealth.?Even putting in a small amount each month is worth it.

Right now, I?m only contributing $50 per month into my Betterment Roth IRA, since I?m using most of my money to get out of debt. But still, can you imagine how much even $25 a month can add up over the next 30-40 years?

Small changes can make a big impact.

Take action now and join the #RothIRAMovement by opening a Roth IRA!

Photo Credit:?Tobyotter

Source: http://www.carefulcents.com/a-beginners-guide-to-a-roth-ira/

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Roger's Rules ? Sex Week at Harvard

William Jacobson over at Legal Insurrection drew my attention yesterday to ?Sex Week at Harvard.? I tweeted about it then (@rogerkimball), but the true awfulness of the phenomenon cannot be captured in 140 characters.

According to its web site, the event was organized by ?Sexual Health Education & Advocacy throughout Harvard College (SHEATH), a recognized student-run organization at Harvard.? The organization is ?dedicated to empowering the Harvard community to explore their experiences with love and sex by providing comprehensive programming addressing a wide range of issues relating to sex, relationships, dating, sexual health, and sexuality.? All the important subjects a well-rounded college student would wish to master.

Are you feeling a little shiver of cognitive dissonance, a slight frisson of surrealistic displacement? ?There?s a lot more where that came from. Here?s the description of sex week:

Sex Week at Harvard intends to promote a week of programming that is interdisciplinary, thought-provoking, scholastic, innovative, and applicable to student experiences in order to promote a holistic understanding of sex and sexuality. Our goal is to connect diverse individuals and communities both within and beyond Harvard through common human experiences with love, sex, sexuality, and relationships.

?Interdisciplinary,? eh? ?Scholaistic?? ?Innovative?? ?Diverse individuals?? I also liked this little advisory: ?All of the events will be designed to be welcoming to anyone, regardless of their personal identities, practices, and preferences.?

They?re just joshing, of course. The program is designed to be welcoming only to a couple narrow slivers of the population. Curiously, they are slivers that overlap only slightly.? ?Sex Week at Harvard? is ?designed to be welcoming? ?to the feminist-inapired PC sexual police who are always advising you to ?take back the night? and natter on endlessly about protecting women even as they advocate ?empowering? them sexually. ?Sex Week? is also ?designed to be welcoming? to certain species of sexual adventurer, not your traditional Don Juan, of course?he was a patriarchal sexist pig?but other, more florid blossoms on the tree of sexual obsession

Are you in Cambridge, Massachusetts today? You?re in luck!? Here are some of the ?innovative,? ?thought provoking,? ?scholastic? entertainments you can sample:

?Hooking Up on Campus
8PM, Science Center D

Hooking up is happening at Harvard?at least, so it appears from I Saw You Harvard.But what is the hook up culture all about, and what is it really like? Popular sociologist Dr. Lisa Wade shares her scholarly work on hook up culture on college campuses across this nation. College students are having sex, it?s true?but the details might surprise you! Lisa will use survey data and first-person stories to reveal the real hook up culture, arguing that we should be worried about the sexual culture on college campuses, but not for the reasons you might think.

Nota? bene: this exploration of ?the real hook up culture? is sponsored by the ?Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response.?

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There?s much more on offer today, but don?t tire yourself out. Before us lies a whole week of innovative, scholasitic, thought-provoking exercises. Tomorrow, for example, you may (then again, you may not) wish to drop in on ?Dirty Talk.? It?s at? 8:00pm, also in the Science Center, and you?ll be reassured that it?s sponsored by the ?Wellness Center.?

?Ever found yourself tongue-tied when trying to talk to a partner? A golden rule in sex: quality communication leads to quality participation. Step up your word game with Ben Privot of The Consensual Project. From flirting to sex, and from hook ups to relationships, uncover the language of how to communicate, discover, and savor the common desires you can find with your paramour. Plus, if you?ve ever wanted to get wordy while you get dirty, extra attention will be directed on talking dirty.

The real pi?ce de la r?sistance of tomorrow?s program, however, is undoubtedly ?What What (In the Butt): Anal Pleasure 101? which you can experience tomorrow at 4PM, Ticknor Lounge.

?Come learn everything about anal sex from the expert, Tristan Taormino, author of two books and director of six sex ed films on the subject! Tristan will dispel myths about anal sex and give you insight into why people do it and how to do it well. She?ll cover a wide variety of topics, including: anal anatomy and the potential for pleasure for men and women; how to talk about it with a partner; basic preparation and hygiene; lubes, anal toys, and safer sex; anal penetration for beginners, and much more! Learn the facts about this exciting yet often misunderstood form of pleasure, find out the common mistakes people make, and get all your questions answered!

Many other important innovative, scholastic, thought-provoking, and interdisciplinary subjects will be bruited later in the week, including ?Asexuality and Queering Intimacy,? ?Can Porn Be Ethical?,? and, not to be missed, the ?8th Annual Female Orgasm Seminar.?

Some years ago, Rochelle Gurstein wrote an important book called The Repeal of Reticence, which seeks ?to understand how the idea of exposure, which once had been equated with shamelessness, impudence, and impropriety, came to be celebrated as the premier agency of enlightenment and emancipation.? It is a sobering tale that Ms. Gurstein tells, a tale of decadence and civilizational collapse (I wrote about the book here). You may think that it is especially disheartening that such exercises in sexual and moral grotesquerie should take place at a premier educational institution like Harvard. And, indeed, there is plenty to be disheartened about that spectacle. Even more discouraging, however, is the thought that what?s happening at Harvard this week is, with but the smallest variations, happening throughout the year on campuses larges and small throughout the country.? When it comes to traditional ?scholastic? college endeavors, there is plenty to be depressed about. But one thing parents can be sure of: if they spend upwards of $250,000 to send their children to the best schools, they may emerge knowing little of history or science or what makes the Untied States a great country, but they will be masters of sexual arcana and perversity. Yes, I know, this is all old news now. But something can be familiar and still repellent, just as something can be (oddity of language) shameless and shameful.? We?ve heard a lot about the ?higher education bubble? recently.? ?Sex Week? at Harvard is another mephitic eructation in that mournful process.

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Source: http://pjmedia.com/rogerkimball/2012/03/26/sex-week-at-harvard/

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Researchers Ferret Out Reasons for Runner's High

60-Second Science | Evolution

Dogs and humans release natural painkillers after running, but ordinarily sedentary ferrets that run do not. The chemical compounds may be an adaptation to reward the necessary behavior in running species. Christopher Intagliata reports

March 26, 2012?|

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You've probably had the feeling. Your running shoes are pounding the pavement?then suddenly your pain fades away, and you're feeling euphoric. The runner's high. But that biological perk may be limited to mammals that evolved for endurance exercise?like us. So says a study in the Journal of Experimental Biology. [David A. Raichlen et al., "Wired to run: exercise-induced endocannabinoid signaling in humans and cursorial mammals with implications for the 'runner's high'"]

Researchers had humans and dogs?both natural-born runners?jog a half hour on a treadmill. Then they sampled their blood for endocannabinoids, some of the compounds thought to trigger the runner's high. As expected, humans and dogs had much higher levels after the run. But when ferrets?a sedentary species?took the same 30-minute trot, they had no spike in those feel-good molecules.

The authors say that's because long-distance running could have helped our hunter-gatherer ancestors find more food?thus increasing their reproductive success. And they speculate that natural selection may have linked up a feel-good reward to that beneficial behavior. These days of course, this ancient trait won't help us find extra calories?but it may encourage us to run 'em off.

?Christopher Intagliata

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=f1f6caf60db083094880555be46baa96

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New Opportunities With Voice: UC Enabled Video Conferencing ...

The common goal of UC-enabled applications is to provide greater flexibility in communicating with people, including both a variety of messaging and synchronous, real time connections or conferencing. While voice conferencing has become relatively easy to implement, being based on traditional telephony and now with Web-based IP Telephony, including video as a more flexible option for individual conference participants, is now practical with UC enablement.

Voice conferencing has primarily been limited by participant ?availability,? and typically requires scheduling people?s time. With video, however, availability is not the only constraint, because individual participants may have other needs that will affect the way they participate. Allowing individuals to selectively participate in a real time conference connection with different communication modalities can greatly simplify and expand the power of all conferencing activities. I would like to call this flexibility simply ?unified conferencing? but ?UC? already means more than that.

Why Do Companies Need ?UC Conferencing??

It?s nice if you can gather everyone into a room for a face-to-face meeting, but increasingly distributed and global business activities makes that more difficult, inefficient, and expensive. With voice and video conferencing, those problems can be reduced, but people are not just sitting at their desks 24?7 and available for a real time conference connection. We now face a BYOD world of mobility, where not only will end users have different mobile devices, but they will also be in different situations that can limit their real-time participation in a multimedia conference. Providing individual user control over their mode of participation, voice and video, will enable faster conferencing initiation and greater participation, and that?s what UC Conferencing brings to both the desktop and mobile devices.

While we have all seen video face-to-face conferencing or ?telepresence? as a growing form of business communication, it has been a limited and expensive technology silo. It required participants to use location-based room or desktop conferencing equipment and, while smartphones and tablets can also support mobile video conferencing participation, not all users will need or want to be ?on camera.? So, by making video conferencing UC-enabled, it can now be integrated with voice conferencing to provide individual end users with personal flexibility in participating in real time. Obviously, mobile users will gain the most from such flexibility.

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As I reported on Avaya?s recent announcement of its acquisition of RADVISION, Ltd., it highlighted such UC Videoconferencing flexibility in the form of ?mixed-mode? conferencing, where individual participants have a choice of dynamic conferencing interface modes that are in use today but not necessarily integrated for concurrent use, including:

• ?On camera? face-to-face connection (conversational voice and video)
• Video and voice calling
• Video viewing (?off camera?) and voice conferencing connection
• Voice-only conference connection
• Web conferencing with one-way video
• Sidebar communications (text messaging, chat)

Such flexibility will be particularly useful for ad hoc conferencing and video calling, where individual mobile users with smartphones and tablets, may have to participate in a restricted mode because of their situation or endpoint device. This also means that people, who want to communicate in real time, don?t all have to have identical endpoint devices, communicate with identical modalities, or have the same network connection. With the growth of IP Telephony and CaaS, individual end users, both inside and outside of an organization, should be able to choose their modes of conference participation dynamically and switch modes as needed. Video includes voice, voice doesn?t include video, but both still need user real time availability (presence).

In addition to supporting mobile devices for UC enabled conferencing, Avaya?s RADVISION announcement indicated that the technology was ?cloud? ready, i.e., that the technology can be available as a service without investment in premise-based equipment. This combination, coupled with standards-based applications, open infrastructure and endpoints for ad-hoc and scheduled videoconferencing with room-based systems, desktop, and mobile consumer devices, will facilitate the establishment of practical organizational BYOD policy for mobile employees.

?Cloud-based,? UC enabled video conferencing was viewed by Avaya as high on the list for:

• Health care and medical devices
• Education markets for distance learning
• Contact center applications
• Financial services
• SMB ad hoc video conferencing

The bottom line for UC enablement is not just in reducing costs and improving operational usage management, but also to maximize the benefits of UC for individual end users and operational group productivity (UC-U, UC-B).

New Opportunity for VARs to Become UC Solution Integrators

UC-enabled video conferencing is one more way for established telephony VARs to jump on the moving UC train, especially in reselling it as a ?cloud? service. Inasmuch as conferencing services are needed for collaboration with people at different locations and outside of an organization, ?UC Conferencing? (voice and video) as a service makes a lot of practical sense. Integrate it with Mobile UC and other forms of information exchange, and, voila, UC enablement can really pay off!

The Mobile UC game is on and video conferencing has stepped up to the plate!

Quelle: UC-Strategies

Source: http://www.mvc.de/blog/new-opportunities-with-voice-uc-enabled-video-conferencing/

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Preparing your Property: Flood Prevention ? TrueNorth Individual ...

Posted on March 27, 2012 by truenorthco

We know you don?t want to talk about it?bad karma, etc. But we have to remember that floods destroy more property than any other natural disaster in the United States. FEMA estimates they cause more than $2 billion in damage every year. To better identify your flood risk, you should find out your Base Flood Elevation (the expected flooding level in your area) and the 100-year flood level (the highest water level recorded in the past 100 years). These two numbers will help you understand where to concentrate your efforts.

Being prepared is the key to decreasing expenses after a flood. If you?re building or remodeling your business, work some flood protection tips into your construction plan:

• Before construction, call your building or zoning department. Some laws don?t allow flood-resistant materials below the BFE, because they block the natural floodplain
• Install wiring, fuse boxes, outlets, meters, and switches above the 100-year flood level
• Anchor fuel storage tanks and other outdoor equipment that?s likely to float
• Connect sewer backflow valves, also called ?check valves,? to block storm water from entering through your drains
• Lift heating, ventilation, and cooling units above BFE or protect it with a flood wall
• Plant trees and flowers that resist soil erosion
• Learn how to shut off your utilities
• Store valuables, important papers, supplies, and inventory above the BFE. During a storm, raise them onto higher shelves, or put them in a waterproof container.
• Write down a cleanup plan: separate undamaged items; make a list of ruined property; clean and disinfect everything that got wet
• Be extra careful when driving. A trace of water on the road is enough to cause hydroplaning and loss of control. Six inches of water is enough to cause your engine to stall. One foot of water will float most cars. Two feet of moving water will carry away almost any vehicle, even big trucks or SUV?s

*Flood insurance, and your eligibility for flood insurance is overseen by a government agency, the NFIP (national flood insurance program), and commercial insurance companies do not offer ?flood insurance? policies. You can stay on top of approaching storms with the National Weather Service.

-Thanks to alliedinsurance.com for these prevention techniques

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Source: http://itruenorth.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/preparing-your-property-flood-prevention/

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Supplier Connection: Will It Really Help Help Small Businesses Get ...

IBM and several other large corporations have launched a directory where small?businesses?can get listed to do business with large corporations.

Called the Supplier Connection, the site is open to U.S. small businesses.

If you are wondering what ?small? means, it means your business has to have less than $50 Million in revenues or fewer than 500 employees. ?You have to provide products or services in chemicals, construction, consulting, financial services, auto parts, HR services, information technology, marketing communications, market research, printing, software or security (for the full list, see the Supplier Connection website).

Some of the large corporations that are involved along with IBM include JP Morgan Chase, Kellogg?s, ?Pfizer, Caterpillar, Citi, ?JohnDeere, AMD and Facebook. ?The U.S. Small Business Administration has also gotten behind it.

But Is It Realistic for Small Businesses?

When I first heard about this from Laurie McCabe?s site, I thought it was a great idea. I was excited and decided to try it out.

What I discovered is that the paperwork and requirements are daunting.

First, let?s talk about the paperwork. ?Bureaucracy is a huge barrier to growth for small businesses ? even the perception of heavy?bureaucracy is a barrier. ?According to the Wall Street Journal, one business owner reported that completing a Supplier Profile is ?not a one-hour routine? but takes commitment.

Most small businesses don?t have anything near the 500-employee limit for this program ? instead, think 5 employees. ?That is a much more common size for a small business. ?In a 5-employee small business, there?s rarely anyone you can assign who will have all the knowledge to complete the paperwork. ?The business owner will likely be handling the paperwork himself or herself, probably in the evening (since that?s the only time available).

Beyond the paperwork is the whole issue of whether you can meet the system?s mandatory requirements. ?I started filling out the application and managed to get through the first four steps out of 9, in 20 minutes. ??Hmm, that?s not so bad,? I thought.

Then I got to step 5, the Environment section. It stopped me cold. ?For instance, how many of?you could say ?yes? to the following?

• Does your company have a Corporate Responsibility and Environmental Management System, which measures performance, sets goals, and discloses results?
• Does your company define, deploy, and sustain your corporate responsibility and environmental management system through your engagement with your suppliers?
• Does your company cascade this set of requirements to your suppliers who perform work that is material to the products, parts and/or services being supplied to your customer?

In all, there were over 20 questions about environmental, ISO9001 and ISO14001 compliance ? 16 of them required fields to answer.

Very few small businesses with under say, 20 employees, could say yes to the above questions. ?And what if you answer ?no?? ?Well, you are required to specify the exact day, month and year when you plan to be in compliance.

In our business we ?have no plans to create environmental policies and systems. ?Being an Internet publisher we shut off lights when we don?t need them, recycle paper and soda cans, avoid printing emails and documents unless absolutely necessary, and use power management options on our computers and other equipment. ?But we do not write corporate policies about those actions ? we just do them.

Our suppliers (other small businesses and entrepreneurs) would laugh ? or cry ? if we asked them if they complied. ? There?s no way that even if we wrote policies and systems, that we ?could ?cascade? that requirement to our suppliers.

So that was the end of my attempt to complete the application. ?I gave up.

Some Bright Spots

On the other hand, I do see positives with this program:

• For those who go through the paperwork process, it is something that can give your business a competitive edge. ?Just think of all those who will give up or can?t meet the requirements.
• Another positive: ?you can start the application process and save it as a draft, and finish or edit it later. ?That way you can divide up the work and spread it out over a few days if you need to.
• Finally, there?s just the fact that this directory exists. ?IBM is to be commended for starting it. ?In concept it?s a great idea.

I urge IBM and all the other corporations involved to streamline the requirements to make them more realistic for small businesses. ?Otherwise, the Supplier Connection will be more about medium size businesses. ?And I?d love nothing more than to come back and update you that the application has been streamlined.

About the Author

Anita Campbell is the Founder of Small Business Trends which has been following trends in small businesses since 2003. She is the owner of BizSugar, a social media site for small businesses; and also serves as CEO of TweakYourBiz.com.

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Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/03/supplier-connection-small-businesses-corporate-contracts.html

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Young infants' imitation not guided by rational thinking

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

In a widely noticed study, developmental psychologists reported that 14-month-old infants imitate an unusual action if it was chosen deliberately by the person they observed, but not if it could be attributed to external constraints. This selective imitation was put forth as evidence for an early understanding of rational action and action goals. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig now present a much simpler explanation for the finding. A replication study revealed that the observed differences in imitation were likely caused by a distraction during the experiments.

Infant imitation is a key factor in early learning and has been studied by developmental psychologists for a long time. In 2002, a study published in the journal Nature seemingly showed astonishing cognitive abilities in children that were only 14 months old. In the experiment, a child would observe an adult performing the unconventional action of illuminating a lamp by touching it with the head. Being presented with the lamp later on, 70 percent of the children would copy this curious behaviour ? but only if the hands of the person were free during the observed action. If the hands were occupied by holding a blanket wrapped around the body, which was before worn loosely over the shoulders, imitation rates dropped to around 20 percent.

This result has been explained with the children evaluating the rationality of the model's actions. Had the model freely chosen to use her head for illuminating the lamp, they may have assumed that there must be good reasons for it. But if the model acted under obvious constraints that they themselves did not have, there was no reason to imitate. It seemed that infants were able not only to understand the goals but also to follow the situational context of the observed behaviour.

This interpretation may now have to be revised, due to a factor that had previously not been taken into account. "The eye-catching sight of the person wrapped in a blanket may have distracted infants from the action they were observing", says Miriam Beisert of the Research Group "Infant Cognition and Action". To test if the outcome of the experiment was indeed influenced, the scientists replicated the original study, but added two additional conditions.

One alteration underlined how much eye- catching distractions influenced the children's response: When two red Smileys were put on the table before the experiment, imitation of the "hands-free"-condition dropped considerably. In order to reduce distraction during the second condition, the children were given time to familiarize themselves with the sight of the blanket in a five-minute warm-up phase, which preceded the demonstration of the head touch action. The imitation rate went up to around 70 percent, showing that it made no actual difference whether the model person's hands were free or not.

"Assuming rational imitation, seeing the blanket-wrapped person for a longer time should have, if anything, resulted in an even lower imitation rate", says Moritz Daum, head of the research group. "With these results, rational thinking can be ruled out as a reason for children's selective imitation at this age."

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Beisert M, Zmyj N, Liepelt R, Jung F, Prinz W, et al. (2012) Rethinking 'Rational Imitation' in 14-Month-Old Infants: A Perceptual Distraction Approach. PLoS ONE 7(3): e32563. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032563

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: http://www.mpg.de

Thanks to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/118741/Young_infants__imitation_not_guided_by_rational_thinking

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PHOTOS: Kendra Flaunts Her Bikini Body!

Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett shows off her assets at a pool party! Plus, see more of your favorite celebs on the scene!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/star-snapshots-celebrity-photo-gallery/1-b-75638?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Astar-snapshots-celebrity-photo-gallery-75638

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Obama 'super' PAC donors among White House guests

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2008, file photo, Lenny Mendonca, director and co-founder of Public Sector Practice and chairman of McKinsey Global Institute, speaks during a National Health Care Reform discussion in Little Rock, Ark. President Barack Obama is using privileged access to one of America?s greatest landmarks to reward his most generous financial supporters in ways that Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum can?t match: More than 60 of Obama?s biggest campaign donors have visited the White House more than once for meetings with top advisers, holiday parties or state dinners, a review by The Associated Press has found. Another donor who visited the White House, either before they gave money to support Obama or afterward, include Mendonca, who gave $50,000 to Priorities USA Action in November 2011, according to records submitted to the Federal Election Commission. (AP Photo/Mike Wintroath)

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2008, file photo, Lenny Mendonca, director and co-founder of Public Sector Practice and chairman of McKinsey Global Institute, speaks during a National Health Care Reform discussion in Little Rock, Ark. President Barack Obama is using privileged access to one of America?s greatest landmarks to reward his most generous financial supporters in ways that Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum can?t match: More than 60 of Obama?s biggest campaign donors have visited the White House more than once for meetings with top advisers, holiday parties or state dinners, a review by The Associated Press has found. Another donor who visited the White House, either before they gave money to support Obama or afterward, include Mendonca, who gave $50,000 to Priorities USA Action in November 2011, according to records submitted to the Federal Election Commission. (AP Photo/Mike Wintroath)

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2010, file photo, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, third from right, speaks during the first meeting of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability at the Treasury Department in Washington. From left are, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions Michael S. Barr, Ariel Investments Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John W. Rogers Jr., YWCA Senior External Affairs Advisor Lorraine Cole, Education Department Deputy Chief of Staff Matthew Yale and Operation Hope Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Hope Bryan. Obama is using privileged access to one of America?s greatest landmarks to reward his most generous financial supporters in ways that Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum can?t match: More than 60 of Obama?s biggest campaign donors have visited the White House more than once for meetings with top advisers, holiday parties or state dinners, a review by The Associated Press has found. Top donors to the super PAC supporting Obama, like Rogers and Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, gave more than $150,000 combined to Priorities USA Action, according to finance reports, while also making repeated trips to the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE - In this March 14, 2012, file photo, the red carpet of the North Portico is prepared for President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama to welcome Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha to the White House for a State Dinner in Washington. Obama is using privileged access to one of America?s greatest landmarks to reward his most generous financial supporters in ways that Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum can?t match: More than 60 of Obama?s biggest campaign donors have visited the White House more than once for meetings with top advisers, holiday parties or state dinners, a review by The Associated Press has found. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is using privileged access to one of America's greatest landmarks to reward his most generous financial supporters in ways that Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum can't match: More than 60 of Obama's biggest campaign donors have visited the White House more than once for meetings with top advisers, holiday parties or state dinners, a review by The Associated Press has found.

The invitations to visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which are a legal and established practice from incumbent presidents, came despite Obama's past criticisms of Washington's pay-for-access privileges and mark a reversal from early in the president's term when donors complained that Obama was keeping them at arm's length.

Once, when Obama was a candidate running against Hillary Rodham Clinton, his presidential campaign sharply noted that Clinton and her husband, President Bill Clinton, had invited David Geffen ? whom Obama's campaign said had raised $18 million for the Clintons ? to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom. The AP found no evidence of Obama's own donors sleeping overnight in the White House, but timestamps showing arrivals and departures on the government's logs are incomplete for more than 1.7 million records.

The AP's review compared more than 470 of Obama's most important financial supporters against logs of 2 million visitors to the White House since mid-2009. It found that at least 250 of Obama's major fundraisers and donors visited the White House at least once, being cleared for events like dinners or one-on-one meetings with senior advisers.

Earlier this month, the White House extended invitations to more than 30 of the president's top fundraisers to an elaborate state dinner, where they mingled with celebrities and dined with foreign leaders on the South Lawn of the White House.

Other purposes for visits included one-on-one meetings with top West Wing staffers, such as former chief of staff Pete Rouse and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. Those donors include so-called "bundlers" ? supporters who have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece for Obama's re-election.

Obama's campaign has said it would begin encouraging supporters to donate to the "super" political action committee supporting Obama, Priorities USA Action, to counterbalance the cash flowing to GOP groups. The decision drew rebukes from campaign-finance watchdogs and Republicans who said Obama flip-flopped on his prior stance assailing super PAC money. The group supporting Obama has raised $6.3 million so far.

Visitor-log details of some of Obama's donors have surfaced in news reports since he took office. But the financial weight of super PACs and their influence on this year's election have prompted renewed scrutiny of the big-money financiers behind presidential candidates ? and what those supporters might want in return.

Many of the White House visits by donors came before the president embraced the big-money, fundraising groups he once assailed as a "threat to democracy" on the grounds they corrode elections by permitting unlimited and effectively anonymous donations from billionaires and corporations. Obama was once so vocal about super PACs that, during his 2010 State of the Union speech, he accused the Supreme Court in its 2010 Citizens United decision of reversing a century of law that would "open the floodgates for special interests." But the success of Republicans raising money changed the stakes.

Top donors to the super PAC supporting Obama, like Chicago investment manager John W. Rogers Jr. and Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, gave more than $150,000 combined to Priorities USA Action, according to finance reports, while also making repeated trips to the White House.

Rogers is a longtime Obama friend who contributed $50,000 in January ? nearly all the money the super PAC collected the entire month. Rogers was selected by the administration in October 2010 to head a financial advisory council, and visited the White House more than two dozen times since Obama took office, including one-on-one meetings with former chief of staff Bill Daley and Jarrett, Obama's senior adviser. Two weeks before Rogers' contribution in January, Obama's campaign paid his firm, Ariel Investments, $600 for "event site rental," according to finance reports. An Obama campaign spokeswoman said the event was for a campaign retreat; a spokeswoman for Rogers did not follow up to repeated phone calls and emails from the AP seeking comment.

Other donors who visited the White House, either before they gave money to support Obama or afterward, include:

?Lenny Mendonca, a director of consulting firm McKinsey & Co., gave $50,000 to Priorities USA Action in November 2011, according to records submitted to the Federal Election Commission. Visitor logs showed Mendonca met in June 2011 with Carl Shapiro, one of Obama's top economic advisors, and three months earlier with Melody Barnes, the president's chief domestic policy advisor.

?Orin Kramer, a key Obama fundraiser who gave $15,000 to Priorities USA in October, attended White House events with Obama at least five times, according to visitor logs, plus his invitation to a state dinner March 14 honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron. His other visits included a smaller gathering in March 2011 that was described as a presidential meeting but records offered few details.

?Spielberg, another Obama supporter, donated $100,000 last July to Priorities USA ? one of the group's largest individual contributions. One month later, Spielberg attended a Rose Garden event with the president. He also has visited the White House at least three other times, including in March 2010 to screen a movie for the president and first lady Michelle Obama.

Through a spokeswoman, Mendonca declined to comment. Kramer told the AP the information obtained from the Obama administration was "completely inaccurate," but did not deny he has visited the White House. "I help candidates because I think election outcomes matter," Kramer said in an email.

The AP's review excluded visits like White House tours available to the general public.

A White House spokesman did not fully respond to repeated requests from the AP for details of visits by Obama's campaign donors, saying it was impractical to do so.

Obama so far has raised more than $120 million for his reelection effort ? not counting millions more from the Democratic Party ? an outsized figure compared with potential GOP rivals like Mitt Romney, who collected $74 million in checks through the end of February. That calculus may change as wealthy billionaires who have supported their favorite candidates this primary season may rally around the eventual Republican nominee.

____

Follow Jack Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-03-26-US-Obama's-Visitors/id-c012fcc60c5a4e008251d9dbad14f7b2

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At least six killed in Islamist-linked violence in Nigeria

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nigerian-islamists-killed-shootout-army-132717585.html

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Today is Show Time-First Public Speaking Event Explaining Why I ...

Ok fans, it is showtime. I have to appear in a few minutes and give my first public speech and appearance in downtown Fort Myers. Great.

I get another opportunity to speak publically in a forum with others that think they are better or more qualified than I am. I kindly disagree for several reasons:

1. I am in love and like many things and people. I am in love with my son, my finance, my country, Florida, Kansas but not Missouri.

2. I have many of the necessary virtues, values and character that uniquely qualify me to represent the people of this nation.

3. I have anxiety. This is a good thing to have explaining why I do so much for those things and persons I love. The way the anxiety plays out means I will work my tail off moving and making our nation a better place.

4. Unlike the other candidates, I walk the talk, sparing voters of the same old thing when it comes to issues. I do not spin political rhetoric like most [politicans do, speaking like a two-headed snake, never taking a stand on divisive political issues smartly to avoid voter alienation. I am not that smart and I do want to speak on both sides of a divisive issue.

5. Best reason of all. God and Jesus love me. If they want me to be your next congressman, that is their work-not mine. I am merely their instrument doing whatever job they delegate to me.

So God and Jesus, be there today guiding me to what I refer to as showtime. Remember, when I write, so help me God, I mean it. Finally, make sure that slacker angel of mine is right there on my shoulder today.

Amen. Time to go. I have been getting ready and prepared all of my life.

Source: http://www.schererforyourcongressman.blogspot.com/2012/03/today-is-show-time-first-public.html

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Video: Estrada enjoying his success?with Seattle

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/46842444#46842444

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